It always felt awkward to wake up in the middle of the night, unsure of why. Snatched away from a sleep deprived of dreams by a foreign force he could not identify, Soarin simply opened his eyes, blinking in the dark. Silence filled up his ears, like beating inside at the rhythm of his heart. The weirdness of the moment, yet peaceful and quiet, pinned him between his sheets, shocked, though he knew he would not remain immobile forever. He only needed a little time to decide what to do next.
Little by little, his eyes got used to the darkness surrounding him. In fact, the room was not that dark. For some unknown reasons, Rapidfire had not ask him to shut the curtains before going to bed, the way he always did when they had to share a room together. Now, awake in the middle of the night, it seemed really strange yet at the same time, it was like a sign from destiny. As if this sudden awakening was a stroke of good luck against which he could not struggle, something that would change the stream of life. Why was he feeling this way? Strange too.
The light gleam from the moon touched his face through the window, its almost invisible ray suspended in the air. Soarin took out his hooves he had kept under his quilts and try to touch the transparant thread. Like foreseen, his coat bumped into nothingness. Feeling suddenly like a fool, he stared at his own hoof for a little while, wondering why did he have to do such a silly thing. The radiance of the moon felt so special... In fact, this night in its whole was beribboned with the small of awkwardness. Maybe it was because of this beam of light or because of silence. Or maybe he was in the middle of a dream.
Though still unsure of what to do, he sat on his bed. On his left, in his small single bed, Rapidfire was sleeping like a baby, his chest rising and falling regularly. Soarin smiled. Simply watching a good friend sleeping so peacefully had made him kept his hooves firmly on the ground. He was not dreaming... But... He could not understand the reason why he had to open up his eyes, stolen from his sleep with the swiftness of an acrobatic figure. And he could not understand neither why he wanted a reason for this. There was something vibrating inside of him. There had to be a reason.
That was when something caught his attention.
It was nothing tangible, at least, that's what it seemed. Just some kind of muffled sound from the room next to his. Could he really have heard something so subtle ? Like a whisper or maybe a sigh.... Some sorte of hushed complaint as light as the wings of a butterfly brushing a petal... Yes, it had to be a mere illusion. But it was too late. Now, curiosity had taken over him. He had to see whether or not his mind was tricking him. He had to see whether or not it was destiny hidden behind this nightly awakening.
He stretched out his numb body, dragging himself out of his laziness. The floor was cold and it was a surprise with such a warm night. Like a shock. He waited a few seconds more, rubbing the wood with the tip of his hoof, mindless of potential splinters. And he heard it again, this muffled sound, as light as the first one. It seemed to come from another room. Rainbow Dash's?
Now, curiosity was at its max. Which kind of destiny could be fooling around with the night? Although Soarin feared a little what would happen next, he knew he would probably never get another chance to get such a gift from above. He went out of his bed completely and decided to leave the room on his tiphooves, careful about Rapidfire's fragile sleep. He froze, scared for a couple of seconds, while the door's knob creaked despite his discretion - since he knew the more cautious you tried to be; the least discretion was assured - and he left the room after he slept his body between the small gap between the frame and the door.
Compared to the warmth of the bedroom, the corridor was a bit cooler. Soarin chilled, then, a little tensed, trotted to the door on the left, where the muffled sound seemed to be clearer. He did not want to go into her room... He just wanted to identify the sound. Yet, once in front of the door, his heart started to pound within his chest faster than he could fly. What was this new feeling? He did not know and suddenly, he was no longer certain he wanted to know. Maybe it was possible to go against destiny, if destiny really had made him woke up in the middle of the night, guiding him inside his room towards Rainbow Dash's... His throat was dry. He was staring at the door, unsure of himself, waiting for a sign. Something that would help him to make up his mind. Shall he come in? Would he not regret it until the rest of his days? And what if he went back to his room, would he not regret it as well?
Slowly, he stepped closer and put a hoof on the wood of the door. Sticking his ear against it, Soarin closed his eyes and waited. And the sound came back again... This time, it was clearer. It was the first time he was eavesdropping yet Soarin felt his heart clenching, and told himself maybe he should better go back and never try to eavesdrop again. The muffled sound was like sobs. The only way to be sure of it would be to come in and see by himself. But he was not sure yet. She could interpret it as an intrusion. And... Was there any pony who really sobbed while sleeping?
