Rainbow opened her door quickly. Her dad was on his laptop.

"Hi Rainbow, did you have fun with your friends?" he asked, looking up at his offspring.

I probably would've if his sister didn't save me from it. Rainbow thought.

"Yeah." she lied.

She trotted up to her room and sat on her bed, looking at the pillow.

She didn't know how to react.

Should she cry like a foal? Should she be screaming and punching the walls?

She just sighed, and stretched her wings, and lay on the bed.

Rainbow then felt a feeling she never thought she would from this situation.

Guilt.

What if Soarin's sister was lying? She never saw Soarin wear makeup the entire school year. Rainbow then felt bad for the sudden bad reaction. She did, for sure, not want to have sex with Soarin. Not with anypony. She was still too young. But Soarin never showed any signs or hints of stuff like that. It had to be a lie, it had to.

***

Hoop knocked on Rainbow's front door.

Opening it was a stallion; no doubt Rainbow's dad.

"Hey, Hoop! I haven't seen you for years!" he said after he opened the door.

"Hi Rainblaze. I need to talk to Rainbow Dash about something, can I come in?" he asked.

"Uh, sure." Rainbow's dad said, but still with uncertain.

Hoop trotted up the stairs, and knocked on Rainbow's door.

"Who is it?" Rainbow sighed from the inside.

"Hoop." Hoop replied.

"Hoop? Come in, I guess." she sighed.

Hoop walked in, and noticed the obvious difference between Rainbow's bedroom. The walls became cyan, matching her fur. The white carpeting had been replaced with hardwood, and she had a new dresser, and a different bed. Her original bed was actually two beds, one slid out from under the other. Now she had a queen. All of her dolls and play houses were gone, and her closet had a desk fit in it and there was a shiny new laptop. If you push in the chair and close the closet doors, there would never be a sign there was even a desk in there.

Neat. Hoop thought.

"Soarin talked to his sister-well, really yelled at her. She was trying to embarrass him in front of you." Hoop said.

"Embarrass him? She ended up making us both scared half to death, then!" Rainbow cried.

"Trust me when I say this, Rainbow. His sister was a lying brat. But... I think he has a tiny crush on you." Hoop said.

"What?" Rainbow asked.

Soarin...has...a crush on her?

"Why do you think that?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't know, after you flew away, he seemed really sad. I then noticed something different about him. After WeatherFeather sent us home, he fell asleep in his sleeping bag, smiling. And I swear I heard him say, 'Rainbow Dash' in his sleep. And then I heard him giggle. Then he grabbed his pillow and cuddled against it. After we woke up, he brushed his teeth until they were pure white. He was chewing mint gum all day, I finally ran out of gum and he was forced to stop before we even invited you. He even asked me, 'Does my mane look good?', and 'Do my muscles show?' Yeah, I'm sure that's enough to prove the point that he has a crush on you." Hoop finished.

"Right...you were saying a tiny crush, right?" Rainbow asked, "No, that sounds like a huge crush if you ask me!"

Hoop bit his lip, "Yeah, should we go back now? Also, I think you should give Soarin a chance."

"What?" Rainbow asked, "He's daring you, isn't he? This is all a trick. This is too see whether to find out I have a crush on him or not, isn't it?"

"Rainbow, his sister just embarrassed the hell out of him. Why would he try to make the situation worse?" Hoop questioned.

"You really think I should?" Rainbow asked, nervous. Despite the fact of having amazing athletic talent and being not half-bad looking, she's never been asked out before. She's never been in a relationship before.

"Yeah, you should. I really think you should. You two would be adorable, honestly." Hoop admitted, "I saw it from the start, in August, when you two used to hate each other. I knew then you two would get married one day. I just didn't want to tell, I didn't want to make it...awkward. I mean, look how far you've come, almost a year later? You guys are friends, and Soarin is crushing on you."

A blush went to Dash's cheeks.

"I guess..." she said, although she didn't believe Hoop about the marriage part.

"Good, come on. I'm sure he'll be happy for your forgiveness." Hoop began making his way out, and Rainbow followed, and they quickly flew to Soarin's house.

***

The doorbell rang. Soarin had just lost a friend, which happened to be his crush, and really didn't feel like answering the door. His sister and her dumb friends flew out of the house, his brother and parents were at work, and he was basically alone, which is what he wanted. His dumb damn sister...he should have known that his sister would've done something. Hopefully Hoop could convince Dash that Soarin was telling the truth. It all happened to quickly; being trapped at Northway's, and all of that crap. Soarin realized he had a crush on Rainbow when she kicked his and Hoop's flanks in video games. She was such a beautiful, talented mare.  Who wouldn't want to date her? He remembered Rainbow Dash telling him how she never kissed anypony before, and never dated before. Soarin thought, It's like getting a brand new iPone for free. But it's a very rare iPone, and there's only one. And once it's taken, there are no other like it around. So ponies try to steal it away, or you lose it from your mistake.

Sighing, Soarin walked to the door, and opened it with a sad tone, not looking up at the ponies outside the door.

"I'm sorry." he heard.

Soarin could recognize that voice. He looked up and saw Rainbow Dash and Hoop next to each other, Rainbow with a guilty face, and Hoop with a satisfied smile.

Wow, Hoop convinced Rainbow fast. he thought.

He couldn't help but smile dumbly. "Yeah, my sister's a stupid brat."

Rainbow still couldn't make eye contact with the colt. "Do you forgive me?"

"Of course, Rainbow." Soarin smiled.

Rainbow looked up at the colt, who happened to have a dumb smile.

Without thinking, Rainbow wrapped her hooves around the colt and had a warm hug.

Soarin's eyes widened, and his wings quickly spread and he tried to move them but couldn't.

Celestia damn wingboners... he thought, Oh god, what happens when she opens her eyes?

He glanced over at Hoop, who looked like he was having a seizure holding back a laugh, watching Soarin's reaction to Rainbow's hug.

Rainbow let go.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the spread wings and the red-hot face, giving her a blush for the fifty-millionth time that day.

And all was silently awkward.

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