Two days have passed since I talked with Spitfire and Fleetfoot. Things have changed, if only slightly. I guess it’s just their attitudes, but after the two mares were cleared for flight, Spitfire went back to giving orders while Fleetfoot went back to being hard to gauge. I could probably ask Spitfire to tone down a little with her bossing me around, but then again, everyone did have their own personality. The mares have been treating me a little better, but things were still kind of tense between us.

Thankfully, Spitfire and Fleetfoot would wear the flowers that I got them when they weren’t practicing with the guards. The mares also haven’t bothered me about the whole ‘date’ thing, and I was actually kind of glad. Not being bothered by it allowed me to try and think of something we could do while I filled out the paperwork. Rainbow Dash and Rarity also visited during the past two days. Rainbow was a little jealous that I was working with her idols, while Rarity was generous enough to make a few clothes to better fit my job.

The clothes weren’t overly extravagant, but neither were my regular clothes since I was able to convince her to keep things subtle. The few shirts that she made me were light blue in color with the Wonderbolt symbol on each sleeve. She made a few shorts that were a darker shade of blue and had the Wonderbolt symbol on the left pant leg. The clothes were actually subtle enough that if I wanted to, I could just wear them like regular street clothes. Rarity didn’t seem to like this idea very much, but she did have a good laugh from it.

It was disappointing with their visit though, since they were only stopping by to pick up something from a nearby store. I asked them what they were getting, but after I asked that, their cheeks burned a soft pink as they moved the conversation on. Spitfire actually allowed me to see them off when they left to go back to Ponyville. Spitfire doing this for me was probably the actual first thing that was nice. The kindness, though, was pretty short-lived. After I came back from seeing my friends off, I was immediately given a box of paperwork.

I saw the small grin the pegasus gave before she flew back to her office. Taking the box to a nearby park, I sat on the bench and got to work. I was given my own little office space, but I preferred working outside. Being in college, in a cramped room full of sweaty people makes you enjoy the outdoors a little more. It was also nice to be outside since the air was fresh and wasn’t stale with city odors. I lost myself in the paperwork, the forms all the same and easy to follow as I leaned back on the bench.

I was able to get through half of the work before deciding to take a break. Putting away the finished papers, and organizing the ones I still had left, I grabbed my small notepad. I flipped through a couple pages, skipping some random pictures that I had drawn and found the section for date ideas. I looked at the list with slight amusement as it had… nothing. There was nothing on this list and I had no idea what I was doing. Left with little option, I stared at the blank sheet, waiting for words to appear on the paper to give me something to work with. I got bored within a few minutes of staring as I tossed the notepad to the side.

I really wished I knew what those mares enjoyed doing. I mean sure, flying was a thing they enjoyed, but most pegasi enjoyed it, except for Fluttershy. I wasn’t really too keen on what food they enjoyed and if there were any restaurants around that had something they would like. As many ideas ran through my head of what I could possibly do for a date, my gut believed that I was overthinking my current situation. Sure that gut instinct that people would get to warn them about danger worked, but I couldn’t see how it was working to help me with my current predicament.

Taking a deep breath, I packed away the last of my work and headed for my office. It wasn’t a long walk to my office since I didn’t travel far from it in case Spitfire, Fleetfoot, or another Wonderbolt needed my help with something. I actually got to meet a few other members of the team and they seemed pretty nice. Apparently, they heard about me working with Spitfire and Fleetfoot because of Surprise going around and telling them. I swear if Pinkie and Surprise actually worked together to plan some ultimate party, everyone would know about it days in advance. That also means a lot of party cannons, and I’m not really looking forward to that.

I prefer my cake served to me on a plate, not fired from a cannon and nearly taking my head off. Still, it was nice enough for Surprise to go out of her way and get the other Wonderbolts to introduce themselves to me. I was able to meet Misty Fly, Rapidfire, and Soarin during the small get-together that Surprise had planned. Misty Fly and Rapidfire were actually pretty calm when compared to the other Wonderbolts. They never really asked too many questions about my home, and I was actually thankful for that. What made me even more happy was that they didn’t really care that I was a different species.

