Life after Nine

by Cosmonaut

Life after Nine

“ONE MORE ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE WONDERBOLTS FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS! GIVE ‘EM A WAVE FOLKS!”
The crowd roared as the Wonderbolts zipped above them. Three trios of blue-suited Pegasi swerving completely in tune with each other. The finale of the event had been topped off with the Fantastic Filly Flash. It was extraordinary. It was extravagant.
It wasn’t the end.
Rainbow Dash broke formation shooting high above the clouds, her long colorful tail whipping behind her. The crowd muttered in confusion, some of them flipping through the show pamphlets to see where on the list of events this maneuver was. A few knowing fans leaned forwards in their seats, eyes peeled to the sky.
There was a massive boom. A multicolor corona of light and sound erupted high above the sky and clearing out the cloud cover that had settled over the Hoofington stadium. Rainbow Dash dove directly down, a blazing rainbow trailing in her wake. The crowd ooed and awed at the explosion of light and sound high above, most of the transfixed ponies not paying attention to Dash.
With movement belying her size Dash pulled faster for her dive, her wings snapped tight to her side in her efforts to remain streamlined. A second, bright explosion of color washed out close to the field the audience members gasping at the unexpected second Rainboom.
Rainbow Dash spiraled high into the air, her smile wide as the skies, screaming wind in her ears never having a chance to drown out the uproarious applause from down below. It was exhilarating. Deafening. Powerful. Every awesome feeling wrapped into one.
She lived for this.

        “That was one smooth move Dash. I didn’t know you even COULD do a double ‘boom. Sheesh I know you joked about it but to actually see you do it?! Hot damn you kick major ass!”
        “That’s my job Squall! Bein’ better than the top of my game is allll in a days work,” she flipped her hair back, striking a pose. Even among her team mates Dash never missed a beat to shower herself with just a little extra praise. “You know for a rook you’ve got some real talent yourself. That double back flip cloud break you pulled off earlier was some top-notch flyin’. Keep on that and you’ll make captain someday.”
        Squall gasped like every one of her fans, silver hair falling on her eyes “Whoa! Really? I’ve only been on board for three years though!”
        “Skill trumps service years anyday girl,” Rainbow Dash winked at her. “I’ve got an eye for talent. You’ve been catching mine since you signed up.”
        Rainbow Dash turned her attention to Spitfire, who was finishing up her pre-assigned closing speech. Their performance today was definitely going to boost those donations for all the charities sponsored. It was one of the better feelings that came with this job. Satisfaction like this was nothing like kicking clouds apart.
        “…and so open you hearts and your wallets for all the fillys out there that will go to be tonight cold, tired, and without a true home. With your help you can clear the path that leads to the rest of their lives. Thank you.” Spitfire bowed her head, jumping down from the podium amidst scattered applause from the crowd.
        “All yours girl,” she said walking past Dash. Squall blinked, watching the suited Pegasus, the Rainbow Dash who would rather fly to any nearby pubs than sit through their own monthly Wonderbolt safety lessons, was drifting over to the podium to deliver a speech?
        Had her fiery hair not been visible atop her head Squall would have assumed she was seeing things.
        “HOW’S IT GOING HOOFINGTON!?” Dash shouted into the mic.
        A cacophony of stomping hooves greeted her back.
        “WHAT WAS THAT?! THOUGHT THIS TOWN HAD SOME LIFE TO IT! C’MON!” she taunted, excited whoops and cheering meeting her back. Dash drank it all in, one colt screaming out an ‘I love you Dash’ somewhere in the background.
        “Right back at ya hot stuff,” she flashed a brilliant white smile to the crowd. “So uh, I’ve got some stuff for all you cool guys out there to hear tonight.”
        Rainbow Dash looked down at her prepared notes “It’s about living the dream and how much that means to a pony.”
        The crowd settled into a hushed whisper. Rainbow Dash propped herself up on the podium, clearing her throat.
That’s right settle down because now Dash is talking
        “Everypony has a dream. Starting waaay off when you’re just a little filly. Sort of like a thing that’s there that at the time looks impossible to reach, but you want it so bad, you never forget about. Sometimes you think about it for hours, sometimes you forget about it for months. It doesn’t go away though. A dream never dies. Ever.”
        “It’s something you can hold on to when there’s nothin’ else to grab at. It’s that drive, the motivation to keep you going when you’re down. Your dreams can be reality if you work for them. Never letting anyone tell you otherwise. I’ve been told countless times that if I kept chasing my dreams I’d never end anywhere in life. Well…look at me now!”
        A smattering of applause broke out in the crowd. They were receptive to her speech so far.
        Now for the hard part
        “When a dream comes true it’s great. It’s better than the best thing you could imagine, It’s-”
        What the hay is that!?
        Dash paused, briefly, somepony was fiddling with the emergency bathroom break flap underneath her tail.
        “It’s uh, everything you ever dreamed of. As for me I-“ she sucked in air through gritted teeth, a warm wet tongue grazing against her privates “I’ve been living mine f-for like…nine years now. Each one better than…the last.”
        I am going to kill you for this
        “I was promoted to Captain a few years after my acceptance in the Wonderbolts. I had thought at the time that…that admission to the team was it. Leading my squad…WAS a whole ‘nother level for me.”
        Rainbow Dash bowed her head, pausing again. That invasive tongue had slipped inside her now, swirling around in small circles. Her heart began racing immediately, sweat rolling down her forehead.
        Not in front of the crowd in front of the team in front of the photographers I’ll be a laughingstock just go away and leave Oh sweet Celestia how are you doing that?!
“So,” she panted, trying desperately to keep herself under control and failing miserably. “So ya gotta…end t-those dreams early sometimes…letting some others getting a shot at their own.”
Pressure mounted. The wonderful licking down below turned into the most delightful flicking against her most sensitive spot. Dash braced herself against the podium, the rushing ecstasy bearing down on her like a freight train. Her mind screamed in pleasure, beginning for her voice to follow.
“AAAAAAND SO I’M RESIGNIN’ FROM MY POSITION IN THE ‘BOLTS TO PAAVE THE WAY FOR MY TEAMATE AND VERY GOOD FRIEND SUMMER SQUALL!”
The words tumbled from her mouth in one huge half-scream. Dash came, her entire lowery body quivering, like she’d been dipped halfway into a superheated sauna with the jets running full blast. She lowered her head, gasping again. Then with some trepidation she returned her head to the microphone.
“Thank you for your time,” she croaked.
Rainbow Dash stepped down, walking backwards until she hit the purple curtain emblazoned with the team logo, stepping through it before jetting away to the Wonderbolts traveling trailers high in the sky.

