> Never Let Me Down Again
>  by Closer-To-The-Sun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Ch. 1 Nothing But The Sky
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1: Nothing But The Sky

The daylight was waning in the Ponyville sky. While most of the pegasus ponies that worked the clouds in the sky would stop working around lunchtime, one light blue pony with a rainbow mane would keep working her tail off. The multi-colored sky was finally cloud-free, Rainbow Dash finally landed on the ground and gazed up at her work.

"Awesome work, if I do say so myself," Rainbow Dash said to herself, panting a bit heavily from kicking the clouds across the atmosphere, "Man, I could use something to cool down me down after that. I think Sugarcube Corner is still open."

As she walked over to Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow Dash saw that while the lights were on inside, it seemed very vacant. Going up to the door, she slowly opened it. She was right about the lights being on, but the main room was decorated with streamers, balloons and even a cake on the table. Rainbow saw a large puff of pink hair hiding behind a table. Before Rainbow's mind could piece together what was going on, that large amount of pink bounced to life and called out with a chorus of other voices shouting, "Surprise!"

"Wha? Who? Whe-huh?!" Rainbow Dash's head was turning in all directions to see all of her friends pop out, "What's going on?"

The pink pony bounced up to Rainbow Dash, "It's a party, you silly filly!"

"I figured that much out, Pinkie Pie, but why is there a party?"

"Well, you have been working so super-duper hard for all of us lately that we just had to throw you a thank you party!" Pinkie giggled as she hopped around Rainbow Dash who just watched the party pony skip around her happily.

"You really have been world of help to us all, Rainbow Dash, so we felt it was the least we could do." Twilight Sparkle said in a very thankful tone as she trotted up to the pegasus pony.

"And we absolutely had to do something for you to show our gratitude for you, darling!" Rarity also appeared, sipping punch from a cup she was holding up with her magic.

Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up and hugged Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Twilight, "Oh thank you girls so much!"

Applejack trotted up to the light blue pegasus pony who was hugging her friends, "An' that ain't the best part, Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy here has a special gift for ya."

The yellow pegasus slowly walked up to her pegasus friend with a piece of folded paper in her mouth. Rainbow Dash finally let go of her friends to grab the paper. As she read the paper, the expression on her face went from a small smile to her mouth hanging open in shock and disbelief.

"I get to have personal training from Soarin' of the Wonderbolts?" her voice squeaked more than usual as she exclaimed happily. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygo-"

Rainbow Dash's joyful exclaiming was interrupted by Applejack who shoved a piece of cake into Dash's mouth, "Calm yourself there, Rainbow. Ah had a hunch you'd act like that."

Rainbow Dash looked like she was going to say something, but with her mouth being full of cake, she could only mumble incoherently.

"Anyway Dash, you'll be meeting up with Soarin tomorrow." Twilight was changing the topic so Dash and Applejack wouldn't be at each other's throats.

"Buat, whaa iff I totalee mesh aup?" Rainbow Dash tried to say with the cake in her mouth, which had bits of cake and frosting flying at Twilight and Rarity, causing the latter to leave in a huff to find a towel to clean herself off from the firing of Rainbow Dash's speaking.

"Just relax, Dashie! We're having a party for you and tomorrow morning, you'll be flying with the Wonderbolts! Whoosh!" Pinkie pated Rainbow Dash on the back before acting like she had wings, bouncing all over the room.

"Well," Dash finally swallowed the rest of the cake that was in her mouth, "I guess you guys are right. Thanks again everyone."

"Oh, it's the least we could do for you, Rainbow Dash. You really are quite awesome. Woo hoo!" Fluttershy spoke and cheered softly to her pegasus friend.

The rest of the night was spent with the six mares partying and having fun in honor of Rainbow Dash's hard work and loyalty to her friends.

--------------

The next day, Rainbow Dash was waiting outside of her house in Cloudsdale, excitedly waiting for Soarin to meet up with her. She had the biggest grin on her face, which had been there from the moment she woke up. Never before had she been so excited, in fact she had trouble sleeping the night before. She didn't even take off the new goggles that Twilight had given her the night before for the occasion. Now that the time was drawing close, her fearfulness of messing up in front of the Wonderbolt was replaced with joy and happiness. 

