The Heat of Romance

The next morning, Rainbow Dash was awake bright and early. She was still rather sleepy, but she promised herself that she would clear the sky so everypony below could appreciate the morning sunlight.

While performing her weather duties, her mind often wandered back to the events of the night before: Pinkie Pie's party, her friends meeting Firestorm, and how he had taken a friendly interest in her. She was trying to keep it all out of her mind but she couldn't help wondering when she would see Firestorm again.

A while later, she had nearly finished moving all the clouds. She was still deep in thought and feeling lethargic from waking up so early. She sat down to rest as a little quiet yawn escaped from her.

Rainbow then heard a female voice from below.

"Rainbow Dash!"

It was Twilight's voice. She flew to a hole in the clouds and peeked out of it. Twilight was standing on the brown pathway looking up at her with a smile. A small purple dragon was sitting on her back.

"Morning, Twilight!" Rainbow called to her, waving a hoof, "Hi, Spike!" she added as the baby dragon waved back to her.

"We just wanted to let you know how everypony is grateful for the early morning sunlight." Twilight said, "It's a lovely sight to wake up to."

"Aww it's no problem, Twilight." Rainbow Dash said to the unicorn, "Just doing my job. But hey, now that's done, I got more time to practice my signature moves for the Wonderbolts. So I can't sit around right now. Gotta aim to impress!"

She fluttered into the air ready to take off.

"Of course, Rainbow." Twilight laughed.

Before the unicorn could say any more to her friend, she flew off leaving a rainbow streak behind her.

"She sure is awsome, isn't she?" Spike said enthusiastically.

"I know she is, Spike." Twilight agreed.

Rainbow Dash had flown to a quiet place high up in the clouds where she always practiced her favourite moves. She felt it was a good way to relax and unwind.

She remembered a sequence of moves that she had been trying to perfect especially for the Wonderbolts and she decided she would work on it now. She began with a couple of slow loops around a row of fluffy clouds.

The problem was… she was so caught up in her acrobatics that she had forgotten how tired she was. Her eyesight was less clear than normal and her muscles felt unusually weak and achy.

She continued on without a second thought, doing all sorts of flips and spins that nopony else could pull off at such speed.

It was when she approached a row of cloud columns, which she had laid out herself, that she started to feel very drowsy. As she began to fly in and out of the slalom, she found it hard to concentrate. She thought back to her cozy bed; she could be asleep at home right now in her cozy cloud bed and have wonderful dreams of flying with the Wonderbolts…

"Ouch!"

Rainbow was snapped out of her daydream when she banged her head on the side of a column. The impact of the crash sent her hurtling off course, her forehead throbbing.

The pain made her vision distorted and she struggled to regain control of her flight.

"Ugh…my wings are so tired…"

Her wings felt weaker than ever, definitely not strong enough to keep her up. She fluttered them desperately, but she could feel her body tumbling downwards…until she felt something furry block her fall.

She opened her eyes, which had been scrunched shut in a panic, and looked below her. She saw the smiling face of Firestorm look up at her. Her whole body was lying heavily over his back.

"Woah, that was a close one." Firestorm said to her, "You okay?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes, trying not to look impressed.

"I'm fine." she grumbled.

They weren't airborne for very long. Firestorm's legs began to wobble and the weight of Rainbow Dash was pulling him down.

Rainbow yelped as the two of them tumbled towards the ground. A soft, squashy bush was there to break their fall but Firestorm's landing was still a little painful after they bounced off the bush and skidded onto the grass.

"Ughh, my head…" Rainbow Dash groaned, rubbing a hoof on her forelock.

She shook the dizziness out of her as she lay over Firestorm's back. A nervous tingle pinched her stomach as he suddenly looked up at her. Their eyes locked for a few awkward seconds…

Embarrassed, Rainbow shuffled off his back and straightened herself up on her legs.

"Sorry about that." Firestorm said with a nervous chuckle, getting up himself.

"Oh, trust me. I've had MUCH worse landings than that."

She shook some dirt out of her rainbow tail while holding Firestorm's gaze with her pretty fuchsia colored eyes.

"Why are you up here so early, Rainbow Dash?" he asked her, "Got duties to perform?"

"Well, yeah." she said, her tone slightly smug, "But I also have to practice my moves."

"Practicing moves? What for?"

"For the Wonderbolts of course!" she said loudly, sudden enthusiasm in her voice, "I've wanted to be in that group ever since I was a little filly! So everyday I'm trying to perfect my signature moves so I can impress them."

"The Wonderbolts?"

