//------------------------------//
// ...but when he is... 
// Story: Friends have benefits 
// by Killbles 
//------------------------------//

Friends have benefits
        Chapter 12: Soarin isn’t always lucky, but when he is... (Part 2)

 “Welcome mares and stallions, colts and fillies of all ages to the annual Las Pegasus air show!” The loudspeaker blared across the crowd. Soarin winced inwardly as the grating voice was replaced by even louder rock music. The assembled crowd cheered as the gates into the massive stadium swung open. Neighis airbase was a massive, sprawling affair and the towering construction at the heart of it was no exception to the rule. Unlike the Cloudsdale Colosseum, Neighis was located firmly on the ground allowing access to unicorns and earth ponies as well as their airborne kin. A squadron of blue suited pegasi shot overheard drawing more whoops and whistles from the crowd.
  Smiling stupidly, Soarin picked his way through the jostling crowd toward the entrance marked ‘VIP’, reluctantly leaving the others behind to compete for entrance against the thousands of other ponies milling around the main entrance. Dozens of unicorn guards and pegasi provosts kept the crowd in check and prevented any plucky Pegasus from simply flying over the base’s high wall. Upon reaching the portal, a uniformed earth pony scrutinised Soarin’s pass before letting him through with a polite nod. He was ushered down a short hall and then escorted along a clear path to one of the buildings overlooking the  stadium. Another doorman held the door open for Soarin and ushered him inside a room with ceiling to floor windows which gave a panoramic view of the entire base. A few streaks of wispy smoke drifted across the sky from the Wonderbolt’s recent flyover; a massive dragon was visible in the centre of the stadium. A door set into the side of the room which presumably led down to box seats for the VIPs remained shut. A quiet murmur filled the room and several waiters moved around serving drinks and other assorted nibbles.
  A blazing yellow mare detached herself from the crowd and floated next to Soarin. Even with the full body flight suit she wore, Soarin could tell who it was by the distinctive mane.
  “Soarin.” Spitfire purred, another Wonderbolt Soarin didn’t recognise slotting in neatly behind her.  “Still have the uniform I see.” she finished, giving him a disarmingly thorough once-over with her eyes.
  “Spitfire.” Soarin said back, smiling warmly as he noticed an un-uniformed Surprise up to her regular antics behind her.
  “It’s good to see you again. How’s the civvie life coming along?” She tugged at the collar of his dress shirt.
“Shit. Whatever you do, don’t get discharged before your time.”
  Spitfire chuckled. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Her eyes spun upward at the white Pegasus hovering above her, a permanent marker gripped in her mouth.
“Don’t even think about it.” She snapped.
  “Think of what ma’am?” Surprise asked innocently, spitting the marker onto the floor.
“Exactly.” She fixed an eye on Soarin. "I’ll see you around; there are far too many arse-kissers here I have to be nice to and far too many I justhave to talk to..." She made an annoyed grunt "Not to mention competition.” She threw a glance at a massive griffon in a red and white flight suit talking with a mixture of races in one of the corners. “There are some familiar faces around though, may I suggest you start with her?” She said deviously, pointed through a gap in the crowd towards a lone mare in a flowing dress who was looking out at the stadium.
  “Yeah, not a bad idea.” Soarin muttered, moving away from his old squadron. He snagged a pair of elegant glasses filled with some foul smelling bubbly concoction and joined the mare by the window.
“Some view.” He said softly, making her jump in surprise. “Care for a drink?”
  “Soarin?!” she squeaked, her eyes opening wide.
Soarin grinned “Hey Dash, you miss me?”

