Soarin'(g) over the Rainbow
Celestia’s sun was high, and burning up the sky, as a team of blue-uniformed Pegasus ponies zipped through the air. They spun around clouds in formation, breaking apart and joining up in pairs, only moments later. They passed each other, coming so close their uniformed bellies were almost touching.
These were the Wonderbolts. The greatest fliers in all of Equestria. They split up into pairs once again, two going down, two going sideways, and two going up. Going up was a mare and a stallion. Both blue, one darker and one lighter. The stallion, Soarin, had an indigo colored mane, while Rainbow Dash’s was rainbow colored. They shot each other a smile as they completed a figure eight straight into a spin. Rainbow whooped – nothing compared to the freedom of flying. Their tails streamed out from behind them as they flew higher, higher, and higher.
The looks of elation on their faces turned to ones of grim concentration as the winds began to pick up. There was nothing else on their minds but to finish this finale, and finish it strong.
Rainbow Dash beat her wings harder, angling them sharply against the heavy resistance. She grit her teeth. A dull beat began pounding in the places directly under her wings as they flew into the tossing wind. This was where they had fallen apart last time. No. This was where she had fallen apart last time. Where the wind had sliced the skin under her wings, giving Rainbow her first windburns.
The dull ache under her wings moved into a sharp burning. Not again! No, no, no! She gave a yelp, just as her wings gave out. And then, she was falling, falling, falling.
“Rainbow!” Soarin yelled, starting to take off after her. Yes, he teased her to no end, and play fought her about as much, but he undeniably loved the mare.
“Crash! Pull up, now!” The captain, Spitfire, shouted as she joined Soarin in racing after the falling mare.
Rainbow desperately threw her wings to the side, numbly giving a futile effort. But the runway loomed closer and closer and closer.
Then Dash landed on her side with a thud. Spitfire and Soarin landed a second after, immediately at her side.
“Why don’t you tell us what the hay. Just. Happened?” Spitfire demanded. Rainbow groaned. Perhaps from pain, perhaps from the sheer edge of her captain’s tone, not unlike a knife.
“Nothing! I just lost momentum. It won’t happen again. Ma’am,” She replied, rubbing her head. It was really her wings that hurt, but she was tough. She could deal with it later, out of prying eyes.
Soarin came up next to her, gently laying his wing around her shoulder.
“You alright?” He murmured, only loud enough that the mare and he could hear. Rainbow nodded into his mane.
“I sure hope not! Training’s over for today. I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like it. You’re going to get to your room and rest, now. I don’t wanna see you again. We’ll see about tomorrow,” Spitfire ordered firmly. Dash shrugged out of Soarin’s grasp.
“With all due respect, ma’am, I’m fine,” She protested, almost angrily. If Spitfire made her sit out on practice, and the rest of the Wonderbolts found out, she would be considered weak; like she couldn’t handle a bit of pain, like she couldn’t handle a new routine. Her teammates couldn’t see her like that. More importantly, Spitfire couldn’t see her like that.
“No. Practice is over for you. Soarin, take Crash home,” The captain instructed, glaring at both of them. Soarin raised an eyebrow but turned, wordlessly, gesturing for Dash to follow.
“C’mon. Time to go,” Soarin said, eyes fading to a soft compassion. Rainbow, briefly, searched his eyes, then let her ears drop in agreement.
Again, he draped his wing over her shoulder, and then guided her off in the direction of their dorms.
¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾
When the duo reached their shared room, Soarin entered the pin to let them in. The door clicked open, and both stepped in.
“Sit down, I’ll get you some water,” Soarin tipped his head to their cloud table for two, already walking to the sink, grabbing a glass, and filling it.
Slowly, mayhap even hesitantly, Rainbow pulled out her chair, sitting down. “Thanks,” she kept her stare down, as Soarin set the glass down. This was… humiliating.
Soarin sat down, joining her. For but a moment, he only kept his gaze on her eyes. Then, he reached across the table, taking both of her hooves in his. They were cold to the touch, as though the icy winds from above still hadn’t quite worn off.
