Authors Note: Wowzers, that last chapter was a blast… it was hell to write, but it got done and that's what really counts, right? …Right? Anyway, I got round to realising that the last five chapters (including this one) have all taken place on the same day… am I stretching this too far? Heck, I take everything this far, but either way this is the last chapter that happens on… whatever day of the week this is set on, and we're going out with a bang! This time we're gonna see how the other half of this story is going, so grab a snack and a drink if you want, and in certain cases, shrines. Yes, I'm talking to you, Rosa! ;)

And thanks for 40 follows, guys! We're on a roll with this!

Captain Alaska: Yeah, finally knowing that I've been saying Lyra's name right for the past two years was a HUGE relief! But I will never call Derpy 'Muffins'! And you have no idea how much I was praying Vinyl would speak! Oh well, we still have the fan animations for that, I guess.

Amellia Rose: I LOVE DESPICABLE ME! Oops, sorry for my little outburst then… and I think I'm gonna keep Rainbow Dash in the dark about SpitBurn for a little while longer. I think it's amusing how she has no idea Braeburn has a thing for the captain. xD

Litestardt: Whoops. Sorry for making you think I had some kind of brain disorder or something… I probably already have one. And you and Lightning seriously need to learn not to argue; even though it's hilarious!

RosaSilvermist: And it's about darn time, too! It took me about twenty minutes to write that paragraph 'cause I couldn't stop friggin' squeeing. AND I NEVER SQUEE! Also, I thought I was the only one who felt sorry for Amethyst Star, too! I'm so relived to find someone who feels the same way.

Surprise: How can we not have vanilla? If I ever get caught without vanilla ice cream you have permission to kick me up my hiney!

Dj Storm: Another Whovian! Quick question; who's your favourite doctor? I'm tied between David Tennant and Matt Smith.

SummerGrace190: I know exactly how you feel. Smiling's good and all, but just wait until you get a jaw cramp from grinning too much. Ouch. And yeah, there were a load of cliff-hangers in the episode, but with everything going on there probably wasn't enough time for their plotlines to be shown at once. It still worked for me though; it's probably in my top ten episodes now.

Spiralwish: I still laugh every time I watch that Gummy scene. Just when I thought the show couldn't get any more random. And I loved that Button Mash appeared, too! I love the Button Mash Adventures so so SO much! And you seriously have no idea how hard it is to try and keep Rainbow Dash in character while writing a scene like that! I went through literally every episode in my head trying to think of an instance where Dashie acts sentimental. The closest thing I could think of was when she took Scootaloo under her wing in Sleepless in Ponyville; most of the time she's just a self-centred, attention seeking narcissist.

Luna'snight625: it was good to see Steven Magnet after four seasons; I really didn't see him and Cranky being friends coming (who did?). I'm still looking for a story focusing on how the two of them met and became friends… dammit, one more thing for me to ponder writing. And you have my permission to squeal and be hyperactive and freak out as much as you want. Enjoy it while it lasts.

The Super Saiyan 3- I think you may have finally reached happier than Pinkie Pie status… nah, hold up, I seriously don't think that can happen. What does that live wire of a pony take to be so chipper and optimistic 24/7?

Guest: Yes, that something is a few thousand words a retarded author has written to please the people who read this.

Astrid Fireheart: Hell if I know. I'm also 100% sure that GTA doesn't even exist in Equestria.

YoungBlood23: Whoa, easy there! I'm happy that you're happy, but there's no need to throw stuff! xD

MidnightBlaze16: Then you're lucky. At least your syndrome doesn't make you tense up and prevent you from typing… so… annoying!

Rainbowdash4ever: Heck no this ain't the end (duh!) according to my calculations we have roughly… well, just under twenty left to go. So this story will keep going for quite some time still, and it's gonna be one hell of a random ride.

Sparkling-nexis137- Hey, it's great to have you back, Nexis! And I'm glad you liked the race scene; that was a throwback to chapter 28 where Lullaby compares Rainbow's problems with her feelings to racing. And you'd better strap that helmet on extra tight 'cause we're in for a wild ride which probably won't end for a long, long time. And don't worry about them being one of those stupid couples that you mentioned (they annoy me like you wouldn't believe) I'll do my very best to make their relationship a unique one that will not only bring out some 'aaaawwwws', but some laughs, too. Besides, I can't imagine Dashie and Soarin being one of those couples anyway. Soarin's too silly for any of that nonsense.

(MY REVIEW FOR PRINCESS SPIKE!)

!SPOILERS AHEAD!

Oooh, another of my reviews… it will probably get completely out of hand, mind you so bear with me. So I'm gonna start by asking you all a question. Was I the only one who saw all those ponies wandering from stall to stall in the castle and immediately thought 'Oh my gosh, it's like BronyCon in Equestria!'

