Chapter 1

View Online

The train was rattling and Soarin' could hear the snores of other passengers, along with Twilight's who was asleep on his shoulder. He was sitting by the window and looked out at the landscape, and in the distance he could see their destination with the setting sun behind it. Tamphay bay, one of the most beautiful coastal towns in the world, its sugar white sand and its clear blue waters were enough to make anypony feel serene in its presence.

His gaze retreated back into their compartment and looked at the peaceful face of his marefriend who was now two months pregnant. She was in a deep sleep, almost drooling on his shoulder and Soarin' had to resist a laugh. He wished that he could also sleep, but he constantly found his hoof wandering over the black box in his saddlebag. Inside that box was his statement to Twilight, a ring. It was a round engagement ring with a clean cut diamond in the center. He couldn't sleep past his thoughts on presenting his ring to her, and how he was going to do it.

Marriage is just a formality... I know I love her, ever since she stayed by my side when I was in the hospital I knew it. Soarin' thought to himself, remembering when he woke up and saw Twilight waiting right there for him. I know I love her, and she loves me back... we even have a foal on the way. I want to be a great husband, and just as great of a father.

He laid his head back in his seat, his arm now over Twilight's shoulders as she still slept soundly, regardless of the noise from other ponies in the cart that were chatting next door and light bumps of the rattling frame of their train cart. The sun was creeping its way out of sight and the moon began to unveil itself in the sky.

The train was traveling nearer to the town, the city's buildings not too different from Manehatten, but much more lively and reflected from the setting sun. The sound of the waves rolling over the beach began to become audible in the distance as the train began to slow to stop at the station.

Soarin' nudged Twilight and kissed her on her forehead and lightly spoke. "Wake up, we're here." He smiled as she woke up and stretched out.

Twilight froze in mid-stretch. "We're here already?"

Soarin' pointed outside at the window at the train station and she looked out and saw that they really were there.

She smiled giddily and shared a quick kiss with Soarin' and they gathered their things.

They hopped off of the train and Twilight took a deep breath through her nose to smell the salty air.

Soarin' tried to take a sniff of the air but the wind had picked up and Twilight's mane had hit him in the face. He recoiled, lightly spitting out the taste of shampoo out of his mouth while Twilight continued to breathe in the sea air. He moved out of the way of her mane, scrapping his tongue on the top of his teeth to rid himself of the taste, but then smiled to himself as he thought. It doesn't taste as good as it smells...

Twilight looked around and saw the clean streets and a trolley was lazily passing by, and then looked up at the sunset over the peaceful beach and vast ocean and her eyes began grow wide. She turned around to face Soarin'. "It's beautiful here!"

Soarin' smiled and nodded, agreeing, and he stepped forward, a little ahead of Twilight to get a more clear view of the ocean. He stared with a blank face, but behind his solid expression was a smile of joy and nostalgia. It's been so long...

Twilight surprised Soarin' by hugging his neck and burying her muzzle into his mane in gratitude. "Thank you so much for bringing me here."

Soarin's expression turned into the smile it was trying to portray, but now a merrier smile with the reminder of the presence of his love behind him. He snapped out of his thoughts and memories of the place to rest his head on top of Twilight's and they both looked out at the ocean in the distance.

"Are you still tired, Twilight?" Soarin' asked as he looked away to face at his marefriend.

Twilight yawned and started to feel as if she was being weighed down. "A little bit… I couldn't get much rest on the train, it was really bouncy. I'm surprised I could sleep at all."

Soarin' looked around the town; it hadn't changed much since he was last here. "Ready to go to the hotel?"

Twilight yawned and nodded.

Soarin' lead Twilight through the town, walking along the wide sidewalk near the varied stores on their way to where they were going to stay for the next month as the library is being renovated.

Twilight saw the hotel in the distance, it was like one she had been in before: simple, and could provide your needs. She began to lazily walk towards it, but then noticed that Soarin' kept walking straight forwards. She quickly returned to his side, confused as they continued to walk down the sidewalk.

They walked together for awhile longer, the moon was out and now in full view in the sky. Twilight was being weighed down from the want to sleep had to force her eyes open to continue to follow Soarin'.

Soarin' was also beginning to feel tired from the lack of sleep, even his excitement of his proposal couldn't keep him in full animation.

The next hotel was in view as they turned at the corner, now walking nearer to the ocean to a hotel which was almost touching the sand. It was a grand fifty story hotel that towered over most of the buildings in the area.

Twilight almost stopped walking, confused again as she saw Soarin' make his way towards it. They entered the hotel and the floor was made of velvet and had large paintings on the walls in the lobby.

Soarin' trotted up to the receptionist desk. "Hello?"

The mare behind the desk had a dark red coat with tribal markings and wearing a thick black headband over her light red hair. "Hello, welcome to Hayton Hotel, your five-star get away in paradise! I'm Fire Dancer, how may I help you?"

"I have a reservation here." Soarin' said as he fished out the paper of confirmation in his saddlebag. He handed it to the receptionist.

She checked the numbers in her computer and the reservation checked out. She handed the paper back to Soarin' along with a key card and a smile. "Thank you for choosing our hotel! You're aid will be here in a moment."

Twilight was now stunned at the beauty and the high class of the hotel; she didn't expect Soarin' to rent a room in a hotel like this. She knew he had money from a lot of endorsements that he did, but had never thought he had this much.

A few moments passed and a stoic looking bellhop came and guided them to the elevator, which took them up to the top floor. The elevator was slow so it took awhile for it to reach the top, and Twilight noticed that the bellhop smelled faintly like a skunk and had to cover her muzzle. The elevator opened and the bellhop then guided them to their room.

Soarin' thanked the bellhop and gave him a generous tip, then slid the hotel key card in the door and it clicked open.

Twilight walked in, shocked, and saw that the room's size was equivalent to a good sized house. The bed was king-sized and well-made; everything in the room looked so trim and expensive. "Soarin'?"

Soarin' was stretching out in the doorway when he replied. "Yes?"

"Is this really our room?" Twilight said, now making her shock known to Soarin'.

Soarin' acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "Yeah, Why?"

Twilight took another quick gaze around the hotel room, taking notice of the balcony that hanged off of the building to their access. She faced him with a slight tinge of confusion on her face. "It's...It’s just so adorned...and complex...I've never been to a place like this, other than being in the castle back in Canterlot..."

Soarin' looked around the hotel room himself, he was used to places like this back before he moved in with Twilight when he was a Wonder Bolt. He then realized that she wasn't used to this caliber of living. "Well... I just thought that you really deserved somewhere nice to stay, do you like it?"

"I love it... it’s just missing something."

Soarin' watched Twilight walk to the bedside and pulled a picture frame out of her saddlebag and set it on a table next to the lamp.

It was a snapshot of Twilight and Soarin' four months after he moved in the library, and a month before Twilight was pregnant. It was a snapshot of Twilight sneaking up behind Soarin' when he was sitting at the table, reading a book on hobbies, and surprised him with a kiss on his cheek. Spike was holding the camera and after that picture was taken he was laughing at Soarin's surprised expression.

Soarin' trotted over to get a closer look at the picture and stifled a laugh at remembering how clueless he was at that moment. He reached over to kiss Twilight, the spark ever strong in their relationship.

He opened an eye to look at the clock; it was only about 10 pm. It's not that late...

They two held the kiss and fell on the bed after dropping their saddlebags to the floor, both enjoying the plush and luxury of the bed and the lights slowly died in the room thanks to Twilight's magic.

Soarin' looked up at the sky from the ground. The sun was so bright he had to block out the heavy sun rays with a hoof. He lifted his wings and tested their strength, flapping them slowly. He reared up and kicked off of the ground, flying upwards at a high speed with his mane flowing backwards with the nostalgic feeling of the wind through his mane.

Soarin' flew through a cloud, making a perfect circle through it and then flew off even faster with the cloud fluff rolling off of his body. He then flew straight upwards and flew as high as he knew was safe and then stopped to look down. He saw his shadow cover the landscape below him and grinned at the height in which he was floating in the air.

Soarin' tried to fly forward, but something strange had happened, no matter how much he flapped his wings, for some strange reason he was stuck in place. He quickly grew tired and stopped moving his wings and put them at his side and looked in amazement that he was still high above the earth.

Amazement turned to fright as he began to fall from the sky, his hooves pointing upwards during the free fall. He didn't know what do think, and couldn't resist, even if he wanted too. He struck the ground without pain; he stood up and dusted himself off while looking around. He was in a plain grassy field, no trees, nopony else in sight, he could only see the grassy field go on for miles.

Soarin' looked back up at the sky, still bright, and tried to raise his wings again but they disobeyed his command and he looked back at his wings. His wings disappeared from sight and shocked him. He sat down in depression; he had lost his wings and began to weep silently from the loss.

Soarin' felt a hoof touch his shoulder and he stopped weeping to look beside him, he saw a purple hoof resting on his shoulder. He spun around and saw Twilight, now with her hoof extended out to him and he took it.

Soarin' had risen up from his spot on the ground and was now facing Twilight directly, just staring at her. He tried to talk but it felt as if his mouth was cemented shut. He looked back behind him, his back bare from the absence of his wings and felt the anguish creep over him again but then heard Twilight's voice echo in his ears.

"Don't worry Soarin’; it's going to be alright."

He looked back in front again, his anguish now washed away and replaced with comfort as he once again stared at her. He rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes, reveling in the love he felt for her. He heard the grass crunch beside them and he opened his eyes to see his good friend Spike who was wearing his normal friendly expression.

"I'm tired Twilight, can we go home?" Spike asked.

Soarin' looked around and still only saw miles of grass, but he could also see little stubs growing out of the grass.

They began to walk off, and Soarin' noticed that the stubs began to grow into trees and in high numbers all around them, now grown to a dense forestation, but they continued to walk through the trees and a path had even appeared below them.

They exited the groove of trees and now Soarin' could see Ponyville in the distance as they continued to walk on the path. The path started to grow wider as others joined them in the walk home, Applejack had appeared beside Spike and the rest of Twilight's friends were traveling behind them along with a few of Soarin's new friends he had made while living in Ponyville. Big Macintosh, Dr.Whooves, and Caramel were also now following them.

Ponyville was small and looked as if it was miles away, but then it suddenly lurched forward, growing in size and they entered the town. They walked through the streets and the buildings stood around them in a perfect row.

Soarin' looked ahead and saw the library that they used as a home in sight.

They all stopped walking, only fifty yards from the library. His heart was gravitated towards their home but he couldn't move his hooves. He looked next to him and saw Twilight start to walk forward and he tried to follow but his hooves were still stuck in place. He had almost jumped when he saw a clone of himself walk next to Twilight and he saw himself open the door for her and they both entered their home.

Soarin' just stared at the library for a few moments, but then saw that the door had re-opened and saw Twilight and himself walk out.

It looked like nothing new, until he saw a third figure emerge from the library beside them.

A small foal had come into view and was now being muzzled by Twilight.

Soarin' felt his heart rise at the sight of the foal and strained his eyes to try and see it, but couldn't make out any of its features. He only saw a blank face, but the smile had appeared on the foals face as it looked up at its father.

Soarin' continued to strain his eyes to just catch a glimpse of what his child looks like, but the harder he tried the more farther away the library appeared and eventually vanished.

Soarin' jolted up from where he was lying. He squinted at the clock at it read 6 am; it was still early in the morning. He looked next to him and saw Twilight peacefully sleeping and he was glad that he didn't wake her. He tried to lay back down to try and go back to sleep, but his eye was being attracted towards the balcony that hang outside of their room past a glass door.

Soarin' slowly exited the bed, careful not to wake up Twilight and made his way across the room to the doors that lead outside.

Twilight felt the cold air flow on her face, and she could taste the sea salt in the air. She woke up and began to rub the sleep from her eyes with a yawn. The clock next to her read 7 am and she stretched out, while she was stretching she noticed that Soarin' wasn't lying next to her. She looked around the room in confusion, but then saw that Soarin' was on the balcony outside of their room with the glass doors open.

Twilight slid out of bed and began to walk across the room, still yawning. She walked outside on the balcony but stopped to see Soarin' spacing out, looking out into the dark sky meeting the ocean.

She called out to him. "Soarin'?"

Soarin' turned around slowly, but was surprised to see that she was awake. His expression was blank, but a few tears were flowing from his eyes.

Twilight took a step forward, worried about him. "Are you alright?"

He sniffed and wiped his eyes with his forearm and spoke past it. "I'm fine."

Twilight moved closer to him, close enough she could feel his warm breath past the cold oceanic air. She put her hooves on the side of his face. "You're crying..."

Soarin' sighed. "Yeah... just thinking about some things."

"Like what?"

Soarin' moved away from Twilight's grasp and leaned over the edge of the railing on the stone balcony to look below out at the sea again.

Twilight joined him, eager to know why he was crying.

"I was just thinking about my parents..." He took a deep breath and was silent for a moment, the only sound were some seagulls in the distance that were waking up from their nests to begin the day. Soarin' began to speak again, this time his voice was gentle as he spoke. "When I was a young colt my parents took me here in the summer and we would stay in a hotel like this one. My dad was a film director, and my mom was a teacher that home schooled me. We were a really tight family and I used to think nothing could go wrong." Soarin' choked but then gulped his sadness back down as he tightened his grip on the railing. "Th-then one day as my mom was flying home from visiting her parents..." Soarin' lowered his head and rested it on the railing, letting the cold stone touch his forehead. "She was flying as fast as she could to try and get past the thunderstorm the pegasi had planned and she didn't even know about it..."

Twilight watched as she saw Soarin' start to break down, stuttering his words with small droplets of tears hit the ground below him.

Soarin's voice started to increase in volume to speak past his sobs."Sh-she was flying fast to try to get home before it got too bad... but then the storm picked up quickly and made it hard for her to fly and th-then as she was flying she was hit by a thunderbolt that made her pass out." Soarin' sniffed and wiped his eyes again before he continued. "She died from the fall and we buried her the next day." He began to cry, but still trying to hold it back. "I loved her so much Twilight..."

Twilight was about to reach out to touch him, but her hoof retreated when his head came back up, and he was no longer crying, he was now angry and looking back out at the ocean.

"And my father... He tried to act as though she never existed! He just went back to work and worked all day and most of the night, script writing and directing his stupid movies... I was left at home, and all I could do was try to continue the lessons my mom taught me as if she was still there. One day I tried to go visit my father at his set, but the guards wouldn't let me in and told me that 'Clip said that he doesn't have a son' and I just looked at the guards, my dad told them he didn't have a son. That night I was devastated and decided that instead of going to college I was going to join the Royal Equestrian Air force and my father still said nothing, he just kept going back to work still denying my existence." Soarin' banged his hoof on the railing. "The day I turned eighteen and left all he said to me was 'bye' as I walked out of the door." Soarin' took a few deep breaths and calmed down. "I stayed in the Air force for three years, and soon after I left Spit Fire scouted me into the Wonder Bolts and I just tried to forget about my dad."

Twilight was speechless; she had no idea that Soarin' had gone through all of that. She had asked him about his childhood before but all she said to him was that it was fine.

"A few months after I joined the Wonder Bolts, somehow my dad heard I was one of them and tried to call me. He tried to act as if we had been best friends for awhile and tried to get me to star in this movie he thought up of about a Wonder Bolt." Soarin' let out a small light chuckle. "I screamed at him and told him no, I told him I hated him, and I told him to buck off...and ever since them I haven't seen or heard from him."

Twilight leaned in closer to Soarin' to comfort him with a hoof around his shoulder. "I had no idea..."

Soarin' leaned into her and let her comfort him. "There is one thing he told me when I was younger that I've thought about for awhile now. He told me, life is like a movie, you can have a thousand endings. He always compared things with movies and told me if you have a terrible exposition and plot your ending isn't going to be very good. I think I know what he means by that, and from what I can tell... from being with you, is that I have a good chance at a happy ending."

"Are you still mad at your dad?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Mad? I don't know... I try not to think about him, but I don't have it in me to still say I hate him. After all, it’s hard to feel any hate when I'm with you."

Soarin' turned to give Twilight a full hug. "Thanks." He began to realize that he should try and not worry about his old family, but now to direct all of his attention to his new family. Twilight, and their foal that was on its way.

The sun started to poke out of the horizon and began to light up the world around them.

They stared out into the sparkling ocean and saw everything start to spring to life with amazement and their eyes gleaming at the sight. They both were thinking the same thing. I love you so much... and as if they could hear each others thoughts they turned to face each other to share a kiss that cast away the rest of their negative emotions and they went back into their room to prepare for the rest of their vacation.

Chapter 2 part 1

View Online

It has been a week since Soarin' and Twilight had arrived to their vacation in the paradise of Tamphay Bay, today they are enjoying a nice day on the white sandy beach of the coastal town.

Twilight was on the beach, reading a book while resting on a beach blanket in the heat of the sun. It was about mid afternoon, she and Soarin' were enjoying a day at the beach.

Soarin' was playing in the waves with some young foals that recognized him as a Wonder Bolt. He was running through the coming waves and toppling over from the force driving him back along with the foals and laughing.

Twilight was constantly looking over the brim of her book to watch Soarin' play with the foals. It warmed her heart to see him being so friendly, even to strangers. She began to lose interest in her book, watching him dash into the waves repeatedly, and began to think of Soarin and why she loved him so much. He was compassionate, logical, not the brightest but he was by no means dumb ,which she thought was cute. Twilight began to look more closely at Soarin' as the water was running down his coat and began to blush as she noticed that he had become more muscular and refined now that he no longer had use of his wings. She began to wonder what she did to deserve such a stallion that loved her back as much as she loved him.

Soarin' stopped playing for a moment to rest. While he was catching his breath, and admiring the foals stamina, he looked over at Twilight who was preacfully reading on the dry beach. He began to forget where he was and only saw her, and his mind began to fill of the reasons why he lover her. She was mindbogglingly smart, very mature, and he can't ever help but notice how adorable she looked when she read. Her eyes shone, lost in the words, mouth agape, and sometimes losing track of time.

Twilight levitated her book in the air as she stretched out, popping her joints to refresh herself.

Soarin's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. Twilight's excessive reading sometimes left to forsaken meals and it lead to her keeping a very attractive and curvy body that drove Soarin' insane. He wondered what he did to deserve an amazing mare like her.

Twilight finished stretching and saw Soarin' staring at her so she shyly waved and threw a smile at him.

Soarin' returned the smile with much enthusiasm and before he could wave back, a large splash of water soaked him from behind along with fits of laughter from the foals. He turned and began to splash back at them, laughing along with them. He continued to play with the foals for awhile longer, but then grew tired again and decided to return to the dry sand. He said bye to the foals, who were disappointed at first, but accepted his farewell. He shook the water off of himself as he exited the water, and then trotted over to where Twilight was lying, still reading her book. He yawned and stretched out before lying next to her on the beach blanket.

