After another day of Zephyr Breeze being a creep, Rarity points out to Rainbow a permanent solution for this predicament is if she gets a boyfriend. And luckily for her, the boys' soccer team captain is just so in need for a girlfriend.
UNDER EDITTING
Rainbow Dash and Soarin decides to fake date to keep Zephyr away from harassing her. Of course, they'd have some ground rules involving this; no kissing, no being sappy and the most important of all: do not fall in love. But some things are bound to happen and they might just enjoy it. Although, not for long, because, what will happen if Rainbow finds out Soarin's intentions are not so pure?
Story contains themes of harassment. You have been warned.
Ps: I added the sex tag because there are suggestive themes.
There were several things Rainbow Dash, the captain of like every single sports team in Canterlot High School, hated. She passionately hated pies, people touching her feet, and anything that required her to remain seated still for a long time. But out of all the things she could name, if someone asked her what she hated the most, her answer would be just three words; "Zephyr Breeze's flirting."
Zephyr Breeze, Fluttershy's little brother, had always shown an interest towards her since she was in kindergarten. She had always thought either he'd quit or she would get used to it. Unluckily for her, neither happened. Zephyr was very deluded and he firmly believed that she liked him back although she had ignored, explained and even threatened him to stop.
Being one of the popular athletes in school, she did have a few admirers, but none of them were as unbearable as Zephyr. Him being her best friend's little brother didn't help. She couldn't exactly punch, kick or even stab him; violence was out of the question when it came to him. And it was a real problem now, because for the past month, his annoying flirting had somehow gotten even more annoying and also more frequent. He himself had become bolder with his moves, even attempting to kiss her.
Rainbow Dash's pride wouldn't admit it to anyone, but after almost being forced into a kiss by Zephyr, her stomach twisted every time she was near him. She was scared of him. Scared of being alone while with him. A chill ran down her spine as she saw Zephyr was leaning against her locker.
It could be a coincidence, right? She thought putting off any emotions of worry away. Could've he known she had accidentally left her textbook behind? No, she reasoned, that's impossible.
She crept to her locker, keeping her breathing stable. After that night where he had tried to kiss, it hadn't been the same. She didn't tell this to anyone let alone Fluttershy of how much this affected her. The latter didn't even knew about the kissing attempt as Rainbow didn't want it to affect the friendship she had with the shy caretaker. So, Rainbow took it on herself to act as normal as she could around him.
"Rainbows~" he cooed as she approached the locker. "How's my favourite awesome girl doing today?"
"Great, Zeph," her answer was dripping in sarcasm, but he was either bad at detecting or chose to ignore it. "Can you move away from my locker now?" She shot him a glare.
"Only if you kiss me," he winked puckering his lips and leaning in.
Rainbow's breathing went sharp and her hands began to shake. "Zephyr, please," she said failing hard to keep her voice from cracking. "I just want to get to my class."
Zephyr waved her off, "Oh come on, Rainbows. You know you want it." He leaned in closer as he pinned her to the locker. Rainbow winced. She felt herself unable to move. It felt like the ground had consumed her feet, clutching her so hard.
Her eyes widened in horror as Zephyr's lips were just inches away from hers.
To her great wonder and utter relief, before anything could happen, Zephyr was suddenly yanked back by someone.
Rainbow looked up at the figure who had just saved her from the assault. A look of surprise came over her features when she saw it was none other than the boys' team soccer captain, Soarin Skies.
Soarin scowled as he eyed Zephyr dangerously. "The lady said no, didn't she?" his hand was still clenched on Zephyr's collar.
Zephyr had the decency to look scared. Even though the blonde haired boy was technically taller than Soarin, he knew better than to get on Soarin's bad side. "She knows I'm only kidding!"
"You better be," Soarin said letting him go. "Now, don't you have a class to get to?" It wasn't a question but an order. Zephyr got the memo really quick as he rushed out, leaving Rainbow to finally take her books out from her locker.
"Thanks, Clipper," she said closing the locker. Soarin smiled.
"Anytime, Cap'." He gave her a small pat on her shoulder. "You should head to class too. Don't wanna get yourself another detention, do ya?" he pointed out.
"Oh, yeah," she smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. For a second there she had almost forgotten that she was already getting late. She thanked Soarin one more time, before jogging to her classroom.
She got to class and was immediately brought into a hug by Pinkie Pie the second she had spotted her.
"Dashie!" she beamed, hugging her tight. "Wow. You actually made it in time!" she exclaimed once she had let go of the athlete.
"I did?" Rainbow asked. It had became a challenge to even get to her class on time with Zephyr Breeze following her. She owed Soarin a big time.
Rarity nodded as she took her seat. "Yes, indeed." She smiled, before lowering her voice, "Did he finally give up?"
"I don't think give up is right word," said Rainbow. She then proceeded to explain about how Soarin had came to her aid. The athlete noticed that her blabber-mouth friend was awfully quiet while she told her and Rarity what had happened to her- which was unlike her.
"Oh my," Rarity clasped her hand on her mouth as she finished narrating her tale. "Soarin Skies is quite the gentleman, I see."
