A Soarindash Memoir

by Crystalline Waters

Rating: teen
Tags: Fleetfoot, Spitfire, Violence, Slice of Life, Wonderbolts, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Soarin, Rainbow Dash, Romance
Length: 37980

Rainbow Dash and Soarin Skies attempt to find what they've been silently craving for a while: love.

Rainbow Dash is new to the Wonderbolts but isn't a stranger when it comes to relationships, even if they've ended poorly. Soarin Skies has been a Wonderbolt for some time now but is pretty inexperienced when it comes to mares. Follow them as they set out on a journey to find what they've always hoped for, as well as try to help each other through whatever challenges may come their way.
Inspired by: Fleetfire by Melody Song

Published 2021-05-31 02:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2021-09-04 17:19:14 UTC

Overwhelmed

Author's Note

Hey y'all! This is my first attempt at a fan fiction so any critiques are very much appreciated. I am going to try to keep characters' personalities similar to what are seen on the show, but I am also going to tailor them a bit to appear how I imagine them. This first chapter is really trying to set the scene and establish some things that y'all need to know, so others will include less background unless it is necessary. I will try to update weekly, but I will just write these as ideas pop into my head so you may get 2 updates weekly. However, it is finals season so should I have any finals or major projects, my time will be devoted to them. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy what I write and thanks for reading!

Overwhelmed

It was by all definitions a normal day inside and out of the Wonderbolts compound. Celestia's sun was high in the sky and the Wonderbolts had just finished yet another day of rigorous workouts. They were sweating and panting as they made their way towards the locker rooms. Rainbow Dash was chatting away with Soarin Skies, Spitfire Flare and Fleetfoot Frost about a new move that their captain had come up with. They soon reached the mare's locker room where Soarin broke off from the trio and continued off towards the stallion’s locker room.

Once they reached the showers, Rainbow let out a quiet sigh and pinned one of her ears to the side of her head. She turned on the water and stepped into the shower once it was at the right temperature. A sense of relief fell upon her as she felt the cool water on her face, and she began to think. Her thoughts had been bothersome to her as of late and neither the topic nor subject of her thoughts was of any mystery to her.

Even before she had become a Wonderbolt, she had had multiple opportunities to talk and interact with the top three ranking members of the team: Spitfire the captain, Soarin the co-captain, and Fleetfoot the third in command. They had experienced together positive moments such as the Royal Garden Opening, as well as less positive moments such as Equestria Games tryouts. It was only once she had become a full-fledged member that she was truly able to see them as Pegasi just like her, and as a result, had quickly developed a strong friendship with the three. It was funny really, once she had gotten to see each member outside of their flight suit, they turned out to be quite a diverse bunch. Around her teammates, Spitfire's exterior was just as hard as ever. Even while doing everything in her power to help them reach their full potential there was a deep and genuine care for them all, especially Fleetfoot. Fleetfoot ended up being a rather shy and delicate mare when outside of the public eye. The sight of her absolutely melting in Spitfire's hooves was completely unexpected, yet so endearing to anyone who saw.

Then there was Soarin Skies. Ever since she had met him, he had never been anyone other than what he had always shown her. Though fiercely protective of all he cared about, his goofball energy was definitely his most standout quality. It drew her closer to him than the rest of her teammates. There were many things that Rainbow admired about him. On top of being incredibly skilled, he was very smart, so optimistic and hardworking, and above all else so incredibly welcoming. Not to mention good looking. She hadn't even noticed until Fluttershy and Rarity decided to point it out one day. After that day, she had made an effort to see just what they were talking about and by the end of the day had felt enlightened. From his muscular stature and broad chest to his caring smile and eyes, Rainbow liked what she saw. He stood a few heads taller than she was due to her being the smallest mare any of the 'bolts have ever met. She even had Fleetfoot beat by half a head!

What she found amusing was that she had started to develop a crush on him a short while after she joined the team. And it took her a while to even take the time to focus on or notice his looks. The Wonderbolts lived in the compound together six months out of a year for show season and had regular practices during the winter off-season. It had been hard for Rainbow to adjust to being away from her friends in Ponyville and for the first few months she had felt incredibly homesick. Soarin was always there to make her feel better and to ensure she knew that she was now part of a new family. While she loved the feeling of being around him and wanted something more, she couldn't bring herself to make a move. She had been involved romantically with two stallions before and both of their relationships had ended poorly. She didn't want to be hurt again, so she did everything she could to protect herself from that feeling. Sure she was only twenty, but she was still so incredibly afraid of being alone again. She hated being alone.

Rainbow let out a low groan as she turned the shower off and stepped out with a towel around her shoulders.

"You okay there Crash?" asked Fleetfoot. "You look bothered by thomething."

"I know that look'" Spitfire added as she moved up beside Fleetfoot. "She's got her mind on someone," she said with a grin.

"N-No. I-I'm fine. Really." Rainbow quickly tried to deflect the statement and make it seem as though she was okay. She sighed again and looked away. "I'm just a bit..." she trailed off lamely.

"'A bit' what Rainbow?" Fleetfoot asked gently, as she managed to catch a glimpse of Rainbow's eyes before she turned away.

"I'm just tired," the mare answered weakly. She lightly shook out her mane, letting out a barely audible whimper. "I'm just going to go to bed." She walked out of the lockers towards the sleeping quarters, head drooping slightly. She felt her heart sink as she walked down the hallways. Why couldn't she get him out of her head? She liked him so much she couldn't focus on much else. But she knew there was no way in Equestria she'd let anyone know. Though she was unconvinced that she was fooling Spitfire or Fleetfoot. They were smart mares, especially Fleet, who had a knack for getting to the bottom of things.

By the time she got to the sleeping quarters, everyone else, with the exception of the two mares she was just speaking to and the stallion in her thoughts, was already there getting ready to sleep. Rainbow followed suit and by the time everyone was in bed, her head was literally spinning and her heart was beating much faster than was normal. Sure she had been confused and nervous with previous crushes, but this one was giving her legitimate anxiety. She hated feeling so afraid. Hated feeling so overwhelmed. She hated the shaking and nausea that came with her feelings. It had been this way for months now. Celestia knew she was absolutely exhausted, and not from her long training days. She bit her lip and focused on taking in long, deep breaths as she drifted off into Luna's night. She hoped to the stars that she'd feel okay soon. Though she knew that wouldn't be the case.

The two mares watched her go with concerned expressions on their faces. Rainbow had become a close friend to them, and they hated the thought of her keeping in all of her negative emotions. Besides, they had yet to ever see her look so dejected. It wasn’t majorly noticeable but they could see she was holding back. She was stubborn like that. "Should we athk her again? It theemth like there'th more that she'th not telling uth. I mean, do you think her having a crush would make her thith upthet?"

"I don't know Fleet. She's super private. Even if there is something specific bothering her she'll never tell anyone. We'll just keep an eye on her in case she gets any worse. "

"Agreed. But..." Fleetfoot paused and let a smile slowly creep onto her lips as her eyes suddenly widened. "Do you think it hath anything to do with how she'th been acting around Thoarin for the patht few monthth?"

Upon hearing this, it was Spitfire’s turn to go wide-eyed. Of course. The rainbow maned mare had never been very subtle about well... anything. But as of late, around Soarin... An extra pep in her step, a certain look in her eyes when she saw him or spoke about him, and the way she'd stare in his direction with a small smile on her face whenever he left the room she was in. Spitfire smelled a crush. "Fleety. You're a genius. I just wish I knew what was making her look so defeated."

"We'll figure it out Thpitty," Fleetfoot assured her while nuzzling under Spitfire's chin, making the taller mare giggle. "For now, let'th go to thleep. We'll try to get anthwerth tomorrow."

"You're right. I mean we know that there's definitely a chance of them working out. But for now," she led Fleetfoot out of the locker room and into her private room. "We sleep." She wrapped Fleetfoot in her hooves and wings as the two drifted off to sleep.

Soarin couldn't sleep that night. It was midnight and he was in his private room. He had tried everything to fall asleep. He had gotten water, counted sheep, and even stretched a bit. But he could not get his mind off of a certain tiny mare. He couldn't tell anyone when he had developed a crush on the prismatic ball of energy, because even he didn't know. It had to have been sometime in the past few months. Though he had not liked her then, since the day he met her, he had known that she was special. From her saving himself, Spitfire, and Misty Fly at the Young Flier's competition, to her staying loyal to him and encouraging his teammates to do the same at the Equestria Games tryouts. Even when she crashed into a trash can during her first day as a 'Bolt, he saw her determination to prove herself to everyone around her, especially Misty Fly. He had seen that she was a fierce, brave mare. Everyone on the team agreed that Rainbow was the bravest mare they had ever encountered.

But all her toughness aside, she had deeper feelings under everything. He could see that her determination was driven by fear. Of what, he didn't know, but he knew it ran deep. He had also seen first hoof how devoted and loyal she was to her friends. Her maternal tendencies towards her little sister Scootaloo, and her protectiveness towards her twin sister Daring. What he enjoyed the most though, was how adorable she was. Her rainbow mane shone in the light and her eyes reflected so many emotions and lit up whenever she was excited about something. Sure there was the fact that she was a head and a half shorter than all of the mares and a good two heads shorter than the average stallions, but it was the way she acted when she felt safe around him, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot. He, along with the rest of the team often had to resist the urge to openly d'aww at her whenever she was tired. She'd curl into herself and yawn a small, dainty yawn that most of the team was very fond of. He swore she was some kind of shape-shifter. Rough and tumble, ambitious, and daring by day, and kitten by night. Though, she'd almost always straight up deny it whenever somepony pointed it out. "Heh.." he chuckled to himself as he thought about her.

She was indeed something else. Of course, being twenty-four years old, he had had multiple crushes over the years. Since he was a shier, more dorky stallion, he had never acted upon them though. Spitfire used to tease him all the time about it, while Fleetfoot constantly nagged him to just "stallion up" and talk to them. This was not the case with Rainbow Dash however. She was special to him. He felt the need to make a move, because he feared that if he didn't take his chance, she'd wiggle her way out of his grip and never return. He felt that she was worth all the effort of growing a pair and asking out.

But he was afraid. Overwhelmed. As much as he wanted and needed to do this, he was so inexperienced. There had been a general sense of worry following him around ever since the idea popped into his head. He wanted to ask Spitfire and Fleetfoot for help but he kept chickening out. "Ugh!" He rubbed his temples and came to a decision. The next day, he would ask for help, and hopefully ask Rainbow out. It had to be the next day or he'd never do it.

With his decision made, Soarin turned over in his bed and tried to calm his beating heart. as he fell asleep. It would be interesting to see how the next day played out.

From Past to Present

Rainbow Dash was not doing well at all. She tossed and turned violently in her sleep as her dreams were plagued with sad, painful memories of her past romances. In fact, she was starting to disturb some of the other Wonderbolts in the room with her. Her bed was in between Surprise's and Misty Fly's, and they could hear her distress even as they slept. Her first dream held memories of her first coltfriend. She was around fourteen...

"Hey Comet!" a young filly yelled as she quickly approached him. It was a young Rainbow, racing to her coltfriend, Comet Flair. He was a tall indigo stallion with deep yellow eyes and a silver mane. He glanced over his shoulder as he saw his marefriend approaching.

"Hi there Dash!" he exclaimed with a smile on his face. He walked over to where she landed and wrapped her into a gentle hug that she nearly disappeared into. "What's up with you today?"

"I was gonna go flying today. I found a really special place while practicing the other day and really wanted to show it to you," she announced proudly. She had been flying over a place on the outskirts of Cloudsdale the other day and spotted an area that was different from its surroundings. It was calm and serene. Perfect for a hangout with her coltfriend.

"Alrighty then Dash. You lead the way."

And she did. She led them past their school, past their houses, and through the square. Comet's eyes widened slightly as he took in the sight. It was a large area of cloud right on the edge of the city, overlooking the ground below. The couple sat next to each other in silence for a little while, letting the wind flow through their manes, carrying the fresh scent of mist and trees into their nostrils. Eventually Comet moved closer to Rainbow and enveloped her in one of his wings. She sighed contentedly and leaned into him while rubbing her cheek into his chest.

"Dash, this is amazing! Thank you for showing this to me!" he exclaimed while staring over the edge.

"Anytime. I was super shocked when I stumbled upon this. I was running and trying to hide from Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score when I did. It seemed like a possible escape from life, not to mention the perfect place for a date!" Comet looked at her in concern over one detail that she had casually skipped over. Specifically three details. Sure, she was speaking casually, but he could see it in her eyes and hear it in her tone that she wasn't okay. She never was good at hiding her emotions.

"Are those three still at it with you?"

"Ha! They're worse than ever. I can't walk past them without them either throwing an insult or a punch at me. Thank Celestia they usually go for the first one or my face would match yours," she joked. "But right now it's whatever. I'm with you now." This didn't sit right with him, but he wasn't about to keep talking about it if Rainbow was getting through without shaking or trying to hide in his chest fluff. It made him feel good that she felt so safe around him and trusted him enough to tell him whatever was bothering her.

"Awe, Dash," he nuzzled the top of her head and held her tight. "I'll always be with you."

She was so naive. They didn't last more than a year.

It had been almost a year since the two had started dating. However, instead of coming closer together, they were being forced apart. The bullying had gotten so bad that it seemed the whole school had been influenced by the major three bullies. Even poor Comet was being attacked now. Everywhere the two turned, there was somepony ready with harsh words that seeped into Rainbow's heart and shattered it. The thing was, nopony actually bullied Comet. It was always Rainbow they sought to break. Questions were fired at him over and over.

Why are you dating that freak?

Have you seen her mane? She's totally gay.

It's out of pity isn't it? Nopony would ever want to be with a failure like her.

These words slowly pulled apart their relationship. At first Comet was so quick to defend her, but as the months went by, he was less and less willing to do so. As much as it broke his heart to see his marefriend in such distress, he didn't want to become subject to the wrath of his fellow schoolmates. He would even sometimes agree with them and blurt out insults of his own just to get to his next class without a hassle. It killed him inside out to see his marefriend fall so far. Guilt ate at him every time she came to him crying and telling him that she just wanted to disappear. He knew deep down exactly what he was doing, and he hoped she would never have to find out.

Luck was not on his side, as one day, tragedy finally struck. It was one day after school and she and Comet were flying home from school, when all of a sudden they were forced out of the sky. It was Hoops, Score, and Dumbbell. Rainbow squeaked and rushed to hide behind Comet. He opened his mouth to say something, but he gave up and let whatever was about to happen happen.

"Well lookie here, if it isn't Rainbow Crash and her pity date," Hoops said with a sneer. She shuffled back further away from him while averting her gaze. "Oh we're looking extra cowardly today aren't we Crash?"

"Sh-shut up. He is not my pity date. He actually cares about me!"she responded. Her voice was surprisingly fierce for the position she was in, as if that one comment was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard.

"Are you sure you'd say that after all the things he's said about you recently?" Dumbbell stepped in. Rainbow's head snapped around to face the bullies and also to look at Comet. Comet's heart sank and his pupils shrunk as he realized what was about to happen. Her wide, panicked eyes were making things so painful.

It was at that moment he made a decision. No mare was worth this much of a hassle. Sure Rainbow was great and he did care about her, but was their relationship really worth all of this drama? No. He'd leave as soon as Hoops delivered the crushing blow. She'd be better off without him, and him without her.

"Wha- what do you mean? He'd never say any shit about me!" She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it. Yet as she glanced at Comet, all the air left her lungs. He just stood there, wearing an expression half of guilt, and half of stoicism.

"Oh yeah?" Hoops continued. "He'd never call you a pansy who can't even protect herself. He'd never admit that he's had a theory that you've always secretly been a filly-fooler." He smiled. "Could he?"

"C-Comet? I.. did you?" she stuttered. Her blood turned to ice, and it took all of her effort to not burst into tears right then and there.

"I'm sorry Dash. But neither one of us needs this." He looked at her one last time with a flat expression. And with that, he took to the air and flew home.

"And now she's all alone," chimed in Score. They too took to the sky and flew off to enjoy the rest of their day.

Rainbow looked up at the sky. She was too stunned to cry at this point. He had left her.

All alone.

It had taken Fluttershy and Gilda almost two years to somewhat fix what had been broken. And almost three to get her to be able to trust anypony else enough to get that close to her. Sure they had never left her side, but Comet was her first love. Looking back she could only compare that moment to the time when Flurry Heart had shattered the crystal heart.

At this point, bitter and salty tears rolled down Rainbow's cheeks as she slept. Misty and Surprise shifted in their sleep in response. Her dream now shifted to her second coltfriend. She had dated a stallion by the name of Rainbow Blitz at the age of seventeen. She was a year out of Flight School and was planning her move to Ponyville.

It was early October and Rainbow Dash was just finishing the final touches on her new cloud mansion in Ponyville. Her parents had been helping her move all her furniture and belongings into the house earlier and had returned to their house in Cloudsdale for the night. It was at this time that her coltfriend came over to help. She was seventeen soon to turn eighteen and was dating Rainbow Blitz at the time. Blitz was an extremely good-looking stallion. Tall and suave with the build of a racer. She was loathe to admit it but she found his eyebrows and mane style to be very attractive. It had taken much convincing from Gilda and Fluttershy to say yes to him when he had originally asked her to be his marefriend. She didn't want another repeat of Comet. He was long gone by now.

The two were moving her couch into the corner of the living room when he decided to ask her a question. "Hey Dash?"

"Yeah Blitz?"

"Who do you always have your guard up? Whenever I try to kiss you, you shy away and whenever I say 'mushy' things to you, you try to stop me. It's not like I'm gonna hurt you or anything."

Rainbow took a minute to ponder the question. Though she didn't have much to ponder. She knew exactly why she shied away from loving touches and words. She knew how easily they could leave and never come back. She hesitated for a minute before she started to explain how everything happened with Comet. By the time she was done, night had fallen. Her eyes swam with unshed tears that reflected the stars in the sky.

"And that's why I try to hide all the time," she whispered. "I don't want you to leave." Blitz walked up to her and patted her on the back.

"Aw man Dash, that sucks. Buck up. I'm here to stay, babe," he replied smoothly, draping a wing over her back. He leaned in to kiss her, but she quickly backed away. She gave him a flat look.

"Blitz, stop. I just told you that that stuff makes me uncomfortable. Soon, but not yet."

"Alrighty then babe. I won't push," he conceded. He gave her his signature smirk as they bade their goodbyes for the night.

It was the smirk that she loved so much that would be their downfall. Even asleep, the poor mare started to feel queasy at the memories.

It had been around eight months. Rainbow had turned eighteen at the end of October and was already halfway to nineteen. She and Blitz were doing off to Cloudsdale for an event unknown to Rainbow. She wasn't sure what was going on. Though she was starting to get a bit scared. Something seemed a bit off about him. He seemed to only come around to her when he either wanted to know something, or if he wanted to fool around with her. Yes he still lived in Cloudsdale, but even for a distanced relationship that was a red flag. The questions got pretty personal at times, but he'd always give her his signature smirk and assure her that he just wanted to know more about her. She thought it was sweet that he was so curious.

Curious her ass. While out on a flying route around Cloudsdale, Blitz suddenly took an unexpected turn, causing Dash to follow suit. They neared a group of Pegasi about the same age as Blitz. Right before landing, he tossed her his signature smirk before making a landing in front of his friends.

"Ay yo, Blitz!" a red pegasus called out. "This the marefriend?"

"Sure is Blazer. Quite the eyeful isn't she?"

Now Rainbow was confused. Was he... showing her off? That was new. She decided to wait before doing or saying anything until she could get a better read on the situation.

"A bit on the smaller side ain't she?" added a large green pegasus with a curly purple mane. Okay, what was happening?

A dark blue pegasus stepped forwards with a predatory grin on his face. "So, Blitzy here has told us a lot about you. And wow do we have some dirt."

What?

Was this what he was doing with her information? Giving it out to.. humiliate her? No no. He couldn't. Not after all she had trusted him with. He knew what it would do to her if he left her or hurt her. "What do you mean?"she asked calmly.

"Well, it seems that the brash, spunky pegasus has some issues," Blazer replied. He grinned and started making his way in circles around her. Rainbow started to panic and looked to Blitz for assistance. He however, just stood behind the three large stallions with an extremely alarming expression on his face. He seemed amused by what was happening.

"Blitz? What's going on?" she asked tentatively. He stepped forward and looked her in the eye.

"Dash. I mean, come on. Are you that blind? Do you honestly think that any stallion worth anything would waste their time with you? You're overly sensitive, afraid of intimacy, and a complete coward. Face it Dash, you're damaged goods. You're denying yourself, and me, some real fun times over something dumb that happened four years ago. Do you know how long I've been waiting for some action from you?"

Dash didn't answer. She could already feel tears building behind her eyes as she recalled the same thing happening over and over for years during her foalhood. Though she was more confused than anything. It truly seemed as if he just brought along the trio of stallions to make this more painful for her. They didn't fit into the picture at all.

"You gonna answer?" demanded the green pegasus. He stood to encircle her alongside Blazer. "Or does this all seem a bit familiar?"

