Chapters -Chapter 1-
“Are you sure you’re up for this?”
Soarin closed his eyes, recalling events that seemed a lifetime ago but had in reality only been a matter of hours. Spitfire stood in the doorway to his dressing room, her front hooves crossed as she watched him dress. He smiled at his reflection, the same million dollar smile that made the fillies swoon as familiar to her as his love for a good apple pie.
“You worried about me?” He asked playfully, turning to face the fiery yellow mare. She rolled her eyes and strode forward, stopping just in front of him. She feigned deep thought before skewing his goggles and tousling his navy blue mane, rotating him to face the mirror again once done.
“You wish Flyboy.” She answered with a cheeky smile. The yellow mare gave him a lighthearted kick before turning and heading for the door. His green eyes watched her reflection retreat before allowing his smile to fade.
“More than you know.” Soarin said softly once he was sure she was out of earshot.
The uproarious cheers of hundreds of ponies, the Wonderbolt’s adoring fans, his adoring fans, pulled the distracted colt back to the present. He flew past the stands a thick stream of smoke trailing behind him. He performed a set of simple effortless tricks, much to the delight of the crowd.
The pale colt grimaced as moments later an all too familiar burning sensation tickled the tips of his feathers, quickly spreading until his entire wing was engulfed in flaming pain. He struggled to keep the wing outstretched, and hold his body aloft, but it was a feat he quickly aborted. Unable to maintain stamina the Wonderbolt let himself fall.
Despite this turn of events the young stallion smiled. Had this been what she felt? He wondered vaguely, recalling a time not to long ago when a pretty young unicorn mare had dropped from the sky as he was doing now. She had been immature and selfish, daring to tread where her kind was never meant to, her vanity and naivete ripping away her counterfeit wings.
Soarin giggled frivolously at the memory, the sound of his laughter torn away by the wind rushing past his ears and tugging at his mane. The troublesome ache in his wing was near relentless, an all too common occurrence as of late, and quickly becoming harder to dismiss. Repeated wing massages, extended periods of rest, and countless bottles of painkillers had down nothing to quell the lingering discomfort.
He had fumbled, given up, fallen out of the sky. It was the second time this week, the fifth time in the last month. It was the first time he’d fallen during an important competition, however, in front of an audience of his most admiring fans.
The experienced flier kept careful track of the various calculations in his head; his speed in freefall, his altitude, how far he could plummet until it was too late to turn back. Through all of this one thought was more prominent than the rest.
What if I just let go?
That thought stopped him. He mulled over it for several seconds allowing all of his other thoughts to fade, those precious few seconds far longer than most of his teammates would consider worth the risk. Even Spitfire, his flying partner and oldest friend, had never been so reckless.
He rolled in the air until he was upright again, his body parallel to the land below. He unfurled his wings catching a warm thermal, but before he could begin his ascent a severe unexpected pain caused him to recoil again. As his wings folded the ground rushed up at him, far faster than he could in any way avoid. A scream tore itself from his throat moments before impact.
Darkness quickly followed.
--
Soarin felt weightless, the sensation surreal and frightening. Not since he had first earned his wings had he felt so helpless. His mind was marred by a thick haze, his thoughts incoherent and vague at best. Familiar voices found him fleetingly before he was swallowed by the darkness for a second time.
--
“How could you?”
“Spitfire?” Soarin inquired recognizing the voice immediately. The colt moved to face her, finding his progress impeded by an IV drip stuck into his foreleg and a sling holding his left hind leg elevated. Curious he tried extending his wing, wincing as fire seared its length.
“What in Celestia’s name was that Soarin?” Spitfire barked fighting for his attention. “What were you thinking?” She stood in the doorway, a scowl on her face, her normally smiling eyes blazing with fury. They were raw, bloodshot, and damp as if she had recently been crying.
The colt opened his mouth but quickly closed it again realizing he had nothing to say. Instead he looked to the table beside his hospital bed finding his Wonderbolt’s uniform neatly folded, his goggles lying on top. Surrounding them was an excess of effects from well wishers, hoof made get well cards, flowers, even a stuffed pony in his likeness.
That brought the hint of a smile to his face which quickly fell away as Spitfire continued her tirade. “You’re my partner Soarin, my best friend. I thought I knew you…” She said her voice cracking with the weight of her words. “But this…”
Soarin knew what it must look like, but even if he found the words to explain what had been going on, he knew it wouldn’t do any good. She would suggest what he had already tried, things that had long since proven pointless.
“How can I possibly trust you again after…?” Tears slid easily from Spitfire’s amber eyes, pooling between her hooves. “After this…?”
Soarin thought of embracing her, holding her until the tears stopped, but he could do nothing from where he lay. Even if he wasn’t bed ridden Soarin knew she would only fight him, widening the rift that had suddenly sprung up between them.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered, but even those words felt vacant and meaningless. Was he really sorry for what he had done? He had been the one lying to everypony, pushing himself to the breaking point and beyond, all of it to keep his torment hidden. Yet, he didn’t regret a moment of it.
I’m not sorry. He thought quietly staring out the open window on the far side of the room, his emerald eyes tracing absently across the cloudless sky. I’d do it again. I’d do it over and over and over again. He told himself and knew it was true, because inside he was even more broken.
“I’m tired of flying.” He whispered, after an extended period of silence. He was afraid of losing Spitfire, as a partner and as a friend, but someplace deep inside he had always known this moment would come, and it left him despondent.
“What?” Spitfire asked dumbfounded, her wings dropping slightly. She took an unsteady step forward, closing the physical gap she’d put up between them ever so slightly. The emotional gap had only widened.
“I’m tired Fire.” The colt repeated, turning his head to meet her solemn gaze. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Maybe if I had…”
“How can you be tired?” She interrupted her voice quivering. “Flying is what you’re best at! You and I, we’re the greatest fliers in all of Equestria! Flying is in your blood, in your soul. It’s your cutie mark for Celestia’s sake!”
“I’m really sorry Spitfire,” Soarin reiterated. “But I can’t do it anymore. I…I quit.”
The colt closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as his next words, words he never imagined he’d be saying, tore themselves form his throat. “I am no longer a Wonderbolt.”
-Chapter 2-
Twilight Sparkle smiled and waved her thanks to the Cakes as she left Sugarcube Corner, a box of honey glazed donuts in a small box on her back. Spike would be delighted to find she had included one for him, encrusted in bright red rubies as per request. She could only guess where the bakers hid them, smiling wryly at thought of the mayhem that would occur should Rarity ever find out they kept a stash of jewels for Spikes consumption.
The purple unicorn was in a lively mood; not unexpected considering the large shipment of new books she had been waiting for was due to arrive today. As she continued down the road lost in thought she couldn’t help but notice Rainbow Dash and the wall eyed mail mare, struggling over a large brown satchel. Twilight recognized the emblem on the bag as that of the Ponyville Postal Service.
“Just give me my mail Derpy!” Rainbow Dash shouted struggling to pull the bag away from the fiercely adamant grey pony.
“It’s not your turn!” The mail mare snapped back, persistent and merciless in her fight to keep the satchel away from Rainbow Dash. She glared viciously at her opponent, her eyes perfectly focused; a rarer sight than the normally contented mare skirmishing with anypony for, well, any reason.
The pair was attracting an ever increasing crowd and though she wouldn’t admit it out loud Twilight was amused by the scuffle. Never the less she couldn’t just stand by and watch the two mares fight over something as simple as mail.
“Pardon me. Excuse me.” Twilight said as she gently shoved her way to the center of the gathered crowd. She opened her mouth to speak but at that moment the strap to the mail bag snapped sending Derpy and Rainbow Dash flying in opposing directions. The grey mail mare slammed into the purple unicorn with enough force to send her several feet back, the pair landing in an awkward and uncomfortable tangle of limbs.
The blue pegasus in the meantime had managed to catch herself in the air, floating contentedly several feet above the crowd, a huge smile on her face as she rummaged through Derpy’s mailbag. Letter after letter quickly gathered below her, absently discarded as the frantic pony sought out one item in particular.
“Where is it?” She cried turning the mailbag upside down and shaking it fervently hoping something more would fall out. Nothing did.
“I told you it’s not your turn!” Derpy said flying awkwardly up to grab the bag away from the confused pony. Just as quickly she flew back down and began to gather the discarded letters, shoving them back into the satchel.
The puzzled Rainbow Dash continued to mumble to herself as Twilight levitated the last letter to the once again wall eyed mail mare, her fiercely narrowed eyes making the condition even more awkward to observe. “Are you alright?”
The mare nodded, a slow smile replacing the frown on her lips.
Twilight was curious as to the state of her own delivery. She knew it wasn’t small enough to fit in the satchel, but with all Derpy had been through on account of Rainbow Dash’s impatience, it somehow felt wrong to ask about it. Before she could think of a polite way to inquire, the gray mail mare leapt into the cloudless blue sky, the incident all but forgotten.
--
Spike stared distraughtly at the box of crushed donuts, his being in a particularly nasty state. Twilight had managed to group together enough of the pieces to pass around equally when her friends arrived, but was still lamenting the fact that they had been destroyed in the first place. The culprit hovered in the other room, an apprehensive frown on her face. The purple mare had attempted to ask several times what was so important that she would resort to such a brash display of hostility, but had gotten nothing except incoherent ramblings.
There was a knock on the door which Twilight quickly moved to answer. When she opened it she was expecting to find somepony waiting but found instead a large brown crate bearing the words 'fragile' and 'important' in tattered red lettering. On top of the box was a magazine addressed to Rainbow Dash alongside a single grey feather accidentally lost in Derpy’s attempt to remain unseen.
Twilight frowned as she carried the box and the magazine inside. This was what all the fuss had been about? As the naturally curious unicorn looked it over she grew more and more perplexed. It was a mare’s magazine, something along the lines of what she imagined Rarity would read then hide under her mattress.
A blush quickly rose to the normally astute mares face as she skimmed the headlines, not to mention the cover image depicting a rather attractive pegasus stallion only vaguely familiar to the purple unicorn.
“Are you okay Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked noticing her friends crimson red countenance from across the room.
“I didn’t know you read Cosmare.” Twilight said tentatively. Rainbow Dash’s eyes flew wide as she realized Twilight had inadvertently learned one of her most embarrassing secrets. She quickly snatched the magazine away, trying and failing to hide the blush rising to her own face.
“I…I don’t.” She answered quickly, stumbling over her own tongue. “It’s just that well, I…I got it for the pictures…of the Wonderbolts. It's a special...issue...”
Rainbow rubbed a hoof nervously across her mane hoping Twilight’s lack of knowledge about the magazines actual contents, was convincing enough. “You won’t tell anypony?”
“N…No.” Twilight stammered, her left eyes twitching involuntarily. An awkward silence hung for several drawn out moments before Twilight turned her attention to her own mail. More importantly she was able to distract herself in such a way that, for the time being at least, she was able to forget about the racy magazine, and the fact that it had been delivered to Rainbow Dash.
--
Floating on a small tuft of cloud some miles away Derpy Hooves was nursing a loose tooth. It wasn’t visible when she smiled or spoke, being a molar at the very back of her jaw, but nevertheless it hurt something fierce. She nudged it with tongue every so often, hoping it was only her imagination but the sharp reply of pain each time the touched it left no doubts.
At her side sat the broken mailbag, the strap snapped in two, a small pile of bits resting just on top. She hoped it would be enough to get the satchel fixed or else she’d have to carry it in her mouth which, considering her injured tooth was an uncomfortable proposition. The wall eyed mail mare gave a discontented sigh before snuggling down into the fluffy cloud and closing her eyes.
Tomorrow will be better. The pegasus told herself as the last rays of Celestia’s sun faded beyond the distant horizon.
-Chapter 3-
Derpy shuffled awkwardly on her hooves just outside Carousel Boutique. The gray mare struggled inwardly with her decision to have the artistic unicorn look at her mail bag. What if she couldn’t afford it? The meager amount of bits she earned from her mail route minus what it would cost to repair the bag left barely enough bits to last until her next payday.
Raising her hoof she knocked lightly. She waited a moment before remembering that it was a business not a residence. It was perfectly alright, not to mention expected, for customers to walk right in. A small bell chimed at her entrance. “Hello?” The mail mare called out hesitantly. “Is anypony here?”
The shop smelt of flowers and fabric, not exactly an unpleasant odor, curiously strange she supposed considering there wasn’t a single visible flower. Derpy cast her eyes around the room, looking for the shop’s proprietor, but finding it vacant of anypony but herself.
A line of stuffed pony mannequins stood at the furthest end, half finished dresses adorning their lifeless forms. The mail mare smiled as she moved nearer, her left eye drawn to one dress in particular, while the other rolled randomly. It was a simple design, a long flowing fabric jet black with golden floral highlights along the hem and bodice, beneath thin gold lace. To her surprise it was free of the elaborate accessories decorating those on either side of it, yet still managing to capture the imagination. It certainly held the mail mare transfixed.
Derpy caught sight of the purple maned unicorn out of the corner of her wandering eye. It took only a moment for the preoccupied unicorn to notice the grey pony hovering near her half finished designs. She looked a bit surprised but quickly smiled. “Hello Derpy dear.”
“Hello.” Derpy said.
“Do you like that design?” Rarity asked curiously noticing that even though the pegasus had turned toward her, only one of her eyes focused on it’s intentional target, while the other had wandered back to the dress. The mail mare smiled faintly and nodded.
“Perhaps I could have you model for me when it is finished?” The unicorn offered her full attention now on the wall eyed mare, who seemed truly perplexed by the suggestion. Realizing the awkward conversation would only hang there if she said nothing further Rarity went on. “Never mind the dress, is there something I can help you with?”
