Cloudsdale. The city of the skies, made of clouds and capital of all of Equestria's weather. Here, we find Equestria's number one flight team, the Wonderbolts, in their changing room after a big aerial show.
"Whoo! Aw yeah!" Soarin Skies, second in command of the illustrious flying team, yelled after getting out of the shower. "That was some show!"
"Sure was!" Soarin's teammate Fleetfoot replied. "Definitely worth those extra six hours of practice." She then rubbed her left wing, pulling it with her hooves. "Though I don't think I'll be able to fly like that for a week..."
"Well luckily you won't have to," the captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire, told them as she stepped into the room. "As a special treat for all your hard work, I'm giving you all a weeks vacation."
An uproar of cheers filled the changing room as the rest of the Wonderbolts celebrated. They were truly happy that would get the chance to rest their wings after all the hard work they had been putting into practice. As they did, Soarin let out a long sigh as he headed towards his locker, slowly opening it as he fought back a yawn. "Thank goodness. I don't think I could do another show like that either."
A little while later, the Wonderbolts had all finished changing. They were now making their way out of the Wonderbolts Headquarters and on their way home. As they were preparing to leave, they all talked about what they were planning to do on their week long vacation.
"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna be sleeping in every day this week." That was Misty Fly, telling Fleetfoot her plans.
"I might go visit the folks." Fleetfoot replied, rubbing her chin in thought. "I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to see much of them."
"What about you Soarin?" Misty asked Soarin, who was just about to fly off.
He just shrugged. "Not sure. Sleeping in sounds good, and going to see my family is also a nice idea...I'll have to think about it."
"Sure thing...Clipper." Fleetfoot joked, getting an amused roll of the eyes from him at the mention of his nickname. "See you next week." With that, she and Misty flew off, leaving Soarin alone.
"See ya." Soarin called back before flexing his own wings and taking to the skies in the opposite direction. As he was flying, he thought about what he could do to kill time for the next week.
Despite what he had said, he probably wouldn't sleep in anyway. He had always been an early bird, as it was a habit that he had developed from years of early morning practices since colthood. He also couldn't go visit his parents, since they were currently on vacation in Fillydelphia. So what could he do, aside from spending the week eating junk food and binge read Daring Do?
Then, Soarin arrived home, a large yet basic cloud building on the edge of Cloudsdale. He quickly headed inside to get something to eat. Arriving in his kitchen, he opened his fridge and found what he was looking for: a large slice of blueberry pie, one he had been saving up for after the show. He took it out of the fridge and took it over to the oven, quickly turning up the heat inside the machine.
"Let's see...here we go." Soarin said to himself as he turned a few knobs. He let out a long sigh as he finished the preparations. "And now...the wait."
As he waited for it to be the right temperature, Soarin looked around his kitchen and caught sight of several pictures he had hanging on the wall. Some were of him and his family, while others were from Wonderbolt events. His eyes then caught sight of the newest picture to be hung up, one depicting him and the rest of his team performing during the Fantasia Parade. Soarin simply smiled at the portrait, chuckling at the memories of the festival. Despite how horrible the Fantasia Festival had turned out, what with the whole town being forced to fight one another, the parade afterword had been great...especially since he got to fly alongside her.
One of the pegasi in the photo, who was flying right next to Soarin, kept his focus the most. Rainbow Dash.
Ever since meeting her at the Best Young Flyers Competition, which involved her saving him from plummeting to his death, Miss Rainbow Dash had been at the forefront of his mind on many occasions. He had been rather disappointed when Spitfire had chosen to do most of the solo training during the day Rainbow was supposed to fly with them, meaning Soarin only got to fly with her alongside the rest of his team. Luckily for him, they had met up once again at the Grand Galloping Gala and then they got to hang out during the morning of the Fantasia Festival. Finally, they got to fly side by side during the parade, where Rainbow had proven her own skill in performing the Fantasia Flash perfectly.
But since then, due to his Wonderbolt training and her living in another town, he hadn't had a chance to see her. The thought alone made him let out a long, almost painful sigh. He took a small look at the oven, the timer still going up for the temperature. "Still going..."
As he whispered that to himself, he looked back at the pictures, only for certain idea to pop into his head. He had a whole week off starting tomorrow, meaning he could go see her. Though as soon as that thought popped into his head, he instantly dismissed it. He knew he would look pretty creepy if he went there just to see a mare he barely knew. That is, till he looked at another picture on the wall.
It was him and his old orange pegasi friend, Flash Sentry. The pic was when Soarin had gone to Flash's birthday a few years back. Flash had asked for it to be held at Donut Joe's, one of his favorite places to eat...after Flash had gotten on the good side of the owner after years of stealing from him. The duo had two big grins on their faces after they had eaten a whole buffet of donuts, their faces completely messy and filled with donut jelly. (Though Soarin did bring a pie for himself, which Flash didn't mind due to him knowing Soarin's pie loving nature) It was here that another idea popped into his head. What if he went and saw his old friend who happened to live in the same town as the mare? It would be perfectly normal to meet up with Flash, and he knew that him and Flash had some stuff to catch up on anyways.
Soarin smiled as his brilliant idea, until the smell of burning pie caught his nose.
"Oh crud!" he exclaimed as he rushed back to the oven. Despite this hiccup, Soarin couldn't help but smile at the thought of a week of hanging out with one of his closest friends. That and hopefully, he could meet up again with the mare he had thinking about constantly.
Once he had finished eating his slightly browned dessert, he went to bed in an instant. After all, sleep would make the next day happen even faster.
The Next Morning...
The small town of Ponyville was enjoying a rare moment of peace.
There was no big event that the whole town was preparing for. No major threats such as a swarm of parasprites eating the place, or a horde of Speed Stinger ransacking the town. Today, everypony could just sit back and relax.
Except for Flash and Twilight.
They were currently on their way to the town hall, where they had agreed to meet Mayor Mare. As they reached the building, a portion of the town's pegasi and unicorn population were with the mayor, causing the duo to smile.
"Ah, right on time you two. Thanks again for agreeing to help out." The mayor said as she saw the two trot up to her.
Twilight shook her head, smiling. "No problem mayor. I'm always happy to lend my organisation skills to help Ponyville."
Flash nodded. "Same here. Happy to lend a hoof."
"Good. I'll leave you two in charge then."
With that, the mayor walked back inside the hall, leaving the two to turn to the other ponies. Twilight then clapped her hooves, getting everypony's attention. "Alright, I assume everypony knows what they're doing?"
They all shared a glance before turning back to her. One of the pegasi then spoke up, "Well...we were told that we'd be painting houses."
"In a way," Twilight replied before turning around. There, she pointed to another pony, who was pulling a cart with several cans of paint. "Ah, you're here Doc. Good. Do you have enough paint?"
"Indeed." Time Turner replied before unhooking himself from the wagon and showed them the cans. "This should be enough for the whole town."
"Excellent," Twilight said as she levitated the cans over to the workponies. "Alright, listen up. This is a special anti lightning paint that we're going to coat every building in town with. Its designed to protect the houses from damage during a lightning storm. Understand?"
The workponies all nodded and each moved over to take a can and a brush. Then, a certain dragon and jakhowl walked up to the cans, which made the dragon grumble in frustration. "Remind me again why we agreed to help?"
"Because it's the right thing to do," Springer replied, nudging him.
Spike just sighed. "Maybe...but I better be getting some good gems out of this."
"Eh, cheer up buddy." Flash said, patting Spike on the head. "Don't worry, this won't take too long."
With that, the group of ponies began their work, Twilight directing everypony as Flash and Time handed out the paints and brushes.
Meanwhile...
Soarin was flying towards Ponyville, feeling the wind under his wings. He was surprised at how much he was enjoying the simple thrill of flying, noticing that he didn't have to worry about being perfect in front of a large crowd or trying to win against his fellow Wonderbolts. That or he was feeling a tiny bit of anxiety as he got closer to the town.
Then, the small town came into view and Soarin began to descend. Remembering that Flash told him about living in a tree shaped library, Soarin began to search the town for it. However, he wasn't looking for long when he noticed a large group of ponies outside of what he assumed was the town hall. Taking a quick look at the group, the Wonderbolt caught a glimpse of an orange and blue pony on the ground. Smirking, Soarin quickly nosedived and landed near the pony. "Flash!" He called out as he tapped the pony on the side, causing them to turn around and...see that he was actually a unicorn. "Oh..." Soarin said as he backed away from the orange unicorn with a blue mane and tail. "Sorry. Thought you were somepony else."
