Soarin and Misty made it back to the Wonderbolt base in good time; cadet training had already finished for the day by the time they arrived, but at least Soarin had enough time to hang out with Rainbow Dash as usual that evening. He never said anything about his trip to San Fratello, of course, but he was deep in thought as they sat side by side, gazing up at the night sky and generally enjoying each other's company.
“Um...Dash,” he ventured at last, “I've been thinking – do you wanna go somewhere different some time? Just for a change of scenery?”
Rainbow Dash directed a puzzled look at her coltfriend. “How come?” she quizzed. “You're not getting bored with this place, are you?”
“Well...not exactly,” answered Soarin sheepishly. “I just wondered if maybe you were.”
“Hmm...” Rainbow Dash gazed up at the few clouds that were hovering among the stars, raising a hoof to her chin in contemplation. “Well, it's been a while since I was in Cloudsdale last. I kinda miss that place,” she admitted wistfully.
“Cloudsdale, huh?” This gave Soarin an idea. “Well, in that case, how would you like it if I took you for dinner there? I know a really nice Chineighse restaurant to the north of the city centre that you might like.”
“That'd be great, Soarin,” agreed Rainbow Dash, smiling broadly. “Yeah, let's go for it.”
“Okay then, Dashie. How does 7:30 on Friday evening sound? It should give us enough time to prepare after training.”
“Yeah, that sounds fine,” conceded Rainbow Dash.
“Good. I'll make the reservations first thing in the morning,” replied Soarin. He then got to his hooves, stretching slightly in the process; “Ah well, I guess we'd better turn in. We've got a long day of training ahead of us.”
“Okay, Soarin,” said Rainbow Dash, getting up to head back to the barracks. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Dashie,” smiled Soarin, and planted a soft kiss on Rainbow Dash's cheek before heading back to his suite at the base.
The next two days passed by swiftly. The jewel Soarin had ordered was delivered to him by courier the following afternoon, and when Friday finally came, he had managed to finalise how he was going to go about what he had been planning to do all this time. After they had finished in the restaurant, he would take her out to a secluded location near Ponyville; that, he was hoping, would be when he would make his move.
The training exercise went without a hitch that day, and shortly after it had been completed, the two ponies went to prepare themselves for their night out. When they met up outside the barracks an hour later, both were stunned by how smart the other looked; Soarin was wearing a smart black tuxedo with a matching red bow-tie, and Rainbow Dash, for once, had painstakingly brushed out every last knot from her fur and let her mane hang loose over her shoulders.
“Wow, Dashie,” breathed Soarin, so taken by her appearance that he only just managed to avoid drooling in awe. “You look great.”
“I could say the same thing about you, Soar,” remarked Rainbow Dash. “That tuxedo looks really good on you.”
Soarin chuckled heartily. “Thanks,” he said. “Well then, shall we get going?”
“Ready when you are, Soarin,” answered Rainbow Dash, eagerly spreading her wings. “Last one to Cloudsdale's a mouldy dragon egg!” and she shot into the air before her coltfriend could react. Soarin could only smile as he raced after her.
Predictably, Rainbow Dash easily managed to beat Soarin to their destination. As soon as Soarin caught up to her, he knocked her onto her back and passionately mashed his lips onto hers, eliciting a moan of pleasure from the rainbow-maned mare.
“Well, Dashie,” he chortled as they parted, “some 'loser' I turn out to be, huh?”
Rainbow Dash giggled as she nuzzled the side of his neck. “You're okay, Soarin – at least you're a real good kisser anyhow.”
“Ah, give it up, Dash,” teased Soarin. “I could still beat you in a race any day; I just...well...”
“...haven't exercised those wings of yours properly? Really, Soar, I thought you were supposed to be one of the best in the team!” quipped Rainbow Dash.
The two Pegasi continued to joke and tease each other all the way down the street, until at last they reached the restaurant that Soarin had booked. The restaurant looked like a classic oriental pagoda, a sort of Nanking blue in colour, with a cloud statue of what looked like a lion with a snake's tongue stood either side of the entrance. Above the door hung a sign reading “BREIJING PALACE CHINEIGHSE RESTAURANT” in large letters, with a set of Chineighse lithographs above and below the main text. A buff-coated, black-maned Pegasus stallion with a thin moustache and narrow yet friendly eyes stood just next to the doorway as they entered.
“Ah, good evening, Soarin, wonderful to see you again,” he remarked. His voice was cheerful and upbeat with a trademark Chineighse accent.
“Ni hao, Chang,” greeted Soarin politely. “How's business?”
“Very well, thank you, Soarin,” smiled Chang. “Now then, you came here with a Miss Rainbow Dash, yes?”
Soarin nodded in reply.
“Ah, good – then let me show you to your table.”
