Chapter 2:
The sun began to rise in the sky, welcoming a new day in Equestria. The sound of birds chirping spread across the great outdoors, allowing the beautiful sound to awaken Soarin from his sleep.
He took a big long yawn and stretched before fully opening his eyes and hopping out of bed.
'Man, that was some real sleep. Now I need to try and remember what's up today.' Soarin thought.
He looked around his bedroom and saw his saddlebags in a corner of his room. He remembered that today would be the day him and his companions in the Wonderbolts are travelling to Ponyville. He also remembered that he would be staying there for a week.
Soarin thought 'Looks like it's goodbye to this place for a while. Hopefully Ponyville has somewhere that sells pie.'
Suddenly a knocking sound could be heard on Soarin's door.
"Yo Soarin! We gotta get moving!" shouted the muffled voice of a stallion "Get your things and go to the dining room!"
Soarin then felt his stomach rumble violently. 'Hopefully we're gonna eat before we go.' thought Soarin.
Soarin then gathered his bags and left his bedroom without a single thought of missing his bedroom. He's been performing for a few places in Equestria this year and those involved going away for a week. Ponyville was the fourth place him and his fellow Wonderbolts were going this year.
As he arrived at the dining room, he saw all the other Wonderbolts sat around the table eating their breakfast. Soarin placed his bags in the pile of bags his companions had created. He then took his allocated seat and helped himself to some slices of strawberry jam toast.
The stallion Soarin was speaking to last night then said "What a surprise! Soarin's the last one here! Like that's happened before."
Everyone around the table including Soarin laughed since Soarin was always the last to arrive at breakfast.
"You're sure good at making us laugh! You should have been a comedian instead of a Wonderbolt!" laughed Soarin.
"You think so?" asked the stallion.
"You would certainly get a better audience than the so-called 'Great and Powerful' Trixie." explained the mare who Soarin spoke with last night.
"Wouldn't we all?" asked Soarin with a grin on his face.
Everyone laughed again.
Spitfire was very quiet after the laughter took place. She was the only pony in the room wearing her Wonderbolt suit. She quickly finished her breakfast and got up from the table.
She stood in front of the fireplace in the dining room and hovered in the air ready to make a speech.
She then asked "Can I have everypony's attention please?" with a loud voice.
Everyone else stopped what they were doing and looked at Spitfire who started her speech.
"As all of you are aware, we will be departing for Ponyville after everypony has finished their breakfast. We will be staying there for a week. The arrangements for where we are staying have been made. We will be staying at the Ponyville motel which is located next to the hospital. At 1pm we will be doing our opening performance above Ponyville town centre. After that, you will be free to do as you wish on the condition that you have finished your unpacking at the motel. Are we clear?"
"Yeah!" shouted the Wonderbolts.
Spitfire continued her speech "As for the rest of the week, here's what we'll be doing. On Monday, we'll be spending two hours in Ponyville town hall. This will be a chance for us to meet some of the ponies who live in Ponyville and to sign some autographs. On Tuesday, we'll be racing our first derby race in the morning. Wednesday will be the day we do an Iron Pony competition against some of Ponyville's competitive ponies. The Iron Pony competition may have some earth ponies and unicorns playing so we'll need to play fair with them. On Thursday we're going to race our second derby race in the afternoon. On Friday, we'll be doing our final derby race in the morning and huge performance on Friday evening. Saturday will be a day free from performances and sport. That'll be our chance to pack our bags for going back and to speak with the residents of Ponyville. We will head back home on Sunday. Am I clear on that?"
"Yeah!" shouted the Wonderbolts again.
"Just remember to wear your suits in each event which all of you never fail to do." said Spitfire. "That's all guys. Thanks for your time."
Spitfire then landed and left the dining room.
Everyone started to get back to eating their breakfast and soon they finished.
"Well, best be hitting the road. This is gonna be a long trip." Soarin said to his fellow Wonderbolts as he gathered his bags and left the dining room in the same exit Spitfire took.
* * *
Rainbow Dash had woken up from her sleep. She took a moment in bed to realize who she was and where she was and hopped out of bed.
She then went downstairs to have her breakfast. As she poured some milk into a glass, she saw the time.
'Oh my gosh! 10 AM!!!' thought Rainbow Dash in shock.
After she'd made her breakfast, there was a knock at the door.
'Strange, nopony ever knocks. Most of my friends can't even get here.' Rainbow Dash thought as she approached the door.
She then opened the door to reveal none other than her friend Fluttershy.
"Umm, Hi Rainbow Dash." said Fluttershy. "Hope I wasn't interupting anything."
"No, not at all. Come in Fluttershy." said Rainbow Dash.
"Thank you." smiled Fluttershy as she walked inside, closing the door behind her.
Rainbow Dash glided over to the table which she put her breakfast on and took a bite at her slice of toast.
"I've just heard from Twilight about what the Wonderbolts will be doing today." said Fluttershy. "She told me because she can't get here and she hasn't seen you yet."
Rainbow Dash swallowed her mouthful and asked "What's going on?"
"Well, I think they're doing one of their performances after they arrive." replied Fluttershy.
"Sounds like them through and through." said Rainbow Dash. "Hopefully I'll be able to pull off my tricks in front of them this week."
