takes place after S7 E7 (Parental Glideance.)

Soarin had just finished a small show with a few of his fellow Wonderbolts, at Rainbow Dash’s request. She had wanted to apologize to her parents for not appreciating them and yelling considerably. She had gave them a brief background of why she was doing this.

Earlier:

“Look, all my life, my parents have been too supportive! I yelled after they complimented me on hanging a goddamn towel. A towel for pony’s sake! Anyways... Scoots here made me realize how much they’ve impacted me. And I know they’re super, over-the-top proud that I’m a Wonderbolt, so I was wondering if... youguyswouldhelpmeputonalittleshowinhonourofthem?” she rushed out.

Soarin smiled inside. This was unexpected, he had seen throughout the day how her parents could be overwhelming to say the least. It was entertaining seeing her get embarrassed and a little flustered because of them. The Rainbow Dash he had come to know almost never showed emotion.

“Sure, Crash,” Spitfire replied, agreeing.

“I get why if you don’t want to, but it’s reaallyy important! I can’t lose my parents~”

Soarin stepped in for Spitfire and pressed a wingtip against Dash’s muzzle. She stayed silent as she met his eyes and Soarin swore a blush bloomed on her cheeks. He tried not to think anything of it. “She said yes, Crash,” he laughed. “We’ll all help.”

She sagged her shoulders in relief. “Thanks guys!”

Now:

Soarin laughed a little, remembering her anxiousness. She was too cute sometimes. Luckily, her plan had been successful and her parents both forgave her. They had stayed a little after that before taking Scootaloo home. He had to admit, once her parents calmed down, they were fairly nice, but not exactly... mellow. Still, a huge improvement from Soarin’s first meeting with them.

Earlier:

They had stopped and hovered while some shouting from megaphones had interrupted their practice.

“Oh no,” Rainbow groaned.

“Okay. Which pony broke protocol and invited guests to our training exercises?!” Spitfire asked.

They all turned as Dash let out a guilty chuckle. “I guess they’re with me,” she admitted and flew down to greet them, grimacing. “Mom, dad. So... good... to see you.” They tackled her into a ferocious hug. She had almost the exact same coloured coat as her mom, and slightly brighter eyes than her as well, but Dash and her father shared the same magnificent rainbow mane.

Crash’s parents? Alright, Soarin, make a good impression. Actually, let Spitfire do the talking. She’s calmer. And better at this sort of thing.

Her mom smiled. “Oh, honey, it’s so great to see you, too! And wow! You were so amazing up there with all of that flying!”

Dash coughed uncomfortably. “Uh, how did you know I was here?”

“Scootaloo filled us in on everything, you modest pony you!” her mom exclaimed.

Soarin noticed the young orange filly just as she snapped a photo of the mother and daughter. “I can’t believe I’m documenting the moment your parents first saw you as a Wonderbolt?”

Her parents don’t know...?

Her mom separated and smiled at the four other pegasi. “And these must be your Wonderbolt friends! Hello, team!” She flew to Misty Fly, “I’m Windy Whistles,” she moved to Soarin and shouted in his face, “the mom of the best Wonderbolt ever!” Soarin reeled away, trying not cringe at her volume as she moved onto Fleetfoot. “Yeah! Just kidding.” She floated up. “You guys were great too,” she added.

Dash groaned again, clearly embarrassed, “Moooom!”

Soarin and Scootaloo chuckled while Spitfire saluted with her wing. “Hello, ma’am. Nice to meet you,” she greeted and held out her wing for a shake.

Windy Whistles accepted her wing and shook it hard. “Nice to meet you as well, and love those goggles! Love ‘em! You know, I have goggles, too. But they’re mostly just for swimming. Oh, and bath time.”

Soarin’s eyes widened as Spitfire and the rest of the team looked away uncomfortably.
Rainbow grabbed her mom’s tail by her mouth and dragged her back. “Mom, please! They don’t wanna hear about your bath time!”

Her father pulled her in for tearful hug. “I can’t believe it! My daughter, a Wonderbolt!” he cried. “So proud!”

