Crossing Lines

by TheTalentlessPony

Rating: everyone
Tags: Main 6, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Soarin, Rainbow Dash, Starlight Glimmer, Romance
Length: 9766

Backed into a corner by the cookie-crazed ponies, Rainbow Dash's heart races with fear and guilt. Her eyes go wide, her breath is short... then, everything goes black. Two wrongs don't make a right, but how much would you lie to keep it a secret?

(alternate ending of 28 Pranks Later; technically a(n unofficial) sequel to Let's Talk)

At the time, it seemed like a great idea; seemed like the perfect way to teach Rainbow Dash a lesson. With a racing heart and rising guilt, surely she would up and learn her lesson. It's a totally understandable situation, isn't it?

But when things go south, maybe it'd be better to lie and say nothing at all. Still, what happens when Rainbow finds out?

Featured on 6/11/17 for some reason; honestly don't know why.

Published 2017-06-11 03:40:05 UTC
Last updated 2017-06-11 03:40:05 UTC

Talking it Out

Pinkie Pie shifted the blanket over the fainted Rainbow Dash, who laid silently on Rarity's couch, then backed away, mane slightly deflated. "T-that wasn't funny at all..."

"I agree..." Rarity said solemnly, "to think that Rainbow Dash would get so frightened as to pass out." She frowned, then went over to comfort Fluttershy, who was sobbing to herself in the corner, riddled with guilt.

Twilight sighed. "Perhaps I didn't think everything through. I thought we had everything planned out perfectly. It was only meant to give Rainbow a little scare, but maybe it would've been best for everypony to stick to smaller pranks."

"We did kind of make her think that our minds were basically dead..." Spike pointed out matter-of-factly, though seeming rather sad reflecting on that.

"W-well, yes, but I didn't think she'd care that mu..." Twilight's voice trailed off, realizing that her words sounded pretty terrible out loud. "I-I... didn't know she'd think it through to such degrees." She cleared her throat, looking away ashamed.

"Now we're the pranksters who went too far," Pinkie added sadly, not taking her eyes off of Rainbow Dash. "I-it's my fault. I wasn't with with you guys when you were trying to get her to stop. I was still laughing and it made her want to keep pranking..."

"Y'can't blame yerself for who ya are, Pinkie," Applejack assured, hat held to her chest. "We shoulda just never invited you along."

"We shouldn't have mistook dear Rainbow Dash for who she is either," Rarity admitted. "We got so caught up in her pranking side that we never imagined how this would affect her personally."

She took a brief glance at Applejack. "Though, if I may add, I think you only added fuel to the proverbial fire when you suggested that her prank was lazy or a shortcut, Applejack."

Applejack gave a stubborn huff, mentally but not outwardly admitting that. "Ah don't think it very much helped when ya went and said they had a lack of effort either."

Rarity glared at first, but relented and gave a soft sigh. "Fair enough... I suppose we all messed up rather terribly..."

"I-it was probably her last too..." Fluttershy sniffled, slightly more calmed down. "A prank on all of Ponyville; she probably wanted to go out with a bang. A-and we couldn't let her..."

"Easy now, Fluttershy..." Twilight said, not wanting the reverberating sound of sobbing to distract her from thinking of what to do next.

There was a long moment of silence that wasn't entirely comfortable, but she eventually spoke up again. "I think... we can all agree that it'd be best if we not tell Rainbow Dash about this, right? At least not for now. Maybe we will eventually, or maybe we won't. The point is, we don't have a plan right now to tell her."

A unified nod was her response. Rainbow Dash was brash; they couldn't risk the consequences of her learning what they did to drive her into this state.

"Spike, I need you to go tell the town about this and how not to tell Rainbow Dash about it," Twilight said, eyes to her assistant.

Spike gave a small salute, then left with his orders clear. Those remaining in the room felt thankful for him.

The tension settled somewhat, Twilight letting out a weak chuckle as she turned to Applejack. "Though, I didn't know you were such a good actor, Applejack. Even the Cake twins got in on things pretty well."

Applejack raised a brow, then shrugged. "Just luck, ah guess."

"I'm more surprised that it went off as well as it did in general," Rarity commented, "but, ah... perhaps that was the biggest issue..."

Everyone suddenly jumped as Rainbow Dash shifted on the couch, breathing slightly louder. She stirred, making everypony else stiffen on alert. She pushed herself up quickly, though it seemed her energy was drained, her forelegs slightly shaky. She glanced around the room, her back pressing against the couch warily. It was easy to tell that she was tense.

"...G-guys? I-is that you?" she asked, wanting to check things before doing anything hasty.

Pinkie Pie nearly teared up, feeling happy to see that her friend was at least okay. "D-Dashie."

Rainbow Dash's face lit up, and she flew fastly from underneath her blankets, leaving them entirely to nearly crush Pinkie Pie in a hug, who was feeling rather uncomfortable in it.

"You guys are okay! I mean, you're all okay?"

"U-um, yeah!" Twilight chimed in. "In fact, everypony's okay! The, ah, cookies wore off and we just got rid of them. It was only temporary!" Her gut twisted slightly at the lie, but the logical part of her mind told her firmly that this was best. Still, she mentally kicked herself for spouting out such things without thinking about them first.

At a speed so fast, you'd think she was about to cause a rainboom in the building, Rainbow Dash flew around and hugged the rest of her friends, an awkward atmosphere forming in the room.

"This is awesome! I really thought I'd lost you back there! I'm so sorry about the cookies!" she said at a quick pace; it seemed like her mind was going a million miles per hour. "...Oh! How long was I out? I have to go feed Tank!"

Rainbow trail flowing behind her, Dash flew out of Rarity's house and up into the sky. Everypony else was still stiff at first, waiting a moment to relax, then gave a soft sigh of relief.

Twilight gazed off to where Rainbow Dash had flown off to. "W-well... that was relatively painless, I suppose."

Slipped Up

"Tank! I'm home!"

Rainbow Dash flew into her room from her open window, looking around for her beloved pet. Her nerves were still a bit jumbled, her wings shifting a bit as she walked, but she was feeling a bit better at least.

Tank was laying on his bed, but very much awake. He turned his head to her and smiled, happy to see his owner's face.

