Soarin' to new heights

by Collins4112

Stalliongrad

The magazine depicted me as some sort of hero. It had a nice Photoshopped picture of me fighting off a swarm of changelings: I had told them that there were only three, but my ever-present manager had convinced them to... stretch the truth to where I had fought off a horde of them to save my son. He had even given them an interview that he had just made up, but the magazine company didn't complain because it would sell more copies.

It wasn't the magazine I was worried about: it was why the changelings had come for me... I mean, I thought they fed on love, and I didn't exactly have an abundance of that. I had hired a security company that was tested every day to make sure that they weren't changelings, but I was still a bit paranoid... I mean, they could disguise themselves as anypony, so I had to keep a sharp eye out.

I had given a full report to the Cloudsdale police and the Royal Guard. The police weren't really equipped to deal with changelings, but the Royal Guard assured me that they were trying their best to combat the swarm, but they hadn't found the hive yet so the best they could do was fight on a situational basis. I had asked why the swarm had targeted me or Little Wings. They had told me they didn't know.

Even though I was worried about it, I wasn't going to let it stop me, not that I could stop even if I wanted to. My time off was up, and I had to get ready for the Wonderbolt's next show in Stalliongrad. I thought about leaving Little Wings with a nanny, but I didn't have time to screen potential caretakers, so I decided I'd just take him with me.

I stood waiting for the train at the train station just below Cloudsdale. It was the only building on the ground that, and was still technically part of the city. Stalliongrad was really far away, so the other Wonderbolts would be taking our personal train to the city in the north: normally we would fly, but it was more than a one day flying trip, so it ended up being faster if we just took a train.

I could see it in the distance, the metal machine that would be taking us to our destination. The cars of the train were decorated with Wonderbolt advertisements. I could hear metal screeching as the train came to a slow stop in front of the station. The metal beast hissed a cloud of steam as we started to get on. I had Little Wings wrapped up so nopony could see him; I would be doing a reveal once we were on the train.

"Hey Soarin', where's that kid of yours?" Fleet Foot snickered. Thank Celestia the mares and stallions had separated cars, otherwise I would never have heard the end of it from the mares. The stallions would take it easier and not bother me about it; at least I hoped they wouldn't. The servant ponies on the train threw our luggage into the cubbies.

I climbed into the stallion car. The car itself cost about as much as the engine it took to pull it. Only the finest marble counter tops, plush carpets, comfortable silk seating, six large plasma screen T.V's- one for each of us- and a fully stocked fridge with a personal bartender.

I found my usual comfortable spot in the midsection of the car. Little Wings was set next to me: luckily he was still sleeping, so I could make my reveal of him on my own time. Wave Chill got on next, then Rapidfire, followed by Fire Streak, then Lightning Streak, and last Silver Lining. They didn't pay me any more attention than they usually do, so I felt that this ride would be an easy one.

The train lurched forward, and soon picked up speed. The sudden movement shook Little Wings awake with a jolt, and his tiny wings buzzed and shot him straight into the air. The rest of the stallions gasped.

"So that is your boy?" Silver Lining was staring at my son, who was still floating above our heads. I nodded my head nervously: I wasn't exactly sure how they would react. Little Wings seemed to sence them staring at him and gave a little wave of his hoof. "Meh, he's cute."

"It might be nice having him around, somepony to talk to. Who won't judge you and say 'why haven't you met a nice mare yet,' and then I say 'I'm too busy, mom.' And then she makes me lift heavy things..." Fire Streak was an odd one alright. The rest of the stallion Wonderbolts and I stared at him. "But anyway, it might be nice having a foal around."

"Yeah, like a little mascot." Lightning Streak added. This was going much better than I had thought it was going to. I expected them to ridicule me or at the very least be annoyed, but they seemed to be taking it better than I could have hoped.

"As long as he stays quiet." Wave Chill mumbled. Okay, I guess he was taking it as well as expected, but that was a good sign.

"Bah, don't be like that Chill; you're just jealous that you don't have one." Rapidfire butted in.

"Why would I want one?" Wave Chill shot back. Little Wings fluttered down to the floor. The plush carpet must have been a new feeling because he still as a statue as he stared down at the floor, and pawed at it nervously.

