“Great show, Soarin!”
“Yeah good job out there.”
“Thanks guys, I’m just glad it’s over, time to go home,” Soarin replied walking alongside a couple other of his fellow Wonderbolt team members. Their outfits were soaked in sweat from the intensive show, manes wild and crazy. “Hey, catch up with you guys later, maybe tonight we can go out and celebrate? Maybe pick up a couple crazy fan mares or two?”
“Sure thing, we’ll meet up later, see ya, Soar,” Firestreak responded, grinning a bit as him and a few others trotted away toward their own changing rooms. It was great having one all to yourself after a tiring show, no other ponies in close proximity to you so one could just unwind and change in peace and quiet. No foul odors coming from teammates’ uniforms, it was just nice. The rooms were fully stocked with food, clothes, and just about anything else one could ever possibly want. It was like a luxury hotel that the team offered, and it was Soarin’s turn to use it.
He opened the door only to get hit by a cool air, the air conditioning had been turned on by request and pumped up. It was a chilly 65 degrees, just like what was ordered, the perfect temperature to cool down after a hard show. The room was dark, light from the hallway seeping in and only lighting a small portion of the small space. Soarin tried to feel around for the lightswitch somewhere at the corners of the door, only to be disappointed. Then he remembered that it was across the room on the adjacent wall, it was such a stupid design but what could he do, rewire the walls?
The light blue pegasus descended into the darkness, his eyes trying to adjust to the immediate darkness. Walking slowly and carefully as to avoid any misplaced objects on his way. The only aid being the small bits of light coming from the door he had just entered. Soarin reached the wall and began to feel around for the switch, still not finding it.
“Come on, where are you? We really need to fix this.”
Suddenly the entrance slammed shut leaving him in utter darkness. The Wonderbolt spun toward the door in a utter state of shock. There were no extra hoofsteps, and nopony had been following behind him. Was somepony playing a joke on him?
“Hahaha, Fleetfoot you’re so funny, open the door. I won this room fair and square, you can get it next show.”
No reply met him while he stood against the back wall, the only sound was the cool buzz of the AC.
“Okay, not funny guys, open the door, I need to find the lightswitch.”
Again there was no response, only silence except for a slow incoming sound of a single set of hoofsteps.
“Who's there, open the door, now!”
Soarin began desperately searching for the lightswitch, it had to be close. His light blue hooves found the edge of the switch, sending a sigh of relief through his body. He couldn’t hit the switch quite fast enough, fumbling with control. Out of the darkness and into the light, everything appeared to be normal. The food trays were in their right spots, the couch in the same place, artwork all neatly hung on the walls. His gaze fell on the door, he was indeed not alone.
A mare was standing across the room, holding the door shut and wearing a black, slim dress outlining her sleek but muscular figure. Mane styled and tied back with a bow, same went for the tail. It looked like whoever it was had just gone to the saloon. Her hooves were sparkling with polish, a fresh hooficure for sure. The black outfit barely covering the mare’s body, its lines leading toward her posterior. The pegasus just stood there, grinning ear to ear with a smile he had never seen before. Soarin didn’t know if he should be turned on, or scared for his life. He knew who it was, but how did she get in here.
The mare wasn’t on the team yet, her papers were in the final phases of being signed. The letter of acceptance was to be mailed out next week sometime. She shouldn’t be here, the pegasus didn’t have a badge or ID to get back here. It was like the mare had appeared out of thin air.
“Ra-ra-ra... Rain-Rain... bow Dash? How’d you get in here?” Soarin quivered, not knowing her intentions.
“Sssshhhhh.” The cyan pony kept whispering softly, walking toward him, flaunting her hindquarters while she walked. Tail swaying back and forth behind her just asking for a second look. His eyes stuck on her moving rainbow tail while she trotted slowly toward him. She could see him locked onto her behind, only adding to her smile. Soarin couldn’t move, he was paralyzed in fear but at the same time oddly turned on.
