Little Wing and Misty Gust’s Home
“Little Wing, please stop pacing!” Misty Gust shouted in extreme irritation towards the light blue pegasus in question.
Little Wing had been at it for a while, nervousness painfully clear in her every single action. All of her training left in the dust, and with nothing else to do but wait, Little Wing had been driven well and truly mad.
And now the day had come that would decide all of her dreams, and where she would go in life from that point onwards. All of it depended on a tiny little envelope that would soon arrive, for better or for worse. And because of that, all the Wonderbolt hopeful could do was pace back and forth with no end in sight, Misty Gust just watching with a bored expression from the sofa.
“No!” Little Wing shouted back, in fact increasing her pacing quite substantially. “Gah! It should be here by now! What if I failed!? What if they lost the envelope and I don’t get in because of a clerical error!?”
“I’m not sure that would happen,” Misty deadpanned.
“You don’t know that!”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Misty decided, getting up from the sofa and stepping in front of her marefriend. “Sit. Down. Now!”
In any other circumstance, Little Wing would have been defeated by her marefriend’s balefire glare there and then, sitting her rump right down onto the ground and doing as she was told.
Not this time.
“No!” Little Wing protested as Misty bit down on the scruff of her neck and dragged her towards the sofa. “I refuse! Let go of me!”
Misty Gust just rolled her eyes, all but throwing her special somepony onto the sofa and standing in her way when she tried to get up again.
“Sit,” Misty commanded, placing a hoof onto Little Wing’s chest until she stopped squirming.
It took a few moments, and a decreasing amount of protests, but eventually the mare caved in and did as asked. Misty was eventually able to remove her hoof, which left Little Wing to huff and cross her forelegs in a sulk.
“There,” Misty said with only a hint of smugness in her voice. “Isn’t that better?”
Little Wing glared up at her marefriend. “Bwah.”
Misty Gust rolled her eyes, flopping down into the sofa next to Little Wing. “Oh don’t be dramatic. Time might actually go faster if you just calmed down a bit.”
“Calm? Who isn’t calm? I’m calm!”
And so the deadpan look returned, Little Wing trying not to wilt under it while adopting a sheepish smile.
“Okay… Maybe a little bit of stress.”
“A little?”
Little Wing groaned. “Okay, a LOT of stress. But come on! How could I not?”
“Sitting down is a good start,” Misty quipped, wrapping a wing around her marefriend. This was partially to provide her comfort, and partially to ensure that she remained seated for the foreseeable future. “And talking. Anything to pass the time. Want a book?”
“How could I read at a time like this?” Little Wing lamented. “Ugh, not even Daring Do could save me now…”
Misty laughed. “You’ll be fine! Seriously, you’re getting worked up over nothing.”
“Yeah, we’ll see,” she muttered in turn. “I just… don’t want to feel like I’ve messed this life up, you know?”
“This life? Whatever life is there?”
Little Wing chose not to answer that.
If Misty found the lack of an answer odd, she didn’t show it.
“Besides, assuming for a moment you did fail, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Disappointing, sure. I’d expect plenty of tears, some probably my own. I hate seeing you sad.”
Little Wing chuckled. “Softy.”
“Pot calling kettle,” Misty Gust replied with a small grin. “Point is, it’s not like I’m going anywhere. Or any of the others. We’d get past it. And the Wonderbolts would come to know exactly what they missed out on.”
Little Wing’s chuckles now turned into full laughter. “Oh, maybe I’d form my own team! Little Wing’s Fliers! No, Shadowbolts! Something catchy like that.”
“Of course you would.”
“And it’d be awesome.”
“Yes dear.”
“Don’t be all snarky with me, you set me on this path!” Little Wing retorted jokingly.
Misty laughed in response. “Yes, I suppose I must bare some of the blame.”
“More than a little.”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Misty shot back, though the smile on her face was obvious. “So, are you feeling a little calmer now?”
“Calmer? Huh, yeah. I guess I am.”
“Sitting down and talking. What did I tell you?”
