With Time Off
"Fired?! Fired for what?!" Scootaloo yelled. "You're his top racer!"
"It could be the last five commercial shoots I didn't show up for. It could be the fact that I've been refusing to model for children's toys and calendars. It probably has something to do with the fact that I refused to leave you. I don't really care. All that matters to me is that I'm free from that horsecrap."
"Why would I have anything to do with it?" Scootaloo asked.
"Think about it, Scoot. Most of the ponies that watch us racers are not into the kind of music your band performs. It's equated with the ‘bad pony’ image. Thus, according to Moneybags, you're bad for my 'public image'. Biggest crock of shit I've ever heard."
Scootaloo was visibly hurt by those words. To be told she was bad for her stallion's public image cut her to the core. It hurt, even though she knew that Lightning didn't feel that way. She lowered her head and sat back on her haunches.
"Scootaloo... don't do that... you know I love you. Who cares what some jackass with bits thinks? Moneybags was just jealous that I got the complete package with my mare, where he only got a value meal," Lightning said reassuringly.
Scootaloo smiled and looked up. "What's a value meal?" she asked.
"Kinda pretty, but dumb as a bucking rock."
"And what's in the complete package?" she asked as she got back to her hooves and flashed him a seductive smile.
"Unmatched beauty complemented by the wit and free spirit of the most unique mare ever created," Lightning responded as he drew Scootaloo in for a kiss.
"Well said Lightning."
"You know it's all true."
Scootaloo gave Lightning a cocky grin. "Of course I do. It's just nice to hear you say it."
Lightning rolled his eyes. "I love you, ya cocky brat," snarked Lightning.
"And I love you, kiss-ass." The couple kissed again. Scootaloo leaned against Lightning. "I'm beat. It's been a long day."
"Does that mean no sex tonight?" Lightning asked.
"Not tonight. Don't worry though, I'll be turned on tomorrow night," Scootaloo replied.
"Aww, I was ready to go too. Oh well." Scootaloo and Lightning headed to bed and curled up in each other's forelegs. It wasn't long before Scootaloo was sound asleep. Unfortunately for Lightning, sleep wasn't going to come as easily. As happy as he wasn’t worrying about having to race for a living anymore, he knew that he couldn't just sit around and do nothing all day. He needed to have a job, and it needed to be one that would keep him busy. And racing, if possible. He loved racing. He loved the adrenaline rushing through him; he loved the wind in his mane. The speed, the freedom, and the competition all thrilled him. Sadly, money had found a way to ruin racing for him. Lightning looked at his sleeping fiance.
As long as I have her, it doesn't matter what I do with my life. As he stared at the mare in his forelegs, he slowly drifted off to sleep.
Lightning woke to the scent of a hot breakfast. It wasn't coming from the kitchen though. Rather, it was coming from a stand right next to the bed he was sleeping on.
"Morning sleepyhead," Scootaloo said with a smile. "Made you breakfast."
Lightning looked up at his fiance, then to the tray next to his bed. He took the cup of coffee that was on the tray and sipped it. After removing the mug from his lips, he let out a satisfied sigh.
"How do you make food so well, and how do you do it so early? It's only nine in the morning."
"I usually get up to watch the sunrise two or three days every week. There's just something magical about it," Scootaloo said with a blush.
"That's oddly sentimental of you," Lightning responded. "Why do you do that?" He didn't realize at the time that taking a long swig of coffee right then was a mistake.
"The first night that Soarin' visited Ponyville, I had a nightmare about the day before I moved to Ponyville. I never got back to sleep, so when the sun started to rise I got up. I watched the sunrise with my family, and it was the most beautiful thing. Then I ruined it by making a joke regarding Applejack's vagina."
Lightning immediately spewed the coffee he was drinking all over Scootaloo. Scootaloo closed her eyes, pursed her lips, and accepted that she brought that upon herself.