"Damn she's even dumber than she looks," jeered the dark blue stallion. "We're not here to hurt you. Just to let you see yourself the way everyone else sees you." He was promptly pushed aside however as Blitz stepped up looking pleased with himself.

"You hate that that Comet dude left you right? Because he all of a sudden stopped caring? Well let me tell you something. I never cared. And you were too broken and desperate to even notice. He might have cared but I sure as hell don't. I really just thought you'd be a good time. It's a shame really. You had potential. But your own blindness and stupidity ruined it."

It was the same scenario as Comet. It was over as soon as it started. But it hurt more if that was even possible. He had deceived her, tried to use her, and humiliated her. She looked on with tears flowing down her face as he flew away with his buddies.

The last she saw of him before running away was him looking over his shoulder at her. He smirked.

Rainbow Dash woke with a start. She was crying and shaking all over. Her stomach did somersaults as if it were physically wrestling with her feelings. Those memories showing up to haunt her really freaked her out. She looked at the clock in the far corner of the room while rubbing the tears out of her eyes, only to have more follow. It was 4:37 in the morning, but there was no way she could fall back asleep now. She laid back down on her bed and cried into her pillow while trying her best not to disturb anyone's rest. Eventually her shaking lessened and she could breathe somewhat normally again, but now she had a headache and her nausea was still there in full force. So she just lay there and waited until it was time to wake up for practice.

Soarin and Spitfire usually woke up before the other 'Bolts in order to make sure they were alert and ready for practice. On this particular day, he focused on the game plan for asking Rainbow out while brushing his teeth. He had never done this before and had to make sure it went smoothly. After fixing his mane so that it didn't look like he had a porcupine sitting on his head, he left his bedroom and made his way to Spitfire's office. Spitfire was already there talking to an excited looking Fleetfoot.

"Heya there Thoarin! How goeth it?" she asked in a slightly mischievous tone. Behind her, Spitfire was giving him a very playful smirk.

"Um..I'm fine. Why do you two look like you're about to torture me?" He became slightly concerned for his dignity as the two showed no signs of relenting.

"I don't know. Anypony catching your eye recently Soarin?" Spitfire asked. He blinked and a light blush made its way across his cheeks. He wasn't sure he needed their teasing at the moment, but he did need their help so he answered honestly.

"If I tell you, will you try to take this even a little bit seriously?" Fleetfoot did her best to put on a serious face and Spitfire rolled her eyes.

"Of course we will Soarin. You're our friend and your feelings matter to us." She chuckled. "But expect some teasing as well."

"Fair enough I guess." He shifted his weight a bit before answering. "It's Rainbow Dash."

"Ooh! We knew its! We totally did!" Fleetfoot answered less than calmly. Soarin sighed at her obvious swell of pride at her predictions.

"Was I really that obvious?" he asked. He wasn't quite angry at his lack of subtlety, just surprised.

"Not too obvious, but did you really expect to be able to hide this from us? For Celestia's sake Soarin we've been with you forever. We know when you're crushing," Spitfire reasoned. He chuckled and blushed a bit more.

"That's the problem. I've had crushes but haven't acted on any of them. Sure I don't have any crushing memories of rejection, but I have no experience. I need help. Rainbow is the only mare who's made me feel the need to hold onto them, but I'm stuck on how to approach her." Once he said this, Fleetfoot winced slightly and looked at Spitfire. They both remembered Rainbow's situation from the previous day. Spitfire held eye contact with her a moment before turning back to face Soarin. She looked at him firmly before speaking.

"Soarin. We can tell you right now that Rainbow likes you too." Soarin's eyes widened and they could see a spark of hope. "However, we were in the showers yesterday and she looked awful. I don't know if you saw her before you turned in for the night, but the poor thing looked so sad. Fleety and I tried confronting her but she didn't say anything. She just said she was tired and looked away."

"Wait, how do you know she likes me? And how do you know she was thinking about me yesterday?"

"It'th a look Thoarin. A mare thing. Bethideth, have you theen how she lookth at you? The mare'th eyeth light right up whenever we talk about you. She'th not thubtle either," Fleetfoot answered with a giggle. She then got serious and tried to think up a way that Soarin could approach Rainbow. "She theemth afraid. Maybe a bad memory. Knowing her, even one really bad experienthe could thcare her away when it cometh to emotionth."

"I mean, we all know that she trusts you Soar, you're a lovable goofball. To be honest, she probably just needs some encouragement. She likes you and it's eating away at her. I think that you should just tell her how you feel and that you want to be more than just close friends. Just keep the mush reigned in or it might scare her further away. It doesn't have to be super elaborate, just simple and sincere."

Soarin nodded. He didn't know exactly what he wanted to say, but he did know how he felt. The only thing he was afraid of was what Rainbow would think and how she would react. The last thing he wanted was to put her in an uncomfortable position. But he wanted to do it and he now knew that she did as well. He went over the game plan in his head and then out loud. "So I'll wait until after practice to ask her. Then after we shower, I'll take her outside so we have some privacy. Celestia knows that if we've been as blatant as you say we've been, we would have some eyes on us if we stayed inside. Then I'll make sure she feels safe, and tell her. How does that sound?"

The two mares in the office looked impressed. "Damn Soarin. When did you get so bold? I'd have thought you'd be a nervous wreck right now. Looks like you really are into Crash," Spitfire commented.

"Heh. Like I said, I really don't want to let her go."

"Well, it'th time to wake everyone elthe up, tho get ethited Clipper," Fleetfoot joked. The three smiled and started walking to the sleeping quarters.

Spitfire took a minute to survey the sleeping Wonderbolts before she woke them up. Everyone on the stallion's side from Silver Zoom to Rapidfire was sleeping peacefully. On the mare's side, everyone was asleep peacefully from High Winds to Surprise. She looked closer at Rainbow Dash and quickly noticed that something wasn't right. It wasn't obvious, but Spitfire could see that the mare was shaking. It was very faint, but she knew that if she could see it from her vantage point of five beds away, it was pretty bad. Next to her on her other side, Misty slept peacefully like the other mares. She'd find out after everyone was awake.

"Alright 'Bolts! Up and at 'em!" she called. They all groaned and began to stir. It was amusing to her. Aside from Dash, they had all been part of the team for a few years, and they all still hated waking up.

"Morning Cap," Blaze yawned out.

"Morning Spitfire," Fire Streak added.

They all said their 'good-mornings' and filtered out of the sleeping quarters to get ready. Before Rainbow could pass Spitfire though, she reached out and gently grabbed Rainbow's hoof to stop her. Soarin and Fleet went with the others to get breakfast before training started. Spitfire looked Rainbow up and down wearing a look of concern. The mare was still shaking and swaying lightly on her hooves. Her eyes were bloodshot as if she had been crying, and there were bags under them. Things must be really bad in her mind if she was this worked up over a crush. Though this was the mare who would bottle up her feelings until she exploded. This was also her friend and she needed help, so she'd do her best to help her where she could. "Sit down Crash. I need to talk to you." The mare hesitated for a moment before she sighed and nodded, allowing Spitfire to guide her back to her bed where she sat and waited. Spitfire could feel Rainbow trembling against her as they walked. "What's going on Rainbow? You look tired and distraught. You had Fleet and I worried last night and now this? If there's something bothering you I want you to tell me." Rainbow opened and closed her mouth a few times before speaking.

"I'm okay, Spits. You don't have to worry about me. I have something on my mind but it'll go away soon." She threw on her most convincing smile. It was fooling nopony. Spitfire put a hoof on her shoulder and looked at her sternly.

"Nice try Crash. You might be fine soon, but whatever is on your mind right now is affecting you now physically too. I could feel you shaking on my side. I don't even know if I want you flying today! You look like you'd fall right out of the sky as soon as we started our stunts."

This elicited a response from Rainbow.

"No! Seriously, I'll be fine Spitfire. I just need a distraction until I get over it and then I'll be fine. Please?" Spitfire raised an eyebrow and considered it. Sure she didn't want Rainbow to hurt herself because she was too stressed to even fly at the moment. But Rainbow said she just needed a distraction from her problem and flying provided that for her. She already more or less knew what was wrong with her teammate and she knew that hopefully her worries would be quelled in a few hours time.

"Fine. But you're flying between Fleet and I in our formation today, and if you don't feel well enough to keep up with us, land right away and I'll come check up on you. Got it?"

"Yeah. Thanks. I should be a bit better after some breakfast and some water even." Crying all night had dehydrated her quite a bit. She cracked a small smile of reassurance, which Spitfire returned albeit reluctantly. She helped Rainbow to the mess hall after bringing her to the locker rooms to wash her face, and ate with her along with Surprise and Sun Chaser.

She hoped that Soarin would do a good job with his confession later. It seemed the tiny pegasus needed all the reassurance she could get.

It had been another standard practice for the team. They practiced a goose-like arrow formation with Misty at the tip, Fleetfoot and Spitfire flanking her on either side. Soarin and Rainbow were supposed to bring up the rear but at the last minute Spitfire had switched her with Blaze, who was supposed to be right behind Spitfire. He suspected that it had something to do with Spitfire wanting to watch over her after this morning. When neither she nor Rainbow had exited the sleeping quarters, he and Fleetfoot had kept an eye out for them. He saw them coming into the mess hall together, Spitfire lightly supporting Rainbow who looked like she was going through some shit. He felt bad knowing that the stress of liking him was affecting her this much. But she was pushing through and flying. In fact, she seemed to get better as practice went on.

Where she was getting better, he was getting increasingly more nervous. He was happy that she liked him in return but what if he embarrassed himself. The only comfort he had was knowing that she was his first serious crush. Every other mare he had thought of so far had been nothing more than a school colt crush. Rainbow was not.

Soon enough, practice had ended, they had eaten and showered, and they were all relaxing. Soarin was doing his best to remain calm while approaching Rainbow Dash in the rec room. She was staring out the window and looking at the sunset. She seemed to be in a more controlled state than she was in that morning.

"Dashie?" Rainbow gave a quiet yelp and looked at him with wide eyes. She threw on a forced smile and quickly tried to compose herself.

"Soarin! What's up?"

"Um.. Can we go on a fly? I want to talk to you," he said carefully. Rainbow's eyes went wide and filled with uncertainty. She quickly swallowed and nodded wearily. He took it as a good sign and gave her a smile before walking with her out of the rec room. He looked out at a nearby cloud and found a nice cloud for the two to sit on that was just out of sight of the compound. "Here, we'll fly out to that cloud over there to talk."

"Right behind you."

The two flew at a leisure pace towards the cloud where they landed side by side. Soarin noticed that Rainbow was sweating nervously and again tried to make his approach as casual and non-overbearing as possible. He first decided to start with casual conversation. "So...this cloud has a nice view. I like how you can see the ground below."

"Haha yeah.. I like feeling the wind. It feels nice on my wings because it's cold."

"It smells good. It reminds me of where I used to live when I'd race with Fleetfoot and Spitfire." He wasn't sure what to say next but then he noticed that even though she looked so nervous before, she had calmed down fairly quickly and was listening intently. He decided to say just one or two more things to segue into what he came up here to say. "I know we're stunt fliers and military, but I really enjoy sitting in the sky instead of acting as part of it."

"That's really sweet Soarin. I agree with you. I could sit on a cloud forever," Rainbow replied. She was starting to smile now. Soarin saw this as a signal that it was okay to go ahead.

"It would feel so great. But I'd get lonely after a while."

"It could be lonely. But I think that even if you had one other creature up here, it would be okay, because when you're up here.... the sky's the limit." She chuckled at her own joke and so did he. With that, he decided to just go for it.

"Can I tell you something Rainbow Dash?" He remained with his eyes off of her.

"Go ahead, Soarin." He could feel her eyes on him, listening intently. He took a deep breath to compose himself before speaking. Or at least tried to. He ended up panicking and spilling everything out.

"Dashie, ever since I met you, before you became a Wonderbolt, I've always seen how special you are. I've seen how talented and smart you are. You've managed to pull off a Sonic Rainboom and managed to teach Spitfire, Fleet, and I valuable life lessons. There are so many things that I really like about you. Your determination. Your sass and spunk. Your loyalty, compassion, sense of humor. Your outlook of things, your dedication, and you- you're really... cute." He mumbled the last part. He looked over to Rainbow to see how she was doing. She had backed up a few inches from him and seemed to have returned to her state of anxiety from before. He kept going however, as he was afraid he'd lose the gall. "What I'm trying to say, Dashie, is that I like you. I like you a lot. I don't know when, but at some point I started to like you. You're the first mare that made me feel the need to tell you my feelings. You're too special to let go." Rainbow now looked afraid. He was curious to see why though and he planned on asking her. But he had to check up on her first. He calmly moved and inched closer to her. "Are you okay?"

She was not okay. She didn't want this.

She was more than okay. She wanted him.

She saw the sincerity and hope in his eyes instead of the cockiness in Blitz's. His smile was genuine and caring instead of a dangerous smirk. Rainbow trusted Soarin not to end up like Blitz. The two were so different it was laughable. Soarin was protective. Blitz was predatory. She would not in a million years think Soarin would hurt her like that. But she was so afraid.

Comet was the bigger issue. He confessed to her much like Soarin did, only he was an inexperienced fourteen year old. Yet he made every effort to show her care and compassion. Much like Soarin he made her feel safe. But he abandoned her when things got rough. Would Soarin leave her? She knew she had to say something or he'd be crushed.

"S-Soarin." Her voice broke shamefully. "I-I feel the same way but...I can't do this. A relationship. I don't want to get hurt. Or humiliated, or abandoned. Just like they.. just like.. them. I can't- ," she was rambling at this point but she didn't know what to do.

"Dashie," he inched even closer and carefully touched a hoof to her shoulder. "Why are you afraid? Who are they? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I want to see if I can help." She didn't know why but she told him everything. From Comet to Blitz. She wasn't thinking clearly and her body ached from how much she was shaking. When she finished she realized she was crying. Yet, she wasn't afraid to cry in front of Soarin. She still felt so safe.

"I saw him a few days after he left me. He said that our relationship wasn't worth that much of an effort. That we were young and that it would end up being insignificant in the long run anyways. Ugh! It's so stupid. A-And Blitz is right! Look at me! Denying a relationship because of a few bad experiences? I really am just weak, damaged goods!"

Soarin couldn't stand it. He knew Rainbow. He knew that she often took instances involving emotions a lot harder than other ponies might. What Comet did would destroy an older Rainbow Dash, so he couldn't imagine what it felt like as an impressionable young teen during the heat of bullying. Blitz straight up made him angry. Rainbow was very proud, so using her own emotions to humiliate her was horrible. Dating her with the intention of "fun times" and intimacy was just gross. All these events would be awful for anypony, but he could see how they absolutely killed any hope Rainbow had of being loved.

He stepped forward and placed a wing over her back. She was shaking so hard that he knew it had to hurt a bit. He expected Rainbow to pull away, but instead she curled into him, searching for comfort. His comfort. As scared as she was, she trusted him to keep her safe. He wrapped both arms around her and held her until she regained some of her composure.

"Look Dashie, what those stallions did to you is awful. Sure some ponies might say that it couldn't be that bad since it was only a young teenage romance. But I know you, and how much it must have hurt you. As for Blitz, he disgusts me. Anypony who would treat anyone like that is not worth your time. To top it off, he made it seem like it was your fault." He tipped her chin so that he could see her small face. "What you felt must have been horrible and I'm so sorry. L-Let me help you trust again. I promise that I won't abandon you, or hurt you, humiliate or deceive you. You're way too important to me to even think about doing any of that. Please Dashie, let me help you go from the past to the present?"

It was then that he saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes. She looked down and bit her lip. At last she nodded.

"Please Soarin. I need help and I want you to help me. I want to forget about them. Well, maybe not forget, but move on."

"Don't worry Dash, we'll take this slow. I'll help you feel secure in any way I can. But first, I should probably help you inside. Does your body hurt from all the shaking? It looked and felt really bad." She surprisingly laughed softly at that.

"It hurts a lot and I'll probably be sore in the morning, but I'll be fine. I'll finally be able to sleep again." They smiled at each other before taking off in the direction of the compound. Night had now fallen and the 'Bolts had turned in for the night. Soarin flew close to Rainbow in case she needed help. He felt so relieved that he had finally told her how he felt. He also felt honored that she had so much trust in him about the matter. He was very happy.

Rainbow watched Soarin walk away from the sleeping quarters and towards his bedroom. She was relieved to have let all her emotions and story out. She was flattered that he spoke so highly of her. She was very happy. Something he said stuck with her.

'Please Dashie, let me help you go from the past to the present?'

From the past to the present... She liked that.

Inside the Captain's room, two very proud and happy mares were looking out the window watching the whole thing happen.

"Clipper actually did it. I'm proud of him," stated Spitfire.

"Awe they're tho cute!" Fleetfoot gushed.

It was a lovely sight to have seen.

Author's Note

Hey y'all. This chapter is going longer than the rest because a lot is happening. Sorry it took so long to come out but I was busy early last week. Some of this was really hard to come up with, and even harder to write. I honestly felt so bad for some of the parts I came up with. Poor Rainbow couldn't catch a break. If y'all saw my blog, one of my characters pisses my off and Blitz is that character. What a douchebag...that I... came up.. with. Point is I still hate him. Thank the lord Soarin is here.
Also, when I write someone using being gay as an insult, I never mean it in real life. I am queer myself and I would not wish that kind of pain on anyone.
That's all I have to say so I hope you enjoyed. :)

Hope and Trust

Rainbow Dash woke up the next morning feeling better than she had in a long time. Her body was extremely sore from all of the shaking she had done the previous nights and day, but she felt so relieved. She had never let out her emotions about her past relationships to anyone but Gilda and Fluttershy. Now that she had let everything out, she knew that she had support. And from the very pony her heart leapt for. She looked for Soarin upon waking up and quickly spotted him by the entrance. It seemed as if he was looking for her as well. Upon making eye contact with her, he gave a goofy smile and walked over to her. She quickly followed his example and stood at his side. "Morning Soar," she greeted with a smile.

"Morning Dashie," he responded cheerfully. Rainbow took note of how he lightly brushed against her side, so as to show affection without overstepping her boundaries, and her heart melted. She may have issues trusting again and being fully comfortable in a relationship, but whenever Soarin just acted like his sweet self, she felt a tiny spark of hope in her chest. As she looked up, she saw Spitfire grinning at them cheekily with Fleetfoot smiling widely beside her. Judging by the look on Spitfire's face, she had known about the two's crushes...meaning that she had known exactly why she was in the state she was in the previous morning. Rainbow chuckled to herself and blushed, reminding herself to thank Spitfire for looking out for her and not pushing too hard.

Once everyone had exited the dining hall, Soarin turned and tipped his gaze downwards to look at her and asked, "How are you feeling after last night? Both emotionally and physically I mean."

"I'm okay. Physically I'm super sore and tired. That can be fixed with sleep though. As for mentally, I haven't figured out entirely what I'm feeling. I'm still so scared and feel unprepared, but I trust you. A lot. I-I think we'll be okay," she answered honestly. He opened his mouth to answer but was promptly interrupted.

"Tho thweet!" The two turned as they heard a squeal come from behind them. Fleetfoot was leaning against Spitfire, who giggled and rolled her eyes good-naturedly at her marefriend. "You two looked tho adorable latht night!" Spitfire chuckled and rubbed the back of her head somewhat awkwardly. She knew that at least Soarin was aware that they were bound to have some eyes on them, but she felt like the events of the previous night were too sensitive to tease. But.. that didn't mean they couldn't fawn over them a bit.

"Yeah, we saw you two last night. I'm glad it worked out for you both, and as Fleet says, it was freaking adorable," she said sincerely. Both ponies blushed, Rainbow fidgeting nervously and Soarin giving a small cough. Rainbow stopped as she remembered to thank Spitfire for her assistance.

"So I take it you sort of knew what had me all frazzled yesterday?" Spitfire and Fleetfoot both nodded. "Well, thanks for looking out for me and trying to help me."

"Of course Crash. I'm not gonna watch you struggle and not say anything. That would make me a bad captain and friend. I don't know the specifics of anything, but did you guys work it out or..." she trailed off. Soarin moved an inch closer to Rainbow and spoke up.

"It'll take a while to fix itself, but we'll get there," he said while making eye contact with Rainbow. The look in his eyes, so full of hope and kindness, made it impossible to prevent a blush or a girlish smile from crawling across her face.

"You guyth have just confethed to each other and you're already looking at each other like a true couple!" Fleetfoot teased.

"We are a couple Fleet," Rainbow answered, chuckling. Fleetfoot stuck her tongue out and giggled in response.

"Alright guys, time to hit the mess hall before practice. Friends and lover alike," Spitfire declared with slight gusto in order to rally her friends. Off to practice they went.

