> Rainbow Dash and Soarin: Wingbeat > by Pimped Kiwi > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Ponyville... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- An Evening sun slowly drifted beyond the Horizon and the streets of Cloudsdale were buzzing with life, crowds of Peggasi were swarming every corner of the marketplace and the city was alive with vibrant colours and an air of excitement. The Wonderbolt Headquarters stood above the countless shops and restaurants that covered almost every inch of the vast metropolis. Inside the famous building a pale blue Pegasus paced around his room occasionally stopping to look at a Callander that hung on his wall. "One week" the Stallion thought aloud to himself, "But where?", He seemed to trail of for a moment, standing and gazing blankly at a map of Equestria that hung next to his Calendar. A familiar voice called to him from the doorway, "Daydreaming again Soarin?", the Stallion instantly snapped out of his trance after recognising his name and he turned to face the intruder. "Oh, hey Spitfire" Soarin called back to the bright yellow Pegasus that had appeared in his doorway. Spitfire raised an eyebrow at Soarin, "Y'know you were due downstairs for dinner like half an hour ago right?" the mare spoke impatiently, "Oh, right..." the stallion replied having clearly forgotten, he turned back to his calendar and ran a hoof through his dark blue mane, "Spitfire..." He began to speak "Where are you going for your week of?". Spitfire looked at Soarin inquisitively "Uh... Going?, well... Nowhere I guess" she responded, "You're just staying in Cloudsdale for hearts and hooves day?" Soarin asked curiously, Spitfire gave Soarin a confused look "Well... Yeah me and Rapidfire were-" "Oh right... Rapidfire...." Soarin interrupted sounding slightly sadder than intended, "Soarin we've been through this, you and me are just friends okay?" Spitfire shouted almost angrily at the Stallion, "I know" Soarin began " but I'd rather be with a friend than on my own" he responded looking down at the cloud floor. Aside from other Wonderbolts Soarin really didn't know many other ponies. "You'll find somepony Soarin, I know loads of ponies that would go crazy for a stallion like you" Spitfire spoke trying to sound supportive but coming across slightly patronisingly. "Thanks Spitfire" Soarin eventually replied "But I'd rather not be with some random fan mare, I'm fine with being alone but I'd rather spend my break somewhere other than Cloudsdale, I just wish I knew where" The stallion turned back to his map and began studying it sighing in frustration. "How about Ponyville?" Spitfire replied, "Ponyville?" Soarin looked back at Spitfire who had now moved to his side, "Yeah! I went there for a week a couple years back, It's a great place to go if you're just looking to relax for the week" Spitfire spoke as if she was giving some kind of sales pitch, She drew Soarin's attention to Ponyvilles location on the map "s'not to far away either, About an hour away by train" Spitfire continued before standing up and walking to the door "Don't take to much longer up here" she added "There's still some apple pie left downstairs if you hurry", Soarin's ears instantly picked up at hearing this, "Apple pie!?" He asked enthusiastically "Yep" Spitfire replied "and I'd hurry if I were you because I told Fleetfoot that, if you weren't down there in ten minutes, she could have the last of it". Soarin instantly jumped up and flew past Spitfire and down the hallway thinking about their conversation, clearly the idea of relaxing for a week was growing on him the more he thought about it, Soarin began to think aloud to himself again as he sped of down the hallway, he paused next to a window and watched the last few minutes of sunset, his emerald green eyes fixed on the horizon as the dim orange glow disappeared "Ponyville...". ------------------------------- Meanwhile in Ponyville ------------------------------- The town was almost in complete darkness, the subtle glow from the windows of shops and houses were slowly going out one by one as the residents of Ponyville were turning in for the night, all except Rainbow Dash. The Cyan Mare flew from Sweet Apple Acres at the edge of the town back to her cloud house above the small village leaving a rainbow trail in her flight path. When she arrived home she stopped on the balcony and looked out to watch the sun disappear over the horizon, she thought about all the other ponies who were watching the same sunset as her. She pushed her front door open and trotted inside, she was immediately greeted by her pet tortoise Tank, "Hey there buddy" the cyan Pegasus said petting his shell with her hoof before wandering into her bedroom and collapsing on her cloud bed. The Rainbow Mained Pegasus let out a long sigh of relief as she laid back and admired the posters of her favourite team of acrobatic peggasi "The Wonderbolts", She knew the names of each of them of by heart, "Fleetfoot, Fire Streak, High Winds" She went along the poster going through the names in her head "Wave Chill, Spitfire.... And Soarin..." She stopped and gazed into the emerald green eyes of the stallion on the poster, she had met her heroes before on a number of occasions, at the Grand Galloping Gala in Canterlot, at the Best young fliers competition In Cloudsdale, and yet she was starstruck every time she would even look at a poster with their faces on it. She flung herself back onto her bed and closed her eyes with the image of Soarin's Emerald Green