Soarin' was going to pace a groove in the floor.
Up and about again, Twilight Sparkle placed a small candle holder on a desk with blank paper, quill, and ink. "Soarin', if you're going to pace like that, go outside. It's like trying to watch Winona when Applejack goes out of town. I don't know how well you know Rainbow Dash, but even though she's a troublemaker, you can definitely trust her. Now go outside before you drive somepony crazy!"
He went and sat on his haunches outside the doorway for the sake of everypony's sanity. His gaze turned to the darkening sky. Shouldn't she be back by now? He didn't have his watch with him: no watch, no uniform, no nothing. Spike had been kind enough to make lunch for the two of them earlier, so at least he wasn't starving.
A multicolored pegasus grew from a speck on the horizon. He stood, brimming with energy and questions. The main one on his mind, though, was the whole reason he flew over here in the first place.
The wonderful, life-saving pony landed in front of him with gusto. She let her head hang slightly, breathing for air. He threw the words out as fast as he could while he still had the chance. "Wait Rainbow Dash before you say anything I have to know"
Wait? Rainbow Dash waited for no pony!
She raised her head and looked at him with cool triumph. "I did it!" She polished a hoof on her coat and blew it off. "I make a pretty good Soarin' if I do say so myself. Oh. Lighting Streak says he's sorry."
"Rainbow Dash, what did you do?" he asked hesitantly.
"Survived a mob of fan girls."
She really is a life saver.
"I think one of them kissed your hoof." She held out the leg in question and shook it, sticking her tongue out. "Bleeeh."
Soarin's expression was sympathetic. "Now that you know what the fans are like, do you still wanna join the team? I'm warning you, the colts are worse. Ask Spitfire."
Her stance snapped to the offensive. "No way am I giving up my dream!"
Soarin's ears tucked back in apology. Oh Thunder, did he admire her loyalty. "Then let me ask you what I've been trying to this whole time. Why didn't you come to the last Wonder Trials? Surprise even wrote you personally. Didn't you get our letters, or is your mail service that unreliable?"
"First of all, yes," said Rainbow Dash, "and secondly, if you wanted to know about why I didn’t come, why didn't you ask earlier?"
He didn't dignify irony with a response.
The fight went out of her. She turned to the side with uncharacteristic uncertainty. Beneath the ripple of hesitation, Soarin' thought he saw something more: fear.
"Dash..."
She shook it off. "You knew about the letters?" An exasperated kind of growl rumbled in her throat. She rubbed her forehead. "Sorry Soarin'. I'm too tired to talk about it now, and not near my other friends. Tell you what," a grin quirked the corner of her mouth. "You treat me to lunch in about a week, and I'll fess up. I know just the place.
I'm also going to wipe the dandy smile off Lightning Streak's face, because I know what you owe me for saving your tail from Spitfire and fan ponies and Luna knows what else. I think some personal flying lessons will do just fine. None of that lecture-y stuff, either!" The pegasus flipped open her wings. "I mean real flying."
"Deal." Soarin' took the chance to get back at Rapidfire for being so starchy about Rainbow Dash. Not a team flyer, huh? We'll see about that. "But I get to call the shots." They shook on it, each looking the other squarely in the eyes.
The sound of hooves coming across the plaza interrupted them. "Oh my Rainbow Dash, are you alright?" Something about the newcomer's Canteresque voice and refined figure were familiar, but he didn't recognize her. "Is this stallion bothering you?"
Rainbow Dash blinked at the white unicorn, her hoof still linked with Soarin’s. “What? Why would you think that?"
"It is just that you were staring at each other with such ferocity, I thought perhaps..." she trailed off into her thoughts. Soarin' surmised these were not nearly as pure as her coat, given the title of the book in the saddlebag closest to him. "Well then," the unicorn said, "it is a pleasure to meet you, Mister...?" She took a small, elegant bow and waited for the name.
"Soarin'," he finished. He placed her when he saw the subtle blue powder decorating her eyelids. The difference between her appearance and normal voice versus costumed, high-pitched screaming was so great he barely recognized her.
