Dash floated aside as Soarin's form momentarily blotted out the sun. His hooves were together as he dived gracefully. His jump was tremendous; using his wings to guide him, the bleached blue body penetrated the ripples. Rainbow Dash felt a little wave from his point of submersion lap lightly at her chest as she waited for him to surface, a mischievous little grin spreading across her face.
As Soarin's head broke the surface, he turned to face Rainbow and opened his eyes wide. Rainbow slapped her hoof down hard, skimming across the top and sending a thin shot of water splashing into Soarin's face.
“Gah!” he gasped, dipping his head back under the water in case Dash followed it up with another.
Rainbow started to giggle hard, feeling her cheeks burning. Oh, this was going to be rather fun! She took a deep breath and splashed forward, plunging back into the depths.
She spotted Soarin at once, about four feet down and narrowed his eyes at her. He shook his head warningly upon seeing her face. Rainbow smiled smugly, sticking out her tongue at him, tasting the chlorine in the water and issuing a stream of bubbles from her mouth. Dash kicked off hard against the wall of the pool, her hindquarters and tail swishing through the water as she flapped her wings and did an underwater breaststroke, moving through the pool like a torpedo. She headbutted Soarin hard in the stomach, causing him to expel all of his oxygen and immediately rush to the surface.
“I thought being a Wonderbolt meant you had to be tough?” Rainbow Dash grinned at him, coming up for air too.
“Whatcha tryin' to do, drown me?!” Soarin gasped, flapping his wings hard out in front of him and sending a huge torrent of water to come crashing down upon Rainbow Dash. “No tackling!”
“Oh, now it's on,” Dash said, shaking her head after the barrage. “Let's wraaassle, little colt!”
Rainbow dived down again, swimming fast until she was about nine or ten feet below the surface. Rolling over, she began to accelerate to the surface again. She breached the water, her body flying six feet into the air and coming down with an almighty crash on top of Soarin.
“CROSSBODY!” she cried as she dropped upon him. The pair struggled for a moment, surfacing and submerging and resurfacing again as they fought. Rainbow caught Soarin's arm and pinned it behind his back. She applied copious pressure. “Will he tap out to Rainbow Dash's patented submission hold, the SPECTRUM CRUNCH?! What a match! THE FANS ARE ON THEIR HOOVES, LADIES AND GENTLECO-Whoa!”
Soarin gave a great swoosh of his wings and knocked Rainbow Dash away. Dash expected him to be angry, but he was grinning just as much, his cheeks glowing a rosy red.
“He POWERED out of it!” Soarin yelled. “Rainbow's strength is just no match!”
Soarin dived. Dash waited, waving her arms and legs to stay afloat. She was quite curious to see what he was going to attempt. Most unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, however, curiosity killed the pony.
Soarin emerged from beneath her, causing her to fall over as he pushed himself out with both hooves around one of her legs. He flicked the water from his wings and flapped them hard. He hovered some distance above the water, holding Dash by the leg. She had to fight to keep her head from dipping into the pool.
“You give up, or will I need to apply my ankle lock?” Soarin asked playfully, giving Dash's leg a little twist as he wrapped his own around her belly and torso, preventing her from twisting with it. “Time's tickin' on for Rainbow Dash! What's she gonna do?”
Dash's heart was racing. She was able to get her wings free, but Soarin was holding her too tightly. She swished them feebly, but they were no use to her upside down right now. What's more, Soarin's own flapping wings were sufficient enough to keep them in place.
“I'm gonna kill you!” Rainbow Dash groaned, struggling as she lifted her head up towards Soarin and glaring at him.
“Even if all I'm doing...” he spoke in a short hiss, moving the leg back into it's untwisted position, but keeping a firm grip on it nevertheless, “is innocent tickling?”
“Don't. YOU. DARE!” Dash gasped, struggling again as the blood rushed to her head. “Release me!”
“Nuh uh! I don't hear you giving up!” he laughed, tickling the bottom of her hoof.
“Nonono, I will drown you in this pool!” Dash shuddered, trying to kick her other leg, which Soarin kept avoiding.
“Hehehe, do you give up, Rainbow Dash?” Soarin teased, circling his hoof against the underside of her own tantalizingly.
