It may have already been an hour, but the adrenaline rush of falling to what had looked like his death still made Soarin's heart race. He was so glad the prize of the Best Young Flyers competetion, a day out with him and the other Wonderbolts, had been postponed to tomorrow. Soarin really needed the chance to calm down before he spent an entire day with Rainbow Dash. And he knew just who could help him with that, his friends.
"Boy, you guys should've been at the Best Young Flyers competetion." Soarin said, resting up in a spare bed at Golden Oaks Library "You missed out on a lot."
"I really would've loved to come Soarin." Shining Armor stated "But someone needed to stay behind and look after the library while Twilight was away."
"I'd have been there in a heartbeat if I didn't have to take on Applejack's chores." Big Macintosh explained "But Granny gets really ticked if someone's not working the fields, and Apple Bloom just isn't old enough to do it yet."
"First Gilda and now this, I'm missing out on all the good stuff!" Braeburn complained "Appleloosa's a nice place. I just wish they didn't keep needing me to come back and help with construction."
"A last minute customer dropped by Carousel Boutique." Fancy Pants stated "I must say that I'm ashamed of the way Miss Rarity conducted herself when she had her new wings. But I'm glad she learned her lesson, and that nopony got hurt."
"Because Fluttershy was away I couldn't ask her to foalsit Rumble." Thunderlane explained "He claims he's old enough to be left home alone, but mom and dad don't believe him. He's been getting better at staying out of trouble though, so perhaps I'll stick up for him next time. It's not like he's a foal that isn't even out of diapers."
"Hey, I'm not complaining or anything," Soarin said crossly "In fact, I'm kind of glad you guys weren't there to see me make a fool of myself."
"We heard about what happened Soarin." Shining Armor admitted "There's nothing to be ashamed of. In the end everything turned out all right. That sonic rainboom sounds like it was a sight to behold. Come to think of it, that might be the unexplained event that led to Twilight's 'impressive' feat of magic. That 'performance' is what made her Princess Celestia's student in the first place."
"It was a beauty, even if I was focused on clinging to Rainbow Dash for dear life." Soarin stated "But that's not the only reason why I came here."
"What do you mean?" Shining Armor asked "After what you went through, I would've thought you wouldn't think about anything else."
"Well, think again." Soarin briefly chuckled "In any case what I'm more concerned about is the fact that Rainbow Dash won. Because that means she gets the grand prize."
"And what would that be?" Braeburn asked.
"The winner gets to spend a day with me and the other Wonderbolts, including Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Misty Fly." Soarin explained.
"And Rainbow Dash was the winner if I'm not mistaken." Fancy Pants finished.
"You got that right." Soarin nodded "And now you know what my real reason for coming here was."
"Still can't stop thinking about Rainbow Dash huh?" Big Macintosh teased.
"I don't know how or why, but I can't get her out of my mind. It's driving me nuts!" Soarin complained "Sometimes I really like her, and other times I feel like I wanna give her a good kick where Celestia's sun don't shine. I haven't felt this way about any other mare, not even Spitfire."
"Wow, I didn't know you had it that bad." Thunderlane said sincerely.
"I know. Love can be a very weird thing." Soarin admitted.
"Don't let Spike hear you say that." Shining Armor stated "Heck, don't let Rarity hear you say that. The two of them seem to have their own ideas of how love works. Not that I judge them for it, or anything."
"It's never been this bad before because it wasn't until today that Rainbow Dash had a chance to spend time with me." Soarin went on "And I'll be honest, when the competetion began, I didn't think she was going to win."
"So, you've come to us hoping that we'll be able to help you?" Shining Armor asked "That's kind of a tall order."
"I know it is, but you guys have to try. I'll do anything." Soarin pleaded.
"We can try, I guess." Shining Armor said reluctantly, turning to the others.
"I'm not too sure about this." Thunderlane replied nervously "This feels like something Soarin should be seeing a shrink about."
"It's nothing serious, yet." Shining Armor explained "It's ultimately just girl trouble."
"As in, Soarin's havin' a tough time sortin' out his feelings for a certain somepony?" Big Macintosh asked.
