A calm wind whistled through the trees as Spike made his way through town and off to the residence of his partner for the games, Cloudchaser.
Part of him was worried of how things would go. He was constantly running questions through his mind: What if she thinks I’m an idiot? What if I say something offensive by accident? What if we don’t get along and doom our chances of winning from the start?
But, another part of him was excited by the prospect of working with her. That part of his brain was at war with the negative side.
She is pretty cute. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing? She apparently tried out for the Wonderbolts before, so she’s gotta have some kind of athletic ability? Heck, we might even win!
His mind was in a state of total confliction as he walked down the road, causing his stance to switch at random from a jubilant skip to a claw-biting stumble. He had so many questions, and none of them had answers.
Spike tripped and skipped his way along the winding roads of Ponyville until his feet came to rest outside the small, wooden home that housed Cloudchaser and Flitter.
He stared at the door, shuffling his feet, as if hoping it possessed some magic power to make his nerves stop churning.
He shook his head violently for a second to regulate his vision and bring his mind back from the battle it was currently in. He steeled his nerves and positioned his fist on the door.
To say he 'knocked' would be an overstatement, when in fact it was more of a light tap that hopefully nopony could hear and he could escape back to his house.
However, that wasn't the case.
"Coming!" A shrill, feminine voice called out from inside.
A moment later the door flew open revealing a cute pegasus with a pink bow. "Who is- Oh, hello Spike!"
"Hi, Flitter," Spike replied with a short wave. "I'm here to go over some scheduling stuff with Cloudchaser. Is, um, is she here?"
"Yeah, she's in her room. Come inside," Flitter said, stepping out of the way to allow the dragon entrance.
Spike waddled his way past her and into the house. "Thanks."
It was a modest-sized place. It was a one story residence with a cozy living room and a walk-in kitchen. A hallway connected to the living area and led to several doors, which he assumed would be the bedrooms and bathroom.
In his experience, Spike had learned it's always a good idea to identify one's surroundings, especially the location of the restroom, just in case an emergency should arise.
"Do you wanna sit down while I go get her?" Flitter asked, her wing extended toward a small loveseat in the room.
"Sure, thanks." Spike took a seat on the purple, plush seat.
"Alright, it'll be just a minute!"
*****
Cloudchaser was sitting on a small blanket in the middle of a field of flowers. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and her dream stallion was sitting right next to her.
"Oh, Thunderlane, you really know how to make a mare smile," she said, gazing into his eyes.
"Well, you're one special mare, Cloudy. I only wish I could make you smile like this all the time."
The black pegasus draped a wing around her, searing her face with a blush.
"You know, Cloudy, there's been something I've wanted to tell you for awhile, now..."
"Yes, Thundey?" she said, batting her eyelashes.
"You, You... YOU NEED TO GET YOUR FAT FLANK OUT OF THAT BED RIGHT NOW!"
"Wha-"
Cloudchaser popped her eyes open and was greeted with her sister's only centimetres away.
"Ahh!"She tried to turn away but instead got twisted in her blankets and dropped to the floor with a loud thud.
"Ouch..."
"Oh, quit complaining," Flitter said. "You need to get up, anyway. Someone special is here to see you."
Cloudchaser's ears perked up at the news. "Who is it?"
"Oh, no one. Just the object of your heart's desire. Goes by the name of... Thunderlane."
Cloudchaser squeaked in surprise. "Omigosh! He's here? Uh, what should i do? What should I say? What should I wear? Well, I don't normally wear clothes, but maybe I shou-"
"Hahaha-aha-hahaha!"
Flitter was rolling on the ground, lost in a fit of laughter. "Oh, you're too easy, sis. No, it's not Thunderlane."
The elder sister looked around at the mess of blankets and clothes she had made in her moment of excitement,, and then looked at her sister with a piercing glare.
"Flitter... Please give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."
"Um, because you love me, I'm your sister, and Spike, your real visitor, may not like his partner to be a murderous convict?" she asked, giving a sheepish grin. "There, that's three reasons!"
"Wait, Spike is here? Already? Its only..."
"The afternoon?" Flitter replied, rolling her eyes. "You've been asleep all day."
"Well, why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
"I tried. A jack hammer wouldn't have been able to wake you up."
"Oh my gosh, whatever. Look, just go out there and tell him I'm coming."
"Fine, but hurry up. I swear, I'm always waiting on your lazy flank for something."
Flitter trotted out of the room and back into the living area where Spike was twiddling his claws on the loveseat.
"Alrighty, Spike, she'll be out in a minute," Flitter said with a cute smile.
"Alright, thanks," Spike replied.
*****
Spike turned his gaze back to his thumbs. In reality, he was just trying to find any place to look that made him appear occupied. There's something extremely awkward about being alone with someone you don't know very well.
Spike looked up at Flitter who was sitting across the room, brushing her hoof through her mane. If that wasn't enough, the awkward cough and glance to the ceiling told him she was in the same awkward boat.
C'mon Spike, say something. Anything! You just need to get a conversation going...
"So, Flitter," Spike said, looking up at her.
"Yeah?"
"Just, out of curiosity, how come you two live down here instead of in Cloudsdale? Isn't that where Pegasi generally like to live?"
"Oh, well yeah, that's generally the case," Flitter said. "But there are cheaper taxes and land rates down here than there are in Cloudsdale, so when me and my Cloud moved away we decided to live down here. Plus, it was kind of nice to get away from everything up there."
"Oh, that's cool," Spike said. "Do your parents still live up in Cloudsdale?"
"Parents, oh, well-"
"Hey, guys!"