“I do not give up! BRACE YOURSELF, you whelp!” Dash roared out like a war-cry.
Rainbow's wings began to flap like a pinwheel caught in a breeze. Crying out 'YES!', she twisted her body with everything she had. She went limp when she realized Soarin just rotated with her.
“That was quite dramatic! Pity it did absolutely nothing!” he laughed.
Dash's face was the colour of a setting sun, even though the real sun still blazed overhead. Rainbow was most certainly not used to being overpowered so easily. Squirm as she might, there was no breaking out of Soarin's hold. He started to tickle her hoof again and she bit down hard on her lip, trying not to laugh. It was all too much. She was feeling rather uncomfortable and, quite possibly, a little thrilled.
“OKAYOKAY!” she gasped, blushing furiously and laughing. “Argh, you wiiin! I GIVE! Stopitstopitstopitstopit!”
Soarin gave a satisfied chuckle and stretched both his arms and his legs out, causing her to drop into the water. Rainbow righted herself, scarlet faced, her hair swirling around her like a vortex. She spat water out of her mouth like a fountain. Soarin dropped down with a splash next to her, and she swat a hoof against the side of his head head.
“Hey, didn't your parents ever teach you not to hit?!” he asked, grinning sheepishly. “You know, Dashie... You're kinda cute when you get flustered!”
“You're a dork!” Rainbow snarled, bonking his head this time.
They continued to play in the water for another ten minutes or so, splashing and doing their best to one up each other, to make the other beg for mercy. Rainbow tried her best, but Soarin continued to power out of everything she tried. Rainbow Dash wasn't so lucky and had to beg for release twice more. She had found herself blushing furiously several more times, Soarin scarlet just as often, as each attempted to make the other uncomfortable. It wasn't until shortly thereafter, however, that she had got her revenge for the tickling.
She and Soarin had gotten out of the pool for a breather, relaxing in the sun on the grass just beyond the marble floor which surrounded the pool. They lid side by side, Dash on her back with her arm in front of her face to block the glare of light.
“There's one move we should seriously practice, though!” Soarin was saying. “It's a sort of dual barrel roll. I'm going to come up beneath you and lift you with my arms, right? You should roll off my shoulders to your right, right?”
“Right.”
“I'll roll to my left once you make your move. Both of us should turn sharply in our directions. You right, me left, that is. We'll keep rolling, slowly flying further apart,” Soarin explained, laying on his belly, arms folded under his head, which was turned to face her.
“It's a shame that you and Wave Chill didn't get to do that. A pair of stallions doing air ballet would have been the most precious little thing in the world!” Dash snickered. “But totally, Soarin. That move should look awesome with our mane trails. You said the suit magic would make my trail visible even at much slower speeds?”
Soarin nodded, closing his eyes and yawning. “Yep. Most definitely. You'd be better off with your regular rainbow trail instead of the standard Wonderbolts clouds, but with some crackling lightning added in for flair. We'll try out the move in a moment if you want to...”
“Yeah, in a few minutes...” Rainbow Dash spoke, slowly and quietly getting up, watching his face to see if he was opening his eyes.
She crept to him, that naughty smile back on her face. Carefully stepping over other pegasus, she positioned her legs just between his. Acting fast, she forced his arms apart as she put him into a full nelson. Soarin gave a gasp of surprise and tried to press her away with his wings again. Dash was prepared this time; she had her wings wrapped around her belly and torso to guard her against the pressure of his own. She stretched her legs apart, forcing his legs wide so he had no strength to kick against the ground. She enjoyed the feel of him squirming in discomfort beneath her. With a grunt, she rolled over, Soarin contorted like a pretzel on top this time, arms pinned behind his back, legs stuck out on either side.
“Oh no!” he groaned, giving another useless squirm. “Turning the tables on me? Dastardly trick! A bit foolish, though!” He gave an exaggerated laugh. “You've got no way to tickle me! Your hooves can't do anything!”
“You forget I have a tongue, Soarin! I wouldn't use that, though. I can't have you liking it, can I?” Rainbow flirted, heart racing.
Dash twitched her tail, twisting it and flicking her coarse, wet hairs along the underside of one of Soarin's legs. He gave a sharp gasp, shuddering all over.