Practice was over and the Wonderbolts had all eaten dinner and showered for the night. They were all sitting in the rec room to hangout before bed. It was a Saturday night and they didn't have practice the next day, so they decided to take advantage of the chance to sleep in the next morning. Misty Fly, Blaze, and Sun Chaser were in a corner chatting away about something that Blaze was apparently very passionate about. She was talking to the other two mares, who were laughing hysterically, while making big hoof gestures. In the middle of the room sat Wave Chill, Rapidfire, Thunderlane, Surprise, and Spitfire who were playing a very aggressive game of B.S. Soarin's ears perked up as he heard Rapidfire let out a very loud and colorful string of curses. Surprise was on her back laughing at Rapid's expense. Soarin was sitting in the corner closest to the exit along with Fleetfoot, High Winds, Silver Zoom, the Streak twins, and his marefriend telling random stories. Sitting next to him, Rainbow looked beat, as she still had a lot of sleep and rest to catch up on after the past few months. Soarin could tell she was stiff and wanted to go to bed. High Winds was currently telling a story about her older brother, North Winds.

"So then, when he flew into the cloud, it zapped him!" she exclaimed. "It wasn't even a small zap but he brushed it off like it was nothing! I swear sometimes I question whether that stallion is sane." Lightning Streak guffawed and rubbed his front hooves together.

"Well when I was about thirteen, I did something similar. I flew into a huge storm cloud without any sort of preparation at all. It shocked me really hard and I fell right out of the sky. I was perfectly fine but neither my mother nor Fire let me hear the end of it for weeks!" He looked both exasperated and highly amused.

"Because it was stupid! Excuse me for caring asshat," Fire Streak responded, rolling his eyes. Soarin and the rest of the group all broke out laughing. As the laughter died out, he noticed that Rainbow had started shutting down. She was fighting it but her body was slowly curling into a ball. He saw her lips twitching as she struggled and then failed to hold back a yawn. She frowned as she saw High Winds with a fawning expression in her eyes.

"Stop it," Rainbow interjected. She tried to force her body back into a sitting position, but was too comfortable in her current position. "You wouldn't make that face if anyone else did this." Soarin scooched closer to her.

"Yeah because you're tiny Dashie. And you yawn like a kitten," he teased. She groaned and rolled her eyes. To everyone and especially Soarin's surprise, she scooted herself closer to him. He raised an eyebrow as she hesitated, ears flattening before resting her head very lightly against his foreleg. He didn't make any sudden movements, but gave her a reassuring smile to let her know that it was okay. For somepony so against showing her fluffy side in fear of being mocked, she clearly craved affection. So he gently leaned more of his weight to the leg she was leaning on in order to double the feeling of his touch. That way he was returning her affection without being overbearing. She relaxed after a few seconds of tensing her body and subtly rubbed her cheek against him.

"Awe! Now that's cute," High Winds said quietly. Silver Zoom smirked at Soarin and raised an eyebrow.

"So does this mean anything between the two of you, Clipper?" Soarin blushed and looked away.

"Uh..yeah," he answered reluctantly. "We talked some things out last night and we're just gonna take things slowly." Rainbow blearily looked up to add on. She was falling asleep quickly but pushed herself up to help him with the conversation.

"Yeah, and as you said we-" she was interrupted by another yawn. "We just started this whole thing last night. We need to get into the swing of things." When she was finished, she flopped back down into herself and closed her eyes. Her back was touching Soarin's hoof, so he rested it on top of her back. Fleetfoot looked back at the clock on the back wall. It read 12:00 a.m. Apparently Spitfire noticed this too.

"Alright guys. Let's head to bed. I'm beat and I'm sure all of you are too. But we get to sleep in tomorrow so you can look forward to that!"

Soarin was trying to get a response out of Rainbow, but the mare had already fallen asleep. She was very well known for being able to fall asleep anywhere. As the rest of the Wonderbolts exited the rec room, they saw Soarin trying to wake Rainbow by tenderly stroking her back. Each one stopped by curiously, either smirking knowingly at the two or being courteous and asking them if what the others were assuming was correct. By the time Rainbow opened her eyes, everypony had left the rec room with that newfound information. Soarin looked down at her and laughed. "Welp. Everyone knows about us now. You'll get some looks, but with how tired you've looked all day, I think they'll let you sleep." He moved his hoof from her back and moved it in front of her to help her up. She slowly stood up and gave an exhausted smile.

"Thanks Soar. I just want to sleep right now. And.. thanks for being so patient. I-It really means a lot." He felt his heart beat a bit faster at this. He'd never want her to feel unsafe or unsure around him. He'd wait for as long as she needed.

"No problem Dashie. I just want to help," he answered. They shared a look and then started walking to the sleeping quarters. He dropped her off before heading off into his room and laying down on his bed. He felt truly honored that Rainbow trusted him to talk and be honest about how she was feeling. And even more honored that she was so willing to put in the effort the be able to trust him even more. He really just wanted her to be able to feel loved again. Real love. He had hope for them and he knew that she did too.

When Rainbow walked into the sleeping quarters, everything went silent. She looked around to see everypony looking at her with knowing grins. Surprise spoke up first, standing on the tips of her hooves while on top of her bed.

"So you and Clipper are together now? That's SO EXCITING! One of the tallest of us with the shortest of all short ponies? Cuteness overload!" she squee'd before flopping onto her back. Rainbow just smiled and continued making her way to her bed.

"Wow Crash," began Rapidfire. "How long have the two of you been looking at each other like that now?"

"Must have been a few months," Blaze chimed in. "It's about time you two pulled off the sunglasses and saw what was right in front of you."

Everypony nodded in agreement. By now, Rainbow was snuggled underneath her blankets with her eyes shut. "Yeah. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out," she whispered. Her teammates laid down and followed suit.

Rainbow was hopeful that she would be able to trust Soarin the way she would be able to before the damage had been done. She trusted that he'd help her. But right then, she trusted that she needed sleep. Luna's dream realm quickly pulled her in.

Author's Note

Hey ya'll! I really don't know how I feel about this chapter as a whole. I wasn't sure where to go with it or what the point of it was, other than to show the aftermath of the confession and have the other 'Bolts find out about them. The next chapter will have more substance I promise! And it should be out in less than a week.
:)

Stargazing and Star Gazes

The middle of spring was in full swing in the central part of Equestria. The days were warm, and cool winds blew across the sky, tickling the faces of the ponies in the area. Earlier that day, Rainbow Dash had gotten a letter from Twilight, telling her to be on the lookout for the constellations that night. Apparently Princess Luna was in another of her happy-go-lucky moods and had written to her, saying that the constellations that night were to be "marvelously exquisite." Twilight had told Rainbow about it because the Wonderbolts would be able to get a much closer view of the stars than other ponies, with their compound being in the sky. It was another Saturday night so the team had the next day off, so they were free to stay awake as long as the star show lasted. Which was all night, but they were just going to sit there and talk for a few hours.

After the sun had set, the fifteen Pegasi made their way to the grassy area at the edge of their grounds and set out a few blankets to sit on. They faced the ledge of the cloud that their base sat on, so that all they saw was sky. Some of them grouped with friends, like Rapidfire, Thunderlane, High Winds, and Misty. Others, like Soarin and Rainbow Dash, were sitting as couples, such as Wave Chill and Blaze, Fire Streak and Surprise, and Spitfire and Fleetfoot. Wave had his forelegs wrapped around Blaze's shoulders as she sat in front of him with her back pressed up against his chest. Fire Streak was curled around Surprise who had perfectly molded herself against his side while laying down, Spitfire and Fleetfoot the same way. Soarin was sitting next to Rainbow, who had her cheek pressed into his leg. The night air was cool, and each pony either drew warmth from their significant other, friend or an extra blanket. They all turned their eyes skywards to take in the view that was soon to come.

Soon, they could see stars being arranged meticulously into patterns in the sky. They shone brightly, making them look like tiny diamonds in a black ocean. It was beautiful, and they all appreciated the effort put into it by Luna. She always made it a priority to make the night as comforting and magical as she could, and some nights went above and beyond to do so. This night was a perfect example of that.

"It's beautiful," breathed Sun Chaser as the image of a sea serpent became clearer above them. Its body was flowy and long, and looked majestic as it reared up on its hind legs.

"The princess really knows what she's doing," replied Rapidfire as he laid down on his blanket. Soon, another image drew their attention. This one depicted a knight rearing up as well, facing the sea serpent as it spread its wings behind it. Though it looked as though the two were fighting, everypony could feel that they weren't. Luna had a very special way of putting emotions into her works, as well as very clearly telling stories through them. From these things, the ponies gathered below could tell that the two creatures were showing respect, using an ancient dance to convey their feelings to one another.

"I know she's an alicorn princess, but I can't believe how she conveys her emotions and messages through the stars alone," remarked Soarin. Rainbow dug her cheek harder into his leg, making her nod feel like a forceful nuzzle.

"Yeah I know. She has super strong feelings and emotions so I think that she releases them into her night. The girls and I have seen her try to hold in her feelings, but that just created more demons for her. Both inner and physical ones."

"So it's like therapy for her?" asked Lightning Streak. Rainbow nodded again before turning her eyes back up into the sky. Everypony else followed suit. They all sat or laid back as they continued to watch a few more images come into existence above them. Silence washed over them as they did so, save for a few remarks here and there about the beauty they were witnessing.

Eventually, the team started to get tired and started going one by one or two by two back into the compound. The top four 'Bolts were the last ones left outside as the star show continued. After a little while, Spitfire and Fleetfoot stood up to turn in for the night, leaving Soarin and Rainbow by themselves.

"Enjoy some romantic alone time you two!" squealed Fleetfoot before attaching herself to Spitfire's side. Spitfire draped a wing over her back, looked back at the two and winked.

"Don't be too long lovebirds," she teased lightly before walking away.

As they walked away, Soarin had a light blush spread over his muzzle, and upon looking down saw that Rainbow was using a hoof to pull her bangs over her eyes. They made eye contact with each other and laughed as they looked back away. Once they regained their composure, Rainbow sat up fully and looked up at Soarin's face. Soarin looked down at Rainbow Dash in return. His back was facing the ledge, with her facing the ledge. As he looked into her eyes, he could see the reflection of stars in her gaze. Her starry gaze captured all of his attention, the deep cerise pools dotted with bright flecks of white and silver. She seemed to notice this, making her sky blue cheeks turn a crimson red. She looked away from Soarin out of embarrassment. Soarin smiled, and gently guided her to face him again. "I can see the stars in your eyes, Dashie." The mare let out a giggle and looked up at him once more.

"I can see them outlining you from behind Soar. Your entire frame looks like it's glowing white," she replied softly. It was his turn to laugh now, as he had been so entranced by her starry gaze that he hadn't stopped to think about what he might have looked like.

"Your eyes are so pretty Dashie," he said as he brought up a hoof to cup her dainty cheek. It was soft, as always, and felt so delicate against his hoof. The mare blushed harder and for the first time, made a bigger move than just nuzzling his leg. She smiled, and leaned forwards to rest her cheek just below his chest. He in turn, lightly rested a foreleg around her shoulders.

"Oh hush. They're not that pretty." She paused. "But..thanks," she conceded. She felt Soarin's diaphragm shake as he released a chuckle.

"It's true Dashie. It's true," he affirmed. The two sat in a light embrace for a while longer, savoring each others' touch, and remembering the other's starry gazes.

From her post in the tower of Canterlot Castle, Luna saw the two, and felt her heart melt. "It appears my night has provided a chance for romance," she giggled to herself.

All was well that night.

Author's Note

First and foremost, I give thanks to my friend who helped me so easily. I asked what a couple could do that was romantic and she said stargazing, so I decided to make a chapter about it.
Also, the bit with Luna at the end was so random, but hey, it works.
I hope you enjoyed! Get ready for some upcoming fluff in the next chapter!
:)

Kitten Cuddles

It had been a little over a month and a half since Soarin and Rainbow had become a couple. The two were making slow but clear progress. Since their night of stargazing, Rainbow had chosen a new position as her default for when she wanted physical contact. Before that night, she would simply curl herself into a tiny, fluffy ball, with her cheek lightly pressed into the bottom of Soarin's foreleg. Since then, whenever she was feeling snuggly, she would sit in front of him, with her shoulder and cheek leaning against him. He could barely feel her weight against himself, so he would always reach down and rest a foreleg around her shoulders to make sure she was actually there, as well as to reciprocate her affections. She only reached up to his stomach in terms of height, which only made Soarin want to pick her up and hold her tight. He could imagine that she wouldn't be opposed to the idea. There was no way he could miss all the times she would try to shimmy her way closer against him, only to then tense and pull away not a moment later. No way could he miss all the times she would get excited about something and then start to reach out to him in a hug or a nuzzle, but then quickly stop herself from doing so. He felt bad about it, as all the times the latter happened he could see the light in her eyes dim ever so slightly. But she had been doing this more and more often, so Soarin wanted to help her feel comfortable doing these small affections. He planned on hanging out with her that day, so he wanted to talk to her about it then.

It was a drizzly Sunday afternoon, and it was kind of cold in the compound that day. Colder than it should have been for the beginning of May, but temperature fluctuations at this altitude were to be expected. As he walked to find Rainbow, he saw Fleetfoot, Spitfire, Lightning Streak, and Sun Chaser chatting away in the rec room, laughing about something to one another. He stifled his own laughter upon seeing Blaze leaning away from Wave Chill with a large blanket completely covering her body so that only her muzzle and the tip of one of her ears stood out. Wave appeared to be teasing her about something, drawing out a long, dramatic whine. He finally found Rainbow in the sleeping quarters, curled up by herself while reading aloud a Daring Do book. He found it to be superbly adorable that she did this. At first he thought she only did this with Daring Do, but after seeing her do this with everything, he had asked her about it. She had explained that reading aloud helped her stay focused on whatever she was reading while also understanding it. He hadn't realized that he had been standing there watching her until her raspy voice snapped him from his thoughts. "Soarin? What's up?"

"Oh! Hi Dashie," he said while rubbing the back of his neck. "Are you doing anything right now? Besides reading, I mean." Rainbow smiled, resting her chin on her forelegs.

"Not really. I'm cold right now and I think-" a yawn interrupted her sentence. "I think I'm gonna take a nap soon. This rain is making me sleepy." Her brow knitted and she gave a small huff. "But I'm having a hard time sleeping. No idea why though." Soarin smiled knowingly.

"Why don't you come to my room. We'll see if talking for a while helps you out. Is that okay with you?" he asked.

"Sure," she replied nodding. She carefully tucked her book underneath her mattress for later that night. He waited for her to catch up to him before the two made their way to his private room.

Soarin led Rainbow to his room, and chuckled as he watched her survey the place upon entry. He didn't have much in his room other than his bed, nightstand/ mini bookshelf, and small dresser where he kept his flight suits and dress uniform for formal events. The comforters and pillows on his bed were a dark grey color, which perfectly contrasted his baby blue walls. Spitfire and Fleetfoot had always said that he was too into aesthetics, as his pillows were neatly organized, with a tan accent pillow sitting in the front row. The room itself was a good size, smaller than a normal bedroom but with enough space to not feel cramped. The large window behind his bed probably helped with that. It reached from about three feet off the ground to about two feet from the ceiling. The view was pretty nice too. One could see the ends of the compound's grounds that were covered in grass and were unused for flying. At the current moment in time, the two could see the rain coming down steadily outside, sparkling raindrops sliding down the glass diagonally. "Wow Soar," she began. "It looks really comfy in here."

"It is. It's perfect for if I need some quiet time or just want some space," he explained.

"Does it ever get lonely sleeping in here instead of the sleeping quarters?" her head tilted to the side.

"To be honest it does sometimes. That's why I usually stick around you guys and only come in here to sleep, or again, if I need some alone time." She nodded in understanding.

"I feel you there. Being alone sucks," she stated. Soarin laughed in response before making his way over to his bed. He hopped up and patted the space next to him to signal her to join him. With a flap of her wings, she hopped up and settled herself next to him. After a second, she moved so that they'd be in their usual position. "Mmm," she hummed quietly. "This is nice." Soarin responded by wrapping her in both forelegs and giving her a light squeeze.

"Yeah it is," he said. "Is this okay?" he asked to confirm she was okay with it.

"Actually it is." She scooted so that her entire side was pressed up against his front. "I guess I feel more comfortable when no pony's watching. When nopony can talk about it," she added sadly.

"Well you don't have to worry about that now," he assured her. "It's okay, I'm not gonna go running and telling ponies about it now." Rainbow seemed to think for a minute. Finally she let out a bright laugh.

"That reminds me of a time where the Cutie Mark Crusaders decided that they'd get their marks in journalism. The girls and I thought that it would be a good idea. I mean that was something they could do without somepony getting hurt... or covered in tree sap," she said with a straight face. Soarin raised an eyebrow and moved a hoof to stroke her mane. It was so soft. He'd never in a million years guess that Rainbow Dash's mane would feel so smooth and fine. Strands of orange and yellow blended together beautifully with each stroke of his hoof.

"Was that a regular occurrence for them? Getting covered in tree sap during their crusades?" he asked curiously.

"Surprisingly so. Every other mission of theirs was so incredibly out there," she sighed exasperatedly. "Creature catchers in the Everfree, skydivers, you name it."

"They sound like quite the bunch," Soarin remarked. "They sound pretty brave though."

"More like reckless. But anyways," she tried to get back on track. "They decided to be journalists working for the school newspaper, the Foal Free Press. It started out fine enough, and they were doing a good job. But then they started getting their stories from people around the town. Celestia got her own article, don't ask how because I have no idea how in Equestria that happened. Their pen name was Gabby Gums. Twilight was weary of them since their second issue came out. Rarity tried to convince her that it was just harmless gossip."

"I'm guessing it wasn't?" Soarin asked rhetorically. Rainbow laughed at that, turning her head to laugh into his chest fluff. He brought her a bit closer to him and resumed stroking her mane.

"Nope! One day, they released an article about me. A few days before the article was released, the girls and I were at the spa. I was really opposed to the idea of a spa treatment because I didn't want ponies to think that I was a big softie or anything." Soarin chuckled a bit at this.

"Getting spa treatment doesn't make you any less tough Dashie."

"I know that now," she rolled her eyes playfully. "But I was super insecure about it then. I also wasn't used to any physical contact from anyone other than Fluttershy, my parents, and a griffon named Gilda," she elaborated. "So I was super uneasy about ponies touching me. Especially with my hooves, as nopony touches me there ever. I was kinda freaking out over it," she gave a nervous laugh as she mushed her face further into his chest. Soarin imagined that her face was a nice shade of crimson at the moment. "Somehow they managed to get their photographer into the spa. They got a picture of me curled up on a spa chair being terrified of their hoof file. When the article came out, the title was 'Rainbow Dash. Speed Demon or Super Softy'?" she used the wing not pressed against Soarin to make air quotes at the title. " I was humiliated. I thought it was the end of the world."

"But it wasn't?" Soarin asked. He moved his hoof from her mane and let it just rest on her shoulder again, brushing against her face on the way down.

"It wasn't. My friends were all sympathetic, knowing that the photo was taken out of context, and saying that it was fine even if I did like going to the spa." She giggled. "Boy did those Crusaders get chewed out by the town. But they learned their lesson and everything was fine in the end." The two sat there intertwined for a while, thinking.

Clearly there were a lot of lessons to be learned by that story. The crusaders did a bad thing, but they learned about boundaries and privacy and how they were to be respected. Soarin thought mostly about what lessons Rainbow had learned from that. He didn't think that ponies knowing that she went to the spa with her friends was such a bad thing. Though he knew that his experiences greatly differed from hers. For years of her life she had been made to believe that she had to keep up this image of being tough as nails. She was, but even after she escaped the toxicity that had plagued her for most of her life, she never allowed herself to drop that image. Being soft and cuddly was seen as a weakness. Being anything less than confident, independent, and cool was unacceptable to her. He knew that what really scared her about the article coming out, was her past. If she hadn't been forced to be unbreakable, she probably wouldn't have freaked out so much. But she had been, and she was scared. He didn't fault her. Not in the slightest. He was glad that she had learned that being a bit soft was perfectly fine, even if it had taken years to do so. The least he could do for her was guard the parts of her that scared her as she came to terms with them. "I'm glad everypony learned something from that, Dashie. But I won't ever force you to show your softer parts if you're uncomfortable. I told you, we'll ease into this," he reminded her.

"Thanks Soar. I think talking helped a bit." Another yawn was released as she slumped further into Soarin. He could feel her a bit more now.

"Want to lay down?" he asked. The mare hummed affirmatively in response.

"Yeah. But.. can we.." she asked tentatively.

"Can we stay like this?" Soarin clarified. Rainbow looked up at him sheepishly and nodded. This time he could see the crimson as it made its way across her muzzle. "It's okay, Rainbow. It's just you and I here right now."

"Heh, sorry about that," she apologized.

