//------------------------------// // Chapter 74. Of Cold Beer and Hot Wings // Story: Dust on the Wind // by Sparky Brony //------------------------------// We spend about a week with my mother, getting everything in order. Life insurance took care of the house, and car, and leaves her with some money, which I quietly increased the amount in her bank account by a significant margin. I’ll likely get an irate phone call when my mother realizes that quite a bit of funds have been added. But she’s always been the independent type. I’m standing outside, the Texas sun beating down on me, though the sea breeze makes Corpus somewhat livable. Behind me, the rest of my herd comes out, and I receive an unexpected nuzzle from Irony. I turn and look at her, she smiles. “Thank you, Irony, love.” I’m nuzzled again, “We both needed healing, thank you for never giving up.” I feel tears start to form, I don’t think she knows how close I was to giving up, I nuzzle her back, “Love,” is all I say. Sunset comes up, “You sure you want to fly back?” I flex my wings, and leave one over Irony, we aren’t back to perfect, but talking the last few days, lots of tears, but lots of healing, has really helped. I’ve apologized profusely to her, and then was shocked to have her apologize back at me just as profusely. Our relationship is in much better shape, I look at Sunset Shimmer, “I need to get some time in the air, maybe I’ll remember how to fly.” She giggles, “You hover around all the time, love.” I grin, “Hovering isn’t flying, it isn’t speed. It’s just staying off the ground.” I get a nuzzle from Sunset Shimmer. “Don’t take too long.” I smile, and spread my wings, I gather my energy, “I won’t, love.” She hastily backs away, a pegasus doing hot launches can be painful, so I watch my energy as I take off. I’m in the air, and above the sound barrier, I check my phone, I’ve had a special phone for a while now, at Velvet and Blaze’s insistence, my phone has a transponder and an app for filing flight plans. I usually just keep it below ten thousand feet and keep my speed subsonic, but today… not so much. I’ve filed a flight plan and my intended speed, so I’ll be heading north quickly. I’ve got a special Bluetooth that hooks in with the guard frequency and a throat mic so I can talk over the wind. A few minutes in the air and I’ve left the coast behind. Rising faster than any airliner, I’m quickly above forty thousand feet. I’m in the clear according to my flight plan. As I get north of San Antonio, a voice comes over my com, “Attention Lightning Dust, on your port side.” I look to my left, I’m cruising at about mach one and a half, apparently an airplane has come up behind me, a F-22 Raptor had detected my transponder and has intercepted me, I smile and wave at the pilot, and get a wave back. Then the voice crackles over my headset, “Wanna play?” I grin, and a hoof touches my throat mic, “Sure.” “I want to tank quickly, follow me, and we’ll play.” The plane rolls over ninety degrees and turns, hard. I mimic the maneuver, and in a matter of minutes, we slow down near a KC-135 tanker, the pilot nuzzles the fighter close, and I watch as the boom connects and the plane refuels. Slow by my standards, but it’s still fascinating to watch. I get close to the tanker, and watch the boom operator through their little window. I have to smile at the human lying prone in the back of that airplane. With a puff of fuel, the tanker disengages and the pilot gets the all clear, he turns to streak to the west. I follow, and soon I hear in my coms, “Okay, Dust. We are in restricted airspace for flight training. Let’s see what a speedster pegasus can do.” I grin and streak forward, I know the top speed of the F-22 is around mach 2, but I’m not going to go that fast, because then they will suck down the fuel with the afterburners. I’ll keep it around his supercruise speed. I do an aileron roll, and then pull up, heading for the stratosphere. The air keeps getting thinner as I rise, and I feel the lift falling off from my wings. Then I do something no pilot should do, I fall into a flat spin. Keeping my eyes down so I don’t lose my orientation, I fall from over seventy thousand feet. The desert of New Mexico is below me, I howl in delight as I use my centripetal force to catapult me in a random direction. Then I climb once again, and look back, while he didn’t follow me through the flat spin, he’s right underneath me during this climb, I think of