Miraculously, Rainbow Dash remembered to introduce her friend. "This is Rarity. You might remember her from the Best Young Flyer Competition. If you remember much about that after getting kicked in the head," she added with a nervous chuckle.
Rarity swished her styled purple mane. "So you are the Soarin' I injured in that unfortunate incident. I really must apologize. Falling to one's doom has a tendency to put a pony out of sorts. I hope I did not cause too much trouble."
Rainbow Dash butted in. "I got to see exactly how a black eye works. I always wondered about that. Soarin' had to leave to get it checked pretty quickly after the competition." Being kicked in the face by a pony was bad news.
The alabaster unicorn was all the more flustered by her friend’s comment. "I truly am sorry. If there is any way I can make it up to you, do not hesitate to ask."
Soarin' rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed by the lavish apologies. "It was a long time ago. I'm fine now."
"If you insist.” Rarity adjusted her saddle bags. “I shall leave you two to your staring contest. I absolutely must get the next book in the series I'm reading before Twilight closes for the night. Au revoir!" The white mare waited, poised, for her magic to open the library door. She entered and it closed behind her.
Soarin' spoke. "I think that's our cue to get some rest."
"Yeah, I'm beat," Rainbow Dash let out with a tired sigh. "Can we keep today between us? If any pony else knew, they'd ask questions I don't want to answer." She placed emphasis on the word "don't".
"As long as you don't tell Spitfire I'm an awesome librarian, it's between us.” Soarin’ raised an eyebrow and grinned cheekily. “By the way, what did it feel like-" he ducked the swipe and felt it breeze over his ears. The corners of Rainbow Dash's mouth were twitched up mischievously.
"Lucky." She put her hoof down. Craning her head, she lifted a travel bag from around her neck and passed it to him. It had his Wonderbolt suit inside. The earth scratched when she spun around to head home. "One more thing, Soarin'. You should turn your horseshoe of honor so the ends face up. Applejack told me a long time ago a horseshoe can't collect luck if it's facing down." The playful sidelong look she gave him made his hooves burn.
The first thing he did when he got home was fix his shoe.
~~~
"Dear Princess Celestia," Rainbow Dash recited to Spike. She tacked a party banner into place. "I found out friends sometimes. No wait, let me start over!" The frantic pegasus waved her forelegs in the air.
Spike sighed. "Okay." His red quill scratched off the words on the parchment again. "So far we've got 'Dear Princess Celestia'. Maybe you should just add 'Still Awesome, Rainbow Dash' and call it quits."
Pinkie Pie stopped tying up balloons and looked over with big, googly eyes. Her whole head was inside a red balloon. "I don't know Spike," she said, voice faint and echoey. "That doesn't sound like a very good letter."
"It was a joke," Spike said flatly.
"Oh. I get it! Heeheehee," Pinkie's balloon head giggled.
Rainbow Dash flew the streamer across the room and stamped a tack into that end. She laughed awkwardly. "It's a work in progress."
Fluttershy was gently arranging some colorful paper origami flowers on the library table. "Gee Rainbow Dash, it sounds like you're having a hard time concentrating. You know what always helps me concentrate? Looking at a nice tree." The sweet taffy pony smiled.
"Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash reminded her, "we're in a tree."
"Oh, yes," the other pegasus said bashfully. A squeaky pink blush tinged her cheeks.
"Ah guess that aint' the same as lookin at a tree - specially not an Apple family tree - but I don't think that'll help RD. I reckon she just hasn' learned her lesson yet." Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out at Applejack, who received the gesture with a cowgirl grin. The orange pony nosed one last board game into a stack at the opposite end of the room. Rainbow Dash had considered bringing Battle Cloud, but now the game made her think about the Wonderbolts. She left it at home.
Pinkie Pie expertly extracted her head from the red balloon, wrapped a string around the end, and let it float freely. Twilight's birthday party was ready.
~~~
Soarin' bucked the contents of his mind and let the adrenaline take over. Tunnel vision narrowed his focus to the cloudy track ahead. There was nothing else. No jokes or final words passed between his friends. Were they next to him? He didn't know. The preliminary cheers from the lower stands were nothing more than noise. In fact, the loudest thing he could hear was the silence of his breath. His wings were loaded for the flag like a compressed spring.