"This is going to be so awesome! I mean, it's Soarin of the Wonderbolts! One of my heroes! He's going to help me with my flying! He's going to personally teach me! And if I'm good enough, he might just ask me to join the Wonderbo-" Rainbow Dash cut herself off and shouted a joyful squeal at the top of her lungs. She got a few odd looks from a few pegasus ponies that were flying by, including a gray pegasus who seemed to be giving an odd look to both her and the sun. But Rainbow didn't care; soon she'll be soaring with Soarin.

A short time later, a light blue colt was flying toward her at a leisurely pace, his cobalt mane and tail moving wildly in the air. His usual Wonderbolt uniform was on him, to be expected when he was out in public. He spotted the familiar rainbow mane on Dash, and flew in to land next to her. Taking his goggles off from his eyes and to hang around his neck, Soarin gave a warm smile to Rainbow Dash, causing her heart to skip a beat.

"Ah, Rainbow Dash, haven't seen you in quite some time. How have ya been?" Soarin asked to his fellow pegasus.

"S-Soarin! Oh my gosh, thank you so much for this!" Rainbow Dash was obviously excited that she almost forgot to answer his question, "Oh, sorry, I'm doing pretty awesome now."

Soarin laughed lightly and smiled, "Don't worry about it, Dash. When I was told that I could do some one-on-one with ya, I knew I just had to jump at the chance to teach ya. You are a really talented flyer."

Rainbow Dash's mind went a million miles a second, 'Gah! He remembers me, and he wanted to teach me personally! And he told me that I'm a good flyer, and to top it off, he called me Dash! This is the greatest day ever!'

Finally snapping back to reality, Rainbow Dash tried to keep her cool, "Ha, well, thanks so much for doing this," her voice squeaked a bit higher than normal, "heh, sorry, guess I'm just excited and all."

Soarin smiled and gave Dash a reassuring pat with his hoof on her back, "It's completely cool. We all get pre-show butterflies every so often. Anyway, shall we get started with a warm up flight?"

Rainbow Dash's face went from that of a fanfilly to one of a warrior ready to take on the world as she was putting her goggles over eyes and readying her body for take-off, "Ready when you are, Soarin!"

"Ha ha! Now that's the Dash I know!" Soarin adjusted his goggles and moved his body into take-off position as well, "Alright, let's go for a nice flight from here to….lets say the clouds above the Evergreen Forest? Nothing fancy now, just so I can observe your patterns and what not."

"You got it!" Rainbow hopped down from the cloud and started to glide and at what felt like a normal flying speed for her. She didn't turn her head, but she could feel Soarin behind her, watching her every move. 'Come on, Dash, this is it. You have a Wonderbolt's full attention. They are here to watch you do your best. Just do a simple flight, nothing fancy, to the clouds. Relax.'

As Dash was trying to calm herself down in her mind, Soarin was right behind her, examining her form carefully with a stone serious look upon his face. From the speed she was going, to the time it took for Rainbow Dash's wings to beat once, and even to her breathing, it was being recorded into Soarin's head. As he saw Dash land with grace on a cloud, he gave an approving smile and nod as he came in for a landing.

"Very nicely done. You have a natural rhythm with your flight from your wing movements down to your breathing. You certainly are a natural," Soarin praised her work.

Rainbow's face turned a slight pink at his words, "Pfft, that was nothing," she brushed it aside, though she was honored to receive praise from the colt, "So what's next?"

For the rest of the day, Rainbow Dash and Soarin went over the mechanics of flight from the simple to the complex. A number of times, Soarin would demonstrate the feat he would request of Dash, in which she would stare at the colt's flying abilities in amazement. Around noon, the two took a break for lunch, which were two apple pies from Sweet Apple Acres, donated by Applejack as her way of saying thank you to the both of them. Afterwards, Rainbow Dash and Soarin spent the remaining daylight working on turning sharply at high speeds, something they both could admit that they had issues with. Before they knew it, the Equestrian sky turned from the azure blue to a light indigo.

"Wow, is it really that late?" Soarin asked as the two rested on a cloud, ponywatching the ponies down in Ponyville.

"Aww, today's already over? But I had such a great time hanging out wit- I mean, I had such a great time learning from you!" Rainbow Dash reworded her sentence, trying to act innocent.

Soarin laughed as he got on all four hooves, "It's cool, Dash. I enjoyed hanging out with you too. Does kind of stink that today's ending already, you really are a pretty awesome mare."

The blue colt's words caused the mare's heart to fly higher than she has flown before.