"Well, first you'd have to get a mare in bed." Silver Lining laughed, and Lightning Streak bumped hooves with him. Well, at that point I knew this was going to be a long trip, but at least it wasn't me who was being bothered. They kept on arguing and I lost interest.

I slumped down on one of the silk couches, letting the rocking motion of the train slowly lull me into dull daze. I lifted Little Wings off the floor and set him next to me: somehow the little guy's body felt nice next to me. I would have preferred a fine mare, but... he'll do. The gentle back and forth of the train made my eyes slowly close as I tuned out Wave Chill and Silver Lining arguing, and drifted into a surprisingly restful sleep.

It was several hours later when I woke up. I could tell, because it was dark outside the window. Everypony was sleeping except for Wave Chill, who was sitting at a table, reading glasses on his muzzle, and looking down at a book. Little Wings wasn't at my side: I looked around for a bit, but i didn't see him anywhere.

"Hey, Chill." I tried to get his attention. He must have been engrossed in his book because he didn't even look up. I rolled off the couch and onto my hooves. I trotted up behind the distracted stallion and put a hoof on to his shoulder. He jolted out of concentration.

"Wha- oh, I thought everypony was asleep." He set his glasses aside, and offered me a seat across from him, and I took his offer. Wave Chill was the oldest Wonderbolt that was on the team. He was a little under forty, which was very old to still be an active member. Sometimes I wondered if he was angry with me for becoming captain instead of him, but he never said anything so I never brought it up.

"I was, but I don't think I'll be getting back to sleep." I said. I knew that since I woke in the middle of the night after sleeping the day away, I wouldn't be falling to asleep anytime soon. "Did you happen to see where Little Wings went?"

"Who?" He raised an eyebrow, then I saw realization came to him. "Oh yeah, your son. After you fell asleep, Spitfire wanted to tease you about somethin'. When she saw you were sleeping, she said she was going to take the kid for a while, and she did. Come to think of it, that was hours ago... wonder what they're doing."

I wasn't worried about what they were doing with my son; with his happy disposition I'm sure that whatever was going on, he probably was enjoying himself. Plus, he was in good hooves with Spitfire there.

"Soooo... What ya reading?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation from grinding to a stop.

"Oh, just an old story by Edgar Allen Pony: Pit and the Pendulum." He read the title aloud. I didn't read too often, so I wouldn't have much knowledge in the way of literature. "Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yeah?" I answered. He looked pretty serious about whatever it was he was going to say.

"After this tour, my contract is up, and I'm gonna retire." He said casually. This took me off guard: leaving the team was no small thing: first, there was a lot of paperwork to go through, and as the Co-Captain I would be responsible for finding a replacement. I already had a list in my mind of suitable replacements, full of up and coming athletes, stunt performers, and aces. Oh, yes, I also had to find time to fit Rainbow Dash's audition in, and then with that there was a retirement ceremony to plan, and then a speech to write and rehearse: it was a lot of work leaving. I would say even more than it takes to get in.

"Why?" I asked. I guess I should have been expecting it, but I wasn't expecting him to dump this on me in the middle of the night. The train car shook a little as we hit a bump.

"Well, it's about time, don't you think? My time here is up, and it's time to let some young stallion's dream come true. Sides, I'd like to meet a mare, settle down, and raise a family." Wave Chill chuckled to himself. "I guess Rapidfire was right, I am kinda jealous that you have a kid."

"It's not as good as it looks." I chuckled a little. This was the Wave Chill I liked: he was actually pretty open if you caught him in the right mood, and it seems I did.

"Yeah, but at least you have something to go home to. I just go home and watch T.V. waiting for our next tour to start." He leaned back in his chair to look at me more directly. "It's too bad that Little Wings' mother died."

"Yeah. It's gonna suck when he grows up and asks about his mom. I didn't know much about her, other than that she was an earth pony, owned a restaurant that served authentic Stalliongrad food, and had a slight accent to accompany her food. I mean, he's gonna ask what he mother was like and all I'm going to have to go on is her in bed." I rambled; I hadn't realized how much it was actually bothering me until that point. It was true though... I could barely remember her at all.

