takes place during and slightly after S1 E26 (The Best Night Ever.)

The flash of cameras, elite Canterlot ponies, fancy food, and another show had been Soarin’s night. Oh, and of course, the best apple pie he’d ever tasted, which of course, he’d only gotten to taste because of a certain rainbow-haired pegasus. She had definitely left a lasting impression on him, no matter how little time he had spent in her company. Other ponies would think it would be stupid for a pie saving to mean something, but to Soarin, it meant a lot. Pie, apple in particular, was something he had always been and always would be, fond of.

Earlier:

The Wonderbolts had just finished a spectacular show for the gala, and while his teammates made their towards the VIP section to hang out, take photos, and spend time with fans, Soarin was looking for something to eat. Ever since he could remember, he had always had a rather big appetite. But being a professional athlete did that to you. And so he walked around the castle grounds, in search of something that didn’t have ‘high-class’ written all over it.

He had been looking for around fifteen minutes, and he didn’t see any stands in sight. Sighing, he continued his walk back to the grounds, but came upon a stand filled with apple flavoured treats, his favourite. A big smile lit up his face as he began walking towards it, and saw an orange earth pony standing beside it, wearing a fashionable cow girl dress with her blonde hair in a braid. “Howdy partner!” she greeted with a southern accent. “You hungry?”

He laughed a little. “As a horse!”

“Well, whatcha catering for? Caramel apple, apple pie, apple fritter, apple fries?” she listed, pointing to each treat.

Soarin thought for a moment, but he knew there was one thing he really wanted. He pointed to a delicious looking pie in the right corner. “I’ll take that big apple pie!” he exclaimed happily.

He dropped two bits into the barrel and she handed him the treat. “Why thank you kindly, sir.”

As he walked away, he could hear her cheer and felt good about supporting something hopefully local while getting some really good pie. Win-win. He walked back to the VIP section and saw Blaze and Surprise talking to some fans.

Just then, Spitfire swooped down and gave him an amused smile. “Always hungry after a show, eh, Soarin?” she asked.

He snorted a little. “Yeah!” Unfortunately, it was his mouth that was holding the pie, and as soon as he spoke, it released, and Soarin saw, in very slow motion, his pie falling to the ground. “My pie!” he yelled, a horrified expression on his muzzle.

A flash of a blue coat and she was there, holding it in her hooves, a split second from spilling everywhere. She checked to make sure it was okay, and then rose a bit, holding it out to him.

He kept his expression neutral yet thankful. He recognized this mare, with a mane like hers it was easy to. She had saved his life, won the title of best young flier, and saved his pie. He gazed at her outfit. She had on a rainbow streaked dress with fluffy cloud trimming, golden laced up silk shoes, and a necklace with purple beading around her elegant neck. What he really liked though, was her hair. That spectacular rainbow mane had been curled and fluffed, and tied to the side, with a leaf of gold laurel near her bangs, hooking around her ears. She smiled sweetly, lighting up her rosy pink eyes. She was a sight to behold.

“You saved it,” he said gently, sending her his best smile. “Thanks.” He took the pie from her hooves.

“Hey, no prob,” she replied.

He walked away from her, instead focusing on how hungry he was, and dove face first. The crust was flaky, filling sweet, warm, fresh with a hint of spice. Heaven, he thought. Through his loud chewing, he could hear them converse in the background.

“Hey, I know you,” Spitfire said. “You’re the pony who saved us in Cloudsdale and one the Best Flier Competition.”

“Hey, yeah!” the mare exclaimed. “Name’s Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow Dash, he thought through mouthfuls of apple filling. Right. What a fitting name.

“Well, Rainbow Dash, looks like your skills saved us again. Well, at least they saved Soarin’s apple pie,” Spitfire replied with a sly smile.