“Yes yes, I know,” Little Wing replied with a roll of her eyes. “You’re the smart pony here.”
And then the doorbell rang.
“IT’SHEREI’VEGOTIT!” Little Wing blurted out, slipping out from under Misty’s wing and shooting off forwards.
A loud smash filled the house.
“You could’ve just opened the door!” Misty Gust called out from the smashed window.
Little Wing, now outside the house, looked back through the new hole sheepishly.
“Uh, whoops.”
“Little Wing?” a familiar motherly voice called out, Little Wing following its source back to the two pegasi at the door. “Uh, are you alright?”
“Huh, hey Mum,” Little Wing greeted, awkwardly landing back down into the ground. “I, uh… thought you were somepony else.”
They both just blinked, Bow Hothoof saying: “We were just coming around to see if the result had arrived yet.”
“Oh! Well, uh… no. It hasn’t come yet. We were just waiting for it.”
“Well, can we come in?” Windy asked, still a little startled by her daughter’s entrance, or rather sudden exit. “And wait with you?”
“Yeah! Sure! Door’s unlocked, go right ahead!”
Windy nodded, opening the door and walking into the house. Bow stayed for a moment, fixing Little Wing with a grin.
“And yes, I will,” he stated.
Little Wing blinked. “Will what?”
“Fit a new window in for you.”
Little Wing beamed, hugging her father tightly. “Thanks Daddy! You’re the best!”
“I know,” he said with a chuckle, he and his daughter entering the house.
As the two entered the living room, they found Windy Whistles already having taken a seat and Misty Gust just looking towards Little Wing with a raised eyebrow.
“So, did you get in?”
“Ah shut it,” Little Wing replied, taking a seat back next to her marefriend. “Just a little longer, I can wait.”
“Oh you can, can you?”
“Now that we’re here,” Bow observed with a chuckle.
“I take it she’s been a little stressed about it,” Windy noted.
“Like you wouldn’t believe!” Misty declared, raising her forehooves into the air in exasperation. “Back and forth! Back and forth! All day!”
Windy chuckled. “What can we say? She’s eager! She’s just lucky to have a very special somepony to keep her on track.”
“Isn’t she just?”
Little Wing looked mortified, pouting heavily. “Can we change the topic?”
“Oh no, I’m enjoying this way too much.”
The pout increased. “You’re evil!”
“I know!” Misty Gust sang.
“Believe me, it’s part of having a special somepony,” Bow Hothoof joked.
“Oh, is it now?” Windy Whistles asked, glaring playfully at the stallion. “Have I been such a bother all these years?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Bow replied without missing a beat. “Love you all the more for it.”
That comment actually caused Windy’s features to brighten somewhat. “Aw, that’s sweet!”
“When I asked for a change of topic, I didn’t mean to my parents’ love life,” Little Wing deadpanned.
“Well we could get back to yours,” Bow remarked. “When is the wedding?”
Now both Little Wing and Misty Gust turned a bright red.
Luckily, they were saved from the interrogation by a second knock on the door.
“And on that note!” Little Wing shouted as she shot up, though this time decidedly not through a window. “I’ll go get that.”
She left the three behind, Windy giving Misty a break by turning the conversation to something a little more mellow. Little Wing then walked on out into the hall and quickly reached the door, taking hold of the handle and swinging it open.
And it was there she saw the faces of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo.
“Sis!” Little Wing shouted in surprise.
“Hey Wing!” Rainbow greeted back. “Uh, did you have a break in or something?”
Little Wing flushed. “Um, no. The window was… an accident.”
“Really?”
“Yes! So, uh… what are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” Scootaloo asked, producing an envelope and holding it out to the mare in the grip of one of her orange wings. “You got in, by the way.”
Little Wing blinked. “I… did?”
She all but snatched the letter from Scootaloo, ripping it open and seeing the confirmation for herself.
She was a Wonderbolt reservist.
She was a….
She was…
“YES!” she proclaimed, her voice carrying for miles around.
