"Mom, do we seriously have to be here?" Dash asked, groaning loudly as both her and Firefly trotted through Cloudsdale stadium.

"Oh sweetheart, do you have be like this?" Firefly groaned in return as both of them waded through large masses of ponies. "Soarin personally invited the both of us to watch the Wonderbolt race today, and he even got us front row seats. Besides, you already agreed to talk with him. Also you used to love coming to watch the Wonderbolts race as a filly."

Simply rolling her eyes, Dash was going to reply, but the constant noise from all the ponies around her made it hard to properly speak without shouting. Though she didn't want to admit it, Dash knew Firefly was very much right. She loved coming to watch the Wonderbolts, and was even excited that she was going to watch them race, but because it was Soarin that invited them, and since Dash still didn't trust him, her mood wasn't what it should have been. Even the scent of hay fries and popcorn that she always loved didn't improve her mood, and she even found those smells irritating her.

"So? I liked it better when one certain Wonderbolt wasn't trying to win you over," Dash groaned. "And you know that since he tried to invite me, he's just trying to make himself look good in your eyes."

"Dash, why must you think the worst of him?" Firefly asked as she looked around for a food stall. "Sure, you both had one bad night, but you’ve got to give him a chance sooner or later. Hey, you want something to eat? The hay fries smell great today."

"No thanks, mom. But seriously, I'll only give him a chance after you dump him and give him a kick in his nuts," Dash rebutted.

"Hey, watch your language," Firefly sternly said to her as she gave Dash a nudge with her body. "I expect you to act your age in public."

"What? No one is going to say anything to me. Besides, please don't talk to me like I'm a filly," Dash replied as she nudged her mother back.

"Then don't act like one... 'Bow," Firefly remarked as she smiled at Dash.

Frowning, she stuck out her lower lip at Firefly. Dash hated her mother's version of scolding, but at the same time she couldn't help but smile at her mother's attitude.

"Ugh, fine," Dash said as she suddenly stopped and felt something sticky on the bottom of her hoof.

Stopping and looking down, Dash quickly lifted her hoof up and saw she stepped on a piece of chewed bubble gum.

"Ewww, I should have went with the girls to Canterlot instead," Dash whined as she scraped the pink gum off her hoof and put it on the floor.

"Oh come now, 'Bow, you make it sound like this is the worst possible thing to happen to you today," Firefly chuckled.

"Only thing that will improve my day is getting this day over and done with," Dash groaned as she started to trot again.

Letting out a deep sigh, Firefly was ready to walk without saying anything, but noticing Dash wasn't smiling at all, her motherly side kicked in. Putting a smirk on her face before she moved to Dash's side, Firefly quickly lifted her front hooves up and wrapped one around Dash's neck while the other one started to rub against her mane.

"Oh cheer up, will ya? It's no fun when my little girl is all moody and crabby at the world," Firefly teased as she messed up Dash's mane.

"Hey! Mommm! Mom, get off of me. Cut that out," Dash whined as she struggled but found her mood improve slightly from what was happening. "Hey, come on, everyone is looking!"

While her words were slightly over exaggerating, Firefly did see a few ponies looking in their direction and either chuckled at them or gave their heads a shake. Even though it didn't bother her, Firefly let go of Dash and put her hooves back on the floor.

"Aww, I thought you liked being the center of attention, 'Bow," Firefly spoke out as she gave Dash a cheeky grin.

With her mother off of her, Dash found her mane all disheveled and messy, making her look like she just woke up from bed. Though it was messy and partly covering her face, Dash just blew some of her hair out of her face before she rolled her eyes at her mother.

"Kinda embarrassing when my own mother likes to think she's a joker," Dash replied as both of them walked up to a food stall for popcorn and mini donuts.

"You know you love it when I tease you, dear," Firefly said to Dash before she turned her attention to the food stall owner. "Hey, can I get a bucket of popcorn and a bucket of mini donuts?"

