//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Perspective // by Dreamscape //------------------------------// The true reason why she had left Twilight and her friends was now forgotten, but thoughts of the purple alicorn lingered awkwardly in her mind. Barely looking at the stallion beside her, who was in the process of swallowing down his first piece of pie, Rainbow tried her best to focus on the present. As they walked towards the fancily pattered tents of the market which were lined up on either side of the street, she watched the bustling of the many ponies who still lingered there, even as the sun grew lower and lower in the sky. Some were buying, some were just there to pass the time, and the busiest of all were the ponies within the tents. Their yells of what products they had for sale resonated off of the closest crystal buildings and then echoed back as they frantically struggled to exchange said product for bits and help the next customer in line. It was easy to distinguish the tourists and competitors there for the Equestria Games due to their coats which were rather lackluster in comparison to those of the gleaming crystal ponies. “So what Wonderbolts stuff did you wanna talk to me about anyways?” Dash finally asked, turning her eyes up at Soarin’, whose entire face seemed much livelier than it had before the pie. “Jeez, you really like pie don’t you?” she then said with a laugh, noticing a few smears of the purple filling around his lips. “It’s sooo good! You want my second slice?” he asked with a smile, licking his lips. “Sure, you’re too sweet…and cute,” she replied with a teasing smirk, causing the stallion’s cheeks to flush ever so slightly as he placed it in her outstretched hoof. “And you never answered my question.” “Oh yeah, right, I just wanted to say it’s good to finally have you on the team. I know you’re gonna be a great asset. I mean, seriously, you’re already just as good a flyer as any of us, if not better. Just sucks that you’re on the reserve instead of out there with us, but I understand that you gotta have time for your friends and everything.” Rainbow Dash downed a piece of the gifted pie with a load gulp before speaking. “How’d you know I like compliments,” she said with a teasing wink. “Anyways, that’s it, that’s all you had to say?” She shook her head in disbelief and raised an eyebrow as she first gazed at his strong chest, then moved up to his emerald eyes. “Yeah, sorry about taking you from your friends…I just wanted to, well, to spend some time with you is all,” he said with a sheepish smile, watching as she easily finished the rest of the pie in a few large bites. “Oh really, and why would somepony like you wanna spend time with somepony like me?” Rainbow asked smugly, a smirk once again appearing on her face. “I-” Soarin’s mouth was quickly covered with a hoof before anything else could spill out from between his lips. “Yeah, I get it, you think I’m pretty awesome, huh? And you think I’m hot, and you sort of have a thing for me?” “Was I really coming off that strong?” he asked as her hoof lowered back to the ground, his eyes growing wide with surprise. “Nah, I was just saying how I felt and assuming you felt the same,” the mare then said with a shrug. “Looks like it was a pretty good guess.” “Really good,” Soarin’ replied before taking the leftover paper plate from the pony’s pie and throwing it in the nearest trash bin. “So…how do you feel about that?” “I’m totally cool with it, but that doesn’t mean we’re dating or anything...yet. I barely even know you. Kinda need that in a relationship,” she said with a laugh. “Then, now’s as good a time as any. I actually wasn’t planning on getting this far, but I guess we just hang out here and look at the stalls if you want?” the hopeful stallion asked, brushing a hoof through his blue, windblown mane. “Eh, sure, got nothing better to do,” Dash said with a sigh, but in reality there was something much more important that she wanted, and almost even felt like she needed to do. Thoughts of her friend, Twilight filled her mind to her frustration as the two moved from stall to stall, briefly discussing the pointless but novel items which were displayed. Dating a Wonderbolt, specifically Soarin’ had been a dream of hers for quite some time. She was unable to comprehend why it felt pointless now, and even wrong. Instead of being overjoyed with the chance to put her moves on the stallion, which she was completely confident would work, she instead was thinking about the mare she seemed to be growing closer and closer to every day. It made no sense. She had always dreamed of finding a stallion or mare who was strong, confident, fun, and athletic like her. So why was she now fumbling to think of anything to say