The whistle blew loudly and thus Rainbow Dash knew that it was the time to get off of the train and venture into Canterlot. She had gotten up really early to catch this once in a lifetime train ride, so she had fallen asleep while on board. Her eyes opened and she looked out the window and surveyed her surroundings as she opened her wings and allowed them to stretch. She yawned and stretched herself one more time as the train slowed to a halt. With the train at a standstill, she stood up and reached for her bag which she slung snugly around her neck. She then checked her seat over with a glance to make sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything and then headed off to depart from the train. The conductor helped her off and she smiled and nodded at him politely as she stepped onto the platform and out into the bustling streets of Canterlot.
It was a near perfect day out in this area of Equestria, and would have been perfect for her to fly where she was going; she wanted to stretch her legs though, as she was sure that her wings would get all the exercise and more that they needed soon enough. They had provided a map with her invitation, but Rainbow Dash didn’t need it. How could she not know where she was going?
Just a few days ago, Rainbow Dash received an invitation to the Wonderbolts Academy in her mail. At first she thought that it might be the wrong address or perhaps even a cruel hoax, but her address in Cloudsdayle and Spitfire and Soarin’s exact signatures proved otherwise. It was finally happening, her dream was coming true! She was going to get to train with the Wonderbolts and even become one. Her walk had been rather slow as she was trying to get the grogginess to go away, but these thoughts of glory and of dreams coming true and of just getting to meet the Wonderbolts themselves put a little pep in her stride.
Canterlot was a bustling city and there was so much that Rainbow Dash wanted to stop and do, but she simply couldn’t be late. She walked through the streets and turned corner after corner, sure in her movements. Then again, she did know the route to the Wonderbolts Academy and track like the back of her hoof, and some may even say more so than the streets of Ponyville. As she quickly walked on, Rainbow Dash turned a corner and went to walk straight along a row of buildings; she just had to stop though as she caught glimpse of a Wonderbolts poster stuck on the side of one of the buildings. It was new, of course, and advertised the upcoming race and eventual championship between the two victors. Rainbow Dash was positive, no, sure that the two winning ponies would be Soarin and Spitfire; it always had been. Unbeknownst to all but the hardiest of Wonderbolts fans, Soarin and Spitfire were the best of friends but shared a bitter racetrack rivalry. Rainbow Dash sighed with hopeful wonder as she imagined that soon she would be on the very track and perhaps even competing in that championship one day. Before she went on her way though, she took one more look at the poster, mostly for where she could find a copy of it; she did have all of the Wonderbolts posters after all. Finally, she found a stamp just over Soarin’s ear. “Oh Soarin,” she thought to herself, “one day. One day.” It was a little known fact that Rainbow Dash had quite the crush on the strapping and athletic stallion.
She noted the name of the stamp in her mind and then went on her way. It wouldn’t be long now, and Rainbow Dash was so close that she actually thought she could hear the repeated zooming sounds of the Wonderbolts at training. She was so close in fact, that she all she needed to do was round the corner and she would be at her destination. She rounded said corner and stopped to admire the grand stadium-like building. Aside from the palace, it had to be one of the most beautiful buildings in all of Canterlot. From its magnificent arches to its proud pegasus statues, they all sent a message that Rainbow Dash hoped to soon be a part of. To think, some ponies only ever got to see this building once in their lifetime and it could be that she would get to see it every week or every day even. She adjusted her bag with her hoof and couldn’t help but smile as she walked ahead into the shadow that the huge building cast.
Ahead, she saw the massive wooden doors that were usually propped open and allowing the masses to enter into the halls which they protected. She approached them with a contained excitement, reminding herself that she had to be excited and willing but also contained. As she approached the doors, she took a deep breath and reached out for them. The wood felt cool to the touch on such a warm day, but that was only a sensation that Rainbow Dash got to feel for an interrupted moment. A large, dark hoof reached over and scraped her hoof off of the doors with one light push. “Sorry miss,” said a tall stallion who was in a neat uniform, “I can’t let you through. Only staff and Wonderbolts allowed through here.”
Rainbow Dash persisted, “But I’ve got an invitation,” she went to retrieve it but the security pony didn’t have the time for it.
“Invitation?” he asked, “I wasn’t aware of any invitations.” He reached for her foreleg but she dodged him.
“Look,” she continued to persist and got the invitation out and handed it to him. He still wasn’t convinced.
“Do you have any proof that this is real?” he asked and checked it over.
“Other than the signatures of Soarin and Spitfire, no,” Rainbow Dash admitted.
“Then I’m sorry, but I can’t accept this,” he said to her, “Only staff and Wonderbolts allowed in today.” He turned her away with his hoof and began to escort her away from the stadium. Rainbow Dash observed him as he tried to walk her away. He was a pegasus, and a fit one too. Working security for the Wonderbolts meant that he was fast, really fast. Still, if she could fly up to the top of the open-air, multi-story stadium and go down inside perhaps she could present the proof to somepony else and get on with her day.
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she prepared for a hasty lift off and quick in-air turn. She opened her eyes though and quickly placed her wings back against her body when she heard another male voice call out, “Hey! What’s going on out here?” She looked back around, as did the security pony, and they saw none other than Soarin. “Is there something wrong?”
The security guard answered, “I caught this young mare here trying to enter into the stadium with false papers.” He seemed like he was going to say something else, but Rainbow Dash cut him off.
“No!” she said, “That’s not true. I’ve got an invitation, signed by you and Spitfire, right here,” she said and handed Soarin the paper as he walked over to them.
He took it and looked it over quickly. His eyes grew wide and he asked, “You’re Rainbow Dash? The Rainbow Dash?”
“You’ve heard of me?” Rainbow Dash asked and the smile returned to her face.
“Heard of you?” Soarin asked with disbelief, “Who hasn’t heard of Rainbow Dash and her signature Sonic Rainboom?” he smiled politely at her but then cleared his throat and directed himself towards the security guard, “Let Miss Dash go,” he ordered, “she is here as a guest and has access to this building throughout and whenever.”
The guard let go of Rainbow Dash and apologized to her, “My apologies,” he nodded his head, “It’s just that we have a lot of ponies who try to sneak in. Some even forge papers that say they’re part of the staff,” he chuckled, “Again, I’m sorry for any inconvenience.”
Rainbow Dash smiled at him, “It’s cool,” she said, “you’re just doing your job.”
The security guard chuckled once more, “Indeed I am Miss,” he said and then asked Soarin, “Shall I escort you both inside?”
Soarin smiled at the guard and then shook his head, “No thank you. I think that I’ll show Miss Dash the V.I.P. entrance.”
“Very well sir,” the guard said and turned, “back to my post.” He then walked off and left the two ponies standing there.
Soarin turned and indicated for Rainbow Dash to follow him. “Are you OK?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash smiled at him, “it’s no big deal.” She tried to appear strong and collected even though she had butterflies in her stomach, partly from her previous run in and partly because she was talking to the stallion of her dreams, and was certain that she had a blush on her face.
“That’s good,” Soarin smiled at her and then commented, “I’m glad that you could come.”
“Me too,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile.
“You’ll have to forgive Reginald,” Soarin said as he led Rainbow Dash on, “he’s a bit rough around the edges but he’s a good guard.”
Rainbow Dash turned to face him when they stopped beside the wall, “Really,” she said with a bright smile, “there’s no need to keep apologizing. It’s totally cool and understandable.”
“Well I’m glad you feel that way Miss Dash,” Soarin said with a smile.
“Please, call me Rainbow,” Rainbow Dash persisted and smiled back.
“Very well, Rainbow,” Soarin said, “That’s a very pretty name by the way.”
Rainbow Dash blushed hard but tried to hide it by looking away from him towards the blank wall. “V.I.P. entrance?” she asked.
“Yep,” he said and walked over to the wall. “Watch this,” he said and then pressed on a sequence of bricks in the wall which then slid backwards and into the wall revealing a lit passageway.
