Rapidfire and Soarin’ were in full uniform, goggles pulled down to protect their eyes as they soared over Equestria. The wind whipped through their manes and slid over their tailored flight suits. They grinned to each other briefly before they simultaneously dove towards the ground. They waited to the last possible second before flaring their wings out. The air caught in their wings, killing their momentum as they reached out with their hooves for a solid landing.
Rapidfire pulled off his hood and goggles, he looked around for a moment as he absently fixed his mane with a hoof. They had landed in an old statue garden, where ponies of all kinds and poses were memorialized in polished granite. Tall hedges were perfectly trimmed into walls, between them was a winding cobblestone pathway. In the center of the garden was a large fountain with intricate reliefs carved into the base.
Soarin’ pulled his goggles down so they hung loosely around his neck. “Great job today, El-Tee!”
“You weren’t so bad yourself, Mallow,” Rapid said with a smile.
“So,” Soarin’ began, his left wing draped over Rapid’s back, “tomorrow?”
“Maybe, I don’t know,” Rapid answered, his hoof digging anxiously at the cobblestone path.
Soarin’ offered the smaller stallion an optimistic smile.
“Well, until then,” he produced a white rose, seemingly from thin air, which he tucked behind Rapid’s ear. “Something for you.”
“Wh—”
Rapid never got to finish his thought before Soarin’ took to the skies. He felt a strange ache in his chest and a peculiar sense of loneliness without Soarin’ around. Rapidfire sighed, watching as Mallow disappeared into the evening sky. He could hear what sounded like a faint string section begin to play. Taking the rose in a hoof, he stared at it thoughtfully for a moment before he began to sing.
“If there's a prize for rotten judgement
I guess I've already won that.”
No pony’s worth the aggravation,”
He threw the rose over his shoulder, an unimpressed look quickly dominating his face.
“That's ancient history, been there, done that!”
He saw Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, Misty, Fleetfoot, and Blaze appear out of the clouds just before they began to sing, their bodies dancing in perfect sync.
“Who d'ya think you're kiddin'
He's the Earth and heaven to you
Try to keep it hidden
Honey, we can see right through you
Boy, ya can't conceal it
We know how ya feel and
Who you're thinking of”
Rapifire moaned, walking away from the chorus of mares.
“No chance, no way
I won't say it, no, no”
They didn’t miss a beat in responding, dancing slowly as they sang.
“You swoon, you sigh
why deny it, uh-oh”
Rapidfire rolled his eyes.
“It's too cliche, I won't say I'm in love” he sang back to them.
“I thought my heart had learned its lesson
It feels so good when you start out
My head is screaming get a grip, dude
Unless you're dying to cry your heart out.”
Rapidfire rubbed his forehead in frustration as he trotted away from the mares. They crowded in behind him, swaying in time with the music.
“You keep on denying
Who you are and how you're feeling
Baby, we're not buying
Hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling
Face it like a grown-up
When ya gonna own up
That ya got, got, got it bad.”
Rapid flicked his hoof dismissively as he retreated further from them.
“Whoa: No chance, no way, I won't say it, no, no.”
He tripped, catching himself on a life sized statue of Soarin’. The statue’s hoof was extended as if reaching out to passing ponies. The face had been carved to perfectly mirror Soarin’s warm smile.
Rapidfire leaned against the statue, smiling up to the large stallion with a faint blush of crimson on his cheeks. The choir of mares appeared from behind the statue, their hips swaying slowly with the rhythm of the song.
“Give up, or give in.”
“Check the grin you're in love,” Fleetfoot sang.
Rapidfire pushed away from the statue, his smile quickly changing to a frown. “This scene won't play, I won't say I'm in love.”
The siren mares grinned brightly at him. “You're doin flips read our lips, you're in love!”
“You're way off base, I won't say it!” Rapid sang as he pointed his right foreleg at them before turning away in frustration. “Get off my case, I won't say it!”
The mares smiled to him, Rainbow Dash taking the long since discarded rose in her hoof and laying it next to Rapidfire.
“Boy, don't be proud
It's okay you're in love”
Rapidfire smiled, taking the rose in his dexterous primary feathers. He carefully spun the flower around, the pale feathers glowing blue in the moonlight. “Oh, at least out loud, I won't say I'm in love.”
Rapidfire shot into a sitting position, his cheeks burned, and his coat and bedsheets were matted with sweat as he gasped for air. His eyes darted around his dark bedroom, the walls awashed in the gentle moonlight. After his mind stopped reeling, there was only one simple question he could think of.
“The fuck was that?!”