> On a wing and a rainbow
>  by Killbles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Trial
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1: The Trial


“Hey watch it!” a voice yelled. Waking Rainbow Dash with a start. Looking around from the cloud she had been napping on, she tried to identify the source of the commotion. Although irritated at being woken from her nap, her curiosity was piqued by a small group of pegasi clustered around a town notice board. One of them had been pushed over by another and a small squabble had ensured. Flicking her tail in annoyance, Rainbow decided to go check out what all the fuss was about.  She lazily glided down into the town and gently pushed her way through the crowd.  A large blue poster covered the board. Although she could easily tell it was a Wonderbolts poster, a mask of confusion crept onto Rainbow’s face. Being the Wonderbolts number one fan, she knew when all their shows and tryouts were on. The fact that she may have missed one was unprecedented. Taking a mental note for the day of the tryouts, she took off in a rainbow streak.

“What do you mean you only just heard about it?” asked an incredulous Twilight. “I find it hard to believe that you, Rainbow Dash, the Wonderbolts single biggest fan, only found out about this today.” Twilight stared at her friend with something that appeared to be a mix of worry and amusement.
“Wha-!” Rainbow Dash’s mouth fell open. “How did you know? You like, just read books and be eggheady all day!” Her response seemed to amuse the purple unicorn.  She started to reorganise the books around her for what have been the fourteenth time that week.
“I just know things, like perhaps the fact that I actually bother to read the town notice board every day? Perhaps you could learn something from it as well... Like the notice from the Mayor about stunt flying in the town.” Twilight said, her mouth curling up in a smile as Rainbow rubbed the back of her head with a hoof and looked away sheepishly.
“Yeah about that... I did not mean for that to happen... I honestly thought the Town hall was sturdier than that!” she protested
“Suuuure you didn’t” Twilight teased, placing a heavy volume titled ‘A guide to Sarcasm’ on the desk in front of her.
“Hey I would never do something like that on purpose!” Rainbow yelled
“I know, it’s just you seem to be very good at crashing and demolishing things. Ever considered opening a business?” Twilight joked, replacing the guide with another book ‘Trolling Ponies: All you need to know’. Twilight stared at the title in confusion for a moment before removing the ink stain which was masquerading as a ‘T’.
Grumbling to herself, Rainbow Dash flew off before her friend could poke any more fun at her.  

Rainbow Dash found herself drifting around the sky aimlessly.  Settling herself down on a cloud, this time far enough away so she wouldn’t be disturbed, the cyan mare quickly fell asleep.
Falling, Falling, Falling... faster than anyone could fly, falling towards the cold earth’s embrace. Then suddenly soaring, soaring so  high. A blue face followed by fire, ravenous fire, fire that consumed everything until the world was black and grey.  Then falling. Falling falling... The ground rushed forwards as if eager to claim its prize. Then suddenly...
... A thud, then Blackness.
Rainbow awoke as something hard crashed into her with a loud thud. While her dream hadn’t been pleasant, she would have been lying if she said that it was more enjoyable to be crashed into.  She looked up and saw a light blue stallion hovering in the air. He muttered a quick sorry before rocketing off. Something about him seemed familiar but in her sleep deprived state, rainbow Dash couldn’t quite put a hoof on it. She considered chasing down the interloper and showing him a thing or two but she decided not to. He was already a fair way away and she was still sleepy. “Another day” she muttered sleepily “I’ll get him and show him who is boss...” Sleep and unpleasant dreams overtook her. 

The next week crawled onward slowly, Rainbow felt it was if the world had something against her going to the tryouts and was trying to make her wait an eternity so when the day of tryouts finally rolled around her enthusiasm was unbound. Much of Ponyville was also grateful as when Rainbow Dash got bored, she got impatient, and when she got impatient, she had a tendency to crash. A lot. But she refused to acknowledge this fact. Standing in line outside the large arena in Cloudsdale, the rainbow maned mare was hopping from hoof to hoof impatiently waiting for her turn. She had already been registered by a bored looking stallion who had written her name down before she had even spoken to him. One could say that Rainbow Dash was a regular attendee. Finally after what seemed like hours, her name was called and she marched out into the arena.

In the middle of the arena stood a pair of the Wonderbolts. Rainbow dash instantly recognised then both; she had met them before at the Grand Galloping Gala. One was Spitfire and the other the Captain of the Wonderbolts, Soarin. Although Spitfire had held the captaincy for the last few years, she had stepped down and Soarin had been chosen as her replacement. As she approached she saw Soarin whisper something into Spitfire’s ear, whatever it was spitfire must of found it funny as she giggled. They stopped when they noticed Rainbow standing in front of them. 
“Hi!” Soarin’ said cheerfully “Are you ready to begin?”
Rainbow snapped a salute and grinned wildly “Yes, sir!”
“Alright! Let’s get started then. First up you have to do a basic fitness test, you pass that you’ll then have to show off some of your moves, if you impress us, you’ll do another fitness test and then lastly some team flying skills. Pass all that and you’ll be shortlisted” Soarin recited. The way he said it sounded like he had been rattling the spiel off for hours. “Now I know we’ve seen you pull off some nice moves in the past, but that means nothing for now. Imagine that we’ve never seen you fly before, understand?”
Rainbow nodded in affirmative. She was ready for anything.
“Cool!” Soarin said with a goofy grin “Spitfire will be taking you through the fitness tests so I’ll hand over to her”

20 Minutes later Rainbow Dash was covered in sweat and puffing hard, she had finished the basic fitness test easily and had impressed the selectors with her moves. She was now doing the advanced fitness test. Although she was a highly trained athlete it was still incredibly difficult. 
“COME ON, GET MOVING! AT THIS RATE THE ONLY THING YOU’LL BE DOING FOR THE WONDERBOLTS IS CHEER SQUAD!” Spitfire barked. Although Rainbow was getting tired, there was no way she would give up. ‘Five... four.... three....  She mentally counted off in her head two... one... Yes! As she finished the last wing up spitfire eased off slightly. 
“Alright that’s enough for the moment, have a break.” 
Rainbow gladly slumped to the ground and let the sweat roll off her. Her wings fluttered slightly in protest at the strenuous work they had been put through. Just one more... she thought. Spitfire walked over to where Soarin was watching and started talking to him, most probably about Dash’s performance.  She really didn’t care what they said, only that they shortlisted her. After a few minutes of heated discussion, Soarin and Spitfire walked over to rainbow. Spitfire was scowling for some unknown reason but Soarin had one of his goofy smiles plastered on his face again. Rainbow wondered to herself whether he ever frowned. 
“Alright! You ready to do some more flying?” Soarin asked
“Yes sir! I’m always ready to fly! I’m not the best flier in Equestria for nothing” remembering who she was talking to, she quickly added “I mean... Besides you guys...”
Soarin chuckled lightly but Spitfire’s scowl just deepened.
“Let’s roll then!” Soarin said, oblivious to his companion’s displeasure. He spread his wings and took off and flew into the arena’s airspace. Spitfire shot another glare at Rainbow before joining him. Rooted to the ground in confusion, Rainbow tried to figure out what had earned the displeasure of the fiery maned Wonderbolt. Shrugging, she decided she’d figure it out later. She flapped her wings a few times and joined her two Idols.

“Ok, we’re going to go through some of the basic moves we go through in our shows, all we do this for is to see how well you work flying in a group. It’s much different to solo flying. Make sure you follow what we say or do.” Soarin explained. “We also have a bunch of basic signals we make to signal certain moves but I’m sure you’re well aware of them right?” Soarin asked knowingly. Rainbow looked away sheepishly “Yeah... suppose I do.”
Spitfire sighed in exasperation. “Can we get this over and done with?”
“Right” replied Soarin “Ready? Go!”
He and Spitfire shot off in perfect synchronous with Rainbow following them a moment later. A few flaps and she had caught up with the pair of fliers. She immediately found it difficult keeping track of everything. She had to watch Spitfire for the subtle signals for what move was next, she had make sure she was flying in a tight formation without hitting either of her fellows and she had to maintain her speed and altitude. It ended up being a lot more difficult than she thought it would be. She was managing fine until suddenly Soarin literally fell out of sky. She and the light blue stallion had just swapped places and he was now flying in front of Rainbow. The reason for his fall had shocked Rainbow. She had seen Spitfire drop back a bit from the lead position and buck Soarin in the face. Why? She had no idea, all that she knew was one of her Idols was falling to an almost certain death. Spitfire looked over her shoulder and looked just as surprised to see Soarin missing. Her surprise grew as Rainbow vanished in a dive and a flurry of rainbow contrails. Did I just hit...! No! That wasn’t supposed to happen...! That wasn’t meant for you! She thought as she watched the two pegasi fall.

Rainbow rocketed after Soarin; she threw every ounce of per being into flying faster. She saw the ground rushing towards them. Almost like my dream, she thought No! I can’t think like that. I have to catch him!  She narrowed her eyes and tried to fly faster. A vapour cone started forming around her. Uh oh! Not good, not good, not good! She thought. I still have to be able to pull out of this! Realising she wouldn’t reach the tumbling Wonderbolt in time if she didn’t go faster, in a blatant disregard for her own safety she powered on. A narrow vapour cone tinged with rainbow light started forming in front of her. Suddenly she broke the sound barrier with a massive boom which shook the air. A massive rainbow explosion billowed out from behind as for the third time in her life, she did a sonic rainboom. She almost immediately caught up to Soarin and grabbed hold of the unconscious stallion. Problem now was that they were only about 20m off the ground. Rainbow desperately tried slowing down, her vision started going dark as the massive g-forces started taking their toll. She fought through the pain and managed to level out their descent. They were now racing less than a meter along the ground. 

Then she ploughed into the ground and all she saw was darkness.


> Pegasus Field Ploughing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: Pegasus Field Ploughing

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. 'Oh no! I'm blind!' she thought. All she could see was blackness. "Oh wait...' She pulled her head out of the ground. Her crash had ploughed a long straight channel through an empty field. Shaking her head, she looked around so she could find out where she was. A large barn house in the distance confirmed her suspicious she had crashed in one of the empty fields at Sweet Apple Acres. Looking around more, she saw a large rock jutting out of the ground a few meters in front of her. 'Lucky me...' she thought. It was then that she remembered that she had been carrying Soarin on her back before she had ploughed into the field. She couldn't feel the stallion on her; he must been sent flying in the crash. She groggily tried to stand but fell over in a heap. Grimacing in pain, she stood again and managed to keep her balance. Looking around she quickly spotted the blue stallion lying in a ditch a few meters in front of her. Much to Rainbow's joy, he was still breathing. She made her way over to Soarin and prodded him gently.

"Hey lazy" She croaked, "Wake up!"

"Ergh... Five more minutes!" he muttered back, Rainbow was momentarily taken aback by his comment. Either he was totally unaware of his predicament or more of a joker than she realised. "Knock it off" she grumbled. She prodded him again harder this time.

He opened an eye "Why so serious? He grinned widely.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Are you alright?" she asked "That was quite a hard landing."

"Yeah I'm fine. Well at least I feel fine..." He shook his head "You don't look to good..."

"I've had worse!" Rainbow boasted proudly

"I don't doubt that" Soarin winked knowingly

Rainbow felt her cheeks redden slightly. She suddenly felt very light headed and dizzy. A wave of nausea passed over her and she swayed from side to side, as if she had drunk too much. She saw an orange and red streak galloping across the field towards them. As they approached, Rainbow made them out to be Applejack and her older brother, Big Macintosh.

"What in tarnation happened?" Applejack said as she drew up to her friend "I saw one of them rainbooms in the sky and came runnin' when I saw you and yer friend come crashin' down." She looked Rainbow Dash over with a worried look on her face. "Y'all right sugercube?"

"Never better!" Rainbow announced brightly.

Then she fainted again.

"Hey! I think she's coming around!" said a voice excitedly. For reasons unknown, everything sounded slurred and fuzzy. Rainbow opened her eyes and was greeted by a white plastered roof. A pink ball of hair and fur suddenly obstructed her view of the ceiling.

"HEY! SHE'S AWAKE EVERYPONY!" Pinkie yelled in an unnecessarily loud voice.

Rainbow placed her hooves over her ears. "No need to yell Pinkie."

"Sure there is! I wanted everyponies attention and I got it" she grinned impossibly wide.

Rainbow groaned, being around Pinkie Pie for too long without anyone else to control her usually ended up with her head hurting. Since her head was already throbbing, she didn't relish the possibility. Her vision was suddenly filled by four other ponies. Rainbow let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

"What happened? How did you and... That Wonderbolt, crash?" asked Twilight

"Ok, firstly his name is Soarin. Secondly..." she looked around the room quickly before dropping her voice as if they were discussing a conspiracy. "Secondly, that crash wasn't accidental. Spitfire knocked Soarin out when I was doing the tryouts."

Everypony recoiled in shock. They looked at Dash, as if waiting for her to reveal more.

She stared back at them. "What? That's all I know. Soarin was knocked out the sky, I saved him. Big deal. But now that I think of it, Spitfire did look kinda surprised to see Soarin falling..." she trailed off into thought.

"Urh, excuse me, but who the hay is Spitfire?" asked Applejack.

Rainbow facehoofed. While she knew her friends didn't keep up with the Wonderbolts, she was surprised at Applejack's ignorance.

"She was the captain of the Wonderbolts, she recently stepped down from captaincy and Soarin took over." Rainbow stopped for a moment before continuing. "She also plays a large role in the recruitment process; see took me through most of the trails."

There was a brief moment of silence

"But why would Spitfire have anything against Soarin? I mean he could have died. Why would she do that to him?" Rainbow dash let the question hang in the air for a moment. Her friends exchanged worried looks with each other.

"What actually happened before she kicked him?" Asked Twilight, pulling a quill and paper out of nowhere. As always, Twilight would be determined to get the bottom of this.

"Well if I remember correctly, me and Soarin had just switched positions in the formation. It was just after that that she kicked him." Replied Rainbow

Twilight wrote this down "Did you see anything else strange before you were flying?"

Rainbow tried to think "Well before we took off for the formation flying, she and Soarin were arguing about something, I don't know what. Come to think of it, she didn't seem to be too happy about me being there. I mean she's been nice enough in the past... but today she seemed... a bit like she had something against me."

Another long silence settled over the group as everypony digested the information.

"From what you are saying... She might not have meant to kick Soarin... As bad as this sounds, she may have been after you" Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash's eyes opened wide with horror. She gabbled incoherently for a moment before regaining her composure

"No way! Why would Spitfire do something like that? Why would she want to hurt me?"

Everypony shrugged, no one could think of a reasonable explanation for the Wonderbolts behaviour. Rainbow looked around with a worried look on her face. "Where's Soarin? Is he alright?"