Rainbow made her way up close and personal, she smelled like a perfectly made Sweet Apple Acres pie freshly made out of the oven. He didn’t know that even came in a perfume. Dash rubbed her head alongside Soarin’s neck, his body unable to move, her touch sending chills down his spine. The mare made her way up to his ear, giving it a couple of quick nibbles. Okay he had to admit, this was really turning him on.
“Take a load off, you worked so very, very hard in the show.” The cyan pegasus pushed Soarin down onto the adjacent couch lining the wall. He wanted to open his mouth and say something in return but he just couldn’t.
“It’s getting kinda warm in here, you don’t mind if I get more comfortable do you?”
“Aaaaaahhhhhhhh,” was all that managed to escape his lips.
“Now don’t look.” Rainbow Dash centered herself in front of the sitting Wonderbolt. Soarin’s eyes locked on the crush of his life. He couldn’t believe this was happening, it had to be a dream, the most he had ever said to her before was an awkward ‘hi’ and ‘thanks’. She turned around giving Soarin a view of her backside and styled tail. Dash watched his eyes move back and forth with her tail.
The small black gown was first to be taken off, undoing each strap slowly and carefully, making sure she didn’t lose her audience. Underneath the costume was a perfectly preened and cleaned cyan coat, he could still smell the soap. Rainbow grabbed the small gown with her tail and threw it playfully in Soarin’s face. He couldn’t remove it, his limbs were still not responding correctly.
As easy as it was to throw, the mare removed the top out of the stallion’s face. His eyes glazed, only looking forward, mouth hanging open in shock. Next were the hair bands, first the one on the tail. The fibers of hair immediately came apart and regained their normal form. Dash spun her tail again, throwing it in Soarin’s frozen face. He could smell the fresh apple scented shampoo, the smell filling his nostrils with each passing second.
Rainbow flipped around to her front, now face to face with the Wonderbolt. Carefully taking the wrap around her mane off while whisking it in his face. He had to be dreaming, this couldn’t be real.
Soarin groaned, his mind going blank from the smell radiating off her mane.
“Ssssshhhhhhhh, now’s not the time for speaking.” With a quick push to the side she tilted his head, and connected to his lips. He was making out with Rainbow Dash, the one and only, the Element of Loyalty. She had done it to him, not the other way around, wait until the guys get word of this. He hadn’t ever said all that much to her, and now she was here.
As quickly as it began it ended, Dash got up and stood up on her hooves. Soarin’s eyes now wide as the moon, his heart racing, sweat glands starting to go all over again. The mare turned, grabbing Soarin’s head while she trotted away toward something in the room he couldn’t see.
“After a show like that you must be just so hungry, here have some pie.” The cyan pegasus picked up a large pastry on a table and began to return back to the couch, the smell was almost as good as her mane and tail. His eyes glanced upon the pie, everything about it was perfect, it was still steaming from a hot oven, layered over the top was a perfect unblemished piece of dough. He could see the soft crisp apple shards that lay behind the soft crusty covering. Soarin’s ultimate dream: the perfect pie.
Steam lines could be seen rising from the pastry as she neared toward him, it was only a matter of seconds until pie goodness. Rainbow laid the confection down on the side table and began to cut, the sound of the sharp knife going through the pie made his mouth water. Dash lifted a small piece and placed the pie on Soarin's tongue, hanging out of his mouth and collecting drool. He was still speechless, unable to talk move, or even chew the pie. Each and every taste bud told the same story that he saw, a pie wonderland full of rainbows and sunshine.
He wanted to chew so badly but his jaw muscles were unresponsive. The mare could see his struggle as he tried so hard, but his mind was just too busy trying to comprehend the situation. Everything was happening so fast, only minutes ago was he outside working his flank off, now he was being fed pie but the pony of his dreams.
“Here, let me help you.” Her cyan hooves grabbed Soarin's jaw and began to move his teeth up and down crushing the pie. The flavors too perfect and good to be true, it was unreal. “Now swallow.”
The stallion, not thinking, just complied with the command, clearing his throat of all the pie while his eyes were still fixed on the rainbow pony before him.
“Now thats a good boy, ready for another?”
His head only twitched as he tried to say ‘yes’ but failing to produce the words.
