//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: Flying Sky-High 
// by Calm Wind 
//------------------------------//

MLP: FiM
Flying Sky-High
By: Calm Wind


Chapter 4:






By train, it only took about twenty minutes to get from Ponyville to Canterlot not to mention if one could even pay for the expensive tickets. By carriage it took almost an hour. Rainbow Dash liked this because it gave her lots of time to think about how the night would go. But she also hated it. Because it gave her lots of time to think about how the night would go. Twilight had hit the nail on the head. She was nervous, she was very nervous. 

She wanted to see Soarin so badly that she would do absolutely anything to be with him, but that didn’t mean she was looking forward to dressing up and mingling with the Canterlot elite. She was already going to stand out as a pegasus among unicorns. On top of that, from the get-go she had been assuming Soarin and the Wonderbolts were going to attend. The assumption was purely based on them being at the gala in the past. It was all being done differently this year by Luna. Dash hoped she wasn’t chasing shadows.

As nervous as she felt, there was no dread. Every time in the past that Dash had been overly nervous for something, there was an overwhelming fear that everything would go absurdly wrong. That feeling was absent. The more she thought about it, the more she began to wonder if she was actually nervous. She had some light jitters going, but she found she wasn't scared. Perhaps it was all just the opposite. Maybe she was so giddy and excited at the possibility of seeing Soarin again. She was shivering in anticipation. 

Whatever it was, it sure made the trip go by faster than she expected,

“Wow! Look at the palace!” Twilight suddenly spoke,

“Palace?!” Dash looked over Twilight’s shoulder out the carriage window. They were already there. 

It was clear that Luna was in charge. They could tell just by looking at the decorations on the castle. Lots of blue, black, and silver everywhere. Many crescent shaped ornaments were hooked to the windows and fixed atop the spires. Streamers and tassels hung down from the towers, all of the three aforementioned colors. Each was decorated with patterns of white stars that cross-hatched the length of them.

“I’d say Luna really outdid herself,” Commented Twilight.

“So why IS Luna in charge this year anyway?” Dash tried to calm her nerves by striking conversation.

“I don’t know,” Twilight shook her head, “I was only told that Princess Celestia had some important business to attend to." 

“More important than her precious new little princess attending?!” A new, snide voice suddenly sounded out from right between them. They both yelped and looked around, realizing that they were no longer sitting on seat cushions. They had been replaced with a snake-like body. They both quickly stood and turned to see Discord reclining where the seat used to be. “Seems like a rather bad excuse to me.”

“Discord!” Dash placed her hooves firmly on the floor of the carriage, but Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder and shook her head.

“Relax, he does this to me all the time.” Said Twilight with an eye roll, “what are you doing here Discord? I sincerely hope you don’t intend to cause mischief at the ball.”

“Mischief?” He leaned towards them wearing devil horns, he glanced up at them, snapped his fingers, and they turned into a halo, “Moi? It’s like you don’t even trust me!” He gave them very fake puppy dog eyes.

“We DON’T trust you.” Dash replied with a snort.

“Oh that’s hurtful,” he swirled behind Dash, she tried to thrust her wings out to repel him, but he just slithered up and over them. “Now now ‘Dashie’, I don’t think Soarin would like that attitude. It’s very unbecoming of a lady.” 

“How did you—!?”

“I have my ways.” He covered her mouth with his tail to hush her. 

“Bleh!” She coughed in disgust as he removed it and appeared beside Twilight.

“No I’m not here to make mischief. I’m here to have fun!” He snapped his fingers and a full suit appeared around him along with a monocle, cane, and top hat. 

“There’s not much of a difference between those two for you.” Twilight glared at him, “now what’s all this about Celestia? Do you know something?”

“Oh I know lots of things!” He stood up between them with a diploma, a graduation robe and matching hat. The diploma unrolled to show a big red F - - in a circle. He quickly rolled it up while looking back and forth before he disappeared and reappeared in place of their carriage driver. “But Old Lady Celery is in a bit of a jam, other than that, I’m not at the liberty to say. And good luck getting much out of Lulu, unlike me, she’s not likely to spill any beans.” A large bucket of dried beans appeared above Dash and Twilight and dumped all over them. 