"No need to be sorry Dashie." She smiled at him and repositioned herself so that she was laying down on her side with her head on a pillow. Soarin laid on his back next to her, with his head on the tan accent pillow. Slowly, Rainbow placed her head on Soarin's chest and nuzzled into it. He in turn wrapped his forelegs around her midsection, pulling her closer to him. The top of her mane smelled like clouds and... melon. Unexpected but so nice. He gently began to stroke her back, feeling more of her softness. Again, he would have never guessed that the brash speedster was so soft. Nothing was spoken as the two just laid there together. Soarin just focused on the unnoticeable weight on his chest, and continued to hold her while stroking her mane down to her back repeatedly. Rainbow just kept nuzzling him every few seconds, digging herself closer and closer. This continued until Soarin heard her breaths deepen and slow down. She looked so peaceful, asleep in his embrace. He leaned in to nuzzle her forehead, before closing his eyes and letting himself drift off. Just before sleep could fully take him, he allowed himself one last glance at his marefriend's adorable face. Smiling, he let his now heavy eyelids close.

Author's Note

I have been waiting so long to write this chapter. It could have probably had one more chapter preceding it but I really didn't want to wait. It was too fluffy and fun to write. :rainbowlaugh::heart: Though I will say, I had an idea for this chapter in my head, and it changed direction quickly after I set the scene of Soarin's room. So I just went with whatever popped into my head as I went along.
Hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did!
:)

Hiking Trails and Waterfalls

Heat. Heat was all the Wonderbolts could feel in the last week of May. It had been unnaturally hot the whole week, so practices were way sweatier than usual. Because of this, Spitfire decided to take the Bolts on a weekend camping trip to Winsome falls. The weather wouldn't last very long, but if patterns like this kept up, the storms this summer would be really strong. Under the shade of the trees and with a stream of water near, the temperature was slightly better than it was everywhere else but not by much. Beads of sweat still hung out on their foreheads and around their manes.

The camping trip was just two days long, and they had already been gone a day and slept on a trail overnight. It really was like traveling with siblings, Rainbow Dash thought. She didn't have any firsthoof experience with family trips that included siblings, seeing as she had grown up as an only foal. Though the members of the team with siblings such as the Streak twins, Thunderlane, and Sun Chaser had stated this fact multiple times throughout the trip. Rainbow could see somewhat where they were coming from. Rapidfire would bring up the heat every few minutes, half the time complaining jokingly and half the time being serious. Sun kept getting distracted by all the flora and fauna, stopping every so often to oggle at a flower or vine and gush at how pretty it was. Surprise kept popping up between ponies at random and making them either playfully swat at her, laugh with her, or chastise her. While most of them walked the distance, some, like Misty and Lightning, flew just overhead to brush their wingtips against the tree leaves. Blaze walked across from the side nearest to the water on the trail. She wasn't taking any chances of getting wet. Not with this group of hooligans around.

Walking next to Rainbow was Soarin. He was a calm hiker. He would smile and listen to the conversation that circulated around him. Wave Chill and Silver Zoom were betting to see who was better at being sneaky. Whatever that meant at the moment, nopony particularly wanted to know, so the conversation shifted back and forth from that to other various topics.

"But seriously, you're so heavy footed dude! Anypony could hear you from a mile away!" argued Wave Chill.

"Yeah, but you take too long to get moving. Someone will ask or tell you to do something and it takes a second for you to get moving," countered Silver Zoom.

"Hey Sun?" asked High Winds, completely ignoring the shenanigans behind her.

"Yeah High?" Sun answered, happy to play along.

"Have you seen any mushrooms yet? You've been ogling at every plant you see, and one would think there'd be some fun ones around here."

"There's been a lot actually. There were some red and white ones a while back. Then there were some pretty yellow ones too but somepony thought that they would walk right where I was looking, and accidentally stepped on them." She glanced very pointedly at Thunderlane as she said this. Said stallion chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Heheh.. sorry about that Sun. Didn't see them there." She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"How? Watch where you're looking next time."

"Yeah T," Wave interjected. "You've gotta be smart to be sneaky." Spitfire gave a small growl of frustration.

"Will you all shut up about being sneaky already!" she exclaimed. "Neither of you are sneaky at all! Silver, you can't tiptoe to save your life. Wave, you're too chill to be some super spy." Wave looked offended for a fraction of a second.

"Did you just-"

"Yes, I did that on purpose," Spitfire cut him off before he could finish. Laughter came from the mouths of everypony before a comfortable silence reigned over them once more.

The hike since that moment had continued with light conversation and carefree laughter. It was really fun. Soarin walked beside Rainbow and had to suppress a chuckle or two. For every step he took, she had to take three. By no means was she a slow walker, she was actually pretty fast. Though that didn't surprise him in the slightest. The speed at which her legs were moving made her walk look very cheerful, almost like she was prancing. He supposed that that was why she always looked so happy both in the sky and on the ground. Rainbow looked to him and caught him staring at her. She seemed to catch him doing that often. "What's up Soarin?" she asked with a smile. Her mane was slightly scruffy as it usually was after a practice. Her bangs were slightly matted to her forehead, and tiny beads of sweat got caught in her eyelashes.

"Nothing, nothing," he tried to direct her away from the fact that he was just caught admiring her. "How are you enjoying the hike?"

"It's really fun! It's so different coming up here with you guys than it is the CMC's. Kinda obviously, but it's still funny to me." She paused to laugh a little. "If this is how trips with siblings are, I can't decide whether I wish I could have experienced this sooner, or am glad that I haven't experienced it." Soarin didn't have any siblings either, so he was in the same boat. But he had been a Wonderbolt since he was sixteen, so he felt as though he had had multiple siblings for years now.

"Right? When I first joined the team, it was like inheriting siblings left and right. I've always had Spit and Fleet as sisters, but then poof! I had twelve more!" At this they both broke out laughing.

"I guess it's age too. I mean, I don't have to make sure that these idiots don't run off or anything. Poor Spitfire has to put up with all of us though." she chuckled at the poor mare's expense. The team had to stop once they reached the portion of the trail right next to a cave. The trail was supposed to turn at the cave, but Rainbow spoke up before they could turn. "Hey! This is the cave I went through to get to the falls the last time I came up this trail." Not a second later, Surprise was at Spitfire's side and bouncing in front of her.

"Can we go through the cave, Spitfire? Please?" she pleaded. Even from where he was standing, Soarin could see the mare making a face that screamed, do it. just say yes. Seeing no harm in it, Spitfire turned to Rainbow.

"There anything we should know about the cave? No extra thrill when there's no need for it?" she asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Not really," Rainbow answered. Then, her eyes landed on Blaze and she winced inwardly. "We do have to go down a stream to get out of the cave. It's not a long walk at all, but we have to actively ride the water till we shoot out of the cave via waterfall." Blaze's eyes widened briefly before she gave a look of resignation.

"Let's just get this over with," she stated before starting towards the cave. The rest of the Pegasi looked around amongst themselves in slight amusement before following her. A collective sigh of relief was released as they stepped into the cool, wet cave. It felt so good to feel something other than hot air blowing on their faces. They made their way silently, taking in the dark scenery, until they heard the running of water. "Stars above what have I gotten myself into?" she moaned when the stream came into view.

"Just jump Blaze, it's not that bad," Fire Streak spoke up.

"Yeah! It's super fun actually," assure Rainbow. She led the charge, plopping herself into the water, and let herself be carried away, Soarin following after. Blaze was the last pony to jump, doing so with a small squeak.

As each pony flew out of the waterfall, each gave different reactions. Some squeaked, some laughed, some yelped, and some cheered. Surprisingly, Blaze yelped upon exiting, and then let out a cheer when she hit the water. Soarin looked over at Rainbow, whose mane was now plastered against her head. She had an adorable, goofy look on her face that reflected how much she loved small adventures like this. Their eyes met and they reacted along with the rest to the uncharacteristic show of enthusiasm to the water. She noticed their reactions as she hoisted herself onto the land and shook herself dry.

"What? I know how to loosen up sometimes?" she rolled her eyes with a smile on her face, putting emphasis on the sometimes.

"Thank goodness," muttered Rapidfire, who was promptly splashed by Misty. This started a splash fight between the fourteen ponies in the water, none of whom showed signs of taking prisoners. Using her streamlined form, Fleetfoot zipped under the water going from pony to pony, getting them square in the face with water. Blaze just sat on the shoreline, not too close to the flying spray of water, but close enough to still participate in a form.

Their time in the water soon ended, as they opted to sit out in the fields near a bunch of trees. They stood by the shoreline and shook the water out of their wings and manes. Blaze trotted up to join them once she made sure everypony was dry enough. Soarin noticed that there were only fourteen of them on the shoreline. There were supposed to be fifteen. Apparently Spitfire noticed this as well. "Where'd Surprise go?" she wondered aloud.

"She was just with us," commented Lightning. The group started looking around for her. Even Blaze wandered closer to the water to search for her missing friend. They didn't need to look for long.

"I'm right here!" Out of the water, popped Surprise's head. Without anypony noticing, she moved as quick as a flash, encircling Blaze's middle with her forelegs, pulling her back into the water. Everypony held their breath for a moment, fearing the mare's reaction to such a prank being pulled on her. A few seconds later, Blaze shot out of the water and landed on all four hooves, panting. Her eyes were wide in shock and anger, and her fiery mane was now soaked and hung around her face, framing it nicely.

"WHAT THE SHIT SURPRISE!" she yelled. Their fears held no real weight, as the sight was just too funny to be afraid of. She shook herself off for the second time that day, grumbling under her breath as guffaws sounded around her.

"It's called being sneaky," Surprise casually retorted, leading to even more sounds of amusement around her.

After that debacle, the Wonderbolts picked an area of trees near the falls, admiring the beauty of the rainbows and waterfalls. The liquid colors dripped in clean strips into the white water below, making a beautiful splash at the base of each fall. Rainbow walked up to Soarin and dug her face into his stomach, cuddling up to him. He placed a hoof atop her head, feeling her still faintly damp mane underneath it.

Soarin was so grateful to be able to hold a piece of a rainbow in his hooves.

Author's Note

I am so behind on this story it's funny. Before the 23rd, I have to have written 7 more chapters. I have 12 days to write 7 chapters of these and 2 other stories(one chapter). Good lord what have I done. :rainbowlaugh:
Also, for the scene where Blaze gets pulled into the water, imagine princess Luna after Celestia dragged her out of the barrel in the song Lotta Little Things. It was fun to write this chapter.
I hope you enjoyed and are having a good day!
:)

Chasing.... A Bunny?

It was an off day for the team, and Soarin and Rainbow Dash were spending it in Ponyville. They had no real plans for the day, other than to just walk around town and see what they could see and do. Rainbow loved Ponyville for that reason. Even though she had already lived there for a few years and the town was small, there were always new things to do and new adventures to be had. She hadn't been able to go home in a few weeks and was excited to see everypony again. Her friends already knew about her and Soarin. Rarity's squeal still echoed in her mind from when she had told the girls for the first time. They were all happy for her of course, and even though she still got some teasing from Applejack and Twilight, she felt comfortable with them knowing. The heat wave had ended, much to everyone's relief, and the weather was now nice and mild. It was 11:30, and wind felt amazing in the couple's manes as they flew towards the small town. Rainbow was having the time of her life as she flew freestyle, doing somersaults in the air and twirling every so often as she went along. She looked at Soarin who was beside her, joining her as they drew loops in the sky together. Chases were made, clouds were busted, and dances were displayed. As she flew along, she forgot about speed, and instead of tearing across the sky as she usually did, she made every movement slow and deliberate. Powerful and strong. She loved the feeling, it was nice for a change.

Their dances and movements all stopped as they saw Ponyville come into their line of sight, and they just flew side by side before landing in a small clearing near the entrance of the Everfree forest. She looked up at Soarin, smiling. He looked back with a smile to match hers, his eyes squinting slightly as he did so. "So, where do you want to start?" she asked him. He looked around for a few seconds before his eyes locked on Fluttershy's cottage. More specifically, at the area of her lawn where a bunch of birds were perched before said mare on a rather odd-looking stand. Their vibrant colors and many species and sizes were all overlooked as they heard the sound that emanated from their throats. Fluttershy was fluttering in the air, conducting them to sing in a perfect harmony. Rainbow had initially thought that it was silly to organize a choir out of birds, but now she had to admit they sounded very pretty. Most of the time at least. "Wanna go over there?"

"Sure!" he responded, sounding pretty enthusiastic. After all, he'd never heard her songbird choir. Rainbow chuckled at him before leading him to her best friend's house. It was barely even a walk there. The butter yellow mare was so focused on her birds that she didn't see the pair approaching. It wasn't until a pink jay of hers suddenly started squawking super off key that she turned around. She jumped a bit upon seeing them, but quickly relaxed when she saw Rainbow.

"Hey 'Shy!" she called out.

"Oh hello Dashie! Hello Soarin. How are you two?"

"We're doing well, thanks," Soarin answered. "That chorus of yours is pretty neat. I've never seen organized bird songs before. Especially while being conducted by a pony." He chortled at the end. Fluttershy smiled, happy that he was actually interested and impressed by her birds.

"Thank you! It took a while to get them to cooperate with me, but they sing naturally in the wilderness. We started off a bit," she twirled a hoof while trying to think of a nice way to describe their rather horrendous start to singing. "Rocky, but after we all learned to work together and sing as one, we were fine." Rainbow laughed out loud, earning a quick stink-eye from her friend.

"I think rocky is a really big understatement there 'Shy."

"Okay, maybe we didn't sound even half as nice as we do now," she said while blushing slightly . "But we've made progress since then."

"It sure sounds like it." Soarin commented, while Rainbow playfully rolled her eyes while nodding. Fluttershy all of a sudden sank about a foot in the air, as if she were jerked by something. All three of them looked down at the ground to see Angel Bunny with his owner's long tail gripped in his little paws. He looked very miffed, but honestly, when did he not? He glared daggers at Fluttershy and harshly stomped his back paw on the ground a few times in rapid succession. He squeaked a few times up at his prisoner, finally letting her free and making waving gestures at the birds first, then the couple, and then himself. Soarin and Rainbow just stared blankly, exchanging a brief glance with each other before turning back to the scene before them. After he was done with his little rant, he folded his arms and huffed, looking away.

"Angel Bunny," Fluttershy scolded. "I told you that I had choir practice this whole morning. I also told you that I have to work at the sanctuary this afternoon. We can have tea and snuggle later, but you'll just have to get through the day first." She turned her attention back to the Pegasi standing before her. Soarin still looked confused, but Rainbow was now looking disapprovingly at the bunny. She didn't like it when Angel made it harder for her friend or stressed her out more than she needed to be. That creature she knew, wasn't very fond of her either because she so often spent time with Fluttershy when she was able to come home and was very close to her. Needless to say, the two didn't get along.

"Is he giving you trouble again?" she asked rhetorically. Angel opened his eyes and blew a raspberry at her. Her friend sighed.

"No, he's just a bit demanding." It was Rainbow's turn to sigh now. Leaning in closer to Soarin she whispered to him.

"Since when is he not?" He raised a brow, not being familiar with the hostile bunny, but still bit his bottom lip to stifle any sounds of amusement. "Anyways, we'll let you get back to work now 'Shy. It was nice seeing you again. I'll try to visit again soon." Her best friend flew swiftly down to her and embraced her tightly, rubbing her cheek against her ear.

"Of course Dashie! I've missed you. Come back soon okay?" Rainbow hugged her back and returned the nuzzle on the bottom of her chin.

"I will if I get the chance, don't worry." They broke apart and waved goodbye. "Bye 'Shy," she called as she turned and walked away with her coltfriend.

"That Angel fella seems like a hoofull. Is he usually that uh... demanding?" Soarin asked as they walked away from the cottage.

"All. The. Damn. Time," Rainbow answered with a note of frustration clear in her voice. He thought that it was funny seeing her get all worked up over someone else's pet.

"You sure seem fond of that rabbit," he teased.

"He's a bunny, not a rabbit," she corrected. "Try not to make that mistake around them. Fluttershy will give you a lecture about the difference between rabbits and bunnies. And Angel will jump on your back and give you a nice kick." He was internally grateful for her warning. The lecture didn't scare him too badly, if anything it couldn't hurt to know. But after seeing Angel's attitude, he didn't want to piss him off. He waited as his marefriend continued. "It's not that I dislike him.. really," she huffed. "I just hate how he makes things more difficult for 'Shy than they need to be. They've been working on getting along better, but still. He's really hard to get along with." How in Equestria does one get along with a bunny? It was a little bit funny to him. His amusement must have shown on his face because Rainbow's eyes narrowed at him and she pouted. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," he shook his head, admittedly trying to look away to control himself. "It's just that you're fighting a bunny, and by the sound of it you do it a lot."

"Oh. Haha. It sounds ridiculous I know." She groaned quietly to herself. "I almost died the first time I realized I was actually having an argument with a bunny."

"You know, I wouldn't believe it unless I had actually seen him for myself. He looks like he'd actually try to carry out some evil-mastermind plan." This got Rainbow to lighten up a little bit.

"I wouldn't put it past him. But let's forget about it for now. Want to head to the marketplace? I want to see if Bon-Bon has any new taffies. I haven't had any in foreever," she said, dragging out the last word of her statement. Soarin's was suddenly very curious.

"You like taffies?" He had never pegged Rainbow as a taffy kind of pony. Maybe a hard candy kind of pony, but not taffy. It suited her in a way. She blushed every so slightly at the question.

"They're my favorite sweet I think. Bon Bon's are great. My dad used to travel to the east coast a lot, and whenever he went he'd bring back a few boxes of saltwater taffy. It reminds me of all the times I'd wait for him on the day he was supposed to come home. He'd walk up to me sometimes with a totally fake sad look on his face and tell me," she cleared her throat a little bit. "'Sorry little trotter. There was no more taffy, they all ran out." She had used a mock stallion voice at the end there. Soarin was honestly a little bit surprised to hear Rainbow talk so openly about her parents. It was a good surprise of course. "Then he'd pop it out of nowhere and I'd give him a hug."

"That's adorable Dashie. How do they make saltwater taffy here if we're not that close to the coast?" he asked. He was super confused as Rainbow burst out laughing. She drew the attention of a few passerby's but nopony looked at her for more than a second. She finally calmed down enough to respond to his question.

"Salt water taffy is no different from regular taffy dude. It's just a rumor that some stallion soaked a bunch of taffy in a coastal city a long time ago and sold it as salt water taffy." She saw his look of embarrassment and relented slightly. "I totally believed they were different when I was little. I refused to eat 'regular' taffy until my dad told me that."

"Ohh," he breathed. "That kind of makes sense. Though it seems weird to call them two separate things."

"I agree a hundred and twenty percent. Bon Bon does too. That's why she gets her ingredients shipped to her from Fillydelphia because it's close to their area of origin. I think that's what makes them taste so good, they're as close to 'authentic' as she can make them." Her wings fluttered excitedly and her gait was even bouncier than normal.

"You know they sell taffies in Cloudsdale right?" he chuckled at her childish addiction to the substance.

"Ohhh, no, no, no. You'll see once we get to the shop. There's nowhere better than Bon Bon's sweet shoppe." He let her give him a light glare and drag him the whole rest of the way there.

Once the couple got to the marketplace, Soarin stared in mild awe at what he saw. The two ponies stopped briefly at multiple stations to just peruse a bit and take in the sights. Boy, were there a lot of sights to take in. All around him were ponies with stands selling various different things. It was slightly crowded, more so than he would have thought for a Thursday afternoon. Then again, it seemed as though this was the way a lot of the ponies there earned bits. He saw lots of cloths and trinkets being sold. He even saw a stand selling hoof crafted animal figurines. Every color could be seen as he swept his gaze over the place. The vibrant reds of the mini tapestries, the soft purples of the lilacs and lavenders at the flower stand, and the deep green of a small amphibian figurine at the glass stand. As they walked further, his snout was hit with tasty aromas of spices and baked goods from the stands selling food products. After a few more minutes of walking, the two reached Bon Bon's stand. En route, Rainbow had explained to him that yes, most of the ponies here were recreational sellers, and they did this every Thursday to earn some extra bits. She also said that a lot of ponies with actual shops came out here on those days to join in on everything. He was surprised every time he heard about Ponyville, as it sounded like such an amazing community.

They finally reached a colorfully decorated stand with even more colorful candies laid out neatly upon it. The sign above the booth had the image of three candies wrapped in stripped wrappings. A beige, earth pony mare was standing inside the booth. Her mane was poofy and was half navy, half pink. Her eyes were sky blue and sparkly. On her flank was the symbol that perfectly matched the one atop the stand. This had to be Bon Bon's stand. One look at Rainbow's face confirmed that for him in an instant. She was suppressing a giddy smile, failing slightly. Bon Bon's expression brightened ever so slightly at seeing her there.

"Hi Rainbow. Back in town I see?" Her voice carried a clear accent. Rainbow nodded quickly.

"Yep! Just for the day though, I'll leave this evening."

"I see." She then noticed Soarin standing next to Rainbow. She smiled and carried on like normal, something which Soarin was extremely grateful for. "Hello Soarin. Are you two looking for anything specific today?"

"Do you have any taffies on you today?" Rainbow answered. He could almost hear the bubbles in her voice. Apparently so could Bon Bon, as she tittered at the young mare's attitude.

"Sure do. I have the usual cotton candy, vanilla, and watermelon. Today though, I made peppermint and," she leaned in, beckoning the two of them to do the same. "I've been experimenting with flavors and today, I made creamsicle taffy!" The genuineness of her pride in her work was something that anypony would appreciate.

