6
The two pegasi stepped in to the diner. There was no line. Most ponies had already had their lunch and gone back to work. More than half the tables were unoccupied.
"For me, a double hay burger, fries and a sparkling water, please." Fluttershy said to the waiter behind the counter.
A second waiter came to the counter and smiled at Spitfire.
"Miss, I can take your order if you know what you want."
"Thank you. I'll-"
Spitfire's eyes wandered to an ad on the counter.
Brand new! Tired of the same old hay burgers? Try something new, for a limited time only! Soy burgers. Instead of hay, these burgers have soybean paste in them!
Spitfire grinned.
"Sorry. I think I'll try the soy burger, plus fries and a club soda. Couldn't hurt to be adventurous every once in a while." she said and flashed a smile to the waiter.
"Very true, miss. You have to "push the envelope" as the Wonderbolts would say." the waiter said and smiled.
Dammit! So much for that disguise. The jacket and glasses do squat.
The waiter noticed there was something off about Spitfire's face.
"Sorry about the Royal Pegasus Guard terminology, miss. My twin brother is a Wonderbolt. Clearly I've spent too much time with him."
Spitfire looked at him, amused.
"That's fine. I'm a bit of a Wonderbolts fan myself. Who is your brother, if I may ask?" Spitfire asked, just to steer away any suspicion. The waiter's brown tail and mane combined with the white fur told her everything she needed to know. The waiter had to be Fast Clip's brother, financing his weather manager training by working in Hay Burger. Diners were almost never an actual career path for anyone, just stepping-stones. Fast Clip had mentioned that his brother was laid off from the Fillydelphia weather team because of budget cuts. He was too old to start from scratch in any other city so he was planning to get manager qualifications and apply for the spot opening up in Baltimare. It was a short flight away from Fillydelphia so the family wouldn't even need to move.
Soon both Spitfire and Fluttershy had gotten their food. They walked to the corner of the diner, trying to find a quiet spot. Spitfire was still not convinced she could avoid fans recognizing her with the glasses off. Suddenly, a voice from one of the tables startled both pegasi.
"Fluttershy! Nice to see you here. Who is your friend?"
Spitfire turned to see who was talking and Fluttershy replied to her friend.
"Oh. Hi, Twilight. I didn't see you there. Sorry about that. Taking a break from studying? This is my cousin, Spitfire." Fluttershy said and gestured to Spitfire.
Spitfire's eyes went wide for about half a second. It took her just another half a second to set het tray down on a table and snap into attention.
"Captain Spitfire, Royal Guard Air Demonstration Team, Equestrian Earth, Unicorn, Pegasus Guard, Your Highness."
Spitfire instinctively rattled off her official title and saluted when she realized she was addressing royalty. She was quiet and as discreet as possible without seeming unprofessional. The Princess looked more uncomfortable with her formality than anything else. It seemed like she was just as inclined to blend in to the crowd as Spitfire was. The Princess nodded respectfully and smiled.
"Oh, it's you, captain Spitfire. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you right away. It's nice to meet you again. What brings you to Ponyville, if I may ask?" the Princess asked Spitfire.
"Umm... I have a couple of weeks of R&R and I decided to visit my cousin." Spitfire lied even more than before.
She was nervous. She had no idea if the alicorn could see she was lying.
"Ah. That's a nice idea. It's fun to spend time with relatives sometimes." The alicorn paused for a moment. "Even if things don't go exactly according to plan."
Spitfire laughed and looked at the Princess straight in the eye.
"Discord did try to distract us when we were walking here." Fluttershy said.
"Walked? I still haven't quite mastered the wings but you are both pegasi."
"Well... I hurt my wing last night. At least that made my decision to come visit my favorite cousin easier." Spitfire laughed nervously.
"Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that. Living up in Cloudsdale would be quite a challenge with a hurt wing." the Princess said, clearly concerned.
"Yeah... Upper Cloudsdale too, ma'am. That's literally impossible. Most shops and services are in the lower part of the city."
"Captain, please drop the formalities. My friends' friends are my friends. Just call me Twilight." the alicorn said and smiled.
Spitfire looked at Fluttershy and laughed.
"Our royalty sure is relaxed, eh?" She turned to Twilight and flashed a wide smile. "Sure thing, Princess Twilight."
Fluttershy looked a little embarrassed. She clearly had even more trouble adjusting to the informality between the Princess and basically a complete stranger.
The Princess face-hoofed.
"Where are my manners? Please sit down." she said and chuckled quietly.
"Pardon my directness, Your Highness. I just have to know, is all of Equestrian royalty this relaxed? I would have expected at least guards." Spitfire said.
