Soarin was awoken by the light filtering in from their suite. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, then began to get up, only to stop himself as he remembered the wing around his back. He bit his bottom lip nervously, glancing over to ensure that he hadn't disturbed Rainbow Dash.
Upon inspection, she was still sound asleep, her mane a complete mess as her face was shoved into an outstretched foreleg. He snickered lovingly, leaning over to smooth out a bit of her hair with his muzzle. He had been tempted not to since it was such a cute sight, but it was his job as her coltfriend to make sure she wasn't embarrassed when they left the room later.
Her coltfriend. He couldn't suppress a smile at the thought.
He was halfway done with fixing her hair when he heard a sudden knocking at the door. He glanced over, not recognizing the knocking as maybe one of the hotel staff; they had a specific knock that he remembered them having when he was young, and that wasn't it.
He looked back to Rainbow Dash to ensure the sound hadn't awakened her, and when he was sure it hadn't, he silently slipped out from underneath her wing, trotting over to the door. When he opened it, he understood why he hadn't recognized it. Rainbow Dash's friends were standing there, glancing at him for only a moment before trying to peer inside the room.
"Is Rainbow Dash in there with you?" Rarity inquired.
Soarin's expression noticeably dropped. He sighed, walking past the door frame and shutting the door behind him. The five mares (and Spike) looked at him with confusion.
"She's sleeping, but you're not going in there," Soarin stated firmly.
Half of the six friends flinched, shocked to be spoken to in such a way. Soarin knew perfectly well that they weren't bad ponies - they wielded the Elements of Harmony after all - but that didn't mean they couldn't do bad things.
Applejack was the first to speak up, glaring down Soarin and getting in his face. "Pardon? Ah don't think I heard you right."
"I think you did!" Soarin retorted. "Dash came here with me to get away from you. Why can't you just leave her alone?"
Some of the six exchanged glances, having already guessed Rainbow Dash's reasoning. Actually being told it...
"T-that's why we're here!" Fluttershy said boldly, flaring her wings out. "W-we want to apologize."
Soarin raised a brow. "You think she wants to hear from you? Now?"
The seven were so lost in their argument that they completely missed the door opening behind Soarin.
"Why are you so defensive of her?" Twilight asked, trying to be reasonable but also slightly annoyed to have this roadblock now. "We're her friends! If we could just talk to her—"
"Friends? You could've fooled me!" Soarin argued. "And yeah, she told me what happened when you ''tried'' to talk to her! Didn't work out how you wanted, did it? What makes now any different?"
"Guys?"
"Hold on a second, buster!" Pinkie Pie jumped in front of Twilight, trying to look intimidating by standing on her hind legs.
Soarin didn't flinch. "No, you hold on!"
Spike raised a claw. "What are you so mad about? It was just a prank, and we're here to say sorry."
An unidentifiable sound escaped Soarin's throat. "J-just a—" Now he was fuming. "Just a prank?! Getting your whole village together to pull a zombie apocalypse on one pony is just a prank?!"
Rarity stepped forward. "Now listen here! Dashie is—"
"EVERYPONY, CHILL!"
Everyone went silent, Soarin moving out of the way as all eyes went to a Rainbow Dash with only mild bedhead. She huffed, rubbing some sleep out of her face before giving Soarin an appreciative glance.
Twilight sighed with relief. "Rainbow, thank Celestia! You have no idea how hard it was to find you! We—" She stopped talking as Rainbow raised a hoof.
Soarin looked over at her. "I can handle this if you don't want to, Dash."
She shook her head, clearly still recovering from just waking up. "No, I got it."
Rarity gestured outwards with a hoof. "Darling, I understand if you're still upset—"
"I'm not upset."
Fluttershy chirped in, "We're really sorry about what happened—"
"I know."
Applejack was about to speak up, but Rainbow Dash's words had finally caught up with everyone, causing them to let out a collective, "What?"
Rainbow Dash snorted. "Come on, did you guys really think I didn't know you were sorry? I just heard that you ran all the way here to look for me and you think I don't get it or something?" Slight amusement went across her face.
"But..." Pinkie Pie's ears flopped. "Why did you leave?"
"I'm not leaving Ponyville," Rainbow Dash said, as if it were obvious.
"Y-you're not?" Fluttershy asked. "Then why did you...?"
"I just... needed a break," Rainbow Dash explained. She tilted her head and glanced off to the side, attempting a smile. "Don't you guys ever need a vacation? We wear each other out all the time!"
Twilight frowned. "Still... we're sorry we didn't say anything."
"You think that's what got to me?" Rainbow Dash raised a brow. "I keep stuff from you guys all the time. I get that."
"What did get to you then?" Applejack asked, skeptical.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "The entire prank, I guess?"
Soarin watched silently at how casually Rainbow Dash was talking, like she was reciting the weather.
She chuckled. "I care about you guys; of course I was gonna freak out. I thought you were dead. Was probably pretty funny though, huh?"
An uneasy silence filled the room, as the six friends couldn't decipher the exact tone Rainbow Dash's voice was in.
"Thanks for coming though. I'm planning on coming back in a few days or something." Rainbow Dash stood on her hind legs, a bit of pep back in her voice as she punched the air. "You guys can't live without your Element of Loyalty after all, yeah? And you'll throw me a party when I come back, right, Pinks?"
Pinkie Pie's ears perked at being addressed. She nodded with vigor. Rainbow Dash smirked, then nudged Soarin as she dropped down to all fours and went back inside. Soarin's mouth opened, as if to say something, but he faltered and simply followed her back inside, shutting the door behind them.
"You okay?" he finally asked, feeling a twist of emotions inside him and just wanting to make sure.
"I should tell you about my parents sometime," she said, seemingly out of nowhere. She kept her back turned to him. "Now that's a story..."
She ran her hoof through her hair, trying to brush it out a bit as she waited for Soarin to respond. When he didn't, she turned to him. "What?"
His expression was blank as he stared into her, as if trying to solve some sort of mystery. After a moment, he opted for a fond smile.
"You're so much stronger than me, Dash."