With a long sigh of contentment Rainbow Dash set her mug down on its coaster, sitting back in her chair lazily as she licked a foamy moustache from her muzzle. She could feel the tingling warpath of the alcohol flowing through her veins, dulling her senses to a calm tranquillity, and forming a pleasant fire in her belly. Yet, after only a few seconds of reprieve she leaned forwards, taking the mug in her forehooves and looking down into the empty space within with sad confusion as she twirled it about half heartedly.
It was at that moment, she realised just what had become of her beverage, and with a slight hiccup, her mind raced to formulate a swift solution. She looked around the darkened Cloudsdale bar, and her eyes fixed onto the drink laden counter just across from her table.
"Another, can we have another over here please?" She shouted drunkenly, reaching up a hoof and waving it in the air lazily.
"Rainbow, don't you think you've had enough?" Came a far more reasonable voice from across the table, bearing a tone only slightly tarnished by alcohol.
At the sound of the intrusive words, Rainbow's ears perked up sharply, and her head swivelled around to their source. There, her blurred gaze struggled to make out the vague shape of a sky blue, pegasus stallion with darker blue mane, or what is three stallions all sat next to each other, maybe four? Regardless of their distorted the numbers, none of the staggered images looked very happy, in fact they all bore the exact same frown of concern.
Then a thought slowly crept into Rainbow's hazy mind, and moments later, she recalled exactly what situation she was in. The pegasus across the table was Soarin, her coltfriend! Of course he was, how could she forget? Both she and him had been going out for few months now, after a rather awkward first date. She'd noticed that he'd become a lot more confident since then, and seemed far more comfortable being himself around her too. That wasn't to say she didn't like the fact, he was one of the kindest and most loving stallions she'd ever met, and now they'd gotten to know one another there was no other pony she'd rather have by her side, especially a fellow Wonderbolt. She also had to admit that, despite his blatantly handsome figure, she liked the real him far more than the nervous pony he'd been when he'd first asked her out, and she especially liked him when she was drunk.
"What? But I've only had..." Rainbow began, her words slurred as she tried to count the number of drinks she’d consumed on her quivering forehooves.
Soarin rolled his eyes, gave a light sigh and finally looked his confused marefriend right in the eyes. Seeing she’d captivated more of his attention, Rainbow Dash gave up on her hopeless counting and simply stared across the table at him longingly.
"You've had eight Rainbow, that's way more than enough. Don't make me remind you how many Wonderbolt regulations you'd be breaking if you have too many more" Soarin explained reasonably, pointing a hoof at her as he spoke, similar to the way one might address a misbehaving foal.
Rainbow Dash regarded his words, posture and forward gesture with a careful precision that was completely betrayed by her swaying body and goofy smile. Then she glanced back into her empty mug, as if hoping it had miraculously filled itself while she'd been distracted by the exchange of words.
"Awww, come one Soarie, just one more please?" She pleaded, widening her sparkling eyes and pushing up her quivering bottom lip like some kind of cute kitten.
Once again Soarin's eyes rolled, the sound of the cute nickname she always give him while intoxicated, not to mention her plea and expression, pushing his ability to resist her to its limits and making him quiver uncomfortably. Yet, he had to resist her cute charm! He was a Wonderbolt after all, and while she often proved far more difficult to overcome then many of the other challenges he'd faced in his flying career, he was not about to drag her home unconscious again.
"No Rainbow, you've had more than enough for tonight" He repeated stubbornly, his firm tone and determination holding against her overpowering adorableness.
Noticing her methods were failing her, Rainbow shot the seemingly stoic stallion a innocently confused look, then smiled cunningly as she leaned forwards.
"Hey you, you super sexy stallion, you. You say too many, I say there's no such thing. How's about you have some more to baby, then we can both enjoy it?" She purred, her eyes slightly lidded as she stretched out a forehoof and caressed the end of his muzzle lightly.
Soarin flinched at the contact, worrying that such a reaction may enticed further flirtation from the drunk mare. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't suppress the fact that, just a few months ago, he'd have given anything to gain this kind of affection from her, yet now that colt like crush was over! True, he loved her more than anything else in Equestria, but right now that love demanded he continue to resist her. At that thought, a new wave of resistance rushed through him, bolstering the walls of his mental fortress and stealing his mind against the waves of drunken cuteness she was employing.
The triumphant smile Rainbow Dash had gained at the sight of her coltfriend's initial flinch, faded as she realised that the minor flirting hadn't gotten her anywhere. At the revelation, she decided to dial up her efforts slightly. She pushed her rear hooves into the soft cushion of her seat, sprawling her body across the table towards him, and waving her empty mug in his face.
"Come on Soarie! Just a few more, I promise you won't regret it" She said with slow excitement, smiling though her words as she clumsily attempted to kiss him.
Soarin blushed slightly, feeling as if he'd been turned to stone at the touch of her lips upon the tip of his muzzle, the warpath of her breath tickling his nostrils pleasantly, while the stench of alcohol upon it stung at the same time. He felt one of her forehooves brush against the fur on his chest as another waved the empty mug beside his face, as if to hypnotise him into giving in. Directly before him, Rainbow's lidded eyes looked right into his, her head swaying in yet another hypnotic rhythm as she smiled widely. Yet, all of his mental defences stood firm, and he let out a small huff of defiance.
"No Rainbow Dash, I said enough" He stated, then stole the empty mug from her loose grip and held it away from her along with his own.
It took the tipsy mare a few moments to realise what had transpired, and she stared at her empty hoof in bewilderment, as if her mug had magically vanished. Then her eyes narrowed, and her gaze snapped back to Soarin's as she pouted.
"Hey Soarin, what gives? Give it back" She whined, clumsily attempting to reach for the mugs.