“Dad, hold it together. We’re in public,” Dash gritted through her teeth, trying to keep it together.

“I know! I know, i- but it’s... just... You had a goal, and... you achieved it!” he exclaimed. Dash lowered her eyes and patted him in the back.

Soarin was baffled. She sure had an... interesting family. Very supportive. Too supportive. Even for him.

Spitfire smiled and cleared her throat. “All right, Wonderbolts. Let’s hit the showers and give Rainbow Dash some time to spend with her family.”

Soarin smirked and him and his friends made their ways towards the showers.

Dash stuck out a hoof. “Okay, yeah! Uh, great practice! I’ll, uh, eh, catch up with you guys in a minute!” she called while getting squeezed some more.

He saw Fleet salute to her father before joining them. Once they were safely inside, the four of them burst out laughing. “Oh god,” Misty Fly snorted. “If I had Crash’s parents...”

“Definitely! No wonder she didn’t tell them!” Fleetfoot laughed as she peeled her uniform off. She smirked at Soarin. “But Soar, you got nothin’ to worry about.”

Soarin hung his goggles and closed his locker. “What are you talking about?”

Misty nudged him. “Come on, Clipper, if you two ever went out, they’d probably be cheering you on!”

“I agree. They’d be cheering you on and follow you home. Even compliment you both on how good you were in bed,” Spitfire snickered, covering her muzzle with a hoof.

At that, Soarin turned bright red. “I- I... ugh! Mares,” he muttered.

“Aw, it’s okay Soar-Soar,” Fleetfoot said in a baby voice. “We didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever, she doesn’t like me like that and oh, crap, she’s coming! Uh, I’m gonna go take a shower,” he yelled, shooting out of the locker room.

Now:

Soarin had left Wonderbolts Headquarters and was going for a short flight, but looked down and could see he was above Sweet Apple Acres. I should get some pie, he thought, and swooped down.
He saw an orange mare with a hat bucking the apple trees. Perfect. He flew down and walked towards her. “Uh, excuse me? Applejack?”

She stopped what she was doing and wiped the sweat from her brow. “Well howdy there Soarin! What’s brought you here? Lookin’ for Rainbow Dash?”

His heart skipped a beat at the mention of her name, but he managed to shake his head. “No, actually, I’m, uh, here for, well, if you happen to have any apple pie? I’m willing to pay, of course,” he offered, smiling sheepishly.

Applejack frowned and shook her head. “Sorry, partner. However, if you don’t mind waiting of course, Ah can whip one right up for ya!”

His green eyes sparkled. “Really? Sure! Thanks!”

“Anything for my best customer at the gala,” she replied, tipping her hat. “Come on inside.” They trotted over together and he sat at the table while Applejack took out the ingredients. “So, what brings ya here to Ponyville?”

He shrugged. “Ah, just thought I’d go for a flight. We just did a small routine for Crash’s parents back at headquarters,” he answered.

“Dash’s parents? Huh, haven’t seen them in a while,” she commented, sifting some dry ingredients.

“You’ve met?”

She nodded. “Yeah, a while ago. They’re, uh... interesting.” She chuckled and began to knead the dough.

Soarin felt guilty for not doing anything except stand there. “You need some help? I don’t mind.”

She bit her lip and glanced around before nodding. “Alright then, you mind slicing the apples?”

“Not at all,” he replied, taking a few apples and pressing the cutter into them. “So, they were very supportive. I don’t know if it was in a good way... not that it’s bad to have supportive parents! It’s just... I didn’t expect... them?” he finished, looking away.

Applejack nodded along. “Ah know what ya mean. Um, add some sugar and to those and we’ll put them in the oven for a few minutes.”

He did as she instructed and they sat at the table, waiting. “She yelled at them... turns out she didn’t tell her parents she was a Wonderbolt.”

She raised her eyebrows. “That’s saying something, then! Rainbow’s the proudest pony Ah’ve ever met.”

