Soarin breathed a sigh of relief when he sat down for his own lunch in the Wonderbolts cafeteria. The day so far had been surprisingly pleasant. As an added bonus for the day there was also a small slice of lemon cake, it wasn’t apple pie, but it was much better than the healthy options that everyone, but Soarin himself, didn’t seem to mind. The stallion couldn’t help but ponder about the events later in the day. He wondered how he should act around Rainbow at the restaurant, he’d never formally gone out with Dash and wasn’t too sure if he should treat it as a date or just as he usually did when they hung out together.

“Hey, short stack, how’s life treating you?” Fleetfoot asked in her usual comedic tone as she sat down opposite Soarin. He felt the urge to roll his eyes, but opted for a simple smile as the mare started eating her own meal.

“Hey, Fleet, not too bad,” he replied, casually taking another bite of his tomato and lettuce sandwich. Fleetfoot nodded as she felt the bench she was sitting on move slightly.

She turned to see Spitfire sitting down next to her, a friendly smile on her muzzle. “Hello, Soarin, looking a little more perked up today. Fleetfoot not been tormenting you as much?” the mare asked.

“Only because he hasn’t been around that much for me to have any… friendly conversations with him,” Fleetfoot answered for him as she sent a smirk in the direction of the stallion. This time Soarin did roll his eyes in response.

“Well, I’m afraid I wont be here that much longer, I have to make my way to the Golden Mile street for sundown.”

Spitfire’s eyebrow raised in curiousity. “Something tells me you're going with a certain blue mare?”

Soarin felt a small blush tint his cheeks as he nodded. Fleetfoot let out a small chuckle before she spoke up. “Oh, you planning on asking her out? Don’t worry, Soar, if she says no... I’m here for you.”

Soarin groaned at that. “Asking her out wasn’t really on the list and... not wanting to burst your bubble, Fleet, but as much as you are my friend you’re probably not my first choice of pony I’d go to in a time of need,” he replied. Spitfire giggled from the remark that made Fleetfoot frown slightly.

“Well…” Spitfire started as she began to ponder on this, “are you sure you don’t want to ask her out? I mean, how long has it been now you’ve had a crush on this mare?”

Soarin set down his meal and put a hoof to his chin as he thought back for a moment. “About a month now,” he replied knowingly.

Fleetfoot clapped her hooves together in a mocking fashion. “Well done, Soar, that’s a new record for how long you can go without asking a mare out.”

Soarin gave a confused look towards his arctic blue friend. “What are you talking about, Fleetfoot?”

The mare snickered. “Don’t you remember the last mare you asked out? You were in love with her for just one day before you made the move, Soar. I think a month for you probably tells me this isn’t one of your flings,” Fleetfoot answered knowingly.

Spitfire nodded her head in response. “She’s right, ya know? You must really like Rainbow.”

“Well she did save us all from death at the Best Young Flyers competition, she saved me again a month ago at the trials and she’s just really nice and funny and kind and—”

“Yeah, yeah, no need to drag on, loverboy,” Fleetfoot interrupted holding up a forehoof.

Spitfire smiled happily. “Well, Soar, if you think she’s finally the mare you’ve been searching for all your life then I’d say go for it.”

Soarin returned the friendly smile. “Thanks, Spitfire… you know what, I think I just might,” the stallion said happily as he began attacking the other side of his plate of food.

“Seriously though, Soarin, do you even know how to get on a mare’s romantic side in the first place?” Fleetfoot asked suddenly.

Soarin opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it as he came to terms with the realisation that he had no idea how he was to even know if Rainbow Dash liked him. “I uh… don’t know,” he replied with a hint of sadness.

Spitfire pondered as she turned to Fleetfoot, suddenly a smirk came to her muzzle as she thought up a plan. “I think me and Fleet might just be able to help you out there.”

Soarin looked up to his friends who both held smirks of happiness, but also mischievousness, Soarin gulped the lump that was beginning to rise in his throat… he just hoped tonight would go down well.

Rainbow casually flew through the evening air, she looked out upon the large blue sky above the many white clouds below. The warm glow of the sun radiated down onto her coat, she’d decided to go without any fancy clothes, much to Rarity’s disapproval, and opted to go as she was, figuring that Soarin would be doing the same.

Dash soon spotted her home city in the distance, the mammoth structure slowly floating below her. The large skyscrapers and cloud shaped buildings became more and more visible the closer she flew. Rainbow could already smell the fresh air that was produced by Cloudsdale’s weather factory. She thought about paying her parents a visit while she was over, but she had more important things to deal with right now. The pegasus racked her brain quickly as she tried to remember the name of the street, once she’d remembered Rainbow then moved on to tackle the trickier part which was finding it.

The mare drifted over the outskirts of the city, weaving in and out through the large structures. When she made her way into the center of town, she noticed a street which was lined with golden ribbon. Flying towards the street, she spotted Soarin at the edge of the street. She was surprised to see him wearing a sleek black suit, but let the thought slip past. She was just happy that the stallion kept his promise of not being late.

“Hey, Soar, I guess you didn’t need my gala dress after all,” Rainbow said as she came up behind the stallion.

Soarin turned around at the sound of Rainbow’s voice and smiled when he saw the mare. “Hey, Dash, how was your day?” he asked, slightly nervous as Rainbow kept looking at his formal attire.

