Luna's shroud of twilight had crept along the farm land of Sweet Apple Acres and blanketed the orchards in her embrace, bringing with it the nightly symphony of the surrounding nocturnal wildlife. Soarin admired the encompassing sights and sounds of the farm as well as the rural starlit sky as he made his way to his dilapidated hovel, a pack filled with pillows and blankets provided by his employers on his back. Granny Smith and Applejack were rather accommodating to him upon informing them of his situation, that he lacked even the most basic of necessities such as bedding. They had even offered him a couch from their den as a house warming gift, but he had politely declined. As destitute as the Stallion's situation seemed, he still had plenty of money left over from his previous occupation; it would guilt him to accept something so charitable when he was actually well-off in terms of finances.

Soarin had finally cleared the patchy ground between the house and the barn with a hitch in his stride as his muscles were still sore from his day's labor. This was the moment he had been dreading for some time now: it was time to see his new living quarters. He took one last longing look at the cozy-looking two story homestead across the field before slowly pulling the barn door open. The hinges that were black and rusty from the decades of neglect made a harsh metal-on-metal grinding sound; the creak that emanated from the hinges of the Apple family home suddenly seemed like a beautiful siren's song in comparison.

Soarin stepped in to his new home and looked around for a light switch, but he couldn't find one. "Of course there's no light switch," he groused. He was just beginning to surmise that the construction of the old barn may have even predated the discovery of electricity when he stumbled on an object in the darkness. If he wasn't so weak and sore he may have been alert and responsive enough to catch himself as he fell, but the exhausted stallion tumbled and hit the ground. He cursed under his breath as he glowered in the direction of whatever it was he had just tripped on. Reaching out and groping around for the object - he took it in his hooves and raised it to the beams of moonlight that shined through the massive hole in the barn's roof. It's brass bottom and glass body reflected a pale glow and he realized that it was an old kerosene lantern. "A valuable antique," he mused as he examined the archaic device. He gave the flint nob an experimental twist and, much to his surprise, the wick inside of the glass cylinder came to life with a dancing flame. "Must have been recently used."

No longer blind, Soarin lifted the lamp level with his face and observed his new surroundings. It was now comprehensible as to why Apple Bloom could think this worn down structure was haunted; if he could rewind time back to when he was eight years old, he may have thought the same thing. The first object he noticed was a derelict scarecrow in the corner, which cast an unsettling dancing shadow in the orange glow of the lantern; the twisted stitched smile, the black soulless button eyes, the Freddy Krueger-esque red and green plaid shirtand wide-brimmed hat it adorned didn't make it any less chilling to gaze upon. An old harvesting scythe hung from a nail on the wall next to some rusted old gardening sheers that looked as if they were large enough to decapitate a Minotaur with one snip. Black and brown corroded chains once used as a pulley for storing larger equipment over head hung and swung loosely from the rafters. There did not seem to be one floor board that didn't creak in protest to his weight, and every piece of wood that gave support to the structure groaned in agony every time the wind shifted. Soarin contorted his face into a forced optimistic smile, hoping that maybe if he poured some tender love and care into this place, he could upgrade it to a piece of shit.

Overhead he noticed a wooden deck. With a combined leap and one flap of his wings Soarin cleared the twelve foot jump and grappled the ledge and, though his muscles ached, he managed to pull himself up and over the threshold. He held his lantern by his mouth and noticed a pile of straw in the corner. "It's not much, but it'll have to do." He set the lantern down, spread his bedding over the soft straw, and immediately collapsed into it. The stiff stalks would normally irritate him, but in his fatigued state he might as well have been laying on a cloud - and the warm glow of his lamp provided a comforting aura of soothing heat. He gave no more thought to his surroundings, the vermin that were most likely all around him and could be ready to attack at any moment, or even his former team. The last thing he felt was that of his eyelids becoming unbearably heavy, and he lost consciousness the moment he closed them.

Soarin was suddenly stirred from his sleep by a mysterious creaking from somewhere in his barn. He opened his eyes and his heart skipped a beat when he saw who it was standing over him, her emerald eyes and golden hair glowing in the dimming light of the kerosene lamp. "AJ?" Soarin turned his head and looked at the ledge of the second story deck, then he looked back at her. "How'd you get up here?" With a playful giggle the cowgirl gently placed her hooves on Soarin's chest to balance herself as she swung a hind leg over him, straddling him with a provocative smile on her face.

