Three Seasons

by shakealchemist

Act 2, Season 2, Practice Date

"Oh, why hello Dashie. Come on in. Rarity's up in her room." Cookie greeted Dash at the door.

"Cool, but I actually want to see Hondo first. Is he home?" Dash asked going far enough inside so that Cookie could close the door.

"Hondo? yes, he's outback." Cookie said wondering why Dash wanted to talk to her husband.

Dash nodded her thanks before finding her way to the deck out back, where Hondo sat drinking a cider. "Hey." Dash spoke up to get his attention.

"Hmm? Ah, Rainbow Dash. You seem to be doing well. Are you waiting for Rarity?" He asked turning to her.

'Always straight to Rarity . . . well that's always been the reason I come over.' Dash shook her head. "Actually . . . I wanted to know if you would be interested in coaching me over the off-season." Dash asked hopefully.

"What about coach Star? Shouldn't you be asking him?" Hondo asked surprised.

"I did. He can't. He's not allowed to hold practices until the official off-season. Plus you were a pro player. That experience is what I want to learn from. If anypony can help me be the best it's you. Please?" Dash explained with a plea.

"But you're already so good. Not to mention I was a center. I don't know much about receiving." Hondo told her doubtfully.

"But I want to be better, and you know how the pros train. Could you at least give it a try? Pretty please?" Dash pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

"Very well." Hondo conceded.

"Yes!" Dash jumped for joy.

"But take a week off to rest that body of yours first, then we'll start, okay? Also, ya got a friend waiting behind ya." Hondo informed her, pointing.

Turning back to the door Dash saw Rarity standing there with a sad look on her face due to Dash not even saying hi to her before talking to her father. "Hey, Rares. What's up?" Dash asked to play it off.

"Rainbow . . . if this is about losing-"

"Rarity, this is about being the best. I'm good, but I can always do better. I want records and awards. My name in the lights. You can relate to that, can't you?" Dash asked her with determination burning in her eyes.

Rarity bit her lip then nodded. "I do have similar dreams."

"I know that. Me and hoofball right now are you and fashion. Obviously, I didn't take the loss well, but I'm looking to the future. Besides with me practicing here all the time, we can hang out even more." Dash said with a grin.

"Well . . . I can't argue with that." Rarity smiled, understanding Dash's reasons. She also liked the sound of that last part.

* * *

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" Derpy raced over to Dash outside of school as she was leaving.

Rainbow Dash waited for her to catch up before turning to her. "What's up Derpy?"

Excited, Derpy's eyes took a moment to properly set on Dash once she settled down next to her. "The team's having a party to celebrate how well we did this season this weekend. It's gonna be at Misty Dawn's place. You coming?" Derpy asked happily.

"Nah, I got practice on the weekend." Dash declined.

"Practice? Do we have practice this weekend? I didn't know this. Do you think everypony else does? Why would they throw a party when we have practice?" Derpy asked with increasing panic.

"No, only I do Derpy." Dash said rolling her eyes. "I got a retired professional hoofball player that's gonna train me." Dash bragged.

Derpy perked up at this. "Oooh, that's so cool. Who is it?"

"Oh . . . uh, Hondo Flanks. He was-"

"Hondo Flanks?! Star center for the Manehatten Magic. He won two championships with them . . . or was it three?" Derpy paused to ponder.

'Wait, he actually was a big-time player?' Dash thought surprised. "Y-yeah, that's him."

"Oh wow. Dash, you have got to introduce me to him, please?" Derpy begged.

"Uh, sure, I guess. You can tag along with me to practice." Dash figured she could chill with Rarity while Derpy talked with Hondo.

"Yay! . . . But wait, what about the party?" Derpy asked concerned.

"Pft, what about it? Why even party when we lost?" Dash said dismissing the thought.

"But we did so well in the regular season. We did so well as a team, we wanted to celebrate how far we made it. Even if we lost in the playoff round. And you have to be there Rainbow. It won't be much of a party without you there. You put in so much time and effort and supported us all. Can't you take the day off for us?" Derpy looked pleadingly in two different directions.

"What about meeting Hondo?" Dash asked almost completely convinced.

Derpy seemed conflicted for a second. "Oh! You can invite him to the party too!" Derpy suggested, clapped her hooves cheerfully.