eyes still strong in her mind as she drifted of to sleep. Morning Sunlight flooded in through Dash's windows the next morning and casted it's warm orange glow across her face, The Cyan Pegasus opened her eyes, clambered out of bed and trotted over to her balcony. While still in a drowsy state she spread her wings and flew down towards sugarcube corner, she dove through every cloud in her path, the condensation was refreshing and woke her up instantly, as she flew past town hall she noticed a train pulling into the station but the streets were so busy with activity that she didn't even notice one of her heroes getting of the train. Soarin stepped of the train and stretched his wings, after a full term of intense training he chose the train over flying. He walked into the town square and began taking in his surroundings, the town was quite, or at least in comparison to Cloudsdale, the streets weren't nearly as crowded. For a while the Stallion just stood by the town hall taking in the natural beauty of the area he found himself in until he noticed an orange earth pony pulling a wagon full of apple baskets that was clearly to heavy for her in the direction of the market, Soarin instantly noticed something familiar about the mare but he couldn't quite put his hoof on it. Finding himself in a chivalrous mood Soarin trotted over to the mare to lend her a hoof, "Excuse me miss? Do you need help wi..."Soarin began before being cut of by the sudden aroma of Apple pie's from the mare's cart, the smell instantly reminding him of exactly who the mare pulling the cart was, "Hey, I know you!" Soarin exclaimed "You're that mare that sold me that awesome apple pie at the Gala last year!", Soarin, being the mare's only customer on the night of the gala, seemed familiar to the mare too, "Oh yeah, ah remember you" the mare spoke in a familiar southern accent, "say ain't you one of them Wonderbolt fellers?" She asked with a look of sudden curiosity, "Sure am" He replied, "names Soarin" he said introducing himself to the mare, "Nice to meet you Soarin, I'm Applejack" the earth pony responded shaking Soarin's hoof a little to firmly, "I was just wondering if you needed a hoof pulling that cart" Soarin asked, "Well That'd be great!" Applejack responded gratefully, "If you could just carry these baskets that'd be a great help" she said gesturing toward two baskets in the back of the cart, Soarin grabbed the two baskets and trotted alongside Applejack to the market,"So Soarin, what brings you to Ponyville" Applejack asked inquisitively, "Every Wonderbolt gets a week of work for Hearts and Hooves day" Soarin began "I didn't really have any plans so my friend Spitfire told me this was a good place to relax", "Well your friend was right" Applejack spoke with the same "Sales pitch" tone as Spitfire had done. Soarin set the baskets down next to an apple stall in the center of the marketplace, "thanks for all yer' help Soarin" Applejack said gratefully, "why don't you swing by Sweet Apple Acres later and I'll make some of those apple pie's to repay you", normally Soarin would've rejected any kind of reward for such a small task, but with the taste of the last apple pie he bought from Applejack at the grand galloping gala still lingering in his mind he accepted instantly, "Ah should really tell my friend Rainbow dash you're here" Applejack continued "She's a huge fan of the Wonderbolts, you in particular", Soarin blushed slightly, "Well anyway, I'll see yah later Applejack" Soarin waved as he flew of to perch on a cloud that hung over the town center, Soarin laid back on a cloud and closed his eyes, "Rainbow Dash..." Soarin thought to himself, "where have I heard that name before..." > A familiar face > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning sunlight spread across Soarin's face and the distant buzz of hummingbirds filled the air, "What a great way to wake up", Soarin thought to himself as he stared up into the blue sky above him. For a moment Soarin laid there, just thinking to himself, until he heard a silent "poomf" sound from beneath him as the cloud below him disappeared. As he suddenly realised he was falling Soarin began to flap his wings rapidly to try to keep him from hitting the ground or at least absorb some of the impact. Soarin landed with a loud thud, the stallion immediately got up and dusted himself of, relieved that he wasn't injured he looked up in confusion to where his makeshift bed used to be until he was greeted by a voice from behind him. "Woah! sorry about that mister!" Soarin spun to face the voice but found himself blinded by the morning sun causing him to close his eyes tight, "What... What happened?" Soarin asked the voice, "It was a complete accident, I swear I didn't even see you on that cloud" the voice replied, "You...you kicked me off the cloud?" Soarin asked still dazed by the sunlight, "We'll not exactly" the voice replied, "I'm part of the Ponyville weather team and I was just clearing the sky when you fell right out of that cloud I kicked, you're not hurt or anything are you?" The voice asked, "I'm fine" Soarin replied waving a hoof dismissively, "Names Soarin" the stallion said finally opening his eyes to meet the source of the voice. A cyan Pegasus mare with a familiar rainbow mane stood there before him with a sudden look of recognition frozen on her face, "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! You're a Wonderbo..." The mare stopped halfway through her sentence, a look of horror spread across her face as she realized that