Dawn of a new Day

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Twilight arrived in the waiting area of the hospital, breathing heavily and now feeling pearls of sweat on her brow. Spike was still clinging to her neck after holding on for dear life. Her friends were already there; Applejack and Rarity stood up as soon as they saw her. “What happened?” she asked into the group while her mind continued coming up with ever worse scenarios.

“We don't know,” Applejack said.

“They wouldn't tell us anything,” Rarity continued.

Twilight looked at the other two ponies in the group. Fluttershy was still sitting on the bench at the other end of the room with Pinkie Pie next to her, comforting the nearly crying pegasus. It was early morning and they had all been called to the hospital with the message that something had happened to Rainbow Dash, but it did not mention anything specific.

Twilight saw Nurse Redheart coming around a corner and approaching the group.

“Hello,” she said and offered them a warm smile.

“Howdy,” Applejack quickly replied. “Can ya tell us what happened?”

The nurse sighed. “Now that you are all here, yes. We found her in the street yesterday evening, badly wounded and losing a lot of blood.” Fluttershy let out a quiet gasp. “We took her in and operated, but there was not much we could do except stop her bleeding. You see, she said she was caught in the storm and the last thing she could remember was a bright, white light and a loud explosion. We think a lightning bolt hit her through the wing and burned it. We … had to amputate what was left of it.”

The expressions of the six friends had grown with shock at Nurse Redheart's words. Fluttershy was now visibly crying and Pinkie Pie had stopped stroking her mane.

Applejack gulped. “Amputate?” she asked.

“Can we see her?” was Twilight's question.

“Yes, you can,” Redheart said. “She woke up about an hour ago. That's why we called you all here. I can show you to her room. But please keep in mind that she just woke up from surgery and still has to regain some strength.” With that she turned around and the group followed her to Dash's room in silence.

Once at the room the nurse opened the door and entered. “Good morning, Miss Dash,” she said in the typical half-cheery tone that never did anything to cheer anyone up who had the privilege of hearing it. “You have some visitors,” she continued.

She made space for the five ponies and baby dragon to enter and settle themselves around Dash's bed. The pegasus had sat up as she saw them enter and wiped some last tears from her cheeks. Sniffing and with red eyes she was now regarding each of them with a sad smile. “Hey, guys,” she croaked.

Her friends did their best to put on comforting smiles.

“Are you okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, which was regarded as a stupid question by everypony in the room, Applejack included.

Dash snorted softly. “No,” she said with the same expression.

“Oh, you silly willy!” Pinkie Pie cried and hugged Dash, burying her face in the side of the blue neck. “What were you doing outside in a storm?”

“I don't remember. Flying home I guess.”

“Is it true?” Rarity asked her and gulped. “You lost your wing?”

Pinkie Pie let Dash go and the pegasus sighed and pulled over her blanket, revealing a stump on her side with a wide scar over it, where there had formerly been a strong, cyan blue wing. The group gasped. Twilight's heart dropped at the sight and Fluttershy's eyes filled with tears again. “I'm so sorry,” she whispered.

“Ain't there nothin' we can do?” Applejack asked the nurse, but she just sadly shook her head.

“Believe me, we've tried,” the nurse answered. “It was just too badly burned. The lightning hit her almost exactly at the base of her wing.”

“There might be something we could do.” All eyes turned to Twilight who was a bit stumped at the sudden attention she received from everyone.

“What do you mean?” Nurse Redheart asked.

“Uhm, have you heard of Tramping's Method?”

The nurse narrowed her eyes in thought. “Yes,” she responded slowly. She was about to say something, but was interrupted by Rarity.

“What is it?” the fashion designer inquired.

“Well basically it's a way to regrow limbs,” Twilight explained.

Rainbow Dash's eyes grew wide. “You mean I can fly again?”

“You better not be givin' her false hope, Twilight” Applejack said.

“Oh, no,” the nurse responded for Twilight, “I've actually seen it work, but only with small body parts like ears or noses.”

“Then why didn't ya'll try that?” Applejack asked and narrowed her eyes Nurse Redheart.

“The amount of magic it would take for a whole wing is enormous. It can only be performed by one unicorn and none of our doctors is that strong and the princesses won't do it either.”

“Well if anypony is good with magic it's Twilight!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed somewhat happier. Twilight was grateful for the vote of confidence.

“Why wouldn't the princesses help?” Fluttershy asked the nurse.

