Behind The Flight Suit

by Strats

Chapter 5: Party At The Palace

Spitfire's alarm buzzed on her nightstand. The mare let out a large groan, rolling over in the bed to switch off the constant buzzing. She slammed her hoof down on top of the alarm, causing the buzzing to cease. She rolled back over in the bed. As she did she was greeted by a pair of golden eyes. The stallion they belonged smiled at the yellow pegasus. She returned the smile. The two pegasi lay in the bed looking one another in the eyes, detatched from the rest of the world. The stallion then spoke.

"Good morning Spitty." Eclipse said, not breaking eye contact.

"Good morning Eclipse." the mare responded, giggling at the stallion, his mane all messes up. "It looks like a beautiful morning." Spitfire said, glancing over at the half drawn curtain. Celestia's bright sun seeped into the room.

"You sure are." the lovestruck stallion said, still watching the mare as she turned away. She looked back at him, an unimpressed looked on her face.

"You are extremely cheesy. Have I ever told you that?" the yellow mare asked. The stallion continued to smile at his marefriend.

"Only ten times a day." the stallion chuckled. He sat up in the bed. "You excited for the big day?" Eclipse asked his marefriend. Spitfire looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Big day?" she asked the stallion. He raised his hoof to his raise.

"Today is Luna's birthday!" the stallion said, causing the mare to jump into action.

"What do you mean it's today. The princesses birthday isn't until tomorrow." the mare said, thinking frantically if she had misjudged the date.

"Why would you have set an alarm if it wasn't." the stallion said. "Your last day of vacation was yesterday. You have had four days off. I'm surprised you forgot since you've been so hyped about it these past few days." Eclipse said. The mare ran over to her calendar. There was a large circle around today's date, marked with a little wonderbolts symbol which Spitfire used to mark shows.

"Oh sweet Celestia, you're right! How could I have forgotten?" the mare said. She ran over to her wardrobe to grab her uniform. "I need to get dressed right away. We need to get to Canterlot for the show!" Spitfire exclaimed.

"Relax, I put your alarm back half an hour, just as a little joke." the stallion said, grinning. His marefriend turned to face him, a look of pure rage dominating her face.

"Do I look in the mood for jokes?" she bellowed at the stallion. The stallion shrunk back into the bed, whining softly.

"No Spitty." He said from the safety of underneath the duvet. The mare turned her attention back to getting ready.

"We leave in one hour, and you'd better be ready." Spitfire said in her serious tone. The white stallion nodded obediently, getting out of the bed and heading into the ensuite. He emerged thirty minutes later. He was dressed in a blue tux with a red tie. The mare looked him up and down.

"Not too shabby?" the stallion said.

"Though you would have looked better with the time it took you." Spitfire said jokingly, running into the ensuite before her coltfriend could respond. Fifteen minutes later the mare reemerged. She dried herself off and put on her dress. She would get changed into her uniform at the castle. The show wasn't due to take place until sunset. The mare walked down to the kitchen to find her coltfriend sitting at the table, eating a bowl of oats. Another pat sat opposite him. He gestured towards it.

"I made breakfast." he said with a mouth full of oats. Spitfire glared at him.

"What?" he said defensively.

"There'll be food at the party. Now let's get going." the mare said. The stallion threw his plate into the sink and headed out to the front door to meet his marefriend.

"Ready to go?" Spitfire asked Eclipse.

"Ready when you are." he responded.

"Great, let's get going then." Spitfire said closing the door behind her. The two pegasi flew off in the direction of Canterlot.

***

The two ponies arrived in Canterlot just before midday. They headed straight to the palace upon arriving in the city. The palace was swarming with guards due to the party currently underway. The two ponies proceeded to the gate where they presented their invitations. The guards examined them carefully before granting the two ponies access. They walked across the drawbridge which was the only way in and out of the palace. Across the bridge a path lead the ponies to the palace itself. Spitfire and Eclipse walked through the two large golden doors into the palace foyer. Standing on the stairs stood princess Luna and princess Celestia, greeting each of the guests as they walked up the stairs to the ball room. The couple walked towards the princesses. They both bowed as they stood before them. Princess Celestia stepped forward.

"Thank you for attending." the princess of the sun said."I'm glad that both of you got here without any problems." the alicorn said politely.

"We're very thankful that you and princess Luna asked us to perform." Spitfire said, rising from her bow. She glanced over at the stallion beside her. He was still bowing. She looked over at princess Luna, who was staring at the stallion beside her. The stallion looked up and the lunar princess quickly averted her gaze

"Thank you your majesties for the invitation. I will make sure to return the favour on my birthday." the stallion said with a smile, earning a chuckle from both princesses.

"We thank you for your kind words, Sir Eclipse." Celestia said. "Go ahead and enjoy the party." she said, gesturing for them to head up the stairs. The two ponies bowed once again and continued up the stairs. Once they were out of hearing distance Spitfire spoke.

"Why didn't Luna say anything?" Spitfire asked the stallion. He simply smiled and continued walking without saying a word. Spitfire looked at him for a while before looking ahead. The two reached the top of the stairs and came to another large pair of golden doors. They stood wide open. Two guards stood on watch. From outside the room multiple ponies could be seen inside dancing and talking to one another. A small band was up on a stage placing music. Multiple ponies in waistcoats were walking around carrying trays of drinks and small nibbles. The couple entered the ball room. As they did, two ponies standing beside the door sounded two large trumpets. A third pony stepped forward.