"Don't sweat it," the unicorn replied as he levitated a can of paint and a brush before walking off.
Soarin just sighed at this. "Well that was embarrassing. Maybe I should-"
"Soarin? Is that you?"
Soarin turned around, looking for the voice's owner. There, he saw a certain orange pegasus standing near a cart. Smirking at the sight, the blue pegasi walked up to him, the tow quickly spinning around before slapping each other's tails.
"Hey bro!" Flash said as they finished their usual greeting. "What are you doing here?"
Soarin chuckled, shrugging. "Eh, I got some time off and...let's just say I decided to come and see what Ponyville is all about."
"Oh. Well, it's good to see you bro but-" Flash tried to say, only for another voice to speak up.
"Flash!" the two turned to see Twilight trotting up to them. "You're supposed to be helping, not chatting. Why can't you-" It was at this moment that she noticed the other pegasus, smiling as she recognized him. "Soarin? What are you doing here?"
"Just came to hang out," Soarin replied.
"Ah. Well, its good to see you-" Twilight said before frowning as she looked at the group of ponies waiting for them. "But I'm afraid Flash is a little busy."
"He is?" Soarin asked, only to then get an explanation from Flash and Twilight about the paint and how they had offered to help. As they finished, Soarin's ears flopped down in slight disappointment. "Oh...lousy timing, huh? I guess I could wait for you to finish."
"You sure?" Flash asked with a cocked eyebrow, "It'll take a few hours. You might get a bit...bored."
"We'd hate for you to waste your vacation time waiting for us," Twilight added.
"It's cool." Soarin said with a slight shrug. "I'll find something to do."
"If you're sure," Flash said, only to get a nod from Soarin. "Alright. We'll see you later then." With that, Flash and Twilight rushed off to complete their work.
"Sure will," Soarin called out before sighing in defeat. Now he had to find something to do until Flash was done, in a town he didn't know or have anypony to tell him about it.
"Maybe a nap will make the time pass," he said before taking to the skies. He began to gather multiple clouds into a single large cloud until it was what he would class as the perfect spot. Once that was done, he sat on the cloud before pulling a part of the cloud to make it act as a blanket.
As he tried to get comfortable, which was something that would usually be easy to accomplish on a cloud bed, yet he felt like he was wasting time. Granted, he should have known Flash would be busy as Flash was hardly ever not doing something to help somepony out, and he should have thought about sending a message ahead of time to his friend. With this thought in mind, he started to drift off to sleep, hoping Flash wil have finished after waking.
Then maybe, just maybe...he would get to see her.
Rainbow Dash was bored.
She had finished her weather duties and wasn't in the mood to do any stunt training, so she was stuck with nothing to do. Unfortunately, all her friends were currently busy, either with bucking apples, sowing dresses, looking after a pair of twins and or taking care of animals and painting the town. In fact, she was so bored that she almost wished she had agreed to help Flash and Twilight with the house painting thing...almost.
"Ugh. Why is everything so...lame today?" she whined to herself as she lazily flew through town. "Come on Rainbow, there's gotta be something awesome you can do until the others are free. Think...think...THINK!" However, no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't think of anything fun to do. The only thing she could think of was hanging out with her pet tortoise Tank, but quickly dismissed it when she remembered that he was probably still asleep after the late night they had from practising their flying skills.
"Darn it!" She cried as she just flew around. "Why is there nothing fun to do right now?! Why is...wait a minute..."
It was here that she saw all the clouds she had positioned in the sky for shade today were gone. She came to a small stop to judge for wind, only to notice there wasn't any right now. The pegasus then began to spin around, looking for the clouds. "What the heck? Did somepony mess with Ponyville's cloud schedule?" she asked herself, knowing that no pegasi from Ponyville would dare mess with her cloud arrangement.
That is, till she spotted a single large cloud floating near town hall. She locked on to the arrangement, quickly narrowing her eyes as anger began to flare on her face. Thinking somepony had done it to annoy her, she quickly flew under the white tuft, cricking her neck as she arrived beneath the cloud. She didn't know who did this, but she knew she would make them pay for messing with her job.
However, she knew she needed to do her job first.
Positioning herself correctly under the cloud, she turned around and aimed her back legs by looking over her shoulder. She knew if she didn't do this right, she could accidently destroy the cloud, thereby ruining the cloud count needed for today. Instead, she would kick it in just the right way that it would split back into several smaller clouds that she could rearrange. Once she had the right angle, Rainbow kicked her legs back and struck the cloud. Just like she had wanted, the clouds split into several smaller clouds, which were blown away. However, in doing so, something large and blue flew out of the clouds before it dropped like a stone.
"AAAAHHHHH!" The blue thing yelled as it fell to the earth before smashing into the ground with a loud thud.
"Ooohhhh," Rainbow grimaced. "That had to hurt." She flew down to check to see if the pony was alright. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm ok-owww..." the pony replied as he picked himself up, groaning as he felt a small pain in back. He then turned around, causing Rainbow to see his face.
Rainbow's heart almost stopped when she saw that face. It was Soarin Skies, her favourite Wonderbolt and all time idol. Inside her head she was screaming, Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Soarin Skies is here and I...just knocked him out of the sky and made him crash into the ground. NOOO!!! Why did I do that?!
Soarin likewise was having his own inner struggle, seeing the mare he had come to Ponyville for now floating right in front of him. She appeared to be frozen in midair, with the only thing moving being her wings to keep her elevated. Finally, Soarin decided to break the silence.
"Er...Rainbow?" He spoke, obvious concern showing on his face. "You okay?"
This caused Rainbow to snap out of her trance, quickly hovering up to his face. "Am I okay?! What about you?! Are you okay?!" She then began flying around him, checking ever inch of his body. "I didn't hurt you did I? A broken wing or a slipped disk? Please tell me I didn't just ruin the career of my favorite Wonderbolt."
"Rainbow, I'm fine." Soarin said as he flexed one of his wings. "See? It takes more then a fall to end this Wonder-wait...I'm your favorite Wonderbolt?"
Rainbow's face suddenly changed from cyan to deep red. "No!" She immediately blurted. "I uh, I mean...that fall obviously caused you to start hearing things! Yeah! I didn't say that!"
"I...guess?" Soarin replied, though he tried to not smirk at what he had just heard.
"So anyway..." Rainbow said as she rubbed the back of her head. "What are you doing here?"
"I got some time off, so I decided to come hang out with Flash. But he was too busy with the whole...anti-lighting paint thing? Something like that..."
"Yeah..." Rainbow chuckled, shrugging slightly. "I was supposed to help with that, but..."
"I get it," Soarin told her. "You're not into painting the town, are you?"
Rainbow nodded before asking, "So...since Flash was busy, you were taking a nap?"
"Yeah." Soarin replied before giving a deadpan stare. "And I was enjoying it to until somepony knocked me out of the sky."
Once again, Rainbow blushed. "Yeah, sorry...wait a minute!" Rainbow's blush disappeared as she started glaring at the stallion. "No, I'm not sorry. You messed up my cloud arrangement!"
"I did?" Soarin asked, almost backpedaling.
"Yes, you did. I'm Ponyville head weatherpony and I determine how many clouds Ponyville gets and where they need to be." She let out a huff before glancing upward. "Now I've gotta put them back the way they were." With that, Rainbow took off, quickly grabbing the clouds as she started moving them around. As she did, Soarin just blinked at the sight before flexing his wings.
"Hey! Why don't I give you a hoof?" Soarin asked as he flew up and grabbed a nearby cloud. "Just tell me where you want it."
Rainbow gave him a quizzical look, before nodding and telling him where she wanted it. This went on for several minutes until they finally had the clouds back in order. As they did, the duo flew back to the ground as Rainbow let out a small sigh. She looked back up, making sure the clouds were exactly where they needed to be. "Hmm...that should be it."
"Great!" Soarin said before turning to her. "Hay, wanna get a snack? My treat since I uh...ruined everything. Sorry about that."
"Its cool." Rainbow replied, shrugging before giving a slight smirk. "And sure, why not? I'm up for a bite."
