The full moon was high in the sky as the night covered Equestria in a dark blanket. The stars twinkled brightly. For most ponies, night was a time for physical rest for the next day. For others, it was a time that allowed other activities that can only be done during the night. Some ponies would either go to a high-end club, attend parties that the day casted away or sat outside and gawked at the amazing night sky. Deep within the skies above Ponyville, one cyan-coated pegasus mare with a rainbow mane looked up towards the moon with her pink eyes. She had half of her body out in the refreshing cold. Her forelegs stayed firmly on the windowsill. She had a very noticeable frown on her face. The bottoms of her eyes were filled with fresh salts. She sighed as she walked towards her bed. She noticed that a green tortoise’s shell was tucked in. She cracked a slight smile, but the smile petered into a frown.
“Come on Rainbow Dash, try to sleep. Just don’t worry about it too much…” Rainbow Dash cooed to herself. She jumped onto her bed and lied down on her back. She draped her forelegs over her chest and slowly closed her eyes. As she did, the image of an indigo-coated stallion with a rainbow-colored mane was the first thing that appeared onto the black canvas that was her eyelids. She opened her eyes widely and shook her head. She grunted her teeth in frustration. “D-d-darn it. It’s always the same thing…” As she said this, Rainbow Dash perked her head up as she heard a rapid knock on her front door. She weakly fluttered out of her room weakly and into her puffy hallways. As she reached the front door, she grabbed it with her hoof and slowly turned it. Behind the door was a pale blue-coated stallion. He had a dark blue mane that was complimented by his aquamarine eyes. Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened quickly. Her hoof trembled as it held the door.
“You wouldn’t mind if I invite myself in, do you Rainbow Dash?” The stallion politely asked as he hovered into the home.
“Soarin’! What are you doing at my home this late?” Rainbow Dash quizzically asked. Soarin’s eyes slightly went down while his mouth developed a frown.
“Well… you kind of bolted out of practice earlier today after each recruit received their mail. I know that you are a tough trooper, so I kind of wanted to check on you to see how you are doing.” Soarin’ admitted.
“Well, that’s nice of you to do but… I kinda want to be left alone right now.” Rainbow Dash said in a lower tone.
“Rainbow Dash, I honestly don’t think you should be left alone. Ever since you left, I asked each of your friends if they saw you after practice. The replies I got told me that they haven’t seen you all day.” Soarin’ stated.
“I don’t mean to disrespect you Soarin’, but I just don’t feel like meeting anypony else today.” Rainbow Dash barely uttered. Soarin’ sighed in discontent.
“You know Rainbow Dash, it’s a shame that you don’t want to come out with me on this beautiful night. I haven’t seen the stars sparkle in the sky like this since forever.” He said. Rainbow Dash’s ears perked upward.
“You mean… you want me to fly with you?” She asked uncertainly.
“Of course I do. You seem to have a load on your mind and what better way to clear the mind than with a good midnight flight?” Soarin’ responded optimistically. Rainbow Dash’s eyelids were fully opened with this statement. They fell a bit before she gave a weak smile.
“If it’s just free-flying with a Wonderbolt, then I’m all for it.” She said.
“Great!” Soarin’ happily shouted as he flew outside through the door. He fluttered high into the air and waved his right foreleg back towards Rainbow Dash. A smile crept up on Rainbow Dash’s face as she flew out of her front door. A rainbow trail was shown behind her as she sped towards Soarin’. Soarin’ grinned with closed eyes. “We can fly as far as you want cadet! Just… make sure you can keep up with me this time.” He said with a hint of playful sarcasm. Rainbow Dash smirked widely.
“Please Soarin’, I can catch up to you during any day and any night!” She said. The two pegasi beat their wings and gently flew into the sky and towards the direction of the moon. When the both of them soared far enough into the air, they flew into a straight direction opposite of Rainbow Dash’s home. Below them, the earth seemed so far away as the scenery of trees and grass transitioned. Above them, the moonlit sky along with the sea of sparkling stars shined. Soarin’ smiled as he looked towards Rainbow Dash. The light of the moon reflected off of her body, making her seem much more radiant than before.