Black and white checkers came down. The world exploded into a fast track of white, blue, and lightning gold. He was a deadly pegasus bullet. There were no thoughts, only the animal feeling of powerful muscles beating wings so fast they appeared still. The world zoomed by in a ceaseless wave of color.
Time didn't exist. He was flying forever, just him and the blurs. His breath pounded out the strokes of his wings; his hooves touched nothing.
It was over.
His awareness snapped back to him as if he'd left it behind on the racetrack and it had just now caught up. Spitfire's flaming tail waved a length ahead of him, Fleetfoot's two. The flyers glided around the track to cool off and the rest of the Wonderbolts joined them for warm-up laps. Lightning Streak and Surprise's golden manes floated down to the outer ring and the two speedsters jostled for the spot closest to the crowd. Round and round they went.
Soarin's breath came in measured, satisfying puffs. Fleetfoot and Spitfire came down to speed and the three matched paces. "Hey Soarin'," said Spitfire, "just slow today, or are your wings full of all those sweets you eat?"
"I dunno Spitfire," he retorted, "It's hard to see the finish line around you, not with all the pies you've been scarfing down."
Rapidfire caught up to the trio. "I'll call that a tie."
A snowy white, flowing mane shook when Fleetfoot begged to differ. "There's no tie," she said. "They're both slower than me."
Rapidfire grinned. "She's got you there." Fleetfoot didn't win every race, but she was tough to beat. What did you expect from a pegasus with a winged hoof for a cutie mark? The featherweight pony didn't lack in muscle, and to top it off she had a special speed trick where she galloped in the air in tiny, perfectly timed bursts. Soarin' could never figure it out, even after she tried to show him how it worked.
Every Wonderbolt had their tricks. Some you could teach, and some, well, you either had it or you didn't.
Fleetfoot and Spitfire left to get place recognition and prep for the final race. Soarin' was about to follow them when Surprise interrupted. "Soarin', remind me," she chopped off the sentence and lapped him, "when we," another lap, "get back - I have - something - for you." She sped around again. "It's a," the blue-clad comet travelled the far end of the track in a split second and came close again.
Let me guess. "surprise?"
Surprise stopped dead in her tracks. "Hey, how did you know?"
~~~
"What do ya mean Rarity can't make it to the party?" Applejack demanded.
Fluttershy fussed with one end of her pink mane. "Poor Opal. I'm so worried.”
Twilight looked from one friend to the next. "It's as I said, right here." A single sheet of paper floated in purple magic next to her. It bore a faint, distinct fragrance. "I hope she's okay. She’s been in Canterlot for a few days now."
Pinkie Pie looked in dismay at all the decorations. "After all we did to get set up a day early, too. Fun isn't as fun unless everypony is smiling."
A thought smacked Rainbow Dash in the head. "Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't we take the party to Canterlot?" All eyes turned to the rainbow pegasus in bewilderment. She flapped in place in front of the party banner. "What?"
"But Rainbow Dash, you hate Canterlot," said Fluttershy emphatically. Hate was a strong word.
"Eh, it's not so bad. There are some cool things to see." She shrugged. Surrounded by party decorations in Twilight’s library home, all of Rainbow Dash’s friends continued to stare at her. Pinkie Pie reached over and closed Applejack's mouth.
Twilight was the first to break the stalemate. She held a purple hoof to her chin in thought. "Pinkie, would it be hard to move all this to Canterlot? I'm sure Celestia wouldn't mind if we ask to borrow the castle grounds for a party."
Still with an eye on Rainbow Dash in case she sprouted another tail, Pinkie gleefully commented, "No way! Moving this party is easy-peasy. Haven't you ever heard of a party cannon, silly?"
"Well, that settles it then." Twilight happily went into recitation mode. "Spike, take a letter."
"Aww, I just put that stuff away."
"Spike," Twilight complained.
"Alright, alright." The little dragon clambered up the stairs. A drawer slid open and papers shuffled as he retrieved a quill and parchment.
