Matters of the heart

Rainbow dash was a late sleeper. That was a well known fact among the residents of Ponyville. Very rarely was the prismatic mare up at a proper time but she was never, ever up early. So it was a shock to Ponyville's early risers to see a rainbow streak heading through town towards the large, crystal castle that now sat on the outskirts of the town. As Rainbow rocketed through town, one thing was blasting through her mind. And that was the fact that her and the girls had gotten tickets to spend a whole month in the Wonderbolts HQ. Spitfire had agreed to meet the girls at Twilight's castle and escort them to the large cloud building. Due to the magic unique to pegasi that allowed them to walk on clouds, Twilight had cast an upgraded version of the cloud-walking spell on Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie. Basically, it was a permanent variant.

Upon reaching the glittering palace, she burst through the window, fanned out her wings and placed her hind hooves on the crystal floor. The girls were there talking with Spitfire, or, at least, Twilight was. The others were all talking to each other in excitement. However, upon hearing Rainbow's hooves clip on the crystal floor, Rarity turned towards her, a shocked look on her face. Soon, however, the shock was replaced by a warm smile as the unicorn alerted their friends.

"Wow, Rainbow. Ah've never seen ya up this early before. Why are ya... no wait, lemme guess. The month long trip to the Wonderbolts headquarters and the fact that Spitfire got here a few minutes ago and is in the bathroom?" Rainbow's beaming face told Applejack all she needed to know and the girls all went back to talking. After a few minutes, Spitfire trotted into the room.

"Alright girls, let's go before I fall back asleep." Her mouth stretched wide as a yawn flowed from her throat, permeating her point. The girls nodded and they set out. Once they reached the train station, Spitfire paid for the train tickets while the girls chittered. As the group waited, Spitfire recalled the conversation she'd had with Soarin before she left the HQ.

Spitfire signed her name and placed the quill in her mouth on the desk. Soon after her mouth stretched open and she let out a massive yawn, scrunching her eyes shut. Her ears flicked as she heard somepony flying into her office, given away by the rustle of feathers. She looked up and was shocked at the sheer rage on Soarin's face. His vibrant green eyes were shimmering as he growled at her. Spitfire shook her head and smiled at him.

"Hello, Soarin. What brings you he..." She never got to finish As Soarin swung his hoof towards his captain. Spitfire shrieked as the ice blue hoof smacked across her cheek.

"How DARE you invite Rain... Ra... UGG, you know who! I can't believe you!" Spitfire shook her head and looked up at Soarin in confusion. However, the confusion on her face only made the inferno in Soarin's eyes grow into a full on blaze.

"I CAME TO YOU IN CONFIDANCE ABOUT RAINBOW! AND WHAT DO YOU DO!? YOU INVITE HER TO SPEND A WHOLE MONTH HERE!!" Spitfire pressed her ears down against her head as he glared at her. Spitfire thought about it and suddenly it clicked into place.

"your talking about... oh Soarin, I'm so sorry. I totally forgot about your issue with Rainbow." Instantly, Spitfire found herself squealing in pain while clutching her muzzle upon having Soarin's hoof slamming into her muzzle. Her eyes tilted upwards at her friend's livid eyes. As soon as she did so, she realized her mistake. Before she could say anything, Soarin whipped around and flew out, a few drops of water dripping onto her desk.

The blast of a train horn jerked Spitfire from her thoughts and she looked up to see the girls boarding. Trotting forward with her ticket gripped in her teeth, she rubbed her nose. She'd gone to the medic before she left and discovered that Soarin had fractured her muzzle and chipped her teeth. She found the girls in the first car, chatting. However.

Thump. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

All six mares jumped and whipped their gazes over to the now sleeping Spitfire. Twilight smiled and levitated the sleeping mare up onto the bed across from Fluttershy. The girls lowered their voices so that the Wonderbolt could sleep. Rainbow, however, didn't sleep but was very silent as she stared out the window. For some reason, she was feeling upset, like she was missing something.

"Hey Twi, did I forget any of the stuff you told me to bring?"

"Uh... no. Why?" Rainbow shook her head and sneezed. Unfortunately for Rainbow, a shriek went up from the mare bunking in front of her. Rainbow suddenly found herself with a scorched mane and face. She opened her eyes to see Rarity's angry blue eyes glaring back at her. A sheepish smile spread across her face as her friends laughed.

"Honestly, Rainbow. Have you got no manners?" Silence fell over the car as the girls stared at Rarity. Rainbow chuckled as the girls talked. Soon she also drifted off to sleep, going limp and gently snoring.

Soarin lay in his room, his whole body shaking as tears poured down his cheeks. Fleetfoot was sitting beside him, gently stroking his mane as she tried to calm him down. Rapidfire had done them a favor and taken the others out for some fun. Fleetfoot felt a small twinge of anger rise up as she tried to comfort her friend. Spitfire knew exactly how Soarin felt about Rainbow and chose to invite the mare anyways. The captain didn't even seem to care about the pain she was putting Soarin through.

"WHY!!! I H... HATE HER, FLEETFOOT! I... I..." Soarin let out another wail as he continued to sob, his trembling increasing. The mint coloured mare beside him lay down and wrapped her forelegs around his shoulders, pulling him close. Soarin whimpered and buried his muzzle in her fur, quickly soaking her chest. Fleet also wrapped her free wing around his shoulders and continued stroking his mane.

"Shhhhhh. It's okay, Soarin. It'll turn out fine, okay? You know that none of us will let you be hurt in any way. We're like family. Okay?" Soarin nodded and his tears slowed. Fleetfoot got up and trotted to the door. Before leaving, however, she turned to speak to the distraught stallion again.

"Just keep it to yourself for a little bit longer, okay? Bye." Soarin shook his head and whimpered. He'd kept it in for so long in front of her. But even then it was hard and that was just for a little while. How could he last a whole month without saying anything. A month of seeing... her. A month of seeing those amazing magenta eyes that pulled him into a trance. It took all his willpower not to kiss her whenever he saw her. He didn't know how he would last.

Oh Rainbow. Why did I let you do this to me?