Twilight was nearing the end of her book when Soarin' laid down next to her. She could feel his still wet coat against her own and began to tilt to lay her head on his shoulder as she continued to read her book on motherhood.

Soarin' laid his head on top of Twilight's and then he began to read from the book. He had gotten halfway through the first page before the pages were turned. He decided to give up trying to keep up with her reading pace and began to affectionately muzzle Twilight, with a few kisses to her neck that made her giggle. He had his proposal in mind, he was still trying to decide when he was going to finally pop the question, but began to feel sleepy and began to drift off to sleep, feeling the warmth of Twilight's body temperature and the crashing of the waves onto the shore.

Twilight finished reading her book and closed it with a yawn. When she closed her book she could hear Soarin' snoring lightly beside her. She laughed and turned her neck to plant a gentle kiss on his muzzle.

Soarin' abruptly woke up, almost forgetting where he was, but then he saw Twilight and smiled and then returned the kiss.

The sun was beginning to set and they got up to roll up the beach blanket and return it to its place in Twilight's saddlebag.

Soarin' carefully slung his saddlebag over his back, careful about the ring still inside of it. He looked out into the sea, the sun was almost touching the horizon and he was suddenly hit with an idea. "Twilight?"

"Yes?" Twilight asked, strangely hopeful.

Soarin' looked quickly out at the beach, most of the ponies had packed up and gone, leaving the beach bare, just for them. "Want to go for a walk on the beach? I want to watch the sunset."

Twilight nodded and smiled and the two began to walk along the shoreline, only inches away from the water crashing onto the dry sand.

The two walked with barely any space between them, tails intertwined. Two ponies who loved each other, walking along peacefully with the serene beach, leaving hoof prints in the white sand behind them as the sun began to touch the horizon in the distance.

Soarin' stops walking and looks out into the ocean, waiting for the sun to disappear from view with Twilight next to them. They held hooves as they stood and watched the sun becoming consumed by the vast ocean ahead of them.

"I love watching the twilight at the end of the day.." Soarin' said before taking a deep breath, and then breathing out and closed his eyes.

Twilight continued to star out into the ocean, Soarin's change of breathing had gone unnoticed as she thought of the twilight. The suns final rays of light shining over the earth as it disappeared, but the sun was still in half-view and she awaited the moment.

Soarin' opened his eyes again, his breathing pace slightly increased as he saw the sun half consumed by the ocean. He tried to steady his breathing with another deep breath and feeling that this was the best time. He turned to face Twilight with a warm grin, which it was happily returned before he began to speak.

"I also love another Twilight... One that I have no idea where I would be now if I never met, but I do know I wouldn't be as happy as I am with you now... Twilight Sparkle." Soarin' turns his attention fully to her and starts to kneel as he took both of her hooves in his. "I love you, and I would gladly give up everything I've ever had to be with you. All those months ago at the Summer Festival I wasn't sure when I first met you because I never believed in love at first sight, but now I do, and each time I look at you I feel the same wave of love as I first saw you... Twilight Sparkle... I want to ask you something."

Twilight finally realized what was happening and cupped a hoof over her mouth with her eyes shining and the other hoof still in his hooves.

Soarin' let go of her hoof and slid his saddlebag off of his bag and began to search through it to retrieve the ring. He had a big grin on his face as he began to look for the ring... but then the longer he searched for the ring, his expression changed from happy, to confusion, and then to despair as he couldn't find the ring. He couldn't believe it... he lost the ring! He started frantically looking back in the distance, as if trying to spot the ring in the sand, but to no avail as he finally sat down in defeat.

Twilight saw him move around frantically and then just sat down, staring into his bag. She put a hoof on his shoulder. "Soarin'?... Whats wrong?"

Soarin' could only faintly reply. "I-....I lost the ring... I was going to propose to you with it..but it's gone." He hung his head in embarrassment and despair at his mistake.

Twilight was filled with joy as she pushed over Soarin' in a loving hug.

Soarin's back was digging into the sand as Twilight was lying on top of him. The sun was now out of view, but the glory of its twilight now shone over the landscape in its final rays of glorious sunlight.

"Soarin'! Of course I'll marry you!" She hugged him and began to shower him with kisses, leaving him confused, but happy.

"So... I don't need a ring?" Soarin' asked, now filled with hope.

Twilight could only giggle at the question, but replied. "I don't need a ring Soarin'... I just need you." She continued to shower him with kisses, with Soarin' returning each one. She had been expecting this for awhile, she knew Soarin' loved her too much to be an unwed mother.

The two had stayed on the sandy beach together, pushing their muzzles together in the bliss of the moment. Sharing together in pure ecstasy their thoughts, almost telepathically as they began to roll in the sand as their tongues danced against each other. The sun was gone now, its rays now blackened and diminished, leaving the two in the darkness with only half a moon in view.

They finally arose from the spot they had been together for the past half hour and made their way back to their hotel.

(recommended that changing the background of the document to dark makes this scene better)

They were in front of the hotel room door, and before Soarin' slid in the key card he surprised Twilight by picking her up with his hooves.

Twilight blushed and wrapped her hooves around his neck and began to kiss at his neck as he held her, but then he did something that really shocked her.

Soarin' began to flap his wings and they rose a feet feet above the floor and Soarin' quickly moved the key card into the card lock and opened the door and flew them inside the dark room, kicking the door shut behind them.

Twilight gasped and squinted to look at the ground from above, seeing Soarin's back hooves above the ground. "S-Soarin'! You're flying!" she looked back up at his face, her eyes shining from the moment, but saw that he was in deep concentration as he flew them forward a few feet into the room.

He barely made it to the bed and released her gently and landed softly next to her, with a few beads of sweat down the side of his face.

Twilight rolled over on top of him, nuzzling his chest and praising him. "Soarin' you flew again! That was amazing!"

Soarin' took a deep breath and smiled back at her, feeling his wings strained from the sudden use after such dormancy. "Y-yeah... I did..." He didn't even think about it at the time, it just happened on impulse, and looking back at the brief moment of his flight, he felt the joy that he had back when he was a foal and gained the use of his wings.. but even more so that he flew with the love of his life in his hooves. He looked down at his fiancée who was still nuzzling his chest, and he bent his neck forward to kiss Twilight's horn.

Twilight immediately stopped nuzzling his chest as Soarin' continued to kiss her horn. She looked up at him, her face blank but flushed to where it was an even deeper shade of purple.

Soarin' was surprised on how much that effected her, he had read in a few books in the library that a unicorns horn was sensitive, but he didn't realize that sensitive.

Twilight moved herself up higher and she began to kiss at his neck again, but she noticed that his breathing was still rigid and stopped to take a quick gaze at his wings. She saw that his wings were twitching. She still couldn't believe that Soarin' flew, just for her.

"Soarin'?" Twilight asked sympathetically

Soarin' was still lightly panting, but looked into her eyes in an answer.

"...D-Do your wings hurt?"

Soarin' could feel his wings ache and his spine began to tingle, but responded. "Only a little bit.. I'll be fine though."

Twilight remembered back when she was in school, learning from Celestia in anatomy class. She recalled the bone structure of pegasi wings and had an idea.

"Honey, can you please roll over?" Twilight asked with a genuine smile.

Soarin' didn't know why, but he didn't question his fiancée and rolled over on his stomach with his hooves stretched out. Twilight resumed her position over top of him, now placing her hooves on his back. 'What's she do-... Oh sweet Celestia...'

Twilight began to massage Soarin' down his spine, focusing around the spot between his wings. She pushed her hooves against his spine going outwards to relieve some of the pressure that caused him pain.

Soarin' began to quake from pleasure as she continued up and down his spine.

Twilight moved her hooves back to the spot between his wings for a moment to try and relieve as much pressure as possible, then she began to work her hooves towards his wings. She started at the base of his wings where they met the back at his axilliaries.

Soarin' flinched when she touched his wings, they still ached but they were quickly soothed by her gentle touch massaging his wings. He let out a satisfied sigh and let his wings relax enough to fall down as she continued over the margin of his wings, keeping a slight circular movement.

Twilight worked her way to the spot that was most delicate on a pegasi's wings, the carpal joint. As soon as she had began to work her hooves over it Soarin's body became limp and became succumbed over the pleasure of the massage. Twilight leaned forward into his ear. "Do you feel better, honey?"

Soarin' could only lazily nod as she still caressed his wing's joints.

Twilight allowed him to get up and roll back on his back, and then crawled back up his chest.

"Thanks... My wings feel alot better now." He smiled gratefully as he looked into the eyes of his bride, he never grew tired of her purple irises and wrapped his hooves around her. He blushed as his next words came out of his mouth. "...Do you wanna...?"

Twilight blushed as well as she shyly nodded, but then pressed her lips against his.

That night, the moon seemed a bit bigger for the two.

Chapter 2 part 2

View Online

Twilight woke up, her head ached from the lack of sleep, but nevertheless she was happier than she has ever been. She felt like jumping around the room exclaiming 'yes!' as she did as a filly when she obtained her cutie mark, she still felt the surge of happiness when Soarin' proposed to her.

Twilight looked at the face of her Fiancé, who was still in a deep sleep and gently kissed his muzzle before snaking out of his hooves and slowly exiting the bed. She silently trotted over to a table they had placed in the room against the wall across from the bed and used her magic to levitate a piece of parchment with a quill and ink to her from one of the bedside drawers. She laid the parchment flat against the wood table and pressed her quill against its blank white surface at the top and began to write.

To Star Sparkle,

7172 Canterlot

Hi mom, it's been awhile since we last spoke and I really miss you and dad, even being here in Tamphay bay couldn't ever make me forget about you two. I know it’s been a few years since I moved into the library here in Ponyville and I really want to see you and dad again. But my vacation here in Tamphay bay with Soarin' has been wonderful, the ride over here was smooth and when we got here the sites were incredible! The sand and the surf is mesmerizing and the sunsets really do the princess great honor. The room Soarin' rented for us looks like something ripped out of the castle back in Canterlot! Oh and speaking of Soarin', last night he proposed to me on the beach! He lost the ring and was pretty bent up about it, but when I told him yes we both forgot all about it. I never feel more special than I do when I'm with him. I hope that you guys can come visit us when we get back in town in a few weeks. I can't wait for you to meet him.

~ Love Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight placed the letter in an envelope and sealed it. She remembered that this hotel had its own postal services and decided to mail it right away.

Twilight trotted across the room silently and exited the room, but waiting right outside the door was a very tall sleek stallion that was wearing a business suit.

"Ah yes, hello ma'am I was just about to knock."

"Can I help you?" Twilight asked, clueless about whom the stallion was.

"Yes you may, I'm the manager of Hayton Hotel and I came to notice you about some...complaints we received last night." He said plainly.

"Complaints?" Twilight cocked her head in confusion, they hadn't done anything wrong.

"Yes...noise complaints... from this floor we’re having complaints about excessive giggling and very clear spring mattress noises."

"Oh...my..." Twilight didn't realize how much noise they had made last night.

"And! We have even more about a very high pitched scream from almost half the hotel. It gets very quiet here at night Ms. I want to ask you and your roommate to... 'Restrain' yourselves a bit please?"

Twilight's heart dropped as she was told her scream was heard from half the hotel, "I-I...um... I'm really sorry about that sir; it won't happen again, I assure you!"

The manager bowed politely, "Thank you for your understanding, I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay at our hotel." He eyed the envelope Twilight had been carrying, "May I take that for you miss? I will make sure that it is mailed downstairs."

"That would be lovely, thank you sir." Twilight handed him her letter and he bowed again before trotting off towards the elevator.

Twilight returned to the room and saw that Soarin' had awoken and was stretching out while sitting at the edge of the bed. She rushed over and tackled him over on the bed, pressing her muzzle against his. After a moment she released him and grinned widely at her fiancé, "Morning, honey."

Soarin' smiled back, happy to have woken up to such a warm greeting, "Morning, who was at the door?"

"Oh...Well... we got a warning."

"Warning... For what?" Soarin' asked showing clear confusion.

Twilight sheepishly grinned. "W-well... other ponies on the floor heard us last night..."

"Heard us?" Soarin' had perked his ears up from surprise.

Twilight nodded and blushed, "Yeah... and half of the hotel... heard me...." embarrassed, she chuckled as she hid her muzzle in Soarin's chest.

He wrapped his hooves around her head in understanding as she tried to bury her embarrassment while laughing with her, "I guess we did go kinda nuts last night, didn't we?" He was worried about the warning, but he also took little pride in himself, "You know what? We should go out to celebrate later, I saw a really nice restaurant down the street..."

Twilight looked up from nuzzling his chest and beamed at him, "That sounds really nice."

Soarin' stretched out as Twilight got off of him and they both got out of the bed and stood to face each other. They both felt different to each other, their coats now felt softer to their touch as if they really were connected.

Twilight leaned forward and pecked Soarin' on the cheek, "Let’s take a tour around the town and see what sites we can take in."

Soarin' nodded and they both exited the room, walking side-by-side with their tails intertwined.

Hours later they arrived at the restaurant, Soarin' had combed his mane down and Twilight was wearing blue star ear rings. They both wanted to look nice for their first dinner engaged.

The restaurant was well lit and the atmosphere reflected the ocean and beach. A dance floor was present with live music, and the restaurant was packed. They were seated at a table next to the side with a glassless window that looked out into the ocean.

In the distance they saw the shoreline where the waves crashed onto the white sand of the beach and they could hear the seagulls fly over-head. The sun was setting away in the distance, barely in view but it was enough to cause the ocean to glimmer in its final rays with its approaching twilight.

A waiter that pushed a wine cart had come and greeted them unenthusiastically with a thick French accent, "Hullo, I am Jolttixeon - I'll be your waiter this evening." He levitated two glasses, bottle of wine, and two menu's on the table as he bowed, "Here are your menu's and I will be back very soon." The waiter disappeared in the crowded restaurant, regretting he didn't finish dentist school.

They both quickly scanned the menu and picked their meal and then set down their menu's to signal the waiter when he passed by again.

Twilight looked around and admired the decorations, "This place looks really nice..."

Soarin' also looked around, "Yeah... I think this restaurant is new, and I've heard its really good."

They both met eyes and held each others hooves across the table.

Their waiter returned, "Hullo again, the kitchen is ready for your order now." He looked at the two, annoyed that he was being ignored. He loudly cleared his throat.

Twilight and Soarin' jumped, forgetting where they were for a moment but then both sheepishly smiled at the waiter, "Sorry about that..." They both apologized, out of sync.

"I'll have the daisy salad deluxe please... with a side with a side of scalloped rose petals." He said politely as he hoofed his menu back to the waiter.

The waiter jotted down his order and turned to face Twilight. "How about you Miss?"

She blushed and replied, "It's Misses, and I would like..."

The waited readied his pen on the notepad.

"A steamed cheese filled seaweed wrap with chocolate sauce and banana slices on top, please." She said as she levitated her menu in front of the waiter.

The waiter raised an eyebrow, but jotted the order down and scurried back into the crowds of ponies.

Soarin' scrunched his muzzle up at the odd order to stifle a chuckle.

She noticed his restricted laughter and her face flushed from embarrassment. "I just had a sudden craving for that..."

He knew it was some of the side-effects of being pregnant kicking in. He looked over at the wine the waiter had left. He grabbed the bottle and read the back of it to make sure it didn't have too much alcohol in it, luckily it didn't and he began to pour a glass, "Do you want some?"

"I've only drank wine on special occasions... but I guess this counts as one, sure!" She said as she took the glass and looked at it.

"Here's to the most beautiful mare in the world." He said as he raised his glass with a wide grin.

She raised her glass and they both drank heartily.

Soarin' doesn't like alcohol, but he liked the taste of wine. Back when he was a Wonder Bolt he used to go to fancy parties in Canterlot, his favorite part was the wine.

Twilight had downed the rest of her glass, enticed by the taste. She had swayed a little to the side.

He looked over at her and couldn't help but smile. Wow... even when I had my first glass it felt like nothing. He decided to place the wine on the table beside them so Twilight wouldn't drink anymore, "You okay, Twilight?"

Her face had become flushed, "I'm fine..."

The live music began to play another song and Twilight's ear perked up to listen. She smiled and got up from her seat and went across to where Soarin' was sitting and pulled at his hoof, "C'mon! Let’s dance!"

The two made their way to the dance floor, but Soarin' was nervous, he had never danced before and he was clueless on what to do now. He waited to see what Twilight was going to do.

Twilight heard that the music picked up its pace and she began to dance wildly to it. She balanced herself on her back hooves as she shuffled her front legs in front of her.

The other ponies around the dance floor stopped to look at Twilight's frantic dancing and slowly backed away.

Murmurs came from around the dance floor, "What is she doing...?" along with inaudible whispers.

Soarin' couldn't contain his laughter and began to laugh at Twilight, but quickly mimicked her dance movements with Twilight laughing with him. They both just continued to dance awkwardly to the music, having too great of a time to care about anything else.

The other dancers saw the two having fun without a care and a few of the dancers returned to the dance floor, getting in the groove of things with the odd new, but enticing dance.

Soon, all of the dancers returned at the dance floor was filled with ponies moving frantically with constant giggles and chuckles from the crowd along with newcomer dancers that wanted to join in the fun.

The singer had begun to laugh with the crowd while he sang; sometimes messing up his lyrics but nobody seemed to care at that moment.

They had danced for an hour before returning to their seats to enjoy their meal, which had been sitting there for about ten minutes.

Soarin' and Twilight sat down to admire their plates.

"Wow this looks great... do you want some of mine Twilight?" Soarin' asked as he offered some of his scalloped rose petals.

Twilight shook her head, "No thanks." She pushed her plate forward, "Do you want some of mine?"

Soarin' looked at the plate of seaweed with the chocolate sauce and bananas. He felt ill just from staring at it. He remembered a time where he had seen something even worse, a plate of fried mayonnaise balls with cottage cheese dip that he saw a few years ago at the gala. A strange stallion with three hoof balls for a cutie mark was gorging on the plate with his wife trying to pull him away. "N-no thanks, Twilight."

The two ate their meals and prepared to leave.

Soarin' saw the waiter from earlier across the room, who now carried a more depressed expression. "Hey Twilight, do you mind if I leave our waiter a good tip? I think he could really use it."

Twilight drank another quick glass of wine, her face becoming slightly flushed again. "I don't see why not."

Soarin' dropped a generous tip on the table and picked up the bill and they both headed towards the front of the restaurant to pay. He placed the bill on the table and was about to pull out money to pay for it, but the manager held up his hoof to stop him.

"This meal is free tonight, son." The manager said cheerfully from behind the register counter.

"Huh? Why?" Soarin' asked the stallion behind the counter.

The manager shrugged, "First time this whole damn place started dancing, just a thank you for starting up this wonderful evenin', and next time you come will be free if you can do it again."