Derpy placed her broken mailbag on the counter and a knowing grimace came to the unicorns face. “Ah yes, Twilight did mentioned something about your unfortunate run in with Rainbow Dash yesterday. You weren’t hurt were you?”
“I’m alright.” Derpy said quietly neglecting to mention her aching tooth. She had gotten used to the pain of it by this time, a necessary practice considering she couldn’t afford to see a dentist. “Can you fix it?” The wall eyed mail mare wondered aloud.
“When I’m done you won’t even recognize it.” Rarity exclaimed excitedly. Derpy groaned inwardly fearing what exactly that statement implied. She would never say anything out loud, but she had always thought the unicorn was a bit over zealous in many of her dress designs, something Derpy hoped to avoid concerning her mail bag.
“That satchel is still postal property.” The mail mare said, feeling that disclosing that information in particular was necessary. “I’m only borrowing it.”
“I promise to be extra careful.” Rarity reassured, her tone of voice convincing Derpy she hadn’t heard a word of what had just been said. “I’ll have it back to you before your next shift.”
Derpy left the boutique feeling optimistic despite the nauseating pain in her mouth. Her stomach grumbled and she withdrew a small collection of bits from the pouch at her side. She was happy to find there was more enough to get lunch from that small café down by the park. See? She thought quietly to herself as she began to trot happily toward her next destination. “I told you today would be better.”
--
“So doc, when can I get outta here?” Soarin asked impatiently. It had been two days since the accident, and the normally active colt was growing restless. Spitfire hadn’t been back since she had hurried out the previous morning, saying she needed to think about some things.
“The good news is your leg is not broken.” The doctor, a dark burgundy stallion with a stethoscope cutie mark, observed as he held an x ray of Soarin’s leg up to the light. His expression remained blank while he scanned it; his eyes squinted narrowly as he searched for any discrepancies.
Setting that aside the pony moved to inspect the colt’s medical chart hanging at the end of the hospital bed, while the colt got to his hooves, testing the accuracy of the doctor’s diagnosis. The doctor grunted occasionally, pursing his lips as he read through the chart. Soaring couldn’t tell if he was earnestly reading or only pretending to read.
“Everything looks to be in order.” He replied with a smile. “Considering the nature of your accident it could have been much worse. Had you not caught yourself at the last moment I imagine I wouldn’t be talking with you now.”
The pegasus cringed at the outcome that statement suggested. Soarin would have never pegged himself for the suicidal type but for a moment he had actually considered it hadn’t he? The pony shook his head ridding himself of the thought. “What about my wing?”
“That filly friend of yours left here crying yesterday.” The doctor said distractingly a moment before he took hold of Soarin’s wing with his magic and pulled it outward, stretched it to its entirety. Soarin let out a cry, overwhelmed enough to shed tears at the severity of the pain the motion caused. Releasing his wing the doctor frowned. “I think its best you go apologize.”
--
Spitfire lay on Soarin’s bed, fiddling absently with the stuffed doll bearing his likeness. He busied himself hanging the get well cards from his fans on the wall alongside his numerous flying awards and an autographed poster of some famous pony the yellow mare didn’t recognize. The vibrant rays of Celestia’s setting sun fell in through the window playing off the highlights in her mane, creating the illusion of fire.
“What will you do?” She wondered out loud growing tired of the silence. While his apology had been uncomfortable, the explanation of his reasons for it was even more so. She still appeared doubtful but after a time had relented and accepted his apology after she made him promise that he would never try anything so recklessly stupid again.
“I haven’t thought about it.” He answered honestly. Now that the recent article he’d done for Cosmare magazine had gone public he was more popular than ever. This newest incident was only bound to agitate the already gossip hungry public, the thought of which left him unsettled.
Spitfire frowned tossing the doll at Soarin who appeared lost in thought. It smacked him on the side of the head, startling him from his stupor. He smiled playfully at the mare before crossing the room and jumping onto the bed beside her. She giggled as his added weight on the fluffy cloud mattress made her bounce.
“You know you’re my best friend right?” She said turning to stare into his bright green eyes. He matched her stare a moment before leaning over and kissing her lightly on the forehead.
Chapter 4:
“I think you should go to her house and apologize Rainbow.” Twilight said glancing up at the cyan pegasus floating on a cloud several feet above her. “After all it was your fault her route was waylaid.”
“She doesn’t have a house.” Rainbow blurted absently.
“Did you just say he doesn’t have a house?” The purple mare questioned, stopping midstride in the middle of the road. Noticing this Rainbow Dash dissolved the cloud, catching herself on the air in between before hovering back to her waiting friend. “Then where does she live?”
“Here and there I guess.” Rainbow Dash answered dismissively.
“But didn’t you go to flight school together?” Twilight asked curiously. It made sense to her seeing as they were both pegasi and about the same age.
“It’s not like we were friends.” The blue mare said defensively. “What about that fancy magic school you went to? How many friends did you have?” A culpable look from Twilight told her all she needed to know.
“She was there during the first few lessons I guess.” Rainbow Dash went on her magenta eyes rolled up as if she could see the events she was describing in the air above her head. She sounded bored however, as if it were old news. “But then there was some sort of accident at the cloud factory. I never saw her again after that.”
‘Some sort of accident’ might explain Derpy’s irregular eye condition, but it didn’t explain why she was homeless. “I still think you should apologize.” Twilight reiterated, as the blue mare inattentively acknowledged the idea. The unicorn frowned up at her friend disappointed by her lack of remorse. “…or maybe I’ll have to tell somepony about that magazine you got stashed back at the library?”
Rainbow Dash’s face flushed briefly, after which she quickly relented with an exasperated sigh, throwing her hooves into the air in mock surrender. This brought a smile to Twilight’s face, though the suggested blackmail left her feeling a bit guilty.
“Thank you.” The purple unicorn said smugly ignoring the angry glare Rainbow Dash gave moments before she speed off, leaving a shimmering streak of rainbow in her wake.
--
Derpy Hooves smiled at her new mailbag. As she had feared the stylish unicorn had jazzed it up somewhat, with silver rhinestones glittering from one corner of the satchel flap, the shape vaguely resembling the grey mare’s bubble cutie mark. The logo, which had begun to peel, had been reattached, the frayed bits of thread around its edge expertly mended, alongside a tear at the bottom left corner which Derpy had been watching grow larger by the day. The bag strap itself, which had been replaced with one that was doubled stitched for lasting durability, was also decorated with shimmering silver rhinestones.
The mail mares initial revelry was short lived as she had quickly given half her remaining bits for the repairs, too scared to negotiate for a smaller price. She had splurged on her garden salad the day before, her excitement getting the better of her, and now she was regretting that decision after learning, and paying, the price Rarity sought.
She stared at the menu in front of her. Everything sounded so appetizing, but at the same time she knew her options were limited. The bits she had left would need to last her the next several days.
“Are you ready to order miss?” The waiter asked coming to stand beside her. She stared at the menu a minute longer before pointing to a simple daffodil sandwich, which also happened to be the cheapest item on the menu. The waiter acknowledged the order before asking if she would like a drink to go along side. The grey mare shook her head, deciding that getting something to drink would only deplete her bits faster. She could use the water fountain in the park for free.
“And for you?” The waiter asked turning to the cyan blue mare who had alighted just across the table from Derpy. She slide the menu to her side of the table, perusing it quickly before choosing several items, all of which the waiter likewise acknowledged. Before Derpy could complain the stallion departed leaving the confused grey pegasus alone with Rainbow Dash.
“What are you doing here?” She asked.
“What does it look like?” The mare answered easily. “I’m having lunch with you.”
“I’d have lunch with Nightmare Moon before I’d have lunch with you!” Derpy said hastily. The cyan mare leaned back into the haystack she sat on an arrogant smile on her face. “Nightmare Moon isn’t here any more.” The blue pony replied smugly. “So it looks like you don’t have a choice.”
The waiter brought their food out an uncomfortable amount of time later and Rainbow Dash tucked in with a sloppy ferocity. Derpy picked at her sandwich, having found out already how difficult it was to eat with her sore tooth. The blue mare stopped briefly, midway through her meal, eying the grey pegasus curiously. “Aren’t you hungry?”
The grey mare’s stomach grumbled in reply when she cast her lopsided gaze away. A frown crossed her face as her left eye remained on Rainbow Dash. “It’s none of your business.”
“Look, I’m sorry about yesterday alright?” The blue mare relented. “There, I said it. Are you happy now?”
The wall eyed mare rubbed at her eye with a hoof, trying to coax it into a more desirable position, namely anywhere but Rainbow Dash’s smug smile. “You call that an apology?”
“I said I’m sorry.” The cyan mare retorted. “What more do you want?”
“I want you to mean it! I want you to apologize because you are genuinely sorry, not because somepony told you it was the right thing to do!” The mare shouted drawing the attention, and ire, of the other ponies at the cafe.
“You know about that?” Rainbow Dash asked, surprised the mare had called her bluff. Derpy stood suddenly, stuffing her uneaten sandwich into the empty pouch of her mail bag. Rainbow watched her with a confused expression.
“I do now.” The pony remarked with a scowl, the ferocity of the expression ruined by her wonky eyes. She tossed down several bits before spreading her wings and leaping into the sky, leaving a dismayed Rainbow Dash sitting at the table alone. The waiter arrived moments later, casting the mare with a disapproving glare. “Your bill madam.”
“Put it on my tab.” The exasperated blue mare said spreading her own wings.
“You do not have a tab!” The waiter shouted at the now empty space the mare had been moments before. He grumbled irately under his breath as he began to clear the table.
Chapter 5-
“Loosen up Soarin!” Spitfire laughed nudging the lethargic colt in the ribs. The fiery maned mare’s smile faltered, her bright excited eyes growing dim as she realized that perhaps she had made a mistake. “You like this kind of thing don’t you?”
The music from the club could be felt in the hooves of every pony waiting to get inside but Soarin wasn’t paying any attention, despite the fact if he had been he would have realized it was one of his favorite tracks. Instead his eyes traveled across the oddly adorned ponies mingling with one another as they waited. He had always been proud of his windswept look but it seemed to him as if these ponies went out of the way to look ridiculous, donning mane styles that defied physics.
“Why did you bring me here?” He asked growing uncomfortable. His stomach felt heavy as if he’d swallowed stones.
“Think of it as a farewell present.” The yellow mare said with an ever growing smile. “You know, one last hurrah.”
“You make it sound like my funeral.” Soarin retorted with an unamused glare. He hadn’t known if that was meant to be a joke or not but it wasn’t funny. Spitfire grimaced realizing her mistake. “Sorry.”
“That’s him!” A squeaky exuberant voice shouted the sound carrying easily over the din. “That’s Soarin from the Wonderbolts!”
Soarin turned his ears forward as voices saying his name caught his attention. His gaze settled on a group of adolescent mares. They were certainty old enough to be infatuated with colts but he was less sure if they were old enough to be hanging out at a nightclubs. He nodded his head ever so slightly, acknowledging their recognition.
Soarin groaned inwardly as they took his acknowledgment for an invitation. Spitfire offered him a devious smile, punching him playfully in the shoulder. He hissed as the gesture jarred his wing. Within moments of Spitfire’s departure he had been swarmed by curious ponies spitting questions at him with an intensity he hadn’t been expecting, much less prepared for.
It was situations like this that agitated the pony most. Soarin was a closet claustrophobe, harboring a secret fear of tight spaces and swarming crowds like this one; a situation easily avoided had he use of his wings. As it was he could only cast his eyes about frantically, searching for Spitfire while ignoring the continued inquiries by his rabid fans, which were quickly becoming the stuff of nightmares.
“Step off you lot of double crossing lightweights!” A welcome voice shouted, instantaneously drawing the attention of everypony in the vicinity. The music coming from within the nightclub, despite its intensity, was unable to drown out her voice. “You lot make me sick! There’s only one pony you should be sucking up to and that pony is me!”
The sunglass clad unicorn nodded to the two flanking security ponies. Soarin got to his hooves as the ponies pushed the crowd back. Without the distraction of fear Soarin realized he had at some point bitten into his lip hard enough to break skin.
“If I see such callous uncivilized behavior from any of you again I’ll 86 you’re flanks so fast your tail’s be coming out your noses! You got me?” The ponies gathered gave each other confused and ashamed glances. An arrogant smirk settled on the punk pony’s lips. “Now get back in line before I change my mind!”
--
“You should have told me you were coming.” The DJ pony said as she joined the pair of Wonderbolt’s backstage. “I would have let you in the back door.”
“It was her idea.” Soarin answered bitterly wiping blood from his lip. Spitfire ignored the connotation more interested in the white unicorn with the electric blue mane.
“So you’re DJ Pon-3!” Spitfire exclaimed eagerly. Her school filly excitement at seeing the DJ pony in the flesh surprised Soarin, who was positive she had no idea who she really was.
“That’s Vinyl Scratch to you sweet stuff.” The unicorn said winking at Spitfire over her trademark purple shades. The yellow mare blushed furiously and Soarin just rolled his eyes.
“Give it a rest V.” A stunningly beautiful grey pony, with a raven black mane and mesmerizing violet eyes, said. She had been listening to the conversation from the far corner, where she busied herself quietly tuning her instrument, a cello as big as she was. Vinyl Scratch sidled up to the posh pony an impish smile on her lips. “You jealous?”
“Hardly.” The sophisticated mare answered with a sarcastic eye roll, the barest hint of an accent slipping as she spoke. “That is to say…What I meant was…” The mare corrected, stumbling over her words, as she noticed the yellow mare watching from the sofa bite her lip self consciously. “Vinyl would be lucky to have a mare like you, wouldn’t you Vinyl?”
