takes place during S8 E17, (The End in Friend.) In the break where Starlight says to “go read and we’ll discuss the books later”, and then a bit after the episode as well.

sorry if this confuses anyone.

A week had passed since the Wonderbolts big showing in Manehattan, and Soarin still wasn’t sure how he felt. Dash had comforted him, snapped him out of his lull and anger, and he had been able to enjoy the rest of their stay in the big city.
As soon as they had all returned, he felt the tiredness seep into him. He was grabbing his uniform from his locker, and was overhearing Dash, Surprise, and High Winds all talking.

“I don’t know, Winds, she’s being so ugh, Rarity!” Dash exclaimed.

Surprise tilted her head, bouncing in place like the ball of energy she was. “Isn’t that an good thing Crash? I’d like my friends to continue being themselves cause wouldn’t that be weird if they all started acting totally different? Something weird would definitely be going~!”

High Winds pressed a hoof to Surprise’s mouth and smiled. “That’s not what she means, Slowpoke,” she chuckled.

Dash sighed, placing her goggles on her forehead. “Now I have to read her stupid Shadow Spade while she doesn’t even care about anything I like,” she grumbled.

High Winds shrugged and followed Surprise out the door. “Maybe you’ll end up liking it,” she called over her shoulder.

Dash just scoffed and shoved the black and red book in her locker. “Not likely.”

Soarin looked longingly at her, finding himself missing her stubborn streak. There was no reason he couldn’t ask what was wrong. “Friend problems?” he guessed.

She sighed and gave him a nod. “Yeah. I have to go back to Ponyville after practice for some stupid book club Starlight made us join. Supposed to bring us closer together,” she replied in a bored tone and began to walk out the door.

He scrambled after her, trying to see if he could help, just like she had helped him. He was not supposed to be doing this, he thought, but ignored his good sense in the moment. After all, even without the feelings and heartache and physical attraction, Soarin and Dash were good friends. They had been close ever since she joined the ‘Bolts, and had even sent each other the occasional letter when she was in the reserves.

“What’s going on with you guys?” he asked as they headed to the gym.

She rolled her eyes. “Well, you know how Rarity and I will sometimes take the day to do stuff together?”

He nodded.

“Basically, we tried to that while Twilight and her class were watching, something about being really different from one another. So we tried each other’s things but Rarity kept getting distracted by her dumb fashion and shopping.” She scowled and waved a hoof dramatically. “She didn’t care about Buckball or I don’t know, treasure hunting... any of the stuff I liked! It was all about her. So long story short, we’re not friends anymore. She didn’t even wanna give Daring Do a try!”

Soarin’s eyes widened. “What?!” he exclaimed. Who didn’t want to read Daring Do?

“I know! Seriously!”

He shook his disbelief away and focused. “Look, maybe give the book a chance, I know it isn’t your thing...”

“You bet your ass it’s not my thing,” she laughed.

Soarin gave her a small nudge, and gave a little cheer when a small smile lit her face from the contact. “You guys had no problem with your differences before, maybe you’ll work it out. You’ve been friends forever.”

“Yeah, well, now we’re not,” she huffed. “She can’t respect the things I like~”

A thought crossed Soarin’s mind. Dash was one of the most relentless mares in Equestria. “Rainbow, I’m not accusing you of anything, but did you give the things she liked a try?”

They entered the gym, where everypony craned their heads to look at them, already warming up. Dash looked away. “Well...”

“Crash! Clipper! Over here, now! After practice you two can do five hundred more laps for being late!” Spitfire shouted.

Soarin slouched and made his way over beside Thunderlane and Surprise, stretching out his legs.

Once they started drills and practicing the routine, he whispered in Dash’s ear, “Just... let me know how it goes, alright?”

She could only give him a quick nod, and Soarin realized from the way she froze that she was flustered from his action. He could read her like a book.

He knew he needed to stay away from her, try to keep things light. But he was slipping, and still endlessly falling. He could only grin, not caring that Spitfire was yelling at him again.

“Letter for Commander Soarin!” the mail pony called, appearing in the mess hall.

Soarin looked up and walked over to the counter where he placed his dishes before making his way over to the mail delivery stallion. He grabbed it with his mouth and nodded. “Thanks,” he muffled out.

The mail pony tipped his hat and exited the room.

Soarin flew back to his spot beside Blaze and Spitfire, reading the return address. He couldn’t stop the smile when he saw who it had come from.

From: Rainbow Dash
To: Commander Soarin Skies

Blaze read over his shoulder. “Yeah, it’s from Crash,” she confirmed, nodding to everypony at the table. It was one of the nights where the team had shoved a few tables together and had all sat as one, talking, eating, and enjoying themselves. The whole team. Except for one.

“Obviously. Only she could make Clipper smile like that,” Surprise quipped, stuffing two big carrots into her mouth and basically swallowing them whole.