"More or less." Shining Armor stated.
"And you think we can help him?" Fancy Pants asked.
"Yeah, what if we make things worse?" Braeburn asked.
"We have to at least try." Shining Armor explained "Soarin is our friend. And as the old saying goes, a friend in need is a friend in deed."
Big Macintosh, Braeburn, Thunderlane, and Fancy Pants sighed. They figured it was worth a shot.
"So, what's your big plan to help me?" Soarin asked.
"Well, the best way to solve the problem is to discover the root of it." Shining Armor explained "And the best way to do that is to start from the beginning."
"What do you mean by that?" Soarin asked. Needless to say, he was confused.
"A good place to start in this case, would be when you first met Rainbow Dash." Shining Armor explained "Think you can do that?"
"No promises, but I can try." Soarin said with a sigh.
"That's all we can ask for." Shining Armor smiled "Just be honest, and let it all out. Hopefully, once you do, you'll feel better."
"If you say so." Soarin sighed again "Apparently, from what little she's told me, Rainbow Dash has always seen The Wonderbolts as her idols. Their shows are the one thing she remembers most fondly from her childhood. Especially because she never knew her birth mom, and her birth dad and foster mom divorced while she was still young."
"Wow, I never knew." Shining Armor said, his mouth hung open for a moment "But we're not here to talk about Rainbow Dash's past."
"I know. I know." Soarin admitted "I figured I should get that out of the way before we go any further."
"You may continue." Fancy Pants encouraged.
"Well, I joined The Wonderbolts about half a decade after Spitfire took over as Captain." Soarin explained "In fact, Spitfire was the one I have to thank for making it onto the team. The two of us were childhood friends, but after high school we didn't see each other as often. This was because Spitfire left to join The Wonderbolts at the first chance she got, while I decided to relax and go on an Equestria wide tour."
"That's, fascinating." Big Macintosh commented "But what does that have to do with Rainbow Dash?"
"The first time I met Rainbow Dash was while I was on tour." Soarin continued "I stopped in Ponyville to rest, before heading back to Cloudsdale. While I was in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was taking over as the new head of the Ponyville weather team. It was quite surprising actually, because she was a lot younger than most of the previous weather captains. Some ponies weren't sure she would be up to the job. I wasn't one of them, but her attitude still quickly rubbed me the wrong way."
"And let me guess, that's when your conflicting feelings for her began." Braeburn spoke up.
"Actually no." Soarin stated "At that point, as far as I was concerned, Rainbow Dash wasn't anything special. She did tell me about her hero worship of The Wonderbolts, but a lot of ponies held The Wonderbolts in high regard, so I thought nothing of it."
"Are you gonna get to the actually helpful stuff or not?" Thunderlane asked "You're making this very difficult you know."
"Patience guys, I'm just getting to the important part. There were a few things we needed to clear up first." Soarin explained "Now, I'll skip ahead to after I joined The Wonderbolts and became Co-Captain. As I said before, that was about half a decade after Spitfire took over as Captain. I started seeing Rainbow Dash at almost every show, but I still didn't think that much of her."
"So, when did that change?" Shining Armor asked.
"I'd say, about a year before you and your sister moved to Ponyville Shining Armor." Soarin stated "Though I can't give you the exact date."
"Wasn't asking for it." Shining Armor said honestly.
"Anyway, I was enjoying a day off after an exciting show in Ponyville, and figured a little nap wouldn't hurt." Soarin continued "Just as I was starting to doze off, I saw Rainbow Dash racing right past me. She didn't seem to notice me, in fact she seemed to be in a hurry. Which I found odd."
"What did you do?" Thunderlane asked.
"Being the curious stallion that I was, I decided to follow her." Soarin explained "I knew something was up, because normally Rainbow Dash would relish a chance to stalk one of her idols."
"I see, continue." Shining Armor stated. He was currently busy jotting down notes, based on what Soarin was telling him. So far, he didn't have anything that really provided him with an answer to Soarin's problem.
"I followed her for a while, and I saw that she was carrying something. I couldn't see what it was because she was clutching it tightly." Soarin continued.
"So, what happened next?" Big Macintosh asked.