Chang led the two ponies across to a table for two next to a beautiful stained glass window on the far side of the restaurant, which offered a good view of the city. As Soarin and Rainbow Dash took their seats, the rainbow-maned mare took a moment to take in the sights and sounds, as well as the aroma of fresh food being prepared. The interior of the restaurant looked just as exotic as the outside, with old tapestries and lanterns hanging from the ceiling, potted bamboo plants standing on specially designated tables by the walls, and even a few small statuettes of ancient Chineighse ponies and other creatures. It was as though she and Soarin had stepped off the face of Equestria and entered a whole new world, one that she had only ever read about in some of her Daring Do books.
“There you go, sir, madam,” said Chang. “Can I get you anything to drink while you choose what you want to eat?”
Rainbow Dash checked the wine list that stood on the table between her and Soarin. “Just a glass of apple juice, please,” she decided.
“And I'll go for a Tsing Tao,” added Soarin.
“One Tsing Tao and one apple juice coming up,” replied Chang, bowing slightly.
As the buff-coated stallion headed over to the kitchen, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. “You never told me you knew any Chineighse,” she commented.
“Didn't I?” Soarin chuckled. “Well, yes, I do know a bit of that language; not exactly fluent in it, but I always make a point to use it every so often whenever I visit this place.”
“Do you come here very often then?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Well...every once in a while, yes,” affirmed Soarin. “Mostly it takes the form of a social outing with my fellow Wonderbolts, but I've been known to treat my little nephew to a meal here every so often – particularly when it's his birthday. He really loves a bit of Chineighse, and he's pretty fond of this restaurant too.”
“Yeah, I can see why,” mused Rainbow Dash, gazing around the room once again. “I've had Chineighse take-outs before, but the place where I usually got it from was just like all the other stores and cafés and such in Ponyville, so I'd never seen what a real Chineighse restaurant was like.”
“And your thoughts on this one?”
“It's...well, what else? Truly awesome!” beamed Rainbow Dash.
“I thought you'd like it,” smiled Soarin. “How about the view from our table, what do you think of it?”
Rainbow Dash turned to look out of the window, and couldn't help but gape in awe as she gazed upon the panorama that it offered. She had seen Cloudsdale from the air hundreds of times when she was young, but never had she stopped to fully appreciate the view, even in the daytime. Now, in the fading light of the evening, she found herself captivated by the amber glow of the sky, which had transformed the normally bluish-white clouds that made up the great city into an undeniably atmospheric glow of gold and pink.
“Wow, Soarin,” she breathed, “this is...I know I don't use the word 'beautiful' that often, but this definitely fits that description. I never knew you could get such an amazing view of Cloudsdale from the surface of the clouds. Heck, I can even see the Cloudaseum from here,” she added, pointing out the magnificent Doric structure in the distance.
Soarin couldn't help blushing at this point. “Yeah, actually, Dash,” he confessed, placing a hoof against the back of his head, “that was kinda why I chose this place. I still remember that day you saved me and Misty and Spitty, and I can't even think about the Cloudaseum without thinking of you. I kinda wanted to relive the memory of when we first met.”
Rainbow Dash shook her head in amusement. “You're such a big softie, Soar,” she teased.
“You're a fine one to talk, Dashie!” reproached Soarin with a mischievous grin. “Who was it that had to comfort whom just before we confessed our feelings to each other?”
“Oh yeah? Well out of six Wonderbolts who accompanied me back to their base after I won that Best Young Flyers' Competition, I seem to remember that one was a bit shy for a Wonderbolt in my presence,” smirked Rainbow Dash, “and it certainly wasn't Spitfire, or Fire Streak, or Misty, or Fleetfoot, or...”
“Okay, okay, I get it!” laughed Soarin, jovially conceding defeat. “So perhaps I can be a bit sappy at times, but come on, everypony has to have a soft side to their character. If I hadn't......well, you probably wouldn't have gotten off so lightly for that injury you sustained, or how you never left my side after I got over my...” but he broke off when he noticed a look of shame on his marefriend's face. “What's wrong, Dashie?”
Rainbow Dash looked away. “Sorry, Soarin,” she apologised in a low, meek voice. “It's nothing you've done wrong; I just hate being reminded of all the times I've screwed up.”
“Oh,” said Soarin, taken aback. He had completely forgotten how sensitive Rainbow Dash tended to be about being humiliated, whether through her own mistakes or the intervention of other ponies. “Sorry, Dashie, I didn't mean to upset you like this.”
“Nah, it's okay.” In spite of her embarrassment, Rainbow Dash still managed a reassuring smile in reply. “I pretty much had it coming my way anyway; and I don't care if you get all soft sometimes, 'cause that's part of what I love about you.”
This caused Soarin's blush from earlier to return to his cheeks. “Now who's going all soft?” he mused under his breath.
“Was I interrupting anything?” Both ponies noticed Chang standing next to their table with a tray balanced on his wing.
