Chapters Rainbow Dash flew like a bullet through the dense apple orchard. The only thing on her mind? Cider. She had waited all year for cider
season, and here it was! Rainbow fixed her magenta eyes on the cider stand being set up near the barn and targeted her landing. Drooling at
the sweet fragrance, she picked up her speed and headed for a good spot in the line forming behind the cider stand. Rainbow was
seconds from hitting the ground when a light blue pegasus with a messy, navy, slicked back hair and vibrant green eyes appeared in front of
her. Rainbow Dash tried to slow down, but she was going too fast, and the panicked Rainbow crashed right into the light blue pegasus.
Rainbow cringed. "Ooh, sorry about that..." She got up off of the pegasus and looked at him closely. "Soarin? Is that you?"
"The one and only!" Soarin grinned.
"Oh my gosh oh my gosh! I am so sorry, Soarin!"
"Nah, we all make mistakes, like me when I almost killed myself at the Equestria Games trials."
Rainbow giggled. "You were pretty bad. So, what brings you to Ponyville?"
"I heard they had some great cider here."
"Speaking of... want to stand in line with me?"
"Sure!" Soarin stepped in front of Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I got here first!" She teased.
Soarin smirked and moved behind her.
_____________________________________
Soarin and Rainbow began to chat while in line.
"So, how's the Wonderbolts? What's it like?" Rainbow inquired.
"Oh, I don't know much yet. I just joined two months ago."
Rainbow grinned. "Well, you are pretty good... for a newbie."
Soarin scoffed. "You're not even in the Wonderbolts!"
"I could be," Rainbow said teasingly.
"You wish," Soarin laughed.
"And you wish you ," Rainbow Dash poked Soarin's chest. "...could be as awesome as me. "
"Why don't you prove you're as awesome as you say you are?"
"Well, I will after I get my cider. You. Me. Race. This afternoon."
Soarin pushed Rainbow playfully. "Deal."
"Move up, you two! You're holding up the line!" The pony behind them shouted.
Rainbow and Soarin both turned beet red.
__________________________________________
Rainbow and Soarin quickly drank their delicious cider and found a place to hold their race. It was agreed that whoever won would buy
dinner for the two of them that night.
Rainbow stretched her hind legs and began doing push ups when Soarin nudged her. "You ready?"
Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Alright. So we'll just race to that apple tree on that hill over there." Soarin pointed to a lone apple tree at the top of a hill.
"Sounds good," Rainbow replied.
"Oh, here comes Pinkie. I got her to start us off," she pointed to the excited Pinkie Pie hopping towards them.
Pinkie pulled out a megaphone. "Ok, mares and gentleponies, are you ready? Pinkie shouted through the megaphone.
Soarin and Rainbow Dash nodded.
"On your mark..."
Rainbow dug her hooves into the ground and got into her starting position.
"Get set..."
Soarin snorted and spread his wings.
"GO!"
And they were off! Soarin was taking the lead, but Rainbow Dash, as we all know, was very competitive, and wasn't about to let some newbie
beat her. she flapped her wings harder and harder, and was pulling ahead when... BAM! Rainbow Dash had broken the sound barrier and
created a sonic rainboom. Soarin stared in disbelief as he was thrown back by the force of the blast. Meanwhile, Rainbow was sitting in the
apple tree, laughing her head off.
When Soarin got to the tree, Rainbow Dash was still laughing and wiped a tear. "Guess who's buying dinner?" She said through laughter.
Soarin rolled his eyes and sighed. "You are pretty good, Rainbow Dash," Soarin smiled.
"Pretty good? I was awesome!" Rainbow laughed.
_______________________________________________
The Mane Six were hanging out in Twilight's palace when Rainbow Dash looked up from her Daring Do book. Rainbow gasped. "I'm
going to be late!"
"For what?" Twilight asked.
"I'm going to a restaurant with Soarin."
Rarity gasped. "Ooh, looks like somepony has a date!"
Rainbow laughed. "Rarity, the only reason we're going out to dinner is because I bet that if I beat him in a race, he would buy me dinner! And
you guys know how much I love food!"