“Open wide.” Rainbow Dash pulled another small piece of the pie out of the tin. He could’ve died in that moment, and never lived anymore. As of this point in Soarin’s life he could die a happy stallion, no day past this could ever live up to one like today. The mare every pony on the team, that everypony would die to hook up with was feeding him freshly baked Sweet Apple Acres pie.
Little did Soarin know that another pony came through the door, looking none too pleased. It was an older stallion, about Soarin’s parents’ age, maybe and little younger. A strongly built purple pegasus, a cutie mark with a rainbow and star. He stared on at the scene before him, the anger inside him quelling, that light blue pegasus had crossed the line. Nopony deserved to be with his daughter, especially like this.
“Goodbye,” the cyan mare whispered working a hoof up Soarin’s chest to his chin.
“Wha... what?” Before he could form any reply she was gone, leaving him alone in the room with a rainbow maned stallion, much bigger and stronger than him. He looked side to side, Rainbow had just disappeared into thin air, like nothing had even happened.
“You think you can do this to my daughter and get anyway with it?”
“What? Wait, no!”
His heart rate rose as the stallion slowly began to a trot across the room toward him, this time fear overtaking him instead of excitement. It was like he was taunting Soarin, walking so slow as to instill fear inside his body.
“My little Dashie deserves the best, and you do this to her!”
“I didn’t do anything, sir, I swear.”
He kept advancing, showing no signs of turning away nor stopping.
“You expect me to believe that?” The stare he was giving him was intimidating, showing no fear nor regret over what he was about to do. There was no stopping him, his teeth were gritted, the wrinkles on his face folded in anger. His short rainbow mane and tail barely moving while he made the last final steps to the couch.
“You’ll never cheat on any pony ever again!”
“What? I didn’t do anything, I swear!”
The pony stood up on two legs, displaying his immense size and strength. One hoof being raised back while he prepared a blow.
“Wait, wait, wait!”
The stallion was on a mission, the Wonderbolt retracted his body in fear over what was to come. It was going to hurt very badly, but he didn’t do anything, Rainbow Dash had come on him not the other way around. And how could he cheat on her if they weren’t dating, the only things he ever said to her was ‘hi’, and a couple mumbles while she fed him pie, and that was it.
His purple hoof flew through the air with lightning speed, but it never landed.
Soarin shot straight upright in his bed, throwing the sheets away in his panic. He was sweating heavily, almost like he had just gotten out of a performance. His heart beating like it was about to explode out of his chest. He quickly scanned his room, looking for a purple pegasus possibly lurking about. Finding nothing he breathed a sigh of relief.
Early morning light streamed through a window near his bed. The sounds of a waking Cloudsdale met his ears, ponies milling about starting their day. The light blue stallion relaxed, allowing himself to fall back down into the soft cushion with a thud. Soarin’s heart rate began to fall as he wrapped himself snuggly in the discarded sheets once again. If only that could have been real.
Before he could relax, his mind raced frantically. Where is it! Where is it! The sheets that had been so carefully wrapped around him were thrown back with haste. Right next to him, softly lying on the sheets, was what he had gotten so worked up about. His own plushie, only a couple of weeks old, made by a craftful artisan that lived in Fillydelphia. It had been a special order that nopony was to know about, he made sure to pay extra so the crafter wouldn’t tell anypony or take any pictures. The whole ordeal had been a hush-hush operation, because of the subject matter. He grabbed it in his hooves and pulled it close under his chin.
The day he had gotten it was like Hearths Warming Eve when he was just a small colt. It had arrived in a small discrete brown box. He waited all morning for the mail pony to bring it to the house, Soarin had accepted the package in hoof. Opening it felt like it took hours, but he had to be careful not to scratch the plushie. It was perfect, he would never forget the first time he laid eyes on her. A small expertly made cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, and a cute mark with a blue, yellow, and red lightning bolt with a cloud overtop it. Based on the love of his life.
