//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Flying Through the Clouds 
// by paxtofettel 
//------------------------------//

Flying Through the Clouds by Paxtofettel
(Starring Rainbow Dash and Soarin')

If there was one thing Rainbow Dash loved the most (aside from taking a nap), it was flying. The fell of wind rushing past her face while she flew at the speed of light always got her adrenaline rising. Every day when she finished helping the weather crew clear out any stray clouds, she would take to the skies and practice her techniques in the hopes that she would be accepted into Equestria's famous flying squadron, The Wonderbolts. 

Ever since she saw them perform in her home city of Cloudsdale when she was a filly, she had always been obsessed with them. Dash would dream about flying with her idols during their shows and rising up the ranks to become Captain. When she was part of the Junior Speedsters flight camp, she would always sneak out at night and practice at the obstacle course until her wings got sore and even then, she would keep pushing herself. If there was any pony she valued more than her friends, it was The Wonderbolts' Captain and Co-Captain, Spitfire and Soarin'. She worshipped these two particular ponies more than she worshipped the Goddess Herself. Every square inch of her bedroom wall was covered in news clippings, posters, and various miscellaneous objects that reminded her of the two leaders. But, out of the two of them, it was Soarin' who she always seemed to think about. While she did constantly obsess over all the members, it seemed to her that Soarin' always stood out in her waking dreams. Her mind would constantly play scenarios involving him asking her out to fly with him. Sometimes the day dream would end with her beating him in a race and passionately kissing on top of a cumulus cloud. Other times, the dreams would become more complex and sometimes, "mature". However, reality would soon come crashing down on poor Rainbow Dash and she would realize that her dreams were nothing more than what they were, fake.

Nonetheless, it didn't stop her from thinking about him day and night. She remembered how excited she was when she saw her heroes, her "gods", at the Grand Galloping Gala. After saving their lives during the whole Best Young Flyers debacle, they had offered her to spend an entire day with them. Dash figured that the Gala would be the perfect time and place for that meeting. A small part of her wanted to be able to spend some alone time with Soarin' but she buried that thought in the deepest parts of her brain so as to not be terribly disappointed if things didn't go her way. Unfortunately, the Gala had been a disaster for Rainbow Dash and her friends, despite Princess Celestia calling it "the best Grand Galloping Gala ever." Dash's dream of hanging out with her idols was soon crushed by the events that had occurred that night. 

She had managed to rescue the pie Soarin' had purchased from her friend Applejack and they had allowed her to hang about in the VIP area where they were conversing with various posh ponies. Dash tried to hold a conversation with them, but they were too busy with their own agendas, mainly spending time with uptight stallions and mares that were common in Canterlot. Then Fluttershy had burst into the palace with a look of pure rage contaminating her usually kind face. Needless to say, everything went completely disastrous. 

Yet, Rainbow Dash never lost hope. You see, she was rather optimistic than most ponies (aside from Ponyville's prominent party pony, Pinkie Pie). She had completely cleansed her mind of the horrible events that occurred that night and continued with her strict training regimen. If she wasn't up to shape, there was no way in the Underworld that she would be accepted into the squadron.

Today, she was going to try out a new technique she had come up with during the summer. She called it "The Super Awesome Nosedive of Awesomeness!!!" a name that was truly befitting of something that the cyan Pegasus created (at least that's how she thought of it). The move involved her ascending to an altitude of around three thousand feet and then plunging towards the earth at near breakneck speeds. When she got close enough to the ground, she would quickly pull up and, therefore, avoid a rather nasty accident. A sensible pony would think this to be incredibly stupid or suicidal, but Dash was never a sensible pony to begin with. She laughed at the face of danger, scoffed at injuries, and laughed at the face of death itself.

As she stepped out of her home in the sky, she took a deep breath and sighed. Today was going to be a great day for flying. She stretched out her wings and gave them a few test flaps, not enough to get her off the ground, but enough to see if they worked just fine. Seeing that everything was okay, she flapped her wings harder lifting herself off the cloud and into the air. A few minutes later, she was dashing through the clouds, wish rushing past her face. She absolutely loved the feel of the wind on her face. It made her feel free and light. Dash felt as if she could keep flying all of her life until the world ended.

However, being that she was preoccupied with her thoughts, she failed to notice somepony flying at the exact same speed and direction as her. By the time she had noticed the figure making its way towards her, it was already too late. The last thing she felt that the weight of another taller pony crashing into her, sending her into a daze.
It took her a while to finally regain her composure after the collision. She checked her body to make sure nothing was broken. After making sure everything was ok, she turned to whatever it was that interrupted her "awesome" maneuver. 

"Hey! Why don't you watch where you're goin-," she was about to finish her scornful scolding, but then she got a good look at her "assailant" and immediately became silent. There were not many things in all of Equestria that could shut her up when she began a fiery tirade. However, what she saw was one such thing. The cyan Pegasus had collided with none other than Co-captain of the Wonderbolts (and pie enthusiast), Soarin'.

"Well, that's a fun way to make an introduction," he said while rubbing his forehead. Rainbow Dash could hardly believe what she was seeing. Soarin', the stallion who was, like, an idol to her, was right in front of her, and she had just crashed into him. 

"Oh Goddess, I'm so sorry," she apologized, "are ya hurt badly?"

Soarin' checked himself, "Nah, I've had worse crashes bight in flight cam- Say, I remember you," he said.

Rainbow Dash felt the urge to squeal like a fan filly. He remembers me, he actually remembers me, she thought to herself. Indeed, even after the entire fiasco at the Gala, he still had recognized the same filly who had saved him and his pie. "You do?" she squeaked. She immediately cursed herself for sounding so weak.

