[ May 16th 2010 // both:16 ]

The aromatic, sweet spring air filled the lungs of Rainbow Dash and her coltfriend of almost four months, Soarin, as they peacefully flew side-by-side towards Northern Cloudsdale, the area of Rainbow Dash's former residence before she began living at the Academy. They were on their way to introduce Soarin to her parents, and finally spill the beans about their relationship.

Mid-flight, Soarin sighed heavily to himself, his eyes glued to the clear sky ahead of him, "Babe, what if your parent's don't like me? What if they don't think I'm good enough for you? I mean, I'm not the smartest pony or the fastest, I'm just pretty average."

"Oh, puh-lease, they're gonna love you!" reassured Rainbow, imagining how her parents would surely hit it off with her coltfriend. Everything would hopefully turn out perfect, but Rainbow's parents could be quite unpredictable, so she wasn't really all that sure about how this afternoon was going to unfold. "And even if you're average, being average is more than enough for me."

"Heh, thanks Dashie," Soarin blushed slightly, his tensed muscles eventually loosening. "Hey, let's race, the last one to your house has gotta treat the winner to lunch!"

"Bad, idea, Soarin. You know I never lose! Thanks in advance for that lunch!" jeered Rainbow, before immediately increasing her speed momentum, hammering her arms to her sides so that she could easily swim through the air without an ounce of trouble. She had zoomed off with such immense speed that all that was left in her tracks was a fading streak of rainbow.

Smugly, Soarin chuckled to himself, his plan was to take Rainbow out on a date to her favourite restaurant anyways, so he thought he might as well just make a game out of it. He increased his speed slightly and after about twenty minutes, he eventually arrived at the cloud mansion that was Rainbow's childhood home. Quite comically, he found Rainbow Dash sprawled out on a cloud nearby, snoring thunderously.

"Err, Dashie?" he nudged his marefriend in her shoulder, jolting her back into consciousness.

Yawning dramatically, Rainbow stretched her arms out with a cringe-worthy crack, "Oh sorry, you took so long that I literally fell asleep waiting. What took you so long, anyway?"

"Ah, well, I let you win on purpose, I was gonna take you out for lunch anyway," explained Soarin, flicking a section of his curly mane out of his eyes.

"Soooo, a date?" asked Rainbow with beckoning eyes, she knew the answer already, but just needed to hear it from Soarin.

"Yeah, a date," Soarin chuckled, hovering off the cloud towards Rainbow's front door. "Am I gonna meet them or not?"

Her face lighting up with an 'Oh yeah!' expression, Rainbow followed Soarin to the front door and gave a profuse knock. Suddenly, the cloud-door swung open to reveal two respectively middle-aged ponies, known by the names Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles.

"Mom! Dad!" cried Rainbow, throwing herself forwards and embracing her family in a welcoming hug. "I missed you guys so much!"

"We missed you too, princess," Bow Hothoof choked on his emotions, wiping a joyful tear from his eye. "And who is this fine, young stallion, eh?"

"Oh!" Rainbow promptly remembered that she still had Soarin to present to her parents. "This is Soarin, my coltfriend."

Eyes welling up with tears of bliss that her precious daughter was growing up, Windy gushed, "Aww, my little Dashie is finally growing up! Well, come on in you two, I can put some snacks out. Do you like cherry pie, Soarin?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Soarin grinned, his eyes lighting up like a torch at the mention of the word 'pie'.

"Oh, please dear, just call me Windy!" the cyan mare chuckled as she trotted back inside the giant mansion, leading everypony to the kitchen to sit themselves down. She whisked open the humming, blue refrigerator, which was covered in various stick-figure and crayon drawings noted with the names 'Rainbow Dash' and 'Rainbow Blaze, and yanked out a silver tin of fresh cherry pie.

"Freshly baked by me this morning!" Windy carefully placed the glistening sweet treat on the rounded dining table. "Go on, dig in."

Without even having to be told twice, Soarin eagerly grabbed a sweet slice of the baked good and gobbled down the entire slice in a single bite, "Woah, this pie is awesome! And you said you made this all yourself?"

"Yep, down to the t!"

"Ya know, I could refer you to my mother, Cloudy Skies, she owns Cloudy's Cloud Cakes. She could rebrand and Cloudy Skies and Windy's Pies!"

"Oh! Aha, I'm flattered," Windy blushed slightly at the compliment that she was as good as a baker to be able to work for the Queen of Cakes, Cloudy Skies. As Soarin continued to inhale another two slices of pie, Bow Hothoof's gaze transformed to a prickly glare at Soarin, wondering whether this greedy goofball of a stallion was suitable enough for his precious princess.

"Hey, um, princess?" he spoke up, averting his cold stare from the young stallion opposite him. "Are you sure you're thinking this through properly? I mean, this whole relationship thing..."

"Dad, I'm sixteen, did you expect me to wait until I was, like, thirty to get a coltfriend?" grumbled Rainbow, rolling her eyes.

All of a sudden, a forceful gust of wind gushed into the kitchen, revealing a wide-eyed grinning stallion in the shadows, "I'm hoooooome! Wait, Dash?!"

"Blaze?!" Rainbow was incredulous, literally catapulting herself off of her seat and pouncing on the other the stallion, who had a striking resemblance to Rainbow Dash, from the coat to the mane, up to the eyes. "Oh my Celestia, it's been months! How are you? How's school?"

"I know, it's been ages! I'm really good, I got on the Varsity Speedsters! And I got accepted for Las Pegasus College!" announced Rainbow Blaze, taking a dramatic bow before averting his gaze to Soarin, who was awkwardly still trying to figure out who this miraculous genderbend of Dash was.

Realising that Soarin had no idea who the random colt who had just burst into the kitchen was, she briskly spoke up, "Soarin, this is my brother...my twin brother, Rainbow Blaze. Blaze, this is my coltfriend, Soarin Skies."

"Soarin Skies, eh? So, how much did she pay you to date her, huh?" questioned Rainbow Blaze, jokingly, receiving a playful punch from his red-faced sister. "I'm just kidding! It's awesome to meet you, dude."

"Same here, bro," Soarin grinned, hoof-bumping Rainbow Blaze. "Hey, tell me about the Varsity Speedsters; I always loved that team!"

The rest of the pleasant afternoon consisted of Soarin and Rainbow Blaze engaging in an almost hour-long conversation about the Varsity Speedsters, Bow Hothoof questioning Soarin to see whether he was fit to date his precious daughter, and Windy Whistles making about two more pies for the family to snack on. After about a couple more eventful hours, the cool May night was beginning to fall over Equestria, and Rainbow Dash realised that the two should be getting back to the Academy before complete nightfall.

"This was like, the best day ever!" cheered Rainbow Dash, as she embraced Soarin, her mother, father and brother in one last comforting family hug before they left. "Promise you'll visit us next time?"

"Of course, princess," reassured Bow Hothoof, planting a fatherly kiss on his daughter's forehead before turning his attention to Soarin. "I trust you'll take care of her."

"Thank you, sir!" Soarin saluted, before exchanging goodbyes with the remaining two Rainbow family members. Once they had given each other a good enough sending off, Soarin and Rainbow Dash took off into the sky towards the Wonderbolts Academy.