Golden Crests and Apple pie.

by Swagg

Rating: everyone
Tags: Rainbow Dash, Romance, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Soarin
Length: 7410

Rainbow Dash and Soarin shipping!!

A whole week without training is probably the best thing that has ever happened to Soarin.. If only he could find a way to make it last.

Published 2011-10-16 00:52:31 UTC
Last updated 2012-03-24 02:02:48 UTC

Chapter 1

Chapter 1---

The ballroom lay in ruins. Chunks of marble littered the tiled floor, scattered around in broken heaps that nearly meshed together to create a solid blanket of rubble. The local band's instruments, dented and fractured far beyond recognition, lay in assymetrical positions around the room. Many of the animals from the garden still skittered about through various rooms, their loosely-aimed sprints unceasing until they'd explored every last nook and cranny within the castle walls, leaving muddy pawprints everywhere. Many of the royal guards and servants were tending to the enormous mess, for the most part ignoring the animals, but the occasional shout and hoof chase was not uncommon. After the pillars collapsed, most of the remaining partygoers had moved outside into the still-intact garden, small groups of ponies still gossiping and chatting about the six mares who were responsible for this disaster.

Holding glasses of punch in their hooves and still contemplating shock, two of the most famous ponies in all of Equestria stood, pondering what had just happened. Spitfire and Soarin were likely to be the most-loved ponies on the Wonderbolts team. Spitfire was the flight group's first ever female captain; that alone was obviously enough for the public to adore her. But Soarin was a whole other ball game; he'd only been in the Wonderbolts for little over a year. His group aerodynamics needed some patching up, but his speed and stamina when going solo more than compensated for it. Plus, he had never had a problem with being the youngest flyer to join the team in fifteen years. For that very reason, mares and fillies of all ages would squee in delight when he trotted by. You'd think a young stallion like him would enjoy that, but Soarin thought it a tad annoying. Still, he'd learned over time how to drown it out with thoughts of pastries such as pie, and other sweet beverages.

The young Wonderbolt's stomach growled at him. Even the thought of such wonderful, delicious things made him feel hungry. His emerald green eyes glanced out the nearby window, and sure enough, Luna's beautiful night sky was sparkled with stars, the moon high at its centre. He sighed and moved out towards the balcony, either unaware or uncaring of the pair of eyes trailing him. The rush of cold that ruffled his midnight-blue mane when he opened the balcony door made him shiver, but he ignored it. Soarin stepped out into the open sky and lent his forelegs against the guard rail. Taking a deep breath, he let himself be calmed by the fresh air of the night.

"Well, this has been a complete screw-up." The dejected colt muttered aloud, quickly downing the last of his punch like one would with whiskey, before tossing the empty cup over the edge of the balcony. He leaned his chin on his hooves again, propped up by his elbows this time, and stared up into the endless night sky. "If only I'd have tried harder to talk to her..." He wanted nothing more than to be alone at that moment, but alas, such things can become quite difficult when you're famous.

"Hey Soarin, What are you doing out- Ugh!.... g-great Celestia it's cold!" though he heard Spitfire exclaim and shiver behind him, he didn't look back. His thoughts were too preoccupied.

When Soarin didn't respond to Spitfire's next comment, she trotted up behind him and poked the back of his wing. He jerked upright and span around with a small yelp. She laughed.

"Skipping the midnight snack are we, or are you finally too full to eat another pie?"

"Hm?...Oh. Uh, well, I guess so." Soarin looked back up at the moon, his eyes glazed over as if he didn't really care either way. She frowned slightly. He wasn't his usual perky self tonight. Come to think of it, his mind had seemed completely preoccupied for the entire night after that blue pegasus, Rainbow Dash, saved his pie from splattering all over the floor. Sure, he'd eaten that thing just as eagerly as always, but she saw hesitance, as if he was eating the pie solely through sub-conscious habit.

"What's up, Soarin? There's been something on your mind all night, I can tell... You've been too quiet." She asked playfully, taking a sip of her punch. The young Wonderbolt sighed for what must have been the hundredth time since the destruction of the ballroom.

"Well, I... I just...I..." There was that hesitance again. "-You...You know that filly, Rinbow Dash?"

She smirked at him. "Yeees."

Spitfire watched the youngest member of her team trace imaginary circles on the rail he was leaning against. "...Well... I kinda... wanted to... say something to her... tonight..." his voice grew ever softer and more timid. "...But then all this crazy stuff kept happening, and I couldn't find a chance to be with her. And, after the party got thrown into chaos, she just... disappeared! ...The...The weirdest thing is...I-I can't stop thinking about her..." He went back to tracing circles as an excuse to not look at his captain. Spitfire stifled a proud chuckle. Soarin was a colt of high standards. He could get any mare he liked, but when it came down to it, he had no idea how much some ponies would give to go on a date with him.

