For those who didn't see my SECOND blog, i derped again and decided this small portion should not be connected to the finale... the part 2 finale will be chapter 69, i promise
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 68:
“Come on, Soarin!” Dash yelled back as Soarin burst through the clouds below her.
“Got you!” Soarin yelled happily as he lunged towards Dash.
“Nuh-uh!” Dash taunted as she twisted her body and slid right past him, or so she thought. “Oof!” she grunted as Soarin reached out and grabbed her around the stomach, pulling her into his body as they rose up.
“Nah, I’m pretty sure I’ve got you,” he chuckled as he squeezed her tightly in a bear hug.
“Dammit!” Dash yelled as she giggled and squirmed in his grip. “No fair, you’re too strong…” she whined as Soarin folded his wings. The two flew in a small arc, gravity taking over as they began to fall. Soarin had lined them up perfectly to land on a large cloud no more than three feet after their descent began.
They both yelped slightly as they bounced on the fluffy cloud before finally coming to a soft halt, Dash landing on top of Soarin.
“Heh… I don’t know how you always land on top…” Soarin smirked as he sank slightly into the cushy surface of the cloud, his grip on Dash becoming soft as opposed to tight. Dash let her body lay limply on top of his, resting her head on his chest with a content sigh.
“Duh… cause I’m awesome,” she said casually while nuzzling her cheek against him. Soarin looked at her for a moment before feeling a little silly. He began flexing his chest muscles, making Dash’s head bounce slightly. “Stop it, doofus…” she ordered while snickering.
“Noooooooope,” Soarin replied as he made her head bounce faster. Dash reached down and began rubbing her hooves against his sides. “AAAHHH AHAHA!!!!” Soarin instantly bounced up from the cloud as Dash tickled his sensitive sides. She flopped off of him with a yelp and the two ended up side by side. They turned and glanced at each other, Soarin lifting an eyebrow, Dash sticking her tongue out at him.
“Stop using something I find sexy to annoy me,” Dash pouted as she edged closer to Soarin.
“Can’t make any promises,” Soarin chuckled, slowly wrapping his arm around Dash as she turned, and pushed one of her hooves through the cloud below Soarin so she could completely wrap her arms around his body and hold herself tight to him.
“Promise me you’ll always be this warm though… please?” Dash asked quietly as she clung tightly to him. Soarin turned his head and kissed her lightly on the forehead.
“I promise, Dashie…”
“Huh?” Soarin’s eyes slowly opened to the darkness of his room. It took a moment for him to realize where he was, blinking as he looked back and forth, the thin rays of light poking through his window shades being the only thing he could see.
He slowly sat up in his bed, feeling… strange. Not bad… not in the slightest, because he slowly realized he was just having an incredibly pleasant dream. The thing that confused him… was that it was a dream.
He had many dreams in the past, recently a lot of painful ones, but the thing that stood out about them was that any pain or feelings were all mental, in his head.
Yet now… his skin was tingly, he had goosebumps, his fur was standing on end, he was having small, delightful shivers… all the things he only ever felt when he shared close intimate moments with Dash. He felt all of it, he felt every little pleasure and good feeling that being with Dash brought him as if she was physically right beside him. The dream caused a response as if she was actually in the dream with him. He felt every touch, he felt her hold tightly to him, and he felt her forehead as he kissed it.
He was confused, but it was incredible. How did he get so many bodily reactions from a dream?
He kept thinking about it as he hopped out of bed. If anything, this would be quite something to share with Dash. If she knew she affected him to the point where his own dreams about her caused physical euphoria, she’d get quite a confidence boost, and she never could get enough confidence boosts… he liked that about her.
For now though, he had a lot to take care of. There wasn’t much going on today besides the banquet, but they had to prepare for that and make sure everything was in order. Once all the formal stuff was out of the way, Soarin was looking forward to what came after.
He moved from his bed towards the bathroom, more than certain Dash would be on his mind all day. How could she not be? She was awesome like that.
