//------------------------------// // How Does One Heal A Broken Heart? // Story: A New World... For Jack. // by Dream Searcher //------------------------------// A New World… For Jack Chapter 4: How does one heal a broken heart? Thoughts Ponies: Jack: Brown Rainbow: Cyan What is fear? Is it your heartbeat that suddenly quickens in pace? Is it the sweat that suddenly appears on your body? Is it the shaking of your body or maybe it’s your quickened breath? According to the dictionary, fear means a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger. Could it be that? Danger? Was Rainbow Dash the danger that Jack feared? Maybe, but maybe he was afraid of himself? Why, you ask? Well, he knew that it was wrong of him to enter the strip club. He knew that he was disloyal and yet he gave in. One could label him as a monster and Jack couldn’t argue with them. He was a monster, in a way. But all of that didn’t matter right now; the only thing that mattered was trying to protect himself from Rainbow’s fury. Rainbow had stopped storming towards him and was now just inches from his face. Jack locked eyes with Rainbow and he could see the rage and anger in them. They were little Olympic flames that would never extinguish; there was also the occasional eye twitch. Jack couldn’t look away, but he did feel that all the eyes in the club were focused on Rainbow and him. I always feel like somebody’s watching me. Oh Rockwell, now that was a good song. Jack focused his attention back on Rainbow; she was still staring at him with that never-ending fury. It was like a western movie; the two duelists just staring at each other, saying nothing and waiting until the other makes a move. Jack decided it was imperative that he made the first move, but before he could do that the barman decided to change the music to something more fitting. Jack broke his gaze with Rainbow and glared daggers at the barman behind him. The barman just shrugged and smiled innocently. You can forget your tip, buddy. He turned back to Rainbow and began to apologize. “Rainbow, I-“ Rainbow cut him off by giving him a slap on the cheek. “What are you doing here!? Who is this slut sitting next to you!?” The stripper looked shocked, but Rainbow didn’t pay any attention to her. “Why are you here? Am I not good enough for you?” Jack stared again at Rainbow. Her eyes were watery and her breathing was ragged. The fires in her eyes were extinguished just like that and her tears managed to roll down her cheeks. “I thought you were different, Jack, but I was wrong.” Jack rubbed his cheek with his hoof; Rainbow really had some strength in her right hoof. “Please, allow me to explain!” He gave her a pleading look, but she wasn’t budging. “I-I don’t want to know it, just don’t come home tonight.” She turned around and galloped away, the only thing she left behind were her tears that dripped on the ground. Jack hung his head in defeat. It all happened so fast and Rainbow didn’t give him the time to explain. He paid the barman and began to trot towards the exit, but then he saw the pony that had caused all of this: Storm. Immediately his sadness disappeared and anger took its place. “Storm!! Wait ‘till I get my hooves on you.” The pony in question did something that Jack didn’t expect. Instead of running for his life, he trotted towards Jack. “Now wait a minute before start hitting me. I know that I’m the one to blame and I’m gonna make it up to you and Rainbow.” Storm said while he shielded himself a bit behind his hooves. Jack raised his eyebrow. “Clearly you didn’t pay attention. She doesn’t want to see me anymore, our relationship is technically over.” He began motioning with his forelegs to emphasize his sentence. Storm chuckled lightly and led his ‘friend’ to the exit. “You’ll see tomorrow. Right now you’re going to find someplace to sleep and tomorrow you’ll make a beautiful dinner for Rainbow, then I come in and save the day.” Jack rolled his eyes at Storm’s narcissism. Oh boy. “And you’re sure that will work?” Storm nodded his head in response. Jack groaned and rolled his eyes once again. If I’m going to keep doing that then my eyes will continue to roll and never stop. “Fine, I hope you know what you’re doing… but if you screw this up, I’m going to break every bone in your body, understand?” Storm nodded and saluted. “Well then, enjoy the rest of your night.” Jack said politely, but with a small touch of annoyance. He didn’t wait for a response and took off. Why in God’s name did he do that? Why did he enter that damned strip club? How did Rainbow Dash know where he was? Wait, what? Yeah, that’s right. Rainbow normally didn’t know where he was, unless… unless… she had been following him! That’s it, Rainbow followed him. But why? Didn’t she trust him? Well technically it was a good thing that Rainbow had followed him, who knows what would have happened if that stripper gave him a private dance. In one way he was angry at Rainbow for following him, but in the other way he was very grateful. He pushed all those thoughts away and gave himself a destination: Ponyville Library. ***** Jack landed in front of the library with relaxed thoughts. He didn’t know why, but the nighttime flight cleared his head; the flight had a relaxing effect on him. During the flight he had time to enjoy Equestria at night and it was magnificent. The ground was lightly illuminated by the moon that shone in the dark, but jeweled sky. Jack enjoyed looking at the moon; it was