she had almost killed one of her idols, she stood there for a moment, blankly staring into Soarin's emerald green eyes, "Uh miss? Are you okay?" Soarin eventually asked, the mare slowly began trying to talk but unexpectedly collapsed forwards into Soarin's arms, "Oh... Uh... Okay?" Soarin said to himself as he stood there awkwardly supporting the mare. The cyan Pegasus opened her eyes, she found herself in an unfamiliar room, she sat up to analyse her surroundings, "Was... Was that all a dream?" she asked herself aloud, "Nope" came the response from the doorway, the rainbow mane's Pegasus turned to meet Soarin's familiar emerald green eyes, as the mare sat up Soarin entered the room, "Don't try to get up to fast" he said putting a hoof on her shoulder, "you feelin' okay?", she let out a silent fan-mare squeal at the sudden physical interaction between them, "uh, yeah, I'm fine, just kinda tired" the mare spoke trying to sound as unexcited as possible by the presence of her idol. "Well, we should probably get you home" Soarin said finally, "you okay to get up?" he asked, the mare nodded as Soarin helped her up, "Name's rainbo..." she began "Rainbow dash" Soarin interrupted "You're the one who saved my pie at the gala" He said with a sudden grin spread across his face, Rainbow dash blushed at the fact that one of her her idol's remembered her name, "So where do you live?" Soarin asked, Dash looked at him for a moment slightly confused, "Well you said you were tired didn't you?" he continued "Don't want you flying home all on your own incase, y'know... Anything happens", Rainbow dash blushed as she once again stared deep into Soarin's emerald green eyes. After a few minutes Soarin and Rainbow Dash were speeding through the air towards her house, when they arrived at the front porch of Dash's cloud house she turned to face her companion, "Thanks for flying me home Soarin" She blushed, "Oh.. Uh no problem" Soarin said quickly softly kicking the cloud floor underneath him, "Uh... Dash?" he looked up to meet her magenta eyes, "Yeah?" Dash responded still clearly excited by Soarin's presence, "You wouldn't wanna like... Uh... Do something tonight would you?" Soarin asked timidly, "Is he asking me out!?" Rainbow dash thought to herself, "YES!... uh I mean... Sounds good" She said excitedly, "Great so I'll pick you up here at like seven?" Soarin replied quickly, "Great!" said Dash now failing miserably to hide her excitement. Soarin went to fly of the balcony when he was stopped by a cyan hoof on his shoulder, "Oh and uh Soarin?" Dash said, "Thanks for looking after me" she said hugging him, Soarin nodded and returned the hug before flying of back to his hotel room where he had taken Dash leaving the mare alone on her balcony to watch him fly of into the distance, "I've got a date with a Wonderbolt!" She said aloud to herself before letting out another fan-mare squeal and trotting inside. > Super Special Somepony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I can do this" Soarin thought to himself as he flew towards Rainbow Dash's house, "Wait... What if... What if she already has plans for Hearts and hooves day!?" Soarin stopped in his tracks, "I'll look like a complete idiot!" The stallion said aloud to himself. Soarin thought before a moment to himself, "I need to ask her" he finally thought to himself, "I already missed the chance once at the Gala", he flew of again towards Rainbow Dash's house. Meanwhile the Cyan Pegasus was pacing back and forth in her living room with the same look of excitement spread across her face as she had earlier that day, She couldn't get the image of Soarin's eyes out of her mind. A sudden knock at the door caused Rainbow Dash to jump in surprise before running over to answer it. Soarin and Rainbow Dash sat on a cloud later that night in complete silence, countless stars pierced the vast expanse of stars and the small town below them was shrouded in darkness except for the eerie glow of the moonlight. Eventually Soarin decided to speak up, "Uh... Dash?" The Stallion said timidly, "There's uh... Something I wanted to ask you...". The familiar look of excitement appeared across Dash's face but she managed to his it, "What is it?" she asked quickly, "Well uh..." Soarin paused and looked over to his companion, The moonlight illuminated her cyan coat and her Magenta eyes shone through the darkness, "I was just wondering... I mean unless you had any other plans..."Soarin paused again, he found himself leaning slightly closer to Dash with every word, "Just spit it out would ya?" Dash said seriously also leaning closer. The Stallions face was only inches away from Dash's at this point and getting closer, "Well I uh..." Soarin froze again as they both stopped leaning, "Oh for the love of Celestia! this is taking to long" Dash exclaimed as she threw her arms around Soarin and their lips met, Soarin's eyes immediately widened in surprise but he quickly shut the to savour every moment of her embrace. They sat there together, Silhouetted by the moon and locked in each other's embrace, eventually Dash buried her muzzle in Soarin's mane and they sat there in perfect silence. "Dash..." Soarin eventually spoke, "Yeah?" she replied, "I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier, I mean... I should've said something when I met you at the Gala, I mean... I knew how I felt about you but..." "Don't worry about it Soarin..." Dash said slowly still embracing him tightly, "Will you be my Super Special Somepony?" Soarin asked grinning