Before I go into immense detail want to talk about the things in the episode I really appreciated. For one thing, Luna had the opening line! I love Luna so much that it hurts, people; heck I have a massive Luna Build-a-Bear plushie sitting on my desk right now… quick anecdote for you guys- do you have any idea how awkward it is to be in a big room full of squealing five year olds who are begging their moms to get them a £30.00 stuffed minion, standing on a stuffing pump while the twenty-something year old assistant uncomfortably shifts in his chair, trying to make small talk with you 'cause he's paid to talk to snot-nosed ragamuffins all day and he has no idea how to act around people older than ten, while you wait desperately for the pony to fill up with fluff, twitching as the kids all point at you, wondering why there's someone my age in there, and then when it finally happens you still have to go through the other crazy "ritual" rules because it encourages the kids, then you anxiously wait for them to scan your frickin' pony and THEN YOU CAN LEAVE! That's what I would do for a Luna, people, so show me some respect! …Okay, onto other things. I was pleased to see Fancy Pants again, and his line was by far my favourite in the episode. "There's an angry mob here that DEMANDS satisfaction!

But, onto more negative stuff- from the moment I saw the gemstone statue I thought: 'Either Spike's gonna eat it or it's gonna be destroyed.' That's how predictable this episode was. If you must know, from the moment I first read the synopsis I knew precisely how the episode would go. Spike somehow gets to be in charge while Twilight's ill or something and gets super carried away and winds up ruining something (I was so close with that prediction). So, naturally I knew exactly what was going to happen. And poor Spike in that first scene; it was so damn jerkish of everypony to cut him off and start praising the princesses like that. I guess that was the first cliché of the episode. Don't worry, there's more to come.

Okay the first time I laughed in the episode was when Twilight curled up on a bed of BOOKS! Oh my gosh, that was just so like her; we all call her Book Horse for a reason, after all. And then we find out that Twilight hasn't slept for three straight days since she was organising the summit, which brings me to the next question. What the hay were Celestia, Luna, and Cadence doing that caused Twilight to have exactly zero sleep? Surely it couldn't be that hard to organise if you are a team of four all-powerful magic horses, right? But when Cadence gave Spike the responsibility of making sure Twilight wasn't disturbed I knew that things were gonna go downhill really fast. As in NASCAR race car covered in oil kind of fast! Another question: Why couldn't one of the royal guards stand by and ensure that Twilight wasn't woken up? Making sure the princesses are safe and comfortable is what they are paid to do! Nope, just choose Spike. But I guess if Cadence didn't tell Spike to do it then there wouldn't be an episode plot.

Anyway, seeing Spike deal with the distractions was pretty entertaining… and since I have to point this out every time for some inexplicable reason, I should say that I didn't appreciate the Canterlot ponies playing polo (basically croquet on horseback). I know it wasn't all that big of a deal but since Canterlot (Camelot) is a fictional British court of King Arthur the scene was pretty much a stereotype. If I keep bringing those up it's gonna get annoying, so I'll shut up. As funny as the dragon sneeze trees were, it was a little too convenient that it was a plant that only dragons were allergic to. Another cliché! And that busted water pipe was just an accident waiting to happen, and I knew that eventually something bad would happen… I still would have thought that Spike was smart enough to just let the worker get on with his work. Also, if the leaking pipe was already uncovered why wasn't it at least temporarily repaired or shut off? And what the heck was the worker pony digging for with the jackhammer so far away from the hole?

And then even more predictable trouble occurs when two delegates come seeking advice from Twilight; Spike manages to fix the situation by pretending he spoke to Twilight. I guess it was a nice thought and all, him telling the two ponies that they had to share a room for a conference. And then even more ponies start coming to Twilight asking for advice, which Spike "solves" by pretending that the solutions were all Twilight's ideas. But… does it really require Twilight to solve such a trivial thing as the order of unimportant speeches; and why Twilight of all the princesses? And also, why does everypony think that they deserve an audience with a princess and an actual personal opinion from her to solve their petty problems? It's all just very confusing!

But then we move on to Cadence. Yes, the Princess of Love has been given an entire paragraph of my review. I think that the writers portrayed her a little off in this episode. All throughout the fandom I've been seeing a little Cadence hate, and that makes me feel really sad… I know a lot of people like Cadence and seeing her being viewed as the potential 'Villain of the Episode' breaks my heart. The thing is she was a little muddled up in the episode. Firstly, she lands Spike in this awkward, then later when she meets up with Spike in town she acts as an inquisitor, questioning his motives rather than worrying about how (ir)responsible he's being. Don't worry, I still like Cadence a lot, but the writers just seemed to use her as a prop to move Spike's cruddy adventure along (good grief, it's like Corey Powell wrote this episode or something).

This may be just a small issue, but I also found the fact that all the delegates forgave Spike just like that quite off-putting. Heck according to modern laws, Spike should have been charged with high treason for betraying obligations of loyalty to the princess and usurping the power. But he was forgiven after simple apology. And all the damage he caused didn't matter as well? That could have been a good opportunity for the writers to throw in a 'correct your mistakes' moral.