Though Dash wasn't really hungry, she wasn't going to remind her mother about it. Besides, with her being close to the food stall, Dash's nose caught onto the scent of the mini donuts and instantly she wanted to try a few. Once her mother had paid the owner the required amount of bits, she grabbed the handle of the donut bucket with her teeth and passed it to Dash. Quickly taking it from her with her own mouth, Dash watched as her mother grabbed the popcorn and both continued on their way to the seating area.

As both ponies eventually found their way to the large, open air stadium, both took to the sky and made their way to the seats they were given. Thankfully—and unfortunately, by Dash's standards—Soarin went ahead and put a reserved sign on their seats and even had a few security guards watching them so no one took them. As they neared it, both the security guards nodded their heads at them before they took off somewhere else.

"Aww, Soarin was nice enough to make sure we got to watch from our spots," Firefly spoke with a blush on her face as she knew Wonderbolts could make anything happen.

"Ugh, he's trying wayyy too hard for my tastes," Dash groaned as she flew to her seat, but stopped as she saw that Soarin even left them small notes on the seats.

"Hmm, what's this?" Both mares replied as they looked at the letters left for them. While Firefly read hers quickly before she chuckled and blushed harder, Dash wasn't amused by what her note said.

Here you go, Skittles, hope me and you can make up after the race is over. -Soarin.

"Ugh, should have stopped reading after Skittles," Dash sighed before she took the note and crumpled it up.

"Oh, you had a note as well?" Firefly spoke in a cheerful manner but instantly frowned as Dash finished crumbling it into a ball and kicking it under her seat. "Really, Dash? Was that necessary?"

"What? He's just trying to get under my skin again," Dash replied as she took to her seat and placed her bucket of donuts on her lap. "What did he say on yours?"

Though she was frowning, Firefly quickly smiled as she read the note out loudly to Dash.

"Hope you enjoy the show, sweetheart. I'll be dedicating my victory to you," Firefly spoke out as her heart filled with joy while Dash found hers just filling with sickness.

"Ugh, can he be any more corny than he already is?" Dash groaned as she grabbed a donut and ate it in one bite. "Honestly, I hope he gets last place so I can rub it in his face."

Opting to stay quiet, Firefly simply rolled her own eyes and sat down in her seat. Just as she sat down, the stadium music started to play and the large crowd that gathered started to quiet down. Turning their ways to the racing platform, the quiet crowd instantly went into a cheering frenzy as four ponies dressed in Wonderbolt race outfits appeared before them. Though fully dressed up, Dash was quickly able to figure out which ponies were racing.

“Hmm, looks like it’s Surprise, Fleetfoot, Rapid Fire, and Soarin racing today,” Dash muttered to herself as the ponies lined up from left to right and waved to the audience. Though she was a bit disappointed that her true idol Spitfire wasn’t racing, Dash was still happy to see other familiar Wonderbolts.

“Eh, whatever, least Fleet is racing, so I know Soarin ain’t winning,” he spoke up louder, letting her mother hear her.

“Don’t count Soarin out of this yet, dear,” Firefly replied as she turned to Dash. She quickly looked back as the sound of someone tapping a mic with their hoof played out and the music started to die down.

“Mare and stallions; colts and fillies of all ages! Welcome to our special Wonderbolt exhibition race!” A silver pegasus spoke out in a stereotypical announcer voice. “Tonight for our line-up we have the following racers! Starting from the left… Surprise!”

As he spoke, a white mare with yellow hair stepped forward and a fair amount of her fans broke into ceer. Though not overly loud, Dash knew Surprise was more of an acrobatic flyer than the racing type.

“Next… Fleetfoot!”

As Surprise stepped back, the male side of the crowd went wild as a soft blue mare with a snow white mane stepped forward. Though she was Dash’s second favorite Wonderbolt, she was her favorite in the personality department. She loved watching her act like she didn’t care about the male audience when they cheered for her, considering she actually had a kid of her own, and Dash even loved it more when Fleetfoot took control of a mic and spoke. In fact, Dash smiled as Fleetfoot walked to the announcer and asked for the mic from him.