She returned the smile, but it faded as she saw a familiar rainbow around his mouth. "T-Tank, did you...?!"

She dashed to his side immediately, finding a half-eaten cookie in Tank's bed. A shock went up her spine, and she was quick to hold his face in her hooves. "Tank, buddy! It's gonna be okay! I..."

Her voice trailed off as she noticed his lack of a dead stare. "U-uh... you still with me?"

He blinked at her, confused, but nodded. She let go off his face, her mind was spontaneously filled with questions.

Wait, is Tank not affected at all? If the stuff really does wear off, maybe he just ate that cookie a long time ago? Or, no, then he wouldn't have left half of it alone, right? Maybe it just doesn't work on tortoises?

After a moment, she decided to leave it at that; the idea that it didn't work on him. Her head hurt as it was and she didn't want to spend the rest of the day thinking.

Glad to put the thought out of her head, she got back to "business" and sat down in front of Tank, a hoof reaching over to pet his head.

"Anyway, I'm sorry I got home so late. You wouldn't believe the day I had... but it's okay now. I'm here."

She noticed that Tank was looking at her weirdly, then brought her hoof to her face to wipe away a stray tear. If there was one thing she hated about herself, it was her inability to keep her emotions under control, especially in front of others.

She tried again to console any potential concerns he had, pulling Tank into a hug. "Really... it's okay."

Tank knew his owner well. She wasn't one to let others dwell on her troubles for her, even him. Still, he didn't want to push her, so instead, he rested his head on her, relaxing into the hug. Rainbow eagerly accepted it, tightening her grip, though not too much.

She didn't want to be lost in the moment forever, so she finally released him after roughly a minute. Tank smiled, returning to his place on his bed.

Rainbow Dash watched him, finding it to be a nice distraction, but jumped as a surge of magic suddenly crackled behind her. Though startled, she managed to turn around, seeing Starlight standing there, expression being one she couldn't quite place.

"Oh! Uh... hey, Starlight," she said. "Haven't seen you in a while."

It only just occurred to her that she hadn't even seen Starlight the past night. Had she been away somewhere at the time?

"Hey, Rainbow Dash," Starlight greeted, a bit too formally for Rainbow Dash's tastes. "I just thought I'd check up on you. Is everything okay?"

Rainbow Dash tried not to make a face at her; she didn't want other ponies' pity, at least not like that. "I'm fine, okay? I just passed out, that's all."

"You fainted?!" Starlight asked, mouth agape.

"I-it was just for half a day or something!" Rainbow Dash replied, cheeks colored a light pink. "No big deal..."

"I didn't mean it in that way. I'm just surprised," Starlight assured. "I was checking on you because I thought you'd be mad, and we all know how you get when you're mad; well, at least, I've been told stories. I had no idea you'd fainted."

"Mad? What do I have to be mad for?" Rainbow Dash looked over at Tank, as if he might know something, but he just stared back at her, head tilted.

Starlight raised a brow. "The whole zombie thing didn't get to you?" She sighed heavily, hoof to her face. "And here I went telling Twilight that it was a bad plan; I guess I really don't know my new friends at all..."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "H-hang on, back up a sec. Zombie thing?"

"Y...yeaaaaah?" Starlight gave a slightly wary look, as if realizing that she might've said something she shouldn't. "Twilight... told me that everypony would tell you afterwards. I thought...?"

"N-nopony told me anything," Rainbow Dash told her, eyes moving to the floor.

Starlight bit her bottom lip nervously, seeing the mild distress in Rainbow Dash's eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have... I'll just..."

Her horn began to glow, but Rainbow Dash sprang forward and placed her hooves against Starlight's chest. "Wait, Starlight. Tell me the rest. I need to know."

When Starlight didn't respond, Rainbow Dash pushed harder against her. "Please?!"

It was hard to refuse the face that Rainbow Dash was giving her. While not wanting to potentially disobey her mentor, Starlight did want to get this off her chest since that plan had failed like she predicted.

So, the two sat down on Rainbow's bed, Starlight explaining the whole story to her. She explained how Twilight came to her to join, how she thought the plan would work, and every single step involved.

Rainbow Dash listened quietly as she talked, ears slowly pinning themselves down. She just thought that everypony wanted her to try harder. Sure, her friends kind of told her to stop, but the first time, Pinkie Pie was enjoying it and they even egged her on to attempt "better" pranks. And when Pinkie told her the second time? She was already in the middle of a prank, of course she was going to go through with it!

She remembered her friends' faces when she first woke up. Awkward, nervous, and guilty. In that instant, she knew that everything Starlight said what true, and everything she thought she knew about it was a fabricated lie.

Images of a masked pony clad in purple flashed in her mind.

"...And that's it. They definitely didn't mean for you to get so upset about it, but they thought it was the only way."

Rainbow Dash didn't respond at first, but eventually let out a sigh and placed a hoof on Starlight's. "Thanks for telling me."

Starlight smiled, something in her head telling her that she did well. "Happy to help, Rainbow Dash."

After they'd said their goodbyes and Starlight vanished from the scene, Rainbow Dash took a long moment to think to herself. Tank went over to her, nudging her foreleg with his head. She smiled at him, but it faded quickly. She trotted over to her drawers, shifting through them as she began to decide what to do. After fixing her mane in the mirror, she turned to Tank.

"Come on, buddy. We're going."

Tank didn't need to ask why. He went to the contraption that Twilight had designed for him immediately, putting it on as Rainbow Dash gathered her things.

They then flew out together, leaving the house behind.

Making Plans

Starlight paced back and forth, the echo of her hoofsteps radiating throughout the hallways of Twilight's castle. She had asked Spike, who'd probably come to tell her not to tell Rainbow Dash anything, to go get Twilight and the others, but she couldn't seem to come up with a solid way to explain everything.

"Okay, so I know how you guys felt about what happened with Rainbow Dash - well, actually, I don't know at all, you didn't get the chance to tell me - but I went to check on her and..."

She shook her head, dismissing the idea.

"Look, I realize that I wasn't on board with your plan and that may make it seem like I have a bias, but I don't. I merely wanted to check on Rainbow Dash and let out more information than I..."

She grunted in mild frustration. She could come up with a spell for just about anything, but ask her to blab the truth about a situation that potentially made things worse and she struggled.

