Love Blooms at the Wonderbolt Academy

by LightSage

Chapters

Settling In
Wingpony
Enjoying Each Other's Company
Everything Is All Right

Settling In

Author's Note

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" is not owned by me, nor do I make any money from this hobby.

This is my first MLP: FIM fanfiction! I've been doing fanfiction for years, so hopefully this is enjoyable.

Settling In

Chapter I: Settling In

Rainbow Dash was practically bouncing with excitement when she made it to her small room. She was well aware that she was acting just as hyperactive as Pinkie Pie, but she could really care less at the moment. She had just finished her first day of Wonderbolt training, and she felt sure that she had made a good impression.

She had even gotten a better time on the dizzitron than Lightning Dust, who was without a doubt a very talented flyer. Lightning Dust was sure to be her biggest competition and she resolved to keep an eye out for her, whatever team she ended up on… a Lead Pony for sure, just like Rainbow herself.

She gave a few extra hops in place, just an attempt to get rid of her extra energy. Tomorrow was sure to be a tough day of training and she knew that she needed to be well rested. She needed to do her best, after all, in order to impress Captain Spitfire.

She was about to turn in when there was a knock on the door. She froze, staring. She couldn’t imagine who would be visiting her now. After all, she and the other Wonderbolt hopefuls still hardly knew each other. At least not well enough for casual visits.

She moved over to the door and pushed it open, and nearly fainted with shock.

One of the Wonderbolts stood there, smiling at her! He was not dressed in the iconic flight uniform of the elite flyers, but Rainbow Dash recognized him anyway, because she had seen this particular Wonderbolt in a dress uniform before, at the royal wedding weeks ago. Of course, she had seen him a few times before, and he was probably her favorite Wonderbolt after Spitfire herself. Soarin!

For a few seconds, she just stared at him until he blushed with an uneasy smile. And then she snapped out of it. “Oh Celestia! I can’t believe it!” She gasped.

“Uh… hi. I don’t suppose you remember me?” He began.

“Of course I do, Pie Guy.” Rainbow smirked, remembering their first real meeting at the Grand Galloping Gala. She had met him before at the Young Flyer’s Competition, but seeing as he was unconscious at the time, she didn’t really count it. She had saved his apple pie from hitting the ground at the Gala.

His blush deepened. “Well, personally, I prefer to remember meeting up at the royal wedding. At least no pies were dropped on that occasion. Not to mention that we were actually able to say more than a few words to each other.”

“You’re right. The wedding was much better overall.” Rainbow agreed. “So… what brings you here?”

“Well, I heard that you were accepted into the Wonderbolt Academy. I just wanted to come and see how it was going.”

“Going?” Rainbow scoffed. “I’m the best flyer here, without a doubt! I just know that becoming a Wonderbolt is in the bag!”

Soarin gave a small chuckle. “Well, I’m glad that you feel that way. Confidence is half the battle.” He glanced around the small room that was given to all the Wonderbolt hopefuls. “It seems like it’s been ages since I was in this position myself, hoping that my destiny really lay with the Wonderbolts.” He tilted his head towards his flank, where his Cutie Mark was clearly visible. His Cutie Mark was the symbol of the Wonderbolts: a lightning bolt with a pair of wings.

Rainbow nodded in understanding. How horrible would it have been to have the Wonderbolt’s crest marked on your flank and not be able to get into the Wonderbolts? “It seems like you were worried about nothing.” Rainbow said. “You’re one of the best flyers on the team!”

“I’m glad that you think so.”

“So… do you have any tips for the new mare on how to impress Spitfire?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, I was recruited under the previous Captain who had different standards than Spitfire.” Soarin said thoughtfully. “Spitfire is more impressed with drive than raw talent. Of course, raw talent is extremely helpful, but you need to show her your drive as well.”

“Ha! Then I’ve got this in the bag!” Rainbow celebrated. She had been driving herself towards her life-long goal of becoming a Wonderbolt since she was a filly. She certainly wasn’t going to trip now, on the final stretch!

Soarin smiled as he watched her. He’d never seen a mare who was so confident before. He knew that even Spitfire had been a little nervous when she was at the Academy, because that had been the year that he’d been at the Academy as well. But Spitfire, it turned out, had nothing to worry about. She was now the youngest Captain of the Wonderbolts for the last hundred years.

Soarin, himself, had been more than a little nervous during his time at the Academy. But Rainbow Dash… something about this colorful mare inspired confidence. She was somepony special… even without the apparent fact that she had a more casual relationship with the Princesses than your average citizen. Soarin had certainly never spoken one-on-one with Princess Celestia before… but Rainbow Dash had.