"Sheah, there's no way I can forgot the awesome mare who saved our lives while pulling off a Sonic Rainboom," Soarin' said with a hint of admiration in his voice, "not to mention saving my pie back at the Gala."

She felt herself swell in pride. "Yep, that's me, the one and only Rainbow Dash. No applause necessary," she boasted, puffing out her chest, "by the way, what are you doing all the way out here?"

"It's actually a secret; well, it was a secret. But, since you asked, I guess I can tell you. Just promise to keep this between us," he said, looking at her straight in the eyes. She nodded in agreement and Soarin' flew closer to her, making her heart beat much more rapidly. "You see, every weekend I sneak out of the Wonderbolts' training camp and practice my moves out here in the country," he told her in a hushed voice, "since it's much quieter here than in Cloudsdale, I can train all I want without any distractions. What about you?"

"Me? I was just practicing my newest move, 'The Super Awesome Nosedive of Awesomeness!!!'" she answered, raising her front legs high as if she were giving a rousing speech, "it's kinda in its prototype stages, but I know it will be twenty percent cooler if I keep working on it."

"Heh, small world," he chuckled, "wait a second, I have an idea."

"Oh?" said Rainbow Dash.

"How's about we have a little race to see who really is the best flyer," he explained, "if you win, I'll put out a good word for you with Spitfire."

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had a chance to impress Soarin' himself and possibly Spitfire as well. She would have been a foal to not jump on it. "You're on!" she shot back, "your rules or mine?"

Soarin' let out a wry chuckle, "Tell you what: since this here is your home turf, I'll let you decided the rules. Won't make much of a difference, I am the faster flyer of the team."

Crush or no crush, Rainbow Dash wasn't going to take that from him. "Oh, you think, huh?"she declaimed, "let's see…" She looked around the horizon for a suitable finish line. "There, first one to reach that ridge in the distance wins." 

"Right then, of course, we both know who's gonna win," he teased. They soon both took their places at the imaginary starting position. Rainbow Dash was now determined to be the victor and probably rub it in his smug face.

"On your marks, get set, GO!!" and with that, both pegasi took off at high speeds. They flapped their wings as hard as they could, hoping to get ahead of one another. Rainbow Dash managed to get a head start at the beginning of the race, but she was soon overtaken by Soarin'. She was surprised that somepony managed to pass the fastest flyer in all of Equestria, but she soon focused back on the race at hand. However, when she looked at her opponent, she noticed something different about him. Before, he was as boastful as she was (and a little bit goofy). But as he was flying, she noticed that he had a look a sharp concentration and sheer determination. He was truly set on winning this race, not stopping at once to gloat or tease her. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but to admire him for it and was staring at him for the longest time. She soon shook her head violently when she noticed that he getting farther away. Snap out of it, Dash, she thought to herself, you have to win this. She mustered all the strength left in her wings and shot forward in a blur of rainbow trails. The wind was hitting her face so hard that she felt it might tear the flesh off her bones. The ridge was starting to get much closer as she sped through all her might, flying past Soarin'. Needless to say, she was indeed the winner as she landed on the soft grass.

"YES! Who's the most awesome mare in Equestria? Me, that's who!" she boasted as she laid down on the grass, exhausted from the high speed dash.

Soarin's chuckled, "Gotta say, that was pretty impressive. A deal's a deal I guess," he said, laying down next to her. Rainbow Dash felt a breath hitch up in her throat; she hadn't been expecting him to be complimenting her, much less laying beside her. 

For a while, they both said nothing as they stared up at the sky, enjoyed the peace around them. "You know, I really like the view down here," Soarin' said, breaking the silence, "I've been up on the cloud so long, it's refreshing to see things from a different perspective." Rainbow Dash nodded in response. True, she did enjoy the sky and took every chance she got to fly about in the clouds. But sometimes, she did enjoy just laying down on the ground and closing her eyes for a bit. Normally, she would drift off to sleep, but now she just couldn't take her eyes of of the stallion next to her. The coat was glistening with sweat which was reflecting the light of the sun, making him look like he was a character from a mediocre romance novel. Still, she thought he looked completely divine (a word that Dash would have never used to describe something, but this was completely different). This seemed like something straight out of her fantasies.

"You know, I've always wondered what it would be li- MMMPH!" Before Soarin' could finish his sentence, he silenced by Rainbow's lips on his. It was a simple chaste kiss that took him completely by surprise. She pulled away quickly, a blush forming on her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized, "I shouldn't have done that." She felt so stupid right now. Rainbow Dash unfurled her wings so she could fly away and hide in some far away land, perhaps the Lands of Men. But before she could make her hasty escape, she heard Soarin' call out to her.

"Wait!" he pleaded, "don't go. Please, I liked that." Rainbow Dash turned towards him.

"You did?" she asked. Soarin' nodded in response.

"To be honest, I've never actually kissed a mare," he confessed, "sure, they're all over me, but I could never work up the nerve." Dash could not believe what she was hearing. Soarin', the stallion that every filly in Cloudsdale dreamed about, never kissed another female, except herself. "I was wondering," he said, "if we could do it again."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Rainbow Dash tackled him to the ground, mashing her lips against his. This time, Soarin' closed his eyes and kissed her back. He opened his mouth, allowing her tongue to explore every inch. Rainbow Dash felt as if she was in heaven. Here she was, making out with her hero and secret crush, and he was enjoying it. She was worried that this was just a dream and that she would wake up on her bed. Thankfully, that did not seem to be the case now. They both soon parted for some much needed air.

"Wow, that was really fun," he said.

Dash giggled and flashed him a seductive look. "Really, 'cuz I know of 'other' ways we can have fun," she purred.

Soarin's wings shot up at an instant. She let out a chuckle as she pulled him in for another kiss.

THE END