"I recognize that I'm a little slow at this whole friendship thing, but—"

"Starlight?"

Her ears went up on alert, hearing Twilight's voice and the echo of hoofsteps that weren't her own. She didn't want to disappoint Twilight, but what else was there to do?

Easy, Starlight. Just tell them the truth.

The five mares approached her, along with Spike, a few tossing concerned glances her way.

"Is something the matter, darling?" Rarity inquired.

"Yeah, why'd you need to call all of us here?" Applejack asked.

Starlight hardened her gaze, prepping herself for whatever was about to happen next.

"I..." She shut her eyes, taking a deep breath, then stared at everyone. "I told Rainbow Dash the truth; the truth about last night."

There was a stillness in the atmosphere all of a sudden, the recipients of those words collectively gasping in silence. Starlight braced herself further.

"I-I swear, I didn't mean to cause any trouble!" she assured. "I just, Twilight said—"

Twilight raised a hoof, though was noticeably stunned. "N-no. If it had to happen, maybe it was for the best that you told her the truth."

She then sighed, hoof going to her face. "But I have no idea what to do now..."

"I'm sorry," Starlight said softly. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have said a thing! Something just slipped out and Rainbow Dash insisted that I told her the rest!"

"I'm not upset with you," Twilight assured.

Rarity was silent for a moment, then stepped forward. "We'll just have to go apologize, and hope that our dear Rainbow Dash forgives us."

"I'm with Rarity," Applejack agreed. "Maybe she'll understand if we all do it together."

"Maybe..." Fluttershy murmured meekly.

Twilight racked her brain for any further ideas, then placed a hoof over Starlight's. "Either way, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, Starlight. I wanted so badly to deal with the problem immediately that I stopped looking for further solutions."

Applejack went forward and nudged Twilight reassuringly. "Hey, everypony makes mistakes. I mean, we all made a pretty big one yesterday. Everyone got a little too emotional about it."

"Okay, okay!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing and clearly impatient from all the talking. "Now let's go see Dashie!"

"Wait!" Twilight shouted, just as Pinkie Pie attempted to run out the door. Pinkie Pie froze in place, turning her head back. Twilight breathed out, then turned her attention to Starlight once more. "When you told Rainbow Dash everything, what was her reaction?"

"Well..." Starlight looked away, trying to find a way to describe it. It was clear to everyone that, while Rainbow Dash might not've given a clear response, her face told a story.

"...We need to go," Fluttershy said softly.

"Pardon?" Rarity asked.

"Hurry!" Fluttershy galloped down the hallway, everyone else following closely behind.

All except Starlight, who stood alone and sighed to herself.

What a mess.

Soarin was awoken from his afternoon nap as he heard a light knocking on the door. He yawned, kicking off his small blanket that he'd reserved on the couch for himself, then got up and went to the door. Upon opening it, he saw Rainbow Dash standing there, a familiar expression on her face. He remembered it well; she'd made similar expressions when they talked about her nickname in the Wonderbolts.

"Rainbow Dash? What's up?" he asked, attempting to rub the sleep out of his eyes. As he did, he noticed her full saddlebag, making him a bit more concerned. "...Going somewhere?"

"Hey, Soarin. Yeah, I guess you could say that." She gestured to her pet. "Me and Tank are just," she paused, tapping her chin with her hoof as she chose her wording, "taking time off from Ponyville."

"Did something happen?" Soarin asked, almost immediately. He'd learned from experience that it was best to ask Rainbow Dash upfront the instant he noticed something was wrong.

Rainbow Dash's ears flopped. "I'll... tell you some other time. I just wanted somepony to know where me and Tank were going. We're finding a hotel in Manehatten and sleeping there."

"Oh." Soarin nodded his head to show that he understood.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to say something else, but couldn't quite get it out. She smiled sheepishly at him, then adjusted her saddlebag and turned away.

"Uh, wait!" Soarin called, reaching out.

She paused, turning to him. He leaned against the door frame, looking off to the side.

"Do you... want some company?" he asked, though seeming a bit awkward.

She smiled at him. "You kidding? Of course!" Her smile faded slightly. "But... you don't have anything to do?"

Soarin waved a hoof dismissively. "Nah. Here, just give me a sec to pack some stuff and we'll head out."

Rainbow Dash nodded, watching as Soarin flew back inside to gather his things. She was glad to have the extra company.

Relax Against the Odds

Rainbow Dash had a love of the atmosphere in Manehattan. The city was always so big, like you could get lost in it because there was so much to do. There were a couple sour memories she had, but the good ones far surpassed them.

"So, where are we staying?" Soarin asked, looking at her as they walked.

"Oh, uh..." Rainbow Dash looked at him sheepishly. "I... don't even know. Leaving Ponyville was sort of—"

"Sudden? Yeah. I feel you," he assured so she wouldn't have to say anything else.

She smiled. Soarin turned out to be such a cool guy once she'd gotten to know him. Well, she'd always thought he was cool, but now she could actually be certain of it.

He looked around, as if trying to find something. "Besides, I know a good hotel we can stay at."

"You do?" Rainbow Dash raised a brow inquisitively.

"Oh yeah." He grinned proudly. "My parents used to bring me here when I was little. They always said it was just for a day, but we had so much to do that we'd just end up staying at a hotel instead of flying home whenever it got too late."

He snorted. "They weren't any good at planning things."

She snickered. "So you must know all the awesome hotels then, right?"

"You bet!" He flapped his wings with confidence. "Here, lemme show you!"

He galloped ahead, Rainbow Dash letting out an accusative but playful "Hey!" as she followed behind him. Tank was flying closely behind, the wind in his smiling face; seeing his owner happy made him happy.

They traveled path to path along Manehattan, swerving left and right to avoid crowds and stuffy ponies who couldn't find enjoyment in their fun. A few fillies and colts waved to them as they ran by, almost tempted to give chase because this grown mare and tortoise chasing a stallion looked like all sorts of interesting.

Eventually, Soarin's gallop slowed to a trot, his hoof pointing upwards at one of the signs. "Right here. I liked this place the best."

Rainbow Dash looked up. The sign wasn't decorated very fancily, but that honestly sounded like her kind of thing. She didn't want somewhere super stuffy and Soarin was a fun guy, so she trusted his judgment.