"Good..." Soarin said before looking around, slightly chuckling. "Though uh...you'll need to show me the best place to get snacks."
"I know just the place. Follow me." she replied before taking off and heading towards their destination, Soarin following after.
As they flew, the two of them were lost in thought at their current situation.
Soarin couldn't believe his plan had gone better then he had thought. Instead of bumping into her by chance, and hoping for a five minute chat, he was getting to actually hang out with her. This was a hundred times better then he had hoped, especially considering that he didn't even know if he would have met her if he hung out with Flash.
Rainbow's thoughts weren't as...calm as Soarin's. Instead, they were more on the side of: Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I'm flying side by side with Soarin! And on my own! It was true that this was the first time the two of them had ever been alone together, especially since the past few times they were either with the Wonderbolts or her friends. Now they were on their own...together that is, in Rainbow's mind. Wow...its almost like we're on a da-NO! No no no! Bad Rainbow! You don't go on dates. You're not some girly girl like Rarity. You're the super awesome flyer, Rainbow Dash, who doesn't go on dates. This is just two awesome flyers hanging out, getting something to eat and maybe discuss flying skills or something, who knows? That's all this is. Nothing else.
As her thoughts continued to drift, Rainbow slowly descended as she saw the restraint in the distance, where Soarin quickly followed. There, she landed in front of Sugarcube Corner, where she pointed at the restraint. "This is it. The best place to get snacks in all of Ponyville."
"Looks great," Soarin said, subconsciously licking his lips. "You think they do pies in here?"
"Its one of Pinkie Pie's specialities," Rainbow assured him.
Soarin shined a huge grin. "Great!" Soarin exclaimed before giving her an almost glare. "But don't expect me to share."
Rainbow shrugged. "That's cool. I'm not really a big pie fan."
"Seriously?" Soarin asked in amazement.
"Yeah," Rainbow replied, leaning over to whisper in his ear. "Just don't tell Pinkie."
Soarin nodded as his grin grew even wider. "Nice. That just means more pie for me."
With that, the two stepped inside, where they found Pinkie standing at the counter. "Hey Rainbow!" she said as she saw her pegasus friend enter until she saw Soarin, causing her eyes to almost go wide. "Oh! Somepony new? Wait...I know you. You're that pony that Rainbow has a poster of in her room."
Rainbow once again went bright red, while Soarin just gave her a smirking look.
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" She screamed loudly, quickly turning away from the two. "Its just a poster of the...whole team."
"If you say so," Soarin chuckled before moving over to the counter. "What pies would you recommend?"
"You should try a slice of my new cherry and apple recipe," Pinkie replied as he pulled a slice out of thin air. "Sweet Apple Acres apples mixed with Cherry Hill cherries. Their yummy yum yum!"
"Sounds delicious," Soarin cheered before taking the slice. He licked his lips again before turning to Rainbow. "And for you?"
Rainbow thought for a moment before smirking. "I'll have a blueberry muffin and a strawberry milkshake."
"Righty-o!" Pinkie nodded before she pulled the order out of thin air. Again.
After Soarin payed for their order and Pinkie rushed into the back at the sound of a screaming foal, the two moved over to a table to enjoy their food. "So," Soarin said as before shoving a mouthful of pie down his throat. "Tell me about yourself."
"You wanna know about me?" Rainbow asked, her eyes shrinking in pure shock.
Soarin on the other hoof, shrugged before wiping his mouth with his napkin. "Sure. I mean, it's almost a guarantee that you'll one day become a Wonderbolt, so it makes sense to get to know you."
Rainbow smiled at the complement. "Well, what do yah wanna know?"
Soarin thought for a moment, tapping his chin before a simple question popped into his head. "Say...how about how you got your Cutie Mark?"
Rainbow's mouth quickly turned into a smile as she started her story. She told him about how at flight camp she had defended her friend Fluttershy from a group of bullies. How she challenged them to a race and during it, she had performed her first Sonic Rainboom and earned her Cutie Mark. That and making her realize her love of racing and winning.
"And that is how my need for speed was born," Rainbow finished, leaning back in her chair with her hooves behind her head. "Pretty cool, huh?"
"Sounds awesome," Soarin told her as he finished the last of his pie. "I wish I got my Cutie Mark like that."
"Well, how did you get yours?" Rainbow asked before looking embarrassed. "It's just...you know, a Wonderbolt's bound to have an awesome story."
Soarin just gave off a soft chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's not really that great."
"Oh come on!" Rainbow told him, waving her hoof. "I told you mine. There's no way it could be lame if you're a Wonderbolt!"
Soarin stared at her for a second, causing her to shrink back a little. Right before she was about to speak up and apologize, Soarin leaned back and said, "Alright, fair enough. I'll tell you my Cute Mark story." Rainbow perked up after hearing this, making Soarin quickly continue, "Well...to start off, I wasn't always an amazing flyer."
"You weren't?" Rainbow asked in amazement. It sounded insane to think that a Wonderbolt wasn't a naturally gifted flyer.
"Nope. In fact, the first time I tried to fly, I ended up falling almost a mile off of Cloudsdale before my dad caught me."
"Wow."
"Yeah..." Soarin replied as he looked up at the ceiling, "I was really scared after that. I never wanted to try flying again. I thought for sure I was meant to be an earth pony...that is, till I saw them."
"Them?"
Soarin just smirked as he looked back at her. "The Wonderbolts." Now it was Rainbow's turn to smile as he started his story. Soarin gave a slight shrug as his smirk got bigger. "It started when my parents took me to see one of their shows. It was the first time I had ever saw them perform, and I mesmerized by it. It was like...it was like it was hypnotic. Like somepony had flicked a switch in my head and couldn't stop staring. In fact, I was so focused on their performance that I didn't realise I was flying just by looking at them. That and my dad grabbed me and pulled me back into my seat." Rainbow let out a giggle as she imagined that, causing Soarin's smile to grow even more. "After that, I was always trying to fly. I knew from the moment I saw them that I wanted to be a Wonderbolt."
"That's just like me."
"Yeah," Soarin replied before his smile turned into a frown. "However, that didn't mean I was just gonna become a Bolt though. When I told my parents that, they definitely...humored me, but I could tell they thought it was just a foalish dream. After all, they knew how afraid I was of flying due to the earlier accident. In fact, even when I got older and kept saying I wanted to be a Bolt, they started telling me that it might not be possible. Nearly everypony told me the same thing, that I would never be that good."
Rainbow expression darkened at this. How could anypony tell somepony to give up on their dreams? It didn't make sense. She wanted to ask who Soarin's parents were just so she could give them a piece of her mind.
That is, till Soarin continued. "I wanted to prove them wrong. So...I started practising harder than anypony. I spent every ounce of my time training for flying. Heck, I practically did nothing else. I did it for years...until one day, I entered the best young flyers contest."
"The one I entered?" Rainbow asked, pointing at herself.
Soarin nodded. "Yup. And just like yours, my contest had a day flying with the Wonderbolts as a prize. Everypony told me not to enter, that I would just be making a fool of myself, but I didn't listen. I entered...and I won."
Rainbow smiled at this, imagining the shocked looks on everypony's faces when he did so.
"I'll never forget the day I met my hero, Wind Rider. He was there on that day...heck, I spent more time with him than any other Bolt." Soarin chuckled at the memory, a growing smirk on his face. "And at the end of the day, I asked him whether he thought I could be a Wonderbolt."
"What did he say?"
Soarin just smiled. "He told me that as long as I believed I could be one, then I could. The next thing I know, there was a flash of light and my Cutie Mark showed up."
"The Wonderbolt symbol." Rainbow gasped, slightly staring at the tattoo on his flank.
"Yep. Ever since then, everyone supported me and I was eventually accepted into the Bolts."
"That's awesome," Rainbow said before a glum expression almost appeared on her face. "Wish I could have been there to see it."
"Same with me seeing your first Sonic Rainboom. That sounds like a foal's dream come true."
"No kidding." Rainbow replied, twirling the straw in her milkshake. The two lingered over a sudden awkward silence, not know what to say next. A few minutes passed before another question popped into her head. "Say uh...what's it like being a Wonderbolt? You know, the team and everything?"
Soarin raised an eyebrow before answering. "Honestly? Its cool...though it can be totally stressful sometimes. Especially when Spitfire wants to do like...ten stunt shows in a row."
