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Chapter 1: Relaying Memories4,427 words
Chapter 2: A Dash to the Finish3,788 words
Chapter 3: Picking Up the Fallen3,084 words
Chapter 4: Recovery4,129 words
Chapter 5: Remembering Yesterday, Anticipating Tomorrow3,643 words
Chapter 6: Soarin to Victory4,243 words

Chapter 1: Relaying Memories

The harsh northern summer sun beamed down on the competitors standing on the running track. The crowd, made up of ponies from all over Equestria, screamed at the top of their lungs for their favourite ponies participating in the events at the new Crystal Stadium. The first event of the flying races was about to begin- the relay race.

Teams from towns all across the kingdom tried to qualify for this race. Rainbow Dash and her Ponyville relay team were the last of five times to qualify for the relay event. Dash stood in the anchor position at the other side of the running track inside the eighty thousand seat stadium as she watched Bulk Biceps standing at the starting point. Fluttershy stood at the midway point.

The rainbow-maned pegasus, who was born and raised in Cloudsdale, but chose to represent Ponyville at the games, looked out to the crowd beside her. She could see Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack cheering on her team from the stands. The three young cutie mark crusaders, who had the privilege and honour of introducing Ponyville at the opening ceremony and carrying the flag, were also in the front row.

Rainbow waved her hoof with a smile. Seeing her friends cheering her on in the games that she dreamed of playing in since she was a filly was an honour, and it helped her nerves.

She peered her eyes through the crowd one section over. About fifteen rows up were the two ponies she loved more than anything else in the entire world: her parents. Her father, Spectrum, whom she inherited her colourful mane from, and her mother, Firefly, whom she loved and respected as her biggest hero in life, were sitting right there with grins from ear to ear, supporting fully their pride and joy, their only daughter, whom they supported in her endeavours since she was born.

"On your marks," Rainbow heard over the loudspeakers at the stadium. She switched her focus back to the task at hoof. She raised her right hoof in the air and over to her head. putting her goggles on her eyes.

"Get set," said the announcer, causing the ponies in the crowd to all lean forward in their seats. The normally rambunctious split crowd instantly went quiet as they anticipated the well-supported event about to begin. All of the ponies bent down with their wings in the air, ready to go.

Rainbow licked her lips and put on a cocky grin as she bent down, ready to fight in order to win the gold medal that she always dreamt of winning. At any moment the gun was to go off, and the race would be on. It felt as if she was a soldier waiting for the battle cry.

"Good luck, Dashie," she heard from a familiar voice coming from a few lanes beside her.

She cocked her head to her left. It was Soarin who said it to her. Soarin, a stallion she knew for years. A stallion who meant so much to her. One of the few ponies whom she actually allowed to call her Dashie.

Soarin, a stallion whom Rainbow Dash loved with all her heart.

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There she sat in the lounge of the Wonderbolt Headquarters in Cloudsdale. There she was, hanging with the Wonderbolts that she had just saved during the Best Young Flyer competition, which she won. Tired, sore, and overwhelmed from the day she had, where she performed her first Sonic Rainboom in nearly a decade, saved one of her best friends and her heroes from falling to their deaths, and won a competition she always dreamed of being in, she sat there with her heroes as a reward.

Was it something that she always wanted? Hanging with the Wonderbolts? Of course it was! Was it everything she hoped it to be? Not exactly.

Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts, was busy telling stories about her heroic past experiences to the other members. Rainbow sat there on one of the couches, patiently waiting for her chance to show them what she is capable of. But every time she started to say something, she would be interrupted by Fleetfoot or Spitfire or Rapidfire, who would then trail off, eventually changing the subject altogether.

Occasionally she would glance over at Soarin, hoping he would look back. It was the first time that she was in the same room as him. He was a stallion that she had great respect for. He had just joined the Wonderbolts two years prior, and he quickly became her favourite member. He dazzled the crowds with great moves during shows. Even though he wasn't the best or the fastest, he always performed with all his heart. She had watched him perform in Ponyville when they visited a few months ago, and was in wonder as she saw him soar in the sky.

