In The Mess Hall

“Listen up!” Spitfire barked, earning the attention of her small crowd of cadets. “For the rest of the camp you’ll be working in pairs. Tomorrow morning, I’ll post the teams including who will be lead pony and who will be wingpony. Good luck.”

“Like we’re gonna need it,” Lightning Dust whispered confidently to her colorful companion.

“Heh, yeah,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, bumping her cyan hoof against the teal keratin of her friend’s hoof. The two mares trotted off, bee lining towards the mess hall as if by instinct. Dash looked to her left, noticing several veteran Wonderbolt members each coaching their own squad, though one officer in particular stood out to her. She smiled warmly and waved at Soarin’, her hoof grabbing his attention from his students before he quickly looked the other way.

Chuckling quietly, she pawed at the ground. “Oops, my bad! Forgot he’s actually a teacher here.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Lighting Dust retorted. “He’s supposed to be a leading officer and an example of the dedication and discipline a Wonderbolt has. It doesn’t matter to Spitfire if he’s got a crush, and he better hope she didn’t see that slipup.”

Dash tilted her head, confused. “A crush? On Spitfire? I guess I could see it- they have worked together for awhile.”

“No, not Spitfire,” The teal mare groaned, looking at the prismatic mare expectantly. When she didn’t return any indication that she understood, Lightning Dust decided it would be better to just fill in her companion. “You, Dash. He has a crush on you. Isn’t it obvious?”

“Meeee? That-” She squawked, the end of her statement cracking slightly as she trailed off into thought. Dash looked down, digesting the new information. Why would Soarin’ have a crush on her of all ponies? She never considered herself ugly by any means, but she never wasted any of her time putting effort into dolling herself up for the boys- that was Rarity’s field of expertise. All she did was save his apple pie… and his life at the Best Young Flier’s competition… and dance with him at what could be considered one of the most romantic settings in Equestria history… and…

“…actually, that makes sense,” Dash admitted, shuffling her hoof with slight embarrassment, the slightest tinge of rose on her cheeks. She tilted her eyes up to meet Lightning Dust’s gaze, the teal mare rolling her eyes with a smile.

“Go on, girl- just don’t get caught or you’ll both be busted,” She said with a slight sigh, a dismissing hoof waving Rainbow Dash off. “I’ll meet you later on in the barracks tonight.”

With an understanding nod, Dash trotted off.

“All right noobies!” Soarin’ barked to the crowd of cadets, their shaking limbs a true sign of the rigorous demands the squad leader had put them through. “You get a two minute break before that next set of wingups! I repeat, two minute break!”

The squadron groaned collectively. Soarin’ narrowed his eyebrows into a glare, quickly silencing his vocal students.

“Did I stutter?!” He asked rhetorically, nostrils flared with gusto. “You’ve all just cut a minute off your break for the attitude, including the time you all decided to moan instead of thank me for letting you slack off!”

“That’s too bad, I was gonna use that minute to ask you something, Soarin’.”

The stallion turned around wide-eyed, jaw slacked as he came face to face with the most colorful student at the academy. Rainbow Dash smiled impishly, turning to walk away.

“Buuuut I guess if you’re busy giving the recruits some extra training, then I probably shouldn’t bother you. I guess I’ll-“

“Wait!” Soarin’ fumbled, his forehooves waving to stop the mare in her tracks. He craned his neck back, fighting back the blush as a couple of his cadets couldn’t help but snicker at the predicament. “Class dismissed. Hit the mess hall, you slackers.”

Ignoring the whooping and ‘oohs’ his students vocalized as they walked off, Soarin’ forced a weak smile, tugging at his tie as he subconsciously adjusted it.

“W-whatsup?”

Dash walked up, her smirk confident and movements lithe, which Soarin’ noted was comparable to a cat. “You said you wanted to… ‘hang’, right?”

The pegasus stallion swallowed the lump in his throat, face bursting into flush as the green tip of her tail flicked his nose. “Yeah… I-“

“And what did you mean by that?” She asked coyly, interrupting him mid-sentence. Dash felt her heart pulse quickly as the stallion sat down on his haunches, mouth agape and eyes bugged out. She had him, and they both knew it.

“I’m sorry.”

This time Rainbow Dash was the one whose eyes bugged out. “Wait- what!?”

“I’m sorry,” Soarin’ repeated, eyes downcast onto the pegasus runway, his focus never leaving the blacktop road. “I should know better- I’m an officer for pony’s sake. It’s not appropriate and it certainly isn’t representative of how a Wonderbolt is supposed to act. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, and if you wanna report me for my inappropriate behavior, I’ll understand.”

“No no no!” Dash protested, quickly running to the stallion’s side. “Soarin’, I was just having some fun at your expense! Really! Although…” She paused, looking away to hide the blood that was slowly rushing to her cheeks. “If you’ve got something to say to me, then say it. I’m all ears.”

Soarin’ looked at the mare by his side, her head turned slightly away, yet her eyes focused on him. It was all the motivation he needed.

“Would you go out with me?”

Rainbow Dash turned her head, smile small and cheeks burning.

“Yes.”