"I'm fine" came a voice from behind the group. Nervous as ever, Fluttershy let out a quiet 'eep!' and hid behind Pinkie. Ignoring the shy Pegasus, Soarin trotted over to the bed Rainbow was lying in. Rainbow looked at his bandaged body. "You're fine?"

"Just a few cracked ribs," He replied with a small grin. "I've had worse."

"I don't doubt that." she remarked dryly.

Soarin turned his attention to the small gaggle of mares surrounding Rainbow.

"If you lovely ladies wouldn't mind, I'd like to have a word to Rainbow Dash. In private" he added when they didn't move.

The five ponies left the room looking at each other in confusion. An awkward silence filled the room. Soarin returned his attention to the cyan mare.

"Ok. I need you to tell me everything that happened. I heard some of your conversation with your friends but I'd like to hear it all for myself again."

Rainbow rapidly recounted the discussion she had just been having with her friends. Soarin's face remained impassive throughout most of the story but a low growl escaped him when Dash told him Twilight's theory about Spitfire.

"I don't know why Spitfire would ever try to hurt either of us. But from what you are saying, this was no accident" Soarin looked disturbed. "I trust you, but I find it hard to believe that Spitfire would try to kill you. Or me for that matter."

Soarin paced across the room deep in thought. A question occurred to Dash.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be... You know... Doing Wonderbolts stuff?" She asked

Soarin grinned again. "I had to make sure you recovered fine. That's the second time you've saved my life. Can't just not say thanks now can I?"

"Maybe you should make it less of a habit to get knocked out while you are flying." Rainbow joked

Soarin laughed loudly. It was a nice laugh. It briefly occurred to Rainbow Dash that she had never heard the Wonderbolt laugh before. Soarin suddenly became serious. "You raise a valid point though. This requires an investigation. I'm going to have Spitfire grounded and questioned. This is a serious issue. We could have lost Equestria's best flier after all." He cast an appraising eye over Rainbow Dash who was blushing furiously now.

"Hey… stop it." she said timidly he usual ego vanishing under Soarin's gaze

"Never."

Rainbow let out a little squee in delight.

"I probably should go; I need to get things moving right away." He walked over to Rainbow "When you get better, come by the HQ and we'll get the next stage of your induction sorted out, ok?"

Rainbow's mouth dropped open in surprise. Soarin raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"What? Did you seriously think you wouldn't get in after that flying?" he said in a deadpan voice.

He cocked his head to the side in mock confusion. Rainbow shoved a hoof in her mouth so she wouldn't start gushing.

"You took that well" Soarin remarked. The excited rainbow mare just nodded in a blur.

She suddenly leapt out of the hospital bed and wrapped her arms around Soarin, constricting him tightly in a bone crushing hug. "Thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou" Rainbow babbled incoherently.

"Spoke too soon..." Soarin managed "Would you mind getting of me? Bit hard... to... breathe."

She suddenly realised what she was doing and leapt back in surprise. "Uh… sorry… don't know what came over me." She looked at the ground awkwardly.

Soarin grinned. He took a step forward and gave Rainbow a much gentler hug. "No… Thank you, for saving me, again." He added. He pulled back and trotted out of the room noting with amusement that the cyan mare was blushing furiously and looking anywhere but at him. Rainbow's friends came back into the room after Soarin had left and were surprised to see Rainbow standing in the middle of the room with a blush and dumbstruck look across her face. Applejack waved a hoof in front of her face but got no response. "Equestria to Rainbow dash, you there?" asked the Orange earth pony.

Suddenly Rainbow Dash's face split into a grin that made Pinkie's smiles look sane. A quiet squee escaped her mouth.

"BEST. DAY. EVER!" She yelled out.
> Ship Teasers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: Ship Teasers

Rainbow trotted out of the Ponyville clinic. She had been released that morning. While she was mostly healed, she was under strict doctor's orders to not do any strenuous or stunt flying for a few more days. Because of this she had decided that she would not quite take up Soarin's offer just yet. She decided that the only way to not go crazy from the lack of flying would be to make herself useful for her friends. Mulling over where to go first, she finally decided to visit Applejack first. She would most likely need help with something. Rainbow took flight and made her way to Sweet Apple Acres at a leisurely pace. She spied her orange friend pulling a cartload of apples back to the barn. Swooping down gently, she landed lightly on the tower of apples with a flutter of wings. Applejack turned her head at the sound. "Heya Rainbow! Did you just get outta the clinic?"

"Sure thing I did. I'm not allowed to do any awesome flying though which stinks." She dropped off the cart and pawed at the ground in annoyance. Applejack pushed her trademark hat back slightly. She looked around before speaking again. "So what about that offer from the Wonderbolts, are ya gonna go up there?"

Rainbow drew back in surprise. She hadn't told her friends about Soarin's offer. She narrowed her eyes and glared at the earth pony. "How do you know about that?"

Applejack chuckled nervously. "I knew I wasn't supposed to say that…" She bowed her head in resignation. "Alright, we were listening. It wasn't ma idea but we all listened in. sounds like you two had some fun." She winked suggestively.

"HEY! Nothing happened!" she yelled defensively

"Didn't sound like nothing" Applejack managed through chortles. "Sure you don't have anything for him? He's a cutie. You sure looked a bit dumbstruck when he left."

Rainbow blushed slightly but quickly regained her composure. She growled lowly at Applejack before spreading her wings and flying off. She probably would have enjoyed working with Applejack for the day but she knew Applejack wouldn't drop the topic.

As she flew away, the sounds of Applejack's laughter reached her ears. She scowled and flew back to Ponyville.





"How did I get into this?" Rainbow asked herself aloud

"Quite simple darling, you were just floating around aimlessly and I asked if you wanted to help me with something and you said yes and now we're here." Rarity said simply

"Yeah… I remember now." Replied Rainbow her voice dripping with sarcasm as Rarity attached another sheet of fabric to her already fancy dress with an enthusiastic pace that approached viciousness. She winced as a needle poked her in the flank. She squirmed slightly only to get poked by another three needles. "Rarity? Is possible for you to make this less…" She searched for the right word but all she could think of was needle-y. "Needle-y?"

"Sorry I can't do that Rainbow, there is still far too much to do before I can start sowing." The conversation ended for a moment. "So… Rainbow, about the Wonderbolts? I assume you're going to join them. It's been a dream of yours for a long time hasn't it?" Rarity began in an attempt to restart the conversation.

"Aww hay, not you to." Dash whined. She instinctively facehooved but managed to jab herself on the nose with a needle. She winced in pain.

"Of course dear, I'm afraid that it was second nature for me to listen in to your conversation with Soarin was it?" She flashed a devious smile at Rainbow Dash.

"I don't like where this going…" Rainbow said

"He is such a handsome colt and captain of the Wonderbolts as well!" Rarity continued, oblivious to Dash's comment. "I don't suppose you've taken a fancy to him, have you dear?"

"What! No!" Rainbow protested for the second time that day.

"Didn't look like it. You looked like you were all dreamy when he walked out. I've seen that look before." She winked at Rainbow.

"I don't like him!" She said.

"I don't believe you."

Rainbow roughly threw the dress off and took off through an open window, fuming the entire time. She left a slightly dumbfounded Rarity staring at were her model was.

Rarity shrugged nonchalantly before moving her work to a mannequin.





Rainbow dash landed on a cloud with a crazed look on her face. 'How does everypony know what's going on? Why do they all think I like Soarin? Is everypony gone CRAZY around here?' she screamed in her head. She curled up slowly in a tight ball and whimpered to herself. A quiet voice broke her out of her stupor. "Umm… Rainbow Dash… are you alright?" Rainbow turned her head and saw Fluttershy hovering uncertainly a few meters away.

"I mean… we can talk about it… If you want…" she offered timidly.

Rainbow dash curled up in a ball even tighter. "Don't want to talk about it." She mumbled. She buried her head in her hooves so Fluttershy couldn't see her face.

"Aww… Come on Rainbow Dash. Is this about what Soarin said to you when you were injured?" She asked nervously

Rainbow's ears pricked up. "You know as well?" she stammered

"Oh sorry… I guess I do…" she looked down sadly.

"Is there anypony who doesn't?" Rainbow almost yelled

"Well… I don't know for sure… But most of us do… I think"

Rainbow's mouth was agape for a moment. She got her mouth under control again. "But how does everypony know?"

"I don't know… Sorry… don't be mad."

She was cut off by a gray Pegasus which stuck her head out from underneath the cloud. "Oh hey Rainbow Dash, Hey Fluttershy!" she said goofily. One of her golden eyes spun in lazy circles

"Fluttershy squealed in fright and hid behind Rainbow Dash

"Derpy! What are you doing here? Wait… How did you even get there?" Rainbow peered over the edge of the cloud and saw that Derpy was simply standing on the other side. "How… How… What? Whu..?" She stuttered in confusion.

Derp shrugged in confusion and reached into her mailbag and pulled out a letter for Rainbow. "I don't know what you are on about." She said through the letter.

Shaking her head as if it would clear her vision, Rainbow took the letter and thanked the Mailmare. Derpy flapped her wings and hovered in front of Rainbow Dash. "So Dash, are you going to join the Wonderbolts? Dinky reckons you'd be the best one ever!" Derpy asked

Rainbow Dash looked at her in confusion. "How the hay do you know?"

She shrugged again "I heard you talking about it." She suddenly seemed distracted. Her head spun around unnaturally for a pony, more like how an owl's would. "MUFFINS!" She yelled out suddenly before diving in the direction of Sugercube Corner. A loud crash came from the bakery short moment later.

"I have no idea what just happened…" Rainbow Dash said slowly while shaking her head.





After coaxing Fluttershy out from inside the cloud, Rainbow decided to visit Twilight. She came to this conclusion for two reasons. Firstly, Twilight was probably the least likely pony in all of Equestria to not bother her about Soarin and the Wonderbolts and secondly as she would be able to borrow a few books from the librarian which would be a nice distraction from everypony bugging her. She glided down to the library and entered through the open front door. She looked around the foyer but couldn't see her purple friend anywhere. "Twi! You here?" She called out. "Anypony home?"

The sound of crashing kitchen utensils followed by some highly unlady like language reached Rainbow's ears. She grimaced as the flurry of curses continued. Twilight stuck her head around a door frame and looked at Rainbow sheepishly. "Sorry about that… You surprised me Dash."

Rainbow Dash looked back with a look of disbelief

"Never knew you had it in you…"

Twilight glared and returned to the kitchen with a grumble which sent Rainbow sprawling to the ground in laughter. Twilight re-emerged from the kitchen and stared at the heaving mass of cyan on the floor.

"Ha-ha… Very funny Rainbow Dash." She said flatly. Controlling her mirth, Rainbow clambered back to her hooves and grinned. "What'ca doing Twi? You normally aren't one for cooking."

She shrugged. "Read a cook book, thought I'd try it out. How are you by the way?"

"Fine I guess. Doc told me to lay off doing any stunts for a couple of days though."

"I bet you loved that." Twilight replied. She mumbled something under her breath then giggled.

"What's so funny?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh… nothing" Twilight lied.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes and glared at Twilight

"You're laughing at what happened the other day, right?" she said

"No…" She giggled "Maybe…" A wave of laughter suddenly broke out from her and swept over the room. It was now Twilight's turn to roll around on the floor. Rainbow Scowled at her and leapt onto the rolling mare. She pinned her beneath her hooves and stared at her. "Get this straight. Nothing. Happened. Between. Me. And. SOARIN!" she almost yelled again.

"Didn't look like it" Twilight stifled another laugh

"WHY IS THIS SO FUNNY?" Rainbow yelled throwing her fore-hooves in the air

"Your reaction, it's priceless." Twilight said, chortling as she did so.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" yelled Rainbow.

"Aww… Come on Dash, it's pretty obvious. You like him don't you?" Twilight teased

"NO. I. DON'T!" she yelled out again before promptly flying out the window in a blaze of rainbows. Twilight stifled another laugh before trotting back into the kitchen. She turned to the other unicorn who had been silently listening to the conversation. "You know Rarity, you were right." Twilight admitted. "She's too stubborn to ever admit it though."

"I hate being an 'I told you so'" replied Rarity victoriously.

Twilight laughed and returned to her cooking.





Rainbow Dash flew away as fast as she could. She landed on a cloud far away from Ponyville and hid her head in her hooves. Night had fallen and the moon had risen and cast a light over the land. 'Ok. Fine' she admitted to herself 'Soarin is kinda cute. But everyone is just overreacting. I got a bit out of hoof. A bit excited maybe. Ok… Too excited.' She felt a little jolt of electricity pass through her as she remembered how gently and caringly Soarin had hugged her. 'No! I mustn't get tied down by this mushy wushy love-y dove-y stuff. I'm far too cool for any of that. Besides, Soarin probably has his own special mare.' She buried her head in the cloud. A small part other mind kept poking her though. A repressed feeling kept trying to force its way to the surface. "STOP IT, GO AWAY!" she yelled aloud to the night sky.

"Oh… Okay..." came a familiar voice.

Rainbow spun around and was greeted by a Pegasus stallion

"Hi" Said Soarin a goofy grin spreading to his face.
> Night Flight and fight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hi" Said Soarin, a goofy grin spreading to his face

Rainbow's mouth fell open in surprise. Soarin landed softly on the cloud and sat next to Rainbow. "What?" he asked at her surprised look.

"How… Why… How did you find me? Why are you here?" he gushed.

Soarin rolled his eyes. The moonlight reflected off his brilliant green eyes beautifully. Rainbow noticed he wasn't wearing his Wonderbolt uniform either. Although taken aback at his sudden appearance, she was curious to see what he looked like without his uniform. His pale blue coat contrasted with his navy mane and a winged lightning bolt was emblazoned on his flank. He was well toned and rather handsome without the flight suit. Rainbow blushed slightly as the thought registered in her head.

"I had the day off today, so I decided I'd heck how you were coming along." Soarin said "When I found out you'd been released, I found one of your friends, Applejack I think, and asked if she had seen you around. Kind of let me on a wild goose chase after you for most of the day." He grinned. "At least I got a fantastic apple pie out of it."

"So how did you find me here?"

"Followed the rainbow trail" he remarked simply.

They sat in silence for a few moments, enjoying the spectacular view from the cloud. The countryside was tinted a faint blue and being a fairly clear night, they could see for kilometres around. A faint cluster of lights in the distance marked Ponyville. To their right in the distance was the city of Canterlot perched on the side of a mountain.

"Sorry for yelling out like that before" Rainbow said quietly

"That's alright, I'm fairly sure you weren't talking to me anyway". Soarin flashed a knowing smile.

Rainbow shivered slightly, it wasn't a cold night, but the wind chill had driven the temperature down. It briefly occurred to her that it would be warmer on the ground, but she didn't feel like leaving the cloud. Noticing her discomfort, Soarin wriggled cup against her and draped a wing over her. Although she appreciated the gesture, her body enjoyed it a little too much. Her wings suddenly sprung out with an audible 'pomf'.