Soarin' grinned, "Thank you sir, for the wonderful evening as well!" He replied to the stallion before they left the restaurant to head back to their hotel.

The two returned to the hotel later that night, it was about nine thirty when they got back into their room.

Soarin' was yawning as he closed the door and walked over to the bed, exhausted. He slipped into the bed, hoping to get a good night’s rest tonight, "That was so fun... but I'm beat..." He stretched out, "Night, Twilight."

Twilight had hopped into bed next to him, but then stood up in the bed over Soarin'.

"Um... Twilight?"

Her face was still flushed and swayed lightly as if the effects from the wine still lingered, "Yes, Soarin'?" She said as she arched her neck down to kiss his chest.

"Aren't you tired? I really think we should try and get some sleep tonight..." He said, confused that she still had the wine in her system.

"Nope! I'm not tired, and I don't think skipping another night would hurt..." She said with a sinister smile growing on her face.

Before Soarin' could protest Twilight had pinned down his hooves and aggressively kissed at his muzzle.

His eyes grew wide from surprise as Twilight kissed him, confused further but didn't try to resist. All of this from one glass...? Maybe I should try and install a wine cellar at the library...

Chapter 3

View Online

(If you see some errors, they will be fixed, had alot of trouble with Microsoft word, and transfers between editors, we just said nuts to this after like 30 minutes of mistakes)

Applejack pulled her hat over her head as she exited her room and closed the door behind her. She looked up at the farm house decorated clock in the hallway upstairs that perched itself to the right of Applebloom's room, 'Still a might early, guess ah'm just happy.' She took her time as she went down the stairs into the Apple family home and was met with the familiar faint scent of apples and grass. At the bottom of the stairs she exhaled deeply, taking in the fresh oxygen that flowed in through their open windows, and outside the windows the sun began to shine its rays over the landscape of Equestria.

Applejack quickly stretched out her joints, after hearing a light popping sound from her shoulders she regained her composure and walked into the dining room where Applebloom was wide awake, coloring something on a piece of paper. Big Macintosh was asleep in a chair, his head laid back as he snored loudly with a book in his lap.

Applejack tried to read the title of the book, but it was covered by the tablecloth and she could only read a few of the letters, William Sha-, the rest were beneath the white doily cloth.

Applejack messed up the top of her sister's hair, "Mornin' Applebloom!"

Upon hearing a voice, Big Macintosh woke up. His head lurched forward, and his eyes were half-open with drool trailing from the side of his lips, "Ah'm awake!"

Applejack looked over at her brother, "You bin readin' all night again, Big Mac?"

He looked at this lap, his book upside down on the page he was on where he left off, "Eeyup."

Applebloom fixed her hair with a grumble and returned to coloring her picture she had drawn.

Applejack picked an apple up out of a bowl that sat on the dining room table and quickly ate it, before making her way out of the dining room.

"Hope ya have a nice day with Spike , Applejack," Applebloom sarcastically said right before her big sister left the room.

"Thank ya, Bloom," She replied cheerfully, not catching the hint of sarcasm in her younger sisters voice.

Applejack left the house, and closed the door behind her and took another long exhale of fresh morning air and leaving a refreshing, "Ahh..." She began to trot down the path to her barn to retrieve an apple cart to begin working in the orchard. She was expecting someone to come soon and help her as well so she checked her mane with a tilt of her neck and the corner of her eye to make sure the tie in her hair hadn't come undone. After she saw that her mane was fine she chuckled lightly to herself, "Outa all th stallions 'n Ponyville, ah fall for a dragon... an' hes the kindest, most polite guy ah ever met..."

She opened her barn door and trotted inside, and looked at her apple cart. She wasn't in a hurry to start work soon, as she still awaited her helper.

Spike was right outside the gates of Sweet Apple Acres and he took a deep breath to relax himself, he was taller now, only slightly taller than Applejack. Today was the day he was going to spend the day with Applejack, starting with her morning farm work, Are my spines straight? He thought to himself as he used his claws to rake the spines on his head upwards to make himself more presentable.

Spike heard a loud, but oddly familiar, roar behind him on the road. He slowly turned and saw the familiar machine approaching with dread. He took a step back in freight as the machine slowed to a stop in front of him, No...

The door of the machine opened up, and a familiar pink head popped out of it, "Spike! Get in!"

"Pinkie?!" Spike took another step back in horror, remembering the antics from before.

Pinkie Pie gestured Spike to get in the dalorean, "Spike! We don't have much time!"

"No Pinkie! Not again!" Spike said loudly as he pointed a claw at her, "Never again!"

"But Spike your son, F-" She tried to reason with him.

"No!" Spike yelled finally before running through the farm gates, flailing his arms in panic to get away from the mare and her strange machine.

The door to the passenger seat of the machine opened up, a Stallion wearing red robes appeared, "He didn't go for it, did he?"

She frowned and replied, "Nope..." But then she lit up in excitement, "Hey, Ximmy! Lets go play with a stegosaurus!"

Cardinal Ximerez pointed forward into the sky, "Onward, my dear!"

The two disappeared into the machine and the engine started and sped back the way it came, and ending with a flash.

Applejack and hooked herself up to the apple cart and was exiting the barn, in the distance she saw a purple dragon running towards her with his arms flailing in the wind as he ran.

Spike slowed to a stop in front of Applejack, panting with his arms resting on his knees and spoke through his breathing, "Alright...Aj...I'm here...whew..."

"Whoa there, wheres th' fire sugar cube?" Applejack asked worriedly at the panting drake.

"Uh... everything is fine Aj... I just uh... wanted to get here sooner." Spike quickly replied, not wanting to tell her about Pinkie and her machine.

"Well... Ya' didn't ave ta run. You jus helpin' at all makes today alot easier." Applejack said, leaning down to give Spike a quick peck on his cheek, "Thanks fer carin' so much though." She began to walk towards the orchard with her cart in tow.

Spike stood still for a moment, dazed by the sudden kiss, but then noticed that Aj was heading towards the orchard and quickly caught up with her.

Applejack had to harvest the early yield of apples but little did she know Spike had a surprise for her. They reached the western orchard and she studied the trees for a moment, to give herself an idea of how long this was going to take. She trotted over to the first tree and bucked it in her normal fashion and all the apples fell into their respective baskets.

Spike had always admired her strength,but since his growth spurt he wanted to truly test out his new strength. He looked at the tree next in line to be bucked as Applejack loaded the apples that fell into her cart. He dug his index claw into the bark and made an 'X' on the face of the tree.

Applejack heard a claw scrape and looked up to see Spike facing the next tree over.

The dragon cranked his arm back and threw all his weight behind a single punch. The sound of bark cracking could be heard as his fist made contact. As if someone had ripped the tree out of the grounds and shook the fruit loose, apples rained into their respective baskets at the base of the tree.

Applejack fell to her haunches with a dumbfounded expression on her face, "What th' hay..." She remembered when spike had to climb up the trees in order to retrieve the fruit from the branches because he was too weak to buck them down, but now his strength was uncanny.

"Heh...I think I got all the apples off the tree." Spike said with a cocky attitude that would rival Rainbow Dash. He may have been with his lover a lot on Sweet Apple Acres, but the one thing Spike didn't pick up was a sense of humility. Even with his morals and positive emotions guiding his growth he still had that trait found in all dragons. The same trait that makes a dragon somewhat smug.

"Whoa nelly, ah aint ever seen ya do anything like that before." Applejack said, only fueling her boyfriend's ego.

Spike sprouted an idea to spice things up, "Hey, Aj wanna have a race to see who can harvest the most apples from the west field? Winner picks the prize." He challenged her with a smirk and a tipped brow, awaiting her response.

Applejack shot a smirk back at Spike, being one to never pass up a challenge accepted Spike's harmless game.

It was Applejack's bucking versus Spike's punching techniques to see who could produce the greater yield of apples. To keep things fair they asked Mac to referee the contest before he started his shift on the farm.

Spike and Applejack both took a few moments to stretch, both putting on their game faces, both confident in their strength and stamina. Big Mac watched them, twirling his wheat stalk in his mouth as they finished and entered the ready position, he divided the west orchard in half for each to use, and then he gave the signal to start.

The contest began, both hooves and fists producing full baskets and empty trees with the sounds of crackling bark and heavy thumps filling the air.

Spike had the advantage when it came to the efficiency of his technique, but it was Applejack who had the home field advantage and she knew these trees like the back of her hoof. It was a tense race, it was 20 bushels, then 30 bushels and then it 50 bushels apiece with neither of them gaining or loosing ground. They both began to grow tired and sweaty as they reached the end of their edges of the orchard. The contest lasted for half an hour before they finally came to a stop, both knocking loose the apples from the final two trees simultaneously, and then both shouting, "I win!"

They looked at each other, both curious to who won.

Big Macintosh saw the end of the competition, seeing that they both finished at the same time but quickly observed the trees, "Well it's a tie... but ah noticed ya only got half a tree bucked over ther Spike." He pointed to a tree that was around the mid-way point of their competition path.

"Ha! Looks like ah win, Spike." Aj tipped her hat to her competitor with her signature smirk of victory. It was tiring but they both had a lot of fun.

Spike looked at the tree but then admitted defeat, "Alright, you got me Aj...Name your prize." He hoped that she wanted the same thing he wanted if he had won.

Applejack trotted over to Spike to collect her prize, "Come along sugar cube let's git ta washing th' house..." She leaned in to whisper in his ear, " an ya can clean th' top floor."

Spike was dumbfounded by what just happened, Did she just tease me? Well, that's a first. He thought as he watched Applejack trot away to fetch her cart to load the apples.

They went back to the barn and Applejack unhooked her cart before they went to the house to start cleaning.

They cleaned the house together, washing windows, clearing gutters and sweeping the porch, making good time in the day with their teamwork.

Spike was hosing down a dirty window on the backside of the house and the water had stopped flowing, unbeknownst to him Applejack had just stepped on it while she sweeping the front of the house. He looked down the hose and just as he did Applejack stepped off the water hose sending a rush of water into Spike's face and up his muzzle. He quickly veered away from the assault of water, coughing and sputtering.

Applejack had finished sweeping and walked to the back of the house where she saw Spike soaked with water and coughing, "What happened to ya? Did ya git into a fight with th' hose?"

"Ha ha, very funny." Spike said sarcastically as he shook himself dry.

Spike and Applejack retreated into the barn to finish their job for today, ending with some easy arrangement in the barn, Spike was shifting extra hay from the bottom floor into the loft on the right hand side of the barn.

Spike jumped down from the loft, his job storing hay completed, and he landed on his feet. He stood for a moment, admiring his own new found draconic strength that came with his size. He recalled the morning when he first woke up to his growth spurt a month ago.

(Flashback)

Spike woke up in his new bed that was in his own room downstairs that he lived in ever since Soarin' moved in. He stretched out, and knocked over his bedside table that he used to store his personal books. He paused from confusion and looked at his hand, it had grown. He looked down at his body, throwing the covers off, showing that he had grown double his size. Spike screamed out in surprise, his voice now in a more raspy tone, "AHH!"

Soarin' and Twilight were asleep upstairs, they both abruptly woke up to Spike's yell.

Soarin' quickly hopped out of bed, worried for his good friend Spike, "Spike, I'm coming!" He ran down the stairs and burst through Spike's door. He stared at the new Spike, mouth agape, "S-Spike?"

Spike took a moment to observe his new form, and then stood up, becoming dizzy because of the new height, but quickly overcame it.

Twilight trotted in through the door, "Whats wron- ... Dear Celestia Spike! What happened to you?"

"I-I have no idea... is it a...growth spurt?" Spike asked as he looked at his claws, clenching them.

Twilight tried to talk, but she was speechless, completely taken aback by the new Spike. She turned and trotted into the library to retrieve a book, and read it as she walked back to the room. "Well...Your a Terra Dragon Spike, and in my book it says that if you suddenly change its because of either greed, or rage." she looked up from her book, "Your not angry are you?"

"No... I'm not angry at all..." Spike replied, still looking over his new body.

"Have you been stealing anything?" Soarin' asked, hopeful that he didn't.

"What? No way! I haven't stolen anything!" Spike retorted, offended at the question.

Soarin' looked at the book as it floated into the air, and spotted a note at the end of the page of Terra Dragons. "Look there, it says continued on page 54," He said as he pointed a hoof at the small words.

Twilight flipped through the pages and read out loud, "Virtue dragon... A rare occasion when a dragon chooses emotional ties over wealth of coin. A virtue dragon only grows once in its lifetime, the amount is said to vary, and it does not grow wings, but grows tremendous strength in order to protect its ties..." She read further to an interesting passage, "Virtue Dragons have the lifespan of the being it ties itself to, "Twilight levitated the book away from her face, "Applejack?"

Spike stopped looking at his new form, and looked over across the room on his wall where he had hung a picture of Applejack and whispered to himself, "...Applejack..."

Spike lingered on the thought of his tie to Applejack, he hadn't told her that he was a virtue dragon, he just told her he went through a growth spurt.

Applejack had unhooked her apple cart in the barn, and saw that Spike had jumped down from the loft, "Tha's all th' work fer today... Thanks fer yer help Spike, ah really appreciate it." She trotted over to Spike, grinning with appreciation.

"No problem Aj, I'm always happy to help..." Spike looked down, shy at the next words he said, "Especially for you Aj, anytime you need me, I'll be there."

Applejack lifted up Spike's lowered head with a hoof, "Oh you an' yer smooth talk..." she leaned forward and began to kiss Spike.

Spike's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he met Applejack's tongue, and snaked his out to meet her.

After a time neither of them could measure, they pulled away from each other to welcome oxygen back into their lungs.

Applejack was blushing and she rubbed the back of her head, "You sure do mean alot ta me Spike..."

Spike grinned in appreciation at his girlfriend.

"Ah want ta give ya somethin' Spike..." Applejack led Spike to the other side of the barn, and began to climb the ladder into the loft.

Spike followed her, and as they reached the loft, Applejack lead him to another ladder that had to be pulled down by a rope. They climbed the second set of ladder into a small attic at the top of the barn. The sun shone through the blinds of a nearby window and the dust particals danced in the sunlight.

Applejack walked over to a chest in the corner, the chest was covered with dust and she blew over it and watched the dust move to the other side of the room and settle. She opened the chest and pulled out a hat, a dusty black stetson. She blew the dust off of the stetson and looked at it, almost tearing up at the sight, "This was ma dad's, ah kept his hat up here in this old chest..." She turned to face Spike, "Ah was wonderin... if you wanted it."

Spike looked at the hat, then back to Applejack, "I would be honored to have it..."

Applejack hoofed over the hat, and Spike grabbed it carefully and looked at it from the front brim, to the back. He placed the hat on his head, and then adjusted it in the fashion that Applejack wore hers, "How do I look?"

Applejack blushed as she replied, "Ya look sharp, Spike..."

Big Macintosh walked into the barn, readying himself for his shift out in the orchard, but he couldn't help but notice some noises coming from above the loft. In the attic? He climbed up the ladder and saw that the second ladder was brought down and began to climb it.

He could hear voices in the attic, "Oh Spike..." and stopped climbing, but he could also hear Applebloom playing with her friends, almost as if they were heading for the barn. He sighed, better me than them... He poked his head in the attic where he saw Spike and Applejack on the cold ground in a tight embrace. "Uhh... Aj."

Applejack and Spike froze, and turned their heads towards the ladder they forgot to pull up.

"H-how long have ya bin there..." Applejack asked through a flushed face, embarrassed that her brother almost caught her in the act.

"Aj, ah'm not gunna say anythin' but Applebloom an' er friends are playin' and they are gettin' mighty close to the barn." Big Macintosh warned, before he climbed back down the ladder, but then called back up, "Ah'm taking Bloom an' er friends to Fluttershy's later, an Granny ain't gunna be home till next week. She called an' said that the train broke at th' station." After he said that he climbed back down to the barn floor to get back to his work.

Big Macintosh left the barn, with his apple cart in tow.

After he left Applejack and Spike exited the attic, and left the barn themselves to go spend the rest of their day together.

The library was in view as they walked through Ponyville, they had planned to go on a picnic after all of the days work on the farm had been finished.

Yesterday Spike had thought ahead and already prepared it, now that he had plenty of free time while Twilight and Soarin' were on their trip.

They didn't spend much time at the library, Spike quickly went inside to grab his prepared basket while Applejack stood outside. He grabbed his basket which contained a few of the normal picnic foods, some fruit, sandwiches, and a thermos with some Apple juice inside of it. He was about to exit the kitchen when he saw he left out a plate of some of his muffins that he made for himself the other day. The muffins were the same baked bads that some of the town had eaten when Applejack helped Pinkie Pie bake that one year she didn't sleep during apple bucking season. He quickly grabbed a few, covered them with some protective wrapping, 'I'll eat some of these later,' he thought as he stuck them in the basket.

Spike exited the library and locked the door behind him, greeting Applejack, "All set?"

"You betcha sugar cube," She replied to Spike as she took her place next to him as they began to walk to the picnic grounds in Ponyville.

The two made their way to the park and found a nice shady spot under a tree, noticing a few families had decided to come out as well. It was a nice day, after all.

Spike laid down the blanket at the base of the tree, and then set the basket in the center as they both sat down on it. Spike pulled some plates out from the basket, and took off the protective wrapping, making sure to keep his muffins in the basket and away from the normal food.

They both ate away at the pile of sandwiches Spike had made, neither of them had ate since this morning, and it was now about midway through the afternoon.

"So how is Big Macintosh and Fluttershy, Aj?" Spike asked after he swallowed his food.

"Their alrigh' they jus are a bit to shy around each other. Whats it like with Soarin' livin in the Library now?" Applejack asked, setting down her sandwich to talk.

"I really like Soarin'... He told me a secret right before he left for their trip to the coast."

"Really? What was it?" Applejack asked, leaning forward with curiosity.

"Well..." He leaned in a bit closer to whisper to her, "Soarin' is proposing to Twilight on their vacation."

Applejack grew wide-eyed and whispered back, "Really? Thas great, him bein a dad now an' all it seems right." She began to think about her and Spike, the thought of him proposing made her heart soar.

Spike leaned back on his arms and looked up into the sky, "Today looks perfect."

Applejack continued to sit on her haunches, hooves in her lap, taking a page from Rarity's book of being 'ladylike'. She looked up into the blue skies, "Yep, it sure is n-" She was cut off by a ball lightly bouncing off of her back.

A little filly was walking up hesitantly to them, and squeaked out, "S-sorry ma'am... I didn't catch it and it soared right over me..."

Applejack smiled as she saw the filly, and tossed the ball back to her, "It's no problem, you go have fun now."

"Thank you!" The filly said as she went back to her family's blanket and began to laugh with her parents.

Applejack couldn't tear her eyes away as she watched the parents play with their child, with a sense of longing building up inside of her... she had always wanted a family of her own.

"Applejack?"

She heard Spike's voice call to her and she turned around, "S-sorry bout' that Spike."