“Wow!” Rainbow Dash said with bewilderment and observed the hidden passageway. “That’s awesome!” She wasn’t even in the stadium yet and she was sure that she was the only Wonderbolts fan in all of Equestria that knew there was a secret passageway leading inside.
“It is, isn’t it?” Soarin commented, “You’ll get a copy of it when we get you inside and situated.” He then led her down the passageway which sealed back when they were both inside.
“Wait…” Rainbow Dash said as she trotted to catch up to him, “Does that mean that I… I get to be a Wonderbolt?”
Soarin chuckled lightheartedly, “Not yet Rainbow. You prove your mettle on the training course, which I’m sure you’ll have no trouble with, and then you earn your wings.” He indicated the logo on the rump of his suit and a smaller insignia on the right side of his chest.
“No problem,” Rainbow Dash said with a confident tone.
“You sound confident Rainbow,” Soarin said with a playful tone and cocked his eyebrow.
“I am,” she said to him with a subtly flirty tone.
“Confidence is good,” he said, “key to the success of a Wonderbolt.” They walked the rest of the way in silence. “Here we are,” Soarin said after a few more moments of walking and then pushed a door open for Rainbow Dash. He entered in behind her and said, “Well, here we are, the Wonderbolts locker room.”
“Wow,” Rainbow Dash said as she walked around the room that not even the press was allowed access to. “This is so cool!” she said as she turned to him.
“Check this out,” Soarin waved her over, “this is your locker. Well… it’s not exactly yours, it’s just one of the temporary ones that we give to trainees. Same as the pass to that wall back there, pass the training, earn your wings and you’ll get one of your very own.”
“Great!” Rainbow Dash said, the idea of one of her very own lockers in the Wonderbolts locker room motivating her.
“Well,” Soarin said, “you can go ahead and put your things in there and have some time to yourself to warm up or whatever before you go out onto the track. Lucky you, you’re the only one here for this session so you’ll go immediately out. You’ll do six laps today, three as you are now and another three in a flight suit. I guess I’ll leave you then,” he turned and went to walk away, “I’ll let Spitfire know that you’re on the way. She’ll be your trainer.”
It all sounded good to Rainbow Dash, but something inside of her forced her to speak up. “Wait!” she said louder than she meant to and blushed afterwards.
Soarin turned around. “Something wrong Rainbow Dash?” he asked.
Rainbow Dash hesitated to ask, but now might be the only chance she would have. “I… I was wondering,” she stammered just a little at first, “is there any chance you could be my trainer?”
Soarin looked at her with a look of disbelief. Most ponies wanted Spitfire as a trainer as she had been on the Wonderbolts longer than anypony else and had all sorts of signature moves, moves which the usual trainee felt would give them the upper edge in training. Regardless though, he smiled and said, “Sure. I’ll see if I can’t pull some strings,” he winked at her which prompted her blush to return. He went to close the door behind him but stuck his head back in, “Before I forget, what size do you wear Rainbow Dash?” She revealed her size to him and he replied, “OK then. When you’re ready come find me up on the observation platform. Just follow the signs from here. I’ll send word to have a flight suit dropped off here while I’m waiting. Oh, but if it gets here before you get out, don’t put it on just yet. Remember that you need to fly the course without one first.”
“I remember,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile.
“See you soon Rainbow Dash,” Soarin said and closed the door behind him.
Rainbow Dash merely stared at the door and smiled to herself. He was a very sweet stallion, and very handsome too. She shook her head and looked at the open locker. She had gotten this far and she couldn’t allow her personal feelings, feelings which might not even amount to anything, get in the way of her training. Soarin was her trainer, and her trainer only, nothing more. She placed her bag in the locker and closed it, and then proceeded to walk into the center of the room where she would do a few warm up exercises such as push-ups and wing flexes. “Nothing more,” she repeated to herself.
After all of her exercises, she ran in place for a few moments and then looked at herself in the mirror. If nothing, she at least had to look good for Soarin and the judges. “Yeah,” she thought, “look good… for Soarin,” she smiled at herself and fixed some splits in her forelocks as she worried and wondered about whether or not Soarin had noticed them. She cleared her throat and looked away from her own reflection. “Nothing more,” she whispered to herself, “Don’t you forget that Rainbow Dash,” she stared at her own reflection hard, “nothing more.”
Her eyes darted away and she stood straight when the door opened and another pony walked in, a mare with a professional looking suit on. “Oh, I’m sorry miss,” the mare apologized, “if I would have known sompony was in here I would have knocked.”
Rainbow Dash smiled at her and replied, “No, it’s OK. I’m Rainbow Dash. I was just about to go up to take my practice run.”
“Very well,” the mare said and gave a quick smile back, “Miss Hayworth,” she introduced herself, “head of wardrobe and general event planner,” she reached her hoof out and shook Rainbow Dash’s, “I believe our Soarin asked that a flight suit be delivered here?”
Rainbow Dash nodded, “Yes ma’am. That’s mine.”
“Ah,” replied Hayworth, “here it is,” she placed the suit down on the nearby bench using her magic, “Well I really would love to stay and chat darling, but as I’m sure you’re aware of there is much to be done around here.”
“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash replied, “I’ll leave you to it.”
Miss Hayworth smiled one more time and headed towards the door. “Oh,” she stopped before she went out into the hallway and closed the door, “please do come tell me if your suit doesn’t fit. As I’m sure you’re aware, they are quite a tight fit, but if you can’t manage to squeeze into the one provided I have a measure in my office and I can size you. By the way, my office is the fourth one down the hall. My name is on the door,” she glanced at her watch, “Goodness!” she exclaimed, “I really must get back to work,” she closed the door behind her and rushed off without giving Rainbow Dash the time to respond. She could hear the busy mare’s hoofsteps clacking down the hallway until they eventually go too far away for her to hear. Now that was a job she could never handle. Rainbow Dash shuddered; at those speeds and with those maneuvers, there was no telling what kinds of abuse the outfits went through, and not to mention the intense planning that made the Wonderbolt’s performances famous.
Rainbow Dash switched her thoughts over and focused on the challenges ahead. She stretched her wings three times and looked herself over in the mirror. She might as well look good for the ponies she was about to meet and for the course she was about to fly. Using the mirror, she fixed a few split-ends in her mane and made sure it was nice and straight before taking a deep breath and backing away from the mirror. She closed the locker and walked out into the hallway where she then followed the signs up to the flight deck.
“Hey Rainbow Dash!” she heard Soarin’s increasingly familiar voice call out once she ascended the flight of stairs and reached the flight deck. She was lost at first, having had no idea that the flight deck was this large on the inside, but his voice guided her. As she walked over to meet him, she couldn’t help slow her pace to look over the railing at the course. The view as amazing! Rainbow Dash had, of course, been to many Wonderbolts races and events in this very stadium, but the view from the seats was nothing compared to the flight deck. It was neither too high nor too low in the stadium, it was properly placed for quick takeoffs and landings, and on top of all that, it seemed to have the warmest atmosphere around it. Soarin came over to her at about the time she noticed she had stopped completely, taken by the extravagant view. “Whatcha lookin’ at?” Soarin asked with a curious, yet playful tone as he joined her by the railing and looked over onto the track.
Rainbow Dash looked over at him and replied, “Nothing,” she persisted, “it’s nothing. I’m just… not used to this kind of view. It’s beautiful up here!”
Soarin continued to stare out over the course as he replied, “Heh, now there’s something you don’t hear every day, a pegasus who isn’t used to heights.” Rainbow Dash shot him a look, but he didn’t seem to notice. He finally looked back at her and smiled, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he said, “It is beautiful. If you aren’t in the event it’s the best place to watch from, I think… Wonderbolts only, of course,” he finished with a wink and a smile which prompted Rainbow Dash to blush and look away.
“So what do I need to do Soarin?” she asked him as she scaled the track over.
“Simple,” Soarin began, “you just need to clear this track. You gotta do six laps as discussed before, three times now and then another three times in a light suit. Your goal is to set a time on the first lap, which will show up there,” he indicated a digital timing board, “and attempt to beat it by the third lap. Extra points if you can set a new time for the second lap and beat it on the third as well.”