certainly more beautiful than the moon of Earth. He preferred the night over the day, just because it was relaxing for him. Then something happened that Jack really didn’t expect. He could hear a loud voice shouting: “WE THANK THEE!!” That startled him, but he quickly continued his flight towards the library. There was only one thing he could come up with in response: Miss, I’ve got to ask you to stop shouting. It’s making me nervous. Ha, loved that game. Jack shook his head to dismiss those thoughts, he had more important things to do right now and that was convincing Twilight to let him stay in the library. From the looks of it Twilight was still awake; the lights in the main room of the library were still on. He trotted to the door and knocked while thinking about what he was going to say. What should I say? “Hey Twilight, can I stay here for the Night, Rainbow kicked me out.” NO, that’s just plain stupid. Maybe this is better: “Hey Twilight, is it possible for me to stay in the library for this night? Rainbow and I had a small argument and I decided to give her some space. Yeah, that’s better than saying Rainbow kicked me out. “Um… Jack?” Jack shook his head and saw Twilight looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Wow, I was so deep in thought that I didn’t notice her opening the door. Jack took a moment to look at Twilight. Her eyes were half closed, there was a small smile on her face and her mane was ruffled. It was crystal clear that Jack awoke her from her sleep, but why were the lights on? It was then that Jack noticed something… embarrassing. Twilight slept with a pink nighttime cap that covered her horn. Jack couldn’t help it and a small amused smile formed itself on his face. Twilight saw that Jack was looking at her nighttime cap and a blush of embarrassment became visible on her face. She quickly teleported the nighttime cap to her bedroom, when that was done she focused her attention back to Jack. “So, why are you here at this hour?” She said with a small hint of annoyance. She went to sleep not long before Jack knocked on her door, but she could feel herself starting to dream. She was standing in a large library with bookshelves as far as the eye could see and they all asked Twilight that she would read them. It was when Twilight opened her first book that she heard a knock on her front door. “Oh, sorry about that, but I’m looking for a place to sleep. Rainbow and I had a small argument and it was best to give her some space, you know how Rainbow can be when she’s upset.” It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it wasn’t exactly a lie either. Jack liked to call it a bending of the truth. Jack actually didn’t like to lie, but sometimes a small lie couldn’t hurt. “What were you two arguing about?” Her eyes narrowed a bit and her tone became more… hostile, it was actually like an interrogation. Jack mentally facehoofed for not thinking about that. “Um, I’d rather not talk about it, maybe when Rainbow and I settled our dispute then we could inform you.” He gave her a pleading smile and puppy-dog eyes that these ponies somehow managed to have. Twilight rolled her eyes and got out of Jack’s way. “Fine, you can use the guest room. I do hope that you didn’t hurt Rainbow. She may be hard on the outside, but I know that she’s soft on the inside.” Twilight led Jack to the guest room, but was still trying to figure out what might have happened between Rainbow and Jack. “I know that Twilight, and I also hope that I didn’t hurt her, I would never forgive myself.” He felt really bad about what happened, but the past is the past and the only thing he could do now was trying to make it up to Rainbow. They arrived at the guest room and stood there for a couple of seconds, there was a tension in the air. Maybe this tension was caused due to Twilight not receiving many visitors or due to Jack, who was actually feeling miserable for his deeds. Twilight broke the silence, so that she could go back to bed and so that the situation didn’t get even more awkward. “Well Goodnight, if you need anything then go to my pet owl, Owlowiscious. He’ll help you.” “Ah, so that’s why you leave the lights on at night, for the owl.” Twilight shook her head lightly and chuckled, she was actually going to say something really weird right now. “Not exactly, Owlowiscious likes to do some reading at night and it’s better for your eyes to read in the light than in the dark. He’s a very intelligent owl.” Jack nodded his head in understanding. “Ah, makes sense.” It actually didn’t make much sense, but much in this world didn’t make any sense. The moon and the sun are controlled by the Princesses, he heard a shout in the middle of the night and Pegasi are able to control the weather. He decided to stop worrying about that and got ready to enter his guest room. “Well, Goodnight.” And with that he closed the door and nestled himself comfortably under the sheets of the bed. ***** It was Saturday afternoon and Jack was heading towards Rainbow’s house with a saddlebag full of ingredients for the dinner he was going to prepare. He had thanked Twilight for letting him sleep in her guest room and he wanted to pay her for it, but Twilight had said that it was just something between friends and friends don’t want money from each other. Still, Jack wasn’t a guy, or maybe now a stallion, that took no for an answer and he secretly left some bits on the bed in the guest room. Jack knew that Twilight would scold him