A Series of Unexpected Events

After that kiss, the rest of Rain Flare’s day was a blur, as was the next week. The only things he could remember clearly were the few kisses that had followed the first over the past several days. Currently, he is hoping to get another as he trots happily towards the library. As he raises his hoof to knock on the door, it swings outward and narrowly misses his snout. Rainbow Dash notices who she almost hit with the door and turns her head away, chin up, trotting by her former friend. After recovering from the initial shock, Rain Flare shakes his head and walks inside.

"What was that all about?" he asks as he enters the main room.

"Humph, why don't you tell me?" Twilight responds, angrily rearranging the library.

"Ummm... Did I miss something?" he approaches his mare-friend cautiously.

"She told me what you said to her the other day. How you think she can't fend for herself and needs your help to get by."

"What!? That's not what I meant at all! I felt bad for not being in contact with her. I only said that maybe I could have helped if I hadn't been so wrapped up in my own life." Rain Flare says defensively.

"You, of all ponies, should know that she hates needing help. You've known her nearly as long as Fluttershy."

Rain Flare lets out a sigh and hangs his head, "you're right, it was a stupid suggestion. I'm sorry..."

Twilight turns toward the stallion.

"It doesn't matter if I forgive you, you didn't hurt me. Not directly at least. You need to go talk to her."

"I will, but maybe I should-" The unicorn cuts him off.

"Now, Rain Flare."

The guard bows to the powerful mare.

"Yes ma'am. As you command," he turns back the way he came and exits the library. Once outside, the stallion looks around for any sight of the cocky pegasus. When no signs of her presence arise, he spreads his wings and flies up to the clouds.

After several hours of searching around Ponyville and Cloudsdale, and getting thoroughly soaked by multiple cloud crashes, Rain Flare finds the rainbow-maned mare resting on a low flying cumulonimbus just big enough for her to lay on. The guard shakes himself to dislodge some of the stubborn droplets before floating down beside Rainbow Dash.

"The hay do you want? Here to offer me a place in Celestia's court?" The mare greets coldly.

"I do believe I owe you an apology... I didn't mean to upset you when I offered to help, I felt terrible for abandoning you the way I did. I never even thought to check on you to see how your life was going, I was too immersed in my own perfect world... I can only hope that you will forgive me for not being a better friend..." Rain Flare spills his guts to the obstinate mare, hanging his head lower and lower with each mention of his failure and selfishness.

Rainbow Dash snorts and rests her head on her hooves, "hey, it's not like I made any attempt to keep in touch with you either. It just bugs me that you got everything you wanted, and I'm stuck here in Ponyville..." catching what she just said, her cheeks flush slightly and she sits up, "not that there's anything wrong with Ponyville. I mean, sure it's not perfect, but it's pretty darn close. I've got awesome friends, I can fly between here and Cloudsdale, I'm head of the weather team, and everyone loves me. I'm a local star."

Rain Flare smiles at his old friend.

"Do you really think you could leave all of this for the Wonderbolts? Even if Spitfire herself asked you to?" Rainbow Dash smiles back at the stallion.

"No way, no how. Now, how about a race?"

That was the Rainbow Dash he had grown up with. Her cocky tone was back, along with that challenging gleam in her eyes.

"You're on."

"Sweet! Alright, from this cloud to Town Hall and back. On my go," both ponies get into ready positions, their wings poised for takeoff, their legs bent to give them an initial boost. "GO!" they shoot off like a cake from one of Pinkiepie's canons.

Both flapping as hard as they can, the Town Hall soon comes into view. Rain Flare stretches his body flatter to make himself more streamlined, allowing him to pull ahead of Rainbow Dash by a few inches. Seeing this, Rainbow Dash does the same and closes the gap, she then banks hard around the tower of Town Hall, sending the wind gauge whirling. Rain Flare takes the turn too loose and loses ground, he flaps hard to make it up and closes on the mare ahead of him. The pair is wing to wing as the finish comes into view. Rainbow drops into  thermal draft, giving her a speed boost and shooting her ahead of Rain Flare. The stallion drops down behind her, cursing himself for forgetting that trick, and flaps with all his might to catch up.  They come out of the current going quite fast, the sudden, thicker air slows Rainbow Dash down some, causing her opponent to rocket into her as he exits the thermal stream. They both tumble through the air and land entangled on the small cloud. After recovering from the event, they both burst into joyful laughter.

Twilight passes under a lone cloud and hears the pleasant sound of ponies enjoying themselves emanating from it. She looks up, lifting a hoof to shield her eyes from the sun, to see who it is. She spots a familiar Rainbow mane and recognizes the throaty chuckle of her special somepony. Smiling, the unicorn trots on, glad her friends are getting along once again.