Chapter 1: Another Day at Work

It’s dark.

So it’s still night time, but you don’t remember the alarm going off. After waking up this early in the morning for as long as you have, your body just naturally wakes itself up around this time.

Which kind of sucks. It would be nice to have those extra few seconds of sleep, but it’s not all that big of a deal.

The alarm finally goes off, but you’re already awake. With a simple flick of your hoof, the machine is silenced and you roll out of bed.

The bed belonged to your grandmother at some point. She had the thing when she was a teenager, which was like 80 years ago. Because of its age, its not the best of sleeping surfaces. However, it was free, and you will take virtually anything that comes free.

Its not like you sleep much anyway.

You are a member of the Royal Guard, the elite and honorable soldiers that defend the rulers of the greatest country in the world.

You have dreamed of being a Royal Guard since you first knew what they were. The thought of defending the beloved rulers of Equestria, going on adventure, and being loved and respected by everypony is something you have always wanted to do.

And the uniforms are pretty cool too.

Unfortunately, you don’t go adventuring incredibly often, but Equestria does seem to have its fair share of problems, especially in the last few years for some reason.

You haven’t been a Lieutenant in the Royal Guard for long, but you have sworn to do better than your predecessors. Princess Celestia has been attacked, injured, and imprisoned like, a dozen times in the past two or three years alone.

You weren’t in command then. But now you are.

In the three months you have been a Lieutenant, nothing catastrophic has happened. Hurray for you.

As a Lieutenant, you are personally responsible for the safety of Princess Celestia, herself. The other Lieutenants are responsible for Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and guarding the castle at night.

Captain Shining Armor can basically protect Princess Cadance most of the time, but they aren’t always together.

Not always.

Just kidding. They’re together all the time.

Captain Armor is a good boss, though. You probably wouldn’t want a different Captain.

Anyway, after rolling out of bed, you take the short stroll to your bathroom to bathe and prepare yourself for the important tasks of the day.

Your apartment is small, but you live by yourself and do not have an incredible amount of personal belongings, so it doesn’t really matter.

Your bedroom is large enough to fit a small double bed and dresser, but that’s about it.

The hallway outside of your room is thin and would not allow two ponies to walk next to each other down it. Luckily, that never happens because you don’t have anypony over.

There is a small spare bedroom directly across from your bedroom, but it’s basically empty. There are some boxes in there, but you don’t know what they contain. Nor do you really care.

At the far end of the hall is a small bathroom, and the other end leads to your kitchen and tiny living space.

You enter the bathroom and squeeze yourself into the shower. The good thing about being up at this time is that there is an ample amount of hot water that you can use, that would be denied to you were you to bathe at any other time.

As a proud Earth pony, and a highly trained and physically fit soldier, you are rather large. In fact, you are physically bigger than most other ponies, and just a little taller too.

But, as a result, you are unable to fit comfortably in most places, including your shower.

You make do, though. No sense in complaining.

You squeeze into the cramped square that is your shower and get to bathing.

==========

The shower was as pleasant as a shower can be at this time in the morning.

Now that you are washed, you go into the kitchen for some breakfast. A quick glance at the clock shows that your morning routine is continuing right on time.

5:17 a.m.

It’s early, but you don’t care. Sleeping isn’t your favorite hobby, especially not on that 3,000 year old mattress.

For breakfast, you stick a few toaster waffles into the toaster and grab a caffeinated soda from the fridge.

Its clearly not the most healthy of breakfasts, but it does wake you up, which is really all that matters at your job. You eat the same thing every single morning at the exact same time.

A minute passes and your miniature waffles spring from the toaster, ready to be buttered. Unfortunately, you immediately discover that you have no butter in the fridge. In fact, all you have in the fridge, it seems, are some toaster waffles, a couple cans of soda, two sticks of celery, and half a gallon of milk that expired 3 days ago.

You haven’t been to the store in a while.

You ball the dry waffles up and shove them into your mouth, washing it down with the entire can of soda.

The clock reads 5:22, but it should read 5:23. It seems like you’re a whole minute early today, so you go back down the apartment’s narrow hallway and turn into your guest bedroom.

Inside the closet of the guest bedroom is a ponnequin, which holds your golden armor. You would put it in your bedroom closet, but you figured you would let your guest room hold something of some importance so it could get some use.

Upon the ponnequin sits your golden helmet with its blue crest, your body armor, and your leg armor. It’s still as shiny as the day you first got it because of the lack of combat you have experienced. But that’s okay.

There is a sword as well, but you always leave it at the armory at the castle. You could bring it home with you, but the sword is always awkwardly dangling from your side and is never used.

If it ever does get used, it will surely be at the castle in defense of the Princesses; not your apartment.

Who would want this apartment anyway?

You are always sure to devote at least ten minutes of time to putting all the armor on. As an Earth pony, it can be difficult to tighten the straps of your chest and leg armor comfortably without using magic. Pegasi probably have the same sort of problem, but you don’t care about them.

You are the first Earth pony officer in the Royal Guard in over 100 years. In fact, there are only two Earth ponies in the Royal Guard at all; the other one is a corporal or something.

It took years of training, dedication, and tireless effort, but you did it. You’ve always wanted to be a Royal Guard, and now you are. It’s really all you’ve ever wanted.

Well, time to go to work.

==========

The walk down to the first floor of the apartments is always relatively slow, as it is early in the morning and you intentionally move carefully as to not disturb any sleeping residents. Just because you are up early doesn’t mean everypony else has to be too.

Leaving the apartment isn’t always the easiest thing, as some mornings can be dreadfully cold; but not today.

Today is nice. It’s somewhat warm and you can feel a small breeze. Today is going to be a good day.

You can feel it.

You don’t walk five steps before hearing a voice.

“Hey, bro! Slow down!”

The source of the raspy voice quickly trots over to where you are standing.

You recognize that voice. Only one mare in the world could have that voice. But what the hell is she doing up before noon?

“Vinyl?” you ask, seeing the white unicorn standing before you with an abnormally large smile. “What are you doing here?”

She rolls her big red eyes, keeping the smile on her face. Surprisingly enough, her eyes are not covered by her glasses, as they are resting on her forehead. “Geez, good to see you too.”

“Aw, don’t be like that.” You give her a quick nuzzle.

It’s not like Vinyl to be here, especially at this time of day. She practically lives on the other side of Canterlot, and Canterlot is a massive city. Visiting you is inconvenient at best.

“Just never thought I’d see you awake this early,” you explain.

She nods rapidly, bouncing her blue mane up and down. “And do you know why I’m up this early?!” She sounds rather excited.

You think for a moment. Why would the unicorn still be awake? Isn’t her bedtime usually like, 4:00?

“Did Octavia lock you out again?” you ask, as that has happened before. You keep an extra key to their apartment in case of such an emergency.

“Guess again!” Octavia calls tiredly, but still sounding relatively happy, despite the odd hour of the morning and the long walk she probably endured. You did not see the brown Earth pony at first; she seemed to blend into the background.

“Good morning, Octavia.”

“And to you, Lieutenant,” she smiles.

“Don’t you have to work this evening? Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

She rolls her eyes but still keeps a tired, content smile. “I do and I was.” She gestures to Vinyl. “She was supposed to be home two hours ago so I had to go out and find her-”

“Shh!” Vinyl exclaims, waving her forelegs in the air in a gesture to get Octavia to stop talking. “I want to tell him!”

“All right, all right,” Octavia giggles.

Vinyl turns back to you again, still seeming too excited for 5 a.m. She’s never been a morning pony.

“Hmm…” you think again. “The both of you are here… before I go to work… Come to wish me a happy birthday?”

“It’s not your birthday.”

“No it’s not.”

“I got the job!”

You pause, looking at the white mare with a tilted head and a moderately confused expression. She got the job? What job?

Then it hits you.

“You did?” you ask, your heart beating faster and faster.

She nods.

“Vinyl! I’m so happy for you!”

You throw your forelegs around the mare and hug her tight. She squeaks but hugs you back, squeezing equally as tightly.

“I really couldn’t have done it without you,” she confesses, as though you didn’t know that already.

Of course she couldn’t have done it without you. You have basically been supporting her financially since she dropped out of college.

Which was an awful decision; and one your parents have been complaining about since it happened.

Primarily to you.

Not that you ever went to college. You dropped out of high school, but when you did, you already had a plan; which was to go into the military. Once you were old enough, you dropped out and enlisted.

But Vinyl just dropped out without warning and is living day to day.

Whatever.

You support her. Somepony has to, or else her and Octavia will die.

And you do it because you love her.

“Aww!” Octavia coos. “Who is this little guy?”

You thought Octavia was gushing over the two of you hugging, but after Vinyl disengages from your hug, you see that she has found your neighbors cat.

“My neighbors cat,” you say. “Trotsky.”

“The cat’s name is Trotsky?”

“No, my neighbor is Trotsky. The cat’s name is Jeffrey.”

“Hey there, little guy!” she squeaks, sounding so tired that she seems to be intoxicated. She puts her face right in front of the cats’. “Don’t you just have the most ridiculous name ever?”

Jeffrey is, indeed, a ridiculous name.

“Be careful! He scratches,” you warn, before mumbling, “I would know.”

While Octavia is distracted, Vinyl pushes you aside, moving a little further from the brown(ish) gray(ish) mare.

“Hey, uh…” she stutters. “Uhm…”

You know where this is going already. Of course she needs something. Why else would she walk all the way over here?

“Can I… Can I borrow some more money? It’s just, I got the job and all, but I won’t get paid until next week, and my share of the rent is… a little short…”

“Your share of the rent is always short.”

Her ears flatten. She takes a quick glance back at Octavia, who is still distracted.

“I know… but I did get the job, so I can start paying you back.”

You shake your head. “Don’t worry about that.”

“Don’t worry about what?”

“About paying me back.”

She stares at you for a second. “Wh-What?”

“Don’t worry about paying me back. You’re way too far in debt to be owing me money. Take whatever money you make and take Octavia out to dinner or something.”

“I…” she stops, trying to think of what to say. “I will. Th-Thank you.” She hugs you again, much gentler this time. “I am going to pay you back one day.”

You return the hug. “It’s okay. When you become rich and famous, you can buy me a big ol’ mansion or something.”

She chuckles. “I’ll do that.”

“How much do you need this time?” you ask, breaking away from the hug.

“Uhm…” she shifts her weight. “Maybe like… 200 bits?”

That’s every bit that you have on you, but you give it up anyway. It’s just money. Who really needs it?

Vinyl, apparently.

“I really appreciate this, like, you have no idea,” she says, sounding relieved.

“Vinyl, it’s okay. It’s what family does.”

“Tell that to mom and dad.”

You are not getting involved in a conversation about your parents right now. Today is going to be a good day, damnit! Whether it wants to be or not!

“Yeah, yeah,” you wave her off. “Just go home and get some sleep. A working lady needs her rest.”

She laughs, happy to be a ‘working lady.’

“Well, I’m not much of a lady, but I sure am working!”

“All right. Run along with your pretty little fillyfriend now. I gotta get to work.”

Despite your efforts to shoo the energetic white mare away, she does not budge. “Hey! You should totally come to the club that I’m playing at! Plenty of hot, drunk mares dancing around. You can have the ones that don’t hit on me!” she winks.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll stop by later.”

She gasps. “Really?!”

“No.”

Of course you’re not going to a club. Vinyl knows very well that you have never been to one and probably never will. The idea of going to one has never really crossed your mind, but it doesn’t seem like it would be that enjoyable.

“Now get on out of here,” you say. It always takes a few attempts to get rid of Vinyl. “Octavia looks like she’s about to pass out.”

She’s about to make her way towards Octavia, but turns to you one last time. “I am going to pay you back, you know.”

“We can talk about that later.”

She smiles and nuzzles under your chin, being careful as to not stab you with her horn. Unicorns have always freaked you out a little.

“And Vinyl?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m proud of you.”

She blushes as she pulls away from you. “Thanks.” She kisses your cheek before running off after her fillyfriend.

Octavia, during your 45 second conversation with Vinyl, seems to have fallen asleep right in the middle of the street.

And Jeffrey the cat is standing on top of her.

“Wakey wakey, Tavi!” Vinyl whispers, poking the sleeping mare in the side. “Get off her, furball!” She swats at the feline who is quick to scurry away. “I’m the only one allowed on top of Tavi!”

Great.

There are a lot of things you didn’t need to hear, and that was certainly one of them.

This ‘great’ day of yours is starting off wonderfully.

“I seriously hate those things. Alright, up she goes!”

Vinyl physically lifts the half-asleep gray mare onto her back and starts the long walk back to their house.

You would offer to carry the sleeping earth pony, as you are much more fit to do so than Vinyl; but you really ought to get to work.

“Love you, big bro!” your sister shouts rather loudly for this time of morning. “I’ll call you before I go to work tonight!”

You can hear the excitement in her voice as she says that. All she’s ever really wanted to be was a DJ, and now she has that chance.

This is probably the first time she has ever used the words ‘I’ and ‘work’ in the same sentence.

“For the last time, Vinyl! I don’t have a phone!”

“Get with the times, brother!”

You roll your eyes. “Love you, Vinyl.”

“Love you too!”

And the both of you head in separate directions.

==========

Telephones and televisions were only recently brought to Equestria. They’ve been around for five years or so, but Equestrians didn’t start caring about them until they became fairly advanced.

And now the things are everywhere.

There are televisions and phones in houses, bars, and on the street. You don’t see the need in owning either device, so you do not have either device.

The technology of the machines has advanced incredibly quickly thanks to unicorn magic, but you don’t care. You doubt you will ever own that sort of technology. Just sounds like a waste of effort.

It was fun talking to Vinyl, though. Getting her to stand in one place for more than a minute takes considerable effort, but she can sometimes manage it if she needs money.

It’s a shame Octavia and Vinyl don’t live closer. Those two are good company.

The streets of Canterlot are almost entirely empty, except for a few early-risers. You see the same ponies out and about at this time every single day, but haven’t spoken with any of them.

Not because Royal Guards don’t talk, but because you’re rather shy. You do nod to the early-risers every morning, but that’s it.

Some ponies are just now waking up and some are just returning from work. The paper pony is making deliveries. What a great day.

The walk to the castle takes about ten minutes or so. You’ve done it so many times that you just sort of move without thinking, as though your brain is on auto-pilot.

As you make your way to the gates of the castle, you do a quick check to make sure that all the guards are stationed correctly outside.

Seeing that they are, you walk in.

Nopony stops you. Nopony even looks at you. Everypony, whether it be a soldier or a maid, who works in the castle knows who you are.

There are a decent number of guards working at this very moment who are directly under your command.

Walking through the castle does take quite a bit of time, as it is humongous, but the scenery is nice, so it’s not really a big deal.

Plus, you get to see the interior of a building that most ponies will never get the chance to enter, so that’s pretty cool.

You bid good morning to the castle staff and they return it, as usual.

At some point, you reach Princess Celestia’s tower and begin climbing the stairs to reach her chambers. There are quite a number of stairs, so it takes a while, but you don’t really mind. The stairs in the castle are a little wider and taller than you are used to because they are not built for normal sized ponies. Princess Celestia is rather tall.

After a few moments, you reach the top. There are two guards standing diligently outside of the massive wooden doors that lead to the Princess’ chambers. They must be tired.

When the Princess awakens, you will know; everypony will know. As you wait, you think.

‘I need to go to the grocery store at some point. Gotta get some butter and maybe a six pack. Do I have any money left after this morning?’

Nope.

‘All right. That’s fine. Guess I’ll have to go sometime tomorrow then.’

At least you get paid tomorrow. You should immediately go to the marketplace and pick up some produce. Eating fast food every night is not healthy. It’s good, but it will eventually kill you.

It’s also incredibly convenient. You often do not choose to leave work until Celestia retires for the evening, which can be quite late. Grabbing something from Burger Queen or Windy’s is just simple to do.

You get fast food like, every day, especially when you work abnormally late.

Sometimes, though, the Princess will make you leave. She has done that before. She says it’s not healthy for you to spend all day here. You disagree, but obey her commands.

Most days, you don’t get back home until after 9, and by that time, you just go to sleep. There is no time to cook for yourself, so you don’t.

The doctor told you to change your schedule, seeing how unhealthy it is, but you haven’t. You don’t want to.

This castle feels more like home than your shitty apartment, so why would you want to leave?

An orange glow shines over the horizon, signalling that the Day Princess of Equestria has awoken.

And now your work day has officially begun.

Only a few moments pass before the large wooden doors at the end of the hall open and the white alicorn walks out.

She does not stop walking as she passes you and begins heading down the stairs. As she walks by you, you start walking as well, moving a little faster than an earth pony’s average pace in order to keep up with her.

“Good morning, Princess,” you greet. Royal Guards are never supposed to talk to the Princesses unless it’s important, but Princess Celestia encourages you to speak. She has probably gotten bored of not talking to any of the guards for 1,000 years or however long she has been Princess.

“Good morning, Lieutenant,” she smiles. “How was the sunrise this morning?”

“The best one so far, Your Grace.”

“You say that everyday.”

“And everyday it’s true.”

She giggles, as though it was a joke. “How are you today?”

“Diligent, Your Majesty.”

“Of course you are.” She laughs again, as though something is funny. For a moment, you think she is playing some sort of prank on you, as she has done in the past, but you’re not sure what it is.

Or if there really is one anyway. Maybe she’s just really happy today.

The regular small talk of the morning is exchanged, as it is every morning. It’s just what you two do in order to start the day.

Because you are her personal bodyguard, and spend almost every second with her, Princess Celestia allows you to talk relatively freely. You never complain or say anything derogatory while wearing the uniform, so as long as you behave, you can basically say whatever.

You wonder how bored Princess Celestia must have been for 1,000 years without her sister or any guards to talk to. Incredibly bored, you imagine.

Formalities have not entirely dissolved, of course. You know when you can speak, when not to, and how to address her. You haven’t forgotten what you are.

She is still your boss.

The rest of the day will be spent like every other day; with you standing next to or around Princess Celestia as she does whatever it is she does.

What fun.

About halfway down the stairs, Princess Celestia’s assistant runs up and takes her position on the alicorn’s left side.

“Good morning, Ms. Raven,” the Princess greets.

Her assistant returns the greeting hurriedly, as though there are more important things that can be said than ‘good morning.’

Ms. Raven, a small white mare with a brown mane and tail who wears large glasses, is responsible for Princess Celestia’s daily schedule. If the Princess has something to get done, Raven knows about it. She has brown eyes and a quill and paper as a cutie mark.

She always seems to be in a hurry; speaking quickly and constantly slightly out of breath. Maybe it’s natural? Maybe she’s stressed.

Raven goes mostly where Princess Celestia goes, so the three of you are often together for large portions of the day.

The Princess and her assistant begin going over the schedule of the day, but none of that concerns you. It doesn’t matter what Princess Celestia does, just where exactly she does it.

The Princess’ mornings all go the same way, really. She eats breakfast, then moves into the Throne Room while Princess Luna retires for the day.

Raven does have a schedule for Princess Celestia everyday, but the Princess doesn’t always follow it. She’s far too used to doing whatever she feels like to be bogged down by somepony’s schedule. You wonder why she bothers Raven with making a schedule in the first place.

But it’s not your place to question.

She enters the Dining room where Princess Luna is already sitting. She greets her sister as Raven leaves the room to do whatever it is she does to get ready for the day.

“Your Grace,” you bow to Princess Luna, then Princess Celestia, before beginning to walk out of the room.

As you exit, you do a quick scan to make sure every guard is where they need to be; which they are. Good. They know their jobs and they do them just fine.

The barracks is essentially the basement of the castle, and that is where you are heading. Down in the basement is where the guards who are not on duty, but still in the castle, spend their free time.

The barracks contain beds, two kitchens, a few bathrooms, a couple pool tables, and an armory towards the back.

You wish you could live here, and never have to leave, but you doubt your family would appreciate that very much. They are the only reason, you suppose, you don’t just sleep in the barracks and go to work and repeat.

The way to the barracks is full of soldiers preparing for and finishing their work day. Some are getting undressed, some are getting dressed, but most are just standing around and relaxing.

Until they see you.

They all snap to attention as you walk by, just like they do everyday. You like to think that you’re a good boss; not too strict or lenient, a pleasure to work for, and an all around decent officer.

You assume you are. No one has said otherwise.

Not that they would.

Unfortunate as it may seem, you do not know many of your subordinates on a personal level. You know about the more energetic and friendly ones, but overall, you just know everypony’s name and nothing more.

Captain Armor resides within the castle, so he’s not usually down in the barracks for any reason at all. He keeps all of his belongings in his room, you assume.

Anywho, you sign out your sword, attach it to your side, and begin to move back upstairs again.

If there is one thing in this world that you hate, it is, without a doubt, the useless, sharp piece of metal that dangles from your side all day. Not once have you ever had to use it, but with the recent surge of 1,000 year old enemies returning and attacking Canterlot, you may just have to.

You hope you do. It’d make all the training finally worth it.

The entirety of the Royal Guard is run by whoever the Captain is. In your case, the Captain is Shining Armor, who is a Prince now, but still acting Captain.

You almost hope he will resign his position of Captain. Then you might be promoted in his place.

It’s a nice thought, but he doesn’t show any signs of leaving. He’s worked just as hard as you for that position, and he’s earned it.

Under the Captain are four Lieutenants; you are one of them, of course.

The rest of the 200 Royal Guardsponies are below that rank, but no need to focus on them.

The walk back upstairs is almost exactly the same as the walk down them, but now you have a sword. Most ponies are preparing to take their shifts, which don’t start for another half hour or so. You work a much longer day than anypony else here.

Except Princess Celestia, you suppose.

You return to the Dining Room, but remain next to the door. Your job is to guard Princess Celestia, which does not involve standing next to her all the time.

Actually, it does.

While she is in the Throne Room, you are standing about 15 feet from her at most at any given time.

Most days, when you enter the Dining Room after retrieving your sword, Princess Luna has already retired for the day, but that is not the case as of right now. The Princess of the Night and Day are conversing, but only for a moment.

Princess Luna suddenly stands, bids a good day to her sister, and leaves, accompanied by her Lunar Guards.

You don’t know what their deal is. Are they even real ponies? Where did she get them?

You honestly have no idea, but don’t actually care enough to go find out.

The schedule for the morning goes as it always does. The Princess will read the paper, drink a cup of tea or whatever, then stand and leave. You have approximately three and half minutes before she does so.

The time passes quickly as ever before the Princess feels ready to move into the Throne Room and officially start her day. As she stands, you rush to her side and keep up with her.

After fully exiting the Dining Room and into a corridor, she begins talking.

“We have been working together for quite some time now,” she says, glancing over at you, but you do not look back up at her, as you are not supposed to. “And very often, I have noticed.”

You wonder what she means by that, exactly. You’re her bodyguard, and are supposed to be around her all the time.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” you reply. “It is my sworn duty to protect you.”

“I have plenty of guards.”

“Thus, much protection.”

“Yes, but that’s not what I mean.” The both of you enter the Throne Room and approach the large golden chair in which Celestia will sit for probably the rest of the day. “I see you every day of the week from sunup to sundown. Whenever I am awake, you are here with me.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” you respond, not understanding what she’s trying to get at. “I am your bodyguard.”

“Yes, I know,” she sighs. “But I think, perhaps, that you have been working too much.”

What? Why on Earth would the Princess of Equestria think that her own bodyguard is ‘working too much?’

“Perhaps ‘working too much’ isn’t the right way to say it,” she explains, as though reading your thoughts. You both enter into the Throne Room and she takes her seat, with you by her side.

You don’t say anything.

“Are you aware that you receive days off?” she asks.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Do you wish for me to take them?”

She smiles. “I wish for you to enjoy life while you’re young. I have no doubt that spending all day with me is better than a dream come true! But still, there are other things to do than listen to an old mare babble on every day with other old ponies. Even I admit, spending all day here can get a little boring.”

“Do you want me to quit, Your Majesty?” you ask, still not understanding what she’s getting at.

“No, no… Forget I said anything. It sounded better in my head. Just be sure to enjoy every moment of life, Lieutenant. It isn’t as long as most seem to think.”

“I will, Your Majesty.”

You have no idea what she’s been going on about, but she’s like this most mornings. She talks to you, and you listen, of course, but you don’t always understand what she says. Surely she is full of wisdom, but most of her advice goes over your head.

You’re a simple guy. Life, as you see it, is going wonderfully. You’ve only wanted to be a Royal Guard, so this job is literally a dream come true.

And for somepony at your age to have accomplished what you have is incredible. There have been newspaper articles written just about you.

The rest of the day will probably go exactly as you think it will.

Princess Celestia will do whatever it is she does for the next few hours, and then it will be lunch time.

You used to eat meals alone and at odd times during the work day. Once Princess Celestia found out, she forced you to eat with her, and you have been doing so ever since. She never used to have anypony to eat with her too, so you both keep each other company.

She does most of the talking, but you say things occasionally too. You figure that after eating lunches together for the past couple months, your relationship with each other is very good, and that’s why you can speak relatively freely.

After lunch, Princess Celestia will do whatever she wants. You think that today is a pretty slow day, so she shouldn’t be doing all that much.

Tonight, the Princesses are throwing some sort of party for the elite of Canterlot. How exciting.

After that, you will go on home, sleep, and repeat.

Today is going to be a great day. You just know it.

Chapter 2: The Party

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The day has past much like any other day; with nothing happening but the usual governmental business that you do not participate in.

Due to your rank, you get to attend many meetings that the Princesses go to, and a number of those meetings do not officially exist. There are secrets locked away in your brain that very few creatures in this world know.

But you’d never tell anyone. You’re loyal.

It does make you a little nervous sometimes, though. If somepony wanted to know something, they wouldn’t have to go after the Princess, they could go after you.

They could, but if anyone tried such a thing, you would kick their ass. You didn’t get to be Lieutenant in Royal Guard at your young age for nothing. If somepony wants a fight, they’ll get it, and they will lose.

You have been training to fight ponies and other various creatures for years now, and you have excelled at doing so.

In practice anyway.

You were a sergeant at the time of the Battle of Canterlot, with all the Changelings and such, and managed to not get you or your squad in deep shit. In fact, your squad was one of the only ones not to be overtaken by those bugs.

You figure that’s what helped propel you to becoming a Lieutenant.

Aside from that brief struggle, nothing much has happened in your career, besides the multiple promotions in a short span of time.

There have been a bunch of 1,000 year old enemies of the Princess returning recently, but you have not had the honor of fighting any of them. So you wait for your chance.

It’s bound to happen eventually.

Anyway, it’s the day of some massive Ball. Ponies from all over Equestria, but mainly from Canterlot, will show up to dance and drink and do whatever they really feel like.

You will be standing guard, which is mainly equal to standing and watching the party happen for the remainder of the night. These parties rarely get out of control, and it only happened once in recent memory.

And the Elements of Harmony will not be in attendance this evening. That makes your job a little bit easier, you think.

All around, ponies are running back and forth in the Dance Hall, setting up tables, setting up the dance floor, building the stage for the band, bringing in bottle after bottle of expensive wine, and so on…

This party will be built entirely within several hours of the guests arriving, and then deconstructed hours after they all leave.

You never really noticed how many ponies work here until now. It’s a lot.

As you do one final check to make sure the guards are in place, you go off to find the Princess of Sun, and from there you will wait until the party begins.

==========

“It’s party time,” Princess Celestia says to you as her guests begin arriving in mass. She says that every time one of her parties begin. She thinks she’s really funny.

This isn’t really a party, though. It’s a Gala or Ball of some kind. You can’t keep up with all this nobility nonsense. They seem to have one of these giant parties once every week or two to celebrate something that hasn’t been relevant for centuries. You assume that these traditions where the Princess throws some kind of party for the nobility started centuries ago for some reason, but nopony can really remember for exactly what reason.

Nevertheless, nopony wanted to stop the parties, so they keep throwing them and ponies keep showing up.

Some of these events are much bigger than others. Like the Grand Galloping Gala is the biggest of these parties, but also somehow manages to remain very exclusive.

You’re always invited, though.

The Princess of the sun is standing at the top of a very large staircase in the main hall, with you standing by her side. Sometimes you stand next to her, sometimes you don’t. It depends on where the Princess or Captain Armor want you to be.

Captain Armor and his wife are out of town, though. You don’t know what they do. So Princess Celestia asked you to stand next to her for the first part of the party.

Sometimes Princess Celestia doesn’t want you being next to her because “it may intimidate the guests.” For whatever reason, though, she doesn’t seem to think that right now.

Or she doesn’t care if her guests are intimidated. Which is entirely possible.

Princess Celestia is a bit of an oddball, if you may say such a thing.

This party begins as any other party at the castle would; with noble ponies arriving in their beautiful carriages, checking in with the guards outside (to make sure they were actually invited), and then they all come to greet the Princess.

You don’t know why, but every single pony that comes here will first greet the Princess. Nopony whatsoever will go straight into the main hall without climbing a mile of steps to greet the Princess.

Sometimes you think the Princess purposely put herself in such a high position to discourage ponies from talking to her. As her personal bodyguard, you know which nobleponies she likes and dislikes.

You hear about that stuff all the time. She complains to you a lot, if you may call it ‘complaining.’ Despite not responding most of the time, she does talk to you a lot, and asks you a lot of rhetorical questions.

But some of these nobleponies are real assholes, if you may say such a thing. But you just keep it in your head, like mostly everything else.

You have had your own personal encounters with numerous nobleponies on the streets of Canterlot, and they haven’t always been as kind as they could have been. Of course, you weren’t wearing your armor at any of those times, so they probably never knew you were a guard.

It may have been a custom to greet the Princess before entering the main hall, but perhaps the Princess has gotten tired of that. She’s been doing this sort of thing for centuries now.

Oh well. Time to think about something else.

You know this castle like the tip of your snout; you know just about every single pony who works here, does business here, guards, cleans, cooks, or does absolutely anything else here. If somepony is in this castle, you will know about it.

You also know every single tile and brick in this entire establishment. And this place is very large. If something is even slightly out of place, you will know about it.

Thankfully, though, everything seems to be going perfectly fine tonight. A great way to end a great day.

Well, you tell yourself it’s great, but honestly it’s really no different than any other day.

But then again, every day working for Princess Celestia is a great day.

You stand by Princess Celestia’s side, silent, observing everything around you very calmly.

==========

After an hour of standing as still as a statue, Princess Celestia is informed that every guest has officially arrived, and they have all greeted the Princess. As the final noble stallion kisses Princess Celestia’s hoof and walks away after a few pleasantries, the Princess turns to you.

“Well that was fun,” she sighs, magically cleaning the front of her shoe with a cloth. “Another successful party.”

Princess Celestia does not typically attend her own parties. She does a lot of the time, but when she does, she only shows up for the last half hour or so.

She’s not necessarily busy with anything else, she just isn’t the biggest fan of these parties anymore.

“Lieutenant,” she says, glancing at you. You straighten up to stand at attention, looking straight ahead. “I order you to go to the party.”

Huh. You have never received that order before.

“At once, Your Majesty,” you respond, as you should. “What is it exactly that you would like for me to do?”

Princess Celestia doesn’t usually have guards going through the party, as it may disturb the guests.

“I want you to enjoy yourself for the evening,” she says. You are not looking at her face but surely she is smiling.

Once again, that is an order that you have never received, and you are left a little confused by it.

The Princess continues. “You are to attend the party and mingle until it is officially over, and you are not to leave before then. Understood?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” you say, rather unsurely. “Though I have nothing to wear.”

“You may remain in your armor but do not wear your helmet.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Very good. You are dismissed, Lieutenant. Now go have fun.”

You stand at attention for a few more seconds before descending the stairs. On the way down, you can’t help but feel a little nervous.

Guarding these ponies is one thing, as you have been trained to do it, and have been doing it for years.

But talking to them? Royal Guards don’t talk! Royal Guards don’t mingle!

There is nothing in your training that could have prepared you for this night, but if it is the Princess’ wish, you shall obey. Without question...

But why is it the Princess’ wish? Why does she want you, and only you, it seems, to attend this party?

She could’ve gotten a different Lieutenant to do it, but she picked you. Does she think you’re charming and speak well? Because you’re not and you don’t.

Your legs feel a little shaky.

There are many ponies in Equestria who would qualify as being “extroverted,” but you aren’t necessarily one of them.

Especially not in these sort of situations.

As far as social rank goes, you’re as low as it gets, really.

Social rank doesn’t really mean anything to most ponies nowadays, but it still seems to mean a lot to these nobleponies here tonight.

Now you’re all nervous. You have to make a good impression with every single pony. Every single one. This is incredibly important.

If only Royal Guards could question their orders. Maybe then you could get out of this. But they can’t, so you don’t.

Who are you supposed to talk to anyway? None of these ponies know you. Or want to know you.

You enter the main hall where the party is in “full swing,” as they say.

On the far side of the hall is a small stage with a small orchestral group playing. You know for a fact that Octavia is there, playing her cello with her music buddies, or whatever they call themselves.

It would be nice to see her, but she is working. You’re usually working at this time too, so you’re at a loss of what to do.

If nothing else, you can always get a drink and listen to the music. Classical music is all right, you think. It’s not the best thing ever, but it can be cool.

As you walk through the party, you subconsciously observe anything and everything around you. Along the walls are a few Royal Guards; some of them can be hard to spot, but you know where they all are.

You see nobleponies chatting with each other about who knows what. There’s a lot of that going on.

Countless ponies in Equestria, who are not in attendance here tonight, would kill to be at this party.

Only to find out it’s not that great.

Aside from dressing up real fancy and dancing slowly, not much happens here. Aside from the gossip.

The stallions typically talk about business, or some other vaguely personal topic, while the mares group up and gossip about anything and everything. Nothing is sacred; everything gets talked about.

You don’t know why anypony would want to be apart of that, but that’s just you. Gossip has never interested you. If somepony you don’t know or barely know, does something, you probably don’t care.

The Wonderbolts are here, as they always are. And, of course, they are all within their little roped off area.

You have gotten to know them pretty well recently. At least the ones that attend these parties all the time and when the Princesses go to see one of their events in person.

On occasion, you have guarded them before.

You have all their autographs too. It’s not like you’re their biggest fan, as you can’t fly, never will fly, and don’t care about flying. But they’re cool.

Honestly, you have only ever gone to any of their events because Princess Celestia does every once in a while. Flight shows don’t especially interest you.

And it’s not like you can afford a ticket anyway.

But you do know some of them on a personal level, because some of the Wonderbolts attend every single one of the Princess’ parties. You don’t know why, but they always do.

You know the Captains, Spitfire and Soarin, but just a little bit. You talked to them once months ago when you were still a sergeant, and were guarding them one night. You weren’t supposed to talk, but you said a sentence or two.

However, you do know Fleetfoot really well.

Fleetfoot grew up just down the street from you. It’s not especially common for a Wonderbolt to not be from Cloudsdale, but Fleetfoot is from Canterlot, as you are.

You used to hang out every single day. You were childhood best friends.

That is, up until a few years ago.

You didn’t fall out or nothing with her, but you both just got so busy with your respective lives that you haven’t been able to talk or see each other almost ever. She left for the Wonderbolts, and has been very successful there, and you left for the Royal Guard.

Those three all seem to attend the Princess’ parties, so these are the three you know on some level. You wouldn’t say you’re friends with any of them, though. Not really.

Maybe you should go over there?

Fleetfoot is probably over there. It’d be great to see her for a bit. It’s been a while.

But it does look really crowded. Maybe you should do something else or come back later. You are a little too shy for this.

Maybe it’s time for a drink.

There is a large table just lined with drinks. What drink it is exactly, you cannot say, so you pick it up and sniff it.

It’s not something you’ve ever had. It smells expensive.

You take another whiff.

Is this wine? It’s not purple. It’s basically clear like water, but has bubbles.

Taking a quick glance over to your side, you see a couple ponies staring at you and talking in hushed tones.

You smile and chuckle nervously, your cheeks flushing, before downing your drink. You put the glass back down on the table and decide to walk to another part of the hall where ponies don’t think you’re weird.

You still don’t know what that drink was, but it was awful. It has left you with a terrible aftertaste in your mouth.

Walking through the party again, you can’t help but smack your lips, trying to get rid of that taste. What the hell was that? Seriously, does nopony drink soda anymore?

Octavia and her orchestral group can be seen up on their little stage, playing some classical song, as one may expect.

In front of the stage is a large group of ponies, dancing those fancy, well rehearsed dances that a peasant like you wouldn’t know.

You smile to yourself, being a peasant at a party for nobleponies. Something about that strangely makes you smile.

With that thought, a rather loud voice calls your name. Not your rank, or that you are a guard, but she shouts your name.

Not many ponies in this world would do that. And fewer ponies would be so loud as this in such a crowded, high class party.

You turn but don’t immediately see anypony. Who should you be looking for?

The only two mares you know at this party is Princess Celestia and Octavia, and that voice doesn’t belong to them…

“Over here!” the voice shouts again.

You, and everypony else in the immediate area, turns to see the source of the voice.

Walking towards you, with everypony watching and staring, is the one and only Fleetfoot, your old buddy. She is wearing all her Wonderbolt gear, and she even has her flight goggles hanging around her neck.

“I thought a Royal Guard would have better hearing than that!” she booms, before laughing. Everypony around is now looking between you, but you are very used to that, so it doesn’t bother you.

“How have you been?” she asks, wrapping her forelegs around you. “I haven’t seen you in months!”

You return the hug, but her grip is a little strong, so you can’t say anything. She has always been a little bit of a tomboy, but you’d never tell her. She thinks she’s a normal girl.

Upon noticing you not responding for as long as you have, she pulls back a bit and looks intensively at your face.

“This is you, isn’t it?” she asks, repeating your name. “I know you Royal Guards all look the same, but this looks just like you.”

You chuckle. “It’s me, it’s me. There aren’t very many earth pony Guards, you know.”

“Nope! How the hell would I know that? I don’t work here.” You roll your eyes. She always talks really fast. “So how have ya been? It’s been months!”

“Not quite. But I’ve been real good, Bigfoot.”

‘Bigfoot’ was Fleetfoot’s nickname back in the day. You gave her that name years ago, when you were in middle school together. It’s something that she hates, but you think it’s funny. Everypony back then used to call her that.

She groans. “Can you not call me that? Nopony calls me that anymore.”

You think for a second. “Hmm… Nah, I’ll call you what I want. So how’ve you been, Bigfoot?”

“Great!” she exclaims, ignoring her name. “Wonderbolts are awesome, you know? We travel, and fly, and eat, and party and stuff! Sometimes we go to these parties, sometimes we have our own. We do whatever.”

She’s really hyper and moving around all the time. You’re not hyper and don’t move around all that much. You make unlikely friends.

She gasps, very loudly, regaining the attention of those nobleponies around you. She leans in really close to you and looks around with her eyes, as though she thinks somepony is spying on you.

“Are you breaking any rules by talking?” she asks. “Or not wearing your hat?”

“It’s a helmet,” you correct. “And I won’t tonight. Princess Celestia ordered me to fraternize with the noble folk.”

The pegasus brightens. “Great! Come with me!”

She zips off through the crowd, and you slowly follow, not really knowing where you’re going, but happy to have found somepony you know to talk to.

Fleetfoot leads you directly into the roped off Wonderbolt section, which you enter without a problem, as you are a Lieutenant and a friend of a Wonderbolt. Good for you.

Spitfire, who is standing by herself, just listening to the music, is bumped into by an excited Fleetfoot. Spitfire turns rather calmly to her fellow pegasus, who you are now standing behind.

“Hey, Captain!” Fleetfoot greets. “I would like to introduce you-”

“I know who this is,” Spitfire interrupts, smiling and extending a hoof to you. “Lieutenant,” she nods, saying your name.

“Captain Spitfire,” you say, shaking her hoof. “It’s a pleasure.”

“How did you remember him?” Fleetfoot asks, almost in disbelief that Spitfire knew who you were.

“I’m good with faces,” the Captain responds.

“But they all look alike.”

“Not the Lieutenant. He’s an earth pony. Everypony knows how rare that is in the Royal Guard.”

“Except me, apparently. I didn’t even know it was actually him when I first saw him. I had to ask a couple times.”

“Thanks, Bigfoot,” you say. “We’ve only known each other for like, 20 years now.”

“Can you not call me that?!” Fleetfoot whines, stomping a hoof.

Spitfire chuckles. “Bigfoot?” She laughs again. “I really like that one. Why do you call her that?”

Before you have a chance to explain, Fleetfoot cuts in. “It’s a long story. I’ll explain later. Bye, Captain! Follow me!”

Fleetfoot zooms off again, and you are expected to follow. “Great to see you again, Captain Spitfire.”

“Likewise, Lieutenant. Please feel free to come back and talk if you want. That is, after Fleetfoot drags you all over the place.”

You chuckle. “I will surely try, thank you.”

With that, you try to catch up to your old pal who seems to be incredibly excited right now. But she is like that most of the time.

You catch up to Fleetfoot, who is pouring a cup of punch for herself at the Wonderbolt table. She downs it very quickly before turning to you.

“Want some? It’s pretty good,” she says. “Tastes a little acidic, though. I bet somepony spiked it!”

“No thanks, Fleetfoot, I’m good right now.”

She scoffs. “You’re still as boring as when we were kids. Hey, Misty Fly!” she shouts to another Wonderbolt. “Come here for a sec!”

“I’m not boring,” you protest.

“Pfft! You have the most boringest job in the history of boring jobs.”

“I guess it depends on how you look at things.”

“I look at things the awesome way.”

Misty Fly, another Wonderbolt, comes stumbling over, seeming slightly tipsy. Or more than slightly.

Fleetfoot begins. “Misty, I would like to introduce you to my old best buddy,” she says saying your rank and name again. “He works here at the Castle, which is pretty cool, but pretty boring, right?”

Misty ignores her fellow Wonderbolt. “You’re really cute,” she giggles, getting uncomfortably close your face. You can easily smell the alcohol on her breath. “I’ve always wanted a… stallion in uniform.”

She giggles again before sliding a hoof down your chest. This sort of thing can happen, as a Royal Guard, so you instinctively don’t move, but are ready to defend yourself, just in case.

“Great Misty, thanks,” Fleetfoot says, pushing her friend away. “Thank you, Misty, good to see you.”

She clears her throat before beginning again. “Sorry about that. Ahem. Anyways! On with the Wonderbolt tour!”

“Is she okay?” you ask, looking back at Misty, who is drinking some of the (presumably spiked) punch.

“Eh. Maybe. She’s been drinking since like, 10 o’clock this morning.”

You would ask why, but it’s none of your business, and you don’t gossip, so you let it be.

Fleetfoot continues to drag you along, and the next Wonderbolt is Captain Soarin, who is debatably the most popular of the Wonderbolts.

You don’t know much about him, aside from what you hear from others or read in magazines. Whenever you go to the dentist or doctor and sit in the waiting room you read, and sports magazines are always what they have available.

He’s also one of the most famous ponies in Equestria, if not the world. The Wonderbolts travel to different countries to perform, so everypony knows at least something about him.

But not everypony gets to meet him.

Usually meeting Wonderbolts would make a pony nervous, but you haven’t felt that way at all. Perhaps it’s because you’ve known one of them for years.

Or whatever you drank earlier was alcoholic, and it’s helping with your nerves.

Soarin is just standing by himself at the far end of the designated Wonderbolt area, staring at all the ponies dancing in front of the orchestral stage. He’s smiling a bit, as he always seems to be when you see pictures of him.

“Howdy, Captain!” Fleetfoot booms as she often does. Thankfully, the only ponies in the immediate area are Fleetfoot, Soarin, and yourself.

Soarin looks around, searching for the source of the voice. With nopony else around, he quickly spots you and your loud Wonderbolt friend.

“What’s up, Fleetfoot?” the captain asks nonchalantly. Immediately, you can see at least one difference between the two Wonderbolt captains. Soarin already appears to be much more casual, while Spitfire seems to act like an officer.

That’s the first impression, anyway.

Soarin then turns to you. “Hey, Lieutenant!” he says, saying your name with a smile. “It’s been a while.”

“Good evening, Captain Soarin,” you reply.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Fleetfoot says, before leaving.

She just leaves. She’s been showing you around and talking to ponies with you, and now she just decides to leave.

Whatever. You could use a break from her for a few minutes.

“How have you been?” Soarin asks. “It’s been a while.”

“Yes it has. I’ve been real good, thank you. How about you? And what are you doing all the way over here, Captain?” you ask. “I would think, at a party like this, you would prefer mingling with fans than being off by yourself.”

“Nah,” he shrugs. “I mean, you work here, you’re always here for these parties. And I am too. And so are all of these ponies.”

He gestures to all the nobleponies on the dancefloor and everywhere else in the hall.

Soarin continues. “I must’ve talked to all of these ponies a dozen times over in the past three months alone. There’s nothing wrong with that, but eventually it gets old, y’know? The small talk and pleasantries just get annoying.”

“I can understand that,” you say.

He laughs. “I know you’d get it. You’re around royalty 24/7, and they’ve gotta be doing all these... mundane activities a lot more than I do.”

“Yeah, that’s the truth. It’s none of my business, and I don’t care what the princesses do, really, but I know it grates on them after a while.”

“Well, it definitely gets on my nerves. I don’t want to sound like all I do is complain!” he says rather quickly, defending himself, though you made no accusations. “I don’t mind it. I love talking to fans. I do more autograph signings and public appearances than anypony I know! But it’s good to just be away from it for a bit.”

You assume he is implying that he wants to be alone, so you back up a bit. You really didn’t mean to impose on the Captain of the Wonderbolts, and feel completely embarrassed to have done so.

“Oh, of course, Captain. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“No, no, no, no!” he exclaims, causing you to stop in your tracks. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he chuckles. “I’m happy to talk to you, Lieutenant. It’s not too often that a Royal Guard actually talks! Especially to me. Please stay.”

“I will be more than happy to do so,” you smile at the blue stallion, who returns it even more so.

You hear an announcement being made at the dancefloor, causing both you and Soarin to look at a large congregation of ponies that have suddenly gathered.

“What’s going on over there?” Soarin asks, looking back at the dancefloor.

“Everypony is partnering up for one final dance,” you answer. “It’s how every party ends. They all do one long, final dance, and go home… You didn’t know that?”

“Huh. I guess I never stuck around long enough. I’ve never stayed at one of these parties so late.”

“Really? Do all the Wonderbolts leave together?”

“Not typically, no. I’ll leave first most of the time, and Spitfire always leaves last. I swear she’s always the last one here.”

“Why’s that?”

The orchestra starts playing rather loudly, and everypony gets to dancing. When ponies hooves start clopping on the hard ground, such as the dance floor, it can make quite a bit of noise.

“What?!” Soarin shouts, not being able to hear you over the music and dancing that has just begun.

“I said, ‘Why’s that’?”

Soarin shakes his head, presumably not hearing you once again. He gestures to you with a hoof to follow him and he turns, heading onto the balcony just outside of the dance hall. You oblige and follow right behind the stallion.

Once onto the balcony, the drastic change in volume is immediately noticeable. It was way too loud in there, but it’s pretty peaceful out here.

The air is also very cool. You didn’t notice how warm it was inside, with all of those ponies wearing their clothes and dancing and whatnot.

But anyway, the birds and crickets chirping at this time of night, complemented with the moon and the stars and the temperature makes for a very nice evening.

The both of you walk to the far end of the incredibly large balcony, which is empty aside from the two of you. Soarin leans his upper body against the stone railing, and you quickly follow suit.

The royal gardens are very beautiful, but they can hardly be seen at night, even with the bright moon and stars shining down.

“There, now I can hear,” Soarin says with a smile. You swear, that stallion must be one of the happiest beings on the planet, because he always has that smile. “I’m sorry,” he says your name, “what were you saying?”

You chuckle. “I was just wondering why Captain Spitfire is always the last one to stick around at these parties.”

“I’m not 100% sure, honestly. I was actually going to ask you, considering you work here and are probably around later than she is.”

“I do stay pretty late. I see Captain Spitfire quite a bit, but I can’t talk when I’m working, so I don’t know.”

“You’re not working right now?” the blue stallion asks.

“No, actually. Princess Celestia specifically ordered me to mingle at this party. For what reason exactly, I cannot say, but I follow her orders when she gives them.”

“And what a strange order it is. I’ve never heard of a Royal Guard being commanded to go to a party before. She must be getting pretty bored,” he jokes.

You laugh, having thought the same thing once or twice this evening. “Yes, that’s possible. Couldn’t ask for a better boss.”

“How long have you been a Guard?”

“A few years, but I’ve been training for it my whole life.”

“Same with me!” he says, sounding pretty excited. “I’ve wanted to be a Wonderbolt since before I could even fly. When I was just a colt I would run around the house pretending I was flying, just wanting to be a Wonderbolt.”

“How long have you been a professional flyer?”

“Hmm,” he thinks. “It’s been, what… six years now? Something like that. I started early because I dropped out of flight school to do it. I clearly had the talent, and was just wasting it at school.”

You laugh. “I dropped out of school too. To join the Guard.”

“No kidding! That’s awesome!” He laughs. “Life worked out pretty well for us then, huh?”

You shrug. “It’s not bad.”

You don’t know why you said that. Whenever somepony asks you how your life is going, you always say it’s great. That’s your go-to response for that question every single time it is asked. But you answered differently this time.

Huh.

“I know I’m not the smartest guy,” Soarin continues, “but I’m one hell of a flyer.”

That he is.

For the longest time, you and Soarin just talk, getting to know each other as the party rages inside. Time passes without either of you recognizing, or really caring about it.

==========

“It’s good to make appearances abroad,” Soarin explains. “It’s good for business and is a great way to promote the Wonderbolts and all that. But I don’t think we’ll be going back to Saddle Arabia for quite a while,” he laughs.

You laugh too, having thoroughly enjoyed his story. “That’s probably for the best.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, before the both of you settle into a comfortable silence.

Which is almost immediately broken by your oldest friend.

“Alright you two! That’s enough chitchat!”

The both of you turn back towards the castle and see Fleetfoot walking towards you. She is wearing an incredibly large smile, which is rather unsettling. The female pegasus wraps her forelegs around both yours and Soarin’s necks, squeezing a bit and staring up at the sky.

“What a beautiful night!” she says in a hushed tone, which is not very characteristic of her. “It’s so romantic!”

You feel your cheeks, and your whole body for that matter, warm up, not sure what she may be insinuating.

“Sorry,” Fleetfoot says to you. “But I gotta take Soarin away.”

“For what?” the Captain of the Wonderbolts asks his subordinate.

“For what? Pfft! You two have been out here for over an hour! Blabbering about Celestia knows what!”

Has it really been that long?!

“In that hour,” the mare continues, “no autographs have been signed, no pictures have been taken, and I would really love to go to bed.

“The only reason the Wonderbolts come to these things is to mingle with as many ponies as possible. Which you have not accomplished tonight, Captain.”

“Whatever,” Soarin sighs, pushing Fleetfoot off of himself. She releases you after that.

“Spitfire is also getting a little ticked off,” Fleetfoot explains.

“I’ll deal with that in a minute, Fleetfoot, ok?” Soarin asks. “Go inside, I’ll be right there.”

“You got it!” Fleetfoot wishes you a goodnight before zooming back inside.

The two of you stand on the balcony in a momentary silence before Soarin begins. “Sorry about her.”

“No need to apologize,” you say. “We grew up together. I know all about Fleetfoot, trust me.”

“Really? That’s awesome! I can’t believe we didn’t talk about that.” He laughs again. “But anyway! I was just wondering, before I go, I’m having a party tomorrow night at the Wonderbolt house. It’s only a few blocks from here. I was wondering if you wanted to go?”

Without even thinking, you give an immediate response. “Absolutely!”

Your nervousness resurfaces soon after you give the answer. “What kind of party is it?” you ask.

“Oh, it’s nothing huge. I know Royal Guards have to keep their images spotless, but we Wonderbolts do too, so it won’t be anything big.”

Great! When was the last time you were invited to a party? And not like a Gala or a party thrown by royalty that you have to go to.

Now that you’re thinking about it, you probably haven’t been invited to a party since grade school, when a classmate would just invite everypony in their class over.

It’s been a while.

“What’s the occasion?” you ask.

“For the party?” He chuckles. “I guess there really isn’t one. We just have ‘em every once in a while. It’s good to keep the public interested in us. It gives normal ponies an opportunity to hang out with us for a bit.”

“Well, I am a normal pony, I guess.”

“No, no! I didn’t mean you. I really didn’t mean you, honestly,” he says your name, and you’re slightly impressed that he remembered it. He looks all flustered as he moves a little closer to you. “I really like talking to you and everything, and it’d be great to hang out with you again! I don’t just want you to show up, I want you to hang out with me. I think we still got a lot to talk about.”

You blush a bit upon seeing how much Soarin legitimately seems to want you to come to this party of his. It makes you feel really good.

“Yeah!” you say. “I’ll definitely go. I’d love to. Thank you for the invitation, Captain.”

He chuckles. “Hey, it’s no problem! You’re welcome over anytime. Me and Spitfire live at the Wonderbolt house.”

“You do? Just down the block? In that big ol’ mansion?”

“Yep!” Soarin exclaims, with his same smile. “It’s great. It’s a real nice house, and it’s huge. Technically, any Wonderbolt can apply to live there if they want, but only me and Spitfire actually do live there.”

“How is it living with Captain Spitfire?”

“It’s not so bad, I guess. Took a while to get used to, though. We’re not so alike. We stay out of each others way most of the time, so we just see each other at work. She can be hard to live with, between you and me, so I try to stay out of her way. We live on opposite sides of the house, so that’s pretty easy to do.”

“Well that’s pretty good.”

“Hey, I’m really sorry,” he says your name. “But I gotta get going. If I stay out here any longer Spitfire will give me hell.”

“Yeah, of course, go on ahead.”

“Thanks, really. I’ll see you tomorrow night, right?”

“Absolutely. I’ll be there.”

“Great! Great. I’ll see you tomorrow! Party starts at 8, but you can come over whenever you get off work.”

“All right, Captain, I shall, thank you. Have a good night.”

“You too!”

And with that, Soarin heads back inside the castle to do whatever it is that a Captain of the Wonderbolts does.

You follow a minute after, having just collected yourself after speaking with the most famous athlete in all of Equestria, if not the world, for over an hour, and having been personally invited to his party.

You still can’t really believe that any of that happened. When you were talking to him, it didn’t even seem like you were talking to a celebrity. You were just talking to somepony that you didn’t know anything about.

And he appears to have really liked you. Liked you enough to invite you over to his house, anyway, which is way more than any other pony can say.

The Wonderbolt area is now packed full of ponies, trying to get autographs or pictures or whatever they’re looking for.

Most of them look at you, probably wondering why you were out on the balcony with Captain Soarin. But that’s none of their business, so you pay them no mind.

Normally, you would attempt to have a word with Octavia, as her band has officially stopped playing. However, it appears that it is too late, as she and her music buddies have already left.

Damn.

Anyway, after walking out of the Wonderbolt area for the evening and on your way out of the castle, you are joined by none other than the Princess of the Day, who seemingly pops up out of no where.

You don’t know how you didn’t see her coming, as she is literally twice your size.

She is looking unusually happy for this time of night.

She isn’t a night pony. This is the first time you have seen her wearing a smile at night.

“Have you had a pleasant evening, Lieutenant?” the Princess asks, walking by your side, as opposed to the other way around.

“Yes, your Majesty,” you say, taking a slight bow, as you ought to do when confronted with royalty. “How did your night go, Princess?”

“Eh,” she says, more casually than one may expect a princess to be. “It was ok. Not memorable.”

Looking at the Princess for the first time, you notice something. “Princess, you have a bit of frosting on your chin.”

“Oh!” She wipes her chin with her foreleg, not a handkerchief, cleaning herself. “How do I look now?”

“Wonderful, Your Majesty, as ever.”

“I noticed that you were in the Wonderbolt section for a very long time, Lieutenant. Have you made some new friends?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, I believe I have.”

“Splendid! I would be delighted if you would share the details with me tomorrow, first thing in the morning.”

“Not now, Your Highness?”

“No, Lieutenant, I am much too tired to be paying much attention to anything. And I have exhausted my ability to pay attention, or to pretend to pay attention, for the night.”

“I will walk you back to your chambers then,” you say.

“No, that will not be necessary. Please get some rest now, and I will see you in a few hours, sure enough.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“Have a good night’s rest, Lieutenant.”

“And to you, my Princess,” you say, taking a deep bow as she walks off up the stairs and off to bed. Once she is out of sight you make a quick stop by the barracks to pick up your helmet and leave to head on home.

It has been one interesting day, and you cannot wait for the sun to rise on tomorrow.

You knew it would be a great day! And what a great day is has been.

Chapter 3: It's Party Time

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Today’s workday was not like any other workday you’ve ever experienced. Normally, when you work, you are focused on one thing, and one thing only.

Working.

You’re paid to be diligent 100% of the time. You’re paid to manage your subordinates. You’re paid to be prepared to fight at a moments notice, and to follow the orders of the Royal Princesses of Equestria immediately and without question.

But today you could only think of Soarin.

That blue pegasus has occupied your mind like nothing else has done before in your lifetime.

In school, when you were in school, you’re mind typically had better things to do than pay attention to your teachers. You never paid attention in geometry or physics, because who cares?

But your mind, even back then, was always focused on becoming a Royal Guard. For your entire life, that’s all you’ve ever dedicated more than 2% of your brain to. You could care less about school and homework and grades and parties.

You just wanted to be a guard.

And now that you are, you have been thinking about it even more often than you used to, somehow. Your entire life revolves around this job in this castle.

But today you thought of something else. Actually, not even something else, it was someone else!

You only give ponies your attention if you absolutely have to. You pay attention and care about the Princesses of Equestria, your parents, your little sisters, Vinyl’s marefriend, the cashier at Windy’s whose name is Donald, and that’s about the end of the list.

You’re mind has just been working a lot today, and it’s not like anything you’ve done before.

The Princess was inquiring about your night last night, as she said she would, and you gave appropriate responses. However, you did not give up too much information as you don’t want her asking too many questions until you get your mind sorted.

Princess Celestia can be a bit of a gossiper herself, but whatever gossip she does know is only ever told to her sister, her pet, and you.

Luckily she did not ask very many questions as she was rather busy today, and the two of you were not alone for the majority of the day.

But that’s perfectly fine. No one tried to kill her today.

And if anypony did, then they were thwarted at some point, meaning you did your job successfully today. Every day the Princesses don’t die is a great day for you.

And they are alive. Good for you.

You took off work slightly early than usual. Soarin said to come over at 8, so you’re trying to get there at 7:55, emphasis on ‘trying.’. You have a wonderful habit of getting to everything early.

No one ever gets mad if you show up a little early. But you’ve seen ponies get in trouble for showing up late to various things, so you try not to be like them.

Anyway, after taking off a little earlier than usual, Princess Celestia looked a little surprised. Normally you work for a couple more hours, about until the Princess retires for the night, but today is different.

You can’t remember the last time you left work this early. Have you ever done so?

Probably not.

You expected the Day Princess to inquire as to why you are leaving early or what you’re plans are, but she didn’t ask.

She just smiled at you, real bright, and wished you a wonderful evening.

Which is especially odd, because she seldom smiles when the sun goes down. She’s almost never happy at night.

But whatever.

You have to take the relatively short walk back to your apartment to take off your armor before heading back out again. You assume that you will go to this party, mingle (hopefully as successfully as yesterday), and leave again.

The workday begins pretty early in the morning, so you shouldn’t stay for very long, but it’s important not to leave early as to appear rude.

Are you overthinking this?

Maybe. But when was the last time you got invited to a party? Or anything?

Never. Or years, at least.

Should you wear something? Soarin said it’d be just a casual thing, but does that mean casual as in maybe wear a nice shirt or bowtie? Or wear nothing?

The word ‘casual’ is baffling. You don’t really have any nice shirts or ties or anything anyway, so you’ll have to wear nothing.

You have your dress uniform, but that’s a little too fancy.

And if you really do need anything, you can always run back and get something. But you should be good.

You’re nervous now.

Just like yesterday, you don’t know anyone at this party. Aside from Soarin and Fleetfoot, assuming Fleetfoot will be there. And she ought to be.

But you don’t care about her so much. She didn’t invite you to the party. Soarin did. You’re going because he asked you to.

He said he wants to hang out with you some more, so hopefully you’ll be able to do that.

You’re worried that, because it is a party, and Soarin is a celebrity, he’ll be busy with too many other ponies to be around you. But you’re prepared for that. As a Royal Guard, you must be prepared for everything.

Regardless, it’s time to go. It’s already a little after 8, making you automatically tardy. But you have already made a seemingly good first impression with Soarin, so this hopefully won’t be too big a deal.

==========

Well, here it is. Soarin’s party. The Wonderbolt party.

This house is only a few blocks from the Castle, but you never knew it was exactly here. On occasion, you have walked by, but never knew who or what was inside. You never knew Wonderbolts lived so close to where you work. It’s only a 5 minute walk, if that, from the Castle.

But the location of the house hardly matters. You’re here now. You’re 15 minutes late, so you really ought to get in there.

Even from down the road you can hear the music and see the lights coming from the Wonderbolt house. There aren’t any ponies on the street aside from you.

Quickly walking down this street, getting that much closer to the party, you gaze at all the large houses around you. This is one of the nicer areas of Canterlot, and is where the richest nobleponies live.

And athletes, apparently.

Your apartment is absolutely nothing in comparison to these mansions, but you don’t care. You never understood why, if somepony had so much money, they would buy a bigger house.

What are you doing in there where you need so much space?

But then again, you don’t have any money, so you don’t know what ponies with a lot of money like to do in the privacy of their own homes.

And it’s none of your business anyway.

Anyway, the Wonderbolt house is the only house on the street that has every single light on and has noise coming from it. It’s not an incredible amount of noise, but it can be noticed from like 100 feet away.

The Wonderbolt house itself is three stories, assuming there is a basement, making it one of the largest houses in Canterlot automatically. Your apartment building is five stories, but those are for apartments. This is just one house.

There’s probably a lot of ponies at this party.

You’ve never been to a real party before. Not as an adult, you mean.

As a colt, you went to friend’s birthday parties from school, but you never went to a party or anything in high school.

Mainly because you didn’t really go to high school.

But quite a few ponies don’t. And rarely do ponies go to college. Once somepony finds what they’re going to do in life, they get to it.

Unless that calling is to be a doctor or lawyer, then they need to keep going to school.

But you’re not a doctor or a lawyer or anything that needs an incredible amount of expensive education. You don’t think you’d be smart enough to get through medical or law school anyway.

You get off topic really easily.

The important thing is that you have arrived. It’s a very nice house for being towards the center of a city. You should walk through this area of town more often. It looks a lot nicer than any other part of Canterlot.

And it’s probably a lot safer.

You step up onto the large porch, which has many deck chairs in case anypony wants to hang out outside, but there isn’t anypony out here.

The sound from inside can easily be heard outside, but it’s not alarmingly loud. Nothing that the Guard would be called for.

Are you just supposed to go in?

That’s a great question. Do you walk in? Or knock? Or what?

You don’t know.

Well, there is no way you can go wrong with knocking, so you do that. Raising your hoof, you bang on the door a few times.

And then wait…

And nothing...

Maybe it’s louder inside than you think. Nopony must’ve heard you.

You knock again, louder this time.

And wait.

You are pretty late now. They’re probably not expecting anypony to be at the door now.

The door finally opens, allowing you to fully hear the music being played inside. It’s one of those new songs that your sister gets paid to play. Dubstep, right? You don’t care for it, but it has slowly grown on you because Vinyl plays it for a living.

The door fully opens to reveal Soarin standing before you.

Once his green eyes connect with yours, his face lights up and his smile grows.

“Great!” he exclaims, ushering you inside. “You made it! Come in! Come in!”

You nervously step inside the large building and quickly look around, seeing that there are a decent number of ponies here. A little more than you expected, but it’s not overcrowded.

The ponies that are here are listening to the music, dancing, drinking, and just hanging out wherever they find room. At least, that’s what you can see from the front door.

“I’m really glad you made it,” Soarin says. “I was beginning to think you had to work late or something.”

“No, no, I took off early tonight. Sorry I’m late.”

“No, don’t worry about it, you’re good. 8:30 is taking off early?”

“For me, I guess it is.”

“That’s crazy. Come on in! You didn’t have to knock, by the way.” Soarin begins to drag you down a hallway and into a large living room area where everypony seems to be hanging out. “I want you to meet the guys.”

“O-Okay,” you stutter, feeling a little nervous being around so many ponies, half of them being celebrities. You’ve been around celebrities before, but you were never the one who had to talk to them.

“Whenever we have these parties here,” Soarin continues, leading you through his home, “all the Wonderbolts have to come. Part of our contract is that we have to do these little public events, but I live here, so I’m always here anyway.”