"Yeah, he was nice enough," Rainbow admitted, playing with her hair. "It was also satisfying to see Zephyr run away."
"I bet it was," Rarity giggled.
"Yeah!" Rainbow said remembering the fear in Zephyr's face as Soarin threatened him. "I don't think I've ever seen him that scared. Oh Rares, you just had to be there," a laugh escaped from her lips.
"Well, now you know the solution for a permanent pass away from Zephyr," the fashionista said.
"Soarin?"
"A boyfriend," Rarity corrected.
"A boyfriend?" Rainbow repeated.
"Oh, darling, don't you see, Zephyr is the dreadful kind of lads who rather respect another man's words than a lady's," Rarity explained seeing the quizzical look on Rainbow's face. "If you just get a boyfriend, it'll show him you're unavailable and it'll make him finally move on from you."
Rainbow had to admit, the permanent pass from Zephyr part was tempting. But the boyfriend part? Not enough. Dating never sat right with her. And she was too busy to even think of having a crush let alone a boyfriend because of her dedication to athletics, Daring Do, The Rainbooms and them beating she-demons. There was simply not much time.
"I don't know, Rare," said Rainbow. "It sounds good, but shouldn't I be interested in someone for dating? I just can't force myself to like anybody."
"Here I was hoping you'd have someone in mind," Rarity sighed.
"It's not my fault I'm too busy being awesome," Rainbow shrugged.
Just as Rarity was about comment on her statement, Miss Cheerlie arrived. But Rainbow guessed this conversation wasn't over yet.
The class went on with Cheerlie explaining about Trigonometry. But Rainbow barely focused. She knew Rarity well, so she knew if she couldn't find someone, Rarity would find someone for her out of the "generosity of her heart"- according to Rarity.
And that is why, when the bell rang, Rainbow didn't bother to wait for Rarity and Pinkie like she usually did. All she wanted now was to get out of there and hope Rarity would either forget or give up. But something in her told her Rarity wasn't going to do either of that.
Her thoughts were interrupted, when she heard a call from behind.
"Crash, wait up!"
Rainbow tried not to flinch when she saw the owner of the voice was none other than Soarin- the reason why she and Rarity had the talk about boyfriends in the first place. She greeted the boy with a small smile nonetheless and waited for him to catch his breath.
"I've been calling your name for about three times. But it looked like you were in a rush," he wheezed.
"Heh, had something on my mind," she answered embarrassed. Her thoughts were muddled, it was no wonder she didn't hear him. "Anyways what's up?" she smiled slightly.
Okay, there was a chance he was probably going to regret this. Rainbow Dash's shocked face didn't hide that. Even without that he knew he had came out too strong, especially to someone he had never shown any interested for. But what even lead to this you might ask?
Well, it started with a small comment from Spitfire at practice.
"How is it that, out of all of us, you've never had a girlfriend?"
As harmless and innocent this might've sounded, it really bruised his ego. Especially since no one was willing to believe him when he said that he could easily get a girlfriend if he wanted to. And the reason why he hadn't used his charm on any girls yet was simply because none of them interested him.
Who knew what he said will have consequences? Certainly not him. As he never thought that Spitfire and his friends would turn this into a challenge.
The challenge was simple enough; all he had to do was get himself a girlfriend.
"Consider it done," he had announced confidentially to Spitfire, whom in return gave him a smile. A mocking one.
Yet another predicament came. Who will it be? Having absolute no interest in the girls of CHS rose as a problem for him. So naturally one would think to ask any of female companions, but he had a feeling they'd reject him. Plus, he was pretty sure he'd end in the "brother" zone if he did ask them out.
His next choice was to date any of the popular girls, just so he could he rub it in Spitfire's face that when he said any girl, he really did mean any girl.
But, who?
After a careful analysis (aka subtly asking Surprise who she thought who was the most popular girls were), he narrowed the school's popular girls to one band. The Rainbooms.
Still, who?
Rarity and Pinkie Pie, although who were the most popular, were immediately out of the question; He didn't quite fit the requirements Rarity always looked for, and Pinkie Pie was too wild for him.
Then there was Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle. But Twilight already had a boyfriend. And Sunset- even though she was reformed and friendlier- still gave him nightmares.
Applejack seemed to be a more sensible option as he thought it'd be more believable. Everyone knew Applejack bakes the best apple pies there is, and everyone knew he loved to eat the best apple pies there is. But like always there was catch, and that was he was too much of a wimp to get the little sister of Big Mac to date him.
Which made him consider Fluttershy. Fluttershy was a timid girl and Soarin was sure that he'd be able to convince her to date him. But he knew she was too sensitive and he didn't want to hurt her in any form.
And finally, his mind drifted to Rainbow Dash. She would've been reasonable too, perfect even. Rainbow Dash was sporty, loyal, dedicated, awesome, occassionally sweet and he would be a liar if he said she was not pretty. She would've been perfect. But everyone who knew Rainbow Dash knew that the tomboy didn't date. So, even though he knew dating her would give him bonus points, he valued his life more.