"I suppose you could find her parents." Wave Chill suggested. "I mean if she had the accent and served the food, I'm sure she's from somewhere in Stalliongrad."

"I guess I could, but I'm not sure walking up to them and saying 'Hey, I'm the guy, that slept with your daughter, then left her alone with a child' will inspire them to talk to me." I murmured. Wave Chill nodded like he understood. "Anyway, I wouldn't know where to find them."

"True, but you could still look." He responded. I nodded; I probably wouldn't go looking anyway.

I decided to change the conversation before it could grind to a halt. "What are you planning to do after you're retired?"

"Well, other than starting a family, I don't really have to work anymore, so I will probably help at the flight school." He said. The sun was starting to come up over the horizon in the distance; I could make out the outlines of mountains and a forest.

"I should probably go get Little Wings before he wakes everypony else up." I explained as I left the table. I trotted as quietly as I could to the end of the car. I slowly slid the sliding door that separated the two cars open. It was almost pitch black, so I stepped very carefully lest I wake them up. I looked around the dark car; it was identical to the stallions' car. I stepped carefully over Blaze, who for some reason was sleeping on the floor. I walked past Misty, High Winds, Surprise, and the youngest member of our team, Fleet Foot. I finally reached the other end of the car, where Spitfire was asleep and Little Wings was wrapped in her hooves. It was kind of odd, when I thought about it, for her to be sleeping holding my son.

I grasped Little Wings and attempted to pull him from Spitfire's grip. The slight tug caused her to swing a hoof over and send a bone-crushing punch punch into my cheek.

I hissed in pain, I would have usually shouted a swear, but that wasn't an option. Spitfire's eyes opened in a flash.

"Soarin'?" Her groggy voice broke the silence. "Were you watching me sleep?"

"No!" I tried to do my best yell in a whisper. "I was just trying to get Little Wings out of here before he wakes up, and starts screaming his head off... now I realized I should have just let that happen."

The yellow pegasus handed me the little guy. "Well, thanks for waking me up, now I'll never get back to sleep... I was having a good dream too." An odd blush came to her face when she said that.

"Hey, I tried, but you punched me." I could feel Little Wings already stirring from his sleep. "It's almost dawn anyway, now I got to get him some food."

I trotted as quietly as I came in back to the Stallion car. Wave Chill was already engrossed in his book again, so I passed him without speaking and went into the fridge. I didn't pack baby mush specifically, but I thought applesauce was good enough. I got it all ready just as Little Wings awoke and opened his mouth to cry, and I shoved a spoonful of mush in his mouth. After after a satisfied swallow, he giggled.

"Hey, Soarin' look." Wave Chill Pointed out the window. I turned my head to take a look: in the distance I saw the mass that was the city of Stalliongrad.

_______

The city of Stalliongrad was the heart of manufacturing in Equestria. The city was populated mostly by the earth ponies that worked in the factories. It was a city with an odd way of doing things; they had a strange scene of unity that caused them to become extremely prideful in their city.

The train pulled into Stalliongrad central station, with the hiss of steam escaping the engine, the doors opened. Large earth ponies with a solemn expressions on their faces were taking luggage from the caboose. Another earth pony stood waiting for us. He was a dark, murky green color, and had a brown mane. His face was full of unshaven scruff, and his cutie mark was a shield with a sword across it.

"Hello, my friends." He had a genuine smile. "I am Buck Cossack, and I will be the head of your security team."

My manager, who I hadn't seen until this point, stepped in front of me. "Alright, let's get going."

I put Little Wings onto my back. He sat down and looked around, taking in the new sights. Buck raised an eyebrow, as he observed my foal. He shrugged and led us through the station and out onto the streets. He nodded to a group of ponies that looked very similar to him, and all with the very similar cutie marks. These large earth ponies formed a circle around us. I didn't see why, we weren't being swarmed by fans, in fact, and I didn't think we would be swarmed at all: the crowd in Stalliongrad was always a bit cold towards us.

It was a short walk towards the hotel that we would be staying at. It was the nicest place in all of Stalliongrad... then again only the best for the best. I got set up with my room, and the luggage was already waiting for me when I arrived. I looked for the bag that held Little Wings' toys; he was already looking really bored. I set him on the floor to explore as I got everything set up.

