<> Day 7 <>
In the span of a few moments, my initial shock over seeing the other pegasus faded. Despite my decidedly loud belch (no regrets), the mare was still napping peacefully, her bellows rising and falling with every breath. Dear Celestia… why do all ponies have to look so cute when they're asleep? my inner fan-Brony sighed.
A mental jab from Rainbow Dash snapped me from my perpetual d'aww. Right, pony I've never seen before sleeping on my cloud-base. Sorry, Dash. After an affirming sense of spiteful forgiveness from the pegasus in my head, I padded across to the napping pink pony.
At first, I was unsure how to approach her. Do I wake her up, or wait until she finishes her nap? Two distinct choices… should I put it to chance? Fumbling with the coin pouch around my neck, I was able to withdraw a shiny, newly-minted dime. With the tip of my hoof, I threw the coin into the air, catching it on the back of my hoof. Heads…
Two Face is the most efficient Batman villain. He has a flawless decision-making process.
Some part of me, be it Rainbow Dash or my own mischievous tendencies, thought of something extremely comical. I was honestly surprised I haven't done this earlier. Positioning myself so I was adjacent to her head, I lowered my muzzle next to her ear and inhaled…
"LOUDER!!!"
"AAH!"
The mare's eyes snapped wide open, her wings flaring defensively. Unfortunately for me, my face was in the path of the accelerating feathers. With a loud 'smack!', I went down, clutching at my smarting muzzle. All the while, despite her 'fight' opposed to 'flight' response, I was laughing my flank off.
When my back thudded against the cloudstuff, I heard the mare gasp. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! You just… scared me and I…" she paused, letting me giggle a little more. "I just hit you in the face, and you're laughing about it?"
"Your face…!" was all I could gasp between bouts of laughter. "Bucking priceless!"
She was silent for a few moments; I guessed she was waiting for me to calm down. Still chuckling, I rolled over and trotted to my computer, pressing the power button with my hoof-tip. Realizing she had been quiet for a little too long, I turned back to the mare. Her light blue eyes were wide, her jaw swinging on its hinges. It took me all of ten seconds to facehoof. Sometimes, even I forget that I'm a more famous pony than most.
Fame is an illusion. The populace recognizes your face, not you.
"Yeah, I'm Rainbow Dash," I said, rolling my eyes. "Now, you gonna tell me what you're doing on my cloud?"
The pink mare realized she was gaping, and quickly snapped her mouth shut, chuckling nervously at herself. "I'm sorry… Rainbow Dash is my favorite pony," she explained. "Anyway, to answer your question, I was flying over DC on my way to New York from my home in Richmond, and I saw your cloud here, which was a little too close to the Washington Monument to be coincidence. Then when I found all your stuff up here, I knew that there was another pegasus somewhere around Washington, so I decided to wait until they came back, and I… I guess I dozed off…" She blushed a little in embarrassment. "I just can't believe it was you! Rainbow Dash is the awesomest pony ever!"
"Yeah, I am pretty awesome aren't I–" I shook my head, as if to rid myself of a fly on my muzzle. Dash, that was your thought. Keep your ego to yourself, please. The pony responded with a mental image of herself pouting, but otherwise returned to the depths of my mind. But not before she gave me a few parting thoughts.
Airheart, she said, simply. The name sprung a wellspring of memories, making my head hurt a little. Airheart, from what Dash's memories told me, was one of the few weather ponies that lived in Ponyville. She was on the same team that formed the water-spout in 'Hurricane Fluttershy', and was one of the pegasi not afflicted by feather-flu. The only thing Dash didn't show me was what she looked like.
Why tell me all you know about a random pony, but not tell me what she…? Oh… At this point, I became aware that I had been clutching my head with a hoof for a span of a few seconds, the pegasus I now knew as Airheart looking at me with concern.
"Um, you okay?" she asked, stepping toward me.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I assured. "Rainbow Dash was just telling me about your pony, Airheart."
She gasped, a smile lighting up on her face. "You have your pony in your head, too?!" she exclaimed. "Yes! I'm not going insane!" Airheart fist-pumped, elated at her newfound mental stability.
I snickered at her excitement. "That's still debatable." If she was bothered by my comment, she made no sign of it. Remembering my manners, I held out my hoof. "My name's Markus, by the way."
Airheart smiled warmly and bumped hooves with me. "Nice to meet you, Markus. I'm Chloe."
My friendly grin disappeared from my face. "Um… can I just call you Airheart?"
She frowned a little at this. "Why can't you call me by my real name?"
"Trust me," I assured her. "It would be really awkward." Before she could answer, I turned to my laptop, which had powered on and was loading my Google Chrome tabs. "After I'm done here, I'm packing up and leaving for the next stop. You wanna come with?"
"Oh my gosh YES!" she exclaimed, bouncing in a midair three-sixty. "I can't WAIT to get to New York! So many ponies are going to be there! I mean, there's you, Applejack, Fluttershy, Princess Luna–"
"I'm not going to New York," I interrupted. "I just left from there today, actually. I'm touring the country, looking for other ponies that need help or direction. In New York, I wasn't really doing anything besides sit around, and believe me, neither Dash or I like to be in one place for a long time. If you still want to go there, that's your choice. But I wouldn't mind the company."
Airheart looked at me with confusion. Then, she placed her chin on a hoof, looking decisive, occasionally adjusting her flight goggles. Finally, she smiled and nodded. "I'll come with you. Besides, I don't want to be stuck in the Big Apple waiting out this whole thing."
"Sweet deal." Looking back to the screen, I moved the cursor to the Facebook tab. The number of comments on my Toronto photo had risen to almost a thousand, but I disregarded it. Time to make my public announcement… "Hey, Airheart, how 'bout a team photo?"
The pegasus was more than happy to comply, wrapping her foreleg around my shoulder in front of my computer's webcam. I returned the one-limbed embrace, smiling at the camera with my trademark smirk. The timer hit zero, and the picture was saved as a post. In the caption, I typed with a pen in my mouth: "Heading off on a nationwide tour! Helping the ponies of our country, joined by Airheart!"
With my status updated, I closed out of the tab and started to pack up camp, turning to my new companion. "Next stop, Columbus, Ohio."
A/N: Could someone with better artistic ability than my mediocre scribbling draw that photo? Also, for anyone who doesn't know what Airheart looks like: