"At least I didn't have to fly far."
“But you’ll never make it in time!”
“Then there’s no time to lose!” Rainbow Dash bolted out of the stadium, leaving behind her signature rainbow trail. If anyone could reach Spitfire in time, it would be her. The long journey, the harsh cold of the north, not even Wind Rider could stop her. The Wonderbolts were counting on her. She will not let them down.
She soared over Canterlot, plotting her course to the Crystal Mountains in her head. Such a long journey needed planning, and there was little time for it. She couldn’t go directly north yet; there was still Canterlot Mountain blocking her path. She had to fly across the city before she could start her journey. Not that it would take long. With a half minute of gliding just a teensy bit above the speed limit, and the pegasus would shoot straight north.
After that, it was a matter of figuring out the best flight route. Cloudsdale was currently setting up a wind current to carry the pegasus city towards Manehattan. If she flew into it, she could use the winds to push her faster towards the Lower Arctic Airstream, which would put her right where’d she want to be and shave several hours off her trip. Sure, it’d be the chilliest way up there, and the only way back down would be to wrap around Gryphonstone and catch the spring breeze back, but Rainbow Dash figured she could manage it. The Wonderbolts, the greatest fliers in Equestria, if not the world, were counting on her to bring Spitfire back.
While she did the mental math, Rainbow Dash did her standard practice of observing the ground below. She did it involuntarily most of the time, and almost never cared about the happenings on the ground. Still, little interesting tidbits crossed her mind every time she flew across these cities.
In the full swing of Canterlot business hours, for instance, Rainbow picked out a few odd things in the crowds below. Mares still walked around in that dress Rarity mass produced the other week. A stallion played a muted trumpet in a windowsill downtown. Princess Celestia snuck around in the shadows, trying to purchase a large cake from the pastry shop a few blocks down from the castle. Why she kept her sweet tooth a secret, not even Rainbow knew.
A splotch of bright yellow caught Rainbow’s eye. The splotch stood alone in a dark alleyway, which made it stand out from the thousands of brightly colored ponies that populated Equestria. Another figure stood in front of the splotch, having a conversation that Rainbow could only guess. Not that she tried to guess. A yellow pegasus mare with flaming hair talking to a shadowy figure probably had nothing interesting to say that would grab Rainbow’s attention.
The last few details played back in Rainbow’s head. Once they all pieced together, Rainbow flared her wings out and turned back towards the alley. “Wait a minute, that’s Spitfire!”
No, it couldn’t be her, could it? Rainbow thought about this as she hovered high above the alley. She wasn’t mistaken. That pegasus mare had Spitfire’s cutie mark, Spitfire’s hair, Spitfire’s everything! Well, not her Wonderbolts uniform. That was hanging on a rack with the team’s other uniforms back at the stadium. What was Spitfire doing in Canterlot?
Rainbow swung down lower to catch a view of the figure. It was tall, feathered, had a beak, definitely a gryphon. Spitfire was having a conversation with a gryphon. Why a gryphon? There were very few running around in Equestria, much less Canterlot. Gilda was one of those few, but she now lived in a different country. Who was this gryphon?
Rainbow brushed away the questions piling up in her head and dove down to the alley. The Wonderbolts were counting on her to bring Spitfire back, the sooner the better. Spitfire being down the street from the castle made her job that much easier. Now she didn’t have to travel across the world to fetch—What are those two doing?!
“Spitfire?!”
The flame-hair pegasus jumped away from the gryphon, breaking off a long, passionate kiss they shared between each other. “Rainbow!” Spitfire gasped, “What are you—why are you here?!”
“The Wonderbolts sent me to get you from the Crystal Mountains. Wind Rider turned out to be a jerk and sent you a fake letter and tried to frame me for it, and I was about to fly out to get you, but now I found you here!” Rainbow gawked at the blushing pegasus and gryphon. “What gives?”
“Heh, um… well,” Spitfire mumbled, rubbing the back of her head. “At least saved you a trip.”
The gryphon stepped up in between the two pegasi, puffing out his chest feather and glared at Rainbow Dash. “Listen here,” he said in a gruff voice, “We’re two consenting adults who can make our own independent decisions. You have no business telling us what we can and can’t do. If you got a problem with that, you can take it up with me.” The gryphon flexed his claw out to emphasize his point.
The claw twinkled in Rainbow Dash’s eye, who backed up to put a little space between them. “Easy there buddy, I’m not here for you. I’m only here for Spitfire.”
Spitfire walked up next to the gryphon and put a hoof on his shoulder. “It’s alright,” she cooed, “My team is just worried about me, that’s all.”
“Worried about you? We’re not just worried about you.” Rainbow Dash threw a hoof northwards, pointing beyond the borders of Canterlot. “Everyone thinks you’re in the Crystal Mountains picking flowers for your sick mom, who’s fine by the way, and I was about to fly across the world just to fetch you! Yet here you are, puckering it up with your coltfriend— uh, feather friend…”
“We say court-mate in Gryphonstone,” the gryphon noted.
“Right… court-mate.”
“Look Rainbow Dash,” Spitfire said, “I know this doesn’t look good on my part. But I have good reason for this. Rainbow Dash, meet Gehiem. Gehiem, Rainbow Dash.”
Gehiem held out a claw to Rainbow Dash, who shook it with her own hoof. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
“And now you’ve met my reason.”
Gehiem threw Spitfire a sultry look. “Oh, you come to me for more than just one reason.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as the couple nuzzled each other. “Okay, clearly you two have a healthy relationship going on in all departments. Sorry if I ruin the moment, but if I’m piecing this together just right, you didn’t go take care of your sick mom, but instead stayed in Canterlot to be all lovey dovey with your secret lover.”
Spitfire shrugged. “Didn’t you say Wind Rider faked the note or something?”
“Yeah, but you didn’t know that until I told you so. Why aren’t you up in the Crystal Mountains picking that one flower?”
“What, the ice lily? You do know that’s not a thing, right?”
Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. “I guess. Wind Rider might have made the ice lily thing up.”
“Yeah, and I thought my mom made it up too. Who actually believes you cure pegasitis with ice lilies? The drugstore around the corner sells pills over the counter for the stuff.”
“Really, you don’t need a prescription?”
“Clearly, you’ve never had pegasitis before.”
“Guess not.” Rainbow Dash glanced at Gehiem, who gave her an irritated glare for taking time away from his court-mate. “Well, you still lied about where you were going.”
“Yeah, but no one was going to check on me while I was out.”
“Me,” Rainbow Dash said, pointing at herself. “I was about to fly out to get you.”
“And you would’ve spent most of your time searching an entire mountain range for me. I think I saved you some time by being here.”
“What about your mom?” Rainbow Dash pointed towards the stadium, where everyone was waiting for them. “She’s sitting with your team, worried sick about where you are.”
Gehiem nodded. “In a way, she has a point. You did use your mom’s illness as an excuse to come and see me.”
“You know my mom,” Spitfire groaned as she rolled her head back. “She’d have a heart attack if she found out we were dating.”
“She doesn’t have to know. You don’t have to tell her anything.” Rainbow Dash flew down and pulled at Spitfire’s foreleg. “Now let’s go, everyone is waiting for you at the stadium, and we need to get there as soon as possible.”
“Wait, Dash, could we have a little more time together?” Spitfire broke off from Rainbow Dash, backing up and leaning against Gehiem. She tilted her head and looked up with puppy dog eyes. “Just wait an hour or so before we go back.”
“Sorry, the Wonderbolts need you, now.”
“Dash, I’ll make it up to you.” A small grin crossed the flaming pegasus’s face. “I’ll let you be part of the aerial show we do at the Grand Galloping Gala.”
Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow. “That was last month. The next one won’t be up until next year.”
“True, we are a little late for the last one. But…” Spitfire looked around to check if anyone was listening. She beckoned Rainbow Dash to fly in a little closer, leaning up to whisper in her ear. “We have to train for it year long. The practices start soon, and I’ll let you be the lead flyer.”
Spitfire smiled even more at the sight of Rainbow Dash’s ears perking up. “Wait, do you mean I’ll be leading a Wonderbolts routine?”
“Only if you let us have a few hours and keep your mouth shut.”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide as she thought about Spitfire’s deal. Her, leading the Wonderbolts! How could she turn it down? Well, a few hours wouldn’t hurt. The show wasn’t until later in the afternoon. She stumbled through the air as she fluttered up to a higher altitude. “I just remembered, there’s a place and a thing I need to do for that exact amount of time you need to be alone. See you soon.”
The pegasus bolted into the sky, leaving her rainbow trail behind. Gehiem wafted the trail away with his claw, watching the pegasus fly out of view. “She’s full of spirit.”
Spitfire nodded as she dug her head into the crook of Gehiem’s neck. “Yeah, Rainbow Dash will make a great part of the Wonderbolts one day, if she sticks to it.”
Gehiem pulled at Spitfire’s hair with a claw, running her fiery strands through his talons. “Do you think she’ll replace you as team captain?”
“Well, if she does that, I’ll have to retire, but then you’ll have all the time in the world to do naughty things to me.”
A smile stretched across his beak. “Like the things I’m about to do to you once we get up to my apartment?”
“Especially those things.” Spitfire reached around the gryphon’s belly, gently stroking his underside. “Just to let you know, my team has to think I flew all the way back here from the Crystal Mountains. I need to look convincing.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Gehiem playfully nipped at her hair. “I’m going to make you sweat.”
From above, a prismatic pegasus elicited a gag, far from the couple’s ears. “Ew, gross. You know what, forget it. I’ll let them figure out there’s ponies watching.”