Chapter 3: Photogenic kisses
That night, Skeleton Grin cautiously approached the Locker rooms. The scroll was there, she could see it, but she didn’t want to be jumped. Looking around, she silently glided over to the scroll, grabbed it, and flew off to her decrepit house.
That was harder than I thought...
Safe in her house, where nopony minus the nice mailmare knew she lived, she opened the scroll in excitement. A photograph fell out, snatched quickly out of the air by and eager hoof. Skeleton gasped.
Oh my, it’s him!
The picture was of Soarin, out of his uniform, blowing a kiss to the camera. She almost fainted right there.
He’s blowing me a kiss!
She put the picture carefully into a box she’d made herself out of the purest white clouds. Inside it also was the feather and the lock of mane, tied in a knot. Closing it carefully, she started reading his letter.
“My adoring admirer
I would like to start by thanking you for such a princely gift. The towel is lovely and no, it doesn’t smell. At least, not unpleasant. At least now I know what you smell like, and what your mane is like. And the feather was the perfect touch. You must be beautiful, for nopony could have such soft feathers and beautiful mane and scent like this unless they were absolutely stunning.
Although I know you will not tell me, I would dearly love to know your name and meet you sometime, if not only to discuss things over a nice dinner.
I eagerly await your reply.
Sincerely
Soarin.”
By the time she had finished, Grin was blushing furiously. She’d forgotten that he’d get her scent as well from that lock of her mane, but somehow, deep down, she was glad for it.
He... He likes my feathers...
She almost skipped for joy, but stopped herself and looked at the box that held the small gifts from Soarin. She opened it quickly and took out the lock of his mane, bringing it to her nose and inhaling deeply. The now familiar smell of cinnamon and coconut filled her nostril and she smiled dreamily. Putting the knotted hair back, she picked up the photo and smiled.
“I will meet you someday my Soarin... and I hope it will be soon...”
She kissed the photo gently and put it back in the cloud box, latching it when it was closed. This called for an immediate reply. As such, she got out her parchment. She didn’t have much left now, and began to write in her spidery text.
~*~
Soarin dreamed....
It was dark, and a face haunted him. A face with sharp, pointed teeth and eyes darker than the night. It scared him, but at the same time excited him somehow. It was all so mysterious, yet the face didn’t seem malicious, only mischievous and somehow oh-so-familiar. He saw the black rose on a white backdrop, fully bloomed and sparkling with dewdrops, the lock of long hair, the soft feather...
He woke up with a start as his alarm clock went off. He’d set it to half past five in the morning so he could beat the rest of his team to the locker rooms. As such, he had a rushed breakfast, made sure he had everything, which was basically only the key to the locker room, and bolted.
It didn’t take him long to reach to stadium. As he went to unlock the locker room, he noticed the scroll on the clouds.
Duh Soarin, the room itself is locked.
Feeling rather foolish, he picked up the scroll and went into the locker room, shutting himself in his private part of the small room. There was no gift this time, and Soarins’ heart fell.
Did I do something wrong? Was the picture too much? Oh by Celestia I hope not!
“My Dearest Soarin.
Many heartfelt thanks for the lovely photo, I shall cherish it always. Unfortunately, I could find no suitable gift for you, save for a spell that I discovered from a kind lavender unicorn mare and her friend, a white unicorn mare. Lovely ponies... I didn’t stay long enough to catch their names.
I never do if I can help it.
When you reach the bottom of this scroll, there’s a small symbol on the bottom. Please, press it. And please, do not dispose of this note, as this gift can be used repeatedly.
You were right in believing that I would not reveal my name, and I apologise with all my soul for it. There’s only so much I can do...
With all my love and affection...”
Once again, the curious little face was there and suddenly he recognized the face from his dreams.
It was you... Oh you sneaky little minx!
He chuckled goodnaturedly and unrolled the scroll to the bottom, noting the small symbol. Curious, he pressed it gently and smoke started eddying from the parchment, forming into the head of a beautiful mare. He couldn’t see any details, the eyes, skin, mane, it was all white, but it was beautiful regardless. It was also asleep.
“What the hay...”
The sleeping head jerked up, startlingly realistic, then saw him and smiled shyly. He smiled back as the head got closer, then he started to get worried.
“Uh, excuse me, miss, I don’t quite und-“
His voice was cut off as the head drew ever closer, its’ formless eyes closing...
~*~
Back in the decrepit house, Skeleton Grin leaned forward, eyes closed, head tilted to the left and kissed the smoky apparition of Soarin before her. He seemed to understand about two seconds into the kiss what this was and was determined, it seemed, to get as much out of the kiss as possible.
Oh Celestia, I’m kissing Soarin!
It was amazing. She felt bolts of lightning shooting up her spine, her legs went weak, but she stubbornly remained standing, kissing the disembodied head of Soarin desperately. She couldn’t help herself, it was simply addictive.
She didn’t want it to end.
~*~
Sneaky little...
Soarin was loving it. He might not know her name, where she lived, or even the details of how she looked, but she seemed quite content to kiss him, and he was fine with that. Which sort of worried him, since he knew he really probably shouldn’t be doing this. He knew his team-mates would be there in another few minutes, but again he didn’t care.
For now, it was just him, and her.
It lasted thirteen minutes. Thirteen full minutes they kissed, before the ghostly apparition regretfully drew her lips from his and spoke. The voice was scratchy and didn’t stay on the same pitch at all, like a really faulty radio.
“This is my gift to you. I love you Soarin...”
Just as Soarin was about to answer, and he didn’t know how he was going to, it just started to come out, the apparition kissed him softly again, nuzzled under his chin and was gone, smoke dissipating in the air.
~*~
Skelton Grin sighed as she watched the smoke dissipate.
I can’t believe I just did that...
It wasn’t that she regretted it. Far from it. it felt phenomenal, being able to kiss her crush, even if it wasn’t technically face to face. She wished it had been for longer, but the unicorns who performed the spell for her, the lovely mares of purple and white, had warned her it was only a fifteen minute session.
And that’s meant for communication? They did say it wasn’t looked into due to flaws...
Well, either way, she was glad for the spell masking her voice. Made her harder to track down. It was almost time for the training session to begin. Skeleton did a double check. At the spot she always lay when watching the team and, more specifically, Soarin, was her little box, a pair of binoculars, not that she needed them, and a small bag of assorted snacks.
That was her steady diet.
She couldn’t afford anything else, and so the snacks were her staple diet now. The small amount of bits she got per week for the bare essentials paid for them.
Time for another round of wondrous flying!