Right behind his house, there was this huge playing field. Surrounded by a wire netting, its concrete floor burned under the sun of July and was freezing cold and sloppy when the winter was settled. It had nets and basketball hoops at each side of it. In order to garantee there would always be a bit of shades when the weather was too hot, three poplars had been planted all around it.
All the kids came in here when they wanted to play together. Usually, when two friends or more didn't decide to play a match here, one came with a ball under his arm and waited for other to reveal themselves. They would take anyone to start the game, even the little boys who come from other neighborhoods and just came to visit. The only ones forbidden to try and take their chance were girls. Girls were asked to play whatever they wanted to play in their gardens, some of the kids had decided, and the others followed. At this age, no one wanted to be ostracized from the main bunch, so obviously, the others all followed.
So, no girls. And no Soarin Skies.
It was so unfair. From the window of his bedroom, he could see them all perfectly. How he longed to arrive, one day, and to see one of the boys wave at him so he would join. Especially as he really liked sports and thought he was really good at both basketball and soccer. Of course, since no one played against him, it wasn't exactly subjective.
But he father said he could become a great athlete one of these days, like he used to be when he was in College, before family and obligations made him turn to his other great passion - vintage cars - and he became a car dealer.
"Soarin!" his mother screamed as she stepped in his bedroom, and saw him staring through the window. "Stop hanging around doing nothing and go get some fresh air. It's 84°F outside. Why don't you go at the sports field behind the house? There's a game going on."
He knew for he had been watching it ever since it began. Smug Belly and Score had decided to play soccer today, and were soon joined in their game by Hoops.
Hoops was the meanest of all the kids of the neighborhood. That sturdy brown-haired ten years-old boy terrorized his world with petty nicknames and various threats of violence and though he never actually fought, all the other kids dreaded him, figuring out that he would easily all knock them down if he really decided to start kicking and punching.
When he was there, Soarin never even approached anywhere near the field. All he could do was watch the game from a distance, daydreaming of the day when he would finally be able to play here too, not only when the others were having a snack or a nap, but whenever he wanted. And he wanted a lot. Had not his mother summoned him to go there, he would just have stayed in his garden, playing on his own while keeping an eye on them from afar.
But it was impossible right now. She had her eyes on him and he knew that if she actually noticed Soarin didn't go there to meddle with the other little boys, she would perfectly be able to lecture him again about how he had to stop being so sensitive since he no longer was "a baby".
The situation was kind of tricky. Soarin didn't want the lecture but he didn't want to come anywhere near Hoops, neither. Each time he had been around, even if just watching behind the fence, it had never ended well for him.
His throat clenched, he opened the back gate of his garden and walked as slowly as possible, hoping to gain a bit of time, towards the playing field. Score was screaming at Smug Belly because the latter didn't have been able to run from one goal to the other fast enough to stop Hoops' ball and now their team was starting to lose. They didn't see Soarin bravely working his way in their direction.
As he did, though, he couldn't help notice that was a silly way to play a game. One goal for the two nets? Nobody did that. And nobody would have enough stamina to run from one place to the other as the game went on. It was ridiculous.
In a way, that gave him hope. First, because that meant he knew the rules and the physical conditions for good sports better than they do, and secondly, maybe it would make them agree to have him in the field with them, if only as the second keeper.
"Hello, guys," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Can I play too?"
Instantly, the three little boys stopped their argument and made a stand in front of him. The evil grin on Hoops' face indicated to Soarin that, maybe, a little lecture from his mother would have been better than what was expecting them. Up to this point, anything would have been better.
He swallowed.
"Look what we have here. It's Soapy Syrup!"
Soarin really hated this nickname a bunch of mean kids gave him at school and for a long while, he thought the neighborhood was enstranged to it. Obviously, it wasn't the case. What owed him it was the fact that he cried, once, because a boy had pushed him from a jungle gym and he sprained his ankle. Boys didn't cry, they told him. Ever since, they had decided that he was too soft to be respected and that, being smaller than the other boys and frailer than them, his truthfully place was with the girls. Which, for kids that age, was the equivalent of being good to sleep in a doghouse.
"Who allowed you to come here?" Score asked him with the ball firmly jammed under his left arm. "Go back to your place!"
