Justin’s euphoria at finally achieving what he had worried was impossible was short-lived. Rainbow Dash had taken pursuit and had caught up to him in a matter of moments. “So you think you’re funny?” she asked, a rather mean smile on her face. Justin saw this and pushed himself harder, almost doubling his speed. He turned and almost fell out of the sky when he saw what was happening behind him.
Rainbow was flying in the face of physics; defying everything Justin had thought was possible. She was on her back, kicking with her hind legs and swinging her forelegs in circular motions. And worst of all, her wings were barely flapping and she was still gaining on Justin.
“How...?” he asked quietly, trying to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. He turned back around just in time to see a great white expanse fill his sight. He let out a short scream as he tried to slow himself down in time to swerve around or stop, but it was too late. With a rather loud foompf his head disappeared into the cloud, leaving the rest of his body sticking out like the world’s strangest pinata.
Rainbow hovered next to him and laughed until her lungs felt as though they would burst. Justin simply hung there limply after trying (and failing) to remove himself from his fluffy prison. Eventually, it struck him that asking for help would be a good idea. “A ritull herlf?” Rainbow failed to hear him, forcing him to yell louder. “A ritull herlf!?”
Rainbow had calmed down enough at that point to notice his cries for help. “You... you need me to pull you out?” she asked, stifling a number of giggles.
“Yeph!” he replied. Rainbow didn’t help immediately, though. Instead she stared at his flank for a few moments, taking time to admire it. After about half a minute, she grabbed hold of his tail in her mouth and pulled. He came out with a yelp and begun flapping his wings instinctively when he saw how high up he was. “Holy hay!” he exclaimed.
Rainbow spat out his tail. “When was the last time you washed that thing?”
“When was the last time I fell in the lake?” he responded conversationally.
“Yesterday.”
“Yesterday, then.” Justin spun around and looked at his tail. “Do you have any idea how weird that felt?” he asked, rubbing his flank.
“What? It’s not like I pulled too hard,” the technicolour mare replied indignantly.
“No, it’s just...” Justin frowned as he tried to come up with the right words. “I dunno. Still not used to having a tail, I guess.”
“How are you coping so well?” Rainbow asked, crossing her forelegs over her chest.
Justin shrugged, his legs hanging limply beneath him. “I just try not to think about it.”
“Really?” she asked, eyebrow raised in disbelief.
“Let’s see you cope this well after waking up with a completely different body,” he countered, jabbing a hoof at her.
“You know what I think?” she asked him, flying closer. “You were always a pegasus.”
“Uhh... what?”
“Yeah,” she replied drifting closer. “Why else did I like you so much before?”
“Uhh...” Justin’s field of view consisted only of Rainbow’s face, making him feel a little nervous. The last time he had been this close to her she had stuck her tongue down his throat. His face turned red as he stared into her eyes. His mouth hung open loosely, giving her the means to press her lips against his.
He found himself locked in a passionate kiss. Unlike the last time, he kissed back. Soon they were embracing each other with their forehooves in mid-air, still locked ate the mouth. It wasn’t long, however, before he pulled away (much to Rainbow’s disappointment).
“Is something wrong?”
“No, it’s just...” He pulled himself out of the hug, giving himself time to think. “If we’re gonna do this, then we should do it right.”
“Whaddya mean?” Rainbow asked, head titled to one side.
Justin took a deep breath. “Do you... do you want to...?” he trailed off into silence, doing hs best Fluttershy impersonation.
“Do I wanna what?” Rainbow asked, even though she had a good idea what was coming.
“Doyouwanttogooutwithme!?” he blurted out in an instant.
“Come again?” She smiled at him, thinking it was cute when he was panicky.
He took another breath and tried again. “Do you want to go out with me?” he asked slowly, taking care to enunciate each word carefully.
Rainbow was touched, but a part of her just couldn’t resist. “I dunno,” she replied wryly, rubbing her chin with a hoof. “I’ll have to think about it.”
He just stared at her slack-jawed. “Oh come on!” Justin asked angrily. He could tell that she was teasing him, and it was not helping his mood. “You tease me for a whole week, and now this?”
“No!” Rainbow replied. “Well, yes,” she admitted. “But I haven’t been on a date in a long time. So I could really use time to prepare.” She raised an eyebrow. “How do you plan on paying for a date, anyways?”
“Uhh...” Justin had never thought of that. He hadn’t thought about anything other than asking her out.
“Maybe you should get a job?” she suggested.
“Well, I’ve got the hang of flight...” The only reason that he had put off searching for employment was his lack of mastery of the most basic of pegasus abilities. Now that he could fly with apparent ease, nothing was hindering him. “Okay then.” He looked down, surprised at how small everything seemed. “Wow. So, which way to the post office?”
“Follow me.” She pointed her nose down and descended at great speed. Justin gulped and did his best to follow. Much to his surprise and glee, the controlled descent was incredibly exhilarating. He got so lost in the feeling that he failed to pull up in time and crashed face-first into the ground at high speed, fast enough to leave a small crater.
“Are you okay?” Rainbow asked; hovering over him with a concerned look on her face.