'Or I'll just move practice to another day.' Dash thought of the more realistic option. "Sure Derpy, I'll be at the party." Dash said with a sigh.

"Yay! See you there Rainbow!" Derpy said waving as she took off.

* * *

"So, you have a party with your team?" Rarity asked intrigued by what she had overheard from the talk Dash had just had with her father, who hadn't minded moving practice since he had never even set an exact day or time.

"Yeah, I wasn't much of a fan of the idea at first, but . . . well I guess my team really grew on me." Dash said with a smile from her seat on Rarity's bed.

Rarity didn't catch the smile as she was busily searching through her closet. "What kind of event is it going to be? Casual? I have a summer gown I think you'll like." She asked shuffling through clothes.

"But it's fall, almost winter really. And I don't really want to wear anything." Dash pointed out a little clueless.

"What am I supposed to wear then?" Rarity asked stepping out of the closet to face Dash.

"Rarity, . . . it's a team event. Sooo . . ." Dash trailed off awkwardly.

"Oh, I see. That's fine." Rarity sounded down despite her words. She trotted over sat down next to Dash. "You know Rainbow, we should really go out sometime. It's nice having you come over so much, but all we ever do is hang out in my room. It's kind of dull for me. I could show you some of the places around Ponyville. It'll be a nice excuse for me to dress up. Plus we could go out, instead of eating with my parents. Like a real date." Rarity placed a hoof on top of one of Dash's.

'Date.' The word echoed in Dash's head as she looked down at Rarity's hoof on her own and became painfully aware of how close she was to her. In a flash, Dash was on her hooves. "Oh, wow . . . ha, ha . . . I uh, I don't know about that." Dash fumbled with her words as she was overwhelmed with different feelings. She tried to find the right words to say. Maybe the time was right? No, she had ruined it, but now what? Dash bit her lip and her eyes darted around about in some wild search for an answer when out of nowhere Rarity giggled. Surprised, Dash turned back to her.

"Dashie, you are so silly. I meant as friends. Like a mares night out." Rarity played off with a smile that masked the sadness she felt. 'I told myself not to make a move, to let Dash go first . . . but I thought things had changed after that last game. I told her . . . I told her how I felt. She should know . . . which means . . . she just wants to be friends.'

"Oh, pft, of course. Duh." Dash said relieved. "Sure, yeah. We can do that." She added.

"Wonderful." Rarity managed to not choke on the word. The only sign of her heartbreak was a slight tremble she had. 'It's fine. We're very good friends, best friends . . . I'm happy with this.' She told herself.

"Next time I come over we can go out then . . . around Ponyville I mean." Dash threw in with a nervous chuckle.

"Sounds like a plan." Rarity nodded in agreement.

"Actually, if you want, you could show me around town a little bit today." Dash offered.

"Oh . . . no, I couldn't . . . I have this mare coming over soon to look at some dresses. In fact, I need to start getting everything ready." With a sigh Rarity got up and walked back to her closet to look at nothing in particular, it had been a lie after all.

"Oh, well . . . I guess I should go then. I'll see you later. Can't wait for that tour."

Rarity heard her say. "Yes, me either." She said allowing a single tear to fall.

* * *

'I'm starting to think my dad's advice stinks.' Dash thought as she landed in front of Misty Dawn's house. Dash knew the truth though, as much as she didn't want to admit it, what stopped her from confessing her feelings to Rarity was the worry of what other ponies would say and think about her. That and the fact that she was so embarrassed and shy about it. 'That doesn't make me a bad pony, does it?' She asked herself, knocking on the door. Her answer was how bad she felt about rejecting Rarity's advances. 'Not that she was coming on to me, she said so herself.'

Suddenly the door opened. "Rainbow Dash! So glad you're here. Come on in." Misty Dawn greeted her excitedly. "Hey guys, our guest of honor has arrived!" She called out into the house.

As Dash trotted in she was in awe at the cheers and greetings she received from her fellow teammates.

"How's it going Dash?" Twister asked hovering just overhead.

"Hey Rainbow!" Sunbeam greeted giving her a slight hug.

"Ha-hey everyone." Dash stammered a little overwhelmed.

"So happy to have you here. My party would have been a bust without you." Misty Dawn said happily giving her a hug as well.

"Really?" Dash asked in disbelief.

