"The Name's Dash"

by calmcalmcalm

"Soarin, quit your whining!"

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!” Fleetfoot bounced up and down. “Hurry up!”

“Ok, ok! Calm down!” Spitfire glanced over at the ticket booth. “Good, there’s not much of a line.”

“I don’t get why we’re taking the train anyways.” Soarin complained. “It would be way faster to fly to Ponyville!”

“Yeah, but Mayor Mare reserved tickets and a carriage for us on the train, I didn’t want to be rude and turn it down!” Spitfire argued. “Stop whining and wait here while I go pick up our tickets.”

“Fine…” Soarin huffed as she trotted off. “Hey Fleet? Where’d you go?” he looked around, spotting a familiar white mane over by the coffee stand. “Ugh, she should defiantly not be having caffeine right now…. She’s hyper enough as it is!”

“Too late!” Fleetfoot sang as she trotted back, a cup of coffee balancing on her wing.

“Wha? How’d you get here so fast? You were just over there in line!” Soarin whipped his head around, looking at from the coffee stand to his friend, then back again. Fleetfoot shrugged, taking a sip of her drink.

“Mmm, this is good! Just like the stallion who made it… Talk about an attractive guy!” she grinned, winking at Soarin.

“Uh, no thanks.” He wrinkled his nose. “Good, here comes Spit with the tickets.” He and Fleetfoot began making their way over to where Spitfire was waiting beside the train doors.

“C’mon! Trains leaving soon!” she called, beckoning them over. “Here are you’re tickets, don’t lose them. Their for the ride back home as well, so put them in a safe spot.” She handed them each a ticket, and they boarded the train.

“Phew, I’m glad we didn’t wear our uniforms!” Soarin sighed as they made their way to their reserved train car. Fans didn’t usually recognise Wonderbolts without their iconic flight suits and Spitfire, Fleetfoot and Soarin had left them at Headquarters. “This is going to be so relaxing!”

“Yeah, if all goes smoothly it should be quite nice. Next car is ours I believe…” Spitfire glanced down at her ticket again. “Number 14.”

“Here it is!” Soarin pushed open the doors, revealing a sitting-room type area. “Ooo, this is nice!” he threw himself onto one of the couches lining the room.

“And it has a coffee machine! Score!” Fleetfoot hopped over, refilling her cup.

“Fleet! What did I say about limiting your caffeine intake?” Spitfire scolded. “Remember what happened last time?”

“Sorry mom!” Fleet grinned cheekily at her friends, now visibly vibrating.

“This is gonna be a long train ride…” Soarin sighed, covering his eyes with his wings. They had experienced Fleetfoot on a sugar high before, and it had not been pretty.

“This is gonna be a fun train ride!” Fleetfoot called out, even louder than usual.

Spitfire snorted. “Yeah, maybe for you…”

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“Fluttershy? Twilight?” Rainbow Dash bellowed from her cloud balcony. “I NEED you guys! Or at least one of you!”

“You called?” Twilight appeared as she flew up to Rainbow’s balcony. “You know, you could come and, I don’t know, knock on my door if you needed me instead of just yelling?” she raised an eyebrow.

“This is way easier.” Dash replied, beckoning Twilight into her home. “I needed a friend with wings.”

“Okay, what for?” Twilight followed her into her house.

“Well, I have the Wonderbolts coming to stay at MY house for a week. My house! The Wonderbolts! Can you believe it?” Dash made wild arm gestures, almost hitting the alicorn multiple times.

“Yes Rainbow, it’s all you’ve been talking about since you found out.” Twilight replied patiently. “Why do you need me then?”

`“Well…” Dash’s squinted at Twilight. “Um, I kind of have a lot- and I mean a LOT- of Wonderbolt merchandise… I don’t want them to think I’m a total fangirl! I need you to help me put it all away.” She explained.

“Okay, but couldn’t you have just done this yourself?” Twilight tipped her head, glancing at Rainbow.

“No. this is a two pony job. I have a lot of Wonderbolt stuff. Like, an insane amount. Just go around the house and dump it all in my room.”

