Mixed Signals
The air still had a cold breeze in the city. It would fade once the Las Pegasus weather team had finished their first shift. The weather schedule here was much more carefree and flexible since it wasn't a city that depended on the weather to assist in growing food. This gave the pegasi some creative judgement.
It still made the mornings to midday miserable though, and the constant exercises didn't help things. Lean Streak was beginning to test my patience. Sure he was the teacher, but that didn't give him the right to degrade me at every opportunity. If it wasn't for Star Sprint being present I probably would have done something I would regret later.
"Why are you still here?" Lean Streak asked shaking his head as I flexed my wings a bit to work some of the soreness out of them.
"Because I have to be." I replied quickly, refusing to make eye contact with him.
"I've asked you this every day before you start laps, and every day you give me the same answer." said Lean Streak.
"What's the right answer then? That I don't need to be here?" I asked rolling my eyes.
Mike and Ike looked at each other nervously. Lean Streak's expression was shifting into one of irritation, and he wasn't the stallion you wanted to irritate too often.
"You may have the wing build of two former champions, but you sure don't act like one. The only thing holding you back right now is you. Is it what's beneath the coat that's stopping you?" Lean Streak asked.
"What I once was has nothing to do with the present. I'm not holding back." I replied, unable to stop my nostrils from flaring slightly.
Lean Streak tilted his head to the side curiously; I had expected him to respond with some kind of extra work out routine. Instead he smiled, narrowing his eyes at me mischievously.
"I think that's the reason, I mean you’ve improved, but it's hardly noticeable. Maybe I should talk to Sky Mark about cutting his losses before he waste any more time with some pegasus from Ponyville who thinks he's here because of some moral code or something." Lean Streak chuckled.
"Shut up." I warned, my wings flaring out as my ears flattened against my head.
"You keep saying you have to be here, why though? What's forcing you to stay? Some stupid excuse back home, that muddy little hole in Equestria?" Lean Streak grinned.
I had to bite my lip to hold back the string of insults I wanted to throw at him. The only response that escaped me was a loud, threatening snort.
"Lean Streak I think you should stop no-" Ike started only to be dismissed by an upheld hoof from Lean Streak.
"I bet you'd like to teach me a lesson huh? Make me shut up about mudpony town?" Lean Streak mocked.
"No sir..." I lied. My core was starting to heat up as my anger grew. I wasn't sure how much more I could take from him before I snapped.
"Come on...you and me, a little race. You don't even have to beat me, just keep up and I'll lay off mud town Equestria. What have you got to lose, aside from you nonexistent pride. Any real pegasus would have already taken a swing at me...you? You're just some wishy wa-" Lean Streak continued, stopping when I was only inches from him.
"I think you pushed the wrong button." Mike commented, making the coach smirk.
"Line up then hot shot, make me eat my words." Lean Streak smiled, walking towards the area marked off for the starting line in a real race.
I followed him, my blood boiling by now. I wanted to tackle him and not stop hitting him until I was pulled away, or worse.
"Mike, say when." Lean Streak said, flapping his wings experimentally.
"Three...two...one...go!" Mike shouted.
We both took off into the air, leveling out above the white marker. I could feel a difference this time, as angry as I was the thrill of racing somepony was oddly satisfying. When I noticed Lean Streak starting to pull away, I began to work harder to keep up.
"So is it some mare? Maybe you got dumped by an earth pony and left with some land bound foal. That must suck, is that why you keep saying you don't have a choice? It’s better to be here than there? How did you pull that off anyways?" Lean Streak mocked.
"Shut up!" I shouted, picking up the pace as adrenalin surged through my body.
We were past the second turn and Lean Streak was pulling away again, leaving a barely visible flight trail behind him. I knew he could go faster, he was just taunting me, this theory was confirmed as a smile stretched across his muzzle upon glancing back at me. I was slowly gaining on him once more.