Firestorm had an excited smile on his face, looking at Rainbow Dash in awe. "Wow. That's amazing! I've loved the Wonderbolts my whole life. In fact you know Spitfire right?"

"Obviously" she said a little annoyed.

"She's my cousin"

"Really?" Rainbow exclaimed, her voice cracking in a cute way.

"Yeah!" he gasped, "And you want to join them? That's pretty huge."

Whilst he was talking to her, Rainbow Dash managed to get a closer look at Firestorm's cutie mark. The black cloud stood out on his red flank and she now noticed that it was breathed in several orange flames. She wondered what it meant.

"I wish I could join the Wonderbolts." he said to her, "You'd have to be a pretty amazing athlete to be one of them."

"Well, I'M a world-class athlete!" Rainbow said, hovering into the air and pointing a hoof to her chest "But why don't you just ask Spitfire to let you in."

"I don't want to get in that way, I see that as cheating." Firestorm said in a dignified tone. Firestorm couldn't help smirking at her smug face.

"Remember what I said? Best flier in Equestria." she proclaimed, shutting her eyes proudly, "I can get into that group, no problem! That's why I practice every day."

"Every single day?" Firestorm asked her, looking at the hovering figure above him.

"Yep." she said in that same arrogant tone.

"Well, I've always been athletic too." Firestorm continued, "I used to fly through the skies all the time with Spitfire when we were younger. Lets me burn off steam and feel like I can do anything."

Rainbow Dash had a curious look in her eyes as she landed on the ground in front of him.

"That's how I feel when I fly." she said softly, "I love that amazing sense of freedom and having the wind blow through my mane."

"So do I." Firestorm said, "Flying is practically my life."

"Mine too." Rainbow said.

She gave him a smile; her and Firestorm had quite a lot in common. Was that a good thing?

"Flying was my specialty as a colt. And that's how I earned this little beauty here."

He nodded at his cutie mark; the flares of orange around the spiral seemed to glisten in the sunlight.

"Whenever I flew, I felt an amazing burn in my wings. Like fire. Since then, travelling the skies has been my lifetime hobby. My cutie mark represents stimulation and enthusiasm."

That's kind of awesome, Rainbow Dash thought.

"So what about you?" he suddenly said, his eyes fixed upon the cloud and lightning bolt that lay on Rainbow's blue coat, "I'm guessing your cutie mark means flying too?"

"Yep. It sure does!" she said, looking at her cutie mark proudly, "And, like I told you, I'm a weather pony so I use my amazing speed and agility to tidy the clouds."

"And you do that on your own?" Firestorm asked her.

Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her chin, thinking for a moment. "Well…no." she admitted, "Every Pegasus helps out with the weather control. And all the pegasi, including me, come from there."

She rose a few feet off the ground again and pointed her hoof at the large white cloud city high up in the sky.

"Cloudsdale. I've lived there most of my life."

"But you seem to be in Ponyville a lot." said Firestorm.

"Yeah, that's because I wanna see my friends. Ponyville's like a second home, I spend so much time here…"

As she gently landed on the ground to face him, Firestorm smiled at her again. "You know," he said, "I like you, Rainbow Dash. You've got a lot of spirit compared to most mares I've met and I admire that."

"Uh…" Rainbow Dash felt shy for a moment, running a hoof awkwardly down her mane, "what do you mean by that?"

"Well, you're very sure of yourself." Firestorm said, "You seem so confident that you can achieve anything, especially with flying. You're fast, right?"

"Right!" Rainbow said, flashing him a daring grin.

"So do you reckon you could beat me in a race?"

Rainbow Dash widened her eyes at him. Was he actually challenging her? She wasn't sure what to say at first, but then she replied, "Yeah. I bet I could!"

"Well, we'll see, won't we?" Firestorm said, flexing his wings and gazing at her with bold eyes.

So you still think you're better than me, do ya? Rainbow Dash thought, irritably.

"You really don't know what you're letting yourself in for, Firestorm." Rainbow Dash said to him.

"I'm willing to take risks." he said to her cheekily, raising an eyebrow, "As I'm sure you are too."

He flapped his brown wings a little more while Rainbow eyed him with a frown across her face.

"Now let's see you be the first to Cloudsdale!"

Before Rainbow Dash could react, Firestorm shot up into the sky towards the distant cloud city.

"Hey! I wasn't ready!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

Annoyed, she powered up her wings with several flutters and zoomed after him.

Firestorm had already gotten quite far ahead of her, but she wasn't going to let him stay that way. She surged forward with all her flying power, his brown outline gradually growing larger as she got closer.