"A-AJ, w-what are you..." Soarin's words escaped him with a quivering sigh when she leaned down and gently kissed him up and down his neck. The blushing stallion could feel his blood heating as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back for her, enjoying the sensual caress of the mare's warm and soft lips. Soarin no longer cared to ask her of her intentions. She was making them quite clear to him. He wanted her the moment he saw her, and it was now obvious that she felt the same way about him. He reached out and affectionately took her in his arms.

"Partner," she purred in his ear.

"Yes? Wait, what did you just call me? What happened to sugarcube?" Soarin's eyes rounded out as her voice suddenly became deeper.

"Yer a good lookin' stallion an' all, but ah prefer mah stallions to be a little more... How should ah put this..? Female."

Soarin's eyes opened and staring right back at him were the quizzical eyes of a bulky golden stallion. It took the somnolent Pegasus's brain a few seconds to register the situation...

"GAH! BRAEBURN, WHAT THE HELL!?" He shoved the earth pony back in a panic. "What're you doing in my bed?!"

"Ah was tryin' ta' wake ya when you pulled me on top of you," the cowboy declared in a calm and matter-of-fact tone.

"I thought the roosters were supposed to wake me," Soarin countered.

"Shoot, they stopped crowin' about an hour ago." The cowboy explained. "If Ah would'a known you was one'o them sleep-cuddlers, ah would have kept mah distance and splashed some water on ya, or somethin'."

"Well... I'm sure as hell awake now..." Soarin rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned. "Sorry, I guess I'm not use to waking up this early yet. AJ isn't mad at me, is she?"

"Ain't seen her since breakfast, but she didn't seem too miffed about yer absence. Ah asked if she wanted me ta' go get ya, but she said she had somethin' special planned for ya tonight. Said she wanted ya to be rested up."

"What happens tonight?"

Braeburn shrugged. "Dunno, but she said she wanted to talk to ya about it when ya woke up."

"Do you know where she is?"

"Last Ah saw, she was headin' for the cellar."

"I guess that's where I'm headed, then." Soarin stretched before rolling out of his crude makeshift bed. He walked passed Braeburn and approached the ledge of the deck, spying the ladder Braeburn must have used to gain access to the upper level. "So, that's how you got up here?"

"Yup," Braeburn replied, "Ah tried callin' out to ya from down below, but you was dead to the world. Sorry if Ah startled ya."

"And I'm sorry I violated your personal space — no one has to know about that, right?"

"Shoot, you think Ah want anyone knowin' about that?"

That was all Soarin needed to hear. Feeling too awkward to carry on with his conversation, he studied the large hole in the roof of his barn and spread his wings. "I'll go see what AJ wants with me."

"No problem. Ah'm gonna be helping Big Mac out in the orchards if ya need me."

"Sure," Soarin said, "and again, I'm sorry for...You know." Soarin looked back and gestured to his bed with a flick of his muzzle.

"It's alright," Braeburn said with a lighthearted chortle. "Next time I'll get Big Mac ta' come wake ya up. He likes ta' cuddle, too."

That was Soarin's cue to end this awkward conversation before it got any stranger. "I'll, uh, catch you later, Braeburn," he bade before turning around and taking flight through the hole in his roof, leaving the cowboy to his own devices as he made his way to the apple cellar. He soared over the sprawling green and brown field, cleared the house, and sped to the far corner of the enclosure until the wooden double doors were seen hanging open on their hinges, which most likely indicated that Applejack was still present. He landed at the head of the stairs and descended down the underground hallway, taking in the sweet aroma of the stored fruit while the rhythmic clop of his hooves resonated through the narrow hall. He entered the dimly-lit underground storage area at the foot of the stairs and noticed Applejack rummaging through a wooden barrel among the rows of vacant and half-filled racks.

"How ya doin', sugarcube?" She greeted before Soarin could announce his presence to her.

"Rested and ready to work, madam captain," he responded with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, trying to push the fact out of his mind that he had nearly just molested her cousin in his sleep while having an erotic dream about her.

Applejack chuckled. "You don't gotta address me with them fancy titles, Mr. Hotshot Wonderbolt."

"Yes Captain. Madam, I mean! I meant AJ! Dammit! You know what? Let's start over again! Hello, my name is Soarin, and I'm here for the job in the paper!" Soarin playfully extended his hoof to her in the hopes that his silly antics would distract from the ineloquent way he was carrying himself. It would seem that addressing his boss by any other title than captain was going to take some getting use to.