"Ooh that sound great Bon Bon! Can we try it?"

"Of course. She used a pair of tongs to grab two candies and deposit them into their awaiting hooves. They popped them into their mouths. An explosion of flavor set off in Soarin's mouth as he chewed. It was the perfect balance of sticky and soft, and the perfect combination of sweet and citrusy. He looked over at Rainbow, who was now slightly hovering. She was so right, this was the best taffy he'd ever tried. A smug look crossed her face.

"Good right?" He nodded eagerly, now sharing a portion of her excitement. Bon Bon was beaming at the level of joy she'd created with her treats.

"Would you like to buy some?"

"You don't even have to ask! Can we get some of those please? As well as some of your other ones?" she looked near sheepish at the end.

"It's no problem at all Rainbow," she giggled. "I do aim to please." She packaged a few of each flavor into a small box and handed it to Rainbow. In turn, the prismatic mare handed over a few bits. The two bade their goodbyes and resumed their journey of the day.

Still feeling the joy that came with her taffies, Rainbow near pranced next to Soarin as they tried to find something else to do. They had ultimately decided on visiting the rest of her friends and seeing what they were up to. They went first to Sugarcube Corner since it was the closest to where they already were. After a nice conversation with Pinkie over some pie for Soarin and a bagel for herself, they went to find Rarity. On their way, Rainbow suddenly felt a weight on her back. It was small and wasn't heavy at all.

It was Angel Bunny.

He was standing on top of her, rummaging into her wing for something. It was only when he hit a sensitive spot, causing her wing to flare out, that the box of taffies fell out and onto the ground. "What the hell, Angel?" she asked. The bunny just gave her a shit-faced grin, grabbed the box, and ran.

She and Soarin stood there for just a second before exchanging a look. Rainbow was sure she looked like she wanted nothing more than to kill somepony. Soarin looked very surprised. "Did he just-?"

"Yes. He did," she confirmed before taking off on hoof after the bunny. "Let's go!" The rapid clip-clops of hooves against ground alerted her that he was following her, so she continued on. She hated how fast and small Angel was. He had led her and Fluttershy on multiple wild goose chases in the past, and every time it ended with him eating a salad, and them laying on a couch exhausted. She was not in the mood for any of his shenanigans at the moment, not that she ever was.

Their chase continued for another twenty minutes or so, with them weaving between ponies, houses, and mailboxes. It wouldn't have been so tiring had they not been running an obstacle course along with a race. Eventually, the poor bunny ran head first into a yellow mare's hoof. Rainbow and Soarin skidded to a halt along with him, neither of them wanting to bowl her over. While Angel was busy shaking his head out, Rainbow quickly scooped up her box and tucked it back into her wing, making sure it was secure. The mischief maker looked up at the pony he had bumped into, who was looking down at him in both concern and weariness. He took note of her carrot cutie mark, and instantly recognized her as Carrot Top, another seller in the marketplace. In an instant, he was perfectly well again, looking up at her with pleading eyes. The mare looked to Rainbow for an explanation.

"Heh, sorry about that Carrot," she apologized, rubbing the back of her neck. "We've just had a bit of an episode with him. Carrot raised an irked eyebrow at Angel and walked away. He shot one last glare at Rainbow, who happily returned it, and hopped away after Carrot, hoping to snag some extras from her booth.

"What was all that for?" questioned Soarin as they walked away from the scene. He was stifling snorts of laughter once more.

"He was just being a jerk and stirring up trouble. The little guy's probably bored out of his mind and wants some laughs at our expense." Soarin apparently couldn't contain himself any longer before he burst out laughing. His laugh was contagious, and soon she found herself giggling along with him. She leaned up against him lightly as they walked, feeling his sides vibrate with mirth.

The rest of their stay was very nice, as a break from work was always nice. They'd have a funny story to tell the others when they got back about how they spent the majority of their day enjoying a town, and a brief portion of it... chasing a bunny.

Author's Note

Early chapter to make up for my tardiness on the last one!
I've been trying to improve my characterization of everypony as I go along. I tried to write as Fluttershy would during her parts. I think I did a decent job, but let me know what you think. Rainbow is the easiest in my opinion, the only hard part is giving her the tough side as well as the hidden deeper parts of her while in conversation. Soarin is easy too, because besides his goofiness, I pretty much have free rein to portray him however.
But get ready for the next chapter!! :raritystarry::raritywink:
:)

The Taste of Cotton Candy

Author's Note

Warning: FLUFF AHEAD! :raritystarry::pinkiehappy:
I hope y'all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Be aware that there's going to be lots of POV switches, so it might get a tad confusing. I miscounted my chapter schedule, so here is a bonus for this week!
:)

The Taste of Cotton Candy

Another day had passed for the Wonderbolts. Practice had been held, a training session had been taught, and meals had been consumed. Soarin sighed as the day's events all caught up to him, making him sleepy. His teammates all probably felt the same way. He currently sat in the rec room with all the rest of the team, conversing about the events of the day and such. The team was all together in a circle, which in itself was very nice, because a lot of the times when they hung out in the rec room after practices, they'd still form small clusters in larger groups. They were long due to be able to have a good conversation. Even if it had nothing to do with work or flying, those conversations were very much needed. Summers were slightly more stressful for the team, due to the extreme heat that not even Pegasi could control, as well as the constant need to train for and be vigilant about incoming storms. To Soarin's right was Fire Streak who was just paying attention to Misty, who was talking about how she used to fly with butterflies in her old home. To his left sat Sun Chaser, who kept asking for details about what kinds of butterflies they were and how she managed to pull off flying with them. Misty herself was right across from him, with Surprise to her left and Rainbow to Surprise's left. Rainbow was happily munching on a piece of taffy, which she had insisted upon savoring each piece of.

"So they really didn't mind you at all?" Sun asked for what felt like the tenth time. Spitfire groaned.

"Sun, for the last time, the fluttery shits weren't afraid of her because A, they got used to her. B, her special talent literally has something to do with them."

"Damn Spitfire," Silver Zoom chortled. "'Fluttery shits'? Really?"

"Little harsh there," agreed High Winds with a chastising look, earning a thankful smile from Sun.

"In all seriousness though, what does your cutie mark mean, Misty?" asked Fire. Misty looked down for a second with a ghost of a smile gracing her features. Soarin was now admittedly curious. Misty had a hard exterior, so if she was this open about it, it had to be good. Then again, getting one's cutie mark was a huge milestone in anyone's life.

"Well, when I was little, I lived in a super small town that was farther away from other towns. It was called Meadow Creek and it was literally in the middle of nowhere. As the name suggests, there was a very large meadow surrounding it. One day, I was walking at the far corner of the meadow when I saw a weird ass cloud looking thing. I was about ten at the time, so I decided to get up close and personal to the 'clouds.' When I could see it more clearly, I realized that it was a swarm of butterflies. They saw me, I knew they did, but they didn't fly away. I just sat there and watched them fly. The day after that, I walked beside them while they flew. It went on like this for a while until they let me fly with them. The day I got my cutie mark, I was doing a sort of dance or routine. By that time, I had been practicing more intricate flight patterns and maneuvers. So the day I was doing super advanced things, I looked down once I had landed and bam. My cutie mark." Her serene look remained for just a short moment after she had finished.

"That sounds way too innocent for you Mist," commented Blaze, breaking the brief silence. Several ponies nodded in agreement. Soarin himself had to agree. Misty was a total hard ass, and on the outside, was very 'no nonsense'. The idea of her slowly befriending such delicate creatures was definitely unexpected.

"You sure you weren't trying to become one of them?" Rapidfire asked teasingly. Misty rolled her eyes at him, dismissing his comment with a wave of her wing.

"No you jerk, they taught me how to fly in a way. They were what inspired my love and appreciation of flight. As I flew more and more with them, I got in the hang of flying gracefully and was able to make an almost art-like style out of it. That's why when I first started auditioning and getting involved with the Wonderbolts, I struggled with the power aspect of flying. I was used to slower but more intricate flight," she explained, the serenity returning.

"I alwayth thought you were a thpeedthter," added Fleetfoot. "Though the agility part doethn't thurprithe me at all."

"I learned how to be. I couldn't butterfly my way onto the team without power or speed," Misty defended. In their tired, slightly stressed states of mind, their laughter could not be suppressed, even though it really was not that funny of a statement.

It was nearing 7:30 when the conversation ceased, and everypony had reformed their clusters and groups. Feeling sleepy and in need of a nice quick casual chat, or just some silent snuggles, he looked around for Rainbow. She was sitting with Thunderlane and Lightning Streak, the trio trying to keep up a conversation but yawning and trailing off every few sentences. Soarin walked up to them, giving a tired smile of his own. "Hey guys. Can I steal her from you?" After a teasing 'ooh' from Lightning and a smirk from Thunderlane, Rainbow stood up to join him. She waved goodbye to the two stallions before following Soarin out of the rec room and into the hallway.

"Rough past week huh?" Rainbow asked as she followed Soarin to his room.

"Yeah. I wish summer's weren't this stressful for us. I mean seriously, it's an entire two months of just training and being all flinch waiting for storms that might not even come."

"I know it's good to be alert, but it's so tiring. I wish we'd had more time to see each other," she admitted.

"Me too." They approached his door and he opened it for her. "But let's just enjoy our time while we can." For the past week, the team had barely had any time to just be with one another, much less their special someponies. Rainbow often felt bad for the rest of her teammates who were in relationships amongst themselves... which was basically all of them minus High Winds. Soarin and Spitfire had their private rooms for her and Fleetfoot, but the rest really had no privacy. Every couple would willingly snuggle up to each other in the company of others, but Rapid and Misty were sometimes caught kissing in a supply closet. Though most of the more intimate snuggles and kisses were reserved for clouds out of view from HQ's windows. For now though, she was perfectly content to put the room they did have to good use. She stepped inside after Soarin, and the two went straight to his bed. As usual, he just sat there and pulled her close to his body. They remained attached to each other in silence. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard between the two of them. They just reveled in each other's touch, looking out the window as they did so.

Celestia's sun was just beginning its slow descent into the unknown. It still showed, as if it were still daytime, because well, it still technically was. Soarin was always very fond of how the sky looked like cotton candy at this hour. Where the sky was still blue overall, but slowly started to fade into a soothing orange color just above the horizon line. When the sun's light bounced off the clouds making them appear to be glowing a gorgeous ballerina pink. About ten minutes had gone by with no movement other than his hoof running up and down her mane and neck, and her cheek being gently rubbed side to side against his stomach. He finally reached both hooves down to cup her cheeks and guide her gaze up to meet his. When her eyes met his, and he saw the look of such contentedness and care on her face, he felt... really good. He felt the need to be closer to her, to hold her tighter. "Dashie?" he spoke her name quietly, tentatively.

"What's up Soarin?" she replied, her cheeks being dusted by what was now an extremely familiar shade of crimson. He adored how she always got so blushy whenever he so much as looked at her in a caring manner. What made it even more special to him, was the fact that she did nothing to stop it from happening despite obviously not being used to it.

"It's nothing, Dashie, really. I just want you to know that you're very pretty.. and that uh.. I love being able to hold you.." he trailed off, as he didn't know how to put his feelings into words. The tiny gleam of both confusion and humor in her eyes told him that he wasn't off to a great start. Though there was no look of disturbance or discomfort, so he continued on. He scooted his plot backwards a bit and leaned down so that he could close the distance between their faces. He heard her stifle a gasp as his face came closer to hers, but she calmed herself quickly and leaned a bit forward herself. "You make me feel.. good, Dashie. Happy. Right. Maybe it's a bit soon, but it's true. All of it." He watched as her lips curved upwards and her brows raised about a half a centimeter. She looked surprised, yet very flattered. He tensed as he felt her forelegs reach up and wrap around him.

Her heart couldn't take it. It had been short, it had been awkward, it had been very forward. But it had been honest. Soarin was like a young colt trying to make his fillyfriend get all tingly. The two of them weren't foals, but that was the exact effect he was having on her. She admired his sweet attempts at trying to navigate this situation, as it only made him more lovable. Without realizing it until she felt him tense up, she had her forelegs wrapped loosely around his neck. She could feel his warm breath on her muzzle. His hooves on her face were so gentle. His touch reflected his smile, his personality, his demeanor. She loved that. There were a lot of things she loved about him. "Th-Thanks, Soarin. I like it when you hold me too." Her face burned. The sap levels were off the charts, but she couldn't help herself. "A-and, you make me feel sappy, but good sappy. I can be sappy. Thanks for that.. by the way." She finished, realizing that she too had suddenly spoken as if she had reverted back to her early teenage years, and her body reflected that too. It didn't matter now. She knew the impact of what she had just said as soon as she saw Soarin's face light up slowly. He removed his hooves from her cheeks and repositioned them, one behind her head, and the other draped over her side. She knew what was coming next. She had done it once before, and neither Twilight nor Fluttershy had never stopped talking about what it was like in the romance novels they liked to read so much. When he leaned in even closer, she closed her eyes and met him halfway.

A week. A week had gone by since Soarin had last held his marefriend. It was a Tuesday at 19:49. He was sitting in his bed sitting directly in front of Rainbow Dash. With one hoof cradling the back of her head, and the other resting across her back, he stared into the pools of cerise that could take him anywhere. Not just in the world they lived in, but also to the most abstract of places. Places not even Discord could conjure up with his reality-bending chaos magic. He could feel her chest rise and fall steadily. He could feel short tremors of nervousness and anticipation run through her body, down her spine as she stared back. Her statement meant a lot to him, as he was sure his did to her. He had very little time to dwell on this, for it was then that he decided to lean in closer. Every thought left his mind as her lips met his.

Seven days. Seven days had gone by since she had shared a quiet moment with Soarin. It was a Tuesday at 7:49 p.m. Her brain exploded as she felt the gentle, soothing pressure of his lips on hers. She could feel the warmth of Soarin's hooves as he held her. His hooves shook ever so slightly as he cradled her. She could feel the faint amount of moisture on her side where his left hoof was laying on her, obviously coming from nervous perspiration. Just as hers were, his eyes were closed, hiding his normally bright emerald eyes that were so captivating. She could look into them and feel as though she was protected, and would be until he let her go. But with the way he was touching her, she doubted that it would be anytime soon. He didn't taste like much. Just like... warmth. Their kiss wasn't one of desire, but one that truly marked how special one was to the other. She brought her hoof up to the base of his mane, and simply let it hang out there, feeling the soft tuft as they remained interlocked.

Soarin could smell the cotton candy on Rainbow's lips before he tasted it. It must have been the taffy from earlier. Every detail of the mare sitting in front of him was popping out in great force. He couldn't hear anything other than the whistling breaths coming out of her nose. He couldn't see anything other than the backs of his eyelids, but no sight was necessary for him to know what was happening. It was easy to picture her just melting.. or maybe that was because he could feel her doing that. He felt her reach up and dig her hoof into the back of his mane. He pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss. She reciprocated, pressing herself closer to him, until her chest touched his shoulder. Her body was loose, and she was fully using him as a support. He didn't mind at all, if anything, he knew she was there.

The kiss broke about a minute later. Soarin and Rainbow were too much in a daze to say or do anything other than lean on each other for another few minutes. When they had mumbled their goodbyes, Soarin flopped onto his back smiling like the goof he was sure he was. Sleep came easier that night, the memory of Rainbow's touch lulling him into sleep.

Rainbow earned several looks from her teammates as she practically floated en route to her bed. She ignored every questioning look, every 'ooh', every teasing comment. With fluttering wings, she plopped herself onto the bed. She was out before her head even hit the pillow.

You Say I'm Strong When I Think I'm Weak

Author's Note

Bear with me guys. This idea was in my head before I even started writing this fic. As I said earlier in the story, this was supposed to be a book of one-shots, and this was supposed to be a one-shot. I felt bad for thinking it, and even worse for flushing it out in writing.

Warning: Mild violence and some descriptions later in the chapter.

You Say I'm Strong When I Think I'm Weak

Rainbow Dash quickly walked through the streets of Cloudsdale. She had attended her August weather meeting during the day that had lasted a few hours. She was dreading facing her captain, as it was nearly two hours later than she had planned on being out. She cursed herself for reading the schedule wrong. Spitfire hadn't been very pleased to let her take the afternoon since it was early August, and no storms had popped up yet. The captain was very paranoid that one could spiral out of control at any given moment. Having herself miss their evening practice was not something she was on board with either. Rainbow walked hurriedly from the weather management building to a clearer area to take off from. She was almost there, when she heard voices that made her blood run cold. She turned to find the source of the voice, and squeaked once she confirmed who it belonged to. Standing a few feet from her were Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score. She hadn't seen them since the best young fliers competition, and wanted things to stay like that. She quickly found a small alleyway to hide in until they left. Unfortunately, her squeak had been much louder than she had anticipated, and her movements were too sudden and too frantic to be missed by the three bullies. Since the area was open and empty, they found her very quickly. They peeked into the alley to identify the source of the noise. Once they did, sneers overtook their faces, and they quickly advanced with Dumbbell in the lead.

Rainbow's heart was pounding in her ears, and she lowered herself into a protective position. She wondered what she was doing. She was cowering while three very large stallions towered over her threateningly. Remembering that she had to be strong and not give into them, she stood up straight and puffed herself up to make herself seem larger and more confident. It didn't work at all, as the bullies just laughed at her. Her scowl wavered as Hoops threw his head back and guffawed loudly. "Wow. I didn't think we'd have the chance to talk to you again, Crash."

"Yo-You're not going to talk to me. I'm leaving," she announced shakily. She tried to skitter around to run, but they blocked her path.

"Woah , woah. Slow down Crash, you're not going anywhere. Where would a pony like you have to go that's so important?" asked Dumbbell. His voice was full of mirth, mocking her.

"Wonderbolts practice," she shot back. This elicited an eye roll from all three stallions.

"Ugh, how did such a failure get into that team in the first place. Don't tell me they actually fell for the 'I can do anything because I'm a tough pony' act." Rainbow recoiled from them, her small amount of spark dying out with an almost audible fizzle.

"I-I just made it. I flew well and... and.. I add something to the team." She was unsure of what to say. It was like her brain had stopped in its tracks and so had any coherent thoughts.

"You really believe that don't you?" asked Hoops with a condescending tone. "Do you actually think that anything you say or do could matter?" She tried again to run again, but something reached out and caught her in the wing. She found herself slammed against a wall with his hooves pressing hard against her wing joints. It shouldn't have hurt that badly since she was pressed against cloud, but he was putting so much pressure on her wings that they were quickly unable to be used. She was caught even more off guard as he suddenly removed his hooves before jamming her hard with them. She whimpered as she felt the hard impact on her joints. He let go, letting her fall to the floor and putting more pressure on them once she was down. Hoops had successfully rendered her unable to fly away. Score approached her next. He was the smallest of the three, but she knew from past experience that he was the most aggressive. She quickly sat upright, feeling her wings unfolded behind her.

"You know it's kinda sad that you actually believe that. No matter where you go, Rainbow Crash, you’ll always be a failure compared to those around you. In your friend group, you’re the annoying one with an overinflated ego. The one that holds no value. You may be a Wonderbolt, but they’re leagues better than you. You don’t deserve to be on the team and they probably all hate you. Just wait and see." With that, he very suddenly leaned forwards and delivered a few swift punches to her chest. She gasped as any air was completely knocked out of her lungs. The force of the punches was so strong and unexpected. Rainbow shook, too afraid to fight back. She wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Well Crash?" jeered Dumbbell. "You still can’t even defend yourself. You’re all pumped up as this hero to the rest of Equestria but cower because some colts from flight school hurt her feelings years ago. You’re weak, and a phony! Your fans and friends would be ashamed of you if they knew how much of a failure you were without your fake bravery. You’re pitiful and useless." Even more blows came. It was so hard to take a breath. His large hooves pummeled her, before he delivered a powerful buck with his hind leg. She knew her chest would be very damaged after this, but she saw no way out. Hoops stood up next, but was interrupted by Rainbow, who had forced herself to verbally retort.

"My friends don't seem to think so," she grunted out.

Hoops snorted, continuing his attacks, both verbal and physical. "You think ponies actually like you? You’re a nuisance and a piece of work to be around. Nopony actually wants or needs to know you. You're not a pony worth knowing, and the only pony who can't seem to see that.. " he pulled his hoof back before jamming it into her chest. "Is you!" She felt a crack when it made contact with her. She cried out as the three stallions delivered a few more blows to both her ribs and wings. In between blows, they'd hurl nasty words at her, lashing out with their tongues, puncturing deeper than any injury. Then without any warning aside from a nod from their leader, they stepped back and looked down at their victim. She was curled into a ball, coughing and shaking. She couldn't look the stallions in the eyes. She was completely at their mercy, just waiting for their assault to continue. Fortunately for her though, all physical contact ceased. With wide eyes and her lips parted a tiny bit, she looked up at the figures looming over her. Dumbbell leaned his head closer to hers, but backed away again when Rainbow flinched and pulled her head away. His smug expression remained as he forced his presence over hers.