"Applejack, are you alright?" Spike asked, noticing her eyes had watered up a little.

She quickly dried her eyes, "Yeah, ah'm fine..."

Spike felt a rush in his lower body, and he knew one thing. He had to go, "Hey uh... Aj, I'll be right back okay?" He said as he got up.

"Oh, uh, sure thing Spike." Applejack said, as Spike began to walk away, appearing as if he was straining.

Applejack looked down at her plate, she finished her sandwich and looked into the basket for another one, but saw a small wrapping of muffins. She unwrapped them and picked one up, thinking it looks alright, and took a bite out of it.

A few moments later, Spike returned, feeling refreshed, "Alright, I'm back Aj...Applejack?!" Spike saw that she was lying on the ground and clenching her stomach with a pained expression on her face. He quickly went to her side, "What happened?"

Applejack groaned an inaudible response, and placed a hoof over her mouth to stop the flow of the quickly coming up fluid.

Spike looked around, and saw a half-eaten muffin on the ground and then he turned pale. "I need to get you home Applejack..." He started quickly packing everything up as quickly as he could and stuck the basket handle on a spine on the back of his head. He went over to Applejack and put his arms around her.

Applejack, in her stubbornness, tried to protest, "N-no ah can walk..." She said weakly.

Spike looked determined, and sorry, "You can barely talk, Aj, don't worry." He hefted her up with his draconic strength and carried her with ease in his arms. He quickly made his way out of the park and made a beeline for the farm. He got there within half the normal walking time, paying no attention to anything around him, focused on getting his girlfriend comfort. Right now he hated himself for not warning her about the muffins, and now shes becoming ill, her face turning green from her orange coat color.

He held Applejack in one arm as he used the other to open the door to her home, and she began to hallucinate.

"These bells sound so pretty Spike..." Applejack said as she smiled and swayed her head.

Spike quickly carried her up the stairs and down the hallway to her room, the door was open already and he rushed to her bed and gently laid her down, making sure her head was centered on the pillow.

She began to roll over, continuing to hallucinate, "Look at all this snow Spike..." She said while putting a hoof over her head, as if to shield herself from the pelting snow.

Spike had his claws digging into the scales on his forehead, "I'm such an idiot!" He started to think about Applejack, worried for her health, No time to call yourself an idiot Spike, you need to help Applejack! He ran out of the room to get supplies to help her. Downstairs he filled up a small bucket of cold water, grabbed a folded cloth and quickly ran back up the stairs, almost tripping and the basket he had forgotten fell and rolled down the stairs. When he got back to her bedside she had become green down to her neck, and became more still and sweaty, "It's okay Aj, I'm here..." He reassured her as he wet the folded cloth in the ice cold water. He placed the cold cloth on her forehead as a cold compress and held her hoof, "I'll make this up to you Aj, I promise..."

She finally snapped out of her hallucination, "S-spike?" She said weakly.

"This is all my fault, I'm so sorry..." Spike told her through gritted teeth and looking down, still hating himself.

"It was't yer fault...musta bin somethin' ah ate..." She tried to say with a smile, but quickly brought a hoof to her mouth to surpress her sickness.

Spike let go of her hoof and ran down stairs again as quick as he could, almost jumping the stairs down and went into the kitchen to get an old pail he saw in the corner and brought it back upstairs for her. "Here Aj..." He held the bucket and caught her compress so she could unleash what she had in her stomach into the pail.

She laid back in her bed and groaned as Spike placed the cloth back on her head.

"It is my fault Aj, I should have warned you about those muffins, they were the same you made that one year during applebuck season when you didn't sleep... the baked bads." He looked down in shame, but his head was brought back up by a weak orange hoof.

"It's alrigh Spike... Ah'll b-" She had to bring her hoof up again to force her sickness back in, but Spike already had the pail up for her, and she spewed in the pail.

"Don't talk Aj... You're too sick." Spike grabbed her hoof again and began to lightly stroke it to comfort her.

She nodded and laid back in her pillow.

Spike held the routine of holding the bucket when she needed it, and comforting her in any way he could. He brought a cot from the next room over from Big Mac's room and set it next to Aj's bedside, he wasn't about to just leave her. Regardless of the cot calling his name to sleeps embrace, he ignored it and spent most of the night checking up on Applejack. He made sure that the compress stayed cold, and that she was free of sweat on her face with a dry rag.

When Applejack began to lose some of her green hue, Spike went downstairs to make her some tea. He helped her sit up as she drank from the cup.

The tea did it's job, and soothed her stomach, also sending warm waves through her body and sent her hurling into the comfort of rested sleep.

Spike remained at her side, exhaustion bearing down on him, he kneeled at her bedside, but unwilling to sleep until he was certain she was comfortable.

Applejack woke up, with a tinge of headache, but she felt as if she could clear the roof of her barn at that waking moment. She looked over at the edge of her bed and saw Spike haunched over. She tried to remember what she could last night, Spike's effort in aiding her in her sickness. She looked at the sleeping drake and couldn't help but grin at the thought of how much she meant to him, and how much he meant to her, she never felt so important when Spike was there. He was always there for her, and it felt like magic. "...Spike?"

Spike's eyes fluttered open, his normal morning laziness was about to kick in and close his eyes again, but seeing Applejack sitting up and looking well made his eyes shoot open. "Applejack!" He jumped up and hugged her, "Are you feeling alright?"

She chuckled a response, "Ah'm doing fine Spike, thanks to you..."

"I'm so sorry..." Spike tried to apologize, but she looked at him in the face.

"There's nothin' ta be sorry fer Spike, it wa' jus an accident, they happen."

They both smiled at each other and Spike spoke up, "Are you hungry Aj? I can make us some breakfast if you think you can eat." Spike offered as he held her hooves.

"Tha' sounds good Spike." She kissed Spike on his cheek, ever grateful for his attention to her.

They both went downstairs, Spike with his arm around Applejack, and her head resting on his shoulder.

Chapter 4 part 1 : Welcome Home

View Online

Twilight and Soarin' were checking around their room, making sure that they didn't forget anything they brought with them. While doing so, the two circled through their heads all of the sites and events that happened on their vacation to the coastal paradise.

Twilight was placing her book in her saddlebag, next to her souvenirs that she was taking home with her. A few ticket stubs from movies they watched at the movie theater to put in their scrapbook, along with the receipt that was from the night of their first dinner engaged that was labeled 'free of charge'. Next she picked up an envelope with her magical aura and blushed as she placed it in her bag, it was a personal complaint from the manager that they got the morning after the night of their first dinner engaged.

Soarin' was wearing a jersey he had bought at a ballpark game, wearing the team's home colors of white and blue. He finished packing all of his belongings and walked out onto the balcony to take a final look out at the ocean. Propping himself up on the railing, he reminisced with a smile all of the times he shared with his fiancee this month. Closing his eyes to enjoy the scent of the salty sea air, he took a moment to relax, but quickly becoming irked with the thought of losing the ring. He opened his eyes again to look down at the sandy beach, near the area where he proposed to Twilight, wondering how the ring got lost.

(flashback)

Soarin' carefully swung his saddlebag over his shoulder, cautious to make sure nothing happened to the ring. The excitement of his coming proposal to the mare he was certain he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, he didn't see the small glimmer of the metal of the ring trickle out of the bag and onto the sand.

Soarin' and Twilight left their spot on the beach where the ring lay to walk along the beach. The ring's diamond shining in the remaining sunlight behind them.

Soon afterwards, an odd bald and scrawny colt came trudging along the beach, looking sickly and misshapen. He was a colt down on his luck, he lived in an alleyway in the downtown portion of Tamphay Bay and he spent his days walking down the beach, grateful for at least being in the presence of beauty. He saw in the distance, the glimmer of the diamond, his mouth agape he became hypnotized by the shine and quickly galloped to its source. He scooped up the ring in his hooves and a smile grew on his face, "My precious... We wills nevers be apart again..."

Soarin' looked away from the beach, unwilling to think about the ordeal any longer. He turned and walked back into the room, "Hey Twilight did yo-". Before he could finished he ducked from hearing a flapping of wings behind him, and in flew the familiar owl that lived at the library.

The owl perched itself on Twilight's back with a 'whoo', a scroll attached to it's leg.

"Owlocious? Why are you here?" Twilight asked as she looked back at her pet.

"Whoo." The owl hooted again.

"You, what are you doing here?" She repeated the question.

"Whoo."

Twilight face hoofed, remembering that he was just an owl. She spotted the scroll on the owl's leg and grasped it with her magic. She opened it and read it out loud. "Dear Twilight Sparkle, You sound like you're having a great time with Soarin', your father and I can't wait to meet him. Don't worry, I'm sure the ring will show itself up eventually. When I got this message in Canterlot your father and I made plans to go to Ponyville to meet you when you got home. I would have replied sooner, but the postage service was having some problems... So your father and I decided to go straight to Ponyville, but the postage's mail mare here was on vacation as well, so we had Owloicious send the reply. Your father and I are very anxious to meet your fiance, Love Starlight." Twilight closed the scroll and placed it in her bag.

"You wrote to your parents?" Soarin' asked as she finished.

Twilight nodded, "Mhm, I wanted them to know that we were engaged, and I want them to meet you."

"Oh... Well, what do we do about Owlocious? I don't think they let pets on the train..." Soarin' began to say, but as he said his name, the owl flew off again outside of the window, back into the direction of Ponyville. "Wow... That owl has some stamina..." He admired.

The two finished packing their bags, certain that they forgot nothing. They left the room for the last time, and found themselves in front of the manager of Hayton Hotel.

"Hello again," He bowed, "Did you enjoy your stay here at Hayton Hotel?"

"Y-yes we did sir..." Soarin' replied, he and Twilight had gotten two strikes of complaints and he imagined the manager would be happy they were leaving.

The manager straightened his tie, "Yes, I'm sure you did... although we will miss your business and the presence of a revered Wonderbolt at our hotel... I'm sure our guests will be certain of a... quiet night now."

Twilight blushed and began to pretend she was looking for someone down the hall, and Soarin' cleared his throat.

"I've told your father that you were here with your fiancee, he hasn't been here in awhile, but I remain in good touch with him. I'm a big fan of your fathers work, I hope you choose our hotel again, goodbye Soarin'." The manager said before taking his leave.

Twilight's head snapped back to look at Soarin', his face a paler blue.

"Soarin'... are you alright?" She put a hoof on his shoulder, in hopes of a response.

"Ye...yeah I'm fine... We should hurry to the station." Soarin' took a deep breath and his color returned. He gave Twilight a quick nuzzle before they walked towards the elevator to exit the hotel.

They reached the recipients desk where Fire Dancer was doing some filing.

Soarin' didn't ring the bell like most visitors do, he knew it annoyed most the workers, "Hello? We're here to check out..."

The receptionist stopped filing and put on her work smile, "Okay just let me get on this computer..." She rotated her chair over and turned on her computer, waiting for it to turn on she started talking to the two, "Did you enjoy your stay?"

Twilight nodded, "Yes, your hotel here is very beautiful."

Fire Dancer felt a little awkward, just sitting there, waiting for the computer to turn on, "This thing is a dinosaur..." She saw the two instinctively leaning on each other, "You two look so happy together... My coltfriend is shy."

"Whats his name?" Twilight asked, she had talked with the receptionist a few times, most of the visitors at the top floors were snobbish and ignored her, but she had made a good friend.

"Ash Burns... We've been together for a few months... I'm hoping he proposes to me." She sighed in response.

"He would be crazy not to! You're one of the prettiest mares I've seen in this town." Twilight complimented with hopes of rising her spirits.

Fire Dancer genuinely smiled, "Thank you so much... Ah here we go this thing is finally ready..." She started typing in, "Soarin' right?"

He nodded to confirm her question.

"Okay... and... done." She finished her task, "You're all set now, I hope you two stay again, you're both some of the rare nicer guests." She told them as she handed them a piece of paper saying that they successfully checked out.

Soarin' and Twilight both smiled, and said bye to Fire Dancer and left the hotel.

They both reached the train station after taking their time walking through the town. Their train had just arrived and the conductor was calling all passengers. They took one final look out at the town, in the noon sun, it was full of life. Their vacation at an end, they both boarded the train and sat down in their train cart and watched Tamphay Bay roll away as the train chugged along the tracks.

The train ride lasted for hours, leaving in the early morning, and then arriving back in Ponyville around mid-day.

And so our prologue comes to an end.

Soarin' and Twilight stepped off of the train, both stretching to shake off the weariness of the long ride.

Soarin' finished stretching and took a step forward to see a thing sheet of snow still on the ground. February was his favorite time of the year in Ponyville, he wanted to do a quick fly-over of the town... but even though he was able to carry Twilight in flight, he wasn't confident that he could do it again. He turned to face his fiancee a smile on his face, "Ready to go home?"

Twilight nodded and the two walked back to the library, which would now be in larger size. While they were on vacation, Soarin' contracted several construction ponies to expand the library. With their foal on the way, they would need it. She enjoyed the vacation, but she missed her friends and her brother Spike.

They walked through the town, seeing its familiar sights and smells, little Pip was playing tag with Dinky. The smell of fresh bread and goods filled the air from the local bakeries like Sugar Cube Corner. As they walked towards the library, they were greeted by several ponies, glad to see their librarian and the ex-Wonderbolt couple.

"Welcome back you two! I got a new shipment of quills, so I'm in full stock!" Davenport said from across the street as he saw one of his most frequent customers back in Ponyville.

"Hey Soarin', how was your trip?" A pegasi asked as he flew over them.

"Great, hope you're keeping these skies clear now that you're the new weather team leader." Soarin' replied to his good friend, who had taken Rainbow Dash's place as weather team director ever since she took his spot in the Wonderbolts.

"Welcome back Twilight," Cherilee greeted as she was walking by.

Twilight was happy to see one of her friends already, "Thank you Cherilee."

The library was now in view, almost in double the size it was before, and no trace of the construction workers, or their tools, were in sight; the library was finished.

In front of the library were two older ponies, a mare with a mane similar to Twilight's, but with a light grey coat, with a purple and white mane. The pony next to her was a stallion, taller then Soarin', with a blue coat, and a darker blue mane.

Twilight gasped loudly, and quickly went to the two ponies, "Mom! Dad!"

The two ponies embraced their daughter, and the mare spoke, "Twilight! I'm so happy to see you!" The bundle of ponies were laughing in the tight hug.

Soarin' approached the three cautiously, this was the first time he had ever met Twilight's parents.

Twilight saw Soarin' walk up and let go of her parents, and walked between her parents and Soarin'. She cleared her throat and pointed to the mare, "This is my mom, Starlight." She pointed to the stallion, "This is my father, Orion," She took a step aside so Soarin' could greet them.

Soarin' took a deep breath and took a few steps forward and put out a hoof, "Hello, I'm Soarin'."

Orion took a step forward, but didn't take Soarin's hoof, instead he observed his hoof, and then turned to nod to his wife.

She then joined her husband in circling Soarin', observing his features, and stopping for a moment to lift up one of his hooves for a closer look, or shuffling through his mane.

Soarin' was too confused to say anything, and looked helplessly at Twilight.

She saw her parents circle her fiance, and her eye twitched, "Mom, Dad! What are you doing?!" She began to feel embarrassed by her parents already.

Orion and Starlight stopped circling Soarin' and then popped up from observation into a hug, "Welcome to the family!" They both said cheerily in unison.

Soarin' was to confused to return the hug, and his face clearly showed it.

Twilight's mother let out a nervous chuckle, "Sorry Soarin'... Orion and I just want whats best for our daughter, and you definitely fit the picture!"

Orion let out his hoof, "Glad to meet you, son."

Soarin', now relived, took Orion's hoof and gradually shook it.

Now that they were all acquainted, they went into the library to see its new changes, and once they stepped inside Twilight and Soarin' immediately noticed the size difference. They both began to quickly scan their home, the only thing untouched was the actual library, they didn't need to expand it because it was already big enough. Before the rooms that were in the library were just small, with no purpose other than to be occupied by the owner, now they were large enough for a family.

Twilight looked beside her, a basket was on the small table by the door. The basket was full of muffins and had a mailmare's postage label on it.

The label read,

From: Derpy

To: Twilightlicious

Item:Delsparkle muffins.

She saw that on the label her name was messed up, but she knew it was because of her crossed eyes that she couldn't write correctly. She left the basket there for now, Derpy is such a sweetheart... I'll thank her later.

The four went into their new living room, where the construction workers were kind enough to put the couch back where it was originally.

Orion spoke up, "So what do you do for a living, Soarin'?"

Soarin' lightly cleared his throat, "I help here at the library, but I also get called in to Canterlot once in awhile... ponies like to endorse ex-Wonderbolts... When I was a Wonderbolt we weren't allowed to accept endorsements, but Spitfire, my old captain, said that it was okay now that I'm not in the team anymore."

"Because of your wings right..?" Starlight asked dolefully. She knew from Twilight's letters what happened near the end of the Welcome Summer Celebration festival.

Soarin' nodded, in slight depression, "I can't really fly anymore... but that's alright." He looked at Twilight, the love of his life, "As long as I have Twilight, I don't care."

Twilight, who sat next to Soarin' hugged him, and they shared a quick kiss before a knock at the door sounded out and interrupted them.

Before Soarin' could stand up, Orion was already walking out of the living room, "It's okay Soarin', I'll answer the door."

"Oh! I almost forgot, Twilight," her mother abruptly spoke up, "I told your brother, Shining Armor, about your engagement, he wanted to be here today but he had duties in Canterlot..."

Orion left the happy couple and his wife, and made his way to the door. He opened it to see a unicorn stallion, a yellow coat, with a short black mane and tail. He was wearing a leisure suit that was unbuttoned and had a roll of film for a cutie mark. The stallion's coat and mane were a mess, he had dark spots below his eyes, indicating a lack of sleep. He spoke, his voice sounded exhausted and almost slurred his speech, "Does, a pegasus named Soarin' live here?"

Orion raised an eyebrow at the mysterious messy stallion, "Yes, who are you?"

The stallion stood up straighter, but his eyes kept their tired demeanor, "I'm Soarin's father."

Chapter 4 Part 2 : Dad?

View Online

Orion was taken aback by the grossly stallion in front of him, "Soarin's father?"

The stallion nodded, "Yes, I'm his father Clip, and I want to talk to Soarin'." He said with an almost grim expression on his face, memories of his son coming back to him now that the gin was wearing off.

When he heard the stallions name, his mouth dropped, "Clip!? The director of 'From Stalliongrad, With Love'!?" He burst out, not keeping control of the volume of his voice. "I'm a huge fan of your Con Mane movies!" He put out a hoof in hopes of his favorite director shaking it.

Clip almost missed his hoof, and shook it weakly, "Now... May I come in?"

Orion opened the door wide open, and Clip half stumbled into the house. The door closed and the two stallions on their way to the living room.