"Well, Rainbow Dash didn't spot me, so she landed." Soarin went on "Her destination, as I soon discovered, was Fluttershy's cottage. As it turns out, it was Fluttershy's birthday, and Rainbow Dash had taken time off from her job so she could buy Fluttershy a present. And I thought, that was really sweet of her. Especially considering how she normally acted."
"Did Rainbow Dash ever find out about this?" Fancy Pants asked.
"No. And I think that's when I started to develop such conflicted feelings for her." Soarin explained.
Shining Armor continued to jot down notes as Soarin spoke, and constantly kept looking over them. "I think I know what the problem is." he said at last.
"You do?" Soarin asked, rather unsure of what his friend was going to say next, and whether or not it would be helpful.
"Indeed I do." Shining Armor nodded.
"So, what's the problem, and what do I have to do to make it not be a problem?" Soarin asked.
"The problem itself is rather simple." Shining Armor explained, looking over his notes "Your feelings of confliction stem from the way you've seen Rainbow Dash. At times she seems really sweet, and extremly loyal. But at other times, she seems rather obxinous and bossy. And it confuses you, because you're not used to seeing anypony who's so twofaced."
"It's really that simple?" Thunderlane asked.
"I second that emotion." Soarin said reluctantly.
"Yes, it is." Shining Armor explained "My best guess as to why she's like that, is because she's the type of pony that craves attention. As such, she tries to establish herself as something to worshipped and idolized, and she thinks the best way to do that is to simply show how awesome she is. Because of this, she is very afraid of failing, and of anypony seeing that she has a soft side."
"I think anypony could've deduced that Shining Armor." Big Macintosh said, somewhat crossly.
"But I think I may know why she has such a longing for attention of any sort." Shining Armor went on "I think it stems from the fact that her childhood was so rough. I mean think about it, she never knew her biological mother, and her biological father and foster mother divorced while she was still young. I don't know about you, but a childhood like that would make me desperate for attention. Because I would want to make sure I wasn't being neglected or ignored."
"That's some sound logic." Braeburn commented.
"Thank you Braeburn." Shining Armor said with a smile "I pride myself on a job well done."
"What about the solution to my problem?" Soarin asked "What do I have to do? Tell me."
Shining Armor's mood quickly changed "Unfortunately, the solution is not as simple as the problem." he said with a sigh "It's actually quite complicated."
"Why? What could be so complicated about it?" Soarin asked.
"The fact of the matter is, I don't really have a solution ." Shining Armor admitted "The solution is going to have to come from you."
"What do you mean by that?" Soarin asked reluctantly.
"You have an entire day to spend with Rainbow Dash tomorrow." Shining Armor explained "Use it as an opportunity to get to know her better. Understand how she works, and what makes her tick. Then you can decide for yourself how to handle her."
"That's it?" Soarin asked.
"I'm afraid so." Shining Armor stated.
Soarin sighed "Well, thanks anyway. I guess I'll just be going." he said, and took off to prepare for the next day.
"Well, I tried." Shining Armor said, somewhat glumly.
"We all did Shining Armor." Big Macintosh reassured him "Like you said, Soarin's gonna have to figure out the solution on his own."
"I still wish we could've done more to help him." Shining Armor confessed.
"There was nothing more we could've done Shining Armor." Fancy Pants stated "We did all we could, the rest is up to Soarin."
"I know, but I still feel like we let him down." Shining Armor sighed.
"No we didn't." Thunderlane said honestly "We got Soarin's hoof in the door, now he just needs to finish what we started for him."
As it would turn out, the advice given to him by his friends proved to be useful to Soarin. Rainbow Dash spent a lot of time with him, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot, and whenever he had the chance, he tried to better understand her.
By the end of the day, Soarin felt that, at the very least, he no longer had conflicted feelings for Rainbow Dash. He wasn't quite ready to try and get romantically involved with her just yet. Especially not when he still had to sort how he felt (in terms of romance) about Spitfire.
But now he no longer found Rainbow Dash so annoying. In fact, as much as it pained him to admit it, he thought she was kind of cute. It was true what they said, life works in mysterious ways.