“You said every Wonderbolt is here?” you ask.

“Yep! All 12 of us.”

“Who else is here? Aside from the Wonderbolts.”

“Well, everypony on the team, and a bunch of other ponies. I think the owner gets to decide who gets to come to these things. It’s just a casual thing. Honestly, though, after seeing these guys all day at work and most nights at these events we go to, you get pretty tired of seeing them. We’re together all the time.”

“I feel it.”

“I like ‘em and all, but they’re just my friends, y’know?” He chuckles. “It’s not like we’re all dating or something. It’s good to have my space from these guys. And if you were around them everyday, you’d agree.”

Having fully entered the living room area, which is rather large, you take a moment to just observe what is around you.

To your left is a collection of sofas and chairs, all facing a massive television which hangs above a fireplace. There’s only a few ponies sitting in there watching some basketball game.

To your right is a small opening where ponies can gather to dance. There are drinks and snacks also stacked up on a large counter where the kitchen is. It’s a beautiful kitchen, and you wonder if Soarin ever actually uses it.

Stereotypical party kind of stuff. What else would you expect?

You, also while observing, have noticed that you are the only Earth pony here. Just like at work. You should have expect that, as pegasi and Earth ponies have never historically been likely friends.

Not because they don’t like each other, but because they live in such different places and do different things.

“Why do you live here and not in Cloudsdale?” you ask Soarin. “If that isn’t too forward to ask.”

“No, not at all! The owner of the Wonderbolts wants more non-pegasi to get into competitive flying and all that stuff, and they never will if we only ever do stuff in Cloudsdale. Most ponies can’t get up there. So me and Spitfire live here, but we still practice in Cloudsdale.”

“You fly to Cloudsdale everyday?”

“Uh-huh. Basically everyday. It’s not bad. I guess if all you do is fly for a living you should be expected to do things like that. And, I guess, the equivalent of my flying to Cloudsdale everyday to work isn’t really any different than you walking to work everyday.”

“I wouldn’t know.” And you don’t. You don’t have wings. How much effort it takes to power one’s wings is something you will just never know.

“Oh, there some of them are,” Soarin announces, leading you over to a group of pegasi standing next to the table with all the drinks and food on it. “Let me introduce you to everypony!”

There is a group of about 3 or 4 pegasi just standing around by the drinks table, not doing much of anything when you and Soarin walk up.

Before Soarin can make any introductions whatsoever, a weight is suddenly pressed down upon your back. It’s not enough weight to force you down, but it surprises you considerably.

“I didn’t know you were gonna be here!” a familiar voice shouts in happiness right into your ear.

Without turning or giving any real thought, you know it’s your old pal Fleetfoot who is on you. Who else could it be?

“Actually, I should’ve invited you,” she continues from your back. “I can’t believe I didn’t, now that I think about it.”

“Get off him, private!” Soarin says, pushing Fleetfoot off your back, causing her to land with a thud on the floor. “And I invited him. He’s a guest, so don’t be jumping all over him.”

“You got it!” Fleetfoot announces, still lying on the ground.

Soarin quickly introduces you to the Wonderbolts who are present. He gives them your name, and they introduce themselves to you. Unfortunately, you forget all of their names immediately.

You’re not trying to forget, and it’s not that you don’t care, but remembering things hasn’t ever been your strong suit.

And you can always avoid by calling everypony “sir” or “ma’am” if they talk to you. That always works.

“Well, that’s everypony!” Soarin announces, pushing you away from the group and to the other side of the room, not really giving you a chance to talk to anypony else. But you don’t mind, you’re just along for the ride. “Nothing else to talk about there.”

“O-Okay. They seem nice.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they seem that way.”

As you wade through the small crowd, whatever ponies happen to be around greet Soarin with “what up?”s and just saying his name and patting him on the back.

And he’s loving it. You assume he would, as he’s always in the public eye, and has probably gotten very used to it.

Which makes you think, why, of all the ponies he could be hanging out with, he’s hanging out with you.

Ever since you got here he hasn’t left you once, and still hasn’t. He could talk to anypony he wants, and it seems he wants to talk to you.

Your pessimistic side can’t help but wonder why, though you shouldn’t be asking questions and just simply enjoy it.

You almost want to ask why it was that he invited you here, but that’d probably be rude. You thought that maybe some other Royal Guards were invited for some reason, but you’re the only one here.

Whatever. You got to stop thinking. You’re brain has worked more in the past 24 hours than it has in your entire life.

Soarin leads you to the now empty part of the living room with the television and chairs. Whoever was in here earlier seems to have gone somewhere else.

“Please sit,” Soarin says, sitting on the couch. You take the open seat right next to him. “They’re really good at flying, but not much for socializing. That’s why most of ‘em don’t go to Princess Celestia’s parties and so on.”

“Huh,” you say. “That’s pretty interesting. But you and Spitfire always go to Princess Celestia’s parties.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. It’s a captain’s responsibility, but we actually enjoy those things. I don’t talk really well, though, so it’s a good thing we got Spitfire around. I don’t know what the Wonderbolts would be without her. But don’t tell her I said that.”

You chuckle. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

“You want a drink?” he asks, getting up a grabbing a few bottles of beer without you even responding.

In just a second he’s back again, placing some of the bottles on the table and hoofing one over to you.

When was the last time you had a drink? It’s been quite a while, but you don’t see why you can’t have one now.

But just one.

“Thanks,” you say, leaning forward and positioning the bottle so that the bottom of the cap is against the end of the table. By bringing your hoof down on the top of the bottle, the cap breaks off and the beer is open.

“That was so cool!” Soarin exclaims, looking at your bottle as though you just suddenly made a beer appear out of thin air. “How’d you do that?”

“It’s how I open bottles of soda. My parents are both unicorns, so I’ve had to learn to open my own bottles.”

“Your parents are both unicorns? Really?” he asks in disbelief.

“Yeah, it’s not common, but it happens.”

“And you said yesterday that your sister is a unicorn?”

“That she is,” you say, impressed he remembered that. You didn’t expect him to remember the small details of yesterday’s conversation. “I have another sister who is a unicorn. She’s almost 1 now. You have any siblings?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “Only child, here. Nothing interesting on my part. So everypony in your family is a unicorn?”

“Except me, yes. But what about your parents? Both pegasi?”

“Yeah, yep. Both pegasi. Do you think you can open a bottle again?

“Yeah, of course.” Soarin hoofs you his beer and you do the same thing; using the table to break off the cap, before hoofing it back to him again.

“That’s awesome. I was going to ask if you wanted to use the bottle opener, but this is way better.”

You both take a swig of your drinks. Whatever kind of beer this is is very good. So you take another swig.

“Who’s playing?” you ask, looking at the basketball game on tv.

“Uh… Looks like Canterlot and Neigh Orleans. You follow basketball?”

“Nope.”

“Me neither,” he chuckles. “What about stunt flying? Ever watch that?”

“Well… Honestly, no. I’ve been to your events a bunch, but that’s ‘cause Princess Celestia is a big fan.”

He laughs. “Good! That really does make me happy.”

“How so?” you ask, a little confused.

“Talking to a fan is always different than talking to somepony who isn’t. I love my fans to death, honestly, but the conversation does get a little old after a while. Everypony asks me the same sort of questions.”

“Like what?”

“Like, they’ll ask how fast I can fly, how much I fly, where I fly, if I fly when I’m not with the Wonderbolts… Notice a trend? I know that must seem like a really stupid thing to complain about.”

“No, I understand!” you say, laughing. “Royal Guards can’t move or talk when we’re working, right? So I deal with the same kind of things everyday. Or, I used to anyway. Like, when I was a private and just starting out, I guarded the part of the Castle where tours are given, and I swear every tourist would try to talk to me or get me to move or something.”

Soarin laughs. “So I assume Royal Guards don’t like it when ponies go up to them and make faces?”

“Ha ha, most don’t. But you get used to it after a while and soon enough you hardly even realize it. It’s just another part of the day”

“Do you?”

“I’m an officer now, so actually guarding isn’t really what I do. Sometimes I actually do stand guard, but because of my rank, I personally guard the Princesses, themselves. When I’m not personally guarding anypony, I manage everypony under my command. Make sure they’re doing their job and all that fun stuff.”

“So you’re actually with Princess Celestia then, like, every single day?”

“That I am. She’s a very interesting pony, to say the least.”

“And really smart.”

“She ought to be, given her job. It’s not something I could do, that’s for sure. Would you mind if I ask you some questions about you and the Wonderbolts?”

“Yeah, definitely! Ask away!” Soarin relaxes back into the sofa, sipping at his beer, and you do the same, assuming you may be here for a while. But that’s exactly what you’d prefer.

“After you fly all the way to work, how do you go about practicing flying? Is it like running?” You ask, of course, because you don’t have wings, but since talking to Soarin last night, you have been wondering what pegasi do.

Even after Fleetfoot joined the Wonderbolts, you never cared about professional flying. But after only that one conversation with Soarin, you seem to have become very interested in it.

“No, it’s not really like running exactly… But, then again, it sorta is… I don’t even know how to describe it,” he chuckles.

“How do you guys practice it?”

“Well, we have routines at our shows. You said you’ve seen some of our shows, right?”

“Just a couple with the Princesses.”

“Remember those stunts that we do?”

“I do.”

“That’s what most of practice is. Coordination. Speed. We start flying pretty slow and gradually get our routines faster and faster.”

“Don’t you guys do races?” you ask, distinctly remembering pegasi races at these events.

“Oh yeah, all the time, but we train individually for that, more or less. We don’t like competing against each other especially often. But we do have races against other flying teams, and we take those a bit more seriously.”

“I didn’t even know there were other flying teams.”

“Oh, yeah, there’s 6 teams total, and we do races against each other in the late spring and into summer. You’ve never heard of the Cloudsdale 200?”

“I think I have. But I don’t know really what it is.”

“Really? Weird. It’s a huge race, right? Every flying team participates and we all compete against each other individually. Whoever crosses the line first wins.”

“Where is the race.”

“It starts in Canterlot, which is why it’s weird that you haven’t heard of it, but I guess it is more of a pegasi thing.”

Earth ponies aren’t very interested in the activities of pegasi.

Soarin continues. “Then it goes around Stratusberg, an old pegasi village in the clouds. Stratusberg is where the first professional flying team was based, back like hundreds of years ago. And after that, it’s a straight shot to Cloudsdale, where the race is officially over. It’s 200 miles from start to finish.”

“You can fly 200 miles? Consecutively?”

“Yes sir! I don’t recommend doing it for fun, but it’s what every professional flyer trains to do all year. After completing the race, most racers take a solid week off to just rest. It’s not as bad as you think, though. It’s all about pacing. Typically, whoever reaches Stratusberg first comes in, like, 50th place or worse.”

“I can’t even imagine walking 200 miles.”

“It’d take a lot longer. Sometimes the wind really helps if it’s going with you. A few years ago, it was going against me, and I was sore for weeks afterwards.”

The both of you continue talking and drinking, talking about your interests and disinterests, and occasionally glancing at the forgotten basketball game on television.

==========

You feel much different now, having drank so much.

But different in a very good way. You feel happier than usual, and it’s a wonderful feeling. Why don’t you drink all the time?

Everything does feel much slower now. You like it slower. Life has moved so fast up until now.

You’re dizzy.

Soarin and you are still sitting on the couch with each other. You’ve both been here for a few hours now, constantly drinking and talking. Talking has been getting a little harder.

Nopony else has even come into the same room as the two of you all night. A lot of ponies have already left the party, but there are still a few hanging out in the other rooms.

How late is it?

The basketball game ended, but you can’t remember who won. Not like you were paying attention to it anyway.

“When’d you get your cutie mark?” Soarin slurs a bit, looking down at your flank. “And what is it exactly?” He cocks his head and moves a little closer to you, getting a better look at it. “Looks like a spear.”

“Th-That it is!” you say happily, looking down at yourself as well. “Got it when I was 10. What about yours?” You look at his flank now. “Isn’t that the same… as the Wonderbolt symbol?”

“Yep! I got my cutie mark really late. You wanna hear my cutie mark story?”

“Ab-solutely!” you hiccup.

“Okay, okay. So, I got my cutie mark really late, like I said. I went all through flight school and still never got it, and I was like, ‘Whaaat?’ Right? Because back then I thought I was the greatest flyer of all time.”

“Of course.”

“So I dropped out of flight school without my cutie mark. I knew I was great, so I didn’t need school. But, if I wasn’t gonna go to school, I needed to get a job.” He burps. “Eh, excuse me. So I tried out for the Wonderbolts, ‘cause I always wanted to be one. When I went to tryout, some of the other ponies made fun of me a bit because I didn’t have a cutie mark.”

“What jerks.”

“I know! But forget them. I had a great tryout, and by the end of it, I had a place on the team. Right when they said I was on the team, my cutie mark appeared, and guess what it was!”

“I guess it was the same symbol the Wonderbolts used.”

“It is the same symbol the Wonderbolts use! And right then, I knew I was going to be on the top of the team one day, and a few years later, I was. Or am.”

“That’s the greatest cutie mark story I’ve ever heard.”

“Aww, thanks,” he blushes. “Y-You want another drink?” he asks, getting up off the couch, stumbling around a bit.

“Sure,” you laugh, watching Soarin try to walk over to the table with the drinks on it.

With no small amount of effort, the blue pegasus manages to grab a few drinks and slowly, clumsily get back to the couch.

He places both bottles down on the table before legitimately falling backwards and onto the sofa, partially landing on you.

“You okay?” you laugh, feeling incredibly happy right now. You wrap a foreleg around his shoulders and put another one on his chest, helping him back up into a normal sitting position.

You feel him extend a wing and wrap it around your back as he sits up. However, once he sits all the way up, he still doesn’t move his wing, but you don’t move your foreleg from around his back either.

Eh, who gives a shit.

“Lemme get these for ya,” Soarin says, leaning forward and using the table to open the bottles like you did earlier. He does both successfully in his first try.

“You’re an expert now,” you say, taking one of the beers.

“I’m getting there,” he laughs. You clink your beers together and take a long pull.

And that’s the last thing you remember.

==========

Were you just sleeping?

Yes, you were just asleep. And you’re in bed. And still a little drunk, it feels. Everything is happening much slower than usual.

You can’t remember when your ancient mattress felt this good. It’s so soft and warm, and the pillows have suddenly become incredibly comfortable.

Strange thing is, you can’t remember going to bed. Or even walking home. It’s good that you got here safely, but you’re still pretty dizzy.

But that doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that you’re home safe. Oh God, when did your bed get so big?

You extend your hind legs as far as possible in order to stretch, which typically results in your hooves hanging off the bed, but not now. For some reason, it seems you are still on the mattress. Have you gotten shorter?

Maybe you should drink more often.

You try to find your digital alarm clock, but it appears to be lost in the darkness of your room. Hardly anything can be seen right now, but that’s fine.

But the clock should be glowing in the dark. It’s digital. It’s visible. You hope the batteries didn’t die, or else it won’t go off and wake you up when you have to go to work.

You can’t believe you’re thinking this, but you’re not feeling up to working. At least, not right now. The drunkenness you were feeling last night has only partially subsided, and you’re abnormally dehydrated.

You always put a glass of water on your nightstand before going to bed, but you suppose you didn’t bother after getting home. It was probably too hard of a task at the time.

If there is anything you hope for, it’s that you don’t get a hangover. You’ve never had one in your life, but you have also never gotten this drunk before.

But it’d also be nice to know the exact time. When you wake up in the morning, it’s always dark, so you can never tell by looking outside when you have to get up. That’s what clocks are for.

Not only can you not find your clock, but at this very second, you don’t care. Everything seems pretty good right now. You rub your head onto your pillow, enjoying the new soft texture of the thing. Better enjoy it while it lasts.

The darkness is broken suddenly by a strong light coming from the far end of your room. When did your bedroom door get so far away?

Somepony is there. Who is that? How’d they get in your apartment.

The entire room is litten up as the invader turns on the bedroom lights. The lights are much brighter than you remember, and you immediately shut your eyes and put a leg over your face. Your head hurts way too much for this.

“Is somepony in here?” a familiar voice asks. Is the intruder really asking if you’re here? In the middle of the night?

But wait a minute... You recognize that voice.

“Spitfire?” you ask slowly, sitting up a bit. Your leg is still over your eyes, but you peek out to see if it really is her.

She says your name back, as though she is surprised you’re in your own apartment.

You rub your eyes and look at the far end of the room to see Spitfire standing in the doorway, looking rather confused. You rub your eyes and look back again.

This isn’t your room.

Or your bed.

Something moves next to you, and after just a second, Soarin sits up from right next to you.

“Spitfire?” he asks, sounding as confused as everypony else. Then he looks at you, as you are sitting exactly 5 inches from the pegasus, before he gasps your name in surprise.

“Uh…” you drawl, looking around. “What’s going on?”

“I have no idea,” Spitfire groans, sounding exhausted. “Sorry for walking in on you two, but somepony threw up on my bed, so I gotta grab some new sheets.” She trots over to the closet, grabs some sheets, and turns back to leave. “Again, sorry guys, I’ll leave ya to it. Good night.”

And just like that, she turns out the lights again and leaves.

Leaving you and Soarin alone. In bed. Together.

“Hey, uh…” Soarin begins after a few moments of silence. “I can’t remember… anything…”

You clear your throat, feeling very warm. “Neither can I, actually.”

“Uhm… Did we…? Uh, did we…? You know.”

If it was possible to light on fire due to a rise in body temperature, you’d have turned into lava by now. He’s asking a good question, but did you really…?

Everything feels normal to you. There’s nothing to suggest you two did anything together, other than fall asleep.

“I don’t think so,” you say.

“I don’t think so either.”

There is another silence, neither of you having any idea of what to say. For the first time together, neither you nor Soarin are talking. This is what it took for that to happen.

“I’m really sorry,” Soarin says. “This is really embarrassing for me, I mean really embarrassing. This shouldn’t have happened.”

“No, no, I’m sorry,” you say, feeling entirely responsible for whatever apparently happened. “I shouldn’t have drank as much as I did. It was irresponsible, and I’m sorry.”

There is another moment of silence. A longer moment, and the two of you just sit in it for a while.

“How are you feeling now?” Soarin asks.

“Still a little dizzy.”

“Me too... Um, if you want, you can stay the night here. You don’t have to or anything, but you can if you want. I mean, you can sleep here, and I’ll go to my room, so we can sleep separately, but you can still sleep here… if you want.”

“I think I will, thanks.” You’re not in any condition to be hobbling back to your apartment. “I’ll leave early for work in the morning. Do you know what time it is?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think this room has a clock.”

There is another moment of silence as you quickly try to think of how to phrase what you’re going to say next.

“Sorry if I was… using you as a pillow.” The phrasing could’ve been better on that, but oh well.

He chuckles, a real laugh, and it makes you overjoyed to hear it after awkwardly existing for the past 5 minutes. “Don’t worry about it. I hope I was comfy. I’ll talk with Spitfire in the morning to help clear things up a bit.”

“Thanks, Soarin.”

Spitfire did seem to think she was interrupting something when she came in. What she thought you were doing, you’re not entirely sure, but you can guess as to what was running through her mind.

Soarin hops off the bed slightly drunkenly and makes his way through the dark and towards the door.

“G-Goodnight,” he says, saying your name.

“‘Night, Soarin,” you say, before he officially leaves, and you are actually by yourself.

You flop down hard onto the mattress behind you.

What in the hell just happened? You haven’t been this confused since you had to take chemistry in high school.

None of that can be blamed on Soarin, and you feel entirely responsible despite also not really being responsible.

Great! Great! You managed to be, as far as you know, the only pony to get Soarin, one of the most famous pegasi on the planet, into bed. What if other ponies find out? What will everypony say?

Shit. You can’t believe that any of this just happened. And you’re still here. And Soarin is here.

Well, it was nice being friends while that lasted. You’ll probably never speak to each other ever again.

This sucks. You really like Soarin too. Enough to even follow him up to this guest room when you’re both blackout drunk.

There is still the possibility of being friends. After sobering up, if the two of you can talk to each other after all this, you might be able to sort everything out.

And you thought you were confused today at work. Just wait until tomorrow. God knows what you’ll be thinking about all day this time.

But it’ll probably be Soarin again.

No wonder you never drink. You’re not exceptionally good at it.

Oh God.

You spend the rest of the night not sleeping, but tossing back and forth and thinking, and trying not to think.

Chapter 4: Excuse Me?

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It’s been a few days since you woke up in Soarin’s bed. With Soarin also in the bed.

To be more precise, today is the third day since that event occurred, and since then, you have not heard a thing from Soarin or Fleetfoot or any of the Wonderbolts.

You haven’t told a soul what happened that night. Nopony has asked, and nopony ought to ask. And if they did, you wouldn’t tell.

You haven’t seen Soarin since it happened, and you probably never will, which is something that you just expect. It will just remain an awkward memory.

It was a very odd scenario.

Why on Earth did you both wake up in bed together? What series of events could possibly have led to that?

Unfortunately, you still don’t know. And if Soarin knows, he hasn’t told you, nor do you expect him to.

But something obviously must have occurred to influence both of you into getting into bed.

One theory of yours is that somepony saw how inebriated you and Soarin were, and put you both in bed together in order to take pictures and sell them to magazines and whatnot.

But if that were the case, you would have seen those pictures by now, so they probably don’t exist.

Another theory is that somepony took pictures of you and is now blackmailing Soarin. As far as you know, that’s entirely plausible, and the only pony who could tell you otherwise seems to be avoiding you.

You would attempt to find the stallion, but that might not be the best thing to do right now. If he wants to talk, you’re sure he will find you.

It’s easy to find you. You’re always here, at the castle.

