Tale of Soarin McLighting
Chapter 8: Settling In
Applejack walked out towards her brother, Big Macintosh, who was fixing up the field. The Spitfire had finally been dragged into its new home, much to Applejack’s relief, so they were finally able to use the whole field once again. It was for this reason that Applejack was smiling as she and Twilight walked the distance to the barn that - thanks to the kind help of the residents of Ponyville - was now restored.
“Wow, look at the barn, it sure doesn't look much like one now...” Twilight said, staring at the tall building in front of her. It had more of a curved roof than the old barn and was entirely painted in white and grey. They could see two pegasi lowering a sign into place over the barn door.
Applejack stared at the strange symbol painted on the sign. Soarin had spent almost a whole day working with a group of ponies making sure it was exactly right, even Pinkie Pie had helped with the painting. On the sign was what looked like a semicircular band of leaves arranged on top of a circle, with two wings sticking out of either side and a crown of some sort above it. Depicted in the centre of the insignia was the Equestrian flag, representing Luna and Celestia by the sun and the moon.
“Woo wee that is one amazin' symbol. It’s almost as if yer combined ya home and ours together.” Applejack exclaimed, impressed by the new coat of arms that now hung above the doors.
Just to the right of the barn was a small, fluffy cloud house that had recently been placed there for Soarin to stay in.
Having placed the sign, the two pegasi left the barn turned hangar. Waving to Twilight and Applejack as they flew off.
“You sure about this, Applejack? The Crusaders are a hoof full at the best of times. It wouldn’t be fair on Soarin to put their mischief on him.” Twilight asked as they approached the two doors.
Applejack smirked. “Well then, we must be doin' it wrong because, Sugarcube, he’s been able to keep those three out of trouble.” Applejack put her hoof to the door and, with a pull, it slid open. “Haven't ya noticed the differences in the last two weeks?”
“Strangely... Yes...” Twilight felt unusually uneasy answering that.
They walked inside the hangar. The clop clap sounds of their hooves could easily be heard against the hard concrete floor. To the right of Twilight as she walked in was a small workshop. On it were an assortment of tools and Spitfire parts, all carefully arranged on the tabletop. The damaged landing gear was resting on a block of wood in front of the plane, which took up most of the width of the room.
Once they had managed to squeeze past the massive metal machine the barn seemed to open up. In the back were a small set of chairs, tables, a sofa and even a bookshelf, as well as the Cutie Mark Crusaders who were sitting on the sofa listening intently to Soarin as he spoke to them, while he worked on Scootaloo’s scooter using tools out of the red toolbox beside him.
“Without a doubt, Scootaloo, Bolt is the fastest Earth Pony on Earth.” He chuckled slightly. “Wow, that is a bad pun.”
Applebloom giggled. “Ah thought it was funny, Mr McLightning. It’s really amazin' that an Earth Pony like him could run a 100 meter race that fast! It’s over before it begins!” Applebloom waved her hooves around. “Ah like the sound of these Oy-Oybl...”
“Olympics, Applebloom. I was there with Mist watching the race, it was bloody amazing, seeing that stallion from Jamaica bolting down that track, outrunning all those other ponies like it was nothing.”
Sweetie Belle was waving her hoof in the air. “Yes ,Sweetie Belle?”
“It was in your hometown too, wasn't it! Hoovdoon right?” Sweetie Belle beamed.
Soarin laughed. “I’ll never get used to those pony pun names for town and cities. You’re close Sweetie Belle. It’s called London and yes, it was in my home town. London is the capital city of the United Kingdom, The 2012 London Olympics! I was only young when it was happening, perhaps the same age as you girls, or maybe a little older.”
“Wow that’s really awesome! You’ve got to come and see the Equestrian Games at the Crystal Empire! We’re carrying the flag for Ponyville!” Scootaloo cried out in excitement.
Twilight stepped up to them with Applejack. “I think that is a wonderful idea. It would give Soarin a taste of what our world is like.”
Soarin was still working on fixing up the damaged section of Scootaloo's scooter. “I’ve seen partly how it is from Soarin's life in my dreams. I recalled him watching it at the last one about three or four years ago. It’s strange how similar our two worlds are and yet how different they are too.”
“I bet it is.” Twilight looked at the girls. “So this is where you’ve been spending your time, huh?”
“It sure is Twilight!” Scootaloo announced, jumping up and down on the sofa.
“Scootaloo what have I said about jumping on my sofa?” Soarin said, firmly.
Scootaloo stopped and sat down, laughing nervously. “Not to?”