“Yeah...” his voice trailed off as the image of her came to mind. “She’s pretty great.”

Applejack got up and pulled the apples out of the oven and poured them into the crust, and covered them, before placing it back in the oven. “Ya know, she talks about you an awful lot,” she told him as she rinsed the dishes.

He tried not to show too much enthusiasm at her words. “Really?”

“Uh huh, she tells us a few of the stories you apparently told her. Her and Pinkie Pie laughed their tails off about um...” she rotated her hoof in the air, “when y’all scared yer Captain?”

“Oh, yeah,” he rubbed the back of neck. “That.”

“Anyway, there something going on between you two? Knowin’ RD, she’d never fess up if there was.”

Soarin blushed as he entertained the idea of him and Rainbow as a couple. “Uh, no, there’s not,” he answered.

Luckily, Applejack didn’t press the idea any further and finished the dishes.

A sound caught his attention and a voice he knew very well called out, “Hey, AJ! You here?”

“In the kitchen!” Applejack called.

A second later and Soarin was looking at Rainbow Dash, just as pretty as ever.

“Soarin?” she asked, walking in. “Heh, what are you doing here?” She kept her tone cool, but he could see on her face she looked a little... annoyed. Usually she was happy to see him.

“Yer fellow Wonderbolt here was just gonna buy some apple pie,” Applejack replied.

At that, Rainbow smirked. “Of course you are, Clipper.”

Soarin grinned at her and merely shrugged. “What can I say? Sweet Apple Acres is the best.”

“What’re you doing here, Dash?” Applejack asked.

Dash shrugged. “Dunno, actually. Thought I’d pop in. Heh, my parents visited! Scootaloo told them I was a Wonderbolt and they came to my practice and totally disturbed it! Then they were my own ‘mega-fans’ to quote Spitfire, and I yelled at them after they were proud of me for hanging a towel, and Scootaloo got mad and I told her all about how they used to embarrass me... but I put on a show for them with the other ‘Bolts and they forgave me!” She stopped and caught her breath before smiling widely.

“Ah know RD, Soarin here was just telling me.”

Rainbow stared at Soarin and tilted her head. “You guys were talking... about me?” She placed a hoof on her chest.

Soarin tried to act nonchalant. “I was telling Applejack what happened...”

“And Ah told him you talk about him~” Rainbow rushed to her side and firmly placed a hoof on her mouth. “Mph!”

“Aw, no need to be embarrassed, Crash,” Soarin teased, “I am pretty great.”

She rolled her eyes and gave him a playful smile. “That’s supposed to be my line.”

“You must be rubbing off on me then.” He shrugged his shoulders just as the oven dinged.

Applejack pulled free and opened the oven, pulling the pie out and carefully placing it in a bag, before setting it in front of Soarin. “Here ya go, partner.”

Soarin grabbed five bits from his satchel and placed them on the table. “Thanks! Smells great,” he said.

The earth pony snatched up the bits and sighed. “Not that Ah don’t enjoy having you two here, but I really got get back to bucking those apples.”

Soarin stood. “Okay. Thanks again!” he called as he flew off, his treat tucked into his bag. Rainbow talks about me! She talks about me! Could she... Nah, she couldn’t... like me back? Could she? He was lost in his thoughts as he landed on a cloud and holding it in his hoof, took a bite of the pie. “Hmm,” he moaned in satisfaction. “So good.”
About five minutes later and he was almost halfway through, when a violent wind came and caused him to lose control of the pie, sending it down towards the ground. “No!” he shouted. There was no use in going after it, but he knew he had to fly down to clean it up. Still, it was a disappointing. Keeping his gaze on the ground, he looked for the pie, but couldn’t find it anywhere.

Then, a blue hoof with a half eaten pie held it out to him. “Looking for this?”

He looked up and his eyes fell upon Dash, gently smirking. “Crash! You saved it, thanks.” He took it out of her hooves and placed it back in the bag.

She looked down. “Hey, no prob.”