"Eh, don't beat yourself up about it. It's not your fult the Gala is always this-..." Spitfire cut herself short when a sharp annoying glint struck her gaze and momentarily blinded her. The yellow pony leaned over the rail in sudden curiosity, and looked down. There, at the entrance to the castle doors, was a solution to all her teammate's problems. Well, at least some of them. Either way, her face lit up in a huge grin as an epiphany hit her.

"...Soarin?"

"H-huh?"

"When was the last time you had a vacation? Or rather, a few days off?"

Soarin shrugged. "I dunno. I think I haven't actually had one since I joined." His expression suddenly changed from shy and hesitant to confused. "What are you getting at?"

Spitfire grinned. "I want you, to take at least the next week off-" Soarin began to interrupt, but was quickly cut short "-Nope! I won't hear a word of it! You are taking a week off to go find that mare of yours, starting TONIGHT, and that's an order!" Even under his suit, Spitfire could still see Soarin's face burning bright red as he stammered to find his next words.

"W-Well, I-I don't-...uhm."

"Look Soarin, I've seen and had my share of romances; it's time YOU got away from all this publicity and took some time for yourself. Besides, It's obvious you like that enthusiastic little mare. And the only way you're gonna get the girl, is if you go out there and FIND her." She moved his head with one hoof, and pointed at the shining glint below with the other. Then, giving him a quick hug he barely even acknowledged, she headed back inside.

Soarin was more than gobsmacked to say the least. Not only had Spitfire figured him out in but a second, but she had let him out of an entire WEEK of arduous training and drills! Now, he'd always admired Spitfire and all, but this was just AWESOME!! Over the past month, he and the rest of the team have had to put in an extra amount of effort into new stunts and acrobatics they'd been working on for an upcoming show in Canterlot. They'd spent hours on end training and training, and until one perfects such things, life is nothing short of exhausting!

Soarin shook his head to clear those thoughts. If he was going to have the next week off, he'd might as well make the most of it and forget about training for a while. Now... what was he supposed to be thinking about again...? Oh, right, the glinty thingy. What was that anyway?

The cool night's breeze ruffled his feathers as the young Wonderbolt glided lazily down to the main entrance of the castle. Usually, he would have given the royal guards standing at the door some pestering at their stiff posts, but his mind was too ablaze to even think about it. The closer he got to the shining object, the more he came to realize what it was.

Rainbow Dash's head crest!

"... She must have dropped it on her way out." he muttered to himself. After glancing around as if someone was going to accuse him of stealing, Soarin picked up the head piece and clipped it back together, admiring how the moon's light reflected off its surface. Tucking it under his wing for safe keeping, he made his way down the last flight of stairs and headed towards the Wonderbolts' portable tent.

Authors note~-
Eh... I know it's short. I feel like it was kinda rushed and I don’t think I got Spitfire’s personality quite right either. But In any case, I hope you liked it and feel free to leave a comment ^.^

Chapter 2

Princess Celestia’s golden sun shone brightly as it rose up over Equestria. The overcast sky was filled with grey clouds as far as Ponyville could see, allowing only a dim beam of light to shine through the open window of Rainbow Dash’s cloud home.

The Rainbow maned pegasus rolled out of bed with a sleepy yawn when she was rudely woken by a knock at her door. She was too tired to ponder on who it could be at this hour as she descended the stairs and opened the door with a simple "what?!" to great whoever was bagging away.

A pale orange pegasus with bright green eyes stood smiling widely at the door. A little too widely.“Good morning, Rainbow Dash. Nice day isn’t it?” The filly chuckled almost nervously. Rainbow didn’t answer right away. Instead, she looked up and eyed the grey skies in confusion, watching as small bursts of lighting cracked in the clouds slightly, then back down to the grinning filly she recognized from work. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes.

“Cut the small talk. What do you want this time, Featherwing?” Rainbow Dash was not one to beat around the bush or for sugar coating things, she was always straight to the point in everything she said and did. Rainbow leaned against her door frame casually as Featherwing’s ears dropped in obvious guilt.

“Well, uhmm.... I know I owe you a lot already... and, err-”

“And?” Rainbow Dash pushed for an answer at being woken so early, especially since this was her requested day off after the Gala. As much of a disaster as it was, she was still tired after arriving back home later than expected. This was not and encounter she was entirely enjoying.

