Thanks to Miss Dark Angel for proofreading!
*********************************************************************
Rainbow Dash had no idea what the reason was for Cloudsdale cloud overproduction, but she knew that she was responsible for keeping the sky clean. During such days, her jobs seemed to be horribly pointless. She had realized a long time ago (thanks to Twilight) that the black clouds were byproducts from Cloudsdale weather factories, what in fact made her a garbagepony. Luckily for her, there was a problem with white clouds only. Long working hours, however, made her want to sleep all the time.
This day she was taking a nap before she actually started doing any work.
“Soarin’, come here” she mumbled, still sleeping. “Yeah, I love you too...”
"Hey, Rainbow! Have you seen this!?” Spike shouted at Rainbow, trying to wake her up. He heard a shout of angry pegasus, and, after a moment, Rainbow was leering at him from her cloud.
“I was just about to—um—never mind,” she said, rather irritated. “What is it?”
Spike waved a piece of parchment he held in his hand. “Come here and check it out! It’s surely better than your dream.”
Rainbow groaned, but flew down anyway. “I hope it’s important,” she said, grabbing the parchment.
“I bet you’re gonna love it,” Spike said, smiling.
“Ohmygosh! The Wonderbolts are gonna have a show in Ponyville next week! Soarin’s gonna be there!” she exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me before!?”
“Um, I’ve just found this leaflet,” Spike blurted out.
Rainbow ignored his answer and continued reading. After a moment, her wide grin began to disappear and was replaced by confusion.
“Something’s wrong, Rainbow?” Spike asked.
“This won’t be a usual show or race. Soarin’ is gonna beat a record in flight altitude.” She said, her eyebrows raised and her mouth slighlty agape.
“Yeah! Isn’t that great? He’s gonna fly where nopony ever flew!” Spike exclaimed, throwing his hands up for emphasis.
Rainbow grimaced. “Meh, boring!” she said, crumpling the leaflet. “You know, Soarin’ is cool, and I mean really cool, but—what kind of record is this? Just flying up and nothing else. I would beat that record any moment.”
“Yeah, sure,” Spike commented, sarcasm strong in his voice. “Why won’t you do it then?”
“Maybe I will,” she answered and then flew back on her cloud.
Spike rubbed the back of his head. He had expected that his friend would be excited about the Wonderbolts’ show. Having no sensible explanation, he shrugged and walked away.
**********
Rainbow was lying on her cloud, frowning.
“Who would want to watch such a boring show? I thought that the Wonderbolts do only cool things!” she said, looking at the sky above her. “Is there anything cool in this? Hm—”
Rainbow could understand that Soarin’ would want to break the speed record. Or the longest flying record. But the flight altitude? Nopony would even see him break it because he would be too far away from the ground.
“Actually, what’s the flight altitude record? How high would I have to fly—” Rainbow wondered.
She sat up on the cloud. “Twilight will surely know. She knows everything!” she said to herself and dashed off to the library.
******
Rainbow stormed into the library, scaring Spike so much that he curled up in a fetal position, trembling.
“No, Rainbow. I still don’t have the newest Daring Do book,” Twilight said uncertainly. “But you might want to read something else. I have a great book about history of Equestria!”
Rainbow stuck her tongue out. “Oh, come on, Twilight. History books are for eggheads!”
“How come I didn’t see this answer coming?” Twilight commented. “So, how may I help you?”
“I need to know what is the flight altitude record! Quick!” she said, walking nervously in circles.
“Hm... I think it should be in ‘Pegasi-related sports.’ Spike!” Twilight said indifferently, ordering her assisstant.
“I’m on it!” he said, standing up from the floor.
Spike ran to another room. After a while, he returned, dragging a huge carton with ‘Useless books’ written on it. He began searching through it, throwing books on the ground. Rainbow walked up to him and looked at them. The titles included ‘Ponies and Sport’, ‘Best Fliers in History’ and ‘Hoofball and You’.
“And why are they useless?” Rainbow asked, raising her eyebrow.
Twilight grinned sheepishly. “You know. Nopony wants to read about sports. They just do it.”
“I see—”
“Found it!” Spike exclaimed.
