Obligatory Post-Wedding SoarinDash Ship

Chapters

Princesses, Punch, and the Ponyrazzi
Roulette Dares
The Spectral Fire [WARNING: EXPLICIT]
Dyslexicon
The Malady of Veda
Abrasions Mount the Timpani
Volt-Faced Cons
Transoceanic Depth in this Earth, in this Cenotaph [WARNING: EXPLICIT]

Princesses, Punch, and the Ponyrazzi

Dash's flight began to slow. She could see her tail slowly gaining it's definition back, as the river of colored light that followed her began to fade. Rather than letting it trail off and slowly simmer away, she propelled herself forward with a powerful flap and seperated herself from the stream of light caused by her Rainboom. She landed gingerly at the punch table and folded up her wings.

She poured herself a glass of punch amid a crowd of impressed onlookers. She relished in the cheers, but her expression changed when she was able to discern a familiar voice somewhere behind her.

"That was really something Dash!"

She turned to see Soarin, second in command of the Wonderbolts, casually approaching the punch bowl. Despite her frequent run-ins with the Wonderbolt as of late, she still hadn't gotten completely used to seeing one of her childhood idols in the fur. Her heart skipped a beat, but she quickly regained her composure; she didn't want to appear as a fangirl.

"Oh, uh, hey Soarin! Thanks!" She managed to stammer. She finished pouring her punch and took a sip, searching for more time to pull herself together.

"No, Dash, really, I've never seen anything like that. At the "Best Young Fliers" competition, you needed like, a mile of airspace to achieve those kinds of speeds! You shot off like a rocket! A rocket! Oh, also, do you know if your friend Applejack made any of those pies?"

Dash thought back to the Best Young Flyers competition, remembering her encounter with the Wonderbolts. She thought of the Grand Galloping Galla, when yet again she impressed Soarin with her speed. Part of her just wanted to hang with her idols, but she would be lying to herself if she said she hadn't been standing a little closer to Soarin that night than she was to the other Wonderbolts.

In the past, Dash had typically only seen him after performances, when he was covered up by his flight-suit. He also usually kinda smelled, obviously exhausted from his performance. Not that Dash really minded; she didn't have as much of an aversion to his scent as she would have any other stinky pony. Still, tonight was different. He was in fully formal attire, as he hadn't been performing that night.

Well, maybe not FULLY formal Dash thought to herself as she glanced over at Rarity and Fancypants.

Turning her attention back to Soarin, her eyes wandered to his flank. There, Rainbow Dash could see his cutie mark for the first time; it was identical to the symbol on all the male Wonderbolt member's suits.

That didn't make sense; Spitfire is the captain of the Wonderbolts, Dash thought to herself. Soarin might be the best flyer on the team, but he wasn't the captain... it just didn't make sense. She'd have to ask him about it.

Dash had become so engrossed in her thoughts that her brain had become a cacophony of emotion. She was ecstatic to hear how impressed Soarin was with her flying, but she couldn't help but worry. Her thoughts instantly went to the worst-case scenario. She'd gone through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy back in flight school after one too many disagreements with classmates, and she was mostly over it. Still, when she found herself in these kinds of situations, her negative thinking would still manifest.

Perhaps he's just using me to get closer to Applejack... he *DOES* love those pies she makes... thought Rainbow Dash, always naturally suspicious.

However, Dash didn't have time to dig herself into a mental hole. Soarin stepped up beside her and refilled her now empty-punch glass, and poured one for himself.

"Cheers! To the best young flier in Equestria!"

Rainbow Dash blushed again. She clinked her glass against Soarin's, and they both downed their punch.

"Miss Dash! Mr. Soarin!" a thin young colt cried out. The pegasi pair turned towards the voice just before a blinding light shot out at them.

"Arrgh!" Dash shouted, shielding her eyes. Soarin just laughed;

"Not used to getting your picture taken?" asked Soarin as he placed his glass down onto the table. He was still beaming at Dash, but his initial excitement had tapered off and he now casually leaned against the punch table. He did need to look good in pictures, and of course there would be pictures.

"Huh? Wha- I, OH! I, um..."

"What's wrong Dash? Why are you so nervous?"

Dash just stared at the photographer blankly. Soarin wasn't sure if she'd heard him, but he decided to continue as if it hadn't happened.

"Please don't tell me you're still starstruck; there's... thousands of mares who would date me unconditionally, but I always kind of assumed you were attracted to more than just my celebrity."

Rainbow Dash struggled for air for a second before filling her lungs. She smiled and turned away, but on reevaluation of what Soarin said, she whirled back around.

"Whoa, Soarin, who said I was attracted to you."

Soarin appeared taken aback for a moment, but a sly smile crept onto his face. He placed one hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder, and with the other he stroked her multi-colored mane. He leaned in close to her ear, where his whispers would not be picked up by the army of Ponyrazzi surrounding them. What he said made Dash's hair stand up with excitement, her bottom lip began to quiver with nervous anticipate as she considered his offer.

"How 'bout you and I go get something a little stronger; I have a barrel of cider back at WBHQ."

Dash started to get dizzy. She would have collapsed to the floor were Soarin's arms not supporting her. Soarin felt her getting heavier in his arms and a wave of slight panic coursed through him. He saw the Ponyrazzi almost surrounding the two of them, separated only by the velvet rope of the VIP section.

The last thing he needed right now was some tabloid putting out another story about his romantic life. He whispered again into Dash's ear:

"Do you uh, do you need to lie down or something?"

Dash did her best to give an affirmative nod. Soarin turned around and Dash climbed onto his back. She couldn't help but laugh at the irony; moments before she had been performing the most impressive stunt Canterlot had ever seen, and now she appeared to be incapable of flying whatsoever. She positioned her arms under Soarin's wings, as not to impede his movement, and her head fell into the deposit between his shoulder and his neck.

Before they could take off, the skinny photopony from before called out to the pegasi pair:

"Soarin! What's wrong with Dash? Is she okay? What happened?!" What seemed like hundreds of microphones were shoved into Soarin's face. A lesser pony might have been overwhelmed by the attention, but seeing as Soarin was the second longest serving member on the Wonderbolts, he had experienced his fair share of media harassment. He knew how to handle this.

"Dash just performed a Sonic Rainboom, I'm sorry, the *LEGENDARY* Sonic Rainboom. She's exhausted."

Before Soarin could liftoff, the skinny photopony cried out to him once more.

"But, but, but where are you taking her?"

Soarin cocked his head that the Ponyrazzi and let out an audible chuckle.

"If I told you that, you'd all follow me."

With a wink, Soarin took off and the two blue Pegasi hurtled into the sky, the lights of the reception shrinking to mere twinkles beneath them.

It must've been the night-time air, or perhaps their newly found solitude, but Rainbow Dash exhaled a sigh of relief. Able to think once again, she glanced to the ground behind her. All of Canterlot was celebrating, and with the forcefield now removed, the open sky was once again accessible.

"I don't know how they dealt with it," Soarin began, "If I had to spend weeks under a bubble, I'd go nuts!"

Dash giggled and turned her attention back to Soarin;

"Well, remember, Canterlot is mostly populated by unicorns. You should know that, you live here!"

Soarin looked back at Dash for the first time since they took flight. Suddenly and without warning, Soarin spun himself around so that his back was facing the ground, nimbly catching Rainbow Dash on his belly. Startled by the sudden change in position, Dash's wide maroon eyes locked with Soarins.

"Wow!" exclaimed Dash, peeking her head around Soarin's body to look at his wings, "How are you flying while you're upside down?!"

"Come on," Soarin began, "I JUST saw you do the same thing during your Sonic Rainboom!"

"Right, but that was all contingent on my velocity! I couldn't have maintained that had I not been going so fast. I was just gliding, whereas you're FLYING at a leisurely pace. Not to mention, you're supporting all my weight."

Soarin chuckled to himself; Rainbow Dash barely weighed anything. He'd done much more complicated routines while holding Spitfire, who must have been twice Dash's weight.

It was and impressive talent though; flying with your back to the ground defies the fundamentals of flying that every Cloudsdale pegasus is taught in their youth. To sustain oneself while flying with one's belly up was simple for a talented flyer like Rainbow Dash, but she couldn't imagine doing it at this altitude, with these winds, at this speed, and with another pony lying on her belly. She focused back on Soarin and began;

"Hey Soarin?"

"What's up?"

"... never mind." Dash had lost her confidence and felt ashamed for even considering such a thing. He was just doing her a favor after all... though the chemistry between them was undeniable. Rainbow Dash's thoughts began to crawl to the realm of physical intimacy when she was jarred to reality by Soarin's voice.

"You," Soarin began, bringing his face closer to Dash's.

"You are a VERY impressive pony."

Dash was momentarily taken aback. She'd met Soarin plenty of times before, but they'd never had a talk like this. Furthermore, Soarin had never expressed any admiration toward Dash, and the fact that he did surprised her. Just as she was about to move in to kiss him, a dark thought crept into her pony mind.

"Soarin..."

"What?"

"...you're not... just saying these things because you want to..."

Soarin's eyes widened, and for a brief moment, his wings stopped flapping. However, with an exhale, he began to beat his wings again. Dash was still laying on his belly, staring down at him with large maroon eyes.

"Dash..." he began, "I already told you; if I was just looking for a rut, there are tons of hot pieces of flank who'd be down. Not to sound arrogant, but it's true."

Dash considered this. He had a point; he was a Wonderbolt! He could probably get any mare he wanted! She looked back down at him, her hooves on his chest.

"That still doesn't explain why you like... well, 'me' over anypony else!"

All of a sudden, the pair came to a dead stop in the middle of their leisurely flight. Dash had just gotten comfortable on Soarin's belly, but she found herself being whisked around yet again. All of a sudden, she was looking up at Soarin, who was now on top of her.

"Do I need a reason?"

With that, Soarin launched into a passionate kiss; one that rivaled Cadence and Shining Armor's just moments before.

Roulette Dares

Dash was flying on her own now, her blue wings beating the air along with Soarin's. They descended to Canterlot Castle together and entered through a window in one of the towers. Dash began to trot towards her room before whirling around and shooting Soarin an accusatory glance.

"Wait... how the hay did you know I was staying here?" Rainbow Dash pointed towards the decorated door to the room she'd be given by Celestia.

Soarin cocked his head at the door before laughing to himself.

"What? What's so funny?" Dash was concerned, confused, and maybe even a little creeped out. There was no harm in the playful flirting they'd partaken in during their previous encounters, but stalking?...