Applejack, the Element of Honesty, was having a hard time believing this. Even Fluttershy had her doubts, as she knew how it felt to have a
friend who you grew to like overtime. However, she kept her slight crush on Discord a secret.
"Whatever you say, Dash," Applejack said with a slight smile.
Rainbow groaned.
"However, I do need some help..."
"Yes, Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked.
"The restaurant Soarin recommended is really formal, so can one of you guys help me out with what to wear?"
Rarity's eyes almost popped out of her head. "Rainbow Dash, I've been waiting for the day you would ask me!"
She galloped to her house and came back with a rack of clothes, makeup, flat irons, curling irons, and accessories. "I have a few options you
could try."
Rainbow Dash gagged.
A painful half hour later, Rainbow had on a flowing violet gown, complete with a touch of glitter and jewels here and there, along with a black
scarf and RD's signature sunglasses. Rainbow even curled her hair a bit for the occasion! "You'll blow Soarin away with that!" Rarity said
proudly. Rainbow sighed. "I'm not trying to blow him away, I just dressed up because the restaurant is formal!"
"And yet, this is the first time you've asked me to help you dress up."
Rainbow Dash blushed and scratched the back of her neck. "Well..."
While Rainbow was being primped by Rarity, Soarin was at his house in Cloudsdale putting on a tux and making an effort to slick back his
wild hair. He sighed. I sure hope she took the hints, Soarin thought. He wanted this to be a date, as he had taken a liking to Rainbow Dash
since the incident at the Trials. Soarin knew they were just supposed to go to the restaurant as friends, but was he a fool to actually think RD
would like him back? He had no way of telling. Besides, Soarin really didn't know Rainbow Dash that well, either. He just knew she was a fast
flyer, was a bit arrogant and had the prettiest hair...
Snap out of it, Soarin! he thought. He needed this night to go well.
Soarin flew out of his house and headed for Le Cheval.
When Soarin arrived, Rainbow Dash was already at the entrance of Le Cheval. Soarin would have gone up the marble stairs of the restaurant,
but he was too taken aback at how beautiful she looked that he just stood at the bottom of the steps, staring at her. Rainbow looked at him
questionably. "Aren't you gonna say hi?"
Soarin snapped out of his daze. "Oh, yes. You look, erm, nice, Rainbow!" he stuttered as he flew up the steps. Rainbow Dash blushed. "Well
you look... about twenty percent cooler."
Suddenly, they both went quiet.
After a while, the awkward silence was broken by a waiter cutting in. "Welcome to Ze Cheval! Would you two love birds like a table or a
booth?" he said in a French accent.
"Oh, it's not a date!" Soarin and Rainbow Dash said at the same time. "Of course not," the waiter replied with a wink.
"We'll take a table, please," Soarin blushed.
After the duo ordered their food, they began to talk about their interests.
"What's your favorite color?"
"Orange."
"Me too!"
"Favorite food?"
"Apple Pie!"
"Well... does cider count?" Rainbow Dash grinned.
Soarin laughed. Not only was she a daredevil like him, but she had a dry wit, too. Her confidence is the most beautiful thing about her, he
thought.
Rainbow Dash tapped Soarin. "Food's here."
Soarin licked his lips. "Oh boy, am I..."
The plates were passed in front of them, and on each plate there was an extremely tiny portion of mashed potatoes.
"... hungry." he muttered.
Rainbow stared at the tiny dollop. "What kind of food is this?
Soarin quickly ate his potatoes and shrugged.
"Well, whatever it is, why did you want to go here?"
"Oh, no reason."
Rainbow Dash looked at Soarin long and hard. "You took me here to impress me, didn't you?"
Beads of sweat formed on Soarin's forehead.
"You actually thought taking me here would impress me? I'm not the fancy type."
Soarin laughed nervously. "Ehhh..."
Rainbow Dash punched him playfully. "Whatever. Want to ditch this place and head to the Ponyville Fair going on tonight?"
Soarin sighed with relief. "Of course!"