She surprised him by punching him in the face. Hard. A ripple of shock passed through the assembled VIPs and a pair of guards moved forward to restrain her but Soarin waved them away.
“Ah ha… ow …” Soarin grimaced, wiping away an ugly smear of blood on a bandage one of the waiters offered him. A few nearby ponies threw Rainbow Dash a cautious look but slowly returned to their conversations. “Nice to see you too.”
  “Don’t ever do that again.” she growled.
“Say hi? Sure, I’ll just never say hi again, maybe you won’t punch me again then either.” Soarin joked.
  “Don’t do that to me again.” Rainbow snapped, turning to look at him a mix of concern and fear in her eyes. “I thought you died… or worse. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if that happened, especially as it was my fault.”
   “How is it your fault?” Soarin asked.
“If I had dealt with that first changeling quicker I could have helped you, you wouldn’t have been fooled or captured. It won’t happen again, next time I’ll be stronger. Faster.”
  “You saw that?” Soarin asked.
“Yeah, I got into the car just as they were dragging you out. I tried to stop them… but there were too many. Even for me.”
  “Well I’m here now, so what’s the problem?”
“You could’ve died Soarin.” She said with concern.
Soarin shrugged. “I’ve nearly died several times, it's a thing that comes with the territory.”
  “You shouldn’t be so eager to throw your life away.”
“Listen sweetheart, I’m here and in one piece, can we just be happy about that?”
  “Somepony at least could have told me you were alright.” She muttered sourly.
“I would have told you but you weren't around were you? I appreciate your concern but you don't have to throw yourself after me when I something bad happens.”
  She blushed. “Shut up… just stop trying to die on me. I’d miss you. A lot.” She stuttered. “Not that, I like you or anything. I mean… maybe I like you a bit.” She stopped, cursed under her breath and snatched a glass of the foul smelling drink from Soarin and downed it one gulp. She looked away from him, an embarrassed sound coming from her mouth.
  Soarin grinned silently and looked her over. The usually tomboyish Pegasus was wearing a fantastic rainbow dress he had seen before. A few modifications had been made and the bouquet of flowers he’d seen her wear at the wedding was replaced by a golden laurel.
  “Nice dress.” Soarin said, trying to restart conversation.
She grunted. “Wouldn’t normally wear it, but I couldn’t get away with not wearing it for this. One of my friends was very insistent.” She rolled her eyes.
  “It suits you. You should wear it more often.”
She snorted in amusement. “Nu-ah, I can hardly fly straight with this stupid thing on and besides, I’ve got a reputation to maintain. Can’t be seen as a softy you know.”
  “You don’t like it then?”
She opened her mouth to protest. “I didn’t say I didn’t like it.”
  “You like it then?” Soarin guessed.
She looked at him dangerously “Don’t you dare tell a soul, or you’re dead buddy.”
  Soarin chuckled softly. “Is this what our relationship is going to be like, me getting little things out of you and getting death threats in return?”
“Who ever said anything about a relationship?” she asked, suddenly coy.
  “Just a suggestion. You know, make things a little more exciting.” Soarin said as casually as he could manage.
She leaned a little closer. “I know other ways we could make things more… exciting…” She let  the word hang in the air for a moment.
  “Oh really?” Soarin asked innocently
“There’s one place I can think of this dress would look better than on me…” She whispered.
  “Hmm… I was thinking of something a little less… arduous.”
“And here was me thinking you wanted to start off fast.” Rainbow sighed, inching closer to him.
  “I thought you weren’t after a relationship. Especially one with me…”Soarin said, slightly surprised by her quick change of mind.
“Did I say that? Guess I was wrong. You being gone for a couple days really gave me time to think… think about you said on the train about me leading you on. And you’re right… I did. I did it because I like you. I really do Soarin. I like you a lot.” She paused to gather her thoughts. “I thought about our previous relationship… why it didn’t work. Why we split. With you out of the Bolts we might actually have time for each other now.”
  “What about your dream? Don’t you want to fly with them?” Soarin asked, tilting his head towards Spitfire and the other assembled Wonderbolts.
“I reckon I’ve got a better shot now I’ve got a professional trainer.”
  “A trainer?” he asked stupidly. She gave him a knowing look. “Who, me?!” he spluttered.
“Duh.”
  Soarin gave her a quick look over. “You’re a little shabby… but maybe… just maybe I could do it.”
“Hey!”
  “Just saying… you’d also have to quit your job and enrol in officer’s academy. I’d love to see you in a uniform…” He trailed off in thought.
“You’re telling me.” She said with a devilish grin. “So… let’s just say there was a relationship… just hypothetically... how would we start?”
Soarin blinked in surprise but his face remained impassive.
   “Start simple… Nice place with a fantast-.”
“Too many words, you’ve lost me.” She said, cutting him off and brushing past him in a mocking fashion."Less conversation more action sweetie." She continued in a mocking tone. "Better luck next time."
  “I’m always lucky.” Soarin said assuredly.
“We’ll see about that.”