"I can't. My mom wants me to play with you."
"Oh, your mommy asked you something and you obey because you're afraid. Boohoohoo."
"Go back to your mommy or I'll smash your skull in two."
On that words, Hoops vehemently stepped towards him with menacing eyes, lifting up his right fist and Soarin couldn't help a little jump, which made him pin himself against the fence.
Of course, his bullies laughed out loud, pointing at him while calling him all kind of names, from "chicken" to "whimpy little girl", which, obviously, was the worst of all insults for these sandbox chauvinists.
For the first time, Soarin realized that he couldn't accept to be treating this way. Just because he was a little different, a little "too soft" or "too sensitive" didn't mean he didn't have to right to be among the other kids and make the most of all the advantages the other kids made the most of.
He didn't know what he would tell them, but he would tell them something and they would regret their actions.
So, he stood up straight, lift up his chin in defiance and...
A sudden huge loogie fell right on Hoops' brown straight hair. But it wasn't coming from Soarin. It was coming from the sky. Soon, a high-pitched chuckle was heard and all four boys looked up, only to notice a little girl had climbed one of the poplars and, lying among the leaves on one of the branches, she was spitting on the bullies with an amused expression. Her rainbow hair tied into pigtails hung in the air, and she wore denim overalls with a stripped tee-shirt and the latest trendy sneakers for children, the one which illuminated when you hopped.
They should have beware of the dressings she wore along her nose and right knee but somehow, none except Soarin did. For them, she was just a girl, barely more courageous than the others but very soon, she would cry her eyes out and call out her mom.
However, still protected from her perching position, instead of showing signs of dread when three of the boys glared at her, she just laughed even louder and eventually spat on their heads again.
"Hey, you're nothing but a bunch of losers," she said, poking fun at them.
"Who you're calling losers, brat?"
"You. My mom says the ones who attack those who're small are losers. And cowards. Besides, you really suck at soccer."
She stuck her tongue out at them, still lying on the branch, having not even wobbled once. Soarin didn't say anything, but he was quite amazed. Even him had never been able to climb that high on that tree and skies above did he try. Many times.
"What you say? Get down and tell it to our face!"
"I'm telling it to your face, idiots. We're face to face."
Her impudence couldn't stay unpunished, not in the little world of children where Hoops had erected himself as the supreme leader. As a leader, he had to be respected and that girl clearly showed that she didn't fear him one bit. This was bad for his image, especially in front of one of his victims and two of his best friends, who started to poke fun at him as well.
"Don't worry, Hoops," Smug Belly told him with a nudge. "She'll have to go down the tree eventually."
"Eventually? And why not right now?"
That was how a little chaos ensued. Determined not to let the girl deter his domination over the other children, Hoops gathered as many rocks as he could and started to throw them at her. Of course, the two other boys soon followed. Seeing the girl who saved him was struggling to avoid the strikes, Soarin finally acted. He pounced on the slender one of the band, Score, pulling his hand back so he would stop doing what he was doing.
However, he was quickly helped by Smug Belly who took actions by kicking into Soarin's ankles, especially in the one he had once sprained, which was more fragile. That made him wince in pain and he pushed his attacker on the side, but soon his attacker replied by pushing him on the ground as well.
Meanwhile, Hoops hadn't stopped his attack on the little girl, quickly joined back by his friends. Cornered behind the foliage which had been some sort of a shield for her, she tried to leave her spot to climb higher when one of the rocks hit her right eye and she lost her balance.
She barely had time to close her eyes and put her hands in front of her like her mother explained to her, and before she could even gasp from the shock, she was on the ground, her left arm crushed under her body and suddenly numb.
The three other boys stared at her in shock for a short while, seeing that she didn't move. Maybe they had gone too far and the girl was seriously injured. If that was the case, they would have big problems with their parents and the other adults of the neighborhood.
Soarin, however, quickly get out of his stunned state and rushed towards the little girl to see whether or not she was okay. When she moved again, he welcomed her with a smile. A smile that turned upside down as a little bit of blood had started to run from her lips.