After sharing the good news with both her marefriend and her parents, Little Wing and the others had all decided to head into the city to celebrate. To that end, they found a restaurant that seemed appealing to the group of six pegasi and managed to acquire some tables inside. It was decently busy within, pegasi of all colours nose deep in either a menu or their own plates of food. A waiter brought over the menus, leaving the family to browse the selection.
“This is so exciting though, isn’t it?” Windy said to the other, placing her menu face down into the table. “Both our daughters in the Wonderbolts! The BEST Wonderbolts, I’d say!”
“Technically it IS still the reserve,” Little Wing noted.
“You went through all that worry and now you’re bothering to correct her,” Misty pointed out with a small titter. “Mixed bag of emotions, aren’t you?”
“If you say so, Misty,” Little Wing replied, quickly nosing her marefriend’s cheek. “Honestly it’s like a massive weight has been lifted off of my chest. I mean, I got in! Now I just need to keep working until one of the team leaves.”
“It isn’t gonna be either of us,” Scootaloo remarked, deciding on her food and placing the menu to one side. “I’m sticking with the bolts until I’m old and grey.”
“Ditto,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “We could start a bet, who’s gonna leave next?”
“Spitfire would have our tails if she saw us doing that,” Scootaloo pointed out, before tapping her chin with a hum. “Or join in. Or both? Hard to say sometimes.”
“Soaring will stick with it so long as Dash is,” Little Wing said, shooting her elder sister a knowing smirk. “Spitfire’s too much of a hard ass. I’d say Surprise would go next.”
“Hm, maybe. I suppose we’ll find out some point or another.”
Little Wing hummed. “Yeah, I guess. It’s just… I guess now I’ve found out the result, it’s still sinking in.”
“I know that feeling,” Scootaloo stated. “Remember that party you all threw me? I spent the next week wondering if it was a dream or not. Still do sometimes.”
“Yeah, you’ve come a long way since you were the little filly unable to get up off the ground,” Rainbow Dash agreed, ruffling Scootaloo’s mane. “Heck, you too, Wing. I remember the first time I foalsat you.”
Windy Whistles let off a small whimper. “Oh, please don’t. This talk is going to make me cry and that’ll be a mess!”
“Oh, sorry Mum.”
“Well on another note,” Misty said to change the subject. “At least I can now tell my co-workers that my marefriend is a Wonderbolt.”
Little Wing chuckled. “And I can tell mine that my marefriend is the one who makes sure I stay sane.”
“Yeah, I guess you can,” Misty replied, leaning her head on Little Wing’s shoulder.
“Gag,” Rainbow said jokingly.
“Like you’re one to talk,” Scootaloo shot back with a smirk. “I saw you and Soarin the other day.”
Rainbow Dash blushed. “That was supposed to be in private!”
“Are you ready to order?” a smart looking stallion in a suit asked from the side, having just walked up to the table.
The group all told the waiter what they wished to eat and drink, the waiter then collecting the menus and departing to inform the kitchens. And once their food was ordered, the pegasi all returned to their general chatter. The conversation turned to what they had all been doing as of late, Windy and Bow describing a run in with a couple who they shared an intense parental rivalry due to some mare named Lightning Dust. But over time Little Wing began to let the conversation fall into the background, entering her own thoughts.
She’d actually made it into the reserves. This had been a goal, a dream, for so long…
Now the question was, where would her life go from there?
And as if to expand on that question, movement caught Little Wing’s eye. Raising her head, and looking out of the large restaurant window, she saw her again.
There she was, staring at Little Wing from across the street. She hadn’t seen the dark coated mare in so long, not since the day she got her cutie mark all those years ago. But there she was, her gaze as expectant as ever.
Penumbra.
Her first birthday, she was there. The day she got her cutie mark, she was there. And now the day she officially became a part of the Wonderbolts and an organisation, Penumbra was there.
The length between each sighting had increased, but each had always been at a major milestone of her life.
Was she just checking in on her? Or was this… something else?
A carriage moved past in the street, and when it was gone from sight so was Penumbra.