“This is the very best day of my life!” Twilight shouted. “I’ve never imagined that anything like this could have ever happened! I have better friends than I’ve ever imagined. They’ve taught me more than I could ever imagine, and now I’m a princess as well!”
Her friends expressed their happiness in their own way; Pinkie insisted to party all night long while bouncing and cheering, Fluttershy shouted her quiet, “yay” and “woo-hoo!”, Rarity expressed her happiness with her ever-so polite, “We’re so happy for you”, followed by Applejack’s, “Yeehaw! Yer the best pony that deserves bein’ a princess, Twilight!”
Her friends were happy for the coronation of their friend, ‘Princess’ Twilight Sparkle. Almost all of them.
Rainbow Dash just showed the new princess a faint smile, trying hard not to shed tears. ‘Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight Sparkle,’ she thought as the sadness started to creep in on her. She needed to get away from this happy place. She needed to be alone.
“Rainbow? What’s wrong?” Twilight worryingly asked the pegasus.
“It-it’s nothing.” Rainbow tried to come up with a convincing lie. “I think I ate something that doesn’t like my stomach.”
“But how? All the food here is of the top quality... Have you tried hayfries yet? They’re amazing!”
“I just need a little bit of fresh air, I think. I’ll be fine,” Rainbow said as she pressed a hoof onto her stomach.
Twilight nodded.
“Don’t worry, Twi— Sorry; I meant Princess Twilight. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Don’t be too long, Rainbow. This party wouldn’t be the same without you...”
Rainbow Dash slowly walked towards the nearest balcony, since there were many to chose from. The happy music and cheerful atmosphere within Canterlot was making her more and more depressed. She had to get out of there. She spread her majestic wings as they lifted the rest of her body in the air ‘I need to get out of here... Even if it’s just for an hour or two...’
~*~*~
Rainbow Dash approached Ponyville. Most of the houses were bathed in darkness, since most of the town ponies were invited to the coronation of the new princess. Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Rainbow flinched in mid-air as she flew through the town and on towards her house. The dark, silent and peaceful town spoke volumes, chanting ‘Princess Twilight’ in the dead of night. The pegasus needed to get away from this, she wanted to scream ‘STOP! PLEASE NO MORE!’ at the top of her lungs, but the almost-dead town would pay no attention to her.
Deep in thought, Rainbow was flying lower than she thought as her dress scraped the top of one of the higher trees in Ponyville, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Ah, ponyfeathers!” she cursed, looking frantically around herself, evading another tree and quickly flying higher. On the horizon she spotted her swiftly approaching goal, bathing in the beautiful glow of the full moon, letting out a heavy sigh of relief. “Almost home.”
The door of her home opened with a slight squeak as she pushed it in just moments after she landed in front of her house, revealing the rich interior of her cloud home. Stepping inside, Rainbow paid no attention to the lights, as turning them on would reveal walls of pictures, dedicated to her and her friends. She also paid no attention to the dishes in the kitchen that remained unwashed, and she didn’t salute a picture of Spitfire, her commander in the Wonderbolts like she always did.
She wanted to be alone; she wanted to crawl into the darkest corner and start weeping. It mattered not if this was Rainbow Dash, the mare that just doesn’t cry, because for first time in her life it felt like it was justified as she collapsed onto her bed.
‘Princess Twilight Sparkle,’ she sobbed. ‘Twilight Sparkle. Now a princess, an alicorn.’ She clenched her teeth as her tears started to fall onto the bed sheets as she became fully aware of her vulnerability. ‘Immortal.’ She sniffled. ‘She’ll just watch everyone pass away and their memory just fade away. I can’t imagine the pain she’ll go through.‘ She sniffled again and grabbed her pillow, hoping to stifle her cries and sobs, but with very little success. The house was echoing nothing but her soft weeps before she finally managed to drift to sleep.
~*~*~
Echos of soft knocks filled Rainbow’s apartment as she slowly opened her eyes.
“R-Rainbow Dash? A-are you in there?” sounded the voice of Fluttershy behind the closed door, followed by knocks of her hooves.
Rainbow groaned and waved her hoof, still half-asleep.
“R-Rainbow Dash?” sounded the shy mare yet again, turning her head towards Pinkie. “I don’t think she’s here, Pinkie...”
“She must be in there. My Pinkie sense is never wrong.” She bounced in her balloon “HEY, RAINBOW DASH!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.
