//------------------------------//
// 14 At Sugarcube Corner 
// Story: What's Really the Most Important? 
// by KrishnaKarnak 
//------------------------------//





“Well, I can't say I'm not impressed...” Rainbow Dash said, picking up the enchanted suit and beginning to slip it on. “She works super-fast! But is she always so... y'know, so weird? She never smiled once!” 

“Ha, she's always like that!” Soarin chuckled, suiting up himself and picking up his watch. “She is a master of special effects, isn't she? I've never seen her smile, though! Not the once! Even when I paid her twelve thousand bits for a massive suit order after a redesign! Not one grin! Anyways, now that we have the stuff we need for the show, let's head on back to the gym to review!”

The pair left the room and exited the mansion. The moment they were out, Dash took to the air. She zipped forward, spinning her body around like a drill bit. There was a string of firecracker-like explosions and a shower of shimmering sparks, as if she were a stick of dynamite with its fuse lit.

“That is nuts! This is crazy!” Dash exclaimed, coming out of her spin and soaring in a great arc over the mansion, dark clouds expanding behind her, crackling with crimson lightning. She circled back around and landed next to Soarin. “I'M DOING THIS WITH MY HEAD!”

“Welcome to the herd.” Soarin laughed. “The Wonderbolts control their effects the exact same way. It's all second nature by now!”

“Might take a bit of getting used to, but I'm going to be like a foal in a candy store when we go out to perform! Man, it's going to be so sick!” Dash laughed, imagining the show she could put on with these effects. “This suit, Soarin? Best. Gift. Ever!”

“Just you wait until Scootaloo sees you performing!” Soarin grinned. 

“By the way, Soarin...” Rainbow Dash said as they began to fly back into the cloud tunnel leading to the junction. “I need to visit Rarity around four for something important, so that might cut this last practice short. You don't mind, do you? You think we'll manage to get everything sorted by then?”

“Oh, no problem. I've got something to attend at four anyway!” Soarin agreed. “We've just gotta make sure we both know the routine back to front. It's going to be a hell of a show!”

“Speaking of a show... race ya to the academy! Let's show these pegasai how a real pony flies!” Rainbow beamed as the inspiration hit her.

With a great 'whoosh' of a noise, Rainbow Dash's surroundings became a blur as she accelerated to tremendous speeds, whipping around the corner from the tunnel's exit. A very long and bright stream of colours trailed behind her, extending a distance far too great to be normal, remaining visible far too long. The other ponies gasped as she tore by, dodging between them with expert agility, Soarin bringing up the rear behind her. Rainbow Dash did one full circuit of the junction to allow for him to catch up.

“Fireworks display, Dash!” Soarin called out to her.

The two ponies flew close together, their paths crossing in a shower sparks and bangs, the other residents of Cloudsdale stopping dead in their tracks to watch, applauding and cheering. Dash flew on, laughing heartily, Soarin coming up behind her and giving a great push with his wings so he could move ahead of her. Dash gave him a ten second head start, watching his dark blue trail extending behind him, his dull-grey clouds visible for a moment before dissolving into the air. She counted aloud to ten, as counting in her head was making it hard to maintain her breeze sound effect. Upon reaching ten, she flapped her wings with great gusto, shooting ahead to catch up, overtaking Soarin almost at once.

The entire trip from Ms. Casandra's mansion back to the Academy grounds took two minutes at their speeds. Dash soared over the campus and flew through the high windows of the gymnasium, rushing to the floor and landing in the pose she had been perfecting that week. It was the same one she had attempted when Scootaloo had been watching, with one knee bent, one leg flat to the floor, and her arms and wings stretched out wide as she bowed her head.

Best of all, they had already agreed on an absolutely perfect way to weave the maneuver into their set.

“Okay!” Soarin said, landing next to her and rushing over to a clipboard hanging on a hook on the wall. He took it down and flipped through it. “We'll quickly do a practice of every move in Phase One. We'll focus on our firework and streak displays. Oh! Remind me before we check out... I've gotta talk to the pyro-technicians tomorrow morning at the stadium; I want to make sure our airshow will have real fireworks, not just suit generated ones.”

And so, they got to work. Very quickly, they both moved through the list, doing their tricks and maneuvers twice in a row. They watched one another critically, ensuring their form and poses were perfect. Rainbow Dash took the clipboard from Soarin and he recited each and every move on the set in sequence, not making a single error. He took the clipboard from her and Dash recited it likewise, almost word perfect. It was essential that the entire performance was memorized.