“Ok... Sure.” Twilight thought that Rainbow was exaggerating, but as the two got started on their task, she realised she wasn’t. There was everything from posters to pencils! Twilight rummaged through the cupboards in the kitchen, finding six Wonderbolt mugs.

“Sheesh, talk about an obsession…” she brought the mugs into Rainbow's room and added them to the growing pile of various blue and yellow paraphernalia. “Okay Rainbow, I think that’s everything!”

“Ok, good because they should be here soon!” Dash trotted in and tossed a Wonderbolt hat onto the pile. “I’ll just put all this stuff…” she glanced around, looking for a hiding spot. “Under here!” she began shoving everything under her bed.

“I don’t think it’s all going to fit…” Twilight watched as the pile got smaller and smaller.

“And… There!” Rainbow stood up triumphantly, having successfully crammed everything underneath her bed.

“Okay then. I’m not sure how you got that all to fit, but is that all you needed?” Twilight turned towards the bedroom door.

“Yeah, thanks Twi.” Dash followed her into the hallway, down the stairs and to the front door. “Hey, you and the girls wanna get lunch tomorrow? We could go to Clover’s.”

“Yeah, I’ll let the others know.” Twilight opened the front door. “Will the Wonderbolts be joining us?”

Rainbow shrugged. “If they want to I guess. I really have no idea what they wanna do while their here.”

Twilight glanced through the open door. “Well, the train is arriving now, so you’ll find out soon! See you tomorrow.” And with that she was gone, soaring down to her castle.

“Eep! Tank, they’re in Ponyville! They’ll be here soon!” she closed the door and went to check on the guest rooms she had prepared. “Maybe there are some perks to living in a mansion all by yourself. And who knows, maybe I can just avoid Soarin the whole time…”

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“Alright, town hall. Where is town hall?” Spitfire muttered. The three Wonderbolts had just left the train station and were headed to go find Mayor Mare.

“There! At least that’s what the huge sign on the building says.” Soarin snickered.

“Yay! I love town halls!” Fleetfoot bounced alongside them. “Wait, no I don’t! There boring!”

"Remind me to hide all caffienne from you." Spitfire sighed. Fleet had nearly driven them insane on the train, with all of the bouncing and yelling.

The three ponies pushed open the doors to the building and trotted inside. “Excuse me, we’re here to meet Mayor Mare.” Spitfire explained to the recepsionist.

“Ah, Captain Spitfire! Soarin, Fleetfoot! So nice to meet you! I’m Mayor Mare.” A tan pony with a gray mane trotted towards them. “You’re here to find out where you will be staying?”

“Yes. Thank you for reserving our train tickets for us Mayor!” Spitfire shook the mayor’s hoof.

“Oh, it was my pleasure.” She smiled warmly. “I arranged for you to stay at our very own champion flyer’s home! She’s a fan of the Wonderbolts, I think you’ll enjoy staying there.”

The Wonderbolts glanced at each other. “Always nice to meet a fellow athlete!” Spitfire smiled.

“Her house is right above Princess Twilight’s castle. It’s rather large, you can’t miss it.” And with that the mayor trotted away.

“Ok...that was quick. Let’s go!” Spitfire led them back through the doors.

“I’m guessing that’s Princess Twilight’s castle?” Soarin spotted the large castle. “It looks like a… tree made of crystals.”

“And that’s the house we’re staying at?” Fleetfoot looked above the castle, seeing the cloud mansion, rainbow waterfalls dancing in the sun. “Holy crap.”

Spitfire followed Fleet’s eyes and whistled when she saw the house for herself. “Wow, that is one fancy mansion!”

“What the hell, it’s nicer than the Princess’s castle!” Soarin gasped.

“Well, I guess we should go meet who lives there, eh?” Spitfire hovered in the air, and the other two followed her lead.

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Rainbow glanced out of her window and gasped. “Their almost here! Their heading straight towards me!” She trotted to her front door and sat down in front of it, waiting for her guests to arrive.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi.” Dash whispered to herself. I don’t want to look too eager.

She trotted in place for a couple of seconds, masking the fact that she had been sitting, waiting for them.

