Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and took a deep breath, only focusing on the wind in her mane, and the soft sound of the air beneath her wings.  It was a warm Summer night just after the Gala, and she was on her way back home to Ponyville. The rest of her friends had hopped in the carriage Twilight had made for them, but for some reason even Rainbow Dash herself did not understand, she wanted to fly home. She handed her dress to Rarity, thanked her for her hard work, and then promptly took off.  The winds were calm, the temperature was perfect…

“A perfect night for flying” she said to herself. She glided for several minutes, occasionally flapping her wings with an audible “flumf” to keep her at her current altitude.

"If only I had someone to share it with..."

The Pegasus focused on the quiet howl of the wind as it passed by her ears, and the brisk cool on her face as she flew. This is why she loved flying. It was the ultimate sense of freedom anypony could ever experience. She wondered briefly how unicorns and earth ponies could stand not being able to fly. Not being able to feel that sense of joy that came from soaring through the clouds, with the wind in your mane and the view of the world from on high. Flying made her feel alive.

But still, something was missing. It was so... Solitary.

Dash decided it was time to open her eyes to check if she was on the correct bearing home. She must have been tilted to the left, as she was now facing the majestic mountains that stood to the side of her home.  She corrected herself with a small tilt of her wings and once again closed her eyes.

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Rainbow let out a large yawn and stretched her front legs out to the side. Dash had been up for nearly 24 hours.  Her and her friends stayed out late in Canterlot, talking with each other and Princess Celestia. In fact, Applejack was already asleep in the carriage when her friends departed.

She didn’t know what time it was, she just wanted to get back to her soft, warm bed of clouds at her home in Cloudsdale.

Subtle warmth began to sweep across her face. She opened her eyes to see the sun rising over  the hills to the East of Ponyville, casting beautiful rays of golden-yellow light over the landscape.

Rainbow Dash was awestruck with the beauty of it all, and became absorbed in the scenery. So much so, she didn’t notice the deep, thunderous growl of something approaching her from behind until it was extremely close. Rainbow Dash snapped out of her trance and turned her head around to see what was behind her , but as soon as she did, a dark gray column of cloud bolted by her face.

Rainbow Dash whipped her head forward to see what just passed her in the sky. The long, gray cloud dispersed and revealed a dark blue maned stallion clothed in a blue and yellow suit, wearing blue shaded aviation goggles.

She recognized the signature suit of the Wonderbolts immediately.

He wasn't much older than Dash was, making this Soarin the Wonderbolt.  

“Y-you’re Soarin! From the Wonderbolts!”  she stammered.

“And you’re that mare from the Gala, right? The one who saved my pie!" he said with a goofy smile "I almost didn’t recognize you without your dress!”

“He knows who I am!” Rainbow said in her mind.

“Uh, yeah!” She said, trying to act as cool as possible.

“Although...” He said  “You forgot something”

Soarin reached over and poked the golden laurel around Rainbow Dash’s ears and smiled again.

“Oh...” Rainbow Dash blushed and let out a nervous laugh.

“I actually think it’s quite becoming of you, Miss....?”

“The name’s Rainbow Dash!” She answered, smirking and sticking out her chest a bit.

“Rainbow DASH, eh?” the Wonderbolt repeated. “Let’s see if you live up to your name!”

With that, the stallion blasted off into the purple sky, leaving a trail of thick dark clouds.

It took Rainbow took but a split second to gather her whits.

“Oh, It’s ON!”

Rainbow took off along the Wonderbolt’s trail, leaving her own Rainbow colored one behind her.

The loud rushing wind filled her ears and stimulated her senses and woke her up immediately.

After a lazy glide, her muscles were rather stiff, but she wasn’t about to be bested by ANYPONY. Even if it WAS one of her idols. The trail of clouds curved upward in a steep incline, but Rainbow Dash followed it perfectly, dipping the tip of one wing into the cloud itself. Adrenaline flooded her brain as she focused on the blue suited Pegasus in front of her.

“I’m closing in on him...”

Suddenly, and without warning, Soarin extended his wings and came to an abrupt stop in mid-air. Rainbow Dash tucked her wings close to her body and tilted out of the way as to not collide with him, but despite her efforts she felt her left cheek graze the tip of his right wing, cutting her slightly, although she didn’t notice it until later.