They prepared to move through the sets a final time, this time to focus on pinpointing precisely when and where to use their flight suit's visual abilities. Although Dash's mood was still far from perfect, she maintained a cheerful attitude and worked herself tirelessly. She wanted to impress Soarin, and she wanted the airshow to be a complete success.

They started at Phase One. This is where they would do their warm up maneuvers. Simple gliding and low impact acrobatics, their focus being on making their trails and special effects visually impressive to win the massive crowd over from the start.

And what a size of a crowd it was going to be! Soarin had told Rainbow Dash the day before that the results of the ticket sales were in for the game, and there would be fifty four thousand ponies in attendance, from all over Equestria. Although Canterlot was technically the host city for the Grand Equestrian Soccer Cup Championships, the stadium itself was, of course, in Ponyville. Canterlot was where the enormous crowd were being provided accommodations, however, as Ponyville would have been completely swarmed.

Dash thought she was having a heart attack when Soarin told her the figures, but she had since pushed it to the back of her mind as her bad mood intensified. However, as she continued to work hard alongside Soarin, her body and wings aching, her brain heavy with steps and movements, the trepidation began to mount.

Phase Two would immediately follow their initial demonstration. This is where they would pull out all the stops, focusing on amazing feats of agility and skill. It would be a display full of flight tricks and fireworks from the pyrotechnics, with Soarin and Dash focusing on moves that would take them all around the stadium, both high and low. 

Finally, Phase Three is where they would close their act. Rainbow Dash had her hoof in most of the planning for this one. Phase Three would play out more like a ballet than an airshow, both of them moving with grace and balance through the air and even on the ground, making full use of their enchantments. At the climax of the act, Rainbow Dash was going to do her move and throw Soarin through the air, leading to their grand finale. They had decided to scrap the whole idea of Rainbow Dash kicking off of something before Soarin caught a hold of her hooves, though. Instead, she would simply fly into him at a decreased speed.

“Well done, Dashie. I think you've got it all! Everything!” Soarin beamed, holding up his hoof for her to bump.

“We are going to kill out there!” Rainbow cheered, bumping him. 

They walked off to the showers, Dash brimming with confidence again. Unfortunately, that confidence was standing on shaking knees as she got herself cleaned up. Rainbow noticed that the other pegasus was strangely subdued and quiet as they sat in the sauna. Perhaps he himself was starting to get nervous about the show? Dash doubted it, however. He had been a Wonderbolt for years. Surely a large crowd wasn't going to throw a wrench into his system. As they got into the showers, again it was the same story. His silence was not helping Rainbow Dash maintain her good mood, and by the time she was rinsing the shampoo from her mane and hair, she was beginning to feel just as miserable as she had that morning. She had opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong, when he spoke first.

“I'm going to take off now, I think. I've got a lot to do. I'll be seeing you tomorrow, Dashie.” Soarin said, stepping out of the shower after drying himself off. “Meet me at the stadium at 0900 hours! Have a good night, and please get some rest.”

Dash stood there, the water beating off her body, in total shock and pain. The day before the airshow, and he left just like that? Why was he in such a terrible mood? Was it something she had done? Dash sighed heavily, feeling ill. She turned the taps off and dried herself.

Soarin had already left the gym by the time she grabbed her flight suit and stepped out of the locker room. She gazed around the completely empty building with a great sorrow filling her. She glanced up at a clock high on the wall and saw that it was 02:15.  Well, she was better off at home right now than here. She would drop off her stuff, mosey around the house for a bit, and leave for Sugarcube Corner in time to meet Rarity at 4:00.

Opening her front door forty five minutes later, Rainbow stepped inside almost in a daze, her ears drooped. She climbed the stairs and moved into her bedroom, carefully slipped off her blue flight suit and hung it up in the closet, adjusting it slightly to get any creases or wrinkles out. She stood back, eyeing it closely, and closed the closet door. She drifted over to her bed,  body like lead, and sat down. With a sad look, Dash gently picked up the photograph that had been taken at the Vinyl Scratch club.

She studied the image closely, trying to remember how she felt inside when it was taken. She looked so happy sitting there next to Soarin, with Spitfire and Thunderlane on either side of them. It was an incredible thing. In such a short time, her mood had done a complete one-eighty. She felt truly heartbroken and forlorn. She placed the photo back down and lay back on her bed. She gazed sadly at that poster on the wall. Would things ever get better? A full and happy day with him, and it meant nothing. She gave a depressed and quivering sigh, holding a hoof to her face as she wrapped her wings around her torso. Her breath was catching in her chest. She was struggling to keep it in.