“That’s it! I’m gonna kick his—” As soon as Dash emerged, the beans disappeared, the seat cushion was back, and so was their driver. “Dammit.” 

“We’ll worry about him later,” Twilight sighed and pointed out the carriage window as they neared the castle approach. A large amount of ponies were gathered by their drop off area, “oh I forgot to mention,” Twilight glanced back at Dash, “I might get mobbed, feel free to fly over them if you can.”

“Huh?” Dash barely had a moment to think about it as their driver opened the carriage door. She quickly shielded her eyes as camera flashes poured into the carriage from right outside. If not for a few royal guards keeping them back, their carriage would have surely been forcefully entered. Twilight stepped out first. She was quickly surrounded by unicorn guards who used their magic to make small barriers that kept anypony from getting too close. 

Dash’s jaw dropped as she saw all the attention Twilight was getting. No wonder Twilight decided to stay as the “princess of Ponyville”, it was the only place she could be normal. In Ponyville she was still Twilight Sparkle, not just a princess. 

The scene reminded her of Soarin and how much he wished to be treated like a normal pony. Dash was hoping to be a famous Wonderbolt herself someday, but she was glad she knew plenty of ponies who would still treat her like good old Rainbow Dash when the time came. 

Taking Twilight’s advice, Dash took flight and went over the mob.

"Whoa!" She abruptly halted when a few pegasi showed up with cameras and began snapping photos of her as well. Apparently she was now famous by association. Luckily for her, four pegasus guards quickly leapt up from the ground and pushed them all away from her. A fifth guard hovered beside her.

“Miss Rainbow Dash?” He addressed.

“Uh, yeah, that’s me.”

“Princess Twilight informed us of your attendance. Please follow me to avoid the media.” He turned and began gliding down the path without another word. Dash quickly followed behind. Twilight had planned ahead, and Dash really appreciated it. She'd have to get used to this paparazzi thing eventually (she hoped) but for now she'd rather just get to the ball. She had a stallion to find.

The guard led her down the moonlit path and to a large gate that was completely surrounded by photographers. The path had a narrow clearing with a red carpet, walled off from the media by tall, clear, magic barriers. The guard touched down, guiding Dash to follow. She landed beside him as he pointed at the gate. 

“Just show your ticket to the guards at the gate and you’ll be within the castle boundaries. It should be comfortable from there.”

“Thanks.” Dash took two steps and stopped, turning back to the guard before he took off, “Oh! Do you know if the Wonderbolts are gonna be here?” She figured he’d be good to ask. The guard shook his head.

“I have not been informed, but Princess Luna might know.” He gave a nod, and then flew off to return to his post. Dash took one look way back towards where they got dropped off to see Twilight had barely made it a few yards down the path. She thought about waiting, but more cameras began flashing around her. She didn’t mind showing off a bit, but this attention was more annoying than anything. She kept her eyes forward and made her way down the rest of the carpet and to the guards at the large iron gate. She showed the guards her ticket and was let right in. As soon as the gate closed behind her she let out a huge sigh.

“Much better.” She said to herself as she looked around at the courtyard. There weren’t many ponies around, but the courtyard was beautifully decorated. There was a large fountain in the center with a statue of the sun and the moon that sprayed water in different directions. There were paths that led around it, and each path was flanked by short hedges that were adorned with full bloom violets. Anypony that was present was making their way towards the castle entrance. Dash could see Luna sitting right on the inside, greeting all those who entered. She seemed pretty excited because the royal Canterlot voice was slipping through from time to time. 

Dash decided to stay grounded for now. She was aware most of the attendees were unicorns. She didn’t want to stand out too much.

As she trotted near, she could hear fancy orchestra music coming from inside the castle. It sounded almost identical to Fluttershy’s gramophone. The dancing was going to be interesting, assuming the Wonderbolts were even there. She hoped they were there. It was the whole reason she went through all of this and put up with Rarity turning her into a doll.

She moved up the steps towards the entrance and waited until Luna was done greeting the guests in front of her.

“AH! THE RAINBOW ONE!" Luna's voice boomed out. Dash yelped and crouched down. "Ahem, we apologize, tonight has been exciting for us.” Luna giggled as Dash’s body took a moment to unstiffen. “We heard thou was arriving with Princess Twilight?”