Spike and Flitter looked over to see Cloudchaser emerging from the hall into the living room.
"About time, Cloud!" Flitter said.
"Sorry about that Spike. I was a little... tied up this morning," Cloudchaser said with a sheepish grin.
"Yeah, tied up in your bed sheets,' Flitter said, rolling her eyes.
" Ignore her," Cloudchaser retorted, covering her sister's mouth with a hoof.
"Its alright," Spike said, waving it off. "Sleeping in is probably my favourite hobby."
"Heh, I can totally relate," Cloudchaser said.
Flitter grinned and nudged Cloudchaser with her hoof."Aww, isn't that cute. You two will get along great!"
Cloudchaser blushed and pushed her sister away. "Shut up, Flit."
"Psh, fine, be that way," Flitter retorted.
Spike opened his mouth to continue the conversation but was interrupted by a resounding knock echoing from the front door.
"I'll get it!" Flitter said with a cheeky grin.
She happily hummed her way to the door and swung it open, revealing a dark stallion with a striking silver mane.
"Hey, Thunder, come on in!" Flitter backed out of the way, allowing Thunderlane to enter.
He had a proud smile and a strong presence in his gate.
"Why, thank you, Flitter," he said, slightly bowing his head. "And might I say, you look beautiful today."
Flitter blushed and turned her head away. "Oh, well, thanks, hehe."
Cloudchaser, meanwhile, had been trying her best to calm down, but the sweat forming all over her body, and the shakiness in her hooves were not helping.
As Thunderlane turned his attention to her, her legs were on the verge of collapsing beneath her.
"Hello, Cloudchaser. Might I say that you too look absolutely... divine, today."
If his words hadn't already put her heartbeat on full-speed, then the wink he finished with did.
"Oh, um, th-th-thanks, Thunder. You look, um, good too."
Thunderlane nodded and flashed a bright smile before turning to Spike with a lesser amount of enthusiasm.
"Hey, Spike."
"What's up," Spike replied.
Thunderlane directed his attention back to Flitter. "So, you ready to head out?"
"Wait, where are you guys going?" Cloudchaser asked.
Flitter was the first to respond. "Oh, we're just going to get some practice in. You know, team stuff."
"Yeah, and we're supposed to get to know our partners better, so I'm definitely looking forward to spending some quality time with Flitter, today," Thunderlane said.
"Yeah, so, see ya!" Flitter said, dashing out the door with a bright smile, followed closely by her partner.
Spike glanced from the shut door to the pony he was now alone with. It was now time to try an initiate casual conversation to ease the mention.
"So... your sister and Thunderlane? Are they like a thing?"
"No!" Cloudchaser snapped in reply.
Unfortunately, it did not get off to a flying start.
"Oh, um, sorry, its just that they seemed pretty happy to see each other. Especially Thunderlane."
"No, Flitter doesn't even like him... or so I thought", she said, grumbling the last part.
An eerie silence once again found its way into the room, taking control of the two character within. Cloudchaser was lost in her own thoughts of jealousy and disappointment, and Spike was debating whether he should just give up on any hope of resuming normal conversation with this mare.
" So, about the games this weekend..." Spike said. "I was kind of just wondering what your schedule was for the week so we could figure out what times we could train and practice."
Cloudchaser had to run all cylinders in her mind to get it back from the nest of jealousy it was nuzzled in.
“Schedule, yeah, gimme a sec.” She trotted off into her room and returned quickly. “I work for the rain purification team up in Cloudsdale, but they gave me a short schedule this week, so I have to work tomorrow, but then I’ll have the rest of the week off.”
“Hmm,” Spike said, rubbing his chin. “That sets us back a full day, but we should be fine.”
“Okay, that’s cool then, I guess,” Cloudchaser responded. “So, Tuesday then?”
“Yeah. At town square?”
“Sure. Um, does one o’clock work for you?”
“Yep. Sounds good.”
The two of them shuffled awkwardly, trying to mask the awkwardness by averting their eyes from one another. Having resigned this visit to be awkward in full, Spike decided it was time to leave.
“Well, I’m just gonna head home. You know, so I can do… stuff. Stuff that needs to be done.”
“Oh, yeah, awesome. Or, I mean, yeah, I getcha. I’ve got stuff to do, too. Important stuff.”
Spike nodded in response and shuffled toward the door. “Well, I’ll see you Tuesday then, Cloudchaser.”
“Yeah, see you then, Spike.”
*****
As the door shut behind him, Spike took a long sigh of relief. He had ventured to her house, completed his mission and escaped without saying anything stupid or detrimental to his social standing.
All in all, it was a victory.
*****
Cloudchaser watched as the door closed behind the dragon. As much as she knew the importance of training with him, her mind just couldn’t let go of seeing her sister with Thunderlane.
Her Thunderlane.
She stormed into her room and crashed onto her bed, burying her head in the mountain of pillows. The only consolence she could muster up was that her sister regularly voiced her dislike of said stallion, so in reality jealously shouldn’t even be a factor.
But those eyes they gave each other, the nervous crack in her voice, the way he spoke to her… It couldn’t help but make her stomach churn. Her mind was telling her to play it cool, to relax, but her heart wasn’t having any of it.
“Ugh… dumb Flitter with her dumb pink bow. Why does she have to steal my stallion?”
Tired and sick feeling, Cloudchaser curled up under her covers and tried to drift back asleep for the rest of the day, hoping to resume the dream she was rudely interrupted from earlier. As the hazy fog began to infiltrate her thoughts, one final thought drifted through her mind:
Maybe one day I won’t have to dream by myself anymore.