Applejack chuckled in response before she removed an apple from the barrel. She examined it with a scrupulous gaze, then dropped it in a satchel bag that she wore at her flank. Soarin watched with mild amusement as she did this, unsure as to what could be going in to her seemingly strenuous process of selecting a piece of fruit. Any apple that wasn't black and putrid seemed fine to him, but he decided to keep his opinions to himself.

"Did ya know that it's Rainbow Dash's birthday today?" She asked while looking over another apple she had selected. "We're planning a party for her and I'll bet she'd get real kick out'a you bein' there, Mr. Wonderbolt."

"Rainbow Dash? It's her birthday?"

"Yup, an' If ah'm not mistakin', ya'll know each other pretty well, don't ya?"

Of course Soarin knew Rainbow Dash. He had nothing but admiration for her for saving his life on several different occasions: the most recent one being the incident at Rainbow Falls. He owed a debt to her that he feared he would never be able to repay. "It's Dashie's special day, huh? I'd like to see her, but I'm not a Wonderbolt anymore."

Applejack dropped another apple in her bag before she responded. "Yeah, Ah know that, but Ah still think she'd get a kick out'a you showin' up to her party."

Soarin scratched his chin as he mused over what would be an appropriate gift for someone who has saved his life not once, but twice. Not to mention all the times he had read about her saving the world with her friends whenever the crown or the fate of Equestria hung in the balance. "I wouldn't even know what to get her as a gift..."

"That brings me to the other thing Ah needed to talk to ya about."

"I'm listening," Soarin said attentively.

Applejack paused and looked back at Soarin with an expression that was difficult to read. She hesitated and shifted her eyes around for a moment. "You, uh, still got that flight suit of yers?"

"It's probably still in my quarters back in the academy."

"Oh... Okay... Well, Rainbow Dash is kinda— she likes to collect Wonderbolts memorabilia... And Ah was thinkin' that... Maybe since ya ain't gonna be usin' it no more..."

"She can have it," Soarin offered with a smile as he realized what it was the stammering mare was requesting of him.

"Really?!" Applejack's face lit up with a grateful smile. "Ya mean it? Ah mean, Ah know it must have some sentimental value to you, an' all. A-Ah feel real bad for askin' you to give somethin' away that must be so precious to you."

"AJ, it's okay, I'm not a big fan of holding on to the past. If you think it would make Rainbow Dash happy, I'm more than happy to oblige."

Much to Soarin's surprise Applejack suddenly bounded toward him and locked him in a firm hug, dropping her satchel and spilling it's contents in the process. "Sugarcube, you are sweeter than granny's cinnamon apple fritters! Thank you so, so much! Ah can't wait ta' see the look on Rainbow Dash's face when she sees it! Name your price. Don't be shy, now. What would you say giving that suit up would be worth to ya?"

That familiar heat flashed through Soarin's body as she embraced him. He brought his arms up to return her hug, but he quickly thought better of it and brought them back down, fearing that he may make the moment awkward if he did. "I don't really want anythi—"

"Oh, shush!" Applejack cut him off and looked up at him with a determined smile. "There's gotta be somethin' Ah could give you in return, now spit it out - an' Ah don't want ta' hear ya say you don't want nothin'!"

Soarin was taken aback by the mare's firm tone. He quickly thought of what he could possibly take from her without feeling like a jerk as this stubborn mare obviously wasn't going to take "nothing" for an answer. There was one thing that he could think of, but he couldn't be sure how she'd react to his request. "I don't suppose you dance?"

"Dance?" Applejack released Soarin and inspected him with an inquisitive gaze. "Yea, Ah can dance pretty good. Why?"

The diffident stallion chose his next words carefully so as to not seem as if he was advancing on her in a way that she may perceive as intrusive. "If there's going to be dancing at Dash's party, maybe you can save one for me? A dance with you is all the payment I could want."

Applejack cocked her eyebrow at him. "You want me to pay you for the flight suit with a dance?"

Soarin quickly regretted his request. He rubbed an abashed hoof over the back of his neck and looked away from her, feeling her dubious look draining what little bit of confidence he had. "I-I'm pretty good at dancing — It's always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Spitfire used to make me take dancing lessons so I wouldn't embarrass her at the gala," he offered.

"Ah guess that would be fine," she responded before she turned and knelt down to collect the apples she had spilled. "If yer sure that's all ya want."