"Ten shows?!"
"Oh yeah. She's that image obsessed." Soarin grumbled, placing his head on the table. "In fact, there's days where I'm pretty sure everypony would rather just be a military unit than a stunt team because of her. I'm convinced she actually doesn't like the fact that the Wonderbolts are Equestria's air force."
Rainbow was taken back by this. "Really? I've always heard Spitfire is more of a military pony, like Iron or Flash."
"That's just for the cameras. Trust me." Soarin replied, rolling his eyes. "It also doesn't help that she got her position a little after I got into the Bolts."
As he said this, another question popped into Rainbow's head due to what she had just said. "Say...how did you meet Flash?"
"Hmm? Why do you want to know that?"
"Just curious. I mean, I know you two are pals and uh...I definitely know he isn't and doesn't want to be a Wonderbolt." Rainbow shrugged again. "I'm surprised you two are friends considering the big difference there."
Soarin lifted up and tapped his chin in thought. "Hmm...yeah, that's definitely true." Soarin then gave her a knowing smirk. "At the same time, the reason I met Flash was because I was a Wonderbolt."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah. And oh boy was I surprised when I first met him." Soarin shook his head, chuckling at the memory. "I'll never forget that day."
Rainbow tilted her head in curiosity. "What happened?"
"Well..."
The Past...
"You want me to what?" Soarin asked in a dumbfounded tone to his superior, Spitfire, who was currently sitting behind a desk filled with paperwork.
"I want you to go to Canterlot for three weeks to help out with some pegasi military training there." Spitfire replied in a deadpan manner. "And I don't want to hear any complainants about it either."
"I-" Soarin tried to say before closing his mouth. He knew he had to choose his next words carefully as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. "With all do respect ma'am, I just joined the Wonderbolts-"
"Three months ago. I know Soarin." Spitfire interrupted, shuffling some papers as she did. "However, due to certain restraints on our own staff, also combined with the fact that the pony in this situation is asking for a stallion from the Wonderbolts for this assignment, I don't have much choice."
"They're asking for a stallion? Why?"
"Don't know, don't care." Spitfire grumbled before finding the document she was looking for. She then handed it to the young Bolt. "Here, take a look."
Soarin grabbed the paper and began to read, his eyes scanning the document. A few seconds later, he started blinking as he started talking aloud. "I hereby declare, and proved by royal decree, that the guard request one to five stallion pegasi of the Wonderbolts to the guard in Canterlot, signed...GRAND HOOF?!" Soarin looked back up in amazement. "Wait...does this mean, that Grand Hoof?!"
"Yup." Spitfire hissed, leaning back in her chair as she rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. "And I'm only giving one of us to those money-grubbing noble Canterlot idiots."
"B-b-b-but ma'am! This is Grand Hoof, the war hero!" Soarin exclaimed, tapping the paper. "Surely you don't mean to just send me to help him! I just got done with aerial combat training three months ago! Its how I got into the Bolts!"
"I know and I intend to only send you, and you alone." Spitfire spat before leaning over to the stallion. "We need every Bolt here. If I have to lose soliders to some other military unit because of the royal decree, I will do so with losing as little amount of soldiers as possible." Spitfire's face got dangerously close to Soarin's. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes ma'am. I'll start packing." Soarin squeaked.
"Good." Spitfire leaned back, though she was still glaring at him. "And remember, once this is done, you come straight back here. I need every Bolt here all the time."
"Okay."
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Rainbow interrupted, a skeptical look on her face. "Spitfire seriously said that? The leader of the Bolts said that?"
Sooarin shrugged. "Eh, I might be misremembering some stuff. I do know she didn't like the idea...though maybe not that harshly." He then sat his head back down on the table. "Let's just say that I haven't been agreeing with Spitfire's 'ten shows in a row' methods lately. I'm allowed to be a little bias in my storytelling here."
"Ah...that makes sense." Rainbow rubbed her chin in thought before a certain thought popped into her head. "Say, you said the document for you to leave was from Grand Hoof, right?"
"Yup."
"Does that mean he uh...summoned you to teach Flash?"
"Yup."
"Huh. Guess you were meant to be friends then." Rainbow replied, surprised at the easy answer. That is, till-
"True. Though I didn't think it was going to go that way when I first met him."
"What do you mean?"
Soarin lifted his head up again, a slight smirk on his face. "Let's just say that the first day in Canterlot was quite the doozy."
"How so?"
"Well for starters, I also met Twilight and Princess Celestia for the first time that day." Soarin then shivered at the memory. "And I found a new thing to fear."
"What was that?"
"Twilight."
"Pfft-HA!" Rainbow almost did a spittake at the idea. "Seriously? You're scared of the egghead?"
"No." Soarin admitted with a small smirk. "I'm not scared of her. Just her...younger self. You see..."
The Past...
"Whoa...its even bigger than I thought." Soarin gasped as he looked up at Canterlot Castle. He was now sitting at the castle's front gate, his jaw almost dropping at the sheer size of the building. All gaping for a few minutes, his brain told him to get back to work, causing him to put his hoof in his saddlebag, quickly pulling out a small letter. "Right. Aerial combat training. Sounds like fun for three weeks." he deadpanned as he looked the letter over. "Okay...let's do this."
The young pony then walked up to the main gate, quickly showing off the letter to the guards. After a few seconds of looking the letter over, they let him pass. Satisfied, Soarin made his way into the castle...only to instantly get lost. And he only walked down two hallways. His eyes were spinning as he started down his third hallway. "What is up with this place?! Why is it so big?!" he asked himself as he trotted back in forth. "Its like it was made to be a maze..."
"Hello!" a new voice behind Soarin said, causing him to turn around. The voice's owner was a orange pegasus with blue hair and looked just a year younger than Soarin. Soarin looked him over for a second as the other pony continued to talk. "Are you lost? You look confused and...I don't think I've ever seen you here before."
"Um...yeah. I'm new here." Soarin replied, readjusting myself. "Who are you? You don't look like a guard or uh..."
"Servant?" the pegasus finished for him, chuckling as he did. He then waved his hoof before extending it out to Soarin. "Nah. I'm Flash, knight-in-training. Who are you?"
Soarin quickly took the hoof and shook it. "Soarin. I'm a member of the Wonderbolts."
As soon as those words left Soarin's mouth, Flash's head tilted as confusion spread over his face.
"Wonderbolts?"
The question made Soarin pause for a second. He wasn't sure about what he just heard. Blinking, he then asked, "Yeah, you have heard of them, right? I mean, you're a pegasus. Of course you have."
Flash shook his head, his expression still showing both confusion and a oblivious innocence. "Er...no. I haven't."
"WHAT?!" the blue pegasus's jaw dropped in pure shock at this. He then walked up to Flash, tapping his chest with some force. "You're joking, right? Tell me your joking."
"No." Flash replied, not even blinking. "Never heard of them."
"Okay...this is weird." Soarin began scratching the side of head, now realizing that Flash was not lying. "If that's the case, I guess I'm gonna have to introduce you to them." He then extended his hoof again, showing he wanted to shake Flash's once more. "I'm Soarin, the newest member of the Wonderbolts."
Flash shook back, a big goofy grin on his face. "Nice to meet you Soarin."
"Wait a minute!" Rainbow interrupted again, almost yelling this time. "You can't be serious!"
"Oh, I am." Soarin replied, his smirk growing bigger as he knew what she was going to ask next.
"You can't be." Rainbow retorted, her eyes slightly narrowing. "He seriously had no idea who the Wonderbolts were back then?! He's a pegasus Soarin. There's no way he didn't know about the greatest flyers in Equestria! You have got to be pulling my hoof!"
"I'm not." Soarin replied, his nose slightly twitching. "You do know that Flash originally lived on the streets, right?"
Rainbow leaned back in chair, almost grumbling. "Yeah, I know. I learned a while back that Twilight had to teach him how to read...like, four or five years ago. You're supposed to learn that when you're a filly or colt, not a young pony."
Soarin just rolled his eyes. "Trust me Rainbow, I've known Flash for quite some time. You would be surprised at how oblivious the guy can be."
"How so?"
Soarin's smirk returned. "Let's just say...I had to teach him sarcasm."
"Seriously?"
