A Day to Remember

Chasing Haze woke slowly. He cracked open an eye and peered around the room he found himself in, waiting for the memories to click in his mind. He was lying on the floor, tangled in the green homespun blanket of the bed he had fallen off of during the night, with said piece of furniture partly over him. He craned his stiff neck out from under the wooden frame and took in the sun dappled decor of the building he found himself in. He dropped his head to the floor as his will left him and began to doze.

And then he caught an odd scent...

It all came back to him in that split second. This was his third day in Ponyville, and his second morning waking up in Rosewood Way-cottage. Yesterday had been filled trying to familiarize him with the town (Ditzy hadn't exactly helped, there.) and find out where he would be working, which was everywhere, apparently. But today...today was going to be fun.

But first he needed a good breakfast, and that was the scent he followed as he untangled himself from the captor blanket, and began to stroll toward the delicious scent of summer salad at the west end of the long hall. But as he got nearer, he picked up something different, something that probably should not have been there.

And the smell was getting stronger.

When Chasing heard the sudden 'whumph' that accompanies spreading flame, he shot himself forward into the air. Unfortunately he misjudged the width of the archways along the hall.His left wing clipped the wall, throwing him into a spin. He hit the ground and skidded along the centre of the hall. A chest flew open at a kick from his windmilling hooves. A bed angled across the hall, dragged by his flailing wings. He came to a stop, his snout poking into the open doorway. As the stars fell from his eyes, he looked up and saw Ditzy hovering unevenly in a corner, uncertainty on her face as she looked at the leaping tongues of flame rising above a bowl on the counter top.

Chasing stared for a second as he gathered his wits from the final shadows of sleep, before saying, "Uh, Ditzy... as a fireguard-to-be, I don't think a summer salad is meant to be ON FIRE!"

As he finished, he leapt forward, clamping his wings shut, away from harm, and shoved the slowly disintegrating wooden bowl into the sink before nearly knocking off the tap entire as he forced it open, drowning the unnatural fire before it caused any more damage.

Chasing calmed himself with deep breaths. Then he turned to Ditzy, now sitting in the corner, head low. "Ditzy. Please, in the name of Celestia, how did you manage to turn a summer salad into a blazing inferno?! I mean, if i'd been able to pick that thing up, I could have used it as a flame thrower!..."

He noticed her tears then, and shut his dumbass mouth. She whispered, "I-I'm s-sorry...I d-don't...know..."

Chasing hit himself upside the head for his insensitivity. "Hey, hey, don't worry about it. It was just a salad, no major damage done." He looked at the singed curtains and marked rafters, but that was it, really. "Maybe you should stick to muffins. Those   ones you gave me yesterday were fantastic, and supper was great." He could still remember the unforgettable flavour of that  roast hake she had somehow made.

She smiled at his compliments. "Well...I know t-the race is t-today and...you said you l-liked s-summer s-salad..."

Chasing grinned down at her, offering a hoof to help her up, which she accepted. "You, Ditzy, are far too sweet for your own good. Thanks for the thought, though." He gave her a quick hug. "Now, the race! I must get ready, otherwise I'll stand no chance. See ya later, Ditzy!"

Ditzy stared after him as he dashed through the hall and out the door, eager for the day. Then she shook her head, giving a small nervous laugh, and began to clear away the results of her attempts.

Chasing Haze was still thinking about how he acted when he soared over the town. He could be so stupid sometimes! There was Ditzy, trying to be nice as always, and he had just insulted her. Shameful. He tried to clear his head as he landed in front of Sugarcube Corner. The building was memorable to say the least. He stepped through the door, a smile pasted on his face.

A large bowl was immediately shoved under his nose upon his entering the bakery, filled to the brim with the most gorgeous looking summer salad he had ever seen. He pulled his muzzle out of the bowl before he lost his self control and looked to see the perpetrator of this act. All he saw was a feint outline in the air as the bowl began to fall into the space left vacant. Chasing grabbed the bowl and looked around quizzically.

He saw the pink mare standing nonchalantly behind the counter. All of a sudden she looked at him, gasped. and rocketed to the table next to the kitchen door, only to see it empty. Chasing watched her in bemused silence as Pinkie searched high and low for whatever he had reminded her of. Eventually she trotted over to him and began an apology, only to see him holding the bowl she had been looking for. "Oh! You found your salad! Now you can have your favorite breakfast before the race! I have to go and borrow the balloon, see you in Horseshoe Valley at noon!"

Pinkie Pie galloped off without further ado, leaving Chasing Haze barely halfway through the first syllable of his greeting. His eyes followed the pink mare as she raced down the street. He laughed at her antics, and sat down to enjoy his breakfast. How did she know about the salad? And the rest of it...Despite her innocent demeanour and adorable antics, that pink mare was, in a small and secret way, terrifying.