“Open this door. RIGHT NOW! Or I will break it down!” snarled Rainbow Dash, banging her hoof against the wood paneling.
“It’s unlocked Dash,” said a voice inside.
She turned the knob. Dash pushed it open and tackled the Pegasus standing right behind it, pinning him to the floor.
“The heck did you do that for Soarin! I was right in the middle of my resignation speech I been practicing for months and all of a sudden you decide it’ll be a great idea to just waltz right up and start eating me out! In front of EVERYPONY!? What is up with you!?” she ranted at him.
Soarin grinned up at her, guilty as sin. He wasn’t even trying to struggle against her “Chill out Dash! I was just thinking you could get a little relief ‘cuz I know you had to be sweating bullets up there.”
“Dude, that doesn’t mean you-! UGH!” she hopped off. “You are impossible.”
“Felt good though right?” he said rolling to his hooves. “Didja know it was me?”
“At first I had no idea. Then you started using your tongue and I kinda narrowed down my list,” she rolled her eyes when he shot her a quizzical look. “Of COURSE I knew it was you ya birdbrain! Who else could it be?”
“Oh yeah,” Soarin chuckled. “I’m just playing!”
Rainbow Dash whinnied, then started wiggling out her uniform. Soarin hopped onto the undersized bed, kicking off the messy sheets. She flicked the last fold of the suit away, pulling her tail out, then pounced him again with her hooves aiming for his gut.
“OOOF!” he wheezed, snapping forwards. “I deserved that! I totally did!”
“Yeah you did. But that was private punishment. You made me orgasm in front of oh gee I dunno...an ENTIRE stadium ten minutes ago,” she bit his neck, roughly. “I’ll get ya publicly first chance I get.”
Soaren rubbed his stomach. “That’s totally bogus…”
They lay on the bed quietly for a few minutes longer, Dash just languidly resting on him and cooling off after her little revenge. The bigger better revenge would come later.
“I liked your speech. I’m surprised you actually went through with this Dash. Spits always said you’d be a ‘bolt until the day you die,” he spoke into her red streak of hair.
“I always told you she wanted me dead,” she said grimly.
“Haha, naaaah,” he chuckled, rolling his eyes, “she just meant that you loved your job so much-”
“Soaren I was joking,” replied Dash, twisting around to meet his green eyes.
“I knew that,” he retorted.
“No you totally missed that one,” she stuck her tongue out at him.
“…yeah I did,” he frowned. “It’s just that you retiring was so outta left field that everyones surprised you went through with it.”
Dash returned her head against his, squirming against him “Part of me wants to turn around and un-say that speech. Squall Strider totally deserves captain ya know. I’ve seen her stunts, they’re, also when she talks ponies listen.  Squalls got what it takes.”
“C’mon Dash. This wasn’t about Squall,” he shifted on the bed, laying on his side “Totally sweet idea making it sound like it was though. I bet she keeled over when you said her name.”
“See you’re not that dense after all ya big lug,” Dash hopped off the bed, walking over to the circular mirror atop the messy dresser. “Since you brought it up like two years ago I’d been thinking about…that on and off.”
“Yeah?” Soarin twisted around on the bed, forelegs dangling off the edge.
“I’ve already built up an awesome legacy here in the ‘bolts. Zillions of fans, all the money, the fame, the records I’ve broken…” she sighed happily, so many challenges completed and raised benchmarks at her doing.
“Yeeeeeaah?” he said, leaning forwards.
“So it got me thinking. About all the other little fillies out there who would wanna grow up just like me. Most of them go to flight schools like that. Like I did. So a teaching gig at the Speedsters isn’t a half bad idea. I know they’re gonna let me in too,” she smirked “They totally want me there.”
“Anything else Dash?” Soarin said, his body tense.
“Having a legacy,” she looked at him from the mirror, a spare suit partially obscuring her face “is the last thing. My career is solid for sure. With a double Sonic Rainboom I definitely went out with a bang. A million times better than getting slower and slower ‘till I don’t make the cut.”
Rainbow Dash turned around to so she was face to face with Soarin.
“Soo having a foal of my own to raise as awesome as me and carry on my genes is the most obvious answer.”
“HA!” he leapt off the bed and grabbed her in a tight hug “Scratch that last thing I said. THIS was the absolute last thing I’d thought I’d never hear you say.”
“Soarin get off me ya sap,” she struggled underneath him, but he was strong enough to keep her held.
“Aw come on. This is the coolest news! Plus you know I’ve been doggin’ you about it since I brought up the Speedsters to you last year. Man have I been waitin’ for you to say this…”
Rainbow Dash stopped struggling, putting her forelegs around his back to return the hug.
Jeez does he really want a kid this much?
“Another thing dude…since I had this all sorted out with Spitfire I kinda wanted to go back to my hometown and see my friends,” he let her go, dropping down to all four hooves. “You don’t gotta come with me but you can if ya want.”
“Are you nuts? Of course I’ll go with you!” Soarin darted over to one of the cabinets, throwing towels and bedsheets everywhere. He pulled out his blue set of goggles and strapped them over his eyes “Last show of the season and you’re asking me maybe? Heck, I sold my own dump when I signed up for this.”
Rainbow Dash put her own goggles back on “Dump huh? Heh, wait ‘till ya get a load of my place.”
“Alright let’s go!” he unfurled his wings, giving them a flap.
“Wait what about all-”
He shushed her “Don’t sweat it Dash. Godwins gonna pack it all up and deliver it to Ponyville personally.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about him,” she laughed, feeling relieved “Alright hot shot, last one to Ponyville buys lunch tomorrow!”
Rainbow Dash jumped up and launched herself through the front door. Soaren balked, and then chased after her in the growing darkness.
“DASH! Wait up! I don’t know where you live!”

