Up in the skies of Equestria, close to the Pegasus city of Cloudsdale, the Wonderbolts were finishing their practice for the day. Their captain, Spitfire, landed first, followed by her second-in-command, Soarin'.
"Good flight today, team!" Spitfire smiled. "Dismissed!"
"Hey, Spits." Soarin' trotted over to Spitfire. "Nice flying today."
"Thanks, Soar." Spitfire smiled. "You too."
"I'm gonna go to the bar, get some drinks." Soarin' declared. "You wanna come with?"
"Sure, why not?" Spitfire nodded.
The two flew over to The Nimbus, a local bar. Soarin' ordered their drinks, and they sat on stools beside the bar.
"So, how are things?" Soarin' asked.
"Pretty good." Spitfire smiled. "You?"
"Fine." Soarin' nodded. "How's your social life, if you don't mind me asking?"
"What social life?" Spitfire smirked. "Being a Wonderbolt doesn't leave much room for downtime."
"Or relationships." Soarin' added. "I can barely remember the last time I went on a date."
"Me, too." Spitfire nodded. She glanced around the bar. "Say, did they do something different with the place?"
"Oh yeah, they're under new management. Now, they make the craziest drinks." Soarin' chuckled, as a bartender passed him his drink that had a sparkler in it. Soarin' blew it out and took a sip.
Spitfire frowned, "What do you mean by crazy-"
"Are you calling me a liar, ma'am?!" Soarin' shouted suddenly at her.
Spitfire gaped at his outburst, and Soarin' immediately calmed down.
"Sorry, that was a total over-reaction." Soarin' apologized.
"You think?" Spitfire quipped.
"No, the drink, it's called a 'total over-reaction'" Soarin' explained.
"Okay…" Spitfire muttered, as she glanced up at the menu, "Can I get an 'obscure reference'?"
The bartender passed her a drink, and as Spitfire picked it up, the familiar sound of piano playing emitted.
"Cheers." Spitfire raised her glass.
Soarin' coughed after drinking his drink.
"I just have a 'plot element', I dunno how they do it." He shrugged.
Spitfire spat out her drink.
"Oh, that's a 'recurring gag'." Soarin' revealed. "I've had that before."
Spitfire grimaced. Soarin' chuckled for a moment, then sighed.
"Spits, there's a reason I brought you he-" He started, before being interrupted by Spitfire spitting out her drink. "Stop drinking it!"
"Sorry." Spitfire shrugged. "Just get me a stiff drink…"
The bartender set another drink down, and Spitfire goes to pick it up… but the drink refused to budge. Spitfire struggled to pick it up, but as she did so, she addressed Soarin', "Soarin', what did you-what did you want?"
Soarin' rubbed his hooves nervously, "Uh, can I get a 'dub'?"
Spitfire tried pulling on her drink harder as the bartender asked. "What flavor?"
"Spanish?"
The bartender passed him a martini glass, and Soarin' picked it up… and somehow, a moustache appeared on his snout. Spitfire's too.
"He estado pensando en senorita..." Soarin' declared.
Soarin' put a hoof to Spitfire's cheek.
"I…" Spitfire began, before ripping off the fake moustache. "Have no idea what you just said. Could you get me a 'Fluffy Unicorn'?"
"Senorita, I-"
Spitfire spit out her drink, grunting. "Oh, no, that's just the recurring gag again…"
"Look, Spits." Soarin' rubbed his sore upper lip. "I've been thinking. How long have we known each other?"
"Since Wonderbolts Academy." Spitfire smiled. "Ah, those were the days."
"Yeah, both of us, competing to be the best." Soarin' sighed nostalgically. "We wound up friends in the end, though."
"And friends ever since." Spitfire added, as she turned to the bartender, "Could you get me a 'perpetual motion' instead?"
A song starting playing on the jukebox.
Here we go
Come with me
There's a world out there
That we should see
"Yeah... that's what I wanna talk to you about." Soarin' became serious. "Lately, I've been thinking about us being... more than friends."
Spitfire looked at Soarin' in shock.
"One 'perpetual motion'!" The bartender cried out as he passed the drink to Spitfire, but it ended up sliding off the end of the bar. "Okay…"
"More?" Spitfire gasped. "You mean..."
"Spits, I'm gonna be frank." Soarin' declared. "You're the most amazing mare I've ever met. You're smart, you're funny, you're the best flyer I've ever see (besides me, of course)... To be honest, I think I've been in love with you for a while now."
Take my hand
Close your eyes
With you right here
I'm a rocketeer
"Soar, I, I..." Spitfire stuttered. "I don't know what to say..."
"Say you'll go out with me." Soarin' declared.
"W-what?!" Spitfire spluttered.
Let's fly
Up, up, here we go, go
Up, up, here we go, go
"Just one date, that's all I ask." Soarin' offered. "What do you say?"
"Look, Soar, I… I like my friends like I like my whiskey…" Spitfire frowned.
"Let me guess…" Soarin' pouted. "Tall, dark, and handsome?"
"Not trying to woo me!" Spitfire rebutted.
"Well, I need a 'more understanding friend'!" Soarin' demanded. The bartender passed him a drink.
"I like a 'platonic relationship'." Spitfire huffed, as a drink was passed to her.
Let's fly
Up, up, here we go, go
Where we stop, nobody knows, knows
Where we go, we don't need roads, roads
Where we stop, nobody knows, knows
"Why don't you give me a 'shot'?" Soarin' asked Spitfire, as the bartender put forth a shot glass.