Now finding himself in a tight spot he thought to give up on his hunt for popular girls to date. He even considered to please Trixie Lulamoon into dating him but that was until Flash Sentry, one of his closest friends told him something interesting about Rainbow Dash today.
After Rainbow Dash left thanking him, Flash had approached him. "I kinda feel bad for Dash," Flash told him as he sympathetically watched the retreating figure.
"Why?" Soarin had asked.
"That Zephyr Breeze has been really bothering her. Twilight told me it's gotten worse. Dash looks so exhausted because of this."
And Soarin knew Flash wasn't exaggerating, he got to witness Zephyr annoying Rainbow Dash first hand.
Now, having the newfound knowledge that this pestering is not just a one time thing, he concluded this as the reason for Rainbow Dash being quite late nowadays to class. Sometimes, she wouldn't even show up at all.
"And worse thing is she doesn't want Fluttershy to know about this because she thinks it'd ruin their friendship," Flash continued.
"That's sad."
"Very," Flash sighed. "But it was nice of you to help her though. I saw it and it's the first time I'm seeing her smile in a long time."
Although he felt a hint of pride in himself for being to help Rainbow Dash and he sympathised for her well being, his mind still wandered to the challenge. He had to get some girl to date him before Spitfire might get the impression he was only lying about his charm. The more he tried to focus, the more vividly the image of Rainbow Dash and her current situation came to him. He tried to ignore the thoughts of the female athlete, seeing she no use to him in scheme. He already had considered her as a candidate and had ruled her off. There wasn't a chance she wants to date him.
But...
A small thought occurred.
What if...
The small thought stirred up into an ingenious idea.
She has to?
It was wrong to use her vulnerability, but it was his best shot.
And thus, just as he saw Rainbow Dash jogging away from her class, he ran behind her and asked her the question.
"You want me to be your... g-girlfriend?" Rainbow Dash stuttered, still shocked. Soarin could guess why. They both pretty much saw each other as only teammates, so naturally it'd be a surprise.
"Yep," Soarin said.
"As in you... want to... date... me?" she asked again.
Soarin's eyes was looking at everything meet her eyes. He looked down in embarrassment. "Not really, but kinda."
"Kinda?" she quoted his words suspiciously.
"Yeah..." he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I want to offer you my assistance by posing as your boyfriend."
Rainbow blinked. "Pardon?"
"Rainbow Dash, I know Zephyr has been really bothering you," he started slowly. "Hasn't he?" He waited for her to argue or at least deny, but all she did was give him a hesitant nod. With the most genuine look he could muster, he continued. "It pains me to see you like this." He hoped she'd fall for it or at least be touched by his concerns.
"Why?" She was definitely questioning his intentions.
Soarin put his hands on her shoulders, "Rainbow Dash, you're my friend and you need my help. Please accept it. Let me date you until Zephyr stops." Or at least until my friends believe I can score any girl I want.
She didn't say anything for a few moments. He could see she was thinking about all this thoroughly.
When she spoke again, all she said was raise a question.
"And you cant help me without dating me because...?"
Luckily, knowing her, he had actually expected her to raise this question to him. He gave her a sweet hoping it'll remove the traces of his answer being pre planned. "If you date me... You'll be in my territory; Us men don't like crossing other men's territory, it's basic bro code. So, he'll have to stay away."
Rainbow Dash pursed her lips as she began to consider the idea.
"Okay," she said after some moments. "But how will we let Zephyr know we're a couple? Will we tell him?"
"We could tell him, but I think it'd be better if we show him," he suggested.
Rainbow Dash looked at him with one eyebrow raised.
"I meant we can do some PDA." He saw her nose scrunching at that so he quickly added, "Listen, I'm talking about holding hands, it's not like I'm not telling you to take take your clothes off and make out with me."
Rainbow Dash gagged at that, but her blush was visible. "That was oddly specific," she mumbled. He was quick to guess she was accusing him of thinking about her in an erotic way.
"Don't flatter yourself," he chuckled. "And nah, that was one of the many things you do with your partner when you're alone, but since our relationship is gonna be only public it wouldn't-"
"Public!?" she croaked. It was now she realised what he meant when he told her that they'll "show" Zephyr they're a couple. "No no no no no no no. Public? No way! Not happening." She folded her arms to emphasise her point.
"Unfortunately we have to," Soarin said. That was the only way he could let Spitfire know without any suspicions.
"Do we really have to be public? Dating is so embarrassing," Rainbow Dash groaned. Soarin didn't know if he should be offended by hearing that. It's not like she's dating anyone, she would be dating him. But he chose to brush that off.
"I can understand," he said. "But if we don't go public, Zephyr Breeze might just think you're lying." It was the same in his case, but with Spitfire. "That guy hasn't been able to take a hint when you have publicly rejected him a number of times, so do you think he will if you tell him privately that in relationship with me?"
"Yeah, he'd just think you're lying!" said Pinkie Pie.
"Yeah, you're ri- PINKIE!? What are you doing here!?" Rainbow Dash said, shocked. Soarin almost had a heart attack; he wondered when did Pinkie joined the conversation.