He could tell by her tone that she was also impressed. He knew Spitfire inside and out. After all, they had grown up together. They were practically siblings. He could feel their eyes on him as he sloppily gobbled up his treat. Normally he would have been embarrassed, especially in front of a dressed up, attractive mare, but he was too euphoric to care, even as they shared a little chuckle at his performance.

“Wanna come hang out with us?” his captain invited.

“Sure, why not?” the mare said, trying to play it cool as she began following them. As he was close to finishing his pie, he glanced up, and saw her stop, a huge smile on her features. “I’m. Hanging. With the Wonderbolts!” she exclaimed. “Ahh!” she giggled and pranced in place, overwhelmed with excitement at getting to spend time with her idols, before hurriedly skipping in.

Soarin grinned as he finished his pie. She was something, alright. Definitely cute. Definitely fast. Even though he barely knew her, she stood out to him in a way no mare had before. Even the ones he had liked. She had spunk, he decided, and could tell she was a pony who shone and stood out brightly, just like her mane. As he made his way to mingle and take photos with fans, his amusement disappeared. In his eyes, they were only ponies who liked him for his status. Some of them didn’t even know his name, and the questions were always the same. ‘What’s it like being a Wonderbolt?’, ‘How fast are you?’, ‘How long have you been doing this?’, ‘Good job on the last show, how’d you do that trick?’. Repetitive, boring, tiring.

Two hours later and he was still having boring small talk with stuck up ponies, getting dragged for photos, and accepting fake compliments. Truthfully, he was trying to get to know Rainbow Dash, who was clearly making an effort to impress them, but just as he thought he had gotten away, he was dragged back. He could see Fleetfoot getting tired as well, along with Lightning Streak, which said something. He always loved talking about himself and his accomplishments. As well as flirting with pretty mares, which Canterlot seemed to have a lot of. Eventually, Soarin stopped focusing on Rainbow Dash, and tried to get this evening over with and done. He was sleepy and borderline annoyed with all of this— the Grand Galloping Gala was always the same.

However, the night took an interesting turn as noise was all around and a statue of horse teetered, and as it fell, Rainbow Dash had swooped in and caught it, landing on her back. Only for a minute though, as her body clearly couldn’t handle the weight of it, and she began to wobble back and forth, effectively crashing into poles and other things around the castle. Then, a yellow pony with a pink mane, all scratched up, barged right in after a group of frightened looking animals. “You’re. Going. To love me!” she howled.

At that moment, everything had burst into chaos, and Soarin caught everybody, including Rainbow Dash, running around trying to escape the madness that was tonight. Spitfire looked at her team, who was all gathered in a group and she nodded. “Let’s get out of here, we’ll send the princess a letter thanking her for the invite. Let’s go Bolts!” she commanded, and they all whipped out of the castle until they were far away before slowing down.

“Wow,” Soarin exclaimed, “that was...”

“Totally unexpected,” Blaze said, stunned.

Fleetfoot, Misty Fly, Rapidfire, and Fire Streak laughed and grinned. “That was awesome!” they yelled.

“Totally!” Surprise shouted, excitement in her eyes. “Usually that place is so boring.”

Soarin chuckled and flew towards Spitfire, who was rolling her eyes despite smiling. “They’re insane, aren’t they, Clipper?”

Soarin grinned. “Don’t tell me you’re just noticing that.”

Wave Chill flew up to join them as they neared the headquarters and touched down, everypony walking to the locker room. “You okay, Captain? You look a little worn out.” He had a hint of worry in his voice.

Spitfire shrugged it off. “Yeah, I’m good, Chill. Let’s just get some shut eye. You guys have tomorrow off from training!” she shouted and they all whooped and cheered, yawns escaping their mouths as they peeled off their uniforms, brushed their teeth, and hopped into bed, most of the team falling asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows.

Now:

He had climbed into bed, stomach full, muscles sore, but nonetheless, a smile on his face as the thought of the cyan blue mare who had saved him again. I barely know you, yet I have the need to repay you so badly.