"Oh yeah. In fact, I knew that I was going to have to teach him much more than just aerial combat on the first day I met him." Soarin now leaned back, his eyes starting to stare at the ceiling. "For instance..."
The Past. Again.
"Well, it was nice meeting you Flash, but I really need to find-" Soarin tried to say, only for his ears to suddenly hear a new voice.
"FLASH! Where are ya lad?" yelled the voice as it took the closest corner and started approaching the hallway the duo was standing in. Hearing this, Flash turned around and waved at it's owner.
"Hey Grand! I'm over here!" Flash exclaimed, an even bigger smile growing on his face.
"Grand?!" Soarin yelped, hopping in place. "Y-y-you mean Grand Hoof?"
"Yeah!" Flash turned back to Soarin, nodding. "He's my mentor!"
"Mentor?!"
Before Soarin could try to say more words, Grand walked up to the duo. "Ah! Flash my boy! So this is where you've been." He then noticed Soarin and raised an eyebrow. "And who's this?"
"This is Soarin!" Flash said with a big smile, pointing at the young stallion. "He said he's a uh...uh...wonder-something?" Flash turned back to Soarin with a slight frown. "What did you say you were again?"
"I'm a Wonderbolt!" Soarin barked, almost growling. "You're a pegasus for pete's sake! How can you not know that?!"
"But I just told you that I don't know what that is." Flash stated flatly. "Why are you getting so angry about that?"
"That's-"
"Now hold on there lad." Grand interrupted, putting his hoof between the two. "Soarin, is it? Are you the Wonderbolt I asked for?"
Soarin almost hopped in place again. He just now remembered he was standing in front of Grand Hoof, the war hero and royal knight. Sweat started to appear under his brow as he gulped, "Er...yes! I uh...um...yes sir!" Soarin gave a quick salute. "I am Soarin of the Wonderbolts, here on duty per your request sir Grand Hoof!"
"Request?" Flash asked.
"I see..." Grand said to himself, ignoring Flash as he looked Soarin over. "You're a mite young for a Wonderbolt. And I remember asking for a few, not one."
"Yes well...I'm the newest member and uh..." Soarin stuttered, watching Grand's moving eyes.
"Spitfire doesn't want to spare any hooves, does she?" Grand grumbled back, only to get a nod from Soarin. "Tch. I told Princess Celestia she wasn't ready for a promotion. Oh well...you do look promising, so you'll have to do."
"Do what Grand?" Flash asked, this time getting Grand's attention.
Grand just chuckled before patting Flash's back, "Simple lad. He's gonna help with your aerial combat training."
"He is?!"
"I am?!"
"Yup." Grand replied, laughing at their reactions. He then leaned down, glaring at the two. They were about to say 'Why do I need an aerial combat trainer?!' or 'Wait, that's why I'm here?!', but his glare quickly shut them both up. Instead, Grand first glared at Flash, "Let's get this out of the way lads. Yes, I asked Soarin to come here to train you Flash, and yes, its because I don't have wings and you need to learn aerial combat." he then turned to Soarin. "And yes, I asked Spitfire because we don't have any pegasi guards here at the moment because they're all on missions around Equestria..." Grand let out a long sigh. "We are so understaffed right now."
Soarin and Flash both glanced at each other, already guessing what each other was about to say. However, Grand decided to continue speaking. "Now listen up you two." Grand stood up high, snorting as he now towered over them. "I know this is sudden, but its what's happening now. I'm sorry I sprung it on the both of you, but that's how its going to be."
Sharing another glance, Soarin then looked back at Grand, a slight glum look on his face. Seeing this, Grand asked, "Not too happy about it, are ya lad?"
"No!" Soarin blurting, shaking his head. "I never said I was...I..." Soarin stopped himself, his mind still trying to catch up with the news. He looked back at Flash, who in return gave him a look that said, 'Sorry. Grand Hoof is always like this.' That alone made Soarin let out a lone sigh, but only for a second. He then remembered all the times he was told that he wasn't allowed to be in the Wonderbolts, being told to be negative about this chances. He knew he needed optimism for this situation. It was the thing that kept him going at times. With this, he looked back at Grand and said, "I'll do it."
"Really?" Flash asked, surprised considering Soarin's earlier reaction.
"Yeah." Soarin replied, nodding. "I mean, the military stuff is part of a Wonderbolt's job."
"That it is lad, that it is." Grand grinned, quickly patting Soarin on the back. The blue pegasus let out a wheeze at the strike, already feeling a tinge of pain from the 'pat'. Grand however, let out a hearty laugh and said, "I think I already like you lad! You're straight as an arrow when comes to your duty. That's a good trait to have!"
"Thanks..." Soarin moaned, his hooves now wobbly.
Flash leaned over and whispered. "Yeah...sorry about that. That's how you know if Grand likes you or not. If he pats you like that, that means he likes you."
"Wonderful..."
And so, the two young ponies were led by Grand to the training grounds. Grand asked Soarin to go ahead and give a demonstration to Flash on what he was going to be learning for the next three weeks. In response, Soarin replicated what he was trained for back at the beginning of Wonderbolt flight training camp, minus the contraptions and weather conditions they would use. With this, Soarin began his first lesson of combat training with Flash, helping Flash learn how to fly in any combat condition. As their lesson started, Grand told Soarin to keep training him till he got back, as Grand was going to go setup a place for Soarin to stay for three weeks.
Then, as their day continued...
"Alright Flash, next we'll add a spin to the original flight pattern I showed you. We'll also add an extra amount of air pressure from your wings to help balance your flight while doing the aerial spin." Soarin commanded as he gave another flap of his wings. "Remember, your wings need to be fine-tipped when doing this, so the feathers don't fly out of sync."
"Um...okay." Flash replied, trying to flap at Soarin's pace. The young stallion's body was now covered in mud and bruises from the training, as the majority of the time was spent with Flash constantly crashing into the ground due to his inexperience with rough, fast-paced flying. "Though uh...could you tell me what that means again? I don't get it."
Soarin let out a sigh, something he was pretty sure he had done the entire training session. "You don't know a thing when it comes to pegasi terms, do you?"
Flash shook his head. "Nope. Sorry."
"Its fine." Soarin rubbed his forehead before flapping over to Flash, quickly nudging the orange wings into place. "Here, just do this and keep it in sync. Your weight needs to fit your wings when you flap them."
"Okay. I'll-ah!" Flash yelped as one mistimed flap caused him to crash into the ground again. "Ow!"
"You okay?" Soarin asked as he landed right by the downed pegasus.
"I'm...okay." Flash replied, slowly getting up.
"You know, maybe we should quit for today. You've been falling a lot and-"
"No." Flash interrupted, glaring at Soarin as he did. "I never give up. Show me how to do it again."
It was here that Soarin saw the true determined look in Flash's eyes. That look was something he had seen before. It was himself, back when he looked into the mirror after telling himself that he was going to become a Wonderbolt. The look made Soarin shine a certain grin as he replied, "Good. Get up, I'll show you the maneuver again."
"Okay." Flash said, quickly ascending. The two spread their wings again, only for their ears to suddenly hop in place.
"AHAHAHA!" laughed a voice, causing them to turn around to find it's owner. It was Grand Hoof, who was now walking up to them. He was still laughing as he trotted up and patted Soarin on the back. "HA! I knew I had a good feeling about you! You're perfect to help teach Flash!"
"Really?" Soarin gasped, trying to fight the new pain in his back.
"You betcha." Grand chuckled, patting him again. "You two gave the same raw determined looks. That's good for ponies your age! Shows ya got spunk!"
"Thanks..."
Grand raised his hoof, smirking. "But, that's enough for today lads. I arranged a place for you to stay Soarin, and Flash has already had morning training. I think this is a good time to call it a day."
The duo glanced at each other before nodding at Grand. "Okay."
"Good. Now follow me lads. I have to give a report to the princess and then show Soarin to his new place." His smirk grew. "I suspect you don't mind coming along Flash?"
"Nope. I don't have anything else to do."
"Good. Let's get going then."
And so, the three reentered the castle. They all trotted down the royal halls, where Grand was pleased to see Soarin and Flash already talking up a storm, as if they were already old friends. As they did, they passed the royal library, only for a certain young red unicorn stallion to walk by. Seeing the pony, Grand's expression twisted into one of anger and fury. Flash knew this expression well as he glanced back at his mentor. It was what he wore when it concerned Grand's family.