But my overall problem with the episode was just the treatment of Spike in general. The writers seem to treat Spike like a pile of dog doo-doo all the time and that just isn't fair! In this episode they seem to just portray him as a punching bag (again), making him feel useless and having the delegates ignore him. I would have preferred the episode to have a different plot; even just a few tweaks could have improved it, and given us a Spike episode with a story line that hasn't been used over and over again. Is it just me that feels sorry for Spike in every episode where he has a big part?

Anyway… it wasn't the worst thing ever but it still felt underwhelming and inconsequential, and there was a lot of room for improvement. It's still not as bad as Dragon Quest… hold on, that's a Spike episode, too! The writers had better start treating Spike right or so help me I'll slap them all across the head with a` complete physical collection of Fallout: Equestria!

(!SPOILERS END HERE!)

So before we embark on the 34th chapter of this long, messed up story, I have three things to say!

Firstly, who's heard the good news? Same-sex marriage is now legal in the USA! For once the world has done something right, and when I heard I was over the moon! So I'm in a good mood this week, and I'm gonna throw in some High Winds and Blaze sweetness in this chapter to celebrate. Those two need more attention in this story.

The second reason that I'm happy is that Top Gun 2 has been announced! WOOHOO! The first movie is one of the greatest of all time, so this sequel had better live up to my expectations. Heck, with a movie this great I don't see how it couldn't! :D

Also, I would like to apologize if I disappoint anyone with the lack of SoarinDash in this chapter and the next. But to put your mind at ease I would like to reveal to you all that chapter 36 will be their first date! So go ahead and freak out and be happy! WOOHOO!

---

"Welp, that went well," Surprise chirped as she and Spitfire headed down to the exit doors… which were also the entrance doors, but that's just pointless information. Spitfire gave her friend a blank stare.

"Was watching them from my office really necessary?" she asked. "I couldn't focus on my work with you squealing in my ear!"

"Oh lighten up, it's sweet," she then gave the captain a devilish smirk. "And I caught you watching 'em a couple of times, too."

Spitfire felt a cringe coming on. "Mention that to anypony then I'll rip your tail off and shove it down your throat," she threatened the white Wonderbolt. Surprise 'zipped' her lip closed, then locked it closed, then dug a hole, then buried the key, then built a house on top of the hole and moved into it. Man, she was insane.

As much as the golden Wonderbolt loved her job, she always felt a strange rush of relief when seven O'clock came and she could leave the Academy in the hooves of Whiplash, Fast Clip, and the other security ponies. Sure, it wasn't like anything waited for her at home, but even somepony as serious as her needed to unwind after a long, stressful day of paperwork, drills, and on occasion even crazier stuff, as proved by the day's events. Still, she was happy for Soarin and Rainbow Dash- the two of them deserved their happy ending… but of course this wasn't the end. Doubtless, there would be even nuttier goings on with those two before things calmed down. Just another day at the Academy.

Suddenly-

"GYAH!" Surprise yelped as she was tackled to the ground. Instinctively, Spitfire spun round to face her friend's attacker, her wings spread wide in case she had to dodge a punch or something.

"Gotcha!" the yellow mare on Surprise's back tittered. Spitfire groaned and let her wings fall to her sides as she realised that the pony that had jumped Surprise was only Blaze. Surprise rolled over and knocked Blaze off her back, getting up off the freshly polished floor (yes, Feather Duster had actually done her job for once) and stretching.

"Yep, you got me," the white mare chuckled. "You won't next time," she vowed. Blaze scoffed and leaned against the wall.

"That's what you say every time, and every time I grind your face into the ground," she leaned on Surprise's shoulder and whispered in that deep voice of hers. "No offense, but it's getting a little boring," she yawned for extra effect. Yeah, Blaze was one of the livelier Wonderbolts, and while she loved goofing around and making a joke out of everything she was still dedicated to her job. Blaze was actually one of the few Wonderbolts Spitfire had given a nickname. Call that unimportant, but when the captain calls somepony the Princess of the Pervs…

From the moment Blaze had joined the ranks of the 'Bolts Spitfire had kept a cautious eye on her, since she was always eying up some filly or another. Seriously, over the years Spitfire had caught Blaze flirting with the other female Wonderbolts, cadets, and even random fans. Blaze just didn't care that most mare's weren't into that, and Spitfire had lost count of how many times she'd been forced to give Blaze latrine duty due to her advances on the cadets (though that's how she met High Winds) and the golden captain had given Blaze the nickname she had today after she had attempted to bribe her out of punishing her by offering her an hour of 'Blaze Love'. Though over the past year or two Blaze had been improving- no doubt High Wind's influence. Spitfire still couldn't understand how somepony as sweet and innocent as High Winds ended up with a mare like Blaze.

"Ha! Did she get you again, Surprise?"

Speak of the devil.

"Darn right I did, Windy," Blaze called her white furred marefriend by her pet name. "Nopony can escape Blaze!" the yellow Wonderbolt struck a triumphant pose and High Winds giggled, running a hoof through her curly dark and light blue mane.

