//------------------------------// // Sky Clinger // Story: Failed Confessions to an Oblivious Friend // by FerociousCreation //------------------------------// Vapor Trail followed closely behind Soarin as she rose into the air at an almost horizontal angle. After leveling out, she watched the stallion before her begin to descend in a corkscrew spiral, and she mimicked his movement. The stunt the Wonderbolts were performing was also a common conditioning routine that forced the flyer to recover while decended. The Dizzatron is used to test a pegusi’s ability to recover if thrown out of control. However, the machine can only simulate. A performance is real. Focus, Vapor Trail, the white mare thought as she spun after Soarin. After several moments of falling, he leveled out and landed on the runway in sequence with Fleetfoot. After Vapor Trail touched down, her hooves skid on the asphalt before coming to a complete stop. Vapor Trail looked behind to see the other members land behind her. Stepping from the front of the pack, Spitfire removed her goggles and started walking down the line. She observed each Wonderbolt with sharp eyes, making sure her team didn't look in any way dizzy. As the captain passed Vapor Trail, she stopped at her and looked up and down. Because Vapor Trail was a newer recruit, Spitfire needed to make sure the pegasus was ready for her first show. Vapor Trail stiffened up, confident the captain would see nothing wrong. With nothing else to observe, Spitfire smiled and continued down the line. Soarin let out a “woo!” rolling his head a bit. “That routine is always a head spinner.” “With somepony of your experience,” Vapor Trail commented and the stallion turned toward her, “I would figure you would be used to it.” “Trust me,” Fleetfoot stepped in. “There are going to be some stunts you will not want to do, no matter how many times you complete them.” Vapor Trail slightly turned her head, “What stunt or stunts do you dislike Fleetfoot?” “Definitely the 90 Dive.” The 90 dive; a stunt where performers dive straight down, then make a sharp ninety degree turn, and level out horizontally. As for Fleetfoot’s reason for disliking the stunt, it was the horror stories that have occurred when ponies before performed the move. When diving at incredible speeds while descending toward the ground, some flyers panic and break formation. Or worse… black out. When panic and fear fuse, a pony could possibly faint. And when fainting and flying are in the mix, a tragedy may quickly follow. “Oh yeah, you really hate that stunt,” Soarin chuckled. “But then again, you are the best racer on the team, so you know how to make extremely tight turns.” “That still doesn't mean I like the stunt…” Fleetfoot grunted. Not wanting to think of a potential nightmare of a stunt, she looked to Vapor Trail with a smile. “Glad to see you and Sky Stinger keeping up with us veterans.” “Well, Vapor Trail and I were extremely promising flyers. But now, she and I, well mostly me, will show this team the definition of promises.” Sky Stinger unknowingly stood beside his friend. Neither Soarin, nor Fleetfoot noticed him a few moments ago. Then again, anypony who mentions Sky Stinger, he thinks somepony is discussing good things about him and will come to gloat about it. “Yes, we know how great you are…” Spitfire muttered, walking to the front again. Now being the first in line again, she called out, “Good work everypony, you can all see straight. Go on your lunch break.” Everypony broke off at their captain’s words, ready to enjoy themselves. But before Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger could go receive their food, Spitfire flew over to the white mare. “I'm glad to see your head working right,” she smirked. “All I got was just a small sore is all.” Vapor Trail touched her temple, feeling the bump. “I think I am okay.” “I had full confidence that my friend was perfectly fine,” Sky Stinger boasted and gave Vapor Trail on the back of the neck. Seeing an opportunity to mess with the boastful stallion, Spitfire sneered at Sky Stinger, “You sure were awfully worried about Vapor Trail, weren't you, Sky Clinger?” The stallion’s brows creased and his cheeks flushed. His new nickname spread like wildfire as soon as he left the nurse’s office when he told the Wonderbolts Vapor Trail was okay. Spitfire teased Sky Stinger at how protective he was over his unconscious friend. The nurse wanted to tranquilize the stallion when he refused to let go of Vapor Trail’s hoof. Vapor Trail was told the tale today when she was released from the infirmary. But she did not find anything wrong with his kind gesture.The mare may have done the same thing for Sky Stinger if he ever got hurt. “Maybe I have been inspired by Rainbow Dash by being more loyal to my friend.” Sky Stinger wanted to try and brush off his flustered attitude by trying to lie to the two mares. Spitfire whispered into Vapor Trail’s ear,“ And if you ask him out, he will be more ‘inspired’ to protect you.” Gazing back to the dark-turquoise stallion, the captain only rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Sky Clinger.” Before Sky had any attempt to say another thing to Spitfire, she was already off. “Don’t worry Sky,” Vapor Trail giggled and nudged her friend. “I am glad you were there for me.” “Well, I kind of owe you for everything you have done for me.” Sky’s right cheek lifted, a half smile. “You made me look good, and now it’s time for me to do the same.” “Don’t you mean, ‘I helped you?’ Because I bet I didn’t look good unconscious.” Vapor Trail was amused as the stallion tried to piece his words together. “You know what I mean.” Sky Stinger fanned out his wings and lifted off the ground. “Come on, let’s grab our lunch.” “Alright.” Vapor Trail nodded as she began to follow him. “I also know where we should eat lunch.” *** “Now this is a place to eat!” Sky Stinger exclaimed as he sat on the cloud, facing the waterfall that ran out of the side of the Wonderbolt Academy hillside. A light rainbow shined as the mist from the falls drifted in the air. “It’s very pretty.” Vapor Trail sat a little closer to her friend than usual, in hopes Sky Stinger would catch the hint that she was interested in him. But before the mare tries to attempt to show her heart once more, Vapor Trail wanted to begin her lunch first. Her menu consisted of grapes, a carrot and hay sandwich, and a cinnamon bun. she took the sandwich out of her lunch pail and took a bite out of it with a loud crunch. As for Sky Stinger, he had a six-inch sub that consisted of tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, and cucumbers. The two sat in silence, listening to the roaring sound of cascading water. While she ate, Vapor Trail pondered how to go about her confession. Yesterday, the mare convinced herself that she needed to tell Sky that she loved him, specifically that. Telling him that she really really liked him was not a big enough punch. But even telling him that she loved him out of the blue seemed strange as well. Perhaps she needed to ease into the subject matter. After ten minutes of no words spoken, Vapor Trail felt that now was the time to speak. “So what did you do the rest of the day yesterday?” Almost done with his sandwich, Sky Stinger held it in his hooves. He frowned a bit, his gaze atoward the falls. “Promise not to tell anypony?” the turquoise pegasus asked. Vapor Trail nodded, but was not sure why Sky wanted his words to remain private. “I… tried to look like I was practicing my flying, when in reality, I was trying to not worry about you.” Using the moment to her advantage, Vapor Trail scooted up against Sky. Her cheeks turned red as she attempted to comforted her friend. Despite the kind gesture, the stallion continued to gaze forward. “I just… You were so helpless and…” A sigh escaped Sky Stinger, and the stallion looked at the mare, “I’m sorry…” “Oh no no, it is okay, Sky. You just wanted to be sure I was okay.” Vapor Trail gave her friend a cute smile as she batted her eyes. “If you want to be a caring and loyal friend to me, just like you told Spitfire how Rainbow Dash inspired you to be more loyal, then go on ahead.” A chuckle escaped Sky Stinger, unable to hide any potential smiles. “Hehe, yeah. Thanks for understanding.” “Your welcome. Besides, I-” Her heart began to race, now ready to tell the three dangerous words. “I- love you for your care and your friendship.” Vapor Trail’s face flushed brighter than the red on the rainbow that hovered over the falls. “And I love you for your unknown gust of winds, helping me look awesome all these years,” Sky Stinger winked. Believing her words got to him, Vapor Trail pounced on her friend, embracing him with girly emotion. He rolled onto his back as the mare rested on top of him. Sky Stinger lost grip of the remainder of his sandwich and it fell to the earth. But he didn’t care for it. The stallion was already full. “And I love your hugs, too,” he spoke, getting his arms around Vapor Trail’s body. The white pegasus giggled, glad she was victorious. “Thanks for loving me.” “Well, you are like a sister to me.” Vapor Trail’s eyes shot open, not believing what was just said. No longer wanting to embrace Sky Stinger, she scrambled off of him. “I am glad you think that way,” she spoke through her teeth. The mare couldn’t tell if she was more frustrated or saddened by her friend’s stubborn ignorance. With his lunch no longer with him, Sky Stinger stood up and stretched his back. “Alright, I am gonna go fly around a bit and get some fresh air.” “Go do your thing, Sky.” Because if you do not leave, I may hurt you because of your stupidity… “Later!” He crouched down and shot off of the cloud into the air. The platform bounced slightly from the force of his kickoff. Vapor Trail looked left, then right. With nopony near her, or to what she could see, the mare tore off a chunk of the cloud with her hooves. And screamed into it in frustration.