Chasing finished his breakfast and remembered that he had to commission a flight suit for his new job today. Rainbow Dash was set to meet him at Carousel Boutique, the only clothing shop in town, at mid-morning. To his amazement, it was already about that. He polished off the salad (One of the best damn meals ever) and walked outside. He was going to take off, but a unicorn trotted up to him with a cheerful hello. He didn't recognize her. She was...green. His powers of description failed him, other than to make the connection that she looked like a peppermint in pony form, right down to her effervescent attitude.

She introduced herself as Lyra Heartstrings. "I'm a musician of sorts. I heard about the race today. I can't wait to watch!"

Chasing was surprised by that, and wondered how big a deal this really was, feeling nervous. "So you know? Um, how many ponies are going?"

Lyra laughed at him a little. "Well, all anypony will have to do to see it is step outside and look up! But if somepony challenges Rainbow Dash, everypony wants to see it, it's always hilarious. I just wanted to see the new guy. I can see what Pinkie meant: you look like you might actually stand a chance." She eyed him approvingly.

Chasing resisted the urge to show off a bit, this kind of attention not what he was at all used to. On the other hoof, Lyra's words had made him more than a bit nervous. The whole town was going to see him get beaten. If they thought he could beat Rainbow Dash, they were in for a disappointing show. "Thanks Lyra, but I doubt I could beat a pony like Rainbow Dash."

Lyra snorted. "Of course not, she's arguably the fastest pony alive! Just scare her for us, will you? Make it close." She smiled at him reassuringly before walking away. Chasing shook his head, wondering what was with these ponies, all so nice for no reason. Her words helped, but still...

He took off to find the Boutique. spotting it easily from his high vantage point, he sped down to the door, letting the gust of his backwinging landing to push open the door for him. Inside was a a brilliantly decorated showroom, swathed in bright and striking designs. purple and white tiles tessellated across the floor, leading his eyes to the centre of the room and up the form of the mildly surprised and unforgettably beautiful unicorn standing there, next to Rainbow Dash.

When she spoke, it kept him rapt: "Oh, there you are! Rainbow Dash just told me all about you. dear. So, our new dashing fire guard, is it?"

Chasing stuttered an answer as she came closer to look him over. He back-stepped, his wings unfurling slightly at his discomfort. "Uh, yeah, I guess...Rainbow Dash said you would be the pony to talk to about a flight suit, since I...well, yeah...She said you were the best anywhere outside Canterlot?"

Rarity, preened at his compliment halting in her examination as he had hoped. "Ah, it is true! And Rainbow, that was quite sweet of you!"

Rainbow Dash looked uncomfortable now, throwing a glance at Chasing before answering. "Well it's a fact. And Rarity, don't break him. His dad might not approve there. Plus, I got a little race to fly later. I need my competition." And with that, she took off through the door.

Chasing Haze was wrenched from his reverie by Rainbow's mention of this father. He watched her leave, then shivered before turning back to Rarity.

Rarity saw the change in him, though. Nothing noticeable, but definitely different. He looked glazed as she tried to get his attention. "Ahem. Mr Haze?"

He looked at her sharply, then softened. "What? Oh, right. And please, you can call me anything but Mr Haze." He followed her to the mirrored platform she indicated.

Rarity, didn't dwell on his odd behaviour. After all, coming from such a famous clan, perhaps he had picked up a different manner. He was very nearly a different species of pony after all.

Chasing could not have been more uncomfortable during the measuring he was subjected to, but he slowly pulled himself together, and by the time Rarity was done, he was smiling again. He had ignored most of her idle chatter, but that didn't mean he didn't like hearing her voice. "So, when do you think it'll be ready, Rarity?"

She tapped a hoof to her  chin as she mused, "Hmm, well, Rainbow Dash gave me some pointers as to what you will need, plus I have the old uniform as a reference. As it stands, it should be done by this afternoon!"

Chasing Haze was surprised to hear that, but didn't question her, just nodded agreement, waiting for her to say something else.

She stopped and looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Don't you have a race to get to, Chasing?"

He shook his head quickly, for the umpteenth time that morning. "Sorry! Yes, you're right. I'll be back later then. He turned and walked to the door, looking back and smiling at her before looking up into the sky and launching himself into the air.

Rarity smiled too, though she couldn't tell why. He certainly looked his part, at least. She turned to her work, still smiling.

Chasing Haze flew around for a bit before seeing the bright pink balloon over to the west. He zoomed over to it, using the flight to stretch out his flying muscles in readiness of the challenge ahead.