“No problem,” Rainbow Dash said with a cocky tone as she opened up her wings and assumed a ready position, way before the launching platform, “I’m ready.” She closed her wings and walked ahead, hoping that the show of courageousness would earn boost Soarin’s confidence in her.
Soarin extended his great hoof out and stopped her in her tracks though. “Listen Rainbow,” he said with a whisper, “Now I never told you this, but all is not as it seems with the course. Spitfire doesn’t usually tell her trainees, leaves them to fend for themselves,” he shook his head, “But I like you, and I want you to be one of the team. You’re going to encounter a couple of curve balls, so be ready and don’t wipe out.”
Rainbow Dash processed it all and logged every precious bit of information in her mind. As she had observed the training course, she saw nothing more than a few obstacles scattered around and about the track, so she would have never guessed that there were obstacles meant to deceive the trainees. “That’s…. genius!” Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she looked the track over one more time before she started to walk with Soarin to the platform. “Thanks,” she whispered to him.
“Don’t mention it,” he whispered back and smiled at her. He put his head back up and continued his proud stride, making it seem as if nothing had been said between them at all. If there was one thing you had to hoof to Soarin, it was that he was good at being inconspicuous. Soarin led her out from underneath the canopy and onto the very edge of the sunbathed platform where she came to a rest on top of a large painted number one. “Ready?” he asked her.
“You bet,” Rainbow Dash said and took a deep breath. She stretched her wings a few times and assumed the starting position.
“Ready!” she heard a voice call and begin to count down, “Take off in 3…2…1…”
Soarin cut in at the last moment, “Good luck,” he said. Just as he did though, Rainbow Dash shot off of the platform with speed that surprised even him, moving so fast that the multi-colored hues of her mane and tail lingered in the sunlight. As he watched her come close to approaching the first corner, his body tensed up; this was the introduction of the first obstacle, a padded platform which swung out right into the path of the racer. He grasped his binoculars, which he had nearly lost when she took off, for a closer look. “No,” he said quietly to himself, “she’s travelling way too fast. There’s no way she can make it either over or under it, especially with her altitude…”
Rainbow Dash sought to prove him wrong though, all of them in fact. Not only was Rainbow Dash fast herself, but her eyes and her wit were fast, a combination that proved very useful. She saw the platform swing out and dove under it at the last moment where she then performed a double corkscrew while also returning back to normal altitude; all of this without slowing down even a bit.
“Very impressive…” Soarin muttered as he continued to observe the action as it unfolded. “Very impressive indeed.” That one had given him some trouble on his trial runs, as it did most trainees, but nopony that he could remember had ever been able to go underneath (the usual way was above, where the trainee would be met with another obstacle) at such a high speed and then pull off something like a corkscrew, let alone a double one. He focused up his binoculars and continued to watch her fly the course. She was going fast along the straight and was about to run into several obstacles all in quick succession.
Rainbow Dash flew straight and full speed ahead, though she made sure to keep an eye open to the unexpected. The platform before had been noting, easily noticeable, but there was no telling what lay ahead. Suddenly, it struck Rainbow Dash that the sequences and positions of the obstacles might change with every lap. To answer that question, she looked backwards and tried to see if the platform was still extended in place or moved. Luckily enough, she turned back around and saw that she was literally face to face with a net like contraption. She braked hard and flung her body towards the sun so that she could come up and over the net safely and with success. It was a close call, but succeed she did. As she descended back to normal altitude, Rainbow Dash wondered if the closeness would affect her score. Before she could get too much thinking done though, another obstacle suddenly popped up, just a flat surface this time, and Rainbow Dash, better prepared now, swerved around it with both speed and grace.
“Gotta focus on the task at hoof,” Rainbow Dash ordered herself and pushed all thoughts unrelated to the track out of her head. As she next obstacles, a series of swinging ropes, Rainbow Dash thought hard about how to approach them. She had only a second or two before her strategy and instinct kicked in and she slalomed around them one by one, careful to maintain her speed but also sure to slow herself when needed. As she rounded the corner and was back on the home stretch, Rainbow Dash wanted so desperately to glance up at the clock, but she knew that she mustn’t. The finish line and the end of lap one just ahead, Rainbow Dash saw her last couple of obstacles, a series of barrels with arrows alongside them that would guide her through; it was a slalom test she saw. “No problem,” Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle. She had practiced this stuff since her earliest days in flight school and now it was really her time to shine. She zipped and zigzagged through the barrels with incredible speed and was so bold as to even pull barrel rolls through the last three.
As she crossed the finish line, she heard the announcer’s voice call out, “Time!” and then, with the precious moment she had, finally looked up at the board. One minute and fifty-seven seconds. While it wasn’t her best time, it was still pretty good with all of the obstacles taken into account. Only, depending on the circumstances and obstacles ahead, the time may prove difficult to beat. Even though it was clear that all Rainbow Dash had to do was set a good time and clear the course, she knew that everypony up on that platform, especially Soarin, was expecting a show and at least one beat time. Luckily enough, Rainbow Dash had plenty of stamina and she knew that if she tried hard enough she could do it. She approached the first corner quickly, yet cautiously and braced for the platform to extend into her path. Rainbow Dash was able to pass through though, without any obstacles in her way. However, it confirmed her suspicions that the obstacles were either moved or randomly placed and lap triggered about the track, so that was all the more reason that she should be cautious.
Meanwhile, up on the flight deck, Soarin walked a little closer to the edge and placed the binoculars up to his eyes once more. If he had been nervous on the previous lap, he would be even worse now. He knew that the second lap was the worst of the three as it threw everything the track contained at the pony. The first lap was meant to ease the pony in, the second to exhaust him or her, and then the third to see how badly affected the pony was after the added physical stress of the second lap. He shook his head and muttered a few notes on Rainbow Dash to himself. “She definitely likes to go fast,” he noted, “but at least she seems controlled.” He dropped the binoculars and looked up at the clock where he noted the time and afterwards the placed the lenses back up to his eyes. “At that speed, I don’t know if she’ll be able to beat her time. She’s going too fast and has only cleared one obstacle, and if she keeps it up she’ll be worn out by the third.” He watched her go under and then barrel roll up in front of a wooden wall; he noted the surprise on her face as another popped up directly in her path and she had to quickly go up to avoid hitting it. “Halfway there Rainbow Dash,” he muttered as he watched, noting how she had cleared two of the four walls, “keep going.”
Rainbow Dash sped herself up, expecting the obstacles to be behind her, but it was too late to slow down before she crossed over the wall and it shot up from the cover of the clouds underneath her where it collided with the front of her back hoof and made her cringe from the pain. In the process too, it had knocked her off balance and she just narrowly avoided the next one that popped up, able to swerve around and avoid it by mere inches. She heaved a sigh of relief as it then seemed that all of the walls were done popping up into her path. Before she could get too relaxed though, another bar swung out into her path and she barrel rolled under it and came back up rather impressively.
By the time she rounded the corner and came upon the slalom barrels once more, the stress of the first lap and the previous obstacles began to set in on her; Soarin noticed this. Back up on the platform, he noted that her speed had decreased significantly and she seemed to be gliding more instead of using actual wing power. “Come on kid,” he mumbled, “just one more lap.” He heaved a sigh of relief when she finally crossed the finish line. Now came the final lap and relief along with it. Almost all of the obstacles, aside from the barrels and a swinging net and wall or two, were passed.
As Rainbow Dash came into the first turn, she cursed at the fact she had forgotten to check her time. She began to lose confidence as she came back into the stretch, still wary of any obstacles that may pop up and coming to the realization that the physical stress was starting to kick in on her. She had practiced lengthy laps before, and had even tested her mettle with makeshift obstacles, but she had no idea that it would actually be that demanding. Either way, she was there and she realized that she might as well do her best and try to make the most of it. All she had to do was tell herself that she was going to be one of the team, one of the Wonderbolts.