"Ya know, I don't have much going on tomorrow afternoon. We can keep working on those sharp turns. I think you are getting the hang of them better than I am," Soarin asked casually, "So what do ya sa-"

"YES!" Rainbow Dash blurted out before she covered her mouth with her hooves, "I mean, I'm cool with that if you are."

Soarin laughed and smiled at Dash warmly, something that she was beginning to like more and more, "Alright then, meet ya at your place around one then?"

"Sounds awesome, Soarin!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed with a big smile on her face.

Soarin nodded and began to hover with his wings, "Great, I'll see ya then, Dashie!" And with that, Soarin flew off toward the direction of Canterlot.

As soon as Rainbow Dash knew he was far enough, she shouted with joy, "Yes! This is so awesome! Soarin and I are great friends now! And he's going to be seeing me tomorrow to keep helping me out! This is so unbelievably awesome!"

After a few more minutes of Rainbow Dash acting like a fanfilly, she began to fly back to her home in Cloudsdale. As she was flying back, thinking about the awesome day she just had with Soarin, she started to feel something. It was in the pit of her stomach. Was it her stomach? She couldn't tell where the feeling was coming from. It seemed really odd to her, and yet it seemed familiar. She couldn't shake the feeling at all, so she began to fly faster home, but it persisted. Dash sped up, and it still remained. She kept speeding up until she thought of something it might be, causing her to stop mid-flight.

It was love.

When this realization hit her, Dash turned around and raced back to Ponyville at a breakneck speed as the sky grew darker and as Luna's moon and stars began to shine.

"Oh Celestia….I need to talk to somepony about this, and now."
> Ch. 2 Escape Velocity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: Escape Velocity

The night sky was turning darker by the minute, and Rainbow Dash's speed picked up. This feeling that was building up inside of her was making it hard for her to concentrate on anything else.

"Alright Dash, think, who can you go to talk about this?" Rainbow Dash went over her friends in her mind, "Applejack? Oh goodness, no. Pinkie Pie? Over my dead bod-….Fluttershy! She's always got my back!"

As the night sky finally turned to a deep violet lit up with Luna's majestic moon and stars, Dash finally made it to Fluttershy's cottage. Seeing that the lights were on, she knocked on the door with her hoof. A yellow pegasus with a pink mane answered the door.

"Oh, hello Rainbow Dash," she greeted her friend in her soothing voice.

"Hey Fluttershy. I kinda need somepony to talk to, do you mind if I come in?" Rainbow Dash tried her hardest to not show any of the distress she was feeling moments ago.

"Not at all, Rainbow Dash, please come right in," Fluttershy moved to one side to allow the light blue pegasus into her home, "Do make yourself at home."

Rainbow Dash did just that, going right to the couch to rest her body, which was drained from not only the day of flying but her panicking as well. She sat up and faced Fluttershy, who took a seat in the chair across from her.

"So, what do you need to talk about, Rainbow?" Fluttershy ask as she picked up a cup of tea she had placed on the table earlier.

"Well, ya see….the thing is….I'm feeling some weird things," Rainbow Dash had no idea how to start such a conversation about love, or about anything she considered too mushy.

"Oh, like what?"

"I….don't know…."

"Well, what does it feel like to you?"

"L-love for somepony…."

"Oh my."

"Yeah, and I have no idea what to do about this stupid feelings. It won't go away."

"Well, you can't expect them to just go away because you want them to, Rainbow Dash. May I ask who it is?"

"S-Soarin," Rainbow Dash's face became flushed at the name.

"Oh, I see."

"I just really want to say something to him and just hope that these stupid feelings go away….but…."

"But?"

"I do want to tell him and hope he feels the same, ya know? I mean, I really have never felt this way before about anypony.

"Um, may I speak freely for a second?

"Of course, Fluttershy."

"Well, um, remember that when you were a filly, you weren't the best at picking and staying in a relationship with anypony."

Rainbow Dash was taken back by what Fluttershy had said. It was true, she wasn't the greatest, in fact far from it. As she thought of past relationships, it struck a nerve on Dash, "I know….but I think this might be different. I feel different than before," there was a touch of distaste in voice.

"Maybe you should wait for a bit before acting on those feelings?" Fluttershy offered the advice.

"But I really don't want to," Rainbow Dash's voice grew louder and with a hint of anger.