“I hear somepony coming.” Came a voice from outside. Rainbow opened the door, and saw the three Wonderbolts waiting outside.
“Hey!”

“Huh?! Hey, Rainbow Dash, right? I remember you!” Spitfire raised her eyebrows when she saw who had opened the door.

“Yeah, come on in!” she stood back, allowing them to enter.

“Nice place you got.” Fleetfoot commented as she passed.

“Thanks!” Dash closed the door behind Soarin, who said nothing. “Here, I’ll show you where the guest rooms are.” She led them through the living room, past the kitchen and up the stairs. “This one, this one and this one are for you guys.” She opened the doors to three bedrooms. “You can fight it out on who goes where. I’ll give you some time to get settled in and then I can show you around Ponyville?”

“Sounds good. Thanks!” Spitfire smiled at her as she trotted back down the stairs.

“Ugh. Of course.” Soarin groaned when she was gone. “It just HAD to be her we’re staying with. Bleh.”

“Stop complaining, she seems like a sweet mare. And it is very nice of her to take us in.” Spitfire scolded.

“Plus she’s got an awesome house!” Fleet exclaimed. “Look at these guest rooms!” the others glanced around the rooms. They were almost identical, spacious but cozy. “Sweet, they’ve all got their own bathrooms!” she trotted into the first one and leapt onto the bed. “Woo! Bouncy!”

“I think she’s claimed that one.” Spitfire chuckled, trotting into the one next to Fleet’s.

“And that leaves this one.” Soarin entered the one on the opposite side of the hall. “Even if I don’t like Rainbow Dash much, she does have good taste in decoration.”

“Hey guys, wanna go see the rest of Ponyville now? I feel pretty settled in.” Fleet hopped off her bed. “Come on, let’s go!”

“Ugh, fine.” Soarin grumbled.

They trotted downstairs to find Rainbow Dash playing with something.

“Is that a turtle?” Spitfire asked her, scrunching her eyebrows.

“Tortoise. His name is Tank.” Dash turned around, spotting the three Wonderbolts looking at her. “It’s a long story…. Ready to go?”

“Yeah!”

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“And this is Sugercube Corner. My friend Pinkie Pie works here.” Dash led the Wonderbolts past the pink building. They had seen the spa, the market, and the park so far. “Speaking of Pinkie, here she is!”

“Hello! You must be the Wonderbolts!” a pink mare bounced through the front door. “I’m Pinkie Pie but you can call me Pinkie! I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve lost Pound and Pumpkin and I’ve gotta find them!” She bounced away.

“She reminds me of Surprise. If she was white with a yellow mane, they could be twins!” Spitfire commented.

“She seems…” Fleet bagan.

“Interesting.” Soarin finished.

“I was gonna say fun, but that works to!”

“Eh, you get used to her. Eventually.” Dash continued to lead them around the town.

“This is the Carousal Boutique. My friend Rarity owns it, she designs dresses.” They walked up to a large, ornate building.

“SWEETIE BELLE! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY FABRIC?” roared a voice from inside.

“She’s, um… she seems busy right now, let’s move on.” Rainbow trotted faster, not wanting to face Rarity’s wrath. “That used to be where Golden Oaks library was, but it… kind of got burnt down.” She pointed at an empty space to the right. “Now Twilight lives in her castle, which I’m sure you noticed before.”

“Yeah, we noticed.” Giggled Fleetfoot. “Where to next?”

“Wanna go see Sweet Apple Acres?” the cyan Pegasus asked.

“I have no idea what that is, but sure!” they began following Rainbow up a long, winding trail. After about a five minute walk, they stopped.

“And here we are, Sweet Apple Acres!” Rainbow exclaimed. “They grow the best apples in Equestria.”

“Hey Rainbow!” a southern sounding voice called. “Whatcha up to?”

“Hey AJ! Just showing the Wonderbolts around the town!” she called back. A pony wearing a Stetson trotted towards them.

“Hey y’all! I’m Applejack!” she grinned at them. “You must be Spitfire, Fleetfoot and Soarin!” she nodded before looking back at Rainbow. “Twi told me ‘bout lunch tomorrow. Clover’s place, right?”

