One Bolt, Moving Forward

by Boltsinger

Soarin's Choice

Soarin stood in a castle bathroom, looking into the mirror with determination. “Rainbow Dash, I think you’re ready to come back to the Wonderbolts!” He said, practicing his ‘lines’. “And I’ve also come to a decision! I’m gonna… gonna…” he wiped his forehead, the gravity of what he wanted to do hitting him again. “Gonna do this… Gonna move forward and make it happen!” He pumped his hoof, turning to leave the restroom with confidence.

---

Soarin stood at Rainbow Dash’s door, knocking on it with his hoof. Without hesitation, it opened, revealing Rainbow Dash with her flight goggles on. “You ready to fly?” she asked, stepping out past him and playfully bumping him with her flank.

“Oh, you know it!” He replied, pulling his own goggles into place. “Try and keep up!” he closed the door that Rainbow had left, taking off from that position in a single, fluid, motion.

Rainbow smiled, shooting into the sky after him. She overtook the stallion with ease, looking back at him. “That’s my line, you know!” She waved at him, making an extra hard flap that sent her farther ahead.

“I thought I’d give it a shot!” he answered, quickly matching her acceleration and flying next to her. “Can’t have you making me look bad when we go to next week’s practice, can I?”

“Wait, what?!” If there was a bit in front of her, Rainbow Dash would have stopped on it. Her deceleration was so instantaneous that Soarin looked back, nearly injuring his neck from the whiplash of the motion as he hit a tree. “What do you mean about next week’s practice? Aren’t I supposed to keep taking time off?”

Soarin emerged from the tree, shaking the twigs and leaves from his mane. “I think you’re ready to go back! Your funk is as good as gone, and your flying has been incredible!” He flew up next to her, landing on a cloud and standing proudly. “We’re ready to go back to training!”

“Really?” she inquired, landing in front of him. “That’s awes-- Wait…”

“Wait?” Soarin repeated. “Wait for what?”

“I’d love to come back to the Wonderbolts, but I’m not sure if I can…” she told him, looking back at the town.

“Why not?”

“I don’t think it’s best for me to be away from Ponyville for long periods right now.” She elaborated. “The thing happening with Twilight… There’s no telling when her magic is gonna short out, or when she’ll need help with something. I’m sure Vapor Trail can handle the tour this year… Right now, my friend needs me.” She turned around, not letting him see her face. “I understand if you wanna stop now. You probably have a lot of preparing to do for the routine and the tour and--”

“No, I understand. I’ve been staying at the castle, so I know what’s going on. I’m sure Spitfire would understand, too. I can keep flying if you really want to.” Soarin told her, giving his wings a small warm-up flap. “I kinda wanted to talk to you about something later, anyway.”

Rainbow looked back at him, bending her wings out slightly with intrigue. “Really? What is it you wanna talk about?”

Soarin waved a hoof in front of him. “Aw, it’s not important right now. Let’s fly!” He took off, dissipating the cloud below the two.

Rainbow Dash hovered in the air a moment with a cocky smirk. “Five… Four… Three… Oh, what the heck, that’s enough of a head start!” She took off after him, passing him with little effort and waving at him as she went.

The flight continued for another two hours, the pair of them lost in the speed, the adrenaline, and each other’s company. They turned their course to fly over Ponyville, naturally going into one of the two-pony routines from their Wonderbolt repertoire. They created stars and flowers with the trails that followed them in the sky, several townsponies taking notice and gathering underneath the spectacle. They flew a fair distance from each other, each pulling an immelman turn to fly at one another, full speed. Their velocity increased dramatically as they closed the distance, each of them giving off a smirk. The crowd gasped as they came to be less than a foot away from each other, only to see them both pull a ninety degree turn upwards, leaving competing turbulence in their wake that pushed against them. They soared ever higher, speed approaching their limits as their wingtips began to glow. They spun in the air in opposite directions, wings almost touching each other with each rotation with a spark of lightning passing between them. At the apex of their ascent, they separated, and an explosion of magical lightning burst forth from between them, showering harmlessly over the watching ponies below as they cheered. They came to a landing on either side of the footbridge, turning around and looking up at what had just happened. There in the sky was the Wonderbolts insignia, flashing in a residual charge of rainbow-colored lightning. Rainbow Dash and Soarin’s mouths both silently hung open at the vision above them as they trotted forward onto the bridge, bumping into each other in the center. They simultaneously jumped back a ways, looking at each other. The rainbow light emitted by the magical insignia glowed on Soarin, lighting up his canvassed white coat with color. Rainbow’s jaw remained dropped as the stallion smiled at her, a thump in her chest growing louder and faster.