for that when they would meet again, but Jack was a persistent one when it came to repaying favors. After leaving the library he went to the market to get his ingredients. Before he went to sleep he thought about what he could make. He found nothing in his mind and so he decided to search Twilight’s library for some cookbooks. With the help of Owlowiscious he found three cookbooks that were ok for him. As an appetizer he would make a double tomato bruschetta. He would need some Roma tomatoes, some sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, basil, a baguette and mozzarella cheese. Luckily for him Ponyville was an agricultural community, so they basically had every possible vegetable. As main course he would make roasted chestnut & herb pesto pasta with mushrooms. He would need some cooked chestnuts, some mint, basil and parsley, some Parmesan, 2 garlic cloves, rapeseed oil, dried pasta, olive oil and chestnut mushrooms. The appetizer and main course would be Italian, but Jack had something very special planned for the dessert. As dessert he would make a Moelleux au Chocolat. He would need chocolate, sugar, eggs, butter and flour. It only needs 30 minutes to prepare, but it is feared in many kitchens. A Moelleux is technically a cupcake or muffin of chocolate, but with liquid chocolate inside of it. There is a great chance that it might collapse or that it’s too hard, but if you do it right then you have actually a gift from the Gods. So now Jack’s saddlebag was full of ingredients and the cookbooks which he borrowed from the library. His target became visible in front of him: Rainbow’s home. He silently hoped that Rainbow wasn’t home so that he could make it a big surprise, but if she was home then so be it. He decided to look through the windows to see if she was home. She wasn’t in the living room or kitchen, that’s good. The bathroom had no windows, so the only thing that was left was her bedroom. He looked through the window and saw a scene he didn’t expect. Her blankets lay unorganized on the floor, her alarm clock was smashed to pieces and her cloud pillow was soaking wet. A sudden feeling of guilt nestled itself in Jack’s brain, even more than yesterday in the strip club. He saw that he had hurt Rainbow even more than he thought. She wasn’t home right now, so that must mean she was flying somewhere to forget everything that happened yesterday. It was going to be very hard to win back Rainbow’s trust, even with the dinner. But then his mind reminded him of something. He still had those Wonderbolts tickets and he could use them to win back Rainbow’s trust, she’ll be so excited when she hears that Jack managed to get some tickets. With his newfound courage he entered the house through the front door, but first he grabbed Rainbow’s spare key out of the cloud in her cloud lawn. He placed his saddlebags on the kitchen table and emptied them. He knew that it would take some time to cook all these dishes so he needed some entertainment. Rainbow had told him that the technology in Equestria is almost the same as on Earth, but Earth is a bit more advanced. Maybe Rainbow had a radio in her attic so he could listen to the radio while he was cooking. Rainbow’s attic was a dusty, filthy, old room with much old Wonderbolts souvenirs. There were multiple shelves full of books about flying or comic books about Pegasi, but there was one thing that caught Jack’s attention and that was a crown. It was a fake-golden crown with a text engraved on it. ‘1st place Young Flyer Competition: Lightning Dash.’ Lightning Dash? Could that be her father? I’ve got to ask Rainbow that when she’s in a better mood. He placed the crown back on the shelf and trotted further into the attic. At the end of the room he found a rather old radio, but there was no visible damage on the radio. He trotted back to the door and closed it, leaving the crown back in the dark. After 5 minutes Jack managed to get the radio to start. He searched for a good frequency and he found one instantly. The radio station was playing an exact copy of Moonlight Sonata, but it was a modern version. I can use classical music right now; it can help me relax when I’m cooking. He placed the radio on the kitchen table and began cutting the tomatoes for the appetizer. ***** Rainbow had finished her tour above the Whitetail Woods. The flight had managed to relax her thoughts, but the events of yesterday never left her thoughts completely. She always wondered why Jack would do such a thing. Wasn’t she sexy enough? Was he beginning to have second thoughts about their relationship? She found no answers and she could only blame herself for not letting Jack explain yesterday. Oh Rainbow, you’re such an idiot sometimes. She still loved Jack, but now she didn’t know if Jack loved her. She flew back to her house so she could relax there; contact with ponies was something she didn’t want right now. When she was just a couple of feet away from her house, she heard something and it sounded like music. She instantly knew that it was her old radio, because only that radio had noise during the songs it played. But how could that radio play if she wasn’t home? That must mean that somepony was inside her home. She opened the front door as silently as she could, so that way she wouldn’t get noticed by the burglar. She closed the door again as silently as she could and crawled towards the kitchen, the music seemed to be coming from there. She was ready to attack the