“It was kinda awesome, it’s nice spending some time with Twilight and the others, but I still prefer our training,” Rainbow replied.

Soarin was slightly astonished by this. “Y-You mean you prefer exercise with me to hanging out with your friends?” he asked with a slight smirk as the pair began to trot down the street.

“No, Soar.” Rainbow turned to face the stallion as they continued to walk. “Technically it’s not so much exercise for me since you have to keep up with me,” the mare said with a playful smirk. “Also, I said I just prefer flying to sitting on the ground and talking, don’t be getting ahead of yourself, Soarin.” Dash chuckled, lifting a forehoof and giving the stallion a small jab.

Soarin let out a slight yelp and massaged his side with a hoof. “Hey!” Soarin protested. “I was only asking,” he said with a chuckle.

Rainbow smiled happily as the pair continued to walk down the street. Soon Soarin stopped in front of a large structure on the edge of the street, the building was a tall standing building. It looked as if it was a mile high in the sky. “It looks neat, I could probably fly to the top and back in ten seconds flat, though.”

Soarin shook his head playfully as he proceeded to open the glass door which lead them into a small lobby with a desk and an elevator, centered at the back of the lobby. Soarin smiled as he and Rainbow cantered up to the desk where a black stallion stood, writing something down on what seemed to be like a reservation book. He glanced up and his eyes widened when he saw the stallion in front of him. “Oh. Mr Soarin, please right this way,” the stallion said, motioning the two over to the elevator. “Have a wonderful evening, sir.” He pressed the button to open the door to the lift.

Soarin felt an awkward moment as the doors closed the lift, the magic pulling the two up to the top of the building. His eyes drifted over to the mare beside him, he felt a wash of happiness as he continued to look at the mare he’d held a few feelings towards. However he didn’t realise how long he’d been staring at her.

“Got nothing else to look at?” Rainbow asked, as Soarin blinked a few times before looking away, his large blush visible from the elevators mirrored walls. Rainbow laughed at the stallion being caught red hoofed, she liked how Soarin acted when he was caught doing something. Most stallions would have a funny remark or would just simply deny it, she found Soarin’s reaction to be cute and as much as she would cringe at anything sappy, she liked Soarin being this way more than anything. For some odd reason it just made her heart swell slightly in happiness.

Suddenly the doors opened as Soarin and Dash arrived up at the restaurant floor, which was positioned at the top of the tall building, giving a perfect view of Cloudsdale and the world around it.

Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Woah, this place is awesome,” she started, as a blush started to form on her cheeks in embarrassment. “I probably should have brought my Gala dress or something.”

Soarin felt the words in his mind, unfortunately these words happened to come out of his mouth before he had time to register what he was saying. “You look beautiful just the way you are.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened in shock. That wasn’t something that just came out of Soarin’s mouth was it? she thought as she turned around to look at him. Soarin realised what he’d just said and did his best to grin, hoping he hadn’t just ruined things before they’d started. Rainbow felt happy inside, unfortunately, Soarin didn’t know this. Dash smirked as she shook her head playfully. The two ponies then proceeded to trot into the restaurant, they were greeted by a waitress.

“Welcome to the Mile High Resturant,” the mare said as she showed the two to a table next to the large glass windows that looked out onto the city. Rainbow lips still hadn’t moved from the large smirk that had formed a few moments ago. Soarin continued to let the nerves rise in his chest while his stomach tied knots with itself.

“Now, can I get you both a drink to start?” the mare asked.

Rainbow thought for a moment before coming up with an answer, “I’ll have a glass of cider.”

The mare nodded before turning to Soarin who smiled sheepishly as he spoke. “Can I get a glass of water?” he asked, noticing Rainbow’s raised eyebrow as the mare nodded and left the two ponies to themselves.

Soarin’s curiosity piqued and decided to disrupt the silence. “Are you gonna sit there with that smirk on all evening?” he asked with a slight chuckle.

Dash let out a muffled giggle as she replied. “I dunno, Soarin, do you recall what you said, oh, I dunno, about a minute ago?”

Soarin tensed up at that, had he pushed it too far already? Had he ruined his one good chance to get to know Dash better?

“I… thanks I guess.”

Soarin’s mind froze along with his heart. Did she just say… thanks? Soarin thought as he looked over to Dash to see the mare’s smirk had formed into a cute smile. Though this time the stallion decided to keep his thoughts from escaping his mouth until further notice. It was as if the panic button had been switched off in his mind that was until something out of the ordinary caught his eye.

As a flash of familiar colours trotted past him and Soarin’s head turned quickly. His eyes went wide as he saw two mares, who just happened to be Spitfire and Fleetfoot, both grinning as they turned back to look at the stallion. Soarin quickly snapped his head back to Rainbow who had not seemed to notice the two Wonderbolts while taking a swig of her drink that the waitress had just put on the table, the waitress smiled as she passed the glass of water over to Soarin, the stallion taking the glass of cool liquid in his hooves before shifting back over to his other two friends, who sat down at a table close to the pair. He knew this must have been what Spitfire was calling ‘help’

One thing was clear now in Soarin’s mind, this night was about to get a lot more difficult…

To be Continued…