Not Such a Newbie
Rainbow Dash walked into the locker room with her head held high, feeling proud and less anxious for the first time since she’d arrived. She had to admit, now that the trouble regarding her nickname and the initial nerves that had inevitability accompanied her first few days as a Wonderbolt, had passed, she could finally relax and enjoy what she'd longed for all this time. Well, there were the weeks of probation still to worry about, but she couldn't deny she deserved them.
She gave a slight sinker at the thought, finding more amusement in the fact she’d actually attempted such a stunt than anything else, then she promptly made her way over to her locker. She was in the middle of tidying its contents when something caught her attention however, and she looked about to see a familiar, sky blue stallion, wearing his Wonderbolt uniform, cautiously enter the room.
"Oh' hi Soarin, or should I say Clipper." She greeted, not to graciously hiding a laugh at the latter part.
Soarin, for his part, seemed surprised to see the mare, and froze the moment his eyes fell upon her.
"Ha, ha... Good one Rainbow Dash, guess there's no hard feelings about the whole nickname thing then?" He responded sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with a forehoof.
"Nar, it's cool." Rainbow assured him with a dismissive wave. "Besides, it's nowhere near as bad as Spitfire's right?" She added with another light giggle.
Soarin nodded, a nervous look persisting on his face. At that, Rainbow took notice of the stallion’s suspicious expression, and began to wonder.
"Come on Dash, he's a Wonderbolt, he has to keep a level head remember?" She though, in an attempt to dismiss her worries.
Moments later, she did just that. She shrugged, before turning her attention back to her locker.
"So, I'm guessing you're gonna hit Cloudsdale with the rest of us tonight?" She asked nonchalantly.
Wonderbolt or not, she couldn't help but feel the situation become a little more awkward as nothing but a momentary silence followed her words.
"Yeah of course, why wouldn't I?" He stammered, before finally making his way over to his locker, right beside hers.
The cyan mare glanced at him subtly, shielding her glare with the locker door, while pretending to be occupied by something inside. Even so, she couldn't help but find it funny that he appeared to be doing exactly the same thing, just less elegantly.
"Okay, awkwardness dialled up by twenty percent." She thought, then took it upon herself to clear the air and let out a loud cough.
"So, where are the others?" She asked casually.
She didn't know whether to laugh or be concerned as she saw him avert his eyes sharply.
"Urm, they're... They're, they're back down at the show ground!" He blurted abruptly. "Yeah, yeah, Spitfire wanted to make sure you cleared it all up last night!" He added swiftly.
This time the concern dwelling in Rainbow’s conscience grew enough to at least infiltrate her immediate thoughts. Curiously was also a strong factor in her mind however, and she raised an eyebrow at the stallions somewhat clumsy response.
"Okay." She said simply, nodding.
The wave of relief that crossed Soarin's face was far less subtle, but despite his best efforts, the stallion failed to remove his nervous expression. Dash looked back to her locker, a wry smirk crossing her muzzle as the urge to humour him faded into a will to tease. Part of her knew it was wrong, yet another part, the part that had been most frustrated with her nickname, thought a small amount of playful revenge was perfectly in order.
"Wait, that explains where Spitfire is, but I asked you where everypony was?" She corrected, and she could almost feel the floor rattle as he immediately stiffened.
She peered round the metal door again, putting on a curious look.
"Oh’, urm... They all went with her." He responded.
Rainbow thought about that gleefully, raising a hoof to her muzzle as if to seem she were actually considering it.
"No offence, but I don't think it takes that many ponies to check a job's done." She finally responded.
"They... They really needed to stretch their wings... Yeah, that show was pretty intense yesterday." He responded quickly, flexing his own wings with the words.
This time, Rainbow humoured him for less than a second.
"Don't remind me how intense it was." She groaned, rubbing a forehoof across her forehead. "But you're telling me the whole team went down there just for one pony to look at the place and the rest to stretch their wings, even if we do some of the most advanced exercise routines every day?" She asked reasonably.
Soarin looked about, as if searching for some form of distraction, all the while trying to make his efforts as unnoticeable as possible. One eye went straight to the exit, as if he were about to race right out of the room. Yet something there seemed to deter him almost as much as the curious mare before him, and when no other escape routes presented themselves he was forced to look back at Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, that's totally what I'm saying." He stammered clumsily, then his eyes went wide and he shoved a hoof in his mouth.
Rainbow's own gaze narrowed, and that wry smile turned playfully wicked.
"You know I'm not stupid right?" She asked, pointing at him.
Soarin nodded in silence, his hoof still holding back his stuttering. Rainbow felt that urge to enact some vengeance grow. She shut her locker and beat her wings lightly, rising above him.
"Okay, I'm going to ask you something else." She began, waving her hooves as if to dismiss the previous conversation. "Why are you making up ridiculous stories and why are you shivering like it's minus twenty in here?" She demanded, prodding him with a hoof.
He was almost like jelly at her touch, and part of her wondered if he would simply melt away if she kept this up.
Part of him centrality wanted to, all the while other segments of his mind could not comprehend how a seemingly small part of him was having such an obvious effect. He'd flown though thunderstorms, performed death defying stunts and flown at monstrous dragons, yet this was what he was most afraid off?