Soarin looked at the lights again, resting his forelegs on the railing. “Wow… That sure is pretty, huh?” he started, looking back at Rainbow. “Don’t you just love seeing your favorite color light up the sky?”

“It is pretty awesome.” she confirmed, putting her own weight on the railing. “What is your favorite color, anyway?”

Soarin blushed a little, scratching his mane. “You’d just call it silly…”

Rainbow definitively shook her head. “No way! I could never judge you based on something that small!” She scooted closer to him. “So, spill. What’s your favorite color?”

Soarin smiled warmly, positioning himself to face Rainbow Dash in full while still leaning on the rail. “I like all of them.” he told her, the flush covering his muzzle. “I love the whole rainbow!”

Rainbow Dash’s heart skipped a beat as a bright shade of pink appeared on her cheeks. She looked away, back at the fading lights above. “Yeah, rainbows are cool.” she said, doing her best to keep a calm and cool face. “So, what did you want to talk to me about, anyway?”

“Oh yeah! How would you feel about a new neighbor?” he inquired. “‘Cause I need to figure out a place to put my new place.”

Rainbow looked puzzlingly at Soarin. “New place? What do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m moving to Ponyville, of course!” He announced, flaring his wings.

The mare’s eyes went wide. “Really?” Soarin nodded profusely, bringing himself back to all fours. Rainbow’s face gave way to her emotions, showing off a bright smile as she jumped forward and tackled the stallion in a hug. “That’s awesome!” The two rolled to the road on Soarin’s side of the bridge, the cyan pony laying over the white one with the excitement still clear on her face. A gasp sounded from the distance, sending Rainbow Dash back to her senses as she realized the position she was in. She jumped back with an embarrassed laugh, scratching her mane with her hoof. “Wait a minute… Why are you moving to Ponyville, anyway?”

Soarin smiled, working his way to his hooves. “I’ve been staying in Ponyville for a while, now, and I really like it here. It’s a nice town, and it just feels right to be here.” He walked past her, back onto the bridge. “Plus, all of my favorite ponies live here.” He swished his tail in front of her nose as he continued on his way.

The pink returned to Rainbow’s face as she recoiled, looking back at Soarin. “And you… want to move in next to me? But I live in a cloud house! I literally don’t have any neighbors!”

“That means the location’s open, right?” he asked, looking back. “Besides, Pegasus ponies are meant to live on clouds! So, what do you say? Want a neighbor?”

Rainbow smiled, rising into the air and turning around, whipping his flank with her tail. “Come on! Let’s go talk to everypony about building a house in the sky!”

---

A gathering of Pegasi flew around Rainbow Dash’s house, the mare in question giving orders and pointing to a clump of clouds nearby. They would each respond by moving to the clouds and pulling off a chunk, shaping it into something that looked like a building material. She waved her hoof, directing them to guide the pieces to various locations that put them together, slowly but surely forming a house that had a design that complimented that of the one that floated beside it. It lacked the waterfalls of rainbows that flowed out of Rainbow’s house, but had an intricate wing design, as if it were soaring through the sky, even though it was simply floating in place. Rainbow nodded confidently at the progress, inspecting every pony and their work. As her eyes finally fell upon the one the house was made for, she felt a strange kind of warmth in her chest, making her wings falter in the air for a moment.