Twilight was giggling as Soarin' was kissing at her neck, with her mother blushing and giggling along with her daughter.

Orion and Clip walked into the living room to see the happy couple playing with each other and Starlight keeping a respectable distance from them.

Clip looked at his son, he had changed so much, but he could still see his little colt. He took a step towards Soarin' while he was playing with his fiancee and spoke to get his attention, "Soarin'."

Soarin' stopped playing with Twilight as he heard his voice, the source sounding familiar, but he couldn't believe it until he saw for himself. He saw the stallion, dark yellow coat, with that same short black haircut with the horn prodding from beneath it. He froze in place as he looked at the stallion he knew as his father.

Twilight looked at the stallion and she froze as well, feeling Soarin' shake in anger, she could guess who he was.

Clip took a few more steps forward, "Soarin', I want to talk to you...Please." He tried to keep his voice straight, but sincere as he approached his son.

Soarin' immediately snapped at the sound of his fathers voice, he quickly stood up and was on Clip, towering over him as his father scrunched away from him, "Talk!? Now you want to talk!? You push me away, and ignore me for all these years, and NOW you want to talk!?"

"S-Soarin' please, just hear me out-" His father tried to stammer out, but was cut off by Soarin's booming voice.

Orion hastily made his way to his wife, ready to shield her if a fight started.

"No! Get away from me, and my fiancee!" Soarin' shoved Clip away, sending him stumbling backwards, but keeping on his hooves.

Twilight gasped and put her hooves over her mouth, she had never seen Soarin' so angry so quickly. She looked over at the stallion that was his father, and saw a look of despair on his face.

After being shoved away, he felt his heart drop that his son wouldn't even listen to him. He lowered his head, now completely sober, he began to remember...

(14 years ago)

Clip walked up the stairs, his throat sore from holding back the sobbing, his eyes red and exhausted. Each step weighed down on him, his wife, found dead earlier today had devastated him. He reached the top of the stairs and pushed himself towards his sons room. He then pressed his ear against the door, silence, Soarin' had finally fallen asleep. The door cracked open, seeing his young colt asleep on a soggy pillow.

His mother... she was so beautiful. She taught Soarin' things he could never teach him, life without her is to hard to imagine...

Clip choked out the words silently, his eyes building in tears again, "He...he looks just like his m-mother..." He bit on his lip and closed his eyes shut, quickly retreating from the room and shutting it silently. He collapsed on the floor right outside of his sons room, burying his face in his hooves, "Thunder Cloud... I love you so much..."

(12 years ago)

Clip was supposed to be writing the script for his new movie while taking a break from directing his current movie, 'The Galloping Stallion' but instead he just sat in his seat and looked down at the blank paper. He felt hollow inside, even after 2 years of his wife passing away, he couldn't get over it. He looked at the bottom drawer of his desk, where he kept his gin that he drank only a little of on occasion.

He looked at the standing portrait of his son on his desk, realizing he hasn't been there for his son ever since it happened. Clip picked up the picture and looked at it, "I promise Soarin'... tonight, I'm taking you to the fair in town..." He dropped the picture back in its place and tried to focus on writing, but couldn't think of anything to write. Memories of his wife's face began to depress him, wishing they would just go away, his eyes drifted back to his bottom drawer and found his hoof inching towards it.

Minutes later, one of the studio's guards entered the room to find Clip crying over Soarin's picture with an empty flask on the ground.

Clip's mind was blank, his vision blurred. He held the photo of Soarin' and saw his wife smiling at him, "Thunder Cloud... You look so beautiful today... A-are you doing anything tonight?" He was in firm beleif that he was a teenager again, and asking out the mare of his dreams to a date.

The guard felt nervous as he saw the stallion talk to a photo, "S-sir? Your son is at the door outside the studio, should I let him in?"

Clip looked up from the picture, his face flushed from the alcohol, "Son? I don't have a son! Now bring this fine mare your finest wine!" He commanded at the guard.

The guard told Soarin' that Clip said he didn't have a son, and the guard saw Soarin' run off crying.

Clip woke up several hours later, the alcohol made him forget the promise he made to himself to take Soarin' to the fair. He looked up at the clock at it was almost morning, he dropped his head back on his desk to sleep.

(4 years ago)

Soarin' becoming a Wonderbolt had become hot news, and as it reached Clips ears, he became over joyed and saw a chance to meet with his son again. He wasted no time, he would ask his son to be in a movie and give them a chance to bond together again, he called Spitfire and asked to speak to Soarin'.

When Soarin' picked up the phone, it was four years since he last heard his voice.

"Hello? You wanted to talk to me sir?" A more refined voice rang in Clip's ears, and he was almost at a loss for words, but spoke in hope.

"Y-yes Soarin'... it's your father. I called because I heard you became a Wonderbolt, and I thought this would be a great opportunity for us to mee- I mean... you to become famous."

"Dad."

"Yes son?" He asked hopefully.

A voice of anger came back, and Clip didn't catch it, he was too excited to try and meet his son again. "You don't talk to me for all these years, and now that I'm a Wonderbolt you want to make a movie about me?"

"Yes! It would be fun, imagine how the fillies would be all over you!" The words came out wrong, and as soon as he said them, regret washed over him as he realized he said the wrong thing.

The receiver was slammed, and Clip's heart sank, "S-son..."

Ever since that day, Clip knew that his son would never speak to him... he had done too much damage, and even though he was still a revered director with all the money he could ask for... he was truly alone.

He stood before his son, his wife and her parents. He stood before them, a lonely stallion, with a broken heart of his own forsaken course of action. He looked up, the flooded memories giving him a powerful headache. He looked up at the face of anger that was his son, and he understood why.

Clip tried to stand up straighter, but he was in no condition to try and show he had respect for himself, "Soarin..." he spoke sincerely, almost choking on his son's name, a single tear rolling down his cheek. His thoughts on Thunder Cloud dissipating enough so he could speak to his son as normally as he could. His wifes death was still heavy to bear after all of these years, but all he wanted was his son back.

Soarin's scowl dropped, only his eyes showed hatred, his expression became clueless as he waited for his father to speak more slander towards the gravity of the situation, what possible reason could Clip have to ignore his son for so long?

Clip thought for a moment, it was time to tell Soarin' the reason he had forsaken him. "I'm not a strong stallion... and I'm not the father I should have been," Clip looked like he was about to break down, "I loved your mother so much... I didn't want to see anything that reminded me of her, and by the time I realized I was losing you, I was to late. I fucked up Soarin'...I'm asking for the forgiveness that I don't deserve... and I hope you're the father I wasn't..." He finished speaking, telling his son he looked too much like his mother to bear.

He felt his hatred of his dad slowly die, the words touched him, regardless of the hate he had shown just seconds ago. He began to see his fathers sorrow in his eyes, it was all because he thought that Soarin' looked like his mother he had forsaken him.

He saw that his son remained silent, and then he realized he was more than late for forgiveness, "Soarin'... no matter what you think of me now, or the future, I know you will never forgive me. But I want you to know one thing before I go...I love you son." Clip turned to the door, forcing each step in front of him, unwilling to leave, but he knew he was far to late.

The moment he heard the final words, Soarin's heart rang in sorrow and forgivness. He had toughed the air force, become famous entertainer, and now with his soon-to-be wife, he used to think he had everything he could want. But now Soarin' wanted one final thing, he wanted his father. He stood frozen at first from his fathers words, but seeing him walk away ignited emotion inside of him, and forced him to move.

"Dad!" He yelled abruptly, to make the stallion stop walking and Soarin' kicked off the floor and his wings expanded out to glide to his father as quickly as he could, a trail of tears already streaming down his face.

Clip turned around and ran to his son as he flew to him, and they collided in a hug. He hugged his son tightly, unable to control his emotions, and kissed the top of his sons head, "Thank you..."

They stood there for minutes, healing the bond between them, the wounds would very much still be there, but at least they were closed for the time being. As Soarin' held the hug with his father, he couldn't help but still feel small amounts of dislike towards him. The years before just couldn't be forgotten right away, but at least they were starting to disolve. He was finally with his father for the first time in fifteen years.

Clip joined in meeting the family, he met Twilight and her parents. He showed heavy gratitude to Twilight, he knew that she was the right mare for his son. He thought of her as highly intelligent and very caring... and he couldn't wait to meet his grandfoal.

Hours later, Starlight and Orion left to go back to the Inn and turn in for tonight, Twilight was tired as well and said goodnight to her father-in-law with a hug and went up the stairs into the bedroom.

When Clip was sure Twilight was out of earshot, he spoke to Soarin', "Son?"

He faced his father, "Yeah dad?"

"Why does Twilight not have a ring?" He asked quizzically as he saw earlier that she wasn't wearing one.

He became instantly embarrassed,"I did have one for her... but I lost it... I was so careful too..."

Clip smiled, "Well this is good news for me... because, I have this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden ring with a purple diamond in the center. "This was your mothers... You should give it to Twilight, it has a dragonstone." He gave the ring to his son, "Dragonstone isn't available to the public anymore... it's become almost priceless over the years that I've had it, but it would mean more to me if you gave it to your fiancee." He smiled gratefully at his son, he would willingly give him anything if it meant keeping a strong connection between them again.

Soarin' took the ring and looked at it, and it felt so fragile. It was his mothers, and giving it to Twilight would mean alot not only to Clip, but for himself. He quickly pulled in his father and hugged him. "Thanks dad... Your the best."

Clip stayed for only awhile longer, he promised Soarin' he would be here tomorrow instead of going back to Canterlot, he wanted to spend time with his son. He left after another quick hug and a goodnight. Clip could finally sleep soundly tonight, with quality time with his son to look forward to tomorrow.

When Clip was gone, Soarin' looked over at the small table next to the couch.

Twilight had added their memoirs to the scrapbook, and he went over to the table and opened it. He first flipped through the beginning, the first page with his old hospital band and other memoirs from when Twilight and he first met, to now. He then began to flip through the empty pages, "I can't wait to see whats going to fill these pages..." He said out loud as he thought of their foal... only seven months away.

Chapter 5

View Online

Spike slowly opened his eyes to a bright ray of light that shone through the window. He quickly used his claw to block it's intruding light. He shifted his field of vision beside him and saw the mare of his life, he couldn't help but let out a giddy smile, waking up to such a sight cloaked in sunlight from under his claw. He carefully got out of bed and grabbed his hat from the bedpost, setting it on his head in the style Applejack wore hers. Strangely enough, he had fallen in love with the hat. He had always wanted one, but Twilight never let him have one. Now he had a very special hat that belonged to his girlfriend's father.

He began to wonder what Applejack's father looked like, and why he has never seen the stallion, but now wasn't the time to ask about family that she had never been comfortable bringing up before. Maybe in the future he might ask Applejack about her dad.

By now the Apple family had been used to seeing Spike around their home, and they all knew well and good that Spike was one hay of a cook. They welcome his expert culinary skills with open hooves, and he was happy to do so. He climbed down the stairs and made way for the kitchen to make Applejack and her family breakfast. He entered the kitchen and pulled out the usual supplies, a cutting board, a sharp knife, and a few ingredients.

Spike started to make the Apple family's favorite, his apple turnovers. He enjoyed making them the most, it was worth seeing Big Macintosh drool over them like a young colt staring at candy when he set them down on the table.

Spike was losing awareness of the house around him, and didn't notice the young filly walk in.

Apple Bloom saw Spike working steadily on cooking, and she admired the drake as much as she always had. Ever since she planned the snowball strike with Scootaloo on Applejack in the orchard during the week of Hearths Warming Eve, she saw that the event had made them grown increasingly closer. She had tried to hide her jealousy, but it sometimes slipped out when she saw Applejack go to meet Spike somewhere off of the farm with sarcasm. She knew liking Spike as much as she could was wrong, but back before his time with Applejack and growth spurt they were good friends, and she had always wanted them to be more than friends. She walked up next to Spike and set her hooves up on the counter, "Mornin' Spike!"

Spike snapped out of his concentration while he was cutting up an apple vertically in top speed. The knife slipped and hit the top of his hand, luckily his draconic skin deflected it like nothing. He looked beside him, "Morning Apple Bloom, need help with anything?"

"Na... Ah just wanted ta watch ya' cook..." She said as she switched her eye contact to the counter top where he was cutting up apples.

"Well... alright, just don't surprise me again like that," he chuckled, "I don't want to break your sharpest knife with my hand." Spike returned to cutting up the apples.

A short time passed as Spike was finishing preparing the breakfast, and Apple Bloom spoke again, "So... how're things with ma sister?" She said, with a light tone of resentment in her voice.

Spike didn't stop, but answered, "Things are great... I really like your sister a lot."

"Really? So thers no problems with ya two?" She tried to press, hoping that the answer she knew would come out wouldn't.

"Nope. I really love Applejack, and do you want to hear a secret? You have to promise not to tell anypony." He said, now stopping to look around frantically.

Apple Bloom's hopes died away as she heard that Spike was set on her sister, but answered, "Whut is it?"

Spike leaned down close to her and whispered, "I want to marry Applejack... but I'm trying to think of how to propose to her." He smiled and regained his composure to continue cooking, "Remember, don't tell anypony."

Apple Bloom dropped her head, there was no hope for her.

Hoof steps could be heard close by, and Applejack walked in the kitchen, "Mornin' Bloom!" she trotted up to Spike and they shared a quick kiss.

She saw her sister and the drake kiss, and she felt dizzy, "Ah... Ah'm gunna go fer a walk..." She began to mope out of the kitchen.

Applejack saw her sister act in such a morbid state and curiously asked, "Anythin' wrong Apple Bloom?"

"Yea... everythin's fine. Ah just really need ta go think 'bout sum stuff..." She left the kitchen, and then walked out of the front door.

Applejack looked out after her little sister, she was starting to become a grown mare now. Maybe tha's whats botherin' her? She thought as she saw the red tail disappear behind a closed door as she watched from the kitchen.

Apple Bloom walked into town, she finally looked up from the ground and saw that Ponyville was very active today. She wasn't quite aware where she was walking, but the town seemed like a good place to forget about Spike.

There were times that she and Spike had spent some good time together as friends, Spike had offered helping the crusaders in getting their cutie marks. He had also helped her out of pinches like forgetting a lesson in Cherilee's classroom where Spike would be able to teach her the lesson she forgot. She had grown fond of Spike quickly, but sometimes someone just doesn't like you back... Maybe it's better if were jus' friends... She began to think while taking a deep breath.

She lifted her head up, strangely she felt a little better, but couldn't quite shake the feeling of jealousy quite yet.

The Apple family and Spike were all sitting down to breakfast, nothing out of the ordinary other than Apple Bloom's absence and that Big Macintosh looked like he got into a fight with a lawn mower.

Applejack had noticed this as soon as he had walked in and poured his morning coffee before sitting down, and now she was beyond curious.

"Big Mac? What happened to yer mane?" She asked, now finished with her breakfast.

He yawned and looked over at his sister, "Just Hayseed an his.... Actually, ah don't wanna talk 'bout it..." He looked around the room, Granny Smith was already sawing logs in her rocking chair at the end of the table, but didn't see his little sister. "Where's Bloom? Ah haven't seen 'er this mornin'."

Applejack shrugged at the question, "She jus walked outa the house this mornin', Ah don't know why."

Apple Bloom was still walking around town, she thought of her friends, the other crusaders. Scootaloo went to Clouds dale to see Rainbow Dash finish her training as a Wonderbolt, and Sweetie Belle went with Rarity to Canterlot to go visit their grandmother.

She continued to think of where she could go to stay for awhile, but almost ran into another pony and stopped in her tracks.

The pony had also stopped, "S-sorry... I need to watch where I'm going."

Apple Bloom noticed the grey colt that sat behind her in class, "Truffles?"

He rubbed his head and nodded, "Yeah..."

She saw the look on his face, it said that there was more bothering him other than almost bumping into her, "Looks like ya've had a rough day so far... It might help ta talk 'bout it..." She offered.

He could tell by the sound of her voice that she was being genuine, and was in the same boat as him. "I suppose it couldn't hurt..."

He shuffled his hooves and slowly started, "... I just found out Diamond Tiara just used me to get control of votes for class president. So I'm not doing so great... there is a bright side though, I don't have to be bossed around anymore." He looked at her, attempting a joke with a frown turning into a hesitant smile.

Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her head, "Well... Ah'm down because ah found out that someone ah really wanted to..." She searched to find the word, "Be a bit of a friend to, doesn't really want me back. But ah guess that's alrigh, ah'm already over it." She stopped rubbing her head, now with the thought off of her chest out loud to someone, she felt better and a smile began to creep up to her face.

Truffles stopped shuffling his hooves and looked at Apple Bloom, "... Would you like to come over? I made some cookies earlier." He offered.

Apple Bloom looked back at him, and she had never really spent any time with Truffles before, but she considered them acquaintances. "Sure, tha sounds pretty good actually." She replied, feeling her stomach yearn for something to eat, she skipped breakfast in her earlier stage of gloom.

The two walked off deeper into Ponyville to head to his house.

All of the Apple family had finished their breakfast, and Granny Smith was still enjoying the luxery of her rocking chair at the head of the table, but Big Mac was more than happy enough to clean her plate.

Applejack pulled back out of her chair and got to her feet, Spike did the same.

Big Macintosh was already heading out of the dining room, "See ya'll later." He said farewell, today was his day to work solo in the orchards.

Applejack looked at the drake, and she quickly became nervous, "S-spike?"

"Yes, Aj?"

"Ah... Ah want ta know if ya... want to go fer a walk in the orchards..." She asked, strangely becoming soft and lowering her head slightly to were her hat covered her eyes.

He noticed her change in behavior, and wondered why, so he just agreed. "Yeah sure Aj, that sounds really nice..."

Apple Bloom and Truffles were walking up to a building that she thought was familiar.

The building has been in Ponyville for awhile, owned by a stallion Apple bloom had talked to a few times, Horte Cuisine. She also knew the restaurant was named, Acheter de la nourriture ici. She could never pronounce it right, but she heard it really meant something funny.

"... and I said fezzes are cool and soon everypony will be wearing them, and wouldn't you know, I was right." Truffles finished his story as he opened the door to the restaurant.

"So that's why everypony was wearin' fezzes that one year?" She asked, strangely interested

Truffles nodded as he walked inside and she followed him.

It wasn't very active, but she had guessed that beforehand because its not lunch time yet.

He lead her past the restaurant portion of the building, and it was also a home where he lived in.

They entered Truffle's kitchen and Apple Bloom sat down on a stool next to a table as he went to get the snacks he promised her.

He quickly returned with a plate of cookies, and set them down on the table and sat down on another stool nearby. He took a cookie and bit it, then gestured towards the plate for her to take some.

She politely took one up and hesitantly bit it, and her eyes widened, "Celestia these'r good cookies..." She quickly finished her cookie and grabbed another.