"So was I right? About the mare? Did she ditch you when she learned you're nothing but a big, lous-" Lean Streak didn't finish whatever he was about to say as I leveled out beside him, forcing him to go faster.
---
Track Pace sighed as he walked down the path to the track. His son had skipped school, again. His wife was going to kill him if she got the chance. She blamed his job for being a distraction to Star Sprint's studies.
Something was off about the track today. There was a lack of yelling, from Lean Streak anyways. Instead it was replaced by encouraging cheers from Mike, Ike, and Star Sprint.
Curious, Track Pace focused his magic and appeared outside, next to the others. Lean Streak and Daniel were nowhere to be found at first glance. A quick survey of the track put the two stallions at the second turn, gaining speed.
"Dad! He's keeping up with Lean Streak!" Star Sprint jumped up and down excitedly.
"I think Lean Streak got his goat good this time." Ike said, censoring his language in front of the colt.
Track Pace watched as Lean Streak started to pick up speed, only to be matched by Daniel. Even as the former racer pushed himself to his limit, his successor was right beside him, a second flight trail beginning to form as the two stallions entered the third turn.
"There's...no way, you've got to be kidding me." Mike said, picking up his chart in disbelief.
"Come on, don't make me a liar." Track Pace mumbled, watching anxiously as the two racers entered the final turn.
---
Something inside of me had finally snapped, while this had been about making Lean Streak eat his own words in the beginning, I no longer cared solely about that. Right now, I was focused on the finish line, and what it would take to get there. Everything else around me seemed to be more detailed, sights, sounds, perception, everything.
As the finish line grew closer and closer, I noticed Lean Streak was no longer dead even with me. A series of loud cheers signaled the end of our mock race as we crossed the finish line. I landed to catch my breath, while Lean Streak started to chuckle.
"What's...so funny...I beat...you." I managed to say in between pants.
"You big idiot...do...you even realize….what you did?" Lean Streak asked with a smile. "That's the first time...you've ever….made a flight trail...look."
I turned my head towards the direction of Lean Streak's hoof. There, slowly fading into the air, were two flight trails. One was a bright orange; the other was a light blue with varying streaks of green mixed in.
"I've never..." I mumbled, falling down on my haunches to rest as I watched the trails fade.
I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I had seen Rainbow Dash leave a flight trail plenty of times, but I had never expected to leave one myself. An overwhelming feeling of pride was beginning to swell within me as the realization sank in that I was getting faster, that all of the heartache wasn’t in vain like Lean Streak had been taunting me over.
"Now, we can start getting serious," Lean Streak said, sitting down beside me. "Tell me how it felt."
"I don’t know how to describe it, everything just started becoming clearer. I forgot about everything else that was bothering me...it felt good." I replied.
"Good, then there's some hope for you after all." said Lean Streak.
"Will you stop with the insults like you promised?" I asked, looking over at him.
"Rookie, you were holding back. I had to find a way to push you, to get your blood burning like a real pegasus. Focus all that anger and energy into winning, and you’ll do what you did today every time. Pegasi were warriors once, that drive to win is in you now whether you like it or not." Lean Streak punched me in the shoulder.
"So what's next?" I asked.
"I'm not the stallion I used to be Rookie, we'll call it early. I will admit that I haven't had that much fun in a long time." Lean Streak grinned.
---
Cloudchaser had waited patiently for some sort of reply from the human...that lived maybe a minute away if she flew to her house. She was considering dropping the subtly and asking for answers personally.
"It's been too long; maybe she doesn't want me anywhere near him...horseapples." Cloudchaser grumbled as she paced.
"You're getting worked up again. If he means that much to you, why not just ask him yourself?" Flitter asked, sitting in a comfy blue chair in the living room.
"Because that would make me look stupid...maybe, I don't know how human stallions think. I know a normal stallion would think I'm weird." Cloudchaser replied.