"I... I didn't know you were staying here. I was taking you to my room; right here," Soarin inserted a key into the door directly across the hall and opened it.

Dash's face turned red. She had been staying right across the hall from him for the past two nights, and hadn't realized it. She was about to apologize, until she realized that Soarin himself hadn't realized this either. At least, as far as she knew.

She was so consumed in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed that Soarin's room was much more impressive than hers. And larger. The Wonderbolt himself had disappeared into the marble covered suite, but upon noticing Dash hadn't followed him, he called out:

"Dash? Where are you? You gotta check out these digs."

She followed his voice. Her room wasn't modest by any means, but it paled in comparison to Soarin's. Marble statues of alicorns adorned the main room, a large hot tub with a TV above it, and a full kitchen. Through a short hallway, she saw the bedroom, adorned with a massive cloud bed. it was unlike any cloudbed she had every seen, and it certainly wasn't woven with the cumulus strands made up her Ponyville bed. Her body yearned to curl up on it and catch some much needed rest, but she wasn't naive; she knew the implications of following a colt home for drinks and immediately hopping into his bed, especially when her own was right across the hall. Her attention shifted to Soarin as she heard him closing one of the cabinets. He held two tumblers in one hoof and a bottle of Commander Hurricane's Hard Cider in the other. He poured a small glass for Dash, and then a much larger one for himself. Dash might've protested, but upon further inspection, she realized her glass wasn't that small. Rather, Soarin's was really big. She followed him to the stools in the kitchen, and together, they gazed at the lights of Canterlot below through a large glass window.

More like a wall than a window... Dash thought to herself. She took a sip of the cider and was pleasantly surprised. She was used to Applejack's cider, which was stronger but less refined. She began to understand why Soarin poured himself so much. Not that the cider was bad, it wasn't. It was actually very good, and it had clearly been distilled several times over, unlike Applejacks.

Dash realized that for what seemed like the first time all night, Soarin hadn't interrupted her thoughts with a witty comment or inquiry. He was just quietly sitting at his bar, sipping his drink, looking down at Canterlot. She searched for anything "cool" to say to break the silence, but her words failed to adequately represent her emotions.

"It's pretty."

Dash and Soarin had obviously had quite a moment during their trans-Can flight, and she didn't want to lose the growing chemistry the two of them had. Frankly, she wasn't sure if she was ready to sleep with him just yet, but she certainly wanted to be around him. She'd never been alone with Soarin like this before, and the mutual attraction was quickly spreading to lust in Dash's mind.

"Yeah... I guess," Soarin began, his tone less enthusiastic than his initial post-Rainboom greeting. "I kinda feel like we as pegasi have become jaded. We're so used to being up so high while flying that it makes views like this a little less special."

Dash was a little taken aback by Soarin's profound remark. Not that she thought he was stupid but... well, 'deep' was not the first attribute that came to her head. He just always seemed kinda goofy, prioritizing silly things like pie and mares. However, the hour or two she'd spent with him highlighted a different side of his personality; she would almost have considered him 'aloof' had he not been so friendly and forthcoming initially. Now however, outside the public eye, he was acting... 'cool', yet distant at the same time,

Dash silently scolded herself for her assumptions. Soarin may be goofy, but he's the most talented flyer in the group of Equestria's most talented flyers. The cream of the crop; the best of the best. If he has time to put on those shows and goof off at the same time, he's obviously doing something right, and it's not her place to criticize him; even if it was only in her head.

Soarin noticed Dash's internal conversation and turned to her as he refilled his glass with a smaller amount of cider.

"Hey Dash... Is there something wrong?" Soarin seemed genuinely concerned; he really was acting in strong contrast with his publically perceived personality. Dash considered that she might not have even noticed this fundamental personality change were it not for the fact that she'd been following Soarin's career since before he was even a prospect; a fact she did not plan on telling Soarin. At least, not yet. Realizing that Soarin's question still hung in the air unanswered, she shook her head and addressed the Wonderbolt.

"...no. No, nothing is wrong."

Usually when a pony says something like that, it's bullshit. She knew it and she knew Soarin knew it. However, the more Dash thought about it, the more she realized there really was nothing wrong. She resigned that she owed Soarin an explanation for her behavior, but before she was able to speak, Soarin cut the silence while simultaneously stretching the tension even further.

"Dash should I not have... kissed you? Y'know... earlier?"

Dash didn't want Soarin to think he'd done something wrong. She was just... apprehensive? Nervous?

Excited?

Realizing that she'd left Soarin hanging yet again, she tried to assuage the uneasiness she began to detect in his words.

"No no, not... not at all."

Soarin's already pale blue complexion appeared even paler as he spoke in a loud whisper:

"Do y-, do you have a colt friend or... something?"

Dash was confused for a moment before she realized Soarin's mistake. For what seemed like the first time since her Rainboom, she found the words she sought immediately:

"No, no, no! I mean't it like: 'no, you kissing me was fine'!"

Soarin looked relieved for a moment, but concern quickly washed over his face yet again. Fortunately, it was quickly replaced with a smile. He was almost giggling as he spoke.

"Well then what the hay is the problem Dash?"

This time, Dash was the one who made the move. She'd noticed their stools getting closer together with every glass of cider, and she finally threw herself into Soarin's arms and locked eyes with him.

They kissed again, softly at first, until Dash turned up the heat. She leaned into the kiss so intensely that Soarin's stool began to tip over. She looked down at her partner and saw his eyes widen as the stool shifted from four legs, to two. Acting on pure reflexes, Soarin flapped his wings (which had been slowly unfolding and rising as the night progressed) with a tremendous force. Rainbow Dash heard an audible 'crack', and the propulsion from his wings caused the stool to right itself. Unfortunately, Soarin hadn't considered the extra weight of Dash in his lap, and the two of them went hurtling in the opposite direction.

Dash shut her eyes and braced for impact, but it never arrived. She opened her eyes to find herself cradled in Soarin's wings, looking up at the Wonderbolt who was now on top of her. Soarin initially appeared horrified, but upon seeing that his friend was unharmed, his mouth broke out into his trademark goofy grin as he began to speak.

"I uh, I guess I overdid it."

Dash was momentarily stunned. Soarin really was an amazing pony. Regaining her composure, she beamed at Soarin, the same way he had beamed at her after her Sonic Rainboom.

"Soarin, that was... that was... you were..."

Soarin was relieved that she was unharmed, but before she could finish her complimentary statement, he place his hoof over her mouth.

"Shhhh..."

Dash stopped and the two stared at each other for a brief moment that seemed like a lifetime. As he gently released her from the cradle of his wings, Soarin continued to gently kiss her every few seconds as he laid her on the floor. Dash began to speak between the increasingly passionate kisses.

"Hey... Soar... mmmm... So-Soarin..."

Soarin's casual reply was barely audible amidst his furious kisses.

"Yep?"

Dash hesitated for a brief moment. Fortunately for her, the couple's toungeplay allowed her to fully commit to the circumstances before her voice said the words that her body had been craving since she walked into the apartment. No, since she'd first ran her eyes over Soarin's cutie-marked flank.

"Why don't we get into your bed?"

The now rapid fire assault of Soarin's kisses ceased and he looked down at the blue mare he was on top of. She was smiling, he couldn't detect any apprehension in her at all. His previously limp wings shot upright as the meaning of Dash's words washed over him. He leaned in close and nibbled on her ear for a second before whispering his response into Dash's ear:

"Us Wonderbolts... We're used to getting whatever we want, when we want it.

Dash got a slightly annoyed at Soarin's perceived misunderstanding of her offer. She whispered back;

"I... know. That's why I said, 'Why don't we go into your bedroom?'"

Soarin had another smile on his face, though this time it appeared more amused than goofy. He continued to whisper into the mare's ear.

"...let me be more clear; we're not getting in bed is because Wonderbolts tend to get whatever they want, whenever they want it..."

Dash's look of annoyance became one of sheer confusion. She tried to decipher what Soarin was talking about; she knew what he wanted, and she wanted it too! However, she didn't have much time to ponder his meaning, because Soarin made it very clear with the conclusion of his sentence.

"...you know what I want, and I want it right now!"

As Dash's eyes widened with understanding, Soarin resumed his furious exploration of her mouth. He pulled the ponytail out of Rainbow Dash's uncharacteristically styled mane as she began to undo his tie.

END OF CH2

The Spectral Fire [WARNING: EXPLICIT]

"Hey Soarin"

"What"

"Do you have a…"

"Wha-"

"Y'know."

Soarin thought about the predicament in his head, pondering how he could have been so foolish. His usual hook-ups were casual encounters with adoring groupies; he'd been suggestive enough with Rainbow Dash in their earlier encounters to know that his intentions must have made themselves as clear as day, but she hadn't succumbed until now. Was it this fact alone that distinguished her from the others? Somehow, Soarin didn't think so; there was something else that was tugging at him. Perhaps it was her talented flying ability, seeing as it was a known secret amongst the Wonderbolts that she was a better flyer than most of their prospects. It made enough sense, but for some reason, Soarin had a sneaking suspicion that there was something else to it. Something he couldn't put his hoof on.

Normally the issue at hand wouldn't be a problem whatsoever, but he needed to find a solution, and fast. He used his wings to assist himself in standing up, an awkward act on itself considering the circumstances. Rainbow Dash sat up with a puzzled look on her face. He may have known that there were no contraceptives in the apartment, but he wasn't about to let Dash find out. He began to frantically search through his drawers.

"Uh… hm… well…"

Out of nowhere, Soarin ceased his senseless stutter, shut the drawer and turned to Dash, his body stiff.

"Dash, I don't have any."

Dash groaned. She looked a little disappointed, but then had an inquisitive look on her face. She focused back on Soarin.

"Uh… Why not? I mean, you're popular enough that I imagined you'd have a hundred bits worth on you at all times!"

Soarin had an embarrassed look on his face, and Dash looked a little uneasy as well. Soarin could have probably lied, but for some reason the sight of the blue mare prevented him. He realized he was still flying, and he dropped to the ground softly.

"I'm uh… not uh, well," Soarin cleared his throat, "I'm not that… responsible… all the time."

Dash rolled her eyes.

"All the more reason to hold off for now then. Way to kill the vibe man."

Soarin's disappointment was clear as his smile began to shrink, as did another one of his body parts. His shoulders shrugged and his wings began to soften. He trotted back over to Dash and helped her up.

Before she was fully on her feet, Soarin kissed her again. She thought to pull away initially, but decided there was no reason for that; maybe she was being picky. Still, she wasn't about to give herself away that easily, even to someone like him.

She had her eyes closed but opened them when she felt something warm poking against her thigh. She looked down and sighed to herself.

Soarin was embarrassed, again. Still, he was only equine; he couldn't help nature, and despite his rationale side's pleading, he made one final attempt.

"Y'know Dash, theres… other… things we could do…"

Both of them were looking down at one another until Dash's eyes darted back up. Soarin kept looking.

"Soarin!"

Soarin's eyes Darted up to meet Dash's.

"I'm so sorry, I just, I saw you were looking too and then you were looking at me but I'm always used to people looking at me so I didn't pick up on it and th-"

Dash laughed at him before burying her head in his chest.

"Colts…"

Sensing that it was his moment of redemption, Soarin lifted the two of them into the air and fluttered over to his cloudbed. He laid her down on her side and curled up behind her, wrapping his forehooves around her body and neck. Dash realized how tired she was and she began to curl up on the cloud, Soarin's warm embrace a sufficient substitute for the blanket she lacked.

She would have drifted off in a few minutes until she remember Soarin's excitement, conveniently situated against her flank. She broke off from his embrace and rolled around so she was face to face with him. She shoved him gently in the chest with her hoof, causing him to roll over onto his back, his eyes to the ceiling. She saw him smiling to himself.

Dash crawled onto Soarin's belly and began kissing him again. However, this time she began to move down his body; first to his neck, then his chest. She gently rubbed him with her hooves as she slid her body down so that her head was at his naval. She continued to kiss downward until she reached the source of his excitement, when she looked up and met Soarin's eyes.

He had bunched up the cloud behind his head and was sitting up slightly, enough that he could look down and watch the action. He was trying to hold it in, but his goofy smile was plastered on his face as his breath became uneven.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take care of you also?"

Soarin tried his best to be a gentlecolt.

Rainbow Dash laughed

"You can owe me this one."

Dyslexicon

Soarin rustled in his sleep. At some point during the night, he and Dash had broken off their embrace and they were now lying on their stomachs. Dash was cuddled up against him, sleeping soundly underneath Soarin’s right wing, her forelegs stretched forward.

About an hour later, Dash’s eyes slowly cracked open. She was cold. She rolled over to see that Soarin had turned over onto his back, no longer cradling her in his wing. She sat up and looked at the clock on Soarin’s nightstand; 9:00am. Dash plunked back down on the cloudbed, half-hoping she would wake Soarin up. However, despite stirring, Soarin remained asleep.

Tired of waiting, Dash climbed atop the sleeping pony and began to kiss his neck. She rubbed her hooves against his chest, then his shoulders, and then the area where his wings met his back. Dash knew from experience that this area would likely be sore for any frequent flyer, and was thus the “sweet spot” when it came to a massage.
Soarin quietly moaned as he drifted back into consciousness. When he finally opened his eyes, they immediately met Dash’s. She was still on top of him, staring at him seductively.

“Y’know...” Dash began, “I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to go for it. I mean... you’re telling me I have nothing to worry about, and you’ve given me no reason to distrust you so far... well, no reason to distrust you more than any other colt.”
Soarin grinned, placed his hooves on Dash’s thighs, and began to move her into position. He had gone from zero to one-hundred in the mere moments he’d been awake, and his body was ready for the task at hand.
With physical intimacy only inches away, Dash whispered into Soarin’s ear:

“It’s nine now; make sure we’re finished by ten, okay?” She smiled at him.
Soarin smiled back and prepared for ignition, when all of a sudden his jaw slipped open and his grip on Dash’s hips loosened.

“It’s nine? Nine... o’clock? Shit.. shit, SHIT!”

Soarin gently rolled Dash off of his belly and looked at her apologetically.

“Dash I’m so sorry, I... I have a commitment on Sunday mornings and I totally slept in. I thought it was earlier.”

Dash couldn’t hide her disappointment. She turned away and crossed her forelegs before looking back at him, her eyes pleading.

“Is this a joke?”

“Dash,”

“Seriously. I take care of you, I’m being driven crazy all night, and the MOMENT I decide to rut you, you ‘can’t do it’. I mean, seriously, can’t whatever it is wait?”

Soarin looked down and thought for a moment before looking back up.

“Dash, it really really can’t. I’m sorry.”

Dash got off the bed and began to flutter out of his bedroom.

“Dash wait!”

She stopped and turned around, still maintaining her altitude.

Soarin got off the bed and trotted to where Dash was flying. He looked up at her and saw a look of disappointment, but not anger. He put his hooves on her hips and took a deep breath.

“Dash, I’m sorry, I really am. I really like you. Like, really. I never let girls sleep over; nine times out of ten, I send them home in a charriot the second I’m through with them.”

Dash landed in front of Soarin and looked up at him. Soarin sank to his knees and began again.

“I know... I know I’m not typically the biggest gentlecolt, but it’s the truth, and I’m saying it so that you’ll believe me when I tell you that I really like you. I want to see you again. I want to see you again the first moment I can.”

Dash lifted Soarin back to his feet and rubbed his shoulder with her hoof. She was about to turn and leave when she turn to Soarin again.

“What is it that you have to do that’s so important? Can I come with you?”

Soarin stared blankly. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure if he’d heard her so she continued:

“Like... can I accompany you to whatever it you have to do? Or at least fly you there?”

Soarin exhaled and shook his head. Dash was getting frustrated with his lack of forthcoming.

“Soarin, this is really ruttin’ sketchy. Tell me what’s going on... or at least tell me when we can get together again.

Soarin’s frown quickly became a smile.

“I’ll take you out tonight, if you’re not busy. Any restaurant you want; I can get a table anywhere.”

“Eight o’clock?”

“Sounds perfect. Dashie, I’m so sorry about... about all this. I promise tonight at dinner I’ll explain everything. Here, you can hang out a little longer.”

Soarin walked back to his bedroom, listening to make sure Dash was following. He went to throw on a polo-shirt with his Cutie-Mark adorned on the breast when Dash stopped him.

“Soarin, whatever it is you have to do, it can’t be that important, because you STINK.”

She laughed as Soarin raised his hoof and smelled himself.

“It’s just going to rub off on a shirt and make you smell more; you may as well just go without one. You’re sexier like that anyway.”

Soarin smiled and turned to Dash.

“Fortunately, my business isn’t going to require attracting anypony.”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s unattractive,” Dash began, burying her face in Soarin’s chest and inhaling deeply. “It totally turns me on. It’s just... impolite. Y'know... to be unshowered in public. Especially someone with the notoriety you have.”

Soarin was confused.

“So... what should I do?”

“Shower!”

“It’s 9:04! I need to be there at 9:30!”

“Well, I’ll help you. It'll be faster.”

With that, Dash led Soarin by the hoof into his bathroom. It was massive; at least four times the size of her bathroom. She positioned Soarin under the water and turned it on, grabbing two bars of soap and handing one to Soarin. He jumped as the initially-cold water rolled through his mane, but a few moments later, it had warmed up to a comfortable temperature.

“Uh, Dash... I can handle this myself...”

“But it’ll go quicker if I help you. Plus I want to, and you still owe me, so deal with it.”

Soarin resigned to his fate, grabbed Rainbow Dash, pulled her in close and passionately kissed her. She pulled away and spun him around.

“Okay, we have to hurry. You get your front, I’ll get your back.”

Soarin began to scrub himself as per usual, and Dash began on his back. Sore from several shows the week prior, the warm water combined with Dash’s sensual rubbing made Soarin feel great. Like he could melt at any moment. He started breathing more heavily, with bits of panting escaping here and there. Dash moved down to his flank and began soaping it up. Soarin lead out an audible moan that made Dash giggle. On her knees, scrubbing his butt, Dash got a little curious.

“What are you thinking about?”

“You, oh..., you don’t... ah.. wanna know.”

Dash stood up and began to wash the back of Soarin’s neck, the point where his wings met his back, and his back itself. She leaned in and whispered in his ear:

“But I do. I really do.” She continued to scrub him.

“I... I’m thinking about what I want to do to you, right now. It’s kinda driving me crazy.” Soarin finished washing his belly and began to scrub his private parts.

“What do you want to do to me?”

Soarin, clean and ready to rinse off, turned around and pulled Dash against him, looking down at her as the water washed the soap off his back. He turned Dash around again so that she was facing away from him and grabbed her hooves with his own.

He pinned her hooves against the bathroom wall and leaned in closely, nibbling on the top of her ear. His belly hugged her back as he kissed her neck and whispered in her in ear. Dash giggled; she could feel herself getting excited.

“I just want to... to...”

Soarin positioned himself behind her.

“I want to rut you so hard. Harder than anyone ever has before. I want you to scream my name over and over and never think about another colt again. I want to...”

Soarin rubbed himself against Dash’s thigh and continued:

“I want to see you quivering in pleasure beneath me, at my mercy. Powerless... a slave to my c-”

A light went off in Soarin’s head and he released Dash’s hooves and opened the shower door.

“Damn it Dash! I’m gonna be late!” Both of them giggled. Soarin exited the shower and grabbed a towel and blowdryer, motioning for Dash to turn the water off. She complied.

When the two were dry, Soarin put on his shirt and led Dash across the hall back to her room.

“I’ll come meet you here at 8 okay? Any restaurant you want, just call and say it’s for the Wonderbolts account.”

Soarin kissed Dash one last time before walking to her window and hopping out. Dash watched him fall several stories with his back to the ground, looking back up at her. He waved goodbye to her an unfolded his wings, and took off flying backwards.

“Showoff!” Dash called to him before smiling and closing her window. She watched Soarin roll in the air and orient himself upright before he took off through the labyrinth of towers that dotted the Canterlot skyway. Dash waited about half a minute before opening her window and taking off after him.

She bolted to the last place she’d seen him before he disappeared from view and saw him almost a half-a-mile in the distance, zipping past young pegasi families out for a sunday fly. She followed him, making sure to keep her distance.

She tracked him all across Canterlot. They had begun in the castle itself, before crossing the market in midtown. Finally, she tracked him to Riverbend, the nicest neighborhood in all of Canterlot [well, technically on the outskirts of Canterlot, but whatever, same thing]. The houses were small compared to the towering steeples of the actual city, and while it made spotting Soarin easier, it also made avoiding detection more difficult for Dash. She saw Soarin land in front of a huge driveway, fold up his wings, and cantor towards a mansion. Dash landed in the yard and hid in a bush; far enough away to remain undetected, but close enough to see/hear what was going on.