Truffles smiled and took pride that his friend enjoyed them, "They're my own recipe, my dad taught me how to cook." He said before finishing his cookie.

A stallion entered the kitchen, with a stuck up expression past his wispy mustache and looked at Truffles, it was Horte Cuisine. "Truffles, c'est presque l'heure de votre quart de travail." (Truffles, it is almost time for your shift.)

Truffles stood up to reply to his father, "D-Désolé papa, j'invitais juste mon amie pour des cookies que j'ai préparés.
" (S-sorry dad, I was just treating my friend to some cookies I made.)

Horte smiled, "Tu me rend fier, mon fils." (You make me very proud son.) He turned to take a quick glance at Apple bloom who was eating cookies while listening to them speak, and then turned to face Truffles again. "Je n'avais pas réalisé que mon petit Truffles avait tellement grandi, et avec une petite-amie en plus." (I didn't realize my little Truffles has grown so much, and with a girlfriend at that.) He smirked.

Truffles began to blush and quickly replied, "C-ce n'est pas comme ça!" (I-it's not like that!)

His father let out a chuckle and performed a quick bow to Apple Bloom and then leaving the kitchen.

Apple Bloom swallowed a mouthful of cookie, "So what did'e say?"

Truffles loved his father, and he loved his job. He turned to face Apple bloom , "He told me I have to go to work soon..." He saw that she really did like the cookies and thought it was his chance to do something nice, "You can take some cookies home if you want." He offered, not willing to tell her the rest.

Apple Bloom nodded yes, and he started to wrap some cookies up for her, "I didn't know ya spoke fancy."

He laughed, "It's not fancy, it's French, but my dad came from Mareseille to open a restaurant here...." He handed her a wrapped bag of cookies and grew nervous, "I-i'll see you later?"

She took the bag and nodded, "Yeah, on Saturday Ah'm off th' farm... maybe then?" She asked brightly.

Truffles lit up, "That sounds perfect... see you then?"

"Y'know it." She put the bag between her teeth and waved good bye to him.

He waved back and disappeared into the back to get ready for work.

She left the building as ponies started to file in, and she headed straight for home.

Applejack and Spike were walking along the path, side by side and surrounded with apple trees in the orchard. They both could smell the fragrance of apples a long with the spring air.

Spike was looking over at Applejack every few seconds, she seemed to have something on her mind and was often drifting off in thought. After a few minutes of their stroll he finally spoke up, "Applejack, are you alright?"

She looked at Spike and sighed, "Spike... can we sit down?"

He nodded and followed her to an apple tree off the path. They both sat down and Applejack grabbed his claws, "S-spike... Ah really need ta ask ya somethin'..."

Spike sat up straight and leaned forward, "Anything."

Applejack took another deep breath and looked down, mumbling something, but quickly looked back up, "Spike... Ah know it's not supposed ta go like this but... I really like...love ya Spike, and I wanted to ask ya..." Her eyes grew softer, but not willing to tear up, "Ah know you dragons live a lot longer then us ponies... but Ah wanted to know if you would spend a bit of it... with me?"

Spike stared at her, speechless, Is she beating me to the trigger? was his first thought. He opened his mouth to speak, but it quickly closed again because of the loss of words. He didn't know what to feel, it was all to alien to him.

Applejack looked at Spike as he remained silent, she quickly grew uncomfortable and started to regret asking, fearing that she may have asked something she shouldn't have.

Spike could only look into her eyes, and he saw that she started to feel hurt. He forced himself to speak, "A-applejack..." He gently squeezed her hooves, "Of course I want to marry you, so I can be with you always, until the end..."

She quickly grew a smile and pulled him into a hug, sniffling, "Thank ya Spike..." and she rested her head on his shoulders, their hats knocking each other off.

Spike was staring right at the ground, remembering the night he got his growth spurt and became a virtue dragon, becoming tied to Applejack. He spoke softly, "Applejack... I need to tell you something too."

She pulled back from the hug, and sat on her haunches to listen to Spike.

"You know my growth spurt? Well... it's not normal... You see, my species branches off into other species, and I became what Twilight called me... a virtue dragon, meaning my life is tied with yours, so I won't live a second longer than you." He said clearly and quietly.

Now it was her turn to stare blankly at him, mouth agape. But she started to smile with a tear rolling out of her eye. She wiped her muzzle with one hoof, and with the other playfully hit Spike in the arm.

Spike got to his feet and put out a hand to his new fiancee and helped her get up.

He spoke up, and looked at the Blue Skies above them, "We should celebrate tonight, I can invite Twilight and my parents." He looked back down to earth at Applejack she had his hat and handed it to him.

"Tha' sounds great Spike..."

They both exited the orchard, now regarding each other much more.

Later that night Spike and Applejack invited Twilight, Soarin, Starlight, and Orion to enjoy a dinner at the French restaurant in town. Soarin' had also invited his father, Clip, he told Spike ahead of time that his father was actually a good guy.

They were all seated at a round table in the center of the restaurant and ordered, Horte had left the table a sample bottle of their new wine before he disappeared into the packed restaurant.

A young grey colt had also came by to set down a trey of glasses, and a pitcher of water before disappearing after his father.

Everyone but Twilight had taken a glass of wine, she didn't want a repeat of last time, so she just had some water.

Spike stood up to make his announcement, the one which Twilight had sensed before-hoof, he was like a brother to her, and she could tell what was on his mind.

He cleared his throat, "Everypony, Applejack and I have an announcement to make," He held Applejack's hooves as he stood up next to her and cleared his throat. "We're getting married!" He said happily, then bending down and planting a kiss on her cheek.

Twilight was the first to react, "Congratulations!" She took a moment to stare at her brother and his girlfriend, she knew they would be happy together.

The rest of the table erupted into cheers, all besides Clip.

When the cheering died down, Clip remained confused and he spoke up abruptly, "Can dragons and ponies even get married?" He looked at Applejack in hopes of an answer.

Applejack looked at the stallion, and quickly grew angry sending him a death stare that clearly said, 'problem?'.

Warning flares were thrown up in his mind, and he quickly backed off with a sheepish smile and raised his glass, "Let's toast to the beautiful happy new couple!" He had hoped it would extinguish any fires he might have already started with the powerful farm mare and her dragon fiance.

Everypony and dragon at the circular table raised their glasses to a quick toast.

"To happy endings!" He exclaimed, followed by a barrage of clinking from the glasses.

Correct Translation on the French parts from: Blueprince
Awesome Co-Writer: Thewaffler (Go read his stuff to, its hilarious and has action stories)

Bonus Chapter

View Online

CoAuthor's Note: Hi, TheWaffler here. For any car nuts reading this let's pretend that the Delorean isn't a heavy brick that has a top speed of 85 mph and a mesley 130 horse power. This chapter isn't soarin' and Twilight, nor is it Applejack and Spike. This is a side story involving Pinkie Pie and Ximinez. We thought it was a good idea. Enjoy.

Las Pegas: gem of the desert, city of Discord, oasis, gambler's paradise, whatever you wanna call it; this is where our tale begins. It was--"Psst…hey, Mr. Narrator." Pinkie I'm kinda busy. "Oh...I just wanted to let you know that um...that you're fired, the story doesn't really need a narrator." Fine here's the story, thus making this intro almost entirely pointless.

BIG LIPPED ALLIGATOR MOMENT

Pinkie was holding a pair of binoculars, sitting in the passenger seat of the Delorean in her Spanish Inquisition robes, peering out of the cracked window. Just outside of the car were passing pedestrians, who were wondering why a mare was using a pair of binoculars to see a building only 30 feet from herself in the dark.

Ximinez was in the driver’s seat, glaring at the building while sitting back in his seat, one hoof on the steering wheel. He spoke, "If only your dragon friend would have come, we could really use his strength for this."

Pinkie lowered her binoculars, also glaring at the building they were parked directly in front of, "Why not Applejack? She’s pretty tough!" She asked, now dropping her glare to face Ximinez.

"My agents tell me she is committing heresy against the princess, I will not use her." He replied, now sitting up to speak to her.

"Applejack? No way Jose! She's the element of honesty, she would never do that!" She implored to her boyfriend.

"Hmm..." He pondered for a moment. Truth be told Applejack was kinda of a stick in the mud and Pinkie was a lot more fun. "We should get started before our target leaves." He fixed his hat and prepared to exit the car.

The two exited the car, their robes very out of place in the streets of Las Pegasus.

Every building shining brightly with signs filled with plasma and LED’s, the streets packed with drunks, street entertainers, or tourist bustling about in the brightest city in Equestria.

Pinkie and Ximinez made their way to the casino they parked in front of, not bothering to give the valet the keys. This would be short; at least they hoped it would be.

A young greasy maned stallion what Ximinez assumed was a valet uniform only it was stained and wrinkled stopped him. "Hey dude, you need me to park your car for you?"

Ximinez didn't say anything instead he executed a swift sleeper hold and knocked the stallion out. "Ximmy, you didn't have to do that." Pinkie said with a confused expression on her face.

"Um...he was committing heresy against the princess, that and I've seen that one movie with the colt who skips school for the day. I know what valets do to cars." They continued along their way.

The two robed ponies stopped in front of the doorway, where a guard was standing by, making sure nothing bad happened on his watch.

Ximinez whispered to his girlfriend, "Follow my lead..." And put his stomach to the ground and began crawling commando style towards the door with Pinkie right behind him, "Stealth is the only way we can sneak up on this stallion..."

The guard saw the two strange ponies crawling on the ground, clad out in bright red robes, "Uhh... Do you two need help?"

"Ximmy! He saw us..!" She half-whispered ahead of herself.

"That's alright darling, as long as our target doesn't see us, everything will be fine, but I see your point we need better disguises." He replied as he handed Pinkie a cardboard box marked oranges and now the both of them wearing boxes made their way through the door ignoring the guard who was scratching his head.

The two crawled into the casino and the volume level skyrocketed with complaining and laughter from ponies enjoying the casino's games.

Ximinez and Pinkie crawled clad in their cardboard apparel across the main floor, getting several strange looks from the players.

They stopped thinking their cover had been blown as the lights of the stage burst into a kaleidoscope of color and sounds as they a heard the announcer over the loud speaker.

"NOW CLAP YOUR HOOVES, CLAWS, TENTICLES OR WHATEVER YOU HAVE FOR THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!!!!!!!"

The two relieved that that no one had found them out, but the show was just way too entertaining to pass up. What Pinkie failed to notice during her distracted viewing of the show on stage was a waiter placing a stack of dishes on her box as he most assuredly thought she was a table. The show ended and Pinkie and Ximinez remembered that they had a job to do, but had become distracted by the performance and pretty lights. They made their departure and unbeknownst to Pinkie there was still a tray of dishes on her box.

Once the pink mare began to move the tray of dishes and half eaten meals came crashing down and a poor griffon tourist was caught in the avalanche of dishware and grime and as he tries to avoid the mess old lady luck dealt him a bad claw because just as he was escaped the falling plates and garbage a passing show mare was in his path and he ended up accidentally grabbing her flanks.

SLAP

"HOW DEAR YOU!!" She reared back and bucked him through a plate glass window and into the streets where he was hit by a gay party bus.

They made it out of the room, now finding themselves at a stairway, and standing up to dust their robes off.

"Do you think we made it inside without anypony seeing us?" Pinkie asked, now walking up the stairs with Ximinez beside her.

"Of course! My stealth methods have been praised in the Inquisition. Now we just have to get to our target on the second floor..." He said, taking a quick glance behind them to make sure they weren't followed.

"Who's our target Ximmy? I'm still a junior in the Inquisition and they never told me." She asked, very curious to who they were after this time.

They stopped in the doorway that lead into the very less populated second floor, which was filled with poker, dice, and blackjack tables. They called this floor, the high roller’s room, the room where their target was.

"Rolls Royce, he’s a stallion my agents believe to be funding an organization that's only goal is commit heresy against the princess. We need to use all three elements of the Inquisition to catch this stallion, he's very clever."

"Got it. Fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and wonderful red robes." She repeated from her training.

Ximinez and Pinkie began crawling again throughout the upper level of the casino. He was heading for a certain table, where only two stallions were seated, the dealer and an anxious player.

All of the players were too busy focusing on their cards to notice the two ponies crawling across the ground.

They reached the table and stood up, taking their interrogation formation of surrounding the stallion. Each of them sat on the sides of the stallion and Ximinez spoke up.

"Rolls Royce?" He said quickly and clearly.

"Yeah?! What do you want; I'm busy gettin' a fortune here!" He quickly snapped back.

Ximinez stood up and put a hoof on his shoulder, "You're under arrest for heresy against the princess!"

Rolls Royce froze and slowly turned his head to see the stallion in bright red robes beside him, "The Spanish Inquisition!" He panicked and rolled back out of his seat, and rolled to his feet and galloped off, interrupting poker games in his escape.

"After him!" Ximinez yelled, now chasing after the stallion with Pinkie.

Rolls Royce was running straight for the covered balcony, he thought there was a way out, but before he could get out Pinkie and Ximinez were blocking the door.

"It's over, turn yourself in now!" Pinkie commanded as she stomped her foot down.

The stallion quaked in fear at the two robed ponies, and he quickly searched around for an escape. He suddenly grabs an old mare near the roulette table.

"You'll never take me alive." He slowly backs away with his hostage still firmly in his forelegs.

"Back in my day, hostage takers were gentlecolts, young'uns today..." she shakes her head disapprovingly while continuing to mock his criminal skills.

Annoyed and desperate he glanced behind him, past the glass window was the streets of Las Pegasus. He wasn't ready to go to jail.

Rolls Royce threw the old lady at his pursuers and flung himself out of the window through the glass and fell down the 15 foot drop.

Pinkie and Ximinez galloped to the shattered window to see if he was alright, and they saw the stallion limping towards his Bentley Continental GT.

Pinkie turned to run towards the stairs, "We can't let him get away!" She almost ran off before a hoof stopped her.

"No, that will take too long, I'm heading down, I'll catch you Pinkie." He said sternly, before preparing to jump down.

She tried to protest, but he was already climbing out the window, scaling down from the building.

For the last five feet he jumped down and landed, standing on his hind legs with his hooves in the air, signaling her to jump.

She took a deep breath and jumped off, straight for him.

He caught her in his hooves, and circled around to rid the mare of the momentum of falling. He stopped; his hat covered his eyes with a large grin on his muzzle as he looked down at Pinkie.

She felt her heart soar at that quick moment of being caught in such a fashion as she looked up at Ximinez, her face turning almost as red as their robes.

Ximinez's head looked up quickly, seeing Rolls Royce get into his car, he was getting away.

Ximinez's head looked up quickly, seeing Rolls Royce get into his car, he was getting away. Rolls Royce's Bentley was an impressive feat of engineering and its driver was equally impressive but there was one thing Rolls didn't have and that was the four rules that make up the Spanish Inquisition.

He carefully let down Pinkie and they both galloped to the Delorean and they jumped in.

The car roared to life and began speeding after Rolls Royce.

Ximinez gripped the steering wheel tightly, putting his hoof to the floor on the pedal, "I won't let him get away!"

Both cars weaved into the traffic of Las Pegasus, passing limousines and other party cars.

Suddenly the Delorean's engine started to stall and sputter. Ximinez looked at the fuel gage. "EMPTY?! How can it be empty there was a full tank, when we left it out front...with the keys still in it. The valet has committed heresy."

"Ximmy he's gettin’ away."

"Fear, not my dear, the Spanish Inquisition are resourceful. Remember our rules. Fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency and wonderful red robes. I say we execute surprise and divide and conquer." Ximinez ran down the street to find a mode of transport catch up to Rolls Royce.

Pinkie now had to find a way to capture Rolls and prove herself worthy of her wonderful red robes. She became her quest to find the perfect vehicle.

Meanwhile Rolls Royce had a substantial lead on them until...

"What do mean, there's been an accident involving a griffon and a bus full of colt-cuddlers?!" Rolls Royce questioned the police officer stopping traffic.

"Aye, laddy, strangest thin' I'd seen all day. I'm sorry, but you'll be waitin' till, we can get the mess cleaned up, meanwhile let meh tell you about my life in the old country. I was born in Cloplin in..."

Rolls Royce started beating his head against the steering wheel and the officer started telling his life story. 'I don't know what's worse that I essentially drove around in a giant circle or that I'm stuck here till this accident get's cleaned up.'

Pinkie was looking for a mode of transport something that scream Inquisition. Her hopes were answered when she saw what was parked in the lot of the Marecito Casino and it was glorious. Pinkie's eyes were wide and in awe at the sight of the four by four jacked way into the air and its polished rims and KC fog lights. Pinkie got inside and hotwired the monster truck making it roar to life, but first she scribbled out a note to let the owner know that their vehicle had been borrowed by the Spanish Inquisition. ''Ximmy will be so proud of me; this truck thingy is fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency." Pinkie said to herself and as she made her way out of the parking lot she noticed in the passenger's seat was a box of... "Lemons with grenade pins on the them?" she just shrugged as she race to find Rolls Royce.

As the truck zoomed out into the streets of Las Pegasus, a weird ape like creature was being kicked out of the casino. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I'M CAVE JOHNSON AS YOU'LL RUE THE DAY THIS PLACED CROSSED ME...wait where's my truck?!!" He said shaking his fist.

Finally Rolls Royce was free of the traffic jam and the cop that wouldn't shut up. His victory was short lived as he could see the tell tale red robes of his arch enemy the Inquisition. He was able to speed off, leaving pursuer in the dust as apparently Ximinez was not having any luck with cars this night. Of course, it didn't help that he had chosen a Chevette as his backup car.

His foe was taking off, but lucky for his a taxi was coming his way; Ximinez jumped in and yelled at the driver. "By order of the princess follow that car and make the siren noise!!!"

"Um...sir this is a rickshaw and --" The red robed stallion cut him off.

"Here, this should be sufficient payment." He threw a bunch of bits into the driver's saddle bags. The rickshaw sped off after Rolls. "dammit, make the siren noise!!!"

The drive did as he was told and made the police siren noise as he raced after Rolls and was actually catching up the car for some reason.

"In the name of the princess pull over!" Shouted Ximinez, as they were racing done the strip, Rolls saw an opportunity to free himself of this bothersome pest. He rammed a passing fruit cart into the path of the rickshaw driver causing them to spin out and crash. All hope seemed lose, when they driver and Ximinez heard screams, wood splintering, ground quaking and the distinct sound of a 540 big block barreling towards them.

Pinkie was trying to catch up to Rolls Royce and saw the aftermath of what happen to her "Ximmy" as she called him. Pinkie was driving on the side walk, uprooting trees and sending pedestrians running into traffic. "Oki...doki...loki..." She sneered as her hair went flat. She saw that Ximinez was okay and quickly picked them up, with the former rickshaw driver sandwiched between them. "Ooh, I'm so happy you're okay Ximmy, but who's this guy?"

