You know, I can'thelp but notice how fucking happy Rainbow looks as we leave the hotel. There's a noticeable spring in her step, in addition to a bright smile on her face that has yet to fade. Part of me wishes I'd never given in the way I did. This whole thing feels like a bad idea. If there's one thing I learned about sentient beings, it's that they're good at hiding their selfish or immoral desires from others until the exact moment they know nobody can say anything against it. Take anybody in power for example. They act all benevolent and kind until they're elected, and then they start fucking things up, because they know nobody can do anything about it.
So I have this nagging feeling that I should reconsider my decision and ditch these two somehow until much later, but on the other hand, some part of me doesn't want to hurt Rainbow. Just look at her and the way she's walking. She's excited as all hell. I don't think I could bring myself to ruin that for her. Though why she wants to go with me so badly is beyond me entirely.
“Here we are!” Vinyl declares, stopping in front of a building, upon which is scribbled more Equestrian, but I can tell it's a breakfast place, because there's the image of pancakes engraved on the identifying sign. “I've only been here once before, but I remember it being pretty sweet.”
“Awesome. Now let's stop talking about it and go inside,” I reply shortly, feeling my stomach cry out for food. “Food is good.”
“Heh, I hear that, bro. Let's see how long the wait will be,” Vinyl responds, and then the three of us walk into the restaurant.
And I thought that one restaurant back in Ponyville was fancy. It really has nothing on this. The place is pretty large and mostly comprised of booths, where the size of the seats are larger than normal. That's probably because ponies have to sit on their haunches, so they need a little bit more room. The place also looks twice as large as it really is, because on one wall, there's a line of mirrors.
“Welcome. How many will I be seating today?” A dressed up stallion unicorn greets us when we walk up to the counter. To his credit, he doesn't freak out much upon seeing me. Instead, he just gives me a cursory glance for a few seconds before focusing on Vinyl, who is at the forefront of our little group.
“Three, please,” Vinyl replies. With an acknowledging hum, the stallion's horn lights up and he brings a clipboard over to himself. After scanning it, he smiles at us.
“You're in luck. We just had a table open up a few moments ago. If you'll come with me?” he informs us. Aw sweet, no waiting. That's good, because I'm hungry. I think I might have already mentioned that. Blah, I want food.
“Yeah, lead the way!” Rainbow says. The stallion nods and leads us through the restaurant. Once again, I attract the attention of practically all of the ponies whose tables we pass. The wooden partitions that give the ponies in the booths some privacy are rather high, so I can't really be seen unless I walk past them.
The stallion brings us to a booth somewhere in the vicinity of the far right corner. He places three menus down on the tabletop, as well as three coasters. “There you go, fillies and sir. There will be somepony here with you shortly. Have a nice day,” he informs us. I can't help but snort at how he addresses me. He has no idea what I am, so he used a respectful title that would work regardless of species. Again, points for professionalism.
Vinyl slides into the booth on one side, and Rainbow does the same on the other. Without really thinking about it, I slide in next to Rainbow.
With a deadpan expression, I slide the menu in front of me over to Vinyl. I don't think I even need to mention how annoying this is getting.
“Oh yeah,” Vinyl remarks. “I keep forgetting you can't read.”
“Yup, thanks for pointing it out. Now tell me what's good on that thing.”
“I'm totally getting the dandelion pancakes. I eat them all the time in Ponyville,” Rainbow declares after scanning the menu for a few seconds. She proceeds to lick her lips ravenously. “I can't wait to taste how awesome they are!”
“Right...fucking dandelions. What's on there that's edible for humans, Vinyl?” I grunt. I doubt they have any bacon. Goddammit, just thinking about that makes me crave bacon.
“Hm, you said you can't eat flowers or hay, so that rules out over half of this menu,” Vinyl muses aloud, her eyes tracing down the page. I roll my eyes at that. Fucking ponies and their plant food. “There's just normal wheat pancakes here with maple or fruit syrup...”
