//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Returning Home // Story: Violet Hill // by TorontoFCBrony //------------------------------// Three days had passed, and it was time for Rainbow Dash to return home. She had a wonderful time with her friends. The six of them all slept at Twilight's library, not wanting to spend any time apart. Rainbow and Pinkie Pie played pranks on all of the other residents of Ponyville, and overall they were received quite well. When some of the ponies wanted to get mad, they changed their frown to a smile when they saw that it was Rainbow who was pulling all of the pranks. It was her laughing hysterically on the ground that gave it away every time. They had a bonfire in the backyard, where Rainbow told a few of her trademark scary stories to the others. She spent two hours on the second day helping Scootaloo learn to fly. Rainbow was so impressed with the young filly's improvement. She could not only hover, now she could actually fly a few feet off the ground. Scootaloo loved having her honorary big sister spend some quality time with her. Scootaloo didn't have a cutie mark yet, but she had proven herself to be quite good for her age at the scooter, as well as a few sports. Rainbow hoped to see her with a cutie mark by the next time she would return to Ponyville. Rainbow and Twilight spent some time reviewing the whole Daring Do series to date. The others said what they knew about the stories, to join in the conversation, and they didn't judge Rainbow for technically being an egghead according to her own standards. However, the best thing about the weekend was the time spent doing nothing at all. Just sitting in the room, six friends talking about things that really didn't matter to anypony else. That was something that Dash really missed since she joined the Wonderbolts. But alas, all good things have to come to an end. She was told to come back after three days, and those three days had passed quite quickly. Hugs were given, tears were shed, not by Rainbow, of course, and goodbyes were said. It was time for her to go back to her new home. Halfway through her journey home, she realized how heavy her bag really was. "Gosh, no wonder Soarin was tired carrying my bag. This thing is heavy," she grumbled to herself while flying on this sunny spring day. Thankfully the weather co-operated with her trip back to the headquarters. She arrived at her destination later that night. All was quiet throughout the building. There was nopony in any of the main rooms. It seemed a little odd. Rainbow went back to her room to put down her bag on her bed. She looked over at the alarm clock on her night table. "Hmm, it's only eight-thirty at night, where is everypony?" she asked herself. She decided to go to visit Soarin in his room. She walked over and knocked lightly on the door. "Come in," Soarin said from inside the room. Rainbow walked in the see Soarin sitting comfortably on his reclining chair. He was watching the semi-final of the Equestrian Hoofball Association Cup on his medium-sized television with a bottle of cider in one hoof and the remote in the other. "Uh... hi Soarin," Rainbow said to him as she stepped in his room. "Oh! Dashie, you're back," he said while stiffening up a little. He didn't even care to check who entered his room at first. Something about him seemed off. "Is everything all right, sweetheart?" she asked him while walking towards him. Soarin turned down the volume of the match that was on, which was currently in the seventy-fifth minute. He said to her unconvincingly, "Yeah, everything's okay. How was your visit to your friends?" Rainbow smiled and answered, "It was fantastic! It felt so good to see them again. But something seems wrong with you. You're not yelling at the television even though the Cloudsdale Rovers are down two to one to the Colton Wanderers. What's going on?" "Well, the last few days were not too good for me," he replied in a melancholy tone. "Aw, what happened? What's wrong?" she asked him with genuine concern. "Well it turns out that talks between Saddle Arabia and Equestria aren't going so well," he responded, but still seemed to be bothered by something else. "Okay, that's definitely not good news, but something else is wrong. I don't know what, but something," she said while coming up closer to him. She continued as she softly touched him on the top of his head, "You know you can tell me anything, Soarin. What's wrong?" Soarin had a knot in his stomach. How could he tell her what happened with Spitfire a few nights ago without her getting mad? He clenched his teeth lightly and said, "Well... you said I can tell you anything, right? You won't get mad?" Rainbow looked back at him sternly, "Well, that all depends on what you are going to tell me next. I can't promise you I won't be mad if it's something horrible!" Soarin was sick to his stomach now, but he knew that it was better to tell the truth than have Rainbow find out in some other way. "Okay, Dashie, I'll tell you." He gulped because of the nervous feeling inside him. "Spitfire tried to seduce me. She started to kiss me and wanted to go further. I allowed it at first, but then I remembered you and I yelled at her to get out." Rainbow had a shocked expression on her face, but Soarin expected that. "Hey, you said I could tell you anything," he reminded her. Rainbow just continued to look at him. "Oh, please don't be mad, Dashie. I rejected her even though she tried very hard." Rainbow looked back at him again. She then smacked him across the cheek with her hoof. "I knew you still had feelings for her! I felt the neet to worry at first, but