"Crash. We'll leave you alone for good after today. Just listen to us for a minute. We're not going to bother you again. You're not worth it, but I guess it does work out for you. We just wanted to go out with a bang, you feel us? I mean, you probably do, with you always wanting to show off your 'skills.'" Rainbow could hear the disgust in his facial expression. "You never did understand just how much of a bother you were to everyone. You could never just sit still. Never just leave anypony alone. You were always boasting and bragging, acted like you were some tough shit. But you never were." His tone wasn't resentful or aggressive. He sounded calm and... disappointed. It stung so bad. He was right. "You were always a coward. You were afraid to show your face anywhere. You used to cling to your dad whenever he dropped you off for classes. Don't think we started to pick on you for nothing. You gave us plenty of ammo. If you had just been able to grow up a bit, or maybe.. I don't know...just fix everything about yourself, you'd be fine. We're just saying." He seemed to be finished with his little rant, leaving it a bit incomplete, like there was more to it that he chose to leave out. It unnerved her.

"Hope we don't see ya, Crash," Score joked as the three took flight and left the scene. She heard Hoops faintly echo with another 'yeah Rainbow Crash!' before she could no longer hear anything other than her ragged breathing. She lay there, motionless. She was beyond distraught, and her body was killing her. She dared not look herself over for fear of what she might see. She needed to get out of there.

With the destination of Wonderbolt HQ long forgotten, Rainbow's wings somehow managed to lift her off the ground and into the air. She was completely on autopilot. With an absurd amount of difficulty, she began her slow, uncontrolled, and excruciating ascent. She had no destination in mind, she just needed to be anywhere else. Anywhere but there.

Soarin was flying to his marefriend’s house from HQ to pick her up. She had told him that she’d be in Cloudsdale for the day to take care of some business for the Ponyville Weather Team. She had said something about dropping off a few files and having a meeting with the heads of other weather teams concerning the next upcoming Tornado Day. She was supposed to be back at HQ by 4:30 that evening, but it was nearing 6:40 now and she had yet to show up. Spitfire had sent him to go see what the hold up was. Rainbow Dash was never late.

He spotted Rainbow Dash as she was flying back towards her house. He became concerned as it quickly became apparent that something was very wrong. Her flight pattern was erratic and uncontrolled, and she almost looked heavily intoxicated. He was shocked that she was managing to stay in the sky at such a pattern and pace. The final straw was when Rainbow made it to her cloud home and dropped hard onto her front step. She struggled to pull herself up to open the door using one hoof while hugging herself tight with the other. She managed to get the door open and drag herself in, wings hanging completely limp at her sides.

Reacting in alarm, Soarin picked up his speed and rushed the remaining distance to her house. Rainbow had left the door open so he had easy access to her house. He gasped upon entering. His marefriend was lying still on the floor, using her forelegs to grab her wings and hug herself tightly with all four appendages. Her face was taut with pain and heavy breaths escaped her nostrils. She opened her eyes and released a gasp of her own before wincing heavily and letting out a pained moan upon seeing Soarin.

“Dashie!” he exclaimed. He rushed to her side and gently picked her up to bring her to the couch. “I’m sorry!” he added as she gave a yelp of pain upon being moved. Trying to keep her as still as possible, Soarin cautiously laid her down on her side and put a hoof in her mane to comfort her. His mind buzzed with the possibilities of what could have occurred. A crash maybe. A fall. But Rainbow wasn’t doing any extreme flying that day and had gotten much more mindful about doing so. On top of that, she had an extremely high pain tolerance, so if she was hurting this much unexplainably, it had to be bad. He looked her over and immediately noticed dark bruising around both of her wing joints, which would explain the limpness of her wings. She had her forelegs and wings wrapped around her chest and ribcage, so he assumed that the majority of the pain was centered around that area. He began to move his hoof up and down Rainbow’s mane and thought about what to do next.

All the Wonderbolts had basic medical knowledge, himself, Spitfire and Fleetfoot having even more so than the rest. Soarin could guess based on her erratic flight pattern, her stillness, and reactions to her pain, that she might have broken a rib or two. They were a very sensitive area of the body, especially for pegasi since they were connected directly to the wings, and what was worse, took at least a couple of weeks to heal depending on the break. He hoped for Rainbow’s sake that she was only injured externally, but she had to be examined to know for sure. He would have to bring her to the infirmary to be examined, but if his suspicions were correct, they wouldn’t be able to do much unless the breaks were severe. Rainbow seemed to be breathing fine, though probably with a lot of pain, and wasn’t having any other severe reactions that could stem from a break, such as dizziness or coughing blood. So, he decided to assess the situation first and possibly get a rundown on what happened to her. He leaned down to eye-level with her and spoke gently to her, "Dashie, I need you to let go of your wings and let me see your rib cage and stomach. I just want to know what to tell the medics when I bring you back to HQ."

Rainbow nodded and loosened her forelegs from her chest which let the wing underneath her fall back to the couch. Her wings must have hurt too badly to move on their own, because she began to lift the one facing upwards up with her forelegs, cringing. Soarin stopped her as soon as he saw it. “Hey hey, I’ve got it,” he assured her and very slowly moved her wing and folded it at her side. Now that her underside was visible, Soarin recoiled at the sight. How in the name of Celestia did this happen? Her ribcage was covered in dark bruises. Where some of the impacts were, there were splotches of dried blood. There were three bruises that were much worse than the others. One was on the bottom right side of her ribs, another in the middle of the left side, and the worst one of the three just a bit above the first. The last was bigger, darker, and had more blood than the others. Soarin wanted to clean the wounds before he brought her back to the compound. He winced at the thought of having to touch such a damaged area. He took one of her hooves in his and gently rubbed it as he spoke. “Okay Dashie. I'm taking you to the medbay at HQ, but first I want to clean you up. There's blood in some areas. I'm going to sit you up so that there's no more pressure on your wings. Just try to take some deep breaths while I do it. It’s going to hurt a lot so please try to be strong, okay?”

“Mmhm,” was the only reply she gave, eyes still squeezed shut. Soarin moved his hoof under her shoulder closest to the couch and slowly helped her sit upright while keeping her torso in a straight line. “Ooh,” she exhaled when she was fully seated, ears flopping to the sides. Soarin gently folded her other wing to her side and rubbed her shoulders briefly, before going to her bathroom to get her first-aid kit. She had one just because of the frequency at which she dealt with minor injuries, either on herself or her little sister. When Soarin arrived back into the living room, he held his breath and sat down in front of Rainbow. He got out a packet of antiseptic wipes, and got to work.

Rainbow had her eyes shut as she focused on keeping her breaths deep and steady. Every lungful hurt like hell and now her bruises were about to be pressed on. What was worse were the memories and insults that came with each bruise.

She clenched her jaw as Soarin began wiping the blood off of her torso. She didn't want to open her eyes, fearing the look she would see on his face. He started on the left side of her ribs. She was able to stifle any sounds that built up in her throat and managed to stay still. The wipes stung so badly it was all she could to not jerk away. If she was being honest, she could cope with the pain because the words hurt so much worse. As Soarin’s went on, he reached the first of the worst three bruises. The one on the middle left, where Hoops had walloped her while yelling.
You think ponies actually like you? You’re a nuisance and a piece of work to be around. Nopony actually wants or needs to know you. You're not a pony worth knowing, and the only pony who can't seem to see that.. is you!
It made the flare up that much harder.

Soarin had been watching Rainbow’s reaction to his touches. She seemed to be in moderate pain from the start. He could hear Rainbow trying to steady her body and breathing and suck up the pain. However, when he got to the first of her three major bruises, her face contorted and she sucked in a breath that only appeared to bring her more pain. “You okay?” he asked. She didn’t say anything, but nodded, calming herself again so he proceeded. A new emotion bubbled up besides the concern he felt for her. This was no crash. The bruises had a distinct hoof shape to them, meaning that they were deliberately put there. He was angry. He had no idea who would just attack Rainbow out of nowhere, or how they had successfully done so much damage. Rainbow was tiny yes, but she was no flower. She was incredibly strong and agile, and was very good in combat. Whomever did this either had to be good as well, or had caught her by surprise.

Rainbow heard Soarin ask the question, but didn’t answer for fear of her voice breaking.
She felt him move down on to the bruise on the bottom right of her ribcage. The one given to her by Score's hoof.
No matter where you go Rainbow Crash you’ll always be a failure compared to those around you. In your friend group, you’re the annoying one with an overinflated ego. The one that holds no value. You may be a Wonderbolt, but they’re leagues better than you. You don’t deserve to be on the team and they probably all hate you. Just wait and see.
Rainbow's eyes teared up. She was lucky her face was already in position to prevent liquid from squeaking out. Yet, it hurt so bad she couldn’t hold in a yelp.

“Ahh!” Soarin heard his marefriend yelp. Her face scrunched up even tighter and she inhaled quickly a few times. He brushed her bangs back and nuzzled her cheek.

“Shh Dashie. It’s almost done okay? I have one more area to clean and we’ll be done.” At this point, he was ready to scoop her up and get her to the medic as soon as possible. He couldn't imagine the pain she was in, as he was only touching her exterior and leaving her interior pretty much alone. He wasn't pressing down that hard at all.Rainbow had failed to keep her reactions at bay, and this last one was going to be a doozy for her. He frowned and moved onto the remaining area of her chest.

Each wipe was torture for Rainbow. She could feel him getting closer and closer to the worst spot. She dreaded it. It was physically and mentally the most painful of all the punches. It was where Dumbbell had kicked her with his back leg. Remembering the insult made breathing difficult and made even more tears threaten to make their presence known.
Well Crash? You still can’t even defend yourself. You’re all pumped up as this hero to the rest of Equestria but cower because some colts from flight school hurt her feelings years ago. You’re weak, and a fake! Your fans and friends would be ashamed of you if they knew how much of a failure you were without your fake bravery. You’re pitiful and useless.
It was too much for Rainbow to handle. Everything came out the moment Soarin pressed down on it.

Soarin cringed as he felt himself getting closer to the last bruise. He looked up at his marefriend as he felt her chest start to waver. He hesitated before pressing lightly on it with the wipe. He flinched hard as Rainbow burst out into tears. He quickly finished what he was doing and cupped her face with his hooves. She looked up at him with such a pained expression, it scared him. Her normally bright, cheery pools of cerise were full of pain and fear. He didn't like it in the slightest.

“Dashie? How badly does it hurt?” She brought one of her hooves up to her face and squeezed one of his with it. She let out an indiscernible sob, the only part of it he could understand was 'hurts' and 'bad'. Soarin rushed into the kitchen and grabbed an ice pack from her freezer. It was long and thin, like a sheet of ice. He quickly wrapped it in a thin towel and returned to a hysterical Rainbow Dash. He placed it very carefully over her entire rib cage, where she wrapped her forelegs around herself once more to hold it in place. Soarin leaned forward and let her bury her face into his shoulder. He did his best to soothe Rainbow by stroking her mane and the back of her neck. It was then he decided that he could wait until she got treated to ask her about this. He could clearly see that she was upset and in severe pain. That being said, Soarin knew that crying would only make things worse.

“Shh. I know it hurts Dashie, but try not to cry. It'll only make things worse. Nice, easy breaths,” he encouraged. Slowly but surely, Rainbow started to calm down and breathe easier. Once her tears had gone from torrents to small, steady streams, he leaned back and looked at her. “There you go. Better,” he said as he kissed the top of her head. “You don't have to explain anything right now Dashie.” He watched as Rainbow’s eyes drifted away from him for an instant and then came back. He caressed her cheek. "Let's head to HQ. They'll be able to make it feel better hopefully." She nodded and allowed him to pick her up off the couch. She groaned again as she was being lifted, but relaxed once she was in a better position. Soarin had one foreleg holding her neck and shoulders, and the other very gently supporting her back and legs. He took off with the still crying mare in his hooves and flew as steadily as he could towards the Wonderbolt compound.

It was around 7:10 when he arrived back. Practice had ended at 6:45, Spitfire had let him go early out of worry for their friend. He hated that her worries had turned out to be legitimate. He knew that at this time she'd be in her office sorting out her to-do lists and updates about how the practice went. He stopped in the rec room, knowing there would at least be someone there. He stopped there and poked his head in. Thunderlane and Lightning Streak were seated facing Sun Chaser and Surprise. Lightning was the first to notice Soarin."It's about time you got back, Soar-" he began. He cut himself off as he along with everypony else saw the condition that Rainbow was in. And they hadn't even seen the damage yet, as she still clutched the ice pack to herself. He put a hoof up to his mouth. "What happened to her?"

"She hasn't said yet. Can one of you go get Spitfire and tell her that we need her in the infirmary as soon as she can come?" Sun Chaser was on her hooves immediately.

"I'll do it." With that, she took off in the direction of Spitfire's office. Soarin followed suit on his way to the infirmary.

The medic on duty that day was a unicorn mare named Althea Amethyst, but who preffered Thea. She had a long, curly black mane and a shiny, light grey coat. She was a perfect example of a comforting nurse. Her sky blue eyes were so full of tender kindness, and she had such a gentle touch. Most of the physical examinations that the Wonderbolts had to take included their wings, the most sensitive part of their bodies. Thea was great at examining their wings without startling them or making them feel uncomfortable. How she did this without being a pegasus herself was beyond any of them.

As soon as Soarin entered the med bay, his eyes darted around, looking for Thea. She saw him first, obviously, as he had come in in a rather loud manner. She initially looked cheerful, as the medbay wasn't needed for injuries too often. More so for illnesses, day to day aches, or hangovers. Once she saw the distressed pegasus with him however, she went straight into medical mode. She approached the pair with an expression of both compassion and professionalism. "What happened here?" she asked, getting to the point straight away.

"She hasn't told me anything yet. Her chest and ribs are hurt, and so are her wings. She's in a lot of pain."

"I can see that," she remarked. "How long has the ice pack been on?"

"Um, I left her house maybe fifteen minutes ago, and I put the ice pack on a few minutes before that." The mare nodded in approval.

"Alright hon. Can you set her down on this table right here?" She led them over to the closest training table to them. "Sitting upright please, if that's possible." Soarin complied, setting her lower half onto the table. Thea stepped in to ease her the rest of the way using her magic, which was also a light blue color. Rainbow was now fully upright, with her forelegs wrapped around her and her wings again limp at her sides. Before Thea had the chance to start examining her, the doors to the medbay opened once more to reveal a worried looking Spitfire and Fleetfoot in the entryway. They rushed over to the group, and looked Rainbow over.

"Sun just came to get us," Spitfire said. "She said that it was urgent. How are you holding up Crash?" Her question didn't have the desired effect, as Rainbow just grit her teeth and cried harder. Thea interjected upon seeing the concern grow on all three faces in the room.

"Alright, alright, take it easy with the questions. Sweetie, you're okay," she assured Rainbow gently. She placed a hoof on her shoulder while using her magic to coax the mare's forelegs away from her midsection. Once she had access to her chest, she levitated the ice pack away from her. It now had small patches of diluted blood on it. Fleetfoot gasped, Spitfire's mouth fell open, Thea raised her eyebrows, and Soarin winced once again.

"Thweet Luna, Rainbow," Fleetfoot breathed. Now that the blood had been wiped away, it was very obvious that the bruises were made by someone's hooves. "Did thomepony do thith to you?" Rainbow looked down, gritting her teeth harder. Again, Thea came to her rescue, standing next to her and laying a hoof on her upper back.

"Girls, I know you're worried about her. So am I, but I want to see to what extent she's hurt before we start asking questions. Though Soarin, she'll probably need a hoof or two to cope with the pain." He nodded and sat next to his marefriend, taking her hoof in both of his own and rubbing it. She avoided any eye contact with him but squeezed his hoof in return. Eyeing Rainbow's wings, Thea asked, "Can you fold or move your wings on their own?" The mare tried and failed, the only thing that came out of the attempt was a sharp hiss of pain through her teeth. With a serious nod, Thea's horn lit up once more, releasing what looked like a hologram without an image. The beam of light travelled up and down Rainbow's body a few times, before dying out. She looked relieved as her magic passed easily over her wings, but frowned as it swirled around her around her chest. "Sweetie, it looks like you've taken some serious hits to the ribcage. Is that right?" Rainbow nodded, making Spitfire's eyes narrow and Fleetfoot's widen. "Alright, my scan turned up a few areas of concern. I'm going to press down on your back in these areas. I would do your front if there wasn't so much damage, but your back will probably provide a better assessment anyways." She moved to the left side, pressing a hoof into the area an equal distance from the bruising and the wing. Rainbow's eyes widened, her grip on Soarin's hoof tightening as a grunt escaped the back of her throat. The medic retracted her hoof, frowning. She waited until Rainbow was ready for the second round. She repeated the process a second time on the right side, but this time just below her wing. A sound almost identical to a scared Fluttershy came out this time, something that took everypony by surprise. "Oh dear. It seems we're looking at two breaks on the right and one on the left." The reactions of the top three 'bolts was the same. Shocked, and very concerned. Thea turned to soothe Rainbow. She ran a hoof gently up and down one of her arms comfortingly. "Honey, you're doing great okay? All that's left to do is make sure that the damage stayed on your ribs. I'm just going to listen to your breathing to confirm that everything's in order with your lungs." She levitated a stethoscope over to herself and held it between Rainbow's wings. "Give me three slow, deep breaths," she ordered. Rainbow complied, closing her eyes and feeling Soarin's hooves clutching hers tightly. "Good job," Thea said with a smile. "Everything sounds excellent. Now, I have good news and bad news." She walked over so she could look the injured mare in the eyes. "The bad news is, there isn't much I can do to treat you. Even with magic, ribs are just something you've got to let do their thing. Also, I don't want you flying at all for about four weeks. You can fly with the team after five. Though I know you already knew most of that." Everypony nodded sadly. "The good news is though, that I can give you pain relieving spells, and you can continue basic daily activities. Walk a bit everyday. My biggest concern at the moment is all the bruising. It shouldn't be a problem for now though, just be careful. As for your wings, they're not too poorly and will heal in about a week or so. Any questions?" After a minute of silence, Spitfire spoke up.

"So she'll really be out for over a month?" she asked, though she knew perfectly well that there would be no other answer. "Never mind," she said after receiving a firm look from Thea.

"Now," began the medic. Her previously careful and assuring tone shifted to a firm and serious one. "What happened to you sweetie? Those don't just come from nowhere." Rainbow's eyes had stopped leaking for a few minutes, but with this question, her eyes watered once more. She found that her torso was suddenly wrapped in magic, making everything stop hurting so much. "It's a pain relieving spell, and I'm keeping your injuries stable," Thea explained. She moved away from the mare to allow Soarin to take her place once more. "Let it all out Rainbow."

For the second time that day, Rainbow Dash's face crumpled as she broke down. In an instant, Soarin had his forelegs wrapped around her, letting her cry into him once more. He stroked her mane and rubbed the base of her neck, waiting a few minutes for her sniveling to die down.

"Sorry," she finally said, addressing everypony. "I'm a freaking train wreck right now. Look at me just crying and crying."

"Stop it, Rainbow," Spitfire interjected. "Somepony hurt you. Badly. You have every reason to be upset. Cry if you need to cry. Nopony here is going to fault you for that."

"But it makes me weak! I have to be stronger than this! I let them hit me! I was a coward!" she countered, projecting her voice as hard as her chest allowed her.

"You let them hit you? And who are they?" Fleetfoot asked. She moved closer and took one of Rainbow's hooves as Soarin hopped onto the training table to sit next to her and lay his arm around her shoulders. Rainbow answered neither question, instead just recalling the events of the day.

"I was in Cloudsdale for a weather meeting earlier. I read the meeting schedule too quickly and thought that it was supposed to end at four fifteen. When I went, I found out that it actually ended at five forty five, and that I accidentally read the column for next month's meeting. That was a mistake on my part, and I'm sorry Spitfire." The fiery mare just nodded silently. "When I finally left the weather building, it was about six. I was walking down a street when I was leaving and I ran into three stallions who I haven't seen in years. I was hoping I wouldn't have to see them again. I go to Cloudsdale once every other month, and I haven't ever seen them." She rubbed more water out of her eyes. "They started off by taunting me. I was ready to run as soon as they started talking. But I just couldn't. I didn't do anything. That was one problem on its own. Then they started getting physical. It was too fast for me to do anything. They were talking and then one of them just pressed me up against the wall by the bases of my wings. He kept pressing until I couldn't use them, then hit them really hard." A shiver ran through her. "They kept insulting me and just kicking and punching me. Not a single hit landed anywhere other than my ribs or wings. When they were finally done, they left and I flew back home. I forgot all about coming back to HQ. I just wanted to get away from them and home is where I ended up." It was a very brief and vague description, but it got the point across.

"But who did it, Rainbow?" Fleetfoot asked again.

"Bullies. From flight school." she sniffled. "They just popped up out of nowhere and I froze. I couldn't fight them, I was too scared! A freaking coward." Her ears and head drooped shamefully.

"Why did they thcare you tho badly?" Soarin squeezed his marefriend tighter, already knowing some of what they had done to her in the past.

