//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Blue Skies // by WinterTwister //------------------------------// The train was rattling and Soarin' could hear the snores of other passengers, along with Twilight's who was asleep on his shoulder. He was sitting by the window and looked out at the landscape, and in the distance he could see their destination with the setting sun behind it. Tamphay bay, one of the most beautiful coastal towns in the world, its sugar white sand and its clear blue waters were enough to make anypony feel serene in its presence. His gaze retreated back into their compartment and looked at the peaceful face of his marefriend who was now two months pregnant. She was in a deep sleep, almost drooling on his shoulder and Soarin' had to resist a laugh. He wished that he could also sleep, but he constantly found his hoof wandering over the black box in his saddlebag. Inside that box was his statement to Twilight, a ring. It was a round engagement ring with a clean cut diamond in the center. He couldn't sleep past his thoughts on presenting his ring to her, and how he was going to do it. Marriage is just a formality... I know I love her, ever since she stayed by my side when I was in the hospital I knew it. Soarin' thought to himself, remembering when he woke up and saw Twilight waiting right there for him. I know I love her, and she loves me back... we even have a foal on the way. I want to be a great husband, and just as great of a father. He laid his head back in his seat, his arm now over Twilight's shoulders as she still slept soundly, regardless of the noise from other ponies in the cart that were chatting next door and light bumps of the rattling frame of their train cart. The sun was creeping its way out of sight and the moon began to unveil itself in the sky. The train was traveling nearer to the town, the city's buildings not too different from Manehatten, but much more lively and reflected from the setting sun. The sound of the waves rolling over the beach began to become audible in the distance as the train began to slow to stop at the station. Soarin' nudged Twilight and kissed her on her forehead and lightly spoke. "Wake up, we're here." He smiled as she woke up and stretched out. Twilight froze in mid-stretch. "We're here already?" Soarin' pointed outside at the window at the train station and she looked out and saw that they really were there. She smiled giddily and shared a quick kiss with Soarin' and they gathered their things. They hopped off of the train and Twilight took a deep breath through her nose to smell the salty air. Soarin' tried to take a sniff of the air but the wind had picked up and Twilight's mane had hit him in the face. He recoiled, lightly spitting out the taste of shampoo out of his mouth while Twilight continued to breathe in the sea air. He moved out of the way of her mane, scrapping his tongue on the top of his teeth to rid himself of the taste, but then smiled to himself as he thought. It doesn't taste as good as it smells... Twilight looked around and saw the clean streets and a trolley was lazily passing by, and then looked up at the sunset over the peaceful beach and vast ocean and her eyes began grow wide. She turned around to face Soarin'. "It's beautiful here!" Soarin' smiled and nodded, agreeing, and he stepped forward, a little ahead of Twilight to get a more clear view of the ocean. He stared with a blank face, but behind his solid expression was a smile of joy and nostalgia. It's been so long... Twilight surprised Soarin' by hugging his neck and burying her muzzle into his mane in gratitude. "Thank you so much for bringing me here." Soarin's expression turned into the smile it was trying to portray, but now a merrier smile with the reminder of the presence of his love behind him. He snapped out of his thoughts and memories of the place to rest his head on top of Twilight's and they both looked out at the ocean in the distance. "Are you still tired, Twilight?" Soarin' asked as he looked away to face at his marefriend. Twilight yawned and started to feel as if she was being weighed down. "A little bit… I couldn't get much rest on the train, it was really bouncy. I'm surprised I could sleep at all." Soarin' looked around the town; it hadn't changed much since he was last here. "Ready to go to the hotel?" Twilight yawned and nodded. Soarin' lead Twilight through the town, walking along the wide sidewalk near the varied stores on their way to where they were going to stay for the next month as the library is being renovated. Twilight saw the hotel in the distance, it was like one she had been in before: simple, and could provide your needs. She began to lazily walk towards it, but then noticed that Soarin' kept walking straight forwards. She quickly returned to his side, confused as they continued to walk down the sidewalk. They walked together for awhile longer, the moon was out and now in full view in the sky. Twilight was being weighed down from the want to sleep had to force her eyes open to continue to follow Soarin'. Soarin' was also beginning to feel tired from the lack of sleep, even his excitement of his proposal couldn't keep him in