I just felt too good with you to worry. How could you play with my emotions, Soarin?" "Dashie, please listen to me," he said as he got up and put his hoof around her. She now had watery eyes from both sadness and anger. "Don't touch me, Soarin," she said sternly without yelling while pushing his arm away. "I should have known not to fall for a stallion like you. I should have known I wasn't good enough for your taste." She turned away from him. She couldn't even look at him. "Dashie, let me please explain what happened. Please, please, just give me a chance," he pleaded with her. "I... I think I need some time alone," she said to him. She then left the room to go back to her own. Soarin felt horrible. He even tried his best to tell the truth, but it wasn't enough. He knew that the time was not right for him to follow her. She was just too upset at this time to listen to him. He sat back down on his chair to finish watching the match. Over a half hour passed. Soarin was still sitting in his chair. Rainbow knocked on the door and popped her head in. "Soarin, I've thought it over, and I'm willing to let you explain it to me," she told him. She looked at him and saw that he was truly feeling bad for what happened. Soarin was still looking down at his front hooves while he sat in the chair. He didn't even seem to care that Cloudsdale had tied up the match and there were only ninety seconds remaining until a possible penalty shootout. "Soarin, didn't you hear me? I'm willing to give you a chance," she told him as she approached his chair. "And that's not something that most marefriends would do!" "I don't deserve a chance. I don't deserve you," he said quietly while still looking down. "Soarin, I love you and I am giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Now, please, tell me what happened," she said as she sat down on one of the big arms of Soarin's comfy chair. Soarin looked her in the eyes, and she smiled back at him, giving him the okay to talk. He explained the story, saying, "Dashie, I was in my room, and Spitfire came in. I didn't want her to come in but I decided to give her a chance. She tried to talk me into getting back together with her. I said no because I'm happy with you. Then she tried to plead with me to spend one night with her. She said garbage like how she was lonely and had nopony to call her own. She asked for one night with me and she said you would never have to know." Rainbow clenched her teeth. "I want to smack her so badly," she said. "Just, hold on, let me finish," he said. Rainbow agreed, so he continued, "I told her that I didn't even care if you would never know. I would feel horrible with myself regardless. I would not be able to live with myself knowing that I was unfaithful to you. That's when she tried to step it up. She whispered in my ear to close my eyes and imagine she was you. My mistake was listening to her. That was when she began to kiss me. The mood she set made me kiss her back a few times, but when I said 'Oh, Dashie,' I realized what I was doing. I opened my eyes and pushed her away. I kicked her out and slammed the door in her face." Rainbow had a face that was hard for Soarin to read at this point. It was a face of frustration, but also a face that looked willing to forgive. Soarin then continued, "I have been in my room ever since. I've sat here for three days. I've hardly eaten, I've hardly slept. Just the thought of what could have happened was enough to make me feel sick to my stomach this whole. I understand if you aren't willing to forgive me, and I don't blame you if you can't truly forgive me in your heart." Rainbow looked back at him in the eyes. "Soarin... I can forgive you. I know it was probably hard to resist her. I can tell you're telling me the truth." Soarin smiled or the first time since she arrived back from Ponyville. "Really? You really mean it?" he asked her genuinely with a voice full of hope. "Yes... I can forgive you Soarin. I already have. I want this to work. I want us to make it," she said to him. She raised her hooves and gave him a hug of forgiveness. He reached his forelegs around her back. While they were still in each other's grasp, she leaned back and pointed her hoof at his face and said, "But don't you ever be alone in a room with another mare again, you hear me?!" "Fair enough, Dashie. I promise you that will never happen again," he told her. The two of them looked over to the television to see Cloudsdale score on their fifth penalty to win the match and move on to the final. The fans at Cloudsdale Field were celebrating like they already won the title. The two of them looked each other in the eyes with massive grins. They both cheered for Cloudsdale in all sports, and this was the city's first chance at a major trophy in decades. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to take you to the final," Soarin suggested to her. "Yeah, I think you owe me that," Rainbow replied with a chuckle and a smile. Soarin had one other thing to say to her. "Oh, I forgot one new thing: please, don't mention the incident to Spitfire. Not that I don't want to be truthful or putting you in an awkward position or anything, but she is your captain, and if you two were to have a fight it would probably only upset you and it could even harm your whole career here. Please, please, don't make an issue out of it, for your own good." "I understand what you mean, Soarin," she replied. "I'll agree to that. But if she ever does anything like that again, I will stab her in the eye with a fork." Both of them laughed really hard. The real funny thing was that Rainbow probably truly meant it.