"Aw hell" she moaned, a massive blush spreading over her face. Soarin started snickering next to her. She rounded on him. "What's so funny? This is embarrassing!"

"Umm… nothing… Just… your face... when your wings…." he said, trying to control his mirth. He failed and a massive burst of laughter erupted from him. He started rolling around the cloud in hysterics. It was incredibly contagious for moments later, Rainbow's anger had vanished and she was laughing with him. When they had managed to regain their composures they found themselves staring into each other's eyes. They remained that way for several minutes, neither wanting to break eye contact. Slowly, ever so slowly, she drew a little closer to Soarin. He moved a little closer. She moved a little closer. Their nuzzles were mere centimetres apart. She could feel his warm breath wash over her face. He smelt of fresh rain and ionised air, a strange but wonderful combination that appealed to Dash.

Is they drew slightly closer a thought suddenly ran through her head "Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh Soarin is about to kiss me!"

She closed her eyes and leaned forward slightly. 'Any moment now…'

A loud crash startled both of them and sent both of them scrambling to their feet. The tender moment ruined, Soarin shook his head as if he was breaking out of a dream. They looked around. The once clear night sky was now full of dark thunderheads. A bolt of lightning nearby caused another loud crack of thunder, making them both jump slightly. Rainbow sighed in disappointment. 'So close..!' she thought to herself sadly.

"Come on we should get going" Soarin said, breaking her out of her reverie. "I'll fly you home"

The flight was magical for Rainbow. While they were making best speed to get away from the encroaching storm, neither party wanted the flight to end. They seemed to almost dance across the sky, flowing in and out of various manoeuvres and pull off easy stunts on account of Rainbow's injury. It was a disappointment when they arrived at Rainbow's cloud home. They landed softly on the cloud base, kicking up small tufts of the fluffy cloud. As Rainbow walked towards the door with Soarin she said "Thanks for tonight, it was amazing, to say the least. Pity about that storm…" A small smile graced her lips. Soarin returned the smile before leaning over and nuzzling Rainbow softly. "The pleasure was all mine Rainbow."

They stood there together for a moment before Soarin broke contact.

"I should go." He said quietly. As he turned to leave, Rainbow put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Please don't. Stay. Please." She said in barely a whisper.

"I…I can't. It's complicated. I'm sorry. Goodnight Rainbow." He suddenly looked sad. Incredibly sad.

With that, He took off with a gentle wing beat which seemed to tug at Dash's heartstrings.

"Why…" She said. But Soarin couldn't hear her. He was too far away; he was a pale blue speck rapidly receding into the dark night. A distant flash of lightning light up the sky brilliantly and then he was gone. A single tear ran down Dash's cheek. "Why…" She said again, even softer. She slumped to the cloud and just stared off into the night. A drop of rain fell on her face and ran down her cheek and mixed with the tear. She didn't notice. The downpour began in earnest and soaked her through. She stayed there for nearly half an hour before she went inside. She lay down on her bed and listened to the storm rolling over her. She tried to sleep but her mind kept returning to the mournful face Soarin had before he left. It was a face wracked with guilt and pain. It did little to comfort her as she slipped into her dreams.

As Soarin flew through the sky back towards Canterlot his mind was racing. He could feel that he was developing some feelings for Rainbow. Feelings he wasn't supposed to have. He swore to himself quietly. 'Let's just see how this pans out, eh?' he thought. The rest of the flight passed quickly. He was too deep in his own thoughts to notice the passage of time.

When he arrived at his own cloud dwelling above Canterlot he was surprised to find a yellow Pegasus inside. "Um… Spitfire, what are you doing here?"

She looked up from a book she was reading and glared at him. "What? Can't I visit a friend?" She quickly changed the topic. "Besides, where have you been?"

Soarin suddenly wished he was somewhere else. "That's not your business." He said nervously.

"Oh really now?" She said, throwing the book away in a manner that would have caused any librarian to go on a murderous rampage. She advanced on Soarin. "Isn't it?" she said menacingly.

"No it's not." Said Soarin bluntly.

She drew closer, Soarin backed away nervously. She pounced on Soarin, pinning him underneath her. "You wouldn't happen to have been with that arrogant little foal Rainbow Dash would you?" she asked devilishly.

Soarin stuck a hoof in his mouth so he wouldn't talk.

"Ohhhh, you were!" she guessed. "I don't know what you see in her. She's an egotistic try hard. Why did you think I never let her into the Wonderbolts before? She's a good enough flier…" She laughed "Only when her friends are falling to their deaths."

Soarin growled and tried to get out from underneath her.

"Ohh, getting a bit feisty are we? Why don't you use some of that spunk on me?" She said suggestively, lowering herself onto him.

"No!" yelled Soarin. "I've told you before, I'm not interested!" he shoved her off him roughly. He was starting to shake now which was never a good sign. Spitfire adopted a hurt look. "Really Soarin? You sure about that?" She threw herself at him again but he jumped out of the way and she was sent sprawling to the floor. Soarin picked her up roughly and deposited her outside. "I don't want to hurt you Spitfire. Leave before I do something I'll regret."

"You'll regret this Soarin." She said venomously. "Just you wait. Little Dashie isn't the perfect mare for you. You'll see. Then you'll come crawling back to me. Like you always do." She jabbed Soarin in the chest for emphasis before flying off in a flash of yellow.

Soarin shook his head silently and trotted back inside. He lay down on the floor with a sigh. "This will be fun." He muttered sarcastically. He was too tired to bother moving to his bed. Like his Rainbow maned friend back in Ponyville, sleep didn't come easily for the troubled flyer.
> Party time!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Congratulations Rainbow Dash, you are now officially a Wonderbolt!" announced Thunder Head excitedly. Thunder Head was one of the Pegasi on the selection board for the Wonderbolts and after seeing Dash's performance, he and the rest of the board of selectors had agreed unanimously agreed that Rainbow Dash was what they were looking for. She and two other entrants had been selected from the hundreds of ponies who had tried out almost a week ago. Earlier that morning, the team doctor had pronounced Rainbow fit for stunt flying and she had formalised her membership shortly after. She and the two other new recruits were now standing in Soarin's spacious office. Soarin and the new Vice-Captain, Juggernaut, were also present in addition to the board of selectors.

Thunder Head handed her an official Wonderbolts uniform and a pair of stylised flight goggles to Rainbow before shaking her hoof. "Well done all of you, I hope the best for all of you in the future."

He and other selectors shook the recruit's hoofs again before departing. "Alright, as you all undoubtedly know I'm Soarin and this is Juggernaut, or 'Jugs' as we like to call him" Said Soarin, "Juggernaut, as vice-captain, will be overseeing the initial stages of your induction. He is now your new best friend."

Juggernaut smiled menacingly at this. He was a large charcoal grey Pegasus with unnervingly similar coloured eyes. His cutie mark was hidden by his uniform. Although Rainbow had never met him before he didn't look particularly friendly. 'He's probably like a nasty Drill-sergeant' she thought to herself. Taking this as his cue, Juggernaut took a step forward. "Recruits!" he barked, his voice laden with authority, "I am Juggernaut, I will be your flight and drill instructor for the duration of your indoctrination! While we are in session, you will speak only when spoken to, and the FIRST and LAST words out of your miserable, filth-encrusted pie-holes will be sir! Do you worthless maggots understand!"

"Sir, yes sir!" they chanted. Rainbow noted with concealed amusement that Soarin's ears sprang up at the word pie.

"Good! I do not want to repeat myself. Your first session will start tomorrow at 0500 sharp! I will not tolerate any late arrivals. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" They chanted in unison again

'Cripes!' Dash thought to herself. 'Definitely Drill-sergeant nasty!'





"So what do you think?" Soarin asked after the trio of recruits had left the room. He casually pulled a steaming hot pie out of the second drawer on his desk.

"How did yo-" Juggernaut started but was cut off by Soarin.

"Don't ask. I just pulled umm… Baked goods…Out of my desk. Deal with it."

Juggernaut eyed him suspiciously. Accepting that he wouldn't get a logical explanation from the pie-loving Pegasus he voiced his opinion.

"This lot will be good fun to train up. They all look like they are up to the challenge."

"Good, good." Soarin said as he munched his pie. "Anything else?"

"You've got a crazy taste in the ladies, sir." Juggernaut replied with a small grin.

Soarin nearly spat out his pie in surprise. He managed to regain his composure and rounded on the grey Pegasus.

"What?" he said incredulously.

"I saw the way you were looking at that cyan mare. You've got a thing for her, right sir?" He gave Soarin a sly wink.

"How would you know?" Soarin replied defensively.

"I'm just god at reading ponies. Don't ask. Deal with it." Juggernaut replied with a trace of amusement in his voice.

"Haha real funny, smart guy." Soarin replied sarcastically. Juggernaut snickered as he left the office, leaving Soarin in silence only broken an occasional munch as he devoured his pie. This is probably why he nearly hit the roof in surprise when a voice broke the silence.

"Uh… Hi?" Rainbow said in confusion as Soarin nearly leapt out of his chair. "Oh sorry, is this a bad time?" She pawed the ground nervously.

"Ah… Rainbow, you startled me." Said Soarin, his demeanour returned. "Can I help you?"

"Umm… Well, one of my friends is having a party to celebrate me joining the Wonderbolts and I was wondering… would you want to go with me? I mean if you want…" She suppressed the urge to laugh at how much she sounded like Fluttershy. She would have never imagined that she would ever sound like her perpetually nervous friend.

"What you mean like a date?" Soarin asked with a hint of amusement.

"Wha- No!" replied Dash, a blush tinging her cheeks a light red.

"You sure about that?"

Rainbow mumbled something under her breath Soarin didn't quite catch. It almost sounded like a 'No', but he wasn't sure. He disregarded her apparent lack of silence.

"Sounds good Rainbow, when is it?"

She visibly perked up at his response. Some of her usual confidence seemed to return. "It'd be tomorrow night, is that still good?"

"Sounds fun, I'll see you there." He gave her a wink and a small smile which caused her to turn a deep scarlet. She turned and left as quickly as possible with a quick 'thanks', trying unsuccessfully to conceal the source of her embarrassment.

Soarin absentmindedly etched a small heart on his desk with a quill. "Oh Dashie… what am I going to do with you?" he muttered quietly. The craving for another pie suddenly filled his head. Looking around cautiously he leant over next to his desk.

"Pie" he said quietly. Pulling open the second drawer with a deft motion he found another steaming hot pie waiting for him.

"Works every time…" he muttered to himself before tucking in with unrestrained gusto.





The next day arrived in a blur for Rainbow. She was up earlier than she ever had been before to be at training on time. She grumbled to herself as she flew towards the training arena. The sun had just started to rise above the horizon when she arrived. Although it was near the end of summer, the air was chilly and oddly refreshing. When she arrived at the arena, she saw the other two recruits there already. Juggernaut was nowhere to be seen. She landed gracefully and trotted over to the other two pegasi. One of them was a mare and one a stallion, the stallion had a coat of deep blue and a black mane, his cutie mark was the head of a lion. The mare on the other hand had a maroon coat and an ashy blue mane, her cutie mark was a single flame. Although she had seen them both before she had never talked to them and didn't know their names.

"Hi, I'm Rainbow dash" she said as she approached them.

"We know who you are." The stallion replied gruffly "You won the best young fliers competition a while ago."

While he wasn't being outright rude, he wasn't being particularly friendly. The mare was much nicer though.

"You'll have to forgive Silver pride. He's grumpy in the mornings. I'm Shadow Light by the way, but you can call me Torchie"

"Why Torchie?" Rainbow asked her in confusion.

"I'm good with fires and pyrotechnics. That's why I have a flame for a cutie mark."

Rainbow shrugged. She'd heard worse names.

"So you two know each other then?"

"Me and Silver have been friends for a while. We went to school together and we kept in touch after we left. Don't ask how we both got through the selection process though. It was some miracle I reckon."

"Well you must both be really good fliers to have been chosen."

"Thanks, but I doubt we're as good as you. You've pulled off a sonic rainboom! I was there when you did that, it was amazing!" Torchie replied with excitement. Silver looked slightly less happy with what she said but kept his opinion to himself.

"Uh-oh Look sharp," Rainbow muttered as she saw Juggernaut soar over the lip of the arena. "Here comes the hurt."

The three of them spread out in a line and stood at attention as Juggernaut landed in front of them.

"Good morning recruits!" barked the grey Pegasus. "Today, we will be commencing your indoctrination into the Wonderbolts. Now you've obviously got some talent or the selectors wouldn't have chosen you, but frankly I don't give a damn if you can do a triple inverted summersault while doing a barrel roll, to me you are a raw recruit, fresh out of flight school! We will be covering everything from basic flight all the way up to advanced team manoeuvres! I expect great things out of you, everything will perfect up to my standard! I don't care if you think it's good enough, it's good enough when I say so! Do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Good! From this moment on, you are now part of a team! You must learn to act and think as one. To help with this, you will no longer refer to yourselves as 'I' or 'me'. You will refer to yourselves as 'This recruit'. This will force you to think as a group rather than yourself. Any questions?"

"Sir, no sir!"

"Good! To start off, ten laps around the track. Let me say you don't want to finish last."





The running lead into calisthenics, then flight drills, then more running, then more calisthenics, then more flight drills, it seemed to just go on forever. Rainbow was relieved when Juggernaut called an end to the activities. The sun had risen and was now high in the sky. Her muscles were burning and sweat poured off her body. Both Silver and Torchie were in similar states. Although Juggernaut had been joining them in all their exercises and drills, he appeared no different to when he had arrived this morning. Rainbow marvelled at the hunky Pegasus' endurance.

"Fall in recruits!" he barked.

They quickly assembled in front of him. They had quickly learnt that any instructions were to be obeyed immediately.

"Good work! While you have not exceeded my expectations, neither have you failed them! Your next training session is in three days, until then this is a regime you should follow to maintain and improve your endurance and strength." He handed each of them a few pages of text. "In addition, you will study the material provided on weather patterns. You will be quizzed at our next session. Any questions?"

"Sir, no sir!"

"Good! Dismissed."

With that he left the arena with a couple of strong wing beats, leaving the trio of recruits to their own devices.

'This recrui- I reckon he's crazy…" Said Silver bluntly.

"He's like a machine" agreed Torchie

The trio stood there for a moment nodding in agreement.

Although Dash had only known Silver and Shadow for a few hours, she felt strong bond with them already. "Are you guys doing anything later?"

"Not really. Why?" asked Torchie

"One of my friends is throwing me a party, would you want to come?"

"Sounds fun! Where is it?" replied Torchie gleefully.

"Bakery in Ponyville called Sugarcube Corner"

"We'll be there! Won't we Silver?" Torchie said. Silver looked less than happy with her making decisions for him.