At the lack of an answer Rainbow Dash cocked her head slightly, and through her mildly amused expression, concern finally bloomed.
"Hey, you sure you're okay? You know I'm only teasing right?" She asked, and he dared look up at her for only a brief moment.
Her worry grew a little more, and for a few long seconds there was nothing but silence and the steady beating of Dash's wings. In the end, it was neither of them that broke the awkward quite. First, a set of concealed shuffles and muffled voices came from the exit, then a tired groan.
"Urg, come on Soarin, it's been two years, just ask her already!" Came a familiarly rough voice.
Rainbow Dash looked over to the opening, yet could only make out the shadows of several ponies hiding just out of view. Her eyes then came back to the timid looking stallion before her.
"Wait, what's going?" She asked, laughing slightly as if this were some kind of joke.
Nevertheless, her mind began to deliver several ideas, spinning her thoughts in bold assumptions that didn’t feel like simple jokes. Soarin looked up, biting his bottom lip in place of his hoof, then finally sighed and took a deep breath.
"Spitfire's right, it's been two years." He said to himself.
Rainbow's look turned to mild uncertainty.
"Two years since what, you gonna spit it out already?" She asked, only this time it was her own expression that appeared slightly anxious.
Soarin closed his eyes tightly, and held his breath to the point he looked as if he were about to explode.
"Rainbow Dash, do you want to come out with me sometime, you know, like on a date?" He finally blurted, then diverted his eyes straight to the floor in an instant.
Rainbow felt a cool rush of shock run over her, the likes of which she'd never felt before. Despite her anticipations, predictions and self proclaimed awesomeness, this was something completely new to her, more so than even being a Wonderbolt. Slowly, she dropped to the floor, thinking to herself.
All Soarin did was stare at the tiles under his hooves, then he felt something under his chin and didn't fight as Rainbow Dash lifted his eyes up to meet her own. Those magnificent, magenta orbs, glistening under that stunning, prismatic mane, the likes of which still looked more amazing than any other, despite its owner having only recently returned from clearing up her mess. The look on her face told him she was still thinking, yet in the race to recover from his request she was victorious, as she always was in any race.
"Yeah, that sounds cool." She said with a smile, then she retracted her hoof. "I mean, we're all going out tonight anyway so..." She teased again, yet this time her efforts didn't go unchallenged.
"Oh' no, that not how it's gonna work" Sounded the voice from the door, and both ponies looked over to see Spitfire appear, one wing holding the rest of their celebrating team out of sight behind the wall.
Rainbow Dash looked between the pair, somewhat confused.
"Our boy over here has had eyes for you since you won the Best Young Flyer competition, and not once since then has he had the guts to say anything." The fiery maned pegasus explained, laughing slightly.
Finally, she moved over to her stuttering friend and wrapped a wing over his back as she casually leaned against his side.
"Shame you had to become a Wonderbolt for him to finally open his muzzle." She went on, before shoving him over to Rainbow.
His hooves scraped like rocks against the floor, and Spitfire rolled her eyes as she pushed.
"Wait, so ever since then you've...?" Rainbow paused in confusion, "And you never had the guts to ask me?" She went on, then laughed, pressing a hoof to his chest to steady herself.
Spitfire smiled to herself, hovering upwards and crossing her forehooves with triumphant satisfaction.
"Then it's settled, you two take the night off together, that's an order." She declared, then looked between them before adding. "Celestia knows at least one of you earned it" She added with a sly smile, before darting out of the room, and quelling a fit of muffled cheerers in the corridor beyond.
The moment she was gone, Rainbow stepped back from the frozen stallion, blushing slightly as she stopped laughing.
"Well, I suppose we've gotta do as she says, order an’ all." She said.
At that, Soarin was finally able to break free of his stuttering stupor.
"Yeah, of course" He stated bluntly, then moved over to his locker happily as Rainbow stifled another giggle behind her wing. "I mean, I'm not going to disobey Spitfire, otherwise she'd probably end up doing something like this to me again" He added, and Rainbow flew over to open her own locker, glad for the lack of awkwardness this time.
"Thought you'd be glad she did." She stated, then moved over to the bench to wait.
Free of his uniform, Soarin’s blush was obvious as he turned to her, warily holding out his hoof like a true gentle stallion. Rainbow looked at the gesture, thought about it for no more than a second, then flexed her wings.
"Race ya'." She declared wryly, and he swiftly, if not slightly clumsily, corrected his position.
She giggled again, then, just as she was about to take off as fast as she could, she noticed the somewhat goofy smile on his face.
"Still can't believe you did it can you?" She asked. "Believe me, I don't think you're the only one" She added, thinking about how Spitfire and others were probably reacting right now.
Soarin shook his head.
"Part of me still thinks I'm dreaming." He admitted, with clear embarrassment.
Rainbow Dash smirked confidently.
"Guess I'll have to prove that part of you wrong then." She declared, nudging his side playfully, before vanishing with a whoosh.
All eagerness to race of after her left him however, as the warm realisation of what he'd finally achieved hit him. It finally felt like a whole life's worth of waiting was over, and that new feeling was more a newbie to him than she'd ever been.