'Too much stupid…' Spitfire's conscience sighed. Spitfire's ears angled to the side and she felt some sanity return to the world when she saw a blue mare emerge from her office. 'There we go somepony normal.'

"Hi Fleetfoot," Spitfire greeted her colleague. Fleetfoot was definitely one of her most respected 'Bolts. If Soarin or Surprise weren't available Fleetfoot would usually assist her with her problems. However, it seemed as of late that she hadn't been hanging around with the white maned pegasus as much as she had before. "How're you doing?"

"Ick," Fleetfoot spat. Instantly, Spitfire became increasingly confused. What was going on…?

"Fleetfoot?" the golden Wonderbolt frowned. Fleetfoot seemed to straighten herself out after that.

"Oh, hi Thpit," she smiled. Spitfire sagged her shoulders, gaining that familiar blank look she got whenever this situation came to pass.

"Don't call me Spit," she said.

"Fine then," Fleetfoot replied, smiling even wider and getting a sly look on her features. "Hi, Thpitwad!"

'Knock her lights out!'

"Spitwad?!" the captain's jaw dropped, her left eye beginning to twitch furiously. That… that was even worse than just plain Spit!

"Whoops," Fleetfoot shrugged, obviously not caring in the slightest. She just stood there leaning against the wall, chuckling to herself as she examined a forehoof. "Tho how have you been doing?" she cast a glance at her commanding officer, not losing that smirk of hers.

"Um… okay," Spitfire shrugged. Had she really spent so much time away from Fleetfoot that she'd suffered from some kind of personality change? "Same old, work, air shows. But you know that."

"Yeah, I totally get it. Thame old," Fleetfoot echoed. Spitfire looked away for a moment, suddenly uncomfortable. It seemed like Fleetfoot had some kind of problem with her. At Surprise's party a while back she couldn't help noticing how hostile the light blue mare was acting towards her. The whole time she kept giving her dark glares, but Spitfire couldn't figure out exactly why. She hadn't done anything to Fleetfoot… had she? Spitfire tried to think of something, but nothing came to mind. Maybe Fleetfoot just had issues; after all, everypony did, right?

"Okay, I've gotta get going. I need to get to work on my other job," Fleetfoot took a step towards the door. Spitfire stopped her in her tracks.

"You don't have another job," she stated. Fleetfoot scoffed and rolled her magenta eyes.

"Yeth, I do," she raised her chest and put a proud look on her face. "I'm a love doctor."

"That's not a job," Spitfire shook her head at her light blue colleague. Fleetfoot put a hoof to her chin and grinned.

"You're right. It'th more like a calling!" she smirked. She gave Spitfire one last look of displeasure. "Well, thee ya later, then," Fleetfoot took departed out the door, leaving Spitfire with her head fogged by questions and confusion. Why was Fleetfoot acting like this…?

"Yikes," Blaze commented, suddenly walking up to stand next to Spitfire. "Looks like somepony woke up on the wrong side on the bed."

"Hmm… man, when you two stand next to each other you look almost exactly alike," Surprise commented, coming up to join them with High Winds. Spitfire and Blaze each looked the other up and down. As much as Spitfire hated to admit it, this mare that shared next to no personality traits with her looked so similar to her that it was scary, though Blaze's mane and tail were a little messier and lacked the lighter orange colour that Spitfire had in hers. Heck, she'd lost count of how many times ponies had come up to her asking if she and Blaze were sist-

'Oh, look at that interesting wall!' Spitfire spun to look at the wall, focusing on all the cracks in it. Yes, distractions were sometimes good. Distractions, distractions, distractions…

"We should get going," Spitfire began heading to the door after her mind had been put to rest. Thankfully the others followed her as if they had been given an order. Surprise held the door open for them as they all headed out and Spitfire calmed down even more as she felt the cool evening breeze whip her bare fur.

"We'll see you two tomorrow," High Winds nuzzled Surprise's cheek and moved over to Blaze.

"Hayburger?" the yellow pegasus asked her younger marefriend. High Winds turned a light shade of red and shyly blushed. Chuckling at the sweet little 'Bolt's behaviour, Blaze bent down and planted a soft kiss on High Winds' forehead, making the white mare turn even redder. Yep, High Winds had definitely had some sort of effect on Blaze.

"See ya," the two of them chorused before flapping their wings and flying off towards town. Spitfire shook her head at the two of them, though she was donning a small smile. They were basically an embodiment of the phrase "Let love fly free."

"So what's gonna happen now?" Surprise asked out of the blue. Spitfire looked over at her poofy maned friend, raising a brow.

"What do ya mean?" she asked. Surprise shrugged her shoulders.

"Well now that Soarin and Dash are together, does this mean that it's the end of all our wacky adventures? I mean, soon Soarin's gonna be all sophisticated for his mare-"

"Not possible," Spitfire spoke over her.

"-and I can't handle all of the humour by myself. So who-"

"DOOR!" somepony yelped, before a skidding sound was heard. A second later the door burst open and a light gold stallion tumbled out, landing on his face in the clouds with his stetson on his rump and his green saddlebags over his head. Spitfire supressed a chuckle at Braeburn's literal slip-up and stood back as Surprise helped him back to his hooves.