This time Twilight responded. “Some old law,” she said and waved a hoof. “It argues for a slippery slope – that the princesses can't give such privileges to just some ponies while denying it to others, which they would have to do, because it requires a lot of magic and concentration to regrow body parts. And doing it for everypony would just be too much for them.”

“How does it work?” Dash asked, her wide eyes again focused on Twilight.

“Well, you see,” Twilight started, fumbling her hooves with her heart now beating faster. “How should I explain it …”

“There are two sides to every injury,” the nurse helped her out.

“Right.” Twilight nodded thankfully. “Two sides. The physical wound and the mental damage, or the 'damage of the soul' as Tramping called it. While physical wounds can happen quickly and suddenly the mind is very inert and reacts to change only slowly, mainly because of habits and memories. With Tramping's Method you can sort of …” she scratched her head, “reshape a lost body part. Restore an imprint that was left in the soul?” She looked a bit desperately at the nurse, but she only shrugged and shook her head. “I'm sorry, it's really hard to explain if you haven't studied magic … or medicine,” Twilight added quickly with a look at Nurse Redheart, who just nodded with a slight smile.

“Do you think you can do it?” Dash asked her.

“It sounds like an awful lot of stress,” Rarity said.

“Well it's going to require some studying. And a lot of patience on your part, Rainbow. We're going to need at least two, if not three session. I don't think I could do it in one.”

“What if something goes wrong?” Fluttershy asked quietly, as if dreading the answer.

Twilight gulped and looked at Rainbow Dash again. She knew what could happen. A deformed wing, a large, ugly stump or simply nothing besides crushed hopes if she got lucky. But seeing her friend like this nearly broke her heart. She had to help her; she would do anything to see her smile again. And who knows, a voice said in the back of her mind,maybe I can get a chance to … She quickly pushed that thought away, however. That was not why she wanted to do help her.

“It won't,” she said with a confident smile and looked at Dash again.

“It's okay,” Dash said, “I trust you Twi.” The pegasus touched her leg and Twilight's heart felt ready to leave her chest. “How soon can we start?” she asked eagerly.

“Hold on there for moment,” Nurse Redheart interrupted. “Have you done this before,” she asked Twilight.

“Well, once. I regrew one of Spike's scales after an accident in the lab.”

“But it turned out perfectly,” the dragon threw in from Twilight's back.

The nurse looked skeptically at the pleading faces of Rainbow Dash and Twilight and sighed deeply. “I suppose I can't keep you from trying, can I?” Twilight looked uncertain, but Dash only shook her head with a small smile. “Would you at least accept a medical reference book on the procedure? I doubt you have such specialized material in your library, Miss Sparkle.”

“Oh, of course,” Twilight replied with a wide smile.

“So, when do we start?” Dash asked again.

“Well, the sooner is usually the better,” the nurse said. “But we're going to keep you here for observation until tomorrow. That should give Miss Sparkle enough time to prepare at least the first session. The procedure in and of itself is not that complex if you know what to do. It just requires a lot of energy and the one who performs it has to concentrate for a rather long period of time.”

“We should hold the sessions on weekends, though,” Twilight said to Dash. “They'll be exhausting for both of us.”

“Both of us?” Dash repeated.

Twilight chuckled. “Of course. Where do you think all that energy for the new wing should come from? Not from me, I'll just be guiding the process.”

“So how long is this gonna take?” Applejack asked.

“Hmm. With three sessions and the final refinement a week later I'd say about a month.”

“A month?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, looking more heartbroken than before. “A whole month without flying?”

Twilight gave her weak smile. “Like I said, you're going to need a lot of patience. But it's better than never flying again, isn’t it?”

“Hehe. Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Twilight.” Dash gave the unicorn a small grin. “But, where will I stay?” she asked.

Twilight saw her chance and carefully said, “Well, you could -”

“Stay with me!” Pinkie Pie proclaimed and bounced up and down next to the bed. “We're gonna have a month long sleepover!”

Twilight sighed and gave a disappointed look to Pinkie Pie who, thankfully, failed to notice it. She saw Rarity give her an emphatic look and returned a small smile. Maybe this was for the best. She could not allow distractions from the treatment, after all.

“Well, I think this is quite enough,” Nurse Redheart said. “Miss Dash needs her rest now. She's just had surgery after all. You can all come back tomorrow afternoon.”

With that she urged everypony out of the room and they all left after saying their goodbyes.

Chapter 3

“So, what's gonna happen today?”

It was the weekend after Twilight had reinforced the memories of Dash's wing in her mind. The pegasus had come to the library early, just like the weekend before, and could hardly wait to begin the procedure.