“You’d say something, if things got bad,” Soarin pressed.
She gave a single nod. She… probably would.
“Okay,” Soarin searched her again, as though digging for a lie, or maybe a truth, “good.”
At her silence, he shifted again, brow furrowing, as though complementing his options.
“You wanna go lay down for a while? At least let me take a look?” He urged gently, squeezing her hooves.
“Really, I’m fine, okay? Just a bit sore from yesterday. Having an off day.” She grunted. Soarin nodded absently, and Dash could tell he wasn’t buying it. “Soarin. I’m okay. But I think I’m going to hit the hay for the night. I’m beat.”
Soarin sighed. This… this was a no-win situation. He wouldn’t get a straight sentence out of her, and she’d only get annoyed if he tried. He had to be strategic, here… “Alright. Good idea. Sleep well, then, Dashie…” He wanted to face-hoof. It almost sounded as if he supported evading the subject.
“You too. Whenever you come,” Rainbow got up, and yawned, stiffly moving to their cloud bed. Upon reaching it, she shifted once, maybe twice, then pulled the sheets up high.
She drifted off within minutes, leaving Soarin to slip beside his mare and watch her sleep, worried.
The winds were strong, so strong. Rainbow Dash was partnered with Spitfire for this routine, and she was straining to keep up. The captain zipped through invisible corners and incredible maneuvers in record time. Then, she suddenly burst straight upward, right into clouds. Strange, they didn’t burst right away, leaving Dash to tear through them. But the cloud turned heavy, pulling on her wings and binding her down. The deep bruises under her wings started burning, burning and pounding. Rainbow tried to yell out, signal Spitfire – at least do something! But the cloud invaded her lungs, restricting the ability to breathe, talk, move. This couldn’t be happening, it couldn’t be, it couldn’t be. With a final surge of energy, Dash pulled free of the cloud. The second she met with Elation, she was sucked right back into a whirl of wind pulling at her tail, and her mane, and her wings. Her wings! They hurt more than anything she had ever felt, in all her years. She started to cry, humiliated and ashamed. Vaguely she could see the orange tail of her captain ahead… so far ahead. Her cries turned to sobs. She’d never keep up. Her wings would never let her. It felt terrible. She wasn’t in control anymore.
“Rainbow! It’s okay, you’re alright!” Dash woke up with a start as she realized Soarin was calling to her. His voice was loud, so loud. Her head ached, and her wings. It was as though she really had been flying the laps, chasing Spitfire, and it had taken the toll on her wings – Celestia knew she could feel them.Soarin scooted closer, making to put his hoof over her wings, like he knew she liked. The second his hoof came in contact, though, Rainbow jerked with pain.
“Don’t!” She screeched, shooting into the air instinctively. She crashed into the wall, right way, dropping like a stone into water onto the floor next to the bed.
Soarin jumped out of the bed and raced to the fallen pegasus, all sleepiness forgotten, and rather long-gone anyway. Rainbow’s wings hung limp. She grunted as she lay still, for a moment. She didn’t feel like herself anymore. The real Rainbow Dash wouldn’t let herself succumb to pain, one side of her argued. But she trusted Soarin. She had shown him, and only him, for that matter, her soft side. She could trust him. Of course she could.
Right?
“Let me see, Dash. Right now.” Soarin demanded, voice thick with concern. Rainbow straightened wordlessly, not even bothering to fold her wings anymore. ‘Twould hurt too much anyway. She sat at the edge of their bed, and Soarin stood next to her. He lifted a sensitive blue wing, feeling the delicate feathers shiver at his touch alone. He found deep, jagged bruises lacing the underside. The skin was sliced almost neatly, cut across in crisscrosses. “Oh, Celestia.” He murmured softly. Rainbow felt the pegasus stallion move to her other side. His touch was so gentle, comforting, as he lifted her other wing. Rainbow felt herself relax under his touch, just the slightest bit.