"Actually my dear, this is rather embarrassing. I don't know." The two of them looked at the rickshaw driver in between them.

"I'm --" Ximinez cut him off.

"It's best if we don't grow attached to this young colt, you never know what may happen in the field."

"Young colt?! I'm forty-seven years old! I want money to replace my rickshaw."

Ximinez got up in his face, which was rather easy since all three of them were smashed into the cab of the truck like sardines. "Now, listen here whoever you are, I give you the honor of helping the Inquisition and you demand profit your good deeds, you should be ashamed of yourself."

The stallion was about to object when Pinkie saw Rolls Royce make a left turn effectively widening his lead my several car lengths. 'We'll never catch him unless...fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency...hmmm' Pinkie mused. "I gotta an idea, hold on to something." She said with a smirk on her face.

"Um, Pinkie dear, what are you doing?" Ximinez said with general fear in his voice, which is something that rarely happens.

"Y-yeah, what t-that dude said." Their temporary tag along said as he grabbed hold of the dashboard.

Suddenly Pinkie violently jerked the wheel to the left and was on the sidewalk once more as screaming citizens jumped out of the way in sheer terror. The truck smashed a fountain causing its winged figure to land on the hood as Pinkie continued her path of total destruction of crushing planters, benches and lamp posts and street signs. "I think I now a short cut." She rammed the glass door of the mall and in her high hopes that her stunt would be justified. (cue the music)

"This mall has a lot of stores." Their guest relied awestruck at the destruction and carnage they had caused to the strip and the mall it was like a videogame and this crazy pink mare had all the cheat codes.

Pinkie was crushing ponyquins, those tacky displays they had in the center of every mall. "I think I can get out this way." they drove right through Sprinter's Gifts and out the other wall. The truck was covered in beer bongs, marital aids, glow in the dark body paint and novelty lights shaped like pot leaves.

"Ooh, lookie I see him." Sure enough the Bentley was no more than five feet away from them.

Rolls Royce looked at the image in his side mirror and couldn't believe his eyes and he was thinking about the truck and what it was covered in, but rather its occupants. "How in the holy hells did they catch up to me?"

"We almost got him my dear."

"Ximmy under your seat there's a box that might be able to help us."

Ximinez did as Pinkie asked and was shocked by the contents of the cardboard container. "Lemon grenades?!" After the insanity of tonight Ximinez was done questioning how and why, he figured he could use the citrus explosive devices to bring Roll's to a stop.

He rolled down the window and started chucking them at Roll's car.

BOOOOM

The back of the Bentley was a sparking mess. Rolls Royce still was unwilling to give up. They had tossed another grenade and this one caused the car to launch end over end through a 3D movie theater. Patrons were leaving the cinema raving on about their wonderful and realistic experience.

The three of them got of the truck and went into the theater. Rolls Royce was hanging upside down suspended by his seatbelt. Ximinez almost looked at the stallion with pity in his eyes. "Ready to turn yourself in?"

Rolls Royce only nodded his head as he was pull out of the flaming wreckage that was once his car. The former rickshaw driver bent down and stole Roll's wallet. The couple just looked at him.

"What? I gotta get a new rickshaw somehow, since you aren't gonna buy me one." The stallion left mumbling under his breath as he trotted away.

Pinkie came to put the stallion in handcuffs, but she didn't think they were completely necessary, he seemed pretty bent up.

Minutes later more of the Spanish Inquisition showed up to take Rolls Royce in for questioning.

Pinkie hugged Ximinez, knocking his hat off, "We did it!"

He chuckled and hugged her back tightly, "Yes, we did."

"That was so exciting, there was a search, and then there was a car chase! Oh, Ximmy and when you caught me…" She kissed him directly on his lips, "…It was so incredible!"

"It was quite a night, I've never been to Las Pegasus before, and it’s a pretty town." He admired, but then brought his attention back to Pinkie.

Pinkie hugged him again enthusiastically, "Let’s get married!"

"Wh-what?" He was too surprised, "Now?"

"Yes now! We're in Las Pegasus!" She exclaimed with excitement, taking a few steps back and rising her hooves in the air.

He grew a wide grin and pointed a hoof westward, "Onward, my dear!"

The two ran off to find the nearest chapel, where they were quickly wed by an Elvis Preslhay impersonator who happened to be a clergy.

"Okay, by the power of rock and roll and the city of Las Pegasus, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Ximinez leaned down to kiss Pinkie, but she grew impatient and grabbed him and planted a firm kiss on her new husband leaving the stallion breathless. One once they were done the clergy handed them their complimentary gifts.

"Here is 200 bits worth of casino chips, a voucher for a two night stay at the hotel. Good luck you two, now Elvis is leaving the building."

Pinkie and Ximinez left the chapel, she was wearing a wedding veil, and he had a bowtie on. They made a beeline for the Delorean where Ximinez was at the wheel, smirking.

"Where should we take our honey moon dear?" He asked happily in a state of uncontrollable bliss.

"How about...the Triassic period?" She replied happily at her husband.

"Onward!" He said, but then he turned to Pinkie, "Until the end of time..." He smirked.

Pinkie moved over in her seat so they would be sitting right next to each other while he was punching in the time and coordinates.

Pinkie nuzzled him while he put his hoof down on the pedal the Delorean sped off into the past.

Chapter 6

View Online

The lights were dim upstairs as Soarin' was searching through his and Twilight's room with nothing but a candle in the corner of the room. He was trying to be as stealthy as possible as he searched around for her saddlebag. He poked his head under the bed and started to strain his eyes, desperate to find his objective.

"Come on... where is it..." He emerged from under the bed and sighed, "I can't let Spike see that letter... or anypony else... Dear Celestia the look on Starfall's face when she read that letter..." He shuddered as he remembered the laughter he heard after she read that accursed letter from the manager back at the Hayton Hotel.

Soarin' tip hoofed over to Twilight's personnel library that she kept upstairs for her favorite books. "Maybe she put it in one of her books?" He thought to himself out loud. He put out a hoof on a book that looked like it had been pulled out slightly.

"Soarin'?" Twilight opened the door, the light from the outside lit the room up better. She saw Soarin' reaching out to something, but it was still to dim to tell, "Honey, what are you doing?"

Soarin' had frozen; he didn't think he would be caught. "I-I... I was uh..." His eyes moved frantically around, looking for something to tell her that wasn't the truth, "I was... organizing your books." He told her quickly, nailed it... he didn't ever want to lie to her, but this was a matter of great importance. If Spike were to read that he would show Big Macintosh, and then they would both tell Hayseed and then all of his friends would be mocking him for years.

“Well, I just wanted to tell you I’m going out of the house today to... do some field studies.” She told him, wanting it to be a surprise.

“Field studies?” Soarin’ turned to her direction from across the room.

“Y-yeah, field studies... I’ll only be gone until noon, do you need anything while I’m out?” Twilight asked as she was about to turn and go back downstairs to leave their home.

“No, I’m good, you have a nice day Twilight.” He smiled as he told her. She turned and started to trot downstairs.

As she went he noticed she had her saddlebag with her and a few curse words shot through his mind as he saw it leave the house and out of his reach.

“Ugh, sure, back when I was in the air force I could steal necklaces off a griffins neck, but I can’t take a piece of paper from a unicorn...”

Soarin’ just sighed and shrugged it off for now. He trotted down the stairs and looked around the near-empty library. ‘What do I have to even do today other than unpacking things from storage?’ He scanned the bare shelves and thought about Twilight’s job, she was still a student of Celestia and she was the librarian. Ponyville paid her to just make sure books got returned and weren’t misused. He just got paid for letting companies use his name on their products, but he never got to do anything. Sure the money was good, but he realized he had no hobbies. Twilight has the library... Spike has the farm to work on with Applejack... I need a hobby. He slowly walked to the front door as he thought of jobs he could look for in Ponyville, he thought of the time Spike told him about how he almost went crazy over finding a quill for Twilight when he was younger. What was that store name? I remember Spike telling me they only sell two things...

Soarin’ opened the door and trotted off into Ponyville in search of a hobby to kill his time with.

Twilight stood in front of Sugar Cube Corner, she took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for the task at hand. The subject was one she dreaded with all of her existence, the difficulty was too much for her to bear and was never brought up to full attention for her to practice, until now. Today she was going to learn how to bake properly from Pinkie Pie.

She trotted up the steps, luckily Sugar Cube Corner was being slow today and it looked like Pinkie would have some time to help her out.

Twilight briskly trotted up to the counter, hoping Pinkie would be there but she was out of sight.

“Psst…Twiii-light...” a voice whispered out to her.

“Huh, Pinkie Pie?” Twilight looked in all directions to see where it came from.

“Up here...” The voice whispered again.

Twilight froze up and slowly moved her head to look above her, and Pinkie was attached to the ceiling, “P-pinkie..?”

“Twilight... follow me...” Pinkie whispered as she started crawling on the ceiling towards the kitchen. She disappeared into the kitchen, entering from the ceiling.

“...What.” Twilight watched as her friend crawled off, defying the laws of physics. She shook her head and quickly galloped into the kitchen, where she saw Pinkie back on the ground and waiting for her.

“What can I help you with Twilight?”

“...Pinkie were you just on the ceiling?” Twilight asked as she trotted up to her.

“No, don’t be silly Twilight!” The pink mare giggled.

Twilight opened her mouth to protest and tell her she clearly saw her on the ceiling, but decided to just go on with the reason why she was here. “Well, I was wondering if you could teach me how to bake a pie, I always order a pie for Soarin’ but I really want to make it for him myself...”

“Say no more!” Pinkie exclaimed happily, disappeared behind a table for a moment but came back up, wearing an apron and hoofing one over to Twilight.

Twilight took the apron and quickly put it on, but she had to loosen it to fit around her waist than she usually had to. The memories of all of her failures at cooking, and even attempting to do so flooded her memory, This is going to be a long day...

Soarin’ looked up at the sign that had the stores insignia on it, a couch with a quill over it with bold words above and below it, the top saying ‘quills’ the bottom said ‘Sofas’. He trotted inside where it was seemingly empty, all besides one stallion who was lounging in a recliner near the service desk.

Soarin’ trotted up to the stallion, “Hello?”

The stallion’s eyes were closed, but as he heard the voice his eyes shot open and he quickly got out of the recliner and was already shaking Soarin’s hoof. “Hello sir, I’m Davenport, owner of Davenport’s Quills and Sofas! We have some fantastic deals to offer you today sir.” Davenport pushed Soarin’ back to the front desk where his premium quills were kept, “Sir I think you’re the type of stallion that really could use a quill, well if you act now I’ll include a quill set on your first purchase! How’s that for customer service?”

“No thanks I-”

“But wait there’s more! I’ll even offer you the deal of a century, if you walk out of here with a sofa today, not only will I include the quills, but I’ll also give you a free one year warranty!” The stallion said enthusiastically with an odd pitched voice. The stallion also had a strange smell of cleaner detergent on him.

Soarin’ looked past the stallion for a moment and saw some white tubs at the back of the store on a shelf, he squinted and read the words ‘Minotaur clean’. He turned his attention back to Davenport, “W-well, that all sounds really nice, but I just came to see if you had an open spot for a job?”

“Oh... so no sofa?” Davenport calmed down and looked at the pegasus.

“No sorry not today... so about that job...” Soarin’ asked shyly, it’s been years since he’s even tried to apply for a job.

“Alright, you’re hired.” Davenport said plainly.

“Really? I don’t even have to apply or anything?” Soarin’ couldn’t believe it.

“I’ve seen you help ponies around town, you’re a hard worker, and besides what could draw in more business than an ex-Wonderbolt working for me?” The stallion thought out loud giddily, the potential of new customers made him start to imagine himself on a pile of money. The thought of bathing in bits made him almost drool in delight.

“So when do I start?” Soarin’ asked happily.

“This weekend, is that fine with you? And today I can run you through the routine here.” Davenport told him as he trotted over to the recliner he was napping in and set it upright.

“Sounds good.”

Soarin’ and the stallion trotted to the back of the store to begin his training.

Two hours later Soarin’ was leaving the store with Davenport talking to him in the doorway.

“Thanks for the job Dave; I’ll be early for work Saturday.” Soarin’ said as he turned to trot off back home.

“See ya’ tomorrow Soar, oh and I’ll have the boys bring your new sofa over later too.” He called after Soarin'.

“Thanks!” Soarin’ called behind him as he trotted off. He took a few more steps but then slowly reached a stop at the sudden realization, “...Damn he’s good.”

Soarin' sighed as he trotted up to the library, he couldn't believe he had bought a sofa from Davenport as he was being instructed. It wasn't all bad; he was starting to think about buying new furniture now that the library was larger now anyway. He saw Spike outside, waiting for him.

"Yo Spike." He smiled as he trotted up to the drake whose eyes were shadowed by the hat.

"Hey Soar, Twilight asked me to help take everything out of storage today." Spike said as he tipped his hat up out of his eyes.

"The hat looks great on you Spike," He complimented.

"Not looking to bad yourself, now that you can't... you know... you are getting a bit built there." Spike told him cautiously, not wanting to make him feel bad.

Soarin' held his smile, "it’s fine Spike, and thanks." He trotted up to the door to open it and the two entered the nearly empty library.

"I'm glad Twilight won't let us touch the books... she's always alphabetizing them, it would be a pain to put all those books back in the main lobby." Spike sighed in relief.

"Yeah..." Soarin' gulped at the thought of having to fill the shelves with mountain of books.

The two began to head towards the cellar to take everything out of storage, thanks to Spike's strength they were able to quickly get everything out that wasn't a box full of books.

"Alright, let's get started." Soarin' said in determination, he wanted everything unpacked before Twilight got home from her studies and that she can rest easy.

Twilight was trotting up to the library, she was at Sugar Cube Corner for a good four hours that morning, but she emerged victorious from the flaming battlefield that was a kitchen with her prize levitating in the air. A pie in a basket covered with a tablecloth to keep it warm. She trotted into the empty library, trotting past the main lobby and going to the part that was used as a home for her and Soarin'.

She entered their home-part of the library and as she entered she saw Spike effortlessly lift a couch and place it in a neat spot against the wall. Everything was already unpacked and neatly placed. She trotted up to Spike, "Incredible Spike... Living on Sweet Apple Acres is really treating you well isn't it?" She smiled at her step-brother.

Spike stood up straighter and put out an arm to flex, "You know it!" He said in his usual content self.

"Is Soarin' home?" She asked, wanting to be with her fiancé again after their time apart this morning.

Spike pointed in the next room with his thumb where some more of the library was added-on, it was their kitchen.

Twilight trotted into the kitchen and saw Soarin' organizing some silverware in a drawer. She snuck up behind him and nuzzled him affectionately.

He felt her soft fur and instantly knew it was Twilight and he nuzzled back. The two stood there, locked together in happiness, basking in their love for each other.

Spike walked in a propped himself against the doorway, just watching one of his best friends and his sister in such bliss, 'I wonder if Aj and I look like that...'

After a few moments Twilight levitated the basket on the counter and the cloth levitated off, "I brought you some pie Soarin', I made it myself!" She said proudly.

Soarin's eyes shot open and his tongue had managed to hang out of his mouth in delight, everyone knew he loved pie.

"Spike would you like some?" Twilight offered Spike who she saw propped up in the doorway.

As soon as he was called out he tensed up, he was more than familiar with her cooking. His eyes started to quickly look around, "Uh..." and then he thought of a way around, "Oh I uh... I have to get back to the farm, Applejack is already cooking, and she would hate it if I ate somewhere else!" Spike smiled awkwardly, "So I better leave... now..." He started to back away, "Bye!" He then turned to jog out, rattling the floors a bit as he did.

Soarin had already cut himself a piece just as Twilight turned to watch him, shining eyes as she wanted to see the reaction to someone eating the first thing she cooked that wasn't on fire or already in ashes.

He bit into it, expecting the sweet succulent taste of delicious apple pie, but instead his eyes quickly went bloodshot as it touched his tongue. The taste was similar to ashes mixed with sugar and slimy eels. He swallowed the bite of the 'pie' and fought a shiver as it scraped down the sides of his throat, closing his eyes to help subdue the pain. After he swallowed he mustered up all of his will to show a weak smile and opened his eyes to see his fiancée smiling happily. He saw her expression and then a burst of courage ran through him, 'I don't want her to feel bad... I-I’ll do this... for Twilight!" He put on his brave-face and took another bite to swallow it quickly, not wanting to taste much more of the putrid pie, "I-I love it Twilight, thank you." He said after the second bite.

Twilight clapped her hooves in delight, "I'm starting to take cooking lessons with Pinkie Pie, and today I only started two fires!" She said proudly, enjoying her accomplishment.

Ximenez trotted into the kitchen and saw Pinkie on her back in the middle of the floor; he rushed to her side, afraid for his wife "Darling! Are you alright!" He held up her head in his lap as he sat down next to her.

She slowly opened her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but no words would escape past her lips.

"Wh-what happened?!" He demanded, now noticing that the kitchen was a mess coupled with the fact that his wife was still weak from a strange force.

"I-it w-was Twilight... she... she's learning to cook." She said weakly.

Ximenez expression changed from worried to hopelessness as he took his hat off of his head and placed it over his heart as he stared off into the distance. "...Dear Celestia."

Soarin' had finished the rest of his piece of pie; he had braved it to save her feelings. He smiled at her, and then went to go put away his plate, but then Twilight spoke up.

"Want another piece?" She asked happily, levitating the pie close to him.

"N-no thank you... I'll... uh... save some for later."

"Oh okay, I need to go start organizing books for the library." Twilight put the cloth back over the pie and placed it on the counter. She trotted up to Soarin' to give him a quick peck on his cheek before trotting off to the storage room.

Soarin' sighed, "I better get back to unpacking some stuff upstairs."

Both Twilight and Soarin were feeling triumphant as they were cuddled up together on their new couch; they looked around at their new family room happily. They managed to get everything unpacked from storage and placed in their home, and Twilight had the library set up and ready to open tomorrow so the citizens of Ponyville would have access to the knowledge of its archives once again.

Soarin squeezed her ever so slightly in the cuddle and kissed her on the cheek. He then asked, "What do you think of our home?"

Twilight only nuzzled a response, almost purring to show her happiness and gratefulness to him.

Soarin' looked at her eyes and he could easily see from her over-relaxed expression that she was exhausted from the task of readying the library. He's noticed that her energy has been decreasing over the months of her pregnancy.

He looked outside and saw that the sun was no longer present, Celestia had lowered it long ago and now Luna's moon was anchored in the night sky.

"Are you tired?" He asked, loosening his hooves from her a bit.

She only nodded lightly, "I'm ready to go to bed..." She opened her eyes to look up at him, "Are you?"

Soarin' nodded and released his grip of her completely and then stood up on all fours, stretching out a little to pop his joints. He then put out a hoof to help her up as well as she was yawning.