It’s not so easy to find him. Sometimes, you figure, he will be at his house, sometimes at work. But you will never be able to find him at work, as Cloudsdale isn’t especially accessible to ground dwellers like you.

“Are you feeling alright, Lieutenant?” the Princess of light asks you, immediately causing you to stiffen up a bit.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” you reply, realizing you have been spacing out for who knows how long. This whole situation with Soarin is really getting to you.

Have you ever spaced out in the presence of Princess Celestia before?

Yes, actually. Nopony’s perfect, and even you can’t be aware 100% of the time. But you try to pay at least some attention.

“No sense in lying,” the Princess replies from her throne. “I think we’ve known each other long enough. Are you ill? You don’t look very good.”

“No, Your Majesty, I am not sick.”

“Personal troubles?”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I won’t ask about it, but anypony with eyes can see you’re upset. If you wish to talk about it, you may with me.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” you reply. “But I don’t think I have the whole situation figured out for myself yet to be able to discuss it.”

“Perfectly all right. Why don’t you take off a little early, Lieutenant? I’m feeling well enough that if anypony tries to kill me I can sufficiently defend myself.”

“My shift does not officially end for another hour, my Princess.”

“Yes, that’s why it’s called ‘taking off early.’ I order you to go home and relax for the evening, Lieutenant, if you won’t do it voluntarily. And if you need to, use a sick day tomorrow. You have more than enough of them.”

“A-As you command, Your Majesty.”

“Life is a precious thing,” she says. “Do not waste a day of it, for there is never a day you can get back.”

You agree with your Princess, even though time travel is theoretically possible and has been done by some unicorns. But you aren’t a unicorn.

You turn and bow before the Princess before leaving, still in a bit of a daze.

This must be the first time you have taken off early from work. You have been known to stay many hours after your shift ends, even when there is no overtime pay. Money doesn’t matter.

You know ponies with a lot of money, and they are mostly pricks.

But, of course, there are exceptions to everything.

Anyway, as you feel a headache setting on, you walk to the armory underneath the castle to check your sword back in. You never keep it.

You decide to also check in your helmet. Sometimes you take it home, sometimes you don’t. Your head hurts too much to wear the thing right now.

The next shift change isn’t for another hour, so most ponies down here aren’t doing much. Those that see you down there are surprised, jumping to attention but visibly confused.

You’ve never taken off early before, as most Royal Guards do not, especially not a pony like you, as you are famous for working more than not.

Ignoring your subordinates is easy, as you walk right by them. You want them to relax before going on duty, as guarding the castle causes a good deal of stress to most ponies.

You leave the armory as quick as you entered it, taking the main entrance out. There are secret entrances and exits for only guards to use, but you don’t use them anymore. None of the officers use them.

The Castle is properly being guarded, you notice. The ponies on the night shifts will be preparing to take over, and for the first time, you will not witness that occurring.

You walk outside into the chilly night air, still wearing your golden armor. It is rather cold tonight, but that’s typical for this time of year, you think.

Outside of the gate, across the road, is Soarin, who is simply sitting by himself on a bench.

The road in front of the castle is not very often traveled upon, except by tourists wishing to see the castle or ponies looking for a shortcut through this part of Canterlot. As such, the road is empty except for Soarin.

But then, why would Soarin be waiting here?

There is only one reason that immediately comes to mind.

You would be surprised to see him were you not ultimately expecting him to eventually pop up. You assume he is here for you.

With that assumption, you trot across the street and over to him, greeting him with a simple “Hey, Soarin.”

He smiles meekly up at you before making repeated glances down at his hooves. He returns your greeting and says it’s good to see you.

“It’s great seeing you,” you say, trying to make eye contact though he resists. “What are you doing here at this time of night?”

“I was… waiting for you to get off actually.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

How long has he been sitting here? You weren’t even supposed to get off for at least another hour.

“How long have you been out here?” you ask.

He paws at the ground a bit. “Can we go somewhere a bit more private and talk? Where nopony else is?”

The street is deserted, making you wonder what it is that Soarin wants to discuss. You have a pretty good idea, though.

“Yeah, sure,” you say. “We can go through the park if you want. I know a spot nopony else goes.”

Rather than verbally replying he simply nods his head. You haven’t known the Wonderbolt captain for very long, but in the time you have you have known that he is a very talkative individual.

You have never known a pony to speak so much in your entire life, and doubt you ever will.

Thus, you are nervous now, wondering why Soarin doesn’t say more. It’s a small thing to worry about, but you worry about a lot of things. It’s basically what you do for a living.

You both head towards the Canterlot City Park, located right in the center of the city. It’s pretty nice, but not very big. Trees and grass don’t grow all too well up on the mountain upon which Canterlot sits.

Most ponies only walk through it if they have pets. It’s a popular destination during any day in the spring, but not especially so at night. Ponies get robbed here all the time, but you think if anypony tries doing anything like that to you and Soarin, they will be unsuccessful.

It’s the least crowded place in the city you can think of, too. The police send some patrols through here at all times of the day, but not many more ponies than that.

During the relatively short walk to the park, Soarin continues to not say anything. You make a few passing comments about the weather and how many stars are in the sky tonight, but he does little more than agree with a nod.

You’re not sure if he’s lost in his own thoughts or… what?

Soarin isn’t a very complicated stallion. If he’s thinking something, somepony else probably knows what it is because he’s told them. How odd it is that he isn’t talking.

You resign to not speaking as well, not really knowing what else to do.

It feels like a much longer walk than it actually is, but you eventually manage to arrive in the park. You lead Soarin to an area with a bench, that should be out of the way in case somepony happens to stroll by.

You sit first, Soarin hesitantly following suit. Neither of you say a word for a few minutes, both choosing to simply look around a bit.

It’s a park. There are trees and grass and stuff. Nothing special. But Soarin seems to be rather interested in it.

You look over at him, waiting for him to say something. He wanted to talk to you here, after all, now you’re just wondering what it is exactly about.

“I don’t know how to start,” he admits.

“I understand that,” you chuckle, feeling more at ease than your friend. It’s been a strange week.

Your slight amusement doesn’t do anything for Soarin, who still looks nervous and serious. You’ve never seen him so serious before, but you have only known him for a few days now.

But really though, what a week! You’ve met one of Equestria’s most famous athletes, personally got invited to a party with said celebrity, and woke up in bed together a few hours later.

Who would’ve thought that would happen to you. It’s a lot more excitement than you are typically used to.

Assuming Soarin still want to be your friend, you two should never drink that much again.

Soarin clears his throat, glancing sideways at you again, his green eyes just making contact with yours for a few moments.

“How’ve you been?” he asks, trying to sound casual, but it sounds more forced than anything else.

“I’ve been just fine,” you say. “How about you? Haven’t seen ya in a while.”

He nods. “Good, good.”

There is another brief moment of silence before Soarin begins again.

“Listen…”

You’re listening.

“I’m really sorry about the other day.”

You begin. “That wasn’t your-”

“Let me finish!” he interrupts, surprising you. He takes a deep breath before continuing. “Sorry for that, but I do take full responsibility for what happened. I’m still not 100% sure what happened exactly, but it was in my house and you were my guest. For that, I apologize.”

“I still can’t remember anything either. Maybe we shouldn’t drink like that again.”

“No,” he chuckles, “probably not.”

“I did have a lot of fun, though,” you admit, hoping to lighten his mood.

“Really?”

“Yeah! I never get invited to parties.”

“But you go to the galas all the time.”

“Yeah, but I never get an invitation. And I’m not a fan of those kinda things anyway. I wouldn’t describe myself as ‘noble’ or ‘fancy’ or ‘sophisticated.’ Your party was nice. I can’t remember anypony else from the party, but I like talking to you.”

“Yeah?” he seems to blush, but it’s a little too dark to tell.

“Of course,” you say. “You’re a great guy.”

“So you’re not mad at me?”

“What? No! Why would I be mad at you?”

“I figured you wouldn’t want to hang out anymore. Cause of what happened.”

“Hell no! What happened, happened, and it’s not that big of a deal anyway, right? Like I said, you’re a great guy, Soarin.”

He smiles brightly, clearly happy to have heard you say that. But then he stops smiling and looks back down at the ground again, as he has been doing. There is a short moment of silence.

“Are you okay?” you ask.

“Y-Yes,” he clears his throat. “I want to ask you something.”

“Okay.”

“But before you answer, I want you to know I’m being 100% serious. More than 100% if that were possible. Do you understand?”

“I do,” you say, now a bit worried as to what he is about to ask. Again, he’s not the most serious of stallions.

“I’m serious. This is a genuine question.”

“Alright, alright, I got it. Ask away.”

He stands up off the bench and walks in front of you a bit, looking down at his hooves the entire time. It’s surprising how little he has been making eye contact with you. The only way to describe yourself right now is with the word “nervous.”

Not scared or anything, but just unsure of the future. Your heart rate suddenly picks up. If you had a guess as to what he would say, you would guess it, but you just genuinely have no clue.

He glances at you several times as he stands before you, his eyes always returning to the ground. After a few seconds he forces himself to look at you in the face.

“I was… uh…” he paws at the ground, still trying his absolute hardest to maintain eye contact. “I know this is gonna be weird to ask, but I gotta ask it. And I am serious! I was, ahem, I was wondering, do you want to… maybe… go out with me this Friday?”

Wait what?

Go out with him? What does he mean?

“I mean, uh… you know… go out.”

Is he really asking you what you think he is?

Are you understanding this question correctly? Something seems off.

“Like, on a date.”

Yeah, that’s what you thought he meant. A date.

“You don’t have to or anything.”

He is actually asking you out on a date. Your brain is slower than most ponies’ but you understand that now.

Why? What? You didn’t know he was gay. You’re still having trouble believing it despite him telling you to your face.

“I really like you, you know?” he continues, as you have not made a proper response yet. “A-And before we got to know each other any better I figured I’d ask you out… on a date… Better to ask now than wait and make things more awkward down the road.” He chuckles nervously, waiting for you to say something.

Saying you’re surprised would be the understatement of Princess Celestia’s reign. You didn’t imagine this is what Soarin wanted to talk to you about 20 minutes ago.

“Sorry,” you eventually manage. “I don’t know what to say.”

“I thought that’d be your reaction,” he says, still standing before you. “I don’t mean to pressure you into it or anything. You don’t have to. But I like you, and really want to get to know you better.”

What are you going to say? What should you say? What do you want to say?

“I just think you’re a really sweet guy,” he continues, rambling now. “You’re smart, funny, good to talk to… I don’t want to sound to any weirder than I do already, but, uh, you’re r-really cute, you know?”

Has anypony outside of your immediate family ever described you in such a way? What are you even supposed to say right now?

Soarin is a really nice guy, and you like him a lot… and you do think he is pretty cute. But everypony does! But not everypony is asked on a date by the captain of the Wonderbolts. This doesn’t happen especially often.

What could be the problem with saying yes?

He clears his throat and nervously moves his hooves across the ground, fraught with nervous energy. “I don’t know if you swing that way, but I figured it doesn’t hurt to ask. I’ve never done this before, exactly, so I didn’t know exactly how to go about asking you. I spent the last few days thinking at home and at work and everywhere else, and I guess I just decided to go out there and-”

“I will.”

He stops in his tracks, not moving or speaking for a minute. He physically shakes his head, as though throwing any other thoughts out.

“What?” he asks, cocking his head to the side.

“I said yes. I’d love to go out with you this Friday.”

He does a double take. “Really?”

“Really.”

His wings flare out to his sides, and for the first time tonight he actually smiles. In all of his magazine articles and whatnot he’s always smiling a bit, but those don’t hold a candle to his expression right now. You’re relieved and overjoyed to finally see it. It suits him much better than a frown.

“Great!” he exclaims, but luckily nopony else is in the park. “Great. I promise you won’t regret it. It’ll be great.” He begins pacing a little now, no longer filled with nervous energy but excited energy. “My next question, which I never thought I’d ask, where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t ever really dated anypony.”

And by “really,” you mean nothing. As you have never been on a date before. Nopony has ever asked, and if Soarin didn’t ask you 50 seconds ago, you never would have a reason to go on one.

Your sister and mother always used to try to get you to go out, but you had other things on your mind, you suppose.

You wonder what they would think now.

“What do ponies do on dates?” you ask, seeing it as a logical question.

“Hmm,” he ponders. “I don’t know. Stereotypical movie stuff. Dinner. Movie. Stroll in the park… I think that’s it actually.”

“How about a walk in the park then? I’m already signed up to work all this week, so I don’t get off until pretty late. Most restaurants aren’t open at this time of night.”

“Great! I don’t get off until pretty late either, so that works perfect for me.”

You think for a second. “Wait, if you work late all this week, then why did you ask me out for Friday? Why not ask for a day you have more time?”

He shrugs. “Honestly? I didn’t think you’d say yes, so I just threw a day out. At best, I saw this as a 97% no and maybe a 3% chance for a yes. Probably less than that, actually. I still can’t believe you said yes, who would’ve thought.”

You smile. Soarin is an interesting stallion. His smile is so big right now it threatens to encompass his entire face. He really is adorable. You never would’ve thought you could make such a pony embarrassed in this way.

“I guess it doesn’t have to be Friday,” he continues. “But we do have late practices all week, so I can basically do whenever you’re free.”

“I’m already signed up to work all week. But I can do Thursday. I can take off a bit early on Thursday, if you’re available.”

“Yeah! That’ll work great. Should I pick you up at the castle?”

“Sure, that should work.”

“Awesome! Hey, I’m really sorry, but I got to get going. The Wonderbolts are supposed to have a meeting starting at 8:30.”

Well, you didn’t even leave work until 9, so you assume now it’s 9:15, at least.

“I think you’re a little late,” you say.

He chuckles. “Yeah, but hopefully Spitfire just started without me. I should get going now.”

“Alright,” you smile. “I’ll see you on Thursday, then.”

“Yep! Yep! See you Thursday!”

He flaps his wings once, and just that much is enough to send him soaring into the air. His wings must be incredibly strong.

When you first saw him, he looked rather upset, sitting by himself outside the castle late at night.

But, as he left, he looked just as happy as he always does; more so, even. It makes you more than happy to see Soarin looking like his old self again.

The weight of what just happened didn’t hit you until this very moment. For the first time in your life, you are going on a date.

With another stallion, no less. With one of the most famous and sought after bachelors in Equestria, as far as you know.

Wow.

Many ponies will be jealous of you once they find out.

You think it’d be best if nopony found out for a while, not until this has a chance to develop into something. You really don’t want anypony know.

Too bad you didn’t tell Soarin. But then again, you didn’t know he was gay until 3 minutes ago, so nopony else in Equestria probably knows that either. You assume he won’t tell anypony about this anytime this week.

But you can never be sure.

As you start home, you notice that your headache from earlier is gone.

Chapter 5: First Date

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The countdown has begun. In exactly 8 hours, 24 minutes, and 10 seconds, you will go on the first date you have ever been on in your entire life.

It is a little nerve wracking, you think. The scenario surrounding the date is pretty odd, what with you and Soarin having literally slept together once before, though not intentionally.

And, as you keep reminding yourself, he is a celebrity. You’ve never imagined dating a celebrity before, so you don’t know what to expect. It will be difficult.

Due to the fact that he is as famous as he is, you wonder what this evening’s date (and potential future dates) will be like. Will there be a crowd of people following him? Will he be signing autographs all the time?

The park isn’t crowded at night, so walking through there is nice, but you don’t want to walk through the park forever. What if you get hungry? What is there to eat in the park?

Perhaps you’re overthinking this. You have been with Soarin on a few occasions, and despite the crowdedness that accompanied those situations, you two have been alone for the most part.

You need advice. Dating advice. Who do you know who has been on a date before? Has Princess Celestia?

Probably, but you shouldn’t ask her. She’ll ask you all these questions about it, and you can’t tell anypony you said yes to a date with Soarin from the Wonderbolts. The world might explode. Soarin is famous for his good looks, and a lot of ponies would be awfully jealous of you.

Heh heh. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?

When has anypony been jealous of you?

Anyway, you have to ask somepony who won’t be all nosey about it. So who to ask?

Parents? Nope, they’ll ask questions. Vinyl? Nope, she’ll freak out. Octavia? She might tell Vinyl, but she might not…

Well, you guess you ought to try Octavia. Vinyl and Soarin don’t seem incredibly different at first glance, too. They’re both laid back, casual, funny, hyper to an extent… Yeah you’ll have to ask Octavia.

You do not own a personal phone, so you will have to use one of the public phones in the basement. They’re pay phones, but for guards they’re free. Perks of being you.

“Excuse me, Princess,” you say bowing. “I have to make a call, I’ll be back in a few moments.”

“Take your time, Lieutenant,” she says, perusing a few take out menus, as she does nearly everyday. But you both know she’s gonna order a pizza, tell you she needs to watch her weight, then order a Kaiser salad. It happens just about every day.

“Actually,” she continues, “don’t take your time. Hurry back for Your Majesty is hungry.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” you say, assuming that she is joking. She thinks you can’t tell, but you can at least 16% of the time.

The walk to the basement is uneventful and the room with the phones is completely empty aside from you. Dialing in the number for Vinyl and Octavia’s apartment, you wait for somepony to answer.

After a few rings, it goes to their machine.

“What’s up?” you hear Vinyl’s voice saying. “This is the residence of the one and only DJ-PON3 and her awesome marefriend, Octavia. If you need us, leave a message or whatever and we’ll get back to ya.”

Then the machine beeps.

“Vinyl, Octavia…” you say, knowing they’re home. “Pick up the phone please, I gotta talk to you. It’s your brother, Vinyl, pick up the phone.”

Then you hear a click through the phone, followed by a familiar voice.

“What’s up, big bro?” Vinyl says, having answered the phone.

“Who’s DJ-PON3?” you ask.

“That’s me… duh. I’m a DJ.”

“Huh. Do all DJ’s have fake names?”

“All the good ones do. It’s stage name.”

“You should probably change your voicemail box. It sounds unprofessional.”

“Pfft! What do I care?”

“Because you’re in the working world now. What if somepony calls looking for a DJ and it goes to your machine? It sounds unprofessional to me.”

Vinyl scoffs at you through the phone. “Bro, I don’t expect you to understand the music industry. Trust me, if anypony who wanted to hire me listened to my voicemail box, it wouldn’t be a big deal. I’m not running for mayor, I’m a DJ.”

You suppose she’s right.

“Aren’t you at work?” she asks. “Why you calling now? You never call in the middle of the day. You worried about me?” She gasps. “And do you have a phone now?!”

“No, I’m using a pay phone.”

“Ugh. Of course you are.”

“I wanted to talk to Octavia, if I could.”

“Tavi? Why?” She yawns.

“You tired, Vinyl?”

“Hell yeah I’m tired! Jeez, I was up all night! I figured by 5am ponies would leave the club, but they didn’t, and the owner just kept saying that as long as they’re buying drinks, keep playing music. I didn’t pack up all my stuff and get back home until like, 10:30 this morning.”

“Well if you’re so tired then go to bed, Vinyl! And give the phone to Octavia. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“Why do you want to talk to her?”

“Who are you talking to, dear?” you hear Octavia say in the background.

“My brother. He wants to talk to you.”

“Why’s that?”

“He hasn’t told me.”

“I can’t tell you, Vinyl,” you say. “It’s a secret for now, just give up the phone.”

“Why can’t you talk about it with me?” she asks.

“Because I called to talk about it with Octavia.”

“Yeah, but why?”

“If I wanted you to know I would’ve just called to talk to you.”

“Are you guys gonna talk about me?”

“No, Vinyl, this doesn’t concern you at the moment, so please give Octavia the phone.”

“So you call to wake me up but won’t talk to me?”

“I didn’t know you were sleeping, I don’t know your schedule. I’ll call you later if you really want me to. But right now I gotta talk to Octavia, please. I can’t keep the Princess waiting, she’ll chop my head off.”

“Octavia doesn’t keep secrets from me.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t, so just please give her the phone.”

“Why don’t I get to know?” Vinyl whines.

“You will at some point in time, but not right now, okay? Now give Octavia the phone!”

“Fiiiiiine!” she groans.

…

“Hello?” Octavia says, getting on the line.

“Good afternoon, Octavia, how are you today?” you ask.

“Very well, Lieutenant, it’s a beautiful day. I was hoping Vinyl and I could go for a walk before she leaves tonight.”

“Is she working every night?”

“No, no, just weekends and Thursdays, I think. That’s what she told me, anyway.”

“That’s great. Sorry I’m rushing but I need to ask you a few questions before I cut too far into my lunch break.”

“Did I do something illegal?”

“Not that I know of. I’m not calling about anything like that, I just have a problem I was wondering if you could help me out on.”

“Of course, go ahead.”

You hear heavier breathing on the other line. Octavia never breathes out of her mouth, she thinks it looks disgusting. But your sister is infamous for doing so.

“Is Vinyl on the line?” you ask, sensing her presence through the phone.

“Hold on,” she says. Nothing is heard for a few seconds until you hear Octavia gasp. “I will be right back,” she says to you.

In the background, you can barely make out their voices.

“Vinyl, put down the phone this instant!”

“Aww, Tavi!” Vinyl whines.

“You stop that right this second and get back into that bed! You need your rest and you’re going to get it, whether I need to make you or not!”

“But I want to hear what you guys are talking about!”

“If you aren’t asleep by the time I get off the phone, then I’m going to throw out your new speakers, and then I’m going to throw you out!”

“But I can’t fall asleep that fast! Tavi, listen, please! Look, you can throw me away if you must, but not the speakers!”

“I won’t, but only if you’re asleep, young lady.”

Octavia trots over to the phone and resumes her conversation with you.

“I apologize, Lieutenant.”

“Nothing to apologize for, Octavia. I’ve lived with Vinyl for years, I know how she can be, especially when she’s tired.”