All the stallion had to do was rise one hoof between her and him, and she fell against it like a limp fish as her futile efforts to seize the mugs failed miserably.
"Aww, it's no fair, why do all of the big, super, sexy stallions have to be so sensible?" Rainbow groaned, sitting back heavily and crossing her forehooves indignantly as she sulked.
"I'll take that as a complement" Soarin replied with a hit of satisfaction, before rising his hoof and kindly asking for the bill, much to his grumbling marefriend's dissatisfaction.
"I still can't believe I actually like all these things about you either" Rainbow continued to moan as a waiter trotted over with their check.
She looked down at the table, not daring to meet Soarin’s gaze as he paid of their drinks. Instead, she chose to pull frustrated faces at his reflection in the polished surface, yet even that distorted image of him looked immaculate in her eyes. It was like she couldn't understand herself. She loved absolutely everything about him, and yet she still hated the fact he was stopping her fun. The only thing that came to mind was that she may understand in the morning, perhaps when her head was clear?
"Well, you ready to go?" Soarin asked, holding out a forehoof to her like a true gentlecolt, just as he always did.
Most of the time she'd push the gesture away in favour of something far more befting of her awesomeness, it was kind of their own little thing. She attempted to do just that to him as she stood, only to stagger clumsily to the floor.
"I'm alright, I'm alright" She repeated quickly, before anypony could say otherwise.
With another wave of drunken determination, she attempted to stagger to her hooves. Yet, for all of her efforts, and a small bit of support from the table, she only managed to reach her knees. Soarin rolled his eyes again, smiling to himself as he leaned down and helped her up. Rainbow tried to look frustrated by the assistance, but she was unable to hide her hot blush for long.
"You gonna be alright?" He asked her with mild concern, and her cheeks reddened further.
"I'm fine Soarin, I can..." She began confidently, taking a step only to fall and for him to catch her again.
"Yeah, I can see you're perfectly fine" He laughed, and once again her frown could only mask her mounting bashfulness so much. "Alright that's it..." He stated before reaching down under her and lifting her up.
"Hey, Soarin what are you doing? Put me down!" She exclaimed, her embarrassment doubling and uncontrollable giggles escaping her muzzle as he gently placed her onto his back.
"Sorry, no can do" He told her simply, laughing almost as much as she was as he trotted to the door and out into the cool, night air of Cloudsdale.
The moment Rainbow felt the cold air on her coat and wings, and the gleaming light of Luna's bright night sky blossomed across her face, she relaxed. There was no way she was getting off Soarin's back now, and when he took off, that chance became even slimmer. She knew the flight back to her house wasn't a very long one, yet with no other options she decided to make the most of it.
She leaned into the back of his neck heavily, feeling the movements of his warm muscles and the mighty beating of his powerful wings. Pressing her ear to his body she listed to the thunderous rhythm of his heart and the gale of his breath as he inhaled. For a long moment, she wished she could simply sink into his warm fur, it was almost like sleeping on a cloud, only far better. In the end, she settled for the next best thing, and gently brushed a hoof through his thick mane. From this angle, it was like mighty forest of slim, deep blue trees, each great hair parting under the force of her cyan hoof as she rubbed him softly.
Soon even that act began to bore her however, and a moment later she decided to increase the levels of affection slightly. She slowly began to kiss the back of his neck, at first it was no more than a string of light pecks, yet in her drunken state they rapidly devolved into a less dignified slobbery mess, and soon she was chewing on his mane more than kissing him. Then her attention turned towards new targets, and her blurred gazed fixed upon his ear. She reached out a hoof and started playfully batting at it like a cat with a ball of yarn, smiling happily every time it twitched. Seconds later, she shifted on his back, moving to replace her hoof pokes with a playful nibbles. Yet before she could reach it, the flight came to an end, and Soarin's hooves touched down on the clouds surrounding her home. She felt his leg muscles stiffen and shift under her as he landed, then again as he made his way to the door, up the stairs and finally to her bedroom.
"Well miss Dash, your chambers await" He said jokily, laughing to himself as he trotted over to her bedside, and gently rolled her down onto the blankets with one of his outstretched wings.
The moment she hit the soft quilts, Rainbow squirmed her way under them, snuggling into the soft cloud mattress beneath. Then she paused, and looked up at Soarin as he watched her with a loving smile.
"What?" She asked bluntly, his slightly goofy grin catching her curiously, just as it always did.
Soarin shook his head, giving another light laugh at his marefriend's innocent confusion.
"Just you, you're just so... Well, I'm just so glad I was finally able to love you" He said, the sincerity in his words seeming to burn with the bright strength of a dragon's flame.
Despite everything swimming though the warm soup that was her disordered mind, Rainbow Dash smiled at his confession, and with a flap of one wing she lifted the covers.
"You don’t have any other plans for tonight do you?" She asked hopefully, tapping the cloud mattress beside her invitingly.
Once again he just seem to admire her for a long moment, respect and admiration gleaming in his eyes. Then he let out another weak, little laugh, shaking his head.
"Rainbow, you know that I have no plans more important than you" He assured her as he sat down on the bedside.
"Really?" She purred happily, attempting to come up with a list of things she could use to tease him.
Then he gave her that kind, sincere look. It was the look that displayed his absolute loyalty to her without a single doubt. That was it, her ultimate form of admiration and the reason she loved every part of him in some regard, no matter how much she thought she hated it.
"Of coerce, I'd have it no other way Dash" He told her honestly, seeming to take playful insult in the fact she'd thought otherwise as he curled up next to her.
Rainbow shifted to look into his eyes, brushing rouge strands of his mane away from them. Then she wrapped her forehooves around his neck, brought her muzzle closer to his and with a happy smile she finally responded.
"Good, because I'd have you no other way either."