Soaring with the Rainbows Chapter 5

The pink earth pony, Pinkie Pie (somewhere in all her blather Soarin had caught her name), led, or rather, dragged Rainbow and Soarin through Ponyville. From what he could see of the town, it was remarkably undamaged considering the dragon assault. He could see a few ponies patching up tiles or sweeping away debris, but all of the big, heavy duty damage had been cleared up. This was strange, considering it was only a day after the dragon's disappearance.

Pinkie Pie let go of his arm, and Soarin stood up, massaging his poor limb. The building which she had plopped them in front was a tree, with a book sign pointing out its use as a library. Resisting Pinkie's attempts to shove him through the front door, Soarin waited until Rainbow was upright again before moving into the tree.

Inside was just about what he'd thought it would be like. Same as any library, books everywhere, and a couple of ponies wandering about. Soarin thought he recognised everypony, all five of Rainbow's friends were here, if you included Pinkie. There was the orange cowpony, now without her dog, a white unicorn dusting some shelves, and a timid pegusus who cowered next to a purple unicorn.

"Everypony, this is Soarin. Soarin, that's Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight. Okay guys, this stuff is serious."

The ponies scattered around the room looked up from whatever they were doing and gave Rainbow their full attention, totting over toward the entrance.

"Guys, Soarin's not here just to see me. Ya know how some Wonderbolts came to try and stop Spike when he went on his rampage? Well, afterwards they couldn't find him, so they send Soarin out to investigate. He recognised Spike, and... Well... this is gonna sound really stupid... but he thinks we set Spike on Ponyville."

There was an immediate clambering of voices as Rainbow's friends surrounded him, each shouting something different. Soarin couldn't piece together what they were yelling about, all he could hear was snippets of different sentences. In the confusion, he had a faint idea that Pinkie Pie wasn't talking about the dragon at all, because the word 'coconut' popped up from her mouth more than once. The uproar around him continued, everypony trying be heard over each other, pressing in around him with a closeness that brought back memories of the commotion a few months back, the only other time he'd ever gone mad. That train of thought made his heart hurt. Soarin lay down on the floor, covering his ears and trying to wait out this storm of words.

"QUIET!!"

Everypony, Soarin included, looked up. The unicorn that Rainbow had introduced as 'Twilight' was sitting on the room a short distance away, glaring at the assembled group of ponies.

"Girls! This is a library, and one of its rules states that you cannot shout in here. If you don't obey the library rules, it says that you have to leave."
Rainbow Dash was beside Twilight, looking bemused. Evidently, she'd asked the unicorn to restore order. Around Soarin, the mares let him go, sitting down and obeying Twilight, who seemed to be the leader of the group.

Pinkie Pie finished off her speech with a "And I said, Top Hats, are you crazy!" and the library was still. Twilight stepped forward, looking slightly guilty.

"I'm sorry, Soarin, was it? We shouldn't have bombarded you like that." This was met with sheepish nods from the other girls. "There is a logical explanation for the dragon, you know. But first, you should see Spike."

Soarin started. They had the dragon locked up somewhere!? What in all of Equestria were they thinking, trying to contain a fully grown dragon! But no, Twilight yelled out "SPIKE!", and the rest of the group didn't seem fazed at all. It was too late to stop her. Soarin flared his wings and extended his senses outward, trying to guess where the dragon was. The basement? The Everfree forest was too far away, and he couldn't think of any other place that was big enough to contain the beast.

Then he stopped thinking and started looking around warily. Nothing appeared to be trying to devour him, and Rainbow was becoming visibly nervous, because of his reaction. Soarin reigned in his instincts to run, to fight. He trusted Rainbow. If she said that it was safe, then it was, and he wasn't going to make her nervous by acting startled. He would stop himself; he wouldn't become a monster again. Just that small reminder of what he had done before made his heart ache with guilt. He'd do anything to not be like that again. He'd do whatever he could to be a good friend.

A tapping sound came from above him, in the depths of the tree. It sounded like claws on wood, getting nearer. The dragon was probably tapping its talons on the side of the tree, just like ponies did to tables when they were fidgety.  Soarin's ears flicked and flattened, trying to pinpoint the sounds location. He wheeled and turned to the doorway, where the dragon was probably going to present itself.

"Hey Twilight, what do ya need?" A friendly young voice, probably belonging to a small colt, Soarin's brain reported.