Rainbow Dash shot up, hitting a shelf above with her head, sending a copy of ‘Daring Do and the Pirates of the Seven Seas’ flying and slamming into a nearby wall. She cursed loudly. Clenching her teeth, she quickly started rubbing her head with her hoof.
“Oh my,” Fluttershy said to Pinkie as she took a step back as to avoid more profanity flying down her way.
Rainbow slowly opened her eyes while still rubbing her head. “Oh, ponyfeathers!” she cursed when she saw the mess in her room. But that was the least of her worries, since she was used to sleeping in a messy apartment. She was much more worried about the dress Rarity made for her; once a beautiful dress was now filled with tiny rips and tears of the clothes were also visible and even some decor was missing due to the encounter with tree branches from last night. But not even that was the biggest problem.
Her biggest problem was the realization that it was the middle of the day as a ray of Celestia’s beautiful sun stroked Rainbow’s mane and teased her eyes.
“What do I do now?” she muttered to herself as she hung her head for a moment, trying to find a quick solution to her current problem, but without any real success. She sighed, turning her head towards the doors, shouting, “I’ll be right there!” and quickly sliding out of her dress.
The door squeaked open, revealing a mare with a messy rainbow mane and a bump on her head. “I’m—” Rainbow hung her head, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it, Rainbow,” Pinkie happily chirped from the balloon basket. “You only missed the most super-duper bestest party in your entire life! But it’s okay, since—”
“Um, Rainbow...,” Fluttershy interrupted Pinkie “Twilight wants to see you.”
Rainbow gulped. “M-me?”
“Sure!” Pinkie chirped into the conversation. “She said that she has something really really important to talk to you about. Maybe she wants you to become a princess, too!”
Rainbow glared darkly at her, muttering, “Sure she does.” She sighed, turning her head to Fluttershy. “I need your help, Fluttershy. I fell asleep in Rarity’s dress and now it’s ruined. Can you please fix it for me?”
“I-I don’t want to mess with Rarity’s clothing, Rainbow.... Why don’t you ask her—”
“Rarity would kill me, if she’d find out, Fluttershy. Can you help? Please?” Rainbow pleaded with her friend.
“Oh, okay.” Fluttershy replied back. “Just this once.” she added determinately.
“Thanks, Fluttershy!” Rainbow yelped as she hugged her friend.
~*~*~
“Halt! Who goes there?” guardian ponies barked as Rainbow approached the golden gates of Canterlot Castle.
“I’m Rainbow Dash, and I came to see Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
“Yeah, right,” one of the guardian ponies said. “If you’re Rainbow Dash, I’m Princess Luna!” he added in a mocking tone.
“But I—”
“Do you have identification papers?” barked the second guard.
“No, I didn’t—”
“Well? How can you prove that you’re Rainbow Dash, then? Can you perform a sonic rainboom?”
“Actually—”
“Ah, Miss Rainbow Dash,” sounded the soothing voice of Princess Celestia from behind the guard ponies, shocking them into silence. “Princess Sparkle is waiting for you, Miss Dash. Don’t keep her waiting.”
“B-but the guards—” stuttered Rainbow.
“We- we didn’t know that she’s the Rainbow Dash.” said one of the guards.
“We thought that she was one of those changelings...” added the other one.
“Well, Miss Dash? Are you a changeling?” Celestia asked with a smile.
“N-no?” Rainbow answered in confusion.
“We’ll let her perform one of her trademark sonic rainbooms later on, but now she has more important things to attend,” Celestia said, turning towards the guards.
Rainbow nodded to the princess and turned her head towards the now opening gates to Canterlot Castle.
~*~*~
“Y-you wanted to see me, Princess Sparkle?” asked Rainbow shyly.
“Rainbow, please stop calling me that. My title changes nothing...”
“Yes, Princess Twilight.”
Twilight blinked as her ears picked up the strict formal language instead of the usual ‘Sure, Twilight.’ She looked at her feathered friend quizzically “Rainbow? Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Princess Twilight,” Rainbow replied, keeping the formality of her tone, causing Twilight’s eye to twitch yet again. “What was it you wished to see me for, Princess?” she added.
Twilight realized that there was something wrong that her friend didn’t want to share with her. ‘Okay, Rainbow. Let’s play your game...’ she thought to herself, all signs of smiling vanishing from her face in a blink of an eye. “Miss Dash?” she replied in a formal voice.
“Yes?”