“Ooh, that sounds good. I haven't had pancakes since I had breakfast with Twilight, and then I couldn't focus on them because she was being a bitch.”
“There's also eggs and hash-browns, different kinds of omelet, Prench toast...oh, and then there's...”
“Hold on, stop,” I cut across Vinyl, causing her to look up from the menu and gaze at me in confusion. “Go back, what was that last thing you said?”
“What, Prench toast?” she repeats. My right eye starts to twitch.
“Are you sure it's not...'French' toast?”
“Nah, bro, it's definitely Prench.” I let my head fall to the surface of the table, groaning. Prench. Really?
“Does that mean there's a place called Prance?” I conjecture, hoping that I'm wrong with all of my heart. Vinyl's nod crushes that hope like a steamroller. I have to laugh at how stupid that is. “Fucking ponies and their horse puns!”
“You all right there?” Rainbow questions, though she's smiling.
“Fucking no...but eh, what the hell. I'll get some...snrk...'Prench' toast,” I reply, deciding not to care after all. I'm too hungry to attempt to analyze dumb pony puns.
A mare drops by a few minutes later, asking about drinks and shit. Since we've pretty much already decided what we want, we order our drinks as well as our food. Waitresses love customers that know what they want, so she left with a smile.
“So basically my day is just going to be eat, watch a bunch of flying ponies, and then set up musical shit?” I say after our drinks get here. I just went with water, because I don't really feel like other drinks hydrate you as much as water does.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Vinyl responds. “As for me, I'm thinking about heading to the Nature Preserve after breakfast. “
“Seth, they're not just any flying ponies. They're the Wonderbolts! Nopony can compare in terms of sheer flying skill!” Oh shit, I just got Rainbow started, didn't I? When am I going to learn to keep my mouth shut?
“So you've been saying. Still, I can't see how watching them will be all that interesting.”
“Of course not, you wouldn't know; you haven't seen them before. They're just so awesome!” Rainbow proceeds to make a really ridiculous looking expression where she holds her face with her two front hooves. Vinyl chuckles at her expression, while I just deadpan. I swear, she's way too cheerful at times.
“I'm sure. And what about the rest of this trip? What do we have planned for the next two days, before the performances?”
“Dude, I don't have a clue. I feel like we should just roll with whatever we think up. I don't have anything really planned until the third day,” Vinyl informs me.
“Why, what do you have planned on the third day?”
“The Hearth's Warming Pageant, of course! There's no way I'm missing that,” Vinyl exclaims as if it was obvious. Oh, yeah, that's right. The day after all of our performances, there's that pageant thing that Celestia wants me to go to. Well, technically she “invited” me to go, but that means she wants me there. “Oh wait, you don't know what that is, do you?”
“No, I do. Celestia explained it to me last night,” I tell her. “Don't expect any gifts from me though. I don't have any money.”
“Ah, don't sweat it. It's a bit presumptuous of us to expect anything from you this soon after hearing about it, anyway,” Vinyl assures me. Shit, that reminds me. They aren't going to try and get me any gifts, are they? I don't know how I feel about that.
“All right, good. Also, don't be getting me anything either. At least, not anything I can't pay you back for,” I warn them, deciding it was probably better to be safe than sorry. Judging by how they're flinching, I think it was a good idea.
“You know that...kills the point of Hearth's Warming, right?” Vinyl reminds me. I mean, she's technically right, but nobody apart from my family or Amaryllis generally gave me gifts on Christmas. These ponies are my friends, not family.
…Wait just a fucking minute. Did I just think of Vinyl as a friend? Well, now that my mind's on, it, let's think about this.
“Uh, Seth?” Vinyl asks, looking perplexed as I stare at her in an appraising manner.
“Shut up, I'm thinking,” I snap at her, and she does so, still confused. Hm, Vinyl hasn't exactly done wrong by me since I met her, and I've known her longer than I've known Rainbow. But, neither has she done anything out of the ordinary, like saving my life or trying to reach me when I was in danger. She's given me a place to stay and a source of income (though not as much as Applejack), with no strings attached.
