The night was over in the blink of an eye, and the morning was faster.

It was nothing too interesting: It was the same basic routine every morning—Make breakfast, eat said breakfast, and get the mail. The only difference today was taking a day off from work. And it was no surprise why, exactly.

Today, the Wonderbolts were coming to town at last.

It wasn't exactly a rare opportunity for Cloudsdale, but something like this wasn't a common event. The last time the Wonderbolts came and performed a "Spectacle of the Century," it was literally last century. Not a hundred years, of course, but during the last century. Neither you, nor Dash, nor anypony but the princesses—and maybe Granny Smith—were alive to witness it.

All the times before Manehattan, whenever you heard Dash mention the event, she almost always failed to contain her excitement. It was no surprise, considering how much she admired them, how often she strove to join them in their ranks, to fly out on their stage and rule the skies.

There was no doubt in your mind she would be just as excited, if not more, today, now that the day had finally arrived.

The same could be said for everypony else in town. Some shops were closed, their owners hoping to make more business the closer they were to the stadium, but the rest of the businesses were not only open, they were expansive, going to all kinds of lengths to show off to tourists in order to get more bang for their buck. Literally.

And it actually worked! As you made your way to Rainbow's house later in the day, you saw Clousdale in such a state you never before saw it. Ponies, both local and far, packed the streets almost shoulder to shoulder, wanting to explore every nook and cranny the town had to offer.

Tourists photographed everything. With Ponyville down below, it was only normal to assume tourists would even visit. So it didn't surprise you that several of them crammed around the front of Twilight's home just to take pictures of the castle, if not the princess herself. Luckily, Twilight was off in Canterlot for the week—with Cobalt.

"Good thing they aren't getting married this week," you say to nopony in particular. You laughed as you imagined countless photographers trying to score a seat near the altar.

It was just before three in the afternoon when you were knocking on Rainbow's door. At first, there was no direct answer, but you eventually heard a muffled, "Coming!" It was as if something was in her mouth.

Sure enough, when Rainbow Dash opened the door, there it was, a toothbrush lodged between her teeth.

"Haeh!" Dash greeted, while simultaneously trying to brush. "Cahh ihh! Jush gehhigh rehhhy!"

You couldn't help but laugh a bit at the situation, but nevertheless, you came in, shutting the door behind you. Dash flew off into another room, and you could hear a mix of spitting and gurgling as she cleaned out her mouth. You sat on the stairs of the foyer, waiting patiently. Even from all the way up here, you could hear the chatter and cheers of the ponies down below and from afar.

"Wow," you mouthed.

After a couple minutes, Dash emerged from behind the corner and gave a quick, sheepish smile.

"Hey, sorry," she apologized, "I kinda woke up a bit late."

"It's fine," you laughed. "We've still got an hour, there's no rush."

"Really? It's only seven?"

"Yeah. But if we wanna get the best seats in the place, we've got thirty minutes."

"Aaand now I'm panicking again."

You snorted with a smile. "Hey, we're not that far from the place. We've still got time. I mean, I bet that stadium will still be empty by the time we get there."

"You're sure?"

"Totally!" you beamed... just before taking a glance out the window. "... If the crowds don't suddenly rush the place."

"Is it really that bad down there? I haven't... oh."

Rainbow's expression changed to that of disbelief when she could see, even from up here, the sheer number of ponies that crowded Ponyville down below.

"I've never seen it so... busy!" she expressed, her mouth open and on the verge of nervous laughter.

"Makes two of us," you remarked. Then you scrunched your lips and looked back to her. "But I think if we get there fast enough, we'll beat the crowd long before there's even a crowd to beat."

"Okay," she sighed, "I just gotta get my ticket real quick. Be right back?"

You gave her a quick wave, and she was gone—and then back again before you could even put your hoof down.

"Ready to go?"

...

"I... Yeah. Let's go."

Even after all these years, you never could comprehend just how fast she was.

Maybe it was better that way.

"Literally ants."

"Basically, yeah."

The two of you flew over town on the way to the stadium, and watched Rainbow's reactions as she observed the various parts of Cloudsdale that were crowded, like something out of a zombie comic.

"They just don't end!" Rainbow exaggerated. "And the thing is, I doubt most of those folks are even gonna watch the show!"

You laughed again. "That's tourism for you. I saw the same thing in Las Pegasus when the Wonderbolts came around."

Stopping mid-air, Dash turned to you, her mouth hung open, and her expression that of disbelief. ... And was that a bit of upset you saw?

"Wait... you've been to this show before?"

"Oh, no!" you correct yourself. "No, not that—When I was staying in LP for my friend's wedding, the streets were so crowded, we couldn't really get anywhere unless we could fly or teleport. I mean, we were gonna go see it that year, but... we, uh... kinda got a bit plastered the night before and spent the whole day shaking it off."

Rainbow's body seemed to relax a bit, though you didn't notice right away.

"Oh."

Concerned, you asked her, "You weren't... mad, were you?"

"No! Not at all! I—" Dash hesitated to explain. She sighed. "I know it's stupid to get upset about, but... this is my first time going to one of these things, and I thought it'd be cool if neither of us knew what to expect beyond the tickets, so... yeah."

"Well," you gave her a gentle pat on the back, avoiding her wings, "I don't know anything about this show, either. So we're not one-upping each other tonight, right?"

After a moment, she turned to you and grinned. "Right!"

"Right," you grinned back. "So... let's just have fun for tonight, yeah?"

"Yeah." Dash patted you on the back too, but then hesitated. "Well... now that you mention it... there's something else we can do in the meantime."

"What is that?" you questioned, genuinely curious.

"This."

With a boop of your nose, Dash screamed, "Tag!" and darted for the stadium. As soon as you realized what had just happened, you were flying after her, trying to catch up.

"Hey!" you yelled playfully. "What did I say about one-upping each other?"

"It's not tonight, is it?!" she yelled back.

"You smug little..."

You couldn't help but laugh as you chased her all the way across town. And as you chased her, you couldn't help but feel... happy. Genuinely happy, something you hadn't felt entirely for a long time.

Right now, you were happy. And so was she.

You couldn't wait until the show.

Author's Notes:

Just a bit of a short chapter. I was gonna make it longer, but wanted to pace myself a bit. Long chapters can be fun, but really hard to keep up with. That being said, the next chapter will hopefully be a bit longer.

To me, it feels like a different tone from the rest of the story, but that's what happens when throats aren't being slit and princesses aren't being killed, right? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'll try to put out another chapter sometime in the next few days!