“She’s just like a filly, sometimes, but she is now in bed and without a phone. What can I help you with?”

You decide not to tell her that you heard their entire conversation. “Can you share any details about your first date with my sister?”

“Uhm… What kind of details?”

“Sorry, I’m not looking for anything too personal. Can you tell me how you felt going into it? I’ve never asked Vinyl about your guys’ first date.”

“And you don’t want to talk to Vinyl?”

“Absolutely not..”

“Hmm… well, I suppose I was very nervous… I was very nervous… Vinyl wasn’t exactly a good friend of mine in high school, but she asked me out anyway. I didn’t know what to expect, even though I did say yes… Why do you ask?”

“I have a date later.”

“Oh, dear! That’s wonderful!”

“Thank you, yes, but don’t tell anypony. Especially Vinyl. If she found out she wouldn’t leave me alone until she knew absolutely everything. She doesn’t know how to mind her own business.”

“Of course, I won’t tell a soul.”

“I’ll eventually tell her, of course, but now is not the time. It’s just our first date.”

“Fun! What are you going to do? Who are you going out with?”

“I think we’re just gonna stroll through the park. We both work late. As for who it is… I’m not sure I can say.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I will say that it’s another stallion.”

“That’s so wonderful!” She squees.

“Yes, yes. Anyway, that’s why I thought of you first. You’re gay, so I was wondering how you felt going into a first date… with another pony of the same… gender.”

“Oh, my dear, it’s nothing to be worried about. I imagine homosexual relationships aren’t all too different from heterosexual relationships. It’s nothing to be too nervous about.”

“I feel nervous.”

“Everypony ought to be nervous before a first date. I’m sure he is too, whoever you’re going out with now.”

“Well, I’m not sure if we’re officially ‘going out.’ We just have a date tonight. I don’t know how ponies know when they’re in an official relationship anyway.”

“I suppose it’s just something you both have to feel. And don’t be afraid to talk about how you feel. That’s very important in a relationship. You won’t get anywhere by being afraid of one another, believe me. Vinyl used to be the worst at talking about her feelings, it nearly ruined our relationship. But as she felt more open and trusting, the easier everything became.”

“Thanks, Octavia.”

“You’re welcome. Is there any other advice I could give? I don’t feel like I’ve been very helpful.”

“No, no, you were, Octavia. Thank you. I think I feel a bit better. I’ve never done this before, you know.”

“The only pony I’ve ever dated is Vinyl, and we’ve been together almost 6 years now. As long as you’re both willing to work, everything will follow. And if it’s not meant to be, then it’s not meant to be.”

“Thank you, Octavia. How is your orchestral group working out?”

She sighs. “Oh, just been a little difficult as of late.”

“Oh?” you ask. Octavia has had plenty of problems finding work in the past. You have leant her and Vinyl more of your paychecks than you keep yourself. “Can’t find work?”

“No, that’s the weird thing. Work is all around now, plenty of opportunities with summer just around the corner, but everypony else in the group is just so obnoxious. We can’t seem to agree on anything. Not even what pieces to perform.”

“I thought you sounded great at the Ball last week.”

“Thank you, dear. I think we’ve spent too much time around one another. I’d hate to see us split up now, of all times, with work around us so ripe for the taking. Ugh. It just gives me a headache.”

“If you have any problems, Octavia, I got you. If you need money, I’m still here, and if you’re looking for work, I could try and help. I think the Princess is rather fond of me now, so I could ask her for a recommendation… or something.”

“That’s very sweet of you. I honestly can’t live with myself anymore if it means borrowing more money from you. I know Vinyl can’t. Just the other day she.... never mind.”

“Never mind what?”

“I don’t think she would want me telling you this.”

“I can keep a secret if you can.”

“Well… Vinyl really does love you, you know.”

“I know.”

“Probably more than you think. Last week, when we visited you and you gave her money, you told her not to pay you back?”

“I did. I don’t want your money, Octavia. I don’t need it.”

“Halfway back home she broke down crying. She just lost it. You really are a good brother and she really does love you.”

“Aww, it’s no reason to cry. Life is hard sometimes, but I’m here for you guys. I’m just across town. If there is a way I can help, I will. Don’t feel bad about borrowing money if you need to, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“You’re very good to us.”

“Of course I am, I love you guys to bits. But seriously, don’t hesitate to ask for favors. I’m willing to help.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant. Very much.”

“It’s not a problem. I’ll try to call later if I have time. I think Vinyl was upset I didn’t want to talk to her.”

“She’ll be fine after a strong nap. She always is. Don’t worry about calling her today, you have a big night tonight.”

“Ha, that I do. I’m excited now.”

“That’s the spirit!”

“Alright Octavia, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay. Goodbye, Lieutenant.”

And the call is finally over.

Why does she always call you by your rank and not your name?

You think Octavia is a little intimidated by you. You’re a large earth pony, being taller and larger than everypony you know except the Princesses of the Day and Night.

The first time Vinyl brought Octavia home, you just started military school, and had your uniform on. You figured that being Vinyl’s older brother and being in the army intimidated poor little Octavia. You’ve always liked her. She’s always been so sweet.

The exact opposite of your sister.

When she first started dating Vinyl, and had to be around you, she would always look at you with her ears folded back, which can be a sign of fear. You certainly never meant to scare her. Your job is to scare other ponies, not your sister’s girlfriend.

Oh well. You think she’s getting better.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” you say, bowing to Princess Celestia as you take your place by her side once again. “I did not mean for my call to take as long as it did.”

She casually waves a hoof without looking at you. “Don’t worry about it. No one tried to kill me in the 4 minutes you were gone, so you’re good.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Your Majesty. But if one was to actually assault you, it probably wouldn’t be in this room, where you are surrounded by guards. Unless the guards had an uprising.”

“And if they did, would you take part?”

“Pardon, Your Majesty?”

“Let’s pretend Shining wants to be King of Equestria. So he gets all the guards together and tells them to get rid of me and Luna. Let’s say, if you help him, he’d make you a Lord or something. Would you join them?”

“Maybe, but I doubt it, ma’am. I doubt I’d fight with such dishonorable ponies, given the opportunity, no matter the end reward. I would fight with you, Princess, but I imagine I’d get killed. Many guards work here. They would stab me up… Besides, my loyalty isn’t to Captain Armor, it’s to you, Your Majesty. Honestly, I reckon I’d die regardless of whose side I chose.”

“You know what I like about you, Lieutenant?” the Princess of the Sun asks, still looking at menus.

“Can’t say I do, Your Majesty.”

“I like that you’re a genuine pony. I don’t care if somepony is nice or not, I have a problem with ponies who pretend to be nice if they’re not or bad if they’re not. I like ponies who are what they seem to be. You are you, Lieutenant. Always be you.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” you bow. You are nothing if not genuine. What you see is what you get.

“Screw it,” she says, throwing the menu like a frisbee into the emptiness of the Throne Room. “I’m getting a pizza. We can split it.”

==========

The date was actually a lot of fun. Not that you expected it not to be fun, but it was even better than you thought it would be. Life is full of little surprises.

Nothing abnormal happened. It was just a stroll through the park between friends. Or whatever you two are supposed to be now.

Soarin picked you up, as he said he would, right outside of the castle. You were pretty tired after a long day of working, as you always are, but the nervous excitement of actually going on a date for the first time has completely woken you up.

For the longest time, you both just made laps around the park, talking about whatever came up, whether it be work, family, food, or anything. It was just talking as you both got to know each other even more. Just laughing, joking, and talking.

You’re both pretty nervous.

You guess this is what is supposed to happen on first dates.

But really, it was great. It was just talking, but you don’t have an opportunity to speak very often, given your job and lack of friends.

“So, by the time we flew into Canterlot, the entire battle was already going,” Soarin explains. “Changelings everywhere. It was crazy. Like, I had to stop and just look at them, ‘cause I wasn’t sure what they were. They were like giant, pony sized bugs.”

You nod in agreement.

“But the craziest thing was when we landed. I landed down on Fifth Avenue, just me ‘cause the other Wonderbolts were spread out, and I was ready for a fight. But before I could swing a hoof, the bug in front of me turned into me!”

You laugh, having had a similar experience.

“So I just stand there, right? I mean, how am I supposed to just punch myself in my face? Before the bug version of me can attack, I just start flying. I just take off, get out of there. Besides, there ain’t a thing in this world that can beat me in the sky.”

That’s presumably true.

“Things are a lot less scary up there,” he points up. “There’s so much space to move around. I couldn’t imagine not being able to fly. It’s practically all I do.”

“I can’t imagine being able to fly,” you say. “I’ve never been more than 40 feet from the ground, and even then I was still in a building. I’ve always wondered, how does it feel to have wings? Do they feel like legs?”

“Yeah, I guess so. I don’t know. I mean, I’ve just always had them,” he says flapping them a few times to prove they are there. “I’m used to them being there. I guess you can compare them to another pair of legs, but way cooler.”

“Is everypony in your family a pegasus?”

“Eh-hem… Yep! Me, my mom, and my dad. All from Cloudsdale.”

“What’s it like in Cloudsdale? Can’t say I’ve ever been. Or ever will be.”

“Aww, don’t say that! There are ways for non-pegasi to get up there. Maybe we can visit there sometime. There’s no place like it, it’s beautiful.”

“I’d love to go.”

“Cloudsdale is gorgeous. Everything is so fluffy, and no matter where you look you got a great view of something. I can imagine it being a little scary for non-pegasi.”

“I’m not the biggest fan of heights.”

“I don’t think most ponies are, including pegasi. When I’m flying, it doesn’t feel like I’m far away from the ground. It just feels like I’m floating somewhere else. It doesn’t feel dangerous.”

“When’d you move to Canterlot?”

“Oh, only a few months ago, now. There are still parts of Canterlot I haven’t explored.”

“I could show you around!”

“I’d love that. Being on the ground is different, but Canterlot is the next closest thing to Cloudsdale, I think, ‘cause of how high up it is. It’s a good city, but I think I’ll always love Cloudsdale more than any other city.”

“I imagine. Now that you live in Canterlot, how are you liking it?”

“It’s really nice. Especially my neighborhood. Still getting used to not living on a cloud. It’s been taking me a while, but I’m getting there. You always live in Canterlot?”

“Not only have I always lived here, but I’ve never been off this mountain in my life.”

“What?!” Soarin gasps. “Not ever? How is that even possible?”

“I’ve never had the need to go anywhere else. Everypony I know lives here. I’ve always been educated here. I work here. I seriously haven’t ever been off this mountain before.”

“We’re going to change that! Canterlot is nice and all, but Equestria is huge! There are a million and a half things to see.”

“And I’m sure you’ve seen most of them. You travel a lot.”

“That I do. There isn’t a place in all of Equestria I haven’t been at this point, really. What I really like to do, when we travel to some city for a show, is to explore everything I can. I want to see every city there is. I want to do and eat everything I can in every place I’m at.”

“But you still haven’t seen all of Canterlot?”

“Heh heh. I’ve seen most of it. Canterlot is a weird place. Most of it is right up on the top of the mountain, but there are some parts a bit lower and closer to the edges I haven’t been to.”

“I don’t think you’d want to. Those aren’t the best areas.”

“They aren’t safe?”

“That would be an understatement.”

“I’ve never really been too concerned about that. Not to sound overly cocky, but I’m a Wonderbolt! An army of thugs couldn’t do anything to me.”

“And I believe you. But I’ve seen plenty of guards go into those areas and come back pretty banged up.”

“Well that’s ‘cause you all wear your uniforms everywhere. If a gangster sees a guard in their armor, they’re gonna get scared. I think that’s just natural.”

“So we shouldn’t wear armor?”

“Yes, that’s what I think. There are some ponies who don’t even recognize me if I’m not wearing my uniform.”

Naturally, talking and walking around a park for as long as you have, especially after a day’s work, you are famished. But you can’t just interrupt him when he’s talking to say you’re hungry. That seems rude, to you.

And Soarin can talk quite a bit, but you can listen quite a bit too.

“Your mom and dad... “ you begin. “They still live in Cloudsdale?”

“Yep, yep,” he responds quickly. “Still up in Cloudsdale. Has anypony in your family left Canterlot?”

“Yeah, my parents and baby sister went to the beach a few weeks ago. My parents aren’t even from Canterlot. They’re both from Minneighappolis.”

“What about your DJ sister?”

“She’s been out of town a few times, but not too much. She goes on vacations and things when she can.”

“And you’ve never been on a vacation?” he laughs.

“No, of course I have! They’re always just in Canterlot. I’ve never been to the beach.”

“Now that I refuse to believe. You’re in your twenties! How have you never been to the beach?!”

“I saw a movie when I was a kid about sharks. I’ve been afraid of the ocean ever since.”

Soarin laughs. And laughs again. “That’s so cute! There are only like, two reported shark attacks every century. It’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“But what about the ones that aren’t reported?”

“You saying sharks attack ponies and it never gets reported?”

“It could happen.”

“We should go to the beach sometime! It’s always a lot of fun.”

“Add it to our list of things to do.”

“Ha ha! I will! You know, if your sister is looking for work, she can let me know. I can definitely hook her up.”

“That’s very sweet of you to offer, and I’ll keep that in mind. She just got her first gig last week.”

“Where’s she working?”

“Some nightclub on the other side of town, I don’t know what it’s called.”

“And you said she’s a lesbian?”

“She is.”

“Does she play at a gay nightclub?”

“That’s a good question actually... I never asked. I don’t think so, though. She’s not ‘out,’ so don’t tell anypony. Only our family knows about it.”

“Not a soul! Who is she going out with?”

“Remember the other night at the Ball? When we talked outside for like two hours?”

“Ha ha, yes, I remember.”

“Her girlfriend is the cellist. Gray coat, black mane, had a pink bow tie.”

“Aww! That’s so cute! I bet they make an interesting couple.”

“You could say that. They must be a great match considering they’ve been together for six years.”

“I’ll say. You ever been to a gay bar before?” he asks, causing you to blush.

“No, I haven’t. I’ve never really thought about anything like that until you asked me out. I have a pretty one track mind, and it’s always been on work. Have you?”

“Nope. I was thinking about it not too long ago. I was looking for somepony to go out with, and I figured a gay bar would be the best place to start. Only downside would be that everypony would… know I’m gay.”

“Does anypony know?”

“You.”

“Aside from me,” you chuckle.

Just then, your stomach decides to alert to the world how hungry you truly are.

“Hey, you hungry?” Soarin asks with a smile.

“Very,” you say, feeling bad for interrupting him.

“Great! I know a pizza joint a few blocks from here just opened up. Wanna try it out?”

“Absolutely.”

“Sorry my stomach interrupted you like that,” you say.

“Ah, it’s nothing. We can talk some more about it at the restaurant, I don’t want to talk about this kinda thing too much outside of the park. Or anywhere it’s too crowded.”

There are a few ponies walking around on the street of Canterlot at this time of night, so you respect Soarin’s wishes of not talking about his sexuality, in case somepony overhears.

So you’ll wait until you get to the pizza place.

==========

Soarin blows bubbles through his straw and into his root beer as he sits across from you. It just seems so childish and carefree that it makes you laugh, though you do it quietly enough to not distract him from his activities.

After blowing bubbles all the way to the top of the glass and then some, he smiles, showing his white teeth, and looks over at you, excitedly looking for approval.

You laugh again, but louder now, just in time for the waiter to deliver the slices of pizza.

“Enjoy-A!” the waiter exclaims before twirling his moustache and walking away.

“Let’s eat!” Soarin says, looking very happy for having food placed in front of him. It looks pretty good, too.

Soarin literally shoves his face into his plate, eating almost half the slice in one bite.

“Oh,” Soarin begins, chewing. “Before we talk about what we were saying earlier, I got something to tell you. Nothing bad! Just something.” He looks around as discreetly as he can.

“Okay,” you nod.

“Remember the other night? When, like uh, Spitfire walked into the room? And we were like… sleeping together? I-I mean not sleeping together, but… sleeping together?”

His face has gone from a beautiful, pure blue to red as an apple. You think it’s the cutest thing.

Not to say that your face doesn’t also turn a little pink, as it does, but you don’t feel much of a reason to be embarrassed about it. What happened happened, and as a result you are on a date. Everything has worked out so far.

“Yes, I remember,” you say.

“Well, she was a little curious about the whole thing,” he says slowly. “The next morning she was joking about it… I guess she thought we had actually, like, done stuff together. But I told her it was just a misunderstanding and we had just fallen asleep. That it was just a coincidence.”

Well, that is technically true. “And did she believe that?”

“I doubt it. Spitfire is a lot smarter than me. She probably knows something’s up. And she almost never believes anything I say if I’m not wearing my uniform. I think she thinks we’re really dating”

You wonder what life is like for Soarin and Spitfire living together in the same house. It’d probably be interesting to watch. It could be a sitcom.

“So does that mean Spitfire and I are the only ones who know about you?” you ask.

“Well, you definitely do. I think Spitfire knows…”

“I have a question,” you say, having pondered something for the past few days.

“I have an answer.”

“This goes back to what we were talking about a few minutes ago.”

“Okay.”

“Why, exactly, did you ask me out?” Soarin’s ears fold back and he looks down at his pizza for a moment. “I mean, like, you said you’ve never been on a real date before, right? With another stallion?”

He nods meekly.

“I’m just curious! Some part of you must’ve thought I’d say yes, or you would’ve gone to a bar or club or something, like you said… I don’t know, I guess I’m just wondering why it was you asked me out of all ponies?”

Soarin clears his throat and glances back up at you. “I’m really not supposed to tell you this, but I’m going to anyway… Okay… y’know Fleetfoot?”

“Of course.”

“A few weeks ago, she somehow figured out that I was… gay. I don’t how she does it, but she was right. She tells me that she can tell anypony’s sexual orientation by just like, talking to them for a few minutes. She said if her calling in life was anything other than flying, it’d be something about determining strangers’ sexual orientation. Which isn’t even a good skill. You can’t get a job with that talent. It’s cool, but it’s worthless.”

“So Fleetfoot told you I… swung that way too?”

“Yep.”

“Why would she possibly think that? I never told her anything like that before in all the years I’ve known her. To be honest, I never even knew until last week.”

Soarin shrugs. “I don’t know either. But it worked! And please don’t tell her I told you that. She wants to keep it a secret.”

“Why?”

“No idea. Fleetfoot’s weird. Growing up with her must’ve been a pain. She can be pretty bad at work so I’m wondering what she was like as a kid.”

“Presumably worse. Everytime she came over to my house she’d take one of my toys back to her house. The first time I went over to her house, half the things in her room belonged to me.”

“Ha! Sometimes my lunch goes missing and I find Fleetfoot hiding inside a cloud eating it. She gets in trouble every time but she won’t stop.”

“You can hide inside of a cloud?”

“Yeah! It’s the best. It’s all fluffy. It’s like a sleeping bag made of softness. To get Fleetfoot out of one I just kick it. Then it disintegrates and she falls for a bit.”

“Sorry, but just to be clear, Fleetfoot was the one who told you I was available?”

“Heh… Yeah, she did. I told her I wouldn’t tell you though.”

“I’m just wondering how she knew before I did.”

The restaurant was actually supposed to close when the both of you arrived, but the owner kept it open, being a big fan of the Wonderbolts.

In fact, all of the food was free in exchange for a few autographs and pictures taken. Not wanting to overstay your welcome, you both start heading out.

“Can I walk you home?” Soarin asks hopefully.

“Of course!”

==========

The beginning of the walk is silent as neither of you are sure of what to be doing. Really, what should you do? It’s only the first date.

Unfortunately, you’re not a mind reader, and therefore have no idea what Soarin is thinking. Did he enjoy the date? Does he like you?

The night has gotten cooler and you are feeling a little chilly. Nevertheless, you feel capable of getting through it. Your apartment is a few blocks from here.

You take a few glances over at Soarin and notice he is looking straight up into the sky at the stars. There are quite a few of them out tonight.

While Soarin is preoccupied, you take a moment to just look him over. You’ve seen the stallion plenty of times before, but now that you’re actually dating you think you should really look him over.

His mane is always in that impeccable trademark style of his. Even after a long day of work, his mane is still in the same place. You wonder if his mane ever gets matted down because of his uniform. Yours does.

His eyes are a beautiful green. His wings are thick and long and feathery as could be. You’ve never studied pegasi wings before, but his look especially large. You assume they ought to be, as he uses them so often.

Soarin’s tail is much longer than most stallions you know. In fact, it seems to stretch long enough to just be hanging above the ground. Yours is the exact opposite, as it barely covers your backside.

His cutie mark is very noticeable and shiny upon his flank, leading your eyes to his rear end.

His entire body seems very muscular and firm as he walks along the well lit streets of Canterlot, his tail swaying from side to side.

Soarin glances over at you, and you turn your head as quickly as you can away from him so that he won’t catch you gawking at him, especially his backside. It’s just a first date!

Your companion slowly inches his way closer to you as you both continue this evening stroll. You decide that it’d be a good idea to get a closer to him, as well. It is getting a bit cold out here.

Neither of you make eye contact, but in your peripheral vision you can see him. You jolt a little as his feathers graze your side, as it surprises you a bit as feathers are an unfamiliar substance to you.

You smile. You rather like the feeling. They’re ticklish but they’re very soft.

In this moment, you realize how much Soarin seems to like you. For some reason, he likes you quite a bit. You think he’s trying very hard to show you that he likes you.

A few days ago, when you first met, Soarin seemed very nonchalant. His speech was very casual, as was his posture. But tonight, he has not even attempted to say anything you may disagree with and has stood very erect all evening.

You think you even noticed him flexing during dinner, trying to make his muscles appear bigger. You could be wrong, of course, as he is naturally muscular anyway, but you have very trained eyes.