I could probably thank the fact that there were other species besides pegasi on the Wonderbolts to make it easy. Soarin, though, was a different person to deal with. He’s a very friendly pegasus, maybe a little too friendly, but he was someone that I could enjoy the company of. The only thing that bothered me was how close he liked to be to me. I swear I caught him eyeing me a few times, but I just pushed it to the side. Things were different in Equestria, so I put it up to being a cultural difference.

Giving a small smile at the memory, I placed my paperwork on the table and sat in my chair. Sadly, as I went to sit down, the chair broke underneath me. I looked up at the ceiling, the feeling of a broken piece of chair stabbing in my back as I kept my cool. Moving off the broken pieces, I remained on the floor as I gave a heavy frown. Apparently, it was too much to ask for a chair that could support my weight. I could already hear Spitfire yelling at me for breaking such a sturdy chair, but it’s not my fault they were built for ponies. I could hear the sounds of talons tapping against the door frame, and turning to my side revealed Steel Wing looking down at me.

The griffoness was trying very hard to not bust out laughing as she walked up to me. She offered me a talon to grab, but I waved it off as I rolled onto my back again. The griffoness gave a small shrug as she sat in one of the chairs in front of my desk. I didn’t even try to move myself from the floor as Steel went about playing with things on my desk. She found great interest in my miniature fun mirror, while she turned to partially face me.

“Are you sure you don’t want help?” Steel gestured to my prone form as she made faces in the mirror.

“I need to regain my independence,” I said as I continued to lay on the ground.

“You want me to get you anything?” Steel asked as she put the mirror down and jumped from the chair.

I looked towards her as she stepped towards the door. “If you could get me a power bar, that’d be great.”

Steel gave a sharp nod as she walked out of the door. She wasn’t gone long as she returned a couple minutes later with the requested power bar. She tossed me the bar and I opened it to see that half of it was missing. I looked back at the griffoness to see her smirking as she ate the other half. I gave a small sigh and frown as I ate the last half. I really didn’t need a power bar to help me get up, but I was kind of feeling a little hungry. I quickly finished off the bar and rolled to my feet. Steel walked back into my office, jumping on the chair again as I went about picking up the broken pieces of the chair.

“Hey, so have you figured out anything for your date yet?” Steel asked to hopefully break the slowly growing tension.

I placed the broken pieces to the side of the room while I pulled out the notepad. “I actually have. Flip past the first ten or so pages and you’ll see a page labeled ‘date ideas’.”

I listened to Steel flip through the pages while I gave one final look over my office. I was pulled from my inspection when Steel coughed.

“Mark, what are these?” Steel asked as she presented the drawings to me.

“Yeah, I should have probably torn those out or just given it to you already turned to the proper page.” I nervously rubbed the back of my head as I turned away.

I could already hear Steel ripping out some of those pages. “You’re lucky they aren’t anything bad, but you’re probably safe without anypony seeing these.”

Steel offered the papers to me and I took them from her talon. The griffoness went back to flipping through papers as I locked away the suggestive pictures. Once I locked up the drawer, I felt the notepad hit the back of my head. Rubbing the spot where the notepad hit me, I turned to face Steel.

Steel gave a neutral expression as she rubbed her temples. “You have absolutely nothing written down.”

I picked up the notepad and pocketed it before facing Steel again. “It’s not my fault that I don’t know what to do. It was sort of easy when dating a woman back on Earth, but here, I’m dealing with a different ballfield.”

Steel let out an exasperated sigh as she jumped off the chair. She started walking towards my door before looking over her shoulder at me. “Come on, let’s get you out in the real world so you don’t buck this up.”

I gave a small frown as I followed the griffoness. “Hey, it’s not my fault a lot of things are backwards here.”

The griffoness seemed to ignore my comment as she continued to walk. “Now, what do you know about Spitfire and Fleetfoot?”

“Is that a serious question?” I asked as I gave her a deadpanned expression.