“Uh, she’s still fighting off the cameras, I flew ahead to avoid it,” Dash made a head motion back to the entrance. While Dash was slightly curious about all the things Discord had said, it was taking a back seat in her brain. There was only one thing she wanted to know. “Say Luna, are the Wonderbolts attending tonight?” 

“We believe the lead squad is in attendance yes. Unfortunately it is only them, unlike the past few years.” Luna said with slight disappointment. She seemed to be a bit of a fan as well.

“Nothing unfortunately about that!” Dash became giddy as a filly in a candy store. “That’s all I needed to hear! I gotta run!” She galloped right past Luna and charged down the hall for a second before remembering her composure and slowing to a quickened walk instead. Luna blinked and shrugged before accidentally yelling in the faces of the next guests.

Dash was excited. That’s putting it lightly. Dash was ecstatically giddy with a side of omigosh. Her worst fear was put aside. The Wonderbolts were there! That meant Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and most of all SOARIN! It meant Rapidfire too, but she didn’t give a damn about him. SOARIN. SOARINSOARINSOARINSOARINSOARIN. HE. WAS. THERE.

The ball was being held connecting in the main hall, the throne room and all the attached balconies. Dash turned the corner into the main hall and froze in her tracks.

“Oh.”

The place was packed. Ponies everywhere. Objective number 1: Get to the ball. Status: Completed. Objective number 2: Find Soarin in this mess. Easier said than done.







Soarin glanced between Spitfire and Fleetfoot as he walked between them. They were traversing through their underground tunnel for quick access to the castle. The tunnel was built for Unicorns and Earth ponies to get between the Wonderbolt compound and the castle with ease. Obviously they could have just flown there, but with all the media around, they wouldn’t get very far, even by air. Soarin snickered as he kept looking at the two of them.

Spitfire and Fleetfoot both had their manes sprayed down. That was already strange enough to him. They both wore similar fancy dresses made by the local tailor, but it was the colors. Spitfires dress was the color of Fleetfoot’s fur and Fleetfoot’s dress was the color of Spitfire’s fur.

“So did you two decide to switch bodies for the ball?” He poked fun. Spitfire sighed as Fleetfoot pointed at her.

“HA! I told you he’d say it!” She shouted.

“Fine, fine.” Spitfire handed a bit to Fleetfoot. Soarin blinked.

“Am i that predictable?” He added.

“THAT’S TWO!” Fleetfoot pointed at Spitfire again. Spitfire growled and handed another bit to Fleetfoot.

“Okay, okay, sheesh.” Soarin rolled his eyes and kept walking. Ignoring the little games the mares seemed to be playing with him as the centerpiece. “By the way where’s Rapid?” Soarin wasn’t really interested, but typically the lead squad was all together at events like this.

“I don’t know and frankly I don’t give a rat's ass,” Spitfire answered without looking, “I’m at the end of my rope with him.” She just kept walking. Fleetfoot leaned towards Soarin.

“He was with us earlier, but got impatient and went ahead.” She whispered.

“Ah.” Soarin shrugged.

“Also, just a fair warning, Spitfire seems to be in a bad mood. I don’t think it’s just Rapidfire.” She added. Soarin stole a quick glance at Spitfire. Her expression was hard to read. She had her professional look stuck to her face, but it didn’t seem very strong.

“Oh.” Soarin realized.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he shook his head, “I know why, but don’t prod her about it. Please.” He gave Fleetfoot a stern look. She nodded.

“Fine.”

They slowly reached the end of the tunnel. Upon opening the secret door, they emerged in a hallway that extended from behind the throne in the throne room. They could hear the music as soon as the wall opened and they stepped out.

“Well, let’s get this night started and over with.” Spitfire adjusted her dress and led them towards the doors at the end of the hallway. Two unicorn guards saluted them before opening the doors.

“Oh man.” Fleetfoot quietly said as they emerged in the ball. There were definitely more in attendance than any of the previous galas. Changing it to a ball had attracted many more ponies. The throne room had been heavily decorated with a “Lunar/night” theme. Lots of shingles, long flags, and streamers adorned the pillars and walls. Luna had positioned the moon to shine a beautiful glow through the stain glass windows, creating colorful patterns on the floor that moved as clouds made passes by the moon outside.