“Oh come on, you can cheer louder than that! Let’s get some ladies in it as well!” Fleetfoot charismatically spoke out, instantly causing many more ponies to cheer her on from the female side.

Satisfied with the result, Fleetfoot gave the mic back to the announcer and resumed her spot on the podium.

“Next… Rapid Fire!”

Stepping up, the crowd went back to nearly the same level they cheered for Surprise, only being a bit louder. While Rapid Fire himself was a newer Wonderbolt, his specialty was in the areas of flying longer than any other Wonderbolt, including Spitfire herself. Continuing to watch him, Dash saw him blushing and waving his wing at the audience and she knew he was one pony that preferred staying out of the spotlight.

“And last but certainly not least…. Soarin!”

As the announcer finish, the whole place erupted into a loud cheer. Be it stallions, mares, and even kids, Soarin was one of most loved racers in the current era of Equestria. Yet as loud as it was, Dash remained quiet and just huffed as the cocky stallion took to the air and lifter his hooves up, almost like he was trying to make everyone cheer louder. Sadly for Dash it worked, and all she could do was try to ignore all of it. Even more sadly was that her mother was nudging her with her own hoof and trying to get Dash into the spirit of racing. Finally, as Soarin went back down and the crowd quieted down, Dash thought the race was about to start.

Of course Soarin had one more thing he wanted to do.

Much like Fleetfoot, Soarin walked to the announcer and asked for the mic so he could speak. Tapping the end a few times so the crowd would be perfectly quiet, he looked around the stadium and began to speak.

“I’ll keep this short and sweet for all my fans!” Soarin spoke as a few ponies gave him a cheer. “Techie, shine the light on the beautiful pink mare in the front row!”

“Hey, what’s he doing?” Dash asked as a spotlight instantly shone on her mother. “Wait… is he seriously… Oh my god he is.”

“I’m dedicating this race and my victory to you my beautiful Firefly!” Soarin added in as he gave her a wink and blew a kiss at her.

Though shocked by his sudden actions, Firefly couldn’t help but blush like a little filly. As she did, the sound of males whistling at her from the stands only intensified the redness showing on her face.

“Oh my god, could you be any more corny?” Dash groaned as she slapped her hoof to her face and dragged it down.

As she finished, Dash turned to her mother and just shook her head as Firefly blew a kiss back at him.

“Seriously mom? That kind of act is something old ponies buy,” Dash huffed as she looked to her donut bucket before grabbing another one.

“Hmph, are you implying I’m an old mare?” Firefly replied as she gave Dash a stern look.

Realizing she messed up and voiced an opinion that should have stayed a thought, Dash tried to respond. With the donut half way down her throat, she simply coughed in return.

“That’s what I thought,” Firefly chuckled as she turned her attention back to Soarin, who was now heading to the starting line with the rest of the flyers.

“Alright race fans, without further ado… let’s start this race!” the announcer spoke out as the fans cheered and the racers got into proper position.