Steel stopped walking, turning to face me with a raised brow. “Please tell me you know more than just their names and occupations?” I didn’t say anything as I turned away from the griffoness. My silence seemed to give her my answer as she let out a heavy sigh. “Great, looks like we have to pretty much build an entire foundation.”

I gave a sheepish smile as Steel turned around and started walking again. I could hear Steel mumbling to herself and I took this chance to see if I knew anything helpful. Both the mares were long-time friends and really enjoyed flying. Looks like I had basic information, but was there anything that really stood out about them? The house being barren when I first arrived was enough of a dead giveaway that they don’t technically live in Canterlot. I was curious as to where they usually lived since nobody has mentioned anything.

“Hey, do you know where Spitfire and Fleetfoot actually live?” I asked as I caught up to Steel to walk beside her.

Steel tapped her chin in thought before speaking. “If I remember correctly, they should be residents of Cloudsdale. The house that you’re living in is a place they bought for when they have to be here.”

I raised a brow as I looked down at Steel. “Cloudsdale? You mean the city made of clouds that just floats around?”

Steel nodded her head. That killed a possible place to go to show the mares a great time, but Steel seemed to it as a great idea.

“We should head to Cloudsdale. I know a few places there that they might enjoy going to.” Steel was giving me a huge smile.

“No way in hell am I going to Cloudsdale,” I stated firmly.

Steel gave a small frown as she looked up at me. “Why not? Cloudsdale is a wonderful city and has a lot of memories for Spitfire and Fleetfoot. I think they would really enjoy it.”

I gave a small frown at the griffoness. “I may have gotten myself in a little trouble when I punched the current mayor.”

Steel froze in place as she stared at me with wide eyes. “Wait, that was you?” I nodded my head as she continued to stare. “I heard the story, but I honestly thought it was just a bunch of rubbish. Were you trying to get yourself locked up?”

“Oh, I was locked up for a few hours for what I did. After that, Celestia had me serve community service for three weeks as my punishment,” I answered with a small shrug.

“Why would you do that?” Steel asked as she started walking again.

“This happened during my first couple of months here. This was incident number three and I just really didn’t like his attitude. I didn’t have the best control of my anger at the moment and I snapped pretty quickly.” I gave a small groan as I rubbed the back of my neck.

“I guess today is about learning new things about each other.” Steel gave a small laugh as we exited the castle. “Now let’s get back on topic. Do you have any kind of idea what, no matter how small, could possibly point us in the right direction?”

I shrugged my shoulders as I looked to the sky. “We just now finally settled on trying to be friendly with one another after yelling at each other. We haven’t really talked much since we’re trying to give ourselves some time to cool down.” Steel was silent for several seconds, and when I looked down, she was staring up at me again. “What?”

Steel shook her head to get her brain working again. “You’re probably the first pony that I’ve met, besides Fleetfoot that has actually yelled at Spitfire.”

I raised a brow as I stared at the griffoness. “Why is that so surprising?”

“It’s surprising because most ponies don’t actually yell at her. Hardly any pony can match her in yelling, except for Fleetfoot. You might have actually gained a few respect points from Spitfire for standing up to her.” Steel patted my back in pride.

I gave a small laugh at her attitude. “Trust me, I was actually expecting to be kicked in the chest after I did that.” I gave a sigh as I started walking, Steel following as she listened. “A lot of things happened that night. Personally, I think we’re a little stressed right now after getting everything out in the open.”

Steel looked at me worriedly as she floated next to me. “Are you regretting your actions?”

I rubbed my chin in thought for a few seconds before turning to the griffoness. “Not really, but I also haven’t had a lot of time to think about this. I was just trying to start off on this clean slate by doing something nice. In all honesty, I really think this kind of went too far with the ‘date’ thing.”

Steel looked between me and the ground, a worried expression on her face before looking at me again. “Mark, I need to tell you something.”

Steel’s voice sounded worried, and I was a little concerned with what she had to tell me. “Sure, but you don’t really seem up to telling me.”