Many were gathered along the sides of the hall in both the throne room and main hall, leaving a large opening in the center of each room to allow for dancing, which many were already taking part in. The large balconies were mostly clear, save for a few ponies who were enjoying the night breeze or taking a break. 

It didn’t take very long for them to get noticed. Being pegasi made them stand out already, but many of the attendees were familiar with the Wonderbolts. Spitfire kept it professional, engaging in conversations and answering questions. Fleetfoot absolutely soaked up the attention. While Spitfire gave simple thanks to comments about her appearance, Fleetfoot almost egged them on. It wasn’t long before she was being led out to dance, which was hilarious to Soarin because she had only just learned how to do so.

Soarin wasn’t very excited about the event to begin with. Minus the dancing this was no different from the gala. He was stuck talking to ponies who showed interest both false and real, treating him like some incredible symbol. He never liked the publicity, but it was part of his job. He didn’t mind having a few intelligent discussions, but they just never ended. And more often than not he would answer the same question from different ponies countless numbers of times. If he had to explain his Sonic Blast-off one more time he was going to puke. 

After a good twenty minutes he had already had enough to last five days worth of interviews. He excused himself from all the attention, claiming he needed refreshment. Luckily he wasn’t followed. Unfortunately most of his mob joined Spitfire’s. He felt bad for her. After confronting her a week back he began to see her situation in a different light. He would have to do something to help her out, but what? 

He made his way through the crowd to one of the many refreshment tables, relieved to see they had a few glass mugs set out for non-unicorns. He filled one with water and took a sip before leaning against a pillar along the outer edge of the throne room. The night had barely begun and he already wanted to be done with it. It was only a matter of time before somepony asked him to dance and he really didn’t want to dance with a mare here. There was only one mare on his mind anyway. 

Then he glanced up and made accidental eye contact with a mare who was a few yards away in the crowd. 

“Shit.”

The mare flashed back a cocky grin and began trotting towards him. Soarin was surprised to see it was a pegasus. She was a light turquoise color which completely blended in with her dress of the exact same color save for a few orange patterns stitched into it. The orange parts of her dress matched her eye color and mane, which seemed to be long and brushed back. It was comprised of two different light shades of orange in a repeating pattern.

He quickly tried to escape the situation by acting like he never looked at her, but she was already approaching and moved with confidence in each step. He was doomed.

“Hey there, handsome.” She spoke as she stopped in front of him. He acted like he just noticed her.

“Uh, hi.”

“You’re the best looking stallion I’ve seen here yet.” She said out of nowhere, the confident smile still plastered to her face. Soarin had run into this type before. As if the night couldn’t get any worse. “Lucky me, you’re also a pegasus. Soarin of the Wonderbolts right?”

“Yeah.” He took another sip of his water. At least she wasn’t going giddy bonkers over him. He hated that the most.

“It’s a nice party, but there are too many unicorns here. How about we go dance and show them some pegasus moves?” She moved closer and he slightly edged away.

“Nah, I’m not really feeling it.” He kept playing uninterested, but she was persistent.

“Oh? You’re a hard nut to crack. Let me guess, you only want to dance with a mare you like right?” She leaned forward and winked.

“Uhh…” Yeah he wanted to dance with the only mare he really liked. Too bad she wasn't here.

“Come on.” She hooked her arm with his and yanked him off the pillar.

“Whoa!” He barely set his mug down before it spilled.

“You’ve gotta loosen up. I guarantee you’ll like me as the night goes on.” She completely disregarded anything he said and dragged him out into the dance floor. Soarin felt like he was speaking to a female version of Rapidfire. Whatever, he wasn’t having any fun. Maybe a dance would make him feel a little better, even if it was with some random mare.

She dragged him out into the center and forced his arm up onto her shoulder before putting her arms on his. Soarin gave in and started the lead steps, but he was having a very hard time concentrating. He moved clumsily and off beat. He was supposed to keep eye contact to help balance the dance moves, but the mare was giving him straight up bedroom eyes, making him feel very uncomfortable. He tried to spin her, but ended up pulling her back too hard. She crashed into him and the two stumbled a few steps. She smirked at him, now body to body.