A net popped up well ahead of her and Rainbow Dash had plenty of time to swerve around it, only this time she conserved her energy and didn’t do any impressive maneuvers. She had been trying to decipher Soarin’s words, and thus the course, in her mind when it suddenly hit her. “That’s it!” she thought, “First is to ease me in, second to stress me out, and this one to see how I deal with it all,” she smiled as her confidence returned, “should be a cakewalk.” With that, she mustered up all of her strength and flew ahead with blistering speed. She swerved around wooden wall and then rounded the corner which led to the final stretch where she then countered the barrels as easily as the first couple of laps. “Time!” she heard a voice call as she crossed the finish line. She threw her wings forward to stop herself on a dime and then hovered in place for a time, taking a few moments to catch her breath.
Once she had fresh air in her lungs, she looked up at the scoreboard and her eyes became wide; she had beaten her time once on every lap. She completed the final lap in just thirty-seven seconds and fifty-six milliseconds. As she turned to head up towards the deck, she heard a sound that seemed to grow louder and louder. At first it seemed kind of muffled, as most things did at this height, or perhaps it was all the sweat clogging her ears, but she soon came to realize that it was the sounds of clapping and cheering. She picked her head up and looked up to see a line of Wonderbolts and stadium staff lining the railings and clapping their hooves and whistling at her. Some were cynical and fake, but then some were genuine, like Soarin’s. Just like Soarin’s.
The ponies began to disperse as she landed up on the deck, for it was rule of hoof that you never made friends with a trainee, but Soarin waited for her. He offered her a cold bottle of water. She drank heavily from it, and once she caught her breath, asked, “So, how’d I do?”
“Well…” Soarin teased her with the suspense all while he tried to protect his ego, “pretty good.” His eyes kind of darted off to the side, which he hoped that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t notice. “Pretty good?” he thought to himself. As a matter of fact, Rainbow Dash had done amazingly. In all of his years with the Wonderbolts, Soarin had never seen a pony beat the course as fast as that. “Oh who am I kidding,” he finally admitted, “you did great Rainbow Dash, more than great.” She looked as if she were about to open her mouth and say something, but Soarin placed his hoof against her lips. “Not here,” he said, “we can talk on the way back to the locker rooms. Some of the ponies up here are a bit sensitive about competition…” another pony approached them and cut in on the conversation.
“Hey that was pretty good kid,” the mare said, “Spitfire,” she introduced and shook Rainbow Dash’s hoof. “I trust you remember me from Ponyville? You know, from the weather patrol?” She didn’t give Rainbow Dash enough time to respond before she said, “I think me and you will get along just fine. Bit of advice though, know where your place is as a trainee and there won’t be any problems.” She seemed to glare at Rainbow Dash for a moment or two, but then switched over to a smile and walked away. “Well Soarin,” she looked up at him and batted her eyes; she moved over against him in a sensual manner. “I’ll leave you to your new… pet. Don’t go too far though, Celestia know that would be a disaster.” She turned away and whipped her tail which seemed to come dangerously close to Rainbow Dash’s muzzle.
Rainbow Dash watched her walk off and opened her mouth only when she was sure that the mare was out of earshot. “Well what was that all about?” she asked and cocked her eyebrow.
Soarin tried to hide his blush, but it was no good. Spitfire always did that to him. She knew that he wasn’t good with mares and used that to her advantage to tease him and force him to blush, most often in front of other trainees. “It’s nothing,” he said and smiled at her, “Spitfire just likes to tease me, she always has. Ever since middle school anyway,” he shrugged as he too watched her walk off and join another group of well-known Wonderbolts. He led Rainbow Dash towards the stairs and continued his explanation, “I know Spitfire might seem a little rough around the edges, but she’s a good pony to hang out with and an even better one to know; knows all of the ropes around here and is really the one to talk to if you want to know anything.” Soarin smiled at her as he invited her down the narrow stairway first.
“Oh,” Rainbow Dash said as she ascended the first couple of steps and then looked back at him, “How come she doesn’t like me then?” Rainbow Dash might not have been as smart as Twilight, but she certainly wasn’t stupid. She knew when a pony liked and didn’t like her.
“Oh that?” Soarin asked and smiled softly as he waved his hoof, “Don’t pay attention to any of that. Spitfire’s just a little… prided, that’s all. She treats all of the new recruits like that, but usually gets a little rougher with those that actually pose a challenge to her. There’s some things you wanna know about Spitfire, but I’ll tell you sometime later when we have a chance to be more private?”
Rainbow Dash took it innocently enough at first, but as she realized what she had just been told, it was all she could do to contain her excitement. “More private?” she asked and cocked her eyebrow both playfully and curiously.
Soarin blushed and looked away from her. “Yeah,” Soarin said as he stepped down into the hallway with her and they continued walking. He scratched the back of his nervously and looked away. “See I was thinkin’ maybe me and you could go to dinner later. That is, if you want to and if you don’t have anything else to do.”
Rainbow Dash turned towards him and smiled once they approached the door. “I’d like that,” she said and smiled at him.
“Great,” Soarin said and pushed the door open for her and walked into the room with her. All was quiet for a moment, but he eventually spoke up. “Well, I see they got your suit to you. I uh… I’ll give you some privacy so you can slip into it. You had a good, hard run, so take your time and cool off. There’s some stuff in that icebox over there,” he pointed at the container, “help yourself to it. The more refreshed you are the better.”
Rainbow Dash nodded and smiled, “Thank you,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” came the reply as Soarin headed for the door and went out into the hallway. “See you soon Rainbow Dash,” he said and closed the door behind him.
Before Rainbow Dash went to slide into her suit, Soarin’s invite dawned back on her. Did it really happen? Did the stallion of her dreams ask her out on a… date? She smiled at herself in the mirror, but frowned as another possibility dawned on her. There was a chance, a very good and likely one at that, that the dinner was nothing more than a “formal event” as Rarity called it. It wasn’t a date and it wasn’t a simple dinner. Rarity frequently invited new business contacts and partners to dinner for the sole purpose of getting to know them better and perhaps attain a sort of friendship. It was a way that she could scale them up, and be scaled up herself, without being too forward and rude. Rainbow Dash looked at the ground now, sad that this was the most likely reality. Soarin had only just actually met Rainbow Dash, so it would be crazy to think that he would ask her out on a date only having known her for perhaps a little over and hour. So that was it, Soarin didn’t realize her feelings and he probably never would.
She frowned and took a sip of the water that she had left in the bottle. She put the bottle aside and proceeded to try to fit into her flight suit. Using the mirror, she lined herself up with it and tried to get into. “They sure weren’t lying when they said these things were tight,” Rainbow Dash muttered as she slid her back legs in first and then stretched it up over her body and then slid her forelegs in. After some minutes of fighting with it, Rainbow Dash finally got the latex-like suit up over her body. She zipped it up from the midsection up to her beck and the checked herself out in the mirror. “Hey,” she smiled, “I don’t look half bad.” She had always wondered what she would look like in a Wonderbolts suit; it had been one of her lifelong dreams. She circled around and around and checked herself out in the mirror. Not quite ready to go, Rainbow Dash decided to see if there was another drink in the icebox that she could have.
Rainbow Dash turned and went to walk for it, but she stopped before she could get to far, her eye having caught something in the mirror. She backed up and looked at it closely, only to have a bright red blush spread across her face. She hadn’t noticed it at first, but the suit looked especially sensual as it curved around her rear end went down her flank. “I hope none of the stallions notice,” she muttered with slight worry and then huffed, “Fat chance.” She wondered if she should maybe go try to get a suit that was one size up. “No,” she thought as she stretched her legs out to test for a lack of maneuverability, “this is the right size,” she concluded. From what she knew as a fan and flygirl, the flight suits were meant to be tight in order to keep balance, add weight against the wind, and insulate against the weather. She averted herself from the mirror and went to walk towards the icebox. “It isn’t so bad,” she thought as she approached it, “I can feel it loosening up the more I walk.”