“I was wondering if you could take over my shift for the day-” Rainbow rolled her eyes and groaned loudly, but Featherwing chose to ignore it. “I can’t afford to spend the whole day clearing all these clouds! I’m too busy for that. But daddy wouldn’t let me have the day off for some reason!”

“Pfft, You only spent a whole two weeks faking sick AND got caught on a date with what’s-his-face while doing it... Twice!”

“I know, right?! Storm is just such a gentlecolt. He always takes me to the best places!” Featherwing’s oblivious reply to Dash’s sarcasm was enough to make her face-hoof. This pony was stupid enough to drive anypony up the wall sometimes. Mentally counting to ten, Rainbow calmed herself enough not to slam the door in her face and climb back into bed. She was the bosses daughter after all.

“But I really need your help! Please Rainbow Dash? pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasePLEASE?!” Featherwing’s eyes got big as she begged, practically on her knees.

Rainbow ran a hoof through her multi coloured mane, struggling with herself and the puppydog pout Featherwing was giving her. Dash had no idea why she still helping Featherwing like this, after all the hell that she’d been through just so that her ‘co-worker’ could have another day to herself, anypony would have thought Rainbow to refuse. RAINBOW thought Rainbow to refuse, and yet...

“Will you promises not to ask me for anything ever, EVER again?! No matter HOW much you want it?”

Featherwing paused, then nodded vigorously. “AND I’ll tell daddy I forced you into it, if he finds out.”

Dash took a deep breath and sighed. “...Fine.” Featherwing jumped up and down squee’ing with delight, then pulled Dash in for a tight death-hug she so wanted to avoid.

“Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU!!” Dash managed to squirm out of the death choke and put on a fake smile, her ears still painfully ringing.

“ So, What are you gonna be so busy doing anyway?” she finally managed to ask though the orange filly’s exited bouncing.

“Oh, Storm Wing is going to take me for a walk in the park.” Featherwing chirped. Then she bounced away with a cheerful goodbye and flew off.

Rainbow Dash’s eye twitched.

Rainbow stifled a tired yawn while she hovered by a few larger, higher, clouds mid-air. With a few half hearted kicks they were all gone. But in her haste to get this enormous job finished, some of the clouds ended up flushing out the last of the water they had stored inside, making it difficult in her half-asleep state to clear them properly. No wonder the boss wanted Featherwing to do this shift. It was suppose to be punishment.

She yawned again and quickly turned it into a groan, gazing with dread at the long rows of grey clouds still hovering above her beloved Ponyville. She didn’t understand why she was constantly helping Featherwing out like this. It had driven her into exhaustion multiple times and had even caused some un-expected injuries in her sleepy haste. Rainbow found herself wishing Featherwing was in her place right now. Made to get up early (on a day off!) and single-hoofedly clear the heavy rain clouds someone else was suppose to do in a sleep deprived state -‘Stupid weather report and its stupid demands’-, But no matter how hard she tried. She just couldn’t keep her angry thoughts on Featherwing. Instead, she found herself muttering about the Wonderbolts and the Gala, which wasn’t all that weird, But she’d thought she’d be over it by now. ‘Stupid Wonderbolts and their stupid fame.’

Feeling her own temperature raising again, she bucked the next cloud hard in frustration, causing a small lightning storm to wither in the puff of grey as a result. Facehoofing, she groaned at herself for the hundredth time, and bucked it again. When, unsurprisingly, nothing happened, she flew up higher, centring herself directly over the small raging storm. With a deep calming breath, she dropped down like a spiralling torpedo, both forelegs extended out front, and shot clean through the middle like a dart. This sent the tiny storm spinning madly while it slowly disintegrated at out to the side, before disappearing in one final ‘poof’.

Rainbow Dash didn’t even congratulate herself with what was an amazingly fast storm clearing. Even for her, that was quick! Everypony knew storm clouds were the most difficult to clear let alone control. But she was too miffed to care. Instead, she folded her wet fore-hoofs over her soaked chest and huffed the hair out of her face.

“I hate Mondays.”

Even though she pretty much had the Wonderbolt’s gig pinned, it didn’t mean she was any less disappointed by the events at the Gala. Or rather, lack of events. In fact it probably only made her even more disappointed. She still wanted to show them her stuff. She’d dreamed of opportunities like that since she was a little filly. To have it all shut down like that was, well...

She kicked another cloud.

Sure the Wonderbolts were all famous and stuff, but when you ask somepony to ‘hang out’, It usually means you don’t just leave them watching from the sidelines like everypony else! That just wasn’t cool. But even all that could be passed on and forgotten, and she’d given that a fair shot. Yet there were still these feelings. These feelings aside from frustration that frustrated her! Taunting her just because she didn’t know what they meant. What were they? And who were they for...?