“I’m sure that you’ll do fine.” Soarin said confidently. “And… I’m not supposed to say something like this… do you promise to keep this just between us?” He asked.

“Sure thing.” Rainbow said with a smile.

“I look forward to having you on the team.” Soarin said with the tone of voice that left no doubt that he believed that Rainbow Dash would become one of the Wonderbolts.

Despite knowing that she would get in, a real vote of confidence from an actual Wonderbolt was something that Rainbow truly appreciated. “I look forward to being on the team.” She replied.

“Well, I suppose I should let you get settled in.” Soarin said, glancing around the room again. He began to back out of the doorway. “If I know Spitfire at all, and I do, she’s going to really work you recruits hard tomorrow and I don’t want you to have a sub-par performance because you stayed up talking to me all night.”

“If that happened, I’d totally blame you.” Rainbow said with a small laugh.

“But, if you’re not too busy, maybe I can come check on you again tomorrow night after Spitfire lets you go?” Soarin asked.

“Oh? Oh, yeah… sure thing.” Rainbow Dash gasped.

“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” Soarin said, backing all the way out of the door and closing it behind him.

Rainbow stared at the closed door, a little shocked at what just happened. Was it normal for a Wonderbolt to take such an interest in a single recruit? Everything that she had read about the Academy said that the bulk of the Wonderbolts were not involved with procedures there. Usually, the recruits were only exposed to the Captain and a few reserve members of the Wonderbolts who were there for safety. But the actual team? They should have been busy with training themselves! And yet Soarin was taking his own time to come visit her.

Granted she saw him more often than the other members of the Wonderbolts and she did have fun dancing with him at the royal wedding. But still…

Rainbow Dash sighed. This was getting too complicated. He probably just knew a winner when he saw one and was getting a head start on getting friendly with the new team member. Yeah… that was definitely it.

Rainbow flopped down on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, after all.

Wingpony

Chapter II: Wingpony

Rainbow Dash angrily kicked a hole in the cloud wall. Normally she would never allow herself to display anger like this, but this was a special occasion. Needless to say, her first day of real training had not gone well. Not only had Spitfire chosen to make her a Wingpony instead of a Leadpony, but her Leadpony, who happened to be Lightning Dust, had forced her to pull a foolishly reckless stunt that banged her wing pretty good.

She instantly regretted the kick, because it sent a jolt of pain through her injured wing. Rainbow Dash winched, turning her head to look down at her wing. It definitely looked awful. Getting banged up was one thing, but being forced to fly on it afterwards had really put her wing through the ringer. None of the feathers were lying down correctly.

She gingerly extended the sore limb, taking in the full extent of the damage. There would be hell to pay if this injury ruined her chances at making it into the Wonderbolts. She used her nose to inspect the damage and to attempt to get the feathers to lie down correctly. Normally, she’d just use her hooves, but she didn’t want to risk any more damage. Her nose was definitely much safer.

Her wing still looked to be in a pretty sorry state when somepony knocked on the door and she remembered that Soarin had said that he might visit again after the day’s training.

Good! Rainbow Dash thought to herself vindictively. Because I’ve got a few choice words for him that, since I can’t say to Spitfire, I’ll say to him! She carefully folded her injured wing against her body and opened the door.

“Hello, Rainbow Dash, how are you…” Soarin trailed off when he took in Rainbow’s appearance. She was glaring at him in the sort of way that he’d only seen Spitfire glare at him, and several of the feathers on her right wing were agitated or bent. “What… what happened?” He gasped.

“What happened? Where do I start?” Rainbow Dash growled, backing away from the door. Soarin reluctantly took this as an invitation to enter. He stepped slowly into the room, still weary of the agitated mare. “I got the best time on the Dizzitron yesterday, and Spitfire saw fit to only make me a Wingpony! All because Lightning Dust had asked to turn it up to the maximum setting?!”

Soarin was impressed, through he knew enough not to say anything. There were reserve members of the Wonderbolts who couldn’t handle the Dizzitron on the maximum setting. “But she still didn’t beat your time.”

“No, but it was a very good time.” Rainbow Dash admitted. “Much better than the rest on the regular setting. I could have done it, but as much as I hate to admit it, asking didn’t occur to me. I just was in such a rush to impress Spitfire that I jumped right into the machine without a thought.” She hung her head. “And now I’m stuck being a Wingpony to Lightning Dust.”