~~~
“Surprise!” Surprise shouted, unable to contain a fit of laughter after she slid the front page of the Equestrian Examiner over to Soarin’. He wanted to die of embarrassment, or maybe turn completely red, stay that way, change his name, and move to the other side of Equestria.
The front cover was a photo of him dangling unceremoniously from a cloud, wings hanging awkwardly, while Rainbow Dash clung to one of his hind legs. He read aloud, “Fast and Furious Ponyville Cloudchaser Gets Speedy with Soarin’.” Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark had been blurred out, which was hilarious because who wouldn’t recognize that mane and tail? Soarin’ could practically see the colors, even though the print was black and white.
Surprise rolled hysterically on the floor. “Your face Soarin’! I couldn’t wait to show you this. Did that actually happen? Oh, hahaha! I can’t breathe.” Tears welled along her purple eyes. “It’s so ridiculous, no paper except the tabloid would publish it!” The white ‘Bolt lay on her back and wheeled her legs in the air helplessly.
Soarin’ folded it up.
“No wait, that’s my copy!” Surprise couldn’t get up off the floor. She reached a forehoof out while still giggling. “It’ll take forever to find another one.”
“It’s mine now!” Soarin’ shot out of the room, turned the corner, and busted into his own room. He stashed the article in a drawer. After that he couldn’t contain his laughter anymore.
~~~
“LET’S PARTY!”
“Five!” Twilight bounced up into the air. “Six!” Who says unicorns can’t enjoy the freedom of flight? “Seven!” Between springs, Rainbow Dash managed to say, “I wonder if Luna does this for Celestia’s birthday? I bet it would take forever!”
Pinkie Pie’s parties were absolutely the best. Between the balloons and the birthday trampoline and the music, Rainbow Dash completely lost track of time. The friends stuffed slices of cake into their mouths like nopony’s business. Mmm. The athletic pegasus was about to lick a gob of cake off her hoof when she realized it would make great ammunition.
Slop! It slung right off her leg and plastered Fluttershy in the face. Rainbow Dash reloaded with deadly speed and nailed Applejack’s euphoric expression with an especially chocolatey piece of cake. Pink icing blended with Fluttershy’s mane; Applejack looked like a pig fresh out of the slop bucket.
“Wahahaha!” The only pegasus left flying burst with laughter. Her two friends down below looked so ridiculous. She peered over again to see their shell-shocked cake faces. Instead, she noticed Pinkie Pie. A half-eaten slice of cake sat firmly in one pink hoof. Why was she looking at her like that?
Applejack’s voice sounded ominously from somewhere behind Rainbow Dash. “Yeh thought we were gonna let you get away with that?”
Rainbow Dash smiled guiltily. “Eheheh. Oops?”
“As a friend of mine once said,” a pair of yellow hooves pulled her out of the safety of the air. Fluttershy’s eyes sparkled and she declared in her hushed voice, “afraid to get dirty?”
Cake pelted the grounded pegasus from all sides. The large confection dissolved into ponies on the floor laughing. Amidst the mirth, the music in the background shifted slightly to a chakka chakka chakka rhythm.
Fluttershy pushed a mass of cake off her head. “Ooh, I know this song.”
“Who doesn’t know this song?” the pink party master squealed. “Pony train!” Every pony except one shook off the remaining cake, much to Rarity’s dismay. The unicorn took a bit longer delicately removing the offending pastry with a kerchief. She ended up as the caboose.
Heh, Rarity’s touch is so light it’s like she’s not even here at all. “Chugga chugga woo-woo!” Rainbow Dash sang along without a care in Equestria.
When the song ended, Pinkie Pie led all of the friends to a set of suspended piñatas. “I saw these at a party once, and they’re really fun! Normally one of the ponies wears a blindfold while they try to hit it, but I figured we can have more fun if we all wear blindfolds!”
“Isn’ that a bit dangerous?” Applejack asked.
Pinkie Pie shrugged.