"Oh my... Scootaloo, I am SO sorry!" Lightning got up and and stood next to her. Though he was genuinely sorry, a sly grin crossed his lips. "Let me help you get cleaned up." Immediately after saying those words, Lightning proceeded to lick the coffee off of Scootaloo's face. Scootaloo laughed and tried to push him away, but her attempt simply made her chest vulnerable to the assault from her fiance's tongue.
Lightning immediately capitalized, and soon he had pushed her onto her back on the floor and was dragging his tongue all over Scootaloo's chest. Scootaloo, amidst a torrent of giggles, accidentally kicked over the tray that contained Lightning's breakfast. A blend of oatmeal, coffee, and mixed greens impacted on Lightning's back. He stopped his assault and sighed. "You know, that kinda burns."
"You alright?" Scootaloo asked. All that hot food landing on his back at once couldn't have felt good.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I brought that on myself, didn't I?"
Scootaloo giggled and nodded. "Pretty much. Come on, let's go get cleaned up."
Scootaloo and Lightning got up off the floor. Lightning wrapped a wing around Scootaloo's back as the young couple made their way to the shower.
"Umm... what about the mess in the bedroom?" Lightning asked.
"We'll deal with that later," Scootaloo responded as she rested her head on Lightning's shoulder.
Scootaloo and Lightning stepped out of the shower. They were clean, and somehow had managed to keep their antics clean during the course of the shower.
"So, now are we going to clean up the mess in the bedroom?"
"Yup. Fortunately it shouldn't be too hard to clean. The food wasn't enchanted to sit on clouds, just the table and the plates."
"Ahh. Wait, if the food wasn't enchanted, how—"
"I keep food in containers that are enchanted to rest on clouds before I use it."
"Ahh."
Scootaloo giggled. Lightning was generally a 'takeout or starve' pony, which had greatly displeased his trainers when he was a racer. Then it hit her. If Lightning wasn't going to be racing, how would he keep himself busy? If he wasn't doing something he'd go insane.
"Hey Lightning? If I'm not here for you to sleep with, what are you going to do with your life? You'll lose it if you have nothing to do while the band and I are on tour."
"Snips can hook me up with a mare to keep me busy while you're gone. Granted, she'll probably be twenty years older than me and loaded with diseases, but it'll be something." Lightning laughed as Scootaloo punched his shoulder.
"Be serious you ass."
"Oh fine. I heard Soarin' was looking for an assistant coach for the race team at the high school. Somepony who can whip a group of kids into shape nicely," he responded.
"Oh, that'll be a good job for you. Hopefully you won't get slowed down by high school politics too badly."
"I dealt with money politics for far too long to start dealing with angry parent politics. Buck the parents."
Scootaloo laughed. "Hopefully you'll stick to bucking me."
"Like I said, Snips can hook me up. Maybe just a blow-up doll..."
Scootaloo laughed and punched him again. "Lightning, you'd pop a blow-up doll."
"I'll take that as a compliment on the size of my tool."
"Or maybe I was telling you that you have a needle dick," Scootaloo quipped.
"Ooh, that's rough Scoot. I think you owe me an apology."
"I think I'll stick with making breakfast again. All I had to eat was a granola bar while I made you breakfast."
"Breakfast will work for an apology."
After eating, Scootaloo and Lightning prepared to part ways for the day. Before they left, they sat on their front porch and made plans.
"I'm going to swing by the hospital and visit Kat. I'll drop by the school when it gets out to meet up with Steel after that. What are you going to be doing?" Scootaloo hoped to meet with Lightning at some point before the end of the day.
"I'll swing by Soarin' and Fluttershy's cottage to talk to Soarin' about the coaching position. I'm not sure if it's still open, but I have a feeling he'd be willing to work me into the staff. After that it would be nice to catch up with him as well. It's been a while since I've gotten to really sit down and talk to him. I'll meet you and Steel at the school afterwards?"
"Sounds good to me," Scootaloo responded and kissed Lightning. "See you this afternoon."
"You can count on it," Lightning said before flying off. Scootaloo sighed as she watched him fly away. She then spread her own wings and dove off towards the hospital.