Hm, I'm not willing to acknowledge her as a friend just yet. But...neither will I say it's impossible. I guess I'll put her on a sort of “friend probation,” as dumb as that sounds. I need just a little more time before I decide that she's friend material.
It's weird. I've only been in this world for maybe two weeks (I may be wrong, but I lost track of time), but already I have as almost many friends as I did in my time, if you count my parents, Adam, and Amaryllis.
“Seth?” Vinyl says again.
“I said, I'm thinking!” Vinyl ignores me and points a hoof at the table.
“Yes, well, think while eating.” That gets me to look at the table, where my food is now ready and waiting to be eaten. I wonder when that got here?”
“Oh. Sounds good to me.” I take a bite of the Prench toast (God, I can't get over how fucking dumb these horse puns are), and discover that it tastes very much like what I remember, to my delight. Excellent. “Oh dear lord, this is amazing.”
Rainbow digs into her pancakes with very little delicacy. Sheesh, I feel like if I were to look up “lady-like” in the dictionary, you'd see a picture of her face with a fucking red line through it. Not that I mind. I actually can't stand the female stereotype.
“Anyway, back to what you were saying. So what's so important about this pageant anyway?” I broach the subject again. I take a drink right after I finish speaking.
Vinyl and Rainbow exchange looks, as if they know something I don't. “Trust me,” Vinyl answers with a knowing grin. “You want to be there. Even if you don't like it, I guarantee you'll get a kick out of it. You see, it's because Rai...”
Suddenly an ice cube hits Vinyl right on the tip of her snout, causing her to emit a very hilarious squeak and recoil indignantly. I cover my mouth and laugh when I see Rainbow attempting to look innocent. “What? My hoof slipped,” Rainbow asks as if nothing was wrong. Vinyl glares at Rainbow, and then suddenly all of the ice cubes levitate out of her cup and hover in midair. “I mean...um...wahh!”
Rainbow yelps as Vinyl magically directs all of those ice cubes back at Rainbow like a cloud of bullets. Unable to stop myself, I gasp for air and proceed to laugh harder.
“How are you doing over....here....well,” the waitresses comments as she returns to check on us. She gives us a very disapproving look when she sees Rainbow covered in ice cubes.
“She started it!” Rainbow and Vinyl both accuse at the same time, pointing hooves at one another. A mirthful smile is on my face as I facepalm at their dumb bullshit.
“I'll...just go get you some refills,” the waitress decides, and then she leaves us behind, probably thinking we're beyond saving.
When we're finished with our food, Vinyl, Rainbow, and I pay the fees for the meal and leave the restaurant behind. I now have four bits left. It's a good thing I'm getting paid tonight, else I wouldn't be able to eat for more than one meal for the rest of this trip.
“Ah, that was good. I am so full,” Rainbow proclaims, rubbing her filled stomach with a hoof. Then she looks over to me. “You ready to go, Seth? The air show is going to start soon.”
“Yeah, okay. I hope it's everything you say it is. Wouldn't want you to waste your money on something I won't like,” I say, though I can't help but tease her slightly.
“No, no, it's gonna be great, I promise!” Rainbow assures me, getting all excited again. “Oh Celestia, I can't wait! They perfected a new trick recently that I really really wanna see!”
“Oh, what, are they gonna do a little twirl? Holy, shit, the novelty!” I gasp in mock awe. My sarcasm earns me a double hooves shove from Rainbow that nearly knocks me over. “Okay, I may have deserved that one.”
“Dear Celestia, you two crack me up,” Vinyl chuckles next to us. Then she splits off from the two of us, waving a hoof. “I'll see the two of you later. Remember, be at the bar at four, you hear me?”
“You got it! See ya Vinyl!” Rainbow responds, waving back.
