takes place during S5 E20, (Hearthbreakers.) and after the chapter Royal Garden Opening: II

i hope you like it so far! next chapter will start featuring the ‘Bolts :)

“Letter for Rainbow Dash!” Derpy called, dropping a piece of mail in the box.

“Coming,” Dash replied, still half asleep. Why did ponies have to come so early? And for what? A stupid letter?

Rubbing her eyes, she opened the door just in time to see Derpy fly away and take a bite out of a muffin. “Thanks or... whatever,” Dash mumbled and walked towards the mailbox, grabbing the letter and trudging back inside.

As soon as she was back in her room, Dash yawned, not bothering to even read the return address before nodding off back to sleep, entranced in a good dream once again.

A knocking against her bed woke her up quick enough. About to let out an annoyed grunt, Dash stopped short when she realized it was just Tank, who was probably hungry. She smiled affectionately at her pet and hopped out of bed, using her mouth to poor his food from the bag into his bowl.

After she placed it in front of him, she gave him a few gentle strokes on the back. “Morning bud. You sleep good?”

Tank smiled up at her and nodded, slowly going back to his breakfast.

“Good. At least you weren’t interrupted by Derpy this morning,” she chuckled. “I’ll go get some breakfast and then come back.”

After grabbing some leftover pancakes, she headed back to her room and sat next to the tortoise after grabbing the letter.

Dash took a bite and read the return address.

To: Rainbow Dash
From: Commander Soarin Skies
Wonderbolts Headquarters

Dash’s eyes widened as she quickly swallowed her food, shakily tearing open the envelope. “Oh. My. Gosh!” she yelled, unfolding the piece of paper which held a note.

Dear Rainbow Dash,

Hi, it’s me. Soarin.
I hope you’re doing well since we last saw one another in Canterlot.
I really enjoyed hanging out with you that night, and even though I apologized, I’m still sorry about the way I treated you.
So just tell, how’re you doing? How are your friends and Ponyville, the weather team... anything really. It gets a little repetitive up here at HQ. Just practice, our parents visiting and embarrassing us, and some poor excuse for decorations being hung up here.
We’re going to do a show soon by the way, and if you’re not asked to be the reserve, here’s some front seat tickets. I hope you and your friends come.
Anyways, happy Hearth’s Warming Eve to you and your friends. Have a good one.

Soarin

Dash grinned widely, trotting over to her pet and excitedly putting it in front of him. “You see this, Tank? A Wonderbolt sent me a letter!” She flew excitedly around the room for a minute before deciding it wasn’t good for her digestion and promptly gulped down her pancakes. “I’m heading to Twilight’s, see ya later bud!”

“Come on, come on, open up,” Dash mumbled impatiently, too excited to settle herself on the ground.

Finally, the door swung open to reveal Spike. “Oh, hey Rainbow Dash. If you’re here for Applejack and Pinkie Pie... they just left.”

Dash flew in, trying not to buzz with excitement. “Nah, Pinkie came and said goodbye yesterday... I was looking for Twilight. Soarin sent me a letter and I don’t know what to say.” Dash grinned at the little dragon. “You hear that Spike? A Wonderbolt sent me a personal letter!”

Spike scratched his head. “Umm... haven’t they sent you letters before?”

Dash scoffed. “Well yeah. My acceptance to the academy, reserve updates, yada yada... but never a personal one from a friend. This one’s different.”

“Yeah? That’s pretty cool.”

She nodded excessively. “So, you know where Twilight is?”

“Library.”

“Thanks, Spike!”

Dash burst into the library, a smile still etched on her cyan face. “Twilight! Twilight! Guess who sent me a letter!” She looked around, unable to spot her friend. “Uh, where are you?”

“Uh, over here,” Twilight called, sitting at one of the four tables with a couple books open. “I’m just reading about hippogriffs, and they’re really fascinating! Did you know—“

Dash waved a hoof, settling beside her friend. “Cool, whatever. Read this!” She placed the letter and Twilight picked it up with her magic, eyes reading the words carefully.

“So, a letter from Soarin? The Wonderbolt?” she asked, looking up.

“Uh huh. Can you believe it? He wrote me a letter! A personal one! No Wonderbolt has ever done that! Do you think it’s like... like a test. If I answer correctly, I get to be part of the team? Ooh, I hope it is!” Dash smushed her face as she rambled, new ideas forming in her mind.