And it’s all to impress you. It’s just interesting to think about.

You admire how much effort he is putting into this. You know he’s serious about everything he said the other night.

And you like him too.

Feeling the feathers on your side, you decide to lean into his soft appendage a bit, enjoying the sensation and hoping Soarin will be pleased with your response.

He hesitantly extends his incredibly large wing over top of you and around your back, continuing the walk. You like this feeling even more. It’s so soft!

And the warmth is a wonderful added bonus.

You lean into him entirely, diminishing the distance between you completely, and feel him push back just a little. You both support each other on the way to your apartment.

You never realized exactly how much bigger you were than Soarin until right now. Soarin is a pretty big guy, but you must be a solid 3 or 4 inches taller than he is. And because you’re an earth pony and he is a pegasus, you are quite a bit wider than he is too. Despite his smaller size, his wing remains firmly around you and he shows no sign of moving it anytime soon.

And you don’t mind that at all. It’s such a nice feeling! Like a fleece blanket.

Despite the overwhelming comfort and warmth you are now feeling, you are beginning to shake. Not because of the cold, but because of how nervous you have suddenly become. You have never been this physically close to anypony you weren’t related to or wrestling.

When wrestling or sparring with other guards, it’s normal to be this physically close to one another as you have to be in order to defeat them.

But you’ve never been this close to another stallion in such a relaxed environment. It’s a very different experience for you, but you think you’re enjoying it. You hope he is too.

You also hope his wing doesn’t get cramped. His wing is massive, especially for a stallion of his relatively small size, but you’re a big guy, and hope he doesn’t get a cramp or something from straining to reach over you.

Regardless, you can’t tell him stop. Not only because that’d be rude, you think, but because you’re enjoying it.

And he won’t take it off, you think, for fear of potentially showing you he’s not interested.

Thus, Soarin’s wing will remain overtop of your back until this journey ends.

The question now is what are you to do with your head. Soarin’s head is right next to yours, but what should you do?

Should you nuzzle him? You don’t think so… right? Just a first date and all.

But your faces are really close to one another. You don’t know what to do with it. Without actually meaning to, you swish your tail to the side and feel as it brushes up against Soarin’s backside.

If it were possible for you to get any more nervous, you are now, wondering what he thinks about that little gesture.

He chuckles, turning to face you. You look back at him and see that his face is no more than two inches away from yours.

“You know,” he begins with a smile, “you always swish your tail when you’re nervous.”

You smile having never realized that before. You swish your tail again.

“Been looking at my tail a lot?” you ask.

“N-No!” Soarin begins to stutter in surprise as his wing grip around you loosens. “I’m sorry! I mean, I really haven’t been-”

“Wait, wait!” you say, not wanting his wing to leave you. “I didn’t mean to suggest anything, Soarin. It was just a joke.”

You really didn’t mean to suggest he has just been perving out at your expense all night. This night has been much more than that, you know it.

Despite your initial efforts to assuage his first date fears, he removes his wing and folds it back up against his barrel. He lowers his head a bit and folds his ears back.

You didn’t mean for any of that to happen.

You don’t want Soarin to feel bad! He didn’t mean anything by it. He’s such a good stallion. You gotta do something.

“Y-You can, uh…” you clear your throat. “You can put your wing back around me… If you want…”

With a smile, Soarin does exactly that, and wraps his wing back around you. His grip is a bit tighter this time.

==========

“Well,” you begin unsurely, “here we are. This is my apartment.”

You’ve seen Soarin’s house (or mansion), and it is much nicer than your place. You can’t help but feel a little inadequate simply because of your respective residences.

He probably thinks this apartment building is a piece of shit. Everypony thinks as much because it is. But he doesn’t say anything about it.

You both stand in front of the main door into the building.

You look into his green eyes, which now seem to be really small. You can tell he’s incredibly nervous. Reading body language is very important for a royal guard, and it’s easy to tell that Soarin isn’t feeling 100% comfortable in this situation. In all fairness, neither are you.

His face is almost entirely red as far as you can tell. It isn’t blue anymore, at least.

He didn’t seem nervous during the date. Is he okay? Would asking make him more nervous?

You decide not to ask then.

“So…” he begins awkwardly, glancing at the ground. “I had a great time.”

“I did, too,” you say, growing more nervous each second. “Thank you for taking me out.”

“No problem. It was fun. I was wondering if… maybe, you’d want to go out again? Maybe get lunch tomorrow?”

“I’d love to!” you say louder than you thought.

Soarin looks up excitedly, smiling for the first time in several minutes, making you smile.

“Great!” he exclaims. “I know a diner a few blocks from the castle we could try. I’ve been there a few times, it’s really good. If you’d want to go there.”

“Of course, that sounds great.”

“Awesome!”

Soarin’s smile once again leaves his face and his eyes return to the ground. Soarin is a very easy stallion to read.

You feel required to invite him up to your apartment, rather than just bid goodnight from outside. You want to seem friendly and welcoming to Soarin.

“Would you…” you slowly begin. “Like to come u-upstairs? For a drink or something?”

You’ve never seen a more pure shade of red than that which overcomes Soarin’s face. You immediately realize what you may have just implied, but you really didn’t mean to suggest that.

Should you take back the offer? What should you say? Oh god.

“N-No thanks,” he says, relieving you. He clears his throat. “It’s really late, so I should be getting back. Thanks for the offer though. Some other time.”

Praise the sun and the moon and everything else above your head for that one.

Despite Soarin announcing that he must depart, he doesn’t even pretend to move. He remains in his exact stance, waiting.

Waiting.

You know what he’s thinking. But will you let him? Do you want him to?

Your heart rate begins to pick up and your face feels oddly warm.

It is undeniable that you feel something towards this stallion that surpasses friendship. You did just go on an official date with him, after all.

Soarin meekly looks up at you and smiles shyly with his ears folded back. Why must he be so cute?!.

You have never felt so nervous in your life. Your heartbeat is going so fast you think it might explode. When was the last time you were this nervous?

Potentially your first day in the guard, but that doesn’t even compare to right now. At least when you entered the guard you knew what you were doing. You don’t know what to do now!

Your legs are shaking but you manage to hold yourself upright.

Slowly, your blue companion leans forward, causing your heart to jump. You know what he’s doing!

Years of training kick in and your body goes stiff and your ears stand straight up as you wait for an attack. You watch, wide-eyed, as Soarin closes the gap between the two of you and…!

Lightly kisses your lips.

His lips are soft and very moist as they graze over yours, as though he is too afraid to kiss you any rougher.

Your face is absolutely on fire right now, which makes you wonder if you have fire extinguisher somewhere in your room. You don’t think you do.

Almost as soon as you feel his presence on your lips, it is gone, and he takes a step away from you, with his head low and his ears still flat.

Only now, his face somehow managed to get even more red.

You think you enjoyed that. No, you definitely enjoyed that.

Soarin glances up at you with a big smile on his face, and you return it, licking your lips.

“Thanks again for the date,” Soarin says, trying his hardest to maintain eye contact with you. “It was great. I’ll pick you up at the castle gates tomorrow?”

“Y-Yeah,” you stutter, clearing your throat. “Yeah, definitely.”

“Okay, great! I’ll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight.” He turns to leave, fully extending his wings and preparing to take off.

“Wait, Soarin!” you blurt out, getting him to stop. He turns around with an adorable inquisitive gaze, but he walks back over to you, still with his wings extended.

You take a quick step forward and push your lips against his, not waiting for him to prepare, and slide your eyes shut.

He feels very tense and surprised at first, but his lips become just as soft as they were a few seconds ago.

This kiss lasts just a few more seconds than your first one, and you are the first to pull away this time. You keep your face pretty close to his and you both simply gaze into each others eyes for a few moments, just enjoying the moment.

“Goodnight, Soarin. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Y-Yep! Yep.” He clears his throat again, dumbfounded. “Goodnight. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Soarin turns, trots a few feet, and with one flap of his wings he is in the air. You watch as he flies away, heading back to his house for the evening. You only hope he is going home as happy as you are.

You hope tomorrow comes soon. What a great day!

Chapter 6: Lunch Date

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Working so far today has been a little difficult. Instead of sleeping last night, you spent much of it staring up at the ceiling and thinking.

Thinking was half of what kept you awake for most of the night, but the other half was excitement. You must confess, you haven’t felt this excited in…

Potentially ever.

At least not since you were accepted into the Royal Guard. They don’t just take anypony. It’s a long, difficult process just to become apart of this brotherhood, and you busted your butt just to get a job here.

It’s especially difficult for an Earth pony, such as yourself. The only ways for an Earth pony to get into the guard is to be quicker than a pegasus and more clever than a unicorn.

You somehow managed that.

Thus, getting accepted into this prestigious brotherhood was the most exciting part of your life. It was a huge deal. It’s the greatest accomplishment of your life so far, and you think it always will be.

But that great event might have been eclipsed by something as simple as a kiss.

When you think that, though, you feel like a complete idiot. How could a kiss be more exciting than achieving your life goal? How could a kiss weigh heavier on your mind than your actual job?

It doesn’t even make any sense when you think about it. You sound like a schoolgirl. It’s making you sick.

No matter how hard you try, though. You just can’t get Soarin off your mind.

A flying takeout menu smacks you in the side of the head, having been thrown by none other than the leader of this country.

“Are you even listening?” Princess Celestia asks, still throwing around takeout menus, littering her own Throne Room.

“No, Your Majesty,” you respond, standing at attention. How many takeout menus does she have? How many of those places still exist? “Apologies, Your Majesty.”

“Looks like there’s a lot on your mind,” she casually observes. “Nothing that a good lunch won’t take care of… Ooh! Here’s the menu for Tonino’s. It closed down decades ago. What do you want to get today? I don’t even care. I’ll split something with you.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I was going to go out for my lunch break today. If you will allow it.”

Princess Celestia throws her entire collection of menus across the room, startling you. “Of course I will!” she beams. “I don’t think you’ve ever made that request before.”

“I have not, Your Majesty. Today will be the first time in my career I eat lunch outside the castle.”

“Ooooh?” she teases. “Must be a special day for you then. What’s the occasion? Do you have a date?” She pouts. “Am I no longer good enough for you?”

You chuckle nervously. “I actually do have a date.”

“Get out!” she gasps, punching your shoulder playfully. She did not intend to hit you hard, but it still hurt. She’s a very big pony.

Ow. That seriously hurt though.

“I’m so happy for you!” she gushes, happy to hear something is happening with your life. She’s like your mom sometimes.

You nod, blushing and rubbing your shoulder. You’ve never been one who enjoys attention, so Princess Celestia talking over you for a few seconds here makes you a bit uncomfortable.

But because she’s the Princess, she can do whatever she wants and you allow it. You have to allow it, really.

“So who’s the lucky mare?” she asks.

You freeze, simply not knowing what to say. Should you correct her? Or should you lie? You’ve never been a good liar.

Is it illegal to lie to the Princess? You should really know the answer to that.

Being gay isn’t especially common in Equestria, but it can be a little taboo. In some areas of Equestria, nopony cares. In others, ponies have a big problem with that sort of thing. Some feel more strongly about it than others.

For the most part, it isn’t a big issue.

As far as you know, the Princess doesn’t care. You don’t see how she could. If she was against homosexuality, there’d be laws against it, like there are in other crappier parts of the world.

You really need to think fast. Lying wouldn’t be the greatest idea. Besides, you’ve never been a good-

“Or stallion?”

You look right up at the Princess who has completely surprised you with that accusation. You try not to look scared, but she just looks back down at you with a gentle smile.

“Is it a stallion?”

With just a little hesitation, you nod. How could you ever think lying would be a good idea? Always tell the truth. Your memory isn’t good enough for you to be a liar.

Her facial expression changes as her ears perk up and her mouth forms an “o.”

“Is it really a stallion?” she asks.

You nod again.

“Oh! Wow. I was just joking, but if you’re dating a stallion then good for you! I didn’t think you were gay.”

You don’t even know what to say right now. This whole situation is much too embarrassing for you to even string a few words together. You’re afraid that if you talk, your voice will crack.

“You’re not dating another guard, are you?” she asks, sounding serious.

“N-No, Your Majesty,” you say, your voice cracking. Just as expected. “Of course not.” Relationships between guards is strictly forbidden. You know the rules.

“Then great!” she yells, perking up, looking giddy. How exciting!”

This whole conversation is quickly getting out of hand. You don’t even remember how this whole talk of your personal life even got started. Princess Celestia usually isn’t so nosey, except when it comes to you.

But she can be like your mom in several ways. One of them being her interest in your private life. And she seems so happy that you’re dating somepony.

You can’t stop the conversation now! That’d be rude. Look how happy she is!

“So,” Princess Celestia continues, “who is this lucky stallion of yours? Anypony I know?”

You nod, your face on fire, feeling very embarrassed for talking about your relationship. You’ve never been in one before, so talking about one is very unfamiliar territory.

But this may be something you just have to get used to.

“He is,” you respond, turning your gaze to the ground, even though you try to stand straight.

“Oh, you know I hate guessing games… Hmm… Give me a hint!”

“He’s a pegasus.”

“A pegasus… I know it’s not one of the guards. And I know this pony?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“How well?”

“Pretty well. I’ve seen you speak to him before.”

“We both know this pony…” she ponders, taking this guessing game way more seriously than you anticipated. Not that you wanted to turn this into a guessing game. You could just tell her who it is, but you play along. “Is it Hansel? I know he’s gay.”

“I don’t know who that is,” you reply honestly.

“Ugh! One more hint. Just one.”

“He flies a lot. He does it for a living.”

“Flies for a living, you say… Hmm… Hermes?” she asks hopefully.

“The mail pony?”

The Princess nods.

“No, Your Majesty.”

“Eh. I didn’t think he was gay anyway. I give up! Just tell me!”

“Soarin.”

“Soarin?” she asks, as though she doesn’t know who that is. “Hmm… I’m sorry, Lieutenant, but the only Soarin I know is the Captain of the Wonderbolts.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“... What do you mean, ‘yes’?”

“Yes, that is who I am having my date with today.”

“...Wait…”

You don’t say anything. Instead, you just stand in nervous anticipation of what she’s going to say.

Until this exact point in time, you have not considered the fact that Soarin is technically military. Is your relationship not allowed if you’re both in the military? Or does that just apply to the Guard?

Uh oh. You don’t know.

The Princess slowly continues. “You don’t mean… that Soarin?”

You blush, feeling more scared than nervous, and nod. Nevertheless, despite your shaking legs, you manage to hold yourself upright and face the Princess. You can see the gears turning in her head as she’s thinking… whatever it is she’s thinking.

Working with the Princess is scarier than most ponies probably think.

The Princess’ horn glows purple, and at that same moment an aura of purple surrounds you. You feel yourself being gripped roughly by the Princess’ magic before she lifts you off the ground and brings you closer to her, so you are both face to face.

Being eye to eye with the Princess of the Sun is nothing less than horrifying. She has an intense, determined look in her eyes that could make anypony scared.

She begins in a very low voice. “Are you joking right now? Or are you serious? Because I need to know if you’re serious.”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty! I’m telling the truth! I’m sorry. I’ll break up with him right now if-”

“No! No, no, no, that’s not what I meant,” she exclaims, putting you back down right in front of her. She moves her face right in front of yours and whispers. “Sorry. Just got carried away. But understand, this is very, very important.”

You swallow hard. The Princess really intimidates you, especially now when she’s yelling at you and you’re not sure why. “H-How so, Your Majesty?”

“I want you to name, right now, the first professional athlete to announce he or she was gay in Equestrian history.”

“... Ahem… I don’t think I can, Your Majesty.”

“Exactly! There hasn’t been one! Not one to publicly announce it anyway. So, I’m going to ask you one final time, who are you currently dating?”

“I don’t know if I’d call it ‘dating,’ yet, but I’m going out with Soarin. C-Captain of the Wonderbolts.”

Princess Celestia collapses back into her throne and takes a deep breath.

She continues. “I have seen just about everything in my life now.”

The Princess quickly sits up straight and takes a more regal looking position on her throne, composing herself.

“Anyway,” she says quickly, “you have a date. I can’t get in the way of that right now. So off with you!”

You clear your throat again, trying to keep from shaking in front of the Princess. “You seemed very excited just now, Your Majesty. Is there something I should know?”

“Not right now. Wait, how long have you been dating?”

“Just two days.”

“Then not right now. I’ll talk about it later. You sure you don’t want to split a pizza or something with me?”

“I would be honored to, Your Majesty, but I have a prior commitment. If you wish, I could have Soarin and I eat lunch here-”

She laughs. “I was just kidding. Don’t mind me. You go off and have a great time. But not too great. You have a job.”

“I wouldn’t dream of taking longer than my permitted half hour, Your Majesty.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” she smiles. “But you owe me. You’re the only excuse I have to give to Luna when she asks why I order takeout everyday.”

“I will make it up to you, Your Majesty.”

“Off with you now!” she commands, shooing you away.

==========

Before leaving the castle, you decide to give Octavia a call. You suppose you could thank her for calming you down last night, as the entire night seemed to go well. Well enough for a second date, anyway.

Just talking to her yesterday calmed you down, and afterwards the date went very well, so you’ll call her if only for luck.

Oh, and you can check on your sister too.

You trot down to the “basement,” as you call it, where all the telephones are. It’s supposed to be an extension of the barracks, but it’s the castle’s basement.

You pick up the phone and give Vinyl’s apartment a call, hoping they pick up soon, as you can’t be late today.

Naturally, that does not happen, as it goes straight to voicemail.

“What’s up?” Vinyl asks. “This is the residence of the one and only DJ-PON3 and her awesome marefriend, Octavia. If you need us, leave a message or whatever and we’ll get back to ya.”

Then the machine beeps.

“Vinyl, Octavia,” you say, knowing very well that they are both home. “Good to see you still haven’t changed your answering machine. If either of you are there, please pick up the phone. Preferably Octavia.”

“What uuup?” Vinyl yells through the phone. “Get a phone yet?”

“No, Vinyl, I haven’t. How’s work going?”

“Dude, this is the best job ever. Every night ponies go crazy. They love me! And this club I’m at is really starting to get big, thanks to yours truly. Stallions buy me drinks, I drink, we party, we dance, it’s the best! I wish I’d’ve started this sooner!”

“Glad you’re having fun. Is Octavia there?”

“Why do you always call me when you want to talk to her? You are aware she’s taken, right? And a lesbian?”

“I’m well aware, Vinyl, I don’t want to date your girlfriend. Is she there?”

“How come you never want to talk to me?” she whines. Vinyl adores attention, and there is nothing she likes more than getting attention from those who typically pay her no mind. And that category includes you and Octavia. Your theory on why Vinyl started dating Octavia when they were in high school is because Octavia was the only pony who ignored her, and that drove Vinyl out of her mind.

“I’ll talk to you later, I just want to have a word with Octavia.”

“You said the same thing yesterday! That’s not fair.”

“Is Octavia there, Vinyl?”

“Talk to me! Say whatever you’d say to her to me.”

“I’ll call you tonight, how about that?”

“I work tonight.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow then! Honest. I only have a few minutes here, Vinyl, I just need a word.”

“Are you sure Tavi didn’t break the law?”

“Not entirely, but if she is, I don’t care right now.”

“Are you two trying to overthrow Celestia?” she whispers, in case anypony is listening to your conversation. “I can help.”

“No! Vinyl, I love you, but I need to talk to Octavia for like 20 seconds.”

“Why?”

“I’m not gonna tell you. If you’re supposed to know, then you’d know.”

“But I need to know! Something’s up, and I can smell it. I’m onto you.”

You then hear the phone fumbling around, as though Vinyl dropped it. And the hear some more fumbling.

“Hello?” you ask, looking around the room to make sure you’re the only one in it. It’d be bad if somepony overheard this conversation.

“Hello, Lieutenant,” Octavia says through the phone.

“Octavia! Good, I was trying to get you on the line. Where’d Vinyl go?”

“She’s indisposed at the moment. How was last night? I’d love to hear about it.”

“Actually, I can’t talk too much about it because we have our second date right now.”

“Oh my! So I am to assume it went well then? You shouldn’t be talking to me right now if you’re on a date!”

“I haven’t met up with him yet, but I will in a few minutes. Last night was just great, really. It was great. I just wanted to call you and thank you for calming me down yesterday. I’m still holding onto that advice you gave me, I think it was really good.”

“That’s very sweet of you, I’m glad to hear I could help. If I can ask for a few details, what’d you two do last night?”

“We just walked around and talked. Oh! We even kissed.”

She gasps. “That’s just adorable! I’m so happy for you. But don’t just talk to me, get out there and enjoy yourself! You’re still working, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I’m on lunch break. How are your music buddies doing?”

“Awful,” she sighs. “But hey, what else is new? It’ll pass, I think. Nothing to worry about.”

“If you say so.”

“Everything’s much better now. Vinyl is really enjoying her work, even if I don’t like it. But that’s a conversation for another time. We should get dinner sometime this week! Our treat.”

“That sounds great, actually.”

“You can even bring your coltfriend.”

You blush. “I wouldn’t say he’s my coltfriend. But maybe we’re getting there. We’ll see how today goes. We only just started dating.”

“Some ponies move faster than others. Like you kissing on the first date,” she laughs.

“That’s the truth.”

“I’ve held you up long enough. Go out and have fun! Call us later. If you don’t I think Vinyl’s going to have a fit.”

“I will, Octavia. Thank you. Bye.”

You hang up, feeling good to be able to talk to somepony about Soarin, even if she doesn’t know who you’re dating yet. It’s probably best not to tell many specifics yet.

Not wanting to be late, you remove and store your armor before making your way out of the castle.

==========

You’re already nervous about this second date of yours. You think you like Soarin quite a bit, as last night was a lot of fun, so continuing to make a good impression is your highest priority.