“Nice job back there Soarin.” A white Pegasus muttered appearing over Soarin’s shoulder as he and Dash moved to find their box seats.
  “Nice job with what?” Soarin asked, knowing full well what she meant.
“Oh I don’t know… just this.” She feigned kissing the air in a rather sloppy and unappealing manner. “I Spitfire now owe even more now, which is doubly bad as I lost a fair bit when she punched you in the face. How about next time you stop running your big mouth and kiss her, I’m sure everypony wants you to do it. Well, everypony except Spitfire of course.”
  “Do you guys have nothing else better to do than place bets on what happens in my personal life?” Soarin asked exasperatedly.
“Nope! We’re celebrities; do you honestly think we do anything useful at all?”
  “You’re in the military.” Soarin deadpanned.
“Military, schmilitary. This is a stunt flier’s job, not an active deployment role.” Surprise said dismissively.
  “Speaking of flying, why aren’t you down there with the others?” Soarin asked, pointing down the centre of the arena where several of the Wonderbolts stood in formation.
She shrugged. “I’m on leave; El Mucho down there is filling in for me.” She pointed at a brawny Pegasus at the back of the group that Soarin recognised had been standing behind Spitfire before.
Soarin grunted and sat in a chair probably worth more than his yearly payroll. Much to his amusement, Surprise leapt over him and sat in the chair on the other side of Rainbow Dash and launched a barrage of words in the direction of his equally surprised companion. Soarin ignored their mostly one-sided conversation and instead focused on the teams assembled for the opening ceremony. A blue Pegasus descended from the sky and took up position in the centre of the field.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls, creatures of all shapes and sizes!” His voice boomed across the stadium. If Soarin had wanted to listen to his companions talking he wouldn’t have been able to as the crowd roared loudly in delight.
  “Welcome to the annual Las Pegasus air show!” He paused for dramatic effect. “And what a display of flying prowess we have for you today, tricks that will amaze and fantastic contests of strength, valour and bravery! Now without further ado, please put your hooves, wings, claws and other appendages together for our home fliers, The Wonderbolts!”
The squadron rose into the air and scattered in all directions before reforming with a massive crash of thunder. The team was met with wild cheering as they touched down again in the centre of the arena.
“The Roulettes!”
  The griffons took to the sky an amazing trail of fire in their wake. A mighty screech echoed around the stadium, cutting through the cheers of the crowd like Pinkie Pie in a candy shop. Soarin instinctively ducked as the Griffon team blazed a fiery trail over his head. They completed a loop of the arena before settling down behind the Wonderbolts. He caught Surprise mutter something about hot curry but the meaning was lost on him as the announcer’s voice boomed out again and another team took to the sky in a blaze of pyrotechnics. Poking his head back up, Soarin watched the last two teams take off into the clear sky. A few drops of ice-cold water dropped onto his back, the snow on the roof melted by the griffon’s low fly-by. He shook the water off and returned his attention to the centre of the arena where the announcer was describing the first event for the day; the solo round.
  “One hoof-picked member from each team will dazzle you in an amazing display of aeronautical prowess! Would the selected member of each team step forward please!”
A half-dozen figures stepped forward, the ground shuddering slightly as the massive dragon in their midst placed his foot down.
  “Our first contestant is none other than the captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire! You may start when ready!”
Soarin exchanged a look with Surprise.
  “Twenty bits says she blows it.” She muttered under her breath.