Lightning landed gently in front of Soarin' and Fluttershy's small cottage. He always smiled when he saw the place. It was, along with the Apple Family home, among the most welcoming places he had ever been to. He trotted to the front door and raised his hoof to knock.
"No need to knock, Spark. I'm out here."
Lightning jumped at Soarin's voice. Somehow he hadn't noticed his old friend relaxing on the porch in the morning sun. Lightning smiled.
"Hey Soarin'. I was hoping to talk to you."
Now it was Soarin's turn to smile. "Lightning. It's been too long. Come on, have a seat." Soarin' gestured towards the cushion next to himself on the small bench he was sitting on.
"What are you doing up so early Soarin'? I half expected to be waking you and Fluttershy up."
"I have a seven year old filly who needs to get to school in the morning. Sleeping in isn't an option anymore. And Shy's out and about taking care of her animal friends right now. Some company would be nice," Soarin’ responded.
"You can't help her with the animals?" Lightning asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I can. Problem is that little bunny of hers still isn't a fan of me. He's adorable, but I didn't know so much hate could be crammed into one tiny creature."
Lightning let out a small chuckle. He remembered his own run-ins with Angel in the past. They were a bit less than pleasant.
"You're gonna let a little bunny stop you from helping your wife do her job?"
"That's just my excuse. I never was good with animals. And she seems to enjoy doing that by herself. Especially when she gets to the birds." As if on cue, the sound of Fluttershy's singing voice gently permeated the stillness of the morning. The morning birds soon followed, and a beautiful melody began to massage the ears of the two stallions on the porch.
"She always was a great singer."
"Yeah..." Soarin' seemed to be getting lost in the melody. He snapped himself out of it long enough to maintain his conversation with Lightning. "As much as I miss sleeping in sometimes, getting up to her and Aerial every morning is definitely worth it. Now, you came here for a reason. What is it?"
Lightning laughed. Soarin' always could read him like a book. "I was wondering if you still had an opening for an assistant coach."
Soarin' raised a quizzical eyebrow. "I do. But I need that coach to be in town all the time. You're a professional racer. You're traveling constantly. It's a wonder you've been in town as long as you have."
"I'm sorry, but I have to correct you. I WAS a professional racer. Got fired last night."
Soarin' smiled. He was hoping Lightning would quit before it came to that, but it worked all the same. "Got sick of selling your soul to the highest bidder, huh?"
"That pretty much sums it up. I don't need a job to make money; Scoot pretty much has that covered. I just need something to keep me busy so I don't go insane from boredom."
Soarin' adjusted his position on the bench with a sigh. "In that case, the job's all yours. You can swing by practice tonight if you want to see where you fit in."
"Soarin', you coached me for four years. I know what you want from an assistant coach. Besides, tonight I have plans with Scootaloo. Apparently these wedding things take some form of planning and Scoot wants to get some of that done. I liked the wedding Sweetie performed better."
"I heard about all that, and I wish I could have seen it. I guess congratulations are in order. I'll be right back." Soarin' got up and went inside his house. He emerged a few minutes later with a decanter of scotch and two glasses.
"Isn't it a little early to be drinking, Soarin'?"
"Too early for a glass of scotch to celebrate your engagement? Lightning, you've got a lot to learn." Soarin' poured a small amount of the amber fluid into each glass and hooved one to Lightning. Lightning sipped the drink and let out a satisfied sigh.
"How old is this stuff?"
"Older than you. Hay, it's probably older than me. That's why you're only getting that much. This has to be savored."
"Fair enough," Lightning responded. "Fair enough."
"Lightning, why don't you stick around for a while today. It's been far too long since you've been around, and it would be nice to catch up a little."
Lightning smiled. He had been hoping Soarin' would ask that question. "I'd love to, Coach."
Soarin' laughed. "Lightning, I'm your friend now, not your coach. Call me Soarin'."
"I've been calling you Soarin'. I guess old habits like to sneak back in every once in a while."
"In that case, get your flank inside before I have you doing Wing Pushups, Spark!" Lightning laughed.