Upon her entry to the Wonderbolts nine years ago Rainbow Dashs magnificent cloud house floating off the edge of Ponyville had ended up becoming an immediate afterthought. It was to the point of worrying about it that she’d almost gone and blasted it apart herself since it was pointless to her about keeping it around. She couldn’t do it though. Severing the last ties to her home was too much and she’d balked at the last minute. Happily before she left Fluttershy had offered to babysit the place for her. Dash immediately obliged, ecstatic that her friend would watch her home while on tour.
“Woo! Check me out! Dash still has a leg up on ya slowpoke!” boasted the sky blue Pegasus, landing with a heavy stomp on her front porch.
“Not…fair…Dash,” Soarin landed next to her, stumbling on his legs. “Ya got me…pretty hard before in my stomach earlier.”
She flicked her tail in his face, opening the front door and walking inside “Okay okay, but I still won fair n’ square.”
Wheezing, he stepped inside after her squinting in the dark. Dash flicked a switch to thin her cloud roof. Her house illuminated in pale yellow moonlight, she gasped. Soaren shot her a look.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Dashs eyes darted around the room. “Everything is…clean.”
It was clean. Apparently Fluttershy had taken the time to do more than just keep her house anchored. Trays of take-out and crushed soda cans that had once littered her floor in piles were gone. Her collection of flight magazines and newsletters from Cloudsdale were stacked neatly on a newer looking nightstand then she remembered. Her old Winter Wrap Up vest was steam pressed and hanging in the nearby closet along with her beautiful flowing Gala dress. A pile of newspapers with articles detailing her performances rested atop the table in the center of the room.
“Smells nice in here,” sniffed Soaren, walking around the room.
“Feels like I’m in somepony elses house. Or a museum,” Dash knocked over a bare coat rack with her wing, spilling over a series of hats her mother bought that she never wore.
“Feel better?” he asked, inspecting a black bowler hat.
“A little,” replied Dash. “Should I pay her or something?”
Soaren balked. “You don’t pay your friends for favors!”
“This place was a total sty dude. You don’t wanna know,” she cantered past him, heading straight for her bedroom. The bed was made, clean sheets pressed against her cloud mattress. All her trophies and medals glowed with a healthy yellow sheen on her dresser. Fluttershy must have polished them. Quickly checking under the last drawer she poked her head through a secret compartment.
“Phew!” Dash shoved the drawer shut, dirty magazines remaining dirty and NOT alphabetized.
“So where are you doing lunch tomorrow?” Soaren found her room, clutching a bottle of water in his wings.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Probably at Seasonal Delights. The pub would have been cool but Twilight said the place was booked or closed or something. For all I know she booked it so we wouldn’t have to go to the pub.”
“She doesn’t like drinking?” he sat on the bed, taking a long pull at the water bottle.
“Not since that one party,” Dash chuckled, recalling a very wasted Twilight woozily hitting on anypony that happened to walk past her. “I’ll have to try again though. She’s such a lightweight!”
She yawned; feeling tired. “Let’s hit the hay then. I don’t wanna wake up at two tomorrow and be late for my free lunch.”
“Bed? Really? Right now?” Soarin threw the empty water bottle away, sounding disappointed.
“Lemme guess,” she cocked an eyebrow “You wanted some foolin’ around time?”
“A little….” he scratched the back of his head.
“Just a little?” Dash bent forward, sashaying her tail and pointing her ass right at him. “You sayin’ this only turns you on a little?”
FWOMP
Soarin bit his lip, wings flaring out.
“That’s what I thought,” snickered Dash, sauntering over to him with half lidded eyes. “Let’s save this for tomorrow buddy,” she glanced down between his haunches, “and saving THAT for later.”
He winced, his ears drooping flat against his head, “Fine…alright Dash.”
