A Balance of Fire and Light

by Stolenalicorn

7 Communication problem

The doors of the holosuite slid open, revealing an ornate, yet dimly lit theater. Rainbow Dash felt severely out of place as she walked in, though the dress Rarity had given her certainly fit in. She turned to James, dressed in a simple suit, and felt even more that she had overdone things. But this was a true date: James had invited her to watch his favorite opera with him.

Put bluntly, she didn't like the idea. Opera was something that Rarity would be interested in, why would James ask her to join him? But she was serious about this relationship, and was willing to put up with some boring things to make him happy. After all, he was already doing as much for her even before they were together.

Even still, she was already planning to sleep in the chair as they watched. She even had a ready made excuse to use when James caught her sleeping. All she would have to say was that she was tired and needed to sleep before going to her Wonderbolts training later.

This was still going to be a win for her over all, a nap during the opera, and an evening of wing rubs from James. But even as good as this sounded, she was going to set up the next date. Definitely something fun instead.

“I'm glad you made it.” James said, with a warm genuine smile.

“Well, yeah. I said I'd be here.” Rainbow Dash answered casually.

“I know this isn't really your thing, but I think you might be surprised.” James said as he began to lead her towards the private box that had their seats. “I've got something here I'm pretty sure you'll like.”

Rainbow Dash was curious as to why James would simulate an audience in the auditorium, when he assured her that it was just the two of them watching the opera.

Rainbow Dash took a moment to take in the sight of their seats. This was something Rarity would love: Both the rails and chairs were trimmed with gold leaf, with a jeweled inlay. The chairs themselves were plush and comfortable looking.

A nap would be certainly easy here.

It seemed odd to her that James would wait until she sat down before he would, but she wasn't going to think much of it. James took the seat next to her and gave her a smile before the lights went out almost completely and the music began to swell. She adjusted herself in her seat and closed her eyes as she heard something about some guy named Draco falling in love with some Maria before going away … for some reason. She wasn't really paying attention anyway, and before long she had fallen asleep.

She had no idea how long she had slept when a gentle shake made her open her eyes. She could still hear the music and the lights were still low. Unfortunately, it seemed that James wasn't going to let her just sleep.

“Come on, Rainbow Dash.” James whispered, “We need to get going.”

Rainbow Dash was getting ready to apologize for falling asleep when she realized that James was holding something. “Uhm … What's with the sword?”

James grinned as he held out the hilt of the sword for her. “I brought it for you.”

This was already confusing for Rainbow Dash as she bit the hilt of sword.

James gave her a sheepish grin. “Like I said, I know this isn't really your thing so I made sure to include the original content.” His grin went from sheepish to sly as he spoke. “We're here to save the show from a monster currently attacking the theater.”

At the mention of a monster attack, Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up. “Why didn't you tell me we'd be fighting monsters?!” She asked excitedly.

“I wanted to surprise you with something fun.” James took a moment to examine Rainbow Dash, “I can pause this if you want to change out of your dress.”

Rainbow Dash nodded excitedly and rushed out of the booth, undoing the dress as she went. While she did wish that James had told her about this earlier, the surprise was already worth it. She could go to the opera if it meant fighting off monsters.

Once the dress was off she tossed it in the corner and rushed back, her opinion of the evening turning from a conditional good, to an all out win.

James was standing outside the booth as Rainbow Dash returned, her wide smile telling him everything he had been hoping to know. “We'll have to climb up to the scaffolding above the stage.” James said as he directed her attention towards the ceiling.

Rainbow Dash didn't see anything at first simply by following James' direction, but just beyond the curtain there was something long and purple. “Is that the monster?”

“Part of him. Let's hurry, I don't want to lose this because we stood around too long.” James said as he gestured towards the door.

With a nod, Rainbow Dash followed James through the theater towards the back of the stage. Peaking out from behind the scenery, they could see a massive audience. Her heart pounded faster and her smile grew as she noted the onlookers. They were about to be the heroes in front of all these people. The thought of them being only illusion having completely left her mind.

On stage in front of them, there appeared to be massive fight going on. Rainbow Dash had a fleeting thought to actually watch the opera sometime after this was over.