“Racers ready? Three… Two… One… GO!”

~~~

“Ughhh, can’t believe that no good stallion actually won the race,” a disgruntled Dash spoke out as the race came to an end, and, sadly for her, the victor was Soarin. “Idiot must have asked Fleetfoot to give him the race so he could impress my mother.”

“Oh Dash, must you be like that?” Firefly responded as she clapped her hooves over and over. “Maybe Soarin is just that good.”

Before Dash could give a response of her own, both mares noticed that Soarin was flying towards their general direction. While Dash just simply looked away with an unamused look, Firefly smiled widely as he approached her.

“Enjoy the race, Firefly?” Soarin asked as he landed right in front of her.

“I did. You were amazing,” Firefly replied as she quickly pulled herself up and hugged her forelegs around his neck and gave his cheek a kiss.

“Hey, I’m still here you know,” Dash chimed in, not wanting to see her mother give him any sort of affection.

“What? There’s nothing wrong with a beautiful lady showing her love and affection,” Soarin replied as he nuzzled Firefly’s cheek in return.

“Ehhh, whatever,” Dash muttered in response as she pulled herself up and let her donut bucket fall under her. “Let’s just head out.”

“Dash, can you at least a bit nicer to him?” Firefly asked.

As Dash turned her head to her mother, she couldn’t help but notice the cocky grin plastered across Soarin’s face. Though she wanted to punch the smug look off of his face, Dash decided to leave well enough alone… to a certain extent.

“Ugh, fine mother, I’ll leave your boy toy alone,” Dash remarked, causing both Soarin and Firefly to give her a distasteful look. “What? That’s as nice as I wanna be.”

“Dash, do you have to—” Firefly started to say but was cut off as Soarin stepped forward.

“Don’t worry, Firefly, I won’t let it get to me,” Soarin replied as he flexed his right wing and rubbed a feather under her chin. “As long as I’m next to you, nothing truly bothers me.”

“Oh god, you’re even more corny than I thought,” Dash broke in with a grunt of disapproval, but she found herself ignored by the two of them.

“Shall we head out now? We still have a dinner date planned for later,” Soarin spoke softly to her as he continued to rub her chin with his feather.

“Mhmmm, yes we should,” Firefly purred in response suddenly felt the need to take a washroom run. “But… I need to run to the little mares room first. Sweetheart, I think now would be a good time to talk to Soarin.”

Before Dash could answer, Firefly opened her wings, and flapping hastily, she flew in the direction of the nearest washroom. With both Dash and Soarin by themselves, Soarin wasted no time in walking close to Dash and grinning smugly at her.

“So… did you enjoy the race, Skittles?” Soarin asked as he stuck his nose in the air.

“Fuck off, I don’t want to talk to you,” Dash replied harshly in return as she quickly started to walk away from him.

“Hey, come on, didn’t your mother ask you to be nicer to me?” Soarin replied as he rushed to her side and walked with her. “Besides, I was nice enough to invite you to this race, so you could show a bit more respect.”

“Pshhh, you think after that night at the bar you’ll ever be shown respect by me? You’re sadly mistaken, Soarin.”

“Hey now, you seriously gonna use that as an excuse to stay angry at me? I’m hurt by your words, Dash,” Soarin replied as he faked a frown. “You know staying angry at ponies is bad for your health and could lead to you getting gray hairs in that beautiful mane of yours.”

“Whatever, let’s just wait for my mother to get back from the bathroom,” Dash said as both of them came to a crowded area.

“Hmm, you really don’t make this easy, do you?” Soarin asked with a longing sigh as he started to realize just how stubborn Dash truly was. “Isn’t there anything I can do to make you stop hating me so much?”

“Yeah, when you stop dating my mom and go back to being a stupid drunk.”

"Hmph, I see how it’s going to be,” Soarin replied as he was starting to get to his wits end with Dash. “Well, if you're going to play hardball with me," Soarin added as he moved in close and turned his words into a whisper. "Then let’s talk about you getting into the Wonderbolts."

Dash felt her eyes widen and even felt her ears stand on edge.

"If you don't like me being around your mother, then I think I wouldn't like you to be in the Wonderbolts at all," he whispered slyly into her ear before he started to pull away.

Fuming with rage and letting that hatred flow from her, Dash was ready to punch Soarin in the face. Though she had little regard for him, she never thought he would resort to a low blackmailing tactic like that. Feeling her body quake with anger, she was ready to turn to him and clock him but thinking about her mother. Quickly suppressing her anger, she thought of a little trick she learned from her mother while living with her.