“You will have to come closer, Miss Dash. What you’re about to hear isn’t for public ears.” She made a gesture with her hoof, causing a handful of guards to trot out of the giant room.
Rainbow walked slowly towards the alicorn, keeping her head down as a sign of politeness.
“That is close enough, Miss Dash.” Twilight said, her expression unchanged. “I have a crucial task for you,” she continued in a sharp tone. “There is a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane somewhere in Ponyville. She was called here today, but she never showed up. She is brave, brash and a winner of the Best Young Flyer Competition two years ago. She is also self-proclaimed awesomest pony in Equestria, and not to mention one of my closest friends. And her name is Rainbow Dash. THE Rainbow Dash. I want you to find her and convince her that she comes to Canterlot.”
Rainbow said nothing, but hung her head as a tear slid down her her cheek, hitting the red rug on which she was standing.
“I didn’t hear ‘yes, Princess’, Miss Dash!” Twilight demanded from the pegasus.
“I’m sorry, Twilight,” Rainbow said in a raspy whisper.
The alicorn flickered her ear with her hoof, trying to catch the whispers from Rainbow “Was that a ‘yes, Princess’, Miss Dash?”
“I’m sorry, Twilight.” Rainbow repeated, this time loud enough so that Twilight could clearly hear her.
“Yesterday at the party...” Twilight paused, momentarily gazing into the pegasus’ watery eyes “There was nothing wrong with the food, was there?”
Twilight approached Rainbow as she sighed.
“Please tell me what is wrong, Rainbow,” Twilight said in a soothing voice. “If there is something I can do to help, please let me know. I’ll do the best I can.” she added.
Rainbow sighed again as she started to tell Twilight about the whole princess ordeal, mainly pointing out the incredible powers of the alicorn princesses and most importantly - being immortal and watching everypony that she made contact with, fade away. “I can’t stand to watch a close friend losing somepony. And since now you’re immortal you’ll—”
“But I’m not immortal, Rainbow,” Twilight interrupted the sobbing pegasus with a soothing voice, “That transformation didn’t change who I am. I am still the same unicorn as I was weeks ago. I’ve just got wings to learn and experience the wonders of flying, Rainbow. Nothing more....” She paused, looking at the bewildered pegasus. “History of Equestria: Volume four clearly states, that there were only two princesses that managed to live incredibly long: Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Sure, there were other alicorn princesses throughout history,” she added, “but none of them lived longer than their normal life.” She paused. “You know, you really should read something more than a Daring Do book from time to time.”
Rainbow shot a dark glare at Twilight.
“Sorry.” Twilight paused and looked at Rainbow. “Look, even if I was immortal; You all taught me so much... do you really think, that I could forget any of you?”
“Yes.”
Twilight tried to find an argument against that, but every try ended up with failure. Finally realizing that that one word had more weight than she could ever imagine. “I know,” she finally sighed, giving a soft hug to her friend. “It’s just—” she paused as a tear slid down her cheek hitting her fur, “I’ve never thought about it, but... it must be quite a curse to be immortal. I don’t even want to imagine how much bitterness hides behind the smiles of Princess Luna and Celestia.“ Her hug has tightened and she started nuzzling Rainbow’s beautifully messy mane “How many fights must they have seen and how many friends they have lost and—”
Rainbow gently nudged the alicorn. "Twilight," she said insistently, snapping her out of her reverie.
“Hm?” Twilight shook her head, regaining her focus. “Oh, sorry, Rainbow, I don’t know what happened. I just got lost for a moment.”
“So...”
“So...” Twilight replied like a broken record. “Oh! You must be wondering, why I asked you to come here.”
“That kinda crossed my mind, yeah. Pinkie said, that you wanted me to become a princess as well!”
The two ponies looked at each other and smiled, exploding into fits of laughter just a moment later.
“No, but seriously, Twi’.” Rainbow managed to stifle her laughter to a few snorts and giggles. “Why did you want me here?”
“To be a princess!” snorted the alicorn, sending both ponies into another burst of laughter.
Minutes must have passed before the laughter in the room started to quiet down. The two ponies letting just a few more giggles out while getting back onto their hooves.
“I’ve called you for two reasons, Rainbow. The first one was to know, if you are alright, since you were missing for a good portion of the night and nobody remembered you saying that you’re leaving.”
Rainbow hung her head. “I- I just needed to get away from everything, Twilight. I’m sorry.”
“I understand, Rainbow.” Twilight gave her an understanding nod ”Don’t worry about it. The second one is —”
“Me becoming a princess?” Rainbow snickered and both ponies started to giggle.
