So far the evening between Rainbow and Soarin had gone mostly to plan, besides a few hiccups and Soarin’s friends arriving on the scene, it was all going swimmingly for the stallion or so he thought.

Soarin exhaled a heavy breath as he put his drink back on the table, turning his attention away from his Wonderbolts teammates. He smiled as he made eye contact with Dash before speaking up. “So, y-you don’t mind me saying you're… beautiful?” Soarin asked quizzically, thinking back on Dash’s compliment only a few moments ago.

Dash rolled her eyes, returning to her more playful self. “What do you think, Soarin?” she asked with a slight smirk.

“Uh… you don’t?” he asked fearing the worst from the mare. Rainbow held in her laughter at the stallion’s goofyness.

“Soar, you really aren’t the sharpest knife in the box,” Rainbow said smiling. Soarin held back most of the blood running through his cheeks.

“Well thanks, Dash, so I guess we can—”

“Forget it ever happened?” Rainbow said with a mischievous look. “Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see…” the mare said cunningly. Soarin knew she would probably use it at an embarrassing moment in the near future. Despite this though, Soarin was again happy that the evening was going smoothly again. The two pegasi gave quick glances at the menu when they saw the waitress trot over to their table once again.

“So then, what can I get you?” the mare asked politely.

“I’ll have a pasta with chilli tomatoes and spinach,” Soarin said putting his menu back down on the table as the waitress wrote the item on her small pocket notebook.

Rainbow looked extensively through the menu, not finding many things that she knew were even classed as food. As Soarin waited for Rainbow to choose, his eye caught the flash of a yellow hoof. He turned his attention to his two disguised teammates who were both pointing at their own menus, Soarin tried to focus in on what they were pointing at. The stallion then noticed Spitfire using sign language, something which the Wonderbolts were trained to do when performing in shows. Unfortunately Soarin wasn’t very good at it, but managed to pick up that the mares were telling him to choose the item on the menu for Dash. He could only make out the two lines on the menu and couldn’t work out which one Fleetfoot was frantically pointing too.

Finally Soarin made his decision, turning back to the mare he smiled and said. “I think she’ll have the seta soup,” Soarin said confidently, not looking over to Fleet and Spitfire who had just both face hoofed at the stallion’s choice of spanish mushroom soup. Rainbow shrugged not really knowing what the stallion meant, but trusted him and nodded towards the mare who smiled. “Okay, I’ll get those orders in for you.”

Taking the menus the waitress left again. Soarin started to relax a bit, speaking up he said, “You know, Dash, have you ever thought you’d be as famous as you are now?”

Rainbow snickered. “Well, I am pretty awesome so I guess. I thought I’d get famous by just being a Wonderbolt, but now I get to be double famous being an Element of Harmony,” the mare replied boastfully.

Soarin nodded. “Well, of course, but being the Element of Loyalty must be a hard job to keep up.”

Rainbow pondered on the thought. “Not really, I mean since it’s in my blood and all I kinda just keep being awesome,” the mare answered with a shrug. Soarin was about to ask another question when Dash continued. “I guess, though,” she said feeling slightly disheartened for a second. “It’s hard to be loyal when you’re saying someone’s your coltfriend one moment and you break up with them the next, or it’s hard to stay loyal when your old griffon friend isn’t being the kindest to your new friends. But I guess those are times you just gotta be the best you can be, right?”

Soarin was slightly surprised by Dash’s mature words. “Wow, Dash, I guess you are right.”

“Well, of course I am,” Dash shot back returning to her normal self once again. It was something Soarin was loving more and more every minute. The time seemed to just fly past for Soarin, Dash just made the stallion’s heart beat in a way he’d never felt before and it was something he didn’t intend to lose quickly either.

Soon the waitress returned with the ordered food, putting down Rainbow’s bowl of soup. The mare looked up at Soarin as he got his plate, she smiled at the two before leaving. Rainbow looked at Soarin, who was just about to eat his first mouthful before he spotted the her look and instantly stopped. “What’s up, Dash?” he asked concerned.

“Is this what I think it is?” Dash asked pointing to the food in front of her. It was then Soarin had realised that Dash must have not liked whatever it was that was in the soup. Quickly taking a glance over to Fleet and Spitfire, the mares giving him a shake of their heads and pointing to the menu again, Soarin focused again and realised that it wasn’t what the two mares had wanted Soarin to order for Dash. The stallion felt a small bead of sweat run down his forehead as he was now put on the spot.