And just like that, they were back at the gala, and she was wearing that stunning dress that hugged her figure, and the golden laurel leaves were tucked behind her ears. Colourful, bright, radiant. Realizing that they were staring at one another, Soarin coughed and looked away. “So, where you going?”

“Uh... probably back home. Why?”

He shrugged. “Just wondering. Do you mean... Headquarters?”

She shook her head. “Nah, haven’t been home in a while. I need to check on Tank. See how he’s doin’,” she answered.

“Um... Tank?” Coltfriend?

She chuckled and bobbed her head. “My tortoise.” She began flying higher and Soarin followed.

“You, Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in Equestria, has a pet tortoise?” Soarin asked, not sure if he believed her.

“Uh huh,” she replied. “You can come meet him if you wanna,” she offered.

Dash’s house? She’s inviting me to her house! Only to meet her pet, but still, her house! Her home! “Uhh...” He drew blank.

Rainbow grunted impatiently. “You can say no, Clipper.”

Soarin snapped out of it and vigorously shook his head. “No, no, lets go. Lead the way.”

“Try to keep up!” she yelled, zooming away.

He laughed and rushed after her. “It’s on, Crash!” Soon enough he was right on her tail, but since she had the advantage of knowing where to go, she won their mini race. Soarin landed on a cloud and looked up in wonder. It was a cloud mansion, expertly constructed with pools of rainbow’s flowing outside, the sun gleaming on them. “Wow...” he said.

She chuckled and opened the door. “Most ponies reactions. Come on inside,” she said, and flew through the door.
Soarin stepped in and shut the door, marvelling at how bright and spacious her house was. It was stylishly decorated and screamed ‘Rainbow Dash’ but still classy and somehow elegant. He waited in the big foyer for a couple minutes, examining a couple photos on her wall. One of her and her pet tortoise, Rainbow and Fluttershy when they were fillies, one with her and Scootaloo, and one with her all of her friends. In each picture she was smiling brightly, magenta eyes shining with joy. It brought some sort of peace to Soarin seeing she was happy.

“Soarin, meet Tank,” Dash announced, flying in with a green tortoise with a propellor attached to is back and goggles on. Tank nodded at him, a smile slowly spreading across his face. Soarin had to admit, he was cute.

He raised an eyebrow and concealed a chuckle. “Um... Crash, what’s with this?” He motioned to the attached propellor.

She grinned, seeming proud. “I’m Rainbow Dash, Clipper. You thought the best flyer in the world would go without flying pet?”

He raised his eyebrows, but considered it. “Can’t believe it crossed my mind,” he replied, smiling. She smiled back, and they were stuck again in a staring competition.
As she studied him, Soarin couldn’t help but admire her beauty. He didn’t know why Rarity was considered the beautiful one, not that she wasn’t pretty, but Dash, well, she was on a different level.

“So whatcha wanna do?” Rainbow asked casually. “You hungry?”

“Did you not see me eat that pie?” he joked.

“Right.” She smirked and walked up the stairs. “Come on, let’s go to my room, it’s uh... you know, so I can keep an eye on Tank,” she said, fumbling over her words a little.

Soarin raised his eyebrow. Usually she was pretty cool and collected. “Alright,” he replied and followed her into her room.
Upon arriving he looked around, there was a large comfy bed with her signature lightning bolt, the white cloud walls were adorned with Wonderbolt and Daring Do posters, there was medals, trophies, and ribbons scattered everywhere, a bookshelf encased with Daring Do novels, and more photos of her, her family, and her friends. “So, even after a year of being on the team... you still couldn’t take down the posters?” he teased.

She rolled her eyes. “Well... some of these are of the old Wonderbolts and some of them that include you guys are cause I’m in them too,” she stated proudly, puffing her chest.

Soarin looked around, green eyes landing on one that had just him posing. He pointed to it. “That’s just me, Crash.”

Rainbow looked away and rubbed her hoof. “Yeah, well, before I joined, I really looked up to you and Spitfire.”

“Really?” he questioned, watching Tank eat in the corner.