“Rainbow,” Twilight asked as the giggles calmed down, “can you teach me how to fly?”
“Eh?” The pegasus looked bewildered at Twilight, “B-But I saw you fly at the coronation! How can you say that you can’t fly?”
“I wasn’t using my wings... It was just a magical experiment... I reversed the polarity of the gravitational field while setting a propulsion... of... a... Rainbow, are you even listening?”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s magic and stuff” Rainbow said with a jawn.
“No, no! It’s science! It’s—” Twilight saw Rainbow’s disinterested look and sighed heavily, “Teach me, please?”
Rainbow looked at Twilight quizzically. “Teach you how to fly? Don’t they have flight schools in Canterlot? I could have sworn, that I’ve seen—”
“No, it’s not that.” Twilight sighed. “Rainbow, you are the greatest flyer in Equestria. When I was a filly, I don’t remember seeing any of the teachers performing a sonic rainboom.”
“Well, I am the greatest flyer in Eq—” Rainbow started to repeat Twilight’s words with a smirk, but stopped abruptly as she realized that all this flattering had to lead somewhere. She shot Twilight a dark glare. “Twilight? I think, you’re trying to pull a fast one on me. This is some sort of a revenge for the vanishing ink prank, isn’t it?”
“No, no, no!” Twilight countered. “It’s not that! It’s -mrbbbrgh” she added unintelligibly as she turned away from the pegasus.
“It’s what?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow, trying to decypher what Twilight muttered.
“Look, Rainbow.” Twilight sighed “I really don’t want to be a laughing stock to everypony,” she sniffled, looking at the pegasus “Not again. I don’t want to feel like I felt at my brother’s wedding.”
Rainbow gulped heavily, remembering how her closest friends and even Princess Celestia abandoned her. “Twilight, I—”
“Please?”
“Twilight, but I don’t know how to teach gently. My trainings are—”
“I don’t care Rainbow. I just want to learn.”
“Then don’t expect me to go soft on you, Twi’.”
“Fine,” the alicorn sighed “When do we start?”
“Tomorrow. But...” Rainbow paused and looked around the giant room “Do you have some sort of gym or at least a room with soft floor padding? Because in the beginning you will fall. A lot. And I don’t really want to drag you to the hospital on a regular basis.”
Twilight nodded “I think I can do something in that direction...” she paused for a bit, turning her head towards Rainbow “Hey, Dash?”
“Hm?”
“Would you like to stay in Canterlot for a while? At least until... You know... Flying...”
“But, where would I sleep?”
“There’s handful of empty rooms in the castle... I’m sure that Princess Celestia will allow you to stay in one of those.”
~*~*~
“Whoa! This is huge!” Rainbow gasped in awe, looking at the spacious training room, turning her head to Twilight. “And this just for us?”
Twilight nodded. “This is the smallest training facility, Rainbow. I’ve asked Princess Celestia to put a shield around the building, which allows only us to pass through, so we won’t be distracted...,” she paused. “I’d put it up myself, but it seems that I’ll be heavily distracted.”
“Cool!” Rainbow said with a smile on her face. “Let’s get started, then.”
“What first?”
“Wing push-ups. Fifty should be good for starters.” Rainbow looked at the alicorn, raising her eyebrow, “Okay; twenty.”
Twilight tried to spread her wings, but they didn’t move. She tried again, straining herself with drops of glittering sweat now clearly visible on her forehead but still without success.
“Well?”
“I can’t, Rainbow. I don’t know how.”
“But—” Rainbow sighed. “I have an idea. Just lie on your back and relax.”
Twilight raised her eyebrow, tilting her head towards Rainbow.
“Trust me.”
The alicorn obeyed as she flopped on her back, clenched her teeth and closed her eyes as she remembered Rainbow’s words ‘Then don’t expect me to go soft on you, Twi’.’
“Don’t worry...,” Rainbow spoke in concerned voice seeing her friend in a defensive position. “I’m not going to hurt you, Twilight. Just take few deep breaths and relax.”
Twilight listened. As she took a couple of deep breaths, her body muscles started to relax and her wings started to unfold, letting out a soft moan. She could feel the light prods of Rainbow’s hoof on the root of her secondary feathers just a moment before she dozed to sleep.