"YES SIR, COACH SIR!"
Scootaloo landed with a dull thud in front of Ponyville's hospital. The doctor had just gotten back from vacation and was tending to Kitty when she arrived in her room with some takeout from Kitty's favorite restaurant in Ponyville.
"Scoot, is that... food? Thank you so much, I've been eating this hospital crap for days now! There's no way that stuff can possibly be edible! It's worse than train food!" Kat exclaimed.
Scootaloo laughed. Kitty had always been a bit of a drama queen when it came to food.
"I'm sure you'll survive, Kat. But I figured you might like a treat. This will be the last time you get to eat from Did's Deli before you go to Canterlot."
Kitty's eyes became as wide as saucers. "Oh no. Oh no no no. Look, I can barely survive our tours without that deli. You can't possibly be telling me I'll have to survive without it while going through rehab. Oh no no no no no no no, this is NOT good. I—"
Scootaloo cut her off with a fit of laughter. "Don't worry, we'll pack you some for the train ride to Canterlot. And you'll even get some company. Big Mac and Shepard are going to ride along with you."
"Big Mac? I can understand why Shepard's coming, we've been tight for years. But why Mac?"
"He want's to surprise his wife at the school in Canterlot."
"Ah."
Scootaloo tossed a sandwich bag to Kitty, who quickly unwrapped it and shoved the sandwich into her mouth.
"Daffodil and—mmnm—daisy sub. Scootaloo, you—mmmnomm—know me too well."
"I'd hope so. You're as easy to order for as your brother. And all I have to do to order for your brother is go to Sugarcube Corner."
"He has a sweet tooth like nopony I've ever seen. How are things with him and Sweets by the way?" Kitty asked.
"I don't know. They skipped out on our 7:00 meeting. Sweets is gonna pay for that."
"She made a facial promise, didn't she?"
"Yeah," responded Scootaloo.
"That's weird. She never breaks facial promises."
"I know! It's like breaking a Pinkie Promise! And breaking a Pinkie Promise is one of the fastest ways to lose a friend!"
"FOREVER!"
Scootaloo and Kitty yelped in surprise as they saw Pinkie Pie retreat back into a potted plant with an angry look on her face. The plant settled back into its place inside its pot. Scootaloo cautiously made her way to the plant and touched it. There should have been no way for Pinkie Pie to fit inside. She picked it up. Judging by the weight, there was no way Pinkie was still in the plant, and there was no hole in the floor for Pinkie to escape through.
"I... how?" Scootaloo asked.
"That's pretty weird, even for Pinkie," Kitty said, still staring at the plant.
"Let's try not to think too hard about it."
"Good idea."
Steel made his way outside of the small junior high school in Ponyville. Autumn Wind was right where she had promised to meet him, in front of the school sign. Steel took a moment to look her over. She was as cute as a filly could be. Her golden mane and tail blended perfectly with her beige coat. He became temporarily lost in the sight of her sky blue eyes. She smiled and waved for him to come over. He could barely resist galloping to her, but he managed to limit himself to a fast trot. The two young pegasi smiled and shared a gentle nuzzle.
"Hey Autumn."
"Hey Steel." Autumn rested her head against Steel's neck. Autumn and Steel had agreed to go out together over a series of notes passed during their third class. Steel knew that his father wouldn't have approved, but he lacked the confidence to ask her out to her face. Steel put a wing on her back and they began the long walk to the lake by the Everfree forest.
"I can't wait to see the lake. It's so pretty this time of year," Autumn began.
"You're always pretty," Steel said with a blush. Autumn giggled.
"Oh Steel. You're so sweet. I'll bet Spitfire and Rainbow Dash are so happy to get to call you their son."
Steel lowered his head and stopped walking. He sat back on his haunches and began a forced breathing pattern.
"Steel? What's wrong?" Autumn sat next to him.
"I'm not their son."
"Well, yeah, I know they adopted you. But they take care of you and love you like a parent does."
"My parents are dead, Autumn. And they were both alive before the mares I live with now got involved."