Once he finished examining the wing for any more bruises, he took a seat next to Dash and motioned for her to face him. She did so without complaint.
“Windburns? Really, Dash? How can you even fly?” Soarin went from admonishing to disbelief.
Rainbow gave him a wavering smile, laying her ears back. Well… at least he was… shocked.
But the moment passed as soon as it arrived. A look of panic flit across normally controlled features, announcing the thought of a… certain captain.
“You can’t tell Spitfire,” She started, a good measure of hysteria in her voice. Her hooves dashed to each other, fidgeting like crazy.
“You can’t be serious! Dash, she might not seem like it, but Spits’s probably the pony to go to,” Soarin protested, then halted mid-complain. Was this wise, was this right? She… she looked so doubtful… No. He should continue. She should hear this. “She’s been in your place, Dash. Give her a chance. You’d be surprised.”
“You can’t tell Spitfire,” she repeated, shaking her head firmly. Maybe Spitfire did know how it felt, but she was Captain. She was Ma’am. She was the boss. Rainbow had worked so hard to get into the Wonderbolts; she wasn’t going to ruin her reputation by being weak.
“Dashie…” Soarin sighed.
“Soar...” she countered, getting a little desperate.
“It isn’t a good idea. At all,” he said, shaking his head in pure exasperation. But… against his own will, he couldn’t refuse her in this state. She was showing a certain side, and it was a vulnerable side not everypony got to see. If only he could reassure her the team wouldn’t think less of her if she finally let herself slow down. She’d ruin herself, if this kept on. Then all would be lost. This was a warning, he was sure of it…
But. He knew what it felt like. And he was the coltfriend. The comforter. The supporter. That deserved attention, too.
He reached a hoof out, drawing the rainbow-maned mare closer into a hug. She tensed, but Soarin, knowing the drill, waited her out until she relaxed. She buried her face deep in his apple-scented mane, breathing his scent in and out, in and out.
Soarin extended a wing, pulling her close. “C’mon now. It’s late.” He whispered, moving them both to their pillows and laying down. Dash curled farther into his strong, toned chest, tensing slightly, once again, when the cloud bed rubbed against her all-too-sore wings.
Soon, her breaths turned heavy, and she fell into sleep.
“Clipper! Crash! You in there?” A raised voice carried through the door, followed by loud, merciless pounding. Soarin groaned, tossing a hoof into Rainbow’s side, as to wake her. Or, give an attempt to. She yawned, stopping midway when the rapid pounding resumed.
“I’ll get it.” Soarin muttered, tone thick with sleep. Rainbow nodded faintly, not fully awake yet, either. She felt the cloud shift as Soarin staggered off in the direction of the door, tripping over this and that. She heard the door give, and open, not bothering to turn.
And, of course, as a result, she missed seeing who was at the door. Spitfire.
“Yeah, hey Clipper. Took you long enough,” The captain informed him, by way of greeting. Rainbow froze, immediately. She started to roll over but caught her wing in the folds of her cloud. She inhaled sharply, biting down on her lip, hard, to keep from crying out.
“Sorry. It was a long night,” Soarin answered, running a hoof across his face, tracing up through his mane.
“So I see. Everything okay?” Spitfire asked him, lowering her voice. Soarin looked at his captain, his friend. She held his gaze solidly.
“No,” he answered, in an equally low tone, simply, truthfully. Spitfire gazed further into the room, yet discreetly, gaze landing on the bed, where the new Wonderbolt still lay. She shook her head, somewhat in disgust.
“Meet at the runway in ten. No uniforms. Be there,” Spitfire said, tone slipping back into its cold, professional version.
“You’re the boss,” Soarin replied, undeniably fondly.
“You bet,” She smirked, giving him a wink. With a quick beat of her wings, Spitfire flew down the hall, moving on to bang on another Wonderbolt door. Soarin closed the door, quiet as possible, and walked back to Rainbow, steps surer now, after waking up fully.