Using her teeth she pulled the sheets off the bed, tossing them on the floor. Snuggling into the soft Nimbus always felt better anyway. Bedsheets were kinda pointless to her. She yawned loudly again, stretching her limbs and wing feathers.
“You aren’t going to bed like that are you?” she heard Soarin say.
“Like what?” snapped Dash.
He poked her in the right wing “The feathers on your wings are all screwed up.”
“So?”
Soaren sighed “So let me clean them for you dummy. I can’t believe you make fun of me all the time.”
“My wings are FINE and I don’t need you slobbering all over them before bed,” she waggled her wingfeathers.
“You’re forgetting because Godwin is always doing them for you. If you don’t preen those things they’re gonna hurt Dash. It’s totally lame but it happens. Let me help you out,” he said, jostling her wing.
Dash glared at him, but relented “Fine, go ahead. Fix my feathers. But if you so much as PULL a single quill out I’ll stab you in the eye with it!”
“No tearing of the feathers. Gotcha,” he said.
Soarin stood up on the bed. He directed her so that Dash was facing away from him, then told her to sit and kneel on the bed. She grumbled, laying down. Soarin crawled atop her, pressing his hoof between her shoulderblades. With his other he carefully extended the left wing upright, the tips of her feathered appendage brushing against his nose.
“Oh,” she felt Soarins lips at her feathers. He gingerly grabbed a few of her long blue feathers in his teeth, then dragged his tongue across the quills all the way from the base to the tip. Moving down her wing he repeated the process, mechanically sliding his tongue down the soft plumes that spread out near her primaries. He was halfway down the wing, straightening every bent quill back into place, nibbling at the tough ones. But he was gentle. So gentle, and careful.
“Oooh,” Dash cooed, shutting her eyes. Preening was just another word for cleaning before. Something that the designated cleaner griffon did with his beak after one or two performances that really tuckered her out. Soarens gentle lips were like magic compared to Godwins swift handiwork. His teeth were just nibbling at the bone when he passed by, his hoof gently kneading her back, pressing into such a once tense spot. She felt like a small cloud being shaped by an expert artisan, just putty beneath his hooves.
He switched wings, and bore his weight on his other hoof. Dash moaned, feeling warmth rushing through her as he worked his teeth up and down her right wing. Never before had such an otherwise mundane aspect of her life been transformed into something so truly sublime.
He lingered just a bit longer on the right wing, knowing she favored it. Then with a final gently nibble at her bone he released her wing, watching it slowly drop to the mattress.
“Oh my god,” she exhaled, still pinned beneath him. “Where did you learn to do that?!”
“My mother,” he admitted, kneading her back, “she always wanted me to look my best so she had to make sure I knew how to groom.”
“I’m also just naturally good with my tongue,” he wiggled his eyebrows, “but you already knew that.”
“Celestia knows you should have a picture of that on your flank,” Dash fidgeted beneath him. Soarin grabbed her sides and gently rolled her over on her back. He leaned close to her ear, his breath heavy and whispered “Good night Dash…”
Soarin flopped off of her, lying on the bed with a yawn.
“Whoa! I don’t think so buddy,” Dash crawled on top of him, her eyes red in the pale moonlight “You’re gonna ask me for some lovin’ then, get me all worked up like this, and just go to sleep!?”
He grinned hugely at her, saying nothing. Dashs eyes traveled down his strong chest past his belly…
“Oh I get it. A regular comedian…” she said in a dead monotone.
Soarin reached up and kissed Dash on the mouth, fighting her tongue with his. He pulled her close to him, positioning himself, trying to poise himself beneath her. Finding her, he slid inside, Dash gasping in his mouth, eyes bugging out slightly, then immediately finding a more placid look.
Soarin grabbed her by the shoulders beginning a steady rocking motion.
It was going to be one fun night.