Twilight raised a brow and chuckled goodheartedly. “Honestly? I think it’s just a friend sending you a letter. Not a test.”

“Oh.” Dash deflated a little, but perked back up a second later. “I don’t know what to say. Normally I would, but he’s almost on the same level of awesomeness as me. What do I say? Do I play it cool and casual? Or professional?” She bit her lip nervously.

Twilight stayed quiet, examining Rainbow Dash. Finally, she brought along a quill, some ink, and a piece of paper, as well as an envelope and placed in front of the pegasus. “How about you just answer his questions? Tell him what’s going on. That is what he asked. It’s a letter to a friend.”

“A Wonderbolt friend.”

The alicorn sighed. She hadn’t seen Dash this nervous in a while. “From what you told me when you and Rarity got back from Canterlot, and from the time at the Equestria Games Tryouts, Soarin doesn’t seem to mind dropping formalities when he’s with you. Pretend you’re just writing to anypony.”

Dash calmed a little at her friend’s words. Part of her nerves were worrying about saying the wrong thing. Ever since Rarity implied that her and Soarin liked each other, she was going to take the extra step to make sure it never appeared that way. And who better to help then Twilight? Somepony who didn’t have a lot of interest in romance, and likely wouldn’t ask Dash too many personal questions or tease her about it, like Applejack or of course, Rarity.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “You ready?”

Twilight nodded, showing the quill was in her magic’s grasp.

“Dear Soarin. Um...” Dash flinched. “Leave out the ums. Doesn’t sound cool,” she said.

After Twilight nodded, Dash resumed.

“I’m doing awesome, as usual. Hope you didn’t expect anything less.” She flinched again. “Does that sound too cocky?”

“Does that sound too cocky...?” Twilight muttered, pretending to write that onto the note.

“Twilight!”

The purple pony laughed. “I’m kidding! Just say what you want, they all have some idea about your...” She bit her lip, trying to find a way to say it nicely. “Ego,” she finished.

Dash rolled her eyes. Ponies were always saying that, and it was true, she wasawesome. “And I’m sure you’re doing well too, besides all the repetition going on there.” She smiled fondly, imagining Soarin’s face as he wrote this. “But if you aren’t for whatever reason, it’ll get better.”

She paused to wait while Twilight wrote it down before continuing.

“Everything in Ponyville is good. Pinkie Pie and Applejack just left to spend Hearth’s Warming Eve together with their families, and AJ made the best apple cider. Too bad you won’t be here to get some first hoof.” Dash tapped her chin in thought. “Everypony else is good too. The weather crew is gonna make the first snowfall today, so hopefully Thunderlane will be on time,” she muttered, half to herself. “And I’ll try to make it to your guys’ show if I’m not asked to be a reserve. But win-win. I get to see it either way.” She smirked. “Have a good Hearth’s Warming with the team or your family or whoever you spend it with. I’m sure it’ll be awesome and completely not like Ponyville’s, which I guess is kind of a shame. Just kidding.” Not sure what else to say, Dash shrugged. “I hope you and Spitfire and everypony else have a good holiday too. From Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight added the last words in and tucked it into the envelope. “That was nice of him to do that.”

“Heh, yeah. I’ve never gotten a personal letter from them before,” Dash remarked.

“Really? He must like you, then.”

Dash inwardly groaned. “Not this again,” she muttered.

Twilight tilted her head, some bangs covering part of her left eye. “Not what again?”

Realizing she didn’t understand where Dash’s frustration came from, Dash shook her head and smiled. “Never mind. Thanks for this.”

“Of course, anytime. I’ll see you later at Fluttershy’s?”

Dash nodded. “You bet! I’m gonna go send this, see ya!” She flared up from the ground and shot towards the door, effectively knocking down piles of books in the process. Sheepishly, she turned around. “Sorry about that.”

Twilight’s purple eyes rolled. “Just go before I make you clean it up.”

Dash took her cue and zipped out of the castle, speedily making her way back home.

“Okay, letter’s written. A good enough letter, hopefully,” she muttered to herself as she addressed it to her friend. “Nah, come on Rainbow Dash. You basically wrote it. It’ll be great.”

To: Commander Soarin Skies
From: Rainbow Dash
Cloudominium, Ponyville

After dropping it in the mail box, Dash sat on her front steps and sighed contently with a small grin. The letter from him had made her day twenty percent more awesome.