how I look to him, and touch my throat mic, “Liking the view?” He chuckles, “I’m all about the plot.” He pulls hard to starboard, and I go port and we streak away from each other, I know my face is red. Fighter pilots are nuts. He calls out, and we both pull hard one eighty’s and end up heading for each other. In only a few seconds we blow past each other, I swear I could have put out a hoof and clipped his tail. This guy has got some guts. Soon we are flying side by side, both doing barrel rolls, keeping our distance as we spiral through the sky. I hear him howling over the coms, I’m shouting my joy as well. I needed a fun flight today. After about an hour of running around the sky, me hiding in clouds, seeing if he can find me via radar. Most of the time unsuccessfully, he heads down. I follow as he ends up in the glide path for landing. I’m right on his side as his wheels make contact with the tarmac at Nellis AFB in Nevada. I follow as he taxis along and finally pulls into a parking space. A couple of non-commissions roll a ladder up to the aircraft. The canopy lifts and the pilot clambers out and down the ladder, he comes over to me and pulls his helmet off, “That was fucking awesome!” He holds out a gloved hand and we high five. “Hell yeah it was.” I grin. I finally pull my headset off and fold it up, hanging it around my neck, “You’ve got one heck of an aircraft there.” He looks back at the aircraft and the specialists working over it, refueling it and getting it ready for the next flight. I get an arm over my withers, “Hey, some of the other pilots and I are planning on a beer bust this evening, wanna join?” I crinkle my nose, “Beer?” The look on my face says it all, I don’t like beer. He laughs, “It’ll be at a bar, you can get whatever drink you like.” He then stops and looks at me seriously, “You do drink, don’t you?” I have to laugh, “Like a fish, when I’m in the mood for it.” I think about it for a moment, “And yeah.” He smiles as we head away from the flight line. I dial my phone to let my family know I’m going to be a bit later than I thought. *** I slam down the shot glass, “Gimme another.” I shout. The denizens of the Speed Zone Tavern are all shouting and laughing. I think many are happy to have a pegasus in their midst. Though the 520th speedster pegasi spent quite a bit of time here, I can see Fleetfoot and Fire Streak, along with High Winds’s pictures on the wall along with the other pilot pictures. The bartender obediently fills my glass. I look around at the couple of dozen pilots. I’ve had at least five shots, and I know I can do quite a bit more. I flashed ahead of the pilots when we came in and tossed the bartender my credit card. I am paying for tonight. Because I’m going to get snookered. If I can’t make it home tonight, a cloud is a wonderful bed. And it won’t require much flying. Beer is flowing like water, and the liquor bottles are being drained as well. I’ve started in on Vodka. Everyone always talks about Grey Goose, not this mare, I’m getting served from the distinctive blue bottle of Skyy vodka, my absolute favorite. A good portion of the pilots of the 57th wing, 433rd weapons squadron out of Nellis, the Satan’s Angels are here, along with some of the crews. All in all, the entire bar is now fairly packed. I look over at the pilot who I played with in the sky, “Firefly, get your ass over here, and take a shot with me!” Lt. Thomas Edward Chapman smiles as he drains his Bud Light and sits at the bar stool next to me, “Okay, Dust.” He grabs the shot glass and tosses back the drink. I watch him intently, he doesn’t even grimace, though Skyy is very smooth, to the uninitiated, it can be a bit strong. He slams down his glass, and smiles at me. A hand clasps onto his shoulder, “Happy birthday, Firefly.” He turns and looks, “Thanks, Moto.” He says to the other pilot. That gets me to look at him, “Your birthday?” He picks up a new beer, looking at the liquid for a moment before taking a sip, “Yup, tomorrow, the big two five.” I giggle, “Twenty-five, with your luck, you’ll be turning into a pony.” He chuckles, “Oh, all you guys changed years ago. A lot of humans turn twenty five every day, no big deal.” I shrug my wings, “That would be funny, you are pretty damned natural in the air.” He puts an arm over my withers, “So are you.” I smile at him, then take another shot, what am I up to, eight? Nine? Don’t care, “I’m a pegasus, we live for the air.” He burps, “Yeah, but