"I'm Pinkie Pie; I'm everywhere," the hyper girl giggled as if it was an obvious and well known fact. Soarin couldn't disagree with that.
"No, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash groaned. She looked at Soarin for a second before turning to Pinkie. "How much of mine and his convo did you hear?"
"Oh, just the last bit," she grinned. "So... what were you two talking all hush hush?"
Soarin gave Rainbow Dash a look. 'Is she trustworthy?'
Rainbow Dash gave him a nod.
Soarin sighed.
"I was telling Rainbow Dash to fake date me so that Zephyr Breeze will stop bothering her," Soarin explained.
Pinkie's eyes twinkled. "So, this is gonna be just like 'Bogus'?"
"The new movie starring Colaratura?" Soarin asked.
"Wait, I thought she is a singer," Rainbow Dash pointed out confused.
"Just because she's a singer doesn't mean she can't act," Soarin shook his head. "You should know better than anyone about it."
Rainbow Dash smiled sheepishly. "So, what's this movie about?"
Pinkie took a deep breath. "It's about a girl who gets bullied and then to save her from the bullies she asks a guy for help- as he's super hot and popular- and the guy and her has this whole set of rules of what they can and cannot do while dating and one of the rules is that they can't fall in love but in the end they do although they don't admit it to the very end because of the plot."
Rainbow Dash blinked, probably not catching half of what she said. "Sounds pretty cheesy," she either way said.
"It's super duper good though," Pinkie Pie grinned.
"I doubt it," said Rainbow Dash. "Now, Pinkie, you cant tell what he told you to anyone, especially Fluttershy."
Pinkie Pie frowned. "But I thought Fluttershy was your bestest best friend."
"She is," Rainbow Dash said. "Listen, Pinkie, she can't know, got it?" It wasn't a question, but an order.
If this was anyone, they'd been trembling in fear hearing the threat in Rainbow Dash's voice and seeing the dangerous aura emitting out from her. But, since this was Pinkie Pie, she didn't even bat an eye. The school event planner smiled broadly. "You can trust me, Dashie!" She gave Rainbow Dash a mock salute.
Rainbow Dash visibly relaxed. "Good."
Soarin too relaxed for a second, but then he remembered why he was now with Rainbow Dash in the first place. "So, allow me to fake date you until Zephyr Breeze to stop?" he asked holding out his hand.
Rainbow Dash looked at him with a look of defeat. "Fine," she said, shaking his hand.
"I now declare you as fake boyfriend and fake girlfriend!" Pinkie Pie declared.
The second she saw Soarin's car parked right in front of her house, she should've known that something was not going to go right.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him when he rolled down his window seeing her.
He had one hand on the steering wheel and ran the other through his wild hair. It looked like a desperate attempt of him trying to show off, especially with the smirk he sent her. She wasn't impressed.
"Well?" She crossed her arms, patiently- although barely- waiting for an answer.
"Well, I came to pick you up," he said as if it was obvious.
"No shit," Rainbow muttered sarcastically. "But why?"
"Well, I thought, since we're going to be dating, we should do couple-y stuff," Soarin said.
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "You're saying going to school together is couple-y? You used to give lifts to Vapour Trail all the time."
Soarin's ears turned red; he looked embarassed. He let out a small awkward cough. "Yeah... That I did... But," he shook off from his demeanor. "We need to hangout together so people can at least consider us being a couple is not impossible."
Rainbow held back her retort. "Why would they even question whether or not we're dating? I thought your plan was fool proof."
"My plan is fool proof," Soarin said. "But you're not."
Rainbow immediately took offence to that. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?"
Soarin gulped a bit intimidated. After all, Rainbow Dash was still the scariest girl in school fake girlfriend or not.
"I mean..." Soarin started, this time properly thinking of his word choices. "You don't date. So, people might just think it's weird you're dating me all of a sudden."
Rainbow nodded. Well, it was true. She had never even shown interest in any of the guys in her school or anywhere. Especially Soarin. This was going to be hard, she thought.
"You're right," she sighed, seeing reason behind his words.
"So, are you gonna get in?" he said.
"Fine." Although she was now willing obligate, it didn't mean she was happy with it. She liked to ride on her motorbike better.
She got in the car with a small huff. Soarin took note of it as they slowly began to drive off.
"Would you mind if I play some music?" he asked after a few minutes of awkward silence. Rainbow glanced at him who looked as uncomfortable as her.
With a small smile, she nodded. "Yeah, that'd be nice."
"Good," he said cheerfully. "I hope you like classical."
The smile on her face faltered as quickly as it was formed.
Rainbow Dash should've known.
After what seemed like hours of torture (it was barely a ten minute ride), they both reached school. Soarin insisted they should walk together to class, and Rainbow wasn't going to complain. She knew walking with him would be better since Zephyr was least likely to bother her around him.
When they got to the statue. Rainbow noticed a strange sight; she saw her band mates- except Fluttershy- were waiting for them. How did she guessed they were waiting specifically for them? Well, Rarity wasn't very subtle about it.
"And here is the happy couple! Oh, darlings, you two look absolutely like a match made in heaven!" Rarity exclaimed, clasping Rainbow's hands in hers. "Pinkie told us everything!"