"Yeah, whatever." He grumbled. A jab to the ribs from Torchie forced a smile onto his face. "I mean…uh, Sounds fun."

"Cool! I'll see you guys later then!" Rainbow grinned and took flight, her wings throbbing after the intense training session. She did a lazy spin in the air, relishing the freedom she had after the oppressive training session. She had been flying for a few minutes when a yellow Pegasus slotted in right next to her.

"Hello Rainbow Dash." Said Spitfire

""Spitfire" Rainbow replied coldly. Although she had no proof that the yellow Pegasus had tried to hurt her, she didn't trust her old hero anymore.

"I see you just had training. Don't tell me Soarin had Juggernaut training you? That big grey oaf is practically useless."

Rainbow glared daggers at Spitfire. It seemed that Spitfire wasn't afraid of voicing her opinion of her teammates, at least in private anyway.

"What do you want Spitfire?" Rainbow growled, she considered flying faster and leaving the fiery Pegasus behind but decided against it, Spitfire obviously wanted something with her.

"Nothing… Nothing… I just wanted to congratulate you on your success with Soarin." She said in a voice so sweet it made Rainbow want to puke.

"I have no idea what you are on about." Rainbow feigned

"Oh please, I know it all. But YOU. Are. Going. Too. Far. Back off, he's mine. Don't you dare try anything." She made a threatening gesture. "Or else."

Rainbow would have never admitted that she was slightly frightened by her. Spitfire gave shoved her violently before vanishing in a blur.

"Ok… She's officially crazy" Rainbow said aloud to herself.





The evening rolled around quickly, the encounter with Spitfire put Rainbow slightly on edge. She was momentarily surprised when she heard the knocker on her door rap. She opened the door to reveal Soarin holding a white rose in his mouth.

"Hi, Raanmow!" he said through the flower.

Rainbow couldn't help herself from giggling at him. "I've never been one for flowers Soain, but it's very nice. Thank you. She blushed slightly as she took the rose from him and placed it in a vase.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked, his mouth now free of the flower.

"Yeah, let's go."

They jumped off the cloud and plunged a short distance before taking flight. A few lights in the distance marked their destination. "Hey Soarin, wanna race me there?"

"Yeah, you're on!"

"3…2…1… GO!" yelled rainbow quickly.

She shot of the mark immediately, with Soarin close behind her. She laughed as she drew ahead of the stallion, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. Soarin flew through the rainbow trail and suddenly gagged as he inhaled the spicy trail. Rainbow laughed louder. The race forgotten, they hung in the air laughing hysterically at Soarin's misfortune. They suddenly remembered they were supposed to be racing each other and shot off again towards the town.





"I still reckon I won." Said Soarin impassively, as they covered the last few meters on foot.

"As if. I clearly won. I was miles ahead of you slow-poke." Rainbow teased back.

"You say that. You'd just never admit you lost."

"Whatever." Rainbow pouted.

Soarin brushed up against her friendlily to show he was just teasing. Rainbow loosened up a bit. They approached the door which had a large banner hanging from it. The banner depicted Rainbow in a Wonderbolts uniform with a large rainbow trail behind her. The loud noise of conversation and laughter came through the open door.

"Ladies first." Soarin said, gesturing to the door with a hoof.

Rainbow walked inside and was surprised to see the vast majority of Ponyville present. Somehow alerted to Rainbow's presence, Pinkie Pie jumped up on a table sending a tray of muffins flying, much to the distress of Derpy.

"Everypony! RAINBOW IS HERE!" Pinkie yelled out.

A sudden silence filled the room as everypony looked at her and Soarin standing in the door.

"WOOOOO! Go Rainbow Dash!" yelled Derpy through a mouth full of muffins.

Following her cue, the remainder of the room broke down into cheers and applause.

"Aww… Thanks guys." Said Rainbow slightly embarrassed by the warm reception.

The assembled ponies cheered and returned to their conversations. Soarin nudged Rainbow gently and she trotted inside. She threaded her way through the crowd towards some of her friends near the drinks table. "Hi Rainbow!" said Twilight as she neared them.

"Hey girls." She said. She grabbed a cup of punch from the table and sipped it experimentally. "Good party?"

"I think Pinkie dear has outdone herself" Rarity remarked. Rainbow looked around for the pink party pony and saw her bouncing around excitedly in the middle of the room. She suddenly bounded towards a pair of pegasi who had just entered. "Oh dear…" remarked Rainbow. "I'll be right back, gotta go save some friends from Pinkie…" She wriggled her way back through the packed room and burst out next to Pinkie who was by now, thoroughly scaring the new arrivals.

"Hey Pinkie I know you're excited, but would you mind not scaring them off?"

"Oh hey Rainbow! Do you know Silver and Shadow? We just met and I was just telli-"

Rainbow shoved a hoof in her mouth to shut her up.

"Sorry about that, Pinkie can get… excited when she meets new ponies." She smirked. "To say the least."

Pinkie mumbled in agreement through Rainbow's hoof. Rainbow led Silver and Shadow through the crowd back to where her friends were. She introduced the two new Wonderbolts to the rest of her friends. Silver had become a lot more amicable since their last encounter and was getting along well with her friends, while Shadow's slightly more eccentric personality seemed to be in tune with Pinkie. If slightly less crazy. She absentmindedly wandered over to the food table where Derpy was demolishing the last of the muffins with gusto. "Heya Rainbow." She said when she noticed her. "You enjoying the party?"

"Yeah, it's great. You enjoying your muffins?"

"MUFFINS!" Derpy yelled needlessly before chomping down on another one with a contented smile. She munched cheerfully for a moment "Hey isn't that stallion over there a Wonderbolt? What's he doing here?"

"I invited him"

"That was nice of you, he's cute." She said. She grabbed another muffin and gulped it down.

"Yeah… Thanks." Said Rainbow awkwardly. She wandered away before the ditzy Pegasus could say anything else. A beautiful slow track started playing as she meandered her way through the crowd aimlessly.

"Hey Dash, want to dance?" came a voice from behind her. She turned around to see Soarin seemingly materialise out of thin air. He offered a hoof to her. After a moment of hesitation she took his hoof and let him lead her to the dance floor. They slowly swayed to the music. Rainbow snaked her head around Soarin's neck and gently laid her head on the back of his neck. She felt him momentarily tense up for a moment but he relaxed and returned the gesture. She felt him quietly hum along to the music, a gentle thrumming that tickled her throat. They moved to the slow beat of the music, lost in their own world.

On the edge of the dance floor Twilght prodded Rarity. "Hey look at Dash!" she said with a barely suppressed squee of joy.

The pair of unicorns let out a soft 'Aww' as they watch Soarin and Rainbow Dash dance together. "That is just simply adorable." Said Rarity quietly, as if her voice would break some sort of spell on the entwined pegasi.

As the song ended, Rainbow broke the contact with Soarin reluctantly. She took a step back from him. She looked up at him only to find him staring back at her. Like two magnets, she slowly found herself drawn to him. 'Oh please, oh please, oh please…'she thought as the distance closed inexorably between them. Again she could feel his pleasantly warm breath washing over her. It made her feel all tingly and alive. Their nuzzles were about to touch when suddenly a pink pony burst in between them and grabbed them both in tightly and hugged them. "Here's to Dashie joining the Wonderbolts! Hip hip! Hurrah!" her cry was echoed by the room at large. Pinkie looked down at Rainbow who by now was glaring at the earth pony.

"What? Did I interrupt something?" she said obliviously.

Dash wriggled out of the tight hug and stomped off with a disappointed sigh

'Jeez! I can never catch a break!' she thought





As the night progressed, the party intensified. Some liquor was brought out as the young colts and fillies either fell asleep or were taken home. The music was loudly blaring and Rainbow felt like her head might explode from the number of 'congratulations' she was getting. She was walking towards the drinks table when someone bumped into her. "Hey watch it." she yelled out. She didn't see who it was but was surprised when she turned back around to find a note attached to her cup. She took it off and read it quickly.

'Follow me'

S.

She scanned the room and say Soarin standing near the door looking at her. He made a small movement with his head before walking outside. Rainbow followed him. As she walked out the door unnoticed she saw him down the street waiting patiently. She quickly trotted over to him.

"I see you got my message" he remarked/

"Yeah… Suppose I did." She pawed the ground nervously

"I thought you could use a break from the party. You looked like you were going to explode or something." He smiled softly

"Thanks."

"Do you want to go for a quick fly? It's a beautiful night."

He unfurled his wings and launched himself into the sky, Rainbow following him. They banked and wheeled around the sky playfully, zigzagging between tufts of cloud. Exhausted from the long day of Training and the party, Rainbow settled on a high cloud and faced the moon. A soft 'poof' announced Soarin landing next to her. He lay down next to her and stared at the moon.

"You ok Dashie? You seem a bit distracted."

Rainbow shivered at the use of her pet name, she wasn't used to the idea of him calling her 'Dashie'. She rolled over and looked at him.

"I'm fine." She lied

"Are you sure about that?"

"Ok… fine… I kinda bumped into Spitfire after training. It's had me on edge all day."

"I see."

"What's with her anyway?" she asked "She seems… so possessive of you"

Soarin blanched at the comment

"Truthfully… Me and Spitfire have a bit of history together. We dated for a while a few years ago and we've kind of had an on-off thing ever since."

Rainbow stared incredulously at him.

"No way! How come nopony has ever heard of it then?"

"I'm good at keeping my private life… private."

Rainbow laughed at that

"You're into the crazy mares aren't you? First Spitfire then m-" She quickly cut herself off before she finished the sentence

"Pardon?" asked Soarin, his green eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Uhh… nothing." Lied Dash, she buried her head in the cloud so Soarin wouldn't see her blush.

"I do like you."

She whipped her head up. "What?"

"I like you." Soarin grinned

"What?"

Soarin didn't answer her again but instead leant in and kissed her. Surprise overwhelmed Dash and she was paralysed with a mixture or excitement and surprise. His lips were much softer than she thought was possible. As she overcame her shock, she stated kissing him back. They slowly drew apart and looked into each other's eyes.

"I like you to" said Dash quietly.

A huge grin spread to Soarin's face. He returned his gaze to the moon. Dash rested her head on his shoulder and followed his gaze.

'Best. Night. EVER!' she thought excitedly.

High above the pair a yellow Pegasus snarled in fury. Spitfire had followed them discreetly from the party and had managed to observe them unnoticed. See took off in the direction of Canterlot, a howl of fury escaping from her.

"What the hay was that?" asked Soarin, hearing a loud howl in the distance.

"I don't kn-" Rainbow didn't finish her sentence. She saw a small yellow blur winging through the night sky away from them. "Uh-oh… This is gonna be bad."
> A royal show
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Come on recruit! Pick yourself up!" Bellowed Juggernaut. "Those squadron wings won't earn themselves!"

Rainbow grimaced as she picked herself off the ground and sailed back into the air. She had misjudged the previous corner on the advanced obstacle course and had crashed hard into the packed earth. Juggernaut had opted, much to her dislike, to hold their final trial session in a ground stadium rather than up in the sky.

"In the real show, you won't always have a cloud to crash into." He had said when Silver had protested. Ditching the memory she concentrated on cutting the next bend around a post as close as she could. Using a trick she had learnt from Soarin for tight bends such as these, she sped around the obstacle without difficulty. 'Guess having some private lessons with one of the best fliers has its perks.' She thought as she saw Torchie nick the post and lose precious speed. Returning her attention ahead of her, she wove in and out of a dense field of nets. She swore as her wing clipped one of the support posts and spun her around. Managing to regain control of the chaotic spin before she crashed into a net, Dash tried to ignore her throbbing wing and instead focus on the final obstacle, a narrow winding tunnel with moving blocks intermittently along its length. She ducked under the first block and pulled a tight turn to dodge a second one which had moved into her path. She squeezed through a narrow gap cause by two blocks moving next to each other. A sudden lance of pain shot through her hind leg as a block violently grazed it. Clenching her teeth, Rainbow ignored the pain and concentrated on manoeuvring through the tight passage. A burst of light greeted her as she emerged from the end. Swooping back down to the ground she pulled on the rope connected the finish bell.

"Not bad Rainbow" said Juggernaut, using her name for the first time. "Sixth fastest time set on the course. Not bad at all. Welcome to the Wonderbolts Kiddo."

"Thanks" she panted "This recruit thinks that was pretty difficult, sir"

"You can stop with the 'This recruit' now Rainbow, your training is over." He grinned for a moment. "You can still call me sir though."

"Yes sir."

"Go on, get that leg patched up and then report to Soarin, he'll assign you to a squadron. Maybe if you're lucky he won't be busy and you tow can spend some time together" He smiled devilishly. Rainbow was somewhat taken aback by his comment, to her knowledge, neither her nor Soarin had told anypony about their relationship. How he was privy to such information was puzzling, to say the least.

"That's just a bit creepy, sir." She limped over to the team medic who inspected her injury.

"Looks painful" the medic remarked as she inspected the wound "You're going to want to keep off that for a few days." She sterilised the wound before applying a pad and finally wrapping it in a bandage. "Make sure you get a doctor to check that out in a few days, that's a fairly large gash and you don't want it getting infected. You probably won't need any stitches as it's a shallow wound but I'd still get it checked over."

"Thanks" Rainbow said before hobbling over to a nearby bench to inspect the wound with her own eyes. Carefully removing the bandage, she was rewarded with the sight of a long but shallow gash that ran from the bottom of her leg to her knee. She grimaced at the sight before tenderly rewrapping the wound. She lay her head down on the bench and watched the other two recruits finish the course.

An out of breath Torchie trotted over to her, a forced a smile onto her face. "Heya Rainbow" she panted, "how did you do?"

"Apparently I set the sixth fastest time on the course. I got this as a parting gift though" She said, gestured to her leg.

"Ouch, looks painful." The brown Pegasus noted.

The pair of pegasi lapsed into silence and watched Silver burst out of the tunnel and streak towards the bell in an uncontrolled spin. They winced as he crashed in the bell with a loud clang.

"That still counts, right?" he asked groggily. He hauled himself up and staggered a little before regaining his balance.

Juggernaut rubbed a small dent in the bell. "That's fine, go get your head checked out; looks like it took the hit a bit worse than the bell did."

Silver stumbled over to the medic who fused over him quickly before releasing him. He staggered over to the bench where Rainbow and Torchie where lying.

"Hey! How come Torchie gets off Scotch free?" he protested, noticing Dash's bandaged leg. "She's the clumsiest of all of us."

"Clumsy eh?" she questioned. She gave Silver a gentle push which caused him to topple over. "Calling me clumsy?"

"You didn't hit a bell" he slurred. Torchie sighed in exasperation.

"Come on hard head, let's get you some rest. You can see Soarin later." She hauled her disorientated friend off in the direction of the Team lounge. "I'll see you later Dash, got to get this knucklehead settled in."