They flew out of the restaurant, holding hooves. "Hey, you didn't pay yet!" Yelled the waiter as they flew away.
Soarin looked at Rainbow Dash with a "Let me handle this" look on his face. He dug in his tuxedo's pocket and tossed the waiter 10 bits.
The waiter sighed. "You forgot tax!"
_________________________________________
Rainbow Dash and Soarin soon arrived at the fair. "So, where should we go first?" Soarin asked.
"I want to go to all the crazy rides," Rainbow replied. "That's all I'm asking."
Soarin winced. He never did like the wild roller coasters very much. "Alright then. Let's go to..."
Rainbow gasped. "The Destroyer!"
Soarin turned his head to the biggest, scariest roller coaster he had ever seen. He was about to say no, but hesitated. For Rainbow Dash,
he thought. "Okay."
"Not okay! NOT OKAY!" Soarin fidgeted in his seat. "You'll be fine, Soarin!" Rainbow Dash nudged him as the cars began to move.
The roller coaster went up at what seemed an endless pace. When they were at the top, Soarin closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.
At last, the roller coaster went straight down. Rainbow Dash had been on scary rides before, but nothing like this. Her high pitched scream
rang in Soarin's ears, as he was frozen with terror. Through many twists and turns, Rainbow Dash and Soarin held each other, both screaming
at the top of their lungs.
It was only at the end of the ride did Soarin and Rainbow realize they were holding each other. Both blushing, they awkwardly pulled away.
Rainbow Dash got out of the cart. "You know what? Let's not go on anymore scary rides."
________________________________________________
The rest of the night was fright free and pure fun. After awesomely winning some games, earning a giant teddy bear and bobbing for
apples, Rainbow and Soarin decided to spend their last few minutes together watching the fireworks show, directed by (of course) Pinkie.
After finding a nice spot on a hill, Soarin and Rainbow Dash sat down and relaxed.
"Well this was fun," Rainbow said with one of her rare genuine smiles.
"Yeah! I enjoyed myself way more than I would have at that Le Cheval place!" Soarin laughed.
Rainbow shushed him. "The fireworks are starting."
Soarin looked up at the moonlit sky. Sure enough, the fireworks soared into the sky, exploding with beautiful, bright colors.
Rainbow and Soarin were silent, for there was nothing to say as beautiful colors lit the star speckled sky.
However, Soarin looked over to find Rainbow Dash resting her head peacefully on his shoulder. Soarin blushed, but decided not to disturb
her, and live blissfully in the moment.
Rainbow Dash got home very late after the fair. She opened the door to her cloud mansion and sighed with a smile on her face. "What a
day, Tank!" she said to her pet turtle, who was currently on the kitchen table. Tank blinked and remained expressionless.
"And Soarin was nice to go on that ride with me, even though he looked like he was about to soil himself."
Tank blinked again.
Rainbow sighed again. "He just has the cutest smile, too, Tank. I never thought I'd be saying this about a stallion, but he's pretty cool!"
Tank yawned while Rainbow continued. "Have you ever noticed how bright green his eyes are?"
"I certainly haven't," said a voice from upstairs.
Rainbow Dash screamed. "Who's there?"
Rarity appeared as she trotted down RD's stairs. "I was just saying how you noticed all the small details." She shrugged.
"Rarity!" Rainbow Dash groaned. "How'd you even get up here? I've told you this before, Rarity, I don't like Soarin!"
"Doesn't matter. The important thing is, Rainbow Dash, that I don't think you have a crush on Soarin. I know you do."
Rainbow Dash winced. "Just a little. How do you know?" she asked accusingly.
Rarity laughed. "Please, Rainbow, I'm a romance expert. I see everything!"
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Alright, love doctor, what should I do?"
"I'll get you primped up, you go tell him how you feel! Make an impression!"
"Rarity, this isn't some big deal!"
Rarity gasped. "Isn't a big deal? Darling, this is the first time you've ever liked somepony else! Plus, I can see that Soarin likes you too."
"Really?" Rainbow Dash gasped, but then coughed. "I mean, cool." She struck an awkward pose.
