//------------------------------// // Chapter 6. Meeting for the First Time // Story: Lake Iwannagohome // by Scquishiey //------------------------------// A few hours had passed by after singing their duet, and Rainbow Dash was getting pretty sleepy. “Hmmm, it’s starting to get pretty warm out here.” Soarin stated as he looked out towards the lake and saw that the sun was reflecting against the water. Soarin was right; it was oddly warm for a fall day. “Let’s go for a swim!” Soarin shouted as he jumped out of his chair and flew towards the clean, blue lake. Rainbow Dash got up and followed him. She didn’t feel like going for a swim, so she just decided to watch him. “GERONIMOOO!!!” Soarin yelled as he plummeted straight down into the icy cold water. It wasn’t as warm as he thought it would be. Soarin’s head sprang out of the water. “AAAHHH!!! COLD, COLD, SO COLD!” Soarin yelled through gritted teeth, his now wet, navy blue mane covered his eyes. Rainbow Dash giggled at the funny-looking stallion. “Hehe, bwahaha! You should see the look on your face!” Rainbow Dash cracked up while pointing at Soarin. “H-h-h-helppp m-meee!” Soarin stuttered as he shivered, his teeth clattering. Rainbow Dash stopped laughing and looked up at him. She noticed that his muscles looked like they were starting to freeze up and he slowly started to sink down from not being able to keep himself afloat. “Hold on, Soarin!” Rainbow Dash zoomed across the lake and saw the tip of Soarin’s muzzle sticking out of the water as he took in one large breath before he became completely submerged under the frigid lake. Rainbow Dash dove down into the cold lake, feeling like someone just threw ice at her, and quickly shot back out of the water carrying a dazed and frozen stallion in her fore hooves over her shoulder. “T-t-t-thank y-y-youuu…” Soarin thanked her as he shivered tremendously. Rainbow Dash was pretty strong for such a little pony as she carried him back to the campfire with ease. She sat him down in one of the foldable chairs. She too, was now drenched and cold. She tried hard not to shiver. “M-m-m-my b-b-blankettt.” Soarin pointed a fore hoof towards the tent as he shivered. Rainbow Dash knew what he wanted and darted to the tent to get his blanket. She found his burgundy fleece blanket and noticed the box of matches on his sleeping bag and grabbed those too. She flew back outside and saw the poor stallion rubbing his arms trying to warm himself up as he breathed loudly through clattering teeth. Rainbow Dash threw the blanket over him and flew over to the nearby forest and grabbed as many twigs as she could to feed the fire that was starting to die out. She rushed back and pushed off the steel grate and pot of water that sat on top of the campfire and threw the twigs in the pit, grabbed a match with her teeth, struck it against a rock, and relighted the fire. A few long moments went by, the only sounds coming from Soarin’s chattering teeth. “Wooo, okay I can feel my face again.” Soarin sighed in relief. Rainbow Dash was staring at him the entire time. “Hah, I guess the lake didn’t warm up enough.” Rainbow Dash said trying to keep conversation light. “Heh, yeah, I guess I wasn’t thinking.” Soarin sighed while looking down at the campfire. Rainbow Dash muffled a chuckle. “Brrr.” Rainbow Dash shivered. She was so distracted by looking at Soarin this whole time that she forgot that she was still wearing her hoodie that was now soaking wet from saving him. “You’re cold too? Hah, well I guess you probably should be. Why not try taking off that sweater?” Soarin chuckled. Rainbow Dash wanted to smack herself right then and there. She was afraid that she looked stupid for not thinking about taking it off earlier, and she hoped that he didn’t notice her staring at him before. “Oh, yeah… Haha, silly me!” Rainbow Dash joked quietly and proceeded to take off her damp hoodie. It stuck to her and was kind of hard to take off, but she managed and threw it over the backrest of the chair that she was sitting on to let it dry. She was now bare and even colder than before, and started shivering. Soarin noticed this and felt guilty. “Gee Dash, I’m sorry that I had to put you through that.” He apologized remorsefully. “Nah, it’s c-c-cool.” Rainbow Dash shuddered. Soarin looked at her before getting up and went inside of the tent to grab something. Rainbow Dash looked over and heard something being unzipped from the inside. When Soarin came back outside, he was holding something in his mouth as he headed back over to where Rainbow Dash was sitting. “Here.” Soarin said as he wrapped a navy blue scarf with blue and yellow tassels and a yellow winged lightning bolt imprinted on the bottom front over Rainbow Dash’s neck. It was an official Wonderbolts themed scarf. She always wanted one of those. Rainbow Dash looked down at the scarf that was placed around her neck. She saw that below the winged lightning bolt Soarin’s name was stitched in yellow, cursive letters; it also smelt faintly of cologne. “I know it isn’t much, but it’s all that I have right now.” Soarin said. “Unless you want the wet blanket.” He joked and gave her a warm smile. Rainbow Dash was actually surprised that he didn't pack warm clothes considering all of the other things that he packed that she thought was unnecessary, but she decided not to point that out. Rainbow Dash looked up at him, then slightly turned her head away as she blushed a little. “Thanks.” Rainbow Dash thanked him as she meekly smiled at him. Soarin was feeling much better now that he had dried off and warmed up from the sunlight and campfire. Rainbow Dash felt slightly better as well, but she was still cold. She kept looking down at the scarf and smiling. Soarin looked at her, then up towards the sky. He noticed a couple of low floating clouds above the lake. “Hey Dash, I think it’ll be a good idea to fly up there since we’ll be closer to the sun, it’ll warm you up faster.” Soarin told her and pointed up at a cloud. Rainbow Dash looked up at the cloud that Soarin was talking about. “Alright.” She said as both Pegasi flew up towards the cloud and landed on top of the soft object, both looking at the sun that was close to setting; it made the sky a pinkish, orangey color that reflected off of the water making the whole place look stunning. Rainbow Dash looked at the scene in awe, the sunlight shimmering in her eyes. She was happy to be here, even if she was freezing cold and damp, and Pinkie Pie's wacky antics kind of messed with her mood, but she was glad that Soarin out of all ponies was with her, and realized that he and she never really hung out together by themselves before; sure she used to talk to him back at the academy, but with others around. She noticed that she developed a weird, warm feeling whenever he was around her; it was something that she never used to feel back at the academy. She was really starting to bond with him and was truly getting to know him. She realized how sweet and caring he was, which was something that no other stallion was to her. She felt like she was genuinely meeting him for the first time.