The hotel room was a suite. It had a living area, two bedrooms, a whirlpool tub, and full bathroom. Now all I needed was a few mares, and I would be set, but it was the middle of the day so it could wait a while. At the moment I was hungry, so I decided to go out and get something to eat.

I picked up Little Wings, much to his annoyance, and walked to the door. Buck at the door, guarding my room.

"Hey, do you know any good spots to eat?"

__________

The place was a little hole in the wall, very cozy and home like. The food was good and all, but the employees kept giving me weird looks, and glancing at Little Wings and then whispering to each other. I paid and stood up to leave, but I stopped when a large pony that looked like he'd seen a lot in his life came out of back of the restaurant.

"You." He croaked in a thick accent. He took a few steps towards me. Buck Cossack anchored himself into a defensive. The old stallion stopped in front of me. "You deflowered my daughter."

Buck glanced at me at the question, but didn't move from his defensive stance. I had absolutely no idea who this stallion was, but apparently he knew me, and knew I took the virginity of his daughter. Out of all the mares I had been with there was only one who I knew I deflowered... Oh no. Please Celestia no.

"You left my little Rosemary with child!" I could barely understand him with both the heavy accent and how he was stammering the words out. "You took her innocence...and now she's gone."

He looked at me with anger, and then past me at Little Wings, and his face slumped into a deep sadness. I wondered if he had ever seen his grandson before.

"My grandson..." He almost whispered. I was frozen in place, I was standing in front of the grandfather of my boy, and the father of a mare that I had left with a child, not that I had even known she had one before she was dead. "You disgust me, no honor, no thought of your actions."

He spat at me. I finally formulated a response: "I'm sorry."

The old stallion's eyes went wide. "You're sorry? That's not going to take back you deflow- no, rape would be a better word."

"I did not rape your daughter, she liked it very much." Open mouth, insert hoof. Buck took action: he restrained the older stallion as he attempted to break my jaw.

"You don't deserve that colt! Rosemary wasn't thinking right when she left him to you!" He shouted at me, and that left a deeper wound then I would have thought it would.

"What could I do to make it better?" I shouted back. The old stallion stopped fighting.

"Let me go." The grandfather pony said, and Buck obliged, but was still ready in case things got bad. "You prove that she made the right choice in choosing you."

"How?" I asked.

"That's for you to figure out." He said, as he walked back into the kitchen.

________

I groaned as my digital clock rang out at five am. I had gone to bed almost immediately after getting back from the ordeal, but I didn't have time to think about that now: I had a show to get to. I rolled out of bed, took a quick shower, slid on my uniform, and carefully put my little colt on my back.

The rest of the Wonderbolts were already waiting down in the lobby. We had a big day ahead of us. An opening ceremony at eight. races at nine, a show from ten to one, lunch break, another race at two, then a long show from three to seven, and finally closing at eight, I ran the list through my head.

"Alright, settle down." Out manager called over the murmurs of early morning talk. "We've got a big day ahead of us. We'll be training at the stadium before we start, so let's get out there and show these earth ponies a show they've never seen."

And with that we left. The day went as planned: opening ceremonies, a little less grand with the cold personalities of Stalliongrad citizens, the races went as usual, all stallion race: I won; all mare race: Spitfire won; a mare vs. stallion race excluding Spitfire and I: Fleet Foot won. The show was spectacular as always and it even got some of the crowd into the event, lunch, and then came the race that is always the most popular: Spitfire versus me.

I sat in the locker room; I slid the goggles over my eyes, and prepared mentally for this race. You see, Spitfire and I had a bit of a rivalry over this race... it was a friendly competition, but we both burned with the desire to win, be better than the other. Currently, I held the lead in wins by two, but Spitfire assured me that that would be over soon enough.

Spitfire was the only other pony in the locker room, the rest of the Wonderbolts were out doing autographs and photo-shoots. Little Wings, Buck assured me, was just playing with some foals his own age, which I thought was a good thing... he needed more socialization.