"Maybe one day I can soar with him," she thought as she watched him that day a few months ago.

And yet there he was, sitting a few metres away from him. He didn't say too much on that night. He just sat there, patiently listening to the others. He was the least experienced of the Wonderbolts, so he didn't have much to say yet. Or at least he must have felt that way.

It had been a long day for the young mare, and by now she just wanted to go back to her home to sleep. At this point she wasn't interested in hearing stories anymore. She had a two-hour flight back to Ponyville still, and Celestia's sun had already set for the day.

She let out a loud, obnoxious yawn, drawing the attention of everypony in the room.

"I'm sorry guys, I'm pooped," she said while stretching. "It was a busy day and I have a long flight home. It was cool hanging with you, but I've gotta dash."

Each member if the Wonderbolts said a quick goodbye to the Ponyville mare, also adding a 'thank you' or two for her saving their lives. But that was it. There was nothing really special about the night.

Disappointed on the night, Rainbow left the headquarters. She closed the cloud door behind her, looking out over the city she grew up in. The lights coming from the houses and buildings illuminated the otherwise dark and cloudy night sky.

She spread her wings to take flight. After swinging her wings twice to prepare them, she heard the door open and close behind her.

Dash turned around to take a look.

"Uh, hey, Rainbow Dash."

"Soarin? Hey. What's up?" she asked while folding her wings back and taking a few steps forward toward the stallion.

"Nothing much," he said while standing no more than a metre away from her. "I was just a little disappointed that I didn't hear much from you tonight. After all, you did save my life today."

Rainbow kicked a piece of cloud under her with her foreleg as she looked at the ground, finding it hard to hold eye contact with the stallion.

"Um, yeah, well, I wanted to talk, but I guess I just didn't have much to say that would interest you. After all, you're all celebrities, and I'm just me."

"Don't think like that, Rainbow," Soarin replied while taking one step forward. "I'm sure you have lots to say that we'd be interested in. And you're still young. You seem to have a good attitude and abilities. I'm sure you'll become famous soon enough. Heck, you might even join us one day."

"That has been my dream ever since I was a filly," Rainbow replied. "But, I don't know. Even though I am a pretty good flyer, it'll take a lot of work to become one of you."

"Dash, can I give you some advice?" Soarin asked.

"Um, sure!"

"You seem to have that special something. Sure, maybe not everypony who tries makes it. But if you work really hard, keep at it, never miss a day of trying to improve, and keep determined, you just might make it here one day."

Rainbow took a step back on hearing that. "Thanks, Soarin. That means a lot to me. I'll try." She let out a yawn for real this time, though. The day had caught up to her. "Soarin, I really appreciate you coming out to talk to me, but I really have to go."

"That's a shame. I wanted to spend more time with the mare that saved my life."

"Maybe another time we'll get to spend more time together."

"I'll be looking forward to that," Soarin replied while sticking his hoof out for a bump.

Rainbow returned the hoof bump right away. "I'll see you around," she said while starting to hover in the air.

"I hope so," Soarin replied while waving as the mare got further and further away.

"See ya," she said as she descended from the cloud city and into the open fresh air over Equestria.

She smirked as she flew away. Was hanging with the Wonderbolts all that she hoped it would be? Maybe not. But there was more hope for the future, and she had a very bright future ahead of her.

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A loud sound of the gun was heard around the entire stadium. The first racers from Cloudsdale, Ponyville, Canterlot, Fillydelphia, and Manehattan took to flight in the air. Bulk Biceps had a tough task ahead of him to keep up with Fleetfoot as the racers ascended in the air from the starting point.

The starting competitors holding the golden horseshoe went up into the air. Fleetfoot had no trouble going through the floating hoops, while the large white stallion from Ponyville struggled to even go through them. His tiny wings flapped rapidly as the other racers quickly pulled up ahead.

"Come on," Rainbow said with concern as she saw that her team was quickly falling behind early.