Everyone just stared at her for a second, Lightning Streak raising a hoof and cocking his brow. “How did you...?”

“Don’t even question it anymore,” Misty and High Winds replied in unison, followed by a shared chuckle.

Soarin tore the envelope open with his mouth and pulled the piece of paper out, messily written in what must have been quill ink.

Soarin, Usually when she wrote letters, she called him Soar. Those days were over.

I’m staying in Ponyville for the night but I’ll be back early tomorrow for training. Obviously I’ll regret it ‘cause I’ll have to get up early, but Pinkie and AJ say to live in the moment right now, whatever that means.
You said to tell you how it went with Rare. It went good. Everything’s back to normal. Don’t get cocky though Clip, it was Twi and Starlight who mainly helped ;)
I’ll tell you all how it went in pony cause I’m a great storyteller.

P.S. When I get back to HQ, we need to talk.

— RD

“You guys need to talk?” Spitfire questioned. “What does that mean?”

Soarin shrugged. “I got no idea. Guess I’ll find out tomorrow.” He felt in his gut that it was something serious, but tried not to pay any mind and instead joined the team for a quick game of cards, which Surprise and High Winds won like they usually did.

Blaze placed a hoof on her mouth as she yawned. “Alright, I’m going to bed,” she announced sleepily and exited the room.

Soarin couldn’t help but notice Fleetfoot’s pale purple gaze follow her out as she stood up. “Me too. G’night,” she also mumbled, flying out.

“They’re totally doing it,” Misty said while smirking.

They all stood up while Soarin put the cards away, walking out towards the bedrooms. “Looks like you missed your chance, Streak,” Soarin said, jabbing his friend lightly.

Lightning only shrugged. “I got over her. Besides,” he added with a smirk, “mare on mare? Fucking hot. Really hot.”

“Agreed,” Rapid and Thunder both replied.

“All you guys think about is sex,” Spitfire complained. Soarin thought she was very right, and he was no exception.

Rapidfire laughed. “Oh please, like you and Wave haven’t had sex yet.”

Wave Chill let out a rather feminine squeak at the declaration and turned a shade of red that ended up looking purple against his dark blue cheeks.

Spitfire handled it more calmly and just glared at everyone. “Mind your own business,” she coughed, rolling her eyes. “Or I can make training tomorrow twice or thrice as long.”

“Aw, Spitty, you’re no fun!” Soarin whined playfully and headed with the guys to brush their teeth.

After that was done, the ‘Bolts all retired for the night, yawning and bidding each other goodnight, all of them gently (and not so gently) snoring away.

Soarin stayed awake though, going over every possible thing Dash could want to talk to him about.

“Morning everypony!” He knew that voice. He loved that voice. Soarin turned and along with a few others, started groaning.

“Five more minutes,” he whined to no one in particular.

“If I have to get up early then you should all have to suffer with me,” Dash retorted teasingly. “I’ll wait outside in the arena.”

“She actually got here on time,” Misty Fly mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

“It’s a first,” Spitfire chuckled, standing up. “But she’s right. Come on you guys, up and at ‘em!”

“You’re gonna kill us one day, Captain,” Wave told her, nudging Spitfire a little.

Soarin saw her smile affectionately at him. “Just doing my job.”

The locker room and bathrooms were busy and bustling, each member coming in and out, quick brushing of the mane, strapping goggles on, getting suited up, and of course, endless talking and teasing.

“Say, Windy, how ‘bout you and I~” Lightning started.

“No thank you,” High Winds replied calmly, pushing him out of the way.

Soarin just laughed as Lightning moved on to Misty Fly. “Aight, Misty, you and me, tonight, Canterlot~”

Misty Fly pressed her wingtip to Lightning’s mouth. “I dated your brother.”

“You’re right, that’d be weird,” Lightning agreed, trying not to laugh. Everypony knew he was just joking around when he did this, however, he didn’t stop right there and flew over to Soarin. “Commander, have I ever told you what... uh, handsome green eyes you have?” He winked, a weird smile on his light blue muzzle.

Everyone in the locker room just turned and stared, even Spitfire. Soarin just blinked. “Have you thought I was a mare for the past ten years, Light?”

The team just laughed.

“I have no luck with mares these days, so maybe I should change to stallions, you catch my drift man?” Lightning asked.

Soarin rolled his eyes playfully and made his way to the door. “Stop hitting on the mares here and find all the ones who don’t know what a jackass you are!” he called teasingly.

Lightning just pouted as the everypony laughed again.

Soarin flew to the arena, and saw Dash warming up, in the position resembling a downward dog. And fortunately for him, he had a front row seat of her round, toned butt.

“Crash, what’d you wanna talk to me about?” he asked, landing beside her and began to stretch as well.
She began rolling her neck. “Um... it’s probably best if we talk after practice, Clipper,” she answered distantly.