"Who're you calling a knucklehead, knucklehead?" protested Silver.

Rainbow shook her head and made her way to Soarin's office.

"Hey hot stuff." Soarin said cheekily when Rainbow trotted into his office.

"Oh stop it, you." She waved a hoof in embarrassment.

"Oh ok. Hello Rainbow Dash, how may I be of assistance today?" He droned monotonously

"Ok I preferred hot stuff." She said with a groan. Soarin was a bit of a tease every now and then. The pair had hardly seen each other since their kiss two weeks ago. Soarin had been lumped with extra work due to two major shows coming up soon, an annual flight show in Manehattan and the Grand Galloping Gala. Rainbow's training on the other hand had intensified to daily practice sessions as Juggernaut had wanted to speed up the recruit's indoctrination so they could be included in the aforementioned shows. Soarin and Dash's time had been limited to short flights when Soarin or Dash had a break, winks and other subtle signals in the hallways and in one case a painful incident involving a broom cupboard, several brooms and several contraband magazines. Needless to say, Dash relished any chance she got to spend time with her de-facto partner.

"Let me guess," Soarin said, eyeing her injury. "Grazed by a block on the obstacle course?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Let's say I've had my fair share of bumps and bruises from this place."

"I can imagine." Rainbow snickered.

"Hey!" Soarin said indignantly. "I don't crash much!"

"Whatever, Wonder-boy." She slugged him playfully on the shoulder. A companionable silence fell over the pair.

"I'm going to guess that Juggernaut sent you here to get assigned to a team?"

"He did. Say, you haven't told him about us have you?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"He seemed to know about our…" she searched for the right word. She and Soarin hadn't really started dating or anything so it seemed wrong to say so. "Feelings for one another."

Soarin chuckled. "That's just him, he just knows things. Nopony has been able to figure it out." He pulled some papers from his desk and started filling them out. "Alright, I'm putting you in Second Squadron; I guess you'll still be reporting to Juggernaut."

He handed the form to Rainbow who skimmed it quickly before folding it away. Soarin leaned back in his chair and sighed. He fixed his eyes on Dash. "You hungry?"

"A little I guess" she replied.

"Pie."

"What?" Rainbow asked, clearly confused.

Soarin ignored her and reached down and pulled a steaming hot pie from one of the drawers in his desk.

"How the hay did you do that?"

"It's kind of a secret."

"Oh come on! You can tell me." Rainbow put on her best puppy dog eyes.

It looked like Soarin would withstand the barrage of cuteness but he suddenly caved in.

"Alright! Alright! You have to promise not to tell anyone."

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" she recited while going through the motions.

"Umm…ok?" Soarin said before dismissing her peculiar antics. "Anyway… This desk is special; it's got some crazy magic on it. More or less it allows the owner to summon something they want by saying it. Pretty crazy stuff, I've had it check out before but nopony knows how it really works. From what I know it's kind of like a powerful summoning spell of something. Pretty funky stuff if you ask me."

"So it's like a desk of retrieving?" Rainbow asked quizzically, raising an eyebrow in confusion

"Something like that."

"How the hay does that work."

"Soarin shrugged. "Magic."

Rainbow shook her head. "Magic" she agreed.

They shared the pie which had been conjured by Soarin's desk. Magical or not, it was delicious. They finished the pie and Rainbow curled up next to Soarin. He gently stroked he mane with a hoof.

"Dashie?"

"Yes?"

"How would you like to perform at the Gala this year? I know it's a big ask for a new recruit, but I think you'd be up for it."

Rainbow's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? You mean it?"

"Yes, I do."

She squealed with excitement and hugged Soarin tightly.

"I'll take that as a yes." Soarin groaned as the cyan mare crushed his ribs.

Over the next few days, frenzied preparations were made by Rainbow to get herself ready for the Gala. She didn't need a fancy dress this time as she would be wearing her Wonderbolt flight suit for the night. She was disappointed to find out that out of her friends; only Twilight would be attending the Gala. Although all her friends had received invitations, they were not as enthusiastic about it as they had been the first time. She accepted with resignation that she would be able to convince her friends to go so she instead spent her time practicing as much as she could. As the Gala drew closer, a sense of urgency seemed to fasten itself to the Wonderbolts. The show team trained every day for hours on end, wearing Rainbow down to exhaustion. She was relieved when the night rolled around and she found herself waiting for the show to start.

Standing proudly in the locker room with the rest of the team, Rainbow donned her blue flight suit for the first time. The suit was light and comfortable and although it was tight fitting, it did not impede her range of movement. The suit accentuated the curves of her body and in her opinion, made her look quite beautiful. She took her flight goggles out of their case, her gaze lingering on the stylised image of her cutie mark on the band. She pulled the goggles over her head but didn't lower them over her magenta eyes. The low murmur of conversation dropped as Soarin, followed by Juggernaut, entered the room.

"Alright everypony, listen up! Courtesy of the Canterlot Weather patrol, we have excellent flying conditions for tonight's show. We've got a press meeting scheduled immediately after the show but other than that, the evening is yours. Have fun, watch your wingman and good luck. Let's roll!" He snapped his goggles down, covering his brilliant green eyes and the rest of the team flowed suite. Rainbow flipped her goggles down, tinting her vision slightly blue. She took her place in the line and the team filled out of the room and into the tunnel.

"Grab your smoke canisters." Soarin said, handing each team member a small metal canister to clip onto their flight suits. When Dash extended her hoof to take one, he brushed her hoof away. She looked at him in confusion.

"You don't need one Rainbow, you've got your rainbow trail which is frankly, much cooler than anything these things could make." He explained, clipping one of the smoke generators to his suit and tucking it through a purpose made loop.

Accepting his explanation, Rainbow retook her position in the diamond formation they had formed near the mouth of the tunnel. Butterflies started forming in her stomach as she waited. Her knees started to shake slightly. She felt a hoof on her shoulder. "You'll do fine. Don't worry." A voice said.

Rainbow gulped nervously. She heard a muffled cheer come from outside.

"Alright that's our cue! Let's fly!" Soarin announced from the front of the formation.

As one, the team kicked off the ground and hurtled towards the exit. The cheer rose in volume until Rainbow thought it would crush her head. As she emerged out into the night sky, following in a tight 'V' formation, she gazed out over the packed stands. She never quite realise how many ponies were present for these shows. 'I guess being in the middle of one doesn't hurt' she thought as she banked around after the formation. At a signal from Soarin, half of the formation broke off and pulled a hard right while the other half broke off in the other direction. Each group then doubled back and flew past each other, their wingtips almost touching at breakneck speeds. The crowds whooped in excitement. After reforming the group pulled a wide arching summersault before breaking off in all different directions. The smoke trails following them were reminiscent of fireworks as they burst off in all directions. She paired up with Juggernaut and they flew a dizzying pattern of spirals and turns which were being matched by the two other pairs. The team reformed into a wide line and zigzagged across each other, creating an insane pattern of smoke and rainbow trails. Four of them, including Rainbow and Soarin, broke off and allowed the two remaining Wonderbolts to show off. As they flew wide rings around the show, Soarin slotted in next to Rainbow.

"Hey, Rainbow, reckon you can pull off another one of those Sonic Rainbooms?" he asked.

"Uh... I don't know. I can try I guess."

"Awesome, I'm sending you and hurricane in last. When you finish off your routine, I want to you try and pull one off."

He peeled off with Juggernaut to replace the other two who were finishing off their routine.

All too soon it was Rainbow's turn. She followed Hurricane's lead as Soarin and Juggernaut finished their routine. A brilliant rainbow trail followed her every move. It was more visible now that she was no longer flying in formation. A cheer erupted from the crowd as she and Hurricane pulled off a double inverted back flip and followed through with a wild corkscrew. At some unknown signal, Hurricane broke off, leaving Rainbow Dash alone. Knowing what she had to do, she shot up vertically as fast as she could. She pulled a wide arching turn that would leave her running parallel with the ground. As she accelerated, a narrow vapour cone started forming in front of her. She tried to break through it as best as she could but seemed unable to break the barrier. 'Soarin is counting on me! HE reckons I can do this. I can!' she thought. With renewed vigour, she pushed harder, a shimmer of rainbow light played along the vapour cone as she went faster. As she passed above the stands, a sudden loud roar and a brilliant circular band of light spread out around her as she broke the sound barrier and light spectrum. A wild cheering of the crowd was blocked out by the roar of the sonic boom. Gaining a sudden moment of inspiration, she drew out a rough picture of the Wonderbolts emblem with the rainbow trailing in her wake. Slowing down gradually, she re-joined the five other Wonderbolts circling the arena. Thunderous applause and cheering met her as she and the others passed over the stands for a final time. Smiling wildly at her achievement, she and the rest of the team returned to the locker room.

After being congratulated by her team members, the Wonderbolts went to the obligatory press meeting. The multitude of reporters swamped the team, especially Dash, as they arrived.

"Miss Dash! How does it feel being one of the newest Wonderbolts?" One yelled

"How did you pull off that fantastic Sonic Rainboom?" Another shouted

""What's it like performing for the first time at such a prestigious event?" Yet another yelled.

Rainbow suddenly wished she had never joined the flight team. The sheer number of journalists and reporters yammering at her and asking her questions was staggering. She tried to answer any questions she could, but most of the things she was asked she had no idea what the reporter was even saying. Thankfully the Press meeting was short and within twenty minutes, the last of the press had been ushered out by two burly security guards. Most of the team filed out quickly, eager to enjoy the rest of the night. Soarin deliberately stalled until he and Rainbow were the only two left in the room. He casually trotted over to her and ruffled her mane. "That was awesome. Absolutely awesome."

"Thanks Soarin. I've never managed to pull off a sonic rainboom on a whim before."

"Really? That's great!" he glanced around the empty room. "Hey would you want to spend some time tighter later? Go have a nice fly somewhere or something?"

"Sounds good Casanova." She replied happily, stroking her mane back.

"I'll meet you in the palace gardens in about an hour or two, okay?"

"See you there."

Soarin gave her a wink before trotting out of the room. Rainbow Dash sighed dreamily and followed him out a few moments later. If she had been looking at where she was going she wouldn't have crashed into a purple unicorn that had been waiting outside.

"Twilight! What are you doing here?" Why aren't you down at the Gala?"

"I wanted to congratulate you on your sonic rainboom! That was amazing! But more to the point, what were you talking about with Soarin?" she had a knowing smile on her face.

"TWI! Were you eavesdropping again!? You've been picking up too many bad habits from Rarity." Rainbow fumed

"Maybe…" Twilight said, pawing the ground innocently. "Since when have two been seeing each other? Why didn't you tell us?" she asked flat out.

It was now Rainbow's turn to look sheepish. "We aren't really together per se…" she said. "I don't know why I didn't tell you girls… I was just nervous I guess. I didn't really know if it was real or not."

"I don't understand."

Rainbow groaned, this was going to be difficult to explain, doubly so because she was explaining to Twilight. "This… thing… with Soarin has been different to any other Stallion. He's different, it's not just because he's famous, but he just seems… genuine. I've had a few bad run-ins with other Stallions. But I feel like this could go somewhere." She smiled. "Bet I sound all mushy and stuff now."

"So you like him?" Twilight said obliviously.

"No I hate him so much that I want to rip his wings off and turn them into baked goods." Dash remarked sarcastically.

"I'd use his legs, more meat on them." Twilight said back, keeping a completely straight face as she did so.

"Ok… That's a bit weird Twilight."

"Just a bit, maybe." Twilight agreed. "We should go, I'm sure you have many adoring fans waiting to see you. Not to mention your date with Soarin."

"It's not a date." Dash protested, as they trotted outside and towards the palace.

"When are you going to admit that it is?"

Rainbow remained silent. Twilight decided to drop the topic with a sigh of exasperation.

The pair continued towards the Gala in silence. Neither noticed a yellow Pegasus perched above them. After the pair of ponies had passed her hiding spot, Spitfire took off towards the palace, a plan forming in her mind.
> A lesson in friends and trust
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7: A lesson in friends and trust

The Grand Galloping Gala was the largest annual event for the Wonderbolts. Their performance in front of hundreds of ponies was followed by an evening spent with royalty and the Canterlot elite. While Soarin always enjoyed the first part of the evening, he loathed the later part. While a kind and respectful pony, he found it incredibly difficult to put up with the upper class. He disliked the formality and the etiquette necessary to interact with them. Most of all though he disliked the occasional upper class twit who would try to use a Wonderbolt as a way to boost their reputation. Trotting through the main hall, he stared sadly at the spot where several years ago a nice country mare had sold apple pies. He had never eaten such a delicious pie before and it always made him sad that the stall had never returned. He deftly grabbed a glass of something from a passing waiter, took a sip and spat it back out with as much dignity as he could manage. Grimacing at the strong taste of the wine, he placed the tall elegant glass on a table before wandering off again. As he wandered across the room, a yellow Pegasus talking with a group of suited unicorns caught his eye. Recognizing the Pegasus, he wandered over to the group.

"Excuse me gentlemen, but if you don't mind I need to borrow my friend for a moment."




Rainbow was enjoying the Gala. 'This time,' she thought 'I'm not hanging out with the coolest ponies around. I AM the coolest pony around!' She was enjoying her new found fame. While she couldn't stand any of the upper class snobs who were there, she loved the attention she received from the multitude of Wonderbolt fans present. She autographed more pieces of paper than she could count, had so many photos taken that her eyes were starting to hurt and had her name yelled out so much, it seemed to throb and hum in the air. Much to their disappointment, Rainbow eventually left her fans and went to find her friends. Twilight had gone to join the Princess do whatever it was the Princess did, so that left just Torchie and Silver. Wandering around the Castle, she found Torchie trying to talk to one of the Pegasus guards.

"Don't bother; they're far too disciplined for that." Rainbow said, clearly amused by Torchie's attempt to chat up the guard.

"Awww, you're no fun." She moaned. "He's so good looking. So hunky and masculine." She said, looking wistfully at the stoic guard.

"Come on Torchie, leave the poor stallion alone." She pulled her friend away from the still expressionless guard. "Maybe when he's off duty." Rainbow whispered into her ear which caused Torchie to snicker. They made their way back onto the main hall where they ran into a somewhat wild eyed and concerned looking Silver.

"What's up Silver" Torchie asked when he nearly crashed into them.

"Bad, really bad. You, Rainbow. Come with me." he gushed, looking around worriedly.

"Hold up buddy. What's wrong?" Rainbow asked, taken aback by her friends somewhat erratic behaviour.

"Soarin told me to find you. Get you somewhere safe. Stadium. Let's go. Spitfire's out to get you. Come on, let's go."

Rainbow's ears perked up and she scanned the hall cautiously. "Ok, if you say so."

She and a paranoid Silver left the main hall, leaving Torchie by herself.




