//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Seal The Deal // Story: Abstracted Spectrum // by Abstract Spectrum //------------------------------// 8:00am. The alarm sounded off. Rainbow Dash yawned, stretched, and fell out of bed like she did every morning. While tumbling down the stairs in her morning drunken stooper, she just remembered that she still had training today. But it wasn't this early in the morning like her old job, as a Wonderbolt, she didn't have to meet with Soarin' again for training until 2:00pm. So at least she had some time to kill before she went to work everyday. That is, until she actually started as a real Wonderbolt, the kind that do all those fancy performances almost every week. Rainbow opened her front door, and caught the newspaper in her mouth that Derpy threw at her that morning. She usually gets hit in the face with it, but she was more alert this particular morning. Why? Because she knew what was coming that day, and she was excited for it. Of course we're talking about Soarin'. She still hasn't forgotten the kiss. In fact the only thing she did forget was whether it really meant anything or not. She decided it did last night, so that thought completely flew off her mind. After skimming through the pages of the newspaper (which had nothing relevant to her interests in it), she hovered down to the ground to check out what her friends were doing. Most of them were still asleep, except for Applejack and Pinkie Pie that is. She didn't have anything she wanted to talk about with Applejack, and she was probably getting ready for Applebuck Season anyway. Rainbow Dash didn't want to come between her and her work, so she just decided on heading over to Sugarcube Corner to talk to Pinkie Pie for a bit. The bell of the entrance door rang as Dash walked through to enter the room. She stepped up to the counter and rang the bell. She was expecting Pinkie Pie to jump out of nowhere and scare the hell out of her, which she hoped would have woken her up some more, but with that single ring, nothing happened. She rang the bell a few more times, but said nothing. She just waited for somepony to approach her at the counter. However the only mare to meet her at the counter that morning was Mrs. Cake. "Well hello Rainbow Dash! What brings you here this fine morning?" She asked. Rainbow Dash yawned. "Oh, I'm just looking for Pinkie Pie. Have you seen her?" "Pinkie? I believe she went out to talk to her cousin Surprise just a few minutes ago." "Did she say where?" "I think she said she was going to go to the market with her. You'll probably find her there!" "Okay." Rainbow Dash yawned again. "Thanks!" "You seem pretty tired, Rainbow Dash. How about a breakfast muffin on the house?" Mrs. Cake recommended. "Sure. Thanks Mrs. Cake!" "Come back anytime now, ya hear?" Mrs. Cake said as Rainbow Dash departed the bakery. Rainbow Dash headed off in the direction of the marketplace from Sugarcube Corner, since that's where Mrs. Cake said Pinkie would be. Walking around the market, Dash searched for Pinkie and Surprise, as well as browsed around a bit. She eventually found Surprise and Pinkie Pie talking while walking next to each other. A couple feet away, Rainbow Dash managed to sneak an ear into their conversation. "So anyway, I was talking to Soarin' last night about a certain somepony, Rainbow Dash that he likes?" Surprise began. With that, Rainbow Dash quickly hid under a nearby table, which Pinkie and Surprise sat and talked more for a bit. They didn't notice her under the table, or maybe they did and just didn't want to tell her, but she ducked quietly so she could hear them talking. "And he wanted me to ask you to ask your friend Rainbow Dash to go out with him sometime." "Really? Oh boy! Rainbow Dash is gonna be so excited! I can't wait to tell her!" Pinkie Pie yelled out. Rainbow Dash was so surprised by this news that she hit her head on the bottom of the table, inevitably alerting the two who stood at it. "Oh, hi Rainbow Dash! You'll never guess what I was just told! Soarin' wants to take you on a date!" Pinkie told the blue mare rubbing her head under the table. "I already *ugh* know, Pinkie. I was here the whole time." Rainbow Dash told her zany pink friend, as she stood up from under the table. "So whaddya say, huh?" Surprise and Pinkie asked. "Well of course I say yes! But where? And when?" She added. "I uh... don't know! He didn't tell me that part! I guess I'll have to ask him when I get back! Or maybe, you could ask him? Since he's your trainer and all." Surprise added. "But my training doesn't start again until 2 o' clock!" "Yeah, your TRAINING doesn't. But that doesn't mean you can't come up there." "You got a good point..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "So I guess we'll head up, then?" "Yeah uh... sure! Let's go!" Rainbow Dash said. "Bye Pinkie! Catch up with ya later!" Surprise said, as she and Rainbow Dash flew up to Cloudsdale to head back to base. "Alright Surprise! Seeya later! And good luck, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie said to the two pegasi flying away. LATER, IN CLOUDSDALE... "So whaddya gonna say to him?" Surprise asked the blue pegasis with a worried look on her face. "I'm just uh... gonna keep it cool! I'll be all like, "Hey Soarin', so I heard you wanna go on a date? Well I say sure.". Does that sound okay?" "Uh... sure. Look! There he is now!" Surprise shouted. She pointed out Soarin' sitting on a bench outside the Cloudasium, polishing his goggles. "C'mon now, go talk to him! Keep it cool, like you said you would!" Surprise suggested, nudging Rainbow Dash in Soarin's direction. Rainbow Dash gulped, and walked towards Soarin with shaking hooves. Keep it cool, Rainbow. Keep it cool... cool... cool... She repeated to herself. Moments later she was standing over Soarin', who didn't look up from his goggles until he checked for scratches in the sunlight. He fastened them back around his head and stood up off the bench. "Hey Rainbow! You comin' in early? Your training doesn't start until 2!" Soarin' said. "I know, but uh..." Rainbow Dash gulped again. "So, I heard you wanna go on a date? Well I say sure." She said, blushing afterwards, but still trying to keep her cool. "Really? Great!" "But uh... when and where?" Dash asked. "Let's say Friday, 1 o' clock PM. And why not right here at this bench?" Soarin' suggested. "Sounds good to me!" The two nodded