“It’s okay, Soar, I’ll just ask them to—”

“No, it’s fine, Dash,” Soarin said switching the plates around on the table so that Dash was now faced with Soarin’s meal. The mare looked at her friend hesitantly. “Are you sure, Soar, I know you probably won’t like it that much either,” she said looking at the bowl before sticking her tongue out.

Soarin laughed at Dash’s reaction, “Trust me Dash, it’s fine,” he said moving the plate closer to himself. He looked up to see Dash with a genuine smile across her face. It made Soarin’s chest feel a lot warmer. He held in his blush and simply began eating his meal, Dash doing the same. Soarin gave a small look over his shoulder at his friends who were now nodding their heads happily. It took Soarin a lot of guts to eat the meal in front of him, but he didn’t care, just spending time with Dash on a more private level was turning out to be one of the best dinners he’d ever had, despite the food.

Soarin felt on top of the world at this moment, it was then that a small piece of paper hit his hind leg. The stallion looked down to see the small piece of scrunched up paper on the floor. He bent down and picked it up making sure Dash didn’t see it. He opened it out, seeing a few scribbled out words.

Ask her out already! :)

Soarin could tell this who this was from seeing the writing had a small smiley face next to it probably meant it was from Fleetfoot. He was about to turn around to see his friends when Rainbow spoke up, “Soarin, I kinda need to ask something…”

The stallion stumbled slightly in his reply. “S-sure, I... what’s up?”

Rainbow pressed her hooves together as she spoke. “I never asked why you accepted taking me out for dinner?” she asked slightly sheepish.

Soarin smiled. “Well… I did need to repay you for letting me randomly turn up on your doorstep and sleeping in your house, didn’t I?”

Rainbow thought for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, but I say you still have a little more repayment to do for that, sleeping in my house doesn’t come cheaply, ya know?”

Soarin shook his head playfully, his mind now returning towards the note again. He started to contemplate the idea, but he began to feel the nerves race into his heart speeding up its beat. His head started to spin slightly as he thought of all the possible outcomes if he was to ask the question. Soarin began to tense up as he kept thinking. He looked at Dash, the mare to his mind was beyond beautiful. He had been wanting to ask this question for weeks, but now he had a decent chance at asking the question without getting rejected by Dash on the spot. But there was still the problem of ‘what if’.

“Hey, Dash…” Soarin asked. Rainbow looked up with a smile. “I kinda wanna ask something as well.”

Rainbow grinned. “What’s up, Soar? You wanna go training after we leave or something?”

Soarin smiled, but shook his head. “Well... I was actually wondering whether... if you’d like to do this again?” he asked, full of nervousness.

Rainbow didn’t miss a beat in nodding her head. “Sure, I mean, I don’t have an endless bank of bits like some of us do,” she said giving the stallion a playful look. “But it’d be awesome. Why are you asking?”

Soarin started to get cold hooves by this point. “Well... I was just wondering cause, you know, if you did want to do it again... perhaps we could do it together as something a little more…”

Dash cut the stallion off making his heart freeze. “Little more awesome? Well I mean there was always this cool restaurant in Manehatten, though I guess it’d be a long train ride to get there. We could go to this amazing place in Canterlot me and my friends went to, Spike says it’s the best place to get donuts.”

Soarin was becoming more and more terrified of asking the question. “Well, I wasn’t really talking about the place, m-more about... you and me.”

Rainbow Dash was now starting to catch on slightly as her own heart started pumping faster than normal. She tilted her head slightly and raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, Soarin?” she asked almost innocently.

The stallion felt as if his heart had bounced into his throat. His front hooves both firmly pressed into his lower hooves as he tried to come up with the answer his mind was trying to get him to say. “Well... I guess what I’m trying to say Dash is… w-would you like, I mean I dunno, I guess it was just a stupid thought.”

Rainbow felt a wash of sympathy come over for the now shy Soarin. As the stallion reached out for his plate of food again, Rainbow met him halfway with hers. Soarin felt a slight shock at the touch and quickly looked up to see Dash still holding a smile on her face. “Hey, cheese ball, don’t get all scared about asking a damn question,” she said with a slight giggle.

Soarin was now letting his blush show right through as he let out a small chuckle. “Thanks, Dash, but I’ve never really asked this type of question well,” he admitted, knowing that now trying to act cool was probably going to get him nowhere.

“Well, why dontcha just ask me? I mean, it’s not like you're asking me to marry you,” Dash said with a smirk. “Though, I wouldn’t be too surprised.”