"What the heck are you doing here Spitfire?" Soarin spat. He had pried her away from the unicorns and had taken her outside onto one of the palaces many secluded balconies.

He tried not to stare at her. She was wearing a flowing fiery orange and yellow dress that seemed to writhe like a flame when she moved. While he would never admit it, she did look beautiful.

"Can't I enjoy a party now?" she said innocently.

"Why don't I believe that having a good time is your only motive?"

"Depends who I'm having a good time with." She whispered seductively in his ear.

Pushing the mental images out of his mind, Soarin brushed her away.

"None of that. Why are you really here?"

"Do I have to have an ulterior motive?"

"No, but I know you. What are you planning? Does it have something to do with Rainbow?"

Spitfire showed a brief flash of anger before expertly hiding it.

"I wouldn't lay a hoof on her. You on the other hand…"

"SPITFIRE! Stop it. Seriously, we had something yes. That was a long time ago. I've moved on, maybe you should as well. I don't want to have you following my every shadow for the rest of my life. I have Dash now and… I think I love her, so please, for sake and my own, leave me be!" Soarin pleaded.

"So that's how it is" Spitfire said lowly "Somehow, you fail to see reason, you somehow think you 'love' that silly little filly. What do I have to do to get you back?"

Soarin was visibly angered by this statement; he flared his nostrils and flattened his ears. A low growl built in his chest. Repressing his anger, he slowly said "When. Will. You. Get. The. Point. You lost me a long time ago. What you did is unforgivable. You took what was special away and just dumped it. You don't know how much I hate you for what you did."

"Hate is a pretty strong word" said Spitfire, a little taken aback.

"Hate is not enough."

Spitfire flared up "I did it for our good!"

"We had something special." He growled

"We had a bit more than something Soarin." She said softly, her look of anger had changed to one of remorse.

"Yes… we did."

A moment of silence passed between the two pegasi as they remembered what had been.

"What happened to her?" Spitfire asked.

"She has a family now. I've seen her occasionally, she still doesn't know."

"Will she ever?"

"Probably not." Soarin said sadly.

"Soarin, I had no choice, ther-"

Soarin rounded on her.

"THERE WAS ALWAYS A CHOICE." Soarin thundered. "You chose the easy way out."

"Soarin, you know what would have happened. A bastard child? A scandal like that would have ended our careers even without us having to take care of her as a foal. She's probably much happier now than she would have been with us."

"That doesn't change anything. She was ours. You got rid of her. I can never forgive you for that. YOU took away my chance, my right, to be a father."

"Soar-"

"Don't. Just don't even start. You are truly the worst excuse for pony there is. You have a withered black heart. How dare you even try to interfere with my personal life? Move on. I don't think I to ever want to see you again."

Spitfire was dumbfounded by Soarin's rant. He had never spoken like before. A single tear ran down his face. She felt as if something had snapped in her.

"Soarin… I'm sorry. I never knew you felt this way."

"You gave my child away Spitfire, how do expect I would feel?"

Spitfire sighed. "I know, how stupid of me. Look, I don't regret what I did all those years ago, I did what I thought was right for us at the time."

"It is the past, we cannot change it now."

"I know… I just want you to know, I am truly sorry for what has happened recently. I… I've overstepped the line and for this I am sorry. You're right; I should have gotten over you years ago. I should have started thinking realistically rather than just blindly charging after you." She gave Soarin a friendly hug and a smile. "Goodbye Soarin, I'll miss you."

And without another word she left, leaving Soarin blinking in confusion. 'Umm… What just happened? Did she just apologise?'

He was broken out of his state by the sound of a bell chiming. 'I better go' he thought, 'Don't want to be late for Rainbow.'




Half an hour later, he was still waiting. 'Where is she?' he thought. He spied Shadow mingling with a few other ponies inside. 'She'll know where Dash is, those two seem to get along fairly well' he thought. Trotting inside, he politely removed her from the conversation.

"Hey have you seen Rainbow around."

"Don't you know where she is sir?"

"No. Why would I?"

He face grew a confused expression. "I thought you told Silver to take her somewhere safe."

Soarin's expression turned into one of alarm. "I never said anything like that."

"Wait, where-." Her question was cut off by Soarin

"Where did he take her?"

"Back to the stadium, I think… I don't understand. What's going on?"

Soarin turned back to her, a look of panic on his face. "I don't know! I need to find her."

He took off in a cloud of dust.




"Hey Silver, you alright?"

Rainbow had started getting a little worried about her friend. He had now developed a violent eye twitch. He had also started muttering and giggling to himself.

"Never better." He said back in an insane voice.

The voice reminded Rainbow of the time when Twilight had gone crazy over a late friendship report.

"Are you sure, you sound a bit… out of it."

He put his face right up next to her. "Never better!"

"Riiiight… Hey where are we going anyway?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

"Wait, what's that suppo-"

A sudden blow to back of the head knocked her out before she could finish her sentence.
> Silver and Not-Silver
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8: Silver and Not-Silver

Rainbow opened her eyes slowly. A foggy haze had descended over her vision and obscured her surroundings. She saw a flash of movement in front of her, she groaned quietly and tried to move, but for some reason her limbs refused to respond. Lifting her head she saw a deranged looking Pegasus flittering around in front of her. He looked up at the sound of her groan.

"Oh goodie, you're awake! Now we can really begin, won't this be fun!" his face cracked into an insane smile. Despite his insane demeanour his voice was strangely calm yet sinister. A chill of panic swept over Rainbow Dash as he advanced on her.

"Silver, what's happening? Why am I here?"

"Ohh my pretty, Silver isn't here at the moment. Please leave a message after the beep." he giggled insanely. He pulled a knife off a table and ran the flat of the blade across Rainbow's cheek. "Oh you're in trouble now aren't you? No big man to save you now, your own body rebelling against you." He placed the knife back on the table. "Not that Silver would ever take advantage of such a vulnerable mare."

Rainbow desperately tried to move but her body still refused to work. 'I must have been drugged or something' she thought.

He brought himself right up next to rainbow. "Unfortunately Silver isn't here at the moment."

"You see, I'm not Silver." Said the Pegasus in a bored voice as he spun a small knife around his hoof.

"Then, who are you?"

"Let's just say… His other side. Oh how long I have waited for this day, how long I have been locked away. But always Silver would say, 'Not today, today is not the day for you to come out.' The long years I have been stuck inside this shell. Isn't it nice to get out every now and then?"

Unsure whether she should respond to the insane Pegasus, Rainbow remained silent.

"You're probably wondering right now, 'what's he going to do?'. Frankly, I don't know. I haven't made my minds up with what to do to this item. Slice and dice? Blender? Who knows?" he cackled and rolled around on the floor.

"Why me?"

"You? Why you? Why not you? I mean, sure there was that thing a while ago but I nearly forgave you for that. So why you? I don't know, because you were there I guess." The not-Silver said. He stroked his chin as if he was thinking of a reason to to have her.

"Oh I know, because you'll be fun. It will be fun to watch you squeal and squirm, I reckon we will have so much fun together." He took a step towards her, eyes gleaming with malice.

"Wait a minute." Rainbow said, desperately trying to buy time. "What about this thing a while ago? I've never met you before I joined the Wonderbolts."

"Oh of course! How could I expect you to even remember me? How foolish and naïve of me, thinking the great and mighty Rainbow Dash would remember little old me."

He spun around in a lazy circle, seemingly oblivious to all the sharp objects in his vicinity. "I've seen you so many different times, we were in a flight school class tighter, I occasionally snuck into Ponyville and helped with the weather, I entered in the 'Best Young Fliers Competition' when you did a sonic rainboom. It's not like we're strangers Dashie."

"I don't remember you."

"Oh of course you wouldn't! No one remembers little old Silver, so I become… someone different." He growled menacingly and advanced on Dash. "Such a pity Rainbow. I've always liked you; you always struck me as a loyal and beautiful mare. Such a pity. Such a pity tha-." His voice suddenly changed, more like Silver's used to be. "I'm sorry Rainbow, I didn't mean for this!"

"QUIET!" The other howled, "You stay out of this."

"As I was saying, before HE rudely interrupted, such a pity you have to die." The Not-Silver said, softly stroking her mane.

Rainbow's eyes bulged.

"Why do I have to die?"

"Because, it'll be fun! Well for me at least. I doubt you'll find it enjoyable. How about we find out?" he squealed in an almost fan-boyish manner.

"What have I ever done against you?" Rainbow gabled, panic entering her voice.

"Oh nothing, nothing, just one thing. You know what I hate more than that weak pathetic Silver?" he shook Rainbow's head for her. "I. HATE. LOSING. I never lose. Silver might, but I never do. I always win. I always hold a grudge. When you beat us at the Young Fliers Competition, I vowed to beat you. So now I guess I am." He punched Rainbow roughly in the gut. She would have doubled over in pain if she could move her body. "Just in a different way." He giggled. "See what I did there? I made a joke. I love jokes. Do you want to hear another good one?"

"Not unless it involves you, the ground and a ton of bricks" Rainbow spat.

"Oh ow, I'm hurt Rainbow. How could you ever say something so harsh. I mean really? How rude. I won't tolerate rudeness around here you bitch." He picked up a knife and drew several small but shallow cuts along Rainbow's flank. She whimpered in pain as the knife cut through her. A small trickle of blood ran off her leg and hit the floor with a unusually loud splat. Not-Silver giggled manically as he carved. He suddenly cried out and dropped the knife. He backed into a corner sobbing quietly. "no… no… no… no…" Silver whispered, his irises contracted into pin-pricks.

"Yes…. Yes… Yes…" Not-silver said back. He pulled himself back up and resumed his gruesome task.

"Why don't you just kill me and be over with it." Rainbow said, her voice strong despite her pain.

"Where would be the fun in that." Not-Silver replied shaking his head in confusion. "I mean, this is all for my own enjoyment, why would I just do it quickly." He placed his head next to Rainbow's. "You see Dashie, I like seeing everything when I kill a pony. Every little emotion. That's why I use one of these." He gestured towards the myriad of knives. "I like getting very, last. Thing. Out of somepony before I put the final blow in. Only when I am satisfied, Dashie. Will I kill you." He ruffled her mane playfully. "We are going to have so much fun! Or at least I will. You are going to feel so. Much. Pain" He smiled insanely again, a deranged cackle emerging from his throat.

By this point, Rainbow was thoroughly freaked out. She tried to block out the pain of the wounds that Not-silver had inflicted and tried to remain calm. She figured if she gave him as little response as possible, she might be able to get some more time. 'For what?' she thought as Not-Silver moved towards her wings 'Nopony knows I'm here… Except Torchie!' A sudden moment of hope flared up in Rainbow, she hoped that Torchie would figure out what happened and send help.




"My, my. You are much tougher than anypony else Dashie. So strong, so resilient. What is it that lets you take so much? You must be setting a new record now ten minutes. I think all my other previous… clients, had satisfied my craving by now." Not-Silver remarked.

Dash silently groaned. The ten minutes had felt like hours. He had done everything from cuts to punches, drowning and feather removal. Nothing that would have seriously injured or maimed though, he seemed to be saving those for the finale.

She spat out a globule of blood. "We might be here a while, so what can I call you?"

"Me? What can you call me? I don't know, I am nameless. We exist together, me and Silver. How can I not be what the other is?"

"You are not silver!" she screamed.

"Yes, I'm Not-Silver…." He played around with the word a bit. He rolled it off his tongue, trailing the word. "I agree. I am Not-Silver." He giggled before returning his attention to Dash. "Now you! You are really starting to make me angry. OH yes… I get euphoria from the wounds I inflict but I miss the squeals and the screams of my victim." His eyes suddenly hardened. "I want you to SQUEAL!" he roared. "Squeal like the Filly you are!"

Dash remained resolute.

"If you will not yield, I might have to resort… to more drastic… measures." He climbed onto the table. He unfurled Dash's wing and placed a hoof on it. "Oh I will love this."

He lifted his hoof and slammed it down on her wing. The sickening crack of several bones shattering filled the small room. Rainbow nearly cried out in agony but managed to keep her mouth clamped shut. "Squeal! Squeal!" Not-Silver roared. He suddenly collapsed on the table and curled up into a foetal ball.

"No more, please, no more." Silver whispered to himself.

"I say when there is enough weakling!" Not-Silver snarled back. Leaping back to his hooves, he moved over Dash. "I fill have my satisfaction."

She laughed at him. "What more can you do? You try to break my body and I still don't give in." she jeered.

"Oh my, little Dashie. How naïve of you. There is one more thing I can do. I am so glad you are a mare though. This would simply be embarrassing if you were a stallion."

Picking up the intent of his words Dash's eyes widened with Horror. "You wouldn't dare" she whim pered.

Not-Silver's eyes sprang impossibly wide open with delight. "I am going to enjoy this."

Rainbow screamed as he moved towards her.
> What are you in the dark?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9: What are you in the dark?

Soarin galloped around the stadium in panic. His ears alert for any sound that might alert him to Dash's whereabouts. "Come-on, come-on, come-on" he muttered "Where are you?"

A loud screaming noise caught his attention. "DASH!" he roared, sprinting in the direction of the hair-raising scream. He ran into one of the outbuildings, following the sound. An unused storage room inside he summarised, was the source. Throwing himself against the door with all his might, he smashed the door off its hinges. The sight that greeted him filled him with rage. One of the new recruits, Silver, was poised over the limp form of Rainbow Dash. Silver's coat was stained with blood in several places and his mane was wild. In his hoof he held a wickedly sharp knife. Silver was half turned towards the door, a surprised look on his face.

Without a moment of hesitation, Soarin threw himself at Silver, sending them both tumbling across the floor. The knife was lost in the tumble and skittered across with the floor with a metallic scrape.

"You BARSTARD! What have you done to her?" Soarin roared as he wrestled with the deranged Pegasus. The two stallions rolled around on the floor, tossing punches and kicking were possible, neither seemed to be able to gain the upper hand. Soarin managed to pin Silver underneath him, causing Not-Silver to snarl viciously. Lashing out with one of his hind legs, Not-Silver sent Soarin sprawling across the floor with a powerful blow to the gut. Instead of pressing home his advantage, the insane Pegasus started searching for the lost knife. Winded by the blow, Soarin wheezed to his hooves. Steadying himself for a moment, he threw himself at Silver, wrapping his legs around him and bringing him back to the ground. The dark blue stallion was surprised by the blow and Soarin pressed home his advantage, throwing him into a wall with a loud crash. He rushed to Dash's side.

"Dash!" he said shaking her. "Dash, answer me! Are you alright?"

Her eyes rolled around and locked on him. A bit of colour seemed to return to them. "Soarin?" she whispered.

"Yes, it's me Dash." He held her tightly.

"Soarin…" Dash croaked. "Behind.."

Soarin span around to see Silver back on his hoofs, an insane grin carved on his face. Despite his grin, his eyes were full of fury.