full animation. The next hotel was in view as they turned at the corner, now walking nearer to the ocean to a hotel which was almost touching the sand. It was a grand fifty story hotel that towered over most of the buildings in the area. Twilight almost stopped walking, confused again as she saw Soarin' make his way towards it. They entered the hotel and the floor was made of velvet and had large paintings on the walls in the lobby. Soarin' trotted up to the receptionist desk. "Hello?" The mare behind the desk had a dark red coat with tribal markings and wearing a thick black headband over her light red hair. "Hello, welcome to Hayton Hotel, your five-star get away in paradise! I'm Fire Dancer, how may I help you?" "I have a reservation here." Soarin' said as he fished out the paper of confirmation in his saddlebag. He handed it to the receptionist. She checked the numbers in her computer and the reservation checked out. She handed the paper back to Soarin' along with a key card and a smile. "Thank you for choosing our hotel! You're aid will be here in a moment." Twilight was now stunned at the beauty and the high class of the hotel; she didn't expect Soarin' to rent a room in a hotel like this. She knew he had money from a lot of endorsements that he did, but had never thought he had this much. A few moments passed and a stoic looking bellhop came and guided them to the elevator, which took them up to the top floor. The elevator was slow so it took awhile for it to reach the top, and Twilight noticed that the bellhop smelled faintly like a skunk and had to cover her muzzle. The elevator opened and the bellhop then guided them to their room. Soarin' thanked the bellhop and gave him a generous tip, then slid the hotel key card in the door and it clicked open. Twilight walked in, shocked, and saw that the room's size was equivalent to a good sized house. The bed was king-sized and well-made; everything in the room looked so trim and expensive. "Soarin'?" Soarin' was stretching out in the doorway when he replied. "Yes?" "Is this really our room?" Twilight said, now making her shock known to Soarin'. Soarin' acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "Yeah, Why?" Twilight took another quick gaze around the hotel room, taking notice of the balcony that hanged off of the building to their access. She faced him with a slight tinge of confusion on her face. "It's...It’s just so adorned...and complex...I've never been to a place like this, other than being in the castle back in Canterlot..." Soarin' looked around the hotel room himself, he was used to places like this back before he moved in with Twilight when he was a Wonder Bolt. He then realized that she wasn't used to this caliber of living. "Well... I just thought that you really deserved somewhere nice to stay, do you like it?" "I love it... it’s just missing something." Soarin' watched Twilight walk to the bedside and pulled a picture frame out of her saddlebag and set it on a table next to the lamp. It was a snapshot of Twilight and Soarin' four months after he moved in the library, and a month before Twilight was pregnant. It was a snapshot of Twilight sneaking up behind Soarin' when he was sitting at the table, reading a book on hobbies, and surprised him with a kiss on his cheek. Spike was holding the camera and after that picture was taken he was laughing at Soarin's surprised expression. Soarin' trotted over to get a closer look at the picture and stifled a laugh at remembering how clueless he was at that moment. He reached over to kiss Twilight, the spark ever strong in their relationship. He opened an eye to look at the clock; it was only about 10 pm. It's not that late... They two held the kiss and fell on the bed after dropping their saddlebags to the floor, both enjoying the plush and luxury of the bed and the lights slowly died in the room thanks to Twilight's magic. Soarin' looked up at the sky from the ground. The sun was so bright he had to block out the heavy sun rays with a hoof. He lifted his wings and tested their strength, flapping them slowly. He reared up and kicked off of the ground, flying upwards at a high speed with his mane flowing backwards with the nostalgic feeling of the wind through his mane. Soarin' flew through a cloud, making a perfect circle through it and then flew off even faster with the cloud fluff rolling off of his body. He then flew straight upwards and flew as high as he knew was safe and then stopped to look down. He saw his shadow cover the landscape below him and grinned at the height in which he was floating in the air. Soarin' tried to fly forward, but something strange had happened, no matter how much he flapped his wings, for some strange reason he was stuck in place. He quickly grew tired and stopped moving his wings and put them at his side and looked in amazement that he was still high above the earth. Amazement turned to fright as he began to fall from the sky, his hooves pointing upwards during the free fall. He didn't know what do think, and couldn't resist, even if he wanted too. He struck the ground without pain; he stood up and dusted himself off while looking around. He was in a plain grassy field, no