Rainbow unfurled her wings and looped around in a short arc, returning to Sorin who was now stationary in the air.

“What was that all about?! I thought we were having a race!”

The Wonderbolt was silent.

“Soarin? Is everything ok?” Rainbow Dash started to feel concerned.

“I need to know something” He said at last, in a deathly serious tone.

“W-what? Is everything alright?”

He turned his head slowly and looked directly into Rainbow Dash’s eyes. Even through the tinted goggles, she could feel his eyes staring into her very fabric of existence.

“What could he possibly be so serious about? Did I do something wrong?”

“I need to know...”

He paused.

“Where that DE-LISHOUS smell is coming from!” he said with a huge grin.

Dash was taken aback by this sudden change of attitude from Soren.

“Eh... What?” Rainbow Dash replied, confused.

Soarin raised one eyebrow and tilted his head to one side, peering at Rainbow Dash inquisitively.

“Uhh, I was wondering where that smell was coming from?” He smiled childishly at Dash.

Rainbow Dash floated there for a moment, unsure of what to think of this small turn of events.

Soarin seemed.... bipolar almost..

She was about to speak when Soarin moved foreword with one stroke of his muscular wings, came within inches of Dash’s face, and held a hoof up to her lips. With his free hoof, he flipped up his flying goggles, revealing stunning emerald eyes.

Rainbow didn't even know how to react, so she simply stared into the vast pools of green that were Soarin's eyes.

He directed his gaze to her cheek and moved the hoof that was keeping her silent to the small wound. He gently wiped away a solitary drop of blood that smeared her blue coat of hair.

"You're hurt..."

Rainbow Dash looked down at his hoof that was between them; a streak of red staining his uniform.

"It's nothing. Just a scratch." she said, waving her hoof in dismissal. "I've had worse"

Soarin looked into the other Pegasus's magenta hued eyes, scanning for an ounce dishonesty, but finding none, he gave a quick nod, serving both as acknowledgement and to flip his goggles back down over his eyes.

“Hey Dash.” He said, smile returning.

“What’s up?

“threetwoone GO!”

The wonderbolt retracted his wings back close to his body and dropped towards the ground, unfurling his wings and propelling himself closer to the earth below. Rainbow Dash saw his plan and immediately shot downward after him. Rainbow Dash flew as fast as she could and was only barely catching up.

“How fast is this guy?! He’s even faster than I thought he would be!” she said in her mind.

Soarin looked back to the slowly approaching Rainbow Dash

“You even tryin’ miss Dash?”  He stuck out his tongue in a playful jab.

"Is that a challenge?" she retorted

"You bet your tail it is!"

When Dash heard this, she redoubled her efforts to  pass the Wonderbolt. She flew faster and faster until a white cone of vapor formed around her body.

“There’s no way he could beat this. I’m the only one that can do a Sonic Rainboom” she said to herself, although she could barely hear herself think over the immense din of the wind roaring past her ears. Rainbow Dash was tempted to look back and see how far ahead of Soarin she was, but she knew that would only slow her down.

But Dash didn’t even have to look back.

In her peripheral vision, she thought she saw another Vapor Cone... She immediately dismissed it as nothing more than blurry vision.

“I’m the only pony who can do a Sonic Rainboom... right?”

“That’s right!” a voice said, barely audible over the noise of the rushing wind.

“But us Wonderbolts always have a little trick up our hooves!”

Soarin came into Dash’s field of sight, directly to her left.

He had somehow gone fast enough to create his own vapor cone.

Rainbow Dash wondered what would happen if he broke through... Could it be something similar to her Sonic Rainboom?

“Watch this!”  he shouted, competing with the noise of the wind around them.

He came even closer to Dash and rested his right wingtip on her left wingtip.

“When I say ‘GO’ I need you to do a Sonic Rainboom, understand?” he shouted “Just like that time when you saved my flank at the best young flier competition!”

“Got it!” Rainbow Dash replied

“It’s imperative that you do it RIGHT as I say. Or else we could...” His voice trailed off. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure if it was the noise of the wind, or if he cut himself off intentionally. Either way, it didn’t matter. She understood the gravity of the situation.

“3... 2.... 1.... NOW”

Both ponies pressed as hard as possible on their barriers. As they were approaching the threshold, the two separate cones of vapor merged into one gigantic funnel.

