//------------------------------// // "...it's fine.." // Story: Apologies // by SuicidalAngel //------------------------------// Soarin woke up at the light and heat of the morning sun beat down on him. He opened his eyes and sat up, not entirely sure where he was for a moment, however upon hearing Dashie's familiar snoring, he knew exactly where he was. He turned to look over at the sleeping mare to see that she wasn't exactly as he had left her. She had somehow turned herself over, her messy mane draped on her shoulders. She was snoring in a pretty adorable way too, in Soarin's opinion anyway. Her slender, yet toned body being out lighted by Celestia's Sun, truly a sight worth admiring. Soarin blushed and forced himself to look away as he felt his wings stiffen and begin to rise. "You don't have to be so obvious about it," a voice behind him said. His blush only got more noticeable. "Oh, h-hey Dash, how'd ya sleep?" Soarin asked nervously. Dash merely shook her head, smiling to herself. Soarin continued to blush and with him being out of uniform, you could really see it. "Ya' know, you didn't need to sleep here," Dash said still smiling at him. Soarin raised an eyebrow and turned to look at her. "Did you not want me to sleep here?" Soarin asked concerned, "because if that's the case, I could just-". He stopped and started getting off the chair. "NO! WAIT!" Rainbow yelled, freezing him in the process. "Please stay, I want you to stay..." Soarin again raised an eyebrow at him but decided not to question it and sat back in his place. Rainbow stared him for a while before continuing. "I...I...Well, I just wanted to thank you for putting up with my emotional outburst yesterday...I just...don't know what came over me," Rainbow said looking down so that she wasn't facing him. "H-hey, if you ever need someone to cry on, I'm your stallion!" He beamed. He smiled at Dash, even thought she couldn't see it, she knew he was. "Of course...." Dash replied with a soft smile, which she struggled to hide. He managed to see it though and that was enough. "Do you still wanna talk about it before breakfast?" Soarin asked. She leaned beck in the bed a bit. "I'm actually not feeling that hungry," she replied softly. Soarin chuckled. "That wasn't the point of the question," he teased. Rainbow once again, struggled to hide a smile. "At the moment, I just feel like a need a hug," Rainbow said quietly. Within seconds, Soarin had left his chair and wrapped his arms around her before she had any chance to protest. Instead of doing so though, she actually snuggled into his chest. Both lay there in silence, holding each other for a good few minutes. They were enjoying each others company more than should have, but they didn't care. After some time, Rainbow decided to ask a question that had been in the back of her mind for a while. "Hey Soarin?" Soarin opened his eyes and looked down to her. "Um, w-why did you come apologize to me?" Soarin simply smiled and pulled her slightly deeper into the hug. "I don't know Dashie, I just didn't feel like letting you fly with us was enough, I guess. You deserve better, and you can do better." Rainbow blushed at the compliment and then another question popped into her head. "Well...what's all this for?" She asked. Soarin felt heat rise to his cheeks as he nervously looked for an answer. "Uhh, well I thought that you needed company. Besides, I've always wanted to hug skittles," he joked. Dash smiled, but it wasn't the answer she was looking for. "Alright. But seriously, you have to have a better reason to want to yell at me before..." Rainbow stated, recalling how horrible she felt. Soaring frowned for the first time in their recent conversation as he remembered the terrified look on her face. Her warm and innocent face. "Yes well...I don't know," Soarin lied. Rainbow only held back her disappointment as she snuggled with him a bit more. Soarin smiled and pulled her in even closer than before, if that was even possible. "Well...actually," Soarin started as Rainbow's eyes lit up. "I was just a bit hurt I guess..." "Hurt?" Rainbow asked. He only nodded to confirm. "I've only known you for some time now, and I've already grown to admire and adore every single aspect of you. Your leadership, your determination. Most importantly, I thought I could trust you after everything I've known of you. Then somepony, a legendary athlete nonetheless, tells me you've sent away one of my friends and colleagues to some unknown area only to take her spot in a show, how am I supposed to feel? I felt like I was being stabbed in the back. At the moment everything I thought you were was shattered by Windrider and because I've known him a lot longer, I had no choice but to believe him. I still wanted to give you a chance to prove yourself, though." "Well then, why didn't you help me?" Rainbow asked him. "I couldn't, the other Wonderbolts would've assumed I was just covering up for you and then we'd both be in even bigger trouble," Soarin replied. "Huh, so what about banning me from the Wonderbolts?" "Oh I'm sorry, it's only LAW that I have to follow, then again you were always one to bend the rules," Soarin teased. "Whatever gets the job done, right?" Rainbow laughed. "Definitely," Soarin agreed laughing with her. "OH LOOK, the blue one's agreeing with me. Makes sense considering how much you admire and adore every aspect of me," Rainbow teased. "OBJECTION!" "NO!" At this point, both had been tackling each other on the bed, laughing and teasing the whole way along. They both collapsed into the bed, still laughing for their horse play. The more they laughed, the closer they got to each other. They laughed a bit longer before turning to face each other. Once it died down, they found their muzzles were touching and pulled away nervously. Rainbow cleared her throat, while Soarin just smiled in the most dorky way possible. They somehow managed to stare at each other for the millionth time and scooted a bit closer. "Can we do the um...the hugging thing again? I'm....crying internally..." Rainbow lied. Soarin chuckled and embraced her from behind. "You're adorable, Rainbow Dash," Soarin commented. Her eyes went wide. "Hey! I am NOT adorable," Rainbow protested as she rested on his lap. She slightly pouted and Soarin cuddled her a bit. "H-hey Soarin?" "Hmm?" "Did you really mean it when you said you admired and adored every aspect of me?" Rainbow asked quietly. "Or when you said I was adorable?" Soarin smiled, as he had done all morning. He closed his eyes and brought her closer to him. "Every word, Dashie..."