Both Rainbow's and Soarin's faces went white. Rainbow decided to play it cool. "Uh... What do you mean by everything?"
"By everything she means Pinkie told us about how y'all are fake dating so that Zephyr will stop botherin' ya," Applejack said clearly not impressed nor amused.
Rainbow and Soarin both turned to Pinkie who gave them an apologetic look. "Pinkie..." Rainbow said with clenched teeth.
"I kept my promise to you; I didn't say a word to Fluttershy," Pinkie gave her a toothy smile.
Soarin sighed. He put a hand on Rainbow's shoulder. "Listen, there's nothing we can do about it. I trust your friends to keep this a secret. As long as they don't tell this to anyone else, it'll be fine."
Rainbow took a deep breath, calming herself down. "You're right." She turned to her friends. "Guys, you can't let anybody know about this, especially Fluttershy."
"Sugarcube, Ah know this is bothering but don't ya think tellin Fluttershy about this would be the better choice? Who knows? She might even find y'all a solution," Applejack said.
Rainbow wanted to believe it. But the only thought that came in her mind was what would be Fluttershy's reaction. Her friendship with Fluttershy was something that she wasn't willing to put in risk.
"I'm sorry, AJ," Rainbow looked down, unable to face the disappointment she knew she would see in her friend's eyes. "I cannot lose my friendship with her. Until, Zephyr backs down, I decided to fake date Soarin."
Twilight looked at Rainbow and Soarin curiously. Debating to herself if she should speak or not, she cleared her throat. "Um... So since you two are fake dating, do you have any rules?"
Rainbow and Soarin exchanged a look. "Rules?"
Twilight adjusted her glasses. She looked almost as shy as the caregiver from their group when she spoke again. "Well... Um... You're fake dating... So, uh... Shouldn't you have rules so that you won't accidentally cross the other person's boundaries?"
Rainbow's eyes immediately fell on Soarin who was intensely thinking about something.
"She's right," Soarin said.
"It's Twilight; she's 9/10 times right," Pinkie said.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "When was I ever wrong?"
"When you said candy isn't healthy," Pinkie huffed.
"But it isn't-"
"Or when you told me radical and awesome means the same thing," Rainbow contributed.
"But it is," Twilight said.
"No, it's not," Soarin countered.
"Thank you!" Rainbow exclaimed. "But yeah, I get the point. Me and him should definitely have some rules like no sappy stuff."
"And no falling in love," Soarin stated.
"That never ages well," Sunset whispered into Rarity's ear.
"They'll figure something out on their own, darling," Rarity chimed.
Twilight slowly raised her hand.
"Yes, Twi?" Rainbow said. She sometimes wished Twilight would stop acting like everything is a class.
"Oh, I was just wondering... You have only made rules on stuff you don't want to do. But if you don't do anything sappy, how will they believe you're a couple?"
"She's right... Again," Pinkie said.
"I'm always right," Twilight crossed her arms.
"But you said candy isn't healthy," she pointed out.
"But it really isn't-"
"And you said awesome and cool-"
"Okay okay, we get it," Soarin groaned. He took a deep breath. "We need to do believable stuff that couples do. Any ideas?"
"Ooh! Ooh! How about nicknames?" Pinkie grinned.
Soarin considered the idea. Nicknames wasn't that bad of an idea. He looked at Rainbow Dash for a second.
With his intense gaze on her. Rainbow couldn't help but feel conscious. "W-What?" she blushed.
"I think I will call you 'Sunshine'," he said.
"That's absolutely adorable!" Rarity squealed. The other members of the rainbooms giggled along.
Rainbow Dash gagged. "Yuck. Don't expect me to call you anything like that."
"Actually, I wasn't," Soarin said. "It'll feel unnatural for you to call me nicknames. A simple 'Babe' will be fine."
Rainbow wanted to refuse that too, but there was no choice given the arrangement. At least 'Babe' wasn't anything humiliating. "Babe is fine."
Soarin nodded at that, a bit relieved, and turned back to her friends. "Okay, do you guys have any more tips to make us more believable?" Soarin asked.
"Yeah," Rainbow agreed. "Even I don't think just calling each other nicknames would cut it."
"Physical touch can help," Sunset said. "Like, holding hands, if you're trying to keep simple."
"Are you okay with that, Rainbow Dash?" Soarin asked.
"I think," she mumbled.
"And if that's a bit awkward for you two, you can try simple gestures," Twilight added. "You can walk her to class, carry her books-"
"And darling, be a gentleman around her," Rarity contributed. "Buy her presents. Having your lockscreen be a picture of her or you two together also works. I'm talking to you too, Rainbow darling."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "I don't think even if he's my real boyfriend, I will never replace my lockscreen." The photo on her lockscreen was something she took great pride in. Just last year, she was able to have a small part, with her friends, in the Daring Do movie. She had taken a picture with the lead actress and ever since then this had been her lockscreen picture.
"Ah still think y'all should just tell Fluttershy," Applejack said. "Dash, it might be hard-"
"Ooh! Ooh!" Pinkie said interrupting Applejack in the process. "You know what'll let everyone know you two are dating without saying a word!?"