“A little eager?” 

Soarin grunted and let go of her. He began making his way out of the crowd, but she grabbed him and pulled him back, forcing his arm back up over her and placing her arms on his shoulders. He was in such a funk that he really didn’t give a damn and just went with it. But being unable to focus didn’t help his dancing at all. She forced them into an advanced step where they had to let go of each other and step around while both keeping a hoof extended, touching the other’s. Soarin missed the step to bring them back together, then while trying to fix the slip up brought both of them crashing into another dancing couple. 

They both glared at him before going back to their steps. 

“Having a little trouble?” The mare grinned playfully at him. That did it. He let go of her and tried to leave again. “Hey, hey, c’mon.”

“NO!” He knocked her hoof away when she tried to grab him again, drawing some attention from nearby dancers. “Go bother somepony else!” He trudged back to the refreshment table, leaving the mare speechless behind him.

All he wanted was Rainbow Dash. The mare he just danced with was a horrible reminder of just how things were before he met Dash. Rainbow Dash was different, she was unique, she cared about him, not his fame or status. 

He had already had enough of the dancing and this stupid ball. He filled a new mug full of water, sighed in frustration, and stomped out onto the balcony to get his mind off of everything.





“Holy Celestia, how many ponies are here?!” Dash mumbled to herself as she began to mingle in the crowd. The main hall alone was massive, and there was barely any room to move. Not only would she have a hard time finding Soarin in here, the ball extended into the throne room as well. Soarin wasn’t a very radiant color. Light blue blended in well with the crowd and most of the stallions were wearing suits that were white, grey, or black. She could fly and get a bird's-eye view, but that would draw too much attention.

Then an idea struck her. There was one pony with fiery colors that would be hard to miss: Spitfire. She remembered all the Wonderbolts being together at the gala. If she could find Spitfire, Soarin should be nearby. At least she hoped. 

As she began her search through the crowd, the whole “don’t draw attention to herself” thing wasn’t quite working as she planned. Rarity had really outdone herself with her make-up, the dress, and mane. She had never caught so many stallions looking at her in her life. It didn’t help that her mane also had it's unique rainbow color pattern. A few tried to approach her, but there was no way she was going to waste time dancing with anypony else. She lightly stepped between ponies and groups to avoid all who showed silent interest.

She began to wonder how Twilight was doing. Dash doubted she had made it even remotely close to the party yet. The music was reminding her of dance practice with Fluttershy. She was happy that Applejack didn’t make fun of her. Pinkie would have completely ruined this whole set up. And Rarity…

“Darling! How are you doing!?” Dash nearly flung herself to the ceiling in surprise.

“R-RARITY?!” She was, in fact, looking directly at Rarity, all dolled up, mane styled, and wearing a very frilly red dress. “What are you doing here?!”

“Attending of course! Wahaha!” She waved a fan at her face with her magic, “when I found out you were going, I just couldn't pass up the chance!” Like Dash was going to believe that. She knew exactly why Rarity was there, but she wasn’t going to let it change anything.

“How did you get ready so quickly?” She asked looking Rarity all over.

“Years of experience and no fidgeting,” she winked, “So tell me!” Here it was. “Have you found your prince yet?!” She asked with gleaming eyes.

“Rarity, I just got here.” She said while emphasizing each word, “And please just let me do this without you squealing behind me.”

“But I want the details!” She bounced giddily. 

“NO!” Dash stomped her hoof. Rarity immediately put on a sad pouty face. Dash rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay, I’ll give you a few later.”

“Good enough for me!” Rarity giggled while fanning herself. Dash had to lose Rarity somehow. She didn’t want to do anything bad to her friend, but she needed to do this without a tag-along. She had enough going through her head already. She quickly scanned the crowd around her and spotted a tall, pure white, good looking unicorn stallion with a well kept black mane nearby. He seemed to be alone. Dash smirked and as soon as Rarity glanced away from her, she zipped over to him. 