Dash was distracted. Very distracted. So distracted to the point where half the day went by without her even noticing it.
She had breakfast, spent some time reviewing some of her old formation notes, had lunch, and then decided to go to the gym. Why? Because it was automatic. She felt a little stiff and sore from the past few days, but her body had gotten to a point where it rebelled and forced her to do something if she hadn’t worked out for a few days.
Despite pushing herself to lift heavy metal objects, she could barely focus. Because she had three things on her mind.
The first being the fact that she was getting her Wonderbolt uniform before the banquet. In fact, if asked, she would admit that she purposely went to the gym right before getting her uniform because she would be all pumped up from working out and the first glance in the mirror with her new skin tight flight suit would look even better.
The second reason was the banquet itself. She was excited for the decision of the squad. She was more than certain she made it. Not only that, but whatever the event was afterward Soarin seemed so excited about.
But more than anything… she had been thinking about a dream she had last night. It was such a pleasant dream, her and Soarin chasing each other playfully amongst the clouds, ending in a soft landing and cuddle session on a soft comfortable cloud. She was certain it was the best dream she had ever had, she felt like Soarin was right there with her. It almost felt like it came upon learning she would get some private time with him soon. She was so ready to be intimate with him. So ready, she bounced at the slightest thought.
With all that on her mind, she barely saw the day go by… and before she knew it, she was rushing from the equipment cage, back to the barracks, gliding and bouncing while yelling “omigosh” with her genuine personal Wonderbolt uniform clasped in her hooves against her chest.
“Oh my gosh…” Dash felt like her face was going to break if she smiled any wider. She had just laid her brand new flight suit out on her bed, staring at it with twinkling eyes as if trying to comprehend what she was looking at. It was almost too good to be true.
Her first personal Wonderbolt flight suit. Specially measured and produced overnight to fit her body snugly and comfortably. It even had her name on the inside, inscribed on the stretchy fabric on the inside of the mask.
It was hers. Her very own. She was already a part of the Wonderbolts for making it past the tryouts but this… she would remember this moment forever.
She glanced up from it for a moment, realizing she wasn’t the only one savoring the moment. The banquet guests were arriving in less than an hour, but they were all taking their time, each taking in their accomplishments in their own way.
Matteo was sitting on his bed in the corner, simply staring at his custom designed uniform. Dash was certain the manufacturers had a bit of a surprise when they received an order for a custom design to fit a griffon. Nonetheless, they were still able to make it quickly, Dash was actually quite interested in seeing what it looked like.
Matteo himself didn’t move a muscle besides blinking every few seconds. His eyes were locked on the uniform that he held in his talons. Dash was certain this was a moment of great personal importance to him. He had trained himself endlessly for a chance to be a warrior, only to be turned away by his own kind for factors that were beyond his control. Now he held in his hands proof that his efforts did not go to waste.
She looked over to Squall. Squall’s uniform was hanging off the edge of his bed. He had his back turned to Dash. He kept taking glances at the uniform, but it seemed like his attention was elsewhere, perhaps on something else. Despite that however, Dash could see a certain look in Squall’s eyes each time his head turned to look at the uniform. Squall had fought daily with something to prove and now he had earned a title. Was it enough to prove what he wanted? Dash couldn’t say because she still couldn’t get much out of him.
Thunderlane was holding his uniform up in front of him, looking it over carefully. Despite the positive words he had received and the iconic piece of clothing he was staring at, he still seemed to be depressed. Knowing Thunderlane well, Dash was certain he was thinking something dumb like he didn’t deserve it. If none of them could get through to him, she was certain Applejack would during the banquet.
Twister was wearing his uniform inside out, singing Row Row Row Your Boat while flying backwards in circles around the room.
Dash flattened her ears as she watched him goof off. She still owed him a punch to the face for the disturbing display of knowledge about her he pulled last night. The fact that he could read ponies like that was insane. She never knew him before the tryouts and that was clear because the way he described her was all in general terms. He came dangerously close, but didn’t name any specific events, proving more or less that he did in fact simply deduce all of it from observing her.