“You know, being assigned as a Wingpony won’t hurt your chances of being considered for the Wonderbolts in the slightest.” Soarin said in an attempt to make her feel better. “You know, when I joined the Wonderbolts Academy, I was assigned as a Wingpony.”

Rainbow stared at him in shock. “You were?”

“You bet. When I got told that I was a Wingpony, I was so terrified that it meant I was little more than a stepping stone for my partner. But the Captain at the time told me that the teams are more about teaching ponies how to work and fly together, and not about labeling their worthiness. And look at me now: Second-in-Command of the Wonderbolts.”

“What about your partner?”

“She made the Wonderbolts too. You might know her… Spitfire.” Soarin said.

Instead of making Rainbow Dash feel better, now she just felt worse. Soarin had been made Spitfire’s partner in the Academy and, all these years later, for all their advancement through the ranks, and he was still playing second fiddle to his Leadpony. Even if she got in, would she forever be playing second fiddle to Lightning Dust?

A few moments later, Soarin must’ve realized that he said something wrong. “There hasn’t been any opportunity that Spitfire has that I haven’t had. In fact, when the old Captain retired, he asked me to take over the Wonderbolts before Spitfire.”

Rainbow had never heard anything like this. But, then again, most of the fan literature on the Wonderbolts was lacking in personal details or inter-team politics. “Then why’d you say no?” She asked.

“I like my job.” Soarin said with a shrug. “I get all the perks of leadership without having to deal with politics or paperwork.” He shivered, as if the very thought of all that paperwork was horrifying to him. “Spitfire got the job when I refused, and she relished in it. It was a good match. At least she can give reports to the Princess without stuttering.”

“The Princess isn’t that scary.” Rainbow laughed, giving him a light shove with her forehoof.

“For a nearly-immortal alicorn… sure.” Soarin laughed with her. “But I’ve been meaning to ask… how have you gotten so close to the Princess?”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Would you believe me if I said I come from an important family in Canterlot?”

Soarin laughed. “No, I wouldn’t believe you. Come on, Dash, I’ve really been wondering.”

“Okay, fine. If you must know. I know the Princess through Twilight Sparkle.”

“The lavender unicorn?” Soarin asked.

“That’s her. She’s the one who comes from an important family in Canterlot. I’m not sure how high up they were, but it must’ve been pretty high because Princess Cadence was her foal-sitter. But, not only that, she’s Princess Celestia’s protégé. But I think the rest of my friends and I really only got close to the Princess personally because we control the Elements of Harmony now.”

“I’d heard that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna no longer controlled the Elements of Harmony.” Soarin said. “So that’s really true?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to talk about it right now. Representing one of the Elements of Harmony only becomes something important when Equestria is on the brink of disaster.”

“Fair enough.” Soarin said with a shrug. “So, then, what happened to your wing? Did you have an accident?” He turned his gaze on the messed up feathers.

“Ugh!” Rainbow Dash snorted, stomping her hoof and flicking her tail in annoyance. “No. It was my Leadpony’s stupid fault! She made a reckless call and I bruised up my wing pretty badly because of it. And I couldn’t quit or complain because Spitfire was watching and I have to prove that I’ve got just as much drive as Lightning Dust!”

Soarin was a little shocked. He knew better than anyone that Spitfire pushed hard, but she also knew where to draw the line. She’d never force an injured pony fly in the Wonderbolts. That’s what the reserves were for, after all.

He moved over to her side, gazing down at her injured wing. “It does look banged up, and you probably shouldn’t have been flying on it right after. But maybe Spitfire honestly didn’t know about you being injured?”

“Maybe.” Rainbow snorted. Sure she hadn’t said anything about being injured, but Spitfire had to recognize a limping pegasus when she saw one.

Soarin got closer, nudging some of her feathers with his nose. Rainbow Dash froze, staring at him while he inspected her injury up close. Pausing only briefly to straighten out a few of her feathers, he pulled away. “Well, I’m no doctor, but it looks worse than it probably is. Resting it for one night should put it back to a hundred percent.”

Rainbow Dash found herself to be still frozen for a few more moments, and then with a shake of her head she forced herself back to reality. “Oh, yeah, thanks for the news, Doctor Soarin.”

“Glad to help.” Soarin said. “And don’t worry about Spitfire so much. If it still hurts too much tomorrow, you can just tell Spitfire. I promise that it won’t affect your chances. After all, I’ve been injured a few times and I’ve never been demoted because of it…”

“No! I can’t! I have to prove to Spitfire that I can handle anything!” Rainbow Dash said.