"First of all, they're huge. Two of them are almost your height Soar. Not quite there, but they're close. And they're sturdier than Silver or Thunderlane! But mostly because they're the reason that I am how I am. I try and try to be this pillar of strength and confidence because I've needed to be to make it through my life. But I'm not! I never stopped being the scared filly that needed to hide in my best friend's chest feathers, and hide behind Fluttershy! I play this brave hero, but I'm weak. Nopony wants somepony like that." Her voice went from a near shout to barely a whisper. "I'm not worth keeping around. And I don't deserve any friends to hide behind. I didn't even fight back today. I'm a coward, a failure. I'm so pathetic," she finished, voice breaking. Her explanation sounded messy, as if she didn't want to say what she did. The others on the other hand were glad that she was letting some things out, even if she didn't want them to come out.

"Is that what they've told you?" Spitfire growled. "You've been believing that your whole life?"

"Yeah. Everypony seemed to always agree with them too. Somepony important to me left because they thought that I wasn't even worth protecting. And another group of different ponies when I had left flight school told me the exact same things. I'm stupid, and good for nothing!" She gave a muffled wail and turned to hide her face in Soarin's stomach.

"That's not true Dashie," he spoke up. His voice was as strong as his grip on her. "You are an amazing pony. Look at it this way. Only those three have continued to bully you after you left Cloudsdale right?" She turned her head back to face Spitfire and Fleetfoot and nodded.

"Aside from the Blitz incident, yeah." Spitfire and Fleetfoot looked confused, but Soarin motioned for them to not worry about it.

"How many ponies do you still know that went to school with you?" he asked. Her eyes drifted to the upper right corner as she thought.

"Kind of a lot. Thunderlane is one of them, so is Shy obviously, and a few others who work on the weather team."

"Right. How many still try to make you feel bad about yourself?" Her eyes widened a bit at the question.

"None of them really. They tease sure, but nothing like when I was a kid."

"Exactly," he kissed her in between her ears. "Those bullies scared everypony into following their lead. They were afraid too." Rainbow shook her head, squeezing Fleetfoot's hoof.

"They weren't back then. Most of them.." Another sniffle escaped as she relived some of the memories. "You should have seen the looks on some of their faces. Their smirks and smiles were so... weird. They looked like they really did believe everything they told me, and they enjoyed telling me them. They never left me alone, they chased me. I almost felt like something being hunted." The other three Pegasi and unicorn in the room just listened, unsure of how to make her feel better.

"What changed? You were there for over a decade, there must have been some changes in either you or them," Spitfire tried to get more information. "Why did it keep happening?"

"They thought it was fun I guess. I got more and more scared as the years went on. It gave them more and more to make fun of me and hurt me for. Everypony saw me as an easy target because I was small and skittish. Finally, when I was fourteen, I just changed. Well, I didn't really change. I just pretended that I was okay, that I wasn't scared. I made myself act brave, and cocky, and always pushed my limits when I flew. I couldn't afford to give them more ways to pull me apart. I act like this because I couldn't give them any more reasons to hurt me. They already had so many. They still do. I just can't d-do it," she ended with a sob. Unable to take any more, Spitfire got up and moved to stand in front of Rainbow. Fleetfoot backed up a bit and Soarin let go of his marefriend, letting Spitfire get close and rest a hoof on her shoulder.

"Rainbow Dash," she began. Her eyes were comforting and friendly, but her voice was stern. It wasn't quite her captain's voice, but it was close. It grasped Rainbow's attention. "For just a minute, ignore everything. I know, easier said than done. But I just want you to know something. We are here, and we are your friends. We care about you, all of you. You don't ever have to act invincible around us. If you're ever nervous, or down, or need help with anything at all, we will never hesitate to help. Same with your other friends. You're not weak for having emotions or needs." She reached forwards and gave her friend a gentle embrace, rubbing her upper back. "They might have made you think otherwise, but I need you to know that you don't have to hide anything from us. You matter to us and all of your friends and we just want you to feel safe and happy. None of us can erase the past, but we can help you going forwards. You are not weak, and never were. It took so much bravery to last all those years in such a toxic environment. It took so much strength to live and learn though all of that. Please acknowledge that, okay?"

"O-Okay," replied Rainbow shakily. She leaned against Spitfire, rubbing her eyes. Her posture and expression still looked sad and defeated, but she let herself be comforted by her friends. "Thanks for that. I needed that."

"Hey, it's kind of our job to set you straight." Spitfire smirked a friendly smirk. Fleetfoot spoke up nervously at that moment.

"Um.. They athaulted you Rainbow. Are you going to report it? Did anypony thee what happened?" The mare's eyes widened and she felt Spitfire's grip on her tighten. She very quickly moved her head from side to side.

"N-No. Nopony saw it. I'm... not going to report it. Yes it was assault, but they said that it would be the last. I want to believe them on that. A-and I don't think they'd attack anypony else like that." Thea stepped back into the group to offer her two cents.

"Honey, I see where you're coming from. I respect your thoughts on the matter, but I really do think that you should report it. They broke bones, Rainbow. You'll be out for the rest of the summer and the first week of the fall season!"

"It could have been worse, and they left on their own."

"It was three grown stallions against a tiny mare. I'd say you're very lucky that you managed to even get home by yourself." The medic was calm in her arguments, but anypony could tell that she was very bothered by the situation.

"I know, Thea." Rainbow was not as calm, becoming defensive and a bit frantic. "I think they really did mean that this was the last time. I want it to be true, and I don't want to make them angry." Spitfire piped in next, still holding onto her friend to keep her calm.

"You don't have to report them if you don't want to. I think you probably should, but we're not going to force you. If you have to go to Cloudsdale, I won't let you go alone if that makes you feel any safer." She earned a squeeze in return from Rainbow, signifying her gratuity.

"I think you should, Dashie. I don't trust them. Look at yourself! That worries me," Soarin added softly.

"Rainbow, I agree with Thpitfire. We'll thupport you no matter what, but I think you should." Everypony in the room thought that she should report them. Nevertheless, the mare stuck to her initial mindset.

"I don't want to. I don't want to make things harder than they need to be for everypony. I'll go with somepony should I need to go back anytime soon. I just want to trust them on this. It sounds freaking ridiculous, but it's how I feel." Thea looked the most uneasy, but she gave a nod of reluctant approval.

"Alright sweetie. I appreciate you telling us the full story and opening up a bit. It was very brave of you." She gave a kind smile. "You must be exhausted though. Are you ready to go to bed or do you want to stay here for a while longer with your friends? I know it's still early but you look like you could use the rest." Everypony could agree, having seen the physical damage and the emotional toll the day had taken on the pegasus. Her under eyes were lined, her eyes themselves were dark, and even with Thea's magic supporting her, she had begun to slump. Spitfire released her from her embrace, her hoof re-assuming its position on her shoulder.

"Go to bed, Rainbow. We'll be here for you tomorrow if you need us, and will be anytime you do. Take care of yourself okay?" Fleetfoot zipped up to give her a quick hug.

"Jutht let uth know if you need anything. Not just uth, but the retht of the team too. We're a family, you know."

"Thanks guys. You're great friends," Rainbow whispered. She turned to Thea, waiting for further instructions. The medic perked up, ready to explain.

"I would recommend sleeping upright for the next few nights. I know all you want to do right now is lie down, but that's actually one of the worst things you can do for broken ribs. Especially since yours are on both sides. Just prop yourself up against your bedframe, take lots of deep breaths, and try to get some shut-eye." She was right. Rainbow just wanted to rest and take all pressure off her body. "I'm going to levitate you up onto the bed to make things easier, but you're going to walk there. It's not good to stay still for too long." She levitated Rainbow off of the table, keeping her stabilizing spell in place. "I'm going to remove the spell in a second. Take a big breath now," she instructed. Rainbow did so, preparing herself for the return of the pain. Her legs nearly buckled when the soothing magic was released, and she cried out once more. Soarin was quickly at her side, offering a nuzzle to help her cope. When she had regained most of her composure, she started walking next to Soarin, followed by the three mares. Once they had reached the door, muffled voices were heard from the other side. The unicorn flung open the doors to reveal the entire team on the other side. Their eyes all widened, and some took a step back upon seeing their injured teammate. Based on how they looked like foals who got caught snooping, it was safe to assume that they had heard the whole thing, yet they hadn't seen her. Surprise stepped forwards and gave a very gentle hug. Rainbow couldn't do anything to reciprocate the action, so she gave a weary hint of a smile instead.

"If it makes you feel any better," said Fire Streak. "We all think that you're very strong. Possibly the bravest mare we've ever seen." He spoke as if it was just a continuation of the conversation that was just being had inside. His statement earned nods all around.

"Totally," agreed High Winds. "We're each other's wings." Each pony gave a few words of comfort, making Rainbow feel slightly better. They stayed for about three minutes before her ribs were screaming, and Thea shooed everyone away. They walked until Soarin suddenly stopped at his door.

"You can stay with me tonight, Dashie," he offered. "I have a bigger headboard, and I kinda just... want to keep an eye on you for now." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he said it.

"I'd like that," she answered. She still really needed his comfort, and wanted to be with someone who really had her trust. She, Soarin, and Thea all entered his room.

"Get on the bed first, Soarin. Sitting up against the headboard," the medic ordered. He removed some of the pillows, but kept one behind his head as he was taller than the headboard. Thea then levitated Rainbow over to the bed, nestling her upright with her back against Soarin's stomach. Once she was comfortable, she released the levitation spell, and offered a pain relief spell, which Rainbow eagerly accepted. She gave her farewell and told them that she'd check up on Rainbow the next day, before leaving the two alone again.

Feeling pretty comfortable against her coltfriend, Rainbow focused on taking deep breaths. He brought the blankets up to cover both of them and snuggled her from behind. Out of nowhere, her eyes started to water again, and she shuddered lightly as the rest of her emotions flowed out of her eyes. She wasn't sure exactly why she was crying at the moment, but she just knew that she needed to be relieved. She had no doubt she'd be needing a lot of reassurance for a while, but felt just a tad bit better than she had earlier. Soarin tensed when he heard her sniffles and whimpers, quickly leaning down to kiss her head. He let his lips linger there for a few minutes, nuzzling her and stroking her cheek with a hoof while her eyes leaked for what would probably be the last time that day. Her usually soft cheek fur was now matted with tears which she was sure didn't feel the nicest under his hooves. She felt bad that he had to deal with her. She was absolutely exhausted, but sleep evaded her yet. "Soarin?" she croaked out.

"Shhh. I'm here Dashie. What's up?" He wrapped the arm he wasn't using to pet her across her chest and shoulders to reassure her.

"Thank you so much. It means the world that you're still here. A-and that Spit and Fleet are too. I don't know what I'd do without you all." She moved her head backwards to half nuzzle him. He kissed her head more firmly this time.

"You deserve somepony who cares, Dashie. You need somepony to always be there for you. I am honored to be that pony, and will gladly be there. You need to believe in yourself more often. I love you, and all of you. What did you say in that song when that journal of yours came out a while ago? You've got dents and you've got quirks, but it's your flaws that make you work?" Rainbow was touched that he remembered so clearly. He paid attention to the lessons she had told him about. "You have so many amazing attributes. You're an amazing flyer. You're the best friend a pony could have. You're kind, caring, protective, loyal. I love your spunk and bravery. I admire your hard work and dedication. But I also love your excitement, your softness, your weak points. I love how you can put a positive spin on just about anything, how you always make quesadillas on your cooking nights because it's the only thing that won't give us food poisoning. I love how you geek out over your sister's books. I don't love some of you, and then wish away the parts that you hide. It's okay to need comfort, to want to feel safe. It's normal to be sensitive and awkward sometimes. The only pony who really cares that you have emotions or about little flaws are those bullies, and I haven't the slightest idea why. They're sick stallions Dashie, and I can't even begin to express how disgusted I am by them. They wouldn't stop until they broke you, and that makes me so angry. I hope that with our help, you can feel genuinely confident and embrace all of you, just as we do. Just as I do." He sounded so sure it hurt. He sounded so sure it felt wonderful.

"I- I love you too, Soarin." Celestia it felt so good to say. "You're so good at saying the right things. You always know how to make me feel better. Thank you." At this point she couldn't cry any more. Her eyes hurt just as much as the rest of her.

"No need to thank me," he chucked softly. "I just needed you to know. You could stand to be reminded more often. We'll talk more about the specifics of what they said tomorrow. If, and only if, you're comfortable though. Now, sleep. You really need it."

"Goodnight Soar." His response was another nuzzle. He continued to nuzzle and comfort her to the best of his abilities. She fell asleep in his loving, warm arms that night. It was just the thing she needed to ease her distressed mind. She was eternally grateful to have him there for her.

I Could Build a Castle

Small rays of light filtered through the shades over Soarin's windows. They tickled Rainbow's nose, slowly bringing her back into the waking world. She instinctively took in a large breath and prepared to stretch out her forelegs and shoulders. Almost immediately, a stab of pain lanced through her and she winced and groaned loudly. She was caught off guard when she heard a soft hush and felt a baby blue hoof begin to rub gentle circles on her shoulder. She didn't need to look up to know who was assuring her. The memories of the previous night came back to her just as fast as the pain. The tears, the fear, and the comfort she had received from her coltfriend. Once the flare of pain had passed, leaving just the constant ache in her chest, she was able to take in her surroundings more clearly. She was sitting up against Soarin who was sitting against his bed frame. She craned her neck to look up at his face, only to see him doing the same down to her. His face wore an expression of concern which she tried to deflect with a forced smile. It failed miserably, as her mouth never fully curved and fell not a moment later. After a quick glance towards the clock on his nightstand, she saw that it was close to the afternoon, which would explain why Soarin was already up. She knew that it didn't matter for her since she'd be out for the next month, but she was thankful that Spitfire also let Soarin stay with her for peace of mind. "Morning," she greeted quietly, her voice much raspier than usual due to yesterday's emotions and the fact that she had just woken up.

"Morning, Dashie," he replied. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek before lightly draping his chin over her shoulder. "How are you feeling?" Rainbow took a minute to asses her body and mind. Her body hurt more than yesterday, if that was possible. Breathing deeply was a challenge as she had been reminded just now. Her wings were stabilized behind her with Soarin's body, but she could feel each pulse as the swollen joints throbbed consistently. Last night she had had a terrible time sleeping once the pain relief spell had worn off. She was never fully asleep, and she would 'wake up' every few minutes due to the aching. She had lost all track of time, only remembering how poor Soarin had to run to the medbay to get more pain meds for her at two in the morning. It was only once she had tried to blink the sun out of her eyes that she noticed how puffy they were from the lack of sleep, as well as her crying. She couldn't open them all the way, but she had just chalked that up to the room being too bright. As for her mind, her head physically ached from all the swirling thoughts and concerns she was experiencing. She was still very distraught after yesterday's events. Soarin's presence provided so much assurance to her, but the feelings brought on by her bullies and the fear that had washed over her had completely floored her. It brought back so much trauma from her fillyhood, as well as created a new one. She wanted to be able to communicate that and reflect on other moments like it, but she couldn't find it in herself to actually think about any of them.

"It still hurts so bad. Definitely more than they did yesterday. I'll go get some ice for everything once..” she attempted to shift her position, but once again found movements to be agonizing. “..Once I get up in a minute." A thought suddenly struck her once she had resettled. She had felt every bit of pain inflicted on her by the bullies, yet she hadn't seen a single bit of the damage. She had initially been too afraid of what she may see, but had then been too overwhelmed to even think about looking herself over once she returned to the compound. She wanted to be able to see what had been done to her, but also wanted nothing to do with the event. Apparently her discomfort was noticeable, as Soarin nosed her cheek with a questioning expression in his eyes. "I um uh ... never looked myself over yesterday. I have no idea what I look like right now and I'm honestly not sure I want to." Seeing his worry increase, she tried to play it off with a chuckle that ended in a grunt. Soarin's expression went from concerned to serious as she kept trying to play it cool.

"If you want, I can look at it for you and tell you how it is," he offered. "Or I'll look at it with you. Just don't avoid it." Rainbow winced inwardly as he indirectly called her out.

"Do it with me?" she asked timidly. He nodded and removed his chin from her shoulder, moving so that he was now in front of her, taking extra care to not jostle her at all. With him gone, her wings now hung down her back. They both looked back to see her joints swollen and purple. Rainbow could tell that they looked worse off just by the way they felt. The previous day, all she could feel was pain, but today she could feel the swelling as well. A moment of hesitation was apparent as she looked down at her covered chest, mentally preparing to expose herself. She was afraid of seeing the damage, not because she was squeamish or anything of the sort, but because she’d know that she had let it happen. She slowly pulled down the thin sheets that were lightly draped over her. She looked over to Soarin first, who was holding strong for her, not showing any reaction other than his eyes darkening. Her gaze travelled down to her chest and froze. With wide eyes, she could easily pick out the hoof marks on her body, and a dark purple color that was dusted all over her torso. The dusting spread further than the hits, as if it represented all the force and hatred that went into the blows and into her heart. She could only look at it for a few seconds before whipping her head to the side and slamming her eyes shut. She absolutely hated what she saw and how it felt. How had this happened? Why did this happen? The warm breath on her cheek was the only thing keeping her from breaking down at that moment.

“Shhh, Dashie." Soarin's voice broke her from her panic. "It’s okay. You’re okay.” His hooves reached out to cup her cheeks and turn her face so that she was looking at him. Her eyes opened to find Soarin’s face only centimeters from her own, his eyes caring and calm. His hooves gently caressed her cheekbones as he rested his forehead against hers. She pressed her muzzle into his neck to ground herself, breathing in his scent. After a minute, she spoke up.

“I'm sorry, Soar. I just don’t want to look at them or anything. I want to forget that anything ever happened,” she stated with a somber tone. It would be easier to pretend she was fine, but maybe…

“I don’t want you to ignore it. I know that’s how you sometimes deal with things, but just try facing this one head on. Sorry for telling you how to cope, but just try to let me help? Even if it’s just a little bit, I want you to genuinely feel better. It’s what I’m here for.” His statement both surprised her and didn't surprise her at the same time. Yes, just brushing off the events might not be the smartest thing to do, he was right about that. She’d usually just ignore all of her problems and or claim that they weren’t important. Even during flight school she had always ran away from the unkindness or even violence, or changing how she reacted to it, and for years now she’d just brush off any problem that popped up in her life. Maybe this was the time she could start to cope with the trauma instead of running from it. Of course Soarin knew. He always did. A sigh escaped her lips as she conceded.

“I know, I know. It bothers me beyond belief. But you’re right. I should probably talk about it to somepony. Thanks again for offering.” She smiled wearily. “First thing’s first though, I need ice and some aspirin ASAP. Thea’ll probably hunt me down if I don’t go as soon as I'm able.” A loud rumble came from her stomach, making Soarin chuckle. She hadn’t eaten anything since lunch the previous day, making it a good twenty four hours since her last bite to eat.

“I’ll grab us breakfast for when you get back from the medbay. I’ll walk you there and give you some time alone with Thea while she checks up on you.” She nodded, her face blank as she looked at him. He got off his bed and reached out to her to get her off as well. Being as careful as possible, he lowered her onto all fours without much more pain than was necessary.

As they walked slowly down the hall, Rainbow remained silent, dreading being looked at by a medic. She was afraid of the fact that the stallions who she had known for years had actually managed to put her in a helpless situation that was more serious than it ever had been. It wasn't that they couldn't manage to do so before, but just that they didn't. The amount of helplessness she felt was almost overwhelming, and she was still shocked by what they had been capable of. In the past, she had physically never suffered worse than a few black eyes, or a red mark across her face, or maybe a hard shove against a wall. This time they had held nothing back, 'gone out with a bang' as they had said themselves. She still couldn’t wrap her head around why thought. Why had they suddenly shown up and done this to her? Soarin walked close to her, nearly brushing her side. She couldn't bring herself to look at him. She'd crumble if she did, spill her heart out to him, show him the most broken parts of her. The pieces that bled and cried out constantly for affection, for shelter, searching for somepony to pick them up and make them a whole. And in a weird, desperate sort of way, she wanted to do all of that. She was snapped out of her thoughts as the door to the medbay opened in front of her. Thea was standing there expectantly, as if she had been waiting for her arrival for hours. In all honesty she probably had. Her ice blue eyes looked over the small pegasus, seemingly unfazed as her gaze traveled up and down Rainbow's body. When the medic finally met Rainbow's eyes, she smiled and motioned for her to enter.

“It’s about time you woke up, though you really did need the rest." Thea greeted Soarin with a nod, just noticing his presence. "Come on inside. I just need to do a pain assessment and have another look at your breathing and you'll be on your way." Wordlessly, Rainbow stepped into the medbay. Before she could fully cross the threshold, she heard Soarin wish her luck. She nodded without turning around to face either him or Thea, and made her way over to the nearest training table. Thea's hoof steps followed behind her, stopping next to her and gently levitating her onto the table. She looked concerned in an almost motherly fashion. It was as if she was looking at her little filly who had just come home covered in mud, and wasn't recognizable. Rainbow didn't blame her. She always tried her absolute hardest to outwardly appear happy, and confident, and brave. Most of the times it worked, and the times that it didn't, she'd make some sort of excuse to be left alone. If she was nervous, she'd go for a fly. If she was sad, she'd go for a fly. She momentarily paused her train of thought. There was no way she'd be able to 'shake off' any of her emotions in the form of flight this time. Now, she was confined to face what was eating at her. She was stuck to show everyone her vulnerability. The Rainbow Dash that was sitting in front of the medic at the moment was scared, dejected, and lost. "How are you feeling, sweetie? Any changes in range of motion, or respiration ability?" Rainbow just hung her head and shook it.