"Soarin, this is Spike."

Soarin whipped his head back around towards the group. Maybe the dragon had stuck its head through a window, or a back door? But no, the only new addition to the group was a... small... baby... dragon... Soarin's mind recoiled, not wanting to believe what stood in front of him. The dragon that had attacked Ponyville was now a baby again. There was no questioning that it was the same dragon. The little guy had the same markings, the same colours, the same spines. This was the dragon that attacked Ponyville. But Soarin could look down upon this 'ferocious monster' with ease.

Soarin crept forward. This was unbelievable. Could the patrol have exaggerated the size of the dragon? No, the patrol took photos, and besides, they weren't the sort of ponies to lie for glory. How could a creature grow backwards?! He'd never heard of such a thing. The disbelieving white pegusus poked Spike with his forehoof.
"Ow! Hey, whats the big idea buddy?!"
"Wait, what! You talk!" Soarin had been given way too many surprises today, he didn't know if he could take much more. Disappearing, talking, un-growing dragons. Losing his temper towards a friend. Finding a teleporting earth pony that never seemed to make sense. This day seemed to have spanned the course of years, instead of hours.

"Yeah I can talk." Spike gave the stallion a glare, "Can I go now, Twilight?"

"Spike. This pony is from the Wonderbolts, and he needs to know what happened on your birthday."

"On my birthday?! Oh, man, do I have to? You know I don't like telling other ponies what I did..."

"Unless you do, I'll have to arrest you on suspicion of terrorist attacks." Soarin kept his eyes locked on the dragon, if only in an effort to seem tough, but he still flinched as he heard the astonished gasps echoing around the library in reaction to his words.

"Wait, wait, what! Arrest me?! Okay... Okay I'll tell you, just don't drag me off to a prison cell!"

Rainbow flew up behind Soarin, and put a hoof on his shoulder in support. "Guys, Soarin is trying to be reasonable." She said. "But he can't think of any other explanation."

Spike sighed, and sat down on the stairs. "Well, it all started because it was my birthday..."

***

"...And then Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy caught me and Rarity in the cape."

"Really? The power of... generosity stopped your angry rampage?" Soarin got up off the ground, shaking out his coat and stretching out the kinks that had worked into his legs . That had been a long story, but a good one. And, more importantly, it had answered all his questions. Soarin was feeling much more sympathetic to Spike, and the group as a whole.

"Yup. Made the greed growth disappear like magic!" The little dragon rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Pretty silly, huh."

"Nah, it's cool. What did you call it? Greed growth?"

Twilight started browsing the shelves. "Yes, greed growth. I looked it up afterwards, and it is a documented phenomenon with young dragonlings." Grabbing a leather-backed manuscript off Pinkie, who had zipped up to her with it, (Soarin added "book gathering" to Pinkie's growing list of unexplained powers) she showed him the description in the book. "I just wish that I knew about it beforehand."

Spike trotted over. "Not your fault, Twilight." He said, patting her back.

"It's not your fault either, but it still would have helped" She mumbled stubbornly, as she replaced the book on the shelf.

At this point, Rainbow chimed in "So Soarin, do ya believe me now?"

Soarin nodded at Rainbow, and then gave the clock an absent minded glance. Then he did a double take. No! Surely it couldn't have taken that long! But being winter time, the night came on early. And he'd missed his deadline.

"Oh, horseapples! I can't fly back to Canterlot now; it's too late to even send a letter to Spitfire."

And sure enough, Luna's moon had risen while they had been talking. It was funny. Although they'd mostly been trying to explain something to him so that he didn't take anypony (or dragon) to prison, the time he'd spent at the library had flown past. Rainbow and her friends were just so welcoming. They weren't competitive, except Rainbow, and they were honestly just trying to clean up a mess that they'd been involved in. It was so different to the adrenaline-fueled, constant competition of the Wonderbolts, where everypony just wanted to outperform and out fly everypony else. This slow, relaxing spirit of friendship was the one Soarin preferred.

The orange earth pony's speaking broke this train of thought "Is getting late, ain't it? I'd best be off while I can still see the road to mah farm. If ya'll need a room to stay in, you are certainly welcome to it, if you like?"

"Nah AJ, I can set him up at my place."

Soarin turned to Rainbow. "You wouldn't mind?"