"I'm sure you will." assured Fluttershy. "Have you still got those worries about it?"
Rainbow Dash replied "I'll have to look for Spitfire since I can trust her the most. I think they'll react differently if she sees it."
"Are you really sure about that?" asked Fluttershy. "What about that pony on your photo from Twilight's brother's wedding? Isn't he a Wonderbolt?"
"Wait, when did you see that?" asked Rainbow Dash in response.
"Umm, well, you were carrying it back to Ponyville after the wedding party." replied Fluttershy.
"Now you've mentioned it, the photo does give me an idea that he's a Wonderbolt since he's wearing their goggles in the photo but I don't think I can remember his name." explained Rainbow Dash. "But still, the visit from the Wonderbolts will be awesome!"
Rainbow Dash then took a big gulp of her milk. Fluttershy watched quietly.
"I-I have something to ask you Rainbow Dash." said Fluttershy.
"What do you need Fluttershy?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Umm, well, after the Wonderbolts have finished their performance, I'll need you to help me by gathering some fruit for my animal friends. I'm very low and the next market day is not until Saturday. If you find some fruit trees anywhere then I'll be grateful. Well, that's if you don't mind." replied Fluttershy.
"Could be a chance to return a favour to you since you helped me to find a pet." explained Rainbow Dash as she looked at a bed where her pet tortoise Tank slept. "And for helping me with the tornado. Sure, I'll do it!"
"Oh, thank you! I knew you would be interested." thanked Fluttershy with a friendly hug.
Rainbow Dash accepted Fluttershy's hug as a friendly gesture.
After Fluttershy had finished thanking Rainbow Dash, she began to head for the door.
"Goodbye Rainbow Dash." said Fluttershy.
"See you at the Wonderbolt's performance!" said Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy then took off and left Rainbow Dash's cloudy house, heading back to her cottage in the outskirts of Ponyville.
Rainbow Dash then saw her empty glass and plate on a table and decided to clean them.
'Hmm, strange how Fluttershy remembers my photo from Twilight's brother's wedding. Maybe I should find it and see who was in it as well as me. I could have sworn that it was one of the Wonderbolts.' thought Rainbow Dash as she placed the glass back in it's cupboard.
Rainbow Dash then glided to her bedroom and found her photo album which she had since she was a filly.
As she looked through the pages of her photo album, she saw photos of her days at Flight Camp, her life in Cloudsdale and Ponyville and the moments she had after meeting Twilight. She soon found the photo of her at the Royal Wedding of Shining Armour and Princess Cadence.
She examined the photo to attempt to identify the stallion next to her.
Rainbow Dash thought 'He's a Wonderbolt for sure. I have a feeling as if I met him in Canterlot before that but I don't recall his name.'
She then examined the photo further.
'I don't get why, but I feel something for him. Something I can't seem to identify. Maybe I'll know if I actually speak to him this week.' thought Rainbow Dash as she felt something strange in her chest. 'It'll still be awesome with the Wonderbolts visiting Ponyville for the week.'
* * *
The train arrived at Ponyville at 11:15am.
"We're here guys!" announced Spitfire. "We can't be sitting around anymore. C'mon! Move your flanks!"
"Geez, we're early and you're pushing us like we're late." sighed a Wonderbolt mare.
Spitfire, Soarin and the rest of the Wonderbolts left the train to find themselves face to face with none other than the Mayor of Ponyville. She gave them a welcoming smile.
"You must be Mayor Mare." said Spitfire. "Nice to meet you, I'm Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts."
Mayor Mare continued to smile and responded to Spitfire's introduction. "Welcome to Ponyville Spitfire. And welcome to the rest of you. I'm surprised that you made it early."
"Yeah, looks like Soarin didn't hold us back this time." joked Spitfire.
The other Wonderbolts except Soarin laughed.
'I wish they could stop making that joke about me now. They've dragged it too far.' thought Soarin after Spitfire's joke.
"Well, I'll have to lead you to where you'll be staying." said Mayor Mare as she started to lead the Wonderbolts to their temporary home in Ponyville. "And please remember that I'll be in Ponyville if you have any problems about your stay."
"Thanks." said Spitfire "I'm sure that we'll be fine here."
Mayor Mare lead the Wonderbolts through the outskirts of Ponyville and through the centre. As they passed through the areas of Ponyville, Mayor Mare told the Wonderbolts about the different landmarks in Ponyville as if she was a tour guide.
They soon reached a large, modern looking motel next to Ponyville hospital.
"And this is where you'll be staying, Ponyville Motel. It's of modern building standards and it's a beautiful place to stay. I hope you enjoy your stay here and please let me know if anything goes wrong." explained Mayor Mare.
"Thanks for the tour." said Spitfire. "We'll need to sort our rooms and bags and then we'll do our first performance."
"I'll leave you to it." said Mayor Mare as she began to walk away "Goodbye!"
After Mayor Mare left the Wonderbolts, Spitfire then turned to her followers.
"Alright guys. We have a section of the Motel just for us." explained Spitfire. "If you follow me, I'll take you to your rooms."
The Wonderbolts followed Spitfire without question into the Motel and to their bedrooms.