“Well, like I said last time, we're going to regrow the main limb. All the bone, muscle, skin and coat, together with the nervous system in it.” Twilight pointed to the blackboard which still showed a fairly detailed anatomy of a pegasus wing's limb.

“And you said that needs a lot of energy, right?”

“Right.” Twilight nodded. “I've made dinner for the both of us.” A light blush spread across her cheeks. “I hope you're fine with hayfries and sandwiches.”

“Sure, why not?” Dash smiled at her.

“I can't cook that well. I usually go out for lunch with Spike.”

“And what do you eat then?”

Twilight looked away in embarrassment. Her voice became a little quiet “Hayfries … and a sandwich.”

Dash was laughing loudly at that. “You need some change in your life, Twi.”

Oh, you have no idea, Twilight thought. “Any more questions before we start?”

“Yeah, how long is this gonna take?”

“Well the book says a doctor trained in the technique can regrow an ear and such in about 15 minutes and a hoof in 30 to 40 minutes. But the time drastically increases with size and, more importantly, complexity. I'm not trained in the technique.” Dash gave her a worried look. “That doesn't mean it won't work,” Twilight said quickly, “or that the result won't be as good. It just means I'll need more time.”

“So how much time are we talking about here?”

Twilight sighed. “About three or four hours, consecutively. I'll probably have to take breaks at some points.”

“And I'll just lie on the couch the whole time?”

“Pretty much, yes.”

“Is there anything I can do to help? Thinking about flying again?”

“You can do that if you want to, but that wouldn't really matter. The memory of your wing is secured inside your mind. Thinking about it just helped me find it last time. I think you can actually sleep during this.”

“So, there's nothing I can do to help.”

“Try not to move too much?” Twilight offered with a helpless expression. She saw the guilt in Dash's face, probably because Twilight would be concentrating for hours, doing all the work, while she would be snoring on her couch. Twilight stepped closer to the pegasus, mustered her mental strength and put a hoof on Dash's shoulder. “Hey, don't worry,” she said with a comforting smile. “I just want to see you happy again.”

The pegasus appeared to be on the verge of tears – a rare sight for Twilight. Dash quickly blinked a few times and collected herself and was her cool self again. “So, we better get to it soon. The wait is killing me. You said I could sleep?”

Twilight removed her hoof from Dash's shoulder and led her over to the couch again. “Yes. I don't expect you to stay awake for hours with nothing to do. I'll be lying down, too. I'm not going to sit next to you for four hours.” She pointed at a pillow lying on the floor next to the couch. “I don't have to be that close to your injury for this.” The pegasus climbed onto the couch and lay down on it. “Can you still feel the wing?” Twilight asked. Dash nodded. “Good. Now, relax. It'll be over before you know it.” She lowered herself on the floor, rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. Twilight's horn began to glow as the magic flowed through it and she focused on the stump on Rainbow Dash's side.

~*~

Rainbow Dash could hear Twilight breathing calmly on the floor not far from her. She was beginning to feel a slight pressure at the base of her wing. No, at the stump where her wing used to have its base. It was so easy for her to forget that. The sensation became stronger, but after a while reached its maximum. No doubt, that unicorn was doing something she would not understand to that part of her body. She had resisted the urge to ask Twilight what exactly she would be doing, because she knew it would be very hard for the bookworm to explain it to her and even harder for Dash to comprehend it. But she knew she could trust Twilight; the unicorn knew what she was doing and probably worried more about the procedure than Dash herself did.

For now she just tried to relax, maybe sleep and stop thinking about that filly with the wonderful purple eyes. Wait. Where did that come from? She tried thinking about Twilight's eyes again, seeing her smile at her in her head, and her stomach gave her a weird response. She shrugged that off for now. She was probably just hungry. She sometimes got strange thoughts when she had not eaten anything for hours. Although never anything like this. Well, there’s a first time for everything, right? She deeply breathed in and out, careful not to move too much, like Twilight suggested, and tried to doze off.

The procedure had not taken much time in Dash's view. She thought, however, that she had drifted off to sleep more than once during it, while she could feel her body getting weaker and weaker. Twice she had felt the pressure disappear and had heard Twilight standing up and trotting across the room, possibly getting refreshments during her breaks. She had been awake at those times, more or less, but kept her eyes closed and pretended to sleep. Even if she had not been in a sort of drowsy haze, she would have been too weak to do anything else but follow Twilight with her eyes through the room. Instead she had just imagined it, which was much less consuming work.