“Are you giving me permission?” The DJ asked playfully.
“Of course not!” The nameless gray pony squealed, taken aback by the very idea. A slight crimson hue came to the mare cheeks.
“You should see your face!” Vinyl managed to spit out between fits of raucous laughter. Spitfire giggled at the exchange while Soarin merely watched. They were an odd pair to be sure but he had never seen a happier couple. He would be lying if he didn’t say he was a little envious.
“Sometimes I can’t stand you!” The gray pony said abruptly replacing her instrument in its massive velvet lined case. Mediocre music pumping into the small room from the nightclub faded out as she slammed the door behind her. Vinyl rolled to her hooves, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“It’ll all be worth it baby!” The DJ pony shouted at the door. Spitfire flushed again as her mind flooded with errant thoughts. She wasn’t a stranger to relations with other ponies but never before had she thought about those between mares so freely. A thick silence hung over the room.
“Why don’t you go and have a chat with Octavia.” Vinyl suggested to Spitfire, deciding upon something she had been contemplating since saving Soarin from the overwhelming crowd outside. The Wonderbolt shot the pair a confused look at the unexpected change in atmosphere. Her eyes lingered on her friend several moments before he gave her the most fake smile she had ever seen on any pony.
“Go have fun Fire.” Soarin encouraged. “I’ll catch up.”
--
A cool breeze rose up from the valley below, ruffling Soarin’s mane pleasantly. It had been a while since he could enjoy the sensation, anymore his mind always on keeping his body aloft, or how to flawlessly pull off any of the tricks he was so well known for. He had forgotten what it felt like to fly for the sheer joy of it.
Vinyl stood beside him, her eyes watching the vibrant hues of sunrise peek over the distant mountains, as above them the starlight quickly faded.
“When you gonna hit on that?” Vinyl asked referring to Spitfire, who was probably passed out on the couch back at the club. “She seems like a real nice pony”
“It’s not like that.” Soarin answered, grimacing lightly at the suggestion. He knew she was trying to cheer him up but it wasn’t working. “Besides I think she has a crush on you.”
“Don’t tell Octavia.” Vinyl shot back, laughed loudly, her voice echoing across the sky. “I got a good thing going with her. I’d hate to ruin it now.”
The unicorn removed her shades, rubbing her eyes with her hooves. They were raw and bloodshot from overuse and lack of sleep. Soarin noticed her pupils quivering ever so slightly. For several months now she had been complaining of headaches and blurry vision, finally relenting to seeing an eye doctor at Octavia’s insistence.
“How long do you have?” Soarin wondered out loud.
“The doc said I’ll be completely blind within the month, maybe less.” The unicorn answered sadly. Even now she could only see traces of light and color; the shades blending together much like an abstract painting. How she managed to function as if nothing were wrong amazed Soarin, who until recently had never imagined life without flight.
“How do you cope?” He wondered. He longed to stretch his wings, to feel the breeze against his feathers, but he only managed to raise them a few inches before the searing pain stopped his progress. He reluctantly folded them again.
“You find something you love even more.” The mare answered after a moment of thought. “I’m going to lose my sight for good but I’m not worried because nothing I’ve ever seen has been as beautiful as the music she makes.”
“That’s…the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard.” Soarin said laughing lightly. Vinyl’s voice drowned this out as she nudged him fondly with her hoof. “If you want to go I won’t stop you.”
“As if you could.” He retorted arrogantly. Normally that statement would have been punctuated with a wing flourish but he fought that particular urge down, not looking forward to the pain it would bring.
“Maybe you should try to be somepony else for a while?” The white unicorn pony suggested seriously, her blazing red eyes watching him. “Until you find yourself again.”
“Somepony else?” He repeated thinking of Vinyl Scratch’s stage name DJ Pon-3. The pony that stood beside him now was not the same pony that had burst through the nightclub door nearly an hour before and scattered the mob, nor was she the same pony who teased Octavia and Spitfire so casually but rather a third pony.
“You think it’ll be that easy?” Soarin asked as he ran his hooves through his mane with a heavy sigh.
“It doesn’t matter what I think, it matters what you try.” The unicorn said philosophically. She wrinkled her brow in displeasure. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
Soarin laughed, the sound genuinely heartfelt. “I like this side of you.”
“You tell anypony and I’ll rip your wings off.” She said with a murderous smile. Soarin’s own smile faltered at that, as he forced his wings wide fighting the pain that flared up as a result. He took several minutes adjusting to it before climbing on the rail that protected non-pegasi ponies from the massive drop to the valley below. “Let’s hope you get that chance.”
“I’m not a real dentist Derpy.” Colgate said busying herself with a large complicated looking machine running the entire length of the basement wall. Derpy watched not because she was interested in what the mare was doing, but because the only time she could get the mare to listen was when she wasn’t focused on turning some knob or twisting some dial. “That was only a costume.”
A large whirring sound left the machine, which had begun to quiver. Colgate took several steps back, a frown on her face as she studied it. She hastily shoved past Derpy, flipping through a notebook while murmuring to herself about some nonsense the mail mare didn’t understand.
“Oh…Then, I’m sorry I bothered you.” Derpy said dismayed. The blue pony made a noise in response, too engrossed in her notes to acknowledge the depressed mares exit. Shoving the cellar doors open Derpy was momentarily blinded by the vibrantly bright sunlight, not yet covered by the scheduled thunderstorm due that evening. As a result she slammed headlong into a brown earth stallion intent on entering just as she emerged.
Her eyes swirled a moment and she shook her head to clear them. She managed to get them set on an even keel for several seconds before the left one decided it would much rather look to the sky.
“Sorry Doctor.” Derpy apologized frantically as she dove at several rolling screws that had fallen from the brown paper sack the brown earth pony had been carrying. He sat on his haunches, using his hoof to rub his flank which, like Colgate’s bore an hourglass cutie mark. She had heard rumors around town that they were in fact a pair of time traveling ponies, but the whole idea sounded a bit too outlandish to be believed.
“Are you alright Derpy?” The stallion asked concerned more for the safety of the gray pony than for the screws he had lost.
“It’s nothing.” She answered, absently rubbing at her jaw with a hoof. “I just wanted to talk to Colgate.”
“It didn’t go well I suppose?” The brown pony said with a knowing smile as he helped the grey pony to her hooves. She shook her head staring at the ground beneath them.
“Oh that’s right!” The mare exclaimed remembering her original purpose for being there. The mail mare shuffled in her mailbag withdrawing several letters addressed to the doctor. The brown pony took them awkwardly in his mouth while trying to balance the paper sack in his left foreleg. It was all very comical and Derpy cracked a smile.
“That’s more like it!” He said noticing, his words muffled a bit by the letters in his mouth. “It was a pleasure to see you again Derpy. Feel free to stop by anytime.” He paused thinking a moment before reiterating what he had meant to say. “Well not any time but you get the idea.”
“All right then. ” Derpy answered watching the stallion disappear down into the cellar. His voice could be heard faintly from within followed by a loud crashing sound. Moments later a thick cloud of smoke billowed up from below quickly followed by the pair of soot covered ponies.
And they all thought she was crazy.
--
Derpy sat in a puddle soaked from head to hoof. She shivered beneath a weak cloud she’d hastily created moments after the rains began. It had shrunk in the time between, growing smaller as the rain slowly dissolved it, streams of water leaking through the thinnest places.
The storm above her was unnatural and unscheduled, at least not by the local weather ponies. It was no big surprise Derpy thought given that show off slacker Rainbow Dash was their team leader.
A spark of light lit the sky as a crash of thunder startled the sleepy pony into waking. She chanced a look above, as another bolt of lightning danced among the charcoal grey clouds. She blinked the rainwater from her eyes. There was something…
The tiny black speck vanished, swallowed by the darkness as the lightning faded. She shrunk back beneath her cloud again as the thunder boomed, louder this time. The sound caused reactions in her body she didn’t understand as forgotten memories caused her muscles to recoil involuntarily. Several moments went by in which there was silence but for the relentlessly pounding rain and the eerie howl of the wind.
The speck meanwhile struggled to remain aloft, his wings numb to the near constant pain. The rainwater threaded through his feathers matting them to the point of uselessness. He was barely conscious, no longer aware of his existence, his animal instincts alone driving him…
“…llo? Yo…kay…?”
Soarin groaned as consciousness slowly found him again. He hadn’t realized he’d fallen from the sky, or that he was now lying on the ground, his wings splayed on either side of his battered body. A grey pegasus pony, her eyes mostly normal, watched him worriedly. The stallion opened his mouth to reply but the sounds leaving his lips bore no semblance to actual words.
The grey pony disappeared for a time as she tried in vain to fix her quickly dissipating cloud. It was the only thing protecting her, and now this unknown pony from the storm, which showed no signs of letting up before morning.
As she moved to check on the stallion again she found he’d fallen once more into unconsciousness, his breathing steady. It was easy to guess why he’d fallen given the deplorable state of his wings. A number of primary flight feathers were bent at awkward angles while more than a few others had been broken or splintered, not to mention his wings were thoroughly soaked, that alone enough to make flight impossible.
Derpy curled up beside the stallion, beneath his outstretched left wing which covered her like a rain soaked blanket. Unable to offer anything more than her own body heat to keep him warm as her weak cloud dissolved completely, the wall eyed mail mare slipped into a quiet dreamless sleep.
--
Soarin twitched as a large drop of rain slid down his cheek. His eyes fluttered open stunned by blindingly bright sunlight, broken only by the damp canopy of greenery above him. His body ached, his muscles protesting with even the smallest movement, eliciting a groan from the battered stallion.
He panicked at finding his wings were numb, breathing a sigh of relief only when he saw they were still attached; though looking worse than he had ever seen them. As he coaxed life back into them, grateful for the prickling tingle, he felt a blunt pain as something solid struck his ribcage. He lifted his wing gingerly, finding a small grey pegasus pony curled up beside him. She flailed in her sleep, her hoof barely missing striking him again as he stood abruptly.
The pony smacked her lips, mumbling something that sounded like… muffins?
“What the hell?” The colt muttered as he looked around, not recognizing his surroundings. He stepped away from the mare, careful not to wake her, before shaking the water from his coat, regretting it as pain flared across his wing. Flashes of unfamiliar memory floated back to him as he noticed the tufts of angry grey cloud still floating above the park.
He didn’t have a headache exactly, but a dull throbbing seemed to interrupt his thoughts whenever he tried to remember what exactly happened, and why he had woken beside this unfamiliar pony.
Be some pony else for a while. A voice he didn’t recognize invaded his scattered thoughts as he made his way toward a large fountain in the center of the park. Clear water trailed into its base from the mouths of two rearing ponies at its apex. He frowned, a stranger staring back at him, as he ran a hoof through his mane, the long navy blue locks falling into his emerald green eyes.
“How can I be some pony else,” The stallion muttered quietly to himself as an instinctual longing pulled his gaze skyward. He gnashed his teeth as an intense searing pain crippled his attempt to spread his wings. “When I don’t know who I am now?”
--
Derpy woke with a shiver and a yawn. She could remember feeling so warm only minutes ago, but as she searched for the source of that warmth all she found was empty air. Her eyes popped open and she fluttered her wings, rising quickly into the air. She slammed her head into a low branch she had neglected to notice was there, and promptly fell back to the ground, her head in a tizzy.
A laugh alerted the cross eyed mail mare to a foal watching her from a stroller and a smile rose to her face. The tiny foal’s mother however only glared, pushing the carriage further along the path and out of Derpy’s sight. A bit sadly the mail mare turned her attention to the absence of the broken pegasus pony, her face flushing, as she found herself quietly hoping it wasn’t all just some crazy dream.
The park was quickly filling with ponies. Most of them she recognized from her route, few of them from the glaring looks and whispered words when they thought she wasn’t looking, or couldn’t hear. She trotted among them for bit searching for the stallion she’d spent the night with, her search turning up empty.
It certainly felt real. She thought to herself as she shrugged her mail bag across her withers and took to the sky, eager for the distraction her job would provide.
Rarity let out a startled cry as the door of Carousel Boutique burst open and Derpy tumbled in. Unable to slow her momentum the clumsy pony rolled across the room upsetting several free standing pony figures and slamming headlong into an supply cabinet laden with...supplies.
“Hurry, shut the door!” She hissed peering out from the shelter of several rolled swatches of silky fabric that had fallen on her as a result of her collision. The white unicorn did as bid though much slower than Derpy would have liked, and with a fair amount of trepidation.
“Are you alright Derpy?” Rarity asked levitating the fabric off the grey pegasus pony despite the distance across the room. The grey mail mare seemed reluctant to leave the shelter of it, but relented at the unicorn’s insistence. She fluttered around the room closing the drapes and bathing the room in darkness.
“Just what has gotten into you?” Rarity questioned at the mail mare’s unusual behavior.
“Nothing,” Derpy lied. Her eyes scoured the room looking for a believable excuse. She smiled as her left eye found the dress she’d been admiring several days prior. “I…I just wanted to try on that dress I was admiring the other day.”
Rarity looked skeptical but her eyes lit up all the same.
Derpy held still as best she could while Rarity fitted the dress to her slightly larger frame. It itched a little, and was tighter than she was comfortable with in several areas, but all that was worked out in short order as the white unicorn adjusted it properly. The mail mare found her thoughts wandering across the events of the day only to have them pulled back as Rarity engaged her in frivolous conversation.
So long as that conversation remained on why she had not yet delivered all the mail and whether or not the dress chaffed she could handle it just fine.