The two then went inside and asked for a room. Soarin tried to pay for it, but Rainbow Dash smacked his hoof away, a big smirk on her face as she called him dumb for thinking that she would make the guy she dragged along pay for everything. They shared a smile at the exchange, then went off for their room.

Upon opening the door and dropping her things to the floor, Rainbow Dash immediately understood why he liked it there. The room's walls were mostly glass, and she could see so much of Manehattan from looking through them. They were on one of the higher floors, so she'd expected a great view, but this was truly spectacular.

"Like it?" Soarin asked with a smile, though he already knew the answer as both Rainbow Dash and Tank had gone over and pressed their faces against the glass.

"Are you kidding? It's awesome!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

He watched happily as she started to dart around the room, searching everywhere like she was looking for hidden treasure. He imagined that she didn't get to stay in hotels often.

"It's the pegasi suite," he explained. "You can even open up the wall if you want to go flying."

Rainbow Dash perked up, a look of awe on her face. She went over to one of the walls, searching around until finally seeing a button on one of them. She touched it, and just like Soarin had said, the glass peeled itself away, the wind blowing inside and flowing through Rainbow Dash's mane. She grinned at the feeling.

For just a moment, Soarin admitted to himself that she looked pretty cute. Taking her to this particular hotel was having its desired effect, as all of her sadness, while still definitely there, was masked by just how happy she was to be away from it all.

"Soarin?" Rainbow Dash pushed the button again to close the glass wall back up, then turned to him.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks a lot for coming with me." He'd never heard her sound so genuine. "I mean, I knew I'd be okay with just Tank here, but it's cool having somepony else too."

She trotted over to the bed and flopped onto it, Tank coming over to join her. She smiled, laying on her back and giving him a hug. "I was gonna let Starlight know I was going instead of you, but..."

Soarin frowned, watching as some of the life drained from her face.

She sighed. "It didn't feel right, y'know? Twilight's her teacher; it'd be too weird. Besides, I think she feels bad because she wasn't supposed to tell me what happened. It wouldn't be cool of me."

He nodded, to show he was listening if nothing else. He liked it when Rainbow Dash was open and honest with him.

He silently hoped she would continue to be, mentally preparing himself before asking, "And... what exactly happened?"

At first, he didn't think she'd heard him. She was staring off out the window, Tank resting on her chest. Maybe he'd been too quiet?

He opened his mouth to speak, only to immediately get hit with a pillow. "H-hey!"

Rainbow Dash was smiling, back up on her hooves with Tank lying next to her. "All right, I'll tell ya, but you gotta buy me dinner first!"

Soarin let out an amused snort, considering this was more for her than for him. Yet, it was still a little bit for him. He didn't like seeing her mood shifts, or the light draining from her cute face—

Shoot, he'd thought she was cute again. She'd hit him with worse than pillows if he had said it out loud, but he thankfully didn't.

"Heh, sure. You think your pet's gonna be okay by himself?"

"Tank? Oh yeah, he'll be fine!"

The tortoise nodded his head slowly, giving them a smile.

"Let's roll!"

Soarin was surprised at how quickly she raced out the door, until he saw her smile drop when she likely thought it'd be out of his view. Now he understood; she was delaying talking about it by mentioning dinner. Well, that was fine with him. She needed time and space, and he'd give it to her.

He waved to Tank, then shut the door and went down the hall after Rainbow Dash.

Sheer Panic

"So you've eaten at this place before?" Rainbow Dash asked as she sat down at a booth with Soarin.

He nodded firmly. "I know I said we usually just had to stay at the hotel overnight, but we always got breakfast here before we left."

Rainbow Dash looked around at the decor, noting that it wasn't fancy, but wasn't messy either, much like her first impression of the hotel's sign. "Is the food that good?"

"Don't remember. It's been a while, and I never had dinner here. Plus, I, uh..." He rubbed the back of his head. "I don't have a lot of friends, so I never got to come back with anyone."

She grew silent at that, but the waitress had come by before she could think up a response. It was clear that she recognized the two, but Rainbow Dash, for once, didn't want anypony making a fuss over her, so she played it cool and ordered her food without acknowledging the waitress' other comments. Soarin seemed to catch on, doing the same. He understood her reasoning; he didn't know much about her friends, but he knew that Twilight was a princess. If any word got out, they'd be here in an instant.

After he was sure the waitress couldn't hear them, he gave Rainbow Dash his focus as his ear flopped. "So... what about you?"

"Huh?" she asked.

"Friends. I mean, I know you've got some, because of the whole Harmony Element deal, but anyone else?"

She raised a brow, unsure of why he was asking, but took the bait. "I've got Tank; he's kind of like a friend. Then there's Spike, Discord, and Starlight too, I guess. Besides that, there's Gilda, my griffon bud all the way over in Griffonstone. After that..."

Her voice trailed off, her mind drawing a blank. Was... was that it?

She squinted, one hoof tapping against the other as she counted in her head. Five? That was all? Even then, Tank hardly counted, and she didn't spend near enough time with Discord and Starlight to say she was great friends with them. She had other vague memories of brief friendships, like with Little Strongheart, but they were so faded. Rainbow Dash only wanted to count the friends she was closest too, but she had so few.

Soarin frowned, noticing a bit of stress on her face. "Dash?"

She looked up at him, frowning back. "Uh, there's you too, I guess. For sure, actually."

He managed a smile. He liked to think of himself as a great friend of Rainbow Dash's, but actually hearing it made him feel unusually happy.

He noticed her looking off into the distance, then turned to see that their food had arrived. The two were practically drooling as it was set out in front of them. Honestly, it wasn't anything fancy, and obviously more fast food-esque considering the time it took, but neither ate out much, so just about any place's food was practically fine dining considering they both lacked cooking skills.

Rainbow Dash took a bite of hers, a bit too sloppily for the average mare, but Soarin didn't care; she was like one of the guys.

Except she was a mare; an awesome mare with flying talent to boot.

He averted his gaze from her to eat some of his own food. The thought that he, a stallion, and her, a mare, were eating out together in what briefly seemed like a date did cross his mind, but more because he knew that there'd be ponies around who knew them. Pictures weren't allowed there at least, so no fear of them really being published in some newspaper, though part of him was fairly sure that at least somepony would ignore that rule.