           “I’m not sure what you constitute as ‘blowing it’ but I’m sure that’s not it.” Soarin said assuredly.
  “She almost lost control as she came out of the last corner, you could see that from here! How the judges missed that is beyond me.”
  “Bullshit, she was fine.” Soarin insisted, counting out twenty bits regardless in an attempt to shut the white Pegasus up.
  “The only way that could have been worse would be if he was dressed as an obese diamond dog with gender issues.” Surprise said, accepting her prize ungracefully. “What do you think Dashie?”
Rainbow sat up awkwardly, her face flushing red in embarrassment at the casual use of her pet name.
  “I thought she was fine.” She stuttered. "Very nice."
“Checking out Spits eh? Don’t worry, I would be too if she weren’t my boss.” Surprise said cheekily. Dash’s face turned the colour of red on her mane. “Just kidding kid, I know you’re not into that, or so my sources tell me.” She looked Soarin playfully, who was still trying to get the mental image that Surprise had burnt into his synapses out.
  “Yeah sure, whatever.” He muttered, distracted by the next flier who was standing at the starting plate. A mix of booing and cheering came from the crowd as the griffon spread its wings. ‘Her wings’ Soarin thought as he noticed just how much smaller the flier was compared to rest of her team. One of the large griffons muttered something which caused the girl to snap around and snarl loudly. A large portion of the griffon audience continued booing but it was thankfully mostly drowned out by the supportive cheering from the rest of the crowd. One of the dragons roared loudly, silencing many of the protesters.
  “What’s their problem?” Soarin asked, surprised by the booing.
Surprise shrugged. “Griffons are proud, stubborn creatures. Unlike us, gender equity is…uh... how do I say this..? somewhat poor.” She nodded to the now airborne griffon in the middle of the stadium. “She’s the only female to ever join the Roulettes. It was a big step for them and many griffons won’t stand for it.”
  “How do you know so much?” Soarin asked.
She shrugged again. “I travel. Point is, her team picked her for the solo round hoping she would crack under pressure and fail, then they would have a reason to kick her out. Or so I’d guess.”
  “She seems to be handling herself fairly well so far.” Soarin muttered, his eyes tracking the lone flier as she completed a dizzying number of spins.
“She’s good, I’ll give her that.” Rainbow Dash said. “Not as good as me of course, but credit where its due.”
  “You should go give her a run for her money then.” Surprise said impishly. Rainbow looked set to fly into the sky and compete against the griffon for a moment but she wisely forestalled the action.
‘Clever girl.’ Soarin thought approvingly, one of the guards would have gotten to her first anyway.
The griffon swooped in, tucking her wings to gain extra speed as she fell towards the ground, pulling up above the crowd at the last second, a trail of fire behind her. Rainbow snorted in contempt but continued watching with interest.
  “Oh now that’s just wrong…” Surprise said, her voice full of hate.
“What...” Soarin said, the word dying in his mouth as he saw what Surprise had seen. Small objects were being thrown from the griffons in the crowd below the flier, bits of rubbish, cans and some things Soarin may have thought were even more solid.
  “Bastards.” Soarin spat. His suspicions were confirmed a moment later as what look like a small rock flew up and grazed the griffon’s wing. She wobbled uncertainty in the air for a moment but managed to right herself. Soarin could only watch in horror as another barrage of debris was hurled at her, the guards patrolling the stands unable to stop all of the deadly projectiles. Still travelling at breakneck speeds, the griffon could do little to take evasive action and Soarin winced in sympathy as a few tore into her soft wings and underside. She wobbled dangerously in the air before losing control and slamming into a gracefully arching pillar. She bounced off the sturdy construction, ricocheted off another column and hurtled through the air out of control.
  “Get down now!” Soarin yelled, realising that the corkscrewing flier was heading straight for them. Without thinking he grabbed Surprise and Rainbow Dash and hurled them roughly underneath him as the careening griffon smashed into the stands. Soarin felt a set of razor sharp talon cutting through his skin then everything went dark.