“Oh dear! I don't think you liked that, not one itsy bitsy widdle bit!” Dash spoke into his ear, her breathing becoming very rapid as her heart thundered in her chest.
“C'mon, Dashie! Let me down!” he asked, trying to muscle his way out of it, but to no avail; Dash had him restrained properly.
Dash flicked her tail against him again, this time aiming to tickle him with the tip. She licked her lips, closing her eyes and focusing on the movement of her tail.
“Seriously, Dash!” Soarin whimpered, shivering. “I give! C'mon, this isn't funny.”
Feeling quite disappointed, Dash relaxed her limbs and Soarin got up by pressing his wings against her, a little unsteady on his wide legs. He dropped down onto his flank before her, showing just his back and mane. It was only then that Dash realized just how far she had gone with her playfulness. The whisper in his ear, all her rushing puffs of breath? She was feeling quite jittery and very hot in the face, but she had to have better control over herself. Rainbow would need to dial things back a notch.
“Soarin, I'm sorry...” she said, her ears drooping humbly as she tried to calm her vapours. “I took that waaay too far, I'm sor—”
“Hey, it's okay!” Soarin assured her quickly, looking back. “I just got a bit too warm. In this sun. That's all. Just a little... uh, nervous. Don't get me wrong, it's fun playing around with you, like we're a couple of kids!”
After a few moments of silence, in which Dash sat there in full shame with her own grit, Soarin got up and faced her, holding out a hoof to help her up off the grass. “C'mon, let's try that barrel roll thing!”
The rest of the afternoon passed by without further incident. They worked as a seamless pair, practicing their maneuvers. After the dual barrel roll technique, they discussed and planned some formation flying. Once the sun had died down a little, they went inside the gym to continue for another hour or two.
Rainbow Dash was sitting on a bench in the Officer's locker room. She heard the hiss of steam as Soarin started up his shower and glanced over at his silhouetted figure, behind one of the curtains in a small row of showers. She had just sat in the sauna for a long time, mulling things over. The Wonderbolt had sat with her, but both were so exhausted from the day's training that they did not speak very much, just relaxing in the warm mist and one another's company.
She knew she had liked him. She had liked him for a very long time. But today? Her attractions had felt much more different. They were stronger, so much stronger. Rainbow never comprehended exactly how much she enjoyed being around him, everything about that stallion being so captivating to her. But was this purely a physical attraction and nothing more, she wondered? Did she like him on an emotional level at all, or did she just think he was a fine example of a male pegasus? Rainbow Dash wasn't so sure. She had gotten herself so mesmerized today that there was no room in her head for anything but his physical appeal. His physically appeal... she exhaled a great deal of air.
Rainbow Dash felt like she had made a terrible blunder. She had got her revenge for the tickling thing, she supposed. She made him really uncomfortable. But was it too much? Would he be scared away? She debated giving him another little peck on the cheek when the time came for them to depart for the day. She didn't dare risk it, though; Rainbow had done enough for today.
Yes, he had flirted with her as well. This was true. He was good at it. 'Damn good at it!' Dash thought. But was he just flirting for the sake of it, because he knew she had a crush on him? Maybe that was Soarin's way of being nice to her, in the wake of her worries about Scootaloo? He had been in a relationship with Spitfire. When, exactly, did it end? The Captain had not said. Was it recently? Spitfire had told Rainbow Dash that Soarin's reasoning for breaking up with her was due to his 'not being ready'. Ready for what, exactly? If the breakup was recent, then Dash most certainly had crossed a line with her flirtation. He deserved space if he was still hurting from it all. Dash shouldn't go around teasing him with her tail and breathing into his ear like some hussy out to get something foul, she told herself. But, wait, what if he was already over it? What if he was interested in return? Did he simply get embarrassed that he had allowed himself to get so flustered and attracted in return? Still... Rainbow Dash thought that she shouldn't act the way she did anymore.
“You're going to keep yourself under control, Rainbow Dash!” she told herself, jumping off the bench and striding across the locker room to peer into a mirror at her reflection. “If he wants anything to do with me, then he can make the first move! Oh, wow, I need to brush out my mane before I dare leave this place...”
She heard the creak of the taps as the sound of rushing water died away. “What was that, Dashie? You talking to me?” Soarin's voice called.