“You did not come here to try on this dress did you?” Rarity asked suddenly calling the mail pony’s bluff. A devious and somewhat concerned smile came to her face as she continued to tug on the corset strings tightening the dress a bit more than Derpy was comfortable with. “I may not be the Element of Honesty but that does not mean I can’t pick out when a pony is lying. Now tell me what’s really bothering you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Derpy said quietly.
“Derpy dear, we’re friends right?” Rarity asked looking the mail mare in the one eye that was gazing forward. The other was staring someplace between her hooves or maybe a little bit further left, she wasn’t sure. The mail mare nodded slightly, still a bit uncertain herself, but regardless of the truth of it Rarity continued. “And as your friend I want to help you, but I cannot do that if you won’t tell me what’s wrong.”
Derpy bit her lip a moment before relenting to the white unicorn. She explained what had happened since she had seen her last; the argument with Rainbow Dash, her run in with the injured pegasus, her near encounter with him again at Sugarcube Corner only an hour before. She left out the argument with her co-worker at the post office. There were some things even friends didn’t need to know.
“So now I’m here…hiding from him…I guess.” Derpy finished lamely. “I’m sorry I lied to you.”
“Derpy, a crush is nothing to be ashamed of.” Rarity told her with a knowing smile.
“What? A crush!” Derpy said snapping her head up to look at Rarity with her rarely seen oddly straight eyed expression. “No, no that’s not it! I don’t even know his name!”
“Why don’t you ask him?” The unicorn suggested.
“But that’s…No. I can’t.” The grey pegasus pony sputtered, her cheeks flushed as she recalled the warmth of his body, the slight tickle of his feathers as she tucked herself beneath his outstretched wing. She couldn’t recall a time in her life when she had ever been so close to a pony, a stallion no less. The grey pony shook her head trying to rid herself of the images that came to mind, as well as the searing heat that warmed her cheeks.
“Stop fidgeting Derpy dear or you’ll ruin the dress.” Rarity’s voice broke through her thoughts and the grey mare stilled. “I’m sorry it’s just, it’s hard for me to talk to other ponies.”
“You’re talking with me just fine.” Rarity pointed out much to Derpy’s chagrin. The grey pony sighed and composed her thoughts before speaking.
“It’s not the same.” Derpy explained. “With you I don’t feel intimidated, or dumb, or different. You don’t hate me like other ponies do.”
“No pony hates you Derpy.” Rarity soothed.
“Rainbow Dash does.” Derpy said meekly.
“I’m sure that was all just a misunderstanding.” Rarity assured hopefully, sensing something far more than she was aware of was going on between the two ponies. Her sliver of doubt didn’t escape the notice of the grey pegasus who frowned visibly. “In any case she apologized didn’t she?”
Derpy’s response was a sniffle, accompanied by thick hot tears sliding down her cheeks, before she completely broke, no longer able to keep her feelings at bay. For a moment Rarity worried about the dress, but quickly replaced her fears with a genuine sympathy for her newest friend, alongside a slowly brewing annoyance toward Rainbow Dash.
“Let’s talk about something else.” Rarity said quickly as she dried Derpy’s tears with a scrap of discarded fabric. The white unicorn scoured the confines of her shop looking for a cheerier topic to discuss with the distraught pony. Her eyes landed briefly on an old flyer stuck into one corner of a free standing mirror near the armoire Derpy had upset upon her tumble into the shop.
“Have you ever been to the Grand Galloping Gala?”
--
Soarin was limping now, the tip of his left wing dragging the ground. He couldn’t find the strength to fold it properly, not that it mattered. He was in no condition to fly. Chasing that mail pony had proven that.
But why couldn’t he fly?
The stallion winced as he pulled his wings once more into his body before entering the bakery he had left moments before. Lifting his hoof he frowned noticing a splotch of red staining the edge of it. That mare had been bleeding he remembered vaguely and he felt even worse for unwittingly scaring her. Had that been his fault, her impact with the wall hardly seemed enough cause her to bleed. Maybe he had crashed into her last night…?
Before he could dwell on it for too long the annoyingly high pitched voice of the baker pony interrupted him.
“You came back!” She said happily noticing Soarin from across the room. She had a tray of muffins balanced on her head. “Sorry about Derpy. She can be a little weird from time to time. I don’t know why she was scared of you though. Maybe you should take her a muffin and apologize. She really really likes muffins!”
“You said her name was Derpy?” Soarin asked, a bit surprised by the name. Isn’t that a bad thing? Why would she have a name like that?
“Yep, that’s right, Derpy Hooves. She’s the mail pony here in Ponyville.” The pink mare said watching him quizzically. He appeared lost in deep thought as he stared at his hoof. "Are you alright mister? You don't look too good."
Soarin cringed at being called mister when he was only slightly older than she was if looks were anything to go by. He offered a weak smile before surrendering and passing over a hoofful of bits for a pastry of each flavor.
“You know where I might find her?” He asked the bag of muffins settled between his shoulder blades.
The pink pony rubbed her chin a moment. “Dash might know. She a blue pegasus pony, with a rainbow mane…” Something was familiar about that Soarin realized. “She should be clearing the clouds above the park about now.”
Soarin thanked the pink pony as he left the bakery his mind reeling with his subconscious attempt to piece together the vague notion of familiarity at the mention of Rainbow Dash.
Soarin casually munched on a muffin, his third in a matter of minutes. He’d wandered around Ponyville for a while, surprised he was having so much difficulty finding the park considering the size of the town, and the fact that he’d woken there that morning. He was used to much larger cities, Cloudsdale especially, considering if memory served him right it was where he spent a majority of his time.
“What are you doing on the ground?” A faintly familiar voice shouted startling Soarin who choked painfully on a chunk of muffin as he reflexively swallowed. The rainbow colored weather pony he was looking for settled on the ground in front of him, a suspicious and happy glint in her magenta eyes. “The boss pony wants these clouds cleared pronto!”
Dim ripples of thunder accompanied by weak flashes of lightning emphasized her comment as a bundle of storm cloud floated casually overhead. Soarin swallowed the lump of pastry on which he’d choked before grinning and flaring his wings as much as he was able. The mare’s unusual anger fell into an expression of pity. “Oh…”
He looked haggard and worn, his eyes watching her with only the impression of remembrance. She had never seen him out of uniform and now that she had it was all she could do to stop from staring. Despite the state of his injuries he was toned and lean, every bit the athletic daredevil she knew him to be, but his cheery playful disposition had been replaced by a questioning vacancy that left her puzzled.
“So am I excused?” He asked noticing her lingering gaze with more than a fair bit of confusion and uncertainty pulling her back to the present, the fan girl smile remaining. She had a very pretty smile he remembered vaguely as a flutter of memory broke through the fog clouding his mind. She mimicked his smile in reply to his question hiding her embarrassment with a witty retort. “You bust outta the hospital or something?”
The clouds overhead were forgotten as her curiosity got the better of her. Only the occasional rumble of faint thunder reminded her that she had a job she was effectively neglecting.
“Maybe...” He said with a withered shrug. “I don’t remember.”
“You don’t remember what?” She answered as if his forgetting everything was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. “How do you forget something that leaves you looking like that?” Rainbow continued skeptically gesturing to the stallion’s injured body. His pale coat was unable to hide the patch of dark bruising coloring the skin across his chest, not to mention the state of his wings. It was amazing he’d managed to get airborne at all.
“I uh, hit my head,” He answered. “And everything’s a bit hazy. How do you know me?”
“You don’t remember that either?” She realized disappointingly.
“Maybe, vaguely...” He answered slowly. He hadn’t forgotten completely, his memory of her was unclear at best but it was far more prominent than that of his inability to fly, or that of the grey mare he’d woken beside that morning.
“You are Rainbow Dash aren’t you?” The mare smiled eagerly for all the wrong reasons. “The pink pony at the bakery said you could help me find somepony.” Soarin continued changing the subject as he remembered his motive for seeking out the vibrantly colored pony.
--
Derpy Hooves made her way across Ponyville ducking into bushes and hiding behind trees. Her eyes flitted everywhere, watching the ground and the sky simultaneously, which for her wasn’t a difficult task normally. Trying to do so purposely however turned out to be more difficult than she anticipated and more than once had landed her on the wrong side of an irate pony. She suspected half the reason was because how late she was in delivering the mail, it was nearing dusk, the sky painted in ever darkening shades of yellow and pink.
She smiled lightly to herself as she enjoyed the sensation of flight, her deliveries all made, the weight of her empty mail bag resting lightly against her flank. The rhinestones shimmered faintly in the dying light of day and her conversation with Rarity came to mind.
With a somewhat awkward landing she trotted the remaining distance to the post office. She nudged the door open with a hoof surprised to find the lobby vacant, until she remembered the late hour. With a flick of her tail she trotted toward the back rooms, where the mail was sorted before delivery to the various cities and towns including and surrounding Ponyville. A sliver of light traced along the floor and after a moment of pondering she followed where it led.
A well worn door hung slightly ajar at the back of a short hallway. She crept up to it, as quietly as possible, cringing each time her hooves touched the floor. Holding her breath she leaned towards it, intending to look through the crack but her eyes weren’t cooperating. After a moment of twisting and fidgeting she managed to get her right eye on an even enough keel to peer in, but the act involved leaning on the door itself, which held for but a moment before it swung inwards depositing the eavesdropping mare into the room.
“Miss Hooves?” A deep grumbling voice spoke sounding mildly surprised.
“Post Master!” Derpy said a bit louder than she had intended as she scrambled to her hooves. “I…I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to fall in…”
“You’re back awfully late Miss Hooves.” The large brown stallion said lightly a smile touching his lips. “No trouble I hope?”
“Oh, um…no, that is, not related to the mail, sir.” The mare managed to say, cringing at how fickle it sounded once voiced. She was surprised she’d managed to say anything at all given how intimidating her boss could be by simply standing there much less when he chose to also speak.
“About this ‘falling in’ as you so put it,’ He began stepping out from behind his desk, “I’ve been meaning to speak with you about your recent performance.”
Derpy bit her lip dolefully her shoulders slumping. The stallion’s softened gaze went unnoticed as the mares eyes were currently looking at the floor beneath her hooves and a small bookshelf set against the wall to her right. A broad hoof on her shoulder brought her attention, and one of her eyes, to the stallion standing in front of her. “It seems there have been some complaints.”
“That’s bad…” The grey pony muttered sadly rubbing her eyes with a hoof until they settled properly.
“Yes complaints are normally a bad thing however,” The stallion went on his tone brightening considerably. “I have also received some considerable insight concerning how well you perform under pressure, compliments of a ‘dear friend’.”
“What does that mean?” Derpy asked blatantly not understanding the implication of the stallion’s words.
“It means Miss Hooves,” The stallion said reaching into his desk and pulling out a considerably sized envelope. “That you have earned a bonus and a bit of vacation as it were.”
“A vacation?” Derpy murmured in disbelief her ears lying flat. She took a step back ignorant of the envelope lying on the desktop. Vacation meant time off and time off meant… “You’re firing me?”
The stallions face fell as he realized the mare had misunderstood. “How long have you worked for us Miss Hooves?”
Derpy thought a moment before answering. “Three years sir.”
“…And in all that time have you once not gotten a package where it was meant to go?” He asked. The mail mare shook her head. She prided herself on her record of correct deliveries, not the speed at which she delivered them. “Now, I’m giving you two weeks, paid leave. I expect you back bright and early once that time has passed. Do you understand?”
Derpy nodded meekly accepting the envelope with a bit of hesitance before turning to leave the office. She paused at the door, her ears still flat, her shoulders still slumped. She glanced back at her boss, insecurity written on her face. “So, I’m not fired?”
“No Miss Hooves,” the stallion said with an appeasing smile. “Two weeks, then I expect you back bright eyed and smiling.”
The slightly confused and somewhat relieved mail mare alighted gently on the remains of a cloud, thankful that the previously trapped lightning had dissipated. She cast her gaze toward the horizon where the last traces of daylight slipped below the distant mountains. Within moments the stars had begun to emerge as Luna scattered them across the dark sky in wake of a nearly full moon.
Creating a comfortable pony sized crater in the cloud she dug into her mailbag smiling lightly at the envelope full of bits before bypassing it and pulling out the Grand Galloping Gala pamphlet Rarity had given her that afternoon.
Echoes of phantom laughter nearly stopped her as she was reminded of yet another misnomer ponies lumped in with her impairment; she couldn’t read. It wasn’t that she couldn’t read but rather the fact that holding her eyes at an even keel for extended periods of time, in this case the act of reading anything longer than a short article, caused terrible headaches.
Pushing past the memories she immersed herself in the words and pictures before the daylight could retreat fully, replacing the bodies of mares with her own as she imagined herself where they had been. A smile grew on her face as her imagination ran free; whisking her away to the kind of place she’d only dreamed about.
She shook her head violently however scattering the daydream as she found herself implanting that handsome colt into the fantasy with her. Still a smile graced her lips at the idea. Maybe she should talk to him like Rarity suggested?
Maybe…
A sudden breeze pulled the pamphlet from her hooves, and with a cry she dove after it, grasping uselessly at it with her teeth and hooves, but the breeze was relentless and in a matter of moments with the continued tug the phantom wind carried it across the sky and out of Derpy’s reach. (6)
Chapter 10 -
Derpy shuffled nervously outside Rarity’s boutique. It had been a couple of days since she’d begun her vacation, and she’d spent a majority of that time searching the town for the pamphlet she had lost, flying her usual route to keep it fresh in her mind, and avoiding the mysterious stallion she hadn’t yet worked up the courage to talk to. She had seen him several times though, mostly with Rainbow Dash, a sight that saddened her more than she let on.