Having found the rest, Dash glanced up at the top bunk of her bed. She hopped and floated up to see Little Star, but Star wasn’t there. Dash glanced around the room, but there was no sign of her. She was either in the bathroom or was still getting her uniform because she wasn’t anywhere Dash could see.
A second wave of giddiness suddenly rushed over Dash.
Time to put it on.
She dropped back to the floor and eagerly snatched the uniform up, flipping it over. She shimmied her limbs into them as the back fell down against her body. She didn’t bother with the mask yet, simply sticking her head all the way through as she reached for the zipper near her stomach and zipped it all the way up towards the neck. It felt so perfect and comfortable, much better than the spare she wore before.
She was shivering at the touch and she hadn’t even seen how she looked yet. She decided she wanted to save the moment of putting the mask on for when she could actually see herself, so she slid out into the aisle and trotted with a spring in her step towards the bathroom, quietly giggling to herself while smiling like a goof.
Dash was so excited she almost used her face to open the bathroom door by accident as she eagerly moved along. She entered the bathroom and turned right around the first corner, stopping two paces from the mirror.
“Eeeeeeee…” Dash quietly squealed as she looked herself over.
She thought she looked good in the spare suit… she looked even more awesome in this one! Part of it was because it had been custom made for her, but another major factor was the fact that this was HERS, not a loaner suit. It was HER Wonderbolt flight suit because SHE was now a Wonderbolt.
It was brand new, sleek, and shiny. It fit perfectly to her body, showing off her fit figure and her muscles. The color of her fur mixed well with the color of the suit, her rainbow mane and tail heavily contrasting the suit, really bringing out part of her appearance that was unique.
It just looked so PERFECT and so RIGHT. The suit felt like a reward for absolutely everything she had gone through. It fit tight to her physique, showing off the strong body she had earned through rigorous training. It made her mane really stand out, giving her the chance to be unique among her heroes. Finally, it was a symbol of accomplishment, her rite of passage into her life’s dream.
There was only one thing left to do.
Dash reached up, and stretched the mask over her head, sticking her nose and ears through the holes. She let the mask settle against her face, keeping her eyes closed for a moment as if anticipating the moment she opened them and gazed upon herself for the first time in her own, full, official uniform.
She opened her eyes, and chills ran down her spine. Not the bad kind, the chills that happen when an image or sight wows one to the point where they shiver.
Whether she was named part of the recruit squad, or somehow named a reserve instead… nopony could take this moment from her. She was a Wonderbolt.
Dash couldn’t hold it back. She sniffled and slammed her eyes shut, smiling as she opened her eyes and a single tear ran down her cheek.
It was such a beautiful sight. This was probably the only time Dash would look at herself in the mirror and think of a word like ‘beautiful.’ But to Dash, it was the only word she could use to describe it. She had gone from staring up at a Wonderbolt poster on her ceiling, to wearing one of their uniforms. To her… the image of her dressed in a Wonderbolt uniform she earned… was beautiful.
“Huh?” Dash suddenly blinked as she wiped the tear from her face. She heard sniffling, hiccups, and faint, short wails. In fact, she was certain she heard something the moment she stepped into the bathroom, but she was so excited and giddy that only now her brain decided to register it. Was somepony else in the bathroom? And were they… crying?
Dash’s curiosity overcame her excitement as her ears turned back and forth, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. She realized it was coming from the shower room past the stalls. Dash slowly turned and walked towards the showers, the faint sounds of crying and sniffling grew a little louder as she approached. She placed her hoof against the wall and peered into the shower room, looking around until her eyes moved towards the front left corner and saw—
Little Star?
Star was sitting in the corner of the shower room, dressed in her new flight suit, but had her legs tucked up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, clutching them tightly. She had her eyes slammed shut, but tears were pouring out of them, running down her cheeks and streaming over her limbs and the uniform.
“Star?” Dash instinctively stepped around the wall and approached Star’s corner. Star’s ears stood up and she looked up so fast that tears whipped from her eyes and dropped to the floor. Her eyes looked all red as she stared wide at Dash.