A deafening “CRACK” split the air, and their speed increased 10 fold . They had breached the Sound Barrier... together. And the effects were astounding.

A blinding rainbow colored bolt of lightning zagged violently behind the two pegusi, with smaller bolts arcing off in all directions, sure to be seen and heard from miles in any given direction.

Something like this had never been done before in all of Equestria, and these two young fliers made history during a friendly race before breakfast.

Rainbow took her eyes off the momentous sight and looked forward, and what she saw frightened the horse apples out of her.

Up ahead lay Sweet Apple Acres, hurdling towards them and intense speed. If they didn’t pull up immediately, they would be killed the moment they impacted the trees.

Neither of them even needed to speak, pure instinct and years of flying took over and they both slowed their momentum and broke off from one another, pulling up and leveling out just above the trees. Rainbow Dash looked over and saw Sorin glide slowly towards the old red barn that sat in the middle of the land. Rainbow made her way over to the now grounded Pegasus.

Rainbow Dash’s hooves gently landed on the earth, damp from the morning dew, and walked over to where Soarin was waiting

“T-that was A-AMAZING!” she yelled, unable to control her excitement about what she just accomplished.

“You’re telling me!” Soarin replied “ I never knew we could even DO that! That was just pure AWESOME!”

Rainbow Dash was still shaking from the pure adrenaline rush, causing her voice warble a bit.

“Wait.. Y-you’re telling m-me that you had NO CLUE what was going to happen?!”

Soarin stiffened and gave a nervous laugh

“What’s life without a few risks, right?”

Rainbow Dash was no stranger to risk, having almost died many times while practicing a new trick or doing something stupid, but she was still shocked at the tenacity of the stallion that stood before her.

Dash shook her head and laughed.

"You're even crazier than I am!"

"I'm the craziest Wonderbolt out of the bunch!" he said

" and I take great pride in that, too!"

"Jus' what in the hay is goin' on here?"

a familiar voice asked

"I come back ta put away all my apple treats, then all I see is a great big ol' light in the sky, and you two shootin' the breeze like t'was nuthin'!"

Rainbow Dash turned around to find one of her best friends, an orange earth pony named Applejack, standing a few feet away next to her apple cart.

"Oh, sorry AJ!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Sorin and I were jus-"

"AHHHhh, so THAT'S what smelled so

good! Say, you're the one who sold me that AWESOME Apple Pie, aren't you?"

"Ah' sure as sugar are!" Applejack replied.

"Excellent! Can I still get my hooves on a pie?"

Soarin now looked.... Hungry. The awe from the Lighting Rainboom had apparently worn off, and his sweet tooth took over.

"Yep! I still got plenty left over...." she finished with the annoyance at her poor sales evident in her speech.

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"Thanks a bunch for the pies, miss Applejack!"

Soarin said, leaning down to pick up the bag of fresh baked apple pies that sat before him

"Not t'all sugarcube, come on by if ya need anymore!"

He walked up to Rainbow Dash who had sat down and was leaning against a fence post, almost asleep.

"And thank you for one of the best flying sessions I've had in a long time!"

"It was an Honor!"

Rainbow said, half yawning

Soarin was spreading his wings and was about to take off when Rainbow Dash stood up behind him and tried to walk, but stumbled after two steps.

“You alright there, Dash?”

“Y-yeah. I’m just a bit tired...”

Rainbow Dash let out an immense yawn, one far too large for being “just a little tired”.

Soarin knew she couldn’t fly home by herself, not without injuring herself or anypony else.

He walked over to where the blue pegasus had tripped and helped her up.

“Come on Dash, this is stupid.” He paused for a second, reflecting on the many stupid things he’s done. “Not the good kind of stupid anyway. You’re going to get hurt, ya know? Let me help you home”

“No thanks, I-I’m fine-”

She was interrupted by a hoof on her chin, directing her head to look up at the Wonderbolt.

“Actually, miss Dash. That’s wasn’t a suggestion.”

The wonderbolt’s eyes were sweet, yet firm. An interesting contrast to his typically goofy personality.

Looking into his eyes, Dash felt a sense of safety. Maybe it was because they were her heroes in everyday life, she didn’t know. But she did know that she felt secure with him, and that’s something she wasn’t accustomed to. Rainbow Dash had a tough fillyhood, and because of it, she was very careful with whom she trusted.

