“So Soar.” Fleetfoot looked across the room. “What’s new?”
“Uh, not much. You?” Soarin raised an eyebrow.
“Not much.” Fleet raised an eyebrow. “I do have a question for you though.” The three Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash were seated around Dash’s living room, Soarin having just entered.
“Yeah?” he stared back at her. “What is it?”
“Why were you at Sugarcube Corner with three fillies? You looked like a creep, just saying.” Fleet’s other eyebrow met the already raised one.
“Oh… I was hanging out with the orange one, Scootaloo, and we went to get milkshakes. Her friends happened to be there at the same time.” He explained.
“Uh-huh. Ok, new question. Why were you hanging out with a filly that you don’t know? Just for fun?” the mares all looked slightly confused.
“Oh, well,” he began to tell them how he met Scootaloo. “When I was upstairs I heard her yelling from the ground so I went to see what was up. She wanted Rainbow Dash to come give her a flight lesson, but I figured she was busy so I went.” He glanced over at Rainbow, who had a puzzled look on her face.
“Ok. That makes sense now.” Fleet seemed content with his answer. “Sort of.”
“Well,” Rainbow piped up, not looking at Soarin. “How was your flight lesson?”
“Great! She flew for real!” Soarin smiled, remembering the filly’s face when she realized she had been flying.
“No way!” Dash glanced at him, trying to tell if he was kidding. “I’ve been working with her for weeks and she never once got it before!”
“Yeah! She really got the hang of it!” Soarin looked at Rainbow. “She really looks up to you y’know.” Dash didn’t reply for a moment. She had been feeling a little hurt that Scootaloo would ditch her for flight lessons with a Wonderbolt, but when he said that her bitterness dissolved.
“I think this is the first time you’ve actually talked to me since the Gala.” She averted her eyes. “I’ve been meaning to apologise for that.” When she said this, Spitfire dragged Fleet into the kitchen by the tail, leaving them alone in the living room.
Soarin shuffled his hooves. "Yeah, I guess it is." He looked into Dash's magenta eyes. "But you shouldn't be apologizing, I should. I've been acting like a huge dick this whole time... I'm sorry Rainbow, I really am."
"You know what? Why don't we just, I dunno, start over?" The cyan pegasus was surprised at how responsible she was being.
"That would be great."
Dash stretched her hoof out. "Hey. My name's Rainbow Dash."
Soarin shook her outstretched hoof. "Hi. I'm Soarin."
"Soarin? I've heard that name before... Do you happen to be a Wonderbolt?" Dash snickered.
"As a matter of fact I am!" Soarin laughed. "Are you a fan?"
"Yeah! Is it true a super cool, totally awesome Pegasus saved your life twice?" She smirked.
"Yeah, that is true! In my defence, the first time was because I was unconscious..." Soarin was grateful for Rainbow's easygoing attitude. She could of easily continued ignoring him, but instead she acted like the bigger pony and instated a conversation.
"And I heard that the same pony also saved your pie one time?" The cyan Pegasus flipped her rainbow mane over her shoulder.
"For that I will be forever grateful." Soarin attempted to imitate Rainbows's hair flip but failed. Back in the kitchen Fleetfoot and Spitfire peeked around the corner, spying on their friends.
"I've got a good feeling about this." Fleet grinned at Spitfire.
"About what?" Her captain glanced at her quizzically.
"Well, just look at them. Wouldn't they be the cutest couple ever?!" Fleet squished her cheeks with her hooves.
"I don't really think that's going to happen. I mean, we're only staying here for a week, and this is the first time they've had a real conversation..." Spitfire raised her eyebrow, always being the voice of reason.
"Wow, way to rain on my parade." Fleet pouted at her, lip quivering dramatically.
"Oh, shut up."
"Applejack! Applejack! Where are you?" A voice yelled. Applejack had been busy in the kitchen in the family's farmhouse when she heard her little sister's voice calling to her.