Ever since the day she saved his life, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. But how does any stallion walk up to the most athletic, most talented mare in Equestria, you couldn’t just walk up to that and ask ‘Hey wanna go out?’. She was a superstar, everypony who was anypony knew her name and what she had done, there were fake manes and tails produced so anypony could look like her if one wished. Soarin had never dated anypony before, and Rainbow Dash was the only one he had ever had this strong feeling for. He just had to be with her, but how? There was no way the Wonderbolt could ever muster the strength to ask her out, what if she said ‘no’?
Having a plushie made him feel so close to her, like it was part of her. He realized it was kinda creepy but he didn’t care, every night he went to bed with a cyan pegasus that had a rainbow mane, it was comforting almost like a blanket. For the couple weeks he owned it now, the plushie had become part of his nightly routine. The Wonderbolts had performed a show out of town the week after it arrived, and he just couldn’t leave his Dashie at home, so he brought it with him. Every night at the hotel he kept hidden away in his stuff, only coming out when he slept. He defended the bag she was in the with his life, nopony was allowed to open it except for him.
Now if he was forced to go to bed without her, it was like part of him was missing, and it was impossible to fall asleep without the plushie. Its fabric so warm and soft, without it there was a hole inside him. Nopony could ever know and he intended to keep it that way, it was his dirty little secret.
The alarm clock on his nightstand read 9:00, he had to be ready in a hour to meet the new rookie he had been assigned by the team. It was the same thing every year, a veteran of the Wonderbolts had a newbie given to them to be shown around. He was to teach the pegasus the ins and outs of the stadium. Explain all of the team’s many rules and regulations on how each member should act and represent themselves. Show them their locker and explain the schedules of each day of the week on and off season. Teach the pony some new workout skills, and perform them with the rookie. Take the newbie on flights, and introduce them to the rest of the team, and much more. Mostly, he was really just a tour guide but also some kind of mentor.
The rookie and veteran would spend a couple weeks pretty much together most of the time except for at nights. But it was customary to take them out for dinner a couple of times and do some activities with them to really welcome them to the team. Everypony on the team had to go through this at one time and this year it was his and a few others’ turn.
It was kind of fun now that he thought about it, the Wonderbolts pay for you to have a good time with this pony and be their best friend. Worst case scenario: the pony is a jerk but all you have to do then is just give them a basic tour and maybe take them to eat once or twice instead of every night or every other. In the years he had done it, no Wonderbolt ever had a real hard time with a newbie. In fact Spitfire had been the veteran that was assigned to Soarin when he joined the team.
They went out on dinner dates, just as friends, and just laughed and enjoyed each others’ company. And ever since then they had been great companions, and having a close pony as the team captain sure had its benefits. He was still actually friends with all the other newbies that he had been assigned to over the years. They still talked to the day mostly everyday or every other, those couple weeks that you spend together really give you a bond. Some days you merely do nothing than sit at home, relax, and talk.
Normally it was customary for the veteran to open his or her house for a couple of weeks so they could stay with them instead of having to rent an expensive hotel or apartment. Living side by side each day you really gets you to know somepony, even a total stranger that maybe a couple days ago was sleeping hundreds of miles away from Cloudsdale. That was the part he loved, the stories that the newbie could tell and share were always interesting. This job wasn’t by any means a burden but more a gift to get to know somepony new on the team better than before.
The night before, Soarin had prepped the guest room right next to his own. Putting in new clean sheets, cleaning out all the filth and dust the room which had collected from a year or two of no usage, and making the space liveable again. His house wasn’t big by any means, but it was just perfect for him, not too big but not cramped at the same time. His room was only a tag bigger than the guest room right next to his. It was a great, easy layout, and the best part was you could always keep track of the newbie.
Other veterans who decided to buy large mansions often found themselves losing their guest within them. Being a Wonderbolt naturally makes you want to explore, it just comes with the title. And it was never a problem finding the new mare or stallion in his house, which wasn’t bad. It kept you in close contact with each other but giving enough space that you wouldn’t go crazy for the couple of weeks that you spend with each other. It was more like a long sleepover than anything else that was paid for by the Wonderbolts.