“Come on,” James urged as he moved towards a nearby ladder, “we only have five minutes before Ultross drops the ballast on Celes.”

“Ultross?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying beside James as he climbed.

“The name of the octopus we're fighting.”

“Well it'll be calamari soon. … Ugh! What are those things?” As they reached the catwalks above the stage it became quickly apparent that Ultross wasn't the only monster to fight up here. Grotesque rats, larger than most ponies and with mouths that overflowed with jagged teeth, scurried along the catwalks and attacked anything that came close.

No sooner had they stepped onto the catwalk than three rats rushed over, teeth gnashing and claws scratching threateningly in the air.

James charged one of the rats, giving it a devastating double strike. Rainbow Dash noticed a red bar appear briefly after the first hit then vanish after the second, the rat similarly vanishing shortly after.

Rainbow Dash followed suit, and slashed at another rat. Once again the red bar appeared though it didn't vanish, continuing to hover over the rat as it attacked her, lunging at her head. She jumped back quickly, barely avoiding the maw of the creature that appeared even worse when looking inside it's mouth.

Rainbow Dash struck once more and the rat dissolved like the first. No sooner had they beaten the rats than they were running along the catwalks towards their goal. Unfortunately there were still more rats to contend with.

It was clear that if they tried to fight each rat they'd not reach Ultross in time. And taking a detour near the end to save time, they interrupted the octopus that was still fumbling with the knot on the ballast.

“Alright Atlas …” Rainbow Dash called as they got close.

“It's Ultross.” James cut in.

“Nah, that name's too cool for such a goofy looking monster.”

“Hey! I resent that remark.” Ultross snapped in a gurgling, echoing voice.

“You resemble it too.” James called back.

Ultross waved his tentacles a moment before hurling himself over James and Rainbow Dash. As he passed overhead he reached down and wrapped them both in his grip. A grip much stronger than Rainbow Dash had expected.

The jagged teeth spilling out of the curious mouth of the octopus appeared to almost form a smile as he continued past. But that smile vanished quickly as he completely missed the catwalk, dragging James and Rainbow Dash down to the stage with him.

The music abruptly stopped as the trio crashed down on several of the performers. Ultross quickly moved towards the back of the stage where Celes stood. Despite the chaos, for several moments there was silence.

Rainbow Dash was just able to stagger to her hooves after the thunderous crash. She wasn't hurt, but the landing did faze and disorient her for a moment. The first thing she became fully aware of was that the opera house had gone silent. Slowly she turned around to find the audience was getting restless and beginning to murmur among themselves. She was about to open her mouth when a man dressed in a full tuxedo came sprinting onto stage.

“Disaster!” He projected towards the back of the audience. “If the two heroes are flattened, the opera's over! Then who shall win the girl!?” Even though he spoke clearly and concisely, Rainbow Dash could see terror clearly in his features and actions.

“I'll save her!” Rainbow Dash announced as James began to stand. Rainbow Dash threw her head back towards Ultross, flicking her mane as she did. She loved being the center of attention like this, and now she was the hero of the story.

The well dressed man groaned briefly and shook his head.

“Silence!” Ultross' gurgling voice called as he pulled himself forward, surprisingly quickly for being a sea creature on land. “You are in the presence of octopus royalty! A Lowborn thug like you could never defeat me!”

“Blah, blah.” Rainbow Dash taunted. “You're all talk, tentacle face. Go crawl back to the ocean before you get hurt.”

The well dressed man made a quick hand gesture and the music once again began to play as James squared off on Ultross' far side.

“Hehehe.” Ultross gurgled. “Long time no see! Did you miss me?”

“You: no,” James chuckled. “Beating you: yes.”

Ultross lashed out quickly at James, the red bar appearing above his head this time. It wasn't to far of a stretch for Rainbow Dash to realize this was intended to be a health bar. A quick glance was enough to tell her just how hard this octopus hit. With the fun she'd been having so far, she'd nearly forgotten that this was just a holosuite program. Readjusting her hold on the sword, she rushed forward and slashed Ultross.