“Heh, yeah, of course! You guys were my idols! You still are, just in a different way. You guys are my friends, you know?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Great book collection,” he complimented, eyeing it.

“Right! They’re all first edition,” she exclaimed smugly, walking over to it. “Except for the first one, I was gonna get it at the Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange, but I didn’t.”

“What? Why? How? When?” he rambled. He would kill to have all the first editions.

She laughed. “I was trying, but in the end... Fluttershy would have had to go away for a long time to train a two-headed dog.”

Soarin blinked, not sure if he heard correctly. “Say what?”

“You heard right. Couldn’t let that happen. Flutters is my best friend, I’ve known her since I was a filly.”

He nodded and sat on the carpet. “I get it. I couldn’t do that to Spits or Fleet.”

Dash ran her eyes over him. “Can I ask you something? It’s a little... personal.”

“Uh, sure,” he answered, staring at her. He blushed slightly.

She bit her lip and his blush intensified, thinking how much he would like to take her in his arms and press his lips against hers. Then a hoof was waving in front of his face. “Soarin?”

“Huh? Yeah?” He shook his head, trying to snap out of his fantasies. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“Are you and Spitfire like...” She stared at the ground, trying to word it together. “A thing? A couple?”

Soarin’s mouth parted at the bizarre question. She really had no idea about his feelings for her. “No, we aren’t.”

“Really? You two seem so close...” her voice trailed off.

“Well, yeah, she’s my best friend. She’s more like a sister, though.” He looked at her and decided to have some fun. “Why, you jealous?” He sent her a teasing grin.

She scoffed and shoved him lightly. “Ha! You wish, Clipper.” I really, really do, actually.

“So, what? You got a special somepony, Miss Dash?”

She froze for a second before regaining her composure. “That stuff’s never really been on my radar. It’s hard to find somepony as awesome as yours truly,” she replied smirking.

Now he was genuinely curious. “And if you found somepony just as awesome?” he asked.

“Oh, well, I don’t know. Being a Wonderbolt takes up a lot of my time, as I’m sure you know.” We’d be so good together, Dash.

“Yeah, I guess. But come on, ever since you became a part of the team, all the stallions in Equestria are all over you.”

She shrugged. “They all care about the status, and they’re all boring. It’d have to be somepony who really got me, you know? Besides, it’s not just me. Fleet, Misty, Spitfire, Surprise, High Winds... they all get love declarations too.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “True, but you... I’ve been on the team for nine years and none of them have gotten pined over like you have, Crash,” he pointed out.

Her mouth thinned into a straight line. “I don’t know if I should be disgusted or proud.”

Probably both.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Soarin pointed out, smiling.

“What’s that?” she tilted her head.

Ignoring the butterflies in his stomach, Soarin proceeded. “Would you ever be in a relationship? Forget about the crazy schedules and all, just if you found some pony really... important to you?”

“You genuinely wanna know?”

“Wouldn’t ask if I didn’t,” he answered.

She stayed quiet for a few minutes. “I would give it a try,” she admitted and placed a hoof on his mouth. “That doesn’t leave this room, got it, Clipper? After all, I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

He rolled his eyes with a smile, shaking his head. “Fine, fine,” he agreed.

“Thank you.” She sounded sincere.

Soarin frowned. “Dash... why do you have the need to look cool in front of everypony? Not that you aren’t cool,” he added quickly, “but... I’ve never seen you let yourself be vulnerable.”

“I...” Dash frowned and looked at the ground. “It’s just who I am, okay?”

Soarin idiotically pressed on. “I’ve seen you upset before, Rainbow. Just once. Because of that nickname. Look, nopony’s going to think less of you because you show emotion, you know? All this ‘reputation’ stuff... why’s it so important to you? It’s a little... shallow,” he responded meekly. He officially had no idea what he was doing. Was he trying to offend the girl of his dreams?

Dash considered it before shaking her head. Slowly, she looked up into Soarin’s eyes, and he saw her own shimmering with unshed tears through a menacing glare. “You don’t understand,” she told him coldly, standing up.