It didn't help that he was seventy-five percent sure that the waitress shipped them.

"Dash?" he called, trying to distract himself.

She let out a sound that only slightly resembled a reply, her mouth full.

He snorted, but tried to maintain his straight face. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. You know that, right?"

She gave him a look that he couldn't quite place. She swallowed her food, then waved a hoof dismissively. "Yeah, I know, but..." She looked away. "I know it hasn't been obvious, but it's been on my mind the whole time."

If Soarin was honest, it'd been very obvious, but he didn't let her know that. "You sure, though? We can even wait until we get back to our room if you want."

Rainbow Dash pouted. "What do you mean?"

"...Never mind. I was just thinking," he lied.

It was clear to him that Rainbow Dash was more torn up that she let on; more than she let herself believe. He'd seen that dead stare when she was at his doorstep, and the lack of clarity in her gaze when he brought it up. Yet, he didn't want to fight with her about it. The place was relatively empty, or at least empty enough where they were out of many ponies' earshot. If she wanted to talk here, then that was fine with him, as long as she talked about it.

"Okay, so..." Rainbow Dash glanced up off into the distance, trying to recall the exact events. "It was a prank."

"A prank," Soarin repeated back to her, attempting to figure out where such a thing could go wrong.

"Yeah. I mean, it all started out with a prank. A few pranks." Her face fell noticeably. "A bunch of pranks. I'm pretty sure I pranked just about everyone in Ponyville."

"That's a lot of pranking." He hadn't realize how dumb that sounded until it actually came out of his mouth.

"Yeah, and the others—" She sipped some of the soda she'd ordered. "—didn't really take it that well."

"Your friends? The Elements?" he asked to confirm. That was already weird; from stories she told in the past, her friends liked a good prank.

Rainbow Dash nodded. "And they basically tried to get me to stop pranking." A pause. "I think."

Now Soarin was confused, hoof on his cheek. "You... think?"

"I think," she confirmed. "Pinkie was having a good laugh with me, and Applejack and Rarity were telling me to put more work into my pranks."

Another pause as she squinted, seeming a bit frustrated. "I think."

Soarin leaned on the table slightly, getting a good look at Rainbow Dash's shifts and movements. Were her memories foggy, or was she just unsure? How much information was she lacking on?

He didn't immediately assume that she was the problem either. He'd made that mistake a long time ago himself.

Then, a miscommunication between friends, maybe?

Rainbow Dash continued, "They didn't seem too happy about it, so I figured I'd up my game again."

She gestured outwards with a hoof. "A prank on all of Ponyville!"

Soarin nodded silently as Rainbow Dash took another giant sip of her soda, the darn thing practically empty by now. She probably needed the energy, he figured.

"So, what did you do?" he inquired.

"I messed with these Filly Guide cookies; rigged them up so that they'd turn ponies' mouths rainbow when they ate 'em."

Soarin snorted slightly at the mental image.

"I tried to get Pinkie to help me and fed her one too, but she wasn't... Pinkie. She was trying to get me to stop—"

"Let me guess," he interrupted with a concerned frown. "You think?"

"Yeah! She was all excited about it at first, then she just," she began, biting her bottom lip as she tried to summon the right words, "shifted. I ended up having to do the whole thing on my own, and when I went to go talk to her about it..."

Soarin saw a noticeable change in Rainbow Dash's body language. It was only for a moment, but she'd twitched, her eyes leaving Soarin's to stare at the table.

"Dash?"

"She was acting all sick, and weird. I've never seen her lie in one place for that long! Then, she mentioned the cookies and got this—" She looked over at Soarin for a second, as if seeing something in his eyes. "—stare."

The puzzle pieces were falling into place in Soarin's head, but he had a strong feeling that he didn't need to hear any more.

She kept talking before he could stop her.

"I may've been a little freaked out, so I rushed over to watch the cookies sell. I waited a while, but nothing seemed to be happening, so I—"

"Dash," Soarin called, a bit louder than before. "It's cool. You don't have to—"

"I went searching for them, and it was all weirdly quiet at first."

Whatever was left of her soda was gone now, but Rainbow Dash was now in a state that Soarin didn't like. He didn't see the usual Rainbow Dash any more. He saw a Rainbow Dash who'd fallen into a trash can and was being laughed at.

"Dash, slow down—"

She wasn't listening.

"But then I found them, and they were like zombies, Soarin! Zombies!"

Her pupils had shrunk noticeably, a strong uncomfortable heat at her shoulders. "They were walking towards me, demanding the cookies that I gave them! That I poisoned!"

She gagged on nothingness, nausea settling in.

"You should've seen them! Their eyes were dead, their mouths were all rainbow, and their hair was just..."

Soarin stiffened as she reached out to him, tracing her hoof near his hair.

A vivid pain shone in Rainbow Dash's eyes. "I-I just wanted to..."

Her hooves came back to her chest. "But I couldn't! I thought they were all dead! I thought I killed them!"

"Rainbow," he said softly, trying to reach her. He'd figured out more than enough. "But you didn't kill anyone. They were just pulling a prank on you."

"S-so many... there were so many of them! Everyone was turning into one!"

Rainbow Dash glanced at Soarin, her blurring vision and state making him look like...

She gasped sharply, feeling dizzy as her tail unconsciously wrapped itself around her.

"Dash. Dash!" Soarin waved his hooves in front of her face, starting to panic.

His eyes then fell upon the soda.

The caffeine...

He cursed under his breath, moving over to Rainbow Dash's side of the table. He got up on the booth with her, taking her face in his hooves.

"Dash, it's okay! Remember? Nothing bad really happened!"

He knew his words were useless. He could see the entire scenario at this point. Rainbow Dash might've learned that it was a prank later, but that experience was so very real to her. It broke his heart to see her like that, wings rattling as she shook uncontrollably.

He kept trying to call her, but it was like she couldn't hear him. Her breaths were heavy, the tears in her eyes strong as she relived her nightmare. He couldn't just sit there. He had to do something; something to shock her out of this.