“Are you going to stand there all morning dear?” Rarity inquired. Derpy looked up to find the white unicorn standing in the doorway, her empty saddlebags thrown across her haunches. “I’m afraid the shop will be closing for a bit while I’m in town, but you’re more than welcome to come along if you’d like.” The unicorn offered, sensing the pony’s hesitation.
“You don’t mind…?” Derpy asked her eyes scanning the sky and accompanying street simultaneously.
“Of course not darling,” Rarity’s eyes lit up as an idea formed. “In fact, you can help me pick out the accessories for…well you’ll find out soon enough. Just come along for now, I’d like to finish before evening arrives.”
“Um, Rarity, if it’s not too much to ask could…” Derpy took a deep breath gathering her wits before she went on. She was sure the answer would probably be ‘yes’ but there was always the possibility it would be ‘no’. “Could you give me some tips? I’d like to try um, talking to that pony I mentioned the other day.”
“That’s wonderful darling.” Rarity exclaimed. “I was growing rather impatient myself.”
“Impatient?” Derpy wondered out loud trotting to catch up to the unicorn that had already made her way well into the town proper. Several of the side streets had been sectioned off into themed areas each bustling with activity, as vendors hawked their wares and negotiated with consumers.
A faint blush touched Derpy’s cheeks and she shrank a bit as they passed a large group of ponies gathered around a food concession stall. The smell coming from within reminded Derpy, by means of a grumbling stomach, that she’d skipped breakfast again, though with her recent bonus she couldn’t think of a good reason why. Old habits die hard, she supposed. A smile quirked Rarity’s lips as she noticed the rather adorable expression on Derpy’s face as the mail mare did her best to hide her embarrassment.
“Let’s stop for lunch shall we?” The unicorn suggested.
--
Nearly half a serving of garden salad remained on Derpy’s plate, ignored in her haste to escape as quickly as possible. From where she hid, on the rooftop of the café behind an awning, she could see the dining area, and the table she had shared moments before with Rarity, discussing the very pony she had unceremoniously fled from.
Her crossed eyes fled over his form and that of the purple mare accompanying him. Twilight Sparkle she knew, a studious librarian, smart and reliable, prone to fanatical skepticism, the pegasus stallion standing beside her however was still an enticing mystery. He was even more attractive than she’d previously thought given the changes to his outward appearance and the smile on his lips. Yet that same smile was betrayed the glimmer of uncertainty in his distant gaze.
She had become so lost in her appreciation of the stallion’s appearance that she nearly failed to notice the streak of sky blue and rainbow flash past her vision. Had her right eye not been prone to drift without warning she would have missed it, but not for long.
Rainbow Dash settled on the rooftop right next to Derpy, startling the grey mare into awareness of her immediate surroundings. She eyed the cross-eyed mare with a look resembling distaste just shy of outright hatred, though that did little to settle the mail mare’s quickened heart beat.
“You like Soarin, don’t you?” The arrogant pegasus said reprovingly, bypassing a proper greeting for accusation. Derpy remained silent, her eyes narrowed in what she hoped was anger and not masked cowardice. Truth be told she was terrified, more so than she had been the other day, but then she hadn’t been alone with an apparently angry Rainbow Dash.
“Thought as much...” The blue mare snarled with a click of her tongue and flick of her mane. She cast a brief glance toward the three chatting ponies below them, assuring perhaps that she could not be seen. They all seemed thoroughly distracted and Derpy couldn’t help but visibly quiver.
“I don’t care if you like him or not alright?” The prismatic pony said with a derisive snort, turning her attention back to the cowering mail pony. “What I got a problem with is you getting in the way of my life!” Rainbow Dash snarled. “That stallion down there is my ticket into the Wonderbolts and I will not let you ruin this for me!” She shoved her hoof into Derpy’s chest to punctuate the statement, knocking the pegasus pony off her hooves. “Do you understand?”
Derpy bit her tongue, anything she could have said lost amid her overwhelming fear and uncertainty as she quickly nodded her understanding. She remained paralyzed both physically and emotionally long after Rainbow Dash disappeared, her voice ringing in Derpy’s ears. A small smile crept to the mail mares face however as Dash’s words sank in fully. She only cared about being a Wonderbolt, meaning she had no romantic interest in him… right?
Derpy laughed out loud at the knowledge, quickly clamping her hooves to her mouth to stifle the sound that escaped. Peering over the edge of the rooftop a blush touched her cheeks as her eyes locked with those of the object of her affection. She caught a glimpse of the curious smile on his lips before a quick nudge from Twilight stole his attention.
Rarity’s voice called up from below, and after a quick attempt to align her eyes properly Derpy watched the purple unicorn and stallion move away, hesitation evident in the stallion’s shuffling gait. With a slight nod of her head Rarity wordlessly indicated the all clear, though the smile on her face was nothing less than devious. After a moment more of hesitation Derpy fluttered down and the pair began to shop in earnest.
--
“What do I say?” Derpy asked worry etched into her features.
“Just introduce yourself like we rehearsed.” Rarity said as she made last minute adjustments to the outfit she’d created for just this occasion. Derpy poked at the brim of the hat she wore, a floral piece of gaudy headwear Rarity insisted she have on to make a lasting impression. Derpy had grumbled something about her little disfigurement being all the impression she would leave.
“Derpy dear, you are a beautiful mare and don’t let me hear you ever say otherwise.” Rarity replied sternly, the grey mare flushing a deep red at the compliment. “Now that stallion has been trying to find you for days and if that isn’t all the encouragement you need…”
“Ow!” Derpy cried out very much in the present after her little foray into her minutes old memories. Rarity hastily apologized but something about the needle prick made Derpy think that it was on purpose.
“I want you to promise me you’ll stop hiding from him. Can you do that?” The hesitant mare bit her lip and nodded. Though she tried to look away one eye lingered long enough to see Rarity give her an encouraging smile.
Outside the sun was setting. The vibrant blue of the daytime sky gradually replaced by withering shades of orange and pink as the evening loomed. Rarity had given her little more than ‘just outside of town’ and ‘you can’t miss it’ as clues to where she was supposed to meet Soarin. The grey mare smiled to herself enjoying the sound of his name, though she’d yet to say it out loud.
“Remember what we’ve discussed and you’ll do just fine.” Rarity encouraged.
--
Spitfire glided through the still night air enjoying the feel as it caressed her feathers. Far above her the moon and stars shone brightly, illuminating the wisps of thin cloud through which she flew. She shivered lightly as the residual moisture settled on her coat. She could see the lights of Ponyville shining in the darkness, and below in a faintly lit clearing sat a familiar pegasus stallion.
A smile came to her face…
A Night to Remember
Limits
Soarin tugged at the edge of the blanket, smoothing the wrinkles and assuring it was free of debris. Fireflies flitted around the clearing, mimicking the vibrant twinkling starlight overhead. He let his gaze trail idly toward the night sky, flexing his wings casually. The ache had been lessened considerably in the past several days, courtesy of a numbing spell from Twilight Sparkle and regular wing exercises with Rainbow Dash.
He had not yet been able to fly fully however, a hover and glide combination the most he was able to accomplish without inducing pain. The agonizing ache had become an annoying itch clawing at the forefront of his mind, tormenting his instinctual need to unite with the sky.
Lost in thoughts he failed to notice the vibrant yellow mare as she snuck up behind him, her hooves making nary a sound in the damp grass. His eyes flew wide and he was unable to hold in his cry of surprise as she threw her hooves around him and licked his cheek all in a matter of moments. He rubbed at the moistened fur on his face with his foreleg as she released him.
“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were expecting somepony else.” Spitfire said as she trotted around the blanket, eying the spread. Soarin had no idea what the grey mare liked aside from muffins, so he’d gotten one of everything the pink baker pony had offered as well as a variety of apple themed treats from a somewhat familiar apple farmer set up just outside the shop.
“What are you doing here Spitfire?” He asked after a hesitant moment. He remembered her, his flying partner and closest friend since they were both foals. In fact he remembered her with a vivid clarity, her presence bringing to light, rather conveniently, a big portion of memory regarding his wings. He glanced back at them over his shoulder frowning at their state of disrepair. He had preened them rather aggressively in preparation for this evening and as a result they appeared ragged and unkempt.
“Been wondering where you got to.” The mare said as she grabbed a muffin and began to eat, chewing on it thoughtfully. “Scratch said you’d gone to clear your head. I figure that’d only take a couple hours, but you’ve been gone for days.”
“I’ve been a little distracted.” Soarin answered, flushing faintly as his thoughts strayed toward the grey mare. He wasn’t keen on revealing the whole truth allowing Spitfire to instead amuse herself with his foalish romantic yearnings for a pony he hardly knew. His wings rose a bit at thought of her his soft silken feathers frayed though they were almost glowing in the faint moonlight.
“I knew it!” Spitfire chuckled in triumph, noticing the motion. “I told Scratch some filly had caught your eye!”
Soarin’s face grew warm as he pressed thoughts of the grey mare deeper into his subconscious, and folded his wings. It was uncomfortable being one of ‘those pegasi’, the kind prone to what many liked referring to as ‘wingboners.’ He hid his embarrassment with a cocky grin, one his friend had missed, having rarely seen as of late. She was still bothered by the somewhat vacant look in his eyes however.
“How long you going to stay here?” She asked, teasing done for the moment. “Tryouts are coming up and the Gala…”
“I still can’t fly without hurting and the truth is I don’t know if I ever will.” He answered as she trailed into worried silence.
“I don’t understand.” Spitfire said after a fair bit of contemplation in which her eyes trailed more than once toward his wings. “The doctor said it was just a sprain, he said you’d be fine after a couple of weeks.”
“It was a sprain,” Soarin answered, “But there’s more to it than that. It’s been happening for months, I know you’ve noticed the practices I’ve missed, the routines I’ve fumbled. It’s not just my wings Spitfire. It’s something else,” He tapped his hoof to the side of his head. “It’s something up here.”
“Then fix it!” She cried, worried for not just the future of the Wonderbolts, but the future of her best friend. “There’s medicine and therapy!”
“Don’t you think I’ve already tried?” He said his voice rising, not in anger but in anguish for his own fate. The sky was where he belonged and now that it had been taken from him, he’d become depressed, unable to think clearly, unable to laugh and joke and enjoy the life he once had. “I have! I’ve tried everything I can think of…”
“Then try something else!” She snapped angrily, striding through the picnic ignorant to the food caking her hooves. She had always had a volatile temper, carefully hidden, but easily provoked. Other ponies had always said that was why they got along so well, he was the ice to her fire. “The Wonderbolts need you! I need you!”
“Fire, don’t do this…please.” He begged. “Not now.”
“Yes now!” She insisted her wings flaring, her mane glistening in the moonlight. He occasionally wondered if someplace deep inside she wasn’t made of flame. “You are going to fly if I have to drag you up there and drop you myself!”
The mare blinked in surprise as his hoof flew across her muzzle, snapping her head to the side. A faint heat radiated from the point of impact as she raised her own hoof to touch her cheek. Soarin was staring at her as she slowly turned her head back his way. His eyes were glassy, little storms of emotion swirling in their dark depths. It was a look she had only seen once before and hoped to never see again.
“Go home Spitfire.” He said quietly, his tone leaving no room for argument. The mare took a step back realizing the muck caked on her hooves as she glanced down at what had at one time had been a pasty of some sort. She took a moment to stare at the mess she had made her eyes brimming with apology. “Soarin….I, I’m sorry.” She murmured. “I’m …so sorry.”
“I know.” Soaring answered refusing to meet her gaze. “I know.”
--
Derpy’s wall eyed gaze flicked around nervously as she stumbled over the brambles and roots busting through the path along which she walked. The moon in the sky was dull casting barely enough light to see by but still the determined pony walked on. She had become lost quite easily once she’d left the unmarked borders of Ponyville and the familiar comforts of her usual mail route.
The night had fallen in quickly, lit by a smattering of vibrant starlight and fluttering lightning bugs. Perhaps it had not been the best idea to chase one, as that was the primary reason she had become lost, but not having a destination in the first place was just as viable a reason.
“Why did I agree to this?” She wondered out loud, her voice providing little comfort. Yet another root upset the pony’s pace causing her to stumble. “Sure he’s good looking…” She murmured out loud to herself, trying to conjure up excuses for putting herself in danger for a late night rendezvous with a pony who was essentially a stranger, as well as comfort her quaking nerves with the sound of her own voice. “And no doubt he’s smart, and kind, and…”
A deep blush rose to her face as she struggled to create words to describe her admiration. With a renewed vigor the excited mare trotted faster, stumbling much more often as a result. She swept her eyes along the periphery of the path, searching for something different, something that would lead her to her final destination. Several long minutes passed and she was beginning to lose hope.
Her fallen smile was renewed however as a firefly, its abdomen glittering in the darkness caught her eye. She pranced after it cooing softly, the sound having no affect on its seemingly random flight path. As she followed it that one bug was joined by another, and another, and after too long the bugs had become a multitude of flickering lights hung in the still night air. Derpy blinked several times as she emerged into a clearing the sight she was met with giving her pause and more than a bit of confusion. She was sure it hadn’t meant to look like this, though she had been to more than a few of Pinkie Pie’s picnics and often times this was the end result…
Shaking her head she stepped further in, catching a slight bit of movement from the corner of her wandering eye. The handsome pegasus stallion she’d been admiring from afar lay curled on his side his wings pressed tightly to his sides, his face hidden beneath a foreleg. Alongside him was a checkered picnic blanket, laden with what appeared to have been food at one point. Derpy raised her own hoof as something squished beneath it. A quick sniff revealed the smell of apples and cinnamon, apple pie?