“Later,” is my bored response. Soon, Vinyl disappears around a street corner, leaving Rainbow and I alone in the midst of the Canterlot morning crowds. Or just the Canterlot crowds. I haven't been here long enough to know how the typical traffic works. “Well, Rainbow, I assume you know the way?”
“Heck yeah! I've only been there like, a million times!” Rainbow brags, her excitement as high as ever. Apparently it's high enough to warrant hyperbole, which is a bit excessive, if you ask me. “Wait, we've actually already passed it at one point this trip.”
“Passed what, the arena for the air show? I mean, I assume it's in an arena.”
“Close enough. But yeah, it was that place we passed on the way to the shops. You know, with the track of clouds?”
“Oh yeah...that place that doesn't make any sense because clouds don't stay in one place like that, but...” I recall, remembering the arena built into the side of the mountain we passed earlier. “It's probably magic, right?”
“Yup!” Rainbow supplies helpfully. I heave a sigh. You know, I bet if anybody else had been transported this world, they'd probably be ecstatic about the fact that's there all this magical shit. Not me. I'd kill to have a normal world that made sense. “Come on, we're almost there.”
I hear the arena before I see it. It sounds like this air show is pretty popular. I can hear the dull roar of excited chatter and conversation emanating from just around the corner.
Unlike yesterday, when the arena had been totally empty, there's a veritable crowd of ponies streaming in through the front entrance. This entrance consists of a small shaded archway in which there are several ticket booths, where ponies are lined up to buy their tickets.
There seems to be several turnstiles as well that block the way into the arena itself. In front of each of them are official looking ponies dressed in the typical Wonderbolt colors, though they don't look like they're part of the actual flying team. Those colors are probably just their way of standing out and showing spirit all at the same time.
“You said you bought your tickets in advance, right?” I say to Rainbow, raising my voice slightly to be heard over the crowd of ponies that we're approaching.
“You bet! There's no way I'm waiting in that line,” Rainbow answers proudly, pointing a hoof at the ever growing line for tickets. “They're probably gonna sell out soon.”
“Are they really all that popular?” I have to ask, despite the fact that I probably already know the answer. They are performing (if that's the right word) in Canterlot, after all.
Rainbow's excitement is practically palpable at this point as she answers. “Totally! Just look at that crowd! They're the best fliers in Equestria, and everypony knows it!” Her words cause me to notice that we've just about reached the turnstiles, to the point where I can see the seats...and holy shit they are cram packed. There's hardly any open seating there as far as I can see. Sheesh, you'd think these ponies were here to see a football game.
“Right...” I reply, unable to think of anything else to say to that. With that, the two of us filter our way into the line of ponies heading for the turnstiles.
“Take this,” Rainbow orders, passing me a small slip of rigid paper. I take it from her. I can't read what it says, but I'm sure it's the ticket to get in. Since I'm in front of her in the line, I'll be the first one to encounter the ticket-takers.
The other ponies in the line display mixed reactions to me. Some edge away in disgust. Others watch me curiously. A few attempt to get my attention, but I ignore them, pretending that the sound of the crowd drowns them out...even though I can hear Rainbow perfectly fine. What can I say? I could really care less about these generic ponies.
“Your....um...ahem,” the ticket-taker who's supervising this particular line stops in the middle of his bored greeting upon seeing me. Her eyes widen as she looks me over.
“Just take my damn ticket and let me in,” I demand impatiently, shoving the ticket at her. She takes it from me, looking a little shell-shocked. Thankfully she doesn't try to stop me when I push through the turnstile.
Then I realize I'd gone through without knowing where our seat is. I don't know if you're assigned a seat like most major sports games, or if you can just choose your own. Oh well, I'll just wait for Rainbow.