"But I think it might be best if yo-"

"Well, you know what's just best for me, don't you?" Rainbow shouted at Fluttershy, causing her friend to cower. Rainbow's booming voice continued, "Because you know that I have a horrible track record when it comes to relationships, you think you know every little thing about me, don't you?"

Fluttershy was trembling with her eyes closed and forming tears. Rainbow Dash saw her friend like this and placed her hooves over her mouth. Without a word, she ran out of Fluttershy's home to anywhere in the night. Fluttershy's pet rabbit, Angel, hopped up to Fluttershy and tried his best to comfort her.

'You stupid idiot! You just made your best friend cry, and now you're back right where you started with this problem. Worse if you add what you just did to Fluttershy.' Rainbow Dash thought to herself as her running turned into a trot. She continued to walk through the vacant Ponyville square. 'Guh….stupid.'

Dash continued to walk aimless around Ponyville, passing a pony every so often but she paid no mind. When Rainbow Dash finally looked up after trotting randomly for what seemed a long time, she found herself outside of the Carousel Boutique, Rarity's shop. She saw a few lights on inside. 'What the heck, I need to talk to somepony,' Dash thought as she walked up to the door, giving it a knock.

The door opened to a white unicorn with a purple mane dressed in a luxurious robe, "Oh, hello there, Rainbow Dash! What can I do for you?"

"Hey Rarity. Um….this is going to sound odd but I kind of need to talk to somepony. Like, girl talk." Rainbow Dash felt that was the best way to describe it, though it failed to hit the mark she was aiming for.

"Oh! Come in, come in! Spare no detail, darling, I'm here to lend an ear for all of my friends!" Rarity invited Rainbow Dash in to her home warming, which took Dash by surprise. "Go ahead and have a seat, dear, I shall fetch us some tea."

Rainbow Dash did as Rarity said, "Thanks, Rarity."

The unicorn returned to the room with a tray with two cups and a teapot. The aroma of the black tea leaves filled the room, relaxing Rainbow Dash a great deal.

"But of course, dear, I am the element of generosity after all!" The unicorn set the tray on the table, pouring tea into both cups and offering one to Dash. They both took a few sips before Rarity continued, "Now then, go ahead and tell me what's on your mind."

There was no way Rainbow Dash was going to say anything about Fluttershy, "Well, I think like somepony else, but I'm really not sure about the whole thing…."

"Oh wonderful! Who is the lucky stallion? Or mare, I don't judge!" Rarity laughed a bit at her joke, which got Dash to laugh a bit, easing the tension she had inside.

"It's Soarin," Rainbow's face turned a pinkish tint again at his name.

"Oh, how simply marvelous, darling! You two just seem absolutely perfect for each other!" Rarity mused.

"Well, it's just I haven't said anything yet, and I have no idea what to do or say to him about how I feel."

"But you want your emotions to be known, do you not?"

"Yeah, I do…."

"Then, my dear, you must use your method of telling him."

"My….method?" Dash was puzzled.

"It's something I have noticed with all ponies. How one interacts with others goes hoof-in-hoof with there personality. Take myself, for example, when meeting somepony new, I have a lady-like demeanor and conduct about me. For Applejack, she's very bold, faithful, and has a hint of pride about her. And for Pinkie Pie….well, she's Pinkie Pie. But do you see what I'm hitting at, darling?"

"I kind of see what you mean."

"So, you should just be yourself. You don't want to be something your not. No pony likes that."

"You're right, Rarity. Thanks a lot," Rainbow Dash smiled to her friend.

"Of course, dear. I do give you both my best wishes," Rarity took a sip of the tea, "If you would like, you can stay here for the night if you don't wish to fly back to Cloudsdale."

Finishing the tea in her cup, Rainbow Dash stood up, "Thanks, but I think the flight back will be good for me."

"Alright then, Rainbow. Now I have to make sure that Sweetie Belle isn't wandering around upstairs again," Rarity sighed with a smile, "She can be a real handful sometimes."

Rainbow was at the door before turning to Rarity who was starting up the stairs, "Thanks again, Rarity."

"Anytime, darling. It's really nothing!"

"And if you see Fluttershy," Rainbow looked down before finishing, "tell her I'm really sorry. She knows what it's for."

"You can count on me to deliver the message!" Rarity gave Rainbow Dash a salute, causing Dash to smile as she left.

