//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: Journey 
// by SigmatheAwesome 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow peeled her eyes open, her vision blurred. "Good morning, Soarin'..."

When nopony greeted her, her eyes shot open. She had woken facing the pegasus, who was absent.

Immediately her mind went into panic mode. "Soarin'?"

She saw that the shield was still up, and a quick search told her that the remote for the pillars was in the stallion's hooves.

"Soarin', this better not be a joke!"

Her mind raced through scenarios. One was that the pegasus was only pretending to be nice, and had decided to lock her up for some cruel reason. Not entirely unreasonable, but still extremely unlikely. The more likely option was that he had gone to search for supplies or the box, and had decided to make sure she was safe.

As much as she wanted to believe the latter, her mind decided that the former was far more interesting.

After a few minutes of thinking Soarin' eventually appeared, carrying some firewood. Rainbow slammed against the shield.

"Soarin', what the hay is this for?"

"You were still sleeping when I woke up-"

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Cloudsdale is 1789 years old."

"Knew that."

"Spitfire had a crush on you?"

"Told me last night."

"Oh right. Hm... I'm quite an artist?"

"You are?"

"Not really." He pulled out the remote and the shield fell. "But what I was going to say was that I kept the shield up to keep you safe."

"You said these creatures were nocturnal."

"Some can make exceptions." He dropped a stack of firewood next to their already existing pile and sat down. "Now, who wants breakfast?"

Rainbow grinned. "Me, duh."

After a quick meal, Rainbow quenched the fire.

Soarin' chuckled as he started the fire. "So, today we're going to look more to the cave's left. There's a lake nearby, we could take a swim."

Rainbow blushed and struggled to keep her wings shut. "A-a swim?"

"Well, it'd be more of a bath, considering."

The cyan mare blushed even harder and fought to keep the damned feathered things clamped to her body. "A-a-a b-bath?"

"Never had a bath with another?"

"W-well, once, but that was when Poison Joke hit me and I had Zecora cure me."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I-I dunno, stuff..." Rainbow wrapped the sleeping bag around herself, looking everywhere except Soarin'.

"Well, I for one am used to group bathings. Wonderbolts have to share showers."

Rainbow's wings overpowered her. The bag was flung aside from the force. "S-share sh-sh-showers?"

Soarin' noticed the wings. "You get used to it, as I said."

Rainbow looked at her open wings and willed them to shut. They didn't. "Uh, sure, let's go."

The stallion stood up and offered a hoof to Rainbow. Rainbow wrapped her own hoof around it and the two pulled her up. Rainbow, still a little stunned, bumped her chest into his. Soarin' wrapped a hoof around the cyan pegasus to help stabilise her.

After a moment of recovery Rainbow noticed, and leapt back in surprise. Her wings were still stiff as oak, and her blush didn't seem to want to go away. If Soarin' was noticing, he didn't show it.

Soarin' gestured his head to their next location, pressing the shield on as they continued walking.

After a few minutes Rainbow's wings started loosening up enough to let her fly. She did so, keeping to the air.

"Don't like walking?"

Rainbow sighed. "Not really. One, I'm a born flyer. Two, I have sensitive hooves."

"Makes sense." Soarin' looked at the ground they were walking on. "It's a double edged sword, right?"

"Yeah, on one hoof I can feel changes in the air with them, but on the other I can't stand the touch of some things." She looked at her fellow pegasus. "You know quite a bit about what things are like for me."

"It's happened to somepony or another that I know." He casually replied. "Most comes from either me or Spitfire."

The two continued in silence for a moment.

"Hey, do you have a nickname for Spitfire?"

"No, why?"

"Because Shining has one for Twilight."

Soarin' chuckled. "Well, you can't really make a nickname like that for the name Spitfire, and to be honest I find her name awesome. Why would I want to shorten that?"

Rainbow giggled. "You have a point, it is an awesome name." 

The two spent the next few seconds quietly reciting Spitfire's name.





"Wow."