"Announcing Sir Eclipse and his date Ms.Spitfire." the pony stated. All the ponies in the room turned to view the new arrivals. Eclipse nodded at everypony, which made them return to their conversations. The two ponies walked through the ball room. Eclipse grabbed two glasses off the waiter and handed one to Spitfire.

"Cheers." he said, tapping his glass against hers.

"Cheers." she responded, a bright smile on her face. The stallion stared at her. She blushed as he did. "What?" she asked him.

"You just look really beautiful." Eclipse said. Spitfire's face went a shade darker of red.

"You're a complete flirt, you know that?" she said to the stallion. He smiled softly.

"Yes. Would you like to dance?" he asked the mare, outstretching his hoof.

"Why of course." Spitfire responded. They placed their drinks on the tray of a passing by waiter. The two took hold of each other, leaning close together. They dance in tune with the music. "This feels magical." Spitfire said as they danced.

"I know." Eclipse said. He paused to look the mare in the eyes. "Spitfire... I..." he said but was interrupted by a tapping on his back. He turned to see a white unicorn with a blue mane standing there, a white unicorn with a pink mane by his side.

"Hello Eclipse, it's good to see you old chap." the unicorn said. He looked at the mare the pegasus had been dancing with. "I hope I'm not interrupting." he said apologetically. Eclipse smiled.

"Not at all old sport." Eclipse responded. He turned and gestured to Spitfire. "This is my marefriend, Spitfire." he said. He turned to Spitfire. "Spitty this is my friend and one of my partners, Fancy Pants." the pegasus said.

It's a pleasure Ms.Spitfire." Fancy Pants said holding out a hoof which Spitfire shook. "This is my fiancé, Fleur Dis Lee." The white unicorn said gesturing to the mare beside him. She smiled at the two pegasi. "I just wanted to say hi, incase I didn't get the chance later. You know how these Canterlot parties usually end up." the unicorn said with a chuckle.

"Don't I ever old sport." Eclipse responded, giving the unicorn a pat on the back."We definitely need to speak again before the night is out." Eclipse said. Fancy Pants nodded and went off with his fiancé. Eclipse turned back to his marefriend. She was looking at him, stifling a laugh. He looked at the mare confused.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh nothing old sport." Spitfire said, bursting into a fit of laughter. The stallion glared at her.

"It's not funny." he said."It's a force of habit around that unicorn. Shows how much time I've spent with him." Eclipse said wryly. Spitfire was still recovering from her laughing fit.

"I never imagined you were all snooty." Spitfire said.

"It's not snooty, it's sophistication." the stallion pouted. Spitfire raised an eyebrow at him.

"You keep telling yourself that." she said to the stallion. "Now how about we get back to dancing." the yellow mare said. Before Eclipse could respond a stallion had come up to Spitfire. It was her co-captain, Soarin. He was dressed in a black tux.

"Hey Spitfire." he said. He glanced over at Eclipse. "Hey Eclipse.". The stallion nodded back at him.

"Hey Soarin, what's up?" Spitfire asked him.

"The last of the team just arrived. They want to get some practice in before the show this evening. You know, because it's infront of royalty." the baby blue stallion said.

"Sure thing. I'll be down shortly." Spitfire said. Soarin nodded and walked off. Spitfire turned to face Eclipse. "I'm sorry, but the dance is going to have to wait." she said. "I'll see you after the show okay?" she said.

"Okay." Eclipse responded, a hint of sadness in his voice. Spitfire smiled at him.

"Cheer up old sport." she said, causing the stallion to giggle. She kissed him on the cheek. "I'll catch up with you later." she said walking in the direction Soarin went. Once she was out of hearing distance Eclipse spoke.

"I...I love...you." the stallion said quietly to himself.

From across the ball room princess Luna watched the yellow mare depart from her stallion. She watched the lone stallion. She saw him mumble something but could not make out what he said. She decided it was time to talk to him. As she was about to step forward a hoof grabbed her. She turned to see who had the audacity to grab a princess. She was greeted by the sight of her sister. She had a concerned look on her face.

"Do not do something you will regret." the solar princess said. Luna stared at her sister before shaking free of her grasp and walked in the direction of the lone stallion she had once dated.

***

Spitfire stepped out on to the large field at the rear of the palace. This was to be there stage. Spitfire had planned quite the show. A few basic routines, followed by some more advanced stunts, ending with Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom. The show was perfect. She trotted out to the centre of the field. Her team was grouped up, doing stretches to warm up before flying. Spitfire held her clipboard underneath her wing. She blew on her whistle to get her teams attention.

"Alright! Listen up fillies. We've got one of the biggest shows of our careers ahead of us. So I don't want anypony messing up. The princess asked for us to perform personally, so we are going to give her one heck of a show." Spitfire shouted at the team. They all stood at attention, listening to their captain's words as if their lives depended on it. "We're going to start off with basic formation four, then shift into formation eight. From there we go to team formation five. After that we move into the advanced techniques. Any questions so far?" she asked her team. Nopony made a sound. "Good, that's what I like to hear." Spitfire bellowed. "After we've completed the advanced techniques we all line up centre field. Then we salute to the princesses and wish Luna a happy birthday. As we do, Rainbow Dash will fly overhead performing the sonic rainboom." Spitfire said. She stared at the team. "You know what you have to do, now get moving." She shouted, blowing her whistle. The pegasi immediately dispersed to go rehearse their routine. Spitfire looked at her team with a smile. "Tonight is gonna be one heck of a show." she said to herself.

Comments

[Bronycommander]

Eclipse is a good friend watching that spitfire won’t over sleep. He almost had it. Hope that dosen't have a negative affect on her Performance