She imagined her getting up and walking towards the kitchen, her tail and flank wiggling as she … There was that thought again. Why was she thinking that? She had never thought about any of her friends like that. Well, maybe Rarity, but who could have blamed her? Anyway, the session was finally over and she had most likely been lying on this couch for hours, not once changing her position. Her joints felt tingly and her muscles ached. She felt like she had just run another race against Applejack. Her friend had not been kidding; this really was an exhausting exercise. Who would have thought that she could become sore all over from simply lying on a couch?

She could hear Twilight's fatigued voice from somewhere next to her. “Rainbow?” she asked.

Dash only groaned in response, or was trying to. The sound she made resembled more a strained breath, but it was enough to let Twilight know that she was at least awake. She tried to force her eyes open. Her first attempt at that failed and she put more effort into it. With infinite slowness she turned her head and saw the slumped form of her purple friend on the floor, head on a pillow and looking at her through half closed eyes.

“How are you feeling?” Twilight asked her. Dash could only blink in response. A slight smile showed on Twilight’s face as she sat up on her haunches and reached for a glass on the floor next to her. She took it with her hooves and moved it towards Dash's face. The glass was filled with a yellow, semi-opaque liquid and had a straw sticking out of it. “Here, drink this,” she said and held the straw towards Dash's mouth. The thought of drinking something right now seemed like a perfect idea. Dash took the straw in her mouth and slowly began to draw the liquid through it. When the sweet taste of apples, oranges and a hint of lemon hit her tongue she closed her eyes. After she could only pull air through the straw, it left her mouth and she heard Twilight put the glass on the ground again.

Some strength was beginning to come back to her. She moved her forelegs slightly, then her head and her hind legs under her body. She took deep breaths, with each of them pulling in more strength and finally had enough to try and lift herself. She slowly pushed her body up and lifted her head, pushing harder as her legs were starting to shake. Her movement upwards became slower and slower as her legs were shaking uncontrollably and she finally collapsed onto the couch again, out of breath. She heard barely suppressed laughter from beside her and turned her head in that direction. Twilight was holding a hoof to her mouth while chuckling to herself.

Dash found that she had at least enough strength to speak. “What's so funny?” she asked, but a smile crept onto her lips at the sight of the laughing unicorn.

“Nothing,” Twilight answered and her snickering toned down and ended with a soft sigh. “'Exhausting' was probably an understatement from me, huh?”

Now it was Dash's turn to chuckle. “A bit, yeah.”

“Do you want another drink?”

“Please.”

Twilight stood up and went to the kitchen with Dash following her every move with her eyes this time. The purple flank in her mind had been nothing compared to this sight. Dammit, brain, stop it! She tried to hit her head with her hoof, but only managed to prod it.

After Twilight came back from the kitchen she offered her another glass of the yellow liquid, this time using her magic to float it towards Dash's mouth. She saw the motherly smile on Twilight's face as she suckled on her straw and she experienced a strange feeling of … safety? When was the last time she had felt anything like this? Dash could not remember. She finished her second energy drink and finally managed to stand up on the couch. She slowly and thoroughly stretched every leg, trying to ignore the soreness in her muscles. Eventually she climbed off of the couch began cracking her shoulders and neck.

“So,” Dash said. “Let's see what you did.” Dash, for the first time that evening, turned her head towards her injury. Her mouth stood open at what she found. There on the side of her body was a new limb. It looked basically like a rather long and thin leg, folded up at the side of her torso, but she knew this was what her wing looked like without its feathers. She attempted to move it and unfolded it, but took in a sharp breath and released a shrill “OW!” as a stinging pain entered her body's side.

Twilight cringed at the sound and rushed forward, after she had been watching the pegasus stretch, climb off the sofa and regard her new limb. “No, don't try to move it!” she said, panicking, and softly pressed the half-wing back against Dash's chest. “Oh, I'm so sorry. I should have told you before.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head and looked at Twilight. “No, it's … it's alright.” She gave her a small smile. “It was more the surprise than the pain.”

Twilight sighed. “I've only regrown the … foundation if you will. The basic structure. The final … strengthening has to be done by your body itself. I should have told you. I'm sorry.”

Dash turned and was now facing Twilight, putting a comforting hoof on the saddened unicorn. “Hey, it's okay, really.” Dash gave her a friendly smile, which Twilight returned weakly after a second. “So, I guess I shouldn't try to move it?”

“No, you shouldn't. In fact it's probably best if you just keep it at your side until next week. I have some bandages prepared for that if you want them.”

