More About Time

by SilverStar7

Chapter 4: Dreams of Yesterday

Twilight decided to make her way to the Wonderbolt's training grounds. After all, if anypony knew where to find Rainbow Dash it would be them. And who knew? She might even be there. Twilight stopped by a street vendor - or what passed for a street vendor in a place without streets - and ask for the location. It only took a few minutes to fly across the city. The cloud buildings were beautiful as always. Pegasi zipped between them as they went about their daily routines.

The training facility was not as grand as the Wonderbolt Academy, and was constructed entirely of clouds, but it still impressed Twilight. The main building was large enough to house dozens of ponies, but most of the "grounds" were covered by large courses and training equipment. She thought of Rainbow Dash being able to run the courses whenever she wanted and a smile came across her face. Someplace like this is exactly where Rainbow is supposed to be.

Now there were many things that had changed in Twilight's life since becoming a princess. Responsibilities, titles, and even her own physiology. Everypony knew that, but the laundry list was longer than most ponies would think. It wasn't that Twilight wasn't happy being a princess. Far from it, she loved this accomplishment. Still, transitioning from "faithful student" to "alicorn princess" could not be called easy.

There were some things she had already gotten used to. Wings, for example, were not that bad. Sure, there had been many restless nights trying to get comfortable in her own skin. Learning to fly was hard. By now, however, she'd become accustomed to the purple feathered things jutting from her back.

The popularity associated with her princesshood hadn't caused her many problems. Sure, every now and then she would come across somepony that would stop her and make a comment. Usually it was a little filly or colt, perhaps because they were generally less reserved than older ponies. She remembered once she was even surrounded by a crowd of them and asked to give out signatures.

Then there were things that she was beginning to think would never become normal. The rites and rituals surrounding her arrival to someplace was one of these things.

Twilight hadn't even given a second thought to visiting the Wonderbolt's training facilities in Cloudsdale. The moment she touched down on the base, however, she was shocked by the sudden stop in activities. From every direction the pegasi turned to face her and gave a sharp salute. One of the instructors nearby declared "Princess on base!"

Blushing, Twilight cleared her throat and said, politely but still loudly enough that everypony could hear, "At ease, erm, as you were." Hooves fell down as the ponies returned to their various tasks. One of them, however, began to walk toward her across the cloud field. Twilight had forgotten that, for all their popularity, the Wonderbolts were a military organization. They were as duty-bound to serve her as any members of the royal guard were.

The pegasus pony approaching was none other than Spitfire. She gave another salute that Twilight returned and said, "Princess Sparkle. Welcome to the Wonderbolt's training facility. You have my apologies for our lack of preparedness; we were not expecting you."

Shaking her head, Twilight explained her reason for being here. "It's not a problem, Spitfire. I wasn't planning to stay long. I was only wondering if you could tell me where Rainbow Dash is."

"I would assume she's at her house, but you probably already tried there. Otherwise maybe she's at another flight course. Tuesday is still her day off, but I know she doesn't want it. I swear that pony could train for a month straight without a break. She's the most dedicated and determined flyer I've ever had."

Twilight smiled and nodded along. She was trying to think of a way to avoid asking the stupid question of where Rainbow Dash lived. The problem was that there was really no way around the point. I just have to ask... "Well, to tell you the truth, I kind of... forgot where Rainbow Dash lives."

The yellow pegasus moved down her sunglasses to look at Twilight, one eye brow noticeably lower than the other. "They must really put you Princesses through the ringer in these first few months. Although, I suppose it's understandable anyway. Cloudsdale is a pretty hard city to navigate when you didn't grow up here. You can't really give good directions. 'It's just past the white cloud building on the corner next to that other cloud building.'" Spitfire grinned and Twilight thought she heard a slight laugh, but she couldn't be sure. It was hard to imagine a pony as tough as Spitfire laughing at her own joke. And proving her own character, Spitfire abruptly shouted, "Soarin'! Get down here!"

Soon the blue-gray pegasus was standing at attention in front of the two mares. "Spitfire, Princess Sparkle, what do you need?"

"I need you to escort the Princess to Rainbow Dash's house. I figured you, of all ponies, would know best how to get there. But don't mess around; you're still on my time. Just get her to the house and come right back here." Sliding her sunglasses back on, Spitifire said, "Thank you for stopping by today, Princess. It is always a pleasure to help a member of royalty." In a golden yellow streak the pony took to the skies and continued instructing other pegasi through drills as though there had been no interruption.