“Yeah!” Dash nodded. "I feel like I haven't seen you and the others in ages!"

“Are y’all gonna be joining us?” Applejack looked questioningly at the Wonderbolts.

“Huh? Come to what?” Fleet asked.

“Dash, me and the other gals are gonna meet up at Clover’s tomorrow for a spot of lunch!” AJ explained.

“Yeah, you’re welcome to join us! If you want, that is.” Dash added.

“Sure, sounds fun! I’m interested in meeting your other friends!” Spitfire smiled.

“Seriously?” Soarin whispered once Applejack and Rainbow were engaged in another conversation. “Haven’t you noticed how awkward it is to be around her?”

“No. She seems pretty cool and I wanna hang out with her. Now quit your whining.” She hissed back.

“Ugh.”

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“Ponyville seems like a pretty great town!” Fleetfoot exclaimed as she and Rainbow flew in front of the other two. They had finished their tour of Ponyville, and were now heading back to the house.

“Yeah! I grew up in Cloudsdale but when I moved here I instantly loved it.” Rainbow replied smiling.

“Hey! Where in Cloudsdale did you grow up?” Fleetfoot asked. She, Spitfire and Soarin had grown up as neighbours on Cloudlane Avenue, and had been friends ever since.

“My family lived on Cloudlane Avenue.” Rainbow recalled.

“No way! That’s where we lived! Did you go to Cloudsdale Elementary school?”

“Yeah! This is so weird!”

“Wait, how old are you?”

“21.”

“Oh, I’m 24, so are Spitfire and Soarin. We were a couple grades above you. But what a coincidence!”

“See, she’s a completely normal mare! And grew up near us too! I wonder why we never met?” Spitfire murmured to Soarin behind the two chatting mares.

“Okay, well I’m still not a fan.” Soarin replied stubbornly.

“Just try to get to know her!” Spitfire nudged his side. “You may be glad you did.”

“But I don’t wanna!” he complained.

“Quit being a baby! Just try, okay? She’s making an effort to get to know us, you can to.” Spitfire sped up to join the other two mares.

“I thought this vacation was supposed to be fun.” Soarin huffed, staying behind by himself.

When they arrived back at Rainbow’s house he lagged behind, thinking to himself. Maybe Spitfires right. Maybe she’s not so bad! Or maybe she is. This is a lot of maybe’s floating around...

“Hey! You coming in?” Rainbow interrupted his thoughts. He looked up and saw she was waiting for him, holding the door open. “Or I can close the door and just leave you out here…”

“No, I’m coming. Sorry.” He rushed past her. She seems to be making an effort to be nice...

“Hey Dash, you got any food?” Fleetfoot’s voice called from the kitchen.

“Yeah, look in the fridge and cupboards! Make yourself at home guys.” She trotted to join the others in the kitchen. “Dishes are in the drawer Fleet!”

Hmm, they seem to be getting quite friendly… using nicknames and everything. Soarin knew that Spitfire was usually quite reserved and professional, yet she was opening up to Rainbow Dash. Fleet on the other hand was friendly to everypony.

“You coming Soar?” Spitfire poked her head around the corner, looking at Soarin.

“Nah, I think I’m just gonna head upstairs. Kinda tired, been a long day.” He began heading upstairs to his room.

Back in the kitchen Dash glanced at Spitfire.

“Ok, Soarin probably told you guys about our encounter at the Gala… my first impression of him wasn’t great, and I’m pretty sure his wasn’t either.” She looked between the two Wonderbolts.

“Yeah, we heard about that…” Fleet winced.

“It was awkward, sure, and at first I was mortified! But then I thought it over and it wasn’t really THAT big of a deal! Ok, this is weird, I’m actually thinking rationally for once.” Dash giggled.

“I like this one. She’s funny.” Fleet laughed, glancing at Spitfire.

“But I decided to put that behind us, y’know, move on and act like mature, responsible adults. Ok, I’m freaking myself out a bit… if only Twilight was here to hear me…” Rainbow continued. “But I don’t think he wants to get to know me… he seems really distant.”