"Um...Grand?" Flash tried to say, only to be cut off by Grand.
"Stay right here lads. Don't move a muscle. I'll be right back." With that, Grand turned and walked after the red unicorn. The unicorn had seen Grand and took off, sprinting down the halls. "Solid Script!" he yelled, "COME BACK HERE!"
As he left, Soarin felt his whole body tremble at the sight. "Um...what was that?"
"That was Grand when he's angry." Flash replied, slightly gulping. "Don't worry, he doesn't get angry at ponies like us unless for a really good reason...like the time I accidentally gave him one of Twilight's potions." Flash shivered at the memory. "Yeah...that didn't end well...though he did have good reason to be angry at me."
"Oh..." Soarin slightly gulped before turning to Flash. "Who's Twilight?"
"She's-"
"FLASH SENTRY!" yelled a new voice, making the duo hop in place. They both turned to the voice's owner, only to see a purple unicorn. "What in the name of magic are you doing?!"
"Twilight? What are you-ow!" Flash tried to reply, only to feel an all-too-familiar pain in his ear as a magic aura grabbed it. "Twilight! Stop that!"
"Oh no you don't!" Twilight barked back, pointing at the orange pony. "Look at you! You're covered in mud and dirt! Why are you walking around the castle like that?!"
"Well, Grand told me-"
"Of course! It just had to be Grand!" Twilight interrupted, pulling the ear harder. "Can't he treat the princess's castle with a little more respect?! Why is he letting you walk around like that?!"
Seeing the now pain Flash was in, Soarin tried to intervene. He raised his hoof between the two, "Now hold on, Flash was-"
Soarin found himself cut off by a death glare from Twilight. "And who are you?! Did you help in this mess that Flash is now wearing?! HUH?!"
"Well I-uh-er-I..." Soarin stuttered in pure fear, only to see Twilight suddenly turn around and start pulling Flash away.
"Doesn't matter. Come on Flash, you're taking a bath. Now!"
"But Twilight, Grand said to-"
"NOW!"
And with that, Soarin found himself alone. That and he realized that he was now leaning against a nearby wall, his whole body shaking in fear. "Whoa...that was scary." he told himself. It was here that heard some familiar hoofsteps.
"Blasted brat. All I want to know is where Lightning is and-ah!" Grand grumbled before stopping in front of Soarin. "There you are lad! Sorry about that, I just had to-wait, where's Flash?"
Soarin gulped, not sure if his heart could take anymore. "Um...scary purple unicorn..." he mumbled, his teeth chattering.
"Purple unicorn? Ah! Twilight..." Grand shook his head. "That lass...she loves to interfere with a stallion's work. I'm guessing she's making him take a bath. Am I right?" Soarin slowly nodded his head. "Figures. Welp, I'm not going to be able to stop her. So..." Grand extended his hoof, helping Soarin up. "How about we go meet the princess and then show you to your new place?"
"Um...okay."
The Present...
"And that was how I learned where true fear came from." Soarin finished, raising his head from the table. "Quite a story, huh?"
"Yeah..." Rainbow admitted, leaning back in her chair. She was trying to contain every ounce of her being not to just straight up laugh at Soarin for being scared. After all, she knew that would not be a good impression. "Though I gotta say, I don't think Flash or Twilight have really changed since then."
"Eh, I suspected as much." Soarin said with a shrug. "The only thing that's changed with Flash is that he's less oblivious. Trust me."
"So...what else do you wanna talk about?" Rainbow asked as she took another sip of her milkshake. "Got any other awesome Wonderbolt stories?"
"Well..."
Some time later...
"So...what do ya wanna do now?" Rainbow asked as the duo walked out of Sugarcube Corner. "I mean...we had a snack and uh..." Rainbow tried to continue, only to feel herself starting to stutter.
Soarin on the other hoof, started thinking for a moment while rubbing his hoof under his chin. Then, a certain bulb went off in his head, causing him to turn to Rainbow with a big smirk. "You wanna race?"
This got Rainbow's attention. She quickly tapped her chest, a small smile starting to form on her face. "You...wanna race me?"
Soarin nodded. "Sure. I've seen you do stunt flying, but I haven't seen how well you race yet." He then cricked his neck, just slightly flexing his wings. "So, wanna take me on?"
Rainbow's expression turned to one of pure cockiness. "You're on."
"Rainbow's gonna race a Wonderbolt!" Pinkie cried, deciding to appear at that moment behind them. "I've gotta tell everypony!" With that, the pink earth pony zoomed out of the bakery to go tell their friends and leaving a pair of very confused pegasi.
"What just happened?" Soarin asked.
Rainbow just replied with a sigh. "Pinkie. That's what happened."
"Why do I feel like that didn't explain anything?"
"It did. Trust me."
An hour or so later...
Rainbow and Soarin were now on the outskirts of town. They were currently stretching in preparation of their race, Soarin flexing his wings in a certain circular motion while Rainbow was cricking his hooves. As they did this, they caught sight of several ponies heading their way. It was Flash, Twilight, Spike, Springer, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Scootaloo walking towards them.
"Hey!" Flash called out as they got closer to them, "Pinkie told us that you two were gonna race."
Rainbow shined a cocky smile as she finished her stretching. "We sure are!" Rainbow flexed her wings. "And I'm gonna win."
"You wish." Soarin snarked back, a cocky smirk appearing on his face. Rainbow glared at him, an equal smirk on her face. "You're facing a Wonderbolt. Don't forget that."
Twilight nodded at Soarin. "He's right Rainbow. Soarin's a Wonderbolt for a reason."
"I know," Rainbow grumbled, cricking her neck.
Scootaloo meanwhile, was practically vibrating with anticipation. "I can't believe your about to race a Wonderbolt! This is so AWESOME!"
"You know it kid," Rainbow replied as she ruffled the filly's mane, causing the filly to fall over in a fit of giggles. She then turned to Soarin, giving him a 'you ready?' type of expression.
"So..." Soarin said as he stepped up to her. "How we gonna do this?"
Rainbow then pulled out a map which showed Ponyville and the surrounding areas, along with a red line drawn on it. "We'll be using my special race track, which goes around the edge of Ponyville. We start here, then fly around the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Then we head to the rock quarry near Ghastly Gorge, before a straight half mile towards the finish line."
Soarin looked that map over before nodding. "Alright, sounds like fun."
"I can't wait to see it!" Scootaloo cheered, her body's vibrations increasing in pure happiness.
"Wait...how are we gonna see it?" Rarity asked, pointing at the duo. "All we can do from here is watch you two start the race."
"Pinkie said she had that covered," Flash told her before scratching his head. "Though I thought she would be here by now. Not like Pinkie to be late..."
"I'm here!" Pinkie sudden voice yelled, causing everyone to try and find the party pony. Seeing their confusion, she yelled again, "I'm up here!" The group all looked up to see a balloon floating towards them, with one Pinkamena Diane Pie in its basket. She began waving at her friends as she exclaimed, "Hey everypony! Who wants to take a ride and watch a super fun race?!"
"That's a great idea Pinkie!" Twilight told her as she used her magic to bring the balloon down. "What made you think of getting a balloon?"
"Awww...I can't take all the credit," Pinkie replied as the balloon landed. "It was really Banshee's idea."
"Who's Banshee?"
"That's not important right now," Pinkie said as she threw Flash a rope. "You mind? I doubt the currents and wind will want to follow those two."
"No problem," Flash replied as he began to tie the rope around him before turning to Soarin and Rainbow. "If you two don't mind, give us a minute to get into position."
"Sure." the two agreed, nodding.
Once everypony was loaded inside the basket, Flash pulled the balloon up into the air. He made sure they were at a high enough elevation that they could watch the race but not be in the way. Flash then asked Twilight to help him control the balloon some with her magic, just to make sure they don't let the wind knock them around too much. As they did this, the others began to talk amongst themselves.
"Who do yah think's gonna win?" Applejack asked.
"Hard to say," Flash said as he tightened the rope around himself again. "Rainbow's good, but Soarin's got more training and experience. And I know he's got more stamina when it comes to flying."
"But don't forget that Rainbow's flown this course loads of times," Pinkie chimed in, smiling. "She's got the field advantage!"
"Can't argue there." Twilight agreed, nodding.