"Applebloom? What in tarnation is going on?" She trotted to the porch and saw Applebloom running towards her as fast as her little legs would go. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah! I just came back from Sugarcube Corner where I saw Sweetie and Scootaloo and guess what!?" The filly was talking a mile a minute, eyes open wide.
"What?" Applejack knew better then to try and guess, based on the fact that it was the Cutie Mark Crusaders in question.
"Well, Scoots came in with Soarin the Wonderbolt!" Applebloom exclaimed.
"Oh yeah! Rainbow brought them Wonderbolt's round here earlier and introduced us!" The farmpony smiled at her little sister. "Pretty excitin' eh?"
"Oh, that's not the exciting part!" Applebloom smiled even wider. "Soarin. The Wonderbolt." She paused. "Is Rainbow Dash's coltfriend!"
"What?!" Applejack stared at her sister, before starting to laugh. She laughed so hard that she nearly tipped over. "Wh-who gave you that idea?"
"It's not funny! He basically admitted it himself!" The smallest of the Apple family stood triumphantly. "Just ask Scoots or Sweetie, they'll tell you!"
Applejack stopped laughing and thought this over. "Hmm, I guess Rainbow did act a little odd with him earlier... But her... With a coltfriend? Bizarre... And it was strange how she acted with him at the Gala..."
"Well it's totally true!" Applebloom left her sister standing on the porch pondering.
"Well I'll be. Rainbow and Soarin. I guess they do have a lot in common... And hey! Why wouldn't she tell me?! I'm the girl's best friend!"
"Sweetie Belle? Is that you?" Rarity had been in the back room of her boutique, sketching some designs when she heard the front door bang open. "Be gentle with the door! We don't want it broken... Again!"
"Rarity! Rarity! Guess what?!" Sweetie Belle appeared at the door, having just come in. "Actually don't guess, because you're never going to get it!"
"What it is darling?" Rarity didn't even look up from her work as she replied to her little sister.
"The Wonderbolt's are in town!" Sweetie gasped, apparently having run home.
"Oh yes, I heard from Rainbow that they were staying at her house! Did you get a chance to meet them?" Rarity hadn't been aware that Sweetie liked the Wonderbolts. Maybe it's just because they're celebrities...
"But did you hear that Rainbow Dash is going out with Soarin?!" the filly burst out, pleased that she knew some gossip her sister didn't for once. Rarity dropped the pen she had been sketching with and turned her head slowly to face Sweetie. Her eyes were wide and twitchy and her mouth was hanging open.
"E-Excuse me?" she was starting to scare Sweetie, who had backed up to the wall. "Heh, it sounded like you said..." she began giggling in a frightening way. Sweetie had only seen her sister like this once before, and she did not want to repeat that experience.
"Um, I'm just gonna let that sink in for a bit," she trotted to the door. "I'll be at Applebloom's if you need me, bye!" Rarity was left by herself, her right eye still twitching uncontrollably.
"Now, where ever did she hear that? I know all of the gossip in this town, how did I not know about this?! HOW?"
"I'm wiped." Spitfire yawned as Fleetfoot nodded off on her shoulder. The Wonderbolts and Rainbow were seated around the living room, Rainbow having just finished explaining all she said they needed to know about her friends for tomorrow.
"We've only been here for one day." Fleet mumbled sleepily. "I never knew doing nothing was so tiring."
"Well, I'm beat. I think I'm gonna head up now." Soarin stood and bid the others good night before heading to his room. As he walked, he ran through the list of Rainbow's friends in his mind. Okay, so first there's Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Friendship, lives in a big-ass castle, super magical, blah blah blah. Doesn't like to be treated any different just because she's royalty. Then there's Pinkie Pie. Crazy, loud, likes to party. Sounds fun. And then Fluttershy. Shy. Like's animals, that's about it. Next is Rarity. Fancy, fashionista, very prim and proper. And next is Applejack. Farmer, likes apples and her family.