Soarin sighed. “Whatever you want to do, Rainbow Dash. Just promise you’ll think about what I said. I hope to see you tomorrow. And I still think you’re going to make it.” He said as he stepped out.

Rainbow Dash sighed and walked over to the wall and used her forehooves to fix the hole that she had kicked into the cloud wall. Okay, so that conversation had started out normally and then morphed into something weird. She had no idea what to do when Soarin began to inspect the injury of her wing. Something about the way he nosed through her feathers reminded her of her father, checking for injuries after one of her many crashes. But, no, it wasn’t quite like that. Gentler.

Could Soarin possibly… did he have a crush on her?!

Immediately after the thought occurred to Rainbow Dash, she laughed it off. Nopony got crushes on her. She was much too awesome and intimidating for most stallions, even for stallions as awesome as Soarin.

But, still, she couldn’t forget the way that she felt when he had been that close to her. It was exhilarating, new, and as much as she hated to admit it, even to herself… it was frightening. It was different from the casual relationships that she had before.

It was probably just a confused mixture of her feelings for Soarin the Wonderbolt and Soarin her budding friend.

Feeling emotionally drained from the events of the day, Rainbow finished up the repairs to the wall and then went straight to sleep, unknowing of a certain stallion that would haunt her dreams that night.

Soarin walked away from Rainbow Dash’s room, hoping that no one would spot him. But even as he walked away, he was mentally kicking himself with every step. He had felt the way that Rainbow Dash tensed as he drew near to her. Perhaps he was moving too fast. It had been a long time since he had pursued a mare that he genuinely cared about rather than a random fan that would put out just for him being a Wonderbolt.

Once upon a time, Rainbow Dash could have been one of those fans, a simple notch on the bedpost for a Wonderbolt. But that was before he had begun to get to know her. Before he realized that the mare’s beautiful looks contained a creature of fiery passion and endless loyalty. If the Young Flyer’s Competition was any indication, then for all her bragging and brashness, she wouldn’t hesitate to put the safety of others before herself.

She was a special kind of pony, and worth far more than a one-night stand. Pursuing a relationship was new territory for Soarin, and he knew that he might have screwed up by getting close to her.

Well, I’ll just back off for a bit, and try again later. Any other mare, and Soarin would have given up. But Rainbow Dash was different, and she was worth every ounce of effort.

Enjoying Each Other's Company

Author's Note

Warning: this chapter contains some head-canon about the Sonic Rainboom. In the show, and on the same breath, Rainbow Dash says that the Sonic Rainboom is considered an old mare’s tale and that she did the impossible in doing it. But if Rainbow Dash were the first pony to do it, the move certainly wouldn’t become an old mare’s tale in the first place, let alone be named. So my head canon is that the Sonic Rainboom has been done before, but only by an alicorn taking full advantage of their mix of pegasus flying talent and earth pony strength and endurance. Rainbow Dash is the first non-alicorn to pull off the move.

Enjoying Each Other's Company

Chapter III: Enjoying Each Other’s Company

Soarin made his way to Rainbow Dash’s room, knowing that she wouldn’t be in a great mood. After hearing about the troubles that Lightning Dust was causing the rest of the recruits, Soarin decided to hang around the Academy that day and keep an eye on things.

It was obstacle course day: a test to prove that the ponies could fly in all kinds of weather. It had been a part of the Academy since the Wonderbolt’s founding. But Soarin, from his vantage point, had seen what Spitfire had missed.

It was true that Wonderbolts needed to be able to recover from a spin out quickly, but purposefully causing your team to spin out would have never been tolerated on the Wonderbolts. They flew as a team, and not for the sake of show-boating at the expense of other ponies. Spitfire had not seen and simply assumed that the other ponies spun out from the course. But Soarin had seen what Rainbow Dash had seen: Lightning Dust was a driven pony, but she drove herself over everypony else to reach her personal goals.

At least Rainbow Dash had not in injured today. Her wing had healed nicely, but it wouldn’t be good for it to be banged up again so soon. He knocked on the door with his hoof.

Rainbow Dash had come to expect his visits, so she opened the door right away. “I know you probably want to ask me how my day of training went, but I’d rather not talk about it.” She said.

“That’s fine. I saw the whole thing anyway.” Soarin said with a shrug.

Rainbow Dash seemed like she was going to ask what he was doing hanging around the Academy that day before she realized that asking him about this whereabouts would definitely qualify as talking about today. “Fine. I’m not even going to ask.” She said.