"Could I get 'five minutes' to think about it?" Spitfire asked in exasperation, as five more shot glasses were passed to her.
"Can't I get a 'little consideration'?" Soarin' held up a hoof. The bartender gave a big glass to Soarin', prompting him to frown. "A 'little consideration'!" The glass was immediately replaced with a smaller glass.
"I don't see us working out… how about… 'get over it'?!" Spitfire rebutted, as the bartender put forth another drink.
"Well, I don't see 'a future without you' so…"
"Yeah, we're out of those, I'm afraid." The bartender declared.
Soarin' sighed, "Can I at least get a 'reluctant compromise'?"
"Is diet okay?" The bartender frowned.
"Fine!" Soarin' said in exasperation.
The bartender set down one last drink… only to notice the plethora of drinks he'd been dishing out to the Pegasi duo, left untouched.
"Are you guys going to drink any of these?!" The bartender groaned.
To the stars if you really want it
Got a jetpack with your name on it
Above the clouds and the atmosphere
Say the words and we outta here
Hold my hand if you feeling scared
We're flying up, up outta here
Spitfire let out a sigh.
"Soar, we're teammates." Spitfire declared. "Colleagues. Dating would... complicate things."
"Come on, Spits." Soarin' protested. "I'm not asking for a lifetime commitment, here. Just one little date. Please?"
"Don't beg." Spitfire frowned.
"It's not like you're leaving me many options." Soarin' retorted. "Would dating me really be so terrible?"
"Maybe not." Spitfire admitted. "Okay, one date. Just one. If it doesn't work for me, we go back to being friends. Deal?"
"Deal." Soarin' smiled. "You won't regret this, Spits. How about one more drink for the road?"
"Sure…" Spitfire shrugged, as Soarin' was about to order. "A normal one."
The bartender gave the drink to Soarin', who then passed it to Spitfire. She took a sip…
"What is this?"
Soarin' gave a chuckle. "A 'surprise package'."
Spitfire looked at Soarin' for a moment, before shrugging. "Heh."
Here we go, come with me
There's a world out there that we should see
Take my hand, close your eyes
With you right here, I'm a rocketeer
Let's fly (fly, fly, fly, fly)
Up, up here we go, go
Up, up here we go, go
Let's fly (fly, fly, fly, fly)
Up, up here we go, go
Where we stop nobody knows...
Twenty Years Later...
Spitfire and Soarin', now husband and wife, were attending the grand opening of their son Blue Blazes' new bar, Blazin' Blue's. Soarin' had a proud smile on his face, but Spitfire wore a frown.
"Come on, honey." Soarin' noticed. "I thought you said you'd be supportive."
"I'm trying to be." Spitfire sighed.
"Hey, let's get some drinks in." Soarin' suggested. "It'll be just like old times."
"Well, as long as I don't have another recurring gag, I'll be good." Spitfire joked.
The two made their way to the bar, where their son was currently mixing a drink.
"Mom, dad, so glad you could make it!" Blue smiled.
"Ya kiddin', son? We wouldn't miss this for the world, right, honey?" Soarin elbowed Spitfire.
"Uh, yeah, sure." Spitfire forced a smile.
"Love the enthusiasm, mom." Blue Blazes smirked, as he then poured the drink into a glass and passed to the patron next to them… a familiar porky unicorn in a mafia-like suit. "Here you go, sir."
"Thanks, kid." Vinny smirked, taking a small sip.
"Say, you look familiar. Do you have a brother in the royal guard or something?" Blue Blazes inquired.
"Ya mean Caboose? Yeah. We used to come here when it was The Rusty Horseshoe."
"Well, I hope the new management isn't too big a problem for you." Blue declared.
"I'll get used to it." Vinny declared. "Just keep slinging those suds, kid."
"Will do." Blue nodded, before turning to his parents. "So, what'll it be?"
"Some normal drinks, please." Spitfire prompted. "I'll have a cider and cherry wine cocktail."
"Wheat grass shot for me, champ." Soarin' requested.
Blue produced the drinks, quick as a shot.
"There you go, on the house." He smiled. "Now if you'll excuse me, there's something important I need to attend to..."
Blue slipped away, leaving his parents at the bar. The two took a sip from their drinks as Spitfire looked around, taking note of all the ponies enjoying themselves.
"Well, if Blue had to be something other then being a Wonderbolt, it may as well be a profession that makes ponies happy." She admitted.
"That's the spirit." Soarin' grinned. "It's these kind of places that bring ponies closer together."
"In more ways than one." Spitfire smirked, as she pointed, "Look."
In a corner of the bar, Blue was having a fairly intense make-out session with his marefriend, Mist. The two had been going out for a couple months since the whole 'love triangle' debacle, and judging by the fervor with which the two were "expressing" their love, it had gotten pretty strong.
"Heh, shoulda known." Soarin' chuckled. "Like father, like son."
"Yeah…" Spitfire smirked. "Save some for the wedding, you two!"
"Mom!" Blue groaned, while Mist giggled.
At that point, the jukebox switched to a new, very familiar song...
Here we go
Come with me
There's a world out there
That we should see...
"Remember this?" Spitfire smiled. "It's the song that was playing when I agreed to go on our first date together."
"How could I forget?" Soarin' grinned. "Who'd have guessed how that would have turned out? That date went down so well, you wound up pregnant with Blue, and we were married not long after."
"Yep." Spitfire sighed. "Best decision I ever made. Although I should had seen it coming when I drank that 'surprise package'."
"Aw, c'mere, you." Soarin' purred, pulling his wife in for a kiss.