their heads and went their separate ways. Rainbow returned to Surprise, who saw it all happen. "Wow, that went better than I expected." Surprise said, raising an eyebrow. "Usually when mares ask colts out, they can't keep that still about it. Nice job." "Thanks. I hope I don't forget, that'd suck. What time is it?" Dash asked. "Ten 'till eleven. Wanna go meet back up with Pinkie and get lunch?" "Nah, I think I might just go back home and sleep. All that stress from accepting his date kinda wore a lot out of me. Seeya later! And say "hi" to Pinkie for me!" Rainbow Dash said, flying towards the direction of her home. She opened the door to her home and stepped through. All the lights in her house were off when she left. She didn't want another surprise in the electric bill that month. She felt around for the switch in the bathroom, and flicked it on as she walked in, closing the door. She heard from Fluttershy that baths help you sleep better, so she thought she'd take a quick one before going to bed. After she was settled in the water, she did nothing more than sit in it for a few minutes, and think about life. Only thing is, there wasn't really anything about life to think about. Everything was all hunky-dory in the world of Rainbow Dash. She's a Wonderbolt, she's dating a Wonderbolt. She's pretty much gotten everything she's ever wanted. Even peace and quiet, for the time being. She laid back and took a deep breath, brushing her tail around a bit, and dunking her head into the water. A couple minutes passed, and she hopped out. She wrapped a towel around her waist and her head like she normally did. While waiting for it to dry, she made her bed, and also cleaned up her living room a bit. Rainbow Dash threw the towels back into the bathroom and laid down on her bed. Since she was just napping she didn't get under the covers, since that'd make her too comfortable and she might oversleep again. SEVERAL HOURS LATER... Rainbow Dash's eyes creaked open. She woke up staring at the ceiling, except it was the ceiling of the ground floor of her house. Somehow she managed to roll out of bed and down the stairs in her sleep without waking up. At least she didn't miss training that day. If she didn't hurry, though, she'd be late. So in 10 seconds flat, she hopped up and dashed out the door. MOMENTS LATER, INSIDE THE TRAINING FACILITY... Rainbow approached the door sweating and breathing hard. She was lawful eager to train and see Soarin' again. Pushing the door open with a hoof, she walked in, and saw Soarin' doing some of the stretches they'd done the day before. Dash alerted him, he finished his stretching and told Dash to do the same. When stretching was all said and done, Soarin' explained to Rainbow the things they'd be going over today. Balance, speed, and FOV. "Alrighty, so first off is balance. While doing rather difficult tricks, it's possible that one or both of your wings might just decide to slap down and throw you on a crash course towards the ground. It's all about positioning with your wings, they gotta be even for you to fly right. Now, what I want you to do is fly across this field, but before you reach the end, make a sharp turn and fly the other direction." "Got it!" Rainbow said, taking flight. She flew to the other side of the field as instructed, and before she reached the end, she attempted the sharpest turn she'd ever tried to do. In seconds, she hit the ground. She lifted her face up out of the turf and struggled getting back up. "See? You need to keep your wings straight. Here, lemme show you how it's done." Soarin' said. He flew up, then forward, then when the time to turn came, Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped at how fast he did it without being slapped down. He did this a couple more times, the first few being just to show Rainbow how to do it, giving her advice while he did it. But after a few more turns, he was just showing off. Soarin' landed back in front of Rainbow and waited for her to say something. Rather than talking, she flew up and forward again. The turn was coming, and Rainbow Dash made sure her wings were even this time. In a flash, she pulled off the turn. Before she had a chance to come down to the ground, Soarin' instructed her to do it a couple more times. Without flaw, Soarin' agreed to himself that Rainbow had gotten the just of it. Their training resumed. Next up was speed, which Dash had no trouble with at all, she was plenty good on that, so that session didn't last long. Last but not least was "Field Of View". Rainbow had heard the term somewhere before, but she didn't know exactly what it meant. "Field of view, or field of vision, is the extent of the observable world that is seen at any given moment. It's important to learn this extent of your vision, so you know what's around you when you're flying. Look forward for a moment, and keep looking there." Soarin' explained. Rainbow Dash remained looking at the same spot where Soarin' was standing, as he began scooting to the left. "Tell me when you can't see me anymore." He said, as he resumed scooting. "Now, right there!" Rainbow shouted. "Hot damn, that's a lawful large FOV! I don't think you're gonna have any problems with that. But it won't hurt to practice a couple tricks to see how much you actually pay attention to it." The two spent hours training and training. After Rainbow Dash pretty much nailed down everything they we're supposed to go over that day, they just decided to have some fun and fly around a bit. Rainbow Dash also used a couple of the new things she'd learned that day with Soarin'. It certainly was getting tiring, so Soarin' and Rainbow Dash settled on a cloud to rest for a bit. Their heads leaning against one another's as they relaxed on the white puff in the sky. Dash laid on her back, as did Soarin' next to her as they stared at the sun going down. Soarin' looked over to Rainbow, both of the pegasi blushing. "I love you." The two said at the same time, as they leaned in for another kiss while the sun set to end yet another perfect day together. Soarin' broke the kiss, as he and Rainbow turned back to look up at the night sky. Just the sight of it made Rainbow Dash think. Her life is great, it's better than it's ever been, and she never wanted that to change. But she thought of words Applejack sang once that she'd had heard during one of her breaks from harvesting. Good times or bad times, neither one lasts...