burglar, but to her surprise the burglar was Jack who was cooking and he was singing at the same time. “Coltifornia rest in peace. Simultaneous release. Coltifornia show your teeth .She's my priestess, I'm your priest. YEAH, YEAH… Oh, the guitar part.” He stood on his hind legs and began to play air guitar. In one swift motion he turned to the left, still playing air guitar, and saw Rainbow staring at him with a small smirk on her face. He instantly got back on all fours, while blushing, and turned back to his stove. Rainbow dismissed the smirk on her face, replaced it with a more angry expression and trotted towards the stove. I do have to say that it was kinda funny for me and very embarrassing for him. “Why are you here? I told you not to come home, if we can even still call it your home.” That was a stab in Jack’s heart. Did Rainbow really want to kick him out of the house and end their relationship? He didn’t want that and he really thought that Rainbow didn’t want it either, but now he had to face the facts, this relationship couldn’t be repaired. His last hope to make things right was once again apologizing. “Rainbow, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know any better last evening and I know that it was very stupid of me to enter that strip club, but I apologize for that. I love you, but if you don’t want to see me again then that’s ok with me.” Jack hung his head and waited for Rainbow to say something. Rainbow, however, was startled by Jack’s apology. He still loves me; I knew that I had let him explain things yesterday. A warm small formed on her face. She knew that things were going to be alright, but that didn’t mean that she would forgive Jack so easily. She trotted to Jack and caressed his cheek with her hoof, that made Jack look up and he was greeted by Rainbow’s warm smile. “Hey, don’t worry; I’m not going to throw you out. Honestly, I thought you went to the strip club because you didn’t love me anymore.” Rainbow was like a savior for Jack, a little angel who told him that everything was alright. First he felt relief, but then he felt happiness, because his story with Rainbow Dash wasn’t over yet and he wasn’t planning to end it soon. This happiness was quickly locked away when Rainbow’s words began to sink in and he could feel himself cocking a look of confusion towards Rainbow. “Why would I stop loving you, you’re THE mare for me. You’re loyal, funny, cool, beautiful and rather smart.” “Flattery isn’t going to make the forgiving process go faster, but I appreciate it. Oh, you forgot to mention that I’m awesome. Now let’s turn our attention to something else, because this cheesy situation isn’t very good for my coolness.” Jack rolled his eyes at the immediate return of Rainbow’s narcissism. Almost every Pegasi that he had met, with the exception of Fluttershy, had a bit of narcissism, maybe that was a common trait for Pegasi? Jack didn’t have much time to think about that, because Rainbow turned her attention to the stove. “So whatcha cooking?” Jack immediately stood on his hind legs before the stove so that Rainbow couldn’t see what Jack was cooking. Things were going good right now and it would only get better if dinner was a surprise. “If I told you that then it wouldn’t be much of a surprise, now would it? It’s my make-it-up-to-you gift. Just go to the living room and wait until I call you.” Rainbow pouted and used her puppy-dog stare, but it didn’t work on Jack. “Please, just one quick look.” Rainbow said, still using her same tactic. Jack knew that drastic measures were needed, because Rainbow was a very persistent one. He took a towel in one of his hooves and whipped it against Rainbow’s flank. She let out a small shriek of pain, but mostly it was from the surprise. It wasn’t that hard, but it was enough to get her moving. Jack motioned with his hoof towards the doorway that connected the living room with the kitchen. “Out,” Jack ordered sternly. “This is currently my kingdom.” Rainbow snickered for a moment and saluted. “Yes sir!” She said like she was a soldier in an army. Who knows, maybe Rainbow did get some army training when she was in flight school. According to multiple ponies, Cloudsdale was a very militaristic city with an own army. Jack shook his head to get the thoughts out of his mind and focused his attention back on the stove while Rainbow trotted, with much reluctance, to the living room. Both had the same thought in their head: He/She still loves me; everything’s going to be alright. ***** It only took Jack half an hour to cook the appetizer, so Rainbow didn’t have to wait long before the borders of the kitchen were open again. Rainbow had taken a bite and moaned while she was eating, clearly she found it delicious. Jack didn’t eat as much as Rainbow, because he constantly had to taste his food before serving and so his stomach was almost full when he started eating. He had also bought a bottle of Canterlot’s finest white wine. It had a light sour taste, but it left some tingling sensations on the tongue. He pushed Rainbow again out of the kitchen when he was going to continue to cook. After 15 minutes Jack yelled a loud ‘God Dammit’. Jack had burned his right forehoof on the stove and his fur almost caught on fire. Rainbow bandaged him and he continued to cook, dinner was going to be served even if it killed him. After again 15 minutes the pasta was ready and Rainbow was again allowed into the kitchen. She once again moaned and Jack deducted