She saw Soarin reach the door and take a deep breath. He knocked three times and waited. Dash sensed some kind of tension in him; he wasn’t relaxed, that was for certain.

Finally, the front door swung open and Dash saw a gorgeous mare standing before Soarin. Her heart sank. He had postponed rutting her to go see another mare? She debated confronting Soarin right then and there before catching herself.

We’re not... ‘dating’, he’s entitled to do what he wants... but... he said he really liked me, like... that he wanted to BE with me...

Dash’s emotions began to pound on her heart and it began to crack. Before it broke however, she turned her attention to Soarin who hadn’t moved from the spot. His head was lowered in the pegasi cultural symbol of shame. Dash listened closely as she saw his lips moving.

“...so please just let me see him. I get one Sunday every two weeks, and half the time I have a show scheduled and have to miss my day. When that happens, you make me wait another two weeks, rather than letting me have him the next week...”

The mare in the house scowled at Soarin.

“Well, maybe if you didn’t focus on working so much, you’d have more time with him.”

“My working is what pays your bills! For your house! I pay for him to go to the best school in Canterlot... how can you tell me I shouldn’t work so much? I barely make the money before you spend it!”

The mare leaned in close. She was a silver unicorn with black hair. She really was stunning, but all her beauty was washed away by the cruelty of her next sentence.

“Well maybe you should’ve thought about that before you squirted the little shit into me!”

Soarin was clearly taken aback by this. Rainbow Dash had finally realized what who this mystery unicorn was, and even her jaw hung open in disbelief. She saw Soarin take a deep breath and then begin again, retaining his firm tone.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life... but he isn’t one of them.”

“Well, you certainly treated him like one. Always out of town with the Wonderbolts, cheating on me, getting drunk, doing drugs-”

Soarin cut her off.

“I have a right to see him. Don’t make this any harder on him.”

The silver unicorn smiled slyly, content she’d humiliated Soarin sufficiently. She turned around and called into the house, her voice echoing throughout its massive walls.

“Swift! Your father’s here! Come down!” She turned back to Soarin, who sighed with relief.

“When will you have him back?”

“Six-thirty? Latest seven? There’s a show he likes to watch with his friends on Sunday nights, remember?”

“Whatever. If I’m not home when you get home, just fly him in through the window.”

“What other choice do I have? I don’t have a key to my own house anymore, remember?”

“It’s not your house anymore.”

“Say what you want, but I still own it,” Soarin was begining to get ticked off. “You should be thankful I let y- oh hey bud!”

A small, shiny, light blue pegasus shambled into view.

“Dad!”

He jumped at Soarin and threw his hooves around his neck.

“Hey there champ, how you doing?”

“Good! Check this out!”

Swiftwing let go of his father and slid to the ground. He began to clumsily beat his wings back and forth, and he gently rose about a foot off the ground. Tired out from the furious flapping, he descended back to the ground mere seconds after taking flight. He looked up for his father’s approval; Soarin beamed back at him.

“That was great! Really great! You’ll be flying in no time.”

“Can we practice today?”

“No, sorry Swift, I just don’t have the energy, I’m sorry. Besides, it’s Sunday, lets just go get lunch and relax today. Anywhere you wanna eat is fine by me.”

Swiftwing paused for a minute and considered something before declaring:

“How about you eat here? Like... like we used to! Mom, you could cook, and we could all eat at the table together like we... like we used to?”

The silver unicorn turned and shut the door behind her, leaving her ex-husband and son on the doorstep together. Soarin put his hand on Swiftwing’s head and rustled his hair.

“Swift, I’m sorry, but your mother isn’t ready to do that.”

“Why not? Why is mom so mean to you? Why does she hate you so much?”

Soarin kneeled down to his young son’s level and held him close. Soarin felt that the mother of his child was mean to both of them, but he wasn't going to do anything to turn him against her. Those days were in the past; he had lost custody and had little other choice. Owning the house and the foal support/alimony was the only real leverage he had in the scenario; the courts always favor the mare. Especially when the stallion has a history like Soarin's.

“Don’t blame her. It’s my fault. I did some really really bad things before and after you were born, and your mother has every reason to not like me. It's... It's something you'll understand when you're a little older?”

Swiftwing was clearly disappointed. Soarin sensed he was on the verge of tears, so he quickly changed the subject.

“Buuut, I know something that I think will cheer you up. Something I think you are finally old enough to do.”

Swiftwing looked up at his father through watering eyes. Soarin’s heart broke at the sight of him, but he simply turned around and trotted down the steps.

“If you can lift yourself with your wings, they're strong enough to fly on my back. Here, hop on; you wanna go to Pony Joe’s and get a donut?”

Swiftwing jumped onto Soarin’s back and wrapped his forelegs around his neck. Dash looked on, smiling to herself. She was envious of the little colt, and the idea of that made her giggle quietly. She noticed Soarin drop Swiftwing from his back and kneel again.

“You have to slide your arms under my wings, otherwise I can’t flap them. Here... like that... yes! Perfect! Okay, you ready champ?”

The shiny blue pony was ecstatic.

“Here, take these!”

Soarin took off his goggles and handed them to his son. Swiftwing fastened them to his head, still beaming.

“Wait, but then you won’t have a pair for yourself!”

Soarin chuckled.

“I’ve been flying for a long time bud, I only need the goggles during performances. Even then, it’s more of a liability thing; I can do all my tricks without them. On top of that, we’re not gonna be making any Sonic Rainbooms today. I’ll be fine.”

“Did you SEE THAT yesterday?! That mare is amazing! Why don’t you guys let her join the Wonderbolts? She’s fantastic!”

Soarin chuckled yet again.

“You like her?”

“Oh my Celestia yes! She’s fast, she’s cool, and she’s... really pretty.”

Soarin laughed once more at the irony and prepared to take off, quickly changing the subject.

“Next practice, I’ll get you a pair of your own goggles. Do you want my model? Spitfire’s? Fleetfoot’s? Whichever you want, they’re yours.

“Of course I want your model dad, but... they’re the most expensive. I was looking at them in the Wonderbolts catalouge; just get me the least expensive ones.”

“Swifty,”

“Don’t call me that!”

“Swift, I don’t have to pay for my own goggles; don’t worry about it. I’ll get you a pair. Do you have friends that want any also?”

“Sure I do, but if they had them, it would make me having them less special!”

“Fair enough; they’re yours.”

With that, Soarin gingerly ascended, careful not to startle his son. They flew off towards downtown Canterlot, with Swift’s voice echoing through the skies.

“WEEEEEE!!!!!”

Dash breathed a sigh of relief. She knew she had witnessed a very private exchange, but she was glad it had assuaged her fears that Soarin wasn’t the colt she thought he was. In fact, he seemed to be even better than she initially suspected. She glanced back at the mansion and thought about how rude that Silver Unicorn was; how did somepony like Soarin end up fathering a foal with someone like her? She took off and headed back to her room to prepare for the evening. It would be another test; would Soarin tell her the truth as to what his obligation had been? If he didn’t tell the truth, what would that mean? Would he be lying maliciously? To protect her feelings? To protect his privacy?

Dash shook her head as she flew. He hadn’t even lied to her yet; maybe he’d be forthcoming. It certainly wasn’t fair to judge him before she knew what he’d say, so for the time being, she put it out of her mind and her thoughts crept back to the moment in the shower earlier that morning...

END OF CH 4

The Malady of Veda

Dash fluttered back to her room, ecstatic that her suspicions had been proven false. Her sleuthing done for the day, she headed home to relax. However, panic soon rushed over her when she realized that Rarity had planned out her wardrobe for the entire week, and hadn’t brought any extra dresses. She couldn’t wear the one she wore at the wedding last night, and the rest were reserved for the multitude of royal events. Despite her typical manner, Rainbow Dash knew that she couldn’t go out to dinner with a Wonderbolt in Canterlot without anything to wear; this wasn’t Ponyville. She darted back to Canterlot Castle and rushed to the room Rarity was staying in.

“Rarity!”

Rainbow Dash burst through the door. Rarity was standing at a ponyquin, holding a ribbon over the collar, tilting her head, removing it and muttering to herself over and over. She didn’t even notice Dash’s loud intrusion.

“Rarity! I need your help!”

Without turning, Rarity continued to obsess over the ribbon’s placement on the collar of the dress. She spoke without hesistation, immediately after Rainbow Dash finished speaking.

“Rainbow Dash, darling, whatever it is, I’m sure it can wait. I have a fashion dilemma on my hands.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“Well, you’re about to have two fashion dilemmas on your hand. I have a dinner date with Soarin tonight and I need you to make me something to wear.”

Rarity stopped, but then resumed her work. Working on the royal gowns had spoiled as of late, and the normally exciting opportunity just didn’t seem that interesting. Rarity opened her mouth to tell Dash that she just didn’t have the time, when another thought hit her. She put down the ribbon and whirled around at the pegasus.

“Rainbow Dash... you’re going on a date?”

Rainbow Dash got a little red in the face and folder her arms.

“Well...” Rarity didn’t let her continue.

“With Soarin? Like, Wonderbolt Soarin?”

Rainbow Dash looked down in embarrassment.

“...yes.”

Rarity screamed loud enough to startle Rainbow Dash into the air for a moment, but when the shock wore off, she had an annoyed look on her face.

“What, is it really such a big deal?”

Rarity’s initial shriek had turned to giggling. She turned back to Dash with her hooves folded in front of her.

“No... it’s... great...” Rarity struggled to find the words she sought. “I think you two would make a great couple it’s just...”

Rainbow Dash stared back at Rarity.

“It’s just...”

“What?”

“I kind of... always assume you were...”

Rainbow Dash groaned. She’d gotten it her entire life. Rarity thought she was a fillyfooler. Frankly, there wasn’t a pony in Ponyville that’d caught her interests, and the infrequent encounters she did have with colts usually took place with old friends in Cloudsdale. She couldn’t really fault Rarity for making the assumption; Dash liked to keep her private life private. Not to mention, Ponyville was mostly Earth ponies, and while she certainly wasn’t a pegasupremicist, she was typically only attracted to fellow winged-ones. Rainbow Dash sighed to herself and turned her attention back to Rarity.

“No, I’m not a fillyfooler. I’m not offended though, you’re really not the first person to think it. Hay, back in flight school, I once had a friend set me up on a date with a colt I’d never met before just to prove to the other foals that Gilda and I weren’t a couple.”

Rarity laughed, glad that Rainbow Dash hadn’t been upset her false presumption.

“Really? How did it turn out?”

Rainbow Dash thought for a few moments before delivering her response.