"Could you repeat that?" Dash spoke as she did her best to hide her growing smirk. "Didn't quite catch that."

"I said that, unless you start changing your attitude, you're not getting into the Wonderbolts," Soarin repeated as he moved back in but made sure his voice was louder.

"Ahhh, must be a bit deaf from the loud cheering," Dash replied as she brought a hoof up and rubbed her ear. "A bit louder please?"

“Ugh, I said you better start changing your attitude or you're not getting into the Wonderbolts, Dash!" Soarin spoke louder as he was starting to get nerved by her more.

"Hmm, thought you said that," Dash answered back as she got herself ready. "And this is my answer!"

Before Soarin could properly react, Dash quickly brought up her right hoof and punched Soarin in his face. As her hoof connected with the bridge of his nose, Soarin moved back a few steps before his legs buckled and he fell to the cloud below.

"Fuck! Y-you... did you seriously just hit me!?" Soarin shouted at Dash as his eyes watered up and he moved his front hooves to his face. "Arghhh, Y-you broke my nose! God dammit, you broke my fucking nose!"

As Soarin cursed loudly and began to snarl at Dash, nearly everyone around the area stopped and turned to watch the scene unfolding before them. While Dash cared to not look at the ponies around her, she was more happy with herself as she saw a line of blood running down Soarin's face from the punch.

"That's what you get for trying to blackmail me you piece of shit!" Dash cursed at him. "You seriously think I'll let you be with my mother just so I'm guaranteed to be in the Wonderbolts!? Fat chance!"

Though he continued to snarl at Dash, Soarin instantly regretted doing what he did. He was sure his position in the Wonderbolts would help, and knowing very well it was Dash's dream to be one like him, he thought he could play his cards right and end up having what he wanted. Instead, his actions landed him getting punched by a mare who wasn't going to bend to his command.

"H-hey, I was just... just kidding, Dash," Soarin stammered out as he tried to start backpedaling his actions and saw the eyes of many upon him. "I-it... ahhh, it was just a joke. C-come on, Dash, you seriously thought I was going to use my, um… my power like t-that?"

"Can it, Soarin! There is a reason I asked you to repeat yourself twice over," Dash replied as she moved towards him.

"H-hey, stay away… stay away from me!" Soarin stammered as he tried to crawl away.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't hit your pretty face anymore," She said to him before she turned her attention to the crowd around her. "Guess what everyone? This... Wonderbolt you all adore just tried to blackmail me!"

“N-no! Wait, Dash… you can’t do this!” Soarin spoke in a hushed panic. “T-think of being a Wonderbolt before you say anything more!”

“Shut it! This Wonderbolt tried to use my own mother as a bargaining tool just so he could get a piece of tail for himself!”

"She's not lying!" A mare spoke out from the side that actually heard Soarin repeat himself twice. "I heard the whole thing! He tried to shut her up so he could be with her mother!"

As she spoke, Soarin instantly knew he was fucked, and even with his nose busted up and his vision blurry, he pulled himself up.

"Wow, what a piece of work!" another pony spoke their mind.

"Can you believe that? He just tried to slander that mare,” another chimed in.

"What a scumbag!"

"Booo!"

“Wait! No! You got it all wrong! I… I would never blackmail anyone for personal gain!” Soarin plead loudly in hopes he wouldn’t lose the crowd’s favor.

“If it wasn’t blackmail then what is it, Soarin? Because blatantly threatening me like you did is very much called blackmail!” Dash responded, loudly and angrily.

“Hey, come on, Dash, I said it was a joke! Y-you honestly think I would stoop that low!?” Soarin asked, making sure he was just as loud as her.

“Stoop that low?” Dash replied as she started to recall the night at the bar. “Nah, I’ve seen you stoop lower. Remember that night at the bar and how you kept touching me even after I said no!?”

With those words said, the crowd instantly gave Soarin a cold look.

“H-hey, you don’t need to bring that up! That was a… uhm, a personal manner we were resolving!” Soarin said meekly as he found himself losing ground in the argument.

“Personal manner? Soarin, everyone in the bar saw you but no one said anything because you’re a high ranking officer in the Wonderbolts. Unfortunately for you, I’m not scared to say it like it is! You’re nothing but a little scheming colt who just wants to get any tail he can get!”