“No...” She told herself angrily, slamming an arm on the bed. “You don't cry, Rainbow Dash... I'm never going to cry again! Not for him, not for anyone...”

She jumped up, shaking her head furiously, angry at the wetness in her dull red eyes. She did not spill tears, however.  She rushed downstairs and got a glass of milk from the fridge. She pulled a chair over from the table and plopped down there in the middle of the kitchen, downing the milk in one gulp. She reached over and slammed the glass down on the table. She placed her face in her hooves and groaned loudly, swearing.

Her thoughts drifted to the brief meeting with Rarity outside of the schoolhouse that morning. She was falling precisely back into the slump she was in when Rarity had ripped into her so ferociously, trying to encourage her to have faith and keep her composure. She sighed, trying to control her own breathing. There was a creeping feeling of guilt when she remembered what Rarity had said to her just before they departed.

'I'm going to need you to be there for me today...'

She wondered what could be wrong with Rarity. Dash stood up, stretching and flexing her wings. Whatever was happening in her own life, she would most definitely be there for her friends. She walked into the hallway and checked her reflection in the mirror. She frowned at the redness in the whites of her eyes.

“Rainbow Dash, what are you gonna do?” She asked her reflection. “Here's what you're gonna do: Tomorrow, after that airshow, when you please THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF PONIES with your AMAZING SKILLS, you will wait for the perfect moment! The perfect moment to CORNER SOARIN. You're gonna demand an answer. No more feeling like garbage!”

She gave her reflection a determined smirk.

Eventually, she left the house in better spirits than she had arrived in. She was still depressed, it was true, but she was filled with a fierce and burning determination to face her demons when that show was over tomorrow. She flexed her wings and flew off down the road. As she soared over Ponyville, she spotted Rarity making her way to Sugarcube Corner to wait for her.

“Rare!” Rainbow called, landing next to her. “You feeling better?”

Rarity nodded, smiling broadly at her. “I'm happy to see you! Thank you for agreeing to see me! You're such a lamb! Yes, I am in most excellent form!”

“Oh?” Dash asked, surprised. “But... you sounded so upset earlier!”

“Come into Sugarcube Corner and I'll explain ever minute and illustrative little detail!” Rarity beamed as they drew in closer to the building.

“Glad to see you're feeling better!” Rainbow smiled at her.

“You certainly sound a lot better yourself, dear!” Rarity said, fluffing up her hair with her hoof.

“I took what ya said to heart, I guess...” Dash trailed off, stopping and giving a shrug. “And tomorrow, I'ma askin' him exactly whether or not he has any intentions!”

“I wouldn't ask that yet, myself.” Rarity said, shaking her head. “Remember, girl! Fraternize!”

“Rarity, I don't even know what that word means!” Rainbow Dash laughed.

“Oh dear...” Rarity said, stopping outside of the doors to the shop.

“What's wrong?” Rainbow asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Well that depends on who's in here, Rainbow Dash. Could be nothing or everything...” Rarity said, slowly opening the door a crack and poking her head in as Dash tried to peer over her shoulder, albeit unsuccessfully. “Uh oh!”

“Wait, 'Uh oh'? Rarity!” Dash questioned, feeling a little alarmed now. “Is there someone you're avoiding, or something? What's gotten into you?” 

“Nothing!” Rarity said evasively, moving away from the door.

“Yeah, sure!” Dash snapped. “My feathers it's nothing! Come on!”

Dash marched forward and charged through the door, anxious to investigate.

There was a confusing mess of colours and faces as Dash skidded to a halt just inside the building, her mouth falling open.

“SURPRISE!” a chorus erupted from the amassed gathering.

“I-wha-who-what...” Dash spluttered incoherently, gasping in surprise. “Rarity?! WHAT?!”

Rarity gave a soft and girlish laugh, strutting in behind Rainbow Dash with a most satisfied look on her face. “I'm so sorry I had to lie to you, Rainbow! Please forgive my dreadful dishonesty, but I just had to be positively resolute that you would show up!”

“We're all here to show you our support, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight Sparkle said, walking over and hugging her. “You're going to need Ponyville behind you tomorrow, and we've all come out to stand beside you!”