to her perfect date, and instead wanting so badly to be elsewhere with Twilight, nearly the exact opposite? An image of earlier that day when she rested her head upon the pony’s shoulder for a quick nap, along with the warm sensation which it had instilled within her, took the forefront of her mind. Then the sudden sound of Twilight’s distinct laugh echoed through her ears. Rainbow was completely and utterly confused. It made no sense why she was falling for her friend, and had been for some time. They were truly great friends, but what would it mean to be more? In a way, she wanted this just as badly as it seemed Twilight did; but at the same time, she felt as though it wasn’t real because of its utter senselessness. Her eyes suddenly caught hold of a purple book on display, its cover resembling the Crystal Empire’s flag. A Brief History of the Crystal Empire Collection she read from the sparkling silver text imprinted upon its surface. “From Pre-Sombra all the way up to modern times,” said the young mare running the stall. “Bet Twilight doesn’t have that one in her collection…yet” Dash said with a grin as they moved with ease to the next stall, the previous droves of ponies in the crowd beginning to thin. “It must be pretty cool being friends with a princess,” Soarin’ said thoughtfully. “Not many ponies can say the hang out with royalty on a daily basis.” “Yeah, she is pretty awesome, but not because she’s a princess or anything. She’s always been that way since the day a met her, really smart, like genius level, great with magic, kinda weird, but fun at the same time, awkward but in a good way, and ya know, a major egghead,” Rainbow said with a chuckle. “She’s really cool…uh, not that my other friends aren’t or anything. I’ve just been hanging out with her more recently and stuff.” “I wish I had friends like yours,” Soarin’ mumbled with a sigh, his lips forming a slight frown. “You really got it going for you, Dash.” This caused the mare’s heart to skip a beat, they were great, especially Twilight, so why was she avoiding them? I sudden realization of why she had left them in the first place caused her to freeze in her tracks. Her escape originally wasn’t due to the fact that she was about to go on a ‘date’ with the stallion of her dreams, but instead because she was afraid. She of all ponies was afraid, of what? Falling for somepony who didn’t seem to fit her standards. Somepony who she truly cared for. If she did love Twilight, then what was the point of falling back on some dream standard which she had developed when she was a filly? Things had changed since then, and perhaps Twilight was the new dream…or perhaps it was just false. No matter what the case, she was no longer comfortable being in the position that she was. Escaping from it once more seemed like a bad choice considering the fact that it had already made things more complicated, but at the moment; escaping was the quickest and easiest way out. “I-I gotta go!” she blurted out sheepishly, turning her eyes to the ground below which reflected her befuddled face back up at her. “Huh…why?” Soarin’ asked, his mouth dropping open in what seemed to be astonishment from the sudden outburst. “I…just do…er, I mean, I gotta get some rest. Big day tomorrow and stuff,” she mumbled, quickly turning to escape the curious gaze of the stallion. “Uh…goodnight then, see you at the relay tomorrow, I guess,” Soarin’ said, standing completely still as he watched the pony disappear into the remaining crowd. Rainbow Dash’s first destination was not her room back at the hotel, but instead something much closer. “Hey wait!” she yelled pushing her way through a small group of tourists and rushing to a red tent where the young salespony went about packing up her stall and placing her left over goods in boxes. She looked up as she heard the rasping yell, rather surprised to see who it came from. “Is there any way I could still buy something?” “Let me guess, the book you were admiring earlier?” the crystal pony said with a soft smile. “Yeah, the History of the Empire or whatever it was called,” Rainbow expelled quickly as the salespony opened one of her boxes and retrieved the familiar purple book. “That one, yeah…anyway I can still buy it?” “Of course, a sale’s a sale, even if I am nearly closed up. That will be fifteen bits,” she responded, once again with a soft smile upon her face. Dash couldn’t help but grin with joy. “Aww, sweet! Thanks!” she exclaimed, pouring a pile of bits from a bag which she had previously stashed beneath her wing, onto the counter. “You just made me and a certain really adorable egghead very happy.” “Well, I’d say it’s what I do, but I’m just a simple merchant,” the mare said with a nod as the pegasus turned to make her leave.