“She looks absolutely stunning!” Soarin’ thought to himself. A slight red blush made its way towards his cheeks as he focused more on Rainbow Dash. As he did, Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened in alert before she made a sharp turn towards her left. “Wait, why is she-“Before Soarin’ finished his train of thought, he flew straight into a night-darkened cloudbank. His back legs kicked wildly as the upper half of his body was stuck in the cloud. “Umm, a little help here Rainbow?” He asked. Rainbow Dash put her right forehoof over her mouth as she stifled a giggle from the sight. She flew over to Soarin’s hind legs and pulled them out with her forelegs. As Soarin’ was freed, he gained a cloud beard and moustache combo from the bank. The sight allowed the hint of laughter Rainbow Dash kept inside to finally erupt. She flew on top of the cloud and began to roll on it in laughter.
“That was hilarious! Oh man, you should’ve seen the look on your face after I pulled you out of there!” Rainbow Dash cackled. Soarin’s eyes slanted as he made a sly grin. He flew over to the cloudbank where Rainbow Dash was on and scooped a puff of cloud with his hoof.
“Well, if you think that was funny-“As he said this, he threw the cloud puff towards Rainbow Dash’s face. The puff exploded into a mist. As the mist dissipated, Rainbow Dash had a long, thick cloud beard. “-then you should be able to appreciate this!” Soarin’ laughed loudly towards Rainbow Dash. A sinister grin crept towards Rainbow Dash as she grabbed a tuft of the cloud and flew towards Soarin’s direction.
“Hey Soarin’, maybe you’d like a bit more cloud to go onto that face of yours!” Rainbow Dash playfully said. As she flew towards Soarin’, his eyes opened in fear. When Rainbow Dash was but a foot away from Soarin’, she tossed the cloud puff into Soarin’s face. The cloud puff exploded, and the two of them were caught in the radius of the mist. As that mist went away, the two of them were covered from head to fetlock in clouds. Rainbow Dash shook away the clouds on her body first followed by Soarin’. The two of them broke out in laughter as they fell onto the cloud on their backs. The both of them looked towards the sky. The moon flashed in a brilliant yellow as the stars twinkled around it. Both Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ tranquilized their laughter at the sight of the sky.
“You know Rainbow Dash, I never got to look at the starlit sky Luna made like this. It’s probably one of the most breathtaking things I have ever seen.” Soarin’ stated with a euphoric smile.
“So what is the most breathtaking thing you have ever seen?” Rainbow Dash happily questioned. Soarin’ slightly blushed in response to the question.
“Well… you know… that thing that flew in the air that time ago. Man, what was just… errr… amazing!” Soarin’ hesitantly said.
“Well, I’m sure that thing you saw must have been amazing.” Rainbow Dash joked. The two of them stared at the sky for what seemed to be an eternity. When Soarin’ turned his head towards Rainbow Dash, he noticed that her eyes watered. He frowned in worry.
“Rainbow Dash, is everything alright?” He sensitively asked. Rainbow Dash snapped out from her state and came back into reality. She moved her left forehoof across her face and noticed a certain liquid that formed in her eyes. She made an uneasy smile on her face.
“Errr, yeah. Just forget about the tears. They’re just nothing.” Rainbow Dash quickly said. Soarin’ slanted his eyes towards her and made a more prominent frown.
“Liar! I’ve known you long enough from the academy to know that you don’t act like this. Don’t forget, you do train under me after all.” He said sternly. Rainbow Dash frowned and closed her eyes. She sighed as she reached into her mane and pulled out a cream-colored sheet of paper with three folds. Soarin’ raised an eye in curiosity. Rainbow Dash handed the letter over to him. “This is the letter you received in the mail roll today. I don’t think it’s ethical for me to read this.” Soarin’ stated fearfully.
“Please read it. I can’t read it out loud without crying…” Rainbow Dash poignantly stated in a higher tone. Soarin’ looked back at the letter. On the front fold behind the paper, ‘To: My Darling Daughter Rainbow Dash From: Prism Dash’ was written on it. He opened the folds and saw the contents of the letter:
Dear Rainbow Dash,
I heard you got accepted into the Wonderbolts. As your father, I couldn’t have been more proud of you in my life. I just want to go to where you are and give you a big hug. Sadly, I don’t think I am in any state to do that right now. You didn’t know this, and I’m sorry to tell you like this, but I always had a certain disease that pegasi can get very easily. I can’t really tell you the name, but I can tell you that it reduces my bone marrow count, which leaves me vulnerable to various diseases and other maladies. Normally, a pegasus with this disease who takes good care of their bones can still lead a normal life. But, your old man was a fool. I kept working irregular hours, doing deliveries from Cloudsdale to Manehatten to even the Crystal Empire with no rest.