With a long sigh, she pushed away the emotional ping-pong game inside her head and focused on work. The quicker she got this done, the better.

With what seemed like an eternity later, Dash was finally finished clearing the overcast sky letting a few clouds float around here or there- and flopped rather dramatically on top of one of the larger ones with a soft poof, sighing as she relished in some much-needed rest.

A low growl rumbling in her stomach made her flinch awake.

She rolled over with a groan. “Shut up stomach. I’ll feed you later.” she murmured irritably, drifting back to sleep.

Her stomach would have none of this-
GUUURRRRGGGLLLLEEEEE!!!

Rainbow Dash slowly brought hoof to face.

A/N- This chapter is about as long as the last one, but I'm planing on making them bigger in the future. I only posted this finished part now because some life problems are gonna slow things down for a while so... yeah, enjoy ^^

Chapter 3

Soarin slipped out of bed with a huge, happy yawn. Feeling well-rested and pleased after a good sleep in, he stretched out and took a moment to pop a few stiff vertebrates in his back. His bed-mane swished wildly out of place as he sat up and shook his sleepiness away. Looking at the dusty mirror hanging on his wall, he shrugged nonchalantly and made no attempt to fix his bed-mane, before beginning the casual trot down the flight of stairs his home so proudly displayed.

To anypony else, this was more of a mansion than just a mere cloud-house. It was big and roomy, and what little furniture he had was much larger than it needed to be, especially in the living room. But even so, it left lots of space for knicknacks like pictures and trophies to be scattered about. He hadn't done much with the place since he moved in about a year ago, mostly because he was hardly ever in here anyway, and he didn't get many visitors aside from family or the obligatory annoying reporter. Spitfire would drop in every now and then, primarily to inform him about any changes their group had for upcoming shows, but that was about it.

In fact, if it weren't for Soarin's hired sleep-in butler, Stuffy, the place would have been past the point of 'trashed' by now.

Speak of the devil. As Soarin stepped into his beloved kitchen, he spotted the old blue-maned grey stallion walking past on healthy legs with the usual collar and tie hanging from his neck. He appeared to have just finished tidying up the mess Soarin had made not three hours ago- all for a messy burger, too.

"...Oh! Good afternoon, Master Soarin. Would you like some hay-fries to go with that mess?" Soarin chucked to himself as he sat himself down at the large table, grinning in amusement. Stuffy was quite strange to say the least, and hard to wrap one's hoof around. While he simply insisted on calling Soarin 'Master' all the time, he would never let down the odd opportunity for a humourous joke or an admittedly stupid comment here or there during the day. He was also the best pony to go to when you needed advice. It was like he had an answer for everything! Soarin loved him for it. Stuffy was so trustworthy, he might as well have had the word "trustworthy" tattooed onto his forehead.

"You know, on any other day, I might've just taken you up on that offer, Stuffy." The Wonderbolt replied, balancing on the back legs of his tipped chair and leaning back, his own back legs crossed over the table. He closed his eyes and that grin never left. "But, you just make something for yourself, I got plans for today."

Stuffy shot a quick glance through the window of the destroyed kitchen. "...What's left of it, you mean." He replied. Soarin easily picked up on his butler's attempt at hiding an accusing tone. Really, they were more like roommates than boss and employee.

Soarin waved a hoof in the air dismissively. "Eh, I felt like sleeping in. Did I tell you Spitfire let me off for the week?" He raised a quizzical brow at the grey stallion. Maybe he'd had too much punch or something last night, because he honestly couldn't remember if he'd mentioned anything at all. The butler looked surprised.

"Oh? What lead to this sudden act of kindness?" the old pegasus asked, moving to make some breakfast/lunch. Part of his job was free food and sleeping arrangements; it was an awesome gig that paid pretty well for someone like Stuffy, a pony barely inching towards his retirement. But life with the young, fun-loving and cocky Wonderbolt had defiantly brought a great new perspective of life to the butler's eyes, and he'd grown to know and love this colt as if he were long lost family.

"She said I needed a break." Soarin replied to his question rather quickly.... almost too quickly. Stuffy's curiosity grew.

"Don't you have some practicing to do?" he asked, retrieving some salad leaves from the well-stocked refrigerator.

"It's not that important."

"What about the show in Canterlot? Surely you cannot perform if you have not properly mastered the routine?"

Soarin sat up, opening his eyes fully. "They can do it without me. Besides, Spitfire said I needed a break. You know, get away from the public for a while? Think she was right too, I haven't had any time to myself since that hell of a party she threw for the coach." He chuckled at the memory. "He got totally smashed that night! And he had the cheek to tell all us other hung-over ponies to shuddup and do some laps the next morning!...Jerk." Soarin laughed. Stuffy just chuckled at him, like he always did, the faint memory of Soarin's hung over breakfast came to mind as he cooked.