But the body-building stallion was able to slowly close the gap to the others after he cleared the hoops and came back down to ground level. Rainbow knew that if her teammates at least kept up that they had a good chance at being on the podium.

He handed the horseshoe off to Fluttershy just after the other teams passed theirs on as well. The quiet yellow pegasus still had some ground to make up ahead of her. Spitfire, now holding the horseshoe for the Cloudsdale team, was now about ten seconds ahead as she ascended back up to the sky to do the two required loops around a bar about one hundred feet above the ground.

"Come on, come on," Dash pleaded as she watched on.

"Don't worry, Dashie, you'll be able to catch up," Soarin shouted to comfort the mare as he saw the worry in her eyes.

She turned around to reply. "I know. I'm going to have to give it my all to catch up."

"You'll be great," he replied in his encouraging way.

As Rainbow turned her attention back to the race, her mind began to wander. She could see Fluttershy was no closer to the leader than when she started. In fact, it looked like she was now even further behind. But as Dash watched on, a memory came back to her mind.

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"Always hungry after a show, eh Soarin?" Spitfire asked the stallion as he trotted back to the VIP area of the Canterlot Castle at the Grand Galloping Gala with a pie in his mouth.

"Mmmhmm," he said, then flipping the pie in the air.

Rainbow watched on from the distance with intrigue as the pie spun majestically in the air.

But the situation quickly turned for the worst as Soarin was unable to catch it again. She could see the fear in his eyes as the tasty desert, which was made by her own friend Applejack, was now falling to its death.

"My pie!" Soarin screamed as he failed to catch it with his mouth. Fear engulfed him. It looked like it was going to be a tragic end for such a young apple pie. It was about to hit the floor.

Dash sprang into action. She flew nearly at the speed of sound as she flung her hoof forward. With a majestic dive, she heroically caught it before it hit the ground, without even getting a spot of dirt on her gala gown.

She hovered in the air, holding the saved pie in her front hooves, presenting it to Soarin.

"You saved it. Thanks," Soarin said with genuine sincerity to the beautifully dressed up mare in front of him.

He grabbed the pie with his mouth. As Dash's eyes dilated upon seeing the stallion eye to eye once again, she replied, "Hey, no prob."

A quick conversation with Spitfire ensued as the captain was reminded that this spunky young pegasus in front of her was the same one that saved her own life a few months prior.

After Spitfire drew attention to Rainbow saving Soarin's pie, Dash glanced over and quickly smiled as she saw the stallion eating the pie like a complete slob. He didn't care that he was at the classiest event of the year; he just wanted his tasty treat.

Then came a question that the Ponyvillian wanted to hear. "Wanna come hang out with us?"

With excitement, Dash wholeheartedly agreed. After letting out an uncharacteristically girlish scream, she was given a second chance to make a good impression on her heroes. She was too excited to even notice the sad fact that Spitfire didn't even remember her name.

The night was very promising. She was given another chance to strut her stuff in front of her heroes.

But it didn't end the way it started. Nor did it turn out the way she wanted.

Dash had to deal with "hanging" with the Wonderbolts, which basically meant following them around in the background, all the while being pretty much ignored and watching Spitire and Soarin talk to fans and friends around the gala.

The worst was when she had to watch Soarin being flirted with by mares who were fans of him. He didn't fall for any of it, but it was still other mares who had his attention, and not her.

In the end, the potential "best night ever" was horrible. In fact, it was even called "the worst night ever" by the end of it. The only thing that saved it for Dash was being with her friends at the end.

She couldn't even say goodbye to Soarin because of the way she left. She had just saved one statue, but because of how heavy it was she ended up destroying nearly half the room. She didn't even look over at the stallion to see his reaction. She was too embarrassed. She did get her way out of the horrible situation when Fluttershy came in screaming at a bunch of animals.

Overall, the night was a complete flop. And that was the last time she saw Soarin for an entire year.

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Dash spread her wings as her opponents passed their horseshoes on to their teammates. Fluttershy was trailing behind in last place as tears were streaming down her face from shear tiredness as she flew as hard as she could.