Twilight grabbed the book (and Spike’s fist) with her magical aura, making Spike fly with the book towards her and hit the floor after she released him. “You should be more careful, Spike,” she said and began searching through the pages.
“Oh, there it is. The flight altitude record was beaten fifty years ago by Cloud Punisher who reached—” Twilight read but suddenly stopped, raising her eyebrows. “Who reached the altitude of fifty kilometers!”
Rainbow’s jaw dropped. Spike helped her close it, chuckling. The pegasus shook his head and then said proudly, “That’s it? I’d make it sixty kilometers!”
“I don’t think that—” Twilight began.
“You think I, Rainbow Dash, can’t beat that record!?” she asked, frowning at Twilight.
“No, but—”
“Fine. See you at the Wonderbolts’ show, then,” the pegasus said angrily, and flew out of the library.
“This won’t end well,” Twilight and Spike said in unison.
*****
Rainbow was lying on a cloud, her forelegs folded on her chest.
“I don’t get it. What’s a big deal? It’s just flying up. Speed is not even important,” she murmured to herself.
Spike observed her from the ground, chuckling.
“Hey, Rainbow. You’re training very hard to beat that record!” he shouted at the pegasus, startling her. She almost fell from the cloud as a result.
“Um, I don’t need to train. I’m the most awesome pony in Equestria, and this record will be my warm-up before a training session that day!” she said, fake confidence strong in her voice.
“I think—that you are too confident, you know?” Spike commented.
“So?”
“Um, Rainbow. We’ve known each other for some time. We’ve been through many adventures together. Haven’t you learned anything from them?” Spike seemed to be resigned by Rainbow’s attitude.
“What do you mean?” she asked him, frowning.
“Look, it’s not the first time you’re trying to do something—um—stupid. Every time you do such a thing, it backfires and you end up writing a letter to Princess Celestia. Was there ever a moment after you had came up with the idea of beating the flight altitude record with no preparation when you thought ‘This actually might backfire’. Was there?” he asked, his eyes half-open, and sighed.
“No?” Rainbow answered, unsure of Spike’s intentions.
“No. Because you are the only bearer of the Elements of Harmony who never learns from their own mistakes,” Spike said, raising his voice.
Rainbow gave him a confused look.
“Well, Twilight doesn’t seem to learn a lot too—”, he spoke after a moment of hesitation. “Anyway, don’t you remember that time you wanted to perform the Sonic Rainboom and flew through Roseluck’s house? You hit the wall inside the house, and then landed in the hospital with a concussion and a broken foreleg. Don’t you remember that?”
“Um, not exactly,” she answered, laughing nervously.
Spike frowned.
“Oh, come on, Spike. What can possibly go wrong with this? I know it’s high but I’m a pegasus, right? I can’t fall on the ground! If I get tired, which won’t happen of course, I will safely land on a cloud,” Rainbow explained with a smile.
“Right—”
“Now, be a good friend, and let me take a nap,” she said sarcastically, taking a more comfortable position on the cloud.
“Actually, Twilight sent me here to bring you this book,” Spike said, picking up a book he had put earlier on the ground.
“Is this the newest Daring Do!?” Rainbow asked with excitement and flew down to the dragon. “It doesn’t look like a Daring Do book,” she commented disappointedly.
“No. It’s a book on Equestrian atmosphere and stratosphere. Twilight said it might help you break the record!” Spike said, giving the book to Rainbow.
The pegasus flinched. “Oh, yeah! A unicorn teaching a pegaus how to fly! Books! Is she kidding!?” Rainbow flew back on her cloud. “I’m gonna relax and accumulate some energy for the show,” she said confidently.
Spike frowned. “And, obviously, you don’t think right now that what you’re doing might backfire.”
“Nope. Everything’s gonna be fine,” Rainbow assured Spike and waved to him, suggesting that he should go.
“Fine. But don’t cry that no one warned you!” he said angrily and walked off. After he took a few steps, he could hear loud snoozing. He did not have to turn around to guess who was making that noise.
*******
All the bearers of the Elements of Harmony (except for Rainbow) and Spike met at the Sugarcube Corner.
“Have you seen Dashie lately?” Pinkie asked sadly, looking expectantly at her friends.
“She’s probably home, reading the book I gave her. It might help her prepare to the tomorrow’s Wonderbolt event,” Twilight said, smiling.