widely, Without speaking Dash leaned in and kissed Soarin again. Time seemed to stand still while the Peggasi were locked in each other's embrace. "Well... I had a great night..." Dash said slowly as they arrived back at the front porch of her cloud house, "Yeah me too..." Soarin replied smiling, "So i'll see you tomorrow right?" He asked looking Dash in the eyes, "You mean Hearts and Hooves day?, yeah I'll see you tomorrow" Dash replied laughing slightly, Soarin nodded and hugged Dash again before turning around and flying of into the night with a confident smile frozen on his face. When he arrived back at his hotel room Soarin sat on his bed and began replaying the events of the night over in his mind,"She said yes!" he thought to himself, "She actually said yes!",The Stallion laid back on his bed and closed his eyes, the same confident smile was still frozen on his face as he thought about her, "Spitfire was right", he thought, "I did find somepony > Hearts and Hooves Day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Sunlight flooded across Ponyville and the streets were alive with Pony couples, Heart shaped decorations covered the walls and a large pink and white banner with "Happy Hearts and Hooves Day!" Spread across it hung above the town hall. On the outskirts of the town Soarin sat by a lake, alone and gazing into his reflection in the water, he looked blankly over his shoulder and saw Rainbow Dash's cloud house in the distance. Soarin had arranged to meet her in about half an hour but he hardly slept at all last night, the events of his date with Rainbow Dash still lingered strong in his mind, the image of her beautiful magenta eyes and the kiss they shared, Soarin stood up, his gaze still fixated on Dash's cloud house, the stallion trotted into town and picked up a bouquet of flowers before flying of to meet Dash. "She wouldn't mind if I was a little early... would she?" Soarin thought to himself as he arrived on Dash's front porch holding the flowers in his mouth, he knocked on her front door but there was no answer, eventually Soarin decided to check inside, "Dash!?" he called setting the flowers down on a table "you in here!?", no response, Soarin walked out of the house and closed the door behind him, "Maybe she already went into town" He said aloud to himself sounding slightly worried, The stallion spread his wings and flew up to get a good view of his surroundings. Although he couldn't see Dash in the town he shortly found her, sleeping, on the cloud where they had sat the night before, Soarin looked down at the sleeping mare and breathed a sigh of relief, "She probably couldn't stop thinking about last night either" Soarin said aloud to himself causing the mare to role over on the cloud and grumble in her sleep, Soarin thought about kicking the cloud from underneath her as payback but instead he found himself just staring at her, she was beautiful, every detail about her from her flowing mane to the way her cyan coat glistened in the morning sunlight, Soarin knew it for a while now, since he first saw her at the Gala, but he was to afraid to admit it to himself let alone to her, to afraid to admit that he actually loved her. Eventually Soarin pulled Dash onto his back causing her to stir and bury her muzzle into his dark blue mane as they flew of back to Dash's house, Soarin flew through the front door and carefully dropped Dash of in what he presumed was her bedroom, Soarin sat on the end of her bed looking at her, "I'm glad you're okay Dash" Soarin said to the sleeping mare "I was worried for a moment that you might've... ran away from me" he looked down at the unconscious Pegasus that lay there before him, the image of her bright magenta eyes flashed in his eyes again, "Dash..." Soarin continued quietly to the mare yet trying not to wake her at the same time, "I... I think I love you...". Soarin sat there listening to Dash's steady breathing, his last words seemed to hang in the air, Dash didn't move or react meaning that she was still fast asleep, Soarin breathed a sigh of relief, he knew how he felt about her but he didn't know how to tell her or even if he should tell her at all. It had been so long since Soarin had felt this way about anypony, Soarin thought back to the last relationship he had, five years ago just before he joined the Wonderbolts, the exact thing that broke up the only decent relationship he ever had, he and Spitfire both agreed that it would be better for their career to just be friends but Soarin never even felt half as close to Spitfire as what he felt when he looked at Dash. Soarin sat there in silence for a while longer before pulling the bed covers over the still unconscious mare and trotting downstairs to let her sleep. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but part of him wanted to leave before she woke up, Soarin found himself standing outside Dash's bedroom looking back at the sleeping mare, "Maybe I'll just say 'till she wakes up.." He thought as he stood staring blankly at the mare. Meanwhile the events of the gala played over and over in Dash's mind, how she saw Soarin from across the room, how she saved his apple pie and then how there eyes met for the first time, "Dash... I... I think I love you..." She thought she heard the Stallion say, "Wait..." Dash thought to herself, "... He never said anything like that at the Gala..." Soarin's words echoed through the room and when Dash looked up again they were alone, Just her and Soarin, she knew this was a dream but for some reason she didn't want to wake up, then a sudden realisation swept over the dreaming mare, "Why am I even dreaming about him?..." She thought to herself, "I mean... I like him....but...." And then it hit her, she couldn't believe she didn't realise it until now, "Ohmygosh!..." She thought suddenly, "Do I... Do I Love Soarin!?...". Dash opened her eyes to find herself in her own cloud bed, "How... how did I get back here?..." Dash thought to herself before looking over to the corner of her room to find a familliar Pale Blue Stallion Admiring her collection of Wonderbolt Posters, "They never get my eyes right..." Soarin said to the now awoken mare while pointing at a poster of himself, Dash blushed in embarrassment before a sudden realisation came over her, "Ohmygosh! I'm so sorry! I completely lost track of time!" Dash stammered apologetically, Soarin waved a hoof dismissively and smiled at Dash, "Hearts and Hooves day isn't over yet..." He began smiling at her and walking to the side of her cloud bed, "Wanna go flying?" Soarin look at the mare expectantly, she now had a look of excitement frozen on her face, "YES!...Uh... I mean... yeah sure..." Dash responded trying not to sound too enthusiastic. Soarin held out a hoof and helped Dash out of bed, they trotted over to the front door and Soarin exited onto the front porch, Dash went to join him but noticed a beautiful bouquet of blue and white flowers on the side table near the door, she trotted over to the flowers and read a small heart shaped greeting card that hung from the stem of one of the flowers, "To Dash, Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Love Soarin", Dash blushed upon reading those last two words, "Love Soarin...", "Dash? You coming?" Soarin shouted trotting back inside before coming to a full stop as he see's Dash holding the greeting card in her hooves. "Oh... I uh... I forgot I left those here..." Soarin stammered looking over to the flowers as he began to blush, "I love them... Thank you Soarin..." Dash said slowly looking up at the Stallion with a smile, There was a moment of perfect silence between the two as they gazed deeply into each other eyes, Soarin thought about coming right out and telling Dash how he felt right there and then but the constant fear that she may not feel the same way prevented him from doing so, "We should uh... we should go..." Soarin said slowly, shattering the perfect silence, Dash nodded in response, "Oh uh... right..." Dash responded the excitement of flying with one of her heroes returning, they turned and trotted outside without saying another word. The two Pegasi flew for hours on end with no particular destination, trails of smoke and rainbows followed behind the two as they sped through the wide open airspace above Ponyville, neither of them spoke a word, after a while Dash began to ascend to a great height over the town, faded memories of the Best Young Fliers Competition instantly flashed in Soarin's mind as he realised what she was doing, he hastily followed her meeting her at a great altitude, they looked down at the town below them and then to each other, Soarin smiled and noded at Dash as she did the same. The two Pegasi plunged down towards the town at a great speed causing white cones of vapour to form around them, there speed grew greater and greater as the ground came closer and closer, and then it happened, with two deafeningly loud Cracks two rings spread across the vast expanse of sky, one Rainbow ring and one storm cloud ring with sparks of electricity jumping from it, the display of colours could be seen from miles around as it illuminated the evening sky, Soarin and Dash flew away from the rings at an unbelievable speed, thick trails of storm cloud and Rainbow followed behind them as the swept across the sky before finally coming to a halt and landing on a nearby cloud. Both Pegasi were clearly exhausted as they panted for air, then all of a sudden Dash spoke up, "That...was...AWESOME!!", She shouted excitedly, they both laughed and collapsed on the cloud next to each other still panting for air, she had never spoken like that around Soarin before, almost as if the formality of talking to a Wonderbolt had disappeared. For the first time Dash felt comfortable around Soarin, not Starstruck like she was every other time they had met but she felt an actual connection and Soarin felt it too, they laid there on the cloud, staring deeply into each other's eyes, the trails they had woven into the sky were barely visible now. The urge to tell Dash how he felt was overwhelming but Soarin's fear still had the better of him, either way he didn't want to ruin the moment by breaking the perfect silence they once again found themselves in, time seemed to stand still while they sat together until Soarin shuffled closer to Dash, there faces were inches apart just as they had been the night before as there lips met for a second time, but this time it was different, it wasn't a surprise for either one or a "Spur of the moment" kind of thing. This time both Dash and Soarin knew how they felt about the other, even though they were both too afraid to admit it, they both knew this was love. > Those Three Words > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I hope you're not looking for some kind of promotion with a performance like that Soarin" Spitfire called jokingly as she entered the Wonderbolt HQ Cafeteria, Soarin sat alone in a remote corner of the empty room lost in thought until finally looking over to his friend and then letting his gaze drop to the floor