//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Meeting His Friends // Story: Behind The Flight Suit // by Strats //------------------------------// Spitfire rolled over in her bed. Her mane was an absolute mess from the night before. She looked at the stallion sound asleep next to her in the double bed. She smiled and him and kissed him on his nose. The stallion made a face and wiggled his nose. The mare giggled at his reaction. She pulled the covers off her and sat up in the bed. She stretched out both of her wings, before getting out of the bed. She walked over to the ensuite and went inside. She closed the door behind her and turned on the shower. The sound of the showing running woke the stallion from his slumber. He gave his eyes a quick rub before looming around the room. He put a hoof to his head. He felt a massive headache coming on. He knew he shouldn't have drank so much last night. The stallion opened the top drawer to his night stand and pulled out a container of tablets. He popped one in his mouth and swallowed it. That should delay the effects of the hangover until later. The stallion sat up in the bed. He looked over in the direction as he heard the shower being turned off. He ran over beside the door. A few moments later Spitfire emerged out of the ensuite. She looked around the room for the stallion, confused to find the bed empty. Suddenly somthine grabbed her from behind. She let out a shriek. She turned around to see the culpriate who had grabbed her. She looked into the golden eyes of her coltfriend. He had a large smile on his face. He carried the mare over to the bed and layed her down gently. He gave her a kiss on the forehead as he placed her down. "Good morning." the stallion said. "Good morning yourself." Spitfire responded. "Don't you know better than to sneak up on a mare? Especially one that's just come out of the shower." the yellow pegasus said to her coltfriend. He only grinned at her. "So what would the lady of the house like for breakfast?" he asked her. Spitfire pondered before answering. She raised her hoof to her chin as if she were thinking of the solution to an unsolvable equation. "I think I'll have the same as yesterday." Spitfire said to Eclipse. "Your wish is my command." Eclipse said with a mocking bow. Spitfire threw a pillow at him from the bed as he left the bedroom. She stretched herself out across the bed. Today was one of her favourite days of the year. It was her day off. The mare laid on the bed. She pulled a magazine from her nightstand and began to flick through it's pages. She appeared in a few of the photos, along with all the other celebrities of Equestria. As she flicked through the magazine she came to the business section. Normally she would just skip this but she decided not to today. She wondered if there was a picture of her coltfriend in here. She turned the page. There covering the whole page was her coltfriend, the title ready "Equestria's most successful business pony". Spitfire read through the article about Eclipse. It talked about how he started out as the wealthy heir to a family business his grandfather setup. He sold the business and became a heavy investor in other businesses. The mare was so busy reading she didn't notice her coltfriend entering the room carrying a tray. He set the tray down beside her. He looked at the magazine his marefriend was reading. "What are you reading there Spitty?" Eclipse asked. The mare looked up, snapping out of her dream like state she was in while reading the article. She closed the magazine. "Oh it's nothing, just sports stuff." the mare lied. The stallion raised an eyebrow at her."What?" she asked defensively. She saw the food beside her."Oh, thank you very much sweetie." Spitfire said, thanking him for the breakfast. The stallion moved around the bed while Spitfire attacked the food. He grabbed the magazine from the nightstand before Spitfire realised what he was planning. "Hey no fair, you distracted me with food!" the mare argued. Eclipse flicked through the magazine until he came to the article on himself. "I see you were doing a bit of light reading about me." Eclipse said. The mare looked down at her food. The stallion smiled. "I'm not mad at you. I have no problem with you reading this." Eclipse said. He read through the article himself. "Oh my Celestia, why did I not think of this sooner!" he shouted, catching Spitfire off guard. "Think of what?" Spitfire asked, curiosity in her voice. The stallion turned the magazine to show a photo of Eclipse sitting beside two other ponies. "I never introduced you to my friends." the stallion said. "I can't believe that. That's not like me at all." he said to himself. He sat down beside Spitfire. "How would you like to meet my friends over dinner?" Eclipse asked Spitfire. "I would love to!" Spitfire said. "Great, I'll have a letter sent to them immediately." the stallion said running out of the room. Spitfire grinned as she watched him run out. "This should be a fun evening" she thought to herself as she finished her breakfast. *** The four ponies sat down at a private table in the most esteemed restaurant in all of Canterlot. Eclipse had a large beaming smile on his face. The stallion was dressed in a black tux. Spitfire sat beside him. She was wearing a bright red sparkling dress. She had her mane down, as opposed to her usual style. Two ponies sat opposite the couple. One a white unicorn, the other a hazel pegasus. "It's so great to see you both again. How long has it been since last time?" Eclipse asked his friends. "Too long my friend. It's great to catch up with you." the unicorn said. He looked towards Spitfire. "Oh, where are my manners." Eclipse said. "Spitfire these are my dear friends, Solarcloak and his lovely wife Autumn." Eclipse said gesturing to the two ponies opposite them. Spitfire nodded courtly at the two ponies. "It's a pleasure to meet you both." Spitfire said. She spoke to