He entered his room and flopped onto his bed. And then there's Rainbow Dash herself. What do I really know about her? I thought I was in love with her, turns out I was not. Thought she was stupid, turns out it was me being stupid. Seemed pretty responsible today, but I get the feeling that she was just trying to impress us. The more Soarin thought about it, the more he realized that he now knew more about Dash's friends (even though he had only met two of them briefly) then he knew about her. This bothered him for some reason. Muffled hoofsteps came from outside, and he heard Spitfire and Fleetfoot say their goodnights before each entering their room. Soarin's mind went back to his encounter with the Cutie Mark Crusaders earlier that day. They had accused him of being Dash's coltfriend and no matter how much he denied it, they were already convinced. He hoped that the three fillies wouldn't do anything to hinder his relaxing vacation. Their just three tiny ponies, how much damage could they do?
Soarin buried his face in his pillow. It had been a while since he had retired to his room, but as tired as his body was his mind refused to let him go to sleep. He tried again to find a comfortable position, but somehow ended up tangled in the sheets. After wrestling with the sheets for a couple of minutes, he finally got free and rolled onto the ground.
"Ugh! This is hopeless..." he stood and trotted to his door, hoping a glass of water would help him fall asleep. As he descended the stairs, a voice came into earshot.
"But-"
"Sorry Rainbow, it's an emergency."
"Thunderlane! Can't you find somepony else?"
"Nope." the sound of the door shutting rang through the quiet house. Soarin could hear Rainbow Dash cursing quietly under her breath.
"Damn! I get that I'm the captain of the weather team and all, but he could've found somepony else. He just likes bothering me."
Soarin reached the bottom of the staircase and leaned around the corner. He spotted Dash flopped over the couch, grumbling. "Hey, is everything ok?" She jumped upon hearing his voice.
"Wha? Oh, hey. I didn't know you were still awake..." she sat up, making room on the couch.
"So, who was that guy at the door?" As he said that, Soarin felt a twinge of... something. Must have been something I ate earlier...
"Hm? Oh, that was Thunderlane, one of the weather team members. He dropped by to tell me an impromptu storm has been scheduled for tomorrow morning, and it's gonna last all day." She pouted. "I have to go and supervise. Celestia only knows why, it's not that hard of a job..."
"All day?" Soarin trotted over and sank into the cloud couch beside her, feeling relieved for some reason upon hearing who Thunderlane was. "So, I guess that means lunch with your friends is off?"
"Go ahead without me if you want. They won't mind." Dash laid her head back and turned so she could still see Soarin.
"Well, they do sound pretty interesting...." the Wonderbolt shifted so he was in an identical position to the cyan pegasus. "I'll see what Fleet and Spit wanna do in the morning."
"Speaking of, I'm probably gonna be gone by the time you wake up. Feel free to use the kitchen and anything in it, and if you decide to meet the girls just tell them where I am." Dash leaned forward again. "So, why aren't you asleep yet?"
"Dunno, I just couldn't fall asleep. I guess I had a lot on my mind." Rainbow didn't ask him to elaborate, which he was grateful for. She stood up and turned to face him.
"Hey, wanna go for a quick fly? That always clears my mind when I've got a lot going on." Soarin stood up and streched his wings.
"That sounds perfect right now."
"Last one to Sweet Apple Acres is a rotten egg!" Dash hopped into the air, gave her wings a quick pump, and shot through the window.
"Hey, no fair! I can't even remember where that is!" Soarin laughed and followed behind her. Once he got outside, he spotted a rainbow blur through the darkness. "Damn, she's fast!" With a burst of his strong wings, he shot forward, following behind Rainbow. She zipped through the air, whooping and laughing the whole way. It was clear that this is what she loved to do. Flying truly was her passion, and nopony could take that away.