--------------

The next morning, Rainbow Dash found herself at her home in Cloudsdale. She looked at the clock to see it was about eleven. Taking a deep breath, she got up and got herself ready for the day. She had one goal in mind, and that was to tell Soarin how she felt.

Dash waited outside for Soarin patiently. She took a few deep breathes to both relax herself and hopefully get suppress the feeling that had not left since she first felt it early last night. The feeling remained and she swore under her breath.

Soarin arrived and landed next to Dash. Before he said anything, she noticed something wasn't right about him. Something seemed off, yet she could not place her hoof on it.

"Hey Dash, you ready for today?" the blue colt asked.

If something was wrong, Rainbow Dash couldn't hear it in his voice, "Oh, you know I am!" she replied with vigor.

"Awesome! We'll start with working on the sharp turns at high speeds and we'll see where we go from there."

"Sounds like a plan!" Dash replied as she started to take off, Soarin following behind. Inside her head, however, she was doing some planning, 'Alright, you got this. Just wait for the right time and just be yourself about it. No need to act like a foal in front of him, you just have to you be you. I think I can do that.'

The two pegasus ponies spent most of the afternoon working on over coming sharp turns at high speeds as they planned, then the two decided to have races against each other as well as stunts. Both were highly impressed with each other's skill. As the daylight began to fade, the blurs of rainbows and black clouds stopped appearing around the Ponyville sky. The two sat on a lone cloud and watched Celestia's sunset in the west.

In the back of Rainbow Dash's mind, a small voice spoke to her, 'This is it, Dash, make your move!'

"Hey Soarin, you up for one last race?"

"You know I never turn down a challenge," Soarin said with pride in his voice.

"Alright, how about we have a straight line race, from here to the cloud over there on the other side of Ponyville?" Rainbow pointed to a lone cloud in the distance.
"You're so on!" the colt readied his body for take off

Dash did the same, "Alright, ready? GO!"

Both pegasuses took off at breakneck speed. Rainbow Dash had the lead but knew well that Soarin was not one to just give up. Before she knew it, he passed her. Dash gave a devilish grin, for this was in her plan. She picked up speed quickly and was right behind Soarin, the wings of the two almost able to touch if either one made a wrong move. They were coming up to the cloud quickly, to which Rainbow Dash tackled Soarin into the cloud. The two ponies landed on the cloud softly, Rainbow Dash pinning Soarin to the cloud. The two laughed together as they realized what had happened.

"Haha, so who won that?" Soarin laughed as he was trying to catch his breath.

"I think I did personally," Rainbow boasted.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, yes I do."

Before she could realize what she was doing, Rainbow Dash leaned in toward Soarin and kissed him right on his mouth. Her eyes closed and she felt her heart flutter with excitement. It felt as if her entire body had reached escape velocity and that she was gliding among the stars in space. It was a feeling that felt heavenly and sublime to her body, heart, and mind.

However, she felt something interrupt her experience; two hooves against her chest, trying to push her away.
> Ch. 3 Love, Reign O'er Me
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: Love, Reign O'er Me

Rainbow Dash felt the hooves on her chest push her away from the kiss. Soarin broke the kiss finally, his cheeks were the same as Dash's, tinted a heavy pink.

Now that he pushed Rainbow away and finally caught his breath, Soarin finally asked, "Wh-What in Celestia's name was that?"

The female pegasus was stunned by his comment, she wasn't excepting Soarin to react in such a manner, "It-It was a kiss, S-Soarin…." Rainbow Dash was finally able to mutter.

The colt was still on his back, trying to calm himself from the surprise, "Obviously, but where on Equestria did that come from?"

Rainbow didn't respond to the question, "I-I really like ya a lot…." Her cheeks were blazing red as she was finally able to mutter the words she longed to say to the colt.

Soarin's cheeks turned pink as well before he turned his head away from Dash to the horizon which had dark clouds moving quickly in, blocking sunset they viewed minutes ago. He felt he should say something, but he didn't know what to say at that moment.

"S-Soarin?" Rainbow Dash was fishing for a response.

"I like ya too, Dash, but….I don't know…."

"Don't know? About what?"

"About us, things going on in my life, things going on in my head, and a lot of other things," the pegasus was finally able to say.

"What do you mean?" Dash pleaded for an answer.