Steel shook her head as she stared at me intently, her gaze showing determination. “I have to, Mark. You can be mad at me later, but this is something I want to tell you. Surprise wasn’t wrong when she said that flowers were a common gift to show that you wanted to pursue a relationship.” I gestured for Steel to continue. “It’s just that flower exchange isn’t used that often anymore. Most ponies usually go for the direct approach. Surprise thought it would be a good prank since you weren’t aware, but I felt it was a little much after we left.”

I stopped walking as I stared at the griffoness. I had been driving myself partly insane because I thought I was about to go on a date with two mares. I glared at the griffoness, who was currently wincing slightly under my gaze. I took a few deep breaths before relaxing my gaze. Steel seemed to notice my calmer gaze and looked at me, waiting for my reaction. I took a few seconds to collect my thoughts before looking back at Steel.

“That’s a little upsetting, but I’m not mad.” Steel relaxed, giving a small smile that I wasn’t going to yell at her or break off our friendship. “Pinkie has done her fair share of bad timed pranks, and I’ve learned to shrug it off. I know Surprise meant no harm in what she did and I thank her for trying to lighten the mood.”

Steel seemed to be happy that I had forgiven both her and her wife. We each gave each other hugs before continuing down the street. I realized that we didn’t have any particular place we were going to, but were just going about walking. As we walked a few more steps, I remembered something that I’ve kind of been practicing with Pinkie. Since the pink mare liked to show up at random times, I took note of each appearance. Pinkie would appear in more of a pattern if she felt sad about hurting someone’s feelings within a few seconds.

Seeing as how Surprise was related to Pinkie in some way, I thought I would give my theory a little test. It will probably stay a theory as well, since I’m dealing with Pinkie. Counting down the few seconds that were left before she should arrive, I took a few steps to the left. As soon as I finished counting, a white blur shot past Steel and myself. After Surprise shot past us, she made an immediate stop and turned around to face us. Her lower lip was trembling as her eyes threatened to let tears spill forth.

The pegasus went to say something, but I cut her off with my hand. “I know what you’re going to say. No, I’m not mad at you. We are still good friends, and I thank you for trying to lighten up my mood.”

The tears in Surprise’s eyes were gone instantly as she smiled brightly, launching herself at me and wrapping me in a hug. The mare nuzzled in between my neck, giving a soft giggle as my stubble tickled her muzzle. I really couldn’t find myself staying mad at the mare. All she wanted to do was have a good time and I couldn’t really deny her nature. I gave a few pats to the mare’s back before we finally separated. After sharing a little laughter, all three of us went about our walk. Surprise placed herself on Steel’s back, the griffoness trying to fight off a blush as she lifted her wings to keep the pegasus balance. Seeing the two like this reminded me of a question that I had.

“Hey, Steel,” I called out.

Steel turned her head slightly to look at me. “Yeah?”

“When I went to get the flowers, I had Moon and Echo there with me. I didn’t ask at the time when they mentioned you since I was more focused on dealing with my problem at the moment, but how do you three know each other?” I asked.

“They’re my first friends that I made when I first arrived at Canterlot.” I raised my brow as it sounded like there was a story to go along with this. Steel noticed my expression and she started to giggle lightly. “I was a new recruit to the Wonderbolts, and between you, me, Surprise, Moon, and Echo, I couldn’t read a map to save my life.” I tried to hide my laughter, but failed to do so as a few chuckles escaped my lips.

Steel quickly turned her head at me, giving a slight glare before joining in my laughter. “I know it sounds silly, but it’s the truth. Anyway, I was walking around the castle during the middle of the night and I ran into Echo. I asked for her help and she tried to get me to my quarters. The funny part was that she was a new recruit for Luna’s guard. So we still ended up lost and then we ran into Moon. Thankfully, Moon had been in the castle long enough to get me where I needed to go. After that, I kind of just wanted to get to know them better since they seemed like a nice pair of ponies.”

I nodded my own head in agreement as I voiced my opinion. “I think they’re pretty nice as well. They’re probably my only pair of bat pony friends that I get along with so well. Then again, they’re the only ones that I probably talk to since I go to talk with Luna a lot.”