Knowing very well that was the cold hard truth, Soarin instantly went quiet and lost his nerve to speak. Quickly looking around him, he saw his once beloved fans eying him down, almost like they were ready to pounce on him and beat him to a pulp. Not wanting to get more banged up than he already was, Soarin turned tail and ran off. As he did, Dash smirked as she knew his reputation would be shot forever and felt a sense of justice for what she did. Of course, as she stared into the crowd, Firefly was starting to return.

"Dash? What just happened?" she asked as she pushed through the crowd and came back to Dash's side. "And where is Soarin? I thought you two were working out your differences."

"Sorry mother, I hate to break it to you but I was right about Soarin," Dash answered as her smirk disappeared. "He just tried to blackmail me."

"W-what!?" Firefly asked in return, utterly shocked.

"Yeah, he said unless I let you be with him, I'm not getting into the Wonderbolts.”

“S-sweetheart, are you sure you heard that right!? Soarin didn’t seem like the type to blackmail others.”

“Oh, I’m very sure I heard him right. In fact, everyone around me heard him all thanks to that little trick you showed me."

"Trick? What trick?" Firefly asked, unsure of what she was talking about.

"The one where you get someone to repeat what they said twice to you," Dash spoke as she put her smirk back on. "And after he was done speaking, I nailed him in his stupid, smug face."

Blinking her eyes at what Dash did, Firefly started to remember that tactic. Knowing very well she used it a few times on past boyfriends, she couldn't help but smile at her daughter. Of course she was still angry Dash actually punched Soarin and was still skeptical Soarin blackmailed her.

"Really? But… he was so nice to me, and I highly doubt he would blackmail you just to have me,” Firefly replied as she brought a hoof to her jaw.

"Mom, look at me,” Dash said as she brought her own hoof up and placed it against her mother’s jaw before turning her head to face her. “Soarin tried to blackmail me. You know I would never lie to you about something like this.”

“Yes but-”

“Mom. Listen. Ponies around me heard him say such and the reason he took off was because he got cocky with his words and got caught.”

Still a bit rattled by what happened, Firefly quietly stared into her daughter’s magenta eyes. Looking to see if there was any truth to her words, she tried to see if they would look around desperately as if she was trying to make up a lie. Sadly, Firefly only saw the straight forward look she was getting from Dash and she was starting to believe her.

“Mom, you know I love you, and you know very well I would never lie to you about anything,” Dash spoke out as she still saw doubt in Firefly’s eyes. “If you don’t believe me then why did Soarin run off?”

"He ran off? Where did he go then?" Firefly asked.

"That way after everyone saw how much of a scumbag he was," Dash answered back as she pointed in the general direction Soarin ran to. "I think that's all the last time I'll ever see his ugly busted up mug."

"Umm, sweetheart? You realized you just punched a Wonderbolt, right?" Firefly asked as she grew more concerned and knew that Dash's chances of getting into the Wonderbolts were now marginally less. "If he stays with them then there is a good chance you'll have a harder time getting in. Not to mention that Soarin may press charges for you assaulting him."

"I'm not worried if that happens, all I wanted was to show ponies how much of a scumbag he was. Even if he presses charges and I get arrested, I'm more happy that you no longer have to deal with that douche."

"But... what about your dream, dear?"

"Ehh, I’d rather not be a Wonderbolt alongside him anyway. Besides, I care more about you than flying… well... maybe loving you and flying are very closely tied," Dash replied as she moved close to her mother and put her foreleg over her mother's back. "Anyhow, why don't we head home? I think I've had enough fun for the day."

Still saddened that she was single again, Firefly felt more joy than anything.

"I guess so," Firefly spoke with a deep sigh. "Damn, and here I thought I found someone I could grow old with."

"Hey... you still got me mom," Dash said in response as she hugged her. "You know I ain't leaving your side."

"True... Huh, guess it shows I should be more wary of who I'm with from now on," Firefly replied as she hugged her back. "Come on, let's head home."

Happy to see her mother wasn't fully upset, Dash moved her foreleg off her mother and began to trot. Starting to trot alongside Dash, Firefly took one more look in the general direction Soarin ran off to before she looked to her daughter and smiled.

Author's Note

Ain't done this yet, still got one more chapter being made!