Chapter III: Enjoying Each Other’s Company
Soarin made his way to Rainbow Dash’s room, knowing that she wouldn’t be in a great mood. After hearing about the troubles that Lightning Dust was causing the rest of the recruits, Soarin decided to hang around the Academy that day and keep an eye on things.
It was obstacle course day: a test to prove that the ponies could fly in all kinds of weather. It had been a part of the Academy since the Wonderbolt’s founding. But Soarin, from his vantage point, had seen what Spitfire had missed.
It was true that Wonderbolts needed to be able to recover from a spin out quickly, but purposefully causing your team to spin out would have never been tolerated on the Wonderbolts. They flew as a team, and not for the sake of show-boating at the expense of other ponies. Spitfire had not seen and simply assumed that the other ponies spun out from the course. But Soarin had seen what Rainbow Dash had seen: Lightning Dust was a driven pony, but she drove herself over everypony else to reach her personal goals.
At least Rainbow Dash had not in injured today. Her wing had healed nicely, but it wouldn’t be good for it to be banged up again so soon. He knocked on the door with his hoof.
Rainbow Dash had come to expect his visits, so she opened the door right away. “I know you probably want to ask me how my day of training went, but I’d rather not talk about it.” She said.
“That’s fine. I saw the whole thing anyway.” Soarin said with a shrug.
Rainbow Dash seemed like she was going to ask what he was doing hanging around the Academy that day before she realized that asking him about this whereabouts would definitely qualify as talking about today. “Fine. I’m not even going to ask.” She said.
“Fine with me.” Soarin said. “I was wondering if you’d like to go flying with me. Nothing too crazy. I think you could use a good fly.”
“Thank Celestia, that sounds like exactly what I need!” Rainbow gasped, rushing past him and out the door. “So, what are you waiting for? Let’s go!”
“Excited?” Soarin asked with a laugh as he followed her.
“Of course! This will be the first time I’ve really seen a Wonderbolt fly up close!”
“Funny, I thought I said that we wouldn’t be doing anything crazy. Showing off definitely counts as crazy.”
“A race isn’t crazy.” Rainbow said with mock innocence.
Soarin couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, one race. But only if you promise to be okay with it when I beat you.”
“Ha! In your dreams, Soarin!” Rainbow laughed. The second that they were outside the building, they took off, leaving their signature trails in their wake.
In reality, Soarin knew that he had very little chance of beating Rainbow Dash in your average race. She was the only living pony to break the sound barrier and the first non-alicorn to do so. But, even with this enormous advantage, Soarin was never far behind her. After all, no pony could fly at top speed forever, and Rainbow Dash was no exception. She won the race, but only by a nose.
“I have to admit…” Rainbow said, gasping for breath while wearing a big smile. “I’d never had anyone keep up with me before, especially since I mastered the Sonic Rainboom.”
“It was a good race.” Soarin replied, slowing down and settling down on a cloud. Rainbow Dash settled on the cloud next to him. He watched her a little nervously as she settled down next to him, but there was a respectable amount of space between them, so there was nothing for him to look into. It was fine. After yesterday, he was prepared to wait.
“All natural raw talent, I tell you.” Rainbow Dash bragged good-naturedly.
“Hey. I know that you’re feeling down, but you’re gonna make it into the Wonderbolts. I just know it.” Soarin said confidently.
“How did you feel, when they asked you to join?” Rainbow asked him.
Soarin glanced at her. Very few ponies had ever asked him that question, and even fewer got the real answer. But Rainbow Dash was definitely a trust-worthy pony. She was the Element of Loyalty after all. “Honestly? I wondered if I had really earned it or if it was just given to me because of my family.”
“Oh, so you belong to some hot-shot family in Cloudsdale?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well, they are pretty important, but I’m not from Cloudsdale.” Soarin said. “I’m from Canterlot.”
Rainbow stared at him in shock. She had been under the impression that most Canterlot ponies were stuck up. Even Twilight could show her Canterlot upbringing from time to time. Soarin was the last sort of pony that she’d expect to come from Canterlot. “Really?”
“Yeah. Do you remember how you said that your friend Twilight was really close to the Princess? Well… I doubt that my family was as close to the Princesses as that, but my father was the pegasus’ advisor to Princess Celestia’s court. When I got offered a place at the Wonderbolt’s Academy, I really thought that I was only being offered a real chance to join the Wonderbolts because my father worked directly for the Princess. So… I purposefully held myself back during the Academy. I figured that if I got in even with my sub-par performance, it was just because of my father and not because of me.”
“What happened?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“The Captain saw right through my acting, of course, He knew that I wasn’t pushing myself. I didn’t get offered a place on the Wonderbolts that year, but I was given the chance to come back and prove myself better. I worked really hard the second time around and was able to get in. On my own merit, not my father’s.”