"Of course Rainbow, this is a party for how we did and well . . . without you, last season would've been an average one at best." Misty Dawn answered.

It was just the stroke of ego Dash liked. "Yeah, I'm pretty awesome." Dash said with a cocky grin to the cheers she got in response.

"Whoo!"

Dash heard Gilda's voice from a room over. "Aw cool, Gilda is here too?"

"Oh . . . yeah. She's in the living room, on the couch." Misty said with a sigh.

"Thanks . . . to all of you." Dash said before heading to the living room. She found Gilda right where Misty said she'd be, stretched out on the couch with a bottle of cider.

"Hey, Dash. 'Bout time you showed up. Party's been pretty lame. I was about to bail." Gilda said sitting up.

"I don't know about that. Doesn't seem too bad to me . . . Plus you know how much of a sucker I am for cider." Dash said with a big smile before spotting said cider. She hurried to it and grabbed herself a bottle.

"Ha, yeah." Gilda chuckled.

"Yo Dash!" Sunbeam flew in and landed next to her. "I heard you got a practice set with a retired player from the Manehatten Magic. Is that true?" He asked.

"Oh, uh . . . yeah. Who told you?" Dash wondered

"Derpy did."

"Ha! Are you kidding me Dash? You're really going to waste your free time working?" Gilda laughed.

"Hey, I want to be the best. So, yes, I am going to keep working . . . very hard. I'll still leave some free time for myself thou." Dash added, raising her bottle before downing its contents.

"Yeah! I'm with Dash on this! Speaking of which, could I join you at your practices?" Sunbeam asked timidly.

"Ugh, whatever. As I said, I'm leaving. I'll catch you later Dash, and try not to drink too much." Gilda said getting up.

"I won't!" Dash called after her as she left, meanwhile she grabbed a second bottle. She turned to find Sunbeam staring at her. "Oh yeah, right. Uh . . . sure you can tag along I guess." Dash approved.

"Yes! I can't wait!" Sunbeam hugged her again.

'Gee, sure is a touchy kind of colt. Guess it's because we're both receivers and he looks up to me.' Dash politely pushed him off. "Just don't think you'll get as good as me."

"Oh, I plan to be even better." Sunbeam playfully challenged.

Dash smirked at that. She always enjoyed a good competition.

* * *

At their first practice, Rainbow Dash and Sunbeam were ready to give their all, but the third pony that joined them had a different focus.

"Tee-he-he. It's really you!" Derpy giggled, speaking to Hondo."Hondo Flanks, four-time all-star and two-time champion center for the Manehatten Magic!" Derpy continued, bouncing excitedly in place.

"That's me. And you are?" Hondo asked with a grin. It wasn't too often that he got recognized for his playing days.

"Derpy. Derpy Hooves. It's so great to meet you. You had such an amazing eight-year career. Like in the . . ."

Dash stopped listening and shared a glance with Sunbeam. Shrugging, they sat off to the side to wait for them to finish their chat . . . which seemed to be dragging on.

"Remind me to never bring Derpy along again." Dash muttered under her breath after so long.

"Aw, come on. She's having fun." Sunbeam said as Derpy flapped her wings excitedly while Hondo seemed lost in recalling a play.

"Yeah, well I was hoping for some tips and a workout." Dash sighed annoyed at this point.

"Hey." Sunbeam smirked and elbowed Dash. "Fifteen laps around the pond, how's that sound? Bet you can't beat me."

"A race against me? You're on." Dash accepted and in a flash, they both took off.

Dash turned out to be so glad Sunbeam had come along. After doing their race, they worked on their routes together. While they did that, Dash noticed Hondo had worked with Derpy with her transition from snapping the ball to blocking. So everypony had still gotten a workout in. So while Dash hadn't gotten any time with Hondo herself, she was still happy with how practice had gone.

As it was, it was getting late and they were all resting. Derpy sat on the back porch, still chatting with Hondo. Dash was sitting lakeside with Sunbeam. Both of them relaxing with their back hooves in the water.

"Hey, thanks for tagging along. Things may not have turned out the way I had expected, but . . . I still had fun. You should come along next time as well." Dash said splashing the water softly.

"Really? I'd like that. You should take Derpy again too. She really enjoyed herself too." Sunbeam commented, watching Dash.