She looked up to see the huge white shape of Cloudsdale getting nearer to the two of them. Firestorm looked around and gave her a mischievous grin as he continued to speed ahead, his mane flickering around in the wind. Rainbow Dash scowled at him before flapping her wings harder. She could feel the wind shooting past her and stinging her cheeks, but she ignored it. She was desperate to catch up with Firestorm, who was not far from Cloudsdale.

Her efforts were paying off. She had soon flown far enough forward so that the two of them were neck and neck. Rainbow Dash didn't stop beating her wings for a second, even though she was growing short of breath. The dizziness that she had felt not long ago seemed to drift away completely. She was not going to let somepony else beat her.

She soon noticed Firestorm panting , beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. She saw this as a chance. She used her agile wings to swerve her whole body to the right, passing right ahead of the exhausted stallion, who has now having trouble keeping up with her.

Pleased with herself, Rainbow Dash did a happy somersault in the air before shooting down towards the nearby city. She had got this in the bag now.

It was not long before she felt her hooves land on soft cloudy ground, her exhausted wings folding themselves away.

"Phew!" she sighed, looking around at the dozens of pegasi roaming the air in the magnificent cloud city.

She smiled proudly to herself as she heard the worn out pants of Firestorm coming up from behind her. He landed on the clouds beside her, laying his tired body on the floor like a blanket. His eyes were shining and his breathing was loud and rigid. He looked up at the grinning blue Pegasus, who was looking at him with victorious eyes.

"Okay…" he gasped, holding a hoof up, "you're fast…I underestimated you, Rainbow Dash. You're a great flier."

Rainbow Dash knelt down in front of him so that she was looking directly into his face. "Don't say I didn't warn you." she said to him cheekily, before turning away from him and giving his face a brush with her tail.

He looked at her with annoyed eyes as she strutted in front of him, eventually getting to his feet shakily.

The red stallion followed her as his eyes scanned everything around him: Pegasi roaming the air, the sounds of chatter and the whooshing sound of wings. The white cloudy scenery was beautiful.

He stepped up to Rainbow Dash's side, his breathing normal again. "Nonetheless," he said to her, as she looked at him through the corner of her eye, "I'd like to see that sonic rainboom of yours at some point."

Rainbow Dash shot him an optimistic grin. "Well…let's just say I'm saving it for a special occasion."

Firestorm smirked, not asking her any more about it. Their hooves barely made a sound as they walked together, Firestorm's eyes swerving about in wonder at everything around him.

Rainbow Dash noticed him gaze intently at a nearby building: the weather factory. "That place looks interesting." Firestorm said to her, his hoof pointing towards it.

"Yeah, the weather factory." Rainbow Dash said, "That's where Cloudsdale sorts out the weather!"

"Whoa…" Firestorm gasped, in awe of the huge building, "We never had anything like that where I came from. It sure is impressive."

Firestorm lifted himself up into the air with the power of his wings, looking down at Rainbow Dash.

"Mind if I go and take a look?" he asked her, his eyes looking thrilled with anticipation.

"Sure. Go ahead. I'll meet you back here. Then I can show you even more of Cloudsdale!"

"All right, Rainbow Dash. See you in a minute."

He smiled at her before flying off towards the factory.

Rainbow Dash thought, maybe she should have gone with him? Would he be okay finding his way back?

No. He didn't need her company right now. Chill out, Rainbow. He'll be fine, she told herself in her head.

She looked around at the city she stood in, so many memories flooding their way into her mind: she had grown up here as a filly, discovered her love for flying, trained with Fluttershy at Flight Camp. Time had flown so quickly; she had a group of amazing friends now and she had so many special things to be known for. Yet, she would never forget this wonderful place, her true home. Her shiny eyes looked around at the other pegasi in the air and on the ground, and the comfy looking clouds that hovered in the sky. She wondered whether to hop on one and relax, but decided not to. She should wait for Firestorm to come back before going anywhere.

She smiled when she remembered Firestorm. Only a few hours ago she didn't want to have anything to do with him. Now she was happily showing the stallion around her home. What am I like? She giggled to herself, beginning to stride around the area, awaiting Firestorm's return.

The seconds ticked by, and Rainbow felt boredom coming over her. Maybe she should have gone with him, she thought, it would have saved her from waiting.

Just then, Rainbow Dash recognized three male faces that began to pass her. She felt a sting of worry in her stomach as their eyes looked in her direction.