The stallion shifted his head moving around to peer at her over his shoulder. After only a moment of study, his eyes glistening with moisture, he lay back down and Derpy’s quizzical stare fell into one of desolation. Something had happened while she was en route, something that had ruined his surprise, and caused him tears. Biting her bottom lip Derpy contemplated whether she should stay or leave.
Her mind was made up for her as her eye drifted across the destroyed contents of the picnic, settling on what appeared to be the only intact bit of food remaining. A single muffin lay on its side, hidden beneath the remains of what she could only guess had been another pie of some unknown flavor. With a smile Derpy cleared a space on the blanket and sat, brushing the crumbs from the muffin with a wingtip.
“Do you… want to share?” The hopeful mare broke the muffin in half, offering the stallion the bigger of the two parts as he responded dolefully, turning around and facing her, his expression one of apology. Her hopeful smile was infectious however and before long he found himself returning it in earnest.
Limits
Soarin stared quietly at the fading starlight as dawn approached, Derpy lying only a short distance away. She was awake but only just, her mismatched eyes fluttering weakly as sleep hung heavy upon them. She shook her head, managing to snap herself fully awake though that too was fleeting. A glance toward Soarin found his gaze lingering on the sky, his eyes distant as if he were lost in some far off memory.
She bit her lip ashamedly as one wonky eye remained on him, trailing it seemed of its own accord across his messy wings. She ruffled her own feathered wings unconsciously. A slight chuckle found her gaze momentarily locked with Soarin’s, as well as a flushing pink coloring her muzzle.
Throughout the night the pair had shared what could be salvaged from the picnic, as well as several short awkward conversations. Soarin told her what he could of his still fragmented memories while Derpy explained, alongside numerous apologies, what had happened to cause his memory loss and the various injuries that went hoof in hoof with it. As the morning loomed the conversations had fallen into a serene silence, and Derpy again felt her head fall forward; her eyes again fluttering open doggedly as darkness threatened to overcome her.
It was a losing battle…
She spent several moments lost in the quiet darkness, unsure if she was awake or sleeping. From within the veil of slumber she became acutely aware of three things; first was the light yet firm press of the stallions lips against her cheek, second was the soft quiet ‘thank you’ whispered into her ear, and third was the steady measure of his retreating hoof steps.
--
“You’re giving this to me?” Derpy asked in disbelief. The golden ticket she held in her hooves shimmered brightly in the noonday sun. She rubbed her eye absently, admiring the calligraphic script adorning the gold colored paper once her eyes had settled into a proper fashion. The flicker of a scowl crossing Rarity’s face went unnoticed by the distracted mare before it was replaced by an easy smile.
The pair sat outside a small café eagerly awaiting their cuisine. Derpy had splurged on a sandwich and lemonade, the pouch in her saddlebags still bursting with bits despite this. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d had such a pile of money, yet she was reluctant to use it for anything more than small sporadic urges. It was true Post Master had given her a vacation and that at the end of it she would still have a job and an income, but she couldn’t guarantee anything in way of an apartment payment or rental fee, half the reason she was still sleeping on clouds or beneath trees in the park...
“Of course darling,” Rarity assured snapping the mare from her thoughts. “One night was more than enough for me.”
There was adamant derision in the white unicorn’s tone that Derpy couldn’t decipher on her own. Though she found herself slightly curious as to why Rarity would forfeit such an illustrious gift she chose not to press the matter further. “But why give them to me?” Derpy wondered. “There has to be some other pony…”
Her eye fell to the ticket again as small smile creeping to her face. She wondered if she would have to part with it at the door. Maybe she could keep it and put it in a frame? Then she could hang it in the house… she didn’t have. Derpy’s small smile fell as she tucked the ticket into her saddlebags.
“That’s only part of the reason I invited you to lunch.” Rarity said a coy smile playing on her face. Derpy leaned back as Rarity leaned forward, her eyes gleaming. “Tell me how it went last night?”
Derpy’s face reddened as remembered the feeling of the stallion’s lips on her cheek and his voice in her ear. She stammered out a reply that was less than actual words and only a little more than thoughtless mumbling. Rarity chuckled lightly. “So it went well?”
The grey pony nodded sipping hastily at her drink while Rarity mimicked the action with a bit more sophistication than Derpy was able to convey. The sun was warm on her wings and she found herself stretching them out the tiniest bit, reveling in the soothing heat as it dried the remaining traces of that mornings dew from her soft down feathers. “I like him…” The grey pony mumbled, her tone rivaling Fluttershy in quiet meekness. “Like-Like him…” She clarified after a moment.
“I’ve no doubt of that.” Rarity teased lightly. “The question now is what you are going to do about it.”
“What do you mean?” Derpy wondered rubbing absently at her drifting eye. It panned longingly to the sky and the thin wisps of cloud overhead while the other stared doggedly at the half eaten sandwich in front of her.
“I should think it obvious.” Rarity murmured nibbling at her salad. “He has made the first move, now it is your turn.”
Derpy’s brow wrinkled in confusion as she attempted to decipher just what the unicorn was trying to tell her. After a length of time it was Rarity’s turn to clarify. “Ask him to the Gala.”
--
Soarin flapped his large wings, scattering the lingering morning dew. The pain he’d been fighting the last several months had become a dull ache, near forgotten with the help from Twilight Sparkle’s magic. However while the pain had been lessened considerably, the tension and the fear remained, an ever present distraction in his mind, competing with his natural born instincts. Though he longed for the sky something held him back, something not related to his physical well being.
“Are you coming or not?” Rainbow Dash hollered from further up, sitting casually on a tuft of cloud. She watched him carefully a teasing challenge in her magenta eyes. “I bet you one of Applejack’s homemade apple pies you can’t beat me to the edge of the Everfree and back.” Rainbow repeated reminding the distracted stallion of their wager. At the mention of apple pie, homemade no less, Soarin’s mouth began to water and a lopsided grin quickly spread across his face. He wiped it away, replacing it with a cocky smirk, as he exhaled deeply and launched his body into the sky.
Now or never!
Chapter 13
Derpy pressed her muzzle against the glass peering curiously at the hats displayed on the other side. Dawn had yet to break fully over the horizon, the sky awash with ever brightening pinks and oranges of varying hues. The shop was still closed given the early hour, but Derpy hadn't been able to sleep any longer her mind aflutter with thoughts.
With a sigh the mare stepped away from the window. Her mail bag was heavy with the bits she had not yet spent, and though it was available she still had trepidations about spending it on herself. Perhaps she could repay the kindness Rarity had shown her, but there was nothing worthy of that mares friendship, and next to her own designs everything just looked too...plain.
Derpy winced as her stomach let out a loud gurgle of hunger. She folded her ears back and cast her gaze around her, breathing a sigh of relief only when she was sure nopony had been around to hear it. With a flush of embarrassment Derpy flapped her wings and took to the sky in search of someplace quiet to quell her hunger.
--
Soarin sat on a small cloud floating just outside the outskirts of Ponyville, lingering just beyond the boundaries of the Everfree forest. The breeze blew through his mane, as his thoughts wandered toward semi forgotten memories. He'd spent the last week regaining large chunks of it due to some helpful memory recanting spells from Twilight Sparkle and some intense one on one time with his own thoughts.
"Soarin get your flank in gear! Those clouds aren't going to clear themselves!" Rainbow shouted from her position several yards away. Pegasi flitted about the sky above Ponyville, the blue pegasus and the former wonderbolt being the only two not currently stomping and smashing clouds of various consistencies.
Soarin got to his hooves and stomped half heartedly at the dark clouds spongy surface. It easily resisted the pressure he forced upon it. He spent several minutes poking at it unenthusiastically before slumping down, his hooves dangling over the edge . He scanned the earth below ignoring Rainbow Dash's continued shouts, a thin smile tugging at his lips. She reminded him of Spitfire, though a younger more brash version.
The stallion continued to watch the ground even as Rainbow Dash alighted beside him. She was quiet for a few moments before she spoke to him. "Is everything alright Soarin?" She muttered, seeming uncomfortable with the question. or maybe with asking it.
"How much do you know about the Wonderbolts Dash?" He didn't look at the blue mare as he spoke but someplace far off in the distance. His eyes were vacant, as if he were lost in a memory. When the mare answered in the childish way he had come to expect, calling the Wonderbolts speedy and agile trick ponies mostly, he found himself a little turned off. "The Wonderbolts are a branch of the Royal Equestrian Military Dash, the air force division to be exact." He explained. “they perform for the crowds as a show of strength and skill, but at the heart of them is their purpose. They were formed as a means to protect Equestria in the event of a crisis.”
He sounded sure about this more so than with anything he'd remembered thus far. "Most ponies spend their whole lives training to get in while others..." His voice trailed off and he hesitated before continuing. "Others are forced in."
Rainbow Dash wrinkled her brow. "What do you mean... forced?"
"Military school Dash." He answered flatly. "I didn't become a Wonderbolt because I wanted to. I became a Wonderbolt because the only other option was...well, there was no other option. Not for me."
“Why tell me this?” Rainbow Dash muttered her face falling. Had she been wrong? Her whole life had been dedicated to the pursuit of Wonderbolts fame. She had wanted to join the nations best stunt team not a military organization. She kicked forlornly at a tuft of cloud, easily breaking it off , the thin dark wisps dissipating.
The stallion watched the tuft of cloud vanish. A smile crossed his face, small at first but growing as he seemed to come to a decision. “Rainbow Dash, what are you doing for the Gala?”
--
Soarin stared forlornly at a thin wisp of cloud between his hooves. The floor was cold beneath his flanks, but less than the dark stare he received from the warden, a burly strapping mare with piercing green eyes, as she passed by. The colt hung his head his locks of navy blue mane concealing the hurt deep within his eyes. The door opened and he dared look up, more on impulse than want. His lower lip trembled and he opened his mouth but not a sound came out. There wasn't time to utter any words as the gurney carrying the young filly speed past.. It quickly disappeared behind a second set of doors.
"Nothing to say?" The warden huffed striding forward, a pompous air about her. The colt glanced up, tears pricking behind his green eyes, his lower lip trembling. "You'll find an apology in time." She murmured after a moment. "They always do."
--
Derpy shuffled nervously as Rarity's aura of blue magic lit around the ribbon of the hat box she had brought with her. Her eyes flew around the room landing on the various hat's the fashionable pony had strewn about the shop. She didn't know if they were ones the mare had made, or ones she had bought but a sudden urge to tear the box away from her friend seized her gut. She glanced to the floor once more forcing her eyes to look elsewhere but at Rarity's face as she pulled the lid off the box.
A squeal of delight pierced the air as Rarity pulled the hat from the box and placed it on her head. Derpy chanced a glance up to find a smile brimmed across Rarity's muzzle. “Why Derpy, wherever did you find such an exquisite hat?”
The gray mare smiled. “You like it?”
“I love it darling.” The unicorn exclaimed gleefully. Her face fell for a moment from delight to confusion. “But whatever made you think to get me a gift? Surely you do not think you owe me for the one you misplaced?”
Derpy bit her lip and nodded a bit shamefully. Rarity draped the small pegasus in a tight hug, before releasing her to ogle once more a her reflection. “Friends do not owe each other gift for those given, though I do so appreciate the sentiment darling.”
Derpy had thought the hat a bit to gaudy when she had first spotted it, but when she thought back to those she had seen around carousel boutique, and those she had seen the unicorn wear before, she knew that no amount of feathers or flowers would be too much. Indeed this hat had far too many of both but the color was what suited the mare far more than the design.
“Since you are here I've made one minor adjustment to that gown I've been designing. Would you care to try it on once more?” Rarity perked at the smile Derpy tried to hide at the thought of trying on the dress. “The gala is only a few days away , have you made any progress asking you know who?”
A faint blush colored Derpy's cheeks and she shook her head mournfully. In truth she hadn't spoken to Soarin for days, even going so far as avoiding him entirely. She couldn't risk messing up now. There were so many things that could go wrong., the least of which was Rainbow Dash who seemed to be doing everything she could to steal Soarin's attention away. Derpy did not think it was any sort of romantic interest, more of a 'I want what you want', but that was enough to stall the gray mare's attempts.
And it wasn't as if Soarin wasn't benefiting from all the time he was spending with Dash. He was beginning to look like the old Soarin, the determined handsome pony she saw on the cover of that issue of Cosmare Rainbow Dash hid at Twilight's place.
“Can you help me talk to him?” Derpy found herself speaking before she was even aware of doing so. The unicorn's babble, her discussion about the alterations she had made to the dress, stopped short as she gave her undivided attention to the troubled pegasus. “It's just that, I don't know very much about him. What do I say?”
Rarity gave the pony a soft smile ruffling her mane. “I have an idea.”
Author's Note
Apologies are in order for the length of time it has taken to get a new chapter out.
Till next time...
Chapter 14:
The locker room was clouded with steam. Spitfire wiped the mirror clean with her wingtips staring at her reflection in the condensated glass.
“You uh, looking for something Spitfire?” The voice came from behind, a pale blue mare with a white mane. Like Spitfire's it was wet, fresh from the shower. “You look any harder and that things liable to crack.”
The orange filly opened her mouth to speak but smiled wearily instead. After a long moment she gave a sigh and stepped away from the mirror, her eyes heavy. “Do you think he's coming back?” She murmured, mostly to herself but loud enough that her companion could hear.