“A-alright... I guess I don’t have much of a choice though, do I?” Dash said with a smile

“No, not really” he replied with a sweet chuckle.  Soarin looked over his shoulder and hollered to Applejack

“I’ll be back later to pick up those pies, is that alright?”

“Sure thing! They’ll be here waitin’ for ya!”

The Wonderbolt put a wing under Rainbow Dash, and in one fluid movement, put her on his back, being sure that she wasn’t hindering his wing movement.

“Come on now, let’s get you home, shall we?”

Rainbow Dash was utterly wiped out from the past 24 hours, but she though she had enough energy to make sure she wouldn’t fall off of Soarin’s back as they returned to her home.

She lightly wrapped her forelegs around his neck, closed her eyes, and rested her head on his unusually soft mane.  She felt the subtle spike in G forces as they took off, but despite them she still managed to drift off to sleep on her idol, and new friend’s, back.

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Rainbow Dash awoke to the sound of Soarin’s voice...

“Hey Dash, sorry to wake you, but I need you to tell me where to drop you off at.”

She groggily opened her eyes, and looked around briefly. Even with blurred vision she immediately recognized her home in the clouds. She lifted one of her forelegs, pointed at it, and once Soarin turned in that direction, she let it flop lazily at her side.

The Wonderbolt made his way over the the sky mansion and landed on the front step.

“Well miss Dash, We’ve arrived.”

“Mhmm... Alright...” she replied, still half asleep. She nuzzled her face into his mane even further

“Just five more minutes...” she muttered.

“I ain’t your momma, Dash” He chuckled.

“I think it’s best we get you inside, you know, on a real bed? I’m sure it would be a bit more comfortable.”

“Yeah, I’ll be right there, ma... “

“... You’ll have to get off for that, Dash”

Rainbow Dash snapped awake at this, just now remembering the situation she was in.

Afraid she was being a nuisance she started gushing  apologies.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” She slid off his back and walked towards her home.

“I hope I wasn’t too heavy or anything.. was I?”

“Not at all! You were Light as a feather.” he said.

Dash began to feel heat rush to her face...

“Why am I blushing?” she thought to herself.

“Uh, thanks for the ride.. I was never any good at endurance races” she said to Soarin with a little laugh.

“Pshh, don’t get me started on those... I’m terrible! ”

The two ponies laughed harder than they should at this stale attempt at humor, a side effect of exhaustion.

After a moment, Soarin spoke again.

"Hey, if you're ever in Cloudsdale near our HQ, don't hesitate to stop by. I'll put you on the Very Important Pony list." Soarin said.

"You mean it?! You'd really so that?!"

"Sure thing! Besides, I like your style"

Rainbow Dash ran forward and gave him a one “armed” hug

“ThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyou!!”

Soarin returned the hug for a few seconds, then they both turned to leave.

“Oh and Dash?”

“Yeah?”

He reached one light blue wing out and touched the area around the cut on her face.

“Be sure to take care of that. I don’t want it to get infected.”

Dash smiled and looked in his eyes.

“Will do, Soarin. Although, it's just a scratch...”

Rainbow turned and began to walk to her front door.

Soarin hadn’t noticed it before when they were flying, but Rainbow Dash was an extremely attractive mare.  Her frame was petite, yet toned, and her face was just one of those types that struck his fancy. Not to mention he’d always had a “thing” for Maroon eyes.

“I wouldn’t want that pretty face getting scarred now!” he added as he trotted towards the edge of the cloud.

Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, feeling heat once again find it’s way to her face and turned around, surprised that one of her idols had complimented her looks.

“Wait, what did you...”  

But her voice was met with the open sky, now blue and filled with rays of light from the still rising sun.

Soarin had already taken off.

Rainbow Dash gazed off into the amazing sight for a minute, thinking about what Soarin said, but sleep deprivation was taking its toll on her.

Rainbow slowly shuffled her way up the steps to her room, opened the door and tossing the golder laurels from her mane on the dresser directly adjacent to her, and flung herself upon her bed of clouds.

Her eyes were shut before her head even landed on the pillow.

The last thing the Pegasus thought about as she drifted off to sleep were Soarin's emerald green eyes.

"I've always been a sucker for green eyes..."

Within moments, she was fast asleep. Next Chapter: Part 2 Estimated time remaining: 37 Minutes