“Actually, she didn’t want to read that book. And called you an egghead. As usual,” Spike commented.
“But Ah haven’t seen her train either!” Applejack said, rubbing her chin. “She usually has her training sessions ‘round the Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Meh. I think she was just showing off with this record. She’s now hiding somewhere, hoping we forget about it,” Spike said, rolling his eyes.
“Rainbow visited me yesterday,” Fluttershy began, lowering her head as all her friends looked at her, “and she talked about the record all the time. She seems to be very confident about beating it. She doesn’t train because she wants to save her energy for that day.”
“She’s definitely too confident, if I may say so,” Twilight said, frowning.
“So, should we come up with some mischevious plan to thwart her aim for the record, tempering her enormously overgrown self-confidence as a result?” Pinkie Pie blurted out the question, confusing everyone in the room.
“Pinkie, what—” Twilight began.
“You know, like that time we all were Mare-Do-Well and passive-aggressively humiliated Rainbow!” Pinkie said, bouncing happily around the table.
“Well, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Twilight said, making Pinkie’s lip flicker and her eyes fill with water. “Besides, Princess Celestia did not approve this method.”
“So, what are we going to do, darling?” Rarity asked with fake interest.
“Well, Rainbow ignored my advice. You know how stubborn she can be. I’m afraid she can learn anything only the hard way,” Twilight said, leaning her head against her hoof.
“So—” Spike began.
“So we let her do whatever she decides to do. If her plan backfires on her, she will have an occasion to write a letter to Princess Celestia, describing why she should have listened to good advices from her friends,” Twilight explained, smirking.
“Sounds like a great idea!” Pinkie exclaimed. Other ponies nodded in agreement.
“This won’t end well,” Spike mumbled.
*******
Rainbow was sleeping in her own bed, which, on a side note, did not happen too often. The sunlight was filling the bedroom but Rainbow couldn’t care less. She could sleep at any time of a day.
She opened her eyes slowly and yawned. She just had a nice dream—she was one of the Wonderbolts and won the first prize at some unidentified contest. Dreams apparently do come true. At least during nights.
Rainbow slowly got up and walked to the kitchen, where she drank a glass of water. She licked her wet lips and, after a while of staring at the wall made of clouds, she returned to her bed. She might’ve woken up but it did not mean she could not return to her dream.
She found a comfortable position in her bed and closed her eyes. “The Wonderbolts...” she murmured. After a while, she covered her head with the blanket as she realized that the sunlight is actually disturbing.
Suddenly, Rainbow sat up in her bed, throwing the blankets away.
“Ohmygosh! I’m gonna be late for the show!” she shouted and flew out of the house.
While she was flying to the site of the show, she wondered if it is safe to pull off the Sonic Rainboom so close to the ground and the town in particular. Spike talking about stupid ideas that backfire actually stuck in her head.
Rainbow was lucky. She could see Soarin’ standing on the ground. It meant he had not started yet. There was also a big crowd of ponies, which suggested that the event was about to begin. She nearly hit the ground with her body when she landed next to her friends.
“Hi, Rainbow. We thought you’re gonna miss the show!” Twilight said.
“I-I just didn’t want to waste my time, you know, so I came here at the last moment, heh,” she said with a fake smile.
“Yeah, I see—” Twilight commented. She wanted to say more, but she was interrupted by the commentator.
“Ladies and gentlecolts! It’s only fifteen minutes left before Soarin’ begins his dangerous journey to the sky!” he shouted through a magically enchanted megaphone.
“Alright, it’s time to act!” Rainbow Dash said to herself and flew towards the scene.
“Looks like we have a fan intruding the scene! Security!” the commentator said.
Rainbow shoved him away and spoke through the loud speaker, “I, Rainbow Dash, want to challenge Soarin’!”
Confused mutterings could be heard from the crowd.
“I can fly higher than Soarin’!” she announced. After a while, laugh mixed up with disbelief was heard from the crowd.
Spitfire whispered something to Soarin’. He shrugged. She gave him an irritated look, and then walked up to the megaphone. “The Wonderbolts accept the challenge!”
“Yeah!” Rainbow began her victory dance.