“Well, if there’s one thing you should know about Soarin, he is very stubborn. Once he has an idea, it takes a lot of convincing to change his mind. But hey, I can talk to him if you want!” Spitfire had known Soarin for years and ever since he was a young colt he had always been stubborn. She seemed to be the only one who could change his mind about anything, and it usually involved a lot of yelling on her part and... minor crying on his part.

"Sure! If you don’t mind that it.... Holy crap, now I sound like Fluttershy. Back to the point, if he wants he can just keep ignoring me but that’s bound to get old pretty fast. Just trying to avoid future awkwardness. For when I myself am a Wonderbolt.” She flashed a grin at Spitfire, who rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out.

Fleet stuck her head in the fridge, distracting the other two mares from their conversation. “Hey girl, I've got a serious question for you. Got any sandwiches?”

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Soarin trotted to his room and flopped on his bed. It had been a long day and he was tired, but that wasn’t the main reason he had gone upstairs. Maybe I'm kinda sorta jealous that Spitfire and Fleetfoot made friends with Rainbow so easily. I mean, I thought she was great! Until I met her that is… but maybe I judged her too harshly…

“Rainbow Dash! Hey Rainbow Dash!” a voice called in the distance.

“Huh?” Soarin got up, sure that he had heard something.

“Rainbow Dash! Is anypony home?” the voice called again. Soarin trotted to the window and looked outside.

“Hey Rai- oh. You’re not Dash.” The voice called up at him. He glanced toward the ground and saw a small orange filly holding a scooter.

“Um, no, I’m not. Do you want me to go grab her for you or something?” he looked around. The filly seemed to be alone, just standing there staring up at him.

“Who are you? Why are you in Dash’s house? Does she know you’re in there? Do you have a cutie mark? Wait, what’s your name again? Oh wait… you haven’t told me yet!” she looked back up at him, buzzing her small wings by her side.

“My name is Soarin. My friends and I are staying with Rainbow Dash for a little bit, so yes she knows I’m here. And yes, I do have a cutie mark.” He answered all of the filly’s questions. Nailed it! Soarin… damn good flyer, damn good with kids.

“Oh. Neat!” she hopped up and down. “So she is home then? Is she busy?”

“I’m not sure, why don’t you come up here and ask her?” Soarin looked at her wings. She was a Pegasus, why didn’t she just fly up here?

“Um, I can’t exactly fly. Yet! But soon, I just know it! I wanted Dash to come out and help me with some moves! Maybe she would even let ME help HER!” she grinned. Soarin blinked. The filly seemed quite awestruck with Dash.

“Uh, I can just go get her if you want…” Soarin offered. “Hey, what’s your name?”

“Scootaloo. And it’s ok, if I yell loud enough she’ll hear me.” Scootaloo beamed up at him.

“Ok squirt, if you’re sure.” He pulled his head back through the window and sat on his bed. Well, Rainbows got herself a little fan already. Scootaloo seems like a good kid. Hmm, I wonder… He stuck his head back through the window.

“Say, Scootaloo, you’ve heard of the Wonderbolts, haven’t you?” he asked the filly who was still standing outside.

“Oh! You’re back!” she looked back up at him. “The Wonderbolts? Duh! Who hasn’t? And Dash talks about them ALL the time! She’s gonna make a great Wonderbolt one day!”

“Well,” Soarin hopped through the window and started to float down towards her. “Did you know I am a Wonderbolt?” Scootaloo’s eyes widened.

“No. Way. Does Dash know about this? She’s gonna freak!” she started hopping up and down again.

“Yes, she knows. But you’ve gotta keep this quiet ok? Me and my Wonderbolt friends don’t want to spend our whole trip running away from fans!” Soarin landed next to her and crouched down to her eye level. Scootaloo nodded her head.

“Deal! I can’t believe Rainbow is really friends with you! A real Wonderbolt!” she buzzed her wings excitedly.

