"GOOD MORNING PONYVILLE!"
"Shh!"
Soarin blinked in the morning sun streaming from his window. He sat up in bed, stretching and yawning widely.
"THE SUN IS SHINING!"
"Fleet!"
He sighed upon hearing Fleetfoot's loud voice. Well, somepony seems chipper this morning...
"IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE!"
"Shut the hell up!"
Spitfire on the other hoof.... Not a morning pony...
"WILL DO! SORRY ABOUT ALL THE YELLING PONYVILLE!"
Soarin pulled himself to his hooves and trotted downstairs. He found his two friends on the balcony, Fleetfoot grinning, apparently having woken up the entire town.
"Top o' the morning to you Soarin!" She greeted him happily.
"Morning Soar." Spitfire came inside, nodding at him before yawning. "Coffee. Where is it?"
"Try the kitchen?" Soarin snickered. Usually Spitfire was all business at the Wonderbolt compound, but that was only after she had coffee in her system. Fleet, on the other hoof was pretty much always energetic.
"So, where's Rainbow on this fine morning?" Fleet trotted in from the balcony and shut the doors. "Still sleeping?"
"Uh, no, she had to go in to help with a storm or something? I dunno, she said it would take all day." Soarin followed Spitfire to the kitchen, Fleetfoot trailing behind him.
"Oh. Well, she doesn't seem to be doing a very good job, judging from the weather today..." Soarin looked outside and saw that Fleet was right. The sun was shining brightly, not a single cloud in the sky.
"Maybe their just behind schedule?" He swiped the cup of coffee Spitfire had just made and took a sip.
"Bitch." Spitfire kicked him as he passed, spilling the coffee on the cloud floor. She turned and began making a fresh cup for herself. "I'm letting you have that one so I don't get your cooties." Soarin stuck his tongue out at her, laughing.
"So, Dash said we should still go meet her friends, what do you guys think?" He set the coffee cup down on the counter, glancing at the two mares.
"Sure, not like we have any other plans for today, right? I mean, we really only know Rainbow in this town and she's busy... with something." Spitfire yawned again, eyes getting heavy. Fleetfoot drifted by, giving her tail a sharp tug. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Eh, thought it would wake you up." she reached down and grabbed the mug of coffee that Spitfire had just finished making. "Thanks!"
"I hate you guys." the fiery maned captain grumbled, starting on making a third drink.
"Don't lie, you know you secretly love us!" Fleetfoot grabbed Soarin's face and squished their cheeks together. "I mean, look at us. We're adorable!" Spitfire just rolled her eyes at the two silly ponies.
"I wish Dash was here, at least she wouldn't steal my coffee." she turned and stuck her tongue out at her friends.
"I'm pretty sure she would." Fleet snickered before raising the cup, ready to take a sip of her drink.
"Hey Spit," Soarin glanced between the two mares. "Didn't you say to not let her have caffeine ever again?" After the events on the train after Fleet's little coffee binge, neither Soarin or Spitfire wanted that to happen again...
Spitfire's eyes widened, seeming to just notice what the light blue Wonderbolt was holding in her hoof. She narrowed her eyes and pawed the ground. "Fleet, drop the cup."
"No! Never!" Fleetfoot took to the air, still clutching the cup.
The other two locked eyes. On three. Soarin mouthed. One.... Two...
"Get her!" Spitfire began chasing Fleetfoot around the kitchen, Soaring watching from below.
"Three..." He finished his countdown before joining in the chase.
"This is so lame." Rainbow banged her head against the table she was sitting at. The weather team was in a meeting room, discussing the storm they were supposed to be making.
"Well, this is what the weather team does before every storm, you usually don't show up." Thunderlane nudged her, snickering.
"I'm the captain! I don't need to come to egghead meetings!" Dash argued. "Why can't I just get out there and start while you wrap it up in here?"
"We can't start, the storm isn't fully planned yet. We need to organise beforehoof, otherwise it could get too big, or not be in the right location." The dark coloured pony turned back to Raindrops, who was standing at the front of the room.
"Since when?! I've never been to one of these!" Rainbow argued.
"Since always. We usually just tell you where to go and what to do, since we know you don't like meetings. Which, now that I think about it, is weird because you're our captain. You should be telling us what to do, not the other way around..." He explained to the frustrated pony beside him. "Now that you're actually here, you should listen."
"So, if Rainbow alternates in between these three stations, we should be able to get this storm made even faster than before! Her speed is an advantage we can use." she finished. Raindrops was the main weather organiser, a position that Dash had unknowingly given her a couple of months prior. "We just need our captain to approve, and then we can get started!"
The team all looked toward Dash, who had been attempting to tip her chair back while staying balanced, using her wings to stop her from falling. When she noticed everypony looking at her, she allowed her stool to fall back onto all four legs with a loud bang. "Uh, yeah! I approve! Let's get this show on the road." With that, the team took to the air and flew outside, all going to their designated stations. There were pegasi in charge of making clouds, others who transported the clouds to where they needed to be, and still more who packed them together, creating a massive stormcloud.