“When you are done, put on your pressure suit. We don’t wanna postpone the show, you know.” Spitire giggled. “If you have one.”
Rainbow raised her eyebrow. “A pressure suit?”
Spitfire chuckled. “You know, it’s a kind of a jacket that protects you from low temperatures and pressure changes.”
Rainbow snorted. “Only softies need such things.”
“As you wish. It’s gonna be fun. For us, of course,” Spitfire said spitefully, and walked away.
Twilight trotted up to Rainbow. “Rainbow! Haven’t you read that book I gave you!?” she asked, looking at her friend reproachfully.
“No?”
“You can’t beat the record without a suit! It’s impossible! You’re going to die up there!” Twilight said worriedly.
“How would I know that!?” Rainbow asked, clearly irritated.
“If you had read the book, you would’ve known that,” Twilight said resignedly. “Haven’t you learned anything from the Running of the Leaves last year? I had read a book, and then I beat you in running.”
“Um, that was mainly beginner’s luck,” Rainbow said, trying to avoid the eye contact with her friend.
Twilight groaned and then she walked up to Spitfire. “Hey, is it possible to, you know, postpone the event for, let’s say, a day?” she asked, grinning far too widely.
“No,” the pegasus answered sternly.
“Oh, alright. One more question. Do you have a spare pressure suit?”
“No.”
Twilight laughed nervously. “Fine, heh. Good luck.” She turned around and ran up to Rainbow.
“Well, Rainbow, I tried to help. I gave you a book you wouldn’t find on your own, but you didn’t read it. I tried to negotiate with the Wonderbolts but they were relentless. So, if you want to do another crazy and dangerous thing, ignoring good advices, go on. Maybe this time you will finally learn something. Good luck,” Twilight said with an accusatory tone, and walked away.
When Twilight returned to the crowd, Spike said, “I overheard your conversation with Spitfire. You’re doing a helluva good job at the negotiating table.” He chuckled.
“Ha ha ha!” Twilight laughed sarcastically. “Very funny. Anyway, where’s Rarity?”
“Oh, she said she would try to sew a pressure suit for Rainbow, and ran to her boutique,” Spike answered.
“She doesn’t have a lot of time, does she?” Twilight raised her brow.
“Oh, she also wanted you to cast some kind of a time-slowing spell.”
“I must admit that ponies’ faith in my abilities never ceases to flatter me,” Twilight said. She couldn’t decide if she should smile or facehoof.
“Anyway, are you sure we shouldn’t stop Rainbow from flying up? You said she might—um—die,” Spike said, shivering.
“She won’t die. She will surely return before she reaches the dangerous altitude. You don’t think I would let my friend do something really dangerous, right?”
“Um, actually—” he answered uncertainly.
“No, Spike! She is my friend. And the bearer of the Element of Loyalty. Letting her die would be absolutely against everything I learned over my stay here in Ponyville! I would disappoint Princess Celestia, if something happened to Rainbow Dash!” Twilight ranted, her voice raising, anger appearing on her usually joyful face. “Who would replace her if she died!?”
“Um, me?” Spike replied, smiling sheepishly.
Twilight rubbed her chin, still frowning. “I see what you did here—to be honest, I find this situation very convenient.”
“Huh?”
“This way we do have a replacement for Rainbow if something goes wrong,” Twilight said in a deadpan manner.
Spike managed not to shout in joy upon hearing this. His dream of becoming the part of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony had a tiny chance to come true! And he could replace the best element of all of them, the one that would suit him best – Loyalty! He was loyal to Twilight after all, so that was his element, right?
“Spike, why are you staring at me this way?” Twilight asked, shrinking back.
The dragon shook his head. “Uh-oh, nothing.”
“Another Rarity daydream?” she asked, giggling.
Spike blushed. “Uh, yeah, that was it, heh.”
****
Rainbow was glaring at Soarin’ who was smiling and waving at the crowd of his fans. The pressure suit he had on was bothering her. She was not able to conceive why he was wearing something so uncomfortable. Soarin’ looked as if he was wearing a big box. Only his wings were wrapped in something shiny and flexible. Normally, she would admire his handsome look, but he looked incredibly ridiculous with this box on.
“Why do you need this stupid suit?” she asked him finally.