not all pegasi can do what you do.” I set down my tenth shot, “Oh, I’m the fastest flier on this world. And only Rainbow Dash is faster in Equestria.” I think I’m slurring my words now. A pair of jello shots are placed in front of me, they disappear very quickly, I love the feel of them slithering down my throat. Firefly touches my cheek, “Dust, how much are you going to drink?” I smile, “I’m thinking of one small step away from alcohol poisoning.” He looks me up and down, “What do you weigh? One twenty?” I touch his cheek, “Awww, your sweet, I’m compact, not a waif, I’m two fifteen.” He smiles, “You look small.” I grin, “I’m not fat, if that’s what you’re saying.” His hand finds my shoulders, which he starts massaging, “No, I would never call you fat, Lightning Dust.” I hoof him in the side, getting a grunt, “You had better not, I’ll kick your ass, Firefly.” He looks at me for a long time, then leans forward and kisses me. After an eternity, I reach down and feel with my hoof, and finally break the kiss. I was responding to it. Strongly. I feel a tightness in my wings, and look back, I’m popping a pinion. He taps my wing gently, “Does that mean what I think it means?” I reach down again, feeling him through his pants, “I’m not the only one with a boner here.” He smiles and kisses me again. *** “Ugh, what happened?” I look around, I’m inside. Not on a cloud like I planned. I look around, the sheets are fairly high quality, on a nice queen sized bed. I turn my head, I can hear noises in the attached bathroom, the shower is running. I’m still hazy, I finally am able to kick myself free from the sheets. I’m lying on my back, I’m actually fairly comfortable. Then I notice something, my nethers are sore. Like I’ve had a wild night of sex kind of sore. I reach down and feel, yes, very tender. Did I have sex? The shower stops, and I hear a male voice humming in the bathroom. It sounds like he’s humming the happy birthday song. What is going on here? After a few minutes the door opens, “Shower’s free.” I look at him for a long time, “Firefly, what happened last night?” He crawls onto the bed and kisses my cheek, “As if you don’t remember.” I put a hoof to his chest and push him back, “No, Firefly, I’m serious, what happened?” He gets a concerned look on his face, “Dust, I kissed you, you groped me, and we were kissing as we left the bar. You flew me here, you didn’t want to wait for a taxi. You are pretty damned good flying while drunk. But it was less than a mile.” I shake my head hard, “So you are telling me…” “We had sex.” He pushes my hoof down and kisses me on the cheek again, “And you were wonderful.” I burst into tears, “Oh, what have I done?” I’m able to sob. He puts an arm around me, “You were awesome, as usual, Dust.” I push him so hard he end up on the floor, “No, I cheated on my herd, on my family!” He pokes his head up, “You’re married?” I groan, “Yeah, I was married as a human, and I’m still married to her, and I’ve got others in my herd.” He looks confused again, “You have several in your herd, I heard the ponies are polygamous, so what’s the problem?” “The problem is I wasn’t having sex with a member of my herd, but someone outside of my herd, I cheated!” I snarl. I flip out of the bed, starting to pace, “Oh, what am I going to do, what can I do.” Silence from the human, I look at him, kneeling next to the bed, nude. Then I notice something, and step forward, “Serenity, hey, Serenity!” I tap him on the shoulder, he blinks a few times then looks at me, “Whoa, that was odd.” I frown, “Did you just have an odd waking dream, involving Discord?” He nods, shuddering. “Five Score Divided by Four?” Again, he nods, this time the shudder is longer and deeper, he turns and looks at me, “How did you know?” I put a hoof on his thigh, and look at him, “Because the same thing happened to me, a bit over five years ago.” He looks down, a brand new cutie mark has appeared, three raindrops. He groans, “Oh shit.” I look at him, “Is it really so bad, Serenity?” He furrows his brow, “My call sign is Firefly, not Serenity.” I shake my head, “Oh yeah.” I whirl away, “Well, you can talk to your bosses, I’ve got to get home. I have a confession to make.” He steps forward and puts a hand on my withers, I turn back, and the fact he is nude is very apparent to me, I look up, “What?” He sighs, tears in his eyes, “For what it’s worth, I didn’t know, I’m sorry.” I walk on, and wait at the door, it’s a damned