ashamedly, Spitfire approached the silent stallion and sat opposite him, "I know that look y'know.." She said laughing slightly, Soarin looked at her with a confused expression, "Aw don't try n' hide it, haven't seen that look in a while...so who is she?" Spitfire asked inquisitively. Soarin looked up at her with a slightly more serious look on his face, "...You know who she is..." He said slowly looking back down at the table, "That's why you suggested Ponyville to me isn't it? Because you knew she lived there?" Spitfire remained silent but held the stallions gaze, they both sat there for a moment in silence, Soarin thought about the week he spent in Ponyville with her, the mare of his dreams, It had seemed like years since he saw her yet it had only been a few days. "I saw how you looked at her at the Gala..." Spitfire began slowly, "It was the same way you looked at me back when we... y'know..." Spitfire trailed off and dropped her gaze to the ground, "Thank you..." Soarin said smiling at his friend, Spitfire nodded in response before putting a hoof on his shoulder, "You didn't tell her... did you?" She asked slowly, Soarin looked up at his friend "Well... Kind of... He said slowly, Spitfire looked at him inquisitively, "I... asked her to be my date for hearts and hooves day but... I just.... I never told her exactly how I feel..." Soarin found himself looking past his friend and staring of into the distance, a saddened look plastered on his face, "It's not like I don't know how I feel but... It's like...every moment I'm not with her just..." Soarin trailed of and dropped his gaze again. "I get it Soarin... honestly I do... but you need to tell her!" Spitfire said supportively, Soarin looked up at her and nodded slowly, "Next week in Las Pegasus... you gave her tickets to the air show didn't you?" Spitfire continued, Soarin nodded again remembering the Cyan mare's excitement as he gave her the tickets a few days earlier, "Well there's your chance..." Spitfire continued, Soarin smiled at her as she nodded once more before turning to leave, "I still mean what I said earlier y'know..." Spitfire continued with her back to Soarin, "I DO know loads of mare's who would go crazy for a stallion like you..." She paused causing Soarin to look over to her, "... And Rainbow Dash is one of them..." She finished smiling as she walked toward the door leaving Soarin sitting in silence. ---------------------------------------------- Meanwhile in Ponyville ---------------------------------------------- "OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygosh!!" Rainbow dash screamed as she flew around her friend Twilight's house, "Only three more Days until the Air show in Las Pegasus!!" The mare flew around the room frantically in anticipation, "It was very generous of Soarin to get tickets for all of us" came the response from a purple unicorn in the corner of the room without looking up from the book she was reading. "Uh... Twilight? Can I ask you something?" Rainbow dash hovered above Twilight attracting the mare's attention, "Sure Dash, what's up?" Twilight asked standing up as Rainbow Dash landed on the ground in front of her, "Well... uh... Me and Soarin... kind of..." Dash began slowly, "You love him don't you?" Twilight asked seriously looking into Dash's eyes as she began to blush, "What!? Love him? I.... Is it really that obvious?" Dash asked staring at the ground, "It's... fairly obvious..." Twilight responded smiling as she put a hoof on her friends shoulder. "I'm happy for you Rainbow" Twilight said supportively, Rainbow Dash continued to stare at the ground, "What's wrong?" Twilight asked, "Well..." Dash began, slowly lifting her head, "I... I don't know if he.... Loves me too..." Dash finished dropping her head to the floor again, Twilight looked at the saddened mare but smiled down at her, "I'm sure he does Dash" Twilight assured her friend,"I've seen the way you look at him, and he looks at you the same way..." Twilight continued slowly. Dash slowly lifted her head again and smiled at her friend, "Thanks Twi, you're a good friend" Dash said pulling the unicorn in for a hug, "Did you... tell him?" Twilight asked slowly, Dash shook her head, "How am I supposed to know if he feels the same way? I mean we... we spent Hearts and Hooves day together but... what if that was just a one time thing!?" Dash said dropping her gaze to the floor, "I.... I understand Dash..." Twilight said slowly putting a hoof on her friends shoulder, "Maybe you should talk to him... in Las Pegasus" She suggested, Dash looked up with a slightly happier expression, "Maybe I will..." Dash said looking over to her friend, "Thanks Twi...". Rainbow Dash sat on her cloud bed later that evening thinking about everything Twilight had said, she thought about the week she had spent with Soarin, their first kiss, and how they flew together, It didn't feel like flying with a Wonderbolt, after she had realised how she felt she was finally able to look past what he was to see who he was, a handsome, down-to-earth stallion who she was hopelessly in love with, and she hated knowing that she let him get on that train without telling him how she felt. After Hearts and Hooves day Soarin and Rainbow Dash spent most of their time together, flying around the town and watching the sunset together, she had introduced him to her friends, Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack who he had already met at the Gala, and before he left he had given Dash tickets for her and her friends to the