“Cloudsdale won’t qualify without three flyers, and Ponyville won’t qualify without you!” exclaimed Soarin, letting his body collapse on the bed in defeat. He snuggled underneath the covers of the hospital bed, the same way he did after Spitfire and Fleetfoot told him that they were worried his wing wouldn’t be fine by the tryouts, presumably having somepony else replace him.

And look what good it did. He was in the same room with his replacement, who was the one he was conversing with. Said replacement was also a patient, having injured herself. Far worse than he was from the sounds of it when they first brought her in. The curtain had covered his view, and even then, her friends and teammates were present. He didn’t want to intrude on their privacy, so he waited to talk to the cerulean mare.

So when he drew back the curtain, he was startled by her state but kept his composure, continuing the conversation.

Accepting the harsh reality of the situation, Soarin turned over, hiding further under the sheets. “Too bad…” he sighed. He heard nothing from the mare. She was probably just as upset about the situation, maybe even processing and trying to accept the result of this ordeal. With the conversation seemingly over, he shut his eyes and let himself drift off.

“That’s it.” Soarin heard her snort, followed by the sounds of her sheets shuffling about. He immediately followed, sitting right up.

“Rainbow Dash, what’re you-?”

The restraints snapped, dropping Rainbow Dash on the bed. The shriek of pain he expected never came from the pegasus. Just a simple grunt.

Did she-? “You faked your injuries?” he asked as she jumped down from the bed.

Rainbow Dash didn’t turn around but instead approached the little Ponyville team flag on the ground, seemingly more interested in it.

Soarin saw her nudge the object with one of her bandaged forehooves. He still awaited her response.

For his patience, her silence didn’t last long. “I did. It was for a…” The cerulean mare scratched the back of her neck with the same hoof she nudged the flag with. “Not-so-good reason…” That’s when she turned around, her eyes sparkling with full confidence and determination. “But it worked out! Just not in the way I expected!” She scampered over to Soarin, lending him her hoof. “Come on! We gotta get back to the field if we want our teams to qualify!”

Soarin hesitated. Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, lied about her injuries for whatever reason. A reason Rainbow claimed to be silly. He quietly scoffed. Just the idea of lying was foolish enough.

But what slowly convinced him was the sheer determination in Rainbow’s face to fix everything. It’s the same energy he noticed from the rest of Ponyville’s team. It made him think about it a little longer, yet the longer he took to make a move, Rainbow didn't retract her hoof, keeping it extended.

She wasn’t lying about the situation working out for them in the end. If she hadn’t faked her injuries, she would’ve gone with either team. In the end, whoever she chose, one team wouldn’t have qualified.

He’d seen her team’s performance before his accident. They wouldn’t have stood a chance against Cloudsdale, or any of the other teams.

His worry about Ponyville not qualifying without her ran a bit deeper than the mere concern of being able to participate in the tryouts. He was fully aware of what Rainbow Dash was capable of. With talent like hers, a team like Ponyville would’ve made it through the tryouts. They wouldn’t be able to surpass the Cloudsdale team

Not like Cloudsdale would’ve qualified now that they were one member short.

Slowly, he hesitated to take her hoof, and as he did so, a thought repeated in his mind.

You're a strange pony, Rainbow Dash. And yet, her strangeness was the last push he needed to take her smaller hoof.

Though he didn’t really need assistance in getting up, the gesture was comforting. Her promise to make things right was present, bringing him confidence. The one thing that left him earlier as the two talked and figured out the predicament they found themselves in.

It was all he needed to rush after her, out of their shared room. With at least one wing bandaged up, the pair were presented with only one option: run. Being pegasi, they weren’t the fastest on hoof but were still going at a good speed. The doors to the hospital's lobby quickly came into view…

Only to be blocked by a crowd of staff. The two pegasi halted frantically, narrowly avoiding a crash that could’ve ultimately left them out of the tryouts.

Wouldn’t that have been something?

After a quick explanation, Soarin’s wing was unwrapped by the medics, and as soon as it was, he stretched it out, quelling the cramps from it being in place for so long.

It was this way Soarin discovered that Rainbow Dash… didn’t take too kindly to anypony touching her hooves.

As in looking them over or being carefully attended to.

She was perfectly fine with offering her hoof to him. She was perfectly fine with shaking hooves with others. It was just that type of treatment to her hooves that she was uncomfortable with.

Paired with her impatience, ready to confess to her friends, teammates, and the other Wonderbolts, it was a bad mix and wasting precious time. Time was running out as the tryouts neared closer and closer. They only had about an hour before they began, and if they wanted their teams to qualify for the games, they had to crunch in as much practice as they could in the little amount of time they had.

Eventually, the medics relented and let Rainbow Dash on her way, still bandaged up. He’d been waiting near the entrance of the hospital, watching the little ordeal go down with wide eyes. He reached to prop open the door, only for Rainbow Dash to beat him, holding it for him instead.

As they headed for their teams, Soarin came to one conclusion.

Rainbow Dash was weird. A good kind of weird. A type that he was interested in knowing more about. The kind he wanted to befriend.

Author's Note

I like how this one came out. Ending was inspired by this one scene from Sailor Moon (manga + crystal) , where Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru realizes that he wants to know Sailor Moon/Usagi better. Personally think that SoarinDash would be a similar situation but its pretty platonic from the start. Nothing romantic. Just a pony finding another pony interesting in a peculiar way that he wants to know more about her...

actually, that is pretty romantic BUT you get the point (hopefully) ^^;