"Hello Soarin. I'm surprised to see you." He said, his voice full of malevolence

"What the hell have you done Silver!"

"I was just having my fun time, but then you came along and ruined it!" he whined, in an almost childlike manner.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I'll just leave then." Said Soarin sarcastically.

"You should, it's no fun when they fight back." Not-Silver moped.

Soarin circled the navy blue stallion cautiously, waiting for him to make a move. Without warning, Silver snarled and leapt at Soarin, biting down on him. Soarin howled in pain as Silver' teeth dug into him. The insane stallion seemed to be enjoying himself as he was laughing loudly, even with his mouth clamped around Soarin. Snarling in rage, Soarin threw him off again, causing Silver to whimper in pain as he crashed into the wall again. Not willing to let his opponent stand again, Soarin stood on him, preventing him from getting back up. Silver squirmed and wriggled but couldn't get out from underneath the Wonderbolt.

"Rainbow, are you alright?" Soarin asked, out of breath from his fight.

"What do you think?" she said wearily. Her usual bravado and attitude was missing. She seemed hollow and withdrawn.

"What happened?"

"I was with Torchie when Silver came up… He told us that you said I was in danger… and that he had to take me somewhere… safe. That worked out… well." She said, he voice breaking as tears starting running down her face. Silver squirmed under Soarin again.

"Then what?"

"Well… he brought me here… and knocked me out. Drugged me or something… I can't move. He then started… hurting me. He cut me, he punched me, he… broke my wing." She turned to him, her face stony. "He… he… forced himself on me…"

Soarin's eyes burnt with fury. His gaze fell on Silver.

"You…"

Silver visibly shied away under his gaze. Although he was insane, he was now scared. The pure fury contained in Soarin's eyes could have been weaponised.

"You… What monster are you? You beat her, you carve her, and you rape her? No punishment is too great for you." Soarin growled.

Silver's eyes glazed over. An insane cackle erupted from him. "Oh you missed the best bit Soarin. I beat her, I cut her and I raped her. And I enjoyed it. I did it for no other reason than for the fun of it! And do you know what the best bit is? I have nothing to lose! So go on! Kill me! Throw me in prison! Do your worst! You're right! I have beaten and violated your precious and no punishment will ever equal that!" he cackled again. "So do it! Kill me! KILL ME! Bring yourself down to my level. What are you in the dark? When nopony else is looking? Go on, give into your instincts. End me."

Soarin pressed down harder on Silver, causing him to choke. "You will learn what happens to those you hurt the ones I love." Soarin snarled loudly.

"Soarin… Don't" Dash mumbled.

"Equestria deserves to be rid of scum like him." Soarin spat.

"Don't lower yourself to him… he… wants… you to kill him." She groaned. "Do it... for me."

Soarin glared at Silver for a moment longer before removing the pressure from him. Silver's smile seemed to fade slightly.

"Death is too good for him." Soarin said. He stomped down on silver's head, knocking him out cold. "That felt good though."

Dash didn't respond. She had fallen unconscious, finally allowing the pain of her wounds to overcome her. He trotted over to her and gently nuzzled her cheek. "You'll be fine Dah" he said, more to reassure himself.

"Sir!" came a voice.

Jerking his head up in surprise, Soarin saw a trio of figures silhouetted in the door. The figures resolved themselves into Torchie flanked by two Royal guards.

"I brought some help." She explained unnecessarily.

"How did you know?" Soarin asked.

"I guessed. After you flew off so quickly I guessed that something bad might be happening so I managed to convince Mr Hunky and his friend here to come and help."

"Mr Hunky?" asked Soarin incredulously. Despite the situation he found himself trying not to laugh.

"What?" Torchie asked innocently.

"Doesn't matter," said Soarin, suddenly serious. "Sha-

"Torchie" Tochie interrupted

"Right. Torchie, take Dash to Canterlot Hospital, she needs Medical attention. I'll drop by later. Until then, stay with her. You two, come with me. We've got a lunatic to take to a Princess."




White. White everywhere. It was only the steady beep of some hospital machinery that that reminded Dash where she was. She winced at the bright light and blinked several times. Lifting her head off the pillow, she looked around the room. Slumped over in a chair next to her was Twilight, still in her midnight blue Gala dress. She was quietly snoring, a thin sliver of drool hanging out her mouth. Curled up on the floor in an adorable ball was Soarin. Not wanting to wake him, she leaned across and prodded Twilight gently. She groaned and rolled over. "Whaaat… To early…" she complained. Remembering why she was at the hospital suddenly flashed through Twilight's sleep addled brain and she flipped over and jumped on Rainbow.

"Twilight… off me… please…" Rainbow half groaned, half whispered.

"Oh… sorry." Twilight replied sheepishly. She contented herself with curling up on the bed next to Rainbow. "What happened? I haven't been told much."

"I'd rather not talk about it Twi." Rainbow replied weakly, her ordeal, although short had been harrowing to say the least.

"Later then?" The lavender unicorn asked hopefully.

"Maybe." In truth Rainbow never wanted to speak of what Not-Silver had done to her.

"Whatever you want Rainbow." Twilight said before leaping back into the chair. "Just glad to see you alright." She mumbled before dozing off again.

Rainbow was left in silence. She looked out the window at the moon in the night sky. She guessed it was probably a bit after midnight. She tried to fall asleep again but couldn't. Crawling out of the bed silently, she lay down on the floor next to the sleeping form of Soarin. Curling up next to him, she draped one of his fore legs over her and closed her eyes again.

"I'm never leaving you again." She whispered as she fell asleep in his embrace.




Not-Silver awoke to darkness and silence. He felt nothing, heard nothing and saw nothing. Only darkness. He could feel the presence of the weakling with him as well. "What is this trickery?" he tried to say but no sound would come out. He could still feel his limbs, but he could not move them. The only other life he could feel was the other.

'This trickery is our sentence.' Silver said in his mind.

Not-Silver growled, his consciousness shifted through their shared mind as he tried to decipher the Other's meaning. 'What happened?'

'At my request, we were banished to the moon. A self-exile. But that is not the full extent of our sentence. We are now stone. No movement, no feeling, no sight. All there is to do is to fight one another for all eternity. An eternity of war and fighting until one of us is destroyed.'

'You'll never destroy me, I AM you.'

'I am me as well.'

Not-silver snarled as Silver's consciousness tried to overpower him. Erase him from existence. 'So I am destined to fight the Weakling for eternity am I?'

'I am no weakling'

'Oh really, how is it then you allowed me to emerge and add another victim to our list.'

Not-Silver asked. Amusement seemed to emanate from him.

'That was a mistake, you shall not harm another.' Silver snarled, righteous fury fuelling his thoughts

The two personalities silently roared and howled, fighting within the stone shell that Silver's body now was. The pitted and cratered surface of the moon became the scene for the unknown war, a war which would rage unabated for eternity, a war of mind and wills, and a war with one victor and one loser.
> Revelations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10: Revelations

"There's no doubt Ms. Dash, you're pregnant." The doctor said

"Wha-" Rainbow stuttered

"It's also a certainty that Soarin hates you and will leave you when he finds out." The doctor said as he morphed into a laughing shadow. Soarin stepped out from behind him with Spitfire wrapped around him locked in a passionate kiss. They broke apart to laugh at her. The trio melted and reformed into a nightmarish figure of Not-Silver cackling madly.

"It's just me and you Dashie. Just me and you." He cart wheeled away insanely, the doctor's clinic transformed into a hellish landscape. Unable to take any more, Dash screamed out in terror.

Rainbow awoke, eyes wide with fear. She whimpered quietly and shuddered involuntarily. "Just a dream, just a dream." She reassured herself quietly. Nearly two months had passed since her traumatic affair with Not-Silver. Due to her injuries she had been unable to fly for nearly a month and had missed performing in a show. Her inability to fly had compounded her somewhat frayed state of mind and made her more irritable than normal. Despite having healed physically, she still occasionally had nightmares of the events that had happened at the Gala. She pulled herself out of the puffy cloud bed, careful not to disturb the sleeping form of Soarin next to her. Despite her experience, Soarin and Dash's relationship had blossomed and now that the Wonderbolts show season had ended, the two had found more time to spend together. She snuck outside onto one of the many balconies on her house and lay down. She let the chilly night wind ruffle her mane and clear her head. Rubbing her temples gently, she took a deep breath and sighed. She tried to remove the image of her torturer from her mind and stared at the moon.

"He's still up there you know. He won't hurt you again" Soarin said, his voice tired yet with a hint of concern.

"I know. Doesn't make it any easier though." She said, turning to see him standing in the doorway.

"You had another bad dream?" he asked. He padded over next to Rainbow and lay his head on top of hers.

"Yeah." She said quietly

"What about?" he asked gently.

"You don't want to know."

Not wishing to push her further, he lapsed into silence.

Comforted by his presence, Rainbow Dash fell asleep, her gentle breathing lifting Soarin's head up and down. Gently slinging her over his back, Soarin carried her back inside.




Blazing sunlight awoke Rainbow Dash. Blinking rapidly to clear her vision, she peered around her brightly lit room. The bed next to her was empty; Soarin had obviously already woken up. Yawning loudly, she headed downstairs into the living area. A small plate of breakfast sat on the table. A small messily written note was written next to it.

Heading back to my place in Canterlot today,

Made you breakfast

Might be back tonight.

Love

Soarin

She read the note quickly, her eyes kept returning to the word love. She rolled the foreign word around in her head a bit.

"Love" she said to the empty room. "Love." She repeated, as if seeing how to word sounded. The room offered no answers to her so she sat down, munching thoughtfully. Contemplating for a moment she asked. "What is love?"

Again the room offered no response. Shrugging, she wolfed down the last of the meal and cleared the meal away. Despite the fact that she was normally a fairly messy pony, Soarin's surprisingly good cleanliness had started rubbing off on her. Deciding to not mope around her house all day, the cyan Pegasus flapped her wings a few times and headed towards Ponyville.




"Heya Rainbow! What brings you this way?" Pinkie Pie asked cheerfully as Rainbow Dash entered Sugarcube Corner.

"Just looking for something to do. No clouds to clear, No new stunts to practice. Nothing. Please tell me you have something for me to do."

Pinkie leapt gleefully into the air. "Of course I do Dashie! I just love doing things with my friends!"

Pinkie bounced through into the Kitchen and started throwing ingredients in a carefree manner. Incredibly, despite her carelessness, not a single item was dropped or spilt. Rainbow yelped out in surprise as she ducked a large bag of flour flying across the room. "Mind watching where you are throwing stuff Pinkie?"

"I'm always watching Dashie!"

"What if I hadn't ducked?" Rainbow asked annoyed

"Then you'd have gotten a bag of flour to the face silly!" Pinkie giggled.

Huffing in annoyance, Rainbow pulled over a large mixing bowl and started clumsily combining ingredients in accordance to a recipe in front of her. The room was quiet except for Pinkie quietly humming a mad tune to herself.

"Pinkie" Rainbow finally asked.

"Oh questions! I love questions. Do I have to guess the question? I love guessing. Except for when I have to gue-."

"Pinkie you're doing it again." Dash interrupted

"Doing what? Rambling"

"You think?" Rainbow asked sarcastically.

"I don't know!" the pink pony replied gleefully. "Anyway what did you want to know?" Her eyes gleamed with excitement.

"What is love?"

Pinkie visibly stiffened. A blank stare came across her.

"Uhh, Pinkie?" Rainbow asked, confused by her friends lack of response.

"Baby don't hurt me." Pinkie burst out.

"Don't hurt me?" Rainbow replied, confused.

"NO MORE!" Pinkie yelled. Inexplicably, speakers descended from the ceiling and a deep bass started pumping.

Rainbow covered her face with her hoof as Pinkie launched into her musical number. Groaning in resignation, she backed out of the kitchen and out onto the road.

"Ok she's crazy." Rainbow said to nopony in particular.




Dash leafed through a book aimlessly, she had moved to the library after leaving Pinkie to her musical number. The faint sounds of loud music indicated the pink party pony had probably made a party out of the occasion. She looked up as a loud crash rang out. A frustrated groan came from the resident librarian as she investigated the cause of the disturbance. Rainbow watched on with lazy interest as the so called 'Cutie-mark Crusaders' were chased out of the library by a displeased Twilight. Slamming the door behind her Twilight turned to the slightly amused Rainbow-maned mare.

"Those girls really need to learn what peace and quiet means." She said, her eye twitching slightly.

Rainbow resisted the urge to laugh; she didn't think Twilight would appreciate it much. Regaining her composure, Twilight meandered over to her friend, pulled a cushion out and sat down.

"So what's new?" she asked casually.

"Well I learnt never to ask Pinkie 'What is love'" Rainbow remarked dryly. She turned another page.

"Now why would you be asking her that?" Twilight asked coyly.

Mentally slapping herself Rainbow tried to dodge the question.

"Umm… No reason."

"You're a terrible liar Rainbow Dash" Twilight remarked smugly.

Dash glowered for a moment before realising she wouldn't get out of it now. She was backed up against a metaphorical wall. She explained to Twilight the note Soarin had left for her this morning.

"I'm just not sure what this means. Does he love me? Do I love him? Where will this go from here?" Rainbow groaned, covering her head with her hooves

Twilight scratched her chin thoughtfully for a moment. "Well I think you'll have to find that out for yourself. As you can probably guess I'm not the pony to talk to about this stuff. But where this will go… I would guess a few more plot twists and then mayb-" she cut herself off.

"What, go on." Rainbow said, hoping her fried would provide some insight.

"I can't." Twilight said, her eyes took on a look as if she was staring at some unseen observer.

"Why?"

"You know… I'd be breaking…" she gestured in the air. "The wall."

Rainbow cocked an eye in confusion. "You've been spending too much time around Pinkie haven't you?"

"Ee-yup" Twilight responded, burying her face in the cushion.

"What should I do Twi?" Rainbow asked

"I don't know" The librarian responded, her voice muffled by the colourful cushion. "Go ask Rarity, she's better at this stuff than me."

"Yeah! I'll do that." Dash said. In her excitement, she tossed the book away and bolted out an open window.

A flash of flame erupted from the window and a loud yell followed her.

"BOOKS ARE NOT FOR THROWING!"




"Well darling, I think you have one option." Ponyville's resident fashionista said. She attacked one of her mannequins viciously with a needle and several bolts of cloth.

"And what would that be?" she asked impatiently. Rarity had deliberately stalled and tried to worm as much information of out Rainbow about Soarin. Much to Rarity's annoyance, Dash had managed to keep most of the details to herself.

"Well Rainbow, the only thing you can do is to find your stallion and ask him."

Rainbow pulled a face of disapproval. "You mean to tell me that's all you can say? I waited all that time for that?"

A small smile touched rarity's mouth. "But of course. What else did you expect?"

"I don't even- What- ergh." Dash grumbled. She turned around and left the boutique, her feelings still not resolved.