"So, Ah'm guessin' that Feather duster forgot t' put up the 'Caution, wet floor' signs?" the earth pony assumed, flushing red with embarrassment as he shook himself off. Spitfire swore that she'd chew Feather Duster out big time… again. Man, she was telling the little dusty mare off for her slacking so often that it was starting to become a part of her expected everyday life… and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Shouldn't she have just paid for that busted window and left by now?" Surprise asked, clearly bothered by Feather Duster's laziness as well. Spitfire rolled her orange eyes at the thought of the smashed window that caused that annoying draught in the hallway that led down to the Main Hall.

"That's exactly what I keep telling her, but apparently she uses her wages to fund these dumb parties she throws every week instead. According to her they're a big deal," she explained, making quotation marks with her wings.

"Yeah, Feather's parties are off the hook!" Surprise pumped a hoof in the air. The white mare then became aware of the unamused stare she was getting from the captain. Slowly, Surprise lowered her hoof and spread her wings. "Well… I'd better get going before something happens, like… like a demotion. So, um, see ya later, you guys!" and then she was off like a bullet into the darkening sky.

"That mare…" Spitfire tutted. "I've known her since we were kids and I still can't figure out how she works."

"You've known 'er that long?" Braeburn asked in disbelief. He was no doubt wondering how two ponies so different could have been friends for so long, but that wasn't really important.

"Uh-huh, we went to the same school," she made her explanation as short as possible. Thankfully, the stallion didn't ask her any more questions about her foalhood.

"Well, Ah'd better get goin'. It's a half hour walk from here t' home," he stretched out his admittedly muscular legs ('Stop looking at 'em!'). Spitfire gave him a baffled stare.

"Hold on, I thought Soarin flew you- oh!" she remembered that Soarin was a little occupied with other things right now. Well, maybe she could-

'No! No! Absolutely not! He isn't your priority, Spitfire, so just-'

"Youwannalift?" she blurted out all of a sudden.

'Oh. No. You. Didn't!'

"Huh?" Braeburn locked his green gaze on her orange one. Spitfire was so close to taking it back and pretending she hadn't said anything, but… she just couldn't!

"I was just wondering if you… needed a lift home."

'You idiot.'

"Oh, uh…" Braeburn looked like he had no idea how to respond. "Ah don't wanna be a bother…" he insisted. Ignoring the voice in her head, Spitfire pressed on.

"No, really, I don't mind. I'd feel guilty if just let you walk," she replied. Whoa, since when was she this involved with somepony else's issues… well she had just kinda helped her co-captain and her best cadet get together, so this was nothing, right?

"Don't you need t' get home?" Braeburn asked her. Spitfire hardly ever took the time to brag, but this time she wanted to make it clear that there were no issues with her helping him out.

"Have you forgotten that I'm one of the fastest fliers in Equestria? I can get you to your place in five minutes and then be off," she stood at her full height to show that she meant every word. Braeburn still clearly felt like he would be some kind of burden, so Spitfire just decided to do what she did best.

"Just get on," she ordered. Finally realising that he couldn't get himself out of this, he hesitantly, and a little stiffly, climbed onto the captain's back. As hard as she tried, Spitfire couldn't withhold the bright blush that was instantly slapped onto her face. In the couple of months that she had known this stallion she couldn't recall having any kind of physical contact with him at all… oh, wait, there was that one time at the Spring Celebration... man, Applejack had acted a little weird there, but she couldn't figure out why. "You okay up there?" she asked Braeburn, feeling like she had to say something, anything, to break this silence. It was just too… awkward.

"Wha- oh, um… Ah'm, uh… fine," he replied, sounding slightly flustered. "Ah'm not too heavy, right?" he asked. His voice was a little shaky, so there was obviously something wrong.

"Okay… well, I'm sorry if it's a bumpy ride, I'm not that used to carrying ponies around," she said.

"Nothin' Ah've not dealt with already, ma'am. Soarin sometimes doesn't look where he's goin' an' then he crashes into buildings… this'll be no sweat." Braeburn told her, shifting once again. Spitfire managed to banish her blush and took off into the air without another word, flying in the direction of Soarin's street for the second time that day. The captain had in fact carried ponies on her back before, but they were mostly just injured pegasi. Earth ponies were the largest race of pony, while pegasi were the smallest, so it was understandable that Braeburn weighed more than her previous passengers. She felt him shift on her back again and decided to say something before that damned blush returned to give her even more grief.

"You sure you're alright up there?" she asked. Maybe he just did this naturally, and it was okay of him to be cautious about his sitting position, after all he had no wings.

"Yeah… sorry 'bout all the fidgetin'; Ah'm just trying to fold muh hat into muh saddlebags."

Spitfire raised a brow. "Is that possible?" she didn't know how material like that could be folded.