***


           Soarin leaned back in his chair, unsure of how he had got there. He was on a station platform that looked suspiciously like Ponyville’s. He felt something was distinctly wrong with the scene but wasn’t until a stormy grey pony sat next to him that he realised what it was.
  “This is Ponyville, isn’t it?” he asked.
“I believe so, yes.” The grey pony said back. Soarin looked at him and was vague surprised to see that, aside from the lack of wings and colour, the pony was virtually identical to himself.
  “Then why is everything upside down?” Soarin asked.
“Yes, I thought was quite odd myself. Maybe things changed in the future.”
  “Hmmm.” Soarin said uncertainly. He had no idea who the pony next to him was but oddly found himself unwilling to ask. A purple ooze spread unstoppably across the sky, an awesome bass line pounding from it as it shot overhead.
“Soarin, why are we here?” The pony asked, leaning back casually.
  “That’s one of life’s great mysteries isn't it.” Soarin said. He repeated the question out loud. “I don’t know sir, why are we here?” He had no idea who the pony was, or how he knew his name, but it didn’t hurt being polite.
“Maybe because a griffon crashed into you, you pillock.”  The other pony said with a small chuckle.
Soarin nodded silently and watched as a train carrying strange looking spars of metal thundered by.
  “Am I dead?” he finally asked as the train disappeared into the distance.
“Do you feel dead Soarin?”
  “Not really. Then again, I don’t know what being dead feels like.”
“We've brushed death many times Soarin, with the regularity he drops by I thought you two would be good friends by now.”
He nodded to a shadow that seemed both shapeless and solid. “There he is now; go on, give him a wave.”
Soarin tentatively waved at the shadow, unsure how seriously he should take the strange pony next to him. Much to his surprise the shadow grew an arm and waved back. The shadow vanished only to be replaced by a barrage of baked goods which forced him and the grey pony to duck as the volley soared over their heads.
  “Am I going mad?” Soarin asked.
“I wouldn’t know, nice day for it though.” The pony replied as if insanity was something that could be forecast as easily as the weather.
  “I’ll ask again, I’m dead right?”
“You are what you make yourself to be.” The pony replied, unwilling to give a straight answer.
  “Give me a straight answer please.” Soarin said.
“No, you aren’t dead. Not yet at least anyway. If you were dead, I wouldn't be here."
"Who are you?"
"You."
  “I don’t understand.”
“Good."
"Wha-? I don-."
"Soarin, why did you save Rainbow Dash?” the white pony interrupted.
  Soarin was momentarily taken aback. “I- I don't know... It felt right I guess.”
“You realise that you could have died right?” The pony asked.
  “Yes.” He said unhesitatingly.
“You'd unhesitatingly throw your life away for her.?”
  “Well, no... Maybe.” Soarin said uncertainly.
"Have you thought about it? I mean, you just did then." 
"Yeah, I guess I did." Soarin admitted sheepishly
The pony raised an eyebrow but accepted his answer “You probably saved her life with great risk to yourself, why?” The pony asked again.
  “Because I care for her.” Soarin said simply after a moment of consideration.
“So much that you would risk your life without hesitation for her safety?” The pony asked again incredulously, flicking a small bit of his mane out of his eye. "Is your life so meaningless that you would do that?"
  “I’ve lost enough of my life that there isn’t much left to live for. I can’t remember most of my career, my life. I didn’t even remember somepony who was once important to me. My own damn childhood was ripped from me.” Soarin said bitterly. 
The pony sighed loudly. “Soarin, there is always something to live for. The future is a great unknown and you never know just when something great will come along.” The pony said, watching with lazy interest as another train nosily pulled into the station. “I think you have a whole lot left to live for; Your feelings for Rainbow Dash for example, is that not worth living for?”
"What if she says no again?" Soarin asked, suddenly worried.
"What if she says yes again?" the grey pony said back simply.
Soarin nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess."
“Then I guess you should probably tell her how you feel. How you truly feel.".
  “I guess it’s going to be like the movies and you’re going to tell me to get on the train?” Soarin asked.
“Don’t be ridiculous, that train is here to pick me and Death up for our twelve o’clock lunch appointment.”
Soarin shuddered as the shadow the pony had pointed out before seemed to meld into the seat next to him.
I HEAR THAT THEY HAVE THESE FANTASTIC SMALL ROUND BISCUITS WITH SWEET SPOTS IN THE MIDDLE WHERE WE ARE GOING. A voice said with a pitch and timbre of such depth Soarin had trouble describing it.
  “They’re fantastic, you have to try some next time you visit.” The mysterious pony said. “Now we really should be off..”
BRING SOME EARL GREY TEA NEXT TIME, I ENJOY WATCHING THE LITTLE LEAVES SPIN IN THE HOT WATER.
  “Nice seeing you Soarin, stay well.” The pony said with a nod of his head. He gave Soarin a tap on the shoulder and he was engulfed in another flash of bright light.