Soarin and Rainbow looked at the hyper party planner curiously. "What's that?" Rainbow asked. Even her bandmates were interested to know.
Rainbow's face turned beet red. Soarin's wasn't any better. "No!" The two of them exclaimed at the same. Sunset gave Rainbow a teasing smirk to which she gave a glare back.
"Pinkie, don't be so uncouth," Rarity scolded. "Having a hickey is not at all elegant."
"Hmm," Pinkie tapped her chin. "How about a kiss then?" she suggested.
"K-Kiss?" Rainbow voice cracked.
Soarin's ears immediately turned pink as he looked at her who was also blushing heavily with a surprised look on her face.
Sure, Rainbow Dash was pretty; she might even be the most popular and prettiest girl in school, hence why they were doing this whole thing in first place. But for some reason, he couldn't imagine kissing her.
No.
He could.
His heart raced as he pictured the rainbownette and him in tight embraced, their lips locked.
"I- I'm s-sorry but I c-can't," he stuttered looking down at his shoes. The guilt sinking his heart for even imagining him and Rainbow Dash like that.
"Why not?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Is it her breath?" she stage whispered into his ear.
"No!" Soarin said nervously glancing at an offended yet flustered Rainbow Dash. "It's just her and me aren't really dating." His voice went low, "This is all pretend."
"Yeah, Pinks," Rainbow agreed with him. "Kissing is way past our comfort zone."
"I can see Dashie getting uncomfortable as she's always been like that–" Pinkie Pie squinted her eyes at him. "–But you?"
"Yes, Pinkie Pie," Soarin exhaled deeply. "You can't make me a kiss a girl I don't like that way."
"But-" Pinkie Pie started but was immediately cut off by Rarity.
"I deeply apologise for my friend's inappropriate questioning," Rarity gave a small glare to Pinkie Pie as she was speaking.
"But I thought it was gonna be just like Bogus," he could hear Pinkie mumbling.
"Hush." It was an order and Pinkie Pie immediately got the memo as she zipped her mouth.
"Guys," Rainbow said after a moment. "I think we shouldn't change our topic before Fluttershy comes."
"Um... Why?"
Rainbow cringed hearing the voice. She turned around slowly. And just like she expected there stood Fluttershy with an unwanted surprise; Zephyr Breeze.
"Oh hey, Shy," Rainbow said, her eyes darting across. The other Rainbooms looked awkward and they all gave a 'hi' to the shy girl. "We were just talking about a scary movie that you wouldn't wanna watch."
"Oh?" Fluttershy said.
"Yeah!" Pinkie said, joining in on the lie. "It's super duper luper scary!"
"It's gory," Sunset added.
"Involving dolls," Rarity contributed.
Fluttershy let out a gasp of horror. "Oh my, I don't know why they'll even make movies like that," she sniffed. "It sounds awful."
"Which is why I was saying we're not gonna watch it. Right, girls?" Rainbow said and they agreed, except Applejack, of course.
"Oh, Dashie, you're so considerate," Fluttershy said wrapping her arms around her closest friend. Applejack gave Rainbow a pointed look.
"Not just considerate, she's also the most stunning girl there is," Zephyr Breeze said his unwelcome input.
"That I agree," Soarin said, getting between Rainbow and Zephyr.
Fluttershy eyed Soarin quite curiously and then Rainbow.
Soarin could feel the nasty look Zephyr sent him. But he decided it'd be best to ignore it.
"It was nice talking to you," Soarin said. "But, Rainbow Dash and I should be really getting to class," he said.
"R-right," she said.
Soarin didn't even wait before taking her hand in his and running off to class.
Just when he was sure they were out of view from Zephyr and Fluttershy, he let go off her hand.
"Sorry if that was unexpected." His sheepish smile turned into a frown, "Man, that guy annoys me."
"Welcome to my world," Rainbow Dash said giving him a grateful smile. "Either way, thanks. It was getting weird with him there."
"Thought so," Soarin said.
The two of them could only walk two steps in silence. There was something bothering Soarin.
"Hey, Crash?"
"Yeah?"
"Why does your friendship with Fluttershy even matters this much?" he asked.
"It's a long story," Rainbow said.
"That's nice," Soarin said bumping into her playfully. "I love long stories." She wouldn't admit it, but she was glad that it wasn't awkward after what Pinkie said.
Rainbow chuckled. "And here I thought you are only capable of loving pies, Pie Boy."
"Oi," Soarin rolled his eyes. "I'm capable of loving a lot of stuff other than pies, you know?"
Rainbow let out a fake gasp. "Damn, I didn't. What even could you love other than pie?"
"Well," Soarin grinned. "I love long stories, sports, video games, music." He then gave her a small smirk. "But most of all, I love you, my fake girlfriend," he declared dramatically.
Rainbow looked at him unamused.
"What?" Soarin asked. "Didn't that sound believable?"
"Not even a bit," Rainbow answered.
"Man, I thought I nailed it," Soarin groaned. "But at least I can say it better than you."