Game on! Rainbow Dash dug her teeth into the stick and took to the air to be sure she didn’t smack anything that was not a piñata. She slashed at the open space. After a few tries, she felt something just barely hook the edge of her swing. There! You don’t stand a chance against me now. She wound her neck and powered into a blow to the papery object. It cracked satisfyingly and a shower of small hard items rained on the floor below. The winner peeped under her blindfold to see a spray of candy on the floor. There were some random Pinkie Pie things in there: a bouncy ball, some plastic toys, a yellow bath duck. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Fluttershy surprised Rainbow Dash when a piñata baffed the yellow pegasus in the head and she swung at it in retaliation. The confetti fish burst open and pieces of fruit dropped out. Quick on her wings, Rainbow Dash caught a bunch of it in her arms before it hit the floor. “Hey, strawberries! These would go great in that chocolate fondue over there.” She piled the fruit onto a table and selected a juicy looking red berry.
Twilight took off her blindfold. “You’re right. I think I’ll try an apple slice.” A piece of Red Delicious (the apple, not the pony) levitated off the table and followed Twilight to the bowl of dipping chocolate. Pinkie Pie brought an entire peppermint lollipop.
Rainbow Dash quirked her mouth. “Ew, peppermint and chococolate?”
“What, you haven’t had peppermint and chocolate before? It’s the best!” Pinkie plunged the entire candy into the bowl, and then some. After the pink pony had reached a satisfactory level of chocolateyness, Rarity added something to the mix. Rainbow Dash didn’t recognize the piece of food at all. Her friend promptly spit it out. It was so unladylike, and so totally not Rarity.
She’s been acting like she’s got fire ants in her coat all day. Something’s definitely up with her.
There wasn’t much time to think about it because Rarity made a face and pointed at Applejack and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash didn’t notice anything interesting. They were just having a lively discussion about apple blooms or something. Aw shoot. I can’t believe I just fell for the oldest trick in the book. Rarity was gone.
Actually, between her awesome dance moves and her regular awesomeness, Rainbow Dash noticed Rarity kept disappearing. The white unicorn suddenly showed up in the middle of a game of don’t let it touch the ground, this time with a small mallet in her mouth. Doesn’t she know how to play this game? You don’t need anything to hit the balloon with, just your hooves.
Rainbow Dash caught the pink balloon. “Uh, what’s with the croquet mallet?”
“Wfhat croquet mawwet?”
“Duh, the one in your mouth.”
It clattered on the ground. “Oh, that croquet mallet! I, well I, you know the truth is, the truth is.”
Is what? You really like croquet?
Twilight asked curiously, “Were you at that other party in the garden?”
Rainbow Dash looked out the window. The all too familiar scene of dressed up, carefully tailored ponies with tiny morsels of food on platters lived itself out on the other side of the pane. That explains where she kept running off to. Rarity loves that kind of stuff. I don’t see any Wonderbolts at that party, though. Bo-ring!
Twilight said something about Rarity going to the other party, and the fashionista trotted off happily towards the exit.
Rainbow Dash clacked her hooves together with determination. I think they need us to show them how to party, Ponyville style! She caught Rarity before she made it out the door. “Hey, wait up! We’re your friends. I’m sure they won’t mind if we check out the party too.”
~~~
One of the inner cloud hallways at headquarters was lined, single-file, with portraits of all of the active Wonderbolts. A portrait of every past Wonderbolt dotted the opposite wall in the same hallway. There were a lot of them. A pony had to be careful not to look too long, or else they’d start feeling nostalgic.
Fleetfoot unhooked Rapidfire’s portrait and waited for Spitfire to flap over with a picture of a certain blue-maned pegasus in tow. Soarin' pumped a foreleg triumphantly. “Aaalright, movin’ on up.” Rapidfire’s image ended up in the seventh slot. If you didn’t make it into the final round of the derby for long enough, your picture could drift down to the very last spot on the wall. It was tough to be constantly reminded you were in last place, but it didn’t matter much. No ‘Bolt ever stayed there for long.
High Winds massaged her tousled, double blue-shaded mane and looked forlornly at her picture on the very end. Her high-pitched but pleasant sing-song voice sighed, “Oh well. It’s the end of the line for me.”
Rapidfire snorted when his ranking dropped. “Battlecloud for third, Soarin’.”