“I don’t really want to get into it right now, I’ll tell you another time,” Dash began. “Still, I gotta say, the colt that my friend set me up with was one hay-of-a handsome pony.”

Rarity laughed again before sitting Rainbow Dash down on a couch at the foot of her canopy bed.

Rarity seems right at home in Canterlot, Rainbow Dash thought to herself. Rarity took a seat herself and began petting her cat Opal.

“So Rainbow Dash, you must tell me how this all happened! I saw the two of you dancing and then leave together; he asked you out when he dropped you home?”

A sly smile crept over Rainbow Dash’s face.

“Well... maybe he didn’t drop me home...”

Rarity appeared to forget to breathe for a moment. She even stopped petting Opal, which prompted a kitty-swipe back into reality.

“Rainbow Dash you... you...”

“I spent the night. Yeah. We didn’t rut though. Came close. Would’ve. Unlucky.”

Rarity looked confused as she responded to this unexpected development.

“So... what... you guys just... cuddled all night?”

“No, we drank, and then we cuddled, and then... we might’ve done a little more.”

Rarity began to ask Rainbow Dash for further details when Dash cut her off.

“I know what you’re going to ask, and lets just say Soarin was a lucky pony last night. I was feeling generous; he slept a little better than I did.”

Rarity nodded in understanding.

“Listen, we can talk all about this Rarity, I promise you, but right now I need a dress. Something cool, but hot, and easily removable.”

Rarity gave Dash a disapproving look before the two started laughing.

“I’m sorry to laugh Rainbow Dash, I just never imagined you wanting to get dressed up and impress a colt.”

“I don’t really care about dressing up, I just want to look presentable enough to go out to dinner. Even though in all honesty I wish we could order in and get the ruttin’ faster.”

Rarity was slightly taken aback.

“Rainbow Dash... I never... Still, Soarin is a cute pony; how old is he?”

“Not much older than me, he was born four days after the Summer Sun Solstice in the time of the sixth sun, so he’s... six years older than me?”

Rarity giggled at Dash’s fanboyism; she doubted that had come up naturally in conversation. She turned her attention to her closet and began to trot towards it.

“Well Rainbow Dash, the truth of the matter is, it’s entirely ridiculous to think I can make a dress for you between now and dinnertime.”

Dash slumped to the ground disappointed, and Rarity continued.

“However, I have two extra dress for each pony, Celestia-forbid something were to happen to the originals. We used the first extra after the initial dressed got ruined during the disaster, but I have another one here that’ll be perfect!”

Rarity pulled out a dress. It was a little too... regal for a casual night out, so she took off the head-dress section, and removed some veiled layers. A few moments later, the dress had transformed from a regal bridesmaid-type gown to a more casual “night out on the town” dress. It was pearlescent silver, and extremely elegant. Rainbow Dash looked infinitely pleased.

“Rarity... thanks so much for this one. I really appreciate it.”
“It’s no trouble at all. I must ask, where are you eating tonight?”

Rainbow Dash paused again. She hadn’t thought about it. Earlier that morning, Soarin had told her to make a reservation at any restaurant she wanted; not really a typical move, but Soarin was obviously busy today, and she could respect the fact that he wanted to dedicate his time to his son rather than making dinner reservations.

“I... haven’t decided. Soarin told me I could call anywhere and name-drop the Wonderbolts and we’ll be seated.”

Rarity shrieked again.

“You must go to the Stablehouse; Fancypants is a part owner and he took me there when I was here a few months ago buying materials. Everypony who’s anypony will be there tonight, and you guys will have a great time! It’s a great place to be seen.”

“I don’t know... Soarin might not want to go someplace so high profile...” Rarity sensed apprehension in Dash’s voice.

“Oh please darling, he’s a showpony, he’s used to it. And you don’t mind the attention. In fact, I think the idea of it has you excited already.”

“Well... I guess...”

“Think about it; it’ll give Soarin a chance to show off. Colts tend to be silly and clumsy, it’ll help if you set him up to impress you.”

“Well... I guess you’re right. I’ll stop at Twilight’s room on the way back and have Spike make the reservation.”

Rarity seemed pleased.

“I’m very glad. I hope you have a great time; it’s a fantastic place.”

Rainbow Dash gave Rarity and uncharacteristic hug and began to exit the room. However, just before she reached the door, she glanced back at Rarity.

“Hey Rarity... is there something going on between you and Fancypants?”

Rarity sat down and sighed.

“He... he likes me, but... I just don’t know. He’s so much older than me. He’s almost twice my age. Don’t get me wrong he’s a genuinely nice stallion, it’s just...”

Rainbow Dash immediately regretted asking.

“Well, I don’t know, we’re just from such different places and I don’t know if I could keep up with all the events and parties and appearances and drama, and-”

Rainbow Dash escaped out the door without Rarity noticing, stopped by Twilights and had spike take the reservation before heading back to her room. Spike informed her that Pinkie had made a reservation there earlier that evening, which perplexed Dash a little bit. She know it was a little ironic for her of all ponies to find it uncharacteristic for Pinkie to be going out to a fancy dinner, but Pinkie never ceased to surprise. She looked forward to seeing her later; Pinkie was one of Rainbow Dash’s closest friends, and she was always a good time. She returned to the wing she was staying in, forced to walk as she’d locked her bedroom window upon leaving. The guard at the entrance waved her through the gates and she fluttered up the steps to the top floor where she was staying.

As she closed her bedroom door behind her, Dash saw the door to Soarin’s room across the hall. Without hesitation, she closed and relocked her door before trying his doorknob.

The door slid open and Rainbow Dash walked in and closed the door behind her. She walked into the kitchen and checked the fridge. There wasn’t much, two apple pies Applejack had given him earlier, some lemonade, a few bottled ciders and some chocolate.

The only other place to check was his bedroom. She searched through his drawers and nightstand. Other than some vitamins and a tiny bag of salt, there was nothing all that incriminating. At least, nothing that bothered her. Satisfied everything was alright, she put everything back the way it was, returned to her room and plunked down on her cloud bed. She was asleep in minutes, exhausted from her afternoon of spying and planning. She’d nap for now, wake up, shower, and then head to dinner with Soarin, and she slept soundly, sleep slowly drowning out her excitement.

Abrasions Mount the Timpani

Dash rolled out of her cloudbed and rubbed her eyes, glancing at the clock. Satisfied she’d napped long enough, she went to the bathroom and showered. The first half-hour of consciousness wasn’t Rainbow Dash’s favorite time, but it was a necessary consequence of her habitual napping.

Dash stared back at herself in the mirror and decided not to do anything special with her hair. She saw that in her slumber, Spike had brought over her dress and left it hanging on the closet. She approached it and unpackaged it. Rarity had really done a great job, and Dash would need to thank her at the first opportunity. She slipped into the gown and started for her window before realizing that she wasn’t dressed for flight. Not in these clothes. Instead, she trotted down to the bar on the first floor of the Canterlot Castle Guest’s Quarters. She was to meet Soarin here in the lobby, and she took a seat at the bar. The barpony quickly approached her.

“Can I get you anything? First one’s on me.”

Dash contemplated abstaining, but decided that she ought to get a little loose before her big date.

“Sure.”

“What would you like?”

“I’d like the best drink you can make.” Dash replied with a wink.

The barpony smiled and went to work. A minute later, he returned with a rainbow-colored drink with a lemon wedge on the rim.

“Cantorberry, Stardust, and a liiiiittle bit of Essence of Rainbow.”

Dash stared mesmerized at the glass before her. The barpony continued.

“Oh, and whisky. Of course. Can’t have a drink without something t’getcha drunk.”

Dash had intended on nursing the drink, but ended up finishing it rather quickly. She ordered a cider afterwards and was halfway through with it when a purple unicorn mare sitting next to her scoffed.

“Drowning your sorrows? What’s wrong, somepony stood you up?”

Dash was immediately taken aback. Who the buck was this pony to talk to her that way? Did she not realize she was speaking to a pony integral to the wedding celebration?

“No, I wasn’t ‘stood up’, I came down a little early. This is my second drink, and- wait, why am I explaining myself to you? Mind your own business.”

“A little early, what a convenient excuse.”

“I don’t see you here with anypony, and you’re sitting at a bar, so I assume you’re drinking as well. Lay off.”

“My family happens to be upstairs. My husband of eighteen summers and my foals. What’s a punk like you doing staying here anyway?”

“Like I said, I’m waiting for somepony.”

“We’ll see about that.”

The pony turned back to the bar and ordered a drink that took her over ten-seconds to pronounce.

Rainbow Dash wanted to hit her. She had half a mind to when in the corner of her eye she saw Soarin standing in the lobby, scanning the room with his eyes. He was in a similar shirt to the one he wore to the wedding, only in Wonderbolt yellow, and he had a black jacket on over it, lightning bolts adorning his cuffs. Dash waved him over and seeing the seat next to her was occupied, leaned on the bar next to Dash and addressed the bartender.

“Can I get a Hurricane? Oh, and a check,” Soarin gestured towards Dash. “Put her drinks on it too.”
The mare next to Dash’s mouth hung ajar in disbelief. Dash gave her a victorious smirk as the purple unicorn grabbed her saddlebag, threw the exact change onto the bar, and left in a huff, her drink resting half-empty on the wooden surface. Soarin sat down in the chair next to her and watched the purple unicorn walking away.

“Hey.”

“What’s her problem?”

“Good question.”

“You’re quick Dash. I mean your brain, not your flying. But your flying is really fast too! Um, I’m totally screwing this up.”

The two stared at one-another awkwardly for a few seconds before Dash laughed and embraced Soarin, resting her head on his shoulder. Soarin himself started laughing and Dash turned back towards the bar.

“So where are we going tonight?”

“The Stablehouse.”

“Good choice. It’s a lively place. You like dancing?”

“Everypony likes dancing!”

Dash grinned before an inquisitive look took over her face.

“Wait... there’s a dance floor there?”

Soarin leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his drink.

“Oh yeah. There’s a club attached to the actual restaurant. Total hot-spot. We can go after dinner if you’d like, but there will be cameras and stuff. We’ll be eating in the VIP dining room in the actual restaurant, so it’ll be totally private there.”

Dash looked a little nervous.

“I... I didn’t specify that room in the reservation.”

Soarin laughed.

“Relax, they always sit me there. I do tip well.”

Soarin finished paying the bill and tossed a ten-bit piece onto the bar to accentuate his point before standing up and stretching his wings.