Rainbow was smiling warmly at her, deeply moved with a great balloon swelling in her chest. There was Applejack grinning at her behind Twilight, Spike standing next to her. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing up and down in a party hat, stood nearby next to a table that was piled high with various sweets and pastries.  The Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting on the floor, arms held up high in celebration. Rainbow's heart jumped into her throat as she saw the loving look Scootaloo was giving her. Next to them where Snips and Snails and other members of the fan club honouring Rainbow Dash that Scootaloo had founded. 

Rainbow turned her head and familiar faces jumped out at her. There was Lyra Heartstrings, sitting with Bon-bon and Golden Harvest. Amethyst Star stood cheering with Derpy Hooves. Cheerilee was sitting down with the two ponies that ran the Spa. Dash was surprised to see Mayor-Mare there, even more surprised to see that Berry Punch was at a party and not yet passed out. Mr. And Mrs. Cake were behind the counter, their twin foals sitting on it and looking happy at all these friendly faces. Every single pegasus who had turned up for the try-outs to be Soarin's wing-pony for the airshow were there, Thunderlane giving her a nod. Comet-Tail and Zecora, Big Macintosh and Quick Fix, and around two dozen other earth, pegasai, and unicorn ponies. The shop was completely packed. 

Rainbow Dash was beginning to shake with emotion. Try as she might, Dash could not stop beaming, her mood lifted higher than she had ever flown in her life. What a wonderful thing to happen before the performance.

“You did all of this for me...?” Dash asked in a croaky voice, turning to Rarity.

“I didn't!” Rarity beamed. “Well, I sort of helped, what with my innumerable connections and the like!” She tossed her indigo mane. “But no, my dear! He was the one who came up with this glorious idea!”

Dash whipped around in an instant, her heart climbing as high as Canterlot as her eyes came to rest on Soarin, who was walking over to greet them.

“Soarin...” She said warmly, lips quivering as she fought to keep that awful wetness she so detested from her eyes. “So... this is why... why you were so anxious to rush off!”

“That's right!” He beamed at her, hugging her like Twilight had. “I had to get here early enough to make sure everything was perfect! Thankfully, Pinkie Pie ('That's meee!' Pinkie screamed from the background, diving into a large cake.) had most of this already set up by the time I got here!”

“But... why go through all of this... for me?” Rainbow asked, shivering with happiness, squeezing him tightly back. “This is too much AWESOME, even for me!”

“Dashie...” He said, looking into her face with such genuine tenderness that Rainbow could feel her heart skipping a beat. “You were so depressed this week. It was breaking me apart to see in such a state! I figured the nerves of the airshow had finally gotten to you, considering how happy you were last weekend!”

Relief was crashing over her like a shower of meteorites. That must have been why Soarin had been acting so cold toward her. He had stopped flirting with and joking around with her when she had started acting so miserable because she had been acting so miserable. Because this change in his attitude had made her even more depressed, it just spiralled out of control. Of course, he hadn't picked up on the exact reason she had been in a bad mood, but at that moment, Rainbow Dash did not care. Seeing the pegasus standing before her was enough right now.

“Soarin came to see me on Wednesday!” Rarity said, patting Dash's shoulder. “It's a supremely thankful thing you told him all about me, so he was able to look me up!”

“I wanted to consult with Rarity on the best method to boost your morale! We bounced ideas off each other until I suggested some sort of party!” Soarin continued, breaking off the hug and beaming at her.

“It's... it's working!” Dash gave a small laugh, weak with her jubilation.

“I knew all I had to do was mention it to Pinkie Pie. As you can seeeee...” Rarity said, gesturing around at the crowd. “... it snowballed from there!”

“This... this is too much for me, guys! Not gonna lie!” Rainbow said, still smiling broadly, her cheekbones hurting her now.

“Have some cake, Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie said, springing up between her and Soarin, covered in icing and holding a paper plate with a slice of cake and fork on it. “That helps me whenever I say 'Gee whiz this sure is too much for me, guys! I'm not going to not tell the truth either!' And then I'm all better again! I think because I ate some cake. Cake is great! So are cupcakes. Cupcakes are pretty great, not as good as cake, though! Or cookies! Cookies are crazy, did you know that? What about a cookie cake? Oh no, I'm getting dizzy! CRAZY DIZZY!” She thrust the plate into Dash's hooves and ran back to the table of pastries for some cookies.

“Why in the name of Granny Smith's Zap Apple jam are y'all still standing by the door?!” Applejack said, strolling over and grabbing both Rarity and Dash by the shoulders. “Go enjoy your party, Rainbow Dash!”	