“Of course he'll come back Spitfire.” The second mare replied busying herself toweling off her dripping body. Her mane fluffed out as she withdrew her head from a vigorous towel rubbing and the orange mare stifled a laugh. The first in as many days as Soarin had been gone. “You look ridiculous.”
“There's the smile I remember.” The blue mare said fondly. “He loves you, you know.” She continued wistfully. “But it's not the kind of love he needs right now. Spitfire, you're a great friend and a tough leader but I think maybe you've pushed him too hard for too long. I'm not saying he tried to...” The mare hesitated as she noticed Spitfire tense up. She bit her words a moment and began again placing a comforting hoof on the orange mare's shoulder. “Maybe he needs a break.”
“The Wonderbolts need him Fleet.” Spitfire protested vehemently. “He's not always the best flier, Celestia knows I've had to push him harder than the rest, but I...I only meant to...” Tears began to drip from the mares eyes, slow at first but increasing as she tried to explain herself. Her words were illegible beneath her sobs.
“Let him rest Spitfire.” The mare said wrapping her hooves around her friend, patting her head gently. “He'll come back, better than ever. You'll see.”
–
Spitfire wandered the bustling streets of Canterlot her eyes scouring the sky. The first vestiges of the gala were already in place though there were still a few more days before the big night. She herself was occupied with the preparations that went into the Wonderbolts performance. She would have to make a few changes with Soarin being out of commission. There was no way she could find a competent flier in time to take his place.
The mare heaved a sigh, shaking her head grimly. She had been planning this for the better part of a year and now she had to rewrite the performance in the span of a few days. It was giving her a massive headache.
“Excuse me. Pardon Me.”
The voice was quiet, almost hesitant. Spitfire couldn't be sure that it was speaking to her at first but as she glanced around her she noticed a small gray pegasus pony trying to make her way through the heavy crowd. Spitfire hadn't noticed just how thick it truly was, lost in her thoughts, her mind in the clouds. For a moment the Wonderbolt wondered why the little pony didn't just fly over them but then she noticed the heavy saddlebags adorning the mares flanks.
The orange mare pushed her way backwards through the crowd, far easier than the gray mare was faring. The pony smiled awkwardly as the crowd seemed to split, giving them an oblong circle of space several feet apart in which to stand. The small gray pony shuffled nervously.
“Are you looking for me?” Spitfire asked curiously.
The mare bit her lip and nodded. Spitfire knitted her brow feeling she should know this pony for some reason but couldn't begin to fathom why. She stepped forward closing the gap between them as the mare dug into the left half of her saddlebag a drew out a letter. Just as she prepared to hand it over however some pony else bumped into her, knocking the letter loose as the gray pony was sent sprawling. It became entangled in a sudden gust of wind that carried it high into the sunlit sky.
Rather than follow the letter the orange mare rushed forward helping the gray pony to her hooves. The mare winced and Spitfire frowned noticing a scrape, oozing blood , marring the mares knee. “You're hurt.” she said worried.
The orange pony looked around frantically, noticing a fountain nearby. She heaved the gray pony onto her back with some difficulty and carried her just above the heads of the crowd. Luckily the distance was short and only a few of the ponies ear tips were brushed briefly by her dangling hooves.
“Ow!” Derpy winced as the mare pressed a bit of her torn jumpsuit to the mare's skinned knee.
The immediate area surrounding the fountain was like a small park, with benches and a small bit of landscaping meant more to look pretty than for lounging an extended period. The crowd was less active here and she noticed rather absently that the sun had begun it's descent toward the horizon and it would be dark soon.
“The letter.” The gray mare whined, gazing forlornly toward the sky.
“How important could it be?” The orange mare muttered as she finished tending to the mare's wound. “That's the best I can do for now.” She went on dismissing the mare concern for the letter. “You'll have to get it patched up properly later.”
The mare didn't seem to hear her lost in gazing toward the sky, whispering quietly to herself. Spitfire passed a hoof a couple of time in front of the mares eyes noticing for the first time they were...different. Though they stared in two different angles most of the time, for brief snatches she could faintly notice they seemed to settle on one singular point brief though it was. As she gazed toward the sky they came together to rest on a singular point only to move apart again as she glanced down to her hooves in defeat.
“I'm sorry.” She murmured.
“It's only a letter.” Spitfire answered.
“Maybe it was important.” The gray pony went on clearly more upset than was called for under the circumstances. She rubbed a foreleg, the one not injured, across her eyes wiping away the threat of tears.
Spitfire cast a worried look to the sky, the light fading faster than she anticipated. The streets had begun to clear as ponies packed it up for the day and began heading home, or wherever. Spitfire glanced toward the saddlebags the mare carried with her smiling at the flashy but whimsical embroidery.
Ponyville Parcel and Post? Spitfire thought to herself. Soarin was in Ponyville chasing after some filly he'd fallen for while on hiatus from the Wonderbolts...
“Are you hungry?” She inquired suddenly curious about this mail pony. The mare nodded and smiled her one eye gazing at Spitfire while the other seemed to wander absently. “How about you and me go get something to eat.”
Derpy smiled sheepishly as her stomach grumbled at the mention of food. Spitfire let out a small giggle.
“I don't imagine you'll be heading back to Ponyville in the dark.” Spitfire continued helping the mare to her hooves once more. “You can stay with me tonight.”
Chapter 15-
Spitfire reached into the tangle of branches carefully, extracting the letter with minimal damage to the envelope. She stared at it a moment turning it over in her hooves. It had her name on it, though not her address, and she smiled a bit to herself realizing that there was a description of herself on it instead. Was this mail pony illiterate or did she just not know where her address was?
The writing on the envelope was neat and precise, and the orange pegasus had a feeling that the gray pony wasn't the one to write it so who did? Fluttering to the ground Spitfire sat on a nearby bench. The moon hung like a docile sentry in the night sky above, Luna's stars providing ample light to read by even in the darkest of nights.
Dear Miss Spitfire,
Rainbow Dash?
Spitfire knew the name and the pony. She had met her on several occasions, even going so far as to praise her a time or two for her flying skill, as unrefined and raw as it was. She was a pony with a vast amount of talent that was certain but she was also a pony who was far too self-conceited for the military. She needed discipline.
“Let him rest...He'll come back better than ever...” Fleet's words came to her mind as she mused quietly to herself. “Maybe...?”
--
This Machine is the Thunder Cloud Generator." A wizened old pony, her skin sagging and her body worn with age said in a less than vibrant voice. Thunder rumbled to the squeals and delights of the school foals as they gazedin awe at the dark clouds forming inside the tubes, their fluffy confines vibrant with unshed lightning bolts. "Can any of you tell me what thunder clouds are made of?"
Many hooves went into the air, their owners eager to show the factory pony just how much they had learned prior to coming to the factory for the annual field trip. Soarin stood near the back of the class his eyes heavy with boredom. Not even the near continuous rumble of thunder could keep his eyes from drooping.
"Every pony follow me!"
Soarin snapped awake in time to see the last vestiges of his classmates disappear down a hallway, the school teacher shuffling them briskly along. He shook himself, the lull of sleep over come by a sudden onset of mischief at finding himself unchaperoned.
His hooves made no sound as he trottted to the Thunder Cloud Generator pressing his hooves and face nearer. Inside the lightning zapped and the sound reverborated hard enough for the glass to convulse. Despite himself he was loathe to admit it was rather fascinating now that the haggard old mare wasn't talking about it. He went down the line tapping the glass, smiling as the clouds seemed to respond to his touch. He was only mildly disappointed when he found an empty tube.
"What are you doing?" Soarin let out a startled cry as a face distorted and ghastly appeared on the other side of the glass tube. He flew backwards, his large wings tangled among themselves. He fell on his back in a pile of disgarded fluff, the cottony substance sticking like candy to his coat and disheveled mane.
"Nothing!" He said as the mare stepped out from behind the tube, laughing. She was pretty for a filly, her coat a soft grey like rain clouds and her mane the color of sunshine.
"You shouldn't touch those." She chided. "Mama told me so."
"I was only looking." Soarin said defensively as he pulled fluff from his mane. "Who are you anyway?"
"Ditzy Doo Hooves." She said proudly, giving him a smile as she picked bits of fluff from his mane. She blew it into the air from the end of her hoof, where it reformed into bubbles. Soarin shook his head as he found himself staring, his cheeks growing warm. One of the bubbles alighted on his nose, snapping loudly, drawing him out of his trance.
"What's back there?" He said getting to his hooves and trotting briskly forward. Before him was a door, hidden neatly behind the tubes. There was a large red symbol on it, one he didn't recognize, the word 'Danger!' written beneath it. The colt smiled.
"Hey, wait a minute!" The filly said hurrying after him. "Stop! You can't go in there!"
Soarin gave lopsided grin. "Try and stop me!"
The filly frowned. Mama had told her all of the places in the factory that she musn't go, and now this colt was trying to go into one of those places. He could get hurt or worse and she would get yelled at by Mama for letting him go! But beneath all that there was a curiosity.
"I'm coming too!" She shouted over the massive influx of sound released as the door inched open...
--
Soarin woke in a cold sweat, his cheeks most with tears he had shed in his troubled sleep. His heart pounded an unsteady rhythym in his chest. A sob tore from his throat, and he muffled those following between teeth clenched tightly around the bedsheet. Outside the sky was pitch, stars shining like tiny jewels in the darkness. The dawn was hours away, the first vestiges of sunlight merely a promise yet to come.
--
Derpy twined her hooves together nervously, her eyes tracing their way around the empty park, eager and forlorn at the thought of seeing Soarin. In a basket at her side was one of Granny Smiths famous apple pies, a present and nod of encouragement from Applejack. The farm pony had given it to her with a wink and a nudge earlier that afternoon, the notion confusing Derpy to no end.
"You can't sleep either?"
The small grey pegasus started upsetting the basket. The pie flew upwards, but to her surprise it didn't come down again. Confused she looked up and found Soarin hovering just above her, the pie in his hooves. safe but for a bit of broken crust around the edge.
"For me?" He asked.
The mare nodded shyly a brush of pink on her cheeks...
Chapter 16:
"Now that's something I haven't seen in a long time." Spitfire murmured nostalgically.
She leaned nonchalantly against the door frame of Soarin's dressing room watching him struggle to straighten his tie. The military uniform had hung in his closet untouched for years, brought out only reluctantly for parades or special occasions, of which he declined to attend most. At previous Grand Galloping Galas he, like the other Wonderbolt's, had worn his flight uniform as was customary for those participating in the show. This year however was different, as he wouldn't be participating but instead attending as a guest.
He gave a grudging smile. The uniform was as uncomfortable as it ever was, itchy and snug, or maybe stiff was a better word. He couldn't imagine why he'd bother trying to impress the filly by wearing his military uniform.
"You really ought to practice." Spitfire said, giving the stallion a small smile and stepping nearer. Her wings flicked out and re-knotted the mess he'd made of his tie. "I'm not going be around to do this for you anymore."
"Where...are you going?" Soarin frowned. He hadn't been around very much the last few weeks, and before that he'd been lost in his own thoughts and hyped up on painkillers, paying as little attention to the goings on of the Wonderbolts as he could afford. He hadn't heard or noticed anything about Spitfire's retiring or even going on leave for any reason, especially since he would have been next in line to take her position were anything to happen to her.
"I'm not going anywhere." She answered, prodding him in the chest with a hoof. "You are the one that quit the Wonderbolts. Or have you forgotten that too?"
"Spitfire...what I said back then, I didn't mean it.” The stallion rubbed a hoof self consciously through his mane. His normally wind swept look had gotten a bit overgrown in his absence from the aerial team and without the constant rush of wind to keep it styled for him it had become somewhat of a unshorn mess. “Things were just hopeless and I didn't know what else to do..."
"That isn't an answer." Spitfire said, grudgingly. "But, I suppose I wouldn't have believed you. Not then. I can see things are different now."
The orange mare gave him a somber smile, her eyes distant. "When I was a filly all I ever wanted was to fly, but I had to work for it, I had to work hard. When I met you I thought I saw the same. The same determination, the same reasons. I realize now that maybe that cutie mark doesn't mean what I thought it did. It may look like destiny to some but perhaps it means something more."
"Like what?" Soarin asked glancing at the familiar mark on his flank. He always thought he hated flying, a part of him loathed it for a while, but there was something about the sky and the wind that was and would always be a part of him. Unlike other Pegasi there was also a guilt that weighed him down, a guilt that until recently he had always tried to bury. He didn't hate flying at all, he simply hated the fact that it was tied to a memory he often suppressed and couldn't ever quite rid himself of.
"You tell me." Spitfire said, snapping the colt from his thoughts. She watched the flicker of doubt and possible realization skim across the stallion's clouded emerald eyes. It was there, he just had to search for it and she hoped he would one day be able to forgive himself, if not now then perhaps...
"It was my fault." He said, a shimmer of pink brushing his cheeks. It was a flush of shame rather than one of embarrassment or attraction. His voice quivered a bit, but he went on, speaking slowly, his words purposeful. "I broke the rules that day at the factory. I stayed behind when every pony left. I thought I'd gotten over it but meeting her again, I realized it's only been gnawing at me. Constantly, constantly gnawing..."
“Is that why you let yourself go?” Spitfire whispered.
Soaring shook his head. “I don't know...Maybe.”
"I've met your mare friend you know." Spitfire sat on the edge of his bed, picking absently at her wings. "She's sweet and funny. Cute. Not the sort of filly I thought you'd fall for."
“I'd forgotten...” He smiled slightly and blushed furiously, torn between the memory of the filly he'd first met and the beautiful, though somewhat awkward mare she had grown into. He'd found himself still flustered all these years later.