"That's all I can really think of," Soarin replied, but Applejack either didn't hear him or didn't care to respond. The cellar fell silent as he watched her sweep the remaining apples in to her bag with one reaping swipe of her leg. He decided to excuse himself before the silence would become uncomfortable. "Well, I guess I have my orders, then. I'll come back as soon as I have that flight suit."

"Sugarcube, Ah ain't ordering you around," replied Applejack. "Why don't ya go ahead and take the day off? Maybe that'll give ya some time ta' get whatever it is ya need ta' get done before Dash's party tonight." She then looked back at him with that warm smile of hers. It was that same inviting smile she gave him when he first noticed her by the well pump. That smile would forever haunt him as it would always evoke the memory of her soaking wet figure glistening like gold in the rays of the sun. It was the look that Soarin had to quickly retreat from before his wings could involuntarily shoot out like a reversed bear trap and knock a barrel rack over - which would most likely arouse his boss's ire. Without another word Soarin quickly nodded to her, about-faced, and retreated up the stairs as quickly, but casually as he dared, hoping that his sudden haste wouldn't stimulate the farm girl's curiosity. "Thanks again, sugarcube!" Applejack's honeyed voice echoed and chased Soarin up the stairs as he fled.

Soarin stopped and looked longingly down the stairs, wishing his mind could come up with some sort of clever farewell to leave her with, but he could think of nothing. With a blank mind and a task that demanded his immediate attention he reluctantly turned and made his way through the cellar's double doors.

Warm and tender nostalgic memories welled up within Soarin as he trotted across the desolate campus of the Wonderbolts academy. It hadn't been that long since he had last been here, but it felt strange knowing that he would most likely never see it from the inside again. Every where he looked, everything he saw, every cloud and every structure of the campus grounds had what felt like a thousand memories attached to them. He strolled along the cloud-paved area between the colt's and filly's dormitories, then flew to the roof tops, looking down and remembering the exact spot where he had had his first kiss with the girl he would always meet up with after curfew. Soarin chuckled cockily to himself. "And the instructors never caught us." He looked out and across the courtyard from the dormitory roof, where the celebration in his honor was held upon becoming a Wonderbolt. He remembered how much fun it was: the proud look on his parents' faces, his friends' painful gauntlet of congratulatory punches he had to go through. He took it all in as if he rewound time to relive it all. All his good memories, and even some of the bad ones. He could recall the day when he was informed by an attendant that his dad had passed away on the same day his girlfriend broke up with him. If that hadn't actually happened to him, it might have sounded like a good subject for a country song or a soap opera.

Soarin then made his way to the Wonderbolts' quarters as he suddenly remembered the reason for which he originally came. He touched down at the center of the yard between the identical, symmetrically-constructed homes and read out the names printed on the tags on the doors until he came to his. He pushed the door open and immediately made his way to his closet, where the one garment of clothing he owned awaited him. He retrieved his suit, stuffed it in a plastic bag, and walked back down the hall to his living area where a dark blue Pegasus was now standing. "Wavechill?" Soarin forced a smile, but secretly wished he could have come out of this ordeal a little more stealthily.

The dark blue Pegasus suddenly sped toward Soarin, leaving a trail of tears in his wake before tackling him to the ground. "Soarin, you magnificent bastard, you're back! Spitfire told us all that you abandoned us, but I knew better!"

"I abandoned you?" Soarin scoffed. "I wouldn't have quit in the first place if they hadn't been the ones to leave me behind all the time."

Wavechill extended his hoof to Soarin and said, "Yeah, I feel ya. I felt like you were in the right, but Spitfire's influence reigns supreme at the academy, and she's painting you to be the bad guy in this. She's seriously pissed off about them not qualifying for the games this year. Says it's all your fault."

"Oh, so the Wonderbolts didn't qualify?" Soarin asked with a vindictively triumphant smirk as he accepted his former teammates hoof. "So sad to hear that." Wavechill pulled him up to his hooves without caring to acknowledge Soarin's callous statement.

"So, what's your plan, man? Are you coming back?"

"No, I'm just here to get my suit."

"Ah, I got ya. Gonna hang on to those memories, huh?"

"You could say that..."

"That's cool, that's cool. Just don't let Spitfire catch you. She's still fuming about you abandoning—"

"I was the one who was abandoned!' Soarin corrected hotly. "I'm not going to bore you with the details, but Spitfire was the one who abandoned me! Once again! They should have never dragged me to Rainbow falls if they thought I would be so useless in the first place! Whatever yarn Spitfire spun to you was a lie! She's the captain, though, so whatever she says becomes the truth by default, I suppose!" Soarin bared his teeth and blew out a puff of steam from his nostrils as he felt his emotional wound reopening.