He could only grin whenever he saw her yawn, she looked so adorable.

She took his hoof and they started to head to the stairs to go up to their bedroom.

It was in the middle of the night when Twilight woke up and started lightly nudging Soarin'.

"S-Soarin'...Wake up..." She whispered to him closely as she sat up.

"Huh?" He had a line of drool coming from his mouth and his mane was a mess from rubbing against the pillow and slowly sat up himself.

Twilight took his hoof and slowly put it over her bulging stomach.

"Uh..." He looked up at Twilight through the darkness, she was smiling and her face seemed a little wet on the side, "A-are you crying?" From his hoof he could tell that her stomach felt a little warmer than usual.

He could hear a sniffle come from the darkness, "Y-yes..."

He quickly grew alarmed, "What's wrong?" he asked sharply.

"The baby... it... it kicked..." She told him, tears still fresh from her eyes.

It was then that Soarin' felt a little tap on his hoof from her stomach.

Soarin' looked down and squinted through the darkness, his heart rising from the little tap. He started to smile as the joy started to fill his heart. His smile widened to give a purple rhyming cat a run for his money.

Twilight used her other hoof to wipe her eyes, "It won't be long now..."

Chapter Soarin': Life's a Journey, not a Destination

View Online

Soarin' sighed as he had his head propped up, hoof to muzzle as he lazily looked down at the floor from the front desk. When he got this job, he had hoped that it kept him busy- you know, joke around with the boss a bit, maybe do some stallionly heavy lifting to get him toned for his soon-to-be-wife Twilight. But nothing, just sat at the front desk because Davenport rarely restocked and almost always made him be the front-desk. He looked up and around the store, it wasn't too big, you could probably walk from the front and touch the back wall in about a minute. The only thing stopping ponies from doing so was neatly lined sofas that were out in display and facing all who entered.

He shuffled his hooves a bit as he grew tired of standing, he was only allowed to go lay down on the couches when it was his break time in contrast to Davenport, who could lay down whenever he pleased. In fact, Soarin' could see him now, snoozing the day away around the middle section, enjoying the comfort of one of their most expensive couches.

"Guess nobody needs a couch or quills today." He mumbled to himself as he sunk down behind the desk to rest his legs for a moment. He looked down at the plain white stock carpet as he wished something- no, anything to happen, he almost didn’t care what it was- but he was almost to the point of banging his head on the counter for fun.

Unfortunately, his wish was fulfilled when he heard the front door open, the little bell up top near the frame jingled after being opened by the door. He let out an excited gasp, hoping at even the most probable boring event and shot back up to greet the walk-in.

"Welcome t-" He said as he popped back up with his salesman smile, but saw nothing over the counter. "Shoot." He felt a little betrayed by the possible gust of wind that had opened the door.

"Oh my goth, ith true!" An excited filly voice came from below.

"Eh?" Soarin' tilted his head down to see the source, a little filly had walked in and was now propped up against the counter, as if trying to look over it and barely able to. "Hello there." He smiled at the filly, now noticing that she had purple glasses with messy red hair.

"I didn't belieff them buth ith true!" She squee’d as she looked up at the very familiar stallion, "Thorin' the Wonderbolth!" A smile wide as could be on her face.

"Heh..." He took a moment to enjoy that he still had a fan, "Yep, that's me... or I used to be, now I'm Soarin' of Daven...port's Quills and Sofas..." His boost of confidence already ran out as his old title was no longer in effect.

"Oh I don't care abouth who you are now." The filly grinned eagerly, "You'll alwayth be Thorin' the Wonderbolth to me- I wasth your biggesth fan you know."

"Oh really I ap-"

"I have all your posthers and your lunthbox..." She started naming off with her heavy lisp starting to show no signs of ceasing.

After a few minutes of her naming stuff off with Soarin' slowly seeping back into boredom, she finally stopped, "And I have all of your acthion figurines." She smiled, "See? I am your biggesth fan."

"Uh... oh! Y-yeah I guess you are- hey, if you have any of the stuff on you I can sign it if you want." He thought it would be a nice offer, although he didn't like offering something like that, he wasn't that full of himself.

At that moment, the filly's eyes grew wide at the moon and her mouth fell agape. She froze in time with a bit of drool starting to emulate from her mouth, it was her dream finally coming true. In her mind she was having a million thoughts, the main one being 'Oh my goth, he's going to sthign my sthuff- soon we'll be beth friends and we'll be friends forever and ever!'

Soarin's face looked as if he had seen some shit in his life as he looked down at the filly. 'I hope she didn't have a seizure or something.'

"H-hey kid..." He waved a hoof in front of her, intending to try and snap her out of her trance- still under small belief that she had something terribly wrong with her.

As his hoof grew near, she suddenly broke out of her statue of her demeanor and sucked in what looked like a gallon of air before releasing it suddenly in a soul shattering shriek of banshee-like nature with enough strength to crack the glass quill display.

'What the fuck is wrong with this kid?!' was the first thing that came to Soarin's mind as he tried to block the noise with his hooves over his ears, as his eyes grew wide in shock- it looked as if everything was in vibrate as her very voice penetrated into his skull, or quite possibly the screech was shaking the whole store.

Davenport’s eyes shot open as he had awoken from the deathly horrible noise. He fell off the couch and started to lazily scramble to his feet, "The milk-runners are coming!" He began to freak out and tried to run away, "Get to the bunkers!" he screamed as he had his minor flashback in his life-grasping flee. He had been so caught up in his flash back that he face planted the wall after just a short run. His face seemed glued to the wall before it began to slowly slide down, leaving a thin trail of slobber before he finally settled on the floor- back into a deep sleep.

Soarin' had curled up into a ball on the floor behind the counter, rocking silently as his eyes grew misty as he only wished the noise would end soon among the other optional end.

After her, what seemed to be endless, shriek that had only really lasted for a good ten seconds ended she was hopping in place, "I'll go geth my things!" She turned and galloped off, almost bashing through the door, causing the bell to ring senselessly.

Soarin' was close to tears, but heard the bell and weakly lifted his head above the counter, 'She... she's gone.' he sighed out in relief, 'Jeez... what the blueberry fuck was that.'

He looked over to see if Davenport had heard the filly, but saw that there was a bit of struggle as the couches had broken their neat line. He traced the minor path of destruction until his eyes met his boss, who was on the ground and sucking on his hoof like an adorable little foal.

"You sure you'll be okay?" Soarin' asked as his work shift was over, and he was about to make his leave to go back home. He longed to just lie down in bed and nuzzle with the love of his life in the comfort of home and silence, oh sweet beautiful silence. The filly hadn't returned after she initially left, but the shriek of death that would frighten even Gorthay The Cruel remained locked in his memory. He shivered at the thought of it ever happening again.

"Yesh I'll be fine." Davenport said as he had an ice pack held up to his cheek. "You go home, an if you see that filly again- tell her to never come here again please." He said in a passive aggressive tone, not meaning too but what had happened left him a bit sour.

Soarin' sighed and nodded, actually agreeing but he would doubt he would say that to the filly- not wanting to hurt her feelings. He left the shop, wondering just where the excitable filly could have even gone. After getting so worked up she wouldn't just disappear like that.

He shrugged and began his walk home peacefully, enjoying the soft setting sun out onto the town. As he walked he felt relaxed and loose as he walked, actually starting to feel really good for some unknown reason, but enjoyed it. He began to wonder if it was a brief feeling of freedom after being suppressed in that store for so long today. He felt good enough that he had thoughts that he would even try to fly, but luckily he still had a hoof on the earth while his thoughts were still in the clouds. The thought of flying again came with the shadow of doubt and longing as he began to look up at the sky. The weather team had cleared it completely, leaving only a long sea of seemingly emptiness. His heart sank as he tried to look into the sky, his ears had fallen flat and he was now beginning to fill with supreme longing, so vividly avid, and his happy feel-good mood costively descended into a cavity of self-spite at his lack of flying. Soarin’ loved flying so much, and it was paining that he had to bear with his inability.

"Gah!" He shook his head quickly, trying to shake off the shackles of regret that bound him. “I need to stop thinking about that stuff… I have a new life now; I don’t need to fly these days…” He took a deep breath and tried to continue on his way home. ‘I probably just really need to see Twilight right now.’ He told himself.

"Thorin'!" A voice came behind him, along with the creak of little wheels.

He stopped and turned his head to see the happy filly, pulling a wagon filled with collectibles and merchandise of all sorts. 'Ah geez...' his ears fell flat as he saw the tiny mountain of stuff.

"Thorin', I wenth and goth all my thuff." Her hooves tip toed constantly in place in excitement. She reached back and pulled out a thin marker for him to sign with, "Make it outh to 'My greatheth and cooltheth besthesth fan ever, Love Thorin', pleasth." She squeed as she gave him the marker, which he ghastly took, and hooked off her tiny wagon. She trotted behind it and pushed it a bit forward to her idol.

'Ah fuck... I can't sign all of this like that...' He knew she would feel bad if he told her that he wouldn't sign it all. 'Dammit... Uh... What did Spitfire say... ?’ He thought back to some advice that she had given him while he was admitted into the special performer section of the Wonderbolts with her. It hit him as he remembered, putting on a friendly smile and putting his ears back upright, "Hey Kid, what’s your name?"

"Twisth sir." She was shaking with excitement to get all of her things autographed.

He took a moment to think of her name, as her lisp made it a little difficult, "Twist huh... that's a really awesome name you know." He tried to give her his best show grin, "Y'know... I 'could' sign all this stuff... or..." He thought quickly, finding something to do alternatively instead of spending hours to sign all her stuff.

Her heart started beating intensely from the compliment, but managed to respond weakly, "...O-or?"

"I can give you my super-secret special signature I give to all of my top-tier fans." 'Nailed it' he felt satisfied that she would accept it. "But I can only sign three things with it, and then it would be our little secret- okay?"

"S...sthecret... sthignature?" She looked as if she was about to faint, growing weak enough that she lost balance for a moment before snapping back to normality, "Yeth yeth yeth pleasth!" She squee’d out in delight as she began to grow starry-eyed at the golden opportunity to get something only his top tier fans would get.

"Pick out three things you want me to sign the most, alrighty?" He uncapped the maker and placed it in his mouth, ready to sign what she brought forth. He did feel a little mean about his trick, so he really would make it feel premium. Whenever he did signatures in the past, he had to do it quickly, this time he would take his time and make it neat.

"Leth see..." She sat down in front of her pile, "The Soarin' number two buthon might be a good one... buth what about my vinthage Wonderbolth marble, or my collethible Thorin' single posther." She bit her lip as she scanned through her items, unsure of what to pick.

Thirty minutes had passed; Soarin' had fallen asleep as he stood up. He was lightly rocking back and forth with the marker barely keeping trapped in his teeth. He was snoring peacefully and the sun was down.

The filly had pulled out a flashlight and was still scanning and debating at her options, "I goth it!" She exclaimed out loudly.

"Bah… what?" Soarin' awoke, his eyes looking exhausted. He looked down at the filly and hazily remembered where he was, "Oh- great." He grinned, readying himself to sign her stuff.

She pulled forth a poster of the entire wonderbolt team, a photo book of the Wonderbolts, and an old familiar tiny parcel.

"What’s the envelope?" He pointed at it with a hoof; he could have sworn he had seen it before. It was in the very back of his memory, but the envelope was a little crumpled and had the seal he used to send back letters that he got sometimes.

"Oh! Ith the firth letter I senth you, and you senth it back." She smiled, "Do you remember getting it?"

"Uh... which one is it?" He looked down on at it; he had no idea why he remembers this specific one.

"Ith the one where I loth my temper a bit and senth you a letter telling you that you sthould have sthayed professional at a performanth I saw from you." She looked down at the letter, she had to punch her teddy bear to rid herself of most of the anger that day, "I didn'th like sending it after it wath already in the mailboxth, but becausth you sent it back- I hadth to keep it."

He began to glare at the letter, he remembered it now- it was one of the few pieces of hate mail he had ever gotten, in fact it was one of the first too. He could recall its exact words as he read it almost a year ago when he first took Twilight to meet Spitfire on the fourth day of that fateful festival. He didn't want to sign it, but he didn't want to hurt the filly's feelings by making her change her mind, she did say she was sorry though.

"Alrighty- let's get these things signed." He smiled as he bent down to slowly write, on each thing he tried his best to write 'Aim as high as you can, and work as hard as you can and you'll never fall behind- Soarin'. He wrote his name in cursive, something he never did in his life other than when he was forced to learn it in grade school. It was the best he could think of, but it seemed to do justice as the filly eagerly took her things back.

"Thank you mither Soarin'." She nodded and reached forward to hug his leg, "I needth to get home now." She put all her things back in her wagon that she 'borrowed' from Silver Spoon's little brother and went on her way, "Bye!" She called back behind her.

“Bye!” He replied back before he let out a hefty sigh, his legs hurt from him sleep-standing a few moments ago paired with all the standing he did today. Soarin’ had grown his smile back after making the filly happy. 'Time to get home now... finally...' He had a light smile on his face as he headed home; it felt as if he hadn't been home in ages. But now he was finally returning, both tired of the wait he's had to do, and excited for whatever comes in store for the future of his life here in Ponyville.

Blue Skies: Final

View Online

“I really think you should do the top hat.”

“Dude... no thanks.”

“C’mon! You know this thing is awesome.” Spike grinned as he lightly nudged at Soarin’s shoulder with an elbow while he waved the dapper hat near his muzzle. “Got to look fancy dontcha?” He smirked as he slowly began to gravitate the hat towards his friend’s head.

“Spike I said no.” Soarin’ said in a stern voice and started to glare at his friend, moving away from the prodding elbow and hat. He walked away from the nudging elbow with his head hung low and made way to a tall mirror that he stood in front of, lazily looking over himself.

“... Sorry dude…” Spike sighed and flipped the hat in the air. It landed softly onto his own head in a half-worn lazy fashion. Spike crossed his arms and looked over at his friend, he wasn’t offended at the glare. It was a busy day that was going to really change how he felt about life, it was understandable to be a little nervous.

After a deep breath he looked into the mirror at his own reflection. There stood his mostly normal self, his same relaxed sleep-marked eyes, his long blue mane, and now sporting a tuxedo. “S-sorry Spike… didn’t mean to snap.” He said vacantly as he stared into his reflection, trying to force a smile at himself… but it dropped the moment it shone through.

“It’s fine. I know it's the big day- I didn’t need to be bugging you.” The heavy dragon walked over to his friends side to lay a palm gently on the colt’s shoulder. “No rush… we have plenty of time. Anything you need off your chest before we head out?”

There was plenty of little thoughts, just the things that everyone carries with them. He closed his eyes as he thought about all the things that he’d done in the past, so many stupid little things that either made him cringe. Things like that crash that happened a little over a year ago was his crowning achievement of stupid acts. It left him flight challenged, and he now had trouble even shifting his wings around. He could hardly call himself a pegasus and it hurt his pride. Soarin’ really just wished that he could have done some things in life a little differently. He could have spoken more with his father in the past, been more stern about it so maybe they both could have been happier, instead of just running away from it. Everyone has their what ifs of life. All he could think about right now is how he could have been better for Twilight. Everything just made him feel incomplete… he could have been stronger and wiser for her. But now everything was rushing forward again, a final tailwind. Now he had to live for two others than himself for real now.
Soarin’ opened his eyes up. “No... Not really, I just need another moment.” His gaze focused itself in the mirror. After a few moments he felt the room slowly begin to melt behind him and morph in an odd blur and he started to go deep into some memories memories. Each memory went by in a flash that all were leading up into who he was today. Soarin began to think about how his life couldn’t be planned especially since he never planned at all, things sort of just happened, life happens. Before the day he left he never planned to be in the air force. He just sort of went as an escape. He never planned to become a wonderbolt, the opportunity just arrived and it sounded like fun. He certainly never planned to fall head-over-hooves for Twilight, like everything else it just sort of happened. Ever since he left home years ago life just had this weird little tailwind at his back. All these things just kind of happened to him, it felt like; but now he was gaining more control over himself and now instead of riding things out he had to be the tailwind for Twilight and their coming child. This is what made him feel unready; he was losing the easygoing aspect of his life where he just… went. Now he was just floating here along the thick of things. He stood there for only a minute, but to him it seemed like hours sunk by as his speeding memories finally began to slow down. Like a roulette visiting over each piece of his life it was finally ending on the pleasant memories he created with Twilight. A smile finally cracked through his worried state and just stayed there, he wasn’t even aware of his smiling reflection as he was lost to the memories. However unlikely and however sudden he met Twilight he would just continued to not question it, perhaps it was just a final gift from the world before letting him go. Now he was beginning to realize that life had given him the end to his start- an end to his own tailwinds in exchange for something much more memorable and much more profound. The memories picked back up again, thinking of their trips together both long distance and not. The flowing memories were draining him of worry, speeding by in greater pace as it did before but then the flow stopped… all that remained in his mind right now was just an unmoving picture of Twilight. The mare who was endlessly beautiful in his eyes. She was just sitting up with her back to a tree in the middle of a field, her hooves resting peacefully in her lap. Twilight looked as if she had been frozen in mid-laugh, looking up at Soarin’ as if he had done something funny to cause it. Then he realized that maybe… he was complete. Even with all his blunders, those blunders mixed with everything positive and thats what made him Soarin’.

Spike watched Soarin’ space out, he was about to snap his fingers to bring him out of the state but when that smile creeped across his muzzle he started grinning himself. Spike pulled his claws away from his shoulder. He turned away to let his friend build up his courage, adjusting his hat as he went.

“I’m ready…”

Spike heard those words as they came soft and turned his head to see Soarin’. In the just the few moments that he turned away from the stallion he became something else. His friend now stood tall with confidence and a smile bright enough to light a room. “Feeling better now?”
Soarin’ nodded and left the mirror to join Spike so they could leave together. Spike opened up the door for them both.

“You really ready for this?”

“You know I am, let’s get rollin’, best dragon.”

Everything passed by so quickly, his impatience drowned out everything as he stood at the altar with his eyes glued to the large doors, awaiting his bride to come through. He ignored the crowd of people talking idly while everyone was waiting for the ceremony to begin. Anxiety left him huffing out breaths in his nose. Once this was over everything would go smoothly, he would try to plan and do his best. Not much longer after this ceremony and he would have a full family of his own finally, not much longer and he would do his best to be there for his family, not much longer and-

His thoughts were cut off when the doors finally swung open slowly and the crowd hushed itself quickly. There stood his wife-to-be, clad in a beautiful dress and a big smile on her face as her father accompanied her. As she started to walk forward to the altar with their eyes pinned to each other, ignoring the distant families on both sides.

As she drew closer they both had one final thought before the rest of their lives would be kicked off into the unknown.

“Like him, life is going to be crazy and fun.”

“Like her, life is going to be beautiful. Just like the clear Blue Skies.”