She hadn't cried until then, very brave and proud but seeing that she was wounded made her eyes shiny and Soarin thought she would burst into tears. No doubt the three idiots staring at her would enjoy that. Though she was the first girl to ever set a foot on the playing field (accidentally), she surely will be the last one as well. Crying, for the children here, was like an infamy. It set you apart forever as whiny.
But she didn't cried. She swallowed back her tears and the blood in her mouth, gently pushed Soarin aside before getting on her feet.
Hoops, Score and Smug Belly were staring at her, bewildered. For the first time, they couldn't tell how a person of their age would react. Her fall had been hard, and from that high above the field, she could have been in a much worse state than the one she was in. Even if they could clearly see her left arm was wounded as well.
Instead of being reasonable and leave, she glared at the three boys and before they could even understand what was happening, she had pounced on Hoops, pinned him against the floor like a puppet and she energetically slapped his face. Immediately, his two friends arrived to grab her by the arm, threw her backwards.
As they pretended to roll up the sleeves of their tee-shirt, while Hoops was hardly recovering from what had just happened to him, Soarin understood the worse had yet to come. He did what he thought was the most reasonable thing to do. Not running away. But rushing towards the girl to give her his support.
However, as he stopped in front of her, sitting on the hot ground, his both arms opened wide, he saw the boys jumping from surprise and immediately after, heard the voice of a woman calling from behing the fence.
"Dashie!! Oh my, Dashie!!"
A woman in her early thirties, her blue hair dressed in a messy ponytail, dashed in their direction and hurried to open the gate of the playing field. Her face was very similar to that of the little girl, with high cheekbones, a round chin and slanted eyes - but purple instead of magenta.
She crouched in front of the little girl who had gotten on her feet and examined her injuries with a quivering voice.
"I saw you falling from that tree but I had a box of fragile things in my arms so I had to put it down first. What the hell happened?"
"She attacked us, ma'am," Hoops answered without being invited.
His look of triumph was stopped short when the woman glare at him in a way he never saw before. It was the kind of glare you received from people who were used to live in harsh environment, like the Military.
"Dashie never attacks other children with no reason. I haven't taught her that."
None of the kids dared to answer anything to that, looking down with their hands joined in front of them. Mothers, unlike girls, still had a power on those ones. They were adults, after all, and adults were used to be respected. And most importantly, they talked between them. If their own parents learned what they did, the punishment would be hard. None wanted to be grounded for the rest of the month.
"She tried to defend me, ma'am," finally said Soarin, who had stepped back, impressed as well. "This is all my fault."
"You did that, uh, Dashie?"
The little girl (was that her name, Dashie?) nodded proudly. Conversely to the boys, she doesn't seemed to be overwhelmed by her mother's natural authority. At no moment had she feared to be grounded or scolded.
Now, a man with cropped rainbow hair was approaching the field too, calling his wife and daughter and at the sound of his deep voice, Hoops, Smug Belly and Score froze, before dashing out of the place as fast as they could, under the mother's protestations that thing wouldn't just end up here and that she would have a quick word with their parents very soon.
Her screams got lost in the wind as they went away but Soarin was convinced that they had heard the woman. Something even told him they were not to show their face in that part of the neighborhood anytime soon. At least, he would be left alone for a while.
And he knew who he owed it to.
=============================================***==========================================
There was a tradition in their neighborhood. When newcomers were getting settled, everyone knocked on their door with a little something to offer and a small introduction. Yet, this time, three of the families had to come at the same time in front of Firefly and Rainbow Blaze's house not only to offer them cakes and advice but also to give them apologize for the behavior of their sons.
The fact they were forgiven didn't mean the children of these families were allowed to hang around again. They were not to be seen before a long while, and the terms of their reign would have fairly changed until then.
The usually calm neighborhood also saw the visit of a doctor from the hospital on that very day. He examined the little girl's numb arm and after a few tests, declared that she had broken a bone and needed to get a cast as soon as possible. An appointement was settled for the very next day, at the first hour.
Making the most of a respite moment, with no one knocking or ringing at their door, Firefly took Rainbow Dash in the bathroom and started to take care of her other injuries. She had her bottom lip cracked, had lost a milk tooth which had been moving for days and a blue dark circle decorated one of her eye, as if she were some sort of rotting fruit.