***


Soarin coughed dryly, hacking up a few chips of masonry onto the ground beneath him.'That can't be healthy'
He felt something soft beneath him and opened his eyes to see a surprised looking Rainbow Dash underneath him tapping him on the shoulder. He groaned loudly and rolled off her, careful to avoid an equally shocked looking Surprise.
   “Soarin are you okay?” Rainbow asked, leaping to her hooves.
“I think fine would be pushing it.” Soarin said. “Surprise, you good?”
   “Uh-huh.”
“What about the griffon?”
Rainbow lifted her head and looked towards the back of the stands. “There is a bunch of ponies helping her out. Nothing we can do for her.” She stared for a moment. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
   “Great.” Soarin coughed again. He tried to stand but his legs decided the ground was good enough for him and he didn’t budge.
   “You’re bleeding.” Rainbow said without concern, moving to his side. Soarin winced as she prodded a trio of deep gashes just behind the base of his neck.. “You need to get these patched up, you’re losing a lot of blood.” She said concerned, fumbling with her now tattered dress. There was a ripping sound as she tore a strip off and started to bandage Soarin’s wounds.
   “Won’t your friend be mad for ruining the dress?” Soarin asked.
“She can make a new dress but she can’t make a new you.” She grimaced as he realised just how cheesy her words sounded.
   “That’s bad.” Soarin grunted as she tightened another strip of cloth around him.
“Yeah sorry. Not my finest moment. Thanks by the way. For saving me.”
   “No problem. You should get out of the habit of being in danger. Then I wouldn't have to save your scrawny hide all the time.”
Surprise clambered to her feet, a little dust covered but otherwise no worse for wear. She looked knowingly between the two blue pegasi and mumbled a half-arsed excuse to leave them alone, presumably so she could take photos of them as proof for Spitfire, Soarin guessed with a small grin.
“What’s so funny?” Rainbow asked, seeing his smile.
   “Nothing, just thinking that’s all.”
“About?” She asked, lying on the floor next to him and cradling her head in her hooves.
   “About something a very smart pony told me. He told me I have a whole lot to live for and I think he was right.”
“And what do you have left to live for?”
“You.” He spluttered, cheeks flushing red in embarrassment.
Rainbow groaned. “And I thought I was being cheesy.”
“Yeah, we’re on a roll aren’t we?”
She nodded and lay head down flat on the ground next to his. Aside from the loud clamour of the crowd below them and the excited chattering of the other VIPs around them it was silent. Lost in his own world, Soarin let his gaze wander across the slightly grubby form of Rainbow Dash in front of him. It was just him and her, nothing else mattered. Not the throbbing pain across his back, not the battered griffon being carried off by a medical team and certainly not Surprise standing a few seats away with a camera aimed firmly at them.

'Just... say it.'
Soarin took a deep breath, wincing in pain as he did so.

'Maybe later...'
'Do it!'

   “I think I love you.” Soarin said suddenly, breaking the tension between them with the subtly of a sledgehammer.
The world seemed to take a breath, Soarin vaguely felt his face flushing and the light of a camera's flash going off in his peripheral vision,
“Funny you say that.” She said, edging a little closer to him. Soarin tensed as she wound her head next to his. "Don't tell anyone... But I think I might love you too.” She whispered in his ear. Soarin could barely express his surprise before she pulled his head across and kissed him.
It wasn’t a long or passionate kiss but Soarin put all his heart into it and Rainbow Dash moaned delightfully as she broke the contact.
   “You’re lucky that griffon didn’t hit you a little higher.” She said, nuzzling her face against his chest. “Would’ve ended pretty badly for you.”
   “I’m always lucky.” Soarin assured her.
“Not always.” She said, patting his wound softly.before grinning devilishly and pulling him into another kiss.  “But you might be tonight.”