"Ok Dash, why don't you start at the cloud-making station?" Raindrops called as she flew past. Dash joined the rest of the ponies making clouds and began to follow suit. She was used to working alone, and found this odd.
"So, what's new?" She looked over to Cloudkicker, who was working next to her.
"Um, not much." Cloudkicker replied shortly, drifting away from Dash.
"Ok then. Nice chat." Rainbow rolled her eyes and turned to Flitter who was on the other side of her.
"Hey Flitter! What's up?" She asked cheerfully.
"Nothing." Flitter rose a couple of feet into the air.
"Yeah, cool." Dash sighed. It was clear these ponies weren't interested in small talk- they were there to work, so that's what they would do. She was in for a long, quiet day.
"What's this place called again?" Spitfire hovered next to Fleetfoot, searching for their lunch destination. After successfully prying the coffee from Fleet's hooves earlier, the Wonderbolts released it was nearly time to meet Dash's friends. Only problem was, they had no idea how to get there.
"Clover's. I think." Soarin touched to the ground and looked around. "I have no idea where to go from here." The other two landed next to him and glanced at their surroundings. They were standing in the middle of the empty market place.
"Well, the park was over there... or maybe over there?" Fleet shook her head, trying to recall where the park was. "And the spa was in that direction... maybe."
"Helpful." Spitfire snorted. "Why don't we just ask somepony?"
"Uh, if you haven't noticed, there's nopony here." Soarin pointed out. Hmm, when we were here yesterday it was packed! Where is everypony? The two mares looked around and realised he was right.
"Aw shit. Now what?" Fleet bounced on the tips of her hooves, squinting.
"Wait! There's somepony!" Soarin spotted a pale yellow figure exiting the market place. He took to the air, and with a flap of his powerful wings, shot over to the pony. "Hey!"
"Ah!" The mare cowered behind her long pink mane. "Oh, um... Sorry."
"Huh? No, I was just wondering where everypony was. It's dead in here!" He smiled warmly, trying to show this obviously terrified mare that he wasn't scary.
"Oh, um... Well, a big storm is scheduled today... Everypony is probably inside...." The mare whispered. Soarin strained his ears, but managed to catch what she was saying.
"But it's still sunny out!" He peered at the sky, which was still bright blue.
"Well, the storms can start pretty quickly..." The mare hid behind her mane again.
"Ok, that makes sense I guess!" Soarin glanced back at his friends. "Well, we were also wondering where Clover's was. My friends and I are supposed to meet some ponies there."
"Um, it's over there." She pointed. "I'm heading there, you can come... if you don't mind, that is..."
"Sure, thanks! Hey Fleet, Spit! This mare's gonna show us the way!" He called over his shoulder. The Wonderbolts trotted towards him.
"Hey! I'm Fleetfoot!" Fleet introduced herself to the yellow pony. "That's Spitfire, and he's Soarin."
"Oh, um... hi." The mare got even quieter, if that was possible. "I'm Fluttershy."
"What?" Fleet leaned in closer, unable to hear.
"Fluttershy..."
"One more time."
"Fluttershy..."
"Flutterpie? I love pie!"
"No dumbass! She said FLUTTERSHY." Spitfire rolled her eyes at her wingmates. Fluttershy shook her mane over her face, shrinking away from them.
"Um, are you the Wonderbolts?" She mumbled quietly. "If you don't mind me asking..."
"Yeah! And you're Rainbow's friend! We're actually supposed to be meeting you at Clover's!" Fleet exclaimed brightly. Fluttershy looked terrified as the light blue mare spoke to her.
"W-where is Rainbow?" She whimpered, still glancing at Fleetfoot.
"She had to go do weather team stuff." Spitfire explained as the four ponies started walking to their destination.
"Oh. Ok." Fluttershy nervously looked at Fleet again before leading the way to Clover's.
"I think she's afraid of me!" Fleet hissed to Spitfire. "I'm not scary, am I?"
"I think she's afraid of everypony..."
Fluttershy lead the Wonderbolts to a small restaurant, glancing nervously at them the whole way. Soarin reached around her and pushed open the doors, worried that the mare wouldn't be able to due to her shaking. "H-here we are." She slipped through the door, the others following. As soon as they stepped through the doors it started to pour.
"Whoa, you weren't kidding when you said the storms start suddenly!" Fleet commented to Fluttershy, who replied with a quiet squeak.
"Howdy Flutters!" A voice called to the right. Four ponies were seated around a table, the voice coming from a blonde mare wearing a stetson. "And howdy Wonderbolts!"
"Hello girls." Fluttershy gave a small smile. The rest greeted them as they sat at the table.
"Why hello, I am Rarity. You must be Soarin, Spitfire and Fleetfoot?" A pale unicorn batted her eyelashes, and took a dainty sip of her drink. Wow, she sounds way different than when I heard her yesterday! Soarin thought, recalling the roaring voice he heard from the boutique.