“No way! It’s about time I got ahead of Spitfire.” He’d just barely managed to nose ahead of the flame at the end.
Spitfire’s sunset coat rippled when she turned after setting the final picture order. “Better luck next time, Rapids. He’s not going to give up this small victory.” She landed with a clack on the floor and her brown eyes slid to the side. “I might be willing to give up fourth for a few bales of hay.”
Rapidfire was stunned. “A few bales of hay?” He grumbled and ran the calculations in his head. “Gah, I’ll just win my place back in the next derby.”
Soarin’ said, “That’s better for Spitfire. Every time she eats hay it all goes up into her brain.” He swirled his hooves around his head. The fiery mare chuckled.
Rapidfire looked at the line of portraits, obviously trying to plot which of the other leaders might give in and compete with him for a better spot on the wall. “Thirty-seven to fourty-two. That’s the first time Soarin’s ever been within five points this late in the game.”
Lightning Streak paffed into the hallway in cloud slippers. “Aw man, looks like it’ll be a close un. Maybe oi shoulda wagered on Soarin’.”
Soarin’s head drew back in surprise. “What, you guys are betting on us now?” Rapidfire and Lightning Streak’s eyes flicked to each other and then away.
“Anyway,” Lightning Streak tried to derail the topic, “I brought this for yeh mate, jus loik oi said oi would.” The distraction worked because the stallion procured a beautiful doughnut. Soarin’s green eyes dilated in wonder. If it tasted anything like it looked…
It’s a trap. “For me? Why?”
Lightning Streak looked at him quizzically. “Remember, yeh said oi owed ya a confection-loik thing back at the gallery, so here it is. A fan gave it to me, but really oi think she wanted you to have it. She was a bit shy.”
Soarin’ swallowed. “I think I only know one guy who could make a doughnut like that.”
“C’mon mate, where else would oi get it from?”
High Winds nickered. “I dou nut know.”
Soarin’ had to eat the doughnut while it was still fresh.
The doughnut. It was the most perfect, simple glazed doughnut he had ever seen. Light and fluffy dough formed a squareish ring cooked to golden perfection. A softer white seam circled the pastry. The sheen of tasty clear sugar glaze covered every inch of the smooth dough with perfect evenness. It was puffy to the touch, like a cloud.
He bit into it.
The bite of doughnut seemed to both melt in his mouth and stay solid, dissolving into deliciousness when he chewed. Soft dough was balanced flawlessly with the subtle texture of the sugar glaze. He was filled with joy. It was the purest, most honest kind of joy: the kind you get from a very simple thing. The kind of joy that made you spread your wings and lift into the sky because your heart became so light you could barely contain it.
Dash, I’m going to get you into the Wonderbolts, I swear.
~~~
That didn’t go as well as she’d hoped. Also, croquet was a dumb game.
“You… know these ponies?” A very classy stallion had singled out Twilight because of the dress she was wearing. His question was directed at Rarity. Some of the elites murmured in disdain.
Rarity turned her back on Twilight and walked away. Two of the upper crust ponies allowed themselves smug smiles, as if they’d just won a prize.
Oh no you don’t! This isn’t over yet.
“Yes. Yes, I do know them,” Rarity said before Rainbow Dash could start to pull punches. The herd gasped. Dash rolled her eyes. So melodramatic. She recognized the white stallion with a shock of blue mane standing a little further back in the crowd. He stared at her from a distance, wide-eyed through the entire conversation. Never thought you’d see me in anything other than a painting after ruining the castle ballroom, huh?
“How about you introduce me to your friends,” suggested Fancypants.
“With pleasure,” Rarity responded. “Fancypants, this is Twilight. She is studying under the Princess’ guidance.”
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Twilight said kindly.
Rarity introduced the others. “And this is Rainbow Dash.”
“Ah, yes, the Wonderbolts’ trainer.”
Rainbow Dash’s legs locked up. Rarity stopped the cordial stallion before he could say more. “That’s, well I mean, she’s not really the Wonderbolts’ trainer.”
Fancypants laughed good-naturedly. “Now look what you’ve done to your poor friend, Rarity. She is at a loss for words it seems.”