“So I won’t die up there,” he answered, grinning.
“Huh?”
“Um, I’m not much into science, you know. Spitfire tried to explain it to me but she lost me at the first word I didn’t get,” he said, smiling sheepishly.
“What was that word?” Rainbow asked curiously. She didn’t realize they went off-topic there.
“Pressure,” he answered.
“Right—you think I can manage without it?” Rainbow asked, looking closer at Soarin’s wings.
“Maybe—”
Rainbow was just about to comment on it, but she was interrupted by the commentator who shouted into his megaphone, “Let the counting begin!”
“10... 9... 8...” the crowd started counting. Soarin’ put on his glass helmet. Spitfire helped him attach the pipe to his oxygen tank.
“Now, quit it, kid,” Spitfire snarled at Rainbow. “You had your five minutes in the spotlight, but this is not a game.”
“No way!” Rainbow shouted, stomping her hoof.
Spitfire took out a parchment. “Fine. Only sign this paper. It won’t allow you to sue us if something goes wrong.”
“Huh?” Rainbow tilted her head to the side.
“2... 1... GO!!!” the crowd finished the counting.
Soarin’ started to fly. His motion was very slow. Rainbow panicked for a moment, her concentration torn apart between the parchment and Soarin’. After a moment she took off, speeding up. After a while she was far away from the ground, while Soarin’ struggled to fly.
“That won’t end well,” Spitfire commented, and then sighed loudly.
Rainbow looked behind and saw no sign of Soarin’. She suddenly stopped and hovered in the air. “What the buck?” she asked herself, rubbing her mane. She flew up to the nearest cloud and sat on it. “Just great. They tricked me into flying away from them. Inconsiderate celebrities. How come I’m actually their fan!?”
She stared at the ground, frowning. Moments later, she spotted the shape of a flying box. She shrugged, and flew down towards him.
Soarin’ was slowly gaining height. He seemed to be perfectly healthy, no signs of fatigue. He waved at Rainbow, when he saw her.
“What’s wrong with you!?” she shouted angrily, accidentally hitting his helmet with her face. It startled him and made him lose his balance. Soarin’, however, managed not to fall down.
“Have you gone mad!?” he shouted inside the glass sphere. Rainbow barely could hear him.
“I can’t hear you!” she teased him.
He took off the helmet. “My gosh. Why do I actually need to have this on my head?”
“Seems kinda pointless,” Rainbow said, spreading her forelegs.
“Yeah. I’ll just throw it away.” He released the helmet from his hooves and it began to fall towards the ground.
“And the oxygen tank, maybe?” Rainbow suggested.
“Good idea,” he said, dropping the tank.
“What about the suit?”
“I don’t know. Spitfire told me that I need to wear it at all times. She didn’t say the same about the helmet, though,” Soarin’ explained.
“Seems legit.” Rainbow smirked. “So, let’s start the actual race!”
“Yeah!”
******
“... and then he said he liked-liked me! Can you believe that girls!? Me and Caramel!? That was the funniest thing I’d ever heard!” Pinkie was shooting words out of her mouth. Suddenly, her tail twitched. “Uh! My tail is twitcha-twitchy!”
“Sumethin’s gonna fall, huh?” Applejack asked, looking around nervously.
“Ohmygosh! Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted, looking at the sky. “Watch out!” she screamed, jumping aside.
“Huh?” Pinkie gave her a puzzled look and then Soarin’s helmet fell on the pink pony’s head. “Woohoo! A fish tank! I always wanted to have one!” she exclaimed, muffled by the glass sphere around her head. “But my tail is still twitchy.”
The oxygen tank fell on Twilight’s head. She could not fall as she was already lying on the ground, covering her eyes with her hooves, but she surely lost her conscioussness. Her friends and other ponies standing nearby screamed. Some of them began to run away in fear. The crowd psychology effect quickly turned happy spectators into a terrified mob of ponies trying to escape from unidentified and actually unreal danger.
Pinkie just stared at her own tail. “I think that’s it. No more twitching.”
Twilight opened her eyes. “Mommy?” she mumbled, her eyes rolling around independently off each other.
“Are you all right?” Spike asked worriedly, coming closer to his stepmother.
“Is blood leaking from my ears?” she asked, spreading confusion.