“This way, Seth. Our seat's further down,” Rainbow directs me, moving past me in a manner that suggests she knows what she's doing. I follow her wordlessly down the rocky bleachers, until at last she takes me down a particular row, through the ponies that are already sitting there. Unlike my time, we don't have to squeeze past them, since most ponies sit on their haunches and don't take up most of the row, so we can move along behind them. I must say, it's better than shoving people's legs out of my way. Rainbow stops at two empty spots in the mass of spectator ponies. “Right here.”
I sit down gingerly on the carved rock steps...and realize that this air show is going to be a real bitch. Rainbow rests down on her haunches, showing no sign of discomfort. I'm so jealous. I'm uncomfortable as fuck. There's hardly enough room on this thing for me. I have to sit cross-legged as well, because if I try to stretch my legs, I'll hit the pony in front of me.
“Excuse me,” the mare behind me calls. I ignore her at first, until she touches my shoulder lightly with a hoof. I turn my head halfway to look at her...only to see her wearing a snooty and self entitled expression. “Do you mind? I can't see the track over you.”
“That's just too damn bad. There's no where for me to move and I'm sure as hell not bending over,” I scoff. Her appalled and angry expression is almost enough to make me laugh. Rainbow winces next to me as I turn back to face the front, not moving an inch. “Fucking bitch.”
“Yeah, I forgot how tall you were...shoot,” Rainbow says, her face landing into her hoof.
“Who cares? I came here to see this show with you, not worry about whether some generic bitch can see them,” I retort. Rainbow lifts a hoof in response. I watch it in confusion as she moves it closer to my face slowly. Then, she gently tweaks my nose.
“You're being a jerk again,” Rainbow chides me softly. Despite her chastising words, she's smiling.
“And you're scolding me again,” I say, my words just as obvious as hers had been. “You know, if somebody had told me several weeks ago that I was going to end up in the future being scolded by a fucking rainbow pony, I'd have fed him to a shark.”
“...to a shark?!” Rainbow repeats, laughing. “That's...an oddly specific thing to do to somep...someone.”
“Oh really?” I respond, feeling a little silly at the moment. “You think that's bad? Let me take it a step further. I'd throw the guy into a tank filled with shark-infested acid.”
Rainbow laughed harder at that image. “Seth, you silly human. Sharks can't survive in acid...it's acid! Nothing lives in acid!”
“That's why I would genetically engineer sharks that could survive in an acidic environment, solely for the purpose of tossing a man into a tank filled with shark infested acid.”
Rainbow damn near falls over laughing at that, which causes me to grin. “You're so weird,” she comments.
“Don't I know it,” I reply, looking out over the track. While doing so, I notice that something seems to be happening out there. A pegasus stallion has just flown out from somewhere, headed towards the middle of the track. There's a singular cloud there that he shoves higher up into the air, and then sits on. He appears to be holding something in his mouth. “What's that pony out there doing?”
“Hm? Oh, it's the announcer guy! It's starting!” Rainbow starts to practically hop in place out of sheer anticipation. Oh good, this thing is finally starting.
The stallion out there clears his throat, which tells me he's holding a microphone. Though how it works when he's not a unicorn is beyond me. I doubt it's electric...or maybe it is, if he's rich enough. “Welcome, welcome, fillies and gentlecolts, to this month's Wonderbolts Air Show!" the stallion announces, and the crowd's noise level rises by a ton as the ponies all cheer, whistle, air horn, and whatever else ponies do in crowds like this. Rainbow also joins in, much to my annoyance. “As you may have heard, the Wonderbolts we all know and love have come up with a new trick for us today. I think it's safe to say we're all looking forward to seeing what that is!”
The cheering increases tenfold, hurting my ears. All it does is serve to make the announcer grin widely. “Well then, without further ado, I present to you...the Wonderbolts!” he declares, sweeping his hoof towards the left side of the arena.
A blue painted, wooden hatch is built into the side of the mountain there, emblazoned with the image of the Wonderbolts symbol. Upon the announcement, the hatch opened.