“Anyway, lets get going. I’m gonna have to handle some business with a few ponies I work with, so we should get that out of the way first. I’ll have them meet me there now, it won’t be longer than a half hour. I want tonight to be about you.”

“It’s no problem, I’m sure there’s a lot of military business to handle after what happened during the wedding.”

Dash giggled and the two of them walked out of the lobby.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was about five blocks to the restaurant, and Dash knew they had arrived when she saw a massive line of ponies waiting to get in the nightclub next door.

“They line up this early?”

“Regular ponies have no chance of getting in at prime-time. It’s their only hope. A lot of tourists are in for the wedding, and I’m sure they all just want to try their luck and see some celebponies.”

Right as he finished speaking, one of the ponies waiting in the line recognized him and shouted.

“Soarin!!! Soarin!!! Wonderbolt Soarin!!!”

A few ponies began to abandon their positions in line to approach the colt, but he preempted them by walking over to the queue. Inkpads and parchment was shoved in his face as every pony in the crowd sought his hoofprint. He saw that in the chaos that his presence brought, a colt no older than thirteen had been knocked over by the crowd and was struggling.

Soarin walked over to the pony, the crowd parting like a zipper to make room. He helped the boy to his feet, gave him his hoofprint, posed for a picture, and then trotted back to Rainbow Dash in a cacophony of applause. Dash giggled at him.

“You’re such a whore.”

Soarin was laughing now too.

“You’re great at cracking me up Rainbow Dash. No, come on, most of them are there for the sole purpose of seeing a celebpony. Plus, I was a kid like that too once, and it would’ve meant a lot to me had say... Firefly done that for me.”

The two walked into the restaurant and Soarin continued talking.

“Firefly was amazing... first of her kind really. First Wonderbolt to really make the Wonderbolts relevant again. We weren’t always so popular.”

“I see she’s a heroine of yours.”

Soarin contemplated Dash’s statement before responding.

“Firefly was... she was an amazing pegasus. Plus, in a time that was less progressive, she defied gender roles. Things weren’t the way they are now. Still, she’s the pony who inspired me to join the military in the first place. Being admitted to the Wonderbolts was a dream come true. Hey, when did you join up?”

Dash looked a little embarrassed.

“I mean, you know I’m a cloud-pusher. I’m barely in the military. I honestly only did it because I knew I needed to be in the Equestrian Navy for a chance for me to try-out for... y’know... you guys.”

Soarin took a deep breath as they transitioned into the air conditioned restaurant. The noise from outside slowly dampened as well until it was nearly silent. Soarin turned to Dash, appearing a little uneasy.

“Well, I’m petitioning for you, but in the actual event that you were taken on as a prospect and ultimately given the exam, I wouldn’t be able to judge you. Conflict of interest and all.”

Dash struggled to find air. These were truly the words that she’d wanted to hear every moment she’d been with Soarin. She wasn’t using him, but her newfound relationship with Soarin didn’t take precedence over her lifelong goal. This might actually be her best day ever. She may as well start saying “best day yet” the way things have been going.

A young white pegasus with a golden wing for a cutie mark approached the two of them, knelt, and then stood up again. Soarin waved him off with his hoof.

“Come on man... you know I don’t care about those formalities. Dash, this is my assistant Skyhoof. He’s a Wonderbolt prospect; acts as my concierge in all the cities we travel to, takes my letters, makes my appointments, keeps my schedule, helps me out before shows, etc.”

“And I squire for you in battle!” The young colt eagerly added. Soarin cracked a grin.

“In the unlikely event that happens, yes. You did do an excellent job during the siege though. Kept a lot of ponies alive.”

The young pony saluted. Soarin returned the gesture.

“Anyway Sky, if you haven’t noticed, I have a hot piece of flank with me and I don’t think she wants to talk about such things.”

“Of course commander; my apologies lady Rainbow Dash.”

“Don’t worry about it. We are hungry though, and I promised Dash here that we wouldn’t spend more than a half hour bullshitting. Lets get it out of the way.”

The two headed over to the bar where a group of pegasi sat. Two unicorns politely gave up their seats for the couple and they both plumped down on the stools. Soarin greeted the ponies with disinterest.

“Lets skip the pleasantries, I’m hungry and wanna get to grubbin. What do you guys need me for?”

A gray pony with a white mane wheeled his stool around to face Soarin and cleared his throat.

“We have twelve purple hearts, ten casualties. Mostly due to panic and rioting; the actual Changelings were generally non-aggressive. Only a few accounts show them attacking ponies physically. Their plan obviously required keeping us alive-”

“Just the business. I don’t wanna talk about this right now.”

“Of course commander. The council seeks your authorization to denote Fleetfoot with a Medal of Honor for her actions in securing the civilian populations of Canterlot.”

“Authorized. Next?”

“The council moves to honor Shining Armor for his dedication to the preservation of Canterlot.”

“I’m not in charge of Shining Armor, he’s the head of the guard. I’m the commander of our offensive forces.”

“Exactly, he’s the head of the guard. There’s no one above him to authorize him receiving an award, and he’ll never give one to himself.”

Soarin rolled his eyes at Dash and buried his head in his hooves.

“Ugh... do we really need to do this? He’s been honored enough at his wedding... it’s an extravagance. The wedding was expensive enough as it is.”

“Commander, he deserves the recognition. We can fit it in during one of the already existing events; it’ll cost nothing but ten minutes of everpony’s time. You’re the only one equal to him in the entire Equestrian Military. Nopony outranks either of you, other than Celestia and Luna, and well... we all know they’re not soldiers. It’s your call.”

“Fine, done. Might make relations between our protective and invasive forces a little less strained.”

A yellow earth pony with a boxing glove on his flank addressed Soarin.

“What’s the problem between you guys anyway?”

Soarin sighed.

“It’s just the nature of our duty. The Royal Guard and their soldiers get all the visibility. Most ponies never see the work that our offensive forces put in. We fight far away so that they can sleep safely in their beds at night. Finally, when an attack that is visible to the public happens, the Royal Guard saves the day and get all the credit for it. It’s not their fault, and I personally don’t feel any animosity towards them, but I understand why some of us do.”

The earth pony nodded with understanding and turned back to a plate of potatoes he had before him. Soarin shifted in his chair impatiently.

“Are we done here?”

The ponies looked at each other, some nodding while others shrugging. Soarin stood up to leave when a voice rang out amidst the clamor of the bar.

“One more thing Soarin.”

The ponies all turned. Standing before them was Fancypants, monocle, hat and all.

Dash tried not to giggle.

Rarity wasn’t exaggerating... he dresses like this all the time?

Soarin didn’t retake his seat, but remained standing, giving Fancypants a cold look.

“I meant ‘any more millitary business’... what do you want? Quickly.”

Fancypants didn’t delay in his response.

“One of my girls has gone missing. I need you to find her, or help me find someone who can. I’ll pay well, you know I will.”

Soarin scoffed, offended.

“I don’t do that stuff anymore. Find yourself a mercipony.”

“You owe me a favor remember? You’re lucky I’m offering to pay you at all.”

Soarin stared back, clearly at a loss for words. Dash too was surprised by these events. Fancypants continued.

“You’re the best at this; we both know it. I’ll pay you 800,000 bits. This one is important.”

Soarin’s shoulders drooped down and he sighed.

“Fine. I’ll do it. 800, and this is it, this is your favor. Don’t come back to me a few months from now saying that this wasn’t the favor because you paid me.”

“I’m not like that.”

“Fine. I’ll have Sky send you a letter tomorrow afternoon. We’ll meet up, and I’ll have her back before sundown.”

“I hope so. I have a feeling there’s something bigger behind this.”

“Changelings?”

“No, that was just a coincidence I fear.”

Fancypants began to leave before noticing Rainbow Dash sitting with Soarin.

“Ms. Dash, my sincerest apologies. I’ll leave you two to your date now.”

With that, Fancypants exited the building and Dash and Soarin headed to the roof.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The dining area was quite impressive, and only five tables for two graced the roof.

“Only couples and small groups are allowed up here,” Soarin began, “Even I couldn’t get a table if I were with more than three other ponies.”

Dash wasn’t normally one for romantics, but even she was impressed by their accommodations. They took their seats and she grabbed a menu. Soarin already knew what he was having apparently, and he immediately focused his attention to his date.

“I’m really sorry about all that... unpleasantness.”

“It’s totally fine. It’s your job.”

“Yeah, I wish it weren’t sometimes.”

Dash was about to ask for more information on the job he’d taken from Fancypants when the events from earlier in the day came back to her. She closed her menu and stared at Soarin.

“So how was whatever it was that you had to do today?”

Soarin appeared confused before he realized what Dash was referencing.

“Oh... yeah, that. I’m sorry about that too. I’m apologizing quite a bit to you, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is both our first and last date.”

The two laughed, and Soarin continued.

“Everything went really well. As well as it could go, at least. There are some ponies who’ll never really be easy to deal with, no matter what you do.”

Dash thought back to the silver mare from earlier; Soarin’s foal’s mother. Soarin continued, not noticing how deep-in-thought Dash was.

“So I do the best you can, but eventually you have to accept that you can’t make anypony like you, so you stop letting it get to you.”

Dash nodded as the waiter came over.

“Good evening, would you like to start with something to drink?”

Soarin looked at Dash, who shrugged. He looked back at the waiter.

“Two ciders please.”

Soarin was putting his napkin on his lap when something prompted him to speak again.

“Oh! Dash, did you want something too? Make that three ciders.”

“Yes sir.”

The waiter walked away as Dash glared at Soarin. However, upon seeing the goofy look on his face, she started to laugh herself. Dash picked up her menu and opened it to check it one last time. After deciding on her meal, Dash closed the menu and turned back to Soarin who was lazily staring into the Canterlot sky.

“So, you never answered my question.”

“What?”

“I asked what it was that was so important this morning.”

Soarin’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t want to tell her. It was just... unattractive, irresponsible. Most ponies his age had infant foals (if any at all), and he had one who would be flying soon. Soarin didn’t want to tell Rainbow Dash the truth, but he didn’t want to lie either, so he made his best compromise of the two.

“I... don’t want to talk about it because it’s embarrassing.”

Dash had to fight the urge to smile. He was embarrassed and thought she wouldn’t like him because of his paternity. She could understand how it’s a little bit of baggage for most ponies, but he clearly didn’t get to spend a lot of time with his son. Dash was now faced with the task of pulling it out of him and acting realistically. Dash quickly came up with a plan for getting it out of him.

“C’mon. Tell me.”

Soarin took a deep breath.

“Please Dash...”

“Whatever it is it’s probably not a big deal at all.”