A comfortable silence flew over the two after a while, Soarin thinking about and re-remembering some forgotten memories. Stuffy's pan spat and crackled as he tossed in some freshly cut carrots, making some kind of vegetable stir fry. Steam from the odd mixture softly rolled up into the quiet oven fan above. Aside from the brunch-making, Soarin's house was essentially quiet, until a loud knock at the door caught both ponies' attention.

Stuffy trotted over to answer it, but Soarin beat him to it. The famous young colt opened the door curiously, finding a familiar grey mailmare hovering at his doorstep, struggling to hold up a heavy sack of letters. Soarin had seen this mare around often, although he couldn't recall her name. But, he always remembered the crossed eyes and cheerful grin she always seemed to have. He smiled at her, even though he had no idea if her gaze was locked on him or the ceiling lamp.

"Mail!" she chirped happily, dumping the large sack at his hooves. Soarin didn't look all too surprised at the huge sack meant for him; he got one almost every week, but his casual expression became confused as the grey mare rummaged around in her smaller pouch, then handed him another letter. It had an official Wonderbolts stamp and logo on it. He raised a brow, even more confused as he took it. Spitfire was always the one to update him regularly; she was like an older sister, so getting a letter from her instead of her showing up in-person just seemed...weird.

Grabbing some spare change he always leaves on a small stool next to the door, he happily handed a large amount of it to the grey mare and looked the curious letter over while she left. He didn't even regard the sack on the ground, which was obviously fan-mail, and closed the door. A few seconds later, he reopened the door and took the sack inside.

"Stuffy." Soarin called, throwing himself on the living room couch lazily to open the letter. Stuffy's greyish/blue head peeked around the corner.

"Yes, Master Soarin?"

"When you're done with eating or whatever, can you take this sack up to the room?" The colt had a distant look in his eyes as he waved a hoof in the general direction of the sack. "I'll deal with it later." Stuffy nodded to confirm his understanding and disappeared again.

Once he was gone, Soarin's emerald eyes greedily scanned the open letter word-for-word. His curiosity quickly turned to excitement. When he'd finished, he read it over again, more carefully this time, and an excited grin flew onto his soft features.

"YES!!"

The old pony in the kitchen dropped his pan in fright, startled by the sudden shout.

'Ughhh... Finally' Rainbow Dash found herself a spare moment to actually flop down and REST on her super-soft cloud couch. It was four hours from noon, and after spending the whole day keeping an eye out for rouge storm clouds and filling out boring reports, she was exhausted. ...Man, Featherwing owed her, Big time! Her entire body ached with stiffness, and all she wanted to do was curl up and sleep. But, yet AGAIN, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, another thing jerked her away from her almost-achieved slumber.

A knock at the door.

Her magenta eyes snapped open and she glared at the ceiling, growling violently. She rolled off the couch and fell to the floor with a barely audible 'thump'. Cursing intensely under her breath, she stomped to the doorway, her hoofsteps unfortunately giving her no audible satisfaction; clouds made no noise when stepped on. Her sour mood did nothing to influence a positive response to whoever the idiot at the door was. No matter who it was!

She opened the door, her gaze hot enough to melt iron. "WHAT!?"

Silence.

Nopony was there! She looked around, but couldn't see anyone in the sky either. Did somepony SERIOUSLY just prank her?! Turning to go back inside and slam the door with enough force to shatter all the glass in Appleloosa, she felt a soft crunch under hoof as her back leg stepped on something. Looking over her shoulder, she spotted a letter, creased and folded slightly from her small trampling. It was a very light shade of blue and was face-down. She picked it up and turned it over.

Her eyes almost popped out of her head, her enormous rage disappearing like rainwater down a storm drain. This wasn't just ANY letter! It was from the Wonderbolt Spitfire herself! Dash tore it open as quickly as possible.

~Dear Rainbow Dash,

How's it hangin' down there in Ponyville? I know you must be really excited to get this letter (probably tore it open at first glance) But don't think me and the other 'Bolts have completely forgotten about you! After all, you did do a Sonic Rainboom AND saved three of our lives, Dash.

May I call you Dash?

Anyway, I've just taken a break from training and decided to deliver to you the good news myself, instead of having some boring desk pony do it in a language neither of us understand.

Soarin, our youngest 'Bolt, is taking the week off from flying. He'll be heading down your way for a bit. Though we're still yet to hear HIS response to our request, the other Wonderbolts and I agree to have him observe and train you.