“I still don't get what the big deal is with these Wonderbolts. I mean, what's so...” I shout over the crowd to Rainbow, but before I can finish, five ponies shoot out of the hatch like rockets, even trailing gray smoke behind them. They're so fast I can barely make them out. They're like blue streaks of light, almost like jets.
“There! The one in the lead! That's Spitfire!” Rainbow points out, jabbing a hoof at the sky. I can't really see Spitfire all that well. Just as I focus on her, the Wonderbolts' formation starts rotating, leaving a really cool looking spiral structure made of smoke behind.
When the five of them reach the center of the track, they split up and begin flying in a strange irregular pattern. It occurs to me as the lines of gray smoke form into shapes that they're drawing something.
The image soon takes shape, and the five Wonderbolts zoom towards the crowd and form into a single line so that they're all facing us. Behind them in a smoke formation of the Wonderbolts symbol, which gets the crowd going like nothing else. I'll admit, the ringing ears aside, that's pretty cool.
“Awesome! They brought RapidFire and Surprise along!” Rainbow says, pointing at the two Wonderbolts that I didn't recognize. I can pick out Soarin, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot, thanks to that poster I saw at the store, but there were two there I hadn't seen before. One was a stallion with a reddish white mine, and the other was a mare with a frizzy yellow mane.
They didn't stay still for very long. The five of them took off in different directions just as the Wonderbolts symbol faded away into the air. And then the true show started.
How can I describe this? It's like I'm watching a marching band at a college football game or something, only oriented laterally and done with smoke instead of people with instruments.
They make all sorts of shapes and pictures at speeds faster than I can see most of the time. They go from simple helixes to a picture of Celestia's crown at one point, with amazing detail. Get this though. While they're drawing these pictures, they do other tricks at the same time. Like this one time, I see Spitfire do a triple corkscrew backflip while drawing the gem of Celestia's crown. That's fucking impressive. I don't know any stunt fliers that could do that in my time. While she's doing that, I hear Rainbow next to me saying something along the lines of “So....AWESOME!”
I lean back against the rock, actually somewhat enjoying what I'm watching. While it's nowhere near as engaging as the concert was last night, it's still interesting to see. The amount of coordination they're showing in their tricks shows that not only do they have incredible individual skill, they also know exactly what their comrades are doing at the same time. If they're military like Rainbow said, I bet they're a force to be reckoned with.
Then, they move on from drawing pictures, and shoot straight up towards the cloud layer, which isn't that high up from here (you know, since we're on a fucking mountain). They bring down a clump of cloud and start circling it so fast, the cloud turns dark and starts emitting small bolts of lightning. Almost like static electricity (because if it was real lightning, spectators would be dying). Seems like they're doing weather tricks now.
A few of them bring another cloud down, and give it the same treatment. This time, rain starts to fall from both clouds, even though it's bright and sunny out here. The light from the sun reflects through the droplets of rain and forms a beautiful rainbow that bridges both of the clouds.
“Hey, I think they stole your mane,” I joke, nudging Rainbow. She notices the rainbow and groans in mock exasperation, nudging me back. I chuckle and continue watching the show.
The Wonderbolts return the clouds to the cloud layer after that. Then, they start flying in a single circle perpendicular to the clouds. They fly faster and faster, until a disturbance forms in the clouds above them. I raise my eyebrow, wondering what they're doing. I look over at Rainbow, but she's also watching, riveted and yet slightly confused. I guess this is their new trick or whatever.
The circle of flying Wonderbolts slowly turns, until the circle is now parallel to the cloud layer. The clouds that were disturbed before now start to form into the shape of a funnel, causing my eyes to widen. “Holy shit, they're not going to...” I gasp, watching the funnel dip down and spin. “That's dangerous as hell!”
The forming tornado dips down further and further, and I start looking for a way out. However, instead of feeling suction like I was expecting, I feel winds blowing outward. My hair is caught by the wind and is sent flowing backwards. How is this possible? Tornadoes are destructive forces of nature that suck everything in around them due to the vacuum effect created by the rotating winds. How is air blowing outwards instead?