It wasn't long before he found himself standing on a cloud beside one of the best athletes in the world, preparing himself mentally as Pinkie Pie dictated a course. "Hellooo Ponyville! Welcome to yet another great race! You've all met Rainbow Dash, our local speedster, but we have a new challenger today, Chasing Haze, fresh from Broadwing Peak!"

Chasing flicked his ears at that. How did she know that?! Rainbow Dash looked at him, annoyed. "Dude, stay focused. It's weird how you get all flustered like that!"

Chasing nodded, and put his head down while Pinkie finished her speech. "Finally, we have pegasus against pegasus, two of the best flyers you'll ever see! And without further ado, threetwooneGO!"

Rainbow was gone in a flash, and Chasing was more pulled along in the vacuum than any planned launch. He balanced, luckily, and beat his large wings through the air, cupping as much of the resistance as he could to force himself forward. But he could immediately see a problem. Rainbow Dash had perfected a certain style of flight, one that Chasing could easily admire from his position in her rapidly appearing contrail.

He wouldn't let her win that easily, though. He tucked his legs in against his narrow body, forming as small a surface as possible, and began instinctively searching out the pockets and eddies of air that would give him the best advantage. Rainbow Dash was leaving some incredible turbulence, breaking his concentration. But he realized that she may also be giving him a solution...

The pair streaked through the air, their trails visible across the sky, the buffeting noise forming around each pony reaching the ground beneath them. But as they sped up, the air began to feel like syrup, pulling on their wings, forcing them to work immeasurably harder. It was here where where Chasing made his move.

He slipped to the right, bursting forward into an area of air that spread out behind Rainbow's right wing. Soon, he felt himself in the slipstream, being pulled along by the wake of spiraling air behind her, where the air was already being dragged forward by the speeding mare. He began to gain on her.

Their course wound around the edges of Ponyville, From Horseshoe valley, where Rainbow Dash had anchored her cloudhouse, out to Rosewood, then back over the town to Carousel Creek. Chasing noticed something on the ground which startled him for a moment, but then refocused on the task at hoof. They flew out over Whitetail Wood before leading back to sweep over the west orchard of Sweet Apple Acres, and up to their starting cloud, high above the meandering canyon. In the corners, Chasing had an odd advantage, being able to use his larger wings to force himself to turn easier than Rainbow Dash, but that movement she used...it was almost a joy to watch. She could build and change speed in seconds. But it also taxed her muscles, and even her impressive endurance couldn't keep up the pace for ever.

Seeing her falter, Chasing capitalized on the months he had been forced to endure on the wing back home, using the steely tendons in his wings to readjust his pinions for maximum wingpower. It hurt, but as they came into view of the valley, he was catching up to the rainbow mare at a rapid pace.

But there was only so much he could do. as he got within a few tail-lengths of her, the cone of usable air he had been counting on thus far narrowed to much to be useful. through the haze of condensation forming ahead of him, he saw rainbow edge fractionally to the left, throwing off his angle and leaving him to fight the air alone. He did so, admirably, but there was a reason Rainbow Dash was so well recognized.

The pink balloon flashed past, almost before he saw it, but it couldn't have come sooner. Chasing locked his wings into a highs peed bank, too tired to pull the breaks, and glided down to the cloud where Rainbow Dash already sat.

But instead of preening in victory, she seemed more shocked. Chasing landed next to her, not displeased with his own performance, but more interested with that crazy flying style. "Sweet Celestia, Rainbow! That was amazing to see! You have got to try and teach me that technique sometime."

She looked...embarrased? "Eh, yeah, but I still couldn't shake you, though." They both looked over the edge of the cloud to look at the source of the faint cheering reaching them from the ground. Chasing wondered why Pinkie was so quiet. The reason was apparent. She was asleep, a hoof-full of confetti still at the ready to be thrown.

Chasing laughed at the dozing mare, who looked a lot less intimidating with her head resting at that odd angle against the wicker of the basket. Rainbow Dash poked him in the ribs, causing him to flinch from the sore muscles under her touch. "Hey, come on, lets get back to Rarity's and pick up your suit." He nodded.

As they glided away, the pink pony behind them snapped awake, throwing out her confetti just in time to see both the racers and her crowd all making their way back to town. In a huff, she worked the bellows of her borrowed contraption to bring herself back the ground.

Chasing Haze smirked over at the pegasus alongside him. "I nearly caught up with you back  there, looks like that bumblebee thing was tiring you out, eh?"

Rainbow Dash sent a buffeting gust his way, smiling. "Yeah, but I still kicked your ass, don't get arrogant." They both laughed as they flew through the afternoon sky.