"Ha," Rainbow snorted. "I doubt that."
"I doubt you are doubting that," Soarin smirked. A vain popped on Rainbow's forehead.
"Oh, I will show you!"
"When?"
"Now!"
"You're gonna tell that in front of the class, Cap?" Soarin asked. Rainbow hadn't realised they reached her classroom.
"After class then," she mumbled.
"Yeah, sure," Soarin wheezed. "I will be there to walk you to your next class," he either way said.
Soarin stood there in front of her classroom. He was not kidding when he said he'd be there when her class ended.
Rainbow was impressed; the boy wasn't even a second late.
"Told ya," he gave her a boastful smile. She didn't like it because usually it was her role to make people impressed.
"Whatever. You were just lucky," Rainbow said. She didn't want to be the one feed his ego.
She could get only two steps ahead because Soarin put his hand on her shoulder. "Allow moi," he said taking the books she was holding.
"Soarin, this isn't really necessary," she said.
"Nah, I feel it's fair," he smiled walking infront of her.
Rainbow smiled a bit. Who knew? Rarity was right. Soarin Skies was really a gentleman.
Something told her it wasn't just luck what allowed him to reach her class in time after it had ended.
That point was proven right, because for every class that followed after it, he would be there, leaning against the wall with a dopey smile on his face.
It would be an lie to say no one noticed it. Because, Rainbow saw some students were looking at them, debating to themselves if this was just a hoax or was something really going on between the two athletes.
Rainbow nor Soarin paid attention to that, they were not going to be the ones to comment on it. Their peers were left to assume what was going on until they'd confirm it themselves. At least that's what Soarin said. Rainbow didn't knew how they were going to do that. But one thing she knew was there wasn't going to be any kissing.
Speaking of kissing... Rainbow's mind drifted to the ridiculous suggestions that Pinkie gave them. She looked at Soarin for only a second, before awkwardly looking away.
Why was she torturing herself like this? Why can't she just not think about her and Soarin like that!? She groaned internally. Curse you, Pinkie.
"Is everything cool, Crash?" Soarin asked taking notice of her sudden discomfort.
"Everything is okay," she said sheepishly.
"Are you sure?" he asked, not really buying it.
"Yup, I'm sure," Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. "It's just I have got some stuff on my mind," she added hoping it'll stop Soarin's question. She forgot luck was rarely on her side.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Soarin innocently asked, not knowing what kind of conversation they'll be having if she really did spill the beans.
"Look at you, all caring and sweet. How dedicated," she commented. The best way to change a topic, in her opinion, was to flatter their ego.
Soarin fell for it, but not in the way she predicted. "How can I not be dedicated? I'm 'dating' the most dedicated athlete," he said playfully.
Okay, now he's trying to flatter her? Usually what happens was it'd get them to talk about themselves and eventually change the topic. This was new. Even her day till now; it had been months since she had been able to peacefully walk to class or the lunchroom room without Zephyr pestering her. Rainbow liked the feeling of calmness and humour that Soarin brought in. It felt nice.
"Earth to Crash?" Soarin waved his hand on her face.
"I'm fine, Clipper," Rainbow insisted. "I just have some stuff on my mind."
"Like what?"
She paused. "Uh... I was just thinking about... Really thinking about when we should reveal to everyone we're 'dating'... Yeah, that's what I was thinking about," she stammered out.
Soarin closed his eyes. "Hmm... How about now?"
Rainbow chocked on air. "WHAT!?" She was definitely regretting. Why can't she have told him she was thinking about Daring Do or homework like a normal human being!?
"Think about it. We have lunch now; everyone would be there in the cafeteria," Soarin said. "This is the best time to let everyone we're dating without telling."
Rainbow was unsure.
"We're not going to do any kind of stunt," Soarin reassured her. "We're just going to walk hand in hand and eat lunch together. That's it."
It wasn't much of a comfort for her. She felt nervous when she thought of the hundreds of eyes on her- which was unlike her. She loved attention. She had no problem being the star of the show. But... This was different. The reputation she had built for years of her being 'the awesome too cool to date' one was going to crumble down.
"It's okay, Rainbow Dash if you're not ready-"
"No," she said. Rainbow inhaled deeply. She can do this. Her image didn't go overnight when she was singing a cheesy song to help Twilight win the crown, so why should it go now? And if it did go, she shouldn't worry too much about it as long as she can be awesome by kicking butts on the field. "Let's get it over with."
Soarin gave her a nod. "Okay then."
Her heart was racing when Soarin opened the door. And it did a flip when he laced his hand with hers.
So, this is what it's like to have everyone's eyes on her.
Rainbow unconsciously squeezed Soarin's hand as they entered the cafeteria.
Soarin glanced at her. This wasn't the usual confident and cocky Rainbow Dash he knew on the field. This Rainbow Dash was nervous; she didn't look too happy with being the centre of attention- which was unlike her. He could tell she was trying to keep her cool, but it was slipping.
"Hey, Cap?" he said softly.
"Y-Yeah?" she replied in the same tone.