“Hey buddy,” she nudged him in the side. He glanced down at her with curiosity. “My friend over there wants to dance with you, she’s a little shy though so be gentle.” The stallion looked over to Rarity, who finally found where Dash had gone, only to open her eyes wide as the large stallion smiled and moved towards her. The fan in her magic began waving rapidly. “Sorry Rarity, I gotta do this with no distractions.” Dash said to herself before moving back into the crowd.

She didn’t get very far though. Finding Spitfire seemed like a simple task, but there were so many freaking ponies everywhere! To make it even worse, unlike the stallions, the mares were very colorfully dressed. After circling the main hall once, she was convinced none of the Wonderbolts were in there. She had to try the throne room, and began to worry she would never find them.

After pushing her way through the crowd and into the other half of the party. She groaned. It seemed like there were even more ponies packed in it than the main hall. The throne room also seemed much livelier. There were ponies dancing in the main hall, but the area was much smaller. Here there was maybe ten feet of mingling room from each wall until it was strictly dancing space. This made it a little easier to look around, but not much. The room was still huge. 

She barely started her search when a bright color caught her attention. The possibility of Spitfire made her perk up with excitement. She took one step to get a better view and froze. Right color tone, but oh lord did she get the pony wrong. It was Rapidfire. The exact opposite of who she wanted to find. He was talking to some poor mare, swishing his mane around while speaking, wearing a white suit that didn’t go very well with his orange color. It made him look like a beacon, but that’s probably what he was going for. 

Normally she would have split at first sign of doucheo numero uno, but she made a double take because of the mare he was talking to. It was another pegasus, turquoise fur and a mane with two different shades of orange. Dash tipped her head slightly, not expecting to see more pegasi, but also wondering if she had seen the mare somewhere before. Her suspicion would have to wait, because Rapidfire was turning to look in her direction. She quickly ducked behind a group nearby and slinked around for a few more feet before feeling confident she was out of his view. 

That was a close call. She wanted to find Wonderbolts, but anypony, anypony besides Rapidfire. She sure dodged a bad situation there. She looked back forward and ran directly into somepony. 

“OH! Sorry!” She apologized quickly.

“Rainbow Dash?!” A familiar voice hit her ears. Dash looked up and blinked. After searching for so long to no avail she had literally run directly into Spitfire.

“Holy crap, did I hear that name correctly?!” Fleetfoot's head popped up over Spitfire's shoulder. The omigosh levels were off the charts.

“Hey!” Dash tapped her hooves on the ground in excitement. "I’ve been looking all over for you!” she exclaimed. Spitfire was busy looking Dash over with awe while Fleetfoot was nearly floating up in the air.

“Oh man, oh man, oh man. Where is Soarin, where is Soarin?!?!” Fleetfoot frantically looked around.

“Damn Dash, have you been working out?” Spitfire lifted an eyebrow.

“Oh you noticed? Yeah I’ve kinda been training hard. You guys left an impression on me when you visited.” She smiled sheepishly. Even though she knew them well now, getting a compliment from a Wonderbolt was still an achievement for her. 

“That’s good to hear from a possible future wingmate.” Spitfire complimented again. Fleetfoot suddenly grabbed Spitfire by the shoulders while hovering above.

“Where the hell did Soarin go?!” She yelled in Spitfire's face while shaking her. Spitfire grabbed her and pushed her back to the floor.

“Fleetfoot, calm your hooves! I thought I saw him dancing a moment ago,” Dash’s eyes widened as Spitfire looked around. Fleetfoot quickly shook her head, 

“No, no, no, don’t worry Dash, I saw them. The mare literally dragged him out there. He ended up shoving her off when she wouldn't stop bothering him.” Fleetfoot gave herself a good chuckle. Dash made a mental note to find and beat the shit out of this supposed mare who was touching her stallion.

“Ah! Dash!” Spitfire pointed. Dash swallowed and slowly followed Spitfire’s hoof towards the window looking out at the balcony. “There he is.”

Dash’s heartbeat quickened slightly. A light blue pegasus stallion wearing a black tuxedo with a dark blue mane that had been smoothed down. He was leaning against the railing on the balcony. She stood completely still and stared, hoping that she wasn’t imagining him. Fleetfoot suddenly dropped down in front of her.