Looking back, Twilight saw Soarin' gesturing skyward. "After you, Your Highness." There was a touch of sarcasm in the stallion's words, but he was not insulting her. It was more like the casual way her friends occasionally addressed her as "Your Highness" in jest. Twilight made note of that as the two spread their wings, heading west. It was not the direction Twilight had come from. Instead, they were flying farther through the city. "So," Soarin' broke the silence. "I know I probably shouldn't ask, but is there a reason you wanted an escort for goin' to see Dash?"

Twilight made another note of Soarin's behavior, this time his use of "Dash" to identify her friend. Then said, "Well, I didn't request an escort. I just got lost in the city and was hoping I could get directions. Spitfire called you over."

Soarin' nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like Spitfire alright. But I ain't gonna complain. It's nice to take a break from all the Equestria Games prep work. My wings have been sore for weeks." He gave a sigh, stretching out his limbs and wings as they flew. "Yep. Would be nice if I could stop and see Dash for a bit, but of course Spitfire had to order me back immediately." Then the stallion laughed. "I guess she still doesn't trust me to be professional enough around her."

As Soarin' spoke, Twilight was straining to understand what the words he was saying actually implied. It was obvious she missed an important piece of context. So she asked a probing question to see if she could get another hint. "How come Spitfire called for you if you're supposed to be training?"

"Heh, well, I guess she just wanted to poke fun at me and Dash again. She's been pointing it out a lot. I guess she's still not totally comfortable with the situation."

Me and Dash? What does Rainbow Dash have to do with... Twilight felt her cheeks flush as the pieces of evidence all fell together. Rainbow Dash and Soarin'. As with all of the strange discoveries she had made, Twilight had to let this sink in for a moment. Apparently it took too long to sink in because Soarin' broke the silence again.

"I mean, sure, it is unusual for two Wonderbolts to date, but it's not like this has never happened before. At first I could just use Spitfire's parents as an example, but now she makes me run laps every time I mention that."

"Don't you mean 'fly laps?'" Twilight corrected.

"I wish." The stallion rolled his eyes. The two then simply flew for a while. The sound of the wind going past their ears and the occasional noises of the city were all that moved between the two.

I would never have expected this. I wonder if their relationship is how Rainbow got into the 'Bolts? No, with the way he was talking this is a more recent development than that. The alicorn could speculate all she wanted, but what she really needed was answers. "Soarin'?" she asked. The pegasus looked over at her. "How are you and Dash doing? If you don't mind me asking."

Soarin's face split into a wide smile. "Every day she proves that she's nothing like I expected, but everything I've always wanted in a mare. Adventurous, determined, and beautiful inside and out. Every day is like a dream."

Twilight smiled when she heard that word. This change may have been unexpected, but if Rainbow Dash was half as happy with Soarin' as he was with her then it was a welcomed change indeed. And through my dreams I will shape my life...

When the two got close to Rainbow Dash's place, Soarin' simply pointed it out and turned to leave. "I would love to see Dash, but it's probably better I just leave now so I'm not tempted to stay. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Twilight shook her head. "I'm alright. Thank you so much, Soarin'."

"Always a pleasure, Twilight." The two waved briefly as the stallion took off from whence they came and Twilight turned toward Rainbow's house. It was neither modest nor impressive. Not much different from her previous house other than the lack of rainbows. Instead, the cloud structure was bedecked with lightning bolt insignias and flags with similar emblems. The Wonderbolt's logo.

Landing on the front porch, Twilight was going to think about what she could say, but decided against that. There was really nothing to it but to do it. The knock on the door produced an interesting sound. It wasn't that the door itself was made of cloud, but the clouds around it muffled the vibrations of the door, dulling the "thunk, thunk, thunk" she made.

In a few moments, a blue and rainbow pegasus opened the door. "Twilight? What are you doing here?"

"Sorry for the short notice. I thought I could drop by for a visit since today is your day off. I wanted to talk to you about something."

Rainbow smiled. "Of course! Come on in! What'cha wanna talk about?

"I wanted to..." I suppose I shouldn't dodge the issue, Twilight gave a light sigh. But I also don't want to hurt Rainbow by telling her this wasn't supposed to be. I'll just start small. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about the Daring Do series."

As the two entered the house, Rainbow Dash nodded, "Yeah, yeah. I'll get back to those books as soon as I'm done training for the games. I still haven't gotten through book five, but you were right, they are really good."

Twilight breathed a slight sigh of relief. So Rainbow hadn't gotten addicted to the series, but Twilight had still managed to promote the series enough so that Rainbow would read them. "What was your favorite part of book four?" Twilight asked. Ever since the A.K. Yearling incident her favorite part had become when Doctor Caballeron tried to team up with Daring.

"I told you that in my last letter, remember? It was the climactic final fight between Daring Do and her arch-nemesis, the dreaded Ahuizotl!"