Soarin felt himself getting to a dead end, he needed to say what he wanted to say now, or this ending to a great evening would turn really awkward. He knew he wanted Dash, he had for as long as he could remember back. He realised his hoof was still in Dash’s, the mare still giving him that smile. That was all he needed. “Well… Rainbow, I-I’ve really come to like you... you know after saving my life twice... I think for a while... or really most of my life I’ve always seemed to have admired you for your looks or for your personality or your tricks. It... would mean a lot, no, the world if you were to accept my offer to... to be my marefriend?”

Rainbow was taken back slightly by this. “Wow, Soar I... I guess I’ll take that back that I wouldn’t be surprised by the question,” the mare said with a giggle. Soarin didn’t really have any response, his heart was still beating rapidly and his mind just focused solely on the mare’s answer. But he kept smiling, hoping that Dash would give the answer he wanted most.

Dash put a forehoof behind her neck and ruffled her hair. “Well... I mean I guess I did see this coming weeks ago.”

Soarin snapped out of his trance. “Wait, you knew I was going to ask you out?” he said with complete surprise. Rainbow nodded.

“Well, I mean, it’s not everyday a really famous Wonderbolt turns up at my door and asks to become my personal trainer,” Rainbow explained, her smile becoming slightly wider. “Although I did find it completely awesome, I decided to keep my cool with you, but I guess that didn’t really show with Rarity coming on to you the next day,” she said as Soarin accompanied her this time in a laugh. “I guess though there’s only one thing that surprises me, Soar.”

“W-what’s that?” the stallion asked quizzically.

“Well, you said you said you’d liked me most of your life,” Rainbow asked, slightly confused.

Soarin smiled as he thought back before answering the mare’s question. “Yeah, well... do you remember a race in Cloudsdale when you were little? You banged your wing up.”

Rainbow pondered at length on this as she thought back through years of memories, after a few seconds she nodded. “Oh yeah, that one… I remember it, I had this nice colt come and... wait…” Rainbow said letting her jaw drop slightly as she looked over Soarin’s features. The stallion leaned over and grabbed the ribbon that surrounded the table, putting it around his mane before tying it up to make it look like the sweat band before giving a small pose. It was then that Dash let her jaw drop all the way with wonder.

“Yeah,” Soarin started as he took the ribbon off. “I’d known you a little before that, but it’s one of my greatest memories of you… damn I sound really old now don’t I?”

Rainbow let out a snicker as she shook her head playfully. “Okay, so I guess that leads me up to the answer you really wanna find out huh?” she asked raising an eyebrow. Soarin nodded, slightly nervous.

Rainbow thought seriously to herself for a moment. She remembered the conversation she’d had earlier that day with her friends in the cafe. But this wasn’t Dash asking Soarin out, this was a Wonderbolt, a famous one asking her out. Rainbow began to think what kind of question she’d just been asked. Her heart began pumping loudly, but it wasn’t out of fear or out of embarrassment, it was out of happiness and excitement.

“Hey, Soar,” Rainbow leaning over a little closer to the stallion.

“Y-Yeah, Rainbow?” Soarin asked. If it wasn’t for the fact this restaurant was air-conditioned he would be in a puddle of sweat by this point, but he didn’t seem to mind. Rainbow moved the forehoof away from Soarin’s, the stallion felt a sinking feeling in his heart as the mare pulled away, but then the hoof moved up to his cheek as Rainbow spoke.

“Ya know something, Soarin,” Rainbow started, “if there was anyone in the world I could have said yes to going out with... it’d be you.”

Soarin blinked a few times as his mind registered what she was saying. Rainbow retracted her hoof away as she waited for a reply. “S-So you're saying…”

Rainbow laughed. “I’m saying yes, you big goof ball,” Dash said with a cute smile. “I guess… I’m willing to give it a try, it’d be pretty awesome.”

Soarin felt his heart beat start to relax slightly, the nerves being replaced with a much more pleasant feeling in his hooves. It was a feeling that gave him one of the biggest smiles he’d ever had. Dash smiled along with him. “I have to say, Soar, this is one of the sappiest things I’ve gone through,” she said with a slight giggle.

Soarin chuckled. “Is it a good type of sappy, though?” he asked. Rainbow nodded happily in response as the two enjoyed the rest of their meals for the evening. Soarin didn’t check behind him to see Fleetfoot handing over a few bits to a smug looking Spitfire.

“So, did you enjoy tonight?” the waitress asked an hour later as she took the plates away from the two ponies sitting at the table.

Soarin beamed up at the mare happily. “More than you know,” he said with a small laugh as Dash rolled her eyes.

“I’m glad you two have had a nice evening, I’ll leave you with the bill to pay as you wish,” the mare said putting a small plate with a piece of parchment attached to it. Soarin took the paper and looked at it before grabbing the bits out of his blazer pocket and putting it in the plate.