“Mummy, I want some chocolate,” he replied as though in a dream, his pupils spinning in different directions in a comical fashion. Rainbow landed and shook the stallion, who returned to a normal mental state almost immediately. “Ow... my head,” he muttered, rubbing the area that had taken the brunt of his crash-landing.
“You need to work on your landings,” Rainbow pointed out.
“You like pointing out the obvious, don’t you?” he asked as he pulled himself out of the hole he had made.
Rainbow shrugged as she took to the air again. “Come on, Just-” She stopped herself mid-sentence, suddenly struck by a thought. “Huh,” she muttered pensively.
“What is it?”
“You need a name,” she said.
“Uhh, Rainbow, I already have a name,” he replied, confused.
“I mean a pony name. ‘Justin’ is kinda... y’know... weird.”
Justin paused, not having thought much about it. “That’s... a good point. Any ideas?”
“Most pegasi have names that have to do with the weather. Then again, most of them end up working in the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale.” Rainbow rested her chin on a hoof, going deep in thought. “Your cutie mark is to do with delivering mail so...”
“So a name that fits would be a good idea,” Justin concluded. They both fell silent as they tried to come up with ideas. “How about Special Delivery?” Justin asked.
“Nah, that sounds kinda...” Rainbow pulled a face as she tried to find the right words. “Just no,” she said, giving up. “I got nothing, though.”
“Post Haste?” Justin suggested.
“Post Haste? That sounds...” Rainbow thought about it for a moment. “That actually sounds pretty good. I might call you ‘Postie’ for short,” she said playfully.
“Great! From today, I am no longer Justin! I am Post Haste!” Justin stood in an overly-dramatic stance, causing his potential fillyfriend to start giggling. “What? I’ve always wanted to do something like that,” he said in response to her amusement.
“Come on, you. I’ll have to introduce you to Ditzy.”
“Who?” the stallion asked as he followed.
“She’s in charge of the post office here.” Before long they had made it to a building that was indistinguishable from any other in Ponyville; the only defining feature was the sign above the door with the winged scroll painted on it with the letters “R.E.P.S” underneath.
“It stands for Royal Equestria Postal Service,” Rainbow explained as she pushed open the door, causing a small bell to ring.
“One moment!” a voice called out. As they waited, Post Haste took a look around. On the counter was what he could only think of as an old-fashioned cash register and a messy pile of paper, along with a few slightly chewed pens. There were also a series of envelopes in nooks on the wall behind it, along with a set of saddlebags stuffed with mail on a hook.
A grey pegasus with a blond mane and tail with a set of several bubbles for a cutie mark stepped out from a back room, looking haggard and irritated. “Hey, Rainbow,” Ditzy said as cordially as she could manage. “Who’s this?”
“Y’know how you’ve been needing help around here for months?” the technicolour mare asked. Ditzy nodded slowly, not entirely sure where this was going. “Well, I found somepony!” She nudged Post in the ribs, at which he stepped forwards.
“Er, hi.” Post tried to look her in the eyes, but it was kind of difficult when one of them was staring at something on the ceiling. “I’m Post Haste.” His new name still felt a little odd on his tongue, but he was sure that he would get used to it soon enough.
“Hmm...” Ditzy stepped around the counter and began to scrutinize him carefully. She inspected every inch of his body, causing him to start feeling a little disturbed by her behaviour. Without warning, she started barking questions at him. “Do you have what it takes to be a royal mailpony? Can your body take the stresses of constant physical exertion while carrying saddlebags loaded with over twenty pounds of mail? Are you willing to fly through storms and blizzards to make sure that everypony gets their mail, regardless of the risk to your own health and well-being?” The questions were asked in such a way that it honestly scared Post Haste, quite the achievement as he was about a good head taller than Ditzy.
“Ditzy, stop that. You’re scaring him.” Rainbow jabbed the other pegasus none-too-kindly.
“I know,” the grey mare replied, smiling. “I just wanted to mess with him.”
Post Haste simply stared at her for a moment. “Does everypony have a slightly messed up sense of humour here or something?” he asked nopony in particular.
“No, we just like messing with you,” Rainbow replied.
“So you really want a job here?” Ditzy asked, her expression warm and friendly.
“Yeah, I s’pose.”
“Another set of hooves here will make things so much easier,” the mailmare responded. “I mean, my talent is wrapping stuff up for delivery, not the actual delivery part. With somepony taking care of that, I might be able to make some headway in the -” Suddenly the sound of multiple pops got her attention. “Dinky! Stop playing with the bubble wrap! Mummy needs that!”
“Awww!” a grey unicorn filly stepped out, a large piece of bubble wrap stuck to her head with tape. “But I’m bored!”
“I know, muffin, but Mummy has to work.” Ditzy leaned down and grabbed the bubble wrap, pulling it off. “I’ll take you to Sugarcube Corner afterwards, okay?”
“Okay!” Dinky bounced off back into the back room, where more popping could be heard.
Ditzy sighed. “So, are you serious about wanting to work here?” she asked Post Haste again.
“Yes I am,” he replied confidently.
“Then welcome aboard.” She stuck out her hoof for him to shake. He stared at it for a moment before deciding to throw logic to the wind and shake it anyways.
Author's note:
The character is now Post Haste. That is his pony name, and it shall be his only name. Understood?