"Coming slowpoke?" Dash called through the still night, the two ponies arriving over Sweet Apple Acres. She spotted the growing figure coming through the air and dropped onto a nearby cloud. Soarin landed next to her, lost his balance and tipped over.
"Oof!" Dash grunted as he landed on her. "Easy now!"
"Sorry Dash," Soarin apologised, quickly standing back up. They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment before Rainbow started to giggle. Soon, she was on her back, laughing loudly. Soarin joined in, the two of them laying side by side, filling the cool night with their laughter.
Applejack awoke, her sleep interrupted by the sound of laughing. "What in tarnation?" She groggily got out of bed and trotted towards her open window. "Now who's awake at this hour?" She stuck her head out and glanced towards the sound of the laughter. There was a cloud floating above the orchard, and perched on the cloud were two ponies. "Who is that?" she squinted, and by the light of the moon made out a rainbow coloured mane. "Rainbow Dash? What's she doin' out here? And who's she with?" A dark mane came into view, and Applejack instantly recognised it as Soarin the Wonderbolt. "Good heavens, here I was thinkin' Applebloom was jus' making stories up... But now I see it with ma own two eyes!" She pulled her head back through the window and shut it. "But still, Rainbow? With a coltfriend? Jus' weird..." She climbed back into bed, still pondering the strange thought. "And WHY are they out here in the middle o' the night?!"
"You know Dash, I still don't really know you..." Soarin glanced over at the pony by his side. He and Rainbow were lying on the cloud, looking up at the stars, their laughter subdued.
"Well, what do ya wanna know?" She asked, resting her head on her arms.
"Hmm, favorite colour?"
"Rainbow."
"Favorite food?"
"Apple cider. Which is a drink, but whatever."
"Favorite flying stunt?"
"Sonic Rainboom."
"Umm..."
"Is that all you've got?" Dash snickered.
"Hold on, I'm thinking... Oh! How did you get your cutie mark?"
"Well, back when I was in flight school, I was bullied a lot. I know, hard to believe, me being so awesome now, right?" She smirked. "Well anyways, it was the typical name-calling, mane pulling type of deal. I was super competitive, and used to get in a lot of fights."
"With the other fillies?" Soarin asked. Dash was rather short now, she must've been tiny when she was young! How would she win in any fights?
"And colts." She said matter-of-factly. "Well anyways, one day my friend Fluttershy was being teased, and I had just had enough. I challenged the idiot who was being mean to a race, and was so set on winning, you know, defending 'Shy's honour and all, that I managed to pull of the Sonic Rainboom. It was awesome. That's when I knew what I wanted to do, flying was my passion." She finished her story. "Anything else you wanna know?"
Soarin thought for a moment. "Mm, later." He rolled his head to the side and looked at her. "You know, that might be the coolest cutie mark story I've ever heard."
"Yeah?" Dash raised her eyebrow. "Well, did you expect anything but cool from me?" She laughed.
"Haha, very funny, little miss 'I'm so awesome'" He pulled himself to his hooves.
"Thanks, I'm glad you think that to!" She snickered, standing up as well. "Ready to head back?"
"Yeah." And with that, they were off again, flying back to the cloud mansion. Once they had gone back through the window, Dash turned and grinned at him.
"Since you did the asking tonight, it's my turn tomorrow." She shook her mane over her shoulder and shuffled her hooves. "I'm glad we did this... Getting to know each other and stuff..."
"Me to. Once we put all of the Gala stuff behind us, you're actually pretty cool." Soarin smiled at her.
"Same to you. Speaking of the gala, when I met you there... No offense, but I thought you were super stupid." Dash laughed, looking to see what Soarin's reaction would be.
"Seriously? Because I thought the same about you..." He raised his eyebrows. "Like, really dumb."
Rainbow burst out laughing again, and between giggles lifted her hoof up. "Well, to new beginnings." Soarin tapped her hoof with his own.
"To new beginnings."
And with that, they bid each other goodnight, each having absolutely no trouble falling asleep.