that Rainbow really loved the Italian kitchen. After the main course it was time for Jack’s pièce de résistance: his Moelleux au Chocolat. He had tried to make it several times today and every time something was wrong. It collapsed, it was too hard or the chocolate wasn’t liquid enough. This time he said his prayers to Celestia and to God and he took the Moelleux out of the oven. At first glance the Moelleux looked good from the outside, but he had to cut one open to see if the chocolate was liquid enough. He took a knife, cut it in half and to his surprise everything was perfect. The outside was hard and the chocolate that was inside the moelleux was liquid enough. With much excitement and happiness he placed Rainbow’s moelleux on her plate and his moelleux on his own plate. “Rainbow, you can come back into the kitchen.” He yelled with much excitement in his voice. He had made one of the hardest desserts known to mankind. Rainbow trotted back into the kitchen and sat down at her side of the table. She took a glance at the deliciousness in front of her and arched an eyebrow. “A… chocolate cupcake?” A shocked expression formed on Jack’s face. “Oh Rainbow, saying that a Moelleux au Chocolat looks like a chocolate cupcake is like saying that my mother looks like a whore.” They both snickered a bit at Jack’s exaggeration; so far Jack’s make-it-up-to-you plan was a success. “No, this is a Moelleux au Chocolat. This little dessert is feared by many cooks, but the taste is extraordinary. Try it, because there are actually no words to describe this wonder.” Rainbow nodded and sniffed at the dessert. Her assumptions were right, it smelled like chocolate. She took the spoon that Jack gave her, although she found it weird that this dessert was supposed to be eaten with the help of a spoon. She took a small piece of the moelleux on her spoon and almost instantly the liquid chocolate flowed out of the moelleux. She mixed the hard part of the Moelleux that was now on her spoon, with the liquid chocolate and brought the spoon towards her mouth. The smell of the chocolate invaded her nostrils once again and she felt a small shiver going down her spine. She couldn’t wait any longer and ate the piece of the moelleux. Almost instantly she felt an explosion of chocolate in her mouth. Sure, she had tasted chocolate before, but this one really took the cake. She knew that Jack’s Moelleux would even make Pinkie and her cupcakes jealous. She swallowed the piece and sat there with a goofy smile on her face. “Good Heavens.” She said; the goofy smile still plastered on her face. Jack beamed with pride. Sure, he had eaten many Moelleux before, but he never made one himself. It was good to know that his cooking skills didn’t poison anypony. “It’s good, eh?” Rainbow nodded in response, she was now continuing devouring her moelleux. Jack sat down at his part of the table, opposite of Rainbow and began eating his moelleux. After 5 minutes both of the Moelleux were on their way towards the stomachs. Rainbow patted her belly and let out a small hiccup from eating too fast. “You know, this will certainly speed up the forgiving process. I don’t think I ever ate this good in my life.” Jack smiled politely at Rainbow and a small blush became visible on his face due to the compliment. Now he was ready to shock Rainbow so hard that it could be possible that her stomach emptied itself. He trotted to his saddlebag and took out two tickets which he held in front of Rainbow’s eyes. “These, my dear Rainbow, are tickets for the Wonderbolts race tomorrow in the arena of Cloudsdale.” He said with a small smirk on his face. Rainbow’s eyes widened in disbelief. “H-how? It’s been sold out since last month.” She stammered a bit, her mind couldn’t process it. He gave one of the tickets to Rainbow and she gladly accepted it. “Spitfire gave them to me, but they aren’t normal tickets. No, they are VIP tickets.” His smirk grew larger and Rainbow’s eyes widened once again. “V-V-VIP tickets? You mean we can look at the race from the VIP lounge?” She asked, looking at the golden ticket. She could feel it; she was going to pass out any minute now if there were more surprises. Jack nodded. “Yes, but that’s not everything. Spitfire has invited us to meet her and her team after the race. He closed his eyes and waited for Rainbow to give him a kiss, but it never came. Instead he heard a loud thud. He opened his eyes and saw that Rainbow had fallen off her chair and from the looks of it she was unconscious, but she had a huge smile on her face. Jack rolled his eyes and dragged Rainbow to the couch in the living room. Then he went back to the kitchen, he had some cleaning up to do. Jack, you’re great at fixing things. ***** Sunday Jack and Rainbow were flying to the arena of Cloudsdale where the Wonderbolts race was going to be held. Neither of them spoke much to each other while flying, but occasionally Rainbow let out an ‘ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh’. She was very excited to see her favorite flying team preforming live and she could speak with them after the race. The lack of talking to each other made it possible for Jack to relive yesterday. After he had put Rainbow on the couch, around 8PM, Jack started with cleaning the kitchen. It was a mess and most of the pony population would say that a bomb decided to explode in the kitchen. He gathered all the courage he could find, said a silent prayer and began to clean the kitchen. It had