“Nothin', just talkin' to myself!” she called back, then whispering to herself, “I'll let you call me Dashie, I suppose... You keep doing it, after all! I'd love to know what's going through your head...”
Dash grabbed a towel and took an adjacent shower before he had finished drying himself off and leaving his own. She hung it over the wall and turned on the taps.
The rest of the day went by in a blur. It was well after dinner when she picked up Scootaloo from Twilight's, apologizing profusely for once again being late. Scoot had not minded in the slightest. She appeared to have had a blast. Twilight, it turned out, was not as boring as her friends might assume when she was not entertaining a filly. She had taken Scootaloo all over Ponyville in a day of fun. They had gone for ice cream. They had watched cattle herding. They went to a movie. They had gone to the library, although that bit did sound rather drab. Twilight had tested some new transformation spells on Spike the dragon, with results that sounded pretty hilarious. Scootaloo did not want to go home and get ready for bed.
Rainbow agreed she could play some games with Spike and stayed up in Twilight's room for awhile, telling her about everything that went down with Soarin.
“I hope you're not turning into Rarity, Dash!” Twilight smiled at her. “I think waiting to see if he's comfortable enough to make a move is a wise decision. Otherwise, just keep your distance and see if he eventually comes around. If the airshow is a success, he's bound to want to hang out with you, isn't he?”
“You've got some good advice on this subject. Y'know, for somepony who's never so much as kissed any guy that wasn't in her immediate family.”
“You flatter me, Rainbow.” Twilight smiled. It occurred to Rainbow that Twilight Sparkle had been completely serious, and she shook her head in wonderment when Twilight wasn't looking.
“I should probably ask Rarity about this next time I see her around. We always joke about her being a little too friendly with the stallions, but if there's anypony with real experience on dealing with the bronies, it's her!” Dash explained. “Thanks for looking after Scoot today... and for spoiling her half to death! Now I've gotta make sure the stuff we do next time I take her around town is way more awesome in comparison. Can't let a nerd act cooler than me!”
“A nerd? Says the pony who reads Daring Do novels before bed!” Twilight laughed, levitating one off a shelf in her room and having it dance in the air before Rainbow's face.
“That does not make me a nerd, thank you very much,” Dash pouted, folding her arms. “You study as a hobby!”
When Twilight had eventually waved her off and Rainbow Dash had gotten Scootaloo into bed, it was nearly 10:00. It had been another long day, filled with ups and downs. However, Dash did not have that horrible feeling of unease in her stomach.
Rainbow opened Scootaloo's door slowly, allowing some light from the hallway to permeate the room. It was not much, however, since the light in the upstairs hallway was as far away as possible from Scootaloo's bedroom door. Rainbow got down on her knees and leaned over the sleeping filly, wrapping her arms gently around her. Scootaloo had been sleeping on her stomach, breathing softly, her wings folded and mouth drooling as usual.
“Brave in your heart and strong in your mind, Scoots. You're going to make me proud, I know you will...” Dash whispered, placing a quick kiss to the top of Scootaloo's head and standing up again.
As she turned to leave, her eyes caught the diary lying on the bedside table. It wasn't like Scootaloo to leave it out, since she was normally very tidy about her possessions. The little pegasus must have been exhausted from the day's events. Scootaloo had always been most secret about her diary. Rainbow Dash really wasn't sure where Scoot normally hid it. Rainbow had never so much as seen its opened pages, but she had caught Scoot slumped over and writing in it every few days or so. Rainbow Dash debated picking it up and giving it a quick look, wondering if it was going to give her any insight on how Scootaloo had been handling her anxiety. After all, she had owned the little book since before she had left the orphanage. However, she walked out of the room, leaving it undisturbed. Maybe she would ask her daughter's permission sometime?
Dash entered her own bedroom and closed the door, yawning. She looked ahead at the poster of Soarin and gave a happy sigh. Despite her guilty feelings over how she had pushed things a wee bit too far, she couldn't deny that it had been a very fun afternoon. She crossed the room, turning off the light, and slipped into bed. She threw a glance at her blue flight suit hung in the open closet and felt her breast swell with joy.
“Make a move and I'll be yours, Soarin...” she breathed dreamily. “No matter how long it takes you. I'll wait.”
Dash closed her eyes, drifting into a pleasant sleep.