“Uh...no, Chang,” answered Soarin hastily. “We were just having a friendly chat was all.”
Chang smiled knowingly at the young couple. He had overheard the tail end of the conversation upon leaving the kitchen, and knew all too well that there was more to this “friendly chat” than Soarin was letting on. “Anyway,” he said, lowering the tray onto the table, “I've brought your drinks – Tsing Tao for you and apple juice for Miss Dash, yes?”
“Yeah, that's right,” replied Soarin.
“Good. Have you decided what you're going to eat?” asked Chang.
“Yes, I'd like the lemon-grass and bamboo soup for starters, and for my main course...I reckon I'll go for the Canternese sweet and sour tofu dumplings with mushroom chow mein.”
“Certainly. And for Rainbow Dash?”
“Could I go for...the spring rolls for my starter, and the pan-fried battered broccoli in green pepper and black bean sauce with egg-fried rice?” requested Rainbow Dash.
Chang nodded as he wrote down their order; “A very good choice, madam. Right, thank you both – I'll be back shortly with your food.”
“Okay, Chang. Xiexie,” said Soarin as Chang headed back to the kitchen again.
“Gesundheit.”
Soarin turned back to Rainbow Dash. “What?”
“I thought you sneezed just then,” explained Rainbow Dash.
“Course I didn't, Rainbow Dash,” laughed Soarin. “The word 'xiexie' means 'thank you' in Chineighse.”
“Oh, does it?” asked Rainbow Dash, surprised. “Sorry about that.”
“Nah, it's okay,” soothed Soarin. “You weren't to know.”
Soarin and Rainbow Dash enjoyed their meal together. Occasionally, they would take a moment to talk about the goings-on in each other's lives and with the Wonderbolts, and Soarin would teach Rainbow Dash a few other Chineighse words and phrases he knew, but mostly they just sat in silence and enjoyed each other's company. Soarin even let Rainbow Dash have the last dumpling when they got to their dessert.
An hour had passed since they had arrived at the restaurant, and the two Pegasi had finally finished eating and were ready to pay their bill. As Chang waited patiently next to their table, Soarin reached into his saddlebag for some change. “There we go, Chang,” he said at last, placing some ten-spots on the saucer Chang had laid out for their money.
Rainbow Dash stared in confusion. “Eighty bits? Surely yours didn't come to that much, did it?”
“No, Dashie, it didn't,” affirmed Soarin. “Mine came to about thirty-six bits and forty cents; yours was...thirty-four exactly, I think.”
“Oh, okay then, if you wanna leave such a big tip, I'm okay with that,” replied Rainbow Dash, reaching into her own saddlebag. “Let me see how much change I've got, and I'll...”
“No need for that, Dashie,” interrupted Soarin. “I'm paying for both of us tonight.”
If Rainbow Dash seemed confused earlier, she was now utterly baffled. “You're...paying for both of us?” she repeated. “Soarin, I don't get it; we usually pay for our own stuff separately when we go out together, don't we?”
“Well......yes,” replied Soarin casually. “And your point being...?”
“Why should tonight be any different? It's not as if it's my birthday or anything.”
“Oh...you'll see,” said Soarin coyly. “By the way, Chang, you can keep whatever's left from...well, 'our' payment.”
“Thank you very much,” smiled Chang, bowing slightly. “Farewell, Soarin, and I hope you enjoy the remainder of your date. No doubt I shall see you again?”
“You bet, Chang,” beamed Rainbow Dash, forgetting her confusion as she and Soarin got up headed for the door. “This place beats a take-out any day.”
“It sure does, Dashie,” agreed Soarin. “Zaijian, Chang, and I hope to see you again soon.” And with that, he and Rainbow Dash exited the restaurant and took off into the cool night sky.
Later that night, the two Pegasi were laid side by side at the top of a small hill just a few miles away from Ponyville, the milky white light of the moon glowing against a backdrop of dark blue. Soarin gazed up at the midnight sky with his right wing wrapped around Rainbow Dash, tracing patterns among the stars that glittered the blanket of darkness as he tried to pluck up courage in readiness for the real reason why he had asked her out on this date. Every so often, he would glance into his saddlebag, into which he had made sure to pack his little gift before they left.
Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was almost completely oblivious to what Soarin might be thinking or what he was doing right now, for she was dozing peacefully in her coltfriend's embrace, her head resting gently against his shoulder. It had been a wonderful night out so far; the restaurant had been an interesting new experience, and although she was still a little confused as to why Soarin should have insisted on paying for both of them, she was nevertheless deeply grateful to him for taking her out to such an exotic venue for their date. Now, out in the middle of nowhere, she felt so much closer to him than ever before, and silently wished that this night would never end.