"Sis...you're weird to begin with, in a good way. Still, I think it would be a lot easier if you flew over and asked him about this yourself. I know you want to surprise him and make him feel special, every mare wants to do that for a stallion." Flitter said.
"I guess you're right...I just hope he doesn't hate me." Cloudchaser sighed; she felt her heart ache a bit at the thought of such a possibility.
"The only pony that probably hates you right now is Thunderlame, and I haven't seen any sign of him since Spitfire sent him packing." Flitter giggled, amused with her nickname for her sister's ex-coltfriend.
Cloudchaser stopped pacing and made her way towards the door. Her sister was right, she could save herself a lot of trouble and stress by just asking Daniel a few subtle questions, maybe then she could gauge if he liked her or not.
The mare opened the door, only to receive a bop on the muzzle. It wasn't hard enough to hurt, but it did pull her mind away from her thoughts on the stallion that occupied her heart.
"Oh, sorry Cloudchaser." Ditzy Doo apologized, having just started to knock on the door to deliver the mail when Cloudchaser had opened it.
"It's okay Ditzy...I didn't think we missed any bills this time." Cloudchaser joked, rubbing her muzzle a bit.
"I don't think this is a bill. It's just a letter today. Good thing we've got your schedule down huh? This was going back to the Wonderbolt's Academy." Ditzy Doo smiled.
Cloudchaser couldn't stop a hopeful smile from spreading across her face. The feeling of dread was being replaced by joy as her heart started to flutter.
“Thank you Ditzy!” Cloudchaser exclaimed, hugging the mail mare tightly.
“Can’t breathe…” Ditzy Doo wheezed.
The excited pegasus released Ditzy, rushing back inside, leaving a baffled mail carrier behind. She had seen ponies that were happy about mail, but she had never received a hug for doing her job. It gave Ditzy Doo a little boost to her confidence to help her through the rest of her day.
“Flitter! It came it came it came it came it came!” Cloudchaser shouted excitedly, flying in circles in the living room.
“Calm down Cloudchaser, you’re going to break something!” Flitter scolded. “Besides, you haven’t even opened it.”
“Right, I guess I should do that before I celebrate huh?” Cloudchsaer blushed, landing on the couch as she was joined by her sister.
After tearing open the envelope Cloudchaser maneuvered the letter slightly so that they both could read the message that Isabella had penned. Flitter was a faster reader than she was, but she had never openly admitted this to her.
“Cloudchaser, I’m actually glad that you’re interested in my brother, and I don’t hold you responsible for what happened so no worries.” Cloudchaser read aloud.
“See? You were worrying over nothing.” Flitter smiled.
“As for what human men, or stallions, are like, they are stupid by nature. They have a hard time picking up on a woman, or mare’s, emotions and can be frustrating since they think they have to fix everything if they feel something is wrong.” Cloudchaser continued.
Flitter giggled at Isabella’s description of the human’s male gender. There were a few similarities to stallions; perhaps her sister wasn’t as crazy for wanting to be with him as she thought.
“So a quick rundown on dates with a human, he’ll probably be very nervous your first time out, even though you guys have already bumped flanks.” Cloudchaser blushed as her sister snickered.
“Any man with a shred of decency will always hold a door open for their lady, letting them enter a building first. He’ll expect you to sit down first, and if you don’t get a booth, he’ll pull out a chair for you, or should anyways, if he doesn’t let me know and I’ll have a chat with him.” Cloudchaser continued, scrunching her muzzle up in confusion. Humans did things very differently than ponies.
“Daniel personally doesn’t mind flowers, but he won’t be expecting them if that’s what you’re asking, I didn’t really understand the question. If you’re worried about him getting you something don’t be, he's very old fashioned when it comes to stuff like this." Cloudchaser was now extremely confused by Isabella’s response. The stallion wasn’t supposed to do anything Isabella was mentioning.
“Maybe human mares think it’s sweet when their stallion does stuff like this." Flitter summarized.
