The town of Ponyville stirred as a slow summer day passed by, a few clouds dotting here and there as Cloud Kicker zipped back and fourth between them, picking up the slack for Rainbow Dash.

"Ugh, where is she?" the purple pegasus grumbled as she broke through a leftover nimbostratus from yesterday's shower, thinning out the cloud. Cloud Chaser came up from the rear.

"I hear that she just got over a bad case of Feather Flu, but I don't know what's taking her so long."

"She better not be sleeping in again. You'd think that calling herself the 'Faster Flier in Equestria' also means that she gets to work on time, but noooo, she always clocks in late to bring in the..." Cloud Chaser blotted out her sister's rambling as she worked on sweeping up the last of the remaining clouds.

As she was about to clear the last one, a flash of colors zipped by, cleaving the cloud in half. Cloud Chaser was dumbfounded that she witnessed the legend's speed before her very eyes. Rainbow Dash hovered in front of the weather pony, who's jaw was currently plummeting to the ground.

"Whoops, Sorry about that, I was just trying out a new routine, gotta keep things fresh, you know," she explained, polishing her hoof on her chest.

"About time you showed up." Cloud Kicker caught up with her sister. "We cleared up the sector, no thanks to you. You know if you spent less time sleeping and more time helping we would have had this place done in time, what was it you always said, 'Sky cleared in ten seconds flat?' Yeah, right after ten hours of snoozing the day away, no wonder you never got into the Wonderbolts, the last time I checked, they require discipline, not just fancy tricks." This struck a nerve in the quick-winged pegasus, and immediately she fought back with a vicious retort.

"For your information, Kicker, I not only saved the Wonderbolts, but I've met people way cooler than them at the Grand Galloping Gala, and the last time I checked, you've never even met the Wonderbolts. So top that!" She took off, leaving the two sisters behind in a blast of full spectrum contrail. She headed back home, suddenly feeling tired, and plopped down onto her mattress, her mind reeling back to a person she missed dearly. Just then, a letter formed in front of her in a whisp of blue fire. She shot her hoof forward, catching the scroll immediately.

'That's funny, I wasn't expecting any letters today.' She took a hard look at the seal keeping the scroll coiled. 'It's not from the princess, and if it's not from them then...' She gasped, immediately breaking the seal and unfurling the scroll quickly, then stopping at the greeting. If this really was from him, she wanted to take time and savor it. Just then, she felt a pang of guilt as she remembered the last letter he sent the week she was sick. She never got to reply personally and wondered what happened to the letter. Gaining the courage to overcome her embarrassment, she slowly unfurled the letter and started to read.

I'm sorry. I should have replied as soon as I received your letter. How are you feeling? Rarity told me that you had been ill with the flu. As for what I have been doing, negotiations with the other clans have gone well for us, however, not everything has gone according to plan. We were attacked a few weeks ago when an airship from the city of Bitsburg attacked us. I'm sorry to have to say this, but promise me you will stay away from Bitsburg for the next few weeks. Yes, this means that I'll be visiting Equestria again, but only for this important matter. If all goes well, I hope to see you again. By autumn, I want you to be there with me on our new airship, and we can sail the clouds together, even if it's just for a day or two.

Please, take care of yourself,
Aoi

Her jaw dropped when she finished reading.

"OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmy-" She clampled her mouth shut and started zooming about the room in a flurry of excitement.

'Aoi, Coming here? In an Airship?' she thought to herself. Her mind instantly conjured the tall wolf with captain's effects and a tricorn hat complete with a plume, and couldn't help but stifle a laugh. She held the letter close to her chest and drifted down back onto her mattress, utterly starstruck. She counted back the months ever since the Gala. How long has it been since she last saw him? Five months? Ten? She rolled off of the bed and trotted towards her dresser. Twilight had bought the ancient thing for her as a gift, but having no use for it, the wooden box sat at the edge of the room, gathering dust. With a quick flap of her wings, the dust cleared off of the table in an instant. She got out a quill and inkwell and started to write a reply...

...but stopped. It occurred to her that she had never really written a letter to anypony in particular, and Aoi was... special in her eyes. How hard could it be, to write a simple reply letter back?

Ten hours had passed, thousands of crumpled balls of parchment were splayed out all over the floor of her cloud house. She had long since resigned to smacking her head against the dresser repeatedly in hopes inspiration would come, if not brain damage first. Night had fallen, and with it a new moon, leaving the stars to their chance to shine.

After finally giving up, she flew out the door into town, hoping to avoid all contact with anypony out late...

... which was everypony. Tonight was the annual Nighting Gale festival, which was one of the new holidays Princess Luna had decreed to align with the return of the scented winds from the far east, carrying with them the hallowed aromas of unknown origin.

"BUCK!" She shouted before slapping her hooves over her mouth, stealing away into the shadows, what little there were. Across the way, a parade of ponies were gathered in town square as Pinkie Pie was giving out the latest addition to the bakery: Moon cakes. As hungry as the cyan flier was, she couldn't stop, as this was more urgent than her rumbling stomach. She flew as far as White Tail Woods, reflecting on her thoughts at the lake.

'Am I really that nervous that I can't even write back?' She rolled a pebble back and forth on the ground as her thoughts lined up with questions. 'I mean, it's just Aoi, why am I making such a big deal about this?' Her thoughts went back to the Gala, an event that she had went to for the past few years, and nothing was really special about it, until the last one.

She sighed, 'It's not just Aoi, it's Aoi. It's alright to be nervous, I mean, he's one of the coolest people I've met, right on tier with Griffin and the Wonderbolts.' Dash tossed the pebble across the lake, the smooth stone skipping across the water like galloping hooves. 'and he wants to see me.'

Her mind painted a picture of Aoi and her on his airship, dancing. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to feel the way she did several months ago, the way Aoi made her feel, she wanted to feel... special. She took out the last piece of crumpled parchment, the ink smeared in the words "Dear Aoi". She crunched it between her front hooves and threw it in the lake before opening her wings and taking off into the night sky.

The moon slowly rose to its apex, liquid curtains of pearly white comforting the land in a blanket like glow, and above it all hovered Rainbow Dash. She took a whiff of the scented air, detecting something familiar about it. It smelt just like Aoi's letters, like Aoi himself. Her wings extended to their full span and she soared through the sky, towards Bitsburg, towards Aoi...

... towards west.

Author's Notes:

I'm sorry I couldn't really publish a long chapter this month, as things have been getting pretty hectic at home.