“Exactly, it’s not a big deal which is why you shouldn’t be worried about it.”

“Oh come on. I promise I won’t think of you any differently, no matter what it is.”

Soarin smirked to himself.

“Alright, I’m a serial killer. I murder ponies every n-”

Dash threw her spoon at him.

“Oww! Hey!”

“Tell me!”

Dash now had a fork in her hand. Soarin threw his hooves up and started laughing.

“Alright, alright. When I was a teenager, still a little colt really, I met this girl...”

“The person you were talking about before. The one who can’t stand you.”

“Right. She was beautiful, and she seemed nice, but we didn’t have much in common. I had just been accepted as a Wonderbolt a year before, and I was...”

Dash finished the sentence for him.

“You were young and stupid.”

“Right. Now I’m a little older and a little less stupid. Listen can you put the fork down?”

Dash turned to see that she still grasped the fork in her hoof, raised up at her date. She laughed and lowered her hoof as Soarin lowered his arms and cleared his throat.

“So okay: young, stupid... uh... alright. So I meet this girl and she tells me “Oh I’ve got it taken care of.”

Dash nodded with understanding.

“So I just went for it and a few weeks later she informed me she was pregnant.”

Dash feigned surprise.

“So everything seemed alright and I was young and stupid and I asked her to marry me after only knowing her for a couple months. It didn’t work out. That’s a story for a different time. The point is, I have a foal and I don’t get a lot of time to spend with him so I always have to see him whenever possible.”

Dash nodded, pretending she was absorbing this information for the first time.

“That’s not so bad. You could’ve just told me.”

“It’s hard to tell how somepony is going to react.”

“So let me guess, she gets a nice chunk of your bits.”

Their drinks arrived and Soarin grabbed his, taking a large swig. Dash took a sip herself.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Soarin nodded, took another sip and sat up.

“Alright, well now that that’s over with, can we start our date?”

“We haven’t yet?”

“Not really... I don’t usually talk about my past relationships on a first date.”

“Good point. Well, you start.”

“First we have to place our order.”

Dash looked up to see the waiter approaching their table. She pulled out her menu, gave him her order, and the two sat back as Soarin began to speak.

“Well... I guess I should start with when I decided I wanted to be a Wonderbolt. I was about ten...”

END OF CHAPTER

I was pretty stoned when I wrote this one, I’ll go and fix the errors later. It gets pretty goofy at some part with the Equestrian Navy stuff, but it's all setting up the whole story. They can't just go on dates and rut the entire time. The latter will happen soon enough though ;D.

Volt-Faced Cons

Yet again, Dash’s pony eyes cracked open before Soarin’s. She shivered; it was chilly in the suite. She began to sit up, but a blistering pain shot through her head and she lightly fell back to the bed. She saw a bottle of water on the nightstand, and she gulped down half of it then and there. She sat up for a minute, regaining her composure. She took another sip of water and lightly fell back to the bed. She turned to see Soarin lying on his belly, his front hooves curled around the section of cloud that he’d bunched up into a pillow. His head was turned to the side, and he tossed a little with each of Dash’s movements. Dash crawled next to him and laid down under his wing, but her hooves were still exposed. She bunched up her own cloud pillow and tucked her front hooves between her chest and the cloud and snuggled herself as close to Soarin as possible. She drifted back to sleep soon after, refreshed from the water and no longer cold.

Soarin awoke to an odd sensation an hour or so later. He noticed half his body was chilly when it dawned on him that Dash had snuggled up next to him. He pulled her a little closer and tightened his wing’s hug around Dash. He placed one hoof around Rainbow Dash’s back and laid his head down next to hers. Dash stirred a little, but remained asleep.

Soarin just laid there for a little, keeping warm. It was vacation for him, and it surprised him that he wanted to spend it with Dash. He hadn’t exactly planned this. He hadn’t even known Dash was in Canterlot until the Sonic Rainboom, and it’s not like he’d been lusting for her; he hadn’t really thought about her like that. Then again, had the gala not ended in such disaster, he might’ve brought her home with him that night.

Eventually, Soarin got up and had a glass of water himself. Returning from the kitchen, he sat back down on the cloudbed and opened his nightstand drawer. Rustled by Soarin’s movements and the noise of the nightstand opening and closing, Dash began to wake. It wasn’t quite as cold in the room and more, and after lying there for a few moments, Dash sat up and brushed her mane out of her eyes. Soarin was sitting on the edge of the bed, facing away from her. He was fiddling with something on the nightstand and hadn’t noticed that Dash was awake, until Dash yawned and greeted him.

“‘Mornin.”

Soarin’s head spun around and saw Dash sitting up, now rubbing her eyes. He turned back to the nighstand.

“Hey. You need some water or something?”

“No, I’m alright, I got some in the middle of the night.”

“Good. What’re your plans for today?”

“Not a whole lot; this afternoon I’m fillysitting a few of my friend’s siblings, but I figure I’ll just take ‘em to Canterlot Mall. You can join us if you’d like. I’m sure they’d be pretty starstruck to meet you.”

“Yeah, maybe. Do you wanna grab breakfast?”

“Eh... I’d rather just order in... but... yeah I’ll go to breakfast. Right here in the castle?”

“No, if you’d rather order in then we’ll order in.”

“But you said you wanted to go to breakfast so-”

“It doesn’t matter what I said, we’ll order in.”

“No, actually, I decided I wanna go out to breakfast. Come on, lets go.”

“Noooooo now you’re lying.” Soarin said with a chuckle.The little game went on for a few minutes, but eventually Soarin tackled Dash onto the bed and pinned her there beneath him. She laughed and pushed against him in a meager effort to escape, but he held her tightly.

“Haha, let go!”

“We’ll order in.”

“If I say ‘okay’, will you get off me?”

“No, not until the food gets here.”

“Seriously?”

“No.”

Soarin eased off Dash and rolled to the side, finding a comfortable position on his back. The comfort was short lived however, as Dash quickly pounced on him, pinning his hooves down with her own. However, she wasn’t as strong as Soarin was, and he freed his arms without that much effort. Rather than pushing Dash off, he wrapped his hooves around her back and held her. Dash in turn wrapped her own hooves around Soarin’s neck and rested her head on his chest.

She closed her eyes and laid there for a moment. The two snuggled together as Soarin ran his hoof down Dash’s mane over and over again. She might’ve drifted back to sleep had Soarin not whispered into her ear.

“Can I... uh...”

Dash laughed and shook her head.

“Not now. Later. I’m hungry.”

She rose from the bed and walked towards the door, leaving Soarin on his back. He gave her his best sad-puppy eyes and flopped his ears back, but Dash just laughed and shook her head.

“I need some time to recover. Later, I promise.”

Soarin crossed his arms and made a pouty face, but bits of laughter escaped him. He wasn’t a very good actor.

“Fine.”

He smiled and walked out of the apartment with Dash.

________________________________________________________

By sheer coincidence, the couple found Applejack, Twilight and Fluttershy having breakfast in the hotel lobby. The three beckoned them to their table and they each took a seat beside one another. The waitress brought them a menu as they exchanged tired greetings with their companions. No one had food on the table yet, and both Fluttershy and Twilight still had menus of their own. Dash began to search for a dish to order while Applejack began to speak.
“Howdy you two. What’re you doin together so early?”
Twilight get a nervous chuckle while Fluttershy listened, oblivious to the connotation. Dash opened her mouth to respond, but Soarin must’ve noticed Dash’s embarrassment because he spoke first.
“Rainbow Dash and I are hanging out today. We’re getting breakfast... what are you three doing here so early?”
Applejack chuckled and pointed towards the colt with her fork.

“Well shucks, that’s a good excuse as anything. Still, doesn’t explain why you came down the staircase with Rainbow here.”

Dash wasn’t necessarily embarrassed with Applejack’s incessant prodding as she was frustrated with it. She wasn’t in the mood to play this game, but Applejack had made a good point. She began to dread Applejack rubbing her lie back in her face over the next weak, but her fears were assuaged when Soarin spoke yet again.

“I’m staying here too. As a matter of fact, my room is right across the hall from Dash’s.”

Before Applejack could come up with a response, Twilight’s voice cut into the middle of the conversation.

“I think I’ll have dry cereal. Fluttershy, what are you having?”

“Pancakes, with sugar and lemon of course, they’re my favorites. They won’t taste as good without Applejack’s lemons or Sugar Cube Corner’s sugar though.”

Applejack gave a warm smile; Dash sighed in relief. Applejack was an easy pony to flatter, and Dash would rather hear her boast than have her pry into her private life.

“Aww shucks Fluttershy, that’s awful kind-a you to say, but even I admit this fancy Canterlot grub is finger-lickin good.”

With the sights temporarily off of her, Dash eased her way into the conversation.

“Well Fluttershy, I think you’re just used to Fluttershy’s lemons. It’s like, these beds here in the castle are plenty comfortable, but there’s nothing compares to your own bed.”

“That’s called “Ma’s Cookin’” syndrome.” Twilight added.

In the corner of her vision, Dash saw Soarin close his menu and he folded his hooves on the table. When no one immediately responded to Twilight, he jumped in.

“That’s the only downside to the Wonderbolts; lots of traveling. I seldom sleep in my own bed. Maybe five weeks a year, total.”

Fluttershy’s menu also lay closed and she turned her attention to Soarin.

“Oh... I’m sorry to hear that. Still, it must be nice to travel.”

“It is... but it gets tiresome. Right now I have two weeks off, and then I’m traveling for another six months before my next break. Even then I’ll end up spend the whole time here in my hotel room, to be closer to Swiftwing. I’m not always working when I’m traveling, but...”

Soarin trailed off and Applejack interjected.

“...but there’s no place like home.”

“Exactly...”

“Where do ya live anyway? I mean, where’s your home.” Applejack continued.

“Cloudsdale.”

Twilight jumped in.

“Who’s Swiftwing?”

Dash looked horrified, fearful that Soarin had mistakenly revealed his secret, but if Soarin minded, he didn’t show it at all.

“My foal.”

Twilight and Applejack nodded in understanding, while Fluttershy spoke up again.

“So what are your plans for the next two weeks. Are you spending them here with your colt?”

Rainbow Dash’s stomach tightened. Since she woke up this morning, she started to wonder what would happen when the wedding was over and everyone went home. She had quickly fallen for Soarin, and the thought of sleeping alone again filled her with dread. Her ears flicked up and she turned to Soarin to hear his response.

“No... I mean yes, I saw him yesterday, but I won’t be able to see him again for a few weeks. “

Dash didn’t even realize it when she spoke.