The approached the icebox and pulled the door open to reveal a host of snacks and frozen drinks; she reached inside and grabbed a fruit drink. After she took a few sips, she placed her drink down and did a few more warm-up exercises. The stress and joint pain from the last run was still bothering her, but it was starting to go away and Rainbow Dash knew that it would be better for her if she warmed up a little first. She stretched her wings, ran in place, and stretched all four of her legs out like she had done before.
Once finished, she took her drink with her and went back out into the hallway and up the stairs. “Hey Soarin!” she called out as she walked up onto the deck.
He turned and looked away from the pony he was talking to, obviously part of the stadium staff. “Hey Rainbow Dash!” he called back, “I’ll just be a minute.” To get a little more of the beautiful view, Rainbow Dash walked over to the railing and looked over it towards the horizon while she sipped on her drink. She began to be mesmerized by it, but was eventually shaken out of it by Soarin’s gentle tap. “Hey Rainbow,” he said once more, “sorry about that, a little nasty business with the break room refrigerator. They see fit to blame it on me every time,” he said and smiled innocently.
“Oh that’s too bad,” Rainbow Dash showed her sympathy, “I’m sorry.”
Soarin chuckled, “Don’t be!” he said cheerfully, “It was me.”
Rainbow Dash laughed with him, and when it started to die down she said, “Well, I guess I’m ready to go back out there. Any uh, any extra ‘tips’ you can give me?”
Soarin smiled at her cheek. “Yep, but you could probably tell this one on your own. The goal here is speed. See all those rings,” he pointed out and Rainbow Dash followed his gaze to see a multiple lines of rings scattered about the track, “Well the goal is to fly through them all while trying to get the best time possible. Extra points if you can do any fancy moves like you did before.” Rainbow Dash nodded as she processed it all and Soarin finished, “There’s really no tips I can give you here, but the rings are an illusion.”
“What does that mean?” Rainbow Dash cocked her eyebrow, “You mean they aren’t real or something? They’re made out of air?” she snorted, “Big deal. That makes it all the easier.”
“No, no,” Soarin shook his head, “it’s meant to throw you off from far away. They look like they have lots of moving space between them from here and as you get down on the track, but as you start to get close to and fly through them, you’ll see there’s really no space at all for error.”
Rainbow Dash nodded her head, “OK,” she said and scaled the track over as she had done for her last time. “Any unexpected surprises lying in wait for me?”
Soarin shook his head once more. “Nope,” he said, “like I told you, the goal is speed and the rings are your only obstacle.”
They set off for the launch platform and Rainbow Dash decided to joke around. “Lemme guess,” she said and cocked her eyebrow playfully, “Spitfire doesn’t tell trainees any of that either?”
Soarin smiled at her and chuckled. “Rainbow Dash,” he said and put his foreleg affectionately around her neck once they reached the end of the launch platform, “I think you’re gonna catch on reeeal quick around here.” They smiled at each other and then Soarin finished, “Good luck Rainbow Dash. Impress us again!” The countdown began.
“Will do,” Rainbow Dash smiled confidently over at him, “will do.” The announcing voice gave the signal and Rainbow Dash leapt off the platform with lightning fast speed, again so fast that she left a trail of rainbow hues up on the platform.
“And she’s off,” Soarin mumbled to himself as he pulled his binoculars up and adjusted them. He watched as Rainbow Dash zoomed around the track with impressive speed. As she rounded into the first corner though, Soarin couldn’t help but avert his eyes from the event and over to Rainbow Dash’s already attractive body. It had started as an accident, but Rainbow Dash’s flank passed in front of his binoculars and Soarin couldn’t help but “forget” to pull them away. For him, time seemed to move slower as his eyes followed her beautiful buttocks on their run around the corner. That body and a tight flightsuit was all Rainbow Dash needed to be a model.
As she rounded the corner though, Soarin pulled his eyes away. He smacked his cheek with his hoof, partly because of his guilt, and partly to save Rainbow Dash the trouble should she ever find out. “No!” he ordered himself, “not like that. I’m not going to think of her like that. I’m gonna help her through training, make her become a Wonderbolt, and then take her out to dinner tonight. I… I hope she says yes,” he finished thinking as he watched her come across the finish line. In order to take his mind off of Rainbow Dash for the moment, he noted her time and did a little track math in his head. He concluded that if she kept at this speed, she had a chance of beating her laps previous time, but would risk it on the third by the time she was starting to feel the physical stress return.
She seemed to be doing good though. The rings proved to be no obstacle, even though she did a little bit more spinal stretching then she thought comfortable, and all looked to be smoothing sailing. Soarin watched as she turned onto the straight and smiled to himself when he watched her complete the second lap. As expected, she had beaten her time. “Now she’s real Wonderbolt material if she can beat her time on this last lap,” he thought, “She does that and we’ll have to have her on board. Sure can maneuver the rings good,” he said the last part aloud.
Down on the track, Rainbow Dash knew that everything rode on how she did on this last lap. As she rounded the first corner, she followed the rings that were arranged in a corkscrew like pattern and then got gracefully back on the straightaway. A few more moments of flying, and Rainbow Dash could see the flags of the finish line up ahead. She weaved through the rings, three on the left and then three on the right, over and over again, until she completed them. She glanced up at the clock though, and saw that there was no hope if she wanted to beat her time. She was pumping her wings as fast as she could and she had her body in the most aerodynamic position possible, but the finish line just looked to be so close, and yet so far.
She looked up though, and a new inspiration hit her. She saw Soarin up on the platform, hoof at his mouth, perhaps biting the end of it, looking at her with a look of confident hopelessness. She realized that she had gotten this far and she wasn’t going to let anything stop her from getting where she wanted to be. Her chances of becoming a Wonderbolt looked good as they were, but if she could pull this off, she might as well consider all of this hers. She looked back ahead of her, but then something compelled her to look back up towards the deck; her eyes met dead with Soarin’s. She would never know what it was, but something hit her and when she focused back on the track, she clenched her teeth and shot along as fast as she could. Whether it’s true or not is debated, but most ponies present that day swear that Rainbow Dash was travelling so fast that the wave of a sonic rainboom was beginning to form, a wave that looked like it would create more than just a massive rainboom.
It was like she was way behind, but Rainbow Dash found herself slamming her airbrakes on when she heard the announcer’s voice call, “Time!” She stopped and then proceeded to hover in place where she then looked up and saw her time. Again, she succeeded in surprising even herself. She had gone around the massive, almost mile long track with a time of twenty-two seconds and forty milliseconds.
Out of breath from the boost that she had given herself, Rainbow Dash headed back for the deck, and landed where Soarin greeted her. He hugged her when she landed. They both blushed deeply, though it was obvious that each of them liked it. Soarin backed away from her though, and looked down at the ground. “Sorry,” he mumbled shyly. Rainbow Dash looked away and swatted at the air with her hoof, trying to appear cool at an embarrassing time. “That was amazing Rainbow Dash!” Soarin told her, “I’ve never seen anypony go around the track that fast. You… you may have set a new record!”
Rainbow Dash looked up at him and smiled, “You really think so?” she asked excitedly and smiled brightly, “That would be so cool!”
“I dunno,” Soarin replied, “I dunno, but I’ll get it checked out. That was… just flat out amazing!”
“Thank you,” Rainbow Dash said and smiled with pride.
“No problem,” Soarin said, “Hey, come with me. I have a surprise for you,” he smiled at her.
“A surprise?” Rainbow Dash asked and smiled curiously.
“Yep,” came the reply as Soarin led them to the locker room once more.
“What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked, much like an excited filly.
“It’s a surprise,” Soarin replied, “I can’t tell you.”
“Not even a hint?” she asked.
“Not even a hint,” Soarin said and smiled back at her.
With that, the two of them walked down the stairs and headed towards the locker room where Soarin again opened the door for her. “Come on Soarin,” Rainbow Dash said playfully, “spill it. What’s my surprise?”
“Alright, alright,” Soarin said, “Here.” He pulled a wing badge off of his suit and extended it out to her.
“What is this?” Rainbow Dash asked as she observed the beautiful piece of jewelry.