“You ready to leave, Rainbow?” he asked getting up from the seat with a smile at least a mile wide. Rainbow snickered as she got up and trotted past Soarin towards the exit of the restaurant. Soarin quickly looked behind him to see Spitfire and Fleetfoot, the captain giving him a wink. Soarin knew he wouldn’t be wiping this smile off his face for a long time as he followed his new marefriend to the exit of the restaurant.

Soarin breathed out a sigh of relief as he trotted out of the building. Rainbow smirked at him, flaring her wings out. “You wanna race back?” she asked.

Soarin nodded flaring his own wings. “I’d be honored, Dashie,” he said trotting up next to her.

Rainbow giggled. “Great, so now I’ve got you and Pinkie calling me that?” A nod from Soarin confirmed this as Dash rolled her magenta eyes before taking off at great speed, Soarin closely behind her.

The door to Dash’s home was thrown open as laughter filled the main living area of the home. Soarin threw his blazer onto the sofa as Dash made her way to the bathroom, leaving Soarin to his own devices. Once Dash had given him one last look before going out of sight, the stallion sat on the couch before pumping his hoof in the air. He was so happy at this point that almost nothing could bring him down. It was then his mind drifted back to the Equestria Games, he knew he wanted Dash to be on top of her game and he was going to be the best he could for her.

Suddenly Soarin realised, Rainbow would be competing against him, he didn’t mind that, he knew that Rainbow was competitive whatever team she was in. But winning would be a dream come true for Rainbow and would put her one step closer to the dream of having the job Soarin already had. Come on, Soar, you're overthinking things. Dash won’t care if she loses... okay maybe she will, but you can’t do anything about if she does or doesn’t... or can you?

“Hey, Soar, you gonna hit the hay, it’s gettin late?” Rainbow asked, returning from the bathroom and making her way down the stairs.

Soarin nodded with a slight yawn as he stretched. “Yeah, I think you’re right,” the stallion replied looking around on the sofa for his blanket. It was then he heard Dash muffle a giggle, he turned to look at the mare still on the steps of the staircase.

Rainbow smiled. “You sure you wanna sleep on the couch?” she asked.

Soarin thought for a moment looking slightly confused until his mind clicked on what Rainbow was saying. “Wait, Rainbow, are you saying—”

“No no, Soar, you wanna sleep on the couch, that’s fine by me,” Rainbow announced as she turned to trot up the stairs.

“Hey, Dashie, please come on,” Soarin pleaded. Rainbow couldn’t hold back her laughter at this and let out a giggle.

“Alright, Soarin, come on then,” Dash said giving the stallion a loving look before trotting up the stairs with the stallion hot on her hooves. When he reached the top of the stairs he saw Rainbow leaning on the doorway to her room.

“Never thought you’d get this far in life, did you, Mr superstar?” Rainbow asked raising an eyebrow.

Soarin grinned. “Well... I guess it is a good feeling.”

“Ha, sleeping with someone as awesome as me, Soar. It doesn’t get much better than that, like I said, it’s a high privilege,” Rainbow said trotting into the room with Soarin following. “Make yourself comfortable, Soar, you can have the left side.”

Soarin chuckled as he made his way to the side of the bed that the mare had chosen for him with a curious look on his face. “So, is there a reason why?” he asked curiously.

“Simple, I sleep looking to the left,” Dash said with a sly smile. Soarin felt a blush run to his cheeks. “Unless you wanna sleep on the floor?” Dash offered with a giggle as she got under the sheets. Soarin was a little more cautious about getting in and slowly shuffled himself under the covers. Dash rolled her eyes and caught the stallion’s forehoof to drag him onto the bed. Soarin soon found his head on the utterly soft and springy cloud surface of the pillow, his eyes looking directly at the gorgeous magenta orbs from across the mattress.

“Goodnight, Soar,” Rainbow said dreamily.

“G’night, Dashie,” Soarin replied with a yawn.

“I’m gonna have Pinkie stop calling me that, I can’t deal with having both of you saying it,” Dash said with a snicker. Soarin’s eyes widened slightly.

“Y-you don’t like being called Dashie?” Soarin asked nervously.

Dash smiled and leaned over giving Soarin a small kiss on the cheek as she whispered. “I like hearing it from you.”

“T-thanks, Dash,” Soarin said happily. Snuggling into the pillow to hide his blush even in the darkness of the room, he slowly lifted his wing out and placed it around Dash’s body. She smiled as she let out a sigh before slowly falling asleep. Soarin let out another yawn before letting his senses fade, the best day of his life so far, coming to an end.

To be Continued…