How's that for a head start to the upcoming tryouts?

You've already got a hoof in the door, Dash.

Xx Spifire.~

Rainbow Dash's jaw was on the floor. But by the time she finished, she'd already let out a huge fan-filly squee from the pit of her stomach, and all tiredness and thoughts of sleep left her brain immediately as she catapulted herself into the air, performed an Immelmann Loop, and sped back towards Ponyville to tell all her friends the awesome news.

A/N; Bloody Spitfire and her sneaky ways, eh? xD
Turns out I still don’t write very big chapters <w<... Oh well. I hope you enjoy it anyways ^^

Chapter 4

“Um... Rainbow Dash, Are you sure this is a good idea? It doesnt sound very...safe?"

"Ehh, safety's overrated." The cyan pegasus replied, waving a dismissive hoof in the air.

Fluttershy struggled to keep up with her friend, her yellow wings beating as hard as they could in a simple effort to not fall behind. "Oh... Well, I mean, if you don't mind me saying... don't you think it's a little... extreme?" She cringed at her own choice of words. "... I'm sure Soarin' will like the tricks you can already do." Rainbow braked in mid flight, and Fluttershy yelped when she almost slammed into her.

"...Like? LIKE?! Fluttershy, he has to LOVE them!" She turned on her friend with the most panic-stricken, serious face that Fluttershy had ever seen on her. "If he doesn't love them, how could he ever consider me a good candidate for the Wonderbolts?! Or..Or worse! What if he doesn't want to hang out with me because he thinks I'm too lame?!! What if the other Wonderbolts find out and not want me to join because of my lameness?! What if he decides to tell Spitfire that I'm lame!?" She gasped suddenly, her eyes went widening as she felt a metaphorical icy dagger stab into her chest, her ears folding backwards against her head. "What if she BELIEVES him?!" Fluttershy stiffened as she was grabbed by the shoulders and shaken frantically. "I'm not lame Fluttershy do you think I'm lame I'm totally lame aren’t I I've gotta go practice this move c'mon!!" Dash rambled, her voice shaking, before she shot off in a fury across the sky, leaving behind a dizzy yellow pegasus who could never hope to keep up.

"Oh dear..."

Soarin’ exited the shopping mall as fast as his wings would carry him. He ended up paying the register pony twenty bits extra just so he could get out of there. The register broke down before it could calculate the tax, and he didn’t feel like waiting another two minutes for the cashier to calculate everything with a paper & pencil, so he just forked up some extra cash to be safe. Now, he flew above the light rain clouds as if they were shields, keeping him out of sight and--hopefully--out of mind.

"Am I really that recognizable, even when I’m not in my ‘Bolts suit?” He pondered out loud, his heart still in overdrive from what had just happened. "I didn’t even know I HAD that many fans!” Shuddering at the thought of the creepy old mare who’d approached him and announced his presence to everypony in possible earshot, he flapped his wings faster; trying desperately to drive his mind elsewhere. He wasn’t sure anypony had heard the old mare.... in Manehatten. He needed something to distract him. Like...like flying, for example! That was distracting.

When it came to flying, Soarin’ was more like Rainbow Dash than either of them had ever thought. The speed, the adrenaline, the wind in his mane- it all felt incredible! It was Soarin’s life. Like most pegasus ponies, he didn’t know what he would do if he was suddenly grounded, unable to use his wings...

He shuddered again, pushing his wings just a tad harder. Something bad could always happen; he could fly too close to a tree and shatter the bones in one of his wings. He’d be grounded... That was why he was determined to make the most of them before something DID happen.

Soarin’ blasted through a puffy white cloud in a spiral of electric sparks, whooping out in pure joy and relishing in the free open sky.

Two hours later, Soarin’ had long since passed the last of the rain clouds. He was hovering above a different, smaller town than the last. It was one he’d never been to before; hopefully no one would recognize him and react like the last three crazy towns he visited (he can dream, right?). The young Wonderbolt landed on a small cloud and pulled his saddlebags over his head. He was exhausted, but he’d never admit that to just anypony.

He spread out a crumbled scroll at his hooves and pressed down on a creased corner that just wouldn’t cooperate. His emerald eyes scanned the map intently, following the path Stuffy suggested he take when he left Cloudsdale the previous morning. His face twisted into a confused scowl.

"...Where, the heck, am I?” he asked slowly, taking several glances at the town below. Eventually, he crumpled the ‘useless’ map into a ball between his hooves and tossed it over his shoulder. An apple was taken from his bag and eaten thoughtfully (nopony he knew could think on an empty stomach, and he couldn’t either), but as he rummaged through the little clutter he'd brought along, he again came across the golden crest Rainbow had dropped the night of the Gala.