“We have to be at the runway soon. Dashie,” Soarin nudged her, hard, in the hind leg, “Come on, get up.”
“I know, I know,” She sat up slowly, blinking.
“Race you to the runway,” Soarin challenged, knowing that would get her out of bed.
“Hey! No fair, you get a head start!” She cried, lunging out of bed, and hurrying to the tiny kitchen, where she ate a quick breakfast standing up. Soarin, laughing, already made his way to the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, precisely, Soarin and Rainbow were at the runway, lined up in formation with the rest of their team.
“Listen up,” Spitfire started, pacing in front of the tight line. “today we’re flying around Cloudsdale. Nothing big, just getting ponies excited about the next show. You’ll go with your wingpony. Any questions? Good. Let’s move!” Her own wingmare, Fleetfoot, joined her on the runway, fast as could be. They took off in sync, side-by-side, then the next pair.
Then Soarin and Dash. Take-off was rough for the both of them – Rainbow’s unsteady swaying sent more than a few shivers down Soarin’s spine – and even airbound, her wings shook with the effort of staying strong. She noticed Soarin flying a little closer than necessary, so much so that she could feel the very breeze from his beating wings.
Once all the team was in the air, Spitfire signaled a turn, and they headed to the main cities of Cloudsdale.
The turn, that simple turn, connected right with a bit of wind current. This would have, normally, been easy for Rainbow to navigate; even pull off with an ease. But… in her current state? It was agonizing. She choked back a gasp, as her wings started burning again. Soarin took notice and flew in even closer.
“Everything good?” He murmured gently, shooting an anxious glance up ahead of them. Rainbow clenched her jaw, squeezing her eyes shut for but a minute, waiting for the episode to pass, before nodding, albeit tightly.
Soarin still didn’t look away. See, he didn’t exactly like how she was looking… right about now. Sweat was foaming along her mane, plastering it to her neck. Her every muscle was tight, and straining. Especially those on her wings. She was almost quivering – and he didn’t like it one bit.
“Yeah. I’ll be okay,” Dash answered, focusing solely on breathing evenly. Soarin’s gaze never left. She pretended not to notice.
When the Wonderbolts were just short of Central Cloudsdale, Spitfire signaled for them to fly lower.
The wind resistance was, at last, simply too much for Rainbow. Her head went light, as though they were going higher, rather than lower. The pounding in her wings was suddenly everywhere – radiating from the base of her wings, and shooting up to her head, dropping down to the tips of her hooves, and spiraling to every other inch of her. Her stomach felt as though she’d swallowed rocks – and a whole bag of them, for that matter.
Then, her world went black, and there was no more.
She woke up to bright lights. They pierced her eyes the minute she opened them, and immediately gave her a pummeling headache.
Then, she became overly aware of the machines, the pain, and she knew exactly where she was. Cloudsdale Hospital.
It all came back to her in a rush. The terrible pain in her wings, an overly concerned Soarin, and the fear. Oh, the fear. Of disappointing Spitfire and the team.
“Hey! She’s awake again!” An impossibly cheerful voice chirped.
“P-Pinkie pie? Wh-what are you doing h-here?” Rainbow mumbled, voice scratchy and hoarse, as though she had talked, without end, for weeks.
“Well, you kind of fainted mid-flight and went to the deep dark place of darkness, Mr. Wonderbolt Soarin, or maybe Mr. Soarin Wonderbolt, whichever sounds funnier -anyway, he apparently brought you here, and then your reeeaaally serious – like, seriously, she’s way to serious. Gotta get her to lighten up a little, Dashie! – captain came and rounded us all up!” she slipped into an accent comparable to Applejack’s, then presumed in her own, “And just now, after three whole days without you as awake as right now, my Pinkie Sense told me that something really important was going to happen, right here, exactly right here, and right now, exactly right- well, about… two minutes ago. So I got here just in time to see you wake up! That’s just the short version. Hey, everyone! You can come in now! She’s awake!” Pinkie rambled, never swaying from that terribly cheerful, bright tone.