“Can’t say that I feel that way. Both of my parents are just your average weather ponies from Cloudsdale.” Rainbow Dash said with a shrug. She loved her parents, of course, but they hardly had the sort of political clout to get her a place in the Wonderbolts.
“But you are quite an amazing pony yourself, Rainbow Dash.” Soarin said truthfully. “If having your level of pure talent wasn’t enough, then on top of that, you are one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. And you did that… all by yourself.”
“Not completely by myself… at least the Elements of Harmony part.” Rainbow Dash admitted with a blush. “I had my friends to help me with those parts.”
“What is this? Humility? Who are you and what have you done with Rainbow Dash?” Soarin questioned jokingly.
Rainbow Dash smirked at him. “Oh, I could brag about my accomplishments all day long. But I’m so awesome on my own that I don’t need to steal other people’s accomplishments.”
“So… now that I’ve confessed all my old fears about how I only got into the Wonderbolts on my father’s tail and not my own talent… why don’t you tell me something that you’ve never told anypony else?” Soarin asked playfully.
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. “Ever since I saw my first Wonderbolt’s show, I’ve known that I wanted to become one. It is my life-long dream. But it’s only now that I’m here… I’m afraid that I won’t make it.”
“Won’t make…? Of course, you’ll make it, Rainbow!” Soarin began.
“I just don’t know anymore. In Spitfire’s eyes, Lightning Dust is so perfect, but she’s not. She’s reckless and puts other ponies in danger for her own ambition. Either Spitfire is completely missing the fact that she’s dangerous, or she sees it and is choosing to ignore it. I don’t know which one of those options is worse.”
“I know that she didn’t see what happened today.” Soarin told her. “Even the Captain of the Wonderbolts is not omnipotent. Tell you what, Rainbow… I’ll talk to Spitfire about Lightning Dust’s behavior tomorrow after training. She does trust my judgment and she’ll listen to me. What are you doing tomorrow? Cloud busting?” Rainbow Dash nodded. “How much trouble could one pony possibly get into over cloud busting?”
At his words, Rainbow Dash leaned into the stallion, pressing her head against his neck. “Thank you, Soarin.” Before the Wonderbolt could stop himself, he returned her nuzzle affectionately, leaning into her and sighing as he rested his head on top of hers.
It took a full three seconds before he realized what he was doing and pulled away from her swiftly. “I’m sorry, Rainbow, I didn’t mean to… I was only… I just…” He stuttered, but inside he was kicking himself. So much for him being able to wait. She presses herself against him one time and he starts acting like her coltfriend.
“Soarin…” Rainbow Dash rested her hoof against his to draw his attention to her. It worked and he met her eyes. “I don’t mind, really. I think you’re an awesome pony and… horse feathers, I’m no good at this sort of stuff.” She sighed.
“Then maybe I should give it a try… though I can’t promise it’ll come out any better.” Soarin said, pausing with a sigh to gather his thoughts. “You are probably the most awesome mare I’ve ever met. And I would really like it if we could try… uh… being together. You probably don’t want to deal with this sort of stuff right now when you’re in the Academy, but I really can’t help how I feel about…”
He was cut off when Rainbow Dash pressed her lips against his. For a second, he was frozen with his words still in his mouth, but then he relaxed into the moment and returned her kiss. It was everything that he’d ever imagined: exciting, brash, and adventurous… just like the mare herself.
Inside, Rainbow Dash’s mind was running wild. I’m kissing Soarin! I can’t believe that I’m kissing Soarin! He was a great pony and a friend, and she had no problem with taking their relationship to the next level. As far as she was concerned, it would only add twenty percent more awesome to an otherwise awesome relationship.
It would only be later that night when she would realize that she’d hadn’t even given a thought about him being a Wonderbolt when she agreed to be his marefriend. Being with him wasn’t about being a Wonderbolt fan dating a Wonderbolt. It was about a Soarin fan dating Soarin.
“I think I can live with giving us a try.” Rainbow Dash said, smiling at him as she broke the kiss.
“Good. Cause that’s just what I want.” Soarin breathed deeply, taking in all his surroundings including the beautiful mare at his side. They leaned against each other for some time. It was the longest that either one of them had sat still without being injured in a long time.
Reluctantly, Soarin pulled away from her. “You should probably get back to the compound. You don’t want to be late for training tomorrow. Cloud busting or not, Spitfire is not tolerate of lazy ponies.”
“And you’ll talk to her tomorrow?” Rainbow asked, worried that he might have forgotten in the excitement of their newly blossomed relationship.
“I haven’t forgotten, and I will.” Soarin promised her. They shared one more kiss before they spread their wings and took off into the night back in the direction of the Wonderbolt Academy.