Rainbow flew towards Canterlot as fast as she could manage. Her head was full of her friend's voices.

'Baby don't hurt me'

'You'll have to find that out for yourself'

'Find your stallion and ask him'

'Baby don't hurt me'

'You'll have to find that out for yourself'

'Find your stallion and ask hi'

"Get. Out. Of. My. Head! I need to think!" she fumed to herself. A little part of her mind reminded her how ridiculous it was for her to get so worked up over one word but she quashed the thought. She asked herself the question over and over. 'How do I feel about Soarin?' Despite her best attempt, she couldn't figure it out. She liked him for sure, but whether she could truly say that she… loved the Wonderbolt was a different story. She mulled it over. Without him, she would be dead. 'Come to think of it, we have now both saved each other.' Pushing the thought aside, she focused on deciphering her feelings. She liked his smile, his personality, she felt… different when he was around. A previously unheard voice suddenly asked 'Could you live without him?'

'Of course I could' she thought back 'But… I would hate to live without him now.'

She angled towards the much closer city. She guessed she would be able to find Soarin at his own dwelling at this time of day.

A sudden moment of clarity struck her. 'I would hate to live without him, but I'd love to live with him.' She thought. 'I love to have him around… He… Completes me?' she thought, her mind straying into sappy territory. A single tear ran down her cheek. "I… love… Soarin…" she said disbelievingly.

She flew towards Soarin's house, the words spilling from her like a mantra. She felt alive more alive than she had ever felt before. A wave of excitement permeated from her. Landing roughly on the front steps, she burst through the front door.

"Soarin, I lo-."

The words fell out of her mouth as she took in the sight before her.

In front of her, Soarin was pinned underneath Spitfire, the pair locked in a deep kiss.
> The other side
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 11: The other side

That morning…

Soarin yawned silently, he had woken up before the Cyan Pegasus he was sharing the bed with. He rolled out of the bed clumsily, careful not to disturb Rainbow Dash. Landing on the floor with a soft 'pomf', he shook himself over, clearing his fuzzy vision and making his already ruffled mane messier. He cast an eye over the still slumbering Pegasus. 'Such a pretty mare' he thought. His heart fluttered briefly as she squirmed in her sleep. 'Too cute.' He thought. The sleeping mare murmured something, a small part of her dream escaping into reality. Soarin's eye's widened and he glanced around the room awkwardly as she continued mumbling and groaning. 'Yep, nothing to do here.' He thought embarrassedly. Leaving Dash to her fantasies, he left the room with a tinge of red across his face. Heading through the house, he instinctively directed himself towards the kitchen. He made a light breakfast for himself and after a moment of consideration, one for his de facto partner. Munching cheerfully, he pondered what he would do that day. 'Wonderbolts… Off season… Training schedule for next season… Boring. Needs to be done though. Ok… Canterlot… Could get Dash something nice…. Canterlot…' He thought incoherently. Deciding that his mind was still too asleep to be making any more decisions, he cleared away his meal and wrote a quick note for Rainbow.

Heading back to my place in Canterlot today,

Made you breakfast

Might be back tonight.

He hesitated for a moment before signing it off with

Love

Soarin

Sure that she would find the meal and his note, Soarin grabbed his saddlebags from the table, tightened up the stylised lightning bolt strap, swung the bags over his back and set off towards the royal city.

After working most of the morning on a training schedule for next season (in truth most of the morning had been spent spinning in lazy circles on his office chair) Soarin had decided to take what he felt was a well-earned break. Stepping outside of the virtually empty Headquarters, Soarin shivered and tightened his blue scarf around his neck. Although winter had arrived in a blustery gale of wind weather, snow had not yet fallen in Canterlot. He considered retreating back into the comparatively warm interior but decided to brave the cold weather. He wandered aimlessly, avoiding the upper class areas centred around the royal palace which dominated the skyline. He shortly found himself in a large but friendly looking marketplace. Trotting through the crowded square, Soarin's eye was caught by a small jewellery store. In particular by one gem the curious foreign pony running the stall had on offer. Making his way through a small gaggle of ponies, Soarin approached the stall and gazed at the gem. The gem itself was mostly clear and fairly unimpressive but the stone caught the light in a way that no other gem he had seen before did. A dazzling spectrum of colours burst from the stone as the light struck it. Every hue of colour imaginable seemed to writhe and curl around inside of it as he tilted his head to look at the fascinating stone. The stone itself was set on a dark bed of jet black basalt. This in turn was set in a necklace of simple yet elegant gold. 'It's beautiful…' he thought amazed. He had never seen any sort of gem like it before. The tan Earth pony running the stall had caught onto Soarin's fascination with the piece and had sidled up behind him. "It's a beauty isn't it?" he asked in a twangy accent.

"What is it?" asked Soarin in wonder.

"This mate is an opal. One of the finest gems around if yer ask me. Sure other gems are all nice and sparkly, but none of them have… fire in them." The Earth pony said dreamily.

"I've never seen anything like this before." Soarin said moving his head around the gem, causing the rainbow of colours to dance around inside the jewel.

"Won't find many of 'em around here mate, these beauties are only found in my homeland. Land down under, Orestralia" The vendor replied, a twinge of pride entering his voice.

"You're a long way from home" Soarin remarked. "I'm Soarin by the way."

"Course you are, everypony knows you. We ain't so far away that we don't know of you Wonderbolts." He said with a wink. "Names Bruce mate." He offered a hoof for Soarin to shake.

"Just Bruce? Bit of a funny name."

"We're all Bruces buddy."

"What, everypony is called Bruce in Orestralia?" Soarin asked raising an eyebrow.

"Nah mate. Just us Stallions. Them Shelia's got their own names."

"Doesn't that get confusing? And what's a shelia?"

"Nah, no problem. And a Shelia is another term for a mare mate."

"Riiight…" Soarin said disbelievingly. He wasn't sure whether the foreign pony was being serious or if he was pulling his leg.

"I can see you fancy this piece buddy, I can tell you, it ain't gonna be cheap. It'll be yours for.. let's say…" he scratched his chin. "400 bits."

Soarin was silently surprised. For a piece of jewellery of its quality, it was very cheap.

"I'll give you 600 for it." Soarin said

Bruce's eyes opened wide in surprise. "You know you normally haggle down right?"

""I'd feel like I was cheating you for any less." Soarin replied.

"Cheers mate. Means a lot to hear somepony say that. You're alright mate." He carefully removed the piece from its stand and wrapped it carefully in a soft cloth. Soarin fished around in his pack for his bit bag and pulled out the required amount. Replacing the coins with the necklace, he thanked Bruce and set off in search of food for his now rumbling stomach.




Entering a small but busy café bar he frequented regularly, he ordered himself a mug of steaming apple cider and a flavour of pie helpful labelled 'It's a surprise!' Settling himself in his regular spot in the corner Soarin stared out the window. Dark grey clouds had moved in over the city and a few flakes of snow had started falling in the street. Despite the cold conditions, the streets were bustling with all different types of ponies. Pulling the Opal necklace of his bag, Soarin examined it under the café lights. He was so lost staring at it he didn't notice a Pegasus approach his table and sit across from him. He was only broken out of his trance when she spoke up.

"Hey Soarin."

Looking up in surprise, he saw Spitfire sitting across from him. She was resting her head on one of her fore-hooves and stared at the necklace in Soarin's hoof. Noticing her gaze, he quickly wrapped it up in the cloth and stowed it out of sight. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he turned back to his new companion.

"Hello spitfire." He said flatly

"Don't suppose that's for me?" she said teasingly.

Soarin stared back at her blankly. He shook his head slowly. "No" he replied emotionlessly.

"I can always dream." She said somewhat wistfully. She was silent for a moment. "How have you been Soarin? I haven't seen you since the Gala. You haven't been avoiding me have you?"

"I've been okay." He said, ignoring her question.

The one sided conversation was broken by a waiter who delivered Soarin's meal. Spitfire added another drink to the order, much to Soarin's displeasure. The waiter retreated allowing Spitfire to continue talking.

"You don't have to ignore me you know. What's wrong with us being friends?" she asked fiddling with a napkin. Soarin thought for a moment, he looked out the window at the light snow fall. He turned his gaze back to the yellow Pegasus in front of him, his eyes cold. "I don't trust you Spitfire."

"Ow." She said in a childish tone "I'm hurt Soarin. Can't we just enjoy a drink without you making me feel bad? What ever happened to us?"

Soarin relaxed his stance slightly. "You fully know what happened." He said as calmly as he could manage

"Yeah I know, no need to lecture me again sweetie."

"Don't call me that." Soarin scowled

"Whatever you say sweetie." Spitfire teased.

Soarin sank lower into his chair and took a long draught of his cider. The fragrant alcoholic beverage eased his nerves slightly. The pair lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Spitfire again tried to get things rolling again.

"So who's the necklace for? Last time I checked you weren't into wearing jewellery." She said in a manner which indicated she already knew the answer.

"Rainbow Dash." He mumbled through his tankard.

Spitfire let out a groan and banged her head against the table softly. "I still don't get what you see in her, she's just an over-hyped fangirl."

"If you're here just to gripe about the choices I make in my personal life, just leave." Soarin snapped back with a glare.

"Oh sorry almighty ruler of all. Am I not allowed to voice my opinion?"

"I know you well enough Spitfire to know you have an ulterior motive. Say what you want but stay out of that. You said you were going to. Or have you already forgotten?"

Spitfire let out an audible 'hmph' before lapsing into silence. She watched Soarin take a bite out his pie. Her foul mood was nearly broken when he pulled a disgusted face.

"Alas, candy floss flavoured." He grumbled

Spitfire smothered a grin as Soarin pushed the pie away from him with a mournful look on his face.




Having ordered a much more delicious but boring slice of apple pie to replace to 'Surprise' pie, Soarin returned his attention to Spitfire. The former captain was on her third tankard of cider and didn't look like she would be stopping any time soon. 'Don't you dare get drunk on me Spitfire; Celestia knows what you'll try.' He thought. The alcohol was starting to have an effect on Spitfire. She was speaking more and more loosely. Much to Soarin's chagrin, she had also started calling him sweetie again.

"Come on. You've had enough." He finally said as she sculled the last part of her fourth tankard five minutes later.

"Aww no fun Soarin. I was just getting started." She whined.

"You're not getting drunk out here Spitfire." He grumbled. Hauling himself up from his corner seat, he pulled a reluctant Spitfire along with him. He tossed the waiter a small tip and left the café bar. The streets were less crowded now as evening had set in. Soarin hadn't realised that he had spent so long in the bar with Spitfire.

"How you doin' good lookin'" Spitfire drawled to Soarin.

"You are drunk." He stated

"In the morning I will sober but you'll still be sexy" she slurred back.

"Celestia help me." Mumbled Soarin.

"Oh loosen up Soarin. Have some fun. We should go out and have some fun. Sound like fun?"

Soarin hesitated for a moment. He wasn't completely opposed to the idea. He hadn't had a night out for a while.

"Alright, no funny business though, you hear?"

"Yes sir" Spitfire said, throwing a mock salute.

"I hope I won't regret this." Muttered Soarin as Spitfire pulled him towards a nearby bar.




Soarin crashed clumsily through the front door of his cloud house, Spitfire in tow. He had drunk a bit more than he intended to.

"See, door. Told you it was there." He drawled.

"Oh so it is. Thought it was over *hic* other side" Spitfire mumbled drunkenly.

He stumbled in, closing the door behind him. He crashed on the couch followed by Spitfire who landed slightly less gracefully.

"That was funny." Soarin giggled "I should do this more often. Get Rainboat.. –Rainbow.. no.. Rainbone.. yeah Rainbone and go do this more often. I bet she'd love it."

Spitfire sidled over next to him. A small amount of guile entering her drunken eyes. "Why do you need Rainbow to have fun? You've got me" she whispered seductively.

"Hey... I said no funny business. Didn't I?"

"I wasn't listening very well. I was distracted by the hunk next to me." Spitfire murmured rolling over next to him.

"Hey no funny busin-". He was cut off by Spitfire gently kissing him. His eyes widened in surprise. In his drunken state he fell off the couch and landed on the floor. With surprising agility for a drunken Pegasus, Spitfire leapt from the couch and landed on top of him.

"Kiss me wonderboy, we can make this a night to remember." She whispered.

"Spi-." Soarin was cut off again by Spitfire passionately kissing him. His inner instincts took over, his common sense tossed aside by his drunken brain. He kissed her back. Guilt welled up in him for some reason he couldn't quite put a hoof on. Lost in the moment, he didn't hear the heavy landing outside the front door. For the second time that night his front door was violently thrown open and another Pegasus entered.

"Soarin, I lo-." Rainbow started before she caught sight of the pair entwined on the floor. Soarin's mind came screaming back to him. He wanted to break the contact with Spitfire but she was pushing him down. He wanted to cry out but he couldn't. A wave of shock passed over the rainbow maned mare. She was left standing in the doorway, rooted to the cloud by shock. A tear rolled down her cheek. A single tear framed the look of pure horror etched on her pale face. A great sob erupted from her throat but was cut off abruptly. In a flash Rainbow was gone. Moments later a massive Sonic boom ripped through the house. A borealis of Rainbow light flashed through the window/ Unlike other rainbooms though, the colours seemed dull and muted, as if Rainbows sadness had caused the colour to fade from their usual lustre.

Fuelled by some force, Soarin roughly bucked Spitfire off him and galloped outside. A faint trail of rainbows led towards the horizon. He collapsed in a heap heaving and sobbing.

"What have I done?" he asked himself.

"Only the best thing ever." Spitfire said from the doorway.

Soarin rounded on her viciously. He tackled her violently sending both of them sprawling. He pinned her down, crushing her in a drunken rage.

"Soarin… get off me. I can't breathe" she whimpered

"You. You. You EVIL. Evil monster. You've done it again. Are you happy? You've ruined it. You ruin everything for me. First you take away my daughter, now you take away my love." he snarled his eyes full of fury

"Soarin… Off please". She begged a genuine look of fear on her face.

Soarin didn't let up. A small part of his mind told him to get off her but his drunken fury overwhelmed his sane thoughts. Spitfire had started gagging now. A blue tinge crossing her face. 'ENOUGH' the voice roared in his head, overwhelming the haze of red rage which had descended upon him. 'You are not a killer.' He snarled before releasing the pressure on Spitfire's chest.

"You. Will. Leave. Now. And if I ever have the misfortune to see your face again. I will tie your wings and throw you off a cliff. I NEVER want to see you again. Get out." He growled. "Don't test me ever again. Next time I might forgot that I have rules."

He got off Spitfire, picked her up by the neck and roughly hurled her outside.

Slamming and locking the door behind him as he tossed his unwanted house guest out, Soarin fell to the floor and curled up in a ball.

Cold and alone.