She had managed to escape bullying for a while ever since she won the Best Young Fliers Competition; Hoops and Dumb-Bell had left her alone after seeing her sonic rainboom. But she still received some tough times coping with colts that would make fun of her and accuse her for being over-confident. Right now, the colts near her were one that she knew as Slate Streak and two others that had been with Hoops and Dumb-Bell before. They had always picked on her whenever they got the chance.

Slate Streak was a turquoise Pegasus with a bright streak of blue through his aqua mane and tail. He was known for a being an athletic and brash stallion that was proud of who he was and wanted all other ponies to know his name.

Feeling nervous, Rainbow Dash wondered whether to slip away and hide, but then she remembered Firestorm wouldn't find her. She looked at Slate Streak with uncomfortable eyes, her blue body shriveling up a little.

"Oh look, fellas!" Slate Streak exclaimed, "It's Rainbow Crash! You destroyed anypony's house recently, Rainbow Crash?"

Rainbow frowned at him as he and his friends began to laugh at her. She had always tried to act tough whenever she was laughed at, but on the inside, she hated it and wanted to run away.

"She doesn't have any friends today, does she?" one of the smaller colts shouted out.

"No, just the ground!"

They burst into laughter again.

Rainbow felt hurt and angry inside. Were they saying she was lazy?

"Ugh, guys, just quit it will you?" she snapped, "I'll have you know I'm tired out from all my practicing!"

"Practicing? Don't you mean…failing?" Slate Streak snorted with laughter, "Like you'll ever get into any flying team!"

As the laughing began again, Rainbow Dash turned her head away from them, hiding the sadness that was forming in her eyes.

At this moment, Rainbow was unaware that Firestorm was flying back the way he came, a few meters above her in the air. His blue eyes were happy and joyful at first, amazed by what he had seen at the weather factory, but then he glimpsed the anxious form of Rainbow Dash below him, and three mean-looking stallions laughing at her.

"Well," he said to himself, frowning at the colts below him, "what have we got here then?"

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash kept her head turned away from the stallions, who continued to laugh and make her insides tremble with fear and anger.

"Hey!"

Rainbow Dash gasped at the sound of a familiar voice. She looked around to see Firestorm land swiftly in front of her, looking the bullies directly in their eyes.

"What do you think you're playing at?" he barked at them, "She's never done anything to you!"

Rainbow stared at him as he stood defensively between her and the bullies. She was stunned at his sudden outburst.

Slate Streak was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh yeah?" he retorted, "And why should you care? I've never seen you around here before."

"That doesn't matter." Firestorm snarled his hair flaring up a bit, stepping a little bit closer to Slate Streak, "I'm telling you not to say another harsh word to her. I don't even want you near her."

"Who are you to tell me what to do, low-life?" Slate Streak snapped, "This is practically none of your business!"

Rainbow Dash continued to watch the scene, her eyes wide. Why was Firestorm defending her like this? He hardly knew her.

"It IS my business if I catch somepony bullying another pony that doesn't deserve it!" he shouted at the older stallion.

Despite his intimidating appearance, Slate Streak seemed quite taken aback by Firestorm's fury. He said nothing for a few moments, Firestorm staring at him angrily, and then gave a grumble with his chin up.

"Say what you want, chump." he muttered, beginning to turn away, "Nopony will think anything of you. Come on, fellas. Let's leave the lunatics to muck about on their own."

With that, Slate Streak and his two friends stomped away. Firestorm shook the anger out of his eyes, turning to look at Rainbow Dash, who was still standing there with a bewildered look on her face.

"Are you all right?" he asked her calmly.

"I…I don't understand…" Rainbow Dash said, "Why did you do that for me?"

"You were being picked on, Rainbow. I had to do SOMETHING."

He paused to run a hoof down the back of his neck shyly.

"And…well…" he said quietly, "you just seem like a pony worth protecting."

Rainbow Dash gazed at him questioningly, wondering what to do; he was giving her a timid smile. Before she could think about it, Rainbow smiled back at him, a warm feeling in her heart. They smiled at each other for a few moments…but then Rainbow suddenly shook her head.

"Yeah, well…I don't need protection." she said, back to her arrogant tone.

Firestorm rolled his eyes at her as she began to walk past him, but in a friendly, amused way.

"I appreciate your concern though." she said to him ironically, stopping to turn her head to look at him, "It's hardly surprising."

He grinned at her and let out a snicker. "Whatever you say, Rainbow Dash."

"Ahuh…so, erm…" she fidgeted nervously, "I was gonna show you around a bit more, wasn't I? Come on then."

She took off into the sky, seeming unaware of where she was headed. Firestorm stood there watching her fly for a moment, and then used the power of his own wings to follow her into the clouds.