trees, nopony else in sight, he could only see the grassy field go on for miles. Soarin' looked back up at the sky, still bright, and tried to raise his wings again but they disobeyed his command and he looked back at his wings. His wings disappeared from sight and shocked him. He sat down in depression; he had lost his wings and began to weep silently from the loss. Soarin' felt a hoof touch his shoulder and he stopped weeping to look beside him, he saw a purple hoof resting on his shoulder. He spun around and saw Twilight, now with her hoof extended out to him and he took it. Soarin' had risen up from his spot on the ground and was now facing Twilight directly, just staring at her. He tried to talk but it felt as if his mouth was cemented shut. He looked back behind him, his back bare from the absence of his wings and felt the anguish creep over him again but then heard Twilight's voice echo in his ears. "Don't worry Soarin’; it's going to be alright." He looked back in front again, his anguish now washed away and replaced with comfort as he once again stared at her. He rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes, reveling in the love he felt for her. He heard the grass crunch beside them and he opened his eyes to see his good friend Spike who was wearing his normal friendly expression. "I'm tired Twilight, can we go home?" Spike asked. Soarin' looked around and still only saw miles of grass, but he could also see little stubs growing out of the grass. They began to walk off, and Soarin' noticed that the stubs began to grow into trees and in high numbers all around them, now grown to a dense forestation, but they continued to walk through the trees and a path had even appeared below them. They exited the groove of trees and now Soarin' could see Ponyville in the distance as they continued to walk on the path. The path started to grow wider as others joined them in the walk home, Applejack had appeared beside Spike and the rest of Twilight's friends were traveling behind them along with a few of Soarin's new friends he had made while living in Ponyville. Big Macintosh, Dr.Whooves, and Caramel were also now following them. Ponyville was small and looked as if it was miles away, but then it suddenly lurched forward, growing in size and they entered the town. They walked through the streets and the buildings stood around them in a perfect row. Soarin' looked ahead and saw the library that they used as a home in sight. They all stopped walking, only fifty yards from the library. His heart was gravitated towards their home but he couldn't move his hooves. He looked next to him and saw Twilight start to walk forward and he tried to follow but his hooves were still stuck in place. He had almost jumped when he saw a clone of himself walk next to Twilight and he saw himself open the door for her and they both entered their home. Soarin' just stared at the library for a few moments, but then saw that the door had re-opened and saw Twilight and himself walk out. It looked like nothing new, until he saw a third figure emerge from the library beside them. A small foal had come into view and was now being muzzled by Twilight. Soarin' felt his heart rise at the sight of the foal and strained his eyes to try and see it, but couldn't make out any of its features. He only saw a blank face, but the smile had appeared on the foals face as it looked up at its father. Soarin' continued to strain his eyes to just catch a glimpse of what his child looks like, but the harder he tried the more farther away the library appeared and eventually vanished. Soarin' jolted up from where he was lying. He squinted at the clock at it read 6 am; it was still early in the morning. He looked next to him and saw Twilight peacefully sleeping and he was glad that he didn't wake her. He tried to lay back down to try and go back to sleep, but his eye was being attracted towards the balcony that hang outside of their room past a glass door. Soarin' slowly exited the bed, careful not to wake up Twilight and made his way across the room to the doors that lead outside. Twilight felt the cold air flow on her face, and she could taste the sea salt in the air. She woke up and began to rub the sleep from her eyes with a yawn. The clock next to her read 7 am and she stretched out, while she was stretching she noticed that Soarin' wasn't lying next to her. She looked around the room in confusion, but then saw that Soarin' was on the balcony outside of their room with the glass doors open. Twilight slid out of bed and began to walk across the room, still yawning. She walked outside on the balcony but stopped to see Soarin' spacing out, looking out into the dark sky meeting the ocean. She called out to him. "Soarin'?" Soarin' turned around slowly, but was surprised to see that she was awake. His expression was blank, but a few tears were flowing from his eyes. Twilight took a step forward, worried about him. "Are you alright?" He sniffed and wiped his eyes with his forearm and spoke past it. "I'm fine." Twilight moved closer to him, close enough she could feel his warm breath past the cold oceanic air. She put her hooves on the side of his face. "You're