Your mother Firefly always kept begging me to get treatment for my disease. Though I loved her, I ignored her like the fool I was just so that I can raise enough bits so that the both of us can raise money for a rainy day when I, your mother or you needed it. Along the way, I kinda got something really bad that left me bedridden in a hospital. It hurts just to move, and I had some trouble breathing. The doctors said that I have reached the last stages of my life. Firefly is with me, but I really want to see you one last time in my limited scope of life. I know that this is all sudden, but I just couldn’t bear to tell you this face to face that I had a life-threatening illness beforehand. Now, I guess I’m paying the price for it with this, right? My only regret is that I could never live to see the day where you start your own family and see all the happy faces of my grandchildren as they are taken care of by their wonderful mother and equally wonderful father. Know that even though my life and moments that we can share are going to come to an end soon, I hope that you never forget the moments that we shared together.
With love,
Prism Dash
Soarin’s hoof trembled as he held the emotionally heavy letter. Rainbow Dash’s eyes fell under the condensation of sadness.
“I couldn’t trust anypony I know with this information. I wanted to be strong for all my friends. I thought that I could just beat the sadness inside of me by just not thinking about it. Instead, images of my dad just kept popping up in my head. I remember the times he’s held me as a filly, and I just start breaking down in tears when I just imagine him actually close to dying.” Rainbow Dash uttered in a pained voice. “I thought that this would have never happened to me…” Soarin’ noticed that Rainbow Dash tried to fight back the flow of water behind her eyes but failed. Soarin’ gently wrapped his hooves around Rainbow Dash and brought her into him for a hug. He shook her softly. Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened in shock as she blushed in the embrace.
“I’m sorry that this had to happen to you. Your father sounds like a wonderful stallion, and I can see now why you are visibly upset. It seems way too much like my situation I had after I’ve been accepted into the Wonderbolts a few years back.” Soarin’ stated mournfully.
“What do you mean Soarin’?” Rainbow Dash asked. Soarin’ released the hug and stared back towards Rainbow Dash’s face.
“Three years ago, I lost my mother to pneumonia. I was training to rank as a higher Wonderbolt at the time, so I had no time to see my mother. I earnestly thought that she would make it through her illness, especially since she was admitted into the best hospital in Cloudsdale for lung treatment. She sent me a few letters, asking that she would want to see me. As I trained, I received a letter with the details of my mother’s passing. It was absolutely devastating to me. The worst part was that I couldn’t scream or grieve because I felt that it would have looked unprofessional for a new Wonderbolt to do. So I kept in my grief for two years until I got my promotion to captain status. That was when I saw my father… and only my father. Reality hit me hard that day, and I realized that I let being a Wonderbolt get ahead of what was really important for me.” Soarin’s eyes began to flow with tears. “I’m just saying that you should see your father before it’s too late. Don’t make the horrible mistake that I made those long three years ago, because you’re going to regret it in a long run. I may be a successful Wonderbolt, but because I neglected to see my wonderful mother in her time of need, my heart will forever be parted in two…” The rest of Soarin’s words were garbled with blubbering tears. Rainbow Dash looked onto Soarin’s face and gently wiped away a few stray tears.
“Is there a reason why you told me this story?” Rainbow Dash asked. Soarin’ remained silent for a few seconds before he took a deep breath.
“Out of all the recruits that I have trained, you are by far the most special one I have gotten the pleasure to meet. Even before you joined the Wonderbolts, I felt somewhat attracted to your fiery and willful attitude from what I’ve seen of you. But when we actually got to hang out together in the Wonderbolts, I finally got to see what you really were about. You are loyal to your friends and very dedicated to your training. You made me feel special as a Wonderbolt captain.” He started. “I know that you are a very capable mare, but sometimes I wanted to keep you away from certain situations that I know would put you into danger, or give you more personal training that would be considered far too advanced for a recruit Wonderbolt. So, when I saw you dash out of the academy, I knew that something was wrong because you would never do this. I guess what I am saying is that I…” Soarin’ hesitated in his speech. Rainbow Dash looked at him with an awry expression.
