Author's Note

That awesome song is very motivating. Helped me to finish the story, you know.

Gold

As Cider opened his eyes, he saw a white ceiling of his room above himself. As he looked around, he noticed that he was still in his racing gear, except for a helmet -- it was standing on a table. As the man tried to get up, he felt how his muscles burned.

"Fuck... Better not overexhaust myself next time," Cider mumbled and tried to stand up again. However, instead of the hard floor, his boot has reached something soft. Being confused, the man looked at the floor next to his bed, and saw a familiar cyan pegasus lying there and snoring softly. At first, Cider felt how an enormous feeling of anger tried to boil inside him... But after a few seconds of thinking, it faded away.

"She was here for me. Don't think, that she really thinks bad about me, if she can do this," CIder thought, "Still, need to wake up the RD. And to apologise..."

Cider got up on the floor, trying to not make sharp noises. As he sat beside Rainbow Dash, he noticed how calm her face was. As another quiet snore escaped her muzzle, the man couldn't help but smiled. As he carefully caressed Rainbow's mane, he said:

"Time to wake up, Rainbow Dash. You don't want your back feel sore, do you?"

The cyan pegasus' eyes opened slowly, and she noticed that Cider was softly burying his fingers in her mane, looking straight into her eyes. She blushed.

"H-hi there, Cider... I just wanted to make sure that you are okay... And, kinda' fell asleep," she said with a sheepish smile.

"I understand, Dash. And... Well, I want to say sorry for my rough attitude, while I still have a chance," Cider replied, also blushing, "I kinda' acted like a moron right there. Should've ignored your insults and talk with you about the situation. Feel myself like a total douchebag right now..."

"And you... Please, forgive me, too. I can sometimes be... Well, self-centered," Rainbow Dash released a nervous chuckle, "I am truly sorry about what I've said. Turns out, that these cars of yours can bee way too awesome not just for me, but also for you -- when you've fallen due to overexhaustion, I was scared as Tartarus! Hopefully, there was nothing too serious... And you're not a failure, too -- you were fighting for the victory even after your's car engine died, after all. And... Sorry about that yellow one -- seems like my impact has broken it, hadn't it?"

"Apologies accepted. And don't worry about the car -- nothing too serious, I'll just fix the fuel pump. Now get up, I bet everyone's waiting for us," Cider smiled and offered a hand for Rainbow Dash. As both got up, Cider checked his gear and headed outside his room, letting the mare go before him. After closing the door, the pair started their way to the guest hall.

"Always believe in your soul, you've got the power to know: you're indestructi-i-ible!" Cider sang to himself, not caring if anyone would hear him. "Always believe in, you are gold! Glad that you're bound to return, there's something I could have learned: you're indestructible!"

"Hey, Cider, what's the song you are singing?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

"Just an old one from my world, nevermind. However, it's very motivating!" the man replied, grinning. "You just don't know, how awesome I feel right now!"

"You tell me! Glad that we're friends again," the mare said, smiling. As she and the man reached the waiting hall of the hotel on the first floor, they saw that there were a lot of different ponies. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Chocola, the Wonderbolts team with Spitfire, and what slighly confused him, there also was Celestia and her sister Luna. All of them had stern looks on their faces.

"Alright everyone, what's going on?" Cider asked loudly, smiling. And as ponies started to turn their faces towards him and Rainbow Dash, their faces started to beam.

"Cider! You are okay!" Spitfire shouted, and after a couple of seconds, she's already been hugging him.

"Yeah, I'm okay, captain. I am indestructable, you know!" the man laughed.

"I was worried about you! What were you thinking about?! Trying to push your car -- ridiculous idea!" the yellow pegasus started to throw annoyed phrases, but quickly calmed down, "But... The race was awesome. You gave my Wonderbolts a good training, even a Rainbow Dash."

"Spitfire, mam," suddenly, the cyan pegasus spoke up, dragging everyone's attention. "I say it loud and clear -- I am sorry for my rude words, and I've already apologised to Cider."

"She did, captain," Cider agreed, "And I accept her apologies. And I've apologised to her myself, so I guess now we're square."

"Glad to hear it," Celestia stood up from her chair, and walked towards Cider and Rainbow Dash, being accompanied by Luna. "I hope that both of you have learned this lesson."

"We sure did, Celestia," Cider replied, "Or my callsign isn't Cider. Speaking of which..."

As the man broke up a hug with Spitfire, he stood in the center of a hall, cleared his throat and announced:

"I think all of you deserve to know my real name. It's not a top secret info, and it was selfish of me to hide it. So..." Cider smiled, and inhaled, "Captain Nikita Sidorov, at your service!"

"Huh, that's an interesting new development," Luna giggled, "Wonder what your name means!"

"Well, "Nikita" can be translated as a "winner". "Sidorov" comes from an old slavic "Isidor", which means "a servant of goddess Isis". And in the old Egyptian myphology, Isis was a goddess, who helped anyone in need. Poor, homeless, tortured, sick, you know."

"Sounds quite noble, if you ask me!" Rarity stated, while taking a sip from her coffee cup.

"I don't know, since most of people back home pick names for their children not knowing, what do they mean," the man shrugged, "But still, I like mine."

"It sounds... I dunno, somehow... Girly, maybe?" Chocola said with a hum. However, as she recieved a confused and somehow dissappointed look from Nikita, she explained: "I mean, that ending of your name. "Ni-ki-ta-a-a" sounds very unfamiliar."

"Well duh, he's from another world!" Twilight laughed along with the others.

"Okay-okay, enough with that," the man said, "Now tell me -- what all of you are doing here? It's not like I was dying out there."

After Cider's words, the Wonderbolts team of Soarin, Cloudchaser and Fleetfoot stood up from their chairs and walked towards the man.

"Captain Sidorov, sir," Soarin starded his speech, while offering a hand, "First of all, thanks for the race. It was a great challenge for us."

"I'm not your captain, so just call me Nick, or Cider," the man chuckled, and shook Soarin's hand, "And no problem with that. It was a great opportunity to test my metal, too. But... What about Celestia and Luna?"

"Well, you are the only one, who can handle all the newfound tech," Celestia said, "So, we were worried about the situation and came here."

"We also wanted to invite you to our Wonderbolts base for a visit," Fleetfoot said.

"If you don't mind, of course," Cloudchaser added with a nod. "Not many ponies can outrun the Wonderbolts, after all."

Cider hummed, thinking. But eventually, he gave up. "I don't see, why not. I'll check my schedule. And ask Spitfire, if she doesn't mind."

And the yellow mare only chuckled at that hugging the man tightly from behind, "No, I don't mind. I'd be only glad to see you there."

"Looks like that I was almost right about one thing!" suddenly, Rainbow Dash exclaimed, grinning. Everyone turned their heads towards her. And she said with a smirk, "Before the whole situation, I wanted to blackmail Cider by telling everyone that he has a crush on Spitfire, but seems like SHE has grown soft for him!"

Both Spitfire's and Cider's eyes became wide as saucers, and the mare quickly backed off from the man. Both Spitfire and Cider blushed heavily, mumbling something related to their embaressment. And the rest of the hall laughed loudly.

THE END