It takes me a long while of watching before I finally relax. It doesn't look like any of the ponies around me are panicking, so I watch the forming tornado carefully, with a sense of awe. It's not often that somebody can look upon something normally so destructive at such a close range, without even a hint of danger.
Finally, the Wonderbolts stop circling the tornado and break off, performing various tricks as they spread out. Fireworks explode in the air around them in sparks of blue and gold, through which they fly without hesitation. Behind them, the tornado began to dissipate on its own.
The Wonderbolts circle the stadium close to the crowd, possibly going for one last circle around before the end of the show. The crowd's cheers grow louder in the areas where the Wonderbolts are flying over at the time. When they reach our section, I can see them much closer, to the point where I can make out their facial expressions.
While the ones in the back seem to be concentrating, Spitfire looks calm and confident. She turns her head to face the audience, and to my shock, she seems to train her eyes directly at us. Is she looking at me? Why would she...no, she's looking at Rainbow. I take a look at Rainbow, but it looks like she's in shock.
Spitfire gives Rainbow a wink, and then she's on her way around the rest of the arena. That one wink, however, is enough to make Rainbow emit one of the loudest and most obnoxious fan-girl squeals I've heard from her...ever. I can't help but groan and bury my head in my hands.
The Wonderbolts, after they finish their circuit of the arena, fly back into the hatch in the side of the mountain, signifying that the air show was officially over. The applause (and by that I mean a bunch of ponies stamping the ground with their hooves) is so thunderous it feels like a fucking earthquake is shaking the arena beneath me.
The announcer gets back up on his cloud with his microphone. “And there you have it folks! That trick with the funnel cloud was beyond anything I've ever seen from them! Give it up for the Wonderbolts!” His words only cause the applause to intensify.
I sigh, and I'm about to lean back when Rainbow's hoof grasps my hand and tugs me right out of my seat. “What the...Rainbow!” I demand as she drags me up the stairs. “The show just ended, we're gonna get swarmed!”
“That's why we gotta go now if we want to catch them!” Rainbow shoots back over her shoulder, not stopping for even a moment.
“Catch them? Catch who?”
“No time to talk! Step it up!” I groan, extricating my hand from Rainbow's hoof. I don't know who she thinks she's catching, but I doubt I'm going to be able to stop her. Yeah, there she goes. She promptly takes to the air, zooming out of the stadium faster than I can run.
I sprint out of the stadium after her, wondering what the hell's got her in such a hurry. I spot her rainbow tail disappearing around a corner of a rocky wall. Inwardly cursing her, I follow her around the corner.
I certainly didn't expect to see her standing totally still just on the other side of that corner. Unable to stop myself, I plow right into her, and the two of us hit the ground and roll over one another.
“Dammit Rainbow, give a guy some warning,” I complain, holding my shoulders, which ached from the impact. I'd rolled a few feet away from her, so that I'm lying flat on my back and staring up at the sky.
“Yeah, well, I didn't expect you to be running like your head was on fire either!” Rainbow protests, leaping to her hooves.
“You're the one who said hurry!” I shot back, getting up as well. “Speaking of which, what's the big deal anyway?”
Rainbow points to the building set into the rock wall, which is colored the typical Wonderbolts colors. However, the building isn't what's interesting. No, what's interesting are the Wonderbolts themselves emerging from the building.
“Oh, so they're who you wanted to catch,” I mutter. For some reason, I start to feel a little bitter. “Go on then. Go have fun with your heroes or whatever.”
“Don't have to tell me twice!” Rainbow exclaims, dashing past me and towards her idols. They don't seem to be all that surprised at Rainbow's sudden appearance, as they shift their formation some to give her room.
I cross my arms, watching her interact with them. I can't hear what they're saying, but for some reason, my mood is dropping. I don't really know why.
“...I'm as hungry as a horse!” a goofy male voice sounds out as their formation gets closer, and the stallion with the blue mane, Soarin if I remember right, rubs his stomach with a hoof. I hear groans from the other Wonderbolts.