“You have THE. BEST. TIMING. He’s been going nuts about wanting to see you again for months!" She quickly circled around and pushed against Dash's plot. "Go! Go!” Fleetfoot was quickly yanked back by Spitfire.

“Give her some room to breathe Fleet,” she held her teammate back and looked to Dash. “She’s right though. He hasn’t shut up about you since we got back from Ponyville.” She rolled her eyes but smirked along with it.

“Really?” Dash blushed and lightly swayed back and forth. The mere thought of Soarin talking about her made her heart swell with delight. Spitfire put her free hoof on Dash’s shoulder. 

“It’s great to see you again, but you need to get to him now. Double time.” She winked at her. “Go get him.” Dash gulped and nodded. She took a deep breath and began walking towards the balcony. As she got swallowed up by the crowd in her path. Spitfire let go of Fleetfoot, sighed, and frowned. “Go get him, he needs you.” She said to herself.





What a lousy night.

Soarin thought to himself for the fifth or sixth time as he gazed up at the moon in the night sky. He wasn’t even sure how many times that thought had crossed his mind. He had to put up with getting ass kissed by the elite population of Canterlot. He tried to get away only to be dragged out onto the dance floor by some random mare that clearly intended to bring him home and score a Wonderbolt. 

He had put up with the elite class a lot throughout his life, so that really wasn’t bothering him so much. The mare had completely ruined his night. He never wanted to fly out of someplace faster.

That mare, whoever the hell she was, made him feel completely lost in his life. Just when things felt so much better after leaving Ponyville, he was sucked right back into the everyday swing of being a celebrity where nopony was ever honest and always had other motives or intentions. 

Rainbow Dash. He wanted Rainbow Dash so badly. He wanted that cute, spunky mare that made him feel so down to earth and carefree. The mare he had fallen completely in love with after only spending a few weeks with her. She would've made this night perfect.







Rainbow Dash stepped out on the balcony. There were a few other ponies out on in, but they were all spread far apart. She didn’t care if there were hundreds of ponies out on the balcony. She was locked on target and saw nothing else. 

Despite all her efforts to keep calm, her heart was beating furiously. It was him, it was really him. She wasn’t dreaming, he was really right there. She began moving towards him and every step felt like a mile. Her body was jittering and her muscles aching from anxiety, but she kept going forward. This was a sign, a clear and present sign. They were so buddy-buddy in Ponyville and it escalated slightly, but here the feeling for him was strong and almost crushing her with its force. She would never feel this way about a pony she was just friends with. She was so excited her body almost refused to move. It was as if her body wanted to take in every last moment with Soarin, including just walking towards him.

This was happening. This was really, truly happening. Her life had never been turned so far around by one pony and it was time to finally let him feel exactly what she felt. There was no hesitation and no holding back, he needed to know. He needed to know exactly what he meant to her. How much she cared. How much she desired him and only him. 

She smirked as all the thoughts pushed her along. She was being super girly about this. For the first time in her life she couldn’t buck the door down and charge in with hooves flying. This was real and this was perfect. She wasn’t going to ruin it with recklessness. This was for real and she wasn’t going to mess it up. 





Soarin could imagine it. Hell, he could picture it as he looked up at the clouds floating in the sky. All slightly illuminated by the soft twilight glow of the moon. If he had Dash here, they’d dance sure, but they’d leave the place behind fast. He wouldn’t care if Spitfire got angry at him for leaving, Dash made him feel so alive that he just didn’t care. 

They would leave this very balcony and fly up into the clouds, dancing in the night sky with flight as a true pegasus would. With nopony to bother them, they would fly side by side and in and out of the clouds. They would go fast, they would go slow, they would go up, and they would go down. They would fly close, they would push apart, they would come together, and they would lock arms. 

What a great night it would be. What a great night indeed.





Rainbow Dash took a deep breath as she drew near. She couldn’t wait for that moment where he turned around and she got to look into his eyes for the first time in months.





It would be perfect. Soarin couldn’t picture it any better. It would be so damn perfect.





Rainbow Dash swallowed. Heart pounding in her chest like a jackhammer. 





She was all Soarin wanted. Her and nothing else.











“Hey…”


---To be continued---