"I don't care who wins," Fluttershy said from her corner of the basket. "I'll just be happy if they're both safe after the race."
"I'm sure they'll be fine," Flash assured her. "They're professionals Fluttershy."
"But..."
Twilight clapped her hooves, making everypony shut up. "That's enough debating, its time for the race." She then took a megaphone that Pinkie had brought and turned to the racers. "You two ready?"
Rainbow and Soarin nodded, flexing their wings in preparation.
"In three...two...one..."
"GO!" Everypony, minus Fluttershy, in the balloon cried.
The two pegasi shot off, a trail of vapor quickly following them as they started to disappear from sight. Seeing this, Scootaloo hopped up to the basket's edge and pointed forward. "After them Flash!" Scootaloo called out to the apprentice knight.
"You got it!" Flash replied, cricking his neck before pulling the balloon after them.
Soarin was the first to reach the forest, Rainbow right on his tail. The two began flying around the trees, both doing several barrel rolls as they dodged a series of column-like lumbar that covered the dense forest. However, about half way through the area, Soarin's wing clipped a low hanging branch, causing him to lose control. He spiraled to the ground, barely managing to pull himself up so that he could at least land hoof first into the ground.
He soon heard laughing coming from behind him. Looking up, he saw Rainbow fly past him, picking up more speed and breaking ahead. "Too bad, so sad. Later Soarin!"
Soarin smirked, not intending to be beaten that easily. The Bolt flexed his wings again, quickly shooting back into the sky. As he did, Rainbow saw that he was already catching up, causing her to dive forward, trying to pick up more speed. As she did, the two saw the end of the forest, showing their first obstacle was almost done.
At the same time in the sky, Flash had pulled the balloon to where the two were supposed to exit. Twilight currently had a pair of binoculars and was trying to see who was in the lead.
"Anything?" Applejack asked her.
"Nothing yet....wait!" she replied, seeing a flash of rainbow-colored mane. "There! Rainbow's in the lead!"
As Rainbow shot out the forest, everypony but Flash cheered. He instead smirked at the figure coming out of the forest a second later. "Don't celebrate too soon. This race is far from over."
Rainbow had stayed in the lead since they left the forest. Her lead stayed as they flew around the Ponyville's outskirts, making sure her speed didn't falter. As she did this, she soon saw that was drawing closer to the canyon. She looked over her shoulder, seeing Soarin right behind her. No doubt he was at his top speed, yet he still couldn't catch up to her. "This race is mine," she said to herself as she arrived at the canyon.
Said canyon was a large rocky area with high walls that curved so much, that they almost touched and turned itself into a tunnel. Sticking out of the ground were several large stalagmites, some of which went all the way to the roof. The rocks formed a bunch of towers, making more obstacles for the two racers.
"Oh yeah!" Rainbow said as she zoomed towards it. "I got this in the bag!"
However, only a moment later, her confidence turned to nothing. As she approached the canyon, her eyes soon saw a new danger. At the top of the canyon was a terrible shake, as a load of rocks rolled down the side of the canyon. The rock formation fell apart, causing a familiar looking avalanche for the rainbow-haired pony. As the rubble fell, her eyes shrunk as she saw the rocky storm, causing her to come to a complete stop.
"Oh no..." she gulped, remembering the last time she had been stuck in an avalanche. The time where she was trying to find a pet, only to do a ridiculous challenge in the canyon...and get trapped in the process. There, her pet Tank the turtle saved her. The memory alone made her come to a stop.
At the same time...
"What the-what's she doing?! Why did Rainbow stop?!" Scootaloo cried as she and the others watched Rainbow remain where she was.
Twilight pulled out her binoculars, glancing at the canyon. "Ah! Its a rock slide. Looks like it might take a while to stop."
"So does that mean the race is over?" Pinkie asked in a disappointed voice.
"I guess so. After all, I don't think Rainbow or Soarin are crazy enough to go through there."
Back at the race...
As he drew closer to Rainbow, Soarin looked past her and saw the rock slide. His first thought was to simply stop and wait it out, only for another thought to enter his head. A cocky smirk popped on to his face. "There's no better time to test this out Soarin. This is what all that training is for." With that, the Wonderbolt shot forward, passing Rainbow and into the canyon.
"What are you doing?" Rainbow called out after him, gasping at the sight of the pegasus seemingly flying into his death.
Her friends were expressing the same things as they watched him enter the canyon.
"Is he insane?!" Twilight screamed, almost dropping her binoculars in a panic.
"Ah agree! He's gonna get crushed in that rock-filled stampede!" Applejack added, clenching her hat.
"Maybe...maybe not." Flash said with a gulp, unsure about what his friend was doing.
"I can't watch," Fluttershy whimpered as she covered her eyes.
But their fears meant nothing to the Wonderbolt. As Soarin was flying towards the rocks, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Relax...be calm and focus." He chanted to himself, taking a long, deep breath. A second later, he opened his eyes and as he did, the whole world seemed to slow down. His eyes moved lighting fast, allowing him to see and memorize the storm of rubble before him. His little grin shined a small sparkle. "Gotcha."
And with that, the world returned to its normal speed.
Rainbow's eyes went wide as she watched a nearby boulder draw close to the Wonderbolt, only for her jaw to literally drop as she saw him dodge the rock without even looking at it. "What the heck?!" Rainbow yelped, her eyes now shrinking in amazement.
Soarin flew through the rock slide, dodging the projectiles and even landing and jumping off some to propel him forward. Further and further he went, at one point grabbing hold of a stalagmite and then spinning around it to build up speed before shooting forward. She couldn't stop watching, just like her friends above her.
"How the heck did he do that?" Scootaloo asked, pointing at the Wonderbolt who was just about to exit the canyon.
"I have no idea," Twilight replied, scratching her head in surprise. "I've never seen a pegasus fly like that..."
Rainbow was just as amazed, until she realized that they were still racing and shot inside the canyon. Most of the rock slide was gone now, giving her an almost straight shot towards the goal. However, by the time she reached the other side of the canyon, Soarin would be making his way to the goal.
"Oh no you don't!" she yelled as she shot forward, picking up as much speed as she could. Everypony starting watching her again, seeing a familiar sight from the rainbow-haired pegasus. Speed continued to increase as she shot in a straight line, the mare now feeling a certain resistance from the sound barrier. She had to do her one technique to win, no matter what the cost.
Then, a vortex of wind spiraled around her, her speed now at the height it needed. And with that, she pushed last one time until-
BOOM!
A radiant explosion of multi-colored light appeared as Rainbow blasted forward at mach speed. Soarin heard the boom and looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening as he saw Rainbow on his six, just a little ways away. He could just feel her on his tail as he saw the rainbow trail behind her.
Then, he turned back around, only to see the goal. Two trees that were several feet apart.
Meanwhile...
"They're neck and neck," Flash commented, trying to decide who to watch more.
"This'll be close," Twilight added as she started to bite her hooves. "I can't believe it...."
"I wish I had a camera," Pinkie finished, her mane slight drooping. That is, till her mane regained it's poofiness as she shined a smile. "Oh wait! I do have a camera! The author let me put one in my mane!" she then reached into her mane and pulled it out, quickly taking photos.
"Ah'll never understand you Pinkie." Applejack said, shaking her head.
Back at the race...
The goal was inches way now.
Time seemed to slow down as they got closer and closer, the racers now neck and neck. Thanks to her rainboom, Rainbow had just caught up to Soarin, only for duo to finally feel their stamina draining. Exhaustion was here, and the race was about to end. Seeing this, the two shared a glance before giving one last push. The second they did so, they re-angled their wings against the wind barrier, blasting through the two trees.
The race was over.
With this, the two flexed their wings, trying to make the wind stop their flight. As they came to stop, they almost collapsed into the ground, pure exhaustion taking over as they landed.
"That...was intense." Rainbow panted, her tongue sticking out as she felt her wings twitch in pain.
"Yeah...yeah it was." Soarin agreed, falling to the ground and rolling over in the grass. "Oh...been a while since I went that far..."
Rainbow nodded before collapsing as well. "Same here."
As they laid there, Flash flew over and dragged the balloon down. As it landed, the gaggle of friends jumped out and ran over to the racers, Scootaloo first as she cheered for Rainbow.
"THAT WAS AMAZING!!!" she cheered, a huge grin on her face. "You were so awesome Rainbow!"