The three of us continued to walk as we reminisced about our times here in Canterlot. I was actually surprised to learn that Surprise has only been with the Wonderbolts for two years while Steel had been with them for five. Seeing this as something worth talking about, I wanted to get to know a little more about their past.

“Hey, Surprise, can I ask you something?” I asked.

Surprise stuck her head around her wife’s wing so she could look at me. “Sure. What would you like to know, Marky?”

“How exactly did you two end up getting together?” I asked as I pointed between the two.

The two looked at each other before Steel turned towards me to answer. “Would you believe me if I told you that I was the one that tried to get her attention?”

I shook my head in disbelief. “A proud griffoness chased after the mare of her dreams than the other way around.” I received a friendly deck in the arm, but the griffoness was laughing at the craziness behind it.

“Yes, I, Steel Wing, went against my pride as a griffon to gain the attention of this lovely mare. And every second I spend with her is a great part of my life.” Steel admitted, giggling a little as she nuzzled her wife.

Surprise enthusiastically returned the nuzzle before continuing the story. “Yeah, right. After I joined, I was more focused on trying to be the best that I could be. Steely’s advances on me weren’t lost, but I just wasn’t interested at the time. I actually said no to her a few times for a date, but she was really persistent. What probably finally got my attention is when she planned an entire evening dinner, but that was sadly ruined.”

“What happened?” I asked with intrigue.

Steel shook her head as she remembered that day. “The Canterlot weather team forgot to mention that they had a rainstorm planned, and it ruined everything. I had everything planned perfectly and after the storm hit, everything was ruined. I actually went on a rage as I cursed loudly and destroyed the stuff that was already ruined.”

Steel rubbed at her temples for having acted so childishly as Surprise finished for her. “I actually never saw somepony act so genuine with their feelings. I kind of blame my parents for that since they never really liked griffons all that much. Once I actually saw that Steely here had actual feelings for me, I went ahead and gave her a shot. About a year and a half later, we’re married and now with kids on the way.”

Surprise gave a bright smile as she ran a hoof along her belly. She gave a warm giggle as I assumed that one of the little foals gave a kick. Steel ran a talon of her own against Surprise’s belly, giving a warm smile as she probably thought about her new future. After giving a few more rubs to her belly, she gave a loud gasp as she turned her heads towards me again.

“Mark, you should be our foals’ uncle. Oh, I can just picture it now. You’ll all look so cute and happy, too.” Surprise’s eyes gave a little gleam as her smiled widened.

I held up my hands as I tried to get her to calm down a little. “Whoa there, Surprise. Don’t you think that’s a little too forward for me? I mean, you only met me a few days ago. You don’t really know much about me.” The mare really didn’t know much about me, especially my first couple of months here.

Surprise lifted herself off of Steel’s back and floated towards me. The pegasus placed a hoof on my shoulder as she smiled at me. “It’s true that I don’t know much about you, except the few rumors that have gone around, but I don’t see you as a bad pony. You’re very kind to everypony around you, and even though we did meet a few days ago, I don’t see anypony else that could be a good fit.”

The mare gave a sincere smile that told me how much trust she had in me. It felt nice to know the mare trusted me enough to be an uncle to her foals. This was actually the first time, outside Twilight, her friends, and the princesses, that someone really trusted me. A few tears escaped my eyes as I wrapped the mare in a hug. Surprise gave a loud squee as she wrapped her legs around me. The hug at first was a good idea, until I required air. Finding it hard to breathe, I tapped Surprise on her back to hopefully get her to let go.

Tapping on her back seemed to prove fruitless as she seemed determined to hug the life out of me. Taking the last few seconds of consciousness that I had, I started gesturing to Steel. The griffoness was failing at stifling her laughter as she looked at my panicked face. Steel finally got control of her laughter to help me from my predicament. The griffoness poked her wife somewhere on her back, probably in between her wings, but I couldn’t really see very well, and the pegasus let go.

Taking a few deep breaths, I looked at the griffoness gratefully as I smiled at her. “Thank you, Steel.” After filling my lungs with air, I pointed to the stiff pegasus on the ground. “What did you do to her, and can you teach me it?”