"Steel, I'm sure it's not their fault."
"Autumn, I watched my sister kill my dad. I dream about it almost every night. My dad wasn't always the nicest pony, but I never saw him as the monster they make him out to be. I just want to know the truth!" the colt exclaimed.
Autumn wasn't sure what to think. She wasn't sure what to think about any of that, so she tried not to. She rested her head against Steel's neck again. "The mares you live with always seemed like nice ponies to me. And so does your sister. Maybe you should give them a chance."
Steel would have shot a glare at Autumn and yelled at her for being naive, but his heart had melted far too completely with her leaning against him. So instead he decided that it was possible she had a point.
"Maybe you're right, Autumn. I guess I should—"
"Well isn't this an adorable sight," Scootaloo said as she landed behind the two young sweethearts. Steel and Autumn jumped in surprise.
"Scootaloo! What was that for?!" Steel yelled.
"I just stopped by to see you little bro," Scootaloo said with a smile before turning to Autumn. "You must be Autumn Wind."
"Hi Scootaloo! Steel and I were just talking about you and your parents!"
"Were you now? I hope he had some nice things to say about us. Anyway, I'm going to let you two do your thing. Steel, can we spend the day together tomorrow? I was hoping to take this afternoon, but I can see you're going to be busy tonight." Scootaloo winked at Steel and Autumn. The two young ponies blushed simultaneously. Autumn decided to be nice.
"You can come with if you want."
Scootaloo laughed.
"Sorry little one, this mare has plans with her own stallion this afternoon," Lightning said as he landed next to Scootaloo and wrapped a wing around her back. "So Steel, I see you've found yourself a fillyfriend."
Steel blushed hotly. He tried to speak up, but couldn't find the words. Autumn giggled. "You're cute when you're nervous Steel."
"I'm not nervous!"
Scootaloo and Lightning laughed.
"Remember when we were that age, Lightning?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yeah, I do. We got into all sorts of trouble, didn't we?" Lightning responded.
"Yeah, we did. Remember when we made sure the school intercom was turned on while the principle did his daily clop that he thought nopony knew about?"
"Of course!" Lightning nearly fell over laughing. "The whole school heard him! I still remember the look on Mrs. Sevenwing's face! It was PRICELESS!"
Tears were streaming down Scootaloo's cheeks as she continued laughing. "If that wasn't revenge for him trying to get me into his bed I would have felt bad for getting him fired," she said with a laugh.
"The bucker deserved to lose his job. You're not the only filly he tried to seduce."
"Meh, it's fine. Last I heard he's in prison. Now he knows what it's like to have creepy stallions hitting on him all the time," Scootaloo replied.
"That's what Ponyville gets for hiring a stallion from Manehatten to run a school," Lightning said with a sigh.
"Yep. Hey, where did Steel and Autumn go?"
Scootaloo and Lightning looked around. It was evident that during the recounting of the most famous prank in Ponyville's history, the two younger ponies had slipped away. Lightning laughed. "Looks like your brother and his little fillyfriend ran off. Oh well, wanna head on home and do that planning stuff you told me we're supposed to do?"
"I want to head back home... but I don't think I feel like planning a wedding right now." A sly grin formed on Scootaloo's lips. Lightning was quick to catch on. But it wouldn't be any fun if he made it easy on Scootaloo.
"Oh really? Are you thirsty?" he asked with a wink. Scootaloo almost vomited.
"LIGHTNING! The only place I want your tool is between my legs!" Scootaloo blushed as she got some strange looks from the remaining colts and fillies around the school... and some very angry looks from all of the parents in the area.
"Umm, Scoot? Might want to keep it down," Lightning said with a laugh.
"Very funny, jackass. Come on, let's go have sex."
"Sounds like a plan, Scootaloo."
The two ponies took off for their home in the sky. It wasn't long before Lightning was struggling to get the door open while waging war with Scootaloo's tongue. As soon as they got the door open they fell to the floor of the foyer. They weren't going to need to go any farther into the home.