“It’s your badge Rainbow Dash,” Soarin said, “You’ve earned your wings.”
“You mean I…” Rainbow Dash began, a smile crossing her face quickly. Soarin nodded his head and Rainbow Dash squealed with excitement. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” she said excitedly as she accepted the winged badge with great care. “Oh, thank you!” she said and then leapt up on her hind legs and up around him. They each blushed again when they noticed what was happening, only this time neither backed away.
Eventually though, Rainbow Dash did pull off of him and Soarin chuckled as she did so. “I’m glad that you’re so happy,” he said, “you’ve worked hard for this. There’s usually some ‘formalities’ after this and a ceremony that gives you these, but I had a little word with some ponies topside and we agreed that there was no need to have you subject to any more tests. Oh, and the ceremony is boring anyway.” Rainbow Dash smiled as she went to pin the badge on her suit, but she stopped. Aware of the hesitation, Soarin reassured her, “It’s OK Rainbow Dash, you can do that. The suit is yours to keep, always.”
“Wow!” she whispered to herself, and then whistled, “a Wonderbolts suit just for me, and a new one too!”
“You bet,” Soarin said and nodded his head, “here,” he took the badge and then carefully pinned it on her suit.
Rainbow Dash observed herself in the nearby mirror. “Oh boy,” she said, “just wait until the girls see this!”
Soarin chuckled under his breath once more, pleased to see somepony so happy, and then quietly allowed Rainbow Dash to finish her celebrating after which he told her, “Well, I guess I’ll leave you to get out of your suit. I know that it’s a little uncomfortable at first,” he smiled. Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. “But don’t worry,” Soarin concluded, “you’ll get used to it,” he smiled and turned to leave.
“Great!” Rainbow Dash said with a cheerful tone and watched as Soarin turned to leave. A problem struck her though, and she had to stop him. “Uh… Soarin,” she asked, “How do I?”
He turned back around and cocked an eyebrow. “How do you what?” he asked.
Rainbow Dash looked down at her suit and replied, “How do I get out of this thing?” In all of her Wonderbolts research, Rainbow Dash had never looked into how to actually get out of one of the suits.
Soarin blushed and looked away from her, “I could show you if you want,” he said to her, rather timidly.
“Oh,” Rainbow Dash said and looked away, catching his message, “I guess that’s cool.”
Soarin smiled comfortingly to her and walked over in front of her. “May I?” he asked politely as he reached out and stopped his hoof in midair, having forgotten that Rainbow Dash had already given him permission.
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash replied quietly and nodded her head. Soarin got a little closer to her and angled himself downwards so that he could get at the zipper; he didn’t notice that Rainbow Dash had a deep blush on her face, coupled with an innocent smile, and that her ears were pinned down in embarrassment.
“It’s a little… difficult,” Soarin said as he tugged at the zipper and eventually got it to come down a little, “at first, but you’ll eventually get the hang of it. I remember my first flight suit. You know, the old design? Absolute nightmare.” He glanced up at her and it was all that Rainbow Dash could do to quickly right her ears and make her blush go away.
Soarin blushed as he noticed how far down her chest his hoof and the zipper had gotten. “I… think that should be it,” he commented, “you just pull down from here and then the air coming in should make it to where you just take your front legs out first, and then your back legs out next.”
Rainbow Dash nodded her head. She could do it, but for some reason she just trusted Soarin so much and she didn’t want him to stop. “You know,” she said and scratched the back of her head nervously, “I don’t know if I can reach that. Could you… maybe do it a little more for me?”
Both of their blushes returned. “Sure,” Soarin mumbled with an embarrassed tone. He breathed nervously and pushed the zipper back a little more until the folds opened up to reveal Rainbow Dash’s chest. There was some sweat on it, but that made it seem all the more sensual to Soarin. Her coat was just slightly darker from all the sweat, and Soarin thought that it was magnificent. He wondered what the rest of her body looked like. He stopped himself though and said, “There you go.” He placed his hoof back down on the ground, signaling that he didn’t wish to go any further. Luckily, he was in his flight suit so it saved him from embarrassment and hatred, albeit at the cost of being rather painful. Just thinking of Rainbow Dash’s perfect body coated in sweat and inside that tight jumpsuit aroused Soarin very much. “I uh… I think I should leave you to it,” he said as he started to shift away from her, sideways and facing her at first.
He turned and quickly walked for the door. He kept his tail low and hoped that she wouldn’t notice his erection from behind. She stopped him though, and he gulped. “Hey Soarin,” Rainbow Dash asked, “What about our… date?” she blushed at the word “date”.
Soarin turned slightly, though careful to keep the majority of his side and front out of side. “Yes,” he said, “What about it?”
“Where should I meet you, and at what time? What should I wear?” she asked as she finally slid out of her suit.
“Uh…” Soarin thought quickly, “How about it front of the stadium at six sharp?” he said even quicker, anxious to get out of there.
Rainbow Dash smiled and nodded, “OK then. Should I wear anything? I mean, is it a fancy place?”
“No… no…” Soarin said, wincing as his increasingly growing penis snapped into the almost nonexistent space between his body and the suit, “Anything will do Rainbow Dash, anything will do,” he started to move towards the door again, “Come as yourself even. I’m sure you’ll look as beautiful then as you do now.” The door was so close now.
A blushing Rainbow Dash moved her hoof back and forth over the floor as she looked down at the ground and replied, “I’ll see you then.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Soarin said quickly, “I’ll see you too Rainbow Dash. Sorry I’ve gotta rush but I’ve really, really gotta go to the bathroom.”
“Oh…” was all Rainbow Dash could get out before Soarin took off quickly out the door and down the hallway.
With that, Rainbow Dash folded up her suit and went to place it back in the locker, but stopped when she saw an arrow which pointed to the right and had “Two Over” scribbled above it.
Doing as the arrow instructed, Rainbow Dash moved two lockers over and eventually found a closed one with a plaque on it. Upon the closer inspection, Rainbow Dash saw that the plaque had the name “R. Dash” inscribed onto it. She smiled; her very own locker in the Wonderbolts locker room. She opened it and placed her suit inside, but then saw a crumpled up piece of paper beneath it which she pulled out. The note read, “Three, Five, Seven is the combination for the wall. You did great today Rainbow Dash, and I look forward to seeing you later.” Rainbow Dash smiled at it as she finished reading it. The note was signed, “(Hopefully) Your friend, Soarin”.
Rainbow Dash neatly folded the note and stashed it securely under her wings, so that she could always have it. She closed her locker and looked at herself in the mirror, smiling at the fact that Soarin thought she was beautiful. Once again, she fixed the split ends in her forelocks and went to leave. She had a good while before six, but she was sure that she could find something to do that would be entertaining until then. After all, she was in Canterlot. She headed towards the door and went out into the hallway where she eventually followed the winding corridors out into the main hall of the stadium. As she exited out into the almost perfect night, the sweetness of the note couldn’t help but dwell on her mind. “Hopefully your friend, Soarin,” she said quietly to herself and then smiled, “Definitely my friend… and maybe… something more.”
In his condominium, not far from the stadium, Soarin walked around in a frenzy. “Oh, what to wear, what to wear?” he asked himself as he sifted through drawer after drawer. He would grab a suit, but then decide it was too formal and then put it back. He would place on a simple white dress shirt, but would put it back as well, saying that it was too bland. It just seemed that no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t seem to get the right mixture of nice and casual. “Maybe I should just go as myself?” he asked aloud and looked at himself in the mirror while he messed around with his mane, combing it in several different styles. “No!” he said and flung the comb down on the dresser. What he had said to Rainbow Dash came back to haunt him and he plopped down on the bed and promptly began to smack himself on the head. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” he cursed himself. He stopped beating on his head and sighed, “Oh Soarin, why did you do it? Why? ‘I’m sure you’ll look as beautiful then as you do now’? Oh Celestia, I’ve blown it, I’ve blown it. Spitifire was right.” He wished that Spitfire’s words and teasing didn’t get to him as much, but then he also know that they were more or less true.
