Soarin had paid for their meal like he'd promised, though Rainbow Dash was resistant at first because she'd only been teasing about it. He didn't mind. They were back up in their room now, the two laying on their stomachs on the bed, Soarin's wing wrapped gently around Rainbow Dash's body. Tank was watching silently from a distance.
"I must've looked so stupid," Rainbow Dash said suddenly, embarrassment showing across her features.
"What? Dash, you couldn't help what happened," Soarin argued.
"So you agree with me then."
He blushed slightly, realizing just how not-smooth he was. "I didn't mean it like that! You didn't look stupid. I'm just sayin' that you shouldn't be thinking too hard about it. It's not your fault."
"Why not? I'm the one who caused all of it."
He sighed, hating to see her rag on herself like that. "You might've gone too far at some points, but they went too far with you. You didn't try to convince anyone you were dead, right?"
She shrugged. "I guess."
"If they wanted to teach you a lesson so badly, they should've, I dunno, just done the same pranks you did to them or something, or just try harder to talk to you. I don't know exactly what you did, but I'm sure you didn't deserve to be pranked like that."
"Maybe," she muttered.
"Maybe?"
Her gaze was distant. "This happened before."
"What?" Soarin asked. "Like, the exact same thing?"
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "There was this one time where I saved some ponies in Ponyville, so they were screaming my name and cheering for me. I was bragging about it, but they didn't really like it."
"The ponies?"
"My friends."
Just them? No one else? Soarin wondered.
"They didn't like it, so they dressed up as this Mare-Do-Well superhero to beat me at hero-ing so I could learn a lesson." She sighed. "It worked, I guess, but..."
"Did they talk to you about it before they did?" He got the expected shake of the head.
"Ponies tell me sometimes that I'm hard to convince, I don't know. It probably wouldn't have worked anyway."
"So?" Soarin's gaze hardened. "That doesn't mean they shouldn't try!"
Rainbow Dash looked over at him in surprise. His brows were noticeably furrowed, and she could see the slightest view of teeth at the corner of his mouth. Was he that upset about it?
She looked away, frowning. "...They really were better than me though."
Soarin watched silently as her head met with the bed, her hooves moving to shield her face further.
"They fixed the dam when I couldn't. They saved a careening carriage when I couldn't. I wanted to keep being the hero, but then everypony just... forgot about me once they came along."
Soarin wasn't sure how to respond, seeing Rainbow Dash in such a vulnerable state. She wasn't crying or sobbing, but her voice was lacking its usual confidence. It made sense, he figured; every time she boosted herself up, she got knocked right back down. He doubted that every bit of her confidence was a facade, but he couldn't imagine how she could feel, needing that validation only to be shot down every time.
Then there was the fact that she was even an Element of Harmony, which only meant something for maybe a day after she'd saved Equestria with her friends. After that, it'd died down immediately. He realized; it wasn't that she wanted recognition, but that she needed recognition. To feel content with herself was to be confident in herself, but that often led to ponies misjudging her and anticipating her to be less reasonable than she actually was. They misunderstood her because they didn't understand her.
But Soarin did.
"So what?"
Rainbow Dash shifted to glance up at him, confused at what he meant.
He continued, "Those ponies are just petty. Some new hero comes along and all of a sudden, it's about them and not you? Just because they did some heroic stuff doesn't mean it takes back the stuff you did. And besides..."
She was listening with wide eyes, and Soarin smiled, lightly nudging her. "They saved ponies to teach you a lesson. You saved ponies to save ponies. Maybe you did it a little for yourself afterwards, but you started out because you're... well, because you're awesome that way, you know?"
He grinned shyly, hoping he got his message across without sounding like a complete dork. At first, he feared he's said too much, as Rainbow Dash was just staring at him wordlessly, but then she chuckled, the lightest of blushes on her face.
"Thanks."
He mentally sighed with relief. "Hey, it's why I'm here, Dash."
He swallowed sheepishly as she leaned against him, his own face now matching hers. He'd never really snuggled with anyone else, but it definitely wasn't a bad thing if it was Rainbow Dash.
The kiss briefly resurfaced into his mind, bringing him back to their earlier contact. He was honestly surprised she hadn't brought it up, as he figured he would've been pushed away.
But he wasn't, was he? Granted, she never kissed back, but she didn't resist either; she relaxed instead.
And he'd enjoyed it immensely. Was that wrong? He wasn't sure. He'd actually liked Rainbow Dash romantically for a long while. He wasn't sure when it clicked, but there was just something about her that he couldn't deny. The kiss itself wasn't planned in the slightest, and he admittedly felt a bit bad because he didn't like the idea of stealing a kiss from somepony, but it worked, so he couldn't complain.
"Hey, Soar?"
His ears perked at attention. She sounded more firm all of a sudden. "Y-yeah, Dash?"
Was he in trouble?
"About earlier..."
Ponyfeathers. He was in trouble, wasn't he?
He gulped nervously, trying to reassure her. "I-I'm sorry about that. I mean, I was just panicking and you're so cool that I—"
Open mouth, insert hoof.
To his surprise, Rainbow Dash suddenly burst into laughter. "No no. That's not what I mean!"
He blushed at her laughing, but found himself confused. What did she mean then?
"It was pretty awesome. That's what I was talking about."
"Awesome?" he asked, perplexed as to why she'd think so. He briefly wondered if maybe she'd enjoyed it, but no, that wasn't...
"Yeah." She had her gaze averted from him, but he could see her red cheeks.
So she did enjoy it. Soarin smiled like the total goof that he was.
Rainbow Dash was quiet for a moment, still staring off into the distance, but Soarin flinched in surprise as he felt her wing on his back, even checking just to make sure she'd put it there.
"Hey. So, we can skip all that mushy stuff, right?"
He looked at her, seeing that she was smiling; still staring at the wall, probably with embarrassment, but smiling. A genuine smile that wasn't a mask.
Soarin nodded. "Oh yeah, definitely! I mean, you don't want me bringin' you a bunch of flowers or anything, right?"
Rainbow Dash gagged, sticking her tongue out. "No way!"
She turned to him, placing a hoof on his chest. "And you don't want me callin' you dumb nicknames like 'sweetheart' or 'honey' or whatever, yeah?"
Soarin laughed at the mental image. "I'm pretty sure I'd never talk to you again if you did!"
She laughed with him, all her earlier panic steadily draining away. He leaned against her, head under hers as he brushed against her neck. He giggled at her reaction, which was nothing but making a soft squeaking noise in surprise. Gross nicknames were a fat nope, but it looked like nuzzling and snuggles were a-okay.
As long as nopony else had to see of course, which was fine by him. He had her now, and that's all he wanted.