Soarin was silent, watching the dark clouds move in from the west quickly. The sunset had been fully engulfed by the clouds and the stars and moon were blocked from view as well. Finally, after what seemed an eternity of waiting for an answer, Soarin replied with a crestfallen tone, "We should call it a day, I'll see ya around." With those words, Soarin took off from the cloud and flew in the direction of Canterlot.

Rainbow Dash stared as she flew off. In her heart, she wanted to chase after him and demand an answer, but she knew if she did and pinned him down to ask, she would not be able to either find the right words or be able to speak. Tears slowly formed in her eyes as a million thoughts raced through her mind. She held her tongue, knowing that her words would fail entirely, no matter what she wanted to say; it would be a jumbled mess.

Rain began to fall from the clouds, slowly and lightly at first, but steadily growing. Below in Ponyville, earth ponies and unicorns alike were scattering to get indoors where it was dry and warm. Rainbow didn't care. The cold rain was hitting her body, and it at least let her know that she was still able to feel something other than a broken heart. The falling water splashed on her face, merging with her tears and finally allowing the tears to fall down her cheeks. Rainbow was finally fully crying, letting her emotions out.

Dash took off from the cloud and flew to the center of the storm. The falling rain began to pelt her body harder, but she flew onward. She struggled to keep going, which was an oddity for her, but she was completely aware of the reason why it was difficult. She didn't want her emotions to get the best of her, making such a normally easy flight a struggle. She had to prove to herself she was stronger that this.

Thunder and lightning started to reveal themselves as she flew through the rough storm. Rainbow Dash didn't care. She kept flying, even when the wind was making it almost impossible for her to fly the direction she started in. She began to grunt as she flapped her wings harder. Slowly, she was moving forward aimlessly. She had no idea where she was going or what she was doing. The only thing she knew was that she wanted to keep flying against the storm. She shouted more as the storm continually pushed her back. 

Finally, giving in the storm, Rainbow Dash stopped fighting the storm and soared back in the direction of Ponyville. Tears continued to flow down her face as she found a tree to take shelter under. Beneath the tree, she curled up and shivered from the cold. Even though Rainbow's coat was slowly beginning dry under the tree's protection, her eyes were still drenched.

-------------

The early next morning, the Celestia's sun was shinning over Ponyville, drying up the soaked land from the previous night's storm. A yellow pegasus with saddlebags on her back was walking down the dirt path near her cottage, enjoying the gentle breeze in her pink mane. As she trotted, she sang with her bird friends joyfully. However, her singing was cut short when she saw not too far off the beaten path a light blue lump under a tree with a few touches of rainbow coloring. She hurried over to the tree to see her friend asleep.

"Rainbow Dash?" she called out to the sleeping pony.

Rainbow Dash's ear twitched at the calling of her name. She opened one of her eyes slowly to see her friend Fluttershy, "Fl-Fluttershy? What are you doing in my house?"

Fluttershy giggled softly, "I'm outside, Rainbow Dash. And so are you."

Rainbow blinked a few times before she realized where she was. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes with her hooves, she looked at her surroundings. "How did I get here?" she asked herself aloud.

"I was going to ask the same thing to you. Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked with concern.

"Wait," Dash interjected as she stood up onto all four of her hooves, "first let me say I'm sorry about the other day. I was a complete mule to you. To be honest, I'm surprised you're still talking to me after how I went off the handle like that."

Fluttershy smiled and gave a comforting pat onto Rainbow Dash's back, "Oh, it's completely alright, Rainbow Dash. Rarity told me that you went to see her as well that night and what you two had talked about."

Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy, "You talked to her?"

Fluttershy shook her head, "Yup, and she told me that you were sorry about how you acted. She said she didn't know for what, but she would not let you down," Rainbow smiled knowing Rarity did give the message, "Care to walk with me to town as we continue this conversation? I do have some things to pick up."

Rainbow Dash nodded and the two continued down the path toward Ponyville.

"Ya know, I honestly don't see how you can be fine with trotting. I mean, this walking thing is for the earth ponies and unicorns," Dash said as her sore muscles reminded her of what had happened the previous night.

"Oh, it's not so bad when you get used to it. Besides, you can take in more of the beauty around you, "Fluttershy replied as she watched a few birds chirp happily in a nearby tree.

Rainbow Dash followed Fluttershy's eyes to see the cheerful family of birds. A smile crept to her face without her knowing it as she looked at the carefree creatures, "Huh, I guess you're right."