Rarity smiled. "So it's settled then," she said as she walked out the front door, and took some means of transportation, probably involving
Pinkie Pie.
"Fine!" Rainbow called out. "Just don't break into my house anymore, okay?"
_____________________________________________
The next day, after thirty minutes of utter agony for Rainbow Dash, she was finally perfect, her hair adorned with beautiful pearls and
golden flowers. Rainbow didn't like the girly arrangement personally, but decided to keep her mouth shut for Soarin. She also hated the fact
that she had to fly slowly to Soarin's house so her makeup wouldn't run. When she finally arrived at Soarin's house in Cloudsdale, she saw
something in his yard that made her eyes grow wide. A For Sale sign. As Rainbow rang the doorbell, she prayed that the sign was a
mistake.
Soarin quickly opened the door. "Oh hi Rainbow Daaaa..." Soarin trailed off, awestruck by how beautiful and innocent Rainbow Dash could
look. She was as pretty and as delicate as a flower's petal.
Rainbow bit her lip as her face grew hot. Aww, he's doing that adorable little stare thing again! She looked away so Soarin wouldn't see
her smile.
Soarin was blushing too. "Uh, sorry, what was I saying?" He scratched the back of his neck.
Rainbow quickly snapped back into reality. "You just said hi. But what's with the sign?"
"Oh. About that. I've been thinking lately that I've done all I can in the Wonderbolts. I mean, what's the point of just performing? So I'm joining
the Royal Canterlot Army, and I'm..." Soarin paused for a minute and frowned. "...moving to the Crystal Empire for training. I mean, I hope
you're not like, mad or anything. I don't think I'll see you after I start training in two days, and I was going to say goodbye." he said guiltily.
The news struck Rainbow Dash like a bolt of lightning. Soarin was right; he wouldn't see anypony anymore after he joined the army. "I... um...
I'm happy for you, Soarin." she said in a pained voice as she flew away.
"Wait, Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow Dash did not care how fast she flew as the pearls and flowers fell out of her hair and her makeup ran. She just wanted to get away,
to escape this horrible reality. Tears streamed from her eyes as she flew into her house, where Rarity was waiting. "So, how'd it go?"
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, RARITY!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she slammed her bedroom door as tears formed in her glistening eyes.
Rainbow Dash had learned a valuable lesson that day: You don't know what you have until it's lost to you forever.
Author's Note
Why are there two Author's Notes of the same comment?
Before You Leave
Rainbow Dash was quite upset at the news of Soarin's departure. Rarity could hear her sobs outside of her bedroom door. She sighed. "What am I going to do with that pegasus?"
Rarity knocked on Rainbow Dash's door. "Rainbow?" she called. "Are you alright in there?"
"I told you to go away," Rainbow replied.
Rarity then opened the door. "What happened?"
Rainbow sighed. "Please leave me alone."
Rarity in return sat beside Rainbow's bed. "No, Rainbow Dash. I'm not going to leave until you tell me what happened with Soarin."
She's as stubborn as I am, Rainbow thought with a groan as she sat up to face Rarity. " I don't know what's wrong with me. I only knew him for such a short time, but now that he's leaving to join the Canterlot Army, I feel so empty."
Rarity's eyes lit up. "Joining the Canterlot Army? What a stallion!" She sighed with dreamy eyes.
Rainbow groaned again, and Rarity winced. "Ahem. I mean, that's awful. Why is it awful?"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Because once he leaves, he'll be to busy to see me, or anyone else! He might be killed in battle! So many possible things could happen to him. I mean, I love him as a friend, but I'm just not sure anymore if..."
Rarity was genuinely surprised to see how serious Rainbow was. "Well, dearie, it doesn't matter if you love him one way or another. If you really care about him that much and don't want to lose him, please tell him before it's too late."
"You really think I could do that?" Rainbow asked, but then stopped herself. "Of course I can! I'm Rainbow Dash!"
"That's the spirit!" Rarity yelled.