"It's no big thing. My home is too big anyway. I've got a ton of useless rooms just lying around."

"Yes, Rainbow my dear," Rarity commented with a chuckle, "You are many things, but a modest architect is not one of them."

Everypony had a good giggle at that. Applejack headed out the door with a wave, trotting down the road with earth pony steadiness, despite the late hour. Rarity said her elaborate goodbyes as well, heading off into town with Pinkie Pie, who just leapt out the open window. Twilight's owl was sitting on a windowsill, looking wide awake. Well, if the owls were out, the ponies should be in bed, Soarin thought to himself.
Looking around the library, with Rainbow chatting to the quiet Fluttershy, Soarin could feel the late hour getting to him. He'd already done enough flying today, along with the emotional stuff. He wasn't in any shape to go gallivanting off to Canterlot, especially at this hour.

"Rainbow?" He poked her gently. "If it's okay, I'd like to take you up on the offer of a place to crash. I'm beat."

She grinned at this, "After catching me in a race, you should be. Come on, let's head home."

Turning to leave, he saw Twilight stacking away some books, with Spike on her back. The baby dragon was trying, and failing, to keep his eyes open. Soarin was sure that he'd be out like a light as soon as the rest of the library's guests left. Twilight looked like she was still going strong, tiding away books and getting out a few scrolls to read. She waved a hoof at him as they left, before shutting the door with a soft purple glow.

Fluttershy came with them. It was a relief to know that her wings worked, not having seen her fly at all before now, but she was a lot slower than almost any other pegusus  Soarin had ever flown with. Soarin didn't mind, and apparently neither did Rainbow, who was talking about her pet tortoise. The tortoise in question joined them, having spent the evening sleeping on a cushion. With Tank, Soarin was sure that they looked a strange sight, but there weren't very many ponies out at this time of night anyway.

Flying through the calm, still air, Soarin was feeling peaceful for the first time that day. He still couldn't forget what he'd done. Even a slight reminder of his shame was enough to make his heart constrict with guilt, but he'd put the feeling aside for now. He'd find a way to make it up to Rainbow, and he'd make sure it would never happen again. That was all he could do, right?

Eventually, Fluttershy split off from the strange formation, heading toward a cottage on the ground. For Soarin, this didn't come as a surprise. By a pegasus's standards, the mare was ridiculously attached to the ground.

After Fluttershy left them, Soarin, Rainbow, and Tank gained height, looking down over the fields and valleys of Ponyville. Soarin saw her house coming, you couldn't really miss it. Instead of a small cottage like Fluttershy, this was more of a palace of clouds, with starlight reflecting off the rainbows running down its sides, giving them a glittery sheen. Rainbow was never a pony who went for mild, subtle things. This house was bold, obvious. Yet still it seemed to fit in, part of the crowd, yet standing out of it.

Rainbow led him in through one of the many windows. This place didn't look like it even had a front door, just many different holes for Rainbow to jump in and out of. She stopped by what must have been her room, which looked the most lived in, and Tank hovered over to a cushion. Yawning, the two pegasi carried on until they found what passed for another bedroom. Muttering his thanks, Soarin clambered into the bed, asleep before his head hit the clouds.

***

COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO

"YARGH!" Soarin bolted upright, searching for the threat in his unfamiliar surroundings. Why was he here?! What was that sound? His mind raced as the he tried to piece the previous day's events together, and he slumped back to the floor in tired confusion.

"What! Why are you yelling!?"

Rainbow streaked into the room, and then stopped, shocked. Soarin was sitting in the middle of the floor, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. A blanket was still thrown over half his face, his wings stuck out with irregular tufts, and he had tipped his bed over. Needless to say, he looked like a wreck.

"Bwah ha ha ha ha! Soarin got scared by a chicken!! Hahaha!"

Oh. Right. The countryside had roosters, and they crowed at dawn. Soarin thought that he might be able to see the funny side, eventually. Still, at least the stupid freaking bird, or rather, his shout, had woken up Rainbow too. Usually, you couldn't get an intelligent sentence out of her before noon. He wondered why he hadn't heard that irritating bird last time he'd come to Rainbows house. Probably, the house had moved. That was the nice thing about cloud homes; you could choose where to put them. Yawning, Soarin shook off the blanket covering his left eye and got to his feet. Breakfast time.