As the two walked at a leisurely pace toward the town, they soaked up the atmosphere and beauty around them. From watching birds singing joyful songs to watching families of forest critters such as rabbits and turtles waking up to start their day. The two even stopped to watch a mother duck with her ducklings swim through a puddle. Rainbow Dash felt the tension that was built up inside her literally melt away like Celestia's spring sun melting the winter snow. 

Fluttershy took notice of this and smiled before asking, "Um, Rainbow? If you don't mind me asking now, may I ask how you are feeling now?"

Dash took a deep, cleansing breath before starting, "I'm really feeling better now, thanks to you. Compared to last night, anyway, it's a world of difference."

"Oh my, what happened last night?" Fluttershy asked as they neared Ponyville Square.

"Well, to make a long story short, I made a complete fool of myself in two ways: one with Soarin and the other with trying to fly against the storm. Anyway, that's done and over with now, I need to not focus on my dumb past mistakes. So where do ya need to go? I'll come with ya."

Fluttershy thought for a second, "Um, I do have to go by Sugarcube Corner and pick up a few things and talk to Pinkie Pie."

"Alright, to Sugarcube Corner then!" Rainbow Dash said, leading the way for Fluttershy.

As they arrived to Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy went to the counter to talk to Mrs. Cake about her order. Rainbow Dash found Pinkie Pie and went up to talk to her.

"Hey, Pinkie. What's up?" Rainbow Dash asked as she saw her pink friend.

"Oh, hiya Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie greeted her with her usual energetic personality, "You'll never guess who is here right at this very moment!"

Rainbow's ears perked up, "Huh? Who's here?"

Pinkie Pie's hooves latched on to Rainbow Dash's head as she moved the pegasus' head to a table with a light blue colt sitting down with a few baked goods on the table. His Wonderbolts uniform was covering his entire body except his head. It was Soarin. Rainbow Dash's face lost all expression as she saw the very colt that broke her heart less than twelve hours ago. She wanted to burst out of the bakery and fly as far as she could.

But Pinkie had other ideas, "Come on! I'll have you two sit right next to each other!"

Before Rainbow Dash could object, Rainbow Dash was transported to the seat across from Soarin by Pinkie Pie's randomness. Rainbow Dash felt her body tense up, making movement impossible. Soarin saw Rainbow Dash across from him and he froze just as well. The two stared at each other in awkward silence.

"I'll be back with some apple juice for you both!" Pinkie Pie cheerfully and oblivious to the fact that the two pegasus ponies were in an extremely uncomfortable situation.

For a few minutes, neither of the two said a word or did more than blink and breath.

Finally, Dash managed to say something, "H-Hey…."

Soarin replied, "H-Hey…."
> Ch. 4 Ágætis Byrjun [A Good Beginning]
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Chapter 4: Ágætis Byrjun (A Good Beginning)

The two pegasus ponies started at each other in an awkward moment that felt everlasting to them both. Both had greeted the other, but from there, neither pony knew what to do.

Dash finally broke the silence, "H-How's it goin'?" she asked in hopes of sounding causal and relaxed.

Soarin was visibly shaking with nervousness, "Doing f-fine, and you?"

"Doing good as well…." Dash replied.

Soarin nodded at her statement and started down at his baked goods, which he just lost appetite for. Rainbow Dash stared out the window to a bench that had a green unicorn and a cream colored pony sitting down on. Neither knew what to say. They both knew that small talk was not what they had on their tongues. As they were silent, Pinkie Pie arrived with a tray of two glasses of apple juice.

"Here are two glasses of apple juice for you two! Now don't feel shy about letting me know if you need anything!" the pink mare said as she placed the glasses upon the table and hopped away happily.

The two ponies didn't touch the glasses; they both sat mute.

Taking a deep breath, Rainbow Dash spoke again, "Look Soarin, I understand if you don't know what to say about how I feel, but I just want you to know. I really do like you a lot, heck more than that! I'm head over hooves for you. I would just like a response from you." Her voice, though soft as to not bother anypony around them, was filled with emotion. Emotion that she rarely expressed to anypony.

Soarin absorbed what Rainbow Dash said to him. Taking his time, he finally replied, "Rainbow Dash, I like ya too. A lot. But…."

Dash's eyes widened, "But?"

"I have yet to get over somepony who broke my heart…." his words were melancholic.

Rainbow Dash's brain couldn't process what he had just said, "Somepony….broke up with you?"