“So what are you doing?”

Soarin gave her a puzzling look and shrugged.

“I don’t know. I don’t have anything planned. I only booked the hotel through the wedding.”

“Well, why don’t you come back to Ponyville with us. Have you ever been?”

“No... I haven’t. I would’ve gone with Spit to the Hurrican Duty you guys did a last month, but I had to cover a press appearance for her.”

Soarin continued to stare at Rainbow Dash, forgetting the first part of her question. Dash stared back impatiently for a few seconds before putting her hoof on his shoulder.

“Well?”

“Oh! Come back to Ponyville with you? Sure, that sounds great. I can stay at your place?”

Dash leaped into his arms, knocking over a spoon, not caring that the showing of affection was in full view of her friends. She was so excited, she didn’t notice that Soarin’s expression had changed to one of slight unease. No one at the table knew it, but there was only one thing going through his mind at that moment.

Fancypants...

[[I know it's a quickie, I just wanted to let everyone know I'm still working on it. Just me now.]]

Transoceanic Depth in this Earth, in this Cenotaph [WARNING: EXPLICIT]

The two drunken pegasi stumbled into the suite and Soarin let his jacket fall to the ground. They kissed passionately as they slowly made their way into the bedroom. Soarin began to lead them towards the shower in order to pick up where they’d left off that morning, but Dash resisted.

“No. I don’t wanna get all wet.”

Soarin kissed her again and smiled.

“You getting wet is non-negotiable, regardless of where we...”

With surprising strength, Dash shifted Soarin off balance and pushed the stumbling pony onto his cloudbed. She too lept onto the bed and crawled on top of him as the two continued to kiss. Dash unbuttoned Soarin’s shirt and kissed his chest before returning to his lips. A few moments later the couple was undressed, and Dash looked down at Soarin as she sat on his stomach, almost quivering with anticipation. She began to speak between the furious makeout session.

“I hope you don’t have plans tomorrow morning also.”

Soarin pulled away from Dash to respond.

“Nothing. I have the next three weeks free... basically.”

“Good”

Dash rested her head on Soarin and began to rub his chest. Soarin sat up a little and planted his hooves on Rainbow Dash’s thighs. He began to move her into position. Nothing could get in the way this time. Nothing...

Bbbbbrrrrriiiiiiiiing

Soarin’s cell phone (which had been sitting on the nightstand next to the bed) rang. Soarin quickly sat up, looked to the phone, and then looked back at Dash. Dash didn’t give him time to consider his actions, as she reached to the bedside phone and threw it into the wall, smashing it into a thousand pieces. She then focused her attention back on Soarin who was startled by what’d just occurred.

“Dash... my... my phone.”

“Shut up, you can buy another one.”

“But nopony would call this late unless it was something really import- ah!”

Soarin’s voice was silenced as Dash rolled her hips forward. His eyes rolled up and he let out a sigh of relief. Dash too had a look of strained ecstasy on her face, her eyes closed as she planted her hooves back on Soarin’s chest. The two remained like that for a moment, as close as they could possibly be. Soarin’s panting had begun to cease when Dash suddenly pulled herself back and then forward again, causing sensation to ripple through Soarin’s body. Soarin would’ve laughed if he could manage his breathing. He struggled to speak.

“Y-y-you... feel... wonderful.”

Dash might’ve laughed at how silly the statement was, but she felt the same sentiment and couldn’t put it into better words herself. Dash continued to rock forward and back as Soarin continued to speak.

“D-Dash... am I...”

“What? Ah...”

“Am I uh... ‘sailing in uncharted waters’?”

Dash began to ride Soarin a little harder as she responded.

“Hehe, no, you’re not,” she leaned in close and kissed Soarin again. “It does, OH! It does however feel like you’re able to reach places that no other colt I’ve been with has been able to.”

Soarin smiled, tickled by this revelation, but he couldn’t really be as eloquent as Dash was at the moment. She was a good multitasker, and Soarin wasn’t much of a talker in the sack. Without warning, he sat up from his reclined position and shifted his hooves up to Dash’s lower back. She looked down at Soarin and began to kiss him again, pausing only for momentary gasps of air. Soarin appeared infinitely pleased with the mare in his lap, and after a few minutes of passionate kissing and continued intercourse, he reclined back down onto the bed and put his hooves at his sides while Dash took over again. This continued for another few minutes when suddenly, Soarin grabbed Dash’s back and spun around, flinging her onto the bed.

Dash was now lying on her stomach, and Soarin descended upon her. She felt his hooves pin hers down and she slumped flat onto the cloudbed. Soarin moved into position, leaned in close and began to rut her again. Dash wasn’t one to moan, but a few gasps and squeaks escaped from her with each of Soarin’s thrusts.

So this is what he’d wanted in the shower this morning...

Her face now buried in the cloudbed and her arms pinned at her side, Dash started to feel herself getting a little dizzy. She gasped for air as her breathing quickened; she was pinned beneath Soarin and had nothing to focus on other than what was happening to her. She lifted her head and began to raise her back when a moan finally escaped from her. Dash was panting heavily now, and she realized that despite Soarin’s firm grip on her hooves, she was also tightly gripping the cloudbed, and it was bunched up in her hooves. Soarin lowered himself and slowed down a bit, but his motions became harder, and deeper. A loud slapping noise followed each thrust, ringing out simultaneously with Dash’s moans. After a few seconds, Dash had reached her climax. She lifted her head up as high as Soarin’s hold would allow and let out a long moan. Sensing what was happening, Soarin rolled his hips forward once more and held himself there. He leaned in so that his body hugged Dash’s and he whispered in her ear.

“Dash...”

Dash barely heard him in the midst of her delirium of pleasure, and as she turned her head to look, Soarin pushed her flat against the bed. Still inside of Dash, Soarin leaned in and began to kiss Dash deeply. It happened for so long that Dash almost ran out of breath, and when Soarin broke it off, she was gasping for air. Soarin slowly pulled back before pushing himself in once more, and Dash began to quiver again. Dash could only stare forward as Soarin picked up his rhythm once again. With each thrust, he pulled Dash’s hooves down a little bit, until he had her arms pinned at their sides, his hoof gently but firmly pressing down on her wrist. Dash tried to speak, but all that came out was a mixture of gibberish and moaning. Soarin chucked.

“I told you I... ah... I w-wanted you... quivering beneath me.”

In his effort to get out his words, Soarin had stopped his motions.

“Soarin!”

“What?”

“Keep going!”

“Huh?”

“PLEASE!”

“Uh, ok-”

“Now!”

Dash freed one of her arms, reached around behind her and grabbed Soarin’s neck, pulling him back towards her. Soarin grabbed her free hoof, pinned it back down, and continued to make love to his date. Finally, Dash broke the silence.

“Whoaaa... alright. I’m... good. Let me take care of you now.”

Soarin withdrew himself and free’d Dash’s hooves. She rolled over to face him to find his tounge down her throat as soon as she had turned around. They kissed for a few seconds before Dash broke it off and tried to turn the two of them over. She wasn’t quite as strong as Soarin though, and he ended up just rolling over himself. It was a bit of a clumsy transition, but Dash was too fulfilled and Soarin too excited to care. Finally, Dash found herself laying on top of Soarin, kissing.

She began to move down his body, kissing his neck, chest, belly, and groin. Finally, she reached his stallionhood and went down on him. Soarin’s hooves were at his sides, gripping the cloudbed in a method not unlike Dash’s from the ponystyle they’d done earlier. He began to lean up into a reclined position but Dash pushed him back down onto the bed. He laughed and began to stroke her mane.

“Come on... I wanna watch.”

Dash would’ve laughed, and although it was inaudible, Soarin was in a position where he was able to tell. He bunched up some cloud behind him and leaned up. Dash’s hooves were rubbing his stomach as she serviced him, and his were stroking her mane. Soarin did his best not to, but he couldn’t help beginning to thrust himself in a little further each time Dash descended. Fortunately for both, Dash didn’t mind, and when she didn’t respond negatively, he stopped making as much of an effort to suppress it.

This process continued for a few minutes, when eventually, Soarin’s breathing became labored and it was obvious that he was close to fulfillment. His hooves went from stroking Dash’s mane to pressing her further down, in addition to his light thrusting. Fortunately, Dash was able to suppress her gag, and she managed to remain comfortable. Dash wasn’t moving herself anymore; Soarin was now fully in control of her head, using his hooves to bring it up and down as he pleased. Finally, Dash felt something pulse inside her mouth, and Soarin reached his climax. It wasn’t terrible tasting, but the texture wasn’t particularly appetizing, so Dash quickly gulped it down and went back down. There was a little more she had to stomach, but she managed to hide her apprehension as Soarin plunked back down onto the bed. He had no idea that she’d never done that for anypony before. Not the act itself, she’d done that for Soarin the night prior, but the way the act concluded was something entirely new to her. She was honestly surprised it had happened, as it hadn’t the night before, but considering what he’d done for her just a few minutes earlier, she really didn’t mind. If that’s what he wanted, she’d be happy to deliver; it was well worth what she received in exchange. Dash refocused on Soarin’s private parts and went down once more, licking off any excess fluids that she might’ve missed before. She stayed down there until she felt Soarin’s excitement diminish, at which point she withdrew her head and stood up. She walked over to the bathroom and rinsed with mouthwash before returning to bed with a wink.

“Nothing personal.”

Soarin smiled.

“No offense taken. Honestly I'm glad, otherwise I'd feel weird kissing you.”

"Oh, so it's fine for me, but you're too good to touch something that's touched it?"

"I said 'I'd feel weird', I didn't say I wouldn't do it. C'mere..."

Soarin rolled onto his side and Dash embraced him, the two holding each other’s backs. Soarin reclined onto the section of bunched up cloud like a pillow, as Dash laid her head on Soarin’s chest. Dash closed her eyes and pulled herself tighter against Soarin’s body. He looked down into her eyes.

"You're one cute filly, you know that?"

“That was... wow...”

Soarin smiled; it was certainly an ego-booster.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I did as well.”

“I really like you Soarin.”

“Obviously, you just let me rut you.”

Dash hit Soarin and laughed. Soarin’s eyes shot open in surprise.

“Hey! What was that for! It was a joke.”

“Aww... I’m sorry.”

Dash rubbed her hoof against the part of Soarin’s chest that she’d hit, and she remained rubbing it until she drifted off into sleep. The soft sounds of Canterlot below were drowned out by Soarin’s heartbeat and the warmth of his body against hers.