Eventually, Soarin concluded that he would just have to put something on and hope for the best. The place he planned on taking Rainbow Dash was a typical Canterlot joint, a casual type of place, so he decided that it would be best to go casual. Nothing that he had seemed to speak to him in that department, so in the end he just pulled out a blue striped tie and tied it around his neck. He looked at himself in the mirror. “It’s not perfect,” he concluded, “but I don’t look horrible.”
Meanwhile, little did he know, Rainbow Dash was across town in her hotel room doing the very same thing. Her luggage had been delivered just a few moments ago from the depot, and it was all Rainbow Dash could do to try and be on time. There were clothes and accessories flung all about the room. Shoes scattered around, dresses and skirts (all courtesy of Rarity of course) flung over the dresser, across the bed and on the floor, and all matter of other disorganization that made the room look like a twister blew through. With each outfit that she tried, the more discontent Rainbow Dash seemed to grow. She didn’t know where she would be going, so that made things all the more difficult. If she knew Canterlot though, which she did, they would be going somewhere pretty fancy. But then again, what if they weren’t going somewhere fancy?
Rainbow Dash pondered going as just herself, as Soarin had invited, but she felt that she might look out of place. She remembered that as she had gotten off the train, she had been one of the only ponies on her way to that stadium that had no clothing on. Even though she caught no glances, Rainbow Dash knew that there were looks being cast at her. It was embarrassing! Rainbow Dash snorted as she crossed in front of the mirror and held up a blue skirt in front of her. “That’s the last thing I want,” she mumbled. She really did like Soarin and she didn’t want to seem clumsy or desperate in front of him. That was another thing too; Rainbow Dash hadn’t been on many dates, and thus she didn’t really know how to act. What should she say and what should she do? There were so many options and ideas flowing in and out of Rainbow Dash’s head that it eventually overwhelmed her and she had to fling herself onto the bed and scream into the pillow. “Why is this so frustrating?” she asked after she had vented her rage.
She laid there for a few moments and thought to herself, but then looked at the clock and decided that she had better get on with it. She would need to be meeting Soarin in one hour, and a good forty minutes of that time would be getting there. She stood and went back to her flung open suitcase and began to sift through it. All of her bodily clothing had been taken out and flung around except for a few t-shirts and turtlenecks, which were hardly anything to be seen in in Canterlot, but a few accessories remained. Nothing really caught Rainbow Dash’s eye until she caught sight of a little maneclip. It had been a gift from Twilight Sparkle for her birthday and scaled down model of her cutie mark. She didn’t know what it was, but something just told her that she should wear it and that it would be all she would need.
She walked over to the mirror and ran a few strands of her forelocks behind her ear and then clipped it with the pin. Afterwards, she angled herself sideways and observed herself in the mirror. “I don’t guess I look that bad,” she commented aloud as she moved her head around. In fact, she looked very beautiful; the clip complimented her mane and coat perfectly, and yet it’s construction made it stand out and demand appreciation for both it and the wearer to whom it belonged.
Turning to another one of her birthday gifts as a rescue, Rainbow Dash grabbed a bottle of perfume out of her suitcase. This one was a gift from Applejack, and it was fresh apple pie scented. As she squirted a few sprays on herself, Rainbow Dash chuckled as she remembered the note that Applejack had placed on the box. “Hey Rainbow Dash!” the note began, “You stink!”
Content with her fragrance, Rainbow Dash set off to meet her date for the evening. It was a quiet walk through the streets at Canterlot’s most scenic time. At around this time, the sun was bathed with a gentle sunset hue and the clouds were just perfectly arranged. The palace on the horizon all but added to the beauty of everything. “We sure don’t have skies like this back in Ponyville,” Rainbow Dash thought as she looked up at the sky.
Across town, Soarin was just starting to walk off the grounds of his complex. He began to walk the familiar route towards the stadium, but stopped and observed himself in the glass of a nearby display, still conscious and worried about his choice of outfit. He hoped that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t think the idea of a tie and nothing else was stupid. “Stop worrying Soarin,” he said to himself and then took a deep breath, “Everything is gonna be OK. Tonight is going to be the best night of your life.” After this, he sank into silence and proceeded to walk along. “Looks like another nice night tonight. Hope it stays like this.”
As the minutes ticked on, the two walked along, getting closer and closer to each other as the seconds passed. Eventually, Soarin was the first to reach the stadium grounds where he took a seat on a bench under a lit streetlamp. Beside himself, he noticed a newspaper. He looked around to the left and then to the right to see if he could find its owner, but upon concluding that he was the only pony around, he picked it up and began to read. “At least it’s something to pass the time,” he thought and glanced up at the clock that was atop the stadium. “Ten ‘till six,” he mumbled and skimmed over the newspaper.
Hurrying as fast as she could, though trying not to mess up her neat mane on the way, Rainbow Dash could see the flags on the stadium from where she was. She had seen one of the street clocks a block or so back and saw that she had only ten minutes to get there. It was possible if she hurried, but Rainbow Dash still wasn’t convinced. She wondered if she should risk flying there. She opened her wings slightly, but closed them when a thought popped into her head. “But did Soarin fly?” she asked herself in her mind. She didn’t want to seem like she was showing off or trying to impress anypony by landing in the square if he was already there. “Is he already there?” Rainbow Dash thought once more as all she could do was hope she wouldn’t be late.
Luckily though, just as it seemed that the clock was about to strike six, Rainbow Dash rounded one last corner and saw her date sitting on a bench, his nose in a newspaper. She entered subtly, but allowed her hoofsteps to be audible with every other step. Soarin looked up and he smiled at her. He placed the paper down and stood up. “Hello Rainbow Dash,” he said as he greeted her. He picked her hoof up and kissed the top of it. The book he had read assured him that it was the perfect move; not too romantic and not too subtle. He only hoped that Rainbow Dash saw it that way too.
Luckily, Rainbow Dash did see it that way, and as something a little more too. She blushed and mumbled an embarrassed “Thank you” when he brought his head back up to her height.
All was quiet for a moment, at least until Soarin got a good look at her. “You look… stunning, Rainbow Dash,” he said as he looked her over, unaware of what he had just said.
Rainbow Dash blushed once more and looked away. “Thank you,” she said once more, “and you look really handsome.”
After that, they were silent for a few moments more until Soarin eventually asked, “So… are we ready to go?”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “After you,” she said and then followed Soarin through the streets.
As they walked on they made small talk. Rainbow Dash asked questions about what it was like in the Wonderbolts and what kind of things they did behind the scenes. Soarin elaborated little and just told her that, “You’ll find out soon enough,” and then he would smile at her.
It wasn’t long until they arrived at the restaurant. “Two please,” Soarin said to the pony at the stand.
“Excellent Mr. Soarin,” the pony replied, “Would you like the usual seat?”
“That’ll be fine, thanks,” Soarin said and smiled as he followed the pony in.
As she followed them through, Rainbow Dash listened to the ponies who had been in line behind them whisper. She heard things like, “Who is that with Soarin?” and “Is that Soarin, from the Wonderbolts?” Questions like these made Rainbow Dash wonder what it was like to be famous. She wanted to ask Soarin what it felt like, but then again she didn’t want to be rude. The pony sat them down at the table and said that a waiter would be along momentarily. As she took her seat, Rainbow Dash pushed all of those thoughts out of her head and decided to focus on the date and do whatever she could to make sure that it was a good one.
They were both quiet as the scanned over the menu looking for something to eat. However, Rainbow Dash felt that there should be a little more communication. Perhaps Soarin was just nervous. Maybe it should be up to her to break the ice. “So…” Rainbow Dash said as she glanced over the top of her menu, “thank you for inviting me here. I really appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem Rainbow Dash,” came the reply, “I’m just glad that you said yes.”
“Are you kidding? I couldn’t have said anything else,” she smiled and then looked back down at her menu. “Great,” she thought to herself, “you broke the ice.” With that, the two started up a conversation and compared dinner items. Having never eaten there before, Rainbow Dash was quite oblivious to the food that was served there. “What’s this?” she asked after awhile and put the menu down flat on the table so that Soarin could see it; she pointed to the item.