“You and your dumb puns,” Spitfire remarks with a roll of her amber eyes. She heaves a resigned sigh. “Let's go get you some pie then. Want to join us, Rainbow?”
“Oh would I ever!” is Rainbow's ecstatic reply. Huh, she's on a first name basis with them. She did say she spent a day with them, after all, so I shouldn't be that surprised. But my mood drops further when I see them walk past me, totally ignoring me. Great. I turn around and start to walk away, realizing I'd just been abandoned. However, Rainbow's voice stops me again. “But...I can't leave my friend behind.”
“Your friend?” Spitfire asks curiously, and then she turns around and sees me. “Dear Celestia, that's a human!”
Suddenly, I'm the center of attention for the entire Wonderbolts team. Rainbow approaches me first. “Don't worry, I wasn't gonna leave ya behind,” she reassures me with a smile. Oh so now you're paying some attention to me again. Go have fun with Soarin and Spitfire or whatever. “So, Wonderbolts, allow me to introduce my totally awesome friend here, Seth Rogers!”
“I can't believe you're friends with a human, Rainbow. That is awesome,” Spitfire agrees in a rather chill manner, and she extends a hoof to me. “S'up? I'm Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts.”
I feel a little bit better now. I'm still feeling a little bitter for some reason, but I bear it and take Spitfire's hoof. “Yeah, I'm Seth,” I respond awkwardly. I don't know how to respond to celebrities.
“Wow, a real human!” Surprise exclaims in a high pitched voice.
“You look different than the books suggest!” Rapidfire points out.
“What kind of food do humans eat?” Soarin adds his two cents next.
“Do humans really use awesome magic?” Fleetfoot asks next, speaking with a barely noticeable lisp.
“That's enough!” I say firmly, raising my voice just loud enough to be heard over their questions. They go silent at my outburst. “If I wanted to be fawned over like some piece on display, I'd go to a museum.”
“Seth!” Rainbow hisses at me, looking both furious and scandalized. She looks at Spitfire next for a reaction.
“Sorry about that,” Spitfire says apologetically. “We've all read the books. We're huge fans of them, so they just got a little excited, that's all.”
The other Wonderbolts murmur apologies as well. “No harm done I guess. Nice job out there, by the way,” I decide to redirect the topic of the conversation, realizing that I've probably made things a bit more difficult for Rainbow.
“Thanks. Now that I think about it, I think I saw you in the crowd, next to Rainbow,” Spitfire recalls.
“Yeah, that was me. I was dragged here, but ended up enjoying it,” I admit. My words earn a smile from Rainbow, who now looks more relaxed now that I'm not shouting at her idols anymore.
“Right, well, I'm glad you could see our new trick. Anyway, Rainbow, my offer still stands,” Spitfire declares, turning back to Rainbow. Rainbow hesitates, looking at me. “Seth is also invited, of course.”
“Wait what? You don't even know me!” I exclaim in shock, looking at Spitfire, who just grins.
“Any friend of Rainbow is a friend of mine. Come on, let's go get some food, before Soarin starts eating one of us,” she jokes, turning the other direction. With that, the Wonderbolts, plus Rainbow and I, start walking down the street. I'm shaking my head. It's ridiculous. She's a celebrity, and she's like, "Oh you know Rainbow? Come along then!" How naive can you get?
“Hey, I said I was hungry as a horse, not that I was hungry enough to eat one!” Soarin protests in good humor as the other Wonderbolts laugh at his expense.
While we're walking, Rainbow inserts herself between Spitfire and me, as opposed to the other side, where Soarin was. Huh, I guess I was wrong about her being all over him. I give a smile.
So much shit has happened since I got to Canterlot. Between meeting every princess and the concert, now I've met the top stunt fliers in Equestria. And I'm going to lunch with them all because Rainbow knows them.
Go figure.