The yellow pegasus stuck out her hoof and passed the shoe on to Dash. She quickly turned and darted into the air, pushing as hard as she could to reach the target height so she can go over the bar and back down to the final stretch.

With blazing speed she pushed on towards the ground, catching right up to the others. As Dash made it down to ground level she caught up into third place with only the final straight dash ahead to go.

She looked ahead as a stallion from Manehattan was just ahead of her, with Soarin far ahead in the lead.

Soarin, the wonderful, amazing Soarin. The same stallion who had captured the mare's heart once and for all at the royal wedding a year and a half ago.

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After days of preparation, fighting an entire army of changelings, and more days of preparation with the real bride-to-be, the day finally came for the wedding between Captain Shining Armour and Princess Cadence.

The wedding went smoothly, the reception went well into the last hours of the night.

As DJ-Pon3 took to the mixer, the dancing began.

The royal couple started the dancing as Twilight Sparkle took to the mic, singing her own song called "Love is in Bloom." The fast-paced pop song got the outdoor dance floor moving.

Rainbow watched as ponies grouped together in couples and in larger groups. Everypony was having the time of their life.

But then she glanced over to her right. Because of all the preparations, being in the wedding party, performing a Sonic Rainboom, she failed to take notice that Soarin the Wonderbolt was dancing just a few feet away from her.

Soarin was having a blast, not caring about how he looked. He took a look to his left and noticed the mare, who was dolled up more than she ever had been before. She was quite the sight- her mane all styled, her stunning dress matching her style perfectly, and she was happy to see him. Her infectious smile was welcome to Soarin, and he danced his way over to right beside her.

No words were exchanged. No words were needed. She joined him in dancing to her unicorn friend's song. They bounced and bopped together to the music. Their attention was finally only on each other. It had been far too long since she last saw him at the gala. Rainbow was in her beautiful bridemaid dress, and Soarin was in his classy uniform shirt and tie, proudly representing it.

After the song was over, the mare and the stallion looked at each other face to face.

"You're truly quite the sight, Rainbow," Soarin complemented. "And you're also quite the dancer."

Rainbow chuckled. "You're not so bad yourself, Soarin."

But the music changed right then and there. It went from fast to slow in an instant. Rainbow turned around to see that many ponies had already partnered off and began to slow dance.

"Um," Rainbow tried to say as she blushed.

"Wanna dance?" Soarin was the first to ask.

"Sure," Dash replied. "But just because I'll slow dance with you, it doesn't mean anything."

"Of course not," Soarin replied while reaching out his hoof.

Rainbow used her hoof to cover the massive smile on her face. She wasn't used to being treated like a lady. She didn't normally seem to like it. But her heart was racing as she looked at his outstretched hoof. She reached hers out to grab his, and he led her to the middle of the dance floor.

Dash put her right hoof on Soarin's shoulder, and he reached his right hoof behind her back, creating the perfect balance.

They swayed softly as the music played, slowing turning around the dance floor on the outside of the Canterlot castle. The sun had already set, and the dusk sky was light red and orange, setting the perfect scene.

Soarin looked into Dash's eyes, and she looked down soon after. It was hard for her to keep eye contact with a stallion as dreamy as he was.

"What a night, eh Rainbow?" he said as she continued to look down as they danced on the floor.

"Tonight was something special, I have to admit that," she replied, occasionally glancing back up at the stallion.

"Who says it has to end any time soon?" Soarin said with a smile.

Dash looked up, meeting eyes with Soarin and holding his gaze. "What do you mean?" she asked as the song died down.

Soarin moved his head back quickly, pointing over to the Canterlot gardens. The song ended, and another slow song played afterwards. "Come on," he said, pulling her towards the path leading to the gardens behind the castle.

She didn't fight it. She didn't want to. She only said, "Okay," and ran along with him.

After they were out of the view of all the others, they trotted slowly side-by-side down the pathway, passing by all the wildlife and beautiful flora of the well-taken-care-of royal gardens.