Then, hardly even thinking about it, he did do something. He pulled her to himself and kissed her, right on the lips. He could feel Rainbow Dash stiffen, her eyes wide with surprise as she stared into him.

Yet, she didn't pull away. Her shaking eased and her breathing relaxed, but she didn't pull away. Soarin didn't question it, pulling away on his own once he was certain that she was calmed enough.

That didn't stop him from checking anyway. "You okay?"

Rainbow Dash stared at him, closing her eyes for a few seconds to take a breath.

"...Y-yeah. I'm cool."

He reached out, hoping that she wouldn't recoil as he stroked her shoulder. She didn't.

"You wanna go back to our room?"

Her wings relaxed noticeably as she nodded.

Dumb Love

Soarin had paid for their meal like he'd promised, though Rainbow Dash was resistant at first because she'd only been teasing about it. He didn't mind. They were back up in their room now, the two laying on their stomachs on the bed, Soarin's wing wrapped gently around Rainbow Dash's body. Tank was watching silently from a distance.

"I must've looked so stupid," Rainbow Dash said suddenly, embarrassment showing across her features.

"What? Dash, you couldn't help what happened," Soarin argued.

"So you agree with me then."

He blushed slightly, realizing just how not-smooth he was. "I didn't mean it like that! You didn't look stupid. I'm just sayin' that you shouldn't be thinking too hard about it. It's not your fault."

"Why not? I'm the one who caused all of it."

He sighed, hating to see her rag on herself like that. "You might've gone too far at some points, but they went too far with you. You didn't try to convince anyone you were dead, right?"

She shrugged. "I guess."

"If they wanted to teach you a lesson so badly, they should've, I dunno, just done the same pranks you did to them or something, or just try harder to talk to you. I don't know exactly what you did, but I'm sure you didn't deserve to be pranked like that."

"Maybe," she muttered.

"Maybe?"

Her gaze was distant. "This happened before."

"What?" Soarin asked. "Like, the exact same thing?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "There was this one time where I saved some ponies in Ponyville, so they were screaming my name and cheering for me. I was bragging about it, but they didn't really like it."

"The ponies?"

"My friends."

Just them? No one else? Soarin wondered.

"They didn't like it, so they dressed up as this Mare-Do-Well superhero to beat me at hero-ing so I could learn a lesson." She sighed. "It worked, I guess, but..."

"Did they talk to you about it before they did?" He got the expected shake of the head.

"Ponies tell me sometimes that I'm hard to convince, I don't know. It probably wouldn't have worked anyway."

"So?" Soarin's gaze hardened. "That doesn't mean they shouldn't try!"

Rainbow Dash looked over at him in surprise. His brows were noticeably furrowed, and she could see the slightest view of teeth at the corner of his mouth. Was he that upset about it?

She looked away, frowning. "...They really were better than me though."

Soarin watched silently as her head met with the bed, her hooves moving to shield her face further.

"They fixed the dam when I couldn't. They saved a careening carriage when I couldn't. I wanted to keep being the hero, but then everypony just... forgot about me once they came along."

Soarin wasn't sure how to respond, seeing Rainbow Dash in such a vulnerable state. She wasn't crying or sobbing, but her voice was lacking its usual confidence. It made sense, he figured; every time she boosted herself up, she got knocked right back down. He doubted that every bit of her confidence was a facade, but he couldn't imagine how she could feel, needing that validation only to be shot down every time.

Then there was the fact that she was even an Element of Harmony, which only meant something for maybe a day after she'd saved Equestria with her friends. After that, it'd died down immediately. He realized; it wasn't that she wanted recognition, but that she needed recognition. To feel content with herself was to be confident in herself, but that often led to ponies misjudging her and anticipating her to be less reasonable than she actually was. They misunderstood her because they didn't understand her.

But Soarin did.

"So what?"

Rainbow Dash shifted to glance up at him, confused at what he meant.

He continued, "Those ponies are just petty. Some new hero comes along and all of a sudden, it's about them and not you? Just because they did some heroic stuff doesn't mean it takes back the stuff you did. And besides..."

She was listening with wide eyes, and Soarin smiled, lightly nudging her. "They saved ponies to teach you a lesson. You saved ponies to save ponies. Maybe you did it a little for yourself afterwards, but you started out because you're... well, because you're awesome that way, you know?"

He grinned shyly, hoping he got his message across without sounding like a complete dork. At first, he feared he's said too much, as Rainbow Dash was just staring at him wordlessly, but then she chuckled, the lightest of blushes on her face.

"Thanks."

He mentally sighed with relief. "Hey, it's why I'm here, Dash."

He swallowed sheepishly as she leaned against him, his own face now matching hers. He'd never really snuggled with anyone else, but it definitely wasn't a bad thing if it was Rainbow Dash.

The kiss briefly resurfaced into his mind, bringing him back to their earlier contact. He was honestly surprised she hadn't brought it up, as he figured he would've been pushed away.

But he wasn't, was he? Granted, she never kissed back, but she didn't resist either; she relaxed instead.

And he'd enjoyed it immensely. Was that wrong? He wasn't sure. He'd actually liked Rainbow Dash romantically for a long while. He wasn't sure when it clicked, but there was just something about her that he couldn't deny. The kiss itself wasn't planned in the slightest, and he admittedly felt a bit bad because he didn't like the idea of stealing a kiss from somepony, but it worked, so he couldn't complain.

"Hey, Soar?"

His ears perked at attention. She sounded more firm all of a sudden. "Y-yeah, Dash?"

Was he in trouble?

"About earlier..."

Ponyfeathers. He was in trouble, wasn't he?

He gulped nervously, trying to reassure her. "I-I'm sorry about that. I mean, I was just panicking and you're so cool that I—"

Open mouth, insert hoof.

To his surprise, Rainbow Dash suddenly burst into laughter. "No no. That's not what I mean!"

He blushed at her laughing, but found himself confused. What did she mean then?

"It was pretty awesome. That's what I was talking about."

"Awesome?" he asked, perplexed as to why she'd think so. He briefly wondered if maybe she'd enjoyed it, but no, that wasn't...

"Yeah." She had her gaze averted from him, but he could see her red cheeks.

So she did enjoy it. Soarin smiled like the total goof that he was.