“Oh no!” Star quickly turned away from Dash and frantically tried to rub away the tears.
“Star, what’s wrong?” Dash asked as she approached. Star turned away upon realizing that her tears were not going to stop.
“I… nothing, nothing is wrong,” she stated. Dash didn’t buy it.
“Star, you’re curled up in the corner of the shower room, crying your eyes out, how can I believe nothing’s wrong?” Dash pouted as she reached Star and sat herself down right beside her. Star glanced over her shoulder to see Dash sitting next to her. She turned back quickly, shook her head and released a heavy sigh.
“Yeah, you’re right Dash…” she began. “Something is wrong. It’s the fact that you’re seeing me cry. I was hoping nopony would see it.”
“You’re as tough as they come, huh?” Dash looked at Star curiously.
“No, really Dash. I’m not crying because I’m sad or anything… I just really hate it when others see me cry,” Star suddenly explained.
“Then why?” Dash asked, more curious now than before. Star sighed again, slightly turning towards Dash.
“Fine…” she said sounding slightly exasperated. “I suppose I owe you for prying so much about your life and Soarin.”
As Star gathered her thoughts, Dash took a moment to consider that she really didn’t know much about Star. Of all her ‘sane’ friends, she had learned next to nothing about her besides the fact that she was thirty despite her filly appearance and that she had made multiple attempts to become a Wonderbolt. Matteo and Storm had revealed their life and pasts to her through the subject simply coming up. Squall she could barely get a ‘hello’ out of and Twister she wasn’t even going to try. But Star was somepony she had found she could have fun with and relate to, much like she had with her friends back in Ponyville. Star was also the only other mare in their little group of training friends, giving Dash some fellow mare companionship among the sea of testosterone she felt like she was wading in between with the rest.
“Dash… I’m the oldest of seven,” she started with a bang. Dash’s eyes were already wide. Star had six siblings? “Despite being the oldest, I’ve always been the smallest. And I guess that really got to me, because despite my family all being incredibly nice and caring people, I always found ways to get angry at them. I’ve always seen my size as a curse. Something I have to live with and nopony else can understand. It’s made me bitter about a lot of things and consequently has cost me many friendships. You’ve seen how I lose my cool, even if it is Squall being a dick, I’d do it to you too if you made me angry enough. I’ve never been able to control it.”
That would explain the sudden outbursts. It wasn’t just because she was an angry little ball of fury after all.
“Despite my anger and bitterness, my mother and daddy never let it get to them. Daddy always called me his “Little Miracle” since I was born so small and barely survived the first few weeks in the hospital. And my mother… always told me that no matter where life took me, that I would always be her Little Star that shined brightly in the night sky. To this day, I’m still ashamed of how much overdramatic angst I’ve put them through. They are the best parents in Equestria for putting up with me.”
“Being the little, big sister has always been hard,” Star continued after a loud sniffle and rubbing her eyes. “I could never take things slow or easy, I was always looking before leaping and making mistakes at times I should’ve been setting a good example for my younger siblings,” she paused as if the next part would be hard to deliver. “I was never realistic, and I never listened to the advice of my parents. They just wanted me to be happy, and they tried to help me find what would make me happy over and over again, but I always pushed them away, claiming I wasn’t a little filly and I could do it myself. Well… when I was twenty-two I decided to try out for the Wonderbolts. It was my most outrageous idea yet. My whole family questioned me over and over again, asking me if I was sure, if it was what I really wanted. I hated it, I couldn’t take it. I felt like they didn’t believe in me or felt like I couldn’t because I was tiny.”
Dash had no words to input. Star had opened up the floodgates and was dumping her life on Dash. She didn’t mind, she wanted to help her friend, but it was hard to hear. Star’s voice was not stable, it was shaky as if the challenges she had faced throughout her life had taken a serious emotional toll on her.