“Um, no?” Spike answered uncertainly.
“Then I’ll be fine,” she proclaimed, slowly lifting her trembling body. “But I’d better go home and never get out again,” she added, staggering away. Spike sighed, and then followed her.
Spitfire watched the whole scene. She pawed her hoof on the ground several times, hitting it harder each time. Finally, she rose from the ground and began flying up.
“Please, calm down!” the commentator shouted through his megaphone as he observed the running crowd. “Everything is all right! Spitfire is not flying to rescue Soarin’ because nothing fell from the sky. Please, do not panic and, more importantly, do not sue the Wonderbolt Flying Team for damages!”
****
Rainbow was hovering in the air with her forlegs folded on her chest. She let out a deep sigh. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked Soarin’ when he was flying next to her. His movement was painfully slow to watch.
“Sorry, I can’t fly faster in this,” he answered, wiping sweat off his forehead.
“Just get rid of it then!”
“But Spitfire—”
“Spitfire-schmitfire! You wanna race or not!?” Rainbow asked and then gritted her teeth, making a crackling sound.
“I wanna race,” he mumbled.
“What was that?” Rainbow asked, pretending she had not heard him.
“I wanna race.”
“Louder!”
“I. WANNA. RACE!” he yelled.
“That’s my boy! Now lemme help you with this.”
They landed safely on a nearby cloud. Rainbow began to battle against a stubborn buckle that kept Soarin’s suit together. After a few hard yanks, she managed to open it. “Seriously, why did she make you wear this!? It’s tight and limits your moves.” Rainbow rubbed her chin.
“I don’t know. Anyway, it’s kinda embarrassing to ask you about this but—could you help me take these pants off? I don’t think I can do it alone.” Soarin’ smiled sheepishly, blushing.
“Sure,” Rainbow answered and went on to fulfil his request.
She heard a loud gasp. And then the second gasp. They looked at the source of the sound and saw Spitfire hovering nearby.
“Oh, hi Spits,” Soarin’ greeted her. “Everything is going fine.”
“And what you two are doing here!?” she shouted and then started to breath deeply.
“Um, I’m helping Soarin’ take his pants off,” Rainbow answered uneasily.
“I can see that! But why now!?” she shouted, covering her eyes. “He was going to break the record!”
“Well, he still can do it,” Rainbow said, raising her eyebrow.
“But not today! He is way too tired and he is not in his suit!” Spitfire was on the edge of crying. “Do you have any idea how much did we pay to organize this event!?”
“He doesn’t need this stupid suit,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes.
“He does need it! Do you even know what the pressure suit is!?”
“Um—”
“Of course you don’t! Gah! I’m totally gonna sue you for ruining everything!” Spitifre shouted.
“For what!?” Rainbow asked, shrinking away to the edge of the cloud.
Spitfire bit her lip. After a while she said, “I will think of something. And you,” she looked at Soarin’, “Your future earnings will be reduced by seventy percent until you pay off the bills for the event.” Then, she just flied back to the ground.
Rainbow and Soarin’ stood motionlessly on the cloud for a long while. Rainbow finally returned to her task of helping Soarin’ take off his pants. When she accomplished this ridiculously difficult task, Soarin’ spoke, “Is seventy per cent a lot?”
“I will ask Twilight later,” Rainbow answered quickly. She had no idea about math—she usually left such matters for eggheads. “Help you with the jacket too?”
“Sure.”
Rainbow had no idea why the race was over, but as the realization of the fact was sinking in, she could feel a weird, unfamiliar feeling in her body. She felt warmth and her forlegs were shuddering. Could it be—.
“Oh my gosh,” she said quietly.
“Huh?”
“Nothing!”
When she was racing Soarin’, he was just a rival. Now, she recollected that he was her secret crush. Only a pony like Rainbow could forget such a thing. Her dream of being the best flyer in Equestria covered her dream of being Soarin’s marefriend. I’m not the Element of Love for sure, she thought, facehoofing.
Another mare would be happy to be with her crush alone in the sky. But Rainbow was not prepared for such a situation.
“Are you alright? You’ve been staring at my hindquarters for several minutes now and it creeps me out, Miss, um, I don’t think I remember your name,” Soarin’ said expressionlessly.