What always made it interesting was that you never knew who was gonna be at your doorstep the day off, it could be a mare or stallion, small or large, of any color. Spitfire had made it that way to keep it more interesting, so the veteran would really have to ask questions and get to know the pony rather than reading off a bio sheet. It was fine, not like it would be any problem to him either way.
Soarin laid in bed as the clock ticked away, it was now 9:30, only half an hour before the new stallion or mare was to arrive. The sounds outside began to pick up as more and more of Cloudsdale’s citizens began their days. Ponies walking, talking, and flying about with that early morning smell. The amount of light streaming through the window had increased dramatically even though the blinds were closed, Celestia’s sun glowed off the white shades. There was no chance he could go back to rest for the last half an hour before the newbie came. The only thing he could do was relax with his plushie in the peace and comfort of his own home.
He rubbed the small plushie’s mane, each color of the rainbow distinctively placed out just like on the real thing. It was perfect, not one hair out of place at any time. Occasionally he would braid her hair up in different styles just for fun, he knew all the while how creepy it really was. But having a lot of free time between shows and early in the morning let his mind wander and one day he just felt like doing her mane. And since then he would like to call himself a stylist at times, every couple of days changing it to keep things interesting. It was always so cute seeing her mane so tidy and neat.
There was nothing wrong with Rainbow Dash’s mane as was, but styling it like runway models always made it look so cute. Maybe one day he would get the privilege of actually doing the real thing, brading Rainbow Dash’s mane, one could only hope. But, he knew deep down that it would probably never happen. A few weeks after meeting Dash, they met again at the Grand Galloping Gala. She had saved his pie, his favorite pastry in the world, not caring about getting herself dirty or anything. All he could say was ‘thanks’, he tried to start a conversation but couldn’t, luckily he was whisked off before the situation had gotten awkward. He felt kinda bad about leaving her but what could he do anyway? It’s not like he could produce more than one word in front of her.
It was so aggravating, seeing her name up in the pages everyday, dreaming of her every night and yet not being able to speak to her, or even be with her. The closest he could get was watching her off in the distance. He had become almost obsessed with her, but he at least knew that he was. Every so often he would go down to Ponyville in disguise just to see her. The way she flew was so graceful yet powerful and strong, he could do it all day.
Watching her from afar was the best he could get, probably that he would ever get. That is why get got the plushie, so he could have something that was a part of her. Something to remind him of her on an everyday basis, it was great. The thing that hurt the most was the fact that some stallion more brave, and possibly better looking was definitely going to ask her our first. He didn’t have the confidence to do it, walking up to her was like walking up to Celestia herself, awe-inspiring.
Whoever got the treat of waking up next to the real thing everyday was no doubt the luckiest stallion in Equestria. One that he would always envy to the day he died. But, he could always dream and he always had his plushie at his side. It wasn’t a warm, living, breathing, talking pony, but it would do, and would have to.
Last night’s dream had become somewhat typical, almost every night now he dreamt of her in someway or somehow. Just being near her planted an enormous, silly smile on his face, and a feeling of joy deep down inside him.
Soarin turned over, looking at the clock on his bedside, it read 9:53. Whoever was coming had to be arriving shortly, sadly it was time to get up and start his day. His body cracked and fought back while he lifted himself out of the soft cushion. A large yawn escaped his mouth while he started to fully wake up and prepare himself for the day. The Wonderbolt turned around to the outline of his body imprinted to the bed, and right next to it sat the perfect little plushie.
Everyday the plushie went to same place, a small corner of the room that had pictures of Rainbow Dash from multiple magazine covers ranging from sports to news. He didn’t like to call it his shrine but it sort of was, the only thing he was missing was a lock of her mane. Which wouldn’t be too hard, he had heard of a small purple filly that lived in the same town selling small snippets of her mane and tail. Nopony knew how she got them but that was beside the point, if he bought enough he could make a small strand and add it to the collection.
Next to all the pics and other items was a small pillow were the plushie resided for the day until the next night. Carefully, Soarin set the plushie atop the small cushion, making sure every part was perfect from her stance, to the way her mane and tail looked. Once satisfied, he could move on and carry on with his morning routine.