"Hey, Soarin', how 'bout when I win, you buy me a drink." She asked. My head jolted back in surprise.

"You? Win? How about when I win, again, you buy me one?" I suggested with a playful push.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, that big flank of yours is gonna slow you down." She retorted, with a snort.

"You've been looking at my flank?" I gave it a bit of a shake to make my point.

"Err...no." She stuttered and looked away. That was a new reaction, and I was unsure of how to react.

"Alright, let's get out there so I can get to the victory circle faster." I laughed it off. I walked towards the tunnel that led out into the stadium. A roar of cheering greeted me as I walked out into the sunlight: they may have been a cold crowd, but even they were excited about this race. I trotted to the starting line and started my stretches.

A second roar told me that Spitfire had come out. I could feel my heart start beating faster and the adrenaline started to course through my veins. I flashed my signature smile towards the audience.

"So, do you want to give up now, or lose later?" Spitfire snickered. Good, she was back to normal; otherwise I might have not given my all.

"All I'll be giving you is a good look of my behind." I bantered. She lined up next to me, and started to loosen up her muscles. After about a minute of stretching the countdown started: 3...2...1...Go!

With a quick pump of my wings, and I was a few feet above the ground, shooting ahead and gaining speed until I could reach my stride. I wasn't looking anywhere but forward: with my heart beating so fast, I had to focus on where I was going and not where my companion was. All I knew was that she wasn't in front of me as we rounded the first turn. My bank was a little too steep and that caused a slight slowdown, and Spitfire shot ahead of me.

As we reached the straightaway I finally reached my stride and my speed immediately picked up, reaching just behind Spitfire. The crowd cheered as we reached the other curve: we passed the grandstand as a loud roar from the crowd rolled on us, and I shot ahead before we reached the end of lap one of three.

The second lap was the rest lap, not to go all out otherwise you'd be sure to lose. It was more to work the crowd and catch breath. We ended up side by side as we rounded the turn to start the final lap. As soon as we rounded that corner I zipped ahead. The sound started to drown out and all I heard was blood rushing through my ears. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Spitfire keeping pace with me.

We rounded the turn, her wing made contact with mine; this was going to be a close one. On the straightaway she soared ahead of me, I got my second wind and flew ahead of her. I made myself get an aerodynamic as possible, the wind ripped through my hair, but Spitfire was keeping on pace. It was me head by a neck, then her by a nose, and even once again.

The final turn before the finish, I put as much power I could in each flap, I ground my teeth together, and I pushed myself as hard as I could. I passed the finish line...behind Spitfire.

We both skidded to a halt, panting for a moment. The crowd exploded into cheering and applause, I gazed at the grandstand. I had never seen the crowd so excited. I looked towards the victor. She stood before me a friendly, not arrogant smile on her face. "Good race, but get your wallet ready, I have expensive tastes."

Sorry that took so long, but things came up. Don't fret, the changelings will be back but i decided to put some space between things. Thanks for reading

Comments

[Alaborn]

Soarin' was robbed!

[myhe01]

There can't be leather couches because they would have to kill cows. How about silk instead?

[Collins4112]

989842 i took your suggestion and changed it

[lunarstallion]

I don't like Rosemary's dad...

[Green_Hooves]

I really fucking love you.

[Hyper-Insomniac]

Soarin'xSpitfire?

[Hyper-Insomniac]

990485 And Rosemary's dad has a reason to be pissed

[lunarstallion]

998410 You know it.

[Hyper-Insomniac]

998411 Lol what don't you like about him?

[lunarstallion]

999070 Honestly, I'm not sure. But I have a sort of 6th sense for people like or similar to that. I can tell who they are just by looking at them, hearing a conversation, or just plain reading about them. It's weird, hearing me say that, am I right? But what's even more weird is that I'm telling the truth. Let's see, the people include:
Douchebags
egotistical maniacs
Over-protective parents/grand-parents
And people who should generally just do the world a favor, and die.
I'm just fueling your idea that i'm mentally challenged, aren't i? Well, i was dropped on my head a lot as a kid, so i think i am too, but im still sane enough to know it.

[Hyper-Insomniac]

999454 Haha you don't sound mental. That actually makes you sound smart.