"Heh heh...you know it," Rainbow replied, faintly chuckling.
"So uh..." Applejack said as she scratched her head. "Who won?"
Rainbow and Soarin shared a glance, unsure since it was so close. They both looked back at Applejack and said in unison. "I don't know."
Then, as if on cue, Pinkie hopped in front of them with several polaroids. "Don't worry everypony, I have the photo finish!"
"Nice one Pinkie." Flash commented as Pinkie started flipping through the pictures. She went over every moment she took a picture of, only to get to the goal. There, she showed shot for shot, only to see a certain pony winning by just an inch.
"I WON!" Soarin yelled happily, flexing his hooves in cheering pose. "AW YEAH!"
"No way..." Rainbow said as she grabbed the picture and looked at it closely. "I really lost."
"Well, you were facing a Wonderbolt," Flash assured her, patting her back.
"This bites," she said as she threw the polaroid away. "I would have won if it hadn't been for that stupid rock slide."
"That does bring up a good point," Twilight said before she turned to Soarin. "How did you get through that? We couldn't see from our position, though it looked like you knew where all the rocks were when you were flying through there."
Soarin just smiled at this, as if he knew the secret to the mystery of the universe. "Well, a few years ago after I had been accepted into the Wonderbolts, I was trying to train so I could get faster and more agile. However, no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't able to get any better. I reached my body's physical limit."
"Then what did you do?" Scootaloo asked.
Soarin smirked at the little filly. "I started training my mind."
"Your mind?" Rarity asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I couldn't get any faster, so I had to find a different way to improve my reaction time. Then, I heard about a form of meditation which allows you to become super sensitive about information and instincts."
"You're talking about the Theta State," Twilight realized in amazement, getting a nod from the Wonderbolt as a response.
"I can only do it for about four or five seconds, but those few seconds were all I needed." Soarin gave a cocky shrug. "When I used it back there, the rocks were basically falling in super slow motion, allowing me to fly through them with ease."
"Sounds awesome," Flash said, crossing his hooves. "Figures that you would figure out something like that."
"But like I said, I can only do it for a few seconds. With enough focus and training, any pony can do it for as long as they want."
"So you beat me using some silly egghead stuff?" Rainbow glared with a raised eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?"
Soarin just smirked at her. "Nope. What you call egghead stuff, I call hard training. Here's a tip for being a Wonderbolt Rainbow, speed isn't everything."
"If you say so," Rainbow replied, letting out a low snort. She then looked back at him, still slightly glaring. "So...if I wanted to learn this...feet-tear thing, what would I need to do?"
"Yeah," Flash added, his eyebrows hopping up and down. "I would love to try and learn it. Can you imagine fighting an opponent that's moving super slow?"
"They wouldn't be moving super slow Flash." Twilight corrected him. "They would be moving at normal speed, but your brain would be processing the movement so fast that it would look like they were moving slower. Besides, it takes years of study and training to pull off."
"Than I better get started, then shouldn't I?" Flash replied as he turned back to Soarin. "What do you say, wanna try teaching me?"
Soarin just shrugged. "Sure, I've taught ya plenty of things before. I can give this a go too."
"You're also gonna give me a rematch!" Rainbow told him as she flew up into his face. "And this time, I'm gonna win."
Soarin chuckled before extending his hoof. "I'll make you a deal. I'll race you again, but only when you become a Wonderbolt."
Rainbow smiled and shook the hoof. "Then don't expect to be waiting long."
"Don't worry, I won't."
The rest of that week was like a blur.
Instead of commuting between Cloudsdale and Ponyville like he had originally intended, Soarin had taken up an offer Flash gave him about staying in the library for a week. With this arrangement in mind, Soarin got to enjoy hanging out and doing different Ponyville activates. In the morning, he and Flash would work on meditating while also practising their aerial fighting skills. Then it was either apple bucking at sweet apple acres, helping with wild animals at Fluttershy's cottage, or even being a model for one of Rarity's new designs. Throughout all of this was Rainbow, who had offered to be his guide for the week. Soarin was happy for the company. The day before Soarin was set to return to Cloudsdale, Pinkie had thrown him the biggest party at the library. Everypony in Ponyville came to see off the Wonderbolt, some wanting autographs that Soarin was happy to give.
And with that, his week of Ponyville fun was done.
The next morning, Soarin was set to leave and his friends all saw him off. The only one who didn't seem happy, though she tried like Tartarus not to show it, was Rainbow Dash. Granted, she was there to send him off too, though she constantly claimed it to be 'showing Soarin one last time that she would beat him next time they raced and not because they were friends'. This gained several sarcastic remarks, causing her to blush in embarrassment before yelling at the group. That and Springer telling everyone she was lying thanks to her aura, causing her to chase after the jakhowl in an embarrassed rage.
Now, several days had passed since Soarin returned to Cloudsdale and we find our heroes, minus Flash and Springer, in the library helping Twilight with her 're-shelving days'.
"Thanks for the help girls," Twilight said as she put the last book in its rightful place. "I'm so glad I finally got to do this."
"No problem darling," Rarity replied as she flipped back her mane. "We're always happy to help."
In that moment, the front door opened with Flash and his jakhowl partner entering. "Awwww..." he cried with fake disappointment as he looked around, "Did I miss re-shelving day? Shoot. I'm so sorry Twilight."
"Yeah," Twilight rolled her eyes with a knowing smirk, "I'm sure you're heart-broken."
Flash just chuckled as he walked inside, before spotting one Rainbow Dash laying on one of the empty shelves. "Hey Rainbow, you okay?"
Rainbow sighed before turning around to face the back of the shelf.
"She's been like this ever since Soarin left," Fluttershy whispered to Flash.
"I noticed," Flash replied.
"They did get awfully close while he was here," Rarity commented, trying to hide a smirk.
"Ah'll say," Applejack added, shaking her head. "Poor gal keeps moping."
Twilight let out a sigh before walking over to the bookshelf. "Rainbow! Stop doing that! I know you miss him, but you can't just sit around moping all day!"
Rainbow just looked back over her shoulder. "Who says I'm missing him? I'm just...not feeling particularly awesome today."
"Right...sure you are." Twilight replied sarcastically.
They would have kept talking, but at that moment there was a knock at the door. Twilight trotted over to it and opened it up. "Hello?" she spoke as she looked outside, only to see Derpy in her mail uniform.
"Hi Twilight! I've got a package for Flash." Derpy exclaimed as she shined a big smile. Everypony else turned to Flash, who gave a look confusion. He didn't remember ordering anything. However, before Flash could ask, Derpy pulled out a brown paper package and handed it to him, only to notice Rainbow on the shelf. "Oh! I've got a package for you too Rainbow. You want me to go ahead and give it to ya?"
This got the pegasi's attention, causing her to get up from the shelf and fly over to the mailpony. Derpy handed Rainbow a package the exact same size and shape as Flash's before giving a salute and flying off.
"What is it?" Pinkie said as she bounced up to them. "What is it, what is it?"
Flash and Rainbow opened them, only to find a book with a note attached to it. Flash took the note and opened it, smiling as he read it. "It's from Soarin."
"Mine too!" Rainbow added, cheer returning to her voice.
Flash took a small breath, "Dear Flash, this is a copy of the book that I learned all my meditation techniques from. Hopefully it'll help you master them and enter the Theta State. Signed, Soarin."
"What does yours say Rainbow?" Twilight asked her.
Rainbow read it over before putting the note in the book. "Oh uh, same as Flash's." Rainbow tried her best not to blush, since her's had a PS asking her to write back to Soarin, who had put his address on the note.
With that, Flash and Rainbow both opened their books, looking over the written words. As they did, Twilight's eyes lit up as she quickly leaned over and looked at the books' covers. "Oh wow...I've never read that book. Mind if I give it a look?"
Flash raised his head out of the book, a deadpan stare following. "After I read it Twilight. I need to know everything about these techniques as I can."
"Same here." Rainbow added as she gave the same stare. "I need to read this to so I can do those cool moves."
"Phooey..." Twilight whined, making everypony laugh.
While that was happening, Rainbow stared down at the book. After a quick glance to make sure her friends weren't looking, she pulled book close to her chest and hugged it. A brilliant smile appeared on her face as she did this. She knew this was just the beginning.