Wonderbolts air show in Las Pegasus. Dash still remembered their goodbye, As much as She knew Soarin couldn't stay she still wanted him to, she wanted them to be together but she could never bring herself to say the three words that might have made him stay. Dash looked over at the emerald green eyes of the poster on her wall, they seemed much brighter in person, she found herself staring at the stallion on the wall before looking over to the wilted flowers in a vase on her bedside table, she picked up the greeting card again "To Dash, happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Love Soarin", the card's message was etched into her mind, "Love Soarin" she repeated the words in her mind as she had done before, "Love Soarin...." Dash laid back in her bed and closed her eyes, still lost in thought about how she would tell Soarin what she felt and how he would react. "Maybe he does feel the same way..." Dash thought to herself reassuringly, Dash was overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions, sadness because of Soarin's absence, excitement of seeing him again in three days, anger at herself for not telling him sooner, but most of all love, love for the handsome, down-to-earth stallion who stole her heart. > City of Lights > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Las Pegasus arena came into view over the horizon as the Wonderbolts private train sped onwards, the street lights and flashing neon signs that covered almost every inch of the vibrant city illuminated the evening sky, the loud screech of train brakes echoed through the underground station as the train came to a stop. Rows of ponies had turned out to witness the Wonderbolts arrival, security guards and metal barricades formed a path from the train to the arena to hold back the crowds. The train door opened and Spitfire was the first to exit shortly followed by Soarin who trotted to her side, they were both dressed in pale blue shirts decorated in medals and badges, for a while they both stood and looked out into the roaring crowds before grinning at each other and waving to the screaming fans who lined their path, the were joined by two other ponies, Rapidfire a bright orange stallion with a bright orange coat and dark orange mane and tail similar to Spitfire's, and Fleetfoot, a Turquoise mare with a white mane and tale, both of who wore the same pale blue Wonderbolt formal uniform, "Smile for the camera's ladies" Spitfire smirked as she pulled a pair of sunglasses from her front pocket and put them on before leading the way down the path. The four ponies followed behind Spitfire at a steady pace, stopping occasionally to sign autographs for their younger fans, especially Rapidfire who always seemed to display a kind of "over-confidence" around fans as he frequently stopped to make ridiculous poses for photos or flirt with any fan mare who was in talking distance of the barricade. About half an hour later the pegasi arrived at the entrance to the arena and, after signing a few more autographs, made their way inside. Spitfire breathed a loud sigh of relief as they entered the arena lobby, "Well that took longer than it should've" she sighed before trotting over to the reception desk, "We would've been here sooner if Napoleon Dynamite over here didn't have to stop and flirt with everything with a pulse" Fleetfoot exclaimed pointing over to Rapidfire who had collapsed on a couch in the corner, "What can I say? The camera's love me" Rapidfire smirked, "Yeah, Too bad the mare's don't" Soarin chimed in before trotting over beside Spitfire and earning a glare from Rapidfire. Spitfire finished filling in a form and pushed it over to the mare at the reception desk who handed her four hotel room keys, "Alright" she spoke up throwing a key over to Rapidfire, hitting him in the face and then one to Fleetfoot, passing another to Soarin and keeping her own "Get some sleep, I wanna see everyone down here for warm-ups at 0700 hours understood?", "Yes ma'am" Soarin and Fleetfoot said together, Spitfire looked over to Rapidfire who seemed to be paying no attention and occupying himself by reflecting the ceiling light off one of his badges into Soarin's eyes causing him to wince and glare at him, Spitfire trotted over to Rapidfire and smacked his hoof away before leaning in close to him and muttering something barely audible to Soarin and Fleetfoot but by the look of terror slowly spreading on Rapidfire's face they knew it was something threatening, "Understood?" Spitfire finished looking Rapidfire square in the eyes, the stallion nodded his head quickly, "Y...yes ma'am..." He stuttered in a hushed tone. Fleetfoot and Soarin walked over to an elevator on the far side of the lobby, Soarin reached up and pushed a button to open the elevator door's before walking inside followed by Fleetfoot, as the pair ascended the tall building Fleetfoot looked over to Soarin who had an expressionless look on his face, "So... who is she?..." Fleetfoot spoke up causing Soarin to look at her strangely, "Who's wh..." his eyes suddenly widened with the realisation that she had somehow found out about Rainbow Dash, he looked away trying to avoid the conversation as best as he could, "So uh... nice city huh?" he stuttered desperately trying to change the subject, Fleetfoot stared at him blankly before sighing, "You can talk to me y'know" she said slowly, "I'm not Rapidfire... I can take these things seriously..." She continued to stare at him before Soarin finally sighed and looked her in the eye, "her name's