A tentacle lashed out and slapped her away after the strike, but she had hit the creature. Unfortunately, she found that her attack had done little to damage him. As she recovered and prepared to slash Ultross again she saw James loom over him, gripping the sides of Ultross' head and flying up briefly before coming back down in a suplex.

Looking to the health bar, Rainbow Dash noticed James' suplex did more damage than his standard attack and Ultross' counter rain attack didn't seem to do much to him. Unfortunately, she noticed that after a few seconds James' health bar was rapidly shrinking.

In a split second, she decided to adjust her style in the fight, if James could do more than strike the octopus and deal more damage for it, than so could she. She quickly tossed her head around and threw the sword up in the air, jumping after it and bucking it at Ultross. The sword struck and Ultross' health dropped much like she had hoped.

“Way to go!” James cheered, making Rainbow Dash blush as she smiled.

Ultross countered with the rain attack he had used against James, but she understood that if they kept the intensity of their attacks up they'd be able to take him out before they succumbed to whatever withering effect the rain attack had on them.

James' next strike was more impressive. Taking a low stance, his fists burst into flames and he charged Ultross, quickly moving around the octopus and striking several times. Rainbow Dash watched as each hit drained the health bar a little more.

Rainbow Dash smiled as she adjusted her stance and spread her wings. Like a shot she burst towards Ultross, striking him with her sword and making hairpin turns as to continue the assault. Each turn got harder, however, as if she were fighting a headwind slowly growing in intensity.

As she continued, her Wonderbolt training kicked in and she adjusted how she flew to cut the drag on herself, fighting to keep her attack going. Eventually, however, it was too much and she had to move away from her target and land.

Even though Rainbow Dash braced herself for the counter attack, Ultross didn't retaliate this time. He simply looked between the two for a couple moments, his eyes clearly showing his feelings. “Well …” He said after a pause. “Adios!” In a flash his tentacles were propelling him stage left and the orchestra abruptly changed the music they were playing.

Rainbow Dash basked in the applause of the crowd, only realizing something was going on when a collective gasp caused her to turn around and see the singer get carried away by a man with long white hair. “James, why didn't you stop him?” She called to him as he stepped forward.

“Because we're not supposed to. This is a stand alone program of this scene and Setzer kidnapping Celes was the final action triggering the end.” As James spoke the audience silenced and vanished, leaving the two of them alone in the illusory opera house.

“Is there more? That was awesome!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed as she rushed over and hugged James.

“Yes, but we'd have to start at the very beginning of the story for that.” He said, kissing her forehead before letting her down.

“I can sit through the opera, especially if we get to fight that octopus again.”

James chuckled at her excitement. “We would, but it's not just the opera. This is a scene from a much longer story. You can certainly play it sometime. But for now, I think we had plans to get dinner. And of course your wing rubs.”

Rainbow Dash smiled wide as she eagerly nodded. “Let's get take out, that sounds so much better tonight, and the wing rubs can start sooner.”

“Maybe I indulge you too much.” James grinned as he shook his head.

Rainbow Dash chuckled as she flew up and kissed him. “You love spoiling us.”

“Be that as it may,” James admitted with a smile, “let's not make a habit of this.”

Rainbow Dash smiled as she pranced towards the holosuite exit. “Too late.”

***

A shrill whistle cut through the air over Cloudsdale where the Wonderbolts were running drills. “Alright everypony! Lunch!” Spitfire announced with her usual bark. “How's the leg Soarin?” She commented as the stallion flew close.

Soarin grunted and nodded, “Well enough.” the metallic clack of his artificial leg hitting the landing strip was a reminder to him of what he had lost in that battle almost a year ago. For whatever reason the procedure to restore his leg kept getting pushed back, and it grated on him each time he had to reschedule.

“I hope lunch is good.” Rainbow Dash said as she rubbed her stomach. “I'm starving.”

“If you don't sleep in, you don't miss breakfast.” Fleetfoot joked.

“Yeah yeah. I still got to practice on time.”

The team talked as they made their way to the mess hall, Rainbow Dash stopping abruptly as she noticed James placing food out for everyone.

With an awkward chuckle, she walked up to James. “So … haha, what brings you here?” Her tone was clearly uncomfortable, despite her best attempt at sounding casual.