___________________________
Soarin sighed as he packed away all of his things. He had signed up for the army months ago, but was now questioning his decision. How could he leave behind everything? His friends, his family, and Rainbow Dash, who he had not been able to get through to in time.
But Soarin needed a purpose. He wanted to die and be able to say he had impacted Equestria, which he could never do if he just was on some racing team, even if they are legendary. It was too late now, anyway. It's best I didn't become Rainbow's coltfriend, or anything like that. I would have been to attached to leave.
Still, Soarin couldn't get that rainbow maned pegasus out of his mind. Why would I even get to know her, anyway? The more I spent time with her, the more I fell for her. Soarin did visit Sweet Apple Acres for cider, but also because he had just quit the Wonderbolts to join the army and had needed to get away for a while.
I'm going to live with this pain for the rest of my life if I don't tell her how I feel, Soarin thought. But was Rainbow Dash really worth giving up his ambitions for?
Soarin had a gut feeling that Rainbow Dash was the one , the one who caused a spark to never be quenched. It was written on his soul, he felt. She was the one.
She, of all ponies, was worth it.
_____________________________________________
The next day dawned upon Equestria, and Rainbow awoke with a start.
"Soarin's leaving today," Rainbow Dash said aloud. No time for making herself pretty today. She didn't even notice her bedhead and ruffled coat as she flew out of her house.
Soarin's hot air balloon had arrived when he woke up. He rapidly went back and forth to pile his luggage into the basket so he could have some time before his departure to see Rainbow again, to see if he could stay with her.
Rainbow Dash was speeding towards Soarin's house when she saw his hot air balloon. She let out a sigh of relief. I'm not too late.
Soarin was about to go find Rainbow Dash when he saw her flying towards him.
Rainbow Dash collided with Soarin before he could react. Rainbow laughed nervously. "I need to work on my breaking skills, huh..."
Soarin just stared at her, and she stared back, they both opened their mouths to speak, but then they both said "You go first."
Soarin smiled a little. "I'll just get this out. Rainbow Dash, I've never met anypony like you, or any mare like you for that matter. I know it sounds cheesy, but I did like you from the start. As I spent more time with you, I kinda, sorta, maybe fell for you more than I had planned. I just hope if you don't feel the same way, you'll forgive me for being so naive and we can still be friends."
Rainbow smiled back, with tears in her eyes. "And I know I'm too late. I was going to keep my distance from you, since I know you're really set on being in the army and whatever. I'm not a mare for words, but I will always remember our time together. I never thought I'd have feelings for anypony, but then you came along, and you're leaving and I don't know what to do..."
"Hey," Soarin put his hoof on Rainbow's. "I'd rather have you than be a captain of the army. I'll stay with you." Soarin's face glowed, but something didn't feel right.
Rainbow thought for a moment. She didn't want to let Soarin go, but she also wanted him to be happy. At that moment, she realized she did love Soarin, even if their story had only just begun. How did she know? She would set him free.
"No, Soarin." Rainbow stood firm.
"What?"
"If you stay here, you'd have me, but you would still be unhappy. If you joined the army, I wouldn't be with you, but you would be happy. That's what matters."
"No! I'll be happy with you!"
"Soarin, I will drag you to Canterlot if I have to. Think about others, but think about yourself. You said yourself you wanted a purpose in life. What difference will I make?" Rainbow said regretfully as a single tear glistened and fell.
"I... I..." Soarin sighed. "I really haven't met anypony like you, Rainbow." He hung his head as he trotted into the hot air balloon.
Rainbow waved sadly as the hot air balloon drifted away, but then she thought of something she needed to do, for all the missed opportunities and so a memory will be fresh in both her and Soarin's mind.
"Wait!" She cried as she flew faster than ever before to catch up with the hot air balloon. Soarin turned his head. "Rainbow!" Soarin exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing up he-" Soarin was cut off by Rainbow kissing him full on the lips, and Soarin quickly embraced this as he put a hoof around her and kissed her back as Rainbow returned the favor by sliding a hoof up into his wild hair.