Surprisingly, Rainbow had quite a lot of stuff in her kitchen. It looked lived in, like her room and unlike the rest of her home. Since all of her closest friends lived on the ground, Soarin guessed that she didn't have guests often. Some parts of the house looked like they hadn't been touched in years. Not that they clouds that they were built from got dirty, just that they were almost too perfect, to clean, too smooth. You couldn't keep places that were lived in clean like that for long. Soarin wondered what it must be like, to live up on a cloud, all alone, while below you ponies played. Rainbow loved the sky, which was probably why she wasn't living down on the earth, but this was so lonely.  He knew that Tank the tortoise was new, so what must it have been like? Living up here, in this huge oversized house, all alone and isolated.

Soarin shook his head, causing him to fling a dollop of the mushy oat flakes that he had chosen for breakfast onto his nose. Wiping it off, his caught Rainbow staring at him with a peculiar look on her face.

"What?"

"Just wondering what you're thinking. You've got oat flakes in your ear."

Getting rid of the troublesome cereal invading his ear, Soarin answered. "Just thinking... about how big this place is. And how empty it all feels. You don't seem the type to like being so isolated, why do you keep it?"

Rainbow looked surprised at his choice of question, but answered anyway. "I built this place, all by myself, when I first came to Ponyville. I don't know what I was thinking, making it so big. But I keep it, because I like it, and because I built it. But mostly because it reminds me of what I can do if I want to."

Soarin nodded. That made sense, in a stubborn, pig-headed way. Rainbow had always been stubborn, right from the beginning. She was like a pit bull, once she got her teeth into something, all the world couldn't make her let go. But she had changed since then. She was just as stubborn and determined as always, but the kindness and concern she had showed towards him the day before were new to him. It struck him as odd that such a pony would prefer to live alone. Dumping his plates in the sink and letting the water clear the rest of his breakfast away, Soarin turned to look out of a window. The ground below was rolling fields under dustings of snow, brightly colored barns, and houses standing out of the white monotony. And in the distance, he could see the mountainous Canterlot.

In that moment, Soarin realised that he didn't want to leave. This place was so peaceful, so timeless and serene. The ponies here were friendly. He wanted to spend more time with Dash. He might even make some other friends here. But he couldn't. If Soarin convinced himself to stay for one day, then he'd convince himself to stay for another. And another. And another. He needed to go back, back to the harsh world of drills and squads and captains. Soarin loved being in the Wonderbolts, but sometimes it felt like if he was a Wonderbolt, he couldn't be anything else. With a sigh, he turned back to the cyan pegasus, who was still eating.

"Rainbow, I have to go. Just to make sure that you don't get a patrol of Wonderbolts coming after Spike."

Rainbow bobbed her head in agreement. 'Yeah, fighting off the Wonderbolts might take up too much time. Better go back and tell them so that I don't have to kick their tails."

Neither of them smiled at the joke. Every time Soarin came to see her, it was harder to leave again. Briefly, Soarin wondered exactly why that was. Then he jerked himself back to reality, and trotted toward the nearest window. He felt something touch his back leg. It was Tank nudging him, and the tortuise got an absent minded pat for all his trouble.

"See ya later, Rainbow." He smiled, because he knew he would see her again. It didn't matter if Spitfire couldn't put aside her pride. He was Rainbow's friend, and he would come back. The idea made him feel more at peace with himself then he had felt in days.

She got up and followed him to the opening in the wall. "Come back soon, okay? We have a big party just before Winter Wrap Up, you'll love it. If you haven't ever been to one of Pinkie's parties, you haven't ever lived."

"I'll try to escape. Make sure that we don't need to send out another squad to Ponyville again."

"Pah, I'm as good as any one of your squads. We'll be cool."

Soarin grinned at the boast. "See ya later, Rainbow." He repeated, and then leaned down to give her a hug. Strangely, he got away with it without being given a hoof to his face. She must have been feeling more unhappy then he had previously thought. This concerned him. Despite the boasting, she still wasn't back to her usual self. He struggled for a moment, wanting to stay and make sure she was ok, but he had his duty to take care of. It was best to go now before he thought about it again, otherwise he wouldn't ever leave.

Soarin spread his wings and took off, heading toward the impressive outline of Canterlot, the snow on the grounds underneath him shining as the morning light hit it. But for a long time, all he could feel was a pair of magenta eyes watching him as he flew away.