“Yeah, those would probably help. Besides,” she looked at the limb again, “it's not really a pretty sight.”

“I … wouldn't say that.” Twilight looked embarrassedly off to the side, slightly blushing, and began to trot into the kitchen. For some reason Dash did not understand, she, too, was now blushing.

Twilight returned from the kitchen, some bandage rolls and clips floating in the air next to her. She wrapped the rolls around the naked wing, Dash's body and under the other, healthy wing. After she applied the bandage clips Dash looked at her side again. “I guess I shouldn’t take them off until next week?”

“No, you better leave them on, except if you want to wash yourself, then you should take them off. You can ask Pinkie to put them on again afterwards. But very carefully.”

Dash nodded. “Can I sleep on this side?”

Twilight seemed to think for a moment. “With the bandages, yes, that shouldn't be a problem. Just watch out that you don't injure it or try to unfold it again.”

“Okay, no problem. Now, I'm starving. You said something about dinner?” Dash asked eagerly.

“Yes.” Twilight’s lips formed a bright smile. “It's waiting in the kitchen.”

Together they trotted into the kitchen, Rainbow Dash immediately taking a seat at the table, watching Twilight look for their meal in the fridge. Dash caught herself staring at the purple mare’s hind quarter again, but could not bring herself to look away, almost hypnotized by the rhythmic motions it performed only a few feet in front of her. She felt her cheeks heating up and she put her elbows on the table and pressed her head on both her hooves, trying to hide her doubtlessly violent blush.

Twilight turned around and floated two plates onto the table, both of them having a big portion of hayfries on one half and two daisy sandwiches on the other. She put one plate in front of Dash's elbows and sat down on her chair after placing her plate at her usual spot at the table. Dash was still holding her face in her hooves and looked from Twilight to her meal and back to Twilight. She did not want to start eating yet and reveal her massive blush to her friend. The unicorn looked slightly irritated, but an amused smile soon spread across her face. “Oh, right,” she said. “The hayfries are still cold. Hehe. Here, let me just …” Her horn flared up with magic and after a few seconds the unicorn's and Dash's own fries began to sizzle. “There, that should do it.”

Dash was impressed by that trick and forgot about her already fading blush as she lowered her hoof and took one of the hayfries in her hoof and put it in her mouth. It was almost hot enough to burn her tongue, but not quite. It was just the perfect temperature. “Wow,” she said after swallowing. “Is there anything that you can't do with magic?”

Twilight was giggling. Dash found that she liked that sound; the purple filly should giggle more often. “That impressed you, Rainbow? I just made your body regrow a lost limb within five hours, shaped new bones, muscles and skin. But heating up hayfries fascinates you?”

Dash was laughing quietly now and rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, I guess I'm pretty easy to impress.”

“Well that's a new one for me,” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow. “But to answer your question: yes, there are many things magic can't do. I can't have that connection with nature that earth ponies have, I can't soar through the air like a pegasus. I can't make myself or others smarter. I can't make myself forget things I'd rather not remember. I can't bring back the dead or create new life with it. Magic also does not let you control others' feelings. You can't make them like you or … love you,” she added with a sad smile that quickly vanished. “I'll never share that deep connection with animals that Fluttershy has. I'll never be as skilled at applebucking or farming like Applejack, or at designing dresses like Rarity. I don't have the energy or talent at making friends like Pinkie Pie. And I'll never know what it feels like to perform a sonic rainboom,” she finished with a slight grin.

Dash's face showed a stunned expression. “I … didn't really expect an answer to that.” Twilight only giggled again shortly and began floating a hayfry to her mouth. “But still you can move stuff around with it, even giant things like that Ursa Minor. You can make Spike grow a mustache and heat up these hayfries in no time. You can perform lightshows like that Trixie did. And … you're already the smartest pony I know.” A little embarrassed at her last sentence, Dash turned her head to the side.

The unicorn gave her a bright smile. “Thanks, Rainbow. But to be honest, I have a lot of experience with heating up hayfries.” At that they both shared a long laugh and resumed their meals. Dash was still starving, so she did not speak much. Instead she was just listening to Twilight telling her one of the few noteworthy stories she had to tell from her time in Canterlot. Dash tried to understand the story, but the content of what Twilight was saying did not occupy her nearly as much as her friend’s voice. She was a fast eater, so she had finished her meal long before Twilight who still had to touch, metaphorically, even one of her sandwiches. She found herself staring into Twilight's indigo eyes, her head supported by her hooves again and with a dreamy smile on her lips. She blinked in confusion. What was happening to her? Why was she acting like this?