The next morning was warm and sunny. Not a single cloud blotted the gorgeous sun beaming bright rays of light down upon Ponyville. The weather team really outdid themselves today, in lieu of sitting inside the restaurant Rainbow Dash, Soarin and all her old friends opted for the outdoor seating, pulling two tables together for all those sitting. It was still terribly crowded.
“There’s no space on this table for me to set my drink! Couldn’t we all just get a booth?” Rarity eyed the crowded table balefully, trying to find a spot to set down her glass.
“I gotcha covered!” Soarin reached over the table, grabbing the flowerpot and chucking it over his shoulder into the bushes behind him.
“That is quite…” she set her drink down, the glass clinking against the half full pitcher of iced tea in the middle, “well, that works. Thank you Soarin.”
“No probs,” he immediately went back to digging at his wrap.
Twilight still had her glass of iced tea hovering next to her, along with her sandwich and silverware “Yes, it’s a shame there aren’t more flowerpots on the table.”
She turned to Dash. “Are you going to eat any of your food Rainbow?”
“One s’hec!” she replied, a pencil in her teeth. She scribbled her name onto the poster thrusted forth by one of her fans. Since she showed up outside the restaurant it was difficult to avoid being mobbed by throngs of fillies and even some sheepish looking older Pegasus, posters of their own clutched under their wings.
“There! Now ‘scuse me kids. My foods getting cold,” Dash waved a wing at the little troop of ponies. Most of them hanging their heads before trotting away (but not too far away) from the restaurant.
“Wowee Dash you sure got loads of fans! Are you this popular wherever you go?” Pinkie Pie leaned forwards in her seat, knocking over her glass in the process.
“Pinkie Pie watch that thing! You’ll make a mess of your coat!” Rarity magically saved the glass before it could spill its contents over her meal.
“Oopsies! Sorry Rarity but you know,” Pinkie lifted her stomach a bit, it looked as if she’d swallowed a pumpkin it was stretched so taut, “it’s just something I forget is there sometimes.”
Rainbow Dash whistled, Pinkie Pie had already been seated when she showed up with Soarin. “Dang, so who’s the lucky colt Pinkie?”
Pinkie Pie giggled, belly jiggling a little “You remember that silly blue unicorn right that would always hang out at my bakery not looking at me but at the pastries? Welllll one day like a few years ago he stopped looking at the éclairs and started talking to me while I was at work and one thing led to another.”
“We hooked up,” Pinkie sighed happily, tapping her stomach. “This is going to be number two actually Dash. When the first one came out I was so super shocked you know I just thought I was getting all fat but then she came out and it was such a surprise…”
“I named her Surprise right there on the spot,” Pinkie Pie took a sip of her iced tea.
“That story gets more precious every time I hear it darling,” Rarity nuzzled her neck. “She’s home with her father right?”
“Yup! Pokeys watching her for the day!” she turned to Fluttershy, who had been sitting very quietly at the end of her table.
“Where’s the little guy Fluttershy? Didn’t you bring him with you?” she asked tilting her head.
Fluttershy gulped, not answering. Her turquoise eyes seemed distant, a little unfocused.
“Oh…I fed him a bottle before I left…but he kept spitting out his binky…so he’s um…”she squeaked, one eye twitched.
“Having some lunch too…” finished Fluttershy, her cheeks tinged with red.
Twilight put a hoof to her mouth. “He’s a hungry little guy isn’t he?”
“Yes…I’d have left him home…I know it’s just us girls today…it’s Applebuck season…Macintosh is working the fields with his sisters…Applebloom got her friends to help…I couldn’t find a sitt-AH NOT SO ROUGH!”she ducked her head under the table.
Rarity dug through her saddlebags “I picked up a copy of the Ponyville Press this morning. You’re on the front pages again darling.”
“Oh boy here we go,” the front page showed a picture of her face, so screwed up in arousal. The headlines blared:

“Told you it was gonna be fine,” munched Soarin between bites of his wrap.
“You are SO lucky,” she said back, her shoulders sinking and breathing a sigh of relief.
Twilight looked at them curiously. “Am I missing something?”
“Just an inside joke,” he waggled his eyebrows at the purple filly, but she didn’t get it. Dash did, and thumped him in the shoulder with her hoof.
Chuckling weakly Twilight said “Wellll, okay, so Dash, what’s up with you and Soarin? Are you two...” she circled a hoof in the air, “good friends?”
Rainbow Dash snorted into her plate. She looked over at Pinkie and gave her a wink.
“Oh more than that Twi! After we got in last night I had some really awesome sex with Soarin in the shower!”
Soarin choked on his drink, sputtering iced tea onto his grilled wrap.
“DASH!” he coughed, grabbing a napkin.
“What? I can’t brag about how great you are in bed? You girls should see the faces he makes when he’s gonna cum, it’s all-”
Rainbow Dash screwed up her face, scrunching her nose and sticking her tongue out.
“ICE TEA!” Soarin grabbed the half full pitcher and dumped it out on the grass. “ALL OUT! BE RIGHT BACK!”
Soarin zipped into the restaurant, knocking over a waiter and all the glasses of water he was carrying.
Pinkie Pie burst into laughter, the rest of the table redder in the face than Soarin had been. Fluttershy was impassive about the whole event, concentrating on directing her son around under the table. Rarity looked completely horrified.
“Was that quite necessary?” she finally said.
“Totally was!” she looked at her friends gleefully. “What? Pinkie thought it was funny.”
“You’ll help me out when he comes back right Pinks?” she asked, Pinkies head furiously bobbing up and down.
“TWILIGHTWIGHLIGHTTWILIIIIIIIIIGHT!”
A dark blue filly unicorn sprinted towards the table from across the street. Her frizzy light purple hair caught whipped around her face, getting in her ice-blue eyes. “Twilight whatcha doing here? You weren’t at the bakery!”
“Dizzy! You were supposed to be in the library with Spike!” scolded Twilight. “Now that you snuck out he’d going to be worried sick!”
The little unicorn danced on her hooves “But Twiliiiiiiiiiiight-”
“Ah Ah Ah! You get home now young lady!” Twilight put on a stern face and pointed to the library.
“You’re no fun…” she huffed, galloping away on short stubby legs.
“Twilight! Are you serious!?” Rainbow Dash jumped from her seat and practically smothered her friend.“You finally got laid! Heck I thought you were going to be married to your books the rest of your life. Way to go girl!”
D-Dash,” Twilight gasped, pushing Dash away from her with magic. The purple unicorn huffed, catching some air.
“That’s my little sister, Dazzle,” she said, after finishing some of her drink.
“Hehe, whoops,” grinned Dash, “she’s cute though. I like her.”
        Pinkie started talking again but Twilight shut her mouth with a hoof “Before you start Pinkie, no, I haven’t been mingling much lately on the romantic scene. I’m still going about with my friendship reports as well as more advanced studies.”
        “Have you been drinking?” Dash couldn’t help asking.
        “Yes, a lot,” replied Twilight briskly, rolling her eyes.
        “That’s not so horrible.” chuckled Dash.
        Fluttershy sighed heavily; a small light yellow/orange colt with a shock of dark red hair poked his head out from under the tablecloth
        “All done mama!” he said brightly, scooting up next to her. Fluttershy wrapped a wing around her son.
        “Be gentler next time, okay sweetie?” she nibbled gently at the tips of his ear, the little colt yawning.
        “We plan on having a kid too you know. Soarin and me,” Dash said suddenly, not knowing why.
        “That’s wonderful darling!” said Rarity, fluttering her eyes. “I’m sure you will sire a beautiful little filly. Might I add, it’s almost guaranteed that your child will be born with a marvelous blue coat.”
        Pinkie Pie bounced in her seat. “When’s it coming! When’s it coming!”
        “Thanks Rarity,” Dash turned to Pinkies Pie. “I dunno, we officially started, uh, you know, working on it last night. It’s weird seeing like, you guys starting families and stuff. I’m totally happy for you and all. Hey! Pretty soon my foals can be friends with your foals!” She flapped her wings in excitement. “Won’t that that be totally awesome or what?”
        Twilight took a few more bites of her daisy daffodil sandwich “It’s so nice to have you back Dash. Everythings been well, less awesome without you here. Ponyvilles still a slow town as ever. It’s usually Rarity and her little sister that garners all the news around here.”
        “She loathes it though,” Rarity polished off her drink. “Anxious little thing she is. I’m so happy Sweetie found the nerve to get on stage and do her songs. She is snappy sometimes though. I can’t blame her. I act the same way occasionally.”
        Soarin exited the restaurant, a pitcher full of iced tea in his chops. He flew around the table re-filling all the empty cups he could see. All the glasses filled he sat in his seat, nibbled his wrap then looked around.
        “Hey girls, what’s up?” he said nervously.
        Pinkie Pie cracked a huge grin “Nothing, we’re only talking about the size of your massive PENIS!”
        “UUUGH!” he faceplanted into his dish, the rest of the table bursting into hysterics.
*
*
*
10 weeks later