Soarin stepped back and once again, stared at the door, waiting for another sign. Now, it was no longer about taking the decision to come in or to go back. If he really had an appointment with destiny, he knew it. There would be another sign. Here he was, in front of this door while everypony were asleep, waken up by he did not know what. Since the beginning, when he had opened up his eyes, he knew there had to be a reason. Someone behind this door, in this bedroom, needed him and no pony else. It was his sign.
He wiped away his damp forehead and slowly opened the door. Just like when he had crept out of his room, Soarin only let a little gap between the door and the frame and slept his body inside of it. The air in the room was as warm as in his and Soarin felt once again the difference of temperature with the corridor. This time, he had no chill. As strange as it seemed, the awkwardness he had felt earlier has flown away as soon as he had put a hoof inside this room. Now, he was filled up with a new feeling, as if he had been given the most important of all missions by Princess Luna herself, a mission for which he only had the necessary skills.
The curtains were opened here as well. Undoubtedly, it was destiny whom had guided his steps here. But it was not to glance at the poorly furnished bedroom of the latest mangled recruit that destiny had decided to play this alluring melody. Tonight, it was about something else, much more important.
Turning on the right, Soarin discovered Rainbow Dash, obviously sleeping yet her figure was rather different from the one, quiet and peaceful, of the eldest inside his own room. Lying on her back with her wings wide opened, her body looked shaken by weak convulsions, the quilts pushed away on her side. Despite what he had though first, it was possible to be sobbing while asleep. Here was the proof of it... And this proof was breaking his heart in two. He never had realized until now. But seeing Rainbow Dash suffering was highly unbearable to him.
Although this vision was hard to cope with, he had to do something and he knew it. Gathering all his courage, Soarin took a deep breath and came closer. He sat in front of her and took the quilts to put them back on her distressed body. He tucked her in, brother-like... Brother-like? He could try to deny yet in his gestures there was more than a plain "brother-like" impetus, there was a different kind of affection. No need to say it out loud, even if saying things out loud helped to make them seem more real. Inside, he knew it was true and it was more important than saying it out loud.
Now covered, her small body soothed down a little, as if she was aware of a sweet and warm presence beside her. But her face was still striked with tears. Soarin could not say why she was crying in her sleep but obviously, she was keeping some deep pain inside, a pain that was not able to express in any other way because, whatever happened, she wanted to be strong in front of everyone, she wanted to show them she could take care of herself. But no matter her reasons... He could guess the pain and there was no way he would wake Rainbow Dash up to ask her why was she sobbing in her sleep, especially as it would mean to explain why he was in her bedroom. All he could do was to comfort her as best as he could and to make her understand the depth of his own feelings through this comfort... To make her understand that, no matter the circumstances, he would always be there for her.
With as much softness as he could, Soarin wiped up the tears on her face, patient, protective, loving... He wanted to wipe them all away and to make sure no tears would ever roll over those cheeks again, though he knew he would never have such a power. Yet how hard he wished he had it... Sincerely. He wanted that to be true. But Soarin had no doubt about one thing: though he could not stop her from crying again, he could stop her from crying right now. Maybe it was not destiny whom had led him here tonight, after all... Whatever it was, he was glad he had a chance to do something for her. Something special.
Soarin left the floor on which he was still and crawled on the bed instead. Sitting beside Rainbow Dash within the small gap on her right, he caught her hooves and brought them around him. She did not wake up... Yet her own hooves squeezed Soarin's body, her wet cheeks rubbing against his stomach softly.
Quickly, her tears ran dry and her breath became regular. All the same, Soarin did not stop stroking her mane in the silence of this room with the moon as their only witness. It was as if time had stopped.. How he wanted to lie down by her sides, simply holding her between his hooves, embracing and comforting her althrough the night. But it was impossible. The magic of this moment would be broken as soon as the sun would start to appear. It was a secret between himself and the night, a sweet secret yet filled with melancholy, that he would keep forever, preciously buried inside his heart.
He would never forget the wonderful and satisfying sensation of being in tune with what he was feeling, just like tonight. But she did not have to know. Not yet.