James' smile faded and he nodded a moment before calmly speaking up. “Remember? It's your rotation to cook for today. Spitfire asked me to cover for you.”

“For all our sakes,” another Wonderbolt called.

“You okay, Crash?” Spitfire asked as she approached the two. “This has been the standing arrangement for a while now.”

“Right!” Rainbow Dash was quick to say. “I … just forgot it was my rotation.” With a chill she remembered the meeting with her friends at the cafe after their relationship began.

“I guessed.” James calmly said. “Either way, everyone's meals are ready. Since you've all got some more flying to do lunch is mean green salad with cheese.

“I was hoping for something sweet.” Mistyfly said as she sat by her plate.

“Don't worry, dessert tonight will be frosted brownies and mint ice cream,” James said with a grin. “Of course there's dinner first.” He added in a faux chastising tone.

As Rainbow Dash sat down to eat, she noticed that her salad had been made special for her. It was common for him to use mostly ingredients he knew she liked, but she could see the care he'd put into hers. He hadn't used a single veggie that she didn't like, it was portioned just how she would have wanted, even the dressing she wanted was ready for her.

It only took a quick glance at the other salads to show her that they did have a broader mix of vegetables, some of which she would have picked out, and her teammates were already adding things to theirs. She looked guiltily over to James, who looked back and nodded before stepping away and going back to the kitchen.

Once he was gone she sighed sadly and idly poked her salad, suddenly not as hungry as she had been just moments ago.

It wasn't until dinner that she saw him again, and even then she didn't get to talk to him until after. He just gave them their food and went back to work on something.

The sun was just beginning to set as she walked out to the field where James was standing, looking out at the changing color of the sky.

Rainbow Dash slowed as she approached him, uncomfortably rubbing her foreleg as she spoke. “Hey there. Uhm, sorry. I forgot that you'd be here.”

“It's okay, Rainbow Dash.” James quietly said, not turning to look at her.

“It is? You don't sound like it's okay.”

James turned and knelt down as he looked her in the eye. “I understand. You're not comfortable being seen in a real relationship with me yet. And I didn't exactly handle things with our friends in the best way. I understand you may want to keep me at a distance for now.”
“James, please …”

James shook his head as he cut her off. “It's alright,” his voice sounded anything but alright. “If you're still okay with it, I'll see you after practice in a few days.” He placed his hand on the side of her face, rubbing her cheek with his thumb.

Rainbow Dash hated the look in his eyes, that damn understanding. He should be upset, ask her why she wasn't telling everypony about their relationship. But there he was, quietly accepting being on the outside once more. “Of course I'm still okay with it.” She earnestly said.

“Okay.” James quietly said before leaning in and giving her a quick kiss and offering a weak smile. “I'll see you then.” Without anything more, he stood and began to walk down the runway. Melting away as he went back to his home.

Rainbow Dash stood in place, staring at the void where her boyfriend had just been. She could see how her discomfort had made him feel, and in turn she felt miserable for it. “Shit.” She whispered to herself.

***

It was the third time Rainbow Dash had lived up to her nickname that day. Now she just lay where she was on the ground wondering why she couldn't concentrate, though not why she felt the way she did.

“Crash!” Spitfire shouted from the air. “What's the matter, you getting distracted by something shiny out there? Get your head in the game!”

Rainbow Dash huffed and flapped her wings, lifting into the air and rejoining the other Bolts. “Sorry, Ma'am, just a little off today.”

“You don't say.” The sarcasm dripped as Spitfire spoke.

Rainbow Dash shook herself and ran the next several drills without trouble, but, as had become the norm for the day, her attention began to drift. She remembered the resigned acceptance in James' eyes from the other day. She knew he wasn't okay, even though he had insisted that he was.

Her attention was suddenly snapped back to the routine she was meant to be flying as she realized that she had turned wide, and couldn't avoid the cloud she was now careening into. With a startled shout she tried everything she could to correct her course, and once again she found herself covered in cloud. With a sigh and a huff she sat where she was and considered the situation.

Once again the shrill whistle pierced the air. “Hit the showers, Crash.” Spitfire shouted. “We're obviously not getting anything out of you today.”