“What the heck is going on lately?” she asked herself, putting her hoof over her heart. “Maybe Twilight has an idea!” She turned towards Ponyville, making a beeline for the Castle of Friendship. The cyan mare landed just outside the front door to the castle, pushing in an attempt to open it. For the first time since it sprouted from the ground, the door was locked. She tilted her head, wondering what the heck was going on and pounding on the door. “What the heck, Twilight?! You’ve never locked the door before! What’s going on?”

A slot in the door opened up, Flash Sentry’s face appearing inside it. “What do you need?” he sternly inquired.

“I’m here to see Twilight!, obviously!” she replied, putting her hoof on the door. “You gonna open up, or what?”

“Okay, come on in.” The slot closed, the door opening wide to let the Wonderbolt inside.

She walked past the lone guard, twitching her tail in a slight huff. “Thanks.” She received no response, only the sound of the door latching shut once more as she passed the threshold. “So, where is she, anyway?”

“Oh, she’s in the library working on her magic.” He told her, getting back to his station. “Spike is with her.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, spreading her wings to take off to the library entrance. She paused for a moment, looking back again. “And what about Bolt?”

Flash cast a confused look back. “Who?”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed, a feeling of frustration beginning to smoulder inside. “You know, her husband… the pony she married? Any of that ring a bell?”

“Oh yeah, him.” He affirmed, turning back to face the door. “I dunno where he is. I heard some thunder a while ago, even though it’s a sunny day. Maybe that was him? Oh well, doesn’t matter. Enjoy your visit!”

Rainbow ascended to the second floor with a small scowl. “I’ll do that…” She opened the library door, stepping in to find a large number of books hovering above the room while surrounded by a magenta aura. Underneath was the Alicorn she was looking for, Spike sitting next to her with a worried look on his face. “Hey, Twilight.”

The magic flickered for a moment, giving way as the Princess lost her concentration. The books fell to the floor, prompting Spike to dive forward and grabbing Twilight, where the two fell to the floor in front of Rainbow Dash. Spike gave the Pegasus a glare, getting up and moving to the pile of books. Twilight sat up, brushing herself off. “Hi, Rainbow. How is construction coming along?”

Rainbow looked between Twilight and the mess she had inadvertently caused. “It’s going… fine. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” she answered, lighting up her horn again and moving the books back into place. “Just working on my multitasking. What brings you over today?”

Rainbow Dash scratched her mane, averting her gaze. “I’ve been feeling… weird… lately. I don’t really know what it is. You think I might be sick?”

Twilight beckoned her friend over to the couch, where the two sat together. She placed her hoof on Rainbow’s forehead. “Well, you don’t have a fever. Have you been feeling warm at all?”

“Yeah, it’s been strange.” she admitted. "I’ve been getting really hot randomly. Just a little while ago, it threw off my balance in the air.” She looked at her chest, then at Twilight with a panic-stricken expression. “Do you think I might be cursed? I really hope I’m not cursed…”

“You’re not cursed, Dash.” Twilight deadpanned. “I think this is a different kind of thing.” She gave her friend a sly look, getting up and moving to the exit.

Rainbow stood up hopefully, trotting alongside her royal friend. “Really? What is it?”

The Alicorn stifled a giggle, twitching her tail. “Oh, you’ll figure it out!” She teased, breaking into a canter and heading for the kitchen.

Rainbow growled audibly, following after her. “That’s what I came to you for!!!”

Author's Note:

Hard to believe that this chapter qualifies as one of my shorter ones, now. I like how it played out, though, so I'm gonna keep it where it's at. Next chapter is gonna be a pretty fun one! It's one of those I've had in my head for a while, and it's gonna be interesting to see how it goes.

Comments

[MagicLover2128]

Kinda want to give the Flash Sentry of this story a good smack around for his treatment of Bolt.

[Amos Anon]

Lol, everyone hates flash sentry.