And there they stood, for what felt like days, weeks, months, as the hot air balloon drifted peacefully in the softly blowing wind. Their fluttering hearts beat as one as they shared a beautiful memory. When they finally broke away, Soarin escaped from his daze and murmured softly, "You do make a difference."
Rainbow waved to Soarin again, as their distance grew, until Rainbow could see nothing of him at all.
Rainbow wiped her brow as she continued washing the dishes in the sink. It was a beautiful spring day, the kind where Soarin and she would have had a nice picnic together.
Would have, Rainbow thought. Ugh, stop doing this to yourself! I can't afford to think like this.
A few months ago, Rainbow was expecting Soarin to return home from battle, but he wasn't there to greet her. Immobilized with sadness, Rainbow Dash locked herself away in her room, until a certain pink pony got her to come out of her shell. After these many months, Rainbow was almost immune to all the sorrow she carried.
That's when the pegasus got a letter.
The young mare heard a knock on her door. "Urgent news from Rarity," the mailmare piped in a bubbly tone. Rainbow Dash smiled and took the envelope and ripped it open with her teeth. It read:
Rainbow Dash,
You are needed at the Ponyville Elementary School at once.
~Rarity
Rainbow Dash was confused. That's it? No explanation? Something seemed fishy, but out of curiousness flew out of her mansion's door towards Ponyville Elementary School.
When she arrived at the school, a Canterlot guard ushered her in. "What's going on?"
"Can't tell you, miss. We're just here to escort you."
Rainbow Dash was pushed into Miss Cheerilee's classroom. "Alright now, is this some prank? Well if it is I don't-" Rainbow was surprised to see all of her friends standing before her, as well as two little colts.
"Why are they here? Why are you here?" The older colt, who was a dark navy blue with a tri-colored mane asked Rainbow Dash.
"First of all, I don't know. Second, I don't like that attitude, Prism Bolt." Rainbow glared suspiciously at him.
Rarity frowned. "Lighten up, Dashie, we just invited you here because the Wonderbolts are coming for a visit."
"The WONDERBOLTS!" The younger one, Icy Storm, gasped. "OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!"
Rainbow chuckled. "Alright then, let's go! Race you there!"
Rarity winced. "Don't knock anything over on your way out!"
Sure enough, the Wonderbolts were performing outside. Through all the twists and turns, the Wonderbolts were as quick and as graceful as ever. Rainbow laughed. "Spitfire's still got it in her!" Icy Storm let out a squee. "She's... so... AWESOME!"
Prism Bolt rolled his eyes, but secretly was enjoying the little show as Icy Storm prattled on. "And look! There's Lightwings, and there's
Rainbow smiled. Timid's got way more of Discord's spirit than Fluttershy's.
"And now..." Spitfire announced. "For the grand finale!"
As the Wonderbolts flew, a new racer appeared, a light blue pegasus with a messy, navy, slicked back mane and vibrant green eyes...
Rainbow stared in disbelief. "It couldn't be..."
The two young colts gaped, too. "Mom!" Prism Bolt shouted to Rainbow Dash. "Is that..."
The stallion Wonderbolt sped towards them, and all Rainbow could do was whisper, "You've come home."
"Dad!" Icy Storm shouted.
"SOARIN!" Rainbow screamed frantically as she sped towards him, faster than sound, faster than lightning, as everything else but him faded. "SOARIN!" she shouted again through a sob as tears flew down her face.
Soarin stopped in midair, with tears in his eyes, but smiled, for his heart was filled with nothing but happiness.
Rainbow was crying more than she ever had before as she almost violently hugged Soarin. "I missed you so much." Rainbow cried softly as she shed more tears over Soarin's shoulder. Soarin had lost the ability to talk, to move, to do anything as he cried with her. "I missed you so much," he repeated.
"Daddy!" Soarin and Rainbow's two children sped towards the couple. Soarin cried some more. "Prism Bolt, Icy Storm! Come here, you!"
And all was well.
Picture by xxepicdorkxx on deviantart.
Author's Note
I thought this was a sweet way to end my story! I hope you liked it!
