Man, I hope this wasn't a mistake.
"We've sorta just hung out for the past few days."
Spitfire frowned, tapping her chin with a hoof.
"Well, did you ever find out why she's on the street?"
"Every time I asked anything about her past, she sorta clammed up or got upset. I didn't wanna push it."
"Jeez. That sounds rough, Soarin. I can see why this has been stressin' you out."
It is nice to finally talk to somepony about it. I just hope Laverna wouldn't see it as, like... selling her out, or whatever.
"Yeah, no kidding. I mean, it's been fun hanging with her. You told us to keep our flight wings in shape, and we've been doing that. I can hardly believe a pony that age can fly like that!"
Spitfire snickered, leaning back.
"You've mentioned that a few times. Did you at least figure out where she learned Dash's move?"
"She insisted she saw Dash do it for some foals. I dunno... I don't want to push it."
Spitfire shrugged.
"Maybe she did. I guess it's not too important, so long as word doesn't get out. Still, I can barely believe you got so little information from her after three days!"
"It wasn't... I dunno, I guess I wasn't that focused on it? I mean, I'm worried about her, but it's not really my place to go messing with somepony's life, right?"
"Soarin, she's a kid. Maybe not a little foal, but still."
"I know, I know. I just wasn't sure what to do."
Spitfire looked off to the side, her face contemplative.
"Well, what did you find out about her?"
"I dunno. I mean, she's a good flier, she's obsessed with the team – I've never seen a kid so focused on something."
"Did she go to school?"
"Yeah, and flight school. She says she found them both really boring, but I kinda got the impression she didn't do too well."
Spitfire nodded, frowning.
"I haven't really looked into it, but I've heard that kids with rough homes don't do too well."
"But we don't know if she had a rough home or not."
Spitfire gave me a flat look. I shuffled uncomfortably, and she spoke up again.
"I think we can assume something was wrong, given where she is now. Thing is, avoiding school isn't going to help her."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Is she eating properly?"
"Best I can tell. She's not skinny, at least. She doesn't really eat that much."
"Yeah, that was the first thing I was worried about."
Spitfire suddenly frowned, tilting her head.
"Wait, didn't it rain yesterday?"
"Yeah, why?"
"... She lives in a cardboard box."
I laughed a bit, rubbing my head.
"Ah, yeah. I had the same thought. I thought I'd have to invite her to spend the night, or something, but she had it taken care of. She'd put up this little metal roof thing with an umbrella."
Spitfire frowned at me.
"And you thought that was enough?"
"She insisted. And it looked alright – I stayed out there in the rain for a while to make sure. I thought it was kinda weird she hadn't already set that up."
"Yeah... maybe that's not where she usually stays?"
I grimaced; I wasn't looking forward to explaining this part.
"She told me she moves around. City to city. I didn't bring it up, but I think she mighta been following us while we're touring."
"Oh, jeez. Stalker, much?"
Dang, I was really afraid Spitfire'd have that response.
Spitfire leaned forward, looking concerned, and spoke up before I could respond.
"Hey, I didn't mean that. Sorry. This is all just a little weird. I mean, some homeless kid is following us? Why? Did you find out why she's so interested in the 'bolts?"
"I didn't ask. I mean, I just sorta figured it was the usual."
"Come on, Soarin. This isn't the usual at all. You should really ask her."
Huh. I hadn't considered that there might be a special reason.
"Yeah, fair enough. Thanks, Spitfire."
"Don't thank me yet... we still need to figure out what to do."
"I guess so..."
"Soarin. We can't just leave it like this."
"I know, I just don't know what to do."
"Well... here's something. Why don't you go get her, and tell her Spitfire wants to meet her? We can all work it out together."
"Hey, that sounds like a great idea! Thanks, Spitfire!"
Man, the captain always knows what to do. I'm sure we'll work this out.
Spitfire just smiled warmly at me.
"No problem, Soarin. See you back in... an hour?"
"Sure thing!"
I headed out the door of the pub to go find Laverna.