crying..." Soarin' sighed. "Yeah... just thinking about some things." "Like what?" Soarin' moved away from Twilight's grasp and leaned over the edge of the railing on the stone balcony to look below out at the sea again. Twilight joined him, eager to know why he was crying. "I was just thinking about my parents..." He took a deep breath and was silent for a moment, the only sound were some seagulls in the distance that were waking up from their nests to begin the day. Soarin' began to speak again, this time his voice was gentle as he spoke. "When I was a young colt my parents took me here in the summer and we would stay in a hotel like this one. My dad was a film director, and my mom was a teacher that home schooled me. We were a really tight family and I used to think nothing could go wrong." Soarin' choked but then gulped his sadness back down as he tightened his grip on the railing. "Th-then one day as my mom was flying home from visiting her parents..." Soarin' lowered his head and rested it on the railing, letting the cold stone touch his forehead. "She was flying as fast as she could to try and get past the thunderstorm the pegasi had planned and she didn't even know about it..." Twilight watched as she saw Soarin' start to break down, stuttering his words with small droplets of tears hit the ground below him. Soarin's voice started to increase in volume to speak past his sobs."Sh-she was flying fast to try to get home before it got too bad... but then the storm picked up quickly and made it hard for her to fly and th-then as she was flying she was hit by a thunderbolt that made her pass out." Soarin' sniffed and wiped his eyes again before he continued. "She died from the fall and we buried her the next day." He began to cry, but still trying to hold it back. "I loved her so much Twilight..." Twilight was about to reach out to touch him, but her hoof retreated when his head came back up, and he was no longer crying, he was now angry and looking back out at the ocean. "And my father... He tried to act as though she never existed! He just went back to work and worked all day and most of the night, script writing and directing his stupid movies... I was left at home, and all I could do was try to continue the lessons my mom taught me as if she was still there. One day I tried to go visit my father at his set, but the guards wouldn't let me in and told me that 'Clip said that he doesn't have a son' and I just looked at the guards, my dad told them he didn't have a son. That night I was devastated and decided that instead of going to college I was going to join the Royal Equestrian Air force and my father still said nothing, he just kept going back to work still denying my existence." Soarin' banged his hoof on the railing. "The day I turned eighteen and left all he said to me was 'bye' as I walked out of the door." Soarin' took a few deep breaths and calmed down. "I stayed in the Air force for three years, and soon after I left Spit Fire scouted me into the Wonder Bolts and I just tried to forget about my dad." Twilight was speechless; she had no idea that Soarin' had gone through all of that. She had asked him about his childhood before but all she said to him was that it was fine. "A few months after I joined the Wonder Bolts, somehow my dad heard I was one of them and tried to call me. He tried to act as if we had been best friends for awhile and tried to get me to star in this movie he thought up of about a Wonder Bolt." Soarin' let out a small light chuckle. "I screamed at him and told him no, I told him I hated him, and I told him to buck off...and ever since them I haven't seen or heard from him." Twilight leaned in closer to Soarin' to comfort him with a hoof around his shoulder. "I had no idea..." Soarin' leaned into her and let her comfort him. "There is one thing he told me when I was younger that I've thought about for awhile now. He told me, life is like a movie, you can have a thousand endings. He always compared things with movies and told me if you have a terrible exposition and plot your ending isn't going to be very good. I think I know what he means by that, and from what I can tell... from being with you, is that I have a good chance at a happy ending." "Are you still mad at your dad?" Twilight asked curiously. "Mad? I don't know... I try not to think about him, but I don't have it in me to still say I hate him. After all, it’s hard to feel any hate when I'm with you." Soarin' turned to give Twilight a full hug. "Thanks." He began to realize that he should try and not worry about his old family, but now to direct all of his attention to his new family. Twilight, and their foal that was on its way. The sun started to poke out of the horizon and began to light up the world around them. They stared out into the sparkling ocean and saw everything start to spring to life with amazement and their eyes gleaming at the sight. They both were thinking the same thing. I love you so much... and as if they could hear each others thoughts they turned to face each other to share a kiss that cast away the rest of their negative emotions and they went back into their room to prepare for the rest of their vacation.