Rainbow Dash..." he said dropping his gaze to the floor, "She's just this mare I met at the best young fliers competition last year, y'know the one that saved us with that sonic rainboom thingy?" he spoke trying to sound as casual as possible, Fleetfoot nodded and motioned for him to continue, "Well we... met again at the Gala a couple months after that... and then we danced together at the Royal wedding..." he trailed of and slowly looked back up at Fleetfoot who was staring at him inquisitively, "You... Like her?" she asked, Soarin didn't answer, "Soarin! do you like her?!" she yelled causing Soarin to flinch as the elevator doors opened on their floor, "Oh wow heheh... look at the time" Soarin said nervously holding up an imaginary watch, "I... Better get going" he said before running of down the hallway and running up to his door while fumbling for his key. "Looking for this?" Fleetfoot's smug voice came from behind Soarin as he turned to see her holding his room key with a mischievous grin frozen on her face, "how did you..." Soarin stared at the keys in confusion, "Now answer the question and you can have it" Fleetfoot said retaining the same grin, Soarin stood in silence before letting his gaze drop to the ground, "...Yes..." he said slowly without looking up, "Yes what?" Fleetfoot asked with an expectant expression, "Yes... I.... Ligmblehrg" Soarin mumbled under his breath, "Diiiiidn't catch that...."Fleetfoot jeered dangling the keys in front of him with her grin growing wider by the second, "Yes I like her!!" Soarin yelled quickly before grabbing the keys and hastily unlocking the door and slamming it in her face. ---------------------------------------------- Soarin trotted further into his hotel room and threw the key down on a table beside the door with the local newspaper laid on it with the headline "Freak Weather Patterns spotted near Las Pegasus", Soarin stared at the headline showing no real interest before walking further into his room. Before any kind of air show the Wonderbolts always had fancy hotel rooms to stay in for the night before and after the show and this place was no exception, expensive looking paintings lined every wall and a large crystal chandelier hung over the centre of the room, a small desk holding a complimentary fruit basket stood next to a large glass door leading through to a balcony overlooking the city. Soarin flung his shirt onto a King sized bed that stood opposite of the balcony and wandered over to the fruit basket, he picked up an apple and walked out onto the balcony, the cool night air hit him as he opened the sliding glass door, as he approached the railing he looked down at the city below him, the flashing neon lights and signs were all slowly going out one by one, Soarin bit into the apple and stared on blankly into the city until eventually he found it It complete darkness. The stallions eyes slowly drifted away from the city and towards the night sky, he stared up in amazement at the millions of stars that now pierced the environment around him, made visible by the darkness of the city below. "She'll be here tomorrow" a familiar voice sounded from the balcony to the left, Soarin looked over to see Spitfire staring out into the starry night from her own balcony, "What're you gonna say to her?" The mare asked without looking at him, He looked back out into the night and pondered the question for a moment, "I...I don't know if I can..." he replied blankly, Spitfire looked towards her friend to see that he was now staring down towards the darkened city with a look of sadness frozen on his face, Spitfire sighed heavily before flying over to Soarin's balcony and standing next to him, "Listen" she said sharply "Regret is a powerful thing, hell I've seen it tear ponies apart y'know? Regret about what you Should've said or what you should've done..." the mare paused before looking over to Soarin who's gaze hadn't moved from the city below them, "Soarin... I'm telling you this as your friend, not your commander...don't let her get away from you" she finished dropping her gaze. The two Pegasi stood in silence on the balcony for a while, enveloped in the silence that had fallen over the city, "It won't work..." Soarin eventually spoke up causing Spitfire to look back over to him, "I mean... how can it?..I work almost every day, we live miles away from each other but..." "But you would still move mountains just to see her for what little time you could..." Spitfire cut the stallion off sharply causing him to fall silent, "I can tell you've been thinking it through..." Spitfire continued, "but I know you Soarin... you'll find a way to make it work...", The mare finished jabbing Soarin in the side before flying back over to her own balcony and beginning to walk inside before pausing and looking back over to the stallion, "And even if you don't... you should still tell her", Soarin looked over to his friend as she have him a warm smile, "Don't you think you owe her that much?", Soarin nodded and smiled back to his friend. Spitfire trotted back inside her hotel room leaving Soarin alone again In the dark, the stallion retained the smile his friend had left him with as he returned to his room closing the balcony door behind him, Spitfire's encouraging words were still strong in Soarin's mind, the stallion paced the room back and forth, "I can make it work..." he though to himself before pausing with a serious expression now present on his face as he collapsed on his bed and stared at the ceiling, "I will make it work...".