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Too Far332 words
Talking it Out940 words
Slipped Up1,188 words
Making Plans979 words
Relax Against the Odds1,104 words
Sheer Panic1,970 words
Dumb Love1,310 words
Confrontation1,179 words
Silent Reflection724 words

Relax Against the Odds

Rainbow Dash had a love of the atmosphere in Manehattan. The city was always so big, like you could get lost in it because there was so much to do. There were a couple sour memories she had, but the good ones far surpassed them.

"So, where are we staying?" Soarin asked, looking at her as they walked.

"Oh, uh..." Rainbow Dash looked at him sheepishly. "I... don't even know. Leaving Ponyville was sort of—"

"Sudden? Yeah. I feel you," he assured so she wouldn't have to say anything else.

She smiled. Soarin turned out to be such a cool guy once she'd gotten to know him. Well, she'd always thought he was cool, but now she could actually be certain of it.

He looked around, as if trying to find something. "Besides, I know a good hotel we can stay at."

"You do?" Rainbow Dash raised a brow inquisitively.

"Oh yeah." He grinned proudly. "My parents used to bring me here when I was little. They always said it was just for a day, but we had so much to do that we'd just end up staying at a hotel instead of flying home whenever it got too late."

He snorted. "They weren't any good at planning things."

She snickered. "So you must know all the awesome hotels then, right?"

"You bet!" He flapped his wings with confidence. "Here, lemme show you!"

He galloped ahead, Rainbow Dash letting out an accusative but playful "Hey!" as she followed behind him. Tank was flying closely behind, the wind in his smiling face; seeing his owner happy made him happy.

They traveled path to path along Manehattan, swerving left and right to avoid crowds and stuffy ponies who couldn't find enjoyment in their fun. A few fillies and colts waved to them as they ran by, almost tempted to give chase because this grown mare and tortoise chasing a stallion looked like all sorts of interesting.

Eventually, Soarin's gallop slowed to a trot, his hoof pointing upwards at one of the signs. "Right here. I liked this place the best."

Rainbow Dash looked up. The sign wasn't decorated very fancily, but that honestly sounded like her kind of thing. She didn't want somewhere super stuffy and Soarin was a fun guy, so she trusted his judgment.

The two then went inside and asked for a room. Soarin tried to pay for it, but Rainbow Dash smacked his hoof away, a big smirk on her face as she called him dumb for thinking that she would make the guy she dragged along pay for everything. They shared a smile at the exchange, then went off for their room.

Upon opening the door and dropping her things to the floor, Rainbow Dash immediately understood why he liked it there. The room's walls were mostly glass, and she could see so much of Manehattan from looking through them. They were on one of the higher floors, so she'd expected a great view, but this was truly spectacular.

"Like it?" Soarin asked with a smile, though he already knew the answer as both Rainbow Dash and Tank had gone over and pressed their faces against the glass.

"Are you kidding? It's awesome!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

He watched happily as she started to dart around the room, searching everywhere like she was looking for hidden treasure. He imagined that she didn't get to stay in hotels often.

"It's the pegasi suite," he explained. "You can even open up the wall if you want to go flying."

Rainbow Dash perked up, a look of awe on her face. She went over to one of the walls, searching around until finally seeing a button on one of them. She touched it, and just like Soarin had said, the glass peeled itself away, the wind blowing inside and flowing through Rainbow Dash's mane. She grinned at the feeling.

For just a moment, Soarin admitted to himself that she looked pretty cute. Taking her to this particular hotel was having its desired effect, as all of her sadness, while still definitely there, was masked by just how happy she was to be away from it all.

"Soarin?" Rainbow Dash pushed the button again to close the glass wall back up, then turned to him.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks a lot for coming with me." He'd never heard her sound so genuine. "I mean, I knew I'd be okay with just Tank here, but it's cool having somepony else too."

She trotted over to the bed and flopped onto it, Tank coming over to join her. She smiled, laying on her back and giving him a hug. "I was gonna let Starlight know I was going instead of you, but..."

Soarin frowned, watching as some of the life drained from her face.

She sighed. "It didn't feel right, y'know? Twilight's her teacher; it'd be too weird. Besides, I think she feels bad because she wasn't supposed to tell me what happened. It wouldn't be cool of me."

He nodded, to show he was listening if nothing else. He liked it when Rainbow Dash was open and honest with him.

He silently hoped she would continue to be, mentally preparing himself before asking, "And... what exactly happened?"

At first, he didn't think she'd heard him. She was staring off out the window, Tank resting on her chest. Maybe he'd been too quiet?

He opened his mouth to speak, only to immediately get hit with a pillow. "H-hey!"

Rainbow Dash was smiling, back up on her hooves with Tank lying next to her. "All right, I'll tell ya, but you gotta buy me dinner first!"

Soarin let out an amused snort, considering this was more for her than for him. Yet, it was still a little bit for him. He didn't like seeing her mood shifts, or the light draining from her cute face—

Shoot, he'd thought she was cute again. She'd hit him with worse than pillows if he had said it out loud, but he thankfully didn't.

"Heh, sure. You think your pet's gonna be okay by himself?"

"Tank? Oh yeah, he'll be fine!"

The tortoise nodded his head slowly, giving them a smile.

"Let's roll!"

Soarin was surprised at how quickly she raced out the door, until he saw her smile drop when she likely thought it'd be out of his view. Now he understood; she was delaying talking about it by mentioning dinner. Well, that was fine with him. She needed time and space, and he'd give it to her.

He waved to Tank, then shut the door and went down the hall after Rainbow Dash.

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