Soarin quietly nodded.

Rainbow stood up in a rage, "Who is she? I'll take her down! I beat her up so bad that even Celestia won't be able to recognize her!"

The light blue pony's shouting had stirred Sugarcube Corner up. All the patrons had their eyes fixed upon Dash, who seem to not care if it was the Royal Guards were surrounding her with weapons that were looking at her. Soarin stood up to urge Rainbow Dash to sit back down and not make more of a scene she already was.

"Easy, Dash, easy," he insisted Dash to sit down, "It's not like either of us wanted it to end, but it seemed that it was for the best."

"What do you mean?" Rainbow was stopped her rage thanks to Soarin's pleading.

"Well, I guess we kind of grew apart. We lived in different worlds," the colt closed his eyes as he began, "We both knew we had personal loves before each other. My love was flying in the sky. Hers was classical music. And then of course no matter what, one of us would be away somewhere," he paused and gave a small chuckle at himself, "Am I making any sense with my rambling?"

"You are. I do see where you are coming from now," Dash replied.

"Alright. Well, we knew it had to end, no two ways around it. So, we called the relationship off. We wanted to end it on our terms and still be friends, so we did. It has been about two months now, but I guess I'm still sore about it all." A few tears formed in Soarin's eyes that he quickly brushed away, hoping Dash wouldn't see.

Rainbow Dash was getting a bit misty eyed herself, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have acted so dumb. I was only thinking about my feelings and not about yours in the least. Guh, why must I be so stupid."

Soarin looked toward Dash, "Hey now, it's not like you could have know what I was thinking. I do have to say that was pretty gutsy of you do tackle me like that," he gave a warm smile and laugh to Dash who blushed at his words. "You are an amazing mare, don't let anypony tell you otherwise."

Dash felt her heart being lifted again. "So….does that mean you and I…." Dash started.

"No." Soarin interrupted, causing Rainbow's heart to fall again. But Soarin wasn't going to let it fall to far, "I don't think I'm ready right yet for a relationship yet, ya know. Again, it's not you, it's me. If I'm going to be in a relationship with a mare again, I want to be able to give all my affection to that mare and only to that mare."

For some reason, those words had an effect on Rainbow, as if he was telling her to be patient. She smiled and nodded, wiping a few tears from her eyes, "I do understand."

Soarin stood up and trotted over to hug Rainbow Dash. As they hugged, Soarin spoke softly, "Thank you."

"Huh? For what?" Dash asked as they hugged, which she enjoyed greatly.

"For being you," he paused as he enjoyed the hug as well, "This is a good beginning for us, don't you think?"

Rainbow Dash smiled, "I know that I like it a lot."

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A few weeks had past since Dash and Soarin had their encounter with each other at Sugarcube Corner. Ever since that day, the light blue mare seemed to have more vigor and strength in her everyday activities. On a certain day, Rainbow Dash was helping Pinkie Pie in the bakery that day by making treats at Sugarcube Corner when a gray mailmare with a blonde mane stopped in. 

"I brought you a letter!" she called out to Pinkie Pie.

"Mail! Mail! Mail! It's the mailmare! Yay!" Pinkie bounced over to the gray pegasus who had a few letters for the bakery. Taking them, she read through them, "Lemme see here, bill, bill, supposed to go to Applejack, bill, supposed to go to Photo Finish, you may have just won a million bits, bill, for Mrs. Cake, bill, supposed to be for Rainbow Dash, bil- Hey, wait! Rainbow Dash is right here! Hey, Rainbow, I brought you a letter!"

"Hey!" the mailmare seemed annoyed that Pinkie stole her line.

Rainbow Dash came out of the kitchen when she heard her name, "What was that? A letter? But this isn't my house."

Pinkie was holding the letter up to the light, "It looks super important! It says it's from Canterlot."

Dash opened the letter and read it silently to herself. Her face was overcome with joy and bliss. She squeaked in happiness as she rushed outside and jumped up into the air and flew swiftly across the sky.

Pinkie and the mailmare started oddly as the blue pegasus raced out of the building, "What the hay was that all about?" Pinkie Pie asked aloud. She walked over the letter that Dash left lying on the floor as she quickly bolted off. The pink earth pony and the gray pegasus read the letter together.

The letter read: 

Hey Dash,
I want a rematch of that last race, think you're up for it?
Love, Soarin.

END