Rainbow Dash was quiet for a moment, still staring off into the distance, but Soarin flinched in surprise as he felt her wing on his back, even checking just to make sure she'd put it there.

"Hey. So, we can skip all that mushy stuff, right?"

He looked at her, seeing that she was smiling; still staring at the wall, probably with embarrassment, but smiling. A genuine smile that wasn't a mask.

Soarin nodded. "Oh yeah, definitely! I mean, you don't want me bringin' you a bunch of flowers or anything, right?"

Rainbow Dash gagged, sticking her tongue out. "No way!"

She turned to him, placing a hoof on his chest. "And you don't want me callin' you dumb nicknames like 'sweetheart' or 'honey' or whatever, yeah?"

Soarin laughed at the mental image. "I'm pretty sure I'd never talk to you again if you did!"

She laughed with him, all her earlier panic steadily draining away. He leaned against her, head under hers as he brushed against her neck. He giggled at her reaction, which was nothing but making a soft squeaking noise in surprise. Gross nicknames were a fat nope, but it looked like nuzzling and snuggles were a-okay.

As long as nopony else had to see of course, which was fine by him. He had her now, and that's all he wanted.

Confrontation

Soarin was awoken by the light filtering in from their suite. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, then began to get up, only to stop himself as he remembered the wing around his back. He bit his bottom lip nervously, glancing over to ensure that he hadn't disturbed Rainbow Dash.

Upon inspection, she was still sound asleep, her mane a complete mess as her face was shoved into an outstretched foreleg. He snickered lovingly, leaning over to smooth out a bit of her hair with his muzzle. He had been tempted not to since it was such a cute sight, but it was his job as her coltfriend to make sure she wasn't embarrassed when they left the room later.

Her coltfriend. He couldn't suppress a smile at the thought.

He was halfway done with fixing her hair when he heard a sudden knocking at the door. He glanced over, not recognizing the knocking as maybe one of the hotel staff; they had a specific knock that he remembered them having when he was young, and that wasn't it.

He looked back to Rainbow Dash to ensure the sound hadn't awakened her, and when he was sure it hadn't, he silently slipped out from underneath her wing, trotting over to the door. When he opened it, he understood why he hadn't recognized it. Rainbow Dash's friends were standing there, glancing at him for only a moment before trying to peer inside the room.

"Is Rainbow Dash in there with you?" Rarity inquired.

Soarin's expression noticeably dropped. He sighed, walking past the door frame and shutting the door behind him. The five mares (and Spike) looked at him with confusion.

"She's sleeping, but you're not going in there," Soarin stated firmly.

Half of the six friends flinched, shocked to be spoken to in such a way. Soarin knew perfectly well that they weren't bad ponies - they wielded the Elements of Harmony after all - but that didn't mean they couldn't do bad things.

Applejack was the first to speak up, glaring down Soarin and getting in his face. "Pardon? Ah don't think I heard you right."

"I think you did!" Soarin retorted. "Dash came here with me to get away from you. Why can't you just leave her alone?"

Some of the six exchanged glances, having already guessed Rainbow Dash's reasoning. Actually being told it...

"T-that's why we're here!" Fluttershy said boldly, flaring her wings out. "W-we want to apologize."

Soarin raised a brow. "You think she wants to hear from you? Now?"

The seven were so lost in their argument that they completely missed the door opening behind Soarin.

"Why are you so defensive of her?" Twilight asked, trying to be reasonable but also slightly annoyed to have this roadblock now. "We're her friends! If we could just talk to her—"

"Friends? You could've fooled me!" Soarin argued. "And yeah, she told me what happened when you ''tried'' to talk to her! Didn't work out how you wanted, did it? What makes now any different?"

"Guys?"

"Hold on a second, buster!" Pinkie Pie jumped in front of Twilight, trying to look intimidating by standing on her hind legs.

Soarin didn't flinch. "No, you hold on!"

Spike raised a claw. "What are you so mad about? It was just a prank, and we're here to say sorry."

An unidentifiable sound escaped Soarin's throat. "J-just a—" Now he was fuming. "Just a prank?! Getting your whole village together to pull a zombie apocalypse on one pony is just a prank?!"

Rarity stepped forward. "Now listen here! Dashie is—"

"EVERYPONY, CHILL!"

Everyone went silent, Soarin moving out of the way as all eyes went to a Rainbow Dash with only mild bedhead. She huffed, rubbing some sleep out of her face before giving Soarin an appreciative glance.

Twilight sighed with relief. "Rainbow, thank Celestia! You have no idea how hard it was to find you! We—" She stopped talking as Rainbow raised a hoof.

Soarin looked over at her. "I can handle this if you don't want to, Dash."

She shook her head, clearly still recovering from just waking up. "No, I got it."

Rarity gestured outwards with a hoof. "Darling, I understand if you're still upset—"

"I'm not upset."

Fluttershy chirped in, "We're really sorry about what happened—"

"I know."

Applejack was about to speak up, but Rainbow Dash's words had finally caught up with everyone, causing them to let out a collective, "What?"

Rainbow Dash snorted. "Come on, did you guys really think I didn't know you were sorry? I just heard that you ran all the way here to look for me and you think I don't get it or something?" Slight amusement went across her face.

"But..." Pinkie Pie's ears flopped. "Why did you leave?"

"I'm not leaving Ponyville," Rainbow Dash said, as if it were obvious.

"Y-you're not?" Fluttershy asked. "Then why did you...?"

"I just... needed a break," Rainbow Dash explained. She tilted her head and glanced off to the side, attempting a smile. "Don't you guys ever need a vacation? We wear each other out all the time!"

Twilight frowned. "Still... we're sorry we didn't say anything."

"You think that's what got to me?" Rainbow Dash raised a brow. "I keep stuff from you guys all the time. I get that."

"What did get to you then?" Applejack asked, skeptical.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "The entire prank, I guess?"

Soarin watched silently at how casually Rainbow Dash was talking, like she was reciting the weather.

She chuckled. "I care about you guys; of course I was gonna freak out. I thought you were dead. Was probably pretty funny though, huh?"

An uneasy silence filled the room, as the six friends couldn't decipher the exact tone Rainbow Dash's voice was in.