"Really," Rainbow Blaze said, arms crossed on his chest as he watched his wife applying hydrogen peroxyde on his daughter's lip. "She has to stop messing around like that as if she were a boy!"
"Come on..."
"Don't come on me. I'm serious. Look at her face! It's a chance that she doesn't go at school before one month."
He got no answer from his wife. Seeing that both mother and daughter were decidedly too stubborn to understand what he was trying to tell them, he gave up.
In his professional life, Rainbow Blaze wasn't the type of men who gave up without a fight. He didn't particularly like when things went his way and enjoyed to win his way to success. But when it comes to his family, the melody was different. Between Firefly and Rainbow Dash, there was something he wasn't able to grasp and which made often him feel excluded. Just like he felt right now.
So, instead of arousing the flames that would set the whole house on fire, he chose to brush the problem away and wait for the little girl to be out of the picture to try to get things straight with his wife. Which, even like that, he didn't always succeed to achieve.
Once she was sure Rainbow Blaze was out of sight, Firely spoke to her daughter in a lower voice.
"I'm very proud of you, you know. You taught those little brutes a lesson!"
Rainbow Dash smiled at her mother and they exchanged their secret congratulatory exchange, slamming their fists together with a wink.
Traditional mothers would surely have been scandalized by what happened today. But Firefly was nothing but a traditional mother. If that mean being like her own mom... Well, no thanks. She suffered enough from all the limitations of her childhood, where she was always taught she counted less than her brother, her uncles or her male cousins, where she was always told not to act like that, talk like that, behave like that, get interested in things like that, just because she was born with two X chromosomes.
She wanted to raise her daughter so she would be independent, proud, bold, courageous, with a sense of self-integrity, able to sort out what is a good action and what is a bad one, not suffocated by the others' desire but not blind to the others' sufferings and trials. And for now, she could boast that she was doing quite well.
Firefly barely had time to put a new dressing on Rainbow Dash's face - this time, right under her bottom lip - when another ring resounded at their door. Rainbow Blaze called them, his voice a little distant, saying there were new neighbors waiting at the threshold.
Holding her daughter's hand, she walked the way to the main entrance, zigzaging between the cardboard boxes. She soon discovered a tall woman with the most gorgeous green eyes she had ever seen, accompanied with a young boy she immediately recognized, since he was the one Rainbow Dash had been trying to defend.
"Hello."
"Hello," the woman answered, unveiling perfect pearly white teeth. "My name's Scarlet Dust. I'm living in the house right beside yours. Here's for you."
Still smiling, she gave Firefly a plate covered with plastic film, under which shone numerous cookies. A smoke pierced through and it spread a delicate perfume of apple and cinnammon in all the whole entrance.
Rainbow Dash couldn't help getting on her tiptoes to admire them, and licked her lips in anticipation. That seemed to be rather awesome homemade cookies. And it was a change. Her mother never cooked and she had always eaten cookies exclusively from the supermarket or the farmer's market.
"I wanted to thank you. For Soarin."
"Oh, please, don't mention it."
Firefly made a sign to Scarlet Dust and leaned over a little, passing on the plate to Rainbow Dash.
"Dashie, dear, can you put them in the kitchen? The adults have to talk."
"Yes, mom."
There were no need of additional explanation. Soarin understood immediately that it meant that him too was to be excluded from the conversation and he speechlessly followed the little girl, as she started to walk towards the kitchen, handing the plate with one arm, since her other one was immobilized inside a sling. She seemed to be very proud of her achievement, going forward with a certain kind of dignity even though she was obliged to hold the plate high in front of her face.
She was smaller than Soarin was, and for a eight years-old little boy, he wasn't very tall. Her skin was thin and very pale, as if she never went out under the sun or anything, which highlighted even more the many grazes and bruises on her calves and arms. Her height barely enabled her to put the plate on the counter of the kitchen without making it stumble, but she succeeded anyway.
Just as soon as she was sure no adult could see her, though, she lifted the plastic film and stole two cookies from the plate. One for her, and another that she gave to Soarin who accepted it without asking questions.