Soarin stopped and hesitantly placed a hoof on her back. “You sure? You know you can tell me anything, right? If you’re upset...”

“Everything’s fine, Soarin.” She shook off his hoof and turned to face him. Her magenta eyes held a faint glisten and sorrowful look. He always hated it when she was sad, hated it more than words could express. He knew better than to bring it up right now though, one thing Dash always had on some level, was her pride.

He sighed and nodded, noticing everyone else coming out. “‘Kay, after practice then.”

“Alright, Wonderbolts, a thousand laps, now!” Spitfire blew her whistle, and they all filed into the air.

Once Soarin had showered and eaten some breakfast, he made his way over to his bed and sat on it, deciding to wait for Dash while reading Daring Do and The Griffin’s Goblet, one of his favourite books in the series.

Quiet hoof steps entered, and only because of his excellent hearing was Soarin able to detect it. “Took a while, spending time on your mane?” he joked, smiling widely.

Her hair was still damp from the shower and she smelled fresh and clean, still mixed with rainbows and vanilla. Dash smiled and shook her head. “Rarity would be disappointed if that were true.”

They both laughed a little. Things were going back to normal... kind of. Their little jokes and banter still as flowy as ever. Maybe they had a chance, he thought.

“Let’s go find a cloud,” she proposed, walking back out, not even waiting for him to agree. He knew she knew he would follow. He’d follow her to the ends of Equestria if he had to, no pauses, no questions asked.

After they both got settled on a cloud not too far from Headquarters, Dash turned to face him with another regretful look, matching the one she wore before.

“Should I be worried?” Soarin questioned, looking at the mare intently.

She sighed, poking the fluffy cloud with her hoof. “Um, look, I have no idea how to say this,” she began.

“Yeah, I should be worried,” he thought out loud.

“Soarin... I can’t... I... ugh, stupid stupid,” she muttered, air escaping her nose. “I can’t do this anymore.”

He blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. And tilted his head. “Huh? Do what?”

She waved a hoof in the air. “This! You and me!”

Confused, he scrunched his face up. “Rainbow, we ended whatever we had. I ended whatever we had.” Had she forgotten or something?

She nodded rather excessively. “I know! And then we ignored each other, kept it professional. And then I come to you in Manehattan ‘cause Celestia knows I hate seeing you so upset,” she exclaimed. “And I... what did I do? I hugged you, I gave you some speech about being there and~”

Soarin rolled his eyes. “This again? How many times do I have to tell you that you’re amazing, feelings or not?”

A frustrated tear rolled down one eye. “Let me finish! I gave you that speech because I cared about you. I still do. More then I should, more than I want to, and I hate it. I hate feeling this way. You ended whatever we had and what? We can’t even do that for very long without showing some sort of care. I hate being jealous of other mares at meet and greets, I hate thinking about you non-stop... I hate... I hate...” she stopped herself.

“You hate what?” Soarin snapped. Everything she said was right, but he didn’t expect it to feel like such a punch to the gut.

“I hate loving you!”

His jaw dropped.

“So, whatever this, whatever this half friendship, flirting thing where we exchange glances and be teammates but not really teammates because we still aren’t maintaining a proper distance that we should. It’s over, Soarin. Whatever the fuck we had, all of that, all that we started to have again, it’s over. Because like before, we have no idea what the hell we want, we’re busy, all of that crap. I can’t take us acting like this and not being able to be with you properly.” No tears fell from her eyes, and she just stared stoically at him. “Okay? Look, if you every truly need me, I’m here. Seriously, I am. Element of Loyalty, ya know? But... please, let’s just... try to move on,” she whispered.

He cast his gaze at the blue sky. These were things he already knew, yet he felt he was breaking inside anyways. He wanted to yell and scream and cry. She had just told him she loved him, and they weren’t even together. She just said she basically wanted nothing to do with him, that they should just be co-workers, stuff he had said before but had never really sunk into him. He had tried many failed attempts to tell her this again. But she had always been the strong one, the brave one. It was only a matter of time.

“You’re right,” he said after a long time, anger diminishing. “We can’t be together, there was always something in the way, even though we’re both Wonderbolts...”

She sighed again. “Yeah. I-I’m sorry.”

He managed a soft smile. “Don’t be, Dash. You’re right. This is our life.”

“So, Commander.” She raised a hoof and offered a half-smile, almost shy. “Teammates?”

He placed his hoof against hers. “Teammates.”

They stayed like that for a couple minutes, before Soarin reluctantly pulled away and coughed. “I have some work to do back at HQ, so I’m going to get going. I’ll see you in the mess hall.”

She nodded. “I’m just gonna stay here for awhile.”

“Alright.” After one last gaze at the girl he loved, Soarin soared away.

Calm, friendly, polite and professional. Co-workers. Teammates. He could do this. He wasn’t sure how, but he would.