Solarcloak. "Eclipse tells me you work with him." she said. "That's correct. I'm one of his many business partners. Everything he invests in, I also invest in. We watch each others backs." the unicorn said. Eclipse laughed at his friend's statement. "Damn right we do!" Eclipse said. The hazel pegasus spoke. "Well you don't need much of an introduction yourself, Ms.Spitfire. Being captain of the Wonderbolts and all." Autumn said."I've seen quite a few of your shows. You are a very talented flyer." the mare said. "You're too kind." Spitfire replied. "So what job do you have?" Spitfire asked Autumn. She smiled at her husband. "Well darling, if you must know, I'm a model." the mare stated proudly. "Well you've definitely got the looks for it. You're absolutely stunning." Spitfire said. "You're too kind." the mare said. "Although from what I've seen myself, you're not that bad yourself." Autumn said. "You do know what I'm referring to?" the mare asked. Spitfire blushed. Eclipse glanced at Autumn. "And what might you be referring to?" Eclipse asked. "Why the time this pretty little mare did a swim wear shoot." Autumn said. "She was absolutely gorgeous in those two pieces." she said. Spitfire's face now matched her dress. Eclipse looked over at his marefriend. "So you're allowed to see me in a magazine, but I'm not allowed see you in one?" he asked her, trying to get more details. "It was early in my career. It was mostly for the publicity." she said. "How about we order?" Solarcloak said to change the subject. "I'm sure Ms.Spitfire would prefer to discuss such a matter in a more private environment." the unicorn said. The yellow pegasus nodded her thanks to the stallion. "Oh you can be sure we'll be discussing this later." Eclipse said. Before he could speak again the waiter came over. "May I take your order?" he asked the four ponies. "I'll have the Celestia salad." Autumn said. The waiter wrote down the order and turned to the next pony. "I think I'll go for the hay steak, medium rare." Solarcloak said. The waiter turned to the remaining two ponies. "We will have the platter for two please." Eclipse said. The waiter looked at the mare to confirm this was okay. She nodded at the waiter. He took the menus and walked away. "So what's changed since the last time I saw you two?" Eclipse asked the married couple. "Well not much. We moved out to Las Pegasus there during the summer. That's about it." Solarcloak said. "What about you, any big news?" he asked Eclipse. "Well other than the fact I started dating this beautiful mare, nothing springs to mind." Eclipse responded. Spitfire blushed at the compliment. "What about you Spitfire, any recent achievements that you're particularly proud of?" the unicorn asked. Spitfire thought for a moment. "Well we did just land a big show in Canterlot next month. It's for Princess Luna's birthday. We are performing a private show for the royal family at the request of her majesty herself." the mare said excitedly. "Well that is impressive. I need to spend a couple thousand bits before I can get the attention of the royal family." the unicorn said earning a laugh from his wife and Eclipse. The waiter returned to the table levitating the food above him. He placed each meal down infront of the ponies. "Bon Appétit." the waiter said walking away. The four ponies ate their meals and continued to chat through the evening. Eventually Solarcloak and Autumn had to leave so they could return to Las Pegasus before nightfall. Spitfire and Eclipse did the same as they had to head back to Cloudsdale. The two ponies flew home in the evening sky. The sun was just set by the time they reached Cloudsdale. The two ponies went inside Spitfire's mansion. Eclipse went into the living room and sat down. He was shortly followed by Spitfire. She sat down on the couch beside him. He softly stroked her mane with his hoof. "How come I'm only hearing about this big show now?" Eclipse asked. Spitfire let out a small sigh. "I was going to tell you this evening, but your friend asked before I got the chance to tell you myself." she responded. "The reason why I was also hesitant in bringing up the topic was that I'm not allowed to bring any guests." Spitfire said. "I though you might feel hurt that I couldn't invite you." the mare said. Eclipse hugged her tightly. "Oh my little Spitty, you shouldn't be afraid to disappoint me." he said soothing the mare. "And besides, if I wanted to go to the show I could simply ask princess Luna." the stallion said. Spitfire looked at him wide eyed. "Since when can you just ask a princess to attend her birthday?" Spitfire asked the stallion. "Since I used to..." the stallion trailed off, leaving his sentence unfinished. The yellow pegasus stared at him. He let out a few small coughs. "Since I... phew is it hot in here or is it just me." Eclipse said trying to change the subject. "Answer the question you colt." Spitfire said. "Since I used to date her." Eclipse blurted. Spitfire stared at him again. "You dated princess Luna?" Spitfire asked, slightly surprised. Eclipse sighed. "Yes. It was a few years ago, about two years after he return. I was already good friends with Celestia. She told me about her sister, and then she introduced me to her. We kinda just clicked." Eclipse said. "Eventually though we just drifted apart. The relationship was never really made public." the stallion said. "Well I've definitely learned a lit about you today." the mare said. "Anything you still wanna know about me?" she asked the stallion. A sly grin came across his face. "Have you got the magazine of that shoot?" he asked. Spitfire's expression turned to one of annoyance. "Do you seriously want to see it?" she asked him. The stallion nodded repeatedly. "Fine, I think I have a copy in a box under the..." she said but didn't get to finish. The stallion was already running up the stairs. Spitfire tutted. "Typical stallion." she said, walking in the direction of the stairs.