"I see you've already met Fluttershy," The alicorn commented. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."
"Princess Twilight Sparkle." Rarity added. "She's a princess."
"Rarity!" Twilight shot her a look. "Just Twilight is fine..."
"And I'm Pinkie Pie! But you already knew that!" A pink earth pony bounced in her seat.
"How could anypony forget about you Pinkie?" The blonde mare rolled her eyes. "I'm Applejack, we met yesterday."
"Hey everypony!" Spitfire smiled at the mares seated around the table.
"Say, where's RD?" Applejack looked questioningly at Soarin.
"Uh, she had weather duties." He replied, confused on why she would ask him directly.
"Speaking of Rainbow..." Rarity joined in, drawing everypony's attention. "She really is quite lovely, isn't she Soarin?"
"Er... yeah?" He raised his eyebrow. "She's been a wonderful host so far."
"I bet she has...." Applejack winked at him, smirking slightly. Soarin glanced at his wingmates, who looked equally puzzled.
"Glad to hear things are going well with you two!" Rarity smiled brightly at the Wonderbolt. "Rainbow has never been good at expressing her emotions, so it was ever such a surprise to hear about this!"
"Huh?" Soarin jerked up in surprise. What was this crazy mare talking about?
"Rarity, what are you talking about?" Twilight tilted her head, peering at her fellow unicorn. The rest of the ponies around the table all murmured in agreement, wondering what the farmpony and the fashionista were talking about.
"Didn't you know?" Rarity beamed, obviously pleased to be the bearer of gossip. "Rainbow and Soarin are a couple!" Soarin's eyes shot open.
"What?!" He spluttered, turning bright red. "Where in Equestria did you hear that?" Fleetfoot burst into a fit of giggles, and Spitfire nearly knocked over Pinkie's drink. The rest of the girls just stared at Rarity, expect for Applejack.
"Hm? Oh, Sweetie told me, she said she heard it from you directly!" Rarity turned to Soarin, still smiling. Applejack nodded in agreement.
"An' Applebloom told me!"
"What the hell?!" Soarin couldn't believe his ears. "Ok, first of all, I TOLD them that was a ridiculous idea, and second, why would you believe them?" He stared at Rarity and Applejack, his eyes still popping out of his head.
"Well..." Rarity began looking uncomfortable. "It is true, isn't it?" Soarin waved his arms around.
"Of course not! I barely know her, really!"
"Now that I think about it," The unicorn chuckled awkwardly. "It may have been a tad bit... silly of me to believe Sweetie about something like this..."
"I suppose it was right dumb of us..." Applejack shuffled her hooves, hiding her eyes under her hat. "An' you're sure it's not true?"
"YES!"
"I'm right sorry, Soarin..." Applejack looked up, grimacing. "I shouldn't have assumed anything..."
"I apologize as well. That was extremely rude of me, and I hope you can forgive me." Rarity pouted slightly as she turned to Soarin. "And Fleetfoot, darling, are you alright?" Fleet was still rolling around in her seat, tears running down her face.
"The... thought of... Rainbow and Soarin.... HA!" She managed to get out in between laughs, attempting to calm down.
"Just ignore her." Spitfire pushed Fleetfoot's chair further away from herself with one hoof.
"And Rarity, Applejack," Twilight began. "If Rainbow was really in a relationship, wouldn't you think she would tell us in person?"
"Nope!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"S-she's probably right." Fluttershy spoke quietly. "D-dash isn't very good with displaying emotions..." The rest nodded in agreement, Soarin still trying to wrap his mind around the conversation they were having. I've come to the conclusion that all mares are insane.
"Phew! Done" Dash breathed in relief. She looked behind her and saw the rest of the weather team staring at her. "What did I tell ya Thunderlane? Ten. Seconds. Flat."
"That was insane!" The dark coloured pegasis exclaimed, gliding up to meet her. "I didn't think you would be able to pull that off!" The weather team had been working on maintaining the storm for a couple of hours, before Dash had claimed she could finish it in ten seconds. Obviously, Thunderlane thought she was bluffing, but she had actually done it! She had been no more than a rainbow blur, ricocheting from the clouds until all of the water was gone.
"Ha! Did you just say you doubted me?" Dash flipped her mane over her shoulder and grinned at the gawking weather ponies still surrounding her.
"I just hope nopony was outside when you did that..." Raindrops joined them. "That was a crazy amount of water you released!"
"Well, because of my pure awesome-ness, I guess the teams free to go!" Rainbow beamed at her teammates. "Go on, get outta here you guys!" The crew of pegasi began chatting excitedly, all flying in different directions.
"Nice job Dash." Raindrops clapped a hoof on Dash's shoulder. "I don't know why we don't put you on storm duty more often!" She turned and soared away.
"Yeah, that was really cool." Thunderlane patted her on the back. "Well, I'm gonna split, see ya later!" He left Dash on her own, hovering in the now clear blue sky.
Well, I guess I can meet the girls for lunch now! They should be used to me being late by now anyways....