//------------------------------//
// Chapter Two 
// Story: Heart of The Rainbow 
// by Malice In Wonderland 
//------------------------------//

One of the Wonderbolts rushed down faster than any of the others and caught Rainbow Dash not far from the ground. The others stared down at them from the clouds in awe. The impact of being caught woke her up. She opened her eyes and looked up at the pony who caught her. She couldn’t tell who it was, he was wearing his Wonderbolt uniform and glasses which covered his face.
 
He held her in his forehooves and carried her back up to the clouds. He set her down on her hooves and then pushed up his glasses to reveal his face, “Are you okay?” He asked her.
 
“Soarin…” She said staring up at him. Ever since Soarin had joined the Wonderbolts, Rainbow had had the biggest crush on him. And here he was, standing right in front of her, having just saved her life. “Umm, yeah. Yeah, I’m okay…” She said awkwardly, looking down at the cloud beneath her hooves.
 
“Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh… That was so embarrassing…” She thought to herself, her face turning a bright red.
 
Soarin looked down at her, his eyebrows knitted together in worry. His cheeks were flushed a light red. Rainbow didn’t know if it was because of the practice or because he liked her too. Before she could thank him for saving her, Spitfire darted over, “Dash! Are you okay?” She asked, she checked Rainbow Dash all over for injuries, her face expressing concern for her safety.
 
“Yes ma’am,” Rainbow said sounding slightly defeated, slightly ashamed that she had fallen asleep and disrupted practice. Spitfire seemed to relax a little.
 
“Good. I have to say that I am very disappointed that you didn’t take the proper precautions and tell me that you weren’t fit for practice today,” She said sternly. “But I am glad that you’re okay,” Spitfire smiled at her. But her expression stiffened again, “You need to get some rest. From now on, you’re going to have to build up your strength until you can keep up with the others during practice. I’ll lay out some separate drills for you to do tomorrow.”
 
With her expression still stern and in ‘coach mode’ she turned to face Soarin and asked, “Soarin, will you take her to the barracks?”
 
“Yes ma’am,” Soarin said with a nod. He led Rainbow to the barracks and to her room, staying close to her. “Look, Dash… Being a Wonderbolt is tough, it took me a while to catch up with the others during my first week too. There’s no need to be embarrassed. Ask any one of us, the story of all of our first week is just about the same,” He said with a smile.
 
A slight blush creeped up onto her face. “Thanks…” She said softly.
 
“And besides,” He turned to face her as they walked, “Practice isn’t meant to build strength. It’s meant to maintain the strength and endurance you already have and to work on synchronization with the rest of the team,” He smiled at her, “You just need some more time to build up the strength and endurance equal to the rest of us. Which shouldn’t take too long considering how tough and determined you are.” He smiled at her again.
 
Rainbow Dash smiled back, “Thanks Soarin. That makes me feel a lot better.” She said as they walked side by side back to her room. She was still really tired and a little dazed from her fall earlier but she tried to maintain her balance as to not collapse again.
 
He walked into her room with her, helped her take off her uniform and put her into bed. “Rainbow Dash…” He paused. “I just wanted to say that I’ve always kind of-”
 
He was interrupted by a loud snore coming from Rainbow. He looked at her and smiled, he stared at her for a minute, just watching her sleep. He heard Spitfire blow the whistle from outside and he hurried back outside for practice.
 
He trotted out of her room and the barracks to get back outside to finish practice. He pulled his glasses back over his eyes and flew into the air. “I wish I had the guts to tell Rainbow Dash that I like her…” He thought to himself.
 
Soarin had had a crush on Rainbow Dash since the day they met at the Grand Galloping Gala, ever since she saved his apple pie. He was impressed by her speed, bravery and confidence. None of the Wonderbolts noticed, but he did. He had mentioned her to Spitfire that night and since then the Wonderbolts had kept an eye on her.
 
At first his crush was just small, but it grew each and every time he saw her. Now that they were both Wonderbolts and they saw each other everyday, he didn’t know how much longer he could hide his crush from her. It became harder to hide everyday because everyday it grew more and more.