"It hurts way worse than yesterday. Soarin had to come here to get pain meds for me at about two in the morning because I couldn't sleep. I slept for about an hour or so after your spell and another few after the meds kicked in, but the rest of the night sucked. I can breathe fine though. Yawning and stretching are no-go's as I found out this morning." Her attempt at humor was a flop, as Thea didn't even crack a smile at the near monotonous tone with which she spoke. The unicorn simply sighed and moved to listen to Rainbow's lungs. The patient, remembering yesterday's visit, took deep breaths for Thea to monitor.

"I'm glad to hear that you're not having trouble breathing. I'll send you on your way with a spell along with some pills for later." She removed her stethoscope from Rainbow's back and went to get a few ice packs for her. Rainbow waited in silence while she was gone. She didn't know what was so different from that day and the day before. When she was first attacked, she was at first in shock, and then in tears. When she had told everypony what had happened, nopony had failed to provide words of comfort and reassurance. So what in Equestria was making her feel so terrible? Soarin had delivered a beautiful speech before she had fallen asleep the night before. Spitfire had shown her affectionate side to her and told her that she was strong. Hell, even Rapidfire, the hotheaded stallion with an unhealthy amount of cockiness, had told him that she was an inspirational pony. She should be feeling at least a little bit better, but she was so angry and hurt. At herself. Despite everypony telling her that she was undeserving of the attack, she couldn't believe that she wasn't to blame. She was the one who got their attention. She was the one who didn't fight back. It was her that-

"Here we go," Thea said, re-entering Rainbow's field of view. The mare was thankful for the interruption, as her thoughts were going places that she didn't like. "Put these in the places that hurt the most and keep them there for twenty minutes at a time. Get something to eat and then rest up," she instructed. Nodding numbly once again, Rainbow let herself get levitated down before walking out of the bay. "Hey, sweetie?" called Thea from her spot next to the table. "We're all here for you. Don't be afraid to ask for anything, okay?" Her words were both comforting and stinging. Her friends were all there for her... but she didn't deserve them. She settled for slapping a smile onto her face and turned around to look into the medic's eyes.

"Thanks, Thea. I'll keep that in mind." With that, she left the medbay, and started towards Soarin's room.

Upon arrival at the spartan room, Rainbow noticed Soarin seated on the bed with a tray of food. On it were two glasses of water, a muffin, two bowls of oatmeal, and two cups of berries, and a scone. Seeing the stallion sitting there with a hopeful smile on his face brought a small, momentary one to her face as well. She walked over to him and sat down next to the bed, not wanting to have to move or be picked up. Soarin noticed this, and joined her on the floor with his tray. Silence reigned over the two other than a quick "thank you" and "you're welcome." She kept stealing glances at him, each time seeing his eyes full of questions. Questions that he needed to be answered. She supposed she owed him that much after how unbearably sweet he had been. Ever since before they got together, before they even developed feelings for one another.

After her oatmeal and berries were finished, and she was just picking on the last remnants of the scone, Soarin finally spoke. The lack of speech had not been awkward. Tense, maybe even suspenseful, but never awkward. She sat there fretting over what to say to him, while he sat there most likely fretting over how to help her. She loved him for that. Gently, she moved the tray back onto the bed, and sat in their usual affectionate position, with her side brushing up against Soarin while her head rested on his stomach. Following suit, he draped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a sense of normalcy. "You wanna talk about it?" She looked up at him searching for any hints of malice, or mockery. Of course, there was none. This was Soarin after all.

He'd never hurt me.

She would never make that same mistake again. She truly believed that trusting him was no mistake.

"What do you want to hear?" He hesitated for a second, no doubt wanting to be respectful of her feelings.

"Well... why were you so quiet this morning? Or afternoon really. You're in pain, I know that, and I know that you're afraid, but there's more to it than that. You were able to relax a bit last night, but you seem even more worked up today. You seem..." he twirled his hoof for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly it was that he was noticing. "Angry. And it's not at them is it?" Boom. He hit the nail on the target. As usual. Rainbow didn't even bother hesitating in her answer. She shook her head back and fourth.

"I let them do all of that to me. I didn't fight back. At all. I shivered, and I cowered, and I freaking whimpered. I am a Wonderbolt. I am an element of harmony. I have faced dragons, and evil queens, and bugs that look like Swiss cheese. But there I was, curled up in a ball while they beat the tar out of me. When I looked at myself earlier..." she took a deep breath. "I almost threw up. Because every move hurts. Every breath hurts. It hurts to look at myself, Soarin. And it's my fault I even look like this in the first place." She continued to berate herself for being so stupid. If she had just stood up for herself..

"Dashie," Soarin breathed. Disbelief was etched into every curve and feature of his face. It was funny to her to see just how shocked he was to see the real Rainbow. Bitter. Miserable. Cowardly. "That's not... Rainbow, you were afraid! You were up against ponies who have done so much to you. They've said so many terrible things to yo-" He was cut off by a scoff from his marefriend below.

"But, they're not wrong!" she countered. "I'm not brave. When I was alone, I couldn't do anything to stop what was happening. I physically freeze when I'm confronted with my own fears and flaws, yesterday I ran and hid for Celestia's sake. When I think about them, all I can see is the broken little filly I was. The broken little filly I still am. But nopony knows that I'm still that broken little filly. If they knew..." she shivered. "they'd all hate me, I just know it! I'm not their hero. I'm an embarrassment." She placed her hoof on her forehead in distress. "Sweet Celestia, Soarin. Are they right? did I deserve this? Was it all just a reality check? They hated the weak filly I was. I hate her too. They hate this 'strong' filly I am. I hate her too. She's not really me, but I don't have the slightest clue who 'me' is anymore." Her voice was constantly shifting from malice to desperation, fluctuating every other sentence. "I hate the shield I put up. I hate the personality I put out, but I can't protect myself any other way. I don't know how. It's so hard," she wrung her front hooves together, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Not in a million years are they right, Rainbow. And in no way did you deserve to be beat up like this. Please, don't ever let yourself think that this is your fault. It was their decision to hurt you, for reasons that we might never know. Maybe they did do this out of hatred, but in no way does it make you weak." She refused to meet his eyes, no matter how strong they might have been, so he asked a different question instead. "What did you mean, you don't know how else to protect yourself? How have you been protecting yourself so far?" His tone was laced with genuine interest, as well as such a profound level of security. I pulled the words out of Rainbow's mouth. If it were anypony else, she would never have began to speak, but he put forth such care that she almost didn't care how awful she looked or sounded.

"Think of it this way," she offered. "If I had a stone for every insult I've ever heard, I could build a castle. I have built a castle of sorts. It's big, and extravagant, and so, so tall. From the outside, it stands tall and proud. The roof sparkles under the sun, and the whole thing just looks so perfect. It's inspired a lot of architectural edicts after it. There are turrets that protect me from any and everything that could possibly hurt me. It's been great, it really has been. Ponies have tried to get in, but the stones don't let them in. Once in a while, I'd let them in, but they'd attack me while inside the castle. So, I'd kick them out and build the walls even higher. As long as I stayed inside the castle, surrounded by its walls, I was safe. As years wen't by, it wasn't a bad thing at all. I had a few friends I let inside the castle. Fluttershy and Gilda would sit with me, and we'd live our own lives inside the castle. But then we started getting older, and Gilda left, though she always has a spot on a throne. I eventually let my friends in. But to this day I still send them to the courtyards so they can't see what's happening to me inside." She took a shaky breath and looked Soarin straight in the eyes for the first time since she had entered his bedroom. She shook her head slowly as her voice weakened. "I'm at a point where the walls are too high. No matter how long or hard I flap my wings, not even I can get high enough to see over the turrets anymore. I'm fighting completely blind. Voices call me from outside, like Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Thunderlane. From where I'm standing though, I can't see who's calling, can't tell who they are, or what they want, or what their intentions are. Their voices are garbled and threatening. So I don't let anypony in. I can't let anypony in. For all I know they could be an assassin. Ponies wanting in means danger. I'm not safe outside of my castle." His eyes looked so.. sad as he listened to her speak. He drew her closer to him and caressed her shoulders.

"Then why are you letting me in? How have you been able to see me over the walls?" She flattened her ears and squeaked.

"A stone was missing from one of the walls. Something was missing from me. I needed somepony to be there for me as more than a friend. Who would love me unconditionally. I never noticed it was missing until one day, a light blue stallion with green eyes peeped his muzzle in." She nosed his chest as she said this. "Needless to say, I freaked out when I saw you reaching in. I tried so hard to shove another stone into the whole to keep you out, but I couldn't do it. I'd succeed in blocking you out, but the stone always fell back down. You had climbed your way all the way to the hole in my turret. I couldn't see anything but stone above me, and all around me. The walls were closing in on me, but then you came and let some light in. After a while, I let you come all the way in. Now, you're bringing me out of there. Like last night. I left my castle during the talk with you guys and walked around the courtyard a bit. I'm letting you see the parts of me that I've kept locked away for so long. I trust you, despite every bone in my body telling me not to at first."

"Now, if I could build a castle, if I could change what the castle was for, you'd right there with me from the start." He leaned down slowly to kiss her forehead, further confirming how safe she was with him.

Author's Note

Y'all... I'm back!! I know, it's been six whole weeks since I've posted, but here's another chapter. Let me tell you it felt so good to FINALLY buckle down and get this done. I know some of you have missed the story, and I'm honestly very surprised by that. Thank you for your support, it means so much and I'm genuinely so grateful. But I'm here now, and I can't wait to continue the story!
(Soarin's pov coming soon)
~Crystalline :)

A Weathermare's Workshop

Rainbow Dash was excited. Today she was going to show the Wonderbolts some more tips and tricks about weather handling. The team specialized in stunt flying, but they were also imperative when it came to stopping minor threats to an area and controlling rouge weather. During training to get into the group, each pegasus was expected to be able to navigate and withstand harsh weather. However, if they had never worked in the weather industry itself, things involving the effects of weather or conjuring it were more difficult, and were seldom used in displays during shows. Some members of the team had weather experience before trying out. Thunderlane worked as part of the Ponyville Weather Team, and Rainbow was the head of the team. Then, there were others who didn't have any real experience with weather handling, but still handled it naturally. For example, High Winds, Lightning Streak, and Misty Fly specialized in wind, lightning, and fog respectively. They had never trained with it, and Lightning's situation was interesting because he was a taller, and much skinnier stallion, but it was just part of their special talents.

In some cases, weather was not at all their strong suit. Rapidfire couldn't control or organize storm clouds if his life depended on it, and Surprise was still too unsure of herself whenever she tried to handle lightning. Thankfully, the higher ups on the team picked things up pretty quickly. Fleetfoot's lithe figure and agility made it easier for her to cut through wind currents. Soarin's build made it easier for him to resist lightning and force it to comply to him. Spitfire was incredibly strong, so lacing together dense clouds was not too big of a deal for her. Even so, nopony knew enough about weather to incorporate it into their shows. Until Rainbow and Thunderlane came along and pleasantly surprised everypony with their skills. Thunderlane was great with storms in general. Rainbow was good with just about everything, but since she was so small and had a very low body mass, she wasn't very resistant to lightning. Per Spitfire's request, the two were holding a workshop to work on handling storm cells. Word was going around in the papers that the coming summer was going to have to be a rough one storm-wise to make up for a surplus of thunderheads that year. Therefore, she wanted the team to be prepared to assist should any storms get out of control.

So Rainbow had met up with Thunderlane to plan a day-long workshop for the team a few nights ago. And today was the day that they were about to do it. Rainbow would admit that she felt kind of nervous to teach her teammates. She wanted them to think she was qualified enough to do this. Obviously Spitfire did, but she wasn't sure about the rest of them. In reality she still felt the need to redeem herself after her first embarrassing mishap. It was probably just in her head, but she still swore she saw a glint of laughter in Misty Fly's eyes every time they spoke. But right now, she was excited to be able to share something she was passionate about with her teammates. She concentrated on that as she flew towards her team with Thunderlane in tow.

"Okay guys! The first thing we are going to work on today is disbanding storm clouds. In each storm cell, clouds are laced together by electric currents flowing through them. Today we're gonna see the best way to separate the clouds while preventing any damage to ourselves," Rainbow announced to her team. Behind her, Thunderlane was corralling small groups of charged clouds for them to practice with. "I'm going to put you into groups of three, while Thunderlane, Spitfire, and I supervise." Thunderlane moved four small groups of clouds into four different areas of the training grounds. Rainbow assigned Misty, Rapid, and Wave Chill to one group, Blaze, Sun Chaser, and Silver Zoom to another, Fleetfoot, Soarin, and Fire Streak to the third, and High Winds, Lightning Streak, and Surprise to the last.

"Alright everyone, each of your mini storm cells are made up of three clouds. Obviously, normal cells are much bigger and need an entire weather team to break it up should anything happen. There are three main roles that are split between the team. Containment, lightning control, and cloud slicing," Thunderlane listed off. "The studier ponies usually make up the lightning control group so... Rapid, Silver, Soarin, and Lightning are going to play that role for their groups. Cloud slicers are the speedy, agile ones. So they're going to be... Misty, Blaze, Fleetfoot, and Surprise are going to act as cloud slicers. And finally, containment needs to have ponies with good endurance so Wave, Sun, Fire, and High are going to fill those roles."

Spitfire, who was supervising the whole thing, stepped back to take mental notes on how to run this operation in the future. She smiled seeing how well the newest members were taking control of the practice. She watched as Rainbow guided everypony to their positions with lighting control below the clouds, cloud slicers at the ready to fly in from above, and containment ready on the outside of the clouds. One group at a time, Rainbow and Thunderlane activated the storm cells. They let the cells develop a bit on their own before Rainbow yelled, "Cloud slicers, break the clouds into smaller segments!"
Misty, Blaze, Surprise, and Fleetfoot dove into the cells and started separating the cell into smaller segments. Rapidfire, Silver, Soarin, and Lightning followed after them and bucked the clouds, emptying the lighting from the clouds by shooting it upwards. Meanwhile the containers were circling the cell, making sure no clouds strayed away.

Rainbow Dash was incredibly happy with how efficiently the rest of her teammates picked this up. The slicing was a bit uneven and the lightning handlers could buck more efficiently and in a safer manner, but overall they did very well. "Alright guys, that was really good! We're going to try that a few more times and we'll give tips every time."

"Umm, what happens if a slicer gets in the way of a lightning handler and ends up messing them up?" asked Surprise sheepishly. Rainbow chuckled a bit, sensing that Surprise was being slightly paranoid around lightning.

"Well after this workshop, hopefully you'll know enough to work together smoothly. But we'll also go over what to do if anything like that does happen."

"Okie dokie!" Surprise peeped contentedly.

For the rest of that training day, the Wonderbolts had repeated that process over and over again. Teams were switched up so that every member was well acquainted with one another during storms. Once everypony had gotten the feel of things, the four groups had become two, so that the cells were twice the size, but there were also six ponies managing it. That way they would know how to work with two ponies on the same job. Every so often, Spitfire would switch with somepony in the air so that she got to practice with the team as well. Rainbow would pick a pony who was struggling with something to switch with her in order to visually show them what to do.

By the end of that day, Rainbow decided that they were ready to try combining all four groups into a large storm cell, with four ponies on each role. She added Spitfire in there as well as a container. She and Thunderlane would encircle the cell to make sure that everything went smoothly. They had gone over what to do if anything happened, but all the same they wanted to be safe. "Everypony! T and I are going to charge the clouds and once we've activated it, it's all yours. Ready?"

"Yes ma'am," came the chorus from the other 'Bolts. Rainbow smiled and followed Thunderlane to create the cell.

Everything was running smoothly until Rapid got startled after a sharp zap from the lightning and broke formation. Blaze flew into him hard enough to run into Surprise, who had seen what happened and came to provide assistance. A pile up happened, and soon the clouds got more violent without any containment. At this point, Rainbow saw Thunderlane staring at her with a look as if to say, Let's go. The two dove down into the storm to reorganize their scrambled teammates. Fleetfoot and Misty were still slicing to try to pick up the slack of their fallen teammates, but they were falling behind due to the size of the storm. "Misty! Fleet! Keep slicing, I'll help," Rainbow ordered them and joined them in slicing. "High, Spits, Sun! Fly faster around this thing to try to further condense it!" She yelled as she flew past them.

"Rapid, go left! Lighting, take the right! Soarin, take the outside edges and Silver, take the middle!" Thunderlane barked as he joined them in trying to rid the clouds of their electricity. Surprise and Blaze recovered and continued slicing which was made easier by the smaller surface area of the clouds.

After a few minutes, the cell had been successfully broken up, and the 'Bolts were all sopping wet. "Okay, okay. That's enough for one day," Spitfire said, her mane flopping over her shoulder. "Thanks for getting our flanks back in check back there, you two," she addressed the weather workers.

"Anytime Spits!" came Rainbow's enthusiastic reply.

"No problem," agreed Thunderlane.

"Ponyville runs a smooth weather team that's for sure," Silver Zoom remarked. His normally curly mane was frizzy around the tips and also managed to be wet at the same time.

"Thanks! Dealing with Everfree weather taught us a bit about extreme weather," Rainbow chuckled in response.

"Yeah, that was fun, but can we please dry off?" asked Blaze. Celestia knew the mare hated getting wet. She was standing there with her wings outstretched and pointing to the ground. She was hunched over looking like a frustrated feline that had gotten a bucket of water dumped over her head.

"Sure thing Blaze. I set out towels in the rec room this morning so we'll just head there for a while," Spitfire said. Everypony sighed in relief, all wanting to dry their feathers and stop the constant dripping from their manes into their eyes.

They headed into the rec room and each pony grabbed a towel and wrapped themselves up. Rainbow's towel was large enough to cover her entire body and head at once. She scooted closer to Soarin and parked herself right next to him. He looked down at her and smiled. He wrapped his wing around her and drew her bundled figure into his side. She returned the smile and nuzzled his foreleg. She had been more open to small affections like this in the recent weeks, so the two were happy making progress.

"You did great today Dashie. I knew that weather was complex, but weather ponies sure make it look easier than it is." He laughed. "We're elite flyers and we ended up jumbled and soaked."

"Yeah, it's not always sunshine and... You know what, I'm not gonna finish that phrase. But you know what I mean. Weather is usually a fun job, but storms can be scary to work with, especially if they're super strong or out of control," she answered.

"Does one's build really affect their resistance to lightning that much? I mean, you put Silver and I on lightning duty because we're some of the taller and stronger stallions. Does size really matter?" He was genuinely curious. He remembered learning this as a colt, but it never really stuck, as he had never needed to know it after graduating from school.

"It actually does. Since I'm smaller than anypony I've ever seen other than young colts and fillies, and I have an extremely low body mass, if I were to be struck by lightning, it would either hurt really badly, or injure me if it hit me in the right spot. You stallions are more dense, so if lightning struck you, it wouldn't feel as bad or do any major damage. Average ponies like the rest of them would definitely feel the lighting and may have some injuries," she explained. Soarin looked impressed that she knew all of this. A sly smile crossed his face.

"But then, some ponies have lightning handling as part of their special talent like, well.. Lightning Streak." The mare laughed at the joke, no matter how bad it was. She pressed up closer to him and giggled once more. "I mean, he's the same height as me, but way thinner and has a much more elegant build to him." Rainbow nodded to confirm that he was correct. "So, have you ever been struck by lightning? You have a really sick pain tolerance, but that doesn't prevent injuries. Did you find out the hard way how badly it hurts?" The mare cringed slightly but smiled at the few memories that came to her.

"Oh definitely. I've been struck a few times. Most of the times I've just had to take things really slowly for a couple of days after the fact, but once I had to be carried while unconscious to the hospital by a coworker. I was in the hospital for a week with some nasty burns. And all the times its hurt like shit. Not enough to keep me down though," she added, removing her head from his leg with a smarmy grin. Soarin rolled his eyes playfully and rubbed her side with his wing.

"Of course Dashie. Of course." She rested against him once more. The rest of the 'Bolts chatted with each other for a while more before continuing their evening rituals.

Author's Note

Just for reference, this happens about two weeks after the last chapter happened. From here on out, time will past pretty quickly, since if I wrote this going day by day, it would go on forever. So if certain details seem like they're going faster than expected, it's because there's some time between each chapter.
ps. I did my best with the weather stuff, so I hope it makes sense. I honestly had no idea how it works. I did come up with the idea that they didn't do a lot involving weather after watching the Summer Sun Setback episode.
I hope y'all enjoyed!
:)