"It'll help if you focus only on me," he smiled. Rainbow Dash looked uncertain, so he gave her a playful smirk. "I just so happen to be the hottest person in the room, so it wouldn't be too hard."
"Who says you are the hottest person in the room?" Rainbow quirked an eyebrow.
"The hottest person in the world, of course," he answered as if it was an obvious fact.
"And who's that?"
"Me, duh."
A chuckle escaped from her lips and just like that she felt the chattering and the point all ceased to exist. She had to admit, Soarin had a way to make her forget about everyone else except them.
The shock from her own thought, made her blink. Why was she thinking so sappy? Nevermind. Soarin also somehow brought sappy narration in her head too.
He joked all the way, which she was guessed was to make her feel at ease. It worked too. Not even the shocked looking Spitfire mattered to her nor Trixie Lulamoon who took a photo of them.
"Shall I carry your lunch tray, Sunshine?" he asked as if all that wasn't enough.
Rainbow wasn't even able to reply, because he took the tray from her hands. It was only at that moment, he had let go of her hand.
Rainbow followed him shyly to where he was heading. He was going to the Rainbooms' table.
The Rainbooms sat there with a shocked state. Even though, they- except Fluttershy- knew about their charade, they didn't expect them to reveal they were dating so soon.
Soarin placed both the lunch trays on the table and sat- well, only after pulling Rainbow the chair to sit.
Rainbow sat right across Fluttershy who was looking at her with mouth wide open.
"H-Hey guys," Rainbow smiled. She took a deep breath. Now was the time for step 2. Her stomach churned in guilt.
Rainbow surprised Soarin by gently taking his hand in hers.
"Um... I know this might come out as a shock to you, but... Me and Soarin are dating," she said. Soarin took this as his queue to squeeze her hand.
Time seemed to have slowed down for Rainbow. Her eyes were only on Fluttershy. She saw her eyes widening ever slightly before her lips formed into a huge grin.
"I'm so happy to hear that, Dashie!" she exclaimed. Rainbow and the rest of the Rainbooms took a sigh of relief; Fluttershy somehow bought it.
The shy caretaker, in fact, was over the moon, as she leaned across the table to bring Rainbow to an embrace.
"You took look really adorable," she smiled.
"Thanks," Rainbow swallowed.
Fluttershy let go of her and looked at Soarin. "Please don't hurt her. Rainbow is the most sweetest girl I know."
"Sweet?" Soarin wheezed. Rainbow elbowed him hard. Soarin coughed. "Of course. You have my word," he gave her a sweet smile.
Applejack was sending daggers at Rainbow. She was still against the idea of Fluttershy being deceived like this.
Truthfully, telling Fluttershy the truth seemed to be the better option. At least there wouldn't be any guilt. But, the thought of even the chances of losing their friendship... That was what scared her.
"Um, if you two don't mind," Fluttershy started hesitantly. "I would love to know about your story."
Rainbow was having an internal panic attack. They hadn't discussed that yet. Can this get any worse!?
"I'd like to know the same."
And it just did.
Zephyr Breeze stood there with his arms crossed. He gave Soarin a scwol before turning his attention to Rainbow.
"Rainbows, you don't have to go that far to make me jealous," was what came from the delusional prick's mouth.
"Make you jealous?" Rainbow scoffed. "Zephyr, what are you even talking about?"
"Awh, c'mon, Rainbows," he said in that annoying tone Rainbow loathed. "Why were you two even holding hands?"
Soarin wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I didn't know I needed your permission to hold my girlfriend's hand."
Zephyr Breeze's mouth hung open. "GIRLFRIEND!?" he screamed. He closed and opened his mouth a few times trying to form but what came out was a "What!?" and "When!?"
"Since yesterday," Soarin said flatly.
"B-But, Rainbows, you don't even like him do you!?" Zephyr asked.
"Zephyr, I'm in a relationship with him," Rainbow said trying to keep herself calm. "Take a guess."
"Are you doing this grab my attention, Rainbows?" Zephyr asked, which sounded more like a statement. Rainbow couldn't believe how more deluded could this guy get. "Either way you two don't look good together."
Before Soarin or Rainbow could give a proper reply back at his statement, Fluttershy stood up. There was a dangerous aura emitting from her.
"That's it. You've embarrassed me enough," she said in a voice that wasn't soft. It sounded like even Fluttershy was fed up by his antics. "I can't believe you'd say something that awful," she scolded her younger brother.
"But, Sis," he whined.
"I don't want to hear any buts." It wasn't the usual pleads she would say, this was as a command. Giving Soarin and Rainbow an apologetic, she said, "I'm really sorry for his behaviour."
"No prob," Rainbow said. Soarin gave her a thumbs up.
With that, Fluttershy dragged Zephyr Breeze out of the cafeteria, still very much scolding him.
The second they left the Rainbooms bursted into a fit of giggles. Except Rainbow who sat there glued.
"You alright, Crash?" Soarin rubbed her shoulder.
"Y-Yeah," Rainbow said in a shaky breath.
"Told ya, Fluttershy can handle Zephyr," Applejack commented.
"I don't think that's the last of him," Rainbow said.