“Can you feel t—” Rainbow asked before her ears caught soft snores coming from the alicorn. She snickered. “I guess you can’t feel that, can you?” She paused, looking at the sleeping pony “Hey, Twilight?” Rainbow gently prodded her friend’s mane “Twi’?”
Twilight groaned as she curled into a ball.
‘I guess this concludes our so called training,’ Rainbow snickered. “Hey, Twi’?” she whispered, nudging the sleeping mare one last time before leaving her to sleep and heading off to get some exercise of her own.
~*~*~
“Hey, Princess Sleepyhead.” Rainbow nudged Twilight softly, “It’s time to wake up now... I think you’ve slept long enough...”
“Hum?” Twilight grunted as she slowly started waking up.
“Good evening, princess.” Rainbow said with a smile “Coffee?”
“W- what happened?” Twilight asked in a groggy voice, turning her head to Rainbow.
“I guess you’ve relaxed just a little bit too much,” Rainbow snickered, handing messy-manned alicorn a cup of coffee.
“I’m sorry... I didn’t get enough sleep last night... How long was I sleeping?”
“Around three hours. I’ve already had some exercise and got a cup of coffee for myself, and thought you might want some of it as well...” Rainbow paused, turning to Twilight. “So, do you want to retry?”
“I’ll have to relax again while you’re poking my wing?” Twilight paused, taking a sip of coffee. “Why did you need to do that anyway?”
“Heh,” Rainbow smirked “somepony isn’t supposed to fall asleep, I was attempting to help you with your wing exercise, but the pony attached to it kinda zoned out.”
Both ponies chuckled softly.
“Okay. Let’s try again,” Twilight said, taking another sip from the cup “I promise I won’t fall asleep this ti-HEY!” she yelled, her face flushing in light red as she felt the Rainbow’s teeth on her wing. “What in Equestria are you doing, Rainbow?”
“Can you feel this?” Rainbow asked as she continued to nibble on the roots of Twilight’s feathers.
Instead of affirmative answer, Twilight left out a soft moan of delight, clearly indicating the joy of the wing massage.
Rainbow abruptly stopped with what she was doing. “Somepony isn’t paying any attention again.” she said harshly.
“Sorry, Rainbow,” Twilight snapped out of her reverie. “All of this is just so new to me...”
“Look, it’s easy training.” Rainbow grabbed Twilight’s wing with her teeth, pulling it gently aside just to let it go a second later. “See? Just do that a couple of times and focus on the muscles and you should be able to get your wings under control.”
“What? That’s it?”
“For now, yes. We’ll see how much progress you’ve made later on and we’ll continue from there.”
“Tomorrow, then?”
“I‘m not sure...” Rainbow scratched her head “Maybe later, when you can at least open your wings?” She sighed. “I’m sorry Twilight, but there’s not much I can do before you learn at least that.”
“Oh.” Twilight sadly hung her head. “I-I understand.”
~*~*~
Rainbow Dash was alone in her spacious castle room, reading the latest Daring Do book entitled Daring Do and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, visibly grimacing over the deteriorating storyline ‘I hope this doesn’t become a movie. Aliens? Really?’ she thought as she analyzed the book for herself.
“Hi-Rainbow!” sounded a familiar voice, startling the blue pegasus out of her thoughts, causing her to turn her head towards unexpected guest.
“Oh hey, Twili-SWEET CELESTIA! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?” Rainbow yelled and jumped on her hooves as she saw her friend standing in front of her. It was Twilight, but she looked like she had a solo fight with an army of changelings and barely got away alive. Her feathers and her mane were in a complete mess; they looked like they hadn’t been attended to for weeks. Her twitching bloodshot eyes revealing dark circles under them gave the clear signs of sleep deprivation and she was grinning even wider than when she wanted to resolve friendship problems.
“Rainbow-do-you-know-how-you-said-yesterday-that-I-need-to-learn-how-to-open-my-wings-before-you-could-teach-me-anything-else?”
“Twilight? Are you okay?”
“I-was-trying-all-night-to-understand-how-wings-work-and-I’ve-trained-and-trained-and-trained-exactly-as-you’ve-showed-me-”
“Twilight?”
“-and-then-I-made-it-open-and-then-”
“Hello? Equestria to Princess Twilight Sparkle?”
“-and-after-that-I-went-for-another-one-and-”
“Twilight!” the pegasus yelled, causing Twilight to flinch and close her widely-grinning mouth.
“Yesh?” Twilight clumsily tried snapping to attention.
“Just out of curiosity; how much did you sleep last night?”