"I guess, but why would he want to get me something?" Cloudchaser asked.
"I don't know, keep reading." Flitter urged, finding this bit of insight on humans interesting at the moment.
"The best advice I can really offer you is to be yourself. It sounds cliché, but most guys know when a girl is being fake, or mare in this case. Between the two of us, I think you two would look good together." Cloudchaser smiled.
"Hey there's some more on this folded part." Flitter said, reaching over her sister's forelegs.
"Flitter, cut it out-oh hey there is." said Cloudchaser surprised she had missed it.
"If you two end up doing the ugly, here are some things you could try. You could start by...no no no no no!" Cloudchaser shouted pulling the letter away from her sister who was quick to retrieve it from the distraught mare.
"Let's see...you could start by taking his...oh my, Cloudchaser, are you going to try this?" Flitter giggled.
"Give it back!" Cloudchaser snapped, flying after her sister.
"This sounds pretty saucy if you ask me, who knew?" Flitter asked dashing into her room, locking the door.
"Open up!" Cloudchaser demanded, giving the door a good solid kick.
"Hey Cloudchaser, there's something I think you need to know." Flitter said from the safety of her room.
"Does it involve any of...that stuff?" Cloudchaser asked coldly.
"No, it's about your court interest, he's in Las Pegasus right now....Cloudchaser?" Flitter called to her sister from the lack of response.
She cautiously opened the door to her room, finding Cloudchaser leaning against a wall, sulking. Flitter dropped the letter and sat beside her sister, wrapping a wing around her. Cloudchaser scooted closer to her, appreciating the kind gesture.
"He's gone...just what I was afraid of." Cloudchaser sighed.
"The letter said he'd be back." Flitter said as she stroked her sister's mane soothingly.
"He's not marked anymore though, what if it's the same story with Thunderlane? What if some mare already swept him off his hooves? What if-" Cloudchaser's string of what ifs was silenced by Flitter's hoof in her mouth.
"You're going to Las Pegasus." Flitter deadpanned.
"You read the letter though. Planning and stuff, I can't just go to Las Pegasus and say "Hey here I am! Miss me?" Cloudchaser mocked, throwing her fore legs up comically as she spoke.
"That sounds exactly like you," Flitter giggled. "And Isabella told you to be yourself. So either you go down there to him...or I could go instead~" Flitter taunted.
"You wouldn't..." Cloudchaser snarled.
"Show up or give up, take your pick sis." Flitter said.
Cloudchaser bit her lip. She had enough time to make the trip, but what would she do if he didn't share those feelings? How would things work while she was down there if he did? She only had a letter to go by, and that had only confused her more.
"Okay, I'll go. No more waiting." Cloudchaser said earning a smile from her sister.
---
"We are the champions, my friend~" I sang as I opened the door to my apartment.
Beating Lean Streak made me feel like I was on top of the world. I still found it hard to believe that I had actually pulled it off. My wings hurt afterwards, but it was worth it. The feeling of getting caught up in the race, all that speed, it was almost as good as sex....almost.
The comparison of experiences reminded me of the letter that Rainbow Dash had sent. Opening sealed letters with hooves was too complicated, so I opted to simply bite the top part of the envelope off, grateful that nopony else was around to witness it.
Daniel
Finally found you a special somepony huh? I don't blame you, Cloudchaser has a nice flank if you want my honest opinion. Not as good as mine, but she's okay. Anyways, if you two were to go out, she'd be trying to impress you and gain your approval, same as any mare.
She might try to find you a gift, something that she thinks suits you. One thing she will most definitely have is a flower that matches her coat color. IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO KEEP THIS SOMEWHERE ON YOU. Pegasi stallions will keep them tucked behind their feathers or ears most of the time.
"Wait, I have to do what?" I asked aloud. "Sorry I'm late Lean Streak, I was busy scrubbing the anime out from behind my ears..."