"Thanks for coming though. I'm planning on coming back in a few days or something." Rainbow Dash stood on her hind legs, a bit of pep back in her voice as she punched the air. "You guys can't live without your Element of Loyalty after all, yeah? And you'll throw me a party when I come back, right, Pinks?"

Pinkie Pie's ears perked at being addressed. She nodded with vigor. Rainbow Dash smirked, then nudged Soarin as she dropped down to all fours and went back inside. Soarin's mouth opened, as if to say something, but he faltered and simply followed her back inside, shutting the door behind them.

"You okay?" he finally asked, feeling a twist of emotions inside him and just wanting to make sure.

"I should tell you about my parents sometime," she said, seemingly out of nowhere. She kept her back turned to him. "Now that's a story..."

She ran her hoof through her hair, trying to brush it out a bit as she waited for Soarin to respond. When he didn't, she turned to him. "What?"

His expression was blank as he stared into her, as if trying to solve some sort of mystery. After a moment, he opted for a fond smile.

"You're so much stronger than me, Dash."

Silent Reflection

"How's this?" Rainbow Dash asked, amused as she laid across Soarin's back while he was resting on the couch.

Soarin smirked, the positions reminiscent of how he remembered his parents would lay whenever they sat on the couch together. "Feels great... honey."

Rainbow Dash gagged, lightly ''punching'' his cheek. Soarin laughed.

"That's it. We're through," she joked, trying to sound as monotone as possible.

"Oh no," he said with mock hurt.

"Seriously, why'd I ever have to fall for a dork like you?" she asked, Soarin feeling her hooves idly prodding at his back.

"Just got lucky, I guess."

"That's lame."

"I know."

He couldn't see it, but he knew she was smiling. He relaxed, allowing her to do as she pleased, even letting out a content sound as she hit a soft spot.

"You're good at that," he sighed.

"Once you've gotten as many massages as I have, you pick up a few things," Rainbow Dash stated proudly.

Soarin snickered, but his heart was warmed by how open she was being with him, talking about things he knew she'd be embarrassed about had it been anyone else, but said so boldly with him. His favorite thing about the whole experience - aside from actually getting to date her - was probably that he kept learning more about how she ticked. Every time he thought he knew her completely, she'd come out with something new that he didn't expect. Even if it was an insecurity, he cherished every piece.

"Let me try it on you next," he offered, referring to her massage.

"You'll fail," she said smugly.

"Teach me then."

The two shared a chuckle, taking great joy in how any tension in the atmosphere just melted away from their conversation. Not that it was completely gone - Soarin knew that it would be a long while before Rainbow Dash completely let the experience go - but it was still nice to not worry as much.

Still, he felt like he was more tense about it than she was. Why was that? Was it just because he cared about her so much?

He laid his head down on his foreleg, thinking further on it. Rainbow Dash must've noticed, because her massage slowed. "What's up?"

Though he didn't want to cut through the nice vibes, he spoke up anyway, "I just think it's messed up."

"Huh?" she asked. "The prank? I guess, but it's... it's over now."

Soarin shook his head. "Nah. The Element thing."

Rainbow Dash needed a moment to understand. "My friends?"

"Yeah? No? ...Sort of?"

She shrugged it off. "They don't get me all the time, but they're still my friends."

"That's kind of what I mean." He tried his best to put it into words. "I was just thinking about that ''Element of Harmony'' stuff."

"What about it?" she questioned, curious.

"I guess it kinda makes sense, now that I think about it; how you don't get much attention for it? You were picked because it's your destiny or something, right? So maybe everypony just figures that you do it because you gotta."

"...Yeah," she answered numbly. "Huh."

She still shook her head, not fully understanding. "But what's so messed up about it?"

"Everything?" Soarin replied with a shrug. "Like, what if you didn't want to go back to them?"

"I do?" Rainbow Dash retorted, confused. "I told you, I'm going back in a few days."

Soarin met her gaze. "But what if you didn't?"

The massage stopped.

Soarin continued, "I know you're great friends, but what if you weren't? Do you just pass your element onto somepony else? 'Cause if you don't, doesn't that put Equestria in danger? You six are like, the ultimate line of defense, right?"

Rainbow Dash said nothing as Soarin tried to lay his head back down.

"I don't know. I'm glad you forgave them - I don't think I could - but it's scary, you know? Thinkin' that you're almost forced to be together..."

"...Didn't know you thought about that kind of stuff," she muttered.

"Just looking out for you as your coltfriend," he reminded her with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

Rainbow Dash nodded, eventually tiring on massaging him and opting to lay completely against him. Soarin shifted for comfort, but otherwise didn't move.

She smiled, but in the silence of the room, she took time to reflect.

Too Far

"Cooooookiiiiiies..."

"N-no! Get back! Stay away from me!"

Rainbow Dash was in a panic as she backed away from everypony. This zombie situation was getting out of control and her eyes were dilating from the sheer horror of the situation. How did this happen? How did these cookies cause all this? She didn't know, but her stomach was in knots at the fact that this was caused by her own prank.

Desperate tears came to her eyes. It's all my fault. I just thought it'd be harmless; that it'd be a little prank and nothing more. I-I didn't want this!

Despite her panic, the zombie ponies kept walking towards her. She was backed into a corner now, surrounded by ponies who weren't themselves anymore. For all she knew, her friends were gone forever. Dead.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't...!

Her chest heaved, her forelegs felt hot, and her mouth was dry. She didn't know what was happening; only that she was feeling faint, her view blurring as the zombie ponies seem to multiply. Tears kept coming and all she wanted to do was end this nightmare. Her mind repeated in her head; this was all her fault. She might not've intended it, but she caused this. She caused this.

...I didn't mean to.

Her shimmering eyes went dull as her body gave out on her. She fell forward, passing out, the stress having finally gotten to her.

The zombie ponies all stopped in their tracks, staring down at the fainted pegasus. Their eyes returned to their normal sizes and their groaning ceased.

"...R-Rainbow Dash?" Twilight was the first to speak up, surprised by this change of events; she definitely wanted to scare Rainbow Dash, but she didn't want to scare her this badly!

She hesitantly trotted forward, a hoof touching the cyan fur as Twilight lightly shook her. She waited a moment, but there was no response, though a few loose hairs in her mane fell to her face.

"RAINBOW DASH!"