“Good, now you can continue.” Soarin went back to repairing the the scooter, mending it for Scootaloo.
Applejack and Twilight were astonished; Scootaloo had stopped almost instantly when Soarin asked her to.
“We’ve been coming here almost every day the last few weeks to listen to his awesome stories! We thought it even might help us figure out what we’re doing wrong.”
“Yeah, and getting to know how his memories have two sides of a story is cool too!” Sweetie Belle said afterwards. “The human Bolt runs three times slower than the Pony Bolt. How weird is that?”
Twilight rubbed her hoof on her snout before answering. “I think it’s to do with our build compared with the humans’. The humans lack endurance compared to us ponies, we’re most likely stronger than them.”
Soarin chuckled. “You sure are, even a unicorn, or Alicorn in your case, Twilight would be stronger than a normal human, heck I bet my jacket Applejack would easily outrun and beat the human Bolt at a 100 meter race without even trying.”
“Ah bet ah would sugarcube.” Applejack said with pride. “But what about the Earth Pony Bolt?”
“Not a chance.” Soarin said instantly. “You would lose to him without Bolt even trying. That bloody pony is like lightning, three times faster than the human version of himself.” He got up, flying in the air and zipping around the hangar, doing a quick pass over them before landing on his hooves. “About that speed, but on four legs on the a track.”
Applebloom blinked with shock. “Y-yer ki-kiddin' right? No pony can run that fast!”
“Well that’s not completely true.” Everypony turned to Twilight as she took a seat with them. “If his special talent is to do with speed like Rainbow Dash's when she got hers, then there’s nothing to stop Bolt being this fast. He would sure give Rainbow Dash a run for her money at those speeds, even for short distances.”
Scootaloo giggled. “No way Twilight, nopony beats Rainbow Dash in a race. She’s the fastest flier in the whole of Equestria!” She imagined a dark brown stallion with jet black mane running super fast with Rainbow Dash flying above him, both eager to show their stuff. Scootaloo jumped down on the floor, looking at Soarin. “If it wasn't for your amazing stories of course!”
“Well I am happy to tell them to you children, since you always return the favour and behave for me.” Soarin turned the scooter over, wiping his forehead with his right front leg. “And your scooter is good as new. I even oiled the axles for you, so the wheels move a lot smoother now.”
Scootaloo went over to it and checked out his work. “Whoa this is awesome! I got to give it a test run!”
“Sure go ahead. Just remember to keep to inside the yellow and black lines.” Soarin point to them.
“As always!” Scootaloo put her helmet on and jump on her scooter, with a buzz from her wings she was gone. Zooming around the spitfire on her scooter, skidding around the corners.
“Ah'll be damned. Yer did a great job with the girls sugarcube, ah’ve never seen them this well behaved” Applejack watched the other two girls cheer on their friend as she raced around. “How do yer do it?”
Soarin shrugged. “I just tell them to keep to the rules I set in place and in return, I give them their freedom to do what they want, as long as it isn’t likely to cause an accident. That why I can just keep things controlled and when things get a little out of hand...”
“Hoof, sugarcube.”
“Whatever.” Soarin replied. “As I was saying, if they break my rules I give them a warning like back there, if they do it again I give them a time out, placing them in the corner, looking at a wall for a few minutes making them reflect on their mistakes, it’s what my father did for me.”
“What was ya father like sugarcube?” Applejack turned to him.
“Really something, before his passing.” Soarin’s eyes became sad. “I recall every moment I had with him, the good and the bad. In both human and pony. He had recurring heart problems, but would never take anything to combat it. He fought the pain with pure will and determination right to his last heartbeat. He was really kind and an awesome father but bloody strict too. Right until I was 12 he’d still put me in the corner. Whenever I tried to rebel against it he stood over me with his arms crossed and a stare that was so icy it could freeze hell.” Soarin chuckled softly. “And I would just slowly turn around and think about what I did wrong, it worked though. I was able to reflect on my mistakes and tell him exactly what I did wrong and why I shouldn't do it.”
Applejack smiled sadly. “Yer father sounds really wonderful, ah know what it’s like to lose a father...”
Soarin put a hoof on her back shaking his head. “No need to, ma'am, I had a feeling since I’ve been living here close to your fields. Working for the RAF you get to see things that not many would see, the world might blur when travelling at crazy speeds but those moments when you are alone in the sky, miles away from your loved ones, the whole world slows to a standstill. The moments we remember of them are the moments we treasure in our hearts most of all.”
Applejack pushed him away with a chuckle, wiping away the tears that had formed when he made that speech. “Yer sappy, colt, ya makin' mah cry.”
