Ex-Bolts Rising

by Melody Song

Ghastly Gorge to the Pie's Rock Farm

Soarin was very concerned about his marefriend, she had emerged from the gorge covered in scratches. He needed to finish his leg of the race, then he could check on her. Moon Spear was flying in pace with him. Soarin flew over the fields, heading for the rocky terrain in the distance. The Pie's Rock Farm was coming up soon.

Suddenly, a ray of light flashed in his eyes. He yelled and blocked his view as Moon Spear pulled ahead of him. Somehow the light from the sun was reflecting off her silver mane and shining in his eyes.

"How are you doing that?!" Soarin yelled

"Doesn't matter to you, all you need to know is it'll help me win this race!" Moon Spear called back. Soarin shook his head and kept flying.

"I can barely see anything! Ugh, What do I do now?" Soarin thought. He suddenly tripped over his own legs and fell onto a cloud.

---

"Soarin! Come on, it's not that hard!" Spitfire landed by him, her whistle dangling in front of her like a threat. Fleetfoot, their third-in-command, landed next to her.

"Sorry Spit, the sun keeps getting in my eyes."

"Soarin, you're my friend, but if we don't get this right we won't be able to nail the next performance."

"Why don't you jutht get your goggleth?" Fleetfoot asked

"I-I don't have any goggles." Soarin admitted

"Why not Soar? We were supposed to have goggles when we joined the team." Spitfire said

"I couldn't afford them." Soarin replied, blushing in embarrassment.

His family had never had much money, which was part of the reason he wanted to be a Wonderbolt. He could fly well and the job paid better than his parents' jobs. It would be helpful.

"I can lend you some bits-"

"No Spitfire, I don't want to have to take your money." Soarin replied, standing.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. If you want, you can take me out of the routine. I'll be okay with it."

The next morning, Soarin woke up to find a pair of goggles hanging from the headboard on his bed. He reached and picked them up.

"Spitfire, I told you I didn't want to take your money. You buying them for me is just as bad." Soarin said, going up to her.

"I didn't buy those for you." Spitfire replied, keeping her back to him as she rummaged through her locker. "Have you seen my whistle?"

"Here." Fleetfoot came up with the whistle around her own neck.

"Fleet." Spitfire sighed, but she was smiling. Fleetfoot laughed and stuck the whistle in her mouth, blowing it to make a soft 'tweet' echo around the locker room.

"Spit, I'm serious, did you buy them for me or not?"

"Not Soar, how many times do I have to say it?"

"Fleet, did you-?"

"No. I barely had enough to get dinner latht night." Fleetfoot responded, the whistle dropping from her mouth.

"Why didn't you say something? Dinner is more important than these." Soarin said, setting the goggles down.

"I jutht didn't want you guyth to worry." Fleetfoot shrugged.

"You can come over to my house this weekend, I can make you something." Spitfire suggested, blushing. Fleetfoot nodded, also blushing.

"If you two lovebirds are done, can we get back to the goggles?" Soarin asked. Spitfire and Fleetfoot blushed harder, then Spitfire cleared her throat.

"Right. I don't know who got those for you Soarin. Maybe you have a secret admirer. Anyway, get outside, I'm starting practice soon." Soarin went outside, as instructed, and slipped the goggles on. They fit well.

Spitfire and Fleetfoot came out a few minutes later. Spitfire had apparently retrieved her whistle from the mare, as she had it now.

"Alright 'bolts, form a line! Get ready, takeoff in three...two...NOW!" she blew her whistle and they took off.

As Soarin took off, he noticed Spitfire was squinting as she took off.

"Why is't she wearing her-" Soarin cut his thought short as he put the pieces together. During break, Soarin went up to her.

"You didn't." he said

"There's a lot of things I didn't do Soarin, you're gonna have to be more specific." Spitfire replied, facing away from him, staring determinedly at Fleetfoot, who she'd been talking to.

"You gave me your goggles Spitfire, admit it."

"Okay, fine. I gave them to you, what's the big deal?" Spitfire asked, turning to face him.

"Why would you do that?" Soarin asked.

"What is so hard to understand about the phrase 'You're my friend'?"

"But you didn't have to give me these, now you have to buy another pair for yourself."

"Soarin, listen to me." Spitfire snapped, eyes flashing. "I wanted to do something nice for you because you're my friend. I knew you needed them more than I did, and I knew you'd never let one of us by them for you. Why don't you just accept the gift and move on?"

"Just because I'm your friend doesn't mean you had to give these up."

"Sure, maybe I didn't have to. But it's not like I was gonna let you give up on perfecting the move. I knew you'd be able to do the routine once you had what you needed."

Soarin usually kept the same goggles pulled up on his head, even when not in uniform, to remind himself of how great a friend Spitfire was.

---

"She knew I could do anything I put my mind to. I just needed the means to get there." Soarin remembered, standing.

"I may not have my goggles, but I bet if I fly over Moon Spear, I can stop the sun from hitting her mane." Soarin muttered, then took off, flying high over where Moon Spear was. He passed over her, creating a shadow.

"Hey!" she cried. He smirked and sped up before she could regain her focus on the race. He sped forwards and locked hooves with Fleetfoot, who was hovering above the farm.

"Be careful, they cheat." he whispered. Fleetfoot nodded, then sped off. Moon Spear passed on her own horseshoe to Twister, then glared at him.

---

"She tricked you like her teammates did?" Princess Celestia asked Soarin

"Yes. But I remembered something Spitfire did for me in our early days as Captain and Co-Captain. I remembered that she always thought Fleet and I were capable of anything we do on the team. We just may need a little help getting the means of accomplishing it."

"What did you need?" Princess Luna asked

"Flight goggles, I couldn't afford to buy them, so she tricked me into accepting hers. I felt a little guilty about it at first, but I know she was just trying to be a good friend."

"I see." Princess Luna turned and waved her wing at Raven, who marked it down.

"If that's all you need from me Princesses, I need to go."

"Oh, where?" Princess Celestia asked, and Soarin blushed

"To check on Rainbow Dash, she looked pretty hurt."

"You may go Soarin." Celestia said, Luna stifling a giggle at the stallion's obvious concern for Rainbow.

Author's Note:

Fleetfoot will be next, and then last is Spitfire. See you all next chapter.

~Melody Song