The thought of sporting a flower behind my ear was a bit ridiculous. Keeping it tucked in my wing didn't seem like a better option either; the flower would more than likely be crushed by the end of the date.
You liked wearing clothes as a human, just put on a light suit or something, nothing too fancy and keep it in a pocket. That flower is to show you're with her for the day, and give Cloudchaser an excuse to knock another pony's lights out if they try something.
Now for a bit of advice on pegasi and their-
I pulled away from the letter, though I wasn't totally surprised by what I had received from the cyan pegasus. I should have expected her to throw in a few bedroom tips, but I couldn't determine if they were serious or if they were jokes.
"Touch the wing joint closest to....okay, whatever." I mumbled deciding to experiment.
Reaching as far back as I could with my left foreleg, I touched the main wing joint and instantly recoiled with a yelp. The muscles on my back tensed in response, causing both wings to unfurl to their full length.
"...huh...so that's a thing." I mused.
---
The guard sighed as he traveled down the guest wing of Canterlot Castle. He was dreading the simple task he'd been given, but he had drawn the shortest straw, even if Celestia had already tasked a completely different guard with this assignment.
Two patrolling soldiers shook their heads in sympathy as he walked towards his destination. Many had been forced down the dark and dreary path before him, and now it was his turn. It had to happen eventually; he just wished he had been spared such a fate a bit longer.
His thoughts of self-pity came to an end when he reached his destination, a rather sophisticated looking red door. Its design was custom and made by a true artist. It was a poor representation of what lay within.
With two hesitant knocks on the door the guard steeled himself for whatever fate might have in store for him. His thoughts were of his family and friends before he called out to the room's occupant.
"Prince Blueblood, the list of guest attending the Grand Galloping Gala has arrived." the guard said.
"Ugh," came an agitated voice from within, followed by the steady fall of angry hooves. "Could this not wait until tomorrow?"
The guard held back a sigh before replying. "You requested this as soon as it was finished, sir."
"That doesn't mean disturb me two hours before I go to sleep. A prince cannot be disturbed while trying to prepare for such an important period of their daily routine. Do you know what the repercussions are of the lack of a goodnights sleep?" Blueblood asked.
"No sir, I work the night shift." the guard replied, extending one of his bat-like wings.
"Well, it's as important to sleep is for you in the day and-" Blueblood continued.
Luna kill me now. the guard thought to himself.
"Oh no...not him..." Blueblood's eyes were cartoonisly wide now, his iris' nothing more than tiny dots as he focused on one name in particular on the list.
"Who sir?" the guard asked curiously.
"That...ape!" Blueblood exclaimed.
The guard grinned, remembering what the human had done to Blueblood's room last time. He had tilted every single painting in his room and drove him mad for a solid week trying to correct everything until it was 'perfect' again.
"Yes, I think his sister is coming too, if I remember correctly." the guard teased, watching Blueblood begin to sweat nervously.
"I...I...." the prince collapsed onto the castle floor, the list gently falling over his face.
"Heh, goodnight Prince Blueblood." the guard snickered, closing the door to his room.
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I love this story I can't wait for the next chapter
Ya the date is so screwed!
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I never said I wouldn't go into a coffee shop
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Thanks for the feed back
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either way, glad you're enjoying it. I have a few more surprises left in this story, so thanks for sticking with it so far.
I'm not sure if I should say sorry or thank you
Technically the letters are not conflicting. Just that the advice for each group is reversed since the roles of who they are talking about are thus.
So, yes. Humans are the irrationally violent ones. And yet this is the second or third time you've had someone call Daniel out on 'not being violent enough'. So if a human does it, it's backwards and irrational, but if a pony does it, it's a-okay? This is one of the things I really dislike about this story.
Isabella already learned about how "mares make the first move", so she shouldn't be so oblivous as you're making her out to be.
Obviously there are plenty of thing I do like about this fic, for me to keep reading, but it's not without flaws. Hopefully my criticism comes across as constructive, at least.