Rainbow glanced over at Derpy, who was much calmer than before, still, she looked like she was having fun as Hondo was telling her something. "Yeah, she deserves it." 'Ponies always give her a hard time. She should have some happier moments.' Dash thought, her gaze shifting over to Sunbeam. He was staring right at her. "What's up?" Dash asked, wondering what was that odd look in his eyes.

"Oh, I was just thinking, we make a good duo, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, next year we'll be unstoppable." Dash agreed.

"Well . . . I'm happy it's you. We are a great team you and I." Sunbeam said nervously.

"Yeah . . . you said that already." Dash gave her mane an impatient flick.

"Right . . . well, what I'm trying to say is . . . I love you." Sunbeam said scooting closer to her.

'What?' Dash thought frozen. She cracked her mouth open to speak, but no words came to her.

Sunbeam took this as an invitation and leaned in, kissing her.

Dash was stunned, this was her first kiss and it felt . . . blissful. 'This is how Sunbeam feels about me? Wow. Does this mean we're together now? No more being called a fillyfooler? That we're dating? Date . . . oh shoot! My date with Rarity! I said it'd be the next time I came over, also it's not a date, we're just friends.'

"Rainbow?" Sunbeam asked, snapping Dash back to reality.

When had the kiss ended? Dash didn't know, but she jumped to her hooves. "Thanks, Sunbeam, I- . . . have to go." She sped off, leaving Sunbeam to wonder if that had been a good or bad reaction from her. Dash raced to the door just to find Rarity stepping out with a tray of drinks. "Hey, Rarity." Dash said quickly.

"Rainbow." Rarity said curtly, muzzle raised indignantly, not even looking toward her.

"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Dash guessed at what should've been obvious.

Rarity saw both Derpy and her father look over having overheard that. She set the tray down in between the two before turning back to Dash. "Yes, I am." She stated in a hushed tone so that only Dash would hear her.

"Look, Rarity-" Dash started softly just to be cut off by Rarity pulling her inside. Rarity closed the door behind them before looking to Dash for an explanation. "Look, Rarity-" Dash was cut off once more by Rarity, this time pushing her away gently.

"Sorry darling, but you're all sweaty and smell awful." She explained with a snort to clear the stench from her lungs.

"Look, Rarity, I realize I kinda lied to you about going out with you, but I can make it up to you. Tomorrow morning I'll come over and . . . you can pick out a dress for me to wear." Dash said with the last part under her breath.

"And you'll wear it around town with me?"

"Yes."

"Deal." Rarity agreed. While it hadn't sounded like much, she could tell it pained Dash to offer it, yet she did it for her. Which she thought was sweet, so Rarity took the apology. She rather not be mad at Dash anyways.

"Cool. I'll see you then." Dash said with a relieved smile.

"Oh, and don't worry Dashie, I'll pick out a dress you'll like and look good in." Rarity assured her with a wink.

"I hope so." Dash said with some worry. As Rainbow went outside she passed Hondo who was on his way inside. They said their quick goodbyes and Dash found her alone face to face with Sunbeam. "Oh, hey. Where's Derpy?" She asked glancing around. Her heart pounding as she had no clue as to what to say or do.

"She left. Said she had to go home." Sunbeam informed her.

"Okay." Dash wished she had something else to follow that up with for a long awkward silence followed instead.

"Could . . . I fly you home?" Sunbeam offered.

Dash saw no harm in it so she nodded.

Author's Note:

Sunbeam's crush on Rainbow was not originally planned. I thought of it after writing the party at Misty Dawn's and saw it added a lot to happen later on. It was a choice I love/hate but in the end it tied too many things together to remove so I look at all the good that came from it.

Season 2 was easily my muse season. Most ideas for the story were thought of while writing it. I wrote it with more ease than any other season. I went from, maybe a hundred page story, to this is gonna be over three hundred pages. I hope y'all will enjoy it as much as I did.

Comments

[SnowOriole]

Interesting premise, but the grammar needs some serious work. Bring this back with a beta reader, or even just a computer grammar check (grammarly.com for instance) and I'm sure it will be much lovelier Otherwise, it's really good! Keep it up!

[shakealchemist]

10742534
Thanks for the suggestion. Grammarly helps a lot. Me typing chapters up late at night certainly doesn't.