"Well, this is a cartoon," Braeburn shrugged. Then the sound of rustling was heard as he tried to stuff his stetson in his saddlebags and then he finally became still. "Again, really sorry 'bout movin' 'round so much; Ah'm just not used to sittin' on somethin' so-" he stopped mid-sentence, and Spitfire briefly wondered if the thing he was going to say was in any way offensive. He stammered for a few seconds before finally saying something coherent. "Ah mean that Ah'm more accustomed t' sittin' on chairs and not ponies…"

The golden Wonderbolt looked over her shoulder at him. "Fair enough. I do understand that a mare feels a lot different than a chair."

"Actually," Braeburn informed her. "Ya don't feel that bad at all. And yer a lot softer than chairs, too…" he paused, mortified at what he had just said. Spitfire watched with secret delight as his face turned several shades of pink before settling on a rosy red colour. He then attempted to say something, but all that came out was a rather pathetically high squeak. It was pretty comical, if you asked Spitfire, and after a few moments of enjoying his obvious embarrassment she decided to take pity on him.

"Well, it's good to know that I'm softer than most chairs, Cowboy," she turned her head away again so he wouldn't see her smirk. For about a minute, if that, the two of them flew on in silence, Spitfire making sure that she didn't go too fast and give him a fright before the earth pony on her back cleared his throat.

"Um… ma'am, please excuse muh forwardness…" Spitfire almost froze mid-flap as Braeburn wrapped his arms gently around her neck, making sure he didn't hold on too tight to her. Feeling that Celestia forsaken blush come back for thirds (or it could have been fourths for all she knew), she looked back at him, though he didn't make eye contact. "It's easier t' hold on like this," he said simply.

"Oh, okay then," the golden mare replied slowly. "If it helps you out then I have no obsession- objection!"

'You're even more messed up than Surprise,' her conscience mocked her.

"Thanks, ma'am" Braeburn said softly.

While there was some silence between the two of them Spitfire began to contemplate on what was going on… mostly with her head. A few months ago if a stallion even dared touch her (besides her masseur, of course) she would have given him the slap of his life, but now here she was on an early May night with one sitting on her back, flying him home of her own accord. And the strangest part was… she didn't mind. As said right near the start of this story, Spitfire never did favours for anypony, so why all of a sudden was she going out of her way for somepony else, especially an earth pony that had only been in her life for two months. But for a reason she couldn't explain, even though he was still a newbie to her, she felt safe around him, she knew that he was a kind, loyal, generous, and honest pony, and, Luna forbid it, she might even… trust him.

"No problem," the captain responded. She hesitated a little after that; one more step forward couldn't hurt, right? "And… you don't have to call me 'ma'am'," she sounded surprised to hear her own voice. She didn't even have to look at the stallion to imagine the shocked expression on his face.

"Ya… ya mean it?" he asked in disbelief. Spitfire gave a single, curt nod.

"Of course… just 'Spitfire' will do," she got the rest of her sentence out. Braeburn began stuttering again, as if he had no idea what to do now.

"O-okay, If that's what ya want, ma'-

Spitfire looked back at him and gave him an amused smirk.

"Ah mean Spitfire…," he chuckled quietly at himself. "It's just that Ah was always taught t' address ladies like that."

Spitfire felt her face light on fire again and she looked straight ahead, though she couldn't stop grinning. Boy, she hadn't smiled this hard in years. Ya know another thing that she hadn't done in years? Something completely crazy! Spitfire felt totally out of her element as it was; she was a tough, take no crap captain and she had vowed that she would never succumb to any child's play. But for some reason none of that mattered to her now, and it wasn't like anypony would see it- as Surprise always said: 'There's no time like the present'.

So without any warning, Spitfire began to fly faster, pumping her wings a lot harder. She heard the earth pony on her back yelp and jolt backward at her frightening increase in speed (or horsepower if you like a pun) and held onto her tighter, burying his face in her mane in his surprise.

"What's goin' on?!" he whimpered. Spitfire snickered at his behaviour and rolled her eyes.

"I'll never understand how earth ponies can't enjoy this," she commented. She felt Braeburn lift his face from her buffeting mane and wince as he saw how fast they were going, which wasn't actually that fast to a Wonderbolt.

"Ah'll never understand how pegasi can!" he retaliated. Spitfire looked over her shoulder to ask him a question.

"Ya mean Soarin hasn't done this before?" she asked, surprised that her crazy co-captain hadn't tried some kind of stunt with Braeburn on his back.

"Well… he does sometimes do a flip or a barrel roll-"

"Like this?" Spitfire twisted in mid-air, completely losing her touch as she let out a bark of laughter at the stallion's terrified reaction. He was practically clinging to her back like a monkey's baby by now, and boy was it hilarious!

"Y-y-yes, exactly like that," he jittered. "Um, Spitfire?"

"Hm?" the golden mare hummed.

"Building!"

Spitfire had seen that they were headed towards a cloud skyscraper already, and casually looked around at it. "Oh, yeah you're right," she said nonchalantly.