In front of the cyan pegasus was a wide, surprisingly clean lake, right next to a waterfall. The forest was also quite distant from this oasis, taking Rainbow a few seconds to casually drift to the water's edge.

"Just... Wow." Rainbow peered down. "This looks clean."

"It is." Soarin' smiled. "I checked it this morning."

Rainbow turned to Soarin' expectantly.

"Well, don't wait for me, Dashie, jump on in."

Rainbow obeyed, leaping to the dead-centre of the pool and splashing in. When she poked her head under she noticed that there was not a creature in sight. She pulled her head up, sending water spraying across the surface.

By that time Soarin' had drifted in and was floating lazily next to Rainbow. 

"This place is awesome." She lifted a hoof out. "Even better than the spa."

"I know a place like this near Cloudsdale that only Spitfire and I know." He spun in the water, poking his head up. "We go there instead of spas."

"You've gotta take me there. What's it like?"

"Better than here, seeing as this is in the middle of the second-most dangerous untamed forest in Equestria."

Rainbow had a pulse of an idea pass through her head, and before she could stop herself she splashed a little water on Soarin'. She giggled like a schoolfilly.

Soarin' blinked, overcoming the shock. Then he grinned, and splashed a little more at his attacker. Rainbow lurched back, but was still hit by the water.

"Oh, it's on now!"

The next few minutes to the observer could only be described as chaos. Rainbow and Soarin' eventually resorted to using their wings to throw their payloads, sending huge waves upon their opponent. The last stroke was caused by Rainbow Dash, as she leapt into the air as high as her waterlogged wings would allow, splashing down and causing a wave to crash on Soarin's head. The stallion hit the lakebed softly, still stunned at how powerful that last launch was. Rainbow took the moment to pin him, holding wings with hooves and hooves with wings.

"Ha, got you now!"

Soarin' opened his eyes and immediately Rainbow lost herself in them. Her wings opened up, not straight like last time, but along her side, covering her cutie mark.

And, as if its mission in life was to ruin the moment, a bird landed on her head.

The damned bird snapped them both out of their trance as Rainbow waved a hoof at it, sending it flying. Rainbow looked at Soarin', disappointed that it had to end too soon.

"Heh heh... Sorry."

"It's fine." Soarin' replied, sounding a little annoyed himself.

It was just as Rainbow was clearing her face that she noticed something. Something boxy, gold-and-flame, and metal. She poked her head up.

"Soarin', I found the box!"

Soarin's eyes widened. "Serious?"

Rainbow pointed a hoof down. "It's down here."

"Right, well, let's find a way to- RAINBOW DASH WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Rainbow dived straight down, using her wings to swim faster down. She reached the lakebed in a matter of seconds.

She gripped the box with her mouth. It didn't budge. It was stuck. She tried pulling harder, using her hooves to gain leverage, only to fail.

Her mind was starting to blank and her lungs were hurting, but she ignored it. She dug around the box, managing to remove most of the dirt around it.

Before she could finish she emptied her lungs involuntarily, and instinctively breathed in a load of water. Her vision was blacking out and she hurt like mad.

She managed to grab the box and yank it out of the dirt before she lost all consciousness.





Darkness.

Rainbow could only see darkness.

She didn't know which way was up or down, left or right. She couldn't even move.

She could only feel pain. Pain, and something sucking the water out of her lungs.

In a flash her vision returned, her body following shortly. She felt the source of the sucking. Soarin'.

She coughed violently, removing as much water as she could. Soarin' pulled back, looking over Rainbow Dash with concern.

"Good, you're ok."

"How-" More coughing. "-How long have I been out?"

"I just pulled you out."

Rainbow's memory snapped back. "The box?"

"Still at the bottom of the lake."

Rainbow sighed, falling on her back. "Darn it."

"I know you're not going to just leave it be, so I have a plan."

"Shoot."

"I go down and tie something to it, then we both pull it up together."

Rainbow weakly nodded. "Cos I ain't going back down there at all."