Soarin could only smile as he watched his marefriend lie peacefully and contentedly next to him. Part of him felt a little guilty for what he was about to say, knowing that it would mean having to rouse his sleeping beauty from her slumber in order to get her attention – but he also knew that there was no point in beating about the bush. He hadn't simply brought Rainbow Dash out on this date for the sake of reviving old memories or hanging out with her – no, there was a special reason behind it, and it had to be fulfilled no matter what.
“Um...Rainbow Dash,” he ventured, “there's something I wanted to ask you.”
Rainbow Dash stirred slightly as she drowsily came to. “What would that be, Soarin?” she asked sleepily.
“I, um......I've kinda been thinking......we've been together for almost a year now, and have known each other for even longer,” replied Soarin, trying his best to sound casual despite his nervousness. “I make it about...four years since we first met, and in that time, we've gone from not knowing each other at all to being marefriend and coltfriend. Did you, um......did you ever wonder if someday we might be even more than we are now?”
Rainbow Dash fell silent again as she pondered over Soarin's question. “Well...yeah, I have been wondering about that lately,” she said thoughtfully. “To be honest, I can't help feeling as though our relationship isn't actually going anywhere right now. I'm not saying I don't love you the way I used to; you're a really nice guy to have around, and you've been just as loyal to me over the years as I have to...well, pretty much all my friends. If anything, I've grown even closer to you than I'd ever been before.”
“So...what are you saying?”
“I don't know why,” confessed Rainbow Dash, gloomily pawing at the ground with one hoof as she averted Soarin's gaze, “but I no longer feel that same spark as when we let each other in on our feelings. I just feel like there's something missing.”
Soarin's eyes were wide with intrigue. Whatever he had been thinking at this moment, it seemed he and Rainbow Dash were on the same waveband – maybe he didn't need to be so nervous about the whole thing after all. “It's okay, Dashie,” he soothed. “I kinda had the same thoughts myself earlier this week, and that's prompted me to get you a little something that might fill that gap.”
He reached into his saddlebag and produced a small box, which he set down on the grass between them. Rainbow Dash stared at it, unsure of what her coltfriend was getting at. “Uh...how's a cardboard box supposed to help our relationship progress?” she asked in deadpan.
“This isn't just any old box – it's a small box with a big surprise hidden inside,” explained Soarin. “Go ahead and open it, Dashie.”
Rainbow Dash stared doubtfully at the box. She knew Soarin wasn't the sort to play practical jokes on her unless he knew she would see the funny side of it, but she was all too used to Pinkie Pie's light-hearted jokes, and couldn't help wondering if maybe that box was part of a small prank of his own. Nevertheless, she cautiously opened the lid – and gasped at what she saw. Inside the box was a bracelet of pure gold with her initials inscribed either side of a gemstone likeness of her Cutie Mark, the latter consisting of a milky quartz cabochon with a gem-studded thunderbolt coming from beneath. The thunderbolt was made of the same spectrum of colours as her mane rather than just the three on her Cutie Mark; scarlet rubies lined one side of the bolt and deep purple amethysts the other, with the colours between them being made up of ambers, citrines, emeralds and sapphires.
The rainbow-maned mare could only gaze at the bracelet as a mingle of emotions started to stir up inside her – joy, shock, excitement, disbelief, unease, wonderment – she wasn't sure which one to feel. Surely, though, this couldn't be happening to her right now – this had to be some sort of dream. But if it was, then why was she still asleep? Why hadn't she just woken up to find herself back in the barracks at the Academy?
“Rainbow Dash,” asked Soarin softly, kneeling next to her and taking a hoof in his own, “will you marry me?”
Rainbow Dash placed a hoof against her mouth, stifling another gasp as she finally remembered that this was no dream. So perhaps she may have had such a fantasy in the past, but it was definitely coming true; after all the time they had known each other, Wing Commander Soarin Starr, her coltfriend, trainer and all-time favourite Wonderbolt, was finally asking her to marry him. Overjoyed, she tackled him onto his back and hugged him tightly, smothering him with kisses. “YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!” she squealed in delight. “I WILL MARRY YOU, SOARIN! I WILL, I WILL, I WILL!”
Soarin beamed lovingly upon his new fiancée as she embraced him for dear life, ignoring the ringing in his ears from her joyous shouting. They remained that way for about a minute or so before Rainbow Dash finally stood up again and backed off to allow Soarin some breathing space. “Sorry about that, Soarin,” she giggled. “Couldn't help myself just then. But yeah, I can think of nothing better than to have you as a husband, whether or not I do make it into the Wonderbolts myself.”
“Oh, I don't doubt you will for one moment,” grinned Soarin. “The way you're going at the Academy, you'll ace that final exam. Still, gotta make it official.” He stood up, reached for the bracelet and carefully slipped it onto Rainbow Dash's front right hoof. Then the two Pegasi embraced once again, kissing passionately as the stars twinkled softly in celebration of their engagement.