Steel gave a hearty laugh as she picked up her wife and placed her on her back. “It’s just a simple pressure point that has many uses depending on how much pressure you place. I can teach it to you, but you might not like exactly everything it can do.”

I raised a brow in confusion, trying to figure out what it was that she meant. “What are saying exactly?” Steel gave me a serious expression as she gave me a few seconds to think about it. What exactly wouldn’t I like about learning what Steel did? Rubbing my chin in further thought, I looked to Steel for a little help.

Steel let out a frustrated groan as she rubbed her temples. “Do you know anything about pegasus anatomy?” I nodded my head. “What area is very sensitive to a pegasus?”

Thinking back to the anatomy lessons I had with Cadence, which were really weird to have, I told her what I knew. “Pegasi are very sensitive all along their wings, including the base, but there’s a spot that a few don’t know about. The other sensitive spot is-”

My eyes widened as I finally understood what she was getting at. Steel seemed to notice my sudden clarity and calmly nodded her head. I let out a deep breath as I tried to keep my small blush under control. I gave a rough cough as I continued on the walk. Steel followed right behind me, her smirk in full bloom as she laughed at me.

“Nothing can ever be easy for me, can it?” I asked no one in particular.

“Cheer up, Mark. You figured it out faster than I thought you would, and this should make things easier for you.” Steel said as she bumped against my side to get me to smile.

It worked a little as I gave a small chuckle. This world still knows how to throw me through a loop every day. “So, how do I go about using that pressure point?”

Steel stopped her laughter as she adjusted her wife and looked at me. “There’s a spot a couple centimeters below the joint where the wings connect. Press against that area with varying degrees of pressure for different results. To get their bodies to tense up, like I did with Surprise, just use the same amount of force you use to snap a cracker in half.”

I nodded my head. “That seems pretty simple. Might come in handy if I ever need to use it.”

Steel laughed as we made our return trip back to the castle. “Hopefully, you’ll never need to use it.” Steel turned to me, giving me a wide smirk. “Unless you’re going to be in bed with them.”

My face gave a small blush as I scowled at the griffoness. “That’s never going to happen.”

Surprise gave a soft frown, rolling to her side after making sure her entire body could move. “Don’t you wish to be their coltfriend?”

I looked at the small hurt that Surprise had in her eyes, but I couldn’t lie to her, even if it kept her from crying. “I honestly don’t know. We aren’t even friends, and I highly doubt they would want to be something more. I’ll be lucky at all if we can at least have a regular friendship.” I stopped walking as the castle came closer into view.

Steel stopped next to me, Surprise gently falling to the ground and trotting towards me. Surprise placed a hoof on my leg as she gave me a concerned look. “What makes you say that?”

I sighed heavily as I looked at the white pegasus. “Just look at me.” I gestured to my body. “There’s nothing here that they would like. I can’t fly with them and I don’t share any of their interests.”

Steel moved next to me and placed a talon on my shoulder as she spoke clearly, but her concern was evident. “Isn’t this a way for you to get to know them better? This is your first chance to actually speak with them without resorting to yelling or fighting with each other. You’re jumping to conclusions before you even give them a chance.”

I was about to say something, but Surprise cut me off as she floated into the air and placed a hoof on my other shoulder. “I won’t lie to you, Mark, you’re partially right.” I gave her a flat look, but she continued on. “You are different from them, but it’s that difference that might actually get them a friend that they could really use.”

I raised a brow at the mare. “What do you mean they need a friend?”

Surprise looked at the ground before looking back at me. “You’ve already heard Spitfire’s story about her heart being shattered.” I nodded my head to get her to continue. “That’s not the only problem they have. Most ponies think that Spitfire and Fleetfoot are really harsh and mean, but that’s usually not the case. Neither of them really had an easy foalhood and this kept them from making any friends.”

I pulled the mare and griffoness away from me as I looked at them curiously. “But aren’t you guys their friends?”