“Please tell me what is on your mind Soarin’. It is the perfect time to tell me your feelings.” Rainbow Dash said in concern.
“Well… I kind of like you. Like, like-like you.” Soarin’ finally managed to spit out. “I mean, the closest I’ve ever felt about another mare was Spitfire, and we are just working peers. You, however, were the mare closest to being able to patch my broken heart up. Seeing you sad like this brought more pain to my heart, and that is why I had to cheer you up.” He stated. Rainbow Dash smiled and automatically blushed.
“You mean… I never thought this would happen." Rainbow Dash turned her head towards her left and twiddled her forehooves together. "Now that we are in the phase of discussing feelings, I have to tell you something. I... felt a certain way about you, but I didn’t know just what that feeling was. Being around you made me feel a bit more cheery, but I didn't know why. When you told me that you liked me that way, my heart felt aflutter with rainbows, as if something had been achieved." Rainbow Dash looked into Soarin's eyes with a smile. "I feel really happy that you told me this. I mean, I’m feeling really happy right now.” Rainbow Dash enthusiastically said with a smile. Soarin’ grinned widely until something unexpected came up. Rainbow Dash leaned over to Soarin’s cheek and gave him a kiss. Soarin’s entire face lit up red as a thousand brilliant cherries. Rainbow Dash nervously giggled. “Sorry if that came out of nowhere, but I just had to do it.” She said. “I hope that this doesn’t interfere with our work ethic back at the academy.”
“I don't think that it would interfere with our work ethic. After all, I did enjoy what you gave me.” Soarin’ said with a smile as he moved his mouth over to Rainbow Dash’s lips. Rainbow Dash’s eyes popped open from the sudden kiss. In those few moments of surprise, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and melted in the kiss. After a few seconds, the two of them broke the kiss. They looked away from each other with mad blushes on their faces.
“I definitely enjoyed what you gave me there." Rainbow Dash and Soarin' turned their heads towards each other. Their faces are still red from the blushing. "So, I guess this means that the Wonderbolt Academy is going to have to split us apart due to an unprofessional romance?” Rainbow Dash said in concern.
“It doesn’t have to. But, at most, Spitfire will just have to punish me with more written work, more exercise, less pie and maybe less time to see you. But making you happy will be worth any trouble that I receive back at the Academy.” Soarin’ sweetly said. “If it is okay with you, I would like to visit your father with you.” He nervously said. Rainbow Dash's eyes opened in shock.
“But you have to work with the recruits tomorrow! It isn’t exactly safe to shirk on your duties for the personal matters of another worker.” Rainbow Dash said as she tilted her head in worry. Soarin’ put his hoof onto Rainbow Dash’s lips.
“Don’t worry Rainbow. I would do anything to make you happy, and I want to be there for you when you need to be comforted.” Soarin’ replied. Rainbow Dash smiled softly.
“I’ve never had another stallion other than my father give me this much affection before.” Rainbow Dash said sheepishly.
“The night is as beautiful as you are. Do you wish to spend the time looking up at the starry sky with me?” Soarin’ asked.
“It would be my pleasure.” Rainbow Dash happily stated. The both of them lied down on the cloud and stared at the full moon in all its glory. Soarin’ counted each of the stars in the sky, but heard a yawn echo from Rainbow Dash. She threw her forelegs into the air and grabbed the back of Soarin’s neck. She moved herself closer to him as she closed her eyes and snored softly. She smiled. Soarin’ smiled as he gently pulled Rainbow Dash’s head onto his chest and put his right forehoof behind his head as he stroked his left forehoof through Rainbow Dash's multicolored mane. He relaxed as he stared at the stars in the sky.
Author's Note
In reality, I written this fiction to express some pent-up grief that I occasionally suffer from time to time. While the fiction says 'Completed,' I have no problems with making two more chapters that deal with the events of this chapter. In fact, I feel that I should write those chapters to give the story closure. I hope that this story touches the hearts of everyone who reads it.