“But-I-didn’t-wanted-to-sleep-I-just-wanted-to-train-today-so-I’ve-drank-a-lot-of-coffee-and—” the alicorn abruptly stopped.
“Twilight?”
Twilight closed her eyes as her body started to sway to sides, indicating that she’d collapse on the ground at any moment.
Rainbow caught her just a moment before the impact, her head landing in Rainbow’s hooves. “Heh,” she snickered “No training for you today, princess... Only bed.” She spread her wings, lifting the alicorn “Oh sweet Celestia you’re heavy!”
Twilight grunted in her sleep as the blue pegasus lifted her above the ground.
“There is no way I’ll be able to carry you to your bed, Twi’,” Rainbow panted heavily, drops of sweat now clearly visible on her forehead “You’re getting into mine.”
She carried the alicorn to Rainbow’s bed, gently putting her down on the fresh, soft sheets and covering Twilight with a warm blanket, still slightly panting “You are very beautiful, Twilight Sparkle,” Rainbow muttered to herself “Too bad I’m not into mares...”
~*~*~
Twilight slowly opened her eyes as the rays of sunlight bathed Rainbow Dash’s room in them. “Ow, my head,” she grunted, prodding her head with her hoof, quickly realizing where she was. “Rainbow?” she asked, but her question was met only with silence. Turning her head just a little bit more, the alicorn noticed a paper notice on the nearby wall, she floated it before her face and grimaced at the horrible writing.
“Morning, Twilight. Waiting for you at the gym. Eat something. NO COFFEE! Rainbow Dash.”
“It’s not even nine, Rainbow,” she grumbled to herself, vanishing in a glow of magical energy just a moment later.
~*~*~
“Good morning, Rainbow,” Twilight said in a slight yawn.
“Hey, Twi’. Ready to start?”
“Sure, but I’d like to know something before we start...”
“What?”
“What was I doing in your bed?”
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow and looked at the alicorn. “Um. You don’t remember?”
“Remember what?”
“You popped into my room high on coffee and no sleep just so you could tell me, that you managed to figure out how your wings work and then collapsed.”
“Oh,” Twilight’s face radiated in a slight hue of red.
“That was two days ago.”
“Two days?” Twilight yelped in shock ”I’ve slept for more than a day? But I promised Princess Celestia that yesterday I’d—”
“Twilight, relax. I talked to the princess yesterday and she decided that health of her student is much more important than an easily postponed meeting,” Rainbow cut into Twilight’s sentence. “Don’t worry about it,” Rainbow added softly. “Can we start with the practice part now?”
“Sure.”
~*~*~
Twilight’s wings were sore from the intense practice. ‘Then don’t expect me to go soft on you, Twi.’ echoed in her mind ‘not soft.’ Twilight scratched her head. ‘Fifty wing pushups. For a pony who only opened them three times in her life. That’s not not being soft. That’s downright torture.’ Twilight flopped onto her bed, drowsy from exhaustion.
She tried closing her eyes, but all she could see were the images from training. Seeing the blue pegasus pushing her just a little bit further when she was just about to give up. Every time she wanted to cheat with her magic a harsh yell of: ‘NO MAGIC!’ came from Rainbow, and every time Twilight was just about to collapse, a warm and soft set of sky-blue hooves was waiting to catch her fall.
Twilight opened her eyes again but flashbacks were still lingering in her mind, refusing to disperse into nothingness. She sighed heavily, nudging her still-sore wings with her muzzle, hoping in vain that they would stop aching soon.
“Princess Sparkle?” a guard sounded from the other side of the doors, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts.
“...Yes?”
“Miss Rainbow Dash is here to see you. Is she allowed to enter?”
“Let her in, please. I’ll be there in a minute.”
The doors closed with a soft click and a blue pegasus trotted in the middle of the huge, book-filled room, with the hoof-carved desk with pile of neatly-stacked paper laying on top of it sitting in the corner.
“Twilight?” Rainbow greeted the still-empty room.
“Hi, Rainbow,” disembodied voice of the alicorn replied “just give me a moment, will you?”
“Take your time, Twilight.”
“Ah, there. I just needed to w—” Twilight’s heart skipped a beat when she finally managed to look at her friend. She was looking directly at Rainbow Dash, but this wasn’t Rainbow with messy mane and tail like she was used to. Her mane was neatly and carefully brushed and held together with a set of golden hair pins. The end of her tail was braided, with golden slippers on her hooves and a pearl necklace around her neck. She was stunning. Twilight could feel her face radiating and her wings ruffling ever so slightly.