"So, Rainbow, what've you been up to lately?'

"Well, apart from saving Equestria multiple times from unspoken evil, working as the head weatherpony in Ponyville, training hard to be the best flyer I can be, and keeping up with friends, nothing much."

"You're something else, you know that Rainbow?" Soarin said as they continued to trot forward.

They came up to the small bridge going over a little creek in the gardens and stopped, both leaning on the guardrail.

"How come I haven't seen much of you lately, Soarin?" Dash asked while looking out at the flowing stream.

"I've been busy too. I've been training hard to try and become a better Wonderbolt, we've gone on world tours this year. Being a Wonderbolt pretty much takes up my entire life. Trust me, I wish I saw you more often," Soarin replied.

"Well, am I going to see more of you now?" Rainbow asked while turning to face Soarin.

"I hope so. We don't have any scheduled tours coming up any time soon. You'll see me around."

Dash smiled at the thought of that. "Well, my friends are probably wondering where I've gone. I probably should head back."

"So soon?" Soarin replied. Dash smiled and nodded her head, her styled mane bopping with her movement. "Well, all right. But can you at least give me something to remember this night?"

"Sure! What's that?" she asked. Soarin smiled playfully and reached down, grabbing her hoof. Rainbow instantly turned bright red. "Hey, what the buck are you-"

Her question was interrupted as her lips became occupied. Her pupils became small as she looked at her snout. Soarin had locked lips with her. She was never used to this kind of treatment.

But she didn't resist. In fact, she closed her eyes and returned the kiss.

Soarin lightly let go, and they both slowly opened their eyes.

"Thanks for that memory," Soarin said.

"You're welcome," Rainbow said blissfully while using her hoof to play with her mane. She then pointed her hoof towards the stallion. "But if you speak a word of this to anypony, I'll kill you."

Soarin grinned playfully. "I won't. I promise. This will be our little secret."

"Thanks, Soarin," she said while looking down as he started to trot.

"No, thank you, Rainbow Dash," he said while turning around, now at the end of the bridge.

"Dashie... you can call me Dashie."

"Dashie... that's lovely," Soarin replied with a smile, turning around to go back to the reception.

She watched as he turned the corner, disappearing in the dense bushes as he walked along the path.

After he was out of sight, she hovered in the air, pumping her hoof up high, letting out a "Yes!"

The entire day could not have gone any better for her.

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As Dash pushed forward as hard as she could, she watched Soarin, the stallion who both captured and broke her heart, cross the finish line first. She put every last bit of energy she had in her to her wings to catch up to the runner-up and lose the pony just behind her. She pushed and pushed in the short distance she had left.

But it just wasn't enough. She crossed the line in third place, winning the bronze medal.

Tired, panting, and frustrated, she stood just beyond the finish line. Bulky and Fluttershy came up and made a group hug happen, even though Dash wasn't very accepting of it.

As she saw the joy in her two teammates' faces, she responded, still panting, "Why... why are you so happy? We lost."

"We may not have finished first," Fluttershy said, "but you helped us get on the podium. I'm so proud of you!" Fluttershy leaned in for a hug again. This time, however, Rainbow's heart felt softened. She decided to reach out one of her forelegs and receive the hug.

"Yeeeeaaah!" Bulky added, knowing that he would also be getting a bronze medal.

Rainbow's attitude quickly changed from accepting to happy when she saw Soarin come up to her.

"You did great, Dashie. I'm so proud of you."

"Hah, it was nothing," the mare responded while swinging he hoof.

She had the privilege of standing on the podium to receive her bronze medal with two of her friends. She was satisfied with it, even though her coltfriend Soarin was receiving the gold with Spitfire and Fleetfoot. She was proud of him for his accomplishment. And even though it was bittersweet because she did not win the ultimate prize, she had pride in seeing the smiling faces of her friends and parents in the crowd. She also knew she made the right choice competing for Ponyville.

And besides, she still had two events to go at the games.

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