“R-r-rainbow D-dash!” she stammered.
He looked at her colorful mane. “Well, makes sense to me.”
Rainbow gulped.
“Sometimes I think that parents should be more original when it comes to naming their children,” he said.
“Yeah, absolutely,” she blurted out, covering her chest trying to slow down beating of her heart.
“You know what Miss Rainbow? I have to say I admire your attitude. That was awesome. It was the first time anypony challenged any of the Wonderbolts!”
“That’s—great,” she answered, grinning far too widely.
Now or never, she thought. “I love you!” she blurted out and then covered her mouth.
“What was that?” he asked, turning his head around to look at her.
“Nothing!”
“I could swear I heard—”
“Nothing!”
“Fine—” he said, raising his eyebrow. “Now, please, help me with this box on my body.”
“Yeah, right,” she said, and began to unlocking buckles on the box, which was his jacket at the same time. She was shaking and could not stop it.
“You seem to be nervous,” he said softly.
“I-I-I, I just realized we are extremely high in the air and—” She bit her lip. What a stupid excuse – a pegasus with a fear of heights? It could be Fluttershy but not her!
“Yeah, whenever I think of this it always feels a bit weird,” he admitted uncertainly. “Let’s say, you feel dizzy, stagger a bit and, before you notice, you’re nose-diving towards the ground. I wonder how many pegasi have died this way.”
The creepy grin on Rainbow’s face began to widen. Say something, say something, say something!, she thought. “Would you—”
“No, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t die.”
“Oh, I mean—gah!” she let out a loud sigh. You only live once, Rainbow! Do it!, she heard Fluttershy’s voice in her head.
“Huh?” she spoke aloud.
“I’m one of the Wonderbolts. How could I die?” Soarin’ asked uncertainly, pawing his foreleg on the cloud.
A little Pinkie Pie appeared in front of her. Come on, Dashie! Tell him everything! It’s gonna be funa-fun-fun, the image of her friend spoke, giggling.
“I dunno,” Rainbow said.
“You see? I wouldn’t die,” Soarin’ said triumphantly.
“What the heck am I seeing?” she asked.
“Um, the best of the Wonderbolts?” Soarin answered, apparently worried about the mare’s mental state.
Oh, silly! I’m just your imagination. And Fluttershy here is your conscience. Doesn’t it make sense?, the little Pinkie asked.
“No,” Rainbow said.
“Fine. Spitfire is better but I’m the best stallion pegasus in the Wonderbolts team, alright?” Soarin’ said, clearly irritated.
You only live once, Dashie! Doooooo it!, the image of Pinkie sang.
“Right! I’m Rainbow Dash! The most awesome and bravest pony in Equestria! I’m gonna do this!” she shouted, making Soarin’ cower in apparent fear.
“Um, M-miss D-dash? A-are you all right?” he stuttered.
“Yes!” She came closer to him. “You are going to be my coltfriend,” she said firmly, nearly touching his muzzle with her nose.
He looked blankly at her. This was quite a new situation for him. Of course, mares seemed to be attracted to him and many of them were watching the Wonderbolts’ shows only to see him, but none of them actually spoke this way to him. The conversations with his female fans were usually limited to lines like: “Ohmygosh, Soarin’! Sign my flank!” or “I love you, Soarin’!”, the latter being typically followed by a faint.
“I will take your silence as a ‘yes’,” she said, smiling.
“Um, actually, me and Spitfire—” he began.
“What? Don’t tell me she is your marefriend,” Rainbow said, frowning.
“No, but I’m working on it,” he explained, blushing.
Rainbow’s heart was pacing crazily. She realized she was in an awkward situation and could do nothing else but go on. “You’ll forget about her lickety-split.”
“Um, I don’t thi—“ he began, but was silenced by Rainbow’s mouth pressing against his own. He tried to push her away. Rainbow, however, embraced him with her strong forelegs. After a short struggle, he managed to free himself. “What the—“ He was silenced again.
*******
Spitfire informed everyone in the crowd that the event was over, and the record would not be broken until next month. She assured the fans that Soarin’ was fine but the suit tore, which made him abandon his attempt. Spitfire said no word about Rainbow Dash, and obviously did not mention what she had seen happening on the cloud.