"Pull up!" Braeburn repeated over and over as they neared it.

"Meh…" Spitfire examined a forehoof, surprised to find that teasing the earth pony like this was quite enjoyable. Finally, when she thought they were close enough, she flapped her wings furiously and flew straight up. She felt Braeburn's hind legs disappear for a moment before reappearing wrapped around her middle. He seemed to be muttering some sort of prayer by now, and she caught the words 'Celestia, save me please!'

"What's the matter?" Spitfire called over her shoulder, smirking like never before. The only response she got was a high pitched 'meep' from the earth pony as he trembled on her back. Putting all her focus on her flight, she skimmed across the side of the skyscraper all the way up to the top and then perched on the brim of the building. "Whew," Spitfire breathed, letting her muscles relax after her quick little stunt. Well, at least she thought it was a quick little stunt; other ponies found it to be a mortifying experience.

"Are we on the ground?" Braeburn asked, still wrapped around the Wonderbolt captain.

"Nope… not exactly," Spitfire arched her back to jolt him up. Braeburn lifted his head and let out a breath that he had probably been holding for quite a while.

"Heh… maybe that's enough tricks fer t'day," he looked the captain in the eye. It only took a second for him to turn red again.

"What's up with you; ya look like you're mutating into a tomato or something," Spitfire commented, noticing his flushed face. Instantly, Braeburn looked away, smiling a little larger though.

"Ah dunno… yer just really happy right now. An' that makes me happy," he admitted. And then it was Spitfire's turn to start mutating into a tomato. Happy? Braeburn wasn't the first pony to have pointed that out; Surprise told her that her mood was improving constantly, Misty Fly had said not that long ago that she'd been a lot less intense as of late, and Lightning Streak had asked her if she'd finally got surgery to remove the stick from her butt. Her response had been a rough punch round his jaw.

"Sap," Spitfire scoffed, trying to convince herself that he was just lying to make sure she let her guard down.

'Not gonna work.'

"Ya… ya have a nice smile," Braeburn said, barely audible. Spitfire's ears pricked straight up and she swore to Celestia herself that she was just hearing things.

"Wh-what was that?" she asked him.

"Oh- um, nothin'," said Braeburn as he started shaking his head.

'See; nothing, you idiot.'

Still, she couldn't erase that blasted smile from her face… it had been so damn long since she'd enjoyed herself this much, though; and in truth she found it a little weird that she was finding this of all things exhilarating. Heck, she'd even managed to make flying a pony home complicated.

But, still, she wasn't done yet!

She peered down over the side of the skyscraper, judging how high it was. 492 feet was the average size of a skyscraper, and this was perhaps a little taller; oh well, she was going down anyway. Not even taking a starting jump, she tipped herself forward until she tumbled off the building, making Braeburn freak out and grasp onto her again. Another thing was that she hadn't opened up her wings, so they were in free fall.

"What's up with you now?" she asked. Braeburn just kept whimpering, and Spitfire was pretty sure that she could feel his heart pounding against her back.

"Flap!" he managed to get out.

Nah, I don't think I will.

"What was that?" she asked, pretending that she hadn't heard him. At that point Braeburn just shut up completely and hid his face in Spitfire's neck, pretty sure that he was doomed at this point. But the golden mare wouldn't be the captain of the 'Bolts if she couldn't pull off a dangerous stunt so she pulled up with less than a second to spare, so that her back hooves scraped against the ground. This caused a spark to light a trail of fire behind the mare as she soared over the cloud houses.

"Are we alive?" Braeburn squeaked.

"Of course we are; what do ya think I am, a rookie?" she asked him rhetorically. She heard the earth pony sigh in relief for what felt like the billionth time that evening and he tucked his tail underneath his body so that it wouldn't be accidentally set on fire or something.

"Wow… Cloudsdale looks pretty neat from up here," he told the mare he was riding on.

"You've just now noticed that?" Spitfire asked, launching herself up and completing a quick backflip, much to Braeburn's obvious displeasure.

"Um… Ah guess so," the earth pony admitted once he had recovered from his dizziness. "Ah'm startin' t' see why you pegasi folk like this so much, though."

'About time," Spitfire thought, relieved that he as finally seeing things from the view of a pegasus. She definitely felt the most at peace when she was in the air; gravity wasn't keeping her down and nopony could control her when she was airborne.

"When I fly up here I don't even feel the cold," she mused, breathing in the cool night air. "I just feel-"

"-free," Braeburn finished her sentence, giving the captain a pleasant surprise. Now that was the way a pegasus thought. She gave him a nod of approval before looking down below at the clouds.

"This is what it means to be a pegasus, Cowboy." It wasn't every day that she found herself explaining the pegasus way of life to somepony, and it actually felt pretty good; yeah, she could be wise when she wanted to be. She dipped a little lower to the ground, as to make the experience a little more earth pony friendly, and found herself gazing down at the shadow that she cast on the paths below as she flew. Hers merged with the one belonging to the earth pony, forming what was both a big dark grey, flickering blob, and a shape that could easily be made with the aid of a close inspecting mind into that of a pair of ponies.