"Alright, alright, calm down!" Wavechill raised a defensive hoof and cautiously stepped away. "You can rant and rave about it all you want, but it's not going to change the fact that Spitfire has it out for you now, and Fleetfoot is backing everything she says."

"Why am I not surprised?" Soarin growled.

"Soarin... Man, I don't know what to say." Wavechill looked sympathetically at him before he hung his head and stared mournfully at the ground. "It's messed up. But it's like you said: she's the captain. If there is any kind of revenge you have won out of this, it's that they'll have a problem finding a replacement for you before it's time for us to go on tour again. Picking a Wonderbolt out of the crowd of our cadets isn't an easy task. Rainbow Dash is the first one that comes to my mind, but I think Spitfire is secretly worried she'd eventually end up replacing her as the captain."

"Yeah," Soarin agreed and looked at the plastic bag that contained his flight suit. He forgot about his own problems for that moment and went back to his regrets about the gift he would present to Rainbow Dash on her birthday. A worn out old hand-me-down with no use other than to collect dust simply wasn't a befitting gift for someone who has saved his life on numerous occasions. "I haven't a doubt in my mind that Rainbow Dash could make an excellent captain. She has more raw skill than anyone else I have met, but she still needs more experience under her belt. Getting in to the Wonderbolts would be the first step, though." The gears in Soarin's mind began to turn and grind with his last statement. He could practically feel the warmth of the metaphoricallight bulb glowing over his head as a smile slowly crept across his face. Wavechill found himself backing even further away from him.

"Soarin, are you feeling alright?"

"I have an idea. The gift. My debt. Getting the last laugh on Spitfire. It's the perfect plan!" Without another word Soarin left his former dwelling, leaving a confused Wavechill to puzzle over his actions as he took quick strides toward Sptfire's quarters. With out hesitation he knocked hard and loud on the captain's door and waited patiently for her to answer. The moment the door opened, the edges of Spitfire's eyes sharpened into a searing hot glare before she grabbed Soarin around the neck, pulled him through her doorway, and pinned him against the wall.

"I knew you'd come crawling back!"

"I knew you'd miss me," Soarin laughed.

Spitfire pulled him from the wall only to slam him back into it. "Your pathetic little fit of butthurt cost Cloudsdale the Equestria games! You made a fool out of not only yourself, but all of us!"

"Yeah, yeah, a terrible tragedy. Truly!" Soarin taunted with mock remorse, which only seemed to further infuriate his former captain.

"I hope you're not here to ask for your position back, because I already tore up your contract."

"That's good, now you're going to write up a new one."

"Excuse me?!"

"I'm calling in a debt you owe."

"The only thing I owe you is a couple smacks upside the head for that stunt you pulled!"

"Not a debt to me. A debt to Rainbow Dash. Did you know it's her birthday today?"

"What does that have to do with me? And I don't recall being indebted to her!"

"Really? Because if it wasn't for her, your body would most likely be the consistency of a cheese pizza right along side mine and that spazmatic unicorn with the gaudy butterfly wings."

"That doesn't mean I owe her, Soarin! She did the same thing for us that we would have done for her. No more, no less."

"Suppose I tell everyone about how you whimpered like a baby after that dragon trapped you against that mountain a few years back?"

Spitfire's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't dare..."

Soarin suddenly placed the back of his hoof over his head in a dramatic display. "Oh, I thought I was going to be left for dead under that bell! I saw my life flashing before my eyes! I don't want to die a virgin!" He then gave his former captain a coy wink. He noted with satisfaction the sudden perturbed expression on her face, the shame in her eyes, the bead of sweat running down her forehead. He had always figured he'd be able to use that fit of post traumatic hysteria as a bargaining chip one day; when you're the captain of the most elite flying team in all of Equestria, your reputation is everything, and he knew that news like this would absolutely destroy her if it got out. Soarin could feel Spitfire's grip around his neck loosening. Her furious gaze slowly softened to a slightly annoyed frown.

"What do you want, Soarin?" Spitfire conceded with a reluctant sigh.

Soarin smiled. "How about you, me, and a few members of the team have a little discussion over lunch? I know a nice little diner where the cutest little waitress works."