“Wait…” rasped Dash.
Soarin leaned on top of her, still clenching her colorful mane and breathing heavy. His chest rose and sank heavily, brushing against the back of her head. After a minute longer he climbed off Dash, pulling out of her and clambering onto the bed to her side.
She followed him, sliding her forelegs under his wings. He maneuvered himself upwards on the bed, then sighed contently. Dash could tell he was still awake. She nosed at his mane.
“I wasn’t too rough tonight was I?” he asked
“No…no you…awesome as always,” she rested her head on his strong neck. “I…know you leave for the ‘bolts soon. You’ve got what? Like three weeks?”
“Two and a-“ he yawned, “-half.”
They lay together quietly, just the sounds of their breathing filling her bedroom.
“Soaren…it’s not working,” Dash broke the silence. “Every time I use the wand thing it gives me a minus.”
“I must be shootin’ blanks,” he mumbled.
“Dude you aren’t that old,” she rolled on her back, staring at the ceiling. “I’m not that old…right

“Listen to me you goofball!” she narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s not working…” she repeated, voice hoarse, “we’ve been at it every night…”
“Listen don’t sweat it,” he kissed her passionately on the lips, then a few extra times on her face. “Maybe you just have to be in heat? I dunno…your friends the librarian I betcha she knows about all that jazz.”
He yawned again, heavier this time. “I’ll uh, I’ll go with ya tomorrow to see her okay? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me or you.”
Soarin kissed her again, draping a wing over her belly. “I love you Dash. Goodnight.”
He fell asleep, snoring softly into the pillow.
Rainbow Dash stared at the ceiling, his words echoing in her head.
Something wrong with you
She shivered, hooves unconsciously tracing down her slim frame, reaching her belly.
Something wrong
She stared at the ceiling, brooding over her plans, her life, his eagerness for family and his parting words before he fell asleep.
In a few hours she dozed off as well, her dreams blank.

“DIZZY! You stop bouncing on Spike or it’s time out little lady!”
Dizzys face fell, landing on the dragons back with a thud. “But Twiliiiiii-”
“You heard me loud and clear! Now off!” she commanded!
The little unicorn harrumphed and toddled upstairs. Spike scratched his back where she’d been jumping on him.
“I can’t even feel it you know. It’s not a big deal,” he said nonchalantly. He was a little larger than he had been nine years ago.
“It’s the principle of the thing. Besides, we have a guest,” she hissed, before turning to Rainbow Dash.
“I think it’s kinda funny,” offered the blue mare.
“So does Spike, he never helps me with Dizzy,” she shot him a glance, “Anyway, what’s up? You’re up…wow, earlier than usual.”
Rainbow Dash breathed in and out, looking like a complete wreck. “I need some advice…”
“Oh?” Twilight said, a little distracted with her little sister leering at her from the staircase.
“Yeah, about uh, us ponies and that stuff…like our bodies,” she ruffled her wings, clearly troubled.
“OH?” now Dash had Twilights full attention. “Tell me about it.”
“When a pony…want to have foals…they uh, have to be in h-heat right?” said Dash not knowing too well what heat was.
“Of course not,” Twilight shook her head “heat is just one of those evolutionary side effects us ponies never fully dropped from our primal days. A few really uncomfortable months out of the year a pony will get thrice as receptive for conception than normal but that doesn’t mean anypony can’t conceive when they aren’t.”
“Twilight…” suddenly the purple unicorn felt that was the wrong thing to say, her friend was a little green in the face.
“Can…we go visit the clinic?”

The waiting room was bad. It was clean, sterile and the outdated magazines on gardening never did anything but add a splash of green to the otherwise white-washed room that trapped Dash in. There was a dinky square fishtank bubbling in the corner that seemed to be devoid of any life. The water itself was pale green and hummed dimly from the ancient filter clasped to the side.
The Doctors office was even worse.
Rainbow Dash fiddled with her hooves, being shuffled into the room earlier was torture for her. The chair was impossibly uncomfortable, no matter which angle she shifted another metal piece underneath the cushion would dig into her rump. The walls were plastered with detailed portraits of pony biology, Pegasi skeletal structures, the inside of a unicorn spiraled horn, an Earth pony’s musculature.
The tests themselves started off being normal. Open your mouth, eyes okay, pupils dilating; can you hear these quiet beeps? Alright thank you spread your haunches for me please.
Dash squirmed on the floor, remembering the doctor looking inside of her, asking flatly if she was sexually active, like some sort of schoolfilly caught with her hooves in her crotch. Then there were the real tests. Twilight was outside in the lobby probably more worried than she was.
The doctor returned, holding a clipboard in his teeth. His white labcoat hung loosely off his thin bony brown frame, making him look older than he was.
“So what’s up doc?” Dash said, trying to inject some life in the room.
“Miss Rainbow Dash…the Wonderbolt my nurse tells me. Her kids are big fans of yours.”
“Hehe, yeah, got loads of those…” she chuckled weakly.
“In your stunt routines you fly around at top speeds correct?” he pulled out a pencil, scribbling things on a yellow lined pad.
“All the time. Like my whole life…” Dash replied uneasily, “it’s what I do.”
“Are there any stunts when performed have ever left you with any aching feelings or trauma that you can remember?” he continued impassively.
“I have a signature move called the Sonic Rainboom. It isn’t the most complicated but it’s the flashiest,” she thought of her last one, “it’s a crowd favorite.”
“Breaking the sound barrier. Tell me,” he turned to her, his voice grim, “is this stunt something you’ve done often in the past?”
“Over the years I got better at it…I’ve been pulling it off more?” she rubbed her hooves together.
“There’s never been any odd feelings sometime after this has happened? Symptoms, sensations or anything you can remember happening out of the ordinary?”
Visions of her, hours after a performance six years ago in Fillydelphia, running past a throng of ponies to go to try and throw up into a garbage can, retching and heaving on an empty belly, ponies watching her from the alley and commenting in hushed whispers.
“Once in a while…I would vomit…but not vomiting anything,” she muttered.
“These instances included any...lasting feelings on the inside?” the doctor sat down in front of her.
Memories of a performance five years ago in Trottingham, cursing alone in her room the material of the suits she wore, her insides twisting, thighs burning, Dash rocking on the floor and clutching her stomach.
“The worst stomach aches…” Dash chewed her lip, feeling her eyes beginning to water “Doc what’s going on with me? What am I sick with?”
“Rainbow Dash,” he reached a hoof to her shoulder, decided against it, put it back to the tiled floor “I’m afraid…that as a result of your stunts, the repeat Sonic Rainboom has in effect over time systematically paralyzed your…”
He stopped, confusion etched over the Pegasus’ face.
“What does that mean doc?” she said, her voice hollow.
“You...won’t be able to naturally conceive children Miss Dash. I’m sorry.”
There wasn’t an immediate explosion of hate nor an abrupt accusation of the validity of the diagnosis. The daring Rainbow Dash just hung her head, eyes streaming hot tears onto the tiled floor as her plans for a normal life with her new planned family burst like a cloud full of hailstones, shattering and destroying everything it touched.