And enjoy it she did. The Cakes enjoyed a roaring trade as the party moved into full swing and the sweets and drinks Pinkie had prepared were rapidly consumed. There were many jokes to be had, some singing, lots of love, hugs, and smiles swapped between all involved. Rainbow Dash still could not believe how many had turned out just to wish her luck in the airshow the following day, even the pegasai she had beaten during the try-outs. They all kept applauding her and chanting her name, asking for hints about what her and Soarin were going to do and listening intently to stories she told, like her race against Spitfire and her own perspective on the great things the bearers of the Elements of Harmony were called upon to do.

Dash would never be able to properly articulate exactly what all of this had meant to her. She held a deep fondness for every pony in the room. As the sizable group gradually began to shrink, mares and stallions wishing her the best of luck and patting her shoulder as they left, Rainbow Dash and her closest friends ended up sitting together at a table. Scootaloo was sitting in Rainbow's lap, giggling at a story Soarin had been telling her about something he and his brother Wave Chill had gotten into back when they were in flight school as colts.

“I'm so surprised you managed to avoid spilling the beans!” Rainbow grinned to Rarity, who was sitting to her immediate left. Dash was speaking in a very low voice to ensure no one else could hear her. “That huge rant I had this morning, almost breaking down! And you knew all along that Soarin had this planned!”

Rarity smiled back guiltily. “I'm certainly most delighted that you took my advice. I wanted you to end up here today in a somewhat more animated mood than what I had to endure earlier! While I do still believe that you are expecting things to be moving too fast for a mare who wishes to take things slow, I am simply buoyant that you haven't given up on him just yet.”

“He's still a bit of a dumbdumb!” Dash whispered, smiling. “But that just makes me like him so much more when he pulls stuff like this out of his butt! Plus, I love when he explains stuff. He's so clever sometimes, but he's not good at using it! Ah well, I've got a great feeling right now, Rare! I really hope he's into me...”

Dash gave a quick glance over at Soarin. He was still telling his story to Scoot, chuckling lightly as Fluttershy leaned in to listen to it too. It was clear he had not heard a word of Rainbow's conversation, for which she was grateful. She didn't much fancy the idea of him overhearing her talking about him, even if she was throwing in a compliment in every time she criticized his brainpower.

“I'm still not completely sure, to be quite honest with you!” Rarity said, throwing a glance at Soarin herself. “He was very concerned about you when he came to see me. I can't imagine why he would have been acting so distressed if there wasn't a part of him that was really rather fond of you, Dash. Just do him, and yourself, a favour: When it at least doesn't appear that your rapture for that perfect and handsome stallion will be immediately satisfied with a rousing courting display, don't fall apart again! You know now that it's hurting him just as much as you.”

“You're absolutely right. Besides, I'm totally over that now! I'm way better than this!” Dash beamed confidently. “And don't go calling him handsome! He's mine! Hooves off!”

“So! Tell me, Dash...” Applejack said, having just finished having a conversation with Pinkie Pie and Twilight. She leaned over the table, not aware that Rarity and Rainbow Dash were giggling under their breaths like a couple of preteens. “Ya nervous about the airshow? Know that all of us are there for ya! And you're gon' have Scootaloo and Fluttershy up in that top box, watching you do what y'all do best!”

“Oh Celestia!” Soarin said, smacking a hoof to his head, looking hopelessly at Applejack. “I totally forgot! I was able to negotiate the whole lot of you into the top box!”

“Yer not serious?!” Applejack said, jaw dropping. “Hot dog! I love me some soccer, too!”

“Dead serious!” Soarin said, nodding. “I wanted Rainbow Dash to know all of her closest friends could be right there at the stadium with her. There's two fillies, right? In addition to Scootaloo, I mean. Rarity's little sister and, if I'm not mistaken, you have one as well?”

“Yep!” Applejack confirmed. “Why? Were y'all able to get them tickets in there too?”

“A Wonderbolt can get anything he wants if he knows the right people!” Soarin winked.

“Soarin, you have no idea how grateful I am for everything you've done for me!” Rainbow said, shaking her head in wonder. “It's going to be an honour to be able to perform with you tomorrow! Like, beyond any desire to impress a huge crowd now!”

Soarin blushed slightly and didn't speak again for awhile. Rainbow Dash felt radiant. She was feeling as though the following day was going to change her life forever.