Hopefully, Soarin enjoyed last night as much as you did. There’s no reason to assume otherwise. After all, he did ask you out again.

But that doesn’t keep you from feeling nervous. Again.

You’re not one to jump to conclusions too early, but you think Soarin likes you. He did ask you out. He kissed you. He asked you out again.

He probably isn’t as nervous as you are, and that thought makes you more nervous. You can’t imagine professional athletes really ever getting nervous, especially not around normal ponies like yourself.

How many dates has Soarin been on? Would that be an appropriate question to ask?

He’s probably been on a ton. At least a hundred or so by now. He must have been.

Honestly! Who in Equestria would say “no” if Soarin asked them out? Not you, apparently. And you can’t think of anypony who would.

You probably look like a dork in comparison with whoever else he’s gone out with. You’re too new to this whole thing to have any sort of confidence with it.

And that just adds to the nervousness.

You’re sure as long as you think about how great last night was, everything will be fine. Try to keep a positive mindset.

Looking through the giant front gates to the Castle, you see Soarin, the only blue pegasus in the area, waiting for you across the street, exactly where he picked you up last night. He looks like an excited puppy, in the way he keeps pacing around, looking around at everypony with that big smile he always seems to wear.

You’ve never seen an adult with so much energy before.

Soarin looks over and makes eye contact with you as he stops his pacing, ruffles his feathers, and smiles. You’re very glad he recognizes you so quickly.

It seems like a simple thing to be happy about, but for years ponies constantly tell you how all the guards look the same. At least you can stand out a bit to him.

But that grin soon leaves his face as Soarin lowers his head a bit and glances around.

Nopony is supposed to know he’s gay. Except you, of course. And the Princess now.

Oh crap. You definitely weren’t supposed to tell her about Soarin. Uh oh. You two have only gone out once and now the leader of the country knows about it.

Thankfully, Princess Celestia doesn’t seem to be much of a gossiper from what you’ve seen of her. She minds her own business most of the time. She might tell her sister in the half hour in which you will be away, but hopefully not anypony else.

Occasionally, on the slower days, Princess Celestia will read one of those mare’s magazines that typically focus on gossip. But she never partakes in the act, herself.

Not that you know of anyway. You haven’t been around the Princess of the Sun too much when she’s out and about in public.

Anyway, you trot up to Soarin, who remains standing, smiling at you with his ears folded back.

“Hey, Soarin,” you say, forcing yourself to be casual. Is saying ‘hey’ too casual for a second date? Should you say something else?

“Hey!” Soarin happily replies, saying your name, his ears perking back up. “Ready to get going?”

“Where are we going?”

“Oh! There’s this diner down the road I want you to see! I’ve been there a few times. They’ve got the best hay bacon sandwich you’ll ever have.”

“Sounds great!” Soarin gets very excited about food. “I’ll follow you.”

And with that, the journey begins to wherever Soarin is taking you. You haven’t been to many diners, so you can’t say you know what he’s talking about.

“How’s your day been going?” you ask before Soarin could.

“Eh, it’s been okay,” he says unenthusiastically, though his body language looks very excited. He’s sort of bouncing with every step he takes. At one moment he’s at your eye level, the next he’s back at his natural height. “We have these invitation-only tryouts where we invite some top flyers from around Equestria to train with us for a few weeks.”

“That sounds exciting.”

“It is for Spitfire. She likes training and teaching and yelling and stuff. She’s good at it. Does it all the time. It’s not really my thing.”

“When do these top flyers come to train with you guys?”

“Right now. Actually, they all arrived this morning.”

“They’re there now?” you ask.

“Yep!”

“Shouldn’t you be training them?”

“I was. But it’s so boring sitting up there all day. Spitfire doesn’t even let me help, she thinks I just get in the way all the time. She thinks I joke around too much with them. I think she’s too tough.”

“So you left her up there by herself?”

“Yep. Some of the other Wonderbolts are up there, but they probably aren’t doing anything either. It’s the time of the year when I can get away with goofing off.”

“Won’t she be mad?”

You doubt Spitfire really wants to train whoever it is they’re training anymore than Soarin does. Maybe she does, maybe she doesn’t. But regardless, doing it by herself must be a pretty big task.

She’ll be mad at Soarin, you assume, but he doesn’t seem to care.

It’d be pretty funny to see them either of them training somepony. You imagine they disagree on a lot of things. Outside of work, they both seem pretty laid back. Especially Soarin. You would guess Soarin is relatively the same way during work, at least when it comes to training recruits.

However, during their regular season, when ponies actually pay good money to watch them fly around, you guarantee they take their jobs seriously. They wouldn’t be the best at what they do if they didn’t take it seriously when they had to. They’re famous for a reason.

Same goes for you. You can be laid back when you’re not working. Sometimes.

After going through military training it’s a little hard not to be serious all the time, even when not working. It’s a lifestyle. You do it solely because you want to, and if you want to do it, then you have to be serious about it.

Just now, as you look around on the street, you see all the other ponies walking around, doing whatever it is they’re doing.

And most of them are staring at Soarin.

And some of them are looking at you.

Everypony seems to be starstruck just seeing Soarin in public. It must be odd to see somepony one normally pays to fly just walk around the city. Most ponies probably don’t know Soarin has all four legs, seeing how often he flies.

Meanwhile, those that look at you have varying levels of interest. Some look at you like you’re his bodyguard. Some look at you like you’re lucky to just stand next to Soarin. Some look at you like you’re unworthy of doing so.

That’s what you think, anyway, whether that is what they’re thinking or not. Part of your job is reading facial and body expressions.

Many ponies stare at you all day long back where you work, or they used to, so you’re kind of used to it. But now that you aren’t working, you feel a little odd with all the attention.

Unlike Soarin, who is clearly enjoying himself with his big smile and wide eyes.

“How’s your day going?” Soarin asks.

“I’ll… tell you in a minute.”

Seeing that Soarin is leading you towards a diner, you take it that you have almost arrived. It’d be best to tell him that your relationship isn’t really a secret anymore. But it’d be best to do that in a more secluded area than the street. Hopefully the restaurant isn’t too crowded.

Walking through the door, you realize that saying this restaurant is ‘crowded’ would be an understatement. You wonder if you can even get a table in this place.

“Is there a table for two open?” Soarin asks the lady at the podium with that charming smile of his.

The hostess smiles really big before announcing, “We always have a table open for the Captain of the Wonderbolts!”

Many of the ponies eating in the general area turn and look at the podium where Soarin is standing. Some of them even start cheering and telling everypony else at their table that Soarin is here, as though they didn’t hear the announcement.

You don’t know how often Soarin goes through Canterlot. He said the other day that he only recently moved here. You suppose he hasn’t been around long enough for ponies to get used to seeing him around.

That, or everypony is just always excited to see the guy. You wonder how famous he is in Cloudsdale, considering that’s where most professional flyers live.

Eh. Regardless, everypony in the diner knows Soarin is here now.

As you follow the stewardess and Soarin in the walkway to your table, you take notice of all the ponies staring at Soarin, but still trying to be subtle about it. There’s no such thing as subtly staring at somepony.

When a star athlete trots through the door, it’s impossible for most ponies not to be in awe. The mares you see are looking at him with big eyes as they whisper to their friends.

And Soarin just loves it. Anypony with a single eye can see that.

He’s smiling and waving at ponies. Some athletes, you know, smile and wave out of courtesy to their fans. They do it because they essentially have to.

But not Soarin. Everything about Soarin’s body language is genuine. He could do this all day. He loves ponies.

Meanwhile you just sort of follow along, keeping your head down a bit. You can’t help it. You don’t like drawing unwanted attention.

After a long march, you are both seated at a booth.

“Your server will be right with you!” the stewardess says sweetly, looking right at Soarin.

“Thank you,” Soarin says excitedly. How he always seems to maintain this level of energy is incredible.

In your peripheral vision, you notice quite a number of ponies still looking over your way.

“Watcha getting?” Soarin asks, causing you to focus on what you actually came here for: a date.

“Oh, uh…” You open and begin perusing the menu. When was the last time you went to a diner? You’ve never been to this place. “Not sure yet. What about you?”

“Hay bacon sandwich with extra mayo,” he says, not missing a beat, but still looking at the menu. “It’s the best. I strongly recommend it.”

“Hmm,” you think, pondering the menus various options. It’s a diner, and all diners have the same things, but you still don’t know what to get. Grilled cheese? Maybe.

You don’t want to get something that may upset your stomach. It’s only halfway through the workday.

You can feel Soarin looking at you while you look at the menu. Your peripheral vision is 20/20, as your profession demands it to be, and he’s looking right at you.

All these ponies in this place are looking at him, and he’s looking at you. What’s funny is that you’d think, considering ponies stare at him all the time, he’d be relatively good at conspicuously checking out other ponies.

But the opposite is true. The top half of his head is above the menu he’s trying to use as a screen, and his eyes are completely focused on you.

If only to mess with him, you glance up, making eye contact for just a second before he glances down at the table, trying not to be caught.

“Getting anything else?” you ask, knowing Soarin likes his food.

“Pie! Definitely pie. Not sure what kind, though.”

“Is pie the best idea? Don’t you have to go back to work?”

“Sure! Pie is always a good idea. I’ll even bring a piece back for Spitfire! That might just make her day.”

“I’m sure it will.” It’s almost surprising how upbeat and positive Soarin seems to be in every situation. It’s only ‘almost’ surprising because you think you’re getting used to Soarin’s exuberant energy. It’s so cute.

“Afternoon, gents!” your waitress says as she stops by your booth. She introduces herself but you forget the name immediately.

It’s not that you meant to forget it, but who has the energy to remember every server’s name one comes across?

The waitress has a light blue coat, dark blue eyes, and a swirly blue and white mane and tail. She’s wearing a red apron with a little white hat.

“What can I get you?” she asks happily, looking at Soarin with a smile, ready to write down his order.

You can tell this mare is in love with Soarin. A lot of ponies are. They’ve probably never met, and if they have, Soarin probably doesn’t remember. He has to meet 100 new ponies a day. You still can’t believe he remembered you after you met.

But you are pretty awesome.

“I’ll get a root beer and a hay bacon sandwich with extra mayo,” your companion requests with his charming smile. You haven’t noticed how white his teeth are until now.

“Coming right up!” the waitress announces. Your turn to order.

“Can I get-”

You stop to look up from the menu.

And the waitress isn’t there anymore. She left. You can see her bouncing back to the kitchen.

You look over at Soarin, whose face is so red you’re wondering if it’s his real coat color.

“I’m really sorry,” he apologizes, saying your name. “That… That sorta happens sometimes…”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m sure I can get her back-”

“No, no, she’ll be back,” you say, never one to want to start a scene, even for something as simple as this.

There’s a pause in the conversation as neither of you know what to say.

Soarin clears his throat. “You said you wanted to tell me something?”

“Oh! Yep,” you say, shifting in your seat. “Okay. Okay. I may have told somepony we’re kinda seeing each other.”

Soarin cringes. “Really?”

You nod.

“Who?”

“P-Princess Celestia.”

“Princess Celestia?!” he exclaims before quickly trying to calm himself down. “Princess Celestia?”

You nod again. “I’m really sorry. I know what we talked about and I didn’t mean to tell her… I don’t know. It just sorta happened and once I started I couldn’t stop. I don’t know how to stop a conversation with the Princess. It’s intimidating. She was asking questions ‘cause I wasn’t eating lunch with her today and I just kept answering-”

“It’s okay! It’s okay,” he says, trying to calm you down. “Breathe.”

You take a deep breath.

“You’re not gonna lose your job, are you?”

You shake your head. “No, no. She wasn’t mad at all. She was really happy about it, honestly.”

“I bet! She’s probably happy to get away from you for a bit.”

“Pfft! As if!” you chuckle, happy to see Soarin isn’t mad at you for telling somepony. You were afraid he’d be pissed.

“E-Excuse me? Mr. Soarin?” you hear a small voice ask.

Before you can explain to Soarin why you’re the perfect companion for all situations, you both look over to the edge of the booth, where a small pegasus filly is standing, looking very nervous.

She’s holding a pen and a napkin.

Soarin turns his full body so that he is facing this filly.

“What can I do for ya, sweetheart?” he asks sweetly.

The little girl blushes and glances down at her hooves with her ears folded back. “Can, uhm, can I get your autograph?”

“Of course you can, hon!” Soarin exclaims, patting the booth next to where he’s sitting. “Hop on up here.”

Her eyes get really big and she smiles as she jumps up with Soarin on his side of the booth before dropping her pen and napkin on the table.

“Who should I make this out to, sweetie?” Soarin asks, picking up the pen.

“Uhm…” the filly blushes even harder. “My name is Winter Streak, but… but, uhm… my friends call me Lulu.”

“Those are both beautiful names!” Soarin says, making the filly giggle. “Can I call you ‘Lulu’?”

She nods rapidly, smiling, showing all her teeth. Soarin’s really making this filly’s day.

Soarin scribble on the napkin, writing whatever it is he usually writes. You’ve always been fascinated by how professional athletes can write their name the exact same way hundreds of times. You doubt you’ve ever written your name the same way twice in your entire life.

To be fair, it’s hard holding a pen in your mouth.

“Mr. Soarin?” the filly asks timidly.

“Yes, Ms. Lulu?” he asks in response, pausing for a second from writing on the napkin.

“Do you think, one day, I can be a Wonderbolt?”

“You know…” Soarin begins quietly, sliding her the napkin and pen. “I don’t say this to just anypony, but I think you could definitely be a Wonderbolt.”

In response, she simply smiles up at him.

“But if you really want to be a Wonderbolt, you need to practice everyday and, uh, always listen to your parents. Okay?”

“Thank you, Mr. Soarin!” she yells before darting off, disappearing into the crowd.

Soarin turns back into the booth and sheepishly looks over at you.

“Sorry,” he says. “That happens a lot too.”

He’s apologizing? For that?!

“What? Are you kidding?” you ask. “That was adorable! And you handled it perfectly. You don’t have to apologize for everything that happens, Soarin. It’s alright, I understand. You’re famous.”

“I know, it’s just… I didn’t think it would be bad. Which was dumb on my part.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, though. This is supposed to be about us. Not us and everypony else in the area. I didn’t ask you out so I wouldn’t pay attention to you.”

Just then, the waitress comes back with Soarin’s order and puts it down in front of him with a smile.

Then she looks over at you, shocked.

“Oh my goodness!” she says. “I didn’t even take your order! I’m so sorry!”

It’s fine. You’re not even upset. You place your order.

“I’ll get that out right away! I’m so sorry.” And she trots off again.

Soarin clears his throat again. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t feel bad, you haven’t done anything. I understand.”

In order to stop Soarin from apologizing to you again, you decide to change the subject. What should you talk about?

“How are your recruits doing?” you ask.

“They’re okay,” he shrugs. “But I wouldn’t really know. I haven’t been up in Cloudsdale in hours. How’s the Princess?”

“I think she’s good. She always seems happy. Like you. I don’t know how you guys do it.”

“We don’t have any reason not to be! We’ve got a lot of things going for us… Does anypony else know about the two of us?”

“I don’t think so. Unless Princess Celestia said anything. But I don’t think she has. Have you told anypony?”

“N-No,” he stutters.

Before you can press him on his answer (which sounded suspicious), a group of young mares walk by. They look like college kids, or are at least around that age.

“Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh - it’s him - it’s really him - ohmygosh - can I get your autograph?!”

Soarin smiles, loving the attention, but you can tell he’s sorry. Just in the way he’s smiling or shifting in his seat, you can almost feel him saying “I’m sorry.”

But seriously, it’s okay. You don’t care if ponies want to see him or want his autograph or whatever. He’s a professional athlete. Anypony would expect a celebrity to get attention, surely.

And so do you.

While Soarin is writing whatever it is he writes, a couple of the mares look at you funny. They look at you like they’re saying “who are you and what are you doing sitting with my future husband?”

You don’t care for that look. You don’t like it at all. You don’t know what their deal is. If these mares gave you that look at the castle they’d be told to leave.

Soarin gives the mares his autograph with a simple “There you go.”

Still starstruck, one of the unknown mares quickly leans in and hugs him. Soarin looks surprised, but he returns it anyway.

As they leave, you can hear them oogling at Soarin’s autograph and the fact that they were able to just see him somewhere.

“Don’t apologize,” you say, stopping Soarin at the beginning of another apology.

He laughs nervously. “They didn’t show up at the best time.”

“No,” you chuckle. “You can eat, you know. Your food is here, don’t wait for me.”

“No, no, that’s fine. I’m going to wait. In the meantime, actually, I should really wash my hooves. Be right back.”

Soarin excuses himself and walks off, presumably towards the bathroom.

In the meantime, you just decide to wait for your food. Which still isn’t here. You have a schedule to keep, so eating and leaving are priorities two and three.

The first being having a good date.

Has this been a good date so far? You think it has, but you haven’t had any dates to compare this too. Is Soarin having a good time?

Who can tell. You really hope he is.

You really hope he is.

If he isn’t, you won’t know how to turn it around.

The smell of Soarin’s sandwich is making you hungry.

A few ponies walk by your table, making eye contact with you the entire way.

Normally ponies look at you, stare at you even, but today it has just been getting on your nerves. You can usually ignore it, but not today. You can’t help but compare yourself to Soarin to some extent.

He’s the good looking, famous celebrity, and ponies look at him like that’s what he is. Ponies look at you like ‘who the hell is that’?

It’s just weird that you’re on a date with with this guy, but everypony looks at the both of you in completely different ways. These thoughts are really running through your head.

Soarin’s been gone for longer than you anticipated.

Come to think of it, you should really wash your hooves before eating too. Walking around with them all day can get them pretty dirty.

You get up and walk towards the bathroom, still noticing the stares of other ponies in your peripheral vision. It’s nothing new, but it’s grating on you.

When working, ponies get right in front of you and make funny faces or try doing something to make you laugh all the time. It never works, though.

That happens all the time when tours come through. No guard ever wants to patrol that area because of those exact reasons.

You go into the bathroom, noticing it’s small size. It only has one stall, which is open. One of the two sinks is running, but nopony is standing in front of it. You don’t see anypony.

You hear a pounding on the wall, as though somepony is hitting it with something.

Looking to your right, you see Soarin banging against the wall. With his head. Mumbling to himself.

What?

“Soarin?” you ask, getting his attention.

“H-Hey!” he says, saying your name, straightening up and turning towards you, thankfully no longer hitting his head against the wall.

“What are you doing?”

“I was just…” He glances over to the sink. “Washing my hooves?” He smiles sheepishly up at you.

“Are you okay? Is something wrong?”

His ears flatten and he paws at the ground. “It’s just… I really like you, you know? I like spending time with you. And this is a date, right? And I want it to go well. But so far, we haven’t really talked… about anything.”

“We’re talking now,” you point out.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to talk to you in a public bathroom. And I didn’t take you out to lunch so I wouldn’t pay attention to you. What’d be the point of that? Seriously. I knew I shouldn’t have asked you out for lunch! Dinner is the best idea. Fewer ponies, less interference. We’ve both gotta get back to work soon, and we haven’t even said four sentences to each other. I mean, we’ve been here for-”

In what is undoubtedly the boldest move of your life, you force Soarin to stop rambling by leaning forward and kissing him. He immediately stops talking, and almost immediately starts kissing you back.

You can tell he’s confused. Even you’re confused. What came over you to make you do that? That’s not like you.

But you do like Soarin. You like him a lot. He’s been on your mind since the last time you saw him. More specifically, your kiss from last night has been on your mind, and all you’ve wanted to do since then was kiss him again.

You pull back to look him in the eyes, and he looks adorably confused.

“I am having a good time,” you say. “I understand that you’re a celebrity. Ponies are going to want to see you, or get your autograph, or be starstruck, or whatever. I understand. And it’s okay. The most important thing is that I can tell you’re trying, and I love that.”

Through the redness of Soarin’s face, you see him smiling embarrassedly. He’s just the cutest thing.

He slowly leans forward and kisses you, but just for a second, as though he’s making sure it’s okay.

You certainly think so.

“Maybe next time we should find a place a little more secluded,” you say.

Then you blush, hoping that comment doesn’t sound too forward or inappropriate. You’re trying not to make any implications this early in your relationship.

“I like that idea,” Soarin says, kissing you again.

At that same moment, the bathroom door opens, causing the door of you to leap away from each other.

The incoming stallion doesn’t even look your way as he trots into the stall.

Soarin chuckles nervously, moving up to stand next to you.

“Guess we should go eat?” he asks.

“Let’s.”

You wash your hooves and start to exit the bathroom, but Soarin stops you before you reach the door, putting a hoof on your chest.

“Do you want to get dinner tonight?” Soarin whispers, trying to be as secretive as possible. “Like, I know lunch hasn’t been anything great. But I want to take you to dinner! To make up-”

“Soarin,” you whisper back, stopping him mid sentence, making his ears fold back. “You don’t have to explain everything.”

You put your hoof on top of his that’s on your chest, and lean in for a brief kiss. After just a moment, Soarin pulls back to glance over at the stall. Seeing no immediate movement, he kisses you.

“I’d love to go to dinner with you,” you whisper, making him smile.

It’s a shame that even here you two have to whisper to each other. Keeping this relationship a secret is starting to get frustrating. But it’s necessary.

Soarin isn’t ready to come out to everyone, and you certainly aren’t either.

Dinner should be good. If tonight is half as good as last night, it’ll be great.

“We can eat now,” Soarin says, pulling away.

You wash your hooves and head back out.

With My Wonderbolt

by ScatMan2001

Chapter 1: Another Day at Work

Chapter 2: The Party

Chapter 3: It's Party Time

Chapter 4: Excuse Me?

Chapter 5: First Date

Chapter 6: Lunch Date