Quickly he trotted toward the master bathroom, a cramped small space what he liked to call his kingdom, nopony beside him had ever been in there since he owned the house. His hair brush and tooth brush were already sitting out just waiting to be used. The light blue pegasus brushed hard, scraping all the stuff of his teeth making sure he got every last bit. He had found from experience that meeting a pony with fresh smelling teeth always worked out quite well. Once satisfied, it was onto the hair brush, something he always enjoyed to do in the mornings on days where he wouldn’t mess up his navy hair. Maybe that explained why he loved doing Rainbow Dash’s plushie mane.
After a multiple firm brush strokes it was ready for the gel, just a little forming cream he got from his hairdresser that helped to keep the mane’s form throughout the day, how else was he gonna keep his mane up all day long in his normal grand curves? Most Wonderbolts didn’t really care, because everyday they would always end up getting messy. But, he loved to keep up his appearance at all times, it felt good. He didn’t have multi colors or anything, but he did have one thing going for him and that was his styling.
Soarin heard a knocking coming from down below, the clock in the bathroom read 9:58, two minutes early wasn’t bad, it was a good sign. Finishing up, Soarin threw the gel and brushes back into their respective drawers. Another year of tour guide duty awaited him. Leaving his room, the pegasus made sure to close his door as nopony was allowed to go in there except him, unless he had time to move his shrine. The door began to vibrate again as the pounding was a bit louder. Aggressive I see, I like that. Down the stairs he marched, hitting each step one by one.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.”
He approached the door, quickly undoing the two locks on the doors, unlike most doors he didn't have glass panels on the side that allows you to see who is there, instead there was a small peep hole that you were supposed to look through, but the glass lense inside or something had gotten broken. So when you looked through it you really didn’t see anything at all for that matter. He had been meaning to fix it over the past couple of weeks but never had gotten around to it. Maybe he could do that as a little team building exercise or whatever Spitfire liked to call it with the newbie.
The door lurched open revealing his new guy for the next couple of weeks, but it wasn’t a new guy it was a new girl. Soarin could feel himself starting to sweat, his breathing instantly began to increase. It felt like he was about to go out on stage right before a show in front of a harsh crowd. The nerves in his stomach building up with each passing second. He felt like he was gonna puke. His mind was running so quickly, trying to comprehend what was going on, but it couldn’t quite grasp the full force of what was going on. This mare was gonna be living with him for the next couple of weeks.
“Hi Soarin, long time no see, what’s up? I am really excited to do this, thanks for being my mentor!” she chattered happily with excitement evident in her voice, smiling and bouncing up and down a bit.
The world around seemed to start spinning away from him, like there was a massive earthquake combined with an avalanche and a couple other natural disasters. Her voice began to fade away off into nothingness and vision started to go black as well. It was all happening all too fast, now this really couldn’t be happening, it was a prank, an evil prank.
His mind was working too fast, the feeling in his hooves faded away next, leaving him with nothing. He couldn’t even feel his weakened body hit the floor on his doorstep. All the air in his lungs seemed to disappear all at the same time, and with one last short urged breath he passed out, lying unconscious before the newbie.
***
“Soarin? You alright? Soarin?” The mare poked the light blue stallion with her hoof, no response came. “Um, wakey, wakey? Soarin?” She leaned in close, making sure he was still breathing, and sure enough air was leaving and entering his nostrils like it should. Her mane fell on his nose, filling it with her scent.
Apples, it smells like Sweet Apple Acres’ apples, where is that smell coming from? As quickly as his mind recognized it, his brain turned back on. Sights and sounds quickly returning, he found himself on the floor with the mare overtop him, her head lowered to his. Her mane smelled like a Sweet Apple Acres pie, it was too good to be true.
“Um, Soarin, you alright? Here let me help you up.”
The mare reached a hoof out and pulled the helpless stallion to his hooves where he had a little trouble holding his weight, but he quickly recovered. That was embarrassing. Even though now awake he still couldn’t believe it.
“Well, let’s try this again I guess, name’s...” the mare tried to say being cut off by Soarin mid sentence.
“Rainbow Dash... I know. Why don’t you come in?”
