//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Soarin's Pie // by gcsmith //------------------------------// Flying as fast as she could, without drawing attention, Rainbow flew until the din of the stadium was a distant whisper. She looked around, and eventually found a cloud still left in the sky. It was rather high up, hence why it still remained, but it looked large and fluffy enough to support her. Settling herself down, she gazed at the ground far below, she was much higher up than usual but as long as she didn't nap there would be no risk of falling. It was colder up here, and the chill was already causing shivers along her back, she wouldn't be able to stay up here for long. Not that she intended to be up here for long, she needed to think and if the cold air kept her alert, all the better. A solitary tear fell onto the clouds spongy surface, disappearing almost instantly to one day fall as rain. Chiding herself, she blinked to removed the tears from her eyes. It didn't matter if they were from the stinging cold, or emotions, she didn't cry. It was a level she held herself too, unless injured, of course. After quickly composing herself, she sat their silently thinking about what had happened. She had lied to her friends, of course she was jealous, who wouldn't be? When a pony from the sports team you have loved all your life, and wished you could join, gave a ticket to your friend you were allowed to be jealous. Weren't you? Still, she shouldn't of taken it all out on her friends, they were only trying to help. And, it wasn't Pinkies fault Soarin gave her a ticket. Shaking her head, she sighed, she just didn't understand why Soarin gave her a ticket. Wasn't she, Rainbow Dash, the biggest Wonderbolts fan in Equestria? Didn't she save them at the young fliers competition? And, wasn't she the first pony in living memory to perform the Sonic Rainboom? She smacked her hoof against her head, ignoring the pain she repeated the action, again and again. It just didn't make sense. -x- The male changing room was quiet, the only sound the gentle snoring of Soarin and Twister, both ponies were napping. Twister was lying completely still on top of one of the benches, whereas Soarin's legs were twitching, obviously in time to some unknown dream. Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door to the room, this sudden noise causing both ponies to wake up. While Soarin opened his bleary eyes and stood up, Twister shot bolt up right, the sudden shock sending him sprawling into a nearby locker. It was while Twister was rubbing his sore head, that a chuckling, bleary eye Soarin opened the door. In the doorway stood Spitfire, her uniform already on, its blue contrasting with her bright yellow coat. "Uh, hey Captain are you alright?" The look on her face was stern, she was clearly in a no nonsense mood. Her gaze caused him to shrink back from her, stumbling over his own legs, taking this as an invitation she entered the room. "No Soarin, I am not alright." Her tone was clear and sharp, it felt like cold water had been chucked over his face. Soarin closed his eyes, awaiting a chiding which she was clearly ready to give, but none came. He peeked through his eyelids to see a small smile appearing on her face. "I'm half left..." she said, suddenly bursting into laughter. Soarin stood there bemused, shocked into stunned silence as Twister walked over, still clutching his head. "Did Spitfire just make a funny?" He looked at her standing there, laughing in front of the silent Soarin. "You know what? I think she did." Soon he was laughing too, leaving a silent Soarin who quietly excused himself from the room, for some reason he was far too nervous to laugh. As he entered the corridor, he could hear a buzzing of noise, looking out to the end of the corridor where it opened to the stadium ground, he could see the stands starting to fill. He gulped, normally he wasn't so nervous, but normally there wasn't a particular mare to impress either. As he began to think of Pinkie, his vision began to spin, nervousness was making him sick. Wanting to get some fresh air, he used the private exit to the stadium. As the door swung shut behind him, he breathed in heavily, the fresh air smelling sweet and revitalizing his body banishing his headache. Looking around, he noticed that luckily no fans were around to see him, and given he was out of uniform he should have some peace for at least a little bit. He trotted away from the stadium, and a sudden sound struck him, it was a scream. He looked up, and in the distance he could see a blob like shape falling towards the ground. He noticed the cyan colour and wings, it looked like a fellow pegasus was in trouble. Gritting his teeth and flexing his wings, he took off towards the falling pegasus, at least this would be a nice warm up.