Silently, both bit into the cakes and let the sweet taste and the hot paste melt into their mouths. Savoring those delicious cookies seemed to be demanding that no words would bother them and only once they had swallowed the last crumbles did they open their mouths for anything else than chewing.
"My name's Rainbow Dash."
"My name's Soarin."
They looked at each other for one more second, before she asked:
"Do you want to play pirates with me? Mom said I will have a game room in the basement."
"Sure. I love playing pirates."
"Okay, then, I'm Captain!"
Whatever happened, each time she was playing pirates, she always was the Captain. Once a boy in her former school told her that no girl would ever be at this position in a pirate ship but her mother had told her the story of a Chinese princess who had become a pirate and after the former Captain died in a battle, she was naturally chosen to take his place. So, she knew it wasn't true.
The thing she thought was "awesome" (her new favorite word) about Soarin was that he didn't complain at all that she would take this role. Just as long as she accepted his suggestion that they had to avoid the cardboard boxes as they were deadly icebergs like the ones in the movie Titanic, except they also spat fire, it was alright with him. Just as long as he had someone who accepted him for who he was and not calling name, who played with him, it was alright with him.
===========================================***============================================
Something told her the Crusaders wouldn’t specialized themselves as climbers. In fact, their feet barely touched the foam mattress covering the floor of the facility that they started to talk about trying ice-skating for next Saturday.
While she was about to bring back the rented items, Rainbow Dash noticed young Sweetie Belle had forgot to tie the shoelaces of her flat boots, and encouraged by this bloom of benevolence like only a sister would feel, she leaned over in order to fix this.
She scarcely noticed the boy behind the counter had changed, not really paying attention… until a rather deep male voice, with hints of an accent from the West North of Equestria, called her name.
Shocked, she jumped and bumped the top of her head against the edge of the counter above. When she got up, her eyes started to blink by themselves. The face she discovered looked familiar but she wasn’t sure…
“You don’t recognize me, do you? Well, it’s been ages… It's me, Soarin.”
This time, her eyes opened wider than a plate of desserts. Her neighbor and best childhood friend, whom she spent most of her time with, whom she thought about last night in the flow of her reflections, when she was trying to escape another headache…
The boy she left when leaving Cloudsdale behind was a twelve-year-old frail preteen, a bit small, looking constantly tired, who had trouble finding mates to play basketball and soccer with him. The one behind this counter was more than 5,90 feet, had an athletic build and though he had the same puppy eyes, she couldn’t help but notice how his skin was smoothed and devoid of rough patches or pimples, his eyes of the brightest green and his hair looked thin and soft as the one of a baby.
There was no doubt that he changed a lot. It might not be her case if he recognized her so easily…
Unsure of why, her heart started to thrum, like touched by some mystical spark. She had to get together, or else he would be thinking she wasn’t happy to see him again. It was wrong. She just didn’t really know how she should behave.
Stupid. They were friends, and although their last conversation dated back to seven years, there was nothing to torture her mind about. Even when she reminded herself of what had been their last contact together.
“I’m sorry… You’ve changed so much I needed time to realize. Are you… living in Canterlot?”
“Yes, it’s been two years since I've settled here. I’m at Canterlot University.”
“Oh, I see… But how is it possible that I didn’t I see you around before? I come here at least once a month.”
“Actually, I don’t work here. I’m only doing a favor for a campus’ mate.”
Seeing the way he smiled at her, a strange certainty hit Rainbow Dash. If he changed physically, mentally he was the same person. Soarin had been the most benevolent, empathic and understanding boy she had ever met. This unaggressive personality even was the main reason why the other boys refused to play with him, back then.
Entire waves of memories came back to her mind – games of basketball on the field behind their both houses, pirates and explorers’ games, hide and seek with Firefly, this summer camp they went at together…
“I can see you’re still as fond of sports as before. I haven’t really had the chance to be interested into interschool championships lately but I bet you must the heyday of one or two teams.”
“Three teams if you count athletics.”
“I knew it. Always true to form… Wow, I just can’t believe it!”
“Neither do I.”
Author's Note
Okay, I admit, I cheated for the last part and re-used their reunion in TTAG, just a little edited 
Please, forgive me.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little story I have wanted to write for a long time but couldn't find the occasion to. 