Steel and Surprise nodded their heads, the former stepping into the conversation. “We are their friends, but we’re not that close. We only know what they’ll tell us and that’s only a very small amount. There’s still things that they only tell each other. If there’s anypony that could actually get them to open up more, then it’s you.”

I didn’t say anything as I let my mind ponder on everything I heard. There had been this small sense that they had problems to deal with, but I never pushed for information. Knowing this actually helped to figure a few things out about the mares. Since they never really had friends better than each other, then they would usually be on guard. Being on that guard would also mean their slight attitudes they had, but it didn’t seem like those attitudes really kept them from making a few friends.

Steel and Surprise didn’t say anything, or even move as they let me think about this. It was a lot to take in and I wasn’t sure I could handle it all. I did want to try and become friends with the mares at least, so I had that. Taking a deep breath, I looked at my two friends and nodded my head. Steel and Surprise gave small smiles that I was willing to try and become a very close friend with Spitfire and Fleetfoot. With everything decided, the three of us continued back to the castle.

We entered through the front doors and went our separate ways. As Steel and Surprise walked away, the griffoness mentioned something about going on vacation with the pegasus and their foals. Giving a small smile at how loud the pegasus squealed, I walked as fast as I could to Spitfire’s office. As I walked through the expansive halls, I took note that there weren’t many guards around. Before, it caused me to worry for the princesses’ safety, but Celestia explained that it was common for the guards to get together every once and a while to relax.

Waving to the few maids that were around, I made it to the office. The door was slightly ajar and their light was on. Walking towards the door, I gave a few knocks. The response I was given was a banging on a desk. Taking that as an entrance admittance, I walked into the office. I entered the office to see both the mares working on their own paperwork. Spitfire and Fleetfoot looked really irritated with whatever they were working on. I was tempted to leave and let them work before my presence to them was known.

“Do you need something, Mark?” Fleetfoot asked as she pushed her papers to the side.

“I just came by to see how you two were doing. Should I come back at a better time?” I asked as I took a few steps back towards the door.

“You’re fine. We were just finishing up some reports and then head off for some flight practice,” Spitfire answered as she gave a few swipes with her quill and pushed her papers to the front of the desk.

“So, have you figured out what we’re going for our date?” Fleetfoot asked as she fluttered her eyes a little.

“Not entirely, but I did learn that what I did wasn’t asking for a date,” I answered as I grinned at the two mares.

“Well, looks like our fun was killed.” Spitfire let out a deep sigh, shaking her head softly. “So who gave it away?”

“Steel and Surprise did,” I replied as I sat in the chair against the wall.

Fleetfoot gave a small giggle as she shook her head as well. “Sometimes those two are too nice for their own good, but then they wouldn’t be who they are if they didn’t follow through with it.”

Fleetfoot and Spitfire continued to laugh softly before the latter finally settled down again to speak. “Well, it was fun while it lasted. If I may, can I offer a possible place for us to go to?” I nodded my head since I probably would never think of anything for a while. “There’s a local bar that’s close to where we live. It’s nothing too fancy and it has a decent selection of food and drinks to pick from.”

I gave a slight frown to the fiery mare. “You’re not going to make me drink, are you?”

Fleetfoot shook her head as she gave a small smile. “Not unless you really want us to make you. We just want to see what the place is like and just get to know each other.”

I took a second to think about this as the mares busied themselves with cleaning everything up. There wasn’t much for the mare to clean up, and by the time they finished, I had decided on an answer.

“Sure, sounds like it could be fun and it would be nice to find a possibly nice place to hang out at,” I said as stood up from the chair, stretching my limbs as the mares turned out the lights.

“So does tomorrow afternoon sound like a good time?” Spitfire asked as she locked the door to the office.

I gave the mares a thumbs up before heading to the throne room. The mares waved goodbye before flying off for their own little practice flights. I wasn’t sure what would happen when we meet at the small bar, but I pushed the thought aside. I wasn’t going to allow these different scenarios to get in the way and cloud my mind. Having a small smile of my own at the thought of making friends with the mares, I began to hope everything would be good.