“Twi’?”
No response.
“Twilight?” the pegasus repeated herself in a concerned voice “Are you okay?”
Twilight blinked, shaking her head, trying to snap out of her reverie. “Hm? Oh, sorry,” she added still absent-minded. “I guess I’m tired more than I thought.”
“Yeah, about that...,” Rainbow scratched her head, “I’m sorry... I’m just not used to working with beginners.”
“Couldn’t you go just a little easier on me?” Twilight sighed.
“Look, Twilight. I’m sorry.” the pegasus sighed “I wanted to make it up by inviting you to a proper dinner. My treat.”
“Proper dinner?”
“Something that isn’t hayfries,” Rainbow added quickly. “Or a grilled cheese sandwich.”
Twilight groaned. “They’re good, okay?”
“Explains why you’re so heavy,” muttered Rainbow under her breath.
“What?” Twilight shot a dark look towards Rainbow.
“Er..” Dash’s cheeks glowed in a slight hue of red, trying to evade repeating her answer “Would you like to go out for a dinner or not?”
Twilight looked at the pegasus with a sly grin “I know this restaurant I wanted to visit for a long time...”
~*~*~
“Two hundred bits?!?” Rainbow almost shrieked upon seeing the huge bill “For two salads and some juice?!? This has to be some kind of mistake!”
“There is no mistake, miss. The salad and the additions are the finest in Equestria,” said the waiter, completely unphased by Rainbow’s comment.
“B-but I don’t have that kind of money!” now pale pegasus cried “I only have fifty b—” she stopped as she heard Twilight trying to muffle her laughter.
“I’ll pay for this,” Twilight said, still giggling “Here. And a little tip.”
“Thank you, Princess Sparkle,” the waiter said politely with a deep bow and walked away.
Twilight was still spasming in the fits of muffled laughter behind the dining table.
Rainbow glared darkly at the alicorn “Why didn’t I expect this? This is the payback for the vanishing ink, isn’t it?”
Still giggling Twilight nodded happily “I think we should go, Rainbow. Ponies are staring at us.”
~*~*~
“I just can’t believe that you spent two hundred bits just for a prank,” Rainbow said, turning to the still-giggling Twilight. “Two hundred bits! I could eat out for a month in Ponyville!”
Twilight snickered. “Every single bit was worth to see that expression. Even if it was just for ten seconds.” She paused for a moment, turning her head towards her friend “Hey, Dash?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to go for a walk?”
“What are you talking about? We’re already walking,”
“I—” Twilight sighed heavily, hanging her head. “Never mind. Let’s go home.”
“But there are still so many places to see and so many things to do!”
“Then goodnight, Rainbow Dash. I will see you in the gym tomorrow.”
Rainbow detected sadness in her friend’s voice. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Goodnight, Rainbow.”
Rainbow’s heart broke, and she didn’t know why. Behind her, a beautifully lit city was calling her name, but she refused to listen. Instead she flapped her wings, catching up with now slowly distancing Twilight “Hey, wait up!”
The alicorn said nothing but continue walking.
“Twi’? What’s wrong?”
Still nothing.
“Twilight?”
Twilight sighed heavily, turning her head towards the pegasus “I-I don’t know, Rainbow. It’s just...“ the alicorn paused and looked at Rainbow ”This feeling...”
“Hm?”
“I don’t know...” Twilight scratched her head “Maybe it had to do something with that salad? I never felt anything like this before... There was probably something in that expensive salad,” she wondered.
Two ponies got lost in the conversation about mostly mundane topics; food, drinks, books, wings, and flying, passing their time as they’ve walked back to the castle.
“Oh, here we are.” Twilight smiled as they’ve arrived in front of the castle entrance.
“Oh,” Rainbow said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
“I had a wonderful time, Rainbow.” Twilight hugged the pegasus “I’m sorry about that little embarrassment, and...you know...”
“It’s okay, Twi— I mean Princess Sparkle. See you tomorrow.”
~*~*~
Rainbow Dash flopped onto her bed, sinking her head into a soft and fluffy pillow, trying to convince herself to get some sleep, since she was planning to get Twilight at least partially in the air the next day. But that didn’t happen. Instead, images of the purple alicorn from earlier filled her mind, refusing to leave her alone. “Go away, Twilight,” she muttered, “I really need to get some sleep.” But the images didn’t to go away.