“Hey Twilight! Spike said you’d be here! Where’s Rainbow? Also why is she here? She never does this stuff.”
Soarin galloped into the waiting room, knocking over a stand of magazines that Twilight had just finished organizing by color and expiration date.
“OH! Hello Soarin,” she eyed the mess, then decided it was pointless “Dash is…uh, well this morning she came to me-”
The door to the Doctors office slammed open.
Rainbow Dash sped out, careening into chairs, eyes blinded with tears.
Soarin gaped at her, wings snapped open in shock.
 “Dash?”
The former Wonderbolt choked an incomprehensible wail, blinking out tears, looking at Soarin in abject fear. Then spotting a skylight she punched through the glass and rocketed away.
Soarin rushed over to the doctor standing at the doorway. He grabbed him, demanding to know what happened. What he said to her. What happened.
The doctor stammered some things about confidentiality.
Soarin punched the glass aquarium window next to the doctor and asked him to try answering that question correctly.
The doctor refused, shutting his eyes and trembling. Soarin tossed him aside, spread his wings and tore after Dash through the skylight.

I’ve always wanted a family
She sniffed, punching the cloud with a hoof. Part of it poofed away.
I’ve been bugging you about it.
Another punch. She sucked in air, the iciness of it stinging her lungs.
No doubt they would be magnificent shade of blue.
Dash beat her hooves against the cloud. Bits of it evaporated into the chill air.
We plan on having a kid too ya know. Soarin and me.
A tear rolled down her icy cheek, freezing there.
“Soarin,” she whimpered, the light blue colt was in her mind. Future events playing out like a movie in her head. The blue stallion nodding his head, Dash explaining what happened, calmly explaining she could never be the mother of his children. Letters back and forth as she contacts him while he’d on tour. Messages trickling slower and slower, the text shorter each time, until the last one sent being unreturned for months, the final message detailing a new lover and a subsequent request to halt communication entirely.
“Why…Celestia why?” Dash buried her face in the tiny strand of cirrus she’d been tearing apart. Everything hurt. Life was pointless now. She’d tossed in her hat at the top of her game...now she would have nothing. Soarin would leave her for a more fertile mare. Somepony who was able to mother his kids.
She whimpered into the cloud again, feeling as pathetic as she thought she looked.
“Oh…Soarin…I’m so sorry…I can’t…” she voiced aloud, wings shivering against her sides.
“Sorry about what?”
She jerked her head up. Soarin was standing behind her on the small cloud.
Dash shivered, inching away “Nothing. I can’t do nothing for you. You need somepony else.”
“What did the doc say? What he say that made you look at me like that?” he pressed, walking over to her.
“Soarin I…”she trailed off, unable to find the words themselves.
“What he say?” he kneeled next to her, his breath visible on the air. “Tell me.”
Rainbow Dash pulled in a deep breath between her choked sobs. “Doc says…doc says I can’t have kids Soarin.”
He wrapped a wing around her side.
“I can’t have ‘em because…of my stupid stunt or somethin’ I dunno I don’t understand,” she coughed weakly. “So go ahead.”
“Go? Go where?” he replied, his teeth starting to chatter.
“Go find another mare. A better filly that can go have a family. Not some dumb mare who can’t…”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he thumped her lightly in the shoulder.
“You’re just saying that now,” she sniffled loudly, “only ‘cuz I’m a total wreck.”
“That’s wrong. I love everything about you and you know what? Just because you have this problem doesn’t make me want to stay by your side any less. I know you call me sappy about this stuff, and a goofball. I am,” his voice was stern like Twilights usually was, “but I won’t leave you. Ever. This is Equestria after all. I’d bet my right wing there’s a way to fix this. Something out there...”
He grabbed her face with a hoof, tears frozen to her cheeks, her lips still trembling more from the cold than the news.
“Even if it doesn’t. I’ll make this work. We’ll make this work,” he kissed her on the lips, feeling how cold she really was.
Soarin looked deep into her lovely magenta eyes. “We’ll make this work,” he repeated, holding the trembling Pegasus in a tight embrace.

“We’ll make this work.”