“Fine with me.” Soarin said. “I was wondering if you’d like to go flying with me. Nothing too crazy. I think you could use a good fly.”

“Thank Celestia, that sounds like exactly what I need!” Rainbow gasped, rushing past him and out the door. “So, what are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

“Excited?” Soarin asked with a laugh as he followed her.

“Of course! This will be the first time I’ve really seen a Wonderbolt fly up close!”

“Funny, I thought I said that we wouldn’t be doing anything crazy. Showing off definitely counts as crazy.”

“A race isn’t crazy.” Rainbow said with mock innocence.

Soarin couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, one race. But only if you promise to be okay with it when I beat you.”

“Ha! In your dreams, Soarin!” Rainbow laughed. The second that they were outside the building, they took off, leaving their signature trails in their wake.

In reality, Soarin knew that he had very little chance of beating Rainbow Dash in your average race. She was the only living pony to break the sound barrier and the first non-alicorn to do so. But, even with this enormous advantage, Soarin was never far behind her. After all, no pony could fly at top speed forever, and Rainbow Dash was no exception. She won the race, but only by a nose.

“I have to admit…” Rainbow said, gasping for breath while wearing a big smile. “I’d never had anyone keep up with me before, especially since I mastered the Sonic Rainboom.”

“It was a good race.” Soarin replied, slowing down and settling down on a cloud. Rainbow Dash settled on the cloud next to him. He watched her a little nervously as she settled down next to him, but there was a respectable amount of space between them, so there was nothing for him to look into. It was fine. After yesterday, he was prepared to wait.

“All natural raw talent, I tell you.” Rainbow Dash bragged good-naturedly.

“Hey. I know that you’re feeling down, but you’re gonna make it into the Wonderbolts. I just know it.” Soarin said confidently.

“How did you feel, when they asked you to join?” Rainbow asked him.

Soarin glanced at her. Very few ponies had ever asked him that question, and even fewer got the real answer. But Rainbow Dash was definitely a trust-worthy pony. She was the Element of Loyalty after all. “Honestly? I wondered if I had really earned it or if it was just given to me because of my family.”

“Oh, so you belong to some hot-shot family in Cloudsdale?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well, they are pretty important, but I’m not from Cloudsdale.” Soarin said. “I’m from Canterlot.”

Rainbow stared at him in shock. She had been under the impression that most Canterlot ponies were stuck up. Even Twilight could show her Canterlot upbringing from time to time. Soarin was the last sort of pony that she’d expect to come from Canterlot. “Really?”

“Yeah. Do you remember how you said that your friend Twilight was really close to the Princess? Well… I doubt that my family was as close to the Princesses as that, but my father was the pegasus’ advisor to Princess Celestia’s court. When I got offered a place at the Wonderbolt’s Academy, I really thought that I was only being offered a real chance to join the Wonderbolts because my father worked directly for the Princess. So… I purposefully held myself back during the Academy. I figured that if I got in even with my sub-par performance, it was just because of my father and not because of me.”

“What happened?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“The Captain saw right through my acting, of course, He knew that I wasn’t pushing myself. I didn’t get offered a place on the Wonderbolts that year, but I was given the chance to come back and prove myself better. I worked really hard the second time around and was able to get in. On my own merit, not my father’s.”

“Can’t say that I feel that way. Both of my parents are just your average weather ponies from Cloudsdale.” Rainbow Dash said with a shrug. She loved her parents, of course, but they hardly had the sort of political clout to get her a place in the Wonderbolts.

“But you are quite an amazing pony yourself, Rainbow Dash.” Soarin said truthfully. “If having your level of pure talent wasn’t enough, then on top of that, you are one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. And you did that… all by yourself.”

“Not completely by myself… at least the Elements of Harmony part.” Rainbow Dash admitted with a blush. “I had my friends to help me with those parts.”

“What is this? Humility? Who are you and what have you done with Rainbow Dash?” Soarin questioned jokingly.

Rainbow Dash smirked at him. “Oh, I could brag about my accomplishments all day long. But I’m so awesome on my own that I don’t need to steal other people’s accomplishments.”

“So… now that I’ve confessed all my old fears about how I only got into the Wonderbolts on my father’s tail and not my own talent… why don’t you tell me something that you’ve never told anypony else?” Soarin asked playfully.

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. “Ever since I saw my first Wonderbolt’s show, I’ve known that I wanted to become one. It is my life-long dream. But it’s only now that I’m here… I’m afraid that I won’t make it.”