Rainbow Dash groaned as she heard the comment. A day off wasn't a bad idea, but this was not the way she'd have chosen to get it. She knew that whatever else she did, she'd have to get back up to par before tomorrow.

“Really falling short today Crash.” She heard one of her teammates say.

She sat in the cloud a while longer before climbing out and trudging to the showers to change out of her uniform. She needed to talk to someone, but her team wouldn't exactly be in the mood to deal with her at the moment.

In her locker she saw the familiar golden bracelet and knew she could talk to her other friends. Two names came immediately to mind as she considered who she should message about her distraction: Starlight and Twilight.

It had been Starlight who had helped her come to terms with her feelings for James, but Twilight was good at seeing problems she was having and coming up with solutions. She mulled it over as she walked to the barracks, finally deciding that she needed solutions, and not just to talk.

Her Omnitool blinked to life and she began writing a message to Twilight. “Hey Twilight, can I ask you something?” After a brief pause she sent the message.

It was only a few moments before she got a reply. Of course Twilight would have her Omnitool with her all the time. James said he'd gotten a specific model for her that was designed for data analysis and she immediately fell in love with the tool, carrying it with her wherever she went.

“Of course.”

“I've been having a lot trouble concentrating on my flying. That's happened before, but not like this. I'm getting distracted every few minutes.”

“Are you being distracted by one thing? Or do you just notice everything and get distracted?”

Rainbow Dash paused after reading the questions.

“Well, it's James.”

“ :) Well, that makes sense. You did just start your relationship with him. Maybe you can see if Spitfire will let him come by for the day so you can focus better.”

“Thing is … he was here the other day … and I think I upset him.”

“ :o What happened?”

“It was my turn to cook, so he came to handle that for me like he usually does, and … I wasn't exactly welcoming.”

“ :( Did you ask him to go away?”

“No, I … wasn't ready to tell the team that we were dating.”

“Oh …”

Oh? Rainbow Dash thought with increasing concern. I'm having a real problem and she just says “Oh.” After waiting a moment Rainbow Dash began to write back. “I mean, I'm happy to be with him. I'm not ashamed of him. I'm just not ready to tell everypony that we're together.”

“Rainbow Dash. Try to think of it from his point of view. When you were just friends you were happy to have him around, you brought him with you to training and shows. You even let him take care of you. But now that you're in a relationship, you're backing off from even how you two were as friends. Like he's now some kind of dirty secret.”

“I just didn't tell the team! It's not like I denied anything! I was just uncomfortable.” Rainbow Dash huffed as she typed.

“Rainbow Dash, you may not have done anything, but I can see why he might think you're embarrassed to be with him if you're not willing to tell your team.”

“It's not that I'm not willing.”

“Than what is it? Are you embarrassed? Do you not want a relationship? Is it him?”

Rainbow Dash looked at the message and though she knew Twilight was just trying to understand, she couldn't help but read the message in an accusatory tone.

“No! I want this. I just …” Rainbow Dash paused as she typed. She had no idea where she was going with this.

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked after a minute.

“You're right, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash eventually wrote. “Thanks. I know what I need to do.”

“Glad I could help. But is everything okay? I can't tell what you mean by that through text.”

“It's alright. I said I'm not ashamed to be with him, and he's going to damn well know it.”

“:o Ohh. Hehe :) Good luck.”

***

Spitfire was finishing reports in her office when there was a knock at her door. “Come in.”

“Hey Spitfire.” Rainbow Dash said as she walked inside, though she didn't sound her normal upbeat self.

“Hey Crash, care to tell me what was going on out there today? I haven't seen you fly that bad since … well, since you were last trying to prove something.”

Rainbow Dash sighed, “Yeah, uhm, sorry about that. Things have been weird for me this last month, and I could use the Bolts' help.”

“Sure. What do you have in mind?”

“Remember when you helped me with my parents?”

***

James walked towards the Wonderbolts Headquarters as the day was ending. He could clearly see that Rainbow Dash wasn't yet comfortable with their relationship, and didn't want to push her towards something she still wasn't ready for. Today he was going to apologize and ask her what she would like from him. If she wanted, he could back off until she was ready.