“Yeah, we’re… friends.” Soarin scrunched his eyebrow. Not really, but I don’t wanna crush this kid’s dreams or anything…

“Wow! She really IS the coolest pony ever!” Scootaloo gushed. “Well, I’m sure you’re pretty cool to Mr Soarin.”

“You can just call me Soarin. No Mister required.” He looked into the little filly’s purple eyes. “You said earlier you wanted some help with your flying?”

“Yup! Dash has helped me a couple of times before, but she’s always busy. You know, being awesome and saving Equestria and all!” She beamed up at him.

Saving Equestria? Shes gotta be exaggerating... “Um, right! Well, I was just wondering if you wanted me to help you! A Wonderbolt could probably teach you a lot!”

“NO. WAY! You would help me?” she squeaked, nearly falling over. Soarin laughed.

“I’ll take that as a yes?”

Back in the house Dash trotted to the window. “Huh, I thought I just heard Scoots out there… Guess not.” She went to join the others back in the kitchen, unaware that Scootaloo was heading off to flight lessons with Soarin. Fleet looked over at her.

“Huh? What the hell’s a Scoots?”

Author's Note:

Hmm, Rainbow's #1 fan going for flight lessons with Soarin? Interesting... And the Wonderbolts joining the mane 6 for lunch? Most likely chaotic. Until the next chapter!

Comments

[StarLadybugQuinn]

SOARIN IS AS STUBBORN AS MEH

[SageBrony07]

I never thought that Rainbow would be more mature than Soarin. Great job. I'm so happy about the update. I can't wait to read future chapters. Thanks for writing this story.

[Mr mustash]

Hmmmm I don't know if rainbow will be happy or mad that soarin took scoots for training.
or maybe soarin gets scoots so fly and that makes rainbow jealous.
any one of them is a possibility.

[BabySkittleMonster]

Huh. Somehow the Wonderbolts don't know that the mane 6 saved the world... How many times now? Ah well, I can accept that. But why? Did Celestia tell them to keep it secret? If so, does anyone aside from those who live in Ponyville actually know why Twilight is a Princess? I'm confused. In a good way.

[BabySkittleMonster]

Oh, and I just noticed a spelling mistake in the summary. Nothing major, I just thought I'd point it out.

When they both try to change this is very different ways, things get funny.

Other than that, this fic is as good as ever. Keep it up!

[calmcalmcalm]

5476662 Well, in the show they never actually mention anything about that.... In my version they decided to keep it quiet, Twilight is just known as the Princess of friendship, not the Princess of saving Equestria Thanks for the support, glad you're enjoying the story so far! And thanks for pointing out that typo, I hadn't noticed

[BabySkittleMonster]

5478370
It's no problem. I used to be a complete grammar Nazi a few years ago and would not read a story if I noticed any errors in the summary. Thankfully I am not like that anymore - I wouldn't know this piece of heaven if I was! I just thought to spare you from the wrath of other not-so-ex grammar Nazi's.

Besides, this story is so good that it would be a shame if someone denied themselves the pleasure of reading it for a minuscule mistake.

I'm eager to see what happens next!

[Agent-G]

You really have a problem with using "their/they're/there" don't you? Since you keep making this mistake all the time. Here's an example when you wrote “Their almost here! Their heading straight towards me!”

The 'their' you used means it's theirs as in, "that's their bat", what you should have used both times was "they're" as this means they are. So it should be “They're almost here! They're heading straight towards me!” You might want to look into someone who can edit your story to look for these mistakes to help you out until you get the hang of those words. For the most part everything else is find but this is just a major pet peeve with me as it's not that hard to remember the difference but it's a mistake that's common in some writers.

Here's a little cheat sheet to help remind you:
They're = this is short for They Are
Their = this is for a possession "Their wings were blue"
There = this is for a place as in "over there"

[RainbowManedPegasus]

Yeah Soarin, you're a better teacher than Rainbow Dash!

[TwibraFlattercordlover]

Saving Equestria? Shes gotta be exaggerating... “Um, right! Well, I was just wondering if you wanted me to help you! A Wonderbolt could probably teach you a lot!”

I'd pay to see him find out she's not exaggerating.