“Won’t make…? Of course, you’ll make it, Rainbow!” Soarin began.

“I just don’t know anymore. In Spitfire’s eyes, Lightning Dust is so perfect, but she’s not. She’s reckless and puts other ponies in danger for her own ambition. Either Spitfire is completely missing the fact that she’s dangerous, or she sees it and is choosing to ignore it. I don’t know which one of those options is worse.”

“I know that she didn’t see what happened today.” Soarin told her. “Even the Captain of the Wonderbolts is not omnipotent. Tell you what, Rainbow… I’ll talk to Spitfire about Lightning Dust’s behavior tomorrow after training. She does trust my judgment and she’ll listen to me. What are you doing tomorrow? Cloud busting?” Rainbow Dash nodded. “How much trouble could one pony possibly get into over cloud busting?”

At his words, Rainbow Dash leaned into the stallion, pressing her head against his neck. “Thank you, Soarin.” Before the Wonderbolt could stop himself, he returned her nuzzle affectionately, leaning into her and sighing as he rested his head on top of hers.

It took a full three seconds before he realized what he was doing and pulled away from her swiftly. “I’m sorry, Rainbow, I didn’t mean to… I was only… I just…” He stuttered, but inside he was kicking himself. So much for him being able to wait. She presses herself against him one time and he starts acting like her coltfriend.

“Soarin…” Rainbow Dash rested her hoof against his to draw his attention to her. It worked and he met her eyes. “I don’t mind, really. I think you’re an awesome pony and… horse feathers, I’m no good at this sort of stuff.” She sighed.

“Then maybe I should give it a try… though I can’t promise it’ll come out any better.” Soarin said, pausing with a sigh to gather his thoughts. “You are probably the most awesome mare I’ve ever met. And I would really like it if we could try… uh… being together. You probably don’t want to deal with this sort of stuff right now when you’re in the Academy, but I really can’t help how I feel about…”

He was cut off when Rainbow Dash pressed her lips against his. For a second, he was frozen with his words still in his mouth, but then he relaxed into the moment and returned her kiss. It was everything that he’d ever imagined: exciting, brash, and adventurous… just like the mare herself.

Inside, Rainbow Dash’s mind was running wild. I’m kissing Soarin! I can’t believe that I’m kissing Soarin! He was a great pony and a friend, and she had no problem with taking their relationship to the next level. As far as she was concerned, it would only add twenty percent more awesome to an otherwise awesome relationship.

It would only be later that night when she would realize that she’d hadn’t even given a thought about him being a Wonderbolt when she agreed to be his marefriend. Being with him wasn’t about being a Wonderbolt fan dating a Wonderbolt. It was about a Soarin fan dating Soarin.

“I think I can live with giving us a try.” Rainbow Dash said, smiling at him as she broke the kiss.

“Good. Cause that’s just what I want.” Soarin breathed deeply, taking in all his surroundings including the beautiful mare at his side. They leaned against each other for some time. It was the longest that either one of them had sat still without being injured in a long time.

Reluctantly, Soarin pulled away from her. “You should probably get back to the compound. You don’t want to be late for training tomorrow. Cloud busting or not, Spitfire is not tolerate of lazy ponies.”

“And you’ll talk to her tomorrow?” Rainbow asked, worried that he might have forgotten in the excitement of their newly blossomed relationship.

“I haven’t forgotten, and I will.” Soarin promised her. They shared one more kiss before they spread their wings and took off into the night back in the direction of the Wonderbolt Academy.

Everything Is All Right

The night before, Soarin had asked Rainbow Dash how much trouble a pony could possibly get into over a simple cloud-busting exercise. And now, today, she had the answer to that question.

Lightning Dust had gotten the bright idea that, even with their substantial lead over any of the other teams, they would be able to sweep the competition with a single cloud-busting tornado. But Lightning had made the tornado too big for the two mares to control and it had careened out of control. And, what was worse, today happened to be the day that her friends had decided to stop by for a quick visit and had their hot air balloon caught in the tornado. The supervising Wonderbolts and the other recruits had barely been able to extract the five mares from the out of control balloon before it plummeted to the ground.

The five mares were set firmly on the runway so they were not at risk of falling through the clouds. Rainbow Dash left her lead-pony's side without a second glance and landed on the ground beside her friends. Besides the shock, none of them seemed to be hurt. It was only then that Rainbow allowed herself a sigh of relief. If any of her friends had been hurt... she didn't know what she'd do.