“It was the last straw. I had aimed high and came crashing down over and over again. So I decided to aim as high as I could and keep trying until my wings gave out if I had to. So for eight years, Dash… for eight years I trained, and toiled, tried and failed, over and over and over again, determined to prove myself to a family I didn’t need to prove anything to. Every year it got harder, I watched my younger siblings one by one find their calling in life and all become successful. Four of them are married, two of them have children. I’ve let years of my life slip by just for the chance to earn some recognition. To not be seen as a pushover,” she hugged herself tighter. “This was going to be my last attempt. Watching my life go by with no success to show for it was becoming depressing, but now…”
Star paused for a long time, but she kept crying. Dash hesitated, but instinctively reached her wing out and pulled Star in close. Star leaned against Dash the instant she felt her side.
Dash felt strange, comforting somepony that was ten years older than her. But was it age that determined whether or not a pony could or couldn’t comfort another? Young and old ponies alike were all capable of feeling in need of somepony else to share their troubles and Star was no exception.
“Dash… when I put the uniform on... when I wore the icon of the world famous Wonderbolts… I couldn’t control it. I could feel my eyes tearing up and I had to hide,” Star continued, slightly muffled with her face buried in her arms. “I had finally been successful. I earned something… I overcame my size and became a member of the Wonderbolts... something I was sure was impossible, a little miracle,” she sniffled loudly, reaching out to grab Dash’s arm. “Now I can really shine brightly like a little star in the night sky…” Star rubbed her teary eyes against Dash’s arm.
“I’m… so happy Rainbow Dash…” she said in a voice filled with unbearable joy. “I’m old… and being small, I don’t know how long my body will last… but even if it’s just for a few years, I can finally be something…” her tears seemed to be slowing down. She was only sniffling a little now. “I’m so… so happy…”
Dash smiled as she reached an arm around Star as well, rubbing her hoof against her shoulder. All those years and all that pain just to prove herself. Star was such a strong pony to go through all of that. The fact that she was aware of how she mistreated her parents showed even more. Star’s parents loved her and supported her despite Star lashing out and acting like nopony understood her. Dash was both honored and touched that Star would share something so deeply personal with her. It made Dash feel like she had really earned Star's trust over the past month.
“Your family’s all gonna be at the banquet, right?” Dash asked. They had all been given information on who was invited for them. Star nodded.
“They’re all going to be here in an hour, yes,” Star answered, the sniffling mostly ceasing. “And the first thing I’m going to do is apologize to all of them. All they’ve ever done is support me and I never truly acknowledged them for it…”
“Looks like now’s your chance,” Dash gave her a squeeze before releasing her arm and wing from her. “I was about to head down to the banquet, do you want to come with me?” Dash offered. Star blinked and rubbed her eyes once more to erase the last traces of tears before smiling.
“Yes, let’s,” she agreed. Dash flashed Star a smile of her own before turning around and heading for the door. Halfway there, Star suddenly landed on Dash’s back and gave her a really tight hug around Dash’s shoulders.
“Star?” Dash stopped in her tracks by the sinks.
“Thanks Dash… I don’t think I would have made it through without you, all the cool things you did in the tryouts inspired me to try even harder and then during the training, your motivation helped me through the physical pain and stress. I owe you, I really do. I’m so glad to have you as a friend,” Star thanked Dash as she embraced her. Dash’s ears flopped down and she smiled. It was very heartwarming to hear something like that from Star. She definitely had found a good friend in her and planned to take advantage of all the benefits having a good friend presented. Call it a little something she had learned from her good friends back home.
“Thanks Star, but don’t give me all the credit. You’re still awesome for overcoming your disadvantages. And I really respect you for that,” Dash looked towards the mirrors. “Hey Star, check us out!” she tried to shift the mood. Star released Dash and looked over towards the mirrors as she stood up on Dash’s back. “I dunno about you… but I think we look pretty awesome!” she winked.
“Heh…” Star smiled as she looked at both herself and Dash donning their brand new Wonderbolt flight suits. “You’re the best Dash.”
---To Be Continued---