to be around 10PM when everything was finally clean and all of the energy that Jack had at the start of the day was now completely gone. Jack took off his apron with the words ‘kiss the cook’ on it and trotted into the living room. Rainbow was still unconscious, but Jack had a feeling that she was just sleeping. He heard a knock on the front door and trotted to it. That’s probably Storm, let’s see how he’s going to make up for it. Jack opened the front door, but nopony was there. He saw a dark silhouette flying away and he instantly knew that Storm didn’t have the guts to look in the eyes of a furious looking Rainbow. He did leave his gift in front of the door. It was a bottle of whiskey for Jack, a bottle of white wine for Rainbow and a small note. Jack opened the note and read it aloud. “Rainbow, don’t hate Jack. It was my fault and I’m very sorry for ruining your relationship with Jack, please accept these gifts. ~Storm.” Jack chuckled to himself; Storm was a really kind stallion when he tried to glue the shards together. He took all the items inside and placed them on the kitchen table, Rainbow and he could deal with that in the morning. He decided not to awaken Rainbow, she would need her sleep so she was extra attentive tomorrow, it was going to be a day to remember. Jack trotted to the bed in the bedroom and lay down on the bed. Finally, alone in the bed… it does feel kinda lonely without Rainbow. Meh, tomorrow I can sleep again in this bed with her. Ha, that was what he thought. No, when Rainbow and Jack were eating breakfast she had told the punishment she had in mind for him. He had to sleep on the couch for a whole month, he had to cook for Rainbow for 2 weeks and he couldn’t kiss or do something else romantic with Rainbow for a whole week. To Jack this equaled torture, but to Rainbow it was going to be the most amusing month of her life. Just thinking about Jack begging for at least one kiss or for just a night in the bed to relieve his sexual tensions had put her into a good mood that morning. He snapped back to reality when he felt a nudge against his side. It was Rainbow and she was pointing at the arena that was constantly coming closer. Jack took a moment to look at it in detail. It was practically the brother of the Coliseum in Rome, but this arena was still in fine shape and not a ruin like its brother from Earth. It was also a bit larger than the Coliseum and Jack figured that it had a capacity of around 50,000-60,000 ponies. He then focused his attention on the row of ponies that stood in front of the many entrances and all had a silver ticket in their mouths. Jack silently thanked Spitfire for giving him a golden ticket; the queue for the VIP booth was remarkably smaller than the queue for the regular seats. Jack landed, together with Rainbow, at the end of the queue and waited until it was their turn to show their golden tickets. While waiting Jack occasionally glared at Rainbow for the torture she had brought on him, but she countered it with a smirk. There was one thing that Jack had figured out about now, Rainbow was determined and she wasn’t going to budge. It had taken half an hour for Jack and Rainbow to reach the mare that was checking the tickets. The queue might have been smaller, but there were those snob ponies who took their time with everything. So when they reached the stair that led to the VIP booth, some trumpets were heard. Those trumpets indicated that the race was going to start in about 5 minutes. Knowing the urgency of their mission Jack and Rainbow hurried up the stairs, sometimes passing those snob ponies who also took their time going up the stairs. Some of them let out a grunt of annoyance, but Jack and Rainbow didn’t care about that. Rainbow just wanted to be there in time so she could see the start of the race and Jack just wanted to see Rainbow happy, even if she had sexually grounded him. They arrived in time and took the two seats that were placed closest to the windows. The room wasn’t that large. There was one wall completely covered with windows that made the racetrack visible for the ponies in the VIP section. There were tables placed against the wall opposite of the windows and these tables were covered with salads, snacks and drinks. There were around 10 other ponies in the room, all snobs and not even paying any attention to the race that was about to begin. They just kept talking to each other and acted like they didn’t see Rainbow and Jack. Jack glared at some of them and when they noticed that Jack was looking at them they quickly averted their gaze. Rainbow didn’t notice all of this and kept her eyes locked on the racetrack, her excitement was practically radiating off her. Jack focused his gaze back on the racetrack and after a short wait of 5 minutes Spitfire and Soarin’ walked out of the hallway that connected the racetrack to their changing rooms. The race of today wasn’t with the complete Wonderbolt team. No, the race of today was the Race of the Titans. Soarin’ versus Spitfire and the winner would become the captain of the Wonderbolts for the next season. They both greeted the crowd and shook the hooves of some lucky ponies who were sitting near the racetrack. The crowd became ecstatic and there was one pony that began to froth at the mouth. After their little introduction to the crowd they wasted no more time and got to their starting positions on the racetrack. The whole race was 10 miles long and the racetrack was shaped into