Instead of images leaving the pegasus alone, more of them floated to the surface even from the moment when she crash-landed into Twilight for the very first time. “Stop looking so beautiful, Twilight Sparkle! I’m not into mares!” she shouted into her pillow which almost completely muffled her voice. But that didn’t help either. Another image of her and Twilight appeared in front of her eyes. But this wasn’t a situation that she recognised. Twilight’s muzzle was close enough to hers that she could feel the heat radiating from the purple muzzle. Rainbow’s heart fluttered, as she closed her eyes, leaning forward to steal a kiss from the alicorn.
“ARGH!” Rainbow growled as she lifted her head from the pillow “This is going to be a very long night, isn’t it?” she sighed “I need coffee... It looks like I can kiss the sleep goodbye for the night... At least Twilight will be rested in the morning.”
But Twilight wasn’t that lucky, either. She couldn’t get the picture of the tidy rainbow-maned pegasus that she saw in her apartment earlier out of her mind. She was also curious about that feeling she tried to explain to Rainbow, which seemed to only grow stronger when she was close to her. “Maybe I’m just coming down with something,” she rationalized the whole ordeal and flopped onto her bed, but the ever-changing images of the blue pegasus kept her from drifting to sleep until many hours later.
~*~*~
Rainbow yawned as she tapped her hoof nervously thinking for herself, ‘Where is she? She said that she would be in the gym an hou—’
A soft pop behind the pegasus startled her out of her reverie as Twilight teleported into the gym still in her official princess’ clothings, her mane neatly brushed, tied in the knot and neatly decorated.
“Hey, Rainbow. I’m sorry I’m late, but there was urgent meeting of—” Twilight abruptly stopped. “Rainbow?”
“So beautiful,” Rainbow muttered under her breath as she stared into the alicorn, her face starting to glow slightly red.
“Rainbow?”
“Yes, bea- I mean Twi- I mean Prin- I mean Twilight.”
“Are you okay?”
“Sorry. Yeah. Rough night. Didn’t get much sleep. Shall we?”
“Sure,” Twilight opened her wings as much as she could.
“Hm. Still not good enough. Let’s see if we can do something about it.” Rainbow Dash started to nuzzle and nibble Twilight’s wing to relax it. But these were different sorts of nibbles. Not forceful or rough like they were in other training sessions. These nibbles were soft and gentle, sending waves of delight through the alicorns body. Twilight moaned, turning her head towards the pegasus.
“Rainbow? What are you doing?”
“I am...” Rainbow turned her head, meeting the alicorn’s gaze, her mind racing, questioning her further actions. Breathing, “just...,” the pegasus closed her eyes and giving herself into the heat of the moment, her heart fluttering as Twilight’s sweet breath enveloped her muzzle. “...trying....” Rainbow lifted her muzzle to meet the source of the radiating heat, “to....” Twilight closed her eyes and gently pushed her muzzle forward, meeting Rainbow’s lips and stealing a short kiss from her.
Twilight’s head jerked away as she jumped away from the pegasus in a moment of realization. “Oh, sweet Celestia! What have I done? I’m-I’m so sorry... I don’t know what came over me.” She twitched, and prepared for scowling and possible abandonment from her friend. However, neither of those actions came to be.
Instead of headlessly walking away from the situation and leaving Twilight on her own, Rainbow smiled softly as she was approaching the alicorn, gazing into her eyes. “Don’t be sorry, Princess,” her hoof gently caressed the purple cheek, whispering “you did nothing wrong,” as she leaned her muzzle onto the alicorns, stealing back the kiss from her. “Nothing at all,” she said under her breath when muzzles slightly departed. “It’s you, Twilight. I finally figured it out,” she whispered.
“Hm?”
“Twilight?” Rainbow whispered, letting her muzzle touch the alicorns, “Will you be my mare?”
Twilight’s head flinched in surprise, “But I thought you only liked stallions—”
“Twilight,” Rainbow chuckled softly, “I didn’t fall for a mare; I’ve fallen for the smartest and most beautiful pony in all Equestria who happens to be a mare. I fell for you. It has just taken me years to realize that.” She paused, gazing into now moisty eyes of the alicorn, “Princess Twilight Sparkle.... Would you like to be my mare?”
“...”
“...”
“Yes,” the alicorn breathed, bathing the muzzle of the pegasus in an intoxicating breath. “Yes I would.”