On cue, Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy, along with… Soarin and Spitfire, walked into the room and spread out around Dash’s bed. She didn’t really know what to say. All she wanted to do was curl up and sleep, get away from these loud machines, stabbing needles, sure to come, and bright, oh-so-bright lights.
“That’s… that’s really sweet and all, but you guys didn’t have to come all the way to Cloudsdale. I’m okay, really,” She shifted, just now taking notice of the white gauze wrapped around the bottoms of each of her wings. Soarin shifted her blanket a little this way, a little that. “Hey Soar,” she whispered.
“Heya, Dashie,” He replied, matching her slightly playful tone. It… might have been a sign of, well, forgiveness, may have been a sign of relief.
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous, darling!” Rarity exclaimed. “Of course we had to see if you were alright!”
“She’s right. And I hate to break it to you, but you are hurt pretty darn bad,” Applejack frowned, as though admonishing an over-playful filly. Or Pinkie Pie. Same thing, basically.
“Yeah. Severe windburns. In fact, so severe there are already infections under your wings. As in, under the skin. What’s up with that, Crash? Why not come to us – why not come to me sooner?” Spitfire joined in; eyebrow slightly raised, in a kind of… hurt expression. Rainbow looked away.
“I-I didn’t want you or the team thinking I couldn’t handle being in the Wonderbolts,” Rainbow started. “that I’d use the first little thing as an excuse as to why I couldn’t do the routine right. Or… or that I was too weak to swallow a bit of pain.”
“Crash, just ‘cause you have to stop, and take care of yourself every once in a while, doesn’t make you weak. Like hay it does. And it doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be in the ‘Bolts. I know… I know that’s hard to believe, but take my word for it. And hay, I don’t think I could have ‘swallowed’ the pain, with how bad those burns looked. And the excuse? Trust me, if I thought you were using anything as an excuse, I would tell you,” Spitfire stated. Her eyes had softened a step down from ‘harsh’.
Rainbow managed a smile – that much was true.
“But seriously, Crash, lemme tell you a story.” The others gave Dash one last smile, perhaps even a whispered ‘see you later’, before quietly filing out to give the Wonderbolts some time alone.
Rainbow saw Spitfire take a breath, as though collecting herself, “When I first started out in the ‘Bolts, I broke my wing during practice. Not like I told anypony, but Fleets figured me out pretty soon. She tried to help, but I – being my old self – didn’t listen. Told her to keep quiet, told her to back off. I kept flying on that wing until it legit nearly killed me. Story for another time,” she shifted, clearly uncomfortable, “finally, she told ol’ Captain and he grabbed help. I would’ve lost my wing if I’d kept flying. For good,” she looked her newest recruit in the eye. “You’re not weak. But you can’t destroy yourself, just to keep up an image only you see. That’s not okay, and I think you figured that out.”
“Yeah… I think so.” Rainbow answered, still gaping. She… she truly hadn’t thought of what Spitfire had to have gone through. Hay, she… really hadn’t thought of Spitfire as… as a pony, no matter how odd that sounded.
“Good. I’m gonna leave you and Clip alone now,” Spitfire straightened, avoiding Dash’s eyes, and giving Soarin a little shove on her way out. Rainbow looked to where she had stood, then back at Soarin.
“See, what’d I tell you?” He had ‘I told you so’ written all over his face. “How d’you feel?”
“Been better,” she answered, smiling grimly, “how ‘bout you? You look tired.”
“… I am. Sorta missed your gloating, you know,” Soarin grinned. Rainbow stuck her tongue out at him.
He leaned over her, using his wing to straighten her forelock. And using his forelegs to pull her into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he mumbled, “so, so glad you’re okay.”
She squeezed him tight to her, hiding her face in her favorite part of his mane; relishing the feeling of having her stallion close.
“Me too,” she whispered, “me too.”