Soarin shrugged. “Well it made you feel better right?”
“Sure did partner.” Applejack turned to Twilight. “So Twi...”
“Hmm what?” Twilight turn to her and blinked. “Oh right! The request!” Twilight quickly turned to Soarin. “We came to ask a really big favour from you. I know you have night time weather duties every so often and you’re fixing up the plane. This really might cause some de-lanes because what we...”
Soarin put a hoof to her snout. “Get to the bloody point, Twilight, some time before night fall, if you can.”
Twilight batted his hoof away from her snout. “Right. Hehe... Sorry.” She said shyly to the stallion as the girls came back to them. “What we’re asking is whether you could take care of the Cutie Mark Crusaders this weekend. We’re going...”
“Yes.” He cut her off. “I’d be happy to.”
“But I haven't told you where we going.” Twilight explained to him. “Don't you want to know in case there...”
“Miss Sparkle, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo's parents are still around, and so is Big Macintosh. They’ve most likely got a lot of work to do which is why you’re asking me to keep an eye on these three fillies.” Soarin glanced over to the girls. “I’d be happy to do so.”
Applejack grinned, looking directly at Twilight. “Ah believe yer owe me ten bits, Sugarcube.”
“I hate it when you’re right!” Twilight muttered and the fillies giggled in return. “And yes, you’re right on all accounts Soarin. How did you...”
“We told him!” Scootaloo was bouncing up and down again. “When we heard that our folks, sisters and such were looking for a foalsitter we came to Soarin about it, although the main reason was the scooter.”
“How did that get damaged in the first place, anyway?” Twilight inquired.
Soarin sighed. “That would be my doing, I was sorta doing some morning stunt exercises and hit a branch that fell onto her scooter, I was just able to react fast enough to get her off it. So in return for my accidentally damaging her scooter, I repaired it for her. At the cost of a few parts from my plane.” Soarin explained to the two mares.
“Wouldn't that set ya back Soarin?” Applejack asked, amazed at his apparent generosity. “Ah mean, ya want to get back home and didn't ya say that fixin' up ya machine and gettin' her airworthy was ya top goal?”
Soarin turned to his plane “It sure is, but it’s been a month since I’ve been here, even though I’ve got into a life here in Ponyville, I don’t interact with much of the weather team. It’s highly unlikely that I’ll be able to find a similar fog bank here in Equestria or retrace my steps to my arrival here.” Soarin explained to them.
“So until I can find a way to cross back to my world this is my home. As my dad once said, 'there’s no point moping around if things get difficult, make the most you have and, if you can, push towards the goal you stride for.'” Soarin finished with a grin.
“Yeah, and he can help us get our cutie marks too!”
“That as well.” Soarin replied to Scootaloo's comment with a laugh. “Why don't you girls go back with Applejack and Twilight. I am sure she can whip up some sort of cloud walking magic so you all can stay for the weekend at my home...” He paused for a second, looking out of one of the barn windows at the simple cloud house that now was his home. “Celestia sure made it hard for me to want to leave... She simply dropped it off from Cloudsdale, no questions, nothing...”
“She just trying to help Soarin. She knows you want to get home and will do whatever in her power to make that possible. She and Luna have been working on that weird light with whatever spare time they have. Not only for you, but for Equestria, there’s no telling what that thing can do to one of us or what exactly it would do if there was a bigger version of it like the one in your world!” Twilight added, putting a hoof on his foreleg. “We’ll take the girls back and get them set up for the weekend with you.”
“Thanks, Twilight Sparkle, you and the other girls have really helped this lost stallion out of a jam, for that I am eternally grateful. I would say 'forever in your debt,' but I highly doubt you’d accept that.” Soarin smirked, walking over to the tools, putting them away into the box.
“Come on girls, let’s give him some peace.” Applejack nudged them to move.
“Ok! See ya, Soarin!” Applebloom called out.
“Yeah, see you soon!” Sweetie Belle said with glee.
“This is going to be the best weekend ever!” Scootaloo beamed as they left the hangar with Twilight and Applejack.
Soarin was as excited as the girls, “I’ll make sure of that.” He finished putting the last of the tools away. Placing the red box by the sofa, he took a book from the table. He sat down and started to read. “I’d wager I won’t be undisturbed for very long,” He joked, laughing under his breath and turning a page of the book.