traditional doorknob, he notices my predicament and opens the door for me, “Thanks,” I say, and quietly, “I’m sorry too.” I trot out the door, and head downstairs, in moments I’m pushing my way out the door to the apartment building, and I take to the air, what am I going to do? *** I finally land in front of my home, I look at the enormous house. Another addition is being built, and new brickwork is being installed on the face of it. Workponies are all over the place. My lawn has been torn up, but new sod will be delivered in the next few days. I look around, my home is becoming something different. I don’t know what to think about it. I lived for over a year with two young kids and my wife in a house that was 467 square feet, and now I’ve got over five thousand square feet of home now. Do I really need all of this? I sigh, that is a question for another day. I push my way into the house, Sunset is the first to see me, she comes up, then sees the look on my face, “Dust, what’s wrong?” I wipe my eyes, “I need to talk to everypony.” I say quietly. She turns away and calls out, looking back at me several times as Helen shows up, Moon Shadow quickly by her side. Mindy pops up in a teleport. Irony strides in, her fur sooty from working in the forge. The stallions show up too, Star and Alan, Ray is here too, showing a bit with her pregnancy. I sit down, my tail wrapping around my hooves, I look down, “I’m sorry everyone, I’ve failed you.” Sunset steps forward, “What happened, Dust?” I pull inward a bit, “I don’t deserve to be lead mare, I am such a horrible pony.” Golden forehooves wrap around me, along with a pair of magenta hooves, I’m hugged by both ponies as I look at the rest, “I cheated on you.” Both sets of hooves around me go slack, “What?” Irony says. I look down, I slowly talk about going to the bar, how much I drank. I start to sob, I talk about waking up, what I said when I found out. “I fucked him, apparently all night long. And from what he said, I enjoyed it. I betrayed your trust, I betrayed all of you.” Mindy tightens her hug around me, putting her face against my cheek, “Oh, Dustie. You weren’t yourself. You didn’t mean it.” Sunset murmurs in my other ear, “Were you intending that when you went into the bar?” I sigh, and think for a long time, then I turn and look at Sunset, “I vaguely thought it might be a possibility. But at that point, I didn’t care. And by the time I came to myself, it was far too late.” Sunset’s voice changes a bit, “You knew he was attracted to you?” I shrug my wings, “I thought he was, but I wasn’t sure. I shouldn’t have had so much that I lost all control of myself.” I feel tears leaking down my cheeks again. Mindy chimes in, “So, what about him?” I shake my head, “I don’t know, he got a cutie mark this morning…” My cheeks are grabbed by Sunset Shimmer, “He got a cutie mark?” I nod, “Three raindrops.” Mindy moves a bit away and looks at me severely, “Okay, Dustie, let me get this straight, you fucked him all night long, then you freak out on him in the morning. And on top of that, you find out he’s going to turn into a pony. What if he turns into a mare? One last use of the equipment before it goes bye-bye? Are you kidding me?” I close my eyes, and shake my head. “Please tell me you left him some way to contact us, he’s becoming a pony for Celestia’s sake.” Once again, I shake my head. I open my eyes to see Mindy rolling hers, “So, his introduction to ponies is sleeping with you, then you dump him. What if he turns into an eligible stallion, and you’ve scared him off of mares? We could have a new colt cuddler because of you.” Sunset moves over to Mindy and hip checks her, “Not helping Mindy.” “What?” Sunset turns to me, “Dust, while I will say you were very wrong to do what you did. I also know how broken up you are. You weren’t trying to hurt us, you were seeking comfort.” She looks back at the rest of the herd, “And while I sincerely wish you had found another way to do that. I can’t fault you too bad for it. You didn’t keep up the relationship, you didn’t try to hide it from us, and you told us first thing.” She moves forward and hugs me again, “I can forgive you. No, I do forgive you.” I turn back and look at the rest of the herd. I see more than a few with tears in their eyes, but they all seem to echo what Sunset just said. Except for one, I watch Irony as she strides from the house, on two hooves, her back straight. Damn, I’ve fucked up with her again.