“Is something wrong?” came a worried voice from across the table. Twilight must have noticed her irritated scowl.

“Hm? Oh, no. I just … noticed the time,” Dash lied and pointed at window.

Twilight followed the cyan hoof and looked outside. It was already nighttime, well past sundown. “Oh, right,” she said. “You must feel very tired after today.”

“Yeah, that's it,” Dash said quickly. “I'm tired.” By Celestia's beard, she was an awful liar!

“I understand. I don't mind if you want to go home and sleep.” Twilight said those words with a caring smile, but Dash saw a hint of something else in her eyes. Was that sadness? Disappointment? Must have been her imagination, she told herself. She had never been that good at reading ponies and, after all, her mind wasn't itself today. They both got up and Twilight walked her to the door, while Dash was somewhat deep in thought. Were those strange thoughts a side effect of the treatment? Well, she could not exactly ask Twilight about it. That would be too embarrassing for her. At the door they said their goodbyes and Dash began her way to her temporary home with the pink party pony. She was struggling to keep her thoughts away from Twilight, but she utterly failed in her attempts. Instead, as she walked through the dark, empty streets of Ponyville, her mind was filled by lilac, violet and streaks of light red and purple.

Chapter 4

It was the evening of the third weekend after Rainbow Dash's accident. Twilight was in her living room, which also served as the central room of the library, making some last minute preparations for today's treatment. She had taken the table out of the kitchen and into the living room between the fireplace and the couch. On it were now standing two small bottles of the energy drink that had worked quite well for her during her breaks and for Dash to regain some energy and lose the soreness in her muscles. She opened one bottle and poured the liquid into a glass with a straw in it, standing close to the edge until it was about half full and put the bottle back next to the other.

She went back into the kitchen and began making daisy sandwiches for her and Dash. Once finished with them she trotted over to the freezer and opened the lid. In it were lying several bags of frozen hayfries, all except one unopened. Rainbow wasn't so wrong about needing some change. She released a sigh. After floating an empty plate over to herself and emptying the open bag over it, she closed the lid and flung the empty back into the trash can.

Back at the kitchen counter she divided the hayfries and four sandwiches evenly among the plates and took both of them with her into the living room. She put the two plates on the ends of the table at her and Dash's respective places. She was just about to go back to the medical book she had left on the couch when she heard the knock on the door. Opening it with her magic from where she was standing she saw the blue pegasus standing in the doorway, smiling uneasily at her.

“Hi, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said. “Can I come in?”

“Of course you can,” Twilight chuckled. “This is a public library.”

“But the sign said 'closed',” Dash replied entering and closing the door.

“Don't be silly.” Twilight walked around the couch and towards the pegasus. “I told you that you can come by anytime you want.”

“Yeah, sorry for not taking you up on that offer,” Dash said scratching her head. “I'd have loved to spend some more time with you, but … you don't know what it's like to live with Pinkie.”

That seemed like a bad excuse to Twilight. If Dash would have loved to spend time with her, then why didn't she? Was Rainbow Dash avoiding her? No, she thought, let's not jump to conclusions. But, still, something about Dash's behavior did not seem right to her. Twilight decided to drop it for now, trying her hardest to hide her disappointment. “It's okay, Rainbow. I guess she keeps you pretty occupied, huh?”

“You can say that. She's just everywhere at once. I mean, she's a really great friend and fun to hang out with, but … that pony has more energy than a pegasus on steroids. At first it was fun. We pulled a lot more pranks than before. She even showed me how to bake cupcakes, or tried to at least. And she loves to talk and talk and talk.” Dash sighed. “She's just so … Pinkie Pie.”

Twilight chuckled softly. “Well, for once you aren't here early, so we probably should get started.”

Dash nodded. “Okay.”

“I'll need to remove the bandages first.” She began to remove the clips and unwrap the bandages and after a few moments, in which she had noticed Dash avoiding eye contact, she saw the new, bare wing again. On the outside it had barely changed apart from being slightly thicker than last week. “Were there any problems with it?”

Dash had turned her head and was now looking at Twilight examining her new limb. “No. Not really. But it was almost impossible to get Pinkie to put the bandages back on slowly and carefully.”

Twilight laughed at that. “Yes, I expected as much. I also bet it took a lot longer, with her being an earth pony.”

“Hehe. Yeah it did. Can you imagine Pinkie Pie with magic?”

“I don't want to,” Twilight said and slowly shook her head, her wide eyes filled with dread. After a moment she blinked and shook her head