Right on cue, an orange pegasus with a blue mane, wearing a pony airmail service uniform landed by the door. His hooves clopped and clapped on the concrete flooring as curiosity compelled him to enter the large hangar. Suddenly the sound stopped, as the mailpony came face to face with the huge hunk of metal sitting in the middle of the barn, it’s propellor facing the doors as if it were a display piece. “Wow that’s really something.” He walked around it slowly, taking a good look at the spitfire. “This must be the plane all the other ponies were talking about...” He stopped and shook his head, snapping out it. “Lightning, you’re here to delivery mail, not admire the scenery.”
The stallion scanned the hangar, until he saw the dark blue speck hanging at the edge of the sofa. “Erm... Mr M-McLighting?”
“It’s McLightning.” Soarin sat up, looking over to the stallion. “It’s just spelt funny, what can I do for you?”
The stallion stared in shock. “Y-Your Soarin...The Wonderbolt when did you...”
Soarin chuckled. “Wrong Soarin. Soarin McLightning my name and I am not that Soarin.”
“Wait what?” He blinked. “Are you telling me there two Soarin's? How is that...”
“It’s simple, really. I am from another world.” Soarin trotted over to him. “So, what’s your name?”
“Oh erm... It’s Lightning Rider sir, I've got your mail.” He pulled it out of the saddle bag. “Also you need to sign for it.” After Lightning Rider handed over the letters, he pull out a scroll with a quill. “If you sign here, I'll be going. I’ve got some rounds to do before sorting out this afternoon’s weather.”
Soarin took the quill with his mouth and signed for his letter before giving the quill and scroll back, “So your the kid with the two jobs I've heard about.”
“Huh?” Lightning stared at him after putting the quill and scroll back into the bag. “Wh-where did you hear that?”
“From a pony called...” Soarin thought about it for a second. “Right that’s it. Thunderlane. The dark grey stallion called Thunderlane, I see him every so often when I come in for my biweekly overnight weather duty shifts.” Soarin replied. “He mentioned a pony pulling double job but didn't say who exactly. I guess he was just trying to be a pal. Well, I’d better let you be kid, you’ve got work to do and I’ve only got a small amount of time to myself before the storm blows in.”
“Storm? I didn't...”
“I meant the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they can be a bloody ha... Hoof full.” He chuckled. “Thanks for delivering my mail, Lightning Rider. Maybe I’ll see you around some time.”
“Su-sure. Have a nice day Soarin McLightning.” Rider saluted and left the hangar in a blur of speed.
Soarin rolled his eyes afterwards. “After a month they still mistake me for him. Oh well. Better see what this letter about.”
Soarin opened it up and looked at the letter.
Hey Soarin McLightning,
“How very formal,” Soarin chuckled.
I would have contacted you sooner, but we’ve been very busy with the newbies here at the Wonderbolt Academy and I haven't found the time to leave or get a letter out until now. I’ve been eager to meet you. Soarin assures me you are nothing like him at all. I want to see this for myself. I would like the Wonderbolt team to meet you face to face too, just to straighten things out.
“Well isn't that wonderful, I am going to ruin your…” He thoughts broke when he read the next part.
I managed to get the whole team together for a social meeting at Cloudsdale this Sunday, hopefully this letter get to you before that. So I am requesting that you find the time to come and meet us at the Wonderbolt HQ to meet up with Soarin, myself. Fleetfoot and the rest of the team. I also let them know you WILL be coming and that you HAVE no problem showing up.
“WHAT!?” Soarin glared at the letter. “Oh you fucking bitch!” Soarin put a hoof to his head and read on.
This is to put things straight between the rumours and facts with our team and I would like to get to know the McLightning that now lives in Ponyville. I also heard that you got some skills as well doing night shifts twice a week for the weather ponies of Ponyville. I like to also take time to know you instead of trying to avoid you. I hope that we also could work together on figuring a way to get you back to your team, Team Spitfire, despite their terrible name.
So I hope to see you at the HQ and a map on the back of the letter will also help locate it at Cloudsdale.
See you soon.
Captain of the Wonderbolts
Your friend... Spitfire
P.S. Wear your awesome leather jacket and those half size sun glasses.
Soarin turned the letter around and there was a map stuck to the letter with the marked location in the pegasi city. “Just bloody great... Now this weekend is going to be chaotic for sure...” . He blinked quickly as he read the P.S. Again. “No bloody way...” He flew up to the cockpit and looked around for his sunglasses to find they were still made mostly for a human, apart from the frame that fit perfectly on his snout.
Soarin put them on and looked in the glass reflection of the open canopy. “Not bad at all Soarin, not back at all,” he chuckled, looking at himself his leather jacket and shades. “Now I just have to figure out how to work out this Sunday... Especially with those fillies.” He thought for a second and only one thing came to mind.
“Chaos here we come...”