“Apologize to her” Spitfire said getting to her hooves abruptly, her wings settling into place. Spitfire closed her eyes her brow furrowed. “Tell her how you feel. Let her know before...before...” There was a subtle tremble to her body, as if she were fighting a war with herself. The stallion blinked a couple of time's before reaching out a hoof and touching her shoulder lightly. “Hey? Are you...”
His words were cut short as the orange mare threw her hooves around him and pressed her lips to his. He was startled for a moment but then as if he'd wanted to his whole life he returned her kiss, enough so that she knew he didn't blame her for it. Someplace deep down maybe he himself had wanted to do the same. His wings inched ever so slightly away from his body, enough to show that he had been affected by her gesture, perhaps even somewhat flustered by it.
“Spitfire...” His mouth hung slightly agape as she withdrew.
“That's Captain Spitfire to you!” She said backing away, the moment replaced with studious formality.
The colt snapped to attention saluting as if on autopilot. Spitfire bit her lip as she returned the gesture, the spark in her eyes mirthful in the wake of her blunt confession. She turned abruptly and headed for the door, in a rush because perhaps she wouldn't be able to help herself if she stayed, leaving the colt confused and a little unsettled. He hadn't known Spitfire felt this way. They had been the best of friends for years, partners for nearly as many, but that...that was something else.
"You'll comeback won't you? After all of this?" Spitfire asked, lingering in the doorway her gaze turned elsewhere. The confusion and consequent awkwardness had been replaced with longing and maybe a bit of hope, “The Wonderbolts, they aren't the same without you..."
"I'll come back Spitfire.” He said flashing her one of his award winning smiles, the kind that made all the fan fillies swoon. The one that simply made her smile in return. “I promise."
--
Rainbow Dash kicked absently at the dark fluff of storm cloud. It hung in the air above her home, dripping constant dribbles of rain and dangerous strips of electricity at odd intervals. She hadn't meant to conjure the storm but her emotions had been riled lately and she supposed unconsciously she had created it. Getting rid of it was proving troublesome.
"Go away you stupid cloud!" She shouted kicking it harder. It merely snapped and sizzled in response, vibrant shafts of lightning buzzing along it's surface, like a foal throwing a tantrum. She squealed and fluttered out of range as a particularity bright line of lightning shot toward her face, as if the cloud had heard her and was retaliating. She snorted in contempt and stuck her tongue out at it indignantly.
"Thought you were supposed to be good at that sort of thing?" A mildly familiar voice said from somewhere, a hint of amusement evident in her words. “You are a weather pony aren't you?”
Spitfire hadn't realized just how far she had flown. After her discussion with Soarin, after her rather blunt confession rather, she had need to escape, to get as far away from him as her wings could take her. Trying to outrun her roiling emotions had proven pointless so she decided that a distraction would be a more viable option. Thus she sought out the home of Rainbow Dash. She did not know the town of Ponyville very well, she had only visited a hoofful of times, but there was one thing that set the rainbow maned filly apart and that was her elaborate floating cloud-house, the only one in the vicinity of the small town, and seemingly the only one currently being harassed by an out of control thundercloud.
“For you're information,” Rainbow Dash stated smuggly, turning as she spoke, “being a weather pony is harder than it looks, and this cloud, this stupid stupid cloud...” The awestruck filly gave a sheepish grin doing her best, and failing, to hide the angry ball of fluffy vapor behind her body, despite the fact that the cloud was easily three times her size, as she noticed Spitfire watching her."Is just a stupid cloud! Nothing I can't handle."
Spitfire raised a disbelieving brow, her eyes hidden behind a pair a shades despite the onset of evening. “Oh?”
The mare had her arms folded across her chest, reclining on a bit of fluff she herself had conjured, using the little bit of weather knowledge she herself possessed. It was nowhere near the same educational knowledge that an actual weather pony would have but she had learned enough in her training to be useful, making clouds out of residual vapor notwithstanding. Generally, from what the mare understood clouds of ones own creation were the easiest to disperse, however this particular cloud seemed about as temperamental as the filly herself.
“Yeah.” The filly said giving the storm cloud a rear kick that did little more than agitate the already boiling tempest. The filly squealed as the thundercloud unleashed a wave of lightning that zapped her, a bit of smoke rising from the burnt fur on her flank, just below her cutie mark.
“I might know a trick or two,” Spitfire offered casually, “if you want help.”
“What kind of tricks?” Rainbow Dash asked absently, punching the cloud as it zapped again, the filly deftly dodging the zaps. There was a moment of doubt in Spitfires mind. Was this filly really the right choice to take over Soarin's spot in the Grand Galloping Gala performance?
“Wonderbolt tricks.” She answered.
“Show me.” Rainbow Dash said, the gaiety at seeing one of her idols in action uninhibited in her voice.
Spitfire dissolved her cloud as she shot into the sky, a blazing shimmer of flame not unlike the trail of a comet trailing after her. Rainbow Dash had been to every performance she could get to, and seen countless performances at events like the Gala, but to see the captain of the Wonderbolts performing just for her, the filly was nearly overwhelmed with emotion before she remembered to pay attention. The thundercloud snapping and sizzling angrily behind her helped to keep her attention focused where it needed to be.
Rainbow Dash was one of the fastest fliers in all of Equestria, that was not in question, but watching Spitfire work was something else altogether. She was not as fast as Rainbow Dash but for all the speed she lacked she had a finesse the filly could only dream of. She fell from the sky like a comet, and Rainbow Dash nearly found herself screaming before the mare tugged herself up at the last moment The dark cloud fluff trailing after as if she were on fire.
The pegasus stopped abruptly the dark mass of clouds rushing past her as it dissolved, pulled apart by the force of her inertia, her mane tugged alongside it. There was still the problem of the ball of lightning remaining, which pulled at Rainbow Dashes attention with even more forceful snaps and zaps. But Spitfire took care of that too. As the blue filly watched the mare plummeted once more circling the lightning, spinning the ball of errant electricity. A well placed buck sent the ball shooting across the sky sparks trailing and dissolving in it's wake until the core exploded in a shower of light not unlike a firework.
“Wow.” Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped. Spitfire gave the filly a playful rub on the mane, the remainder of static charge left in her body causing the filly's multi-hued locks to stand on end. “How...How did you...?”
“Trade secret.” Spitfire said with a conspiratorial wink, “but if you're willing I got some other neat tricks I can teach you.”
“Where do I sign?” Rainbow asked a little too enthusiastically
“This isn't a joke Rainbow Dash.” Spitfire said forcefully. “I need you committed. If you truly want to learn what I have to teach you then you will have to prove to me that you are able. This is very important to me, and to the pony you are replacing. Do you understand?”
Rainbow Dash nodded. Spitfire was a bit reluctant to accept her nod as a commitment but time was short. “Alright then. Let's get started.”
"Now?" Rainbow Dash intoned her voice breaking. "But what about..."
"Either you begin now or you don't begin at all.” Spitfire said, a bit harsher than she intended, but her point was clear and her mind made up. “Is that clear?"
"Yes Ma'am!" Rainbow replied snapping to attention with a sloppy salute. Spitfire gave a lengthy sigh and gathering what composure she had before returning it in proper form.
The Ponyville post office was a small ramshackle building on the outskirts of town. It was an unassuming building, only recognized for what it was by the crooked sign hung above the door. Not many ponies visited, which Derpy found surprising considering the amount of mail she was tasked to deliver each day.
“You’re late Derpy.” A tall earth pony colt observed as she entered, looking flustered and out of breath. She fussed her hair straighter with her hooves and a generous helping of spit, but it didn’t seem to do any good at taming her unruly mane. “Is everything alright?”
“Perfect.” The mare answered, hoping it sounded cheerful.
“Did you go see the dentist?” The colt asked giving her a skeptical look. The pony nodded her head, the lie easier to gesture than to speak aloud. It was awkward watching her distract herself with sorting that morning’s mail when one eye refused to settle on the task. She rubbed at it furiously, attempting to get it aligned properly.
The colt opened and closed his mouth as he struggled with whether or not to press the issue. He wouldn’t call the grey mare a friend exactly, but he couldn’t stand by while a co-worker suffered. Even if she refused the least he could do was offer right? “Listen Derpy, if you need help…”
“I’m fine!” The mare snapped. Her fellow mail pony stepped back afraid he’d done something wrong in speaking up. She quickly realized her annoyed expression was distressing the colt and worked to fix it with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
The grey pony shoved that morning’s mail haphazardly into the pouch of her mail bag, not bothering to sort or organize it as she usually did.
“Derpy…” The colt tried again, more forcefully this time.
“I said I’m fine…” The mare repeated, the quiver in her voice betraying the smile on her lips. Derpy felt the salty hot tears slide down her cheeks as a sob tore from her throat. With a flutter of wings and discarded feathers Derpy left the post office, the worried colt’s voice trailing after. He couldn’t catch her, not in the sky and she took pride in that fact. She wasn’t a very good flier, but she had wings and escaping her problems was as easy as settling on a cloud.
The first one she chose snapped and sizzled, tiny electric shocks scorching the bottoms of her hooves. She bounced along between them, each protesting in a similar fashion as the residual electricity reverberated within their fluffy confines. After a time she found one that was somewhat comfortable and she settled down into it to sort her mail bag properly.
The morning quickly faded into a brightly lit afternoon; Celestia’s sun warming her fur, relaxing her to the point of sleepiness. The mare gathered her neatly sorted letters, replacing them in her mail bag before the wind could scatter them across the quaint little town waiting just below. A large yawn followed her actions, her eyes dropping, as the weight of sleep settled on her back; her rain soaked nearly sleepless night finally catching up with her.
It’s only a few minutes… The pony thought to herself. They can wait…for a few…minutes…
--
Soarin’s near constant instinctual need to fly was difficult to quell, but with even the smallest attempt to spread his wings the pain reemerged. The lingering haze over his memories prevented him from discerning the reasoning for it but the many bruises he’d woken with gave him an idea.
He stared quizzically a moment at the odd looking structure, unsure if it was a hallucination or an actual building. It looked like those gingerbread houses he’d see in shop windows during Hearths Warming, only on a considerably larger scale. Curiously he stepped nearer flinching as the bell above the door rang upon his entrance.
“Somepony will be with you in a moment dear.” A homely looking mare, her pink mane rather like the gobs of frosting on top of her delicious looking cupcakes, greeted him warmly from behind the counter, as she struggled to corral a pair of adorable foals who seemed pent on causing mischief among the baked goods cooling on the counter.
Soarin muttered an incoherent reply as he surveyed the various pastries available. He wiped at a slip of saliva hung at the corner of his mouth, not realizing until then just how hungry he actually was. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d eaten last. Truth told, he couldn’t remember anything at all before that morning, his varied attempts to do so interrupted by a lingering haze and dull ache.
He thought a moment about the grey pegasus he’d woken up next to. Was she his friend? His lover? The slight prickle at the back of his neck, the same he’d noticed as he stepped in the door, grew in intensity with each agonizingly long second that passed.
“Hi!” A vibrant pink pony quipped, her head popping over the counter. Soarin flinched visibly startled more by her sudden appearance than he was by her annoyingly high pitched voice.
She stared at him, her gaze burning holes right through him. For several minutes, or so it seemed, the pony did nothing but stare. She opened her mouth inhaling deeply before a burst of words left her lips, bathing Soarin in a torrent of questions and statements he couldn’t discern from one another.
“I’m Pinkie Pie! I’ll be your waiter, what’ll it be? We have everything a hungry pony could ever need and boy do you look like a hungry pony. Muffins and cupcakes are our specialty, but we also make regular cake! I bet you like blueberry right, because it matches your mane, or maybe vanilla, ooh blueberry vanilla! We could add that to the menu!”
“Uh…” Soarin started a puzzled expression on his face as he worked to dissect the pony’s statements, which had surged out of her mouth in a matter of seconds.
“Good morning Derpy!” The pink pony said as the small bell above the door chimed again. The earth pony ignored Soarin in favor of the frazzled mail mare that stood frozen in the doorway, her suddenly aligned eyes locked on the stallions back. “Oh your eyes are straight! That must mean something!”
It’s not him! Derpy pleaded silently as the stallion turned toward the doorway. The seconds passed agonizingly slow, as the letters in her mouth dropped to the floor, fluttering like feathers in their descent.
Without explanation the gray pony turned to flee, but rather than shoot out the door as had been her intent she slammed headlong into the wall just beside it. The impact was severe enough to knock her backwards, as well as jar her already loose tooth. A dribble of blood trailed down her chin, dripping to the floor, as she stood unsteadily on trembling hooves.
She shook her head doggedly before trying again, this time managing to stumble out the door properly and lift herself on unsteady wings into the air. Something in Soarin’s mind clicked just then as he quickly followed after. “Hey, wait!”
The colt galloped down the street dodging around startled ponies as he kept his eyes trained to the grey pegasus flying in the sky above. She was quickly pulling away and he realized he was never going to catch her if he stayed earthbound. His mind made up the colt snapped his wings open grimacing with the pain. His eyes blurred by tears he managed to push himself off the ground, using a series of vendor booths as jump off points, much to the delight of a small group of fillies watching. Catching a low hung thermal lifted him skyward saving him the pain of flapping to gain altitude.
“Please wait!” He pleaded unsure if the pony could hear him or if she simply choose not to listen. What he did know was that every beat of his wings, as few as he could manage, sent a fresh wave of agonizing pain. “I just want to talk to you!”
She was gaining ground while he was falling, swiftly losing altitude as his wings began to fold, his body subconsciously fighting to quell the pain he insisted on enduring. He swore under his breath before surrendering to gravity.