“It was rather disappointing, if you asked me,” Rarity said to Fluttershy. “I really hoped I could sew the pressure suit for her, but it needs at least a few days of work.”
“Yes. But I hope Rainbow is right. She had no suit after all,” the yellow pegasus commented.
“She’ll be fine. Ah’m only worried about Twilight. She didn’t look too good,” Applejack said, carefully observing the sky.
Meanwhile, Pinkie managed to take off the ‘fish tank’ from her head. She threw it away, accidentally hitting Derpy, who was just flying by. The grey mare smiled, and flew away with the helmet. She would later complete the ponynaut costume with the pants and the jacket borrowed from Rarity, who would actually sew the pressure suit to excercise her sewing skills.
“Oh, lookie-lookie! Rainbow and Soarin’ are coming here! Heey, Dashie!” Pinkie exclaimed, waving at her friend.
“Huh?” Applejack raised her eyebrow. “Oh, there they are. Ah think Ah should visit an eye doctor.”
Sweetie Belle ran up to her sister. “Rarity, there is a client waiting for you at the boutique. He looks important!” she said excitedly. “And smashing!” She winked.
“Oh, really, I’m going the—“ She looked at her friends. “Oh, Sweetie. I think he will have to wait. Friends before clients! I won’t go anywhere until Rainbow tells us everything!” she said, smiling awkwardly. Stupid magic of friendship, she thought.
Rainbow and Soarin’ landed safely next to them. Rainbow was smiling widely, but Soarin’ was acting rather strangely, looking at Rainbow all the time with his heart-shaped pupils.
“So, tell us what happened, tell us what happened!” Pinkie was bouncing around Rainbow and Soarin’.
“Well, I didn’t break the record, but I won anyway!” she said, embracing the stallion.
“Huh?” asked all the ponies in unison.
“Soarin’ is mine now! I mean, he is my coltfriend,” she said, stroking his mane. “Am I right, Soarie?” He nodded mindlessly in answer.
“Soarie? You already have a nickname for him! How cute,” Pinkie cooed.
“If she were a unicorn, I would say she cast a love spell on him,” Rarity whispered to Fluttershy, who gave her a terrified look.
Pinkie gasped. “I totally need to throw a ‘Dashie-got-her-first-coltfriend’ party!” she exclaimed and then ran away.
“Ah guess that now you’re gonna make it to the Wonderbolts in no time,” Applejack said.
“Meh, maybe, but doesn’t really matter now,” she said, looking at Soarin’.
“Care to tell us what happened in the sky?” Rarity asked meaningfully.
Rainbow looked at Sweetie Belle. “I think that’s a story for another time. Well, thanks for your support and all, but Soarin’ and I will be going. Say bye to my friends, Soarin’,” Rainbow said, nudging her coltfriend. Soarin’ waved awkwardly and flew away with Rainbow.
“Well, that was—peculiar,” Rarity said uncertainly, “like in a bad romance novel. They were rivals, then something happened and now they are together.”
“Maybe, but Ah’m gonna call it a ‘happy ending’,” Applejack commented.
“But why such things never happen to me,” Rarity murmured, and then shouted, “Ohmygosh! The client!”
Her friends watched her gallop away, much to everypony’s confusion.
“Well, I think we should check on Twilight now,” Applejack suggested, and other ponies nodded in agreement.
“So... Did they buck?” Sweetie Belle asked suddenly.
THE END
High in the sky was a small device sent there by technicians from the Wonderbolts’ team. It was designed to register the first pony to reach fifty kilometers altitude. Even though the project was postponed, the gizmo had to float there, thanks to a powerful unicorn spell.
It was still a week until Soarin’s second try on breaking the record, but a pegasus in a pressure suit was approaching the device. The pony was grey and had googly eyes.
Derpy had found an oxygen tank, which was the last thing she needed to complete the pressure suit. She had put it on and had begun to fly up.
Now she was breaking the record that Soarin’ was still planning to beat, and nopony could stop her from doing so. As she accidentally hit the device, it registered her appearance, sending a magical message to the Equestrian Record Registry clerk.
“Fifty kilometers?” she read the message displayed on the device. “I’d better go back.”
She smiled and began flying back to the ground.