"Oh, right." Twilight blushed a bit. She had to be more careful with her questions. Then again, aren't I supposed to be telling Rainbow Dash the truth? Still, she didn't have to say anything right away. There was still stuff to talk about. "How've you been liking Cloudsdale recently?"

"It's a'ight," Dash shrugged.

"It's just 'a'ight?'" Twilight attempted to imitate her friend's half-word.

"I mean, Cloudsdale's great and all, but I don't know if it's the best place for me to live."

Twilight's breath caught and her eyes went wide. Oh no! Is Rainbow Dash not happy here? Twilight took a deep breath and then calmly sought to clarify what Rainbow was getting at. "This is your dream though, right? I mean, you can't exactly be a Wonderbolt if you don't live where you can work and train with them."

Dash nodded. "Yeah, yeah. It's just-- you know how before I left I told you 'we all knew this was coming?'"

Twilight nodded even though she didn't actually remember the conversation. And I wouldn't. I never had it with her. Past Twilight did.

"But, to be honest, I didn't know," Rainbow looked out the window at the other clouds in the sky. She chuckled. "Yeah, who'd've thunk it? With all my daydreaming and talking about being a Wonderbolt, I never really considered the idea that being a Wonderbolt meant leaving Ponyville. I never thought it would mean leaving my friends."

Now Twilight understood. For Rainbow Dash, at least for this Rainbow Dash, reading the Daring Do books wasn't something she did for the sake of enjoyment. It was a way for her to connect with Twilight. It was a way for her to seem closer to her friend. "Rainbow..." Twilight was searching for words.

"Don't get me wrong," said Dash, turning back to Twilight and slowly rising into the air as she spoke. "I love it here! Being a Wonderbolt is really everything I ever dreamed it would be. I'm challenged every day. I've made friends with most of the team. And I have screaming fans who know my name and cheer for me at the top of their lungs!" She stopped and looked Twilight in the eyes. They were both thinking the same thing. Smiling, in low, soft voices, they declared "Yay!" And then laughed together.

"How is Fluttershy?" asked Rainbow as she landed on the cloud floor.

"Oh, she's fine." Twilight wasn't actually sure how Fluttershy was, but she assumed everything was alright. "Still caring for animals and being Fluttershy."

Dash nodded. "Is she still looking after Tank? Have you seen him recently?"

Twilight paused. The statement took a moment to register, but then it made sense. Of course Tank couldn't move to Cloudsdale. His magical helicopter could keep him airborne, but he couldn't walk on clouds. I had no idea how much Rainbow would need to sacrifice to be a Wonderbolt. "I haven't seen him," Twilight answered. "But I'm sure he's doing fine too. You could always come and give him a visit."

Rainbow shook her head. "Not for a while. I've got to get ready for the Equestria Games. Spitfire has Fleetfoot and I training almost non-stop. Of course, with me on the team, we're sure to win, but we want to do more than that!" Dash's eyes lit up. "Cloudsdale usually wins the relay, but it's been a while since we've broken the record for the fastest time. This year, thanks to yours truly, Cloudsdale is going to break its record!"

Smiling at her friend's enthusiasm, Twilight decided not to mention how unfortunate it was that Rainbow couldn't help the Ponyville team. She didn't want to again remind her friend of what she had given up. After all, she had clearly gained a lot more. Rainbow loved competitions and challenges. It was obvious that being a Wonderbolt was a perfect fit for her. And I'm not done yet, she thought. I can still go back again and help the rest of my friends live out their dreams. If I get to be an author and Rainbow gets to be a Wonderbolt... And then Twilight remembered that that wasn't all. "So, how are things going with you and Soarin'?"

"Awesome. Soarin' is great." Dash smiled, but it was not the same as Soarin's smile. It was a more subdued grin. "He's fun. Kind. Everything I could want in a colt-friend. But I'm sure you don't want to hear me brag about that." The words spilled from Rainbow's mouth as quickly as possible and the blue mare rubbed the back of her head with her hoof.

Something was not right. Rainbow should have been happy to be living her dream and to have a colt-friend who really cared about her. What changed about this Rainbow's past that made her less sure about this future?

"Rainbow. What's the matter? Is something wrong with Soarin'?"

"Nothing, Soarin' is doin' fine." The multi-colored mare bit her lip and seemed to be about to speak, but then stopped herself. "Anyway, that's enough about me. What have you been up to?"

"Rainbow." Twilight spoke and looked firmly at her friend. "What's wrong?" An expression that Twilight rarely saw on her friend's face appeared; it was a look of defeat.

There was a pause.

Twilight let the silence hang.

Finally, Rainbow Dash sighed and sat down, speaking at last, "I'm just worried that I might not get to be Soarin's mare-friend much longer."