He sighed. The unique markings, carefully etched into the metal, had caught Soarin’s eye for so long that the design was practically stamped all over his brain. It represented the rainbow pegasus so... perfectly. He really wanted to return it to her, but at the same time, it meant he wouldn’t have anything else to remember her by when he went back to work.

The best part was, he didn’t even know why he felt this way about her. They’d only ever met twice. Granted, she saved his life and a delicious apple pie, but he’d never had such a strong attraction to anypony in his life.

Maybe that was why...?

"Hi!” Soarin’ was jerked out of his thoughts by the sudden voice, and spun around in surprise. A grinning pink head parted the bottom of the cloud for a moment, then disappeared again.

"What the-?!”

The pink pony was unfazed by his reaction to her trampoline; set up at an impossibly high distance above the ground via steel poles in order to reach his elevated cloud. "Are you... The Wonderbolt... Soarin’?!” she chirped between jumps.

"Uhh... yeessss?” He changed his mind; he wanted to go back to the supermarket now.

"Oh my gosh!...That’s...Great!... Dashie will be so... happy... You’re here!” Soarin’ rolled his eyes a little. Fans are usually annoying and generally over the top, but this? This went straight to his top five, right next to that towel merchant who proposed to him at a VIP concert. Poor filly.

AN//: Ok, so.... Sent this to my editor a few days ago, got back form the wedding today and found it all ready for me... Did a bit of editing myself and posted it again ^^
Well, I can get back to writing bigger chapters now! And just to make up for this one being so short, I'm aiming for a 2000 word cound next time, so that will be about double the regular size. ^.^ Happy Christmas everyone! (Feels a bit early to say that, but whatever xD)

Chapter 5

On an open grassy field just outside of Ponyville, a cyan hoof went up to gauge the wind. "Hm, not too bad."Rainbow Dash mused.

She was still working on her day off.

Since Featherwing's father had found her slacking off with her coltfriend again that afternoon, both her and Rainbow were being punished.One actually had to do something, while the other had to spend valuable flying time with a lazier mare than herself and show her the ropes in a Captain's weather duties.

Rainbow may have helped Featherwing out with her morning's shift, but that didn't necessarily mean she had to like her. She only got sucked in because of all the begging- but then, after considering, she'd soon refused to do any more of the unpaying labor. Apparently this was a good enough reason for Featherwing to blame their misfortune on Rainbow, even if she did tell her she wasn't filling in anymore.

Being captain of the weather team for a small town like Ponyville, a place where you barely needed over three ponies to work the skies during the day, was a big deal to Dash. And something most ponies didn't realise she took very seriously. like all jobs, it had its up's and down's.

For one, there was all that stupid papperwork to sort through when she got home every day...Rainbow Dash hated homework.

But there were considerably more benefits to make all the torment worth it....

Behind her, the whinny little voice of an ungrateful mare piped up in complant. "This stinks! It wasn't my fault the coulds wern't cleared propperly." Featherwing was shooting Rainbow another accusing glare.

Well, almost all the torment was worth it.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, but kept her gaze glued to the skies above. "Hey, I told you I wasn't filling in anymore! What more do you want?!"

Feather huffed in annoyance, mumbling to herself. More than once Rainbow caught the words 'stupid' and 'unfair'.

It had been three hours of torture for the rainbow pegasus. The boss didn't mean for it to be, he just wanted to teach his little girl a lesson in self discipline, but he had also unknowingly put Rainbow Dash through some hell that day- even if he promised her another two off.

It was just non-stop TALKING about a COLT of all things possible! How could anypony keep up such a boring topic for so long?! Rainbow Dash thought her ears were going to bleed!

"...I mean he's kind, he's gentle, he has great teeth- Oh!and did I tell you he plays golf?" Featherwing's dreamy sigh almost made Dash wanna puke into the cloud she was shifting. "He's such an athlete..."

Ignoring Featherwing obviously wasn't working,and try as Rainbow might to veer the conversation in a different direction, it all just ended in horrible failure. It was hopeless.Anypony with a brain knew getting a filly with a crush to stop talking about some colt wasan uphill battle.An impossible, painful task.

But then again, Dash had always found thetopic ofcoltfriend's antagonising. The way Rarity spoke of romance made both her and Applejack gag. Prehaps for her at least it had something to do with her fillyhood 'Rainbow Crash' faze, when everypony picked on her for being so tomcolt-ish? Or maybe it was the mild fact that she'd never even had a real crush before?

The thought stopped Rainbow dead in her tracks. Had she honestly just realised that?!