an oval. The pony that crossed the finish line after doing 10 miles would win and became the new captain. The crowd became silent, they knew that Soarin’ and Spitfire would need their concentration and the only thing that could be heard was the occasional splash of sweat on the cloud floor. Everypony looked with wide eyes at the two ponies and they exchanged cocky expressions with each other. And then, out of nowhere, the start shot was heard and Soarin’ and Spitfire began to fly like it was their last time that they would fly. The crowd, once again, began cheering for the pony that they loved the most. In the VIP room Rainbow began cheering for Spitfire as loud as she could, but due to the windows her voice never reached Spitfire. This, however, began to upset the other ponies in the room and they began to throw dirty looks at Jack and Rainbow. Jack smirked at them then joined Rainbow in her cheering, just so he could bully the other ponies. On the racetrack Soarin’ and Spitfire had already begun with their last mile and it was still a neck and neck race, but currently Soarin’ was leading. Spitfire, however, didn’t want to lose this race. It was her race and she knew it. With renewed determination she began to flap her wings even harder than they were already going and she could feel it. She could feel that her wings were beginning to burn and she saw a small glimpse of the sound barrier in front of her. She knew that she couldn’t pull off a Sonic Rainboom like Rainbow Dash, but she was going to be damn close. Maybe if she won this race she could ask Rainbow to teach her the Sonic Rainboom, but right now she had a race to win. She slowly began to pass Soarin’ who was looking at her with an expression of shock. He was so sure that he was going to win this race, but now Spitfire was going to smash his future captain-hood to the ground. Oh, he wasn’t going to let her win that easily. He also began to flap his wings harder than ever before and he too saw a glimpse of the sound barrier in front of him. They both focused on the finish line that was just a couple of feet away and added just that extra bit of power in their wings to ensure victory. Both determined to win, both neck and neck and both saw the white flash… it was a photo finish. The Pegasus who took the photo showed it to the officials. They took their time to look at the photo and the crowd became impatient, they really wanted to know who had won. The three officials looked at each other and nodded, they knew who had won. An official took a microphone in his hoof and brought it to his mouth. The murmurs in the crowd began to die down, now everypony in the arena was sitting on the edge of their seat. “Mares and Gentlecolts! Today has been a wonderful day full of action, full of speed and full of excitement, but there can be only one winner in the Race of the Titans,” He became quiet, to build up even more excitement and looked at Spitfire and Soarin’ who had just recovered from their race. “The new captain of the Wonderbolts is… Spiiiiiiitfiiiiiire!!!” The crowd, who had been quiet just moments ago, erupted into cheers and the clopping of hooves. There were ponies that weren’t exactly happy with the outcome, they had bet their money on Soarin’, but they applauded nonetheless. One of the officials flew towards Spitfire and gave her a bouquet of flowers and the insignia that showed to everypony that she was the captain of the Wonderbolts; it still needed to be stitched on her suit. Soarin’ gave her a small hit on her shoulder and smiled at her, he was genuinely happy for her. She smiled back at him and gave him a quick kiss; they both knew that their relationship wasn’t a big secret anymore so now they could be affectionate with each other in public. All the ponies in the arena let out a d’aww and some couples in the arena also began to kiss. Soarin’ and Spitfire waved at their fans and they both flew back to their changing rooms, they both really needed to hit the showers. Rainbow was still cheering in the VIP room; her cyan furred body couldn’t contain her excitement. Most of the other ponies had already left the VIP room; they couldn’t stand it to be in the same room with those commoners. Jack really didn’t mind that they were gone, now he could just sit back in his seat and relax. He would have done that, but he was grabbed by Rainbow and kissed firmly on the lips. After a couple of seconds she broke the kiss and a very baffled Jack fell back into his seat. After a few moments he slowly climbed out of his trance and shot Rainbow a confused look. “I thought you said that I was sexually grounded?” He asked her. Rainbow snorted and gave him a playful nudge on his shoulder. “Yes, but this is an exception. You gave me such an amazing day that kissing you was the least I could do.” She explained while focusing her attention back on the arena in front of her. The ponies who sat in the normal part of the arena were slowly starting to fly towards the exits; maybe it was time to leave too. Her thoughts were interrupted when Jack reminded her that the tickets did something else that just the VIP booth. “Are you ready to talk to Spitfire and Soarin’?” Rainbow let out a silent gasp, she had almost forgotten that. How could she forget something as important as that? Still, it didn’t matter; the only thing that mattered was that she was going to meet her favorite team. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh… YES!!!” She quickly grabbed Jack’s left foreleg and began to fly with him towards the changing rooms. Rainbow was pulling him, but Jack still had to steer his body so that he didn’t crash into any walls they came across. Yes, they were made of clouds, but they were as hard as concrete walls. After almost colliding with three ponies they both finally arrived at the door that separated the changing room and the hallway. Rainbow let go of Jack’s leg and Jack needed a moment to breath. After he calmed down from what must have been his most terrifying flight ever he raised his hoof towards the door. He looked back towards Rainbow and saw her determined expression. Knowing that Rainbow still had everything in control in her mind he quickly knocked on the door. The door opened a few moments later and Spitfire, with a towel on her head, stood in the doorway. “Ah Jack and Rainbow, please come in.” She motioned with her hoof towards the changing room and the couple accepted her invite. Rainbow was amazed by what she saw; it was the first time that she actually set a hoof in the changing room of the Wonderbolts. To her left were the lockers of the Wonderbolts, painted in orange and blue. Behind her was the door and a small table with refreshments. To her right were two massage tables with two masseuses standing next to the table and a small table with magazines about flying. In front of her was another door with a small sign that read: Shower. Rainbow was still amazed by the room, but she had suspected it to be a bit more luxurious. Maybe the Wonderbolts didn’t like all those unnecessary objects, maybe they just wanted the things they needed and nothing else. Spitfire shook Rainbow out of her thoughts with a ruffle on her mane. “So, I heard from Jack that you wanted to talk to me. Why don’t you join me for a massage on the massage tables? Lily and Serene are excellent massagers.” Rainbow nodded and followed Spitfire towards the massagers. Spitfire looked back at Jack when she knew that she had forgotten about him. “Soarin’ will entertain you, but right now he’s still in the shower.” Jack nodded at Spitfire and she trotted towards the massage tables. The last thing Jack heard before they were out of hearing range, due to the noise from the shower, was that they were talking about Rainbow’s chance to join the Wonderbolts. A few minutes later Soarin’ was ready to meet Jack. He had already dried his coat and mane and his uniform was safely stacked in his locker. He now looked like a normal pony. He saw Jack standing near the doorway and trotted towards him with a smile on his face. He was very eager to meet this Jack and certainly after he heard about Jack’s little endeavor in the strip club. Better yet, whole of Cloudsdale had heard about it and it wouldn’t be long before the news would spread itself around Equestria like a virus. He stopped in front of Jack and shook Jack’s hoof. “Hey there, I’m Soarin’ and you must be Jack. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Jack took a step back and looked at Soarin’ with a skeptical look in his eyes. “What exactly did you hear?” He already knew the answer, but just had to make sure. He didn’t really care about his reputation, but if the news about the strip club would spread around Equestria like a wildfire that could mean extra complications for him and Rainbow and Jack really didn’t want that. He came here to live a calm and peaceful life and not to be hunted by the ponies of Equestria or to be hated by Rainbow. Soarin’ snorted in the same way as Rainbow. “Well, about a special kind of club.” Jack immediately tensed up; news was spreading really fast around here. Soarin’ saw that Jack needed a helping hoof so he placed his hoof on Jack’s shoulder. “Hey relax, it happens to all stallions and it even happened to me. Ponies will forget about it, don’t you worry. Now, do you want to go to a bar?” The offer was very inviting and so was Soarin’. Jack had heard from Rainbow that Soarin’ was a bit of a goof, but his heart was in the right place. Soarin’s goofiness always made ponies laugh and it also made their day better. He could become good friends with Pinkie. Jack nodded. He was a bit hesitant to accept Soarin’s invite after what happened with Storm, but from the looks of it Soarin’ wasn’t as childish as Storm. Storm could also be quite fun at some times, but he saw everything like a joke. He could laugh in every situation, but he also knew when he did something wrong and then he would try to make things better. Storm was like a child, but he could be serious in some situations. “Alright, but please… no strip clubs.” Soarin’ burst out laughing and pushed Jack towards the door. “Alright, no strip clubs.” He opened the door and they both left for what would be a fun afternoon. Author notes: Here, have a culinary chapter. I bet you all want a moelleux right now. If you didn’t notice it by now, I have a subconscious tendency to make chapters as nice and warm as possible. You won’t see much dark and heart-breaking chapters from me, I just have a difficulty with writing them. This chapter is a rather calm chapter and there’s a little bit of character development in it. The next one will be about Nightmare Night and in the chapter after Nightmare Night the ‘fun’ will begin. And with fun I mean our antagonist will make a move. Also I would like to thank my super-duper amazing editor, TheTimberWolffe (self-plugs!) for editing this chapter. Editor notes: He’s really good at this whole writing thing