Normally when they would meet like this he would watch her practicing until they called their training, but since even his cooking had caused trouble he was going to wait just outside. He had just found a nice shaded place to stand when he heard Spitfire's unmistakable whistle.

Looking to the sound he felt a burst of wind as two other pegasi buzzed him, trailing colored smoke as they went. He watched them arc up and turn away leaving the smoke as a cloud while two more pegasi flew up, adding their colors to the cloud.

The pegasi then met up behind Rainbow Dash and soon began trailing silver and emerald smoke, breaking off into pairs as Rainbow Dash ascended while doing an aileron roll.

She continued to rise as the others approached the multicolored cloud. Lines of emerald and silver surrounded the cloud and moments later a rainbow heart was left where the shapeless cloud had been, The silver and emerald smoke forming a ring around it.

Rainbow Dash reached the apex of her climb and began to drop, beating her wings faster and faster. She could do this without the build up, but this was worth the effort. As she came down she could see that she had James' full attention. She was ready for this.

The Wonderbolts cleared the area, knowing what was coming, and it would be best to be out of the air for the finale.

Rainbow Dash hoped she had timed this as well as she imagined. Too soon and all the setup was for nothing, and too late completely ruined the effect she was hoping for. She felt the cone forming as she reached the necessary velocity, just a couple more seconds. Her wings ached from the friction and effort, but she pressed on. She needed to go just a little faster.

The heart looked to be the right size! She gave the last of the effort she needed and burst through the center of the heart with an explosion of sound and color. It was the Sonic Rainboom she had been aiming for, and she had to trust that she had gotten the timing right.

Even though the stunt was over, she continued on. She knew where James was standing and angled herself towards him, slamming into his chest at full force and bowling them over.

As they rolled, Rainbow Dash squeezed his chest as best she could with her forelegs and held herself close to him. Opening her eyes to look at him only when they had stopped.

James' hair was now a mess, with leaves, sticks, and small plants sticking out of it and portions having come undone from his hair tie. His clothes were no better for the tumble and were smeared in dirt and grass. Despite this he only smiled as he looked at her. “This is becoming a habit.” He quietly said.

Rainbow Dash was happy to see his smile. She had been afraid for the last few days that she had hurt him and could only concentrate when practicing this stunt.

“But you don't have to do this.” He added, crushing what joy his smile had brought. “I understand that you're still uncomfortable and …”

Rainbow Dash cut him off with a long kiss. As she held herself there James could feel the heat of her face as she blushed. But clearly she had decided on what she wanted to do. Eventually she pulled back, her face a dark violet.

“I may have been uncomfortable, but I'll never be embarrassed to be with you.” She said, not taking her eyes away from his.

“Don't say that.” James said with a grin, “I can be pretty embarrassing.”

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but chuckle, a sharp pain cutting the laugh short. “Maybe I'll be embarrassed for you, but not because I'm with you.” Her eyes went wide as she heard the wolf whistle in the background.

James ran his fingers through her mane and smiled as he looked in her eyes. “I don't know if you planned it this way, but they all know now.”

Rainbow Dash relaxed slightly, though her blush didn't fade. “No, I don't care if they know. This was for you.” She felt his tail twitch beneath her as she spoke, remembering Pinkie telling her that James was uncomfortable with grand gestures like this.

As the two lay there they both felt hooves gently prodding them. “So … Which of you was the hold out?” Spitfire asked eventually.

Bringing their attention back to the world around them, James and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but notice most of the Wonderbolts standing around looking at them. James subtly pointed to Rainbow Dash as she focused on him once more. Fleet Foot and Misty Fly openly exchanged bits, and clearly Fleet Foot was the loser.

Author's Note:

And it's really both of them having a breakdown in communication. I'm not sure I got that across so well, but I hope it can be seen.
I really see Twilight being the one who would use emojis constantly when texting, and to be fair, it would really help her get across her meaning.
Slowly chugging towards the main plot, just some more day to day stuff with everyone for now.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Do you know if the A/B Testing group is only restricted to MLP stories?

[Stolenalicorn]

I don't know if they are, but they should mention in the rules, or you could ask in the group. I just assume that they are.