Something hard slammed into the dazed mare, forcing her head inside the rain could she'd been pushing from behind.

Bits of cloud clung to her maneand eyes when she pulled it out again, glaring back at Featherwing, who had still been more of a hindrance than a help.

The younger pegasus looked at her with a shrug. "What? Not my fault you stopped all of a sudden."

Rainbow Dash sighed for the 50th time that hour. "Just, go get that cloudand bring it here will you?" she shook her head vigorously and whipped the dampness from her face.

"What... that one?" Featherwing pointed a hoof in the complete opposite direction to which Rainbow had mentioned.

"No, that way."

"...This one?"

"The ones over there!"

"Here...?" Feather asked.

"It's that one!... no, over a bit, your other left....Ugh, here let me do it!"

...Okay, Rainbow walked right into that.

A few hours later and Rainbow Dash was still doing all the work while Featherwing talked her cyan coat off.

The mare was manipulative in the way she was acting, pretending not to understand a word Rainbow said in exchange for not doinganything at all. Eventually, our favorite speedster flier was forced to give up.

But it wasn't long after when Rainbow finally cracked. Everypony knew shifting clouds while frustrated or angry was a very bad idea. Rainbow Dash just happened to be in both those moods.

The outcome wasn't good.

"Hey, watch the lightning bolts!"

"Well sorrrry, your highness! You're the one who got all moody and made the stupid storm in the first place."

"Can't blame me for being forced to listen to you all day! Do you even know how to clear a thunderstorm?"

"No, but if I did, I bet could do it ten times better than you!"

The cloud they were shouting over was getting darker the more they argued.

"Whatever,just get your flank back down hereand help me out." Rainbow grunted as she pulledon the tugging cloud- it was almost as if it were aliveand purposely trying to get to Ponyville or something.

Featherwing blinked at her from the higher, more peaceful cloud she'd just sat down on, considering getting her well groomed mane and tail wet for about a second. "meh, you've got it under control."

"What?!" Another twinge of frustration could actually be seen in Rainbow's tired wings- it almost made her loose control over what she was doing. "Y'know, the clouds out here drift in from the Everfree Forestand they're KINDA DANGEROUS!" She shouted, struggling.

"Well maybe you should have thought of that before you made thisone into a giant puff of doom! This is your problem, not mine."

Ohhh, if Rainbow wasn't intenton keeping Ponyville dry...!!

"Featherwing, when I get up there I'm going t- AGH!!" Barely avoiding a hard thunder strike to the left wing, Rainbow Dash tumbled backwards in a spiraland crashed into a prickly bush below. It wasn't along fall, for the growing storm wasonly at tree's height, but it was pelting the ground with rain so hard it left muddy im prints with each drop.

Rainbow's hide was no different.

By the time she was able to scrabble her way out of her stinging position in the prickle bush , she was already bruised, cutand soaked to the bone, wincing as every strand of water felt like a knife slicing through her skin.

Featherwing was gone.

---Meanwhile, in a deeper part of Ponyville---

Soarin' had never been happier to slam a door in his life. The pink pony Rainbow Dash apparently hung out with wasn't making this situation of obsessive fans and crazed fillies any better, if anything, she was making it worse. Her constant talking, general gibberish and one-sided conversations were sure to make him go insane before he even finished locking the door with a wardrobe.

Thankfully,anypony not staying at the hotel resort were quickly kicked out of the lobby for disturbing the peace.

Well, there was another 'brilliant' idea of Pinkie Pie's thrown down the drain. Why did he keep listening to her?! She was crazy!

"I don't... think this is working." he panted, feeling more comfortable speaking when the loud noises and chanting moved to the streets. Pinkie Pie, although he had no idea why, was trying to help him get out in public without being recognised. So far, he'd been dressed like a mummy, walked with a newspaper about himself stuck to his face, turned into a mud monsterand failed horribly at every tactic thought of.

The young Wonderbolt sighed and slumped to the ground, watching with little interest as Pinkie Pie bounced around his temporary room in awe of everything and anything she saw.

"Oh golly! This is like the biggest bestest hotelroom I've ever seen! I know i keep saying that but do you stay in fancy places like this all the time?" She zipped through another door. "Hey, what's this do?"

Soarin' barely had a chance to panic before there was a load crash, bang and thump from the bathroom.

"...Oopsie!"

He facehoofed.

AN;// Sorry a million times for the long wait. I haven't been feeling too right in the head recently. I still can't sleep, everything i eat tastes like crapand school starts up again in a few days. Hope you guys can put up withanother short chapter??? I haven't had a chance to look for spelling or grammar errors so feel free to point them out. I hope to get the next chapter out a lot sooner than this one.