“Rainbow Dash, what are you~”

She wiped her eyes and pointed towards the door. “Leave.”

He opened his mouth to protest but shut it and nodded his head, leaving silently. He had never seen her so upset, and knowing he had caused it made him feel worse. But he was also angry. She didn’t have to get angry with him, demanding that he go. Shaking his head, he flew back and knocked on her door. After a few minutes, she opened it and he barged right in.

“You know, Crash, in the future when I ask you something personal, just say don’t want to talk about it,” he snapped. “Because this load of crap about being all cool and mysterious can be really annoying! Why can’t you just accept that I care? That you don’t have to be all ‘Oh I’m Rainbow Danger Dash and I’m the best’! That I’m not here to make fun of you! That I would never tell anypony because I want you to trust me, because I li~” he stopped short, panting and glaring.

She stood astounded that one of her closest friends had just screamed at her. “I...” she was at a loss for words. “Get the hell out of my house,” she sneered, eyes darkening.

He scoffed in frustration. “Whatever.” And with that, Soarin flew off.

“You yelled at Crash?!” Spitfire shouted. “Great job, Soarin! Last thing we need is for teammates to not get along!”

“I came to you as a friend, Spit, not as a teammate.”

She sputtered and crossed her arms and then sighed. “Fine. Why’d she get mad?”

“Uh...”

She set her glasses down and peered at him. “You did something.”

“Hey, why do you think I did something?” he defended.

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Cause you would have told me what she did if she did something first. Now, what’d you do?”

“I might have... said her whole act was a little shallow,” he admitted, looking away.

His friend shook her head. “That’s just how Dash is, I thought you said you accepted her... brashness?”

“I do!” he insisted. “Really, I like every single aspect of her. I just don’t know why she keeps up this facade,” he reasoned.

“Maybe it isn’t a facade. Dash isn’t fake, you know. Never seen another pony quite like her.”

He nodded. “No, I know that. I’m not saying she’s fake. I know she’s cocky, I know she’s proud, that she’s brave and determined and loyal and funny and kind and...”

Spitfire cleared her throat, glancing at the clock

Soarin blushed. “I know she’s all of those things. But to pretend that nothing upsets you, that you never cry or anything... that part is fake.”

“She doesn’t like to show weakness, Soar... a lot of us don’t. I don’t.”

He sighed. “Yeah, but I know you’re capable of it. She is too. It’s different, I’ve known you my entire life... and I just... want her to be comfortable around me, I guess. I want her to trust me,” he softly admitted, lowering his head.

Spitfire placed a hoof on his shoulder. “I know it’s difficult cause you like her. But she must have her reasons, she’ll open up eventually. I know she considers you a very good friend,” she said comfortingly.

“I don’t want to be just friends,” he muttered, not caring that she heard. It was all too obvious anyway.

“I’m not usually one for promises, but I’ll guarantee you you guys will make up. Just give her time to cool off.”

Soarin sighed and sent his friend a grateful smile. She was right. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“I know I am,” she joked. “I gotta get back to work. I’ll see you later at dinner?”

“Uh, yeah. Wanna grab a drink after too?” he asked.

“Can’t,” she shook her head, “I’m going to the bar with Wave Chill.”

Soarin sent her a teasing wiggle of his eyebrows. “A date?”

Spitfire concealed her blush fairly well, but Soarin saw past it. “No!” she exclaimed. “We’re just hanging out,” she added swiftly.

“Who asked who?”

“He asked me. Why?”

“I’ve noticed you to becoming... closer,” he stated. “Anything going on there, Spitty?”

Her orange eyes narrowed. “First, don’t ever call me that, second... we’re just friends. Got it?”
He didn’t believe that for a second.

“Alright, alright,” he replied backing off. “See you at dinner, then.”

“Soarin?” Spitfire called out.

“Yeah?”

She smiled gently, placing her glasses back on. “Things will turn out. Trust me.”

“Thank you, Spitfire,” he told her gratefully, meaning it.