"Are you okay?" Rainbow Dash asked breathlessly, gazing at each of her friends in turn with wide eyes.

"I think we're fine." Twilight said slowly.

"None the worse for wear thanks to your friends!" Rarity flashed her saviors a glowing smile, and the poor Wonderbolt's cadet nearly fell out of the sky as a result.

Before Rainbow Dash could say another word, Lightning Dust had flown down next to her. "Hey, Dash, in case you hadn't noticed, there are still some clouds left! We can still do this!"

After days of keeping her mouth shut whenever she disagreed with Lightning's decisions, Rainbow Dash could no longer keep her temper. She turned on Lightning, stomping her forehoof on the ground and fluffing up her feathers in agitation. "In case you hadn't noticed, my friends were nearly killed by that tornado!" She growled.

"But they were not killed." Lightning Dust said blankly. "Come on, we just need a smaller tornado this time..."

"No way!" Rainbow yelled. "You said we could control the last one just fine, but as I remember it you spun out and I couldn't control the tornado that big on my own!"

For a few seconds, it seemed that Lightning Dust was going to yell back at her. The two mares glared at each other, their feathers fluffed up to make them both look bigger. "I am the Lead pony and I say you have to get back up there now!" Lightning Dust growled.

"Spitfire may have made you Lead pony, but that doesn't mean I have to automatically respect you and go along with every crazy scheme you come up with." Rainbow Dash said, and without another word she turned and stalked away. Lightning Dust rolled her eyes and flew off to take care of the last few clouds left in the sky.

The other recruits glared at Lightning as she left, and turned their attention to the five ponies they had rescued. "Are you sure you're all right?" They asked.

"We're fine, but I think that more things have been happening the last few days then we thought." Twilight responded.

~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash marched herself right to Spitfire's office. For the first time, she was no watching the training herself, she had left that to others. Without even looking up from her paperwork, she spoke. "Rainbow Dash, I thought I told you to bust clouds."

"It's done, ma'am." Rainbow responded shortly.

Spitfire glanced up at Rainbow Dash, and then spun around to look out her window. "Huh. It looks like you and Lightning Dust are done. That's another academy record broken..."

"Captain Spitfire, ma'am, Lightning Dust decided that we should use a tornado to take care of all the clouds at once."

"Well... that is a little unorthodox for simple cloud-busting, but I guess I can't argue with results." Spitfire commented.

"Well, I am." Rainbow Dash said shortly. "Lightning Dust couldn't control the tornado and we lost control of it. Half of our fellow recruits spun out and it almost killed my friends who were coming to visit me."

At that, Spitfire gazed up at Rainbow Dash in shock. "What?"

"And that's not all. I don't know if Soarin has talked to you yet, but he's seen first hand what sort of pony Lightning really is." Rainbow Dash continued.

Soarin? Spitfire thought to herself. Well, he did mention he wanted to talk to me today about the recruits... But before Spitfire could say another, Rainbow was continuing.

"I know that you made Lightning Dust the lead pony because she's driven, but there's a difference between being driven and being driven to the point of endangering other ponies. I can't be a part of a flying team that allows their ponies to fly like that." Rainbow Dash paused, tears welling up in her eyes. Then she glared at Spitfire as she ripped the silver Wonderbolt's Academy badge off her flight uniform and pressed it down on Spitfire's desk. "I quit." She said simply. Her eyes widened briefly as if she couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. And then her face set with determination as she turned and walked out of the office without giving Spitfire the chance to think, let alone speak.

~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash marched down the runway, hurriedly trying to wipe the tears off her face before she got back to her friends. She couldn't believe that she had just quit on her dream! A part of her wanted to rush back and tell Spitfire that she didn't mean it. But she had meant it. The Wonderbolts she knew and admired would not allow such dangerous flying on their team.

Her friends were waiting out on the runway. "Dear, what happened?" Rarity asked.

Before Rainbow Dash could answer, another voice spoke. "Yes, I'd like to know what's going on too."

Soarin landed on the runway, gazing confused at the small group of ponies that were gathered around Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash gave a small look of apology to her friends before stepping forward to meet Soarin. "Soarin... I know that you really wanted me to be on the Wonderbolts with you, but I don't think that's going to happen anymore. I just quit."

Pretty much everypony's mouths fell open. "Quit?" Soarin gasped.

"What do you mean ya quit?" Applejack asked, shocked. "The Rainbow Dash I know would never quit!"