“Let me see,” Soarin said as he leaned across the table and looked at the menu choice. It was a personal favorite of his, but before he could go into describing it for her, a delightful scent made its way into her nose. “Is that… apple pie?” he asked and smiled at her.
Rainbow Dash looked down at herself and realized that he was referring to her perfume. “Oh,” she said and smiled, “yeah! It was a present from one of my friends. Do you like it?” she asked.
“I love it,” Soarin said, “though I have to admit that I don’t think you need it.”
Rainbow Dash blushed, getting the message. “Y…you’re very… sweet,” she complimented. She hoped that she had ruined anything with that word “sweet”.
“Well thank you,” Soarin said and looked back down at her menu. “Anyway…” he began softly and then proceeded to describe the menu option.
“I think that’s what I want,” Rainbow Dash said quietly, mainly to herself.
The waiter came around and then the two of them ordered. “I’ll have what the lady is having,” Soarin said and then gave the waiter his menu.
“Very good sir,” the waiter said and nodded his head politely, “May I suggest a bottle of wine for you and the lady?”
Soarin looked over at Rainbow Dash. “Well…” Rainbow Dash began slowly, “I could use a drink.”
“Very well madam,” the waiter said and scribbled something down on his notepad. “Your dishes will be served momentarily.”
As the waiter walked off, the two of them settled in for some conversation. It was all the usual date drab with each asking about where the other was born and how they got where they were today. However, as the minutes went on and as their food was eventually served, they grew into more personal subjects. “So anyway,” Soarin continued something he had been telling her beforehand, “I’m not so good with girls. That’s what Spitfire tells me anyway. I gotta say that I think it’s true,” he said as he stared at his reflection in the crystal wine glass.
“I don’t think you’re that bad,” Rainbow Dash said after awhile.
“Excuse me?” Soarin asked and looked up at her.
“I don’t think you’re bad, with girls I mean,” Rainbow Dash said.
Soarin blushed lightly and said, “Oh you’re just saying that.”
“No,” came the understanding reply, “I’m not.”
“Well what’s your proof?” Soarin asked.
“You’re really sweet and kind, and you’re fun to talk to,” Rainbow Dash smiled.
“Well thank you,” Soarin said and looked down at his food.
“Speaking of which,” Rainbow Dash continued, “what about that note? ‘Hopefully’”? she cocked her eyebrow playfully.
Soarin blushed once more and said, “Yeah. I just didn’t want you to think I was trying to be overly-friendly. There is the one way you have to admit I’m bad at, I can’t tell whether a girl is just trying to be nice or actually likes me.”
Rainbow Dash took a bite of her food but then replied, “I would think all of the girls like you… I know I certainly do.”
“Do you really mean that?” Soarin asked. Rainbow Dash nodded her head and smiled at him.
He took a deep breath and began, “Rainbow Dash, can I tell you something and then ask you something afterwards?”
“Fine by me,” Rainbow Dash said and smiled, “What’s up?”
“Look, I don’t know what it is, but I like you. I really like you. You aren’t like the other mares back at work and here in Canterlot. You’re cool, well… really cool, and you’re nice, and you’re a great pony to talk to. Now… I know I haven’t known you for long, a couple hours maybe, but well… I was kinda hoping that you might want to do this again,” Soarin looked away from her and mumbled the final part, “only next time as… marefriend and stallionfriend?”
Rainbow Dash blushed deeply as the words came to her. She couldn’t believe it! The pony of her dreams was asking her to be his! She didn’t need to think twice about it. She didn’t even need to think once about it! “I would love that,” Rainbow Dash said. She leaned across the table and kissed him on the cheek. It was a girly move, but was the only one that she could think of. Regardless, it made Soarin blush deeply.
The rest of dinner was quiet as the two of them merely reveled in how well the night was going. After eating, Soarin poured them both a glass of wine and offered a toast. “To friendship?” he said and raised his glass in the air.
“To us,” Rainbow Dash smiled and made her glass meet with his.
They both drank simultaneously and then set their glasses down. “So…” Soarin said as he drummed on the table, “are you ready?”
Rainbow Dash nodded, “I think so,” she said and smiled.
“Check please waiter,” Soarin said as a waiter passed him by. The waiter nodded and went off, quickly returning with the bill.
“Here you are sir,” the pony said and placed the bill down on the table and walked off once more.
Rainbow Dash eyed it and her eyes grew wide. Three hundred bits! Rainbow Dash pulled the little purse out from the recess of her wing; she hoped that she had enough to cover her half of the bill. She had exactly one hundred and fifty bits on her. This dinner would break her, but she was sure that she could withdraw some more. “What are you doing?” Soarin asked as he saw her poking around inside of her purse.
Rainbow Dash glanced up at him, but then back down into her purse as she counted. “Trying to make sure that I have enough for my part of the bill,” she explained as she sifted around inside of it.
“That won’t be necessary,” Soarin told her.
Rainbow Dash stopped her sifting and looked up at him. “What do you mean?” she asked and cocked her eyebrow.
“That I’m paying of course,” Soarin said with a smile and went to stand.
Rainbow Dash beat him to it though and stopped him from walking. “Oh no Soarin,” she claimed, “I can’t ask you to do that. You’ve been so nice to me already and there’s no way that I could ask you to pay something so expensive.”
“Nonsense Rainbow Dash,” he persisted, “it’s custom and it’s nothing at all.”
Rainbow Dash thought about it and moved aside. As low as she felt for allowing Soarin to pay her half of the bill, it would be nice to have the money. She would be there for awhile and needed every bit that she could get. “I don’t know how I can ever repay you,” she said.
“I’ll get back to you on that,” Soarin said and then walked up to the register where Rainbow Dash watched him pay. She met up with him by the door and then the two of them exited the building together.
“Didn’t you say you were going to get back to me with something?” Rainbow Dash asked as they walked through the still very much alive streets.
“Yeah,” Soarin said and smiled at her, “well… you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I was wondering if you’d maybe like to come back to my place? I was hoping we could maybe get to know each other a little better. Oh, and I have some things that might help you out with training. You know, stuff like books and detailed plans of all the courses we go to. I think you’ll find them very helpful.”
“I’d like that,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile, again not having to think about it.
“I… I don’t know if you have to be back there or not, but if you wanted to I mean, you could sleep over. There’s a guest room that you can have and I’ll fix breakfast in the morning and…” Rainbow Dash placed her hoof to his mouth and chuckled at his cuteness.
“Calm down Soarin,” she said to him, “I’ll think about it.”
Soarin, with a blush on his face, smiled and nodded his head. “OK,” he said, “OK.” He cleared his throat and looked ahead. “It’s not far from here. Just go to the stadium and then go a coupe blocks east. Well…” he looked up, “It sure is a nice night tonight.”
Rainbow Dash looked up as well. “Yeah,” she agreed and smiled, “it sure is.”
“I’d say its good flying weather. Probably cold up there though, what with the wind,” he indicated the fluttering flags high up on the rooftops.
“We could handle it,” Rainbow Dash said as she looked back ahead.
Soarin chuckled. “I’m sure we could,” he said, “but I’m not up for flying on a full stomach.” They smiled at each other and laughed at his joke. “I like the fact that you’re so confident. I think we need more ponies like you with the Wonderbolts.”
“Thank you Soarin,” Rainbow Dash said. It meant a lot to her that her stallionfriend, a member of the Wonderbolts was complimenting her like this. She already knew that she was going to sleepover with him, and she had no intention of sleeping in another room, but she decided that a little contact between now and then wouldn’t hurt. She snuggled up close to him like Spitfire had done back at the stadium, prompting him to blush hard. “What’s wrong?” she teased him.
“Nothing,” Soarin said and tried to hide his blush, “I’m just… not used to it.”
“Not used to what?” Rainbow Dash asked and looked up at him, though she kept herself close to him.
“I’m just not used to being touched by… girls,” he said and looked away from her.
“Get used to it,” she replied.