Two ponies.

One shadow.

They were nearing their final destination now, and Spitfire was speeding along faster by the second as she weaved her way over and around the cloud houses that were lined up along one portion of Cloudsdale. There was a minute during their flight where Braeburn raised his hooves in the air and yelled 'WOOHOO!' really loudly. By now most of the street had probably got used to Soarin and Braeburn disturbing them at awkward times of the night, so he must have just stopped caring by now. Finally, Spitfire spotted the cloud house next to Soarin's and flapped her wings against the wind in order to slow down before dipping down and coming in for landing. She touched down right in front of the door and straightened herself out.

"All passengers off," Spitfire said formally. Instead of mentally snapping at herself as usual, she found it oddly amusing that she was enjoying herself so much. After a long time of being screwed in a little too tight, it was good to loosen up a little bit. Braeburn chuckled and slid off her back, stretching out all four of his legs. Spitfire stretched her wings, too. They were a little worn out from the flight, and she was sure that she would be feeling the burn in the morning.

"Thanks for that, ma'am-"

Pause.

"-Ah mean Spitfire. It's gonna take me a while t' get used t' that," he scuffed his forehooves on the ground. The Wonderbolt captain shook her head and rolled her eyes, knowing that she should be setting off about now for home.

"You're welcome," she said with a grin. She felt… giddy? No, she didn't like feeling that. It was weak, vulnerable, and immature. "I'm gonna get back to my place, so see ya at work tomorrow." She spread her wings, about to take off, when she heard the stallion speak her name. Deciding that she could delay her return a little longer, she looked to the side to face him.

"What's up?" she asked. Braeburn opened and closed his mouth a few times without anything coming out and… nervously? Yeah, he looked nervous. He nervously rubbed one of his front legs with the other.

"Ah just wanted t' say that Ah think yer a great pony," he confessed. With that, Spitfire's face turned from one shade of red to another and she had to strain to keep from smiling. "An' a huge inspiration," he continued. Okay, she couldn't hold in her smile anymore. Holy Luna's moonquakes, did her face burn or what?

"And… Ah think yer the most amazing pegasus ever to take to the skies."

Suddenly, her red face lost all colour it'd had previously. All her excitement was replaced with dread, and she was pretty sure that her blood had completely frozen. Somepony else had said that to her before… oh, Celestia, no! She needed a distraction…

But it was too late for that. She was reliving it; after so long the shadows were coming back to haunt her. She was burning alive again, and something was crushing her. She'd tried for years to forget, but she could still see the look on her face right before it happened; hear the sounds of screaming and a heart monitor bleeping; smell smoke, and death; taste the overwhelming blood.

Typhoon.

"Spitfire?"

The golden captain realised for the first time that she had at some point wound up on the clouds underhoof. As reality began rebuilding itself around her, so did her senses, and oh boy did she feel sick.

"Get up you wuss," her conscience snapped at her.

She obeyed.

"You okay there?" Braeburn asked with concern. "Yer lookin' a l'il shaken up."

"What clued you in, Captain Obvious?" Spitfire almost snarled. Braeburn's ears drooped at her 180 degree turn in attitude.

"Wh-what's the matter?" he sounded a little nervous now.

"Nothing," the captain replied curtly.

"But-"

"I said nothing's wrong!" she'd raised her voice a little now. Oh Celestia, he looked so naïve and innocent… she needed to get a grip. She looked away and raised herself to her full height, trying her best to ignore the pounding pain in her skull.

"D'ya need a drink or somethin'?" Braeburn instantly looked wary. And he was right to be.

"No, I don't need anything." She said quickly, attempting to control her rapid breathing. She glanced at the light gold earth pony out of the corner of her eye. "Listen, you need to back off."

Braeburn gave her the same look that somepony would get if they had just taken a punch to the chest. "Huh…?"

"Back off, okay. It's safer- better that way," every word she said felt like one more bullet to the brain. For both of them.

"Wh-"

"That's an order!"

She took off not a moment later; going as fast was she would go in a Derby. Anypony who was outside at that time could see a bright, blazing trail of fire streaking across the dark blue sky; at the end of it, a pegasus in a pain greater than anyone would ever know…

---

Endnote: Please don't hurt me!

Okay, I'm gonna start by saying that any questions you have right now will be answered in the next chapter. What gave Spitz PTSD? What's with the crazy personality twist? And who is Typhoon? As a hint to that last question, I've been leaving hints in a couple of chapters; nobody pointed them out, though. ^^

And I also want to end this chapter with a WARNING! You see that little T rating at the top of the page? Well I put that there with the next chapter in mind, so you can see how strongly a T it will be rated. To name a few elements of the next chapter we have: Death, suicide, alcohol, bloodshed, abuse, intense feels, hospitals, and a huge battle scene. But it's not all dark stuff.

You'll get to see filly Surprise! :3

References from How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Wreck-it Ralph found within.