"We'll do it when you're ready."

Rainbow thought. On one hoof, I need to get that box. On the other, I'm in absolutely no condition to do it... "Eh, let's wait another night. I'm stuffed."





The night arrived sooner than expected. Rainbow had her wings open, drying them off in the fire's heat.

"Dash?"

Rainbow faced the stallion. He was looking troubled. "Yeah?"

"Don't do that again, alright?"

"Sorry." Rainbow lowered her head. "I just got excited and eager. And I-"

"Hate losing."

Rainbow gasped quietly. "How-"

"Spitfire. She absolutely hates losing."

Rainbow nodded slowly. "That's why she's the Captain."

"Amongst other reasons, yes."

Rainbow flipped her wings over, drying the other side. "Is she the older of you two?"

"By a minute or so." Soarin' idly poked a stick into the fire, brightening it. "Sometimes I feel like the older, though."

Rainbow folded her wings, shivering slightly at the touch. "I'd better hit the hay, and you should too."

Soarin' nodded, preparing a nearby bucket. "Ready when you are."

Rainbow replied with her own nod, falling onto her back. With a hiss the light disappeared. She wrapped the sleeping bag around herself, her body refusing to warm up enough for sleep.

"You ok, Dash?"

"Fine." She lied, her shoulders refusing to stop moving. "Just a little cold, nothing I'm not used to."

"You don't seem fine..." Soarin' said with concern.

Oh boy how can I argue with him now? "Yeah, you're kinda right. Do you have a spare blanket or something?"

After a moment of silence she heard a facehoof she couldn't see.

"Knew I forgot something. But I can't leave you out in the cold, now can I?"

"What d'ya have in mind?" Rainbow replied with a mix of bravado and curiosity, turning to face him.

Soarin' sighed. "Well, I was thinking that either I give you my sleeping bag to go over yours-"

"But then you'll be cold." She looked around for another solution. "What's your other plan?"

"-Or we share a bag."

Rainbow's heartbeat increased, and she blushed, suddenly feeling a lot warmer. "N-not that I don't appreciate the offer, but is there a third option?"

"Leaving you cold."

Rainbow sighed. "Alright, let's share."

Rainbow pulled herself out of her bag, and handed it over to Soarin'. Soarin' did a little mucking around with the bags to form a giant, two-pony bag.

"How the hay did you do that one?"

"Jovia."

Rainbow nodded. Jovia Industries was known for making some of the best flight gear in Equestria (though, it was equally priced). Not that she cared much anyway.

Soarin' pulled open the bag and slid inside. Rainbow followed, albeit with a little difficulty.

"You ok?"

Rainbow shivered. "A little awkwardly. And cold."

She felt the stallion's forelegs wrapping around her back, pulling her closer. Rainbow stiffened. "Just warming you up some more."

"Thanks, I guess." Rainbow buried her muzzle into Soarin's coat, trying to get warmer. Her breathing grew heavy.

"Y'ok?"

Rainbow pulled her head up to look at Soarin' in the eyes. Those wonderfully green eyes... 

"Dash?"

Rainbow closed her eyes, and moved forward slightly. Her lips pressed against Soarin's, and after a second she pulled back, opening her eyes. Soarin's were wide in surprise.

"Heheh..." Rainbow chuckled out of embarrassment. "Sorry, I got a little carried away."

Soarin' smiled. "It's ok. I like you too."

Rainbow beamed. "You do?"

He nodded. "Since you saved me."

Rainbow wrapped her hooves around Soarin's midsection and kissed him again. 

"Rainbow?"

"Mm?" Rainbow replied while burying her head in his chest again.

"You're damp."

Rainbow's eyes widened, and felt something alarmingly close to her-

"As in your mane. And back."

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess I didn't dry myself off properly."

The two cuddled in blissful silence for a few moments.

"Soarin'?"

"Yeah?"

Rainbow looked up at him expectantly. "D'ya wanna be my SSP?"

"Yep."

Rainbow squee'd.