Night mare night

The surprise

"Sure, let's go." She replied. Dash kicked her storm cloud into a dispersed puff of vapor. They trotted in through the sweet shop's pink door. When they walked in they saw Mrs. Cake standing at the counter dressed in her Raggedy Ann costume. Bat and spider decorations dangled from the ceiling and eerie Nightmare Moon statuettes were displayed around the shop.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash! Welcome!" she greeted Dash. She turned her eyes to Flight. She gasped. "Congratulations, Dash! This is so wonderful! You are truly growing up!" Dash slapped her hoof on her face.

Great. Now she thinks Flight's a Wonderbolt and that I've completed my dream then start a commotion. GREAT. She thought drearily.

"A Wonderbolt?" she said. "No, no, no, no, no, no."

"A Wonderbolt?" Mrs. Cake gasped again. "My, I can't believe you're dating a Wonderbolt! You don't have to try hiding it!" Then Dashed realized what Mrs. Cake meant. She glanced around the room. Everyone in the room was staring dumbstruck at them and Flight was looking very, very, uncomfortable.

"He's not a Wonderbolt and I'm NOT dating him!" She exclaimed.

"Oh." Mrs. Cake and all the others looked disappointed. After a moment of awkward silence, Mrs. Cake spoke again. "Well, what would you two like to eat?"

Rainbow Dash didn't feel very hungry. "A small chocolate chip cookie." She answered. She'd lost most of her appetite after the dreadful misunderstanding. But Flight obviously hadn't.

Licking his lips, he scanned the available snacks. "The cherry pie, please." His ruffled feathers were just smoothing to their original sleek shape.

"Okay, coming right up." She said quietly, still embarrassed of her assumption. Mrs. Cake paced over to a large criss-crossed cherry pie. She placed it carefully in both hooves and carried it to a yellow round table. "There's your pie." Mrs. Cake grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and placed it by the pie. "And the cookie."

Rainbow Dash thanked her and paid her six bits for their purchase. She and Flight plopped into their seats. Rainbow started nibbling away her cookie slowly, due to lack of hunger.

He pushed his goggles up, revealing emerald green eyes. "Man, I've been digging a snack the whole night!" he said before plunging his face into the pie, scattering crumbs across the table. A memory and nostalgia flashed through Dash's mind.

"You saved it, thanks." Soarin' was saying gratefully to her. He hungrily gorged down his apple pie in a manner identical to Flight. Rainbow had just rescued the Wonderbolt's pie from smashing into the ground. His munching seemed to blend in with the present and Dash barely heard her friend speak.

"Rainbow? You alright? You're pretty quiet. I can give you some of my pie, if you want." He offered, his mouth full. Cherry filling was dripping from his chin. The truth dawned on her. This stallion was a Wonderbolt.

She trained her gaze on him. "Soarin'?"

"Yeah?" Immediately he shut his mouth, knowing what he was responding to, but opened it again. "You guessed, huh?"

"I'm not just guessing. I know." Dash would've been happy as a lark learning that he was a Wonderbolt, but she just felt plain stupid. She thought that she was being idiotic inferring that he was a Wonderbolt but really, that was foolish. She sighed. "Uh, I'm an idiot for thinking I'm an idiot." Rainbow grumbled. She put her head face down on the table and groaned.

"You're not an idiot. Don't be silly." said Soarin'.

Dash turned her head upwards to look at him. "So I'm an idiot for thinking I'm an idiot for thinking I'm an idiot." She frowned. "Now that's weird."

"You're not stupid at all." He lowered his voice to avoid straying ears. "I'm sorry I lied about me not being a Wonderbolt." He began, but his attempt of privacy was fruitless.

"So you are a Wonderbolt." Mrs. Cake said just too loudly.

"He's a Wonderbolt?"Surprised murmurs arose about the room. For the second time that night, eyes were on them (Soarin' with the most concentration). The two felt wearisome with all the questioning looks they were receiving. Soarin' stood up.

"Yes, I'm a Wonderbolt." He confirmed. "I'm visiting Ponyville and I really need to talk to my friend." He sat back down. In a scarce whisper only Dash could hear, "C'mon, let's go somewhere we can speak alone." After swallowing the last of his pie, Soarin' took Dash by the hoof and led her out of Sugarcube Corner.

When they reached a tree that was secluded from the ponies they settled down side by side. "So what are you doing in Ponyville? Shouldn't you be in Canterlot? And why did you say that you weren't a Wonderbolt?"

"Well, we got a day off from practice for Nightmare Night so we could celebrate. I didn't want to go to another one of the boring Canterlot parties where you couldn't have time to yourself. So I came to Ponyville to see what it was like. I walk in and BAM you pranked me." Soarin' explained.

"And you lied because…"

"..you seemed afraid-"

"I was not afraid!" she interrupted.

"Well, you were nervous about pranking a Wonderbolt. Anyways, I wanted to get to know you without you having to show the respect all our fans do. Without the formality or admiration. I told you I wasn't a Wonderbolt." He said. "It was really amazing getting to know you, Rainbow Dash."

Dash realized that she felt very close to the Wonderbolt. She herself felt very well acquainted with him. She no longer felt like a squealing fan when she was around him. She felt like they were better than friends. Getting to know Soarin' had been absolutley incredible.

"It's been great." Rainbow murmured. "The best Nightmare Night I've ever had. Thank you," She smiled at him. "for getting to know me." Dash pulled her goggles up just below her ear. Now their eyes truly met, no longer concealed by thick goggles.

Their gaze flitted to the clear night sky studded with stars. All the pegasi on weather duty the day before arranged for the night to be cloudless so the moon was visible and luminous throughout the holiday. Moonlight filtered through the tree branches and onto Dash and him.

"Well, I better get going," she said, noting the hush falling over Ponyville as Nightmare Night was closing to an end. "And you should, too," Rainbow added to Soarin'. "You have lots to do with your next show coming up."

"Yeah, I'll be off." He stretched. "And, before I leave, are you coming to the show?"

She nodded enthusiasticly. "Of course I'm coming! I'd never miss a Wonderbolt performance!"

"Cool! I'll keep an eye open. Maybe I'll have time to talk to you after the show. Bye, Dash." Soarin' smiled wide and unfurled his wings.

"Bye." She responded. Following that, he glided into the sky. Yawning, Dash too stretched. "Man, I'm beat." Rainbow puffed. She heaved herself up in the air and, with her remaining energy, flew home.