Twilight cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Soarin' is a Wonderbolt. He could have any mare in Cloudsdale if he wanted... Sure, he likes me now, but I'm not like Rarity. I can't do the whole fashionista thing to keep Soarin's attention." Rainbow now laid down on the cloud floor fully, her head resting on her hooves. "By the end of the day, I'm always sweaty and my mane is a disaster. I can't hide that; Soarin' always sees me because he's there at the end of the day. Being a Wonderbolt means you can't do things like style your mane and look pretty. I know it's only a matter of time before he finds somepony more attractive than me."

This was the last thing Twilight expected to hear from a pony as confident as Rainbow Dash. The mare had shown uncertainty at times, but she usually presented an heir of solid, unwavering confidence. Then again, whenever she was afraid of failing at something she valued, the pegasis had shown she could crumble. "What happened to make you think this?" Twilight probed.

"After one of our shows, Soarin' and I met a fan named Jetstream and she was totally in to him! She kept talking about how awesome Soarin' was and then went on about how she's planning to become the first pegasis to fly non-stop across Equestria and Soarin' thought that was 'so cool.' I wanted to tell her to back off, but we have to be extra professional when meeting fans." Rainbow's face scrunched and she shut her eyes, nuzzling her mane into her forelegs. "Her mane and coat were perfect! I could never compete with that!

"But worst of all:" Rainbow lifted up her head, but still didn't look at Twilight, "Spitfire heard about Jetstream's project and invited her to come to the aftershow dinner that night. And when we got to the restaurant of course Spitfire had to separate Soarin' and I because we 'spend enough time together on our own time.' But then guess who gets to spend the whole night talking with Soarn'? Spitfire lets Jetstream sit right next to him." Twilight watched as her friend curled into a ball on the floor. "So now you know!" Rainbow declared. Even if she couldn't see her friend's face, Twilight heard the tears in Dash's voice.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow. I can't imagine how hard that was for you." And I had no idea Rainbow could be this sensitive about a stallion. Then again, it was rare that the two discussed such things. When Dash didn't respond, Twilight walked over to her friend and laid down next to her. She lifted out one of her wings and put it around Rainbow Dash. This was something Twilight had never done since becoming an alicorn, but she had seen Rainbow and other pegasi do it. Yet Rainbow didn't respond and continued to look at the floor. Twilight started talking. "Rainbow, do you know what Soarin' told me when I asked him about you?" Still, Rainbow sat and did nothing. "He said that he loved being your colt-friend. That you were adventurous, determined, and..." Twilight waited for Rainbow to look over at her, and when Rainbow looked she said, "beautiful."

Rainbow Dash looked at her friend with tears and skepticism. "He likes to tell me that I'm 'beautiful inside and out' every now and then, but how do you know he's not just saying that? To me, starting with 'beautiful inside' seems like a nice way of saying that he can get past my lack of looks."

"First of all, Rainbow, you are beautiful. I still remember Rarity going on about how hard it was for her to find a fabric that could match the colors of your mane for the Grand Galloping Gala. You don't even have to style it to make a statement. Second, as you said yourself, Soarin' could have any mare in Cloudsdale. But he chose you. And he's happy that he chose you."

"Yeah, for now. But what about in the future? How do I know that he won't get bored?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that. And then it dawned on her. Rainbow never went through the experience with Daring Do. She never learned her lesson about how she has to remember her own self worth! And so now Twilight knew what she had to say.

"Rainbow. Nopony else's accomplishments can take away from yours." She declared boldly. "I've heard you described in many ways. Never once have I heard you called 'boring.'

"Soarin' thinks you're adventurous and, frankly, you are a pretty awesome mare. So what if Jetstream can talk about flying across Equestria? You're still the only mare in history that's actually done a Sonic Rainboom! You don't have just talk. You've got the awesomeness to back it up."

Dash sniffed. "You really think that I can still impress Soarin'? Even when he's seen me do that a dozen times at our shows?"

"You do impress, Soarin', Rainbow Dash. You're all he talks about. Just because somepony else comes along that doesn't mean he's going to forget about you. How could he not see how special you are?"

Rainbow gave a weak laugh. "Well, when you put it that way it makes it sound like I'm just being silly."

Twilight chuckled softly. "It's normal to get nervous sometimes. You just need to make sure that you don't let your fears of falling short get in the way of seeing how amazing you are."

Twilight felt Rainbow shift under her and removed her wing. The blue pegasis stood up. "You know what, Twilight, you're right. I don't need to be afraid of Jetstream or any mare. Soarin' picked me because of me!" Then her friend took to the air and finally, Twilight saw Rainbow Dash smile as fully as Soarin' had.