"That's true for Celestia and Luna, of course. They are so important. We've already seen that they're targets if something happens. Cadence follows Crystal Empire traditions and travels with at least a small security detail. It's more ceremonial than anything else. I'm honestly not used to the crown, even. I'd feel suffocated with guards following me everywhere." the alicorn laughed.
Spitfire wasn't planning to say it out loud but the words just escaped her mouth.
"Besides, you're never really alone or unguarded. Everypony here knows you. You always have your friends close by. The Changeling incident proved that you and your friends can be more powerful than dozens of guards."
Spitfire froze. She could see Fluttershy's eyes going wide. She took a quick, sharp breath before hastily correcting herself.
"No disrespect to Captain Shining Armor, of course!"
The Princess laughed.
"I don't think he'd mind." the alicorn said. She then continued "I didn't think the captain of the Wonderbolts reads reports about these things."
"Ma'am, it wasn't just the reports. I was in Canterlot at the time. Most of the team was. Soarin apparently saw you fighting that horde near the castle. He would've helped but he was busy lending a hoof to the Royal Guard. Besides, you had the whole thing well in hoof. The same can't be said for the guard team I was helping downtown, near the train station. It was absolute mayhem."
The trio continued to share stories. Spitfire was especially fascinated by Princess Twilight's personal assistant, Spike.
"And Spike is basically the most celebrated hero the Crystal Empire has ever had. Without him King Sombra would have taken it over again." the princess recounted.
"I'm probably starting to sound like a broken record, but again, I've read the reports." Spitfire laughed. "I think I knew about Sombra's return before the Princesses had time to tell you."
Fluttershy looked at her cousin surprised. Spitfire decided to explain.
"The whole reason we got any warning was dumb luck. A Night Guard patrol officer had an accident in the north. They sent a search and rescue team and one of us, one of the 'Bolts, went with them. Misty ended up saving the team a couple of times when Sombra attacked them in the air. From what I heard she pulled some insane stunts to spoil Sombra's attacks."
"Thank goodness one of you was there." Princess Twilight said. There was a hint of annoyance in her voice.
Spitfire realized that she'd been showing off just a little too much. Sure, Misty's role had been important but the Bearers of the Elements and Spike the dragon had been the ones who saved the day.
"Of course, that was just the prelude to your work. I'd love to meet Spike one day and congratulate him." Spitfire said, trying to save face.
The two Ponyvilleans shifted around in their seats. Spitfire tried to look casual and looked out the window. Dammit, Spits! All she was talking about was work. She was terrible at small talk. What could they talk about? What did these ponies usually talk about? Fluttershy's friends? Rainbow Dash, the Academy, work. No. Twilight's friends? Spitfire smiled. That could get a conversation going.
"Your Highness, I understand you lived in Canterlot until a few years ago. How's life in Ponyville compared to a big city? You've definitely made new friends here."
The Princess smiled.
"Hey, I already asked you to call me Twilight." she said, amused. "It's nice in Ponyville. I don't mind the small town life. Ponies in Canterlot are so full of themselves. Everypony thinks they are the center of the universe just because they live in the capital." Twilight complained.
"Hah! Well if it makes you feel any better, Upper Cloudsdale is the same for pegasi. I don't even know my neighbors, or anyone else in Cloudsdale for that matter." Spitfire joined in.
"Of course, it makes it easy to concentrate on studying when you don't have a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time." the princess said.
Spitfire laughed. She noticed that Fluttershy was giving Twilight a pointed look, struggling to suppress a giggle.
Twilight glanced at the quizzical Wonderbolts captain and smiled.
"I think Fluttershy remembered what I said after I'd just moved to Ponyville. I was, let's say, not too eager to move here. I'm a pony who likes to study in solitude. I've spent all my life reading. I basically didn't have any friends until I came here. Ponyville and my friends have changed my life." the princess told Spitfire.
The ace flyer looked out the window into the distance. I absolutely know what you mean, princess.
Spitfire sighed solemnly, then managed to give the Princess a faint smile and shared a story of her own.
"I've dedicated my life to flying. The team is my family and all the friends I have. I can only imagine what it is like to actually have friends outside of work."
Fluttershy and Princess Twilight looked at Spitfire with concern, and with what looked like a hint of pity.
"At the same time, the team is amazing. We are one big family. Like with all families, life isn't always easy but I wouldn't trade it for anything." Spitfire rushed to add.
The yellow pegasus and the purple alicorn looked at the ace athlete with a smiles on their faces. Spitfire could see there was something forced about them. She couldn't blame the duo. Life in the 'Bolts could be rough and lonely, and no one felt it harder than the flight captain. The team was like a family to the team, the Academy a home away from home, but making friends outside the team was definitely a challenge for the star athletes.