"Well, I just did." Rainbow Dash said. She forced a smile on her face, because she was pretty sure she would start sobbing otherwise.

"But, Rainbow... I was just about to talk to Spitfire..." Soarin began.

"I know, thank you, Soarin, but my friends almost died today because of Lightning Dust." Rainbow said. "But, Soarin... I would still like to, you know..." She glanced nervously at her five friends. "If you're okay with me being a pathetic Wonderbolts drop out."

"Dashie..." Soarin said seriously. "I don't care about that..."

Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy gazed between the two and then exchanged a glance with each other. Rarity gave a big smile, practically bouncing on her hooves with excitement, which pretty much confirmed to Twilight and Fluttershy what they were seeing. If they were right, it seemed like Rainbow and Soarin were... well... special someponies.

But before Rarity could say anything of the sort, Spitfire marched out of the administrative building looking livid. Everyone in the academy froze, even Lightning Dust landed.

Spitfire stopped by the Wonderbolts who had been watching the cloud-busting and exchanged a few words with them. Once she was done, she marched straight towards Rainbow Dash, still looking mad enough to kill. "Rainbow Dash! How dare you walk out of my office without giving me a chance to respond!" Spitfire yelled.

Rainbow Dash instantly jumped to attention. "Ma'am! I'm sorry, ma'am!"

"Spitfire..." Soarin began.

"I know what you're going to say, Soarin." Spitfire told him. "And it's not necessary. Lightning Dust! Front and center!"

"Ma'am!" Lightning Dust leapt forward, but with less enthusiasm than before.

"Is it true what I've heard? Did you create a tornado that you couldn't control and endanger the lives of these ponies?" Spitfire asked.

For a few seconds, Lightning couldn't respond. "Ma'am... I was trying to..."

"Did you, or did you not?!" Spitfire yelled.

Lightning Dust glared at Spitfire, and then lowed her head in defeat. "I did."

"Then perhaps nopony told you that there is no place on the Wonderbolts who would knowingly endanger their teammates or bystanders? Because the Wonderbolts are not just the best flyers. We are the best flying team in Equestria. We work together on the Wonderbolts, with no team member overshadowing or risking the lives of the others. But I suppose the fault is really with me." Spitfire ripped the golden Lead pony Academy badge off Lightning's flight suit. "You are not Lead pony material and you are not Wonderbolt material."

At first it looked like Lightning Dust was going to argue with Spitfire, but then she just settled on sending a glare Rainbow Dash's way. Then she turned and stalked away, taking off and flying from the Wonderbolt Academy.

"Now, Rainbow Dash, at ease." Spitfire said to Rainbow, and she relaxed slightly. "If you really want to quit, I'll let you. But you and I both know that's not what you want." She held out Lightning Dust's Lead pony badge. "You were right, Dash, you are Lead pony material."

Dash could hardly get out a squeal of happiness before she quickly snatched up the badge and pinned it to her own flight suit. The rest of the recruits gathered around Rainbow Dash excitedly, all of them glad to be free of Lightning Dust and her dangerous behavior.

In the commotion, Twilight moved slightly closer to Soarin. "So... are you and Rainbow Dash...?" She asked quietly as to not draw attention to them.

Soarin glanced at her. "Yes, but can you keep it quiet for the moment? Hardly any pony knows..."

"Well, a few of us have guessed, but your secret is safe with us. I'll get Rarity to stop from blabbing." Twilight said. "I'm guessing I don't need to mention how special Rainbow Dash is to us, and to treat her right?"

"No, you don't." Soarin said, turning his gaze proudly on Rainbow as she took off with her fellow recruits. "I know how special she is, um..." He just realized he didn't know this mare's name.

"Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said, guessing what was the issue. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll all get to know each other."

"I'm Soarin, by the way."

"Second-in-Command of the Wonderbolts. I know." Twilight said with a smile. "I've picked up a few things from knowing Rainbow."

"Wait a second!" Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped. "I didn't get to give Rainbow Dash my care package!" She held up a box which had obviously been crushed in the balloon accident.

Soarin stepped forward and held out his hoof. "I'll make sure she gets it." He said, acutely aware of the two unicorns giggling slightly at that.

Well, he supposed there could be worse ways of meeting your marefriend's best friends. And Soarin now knew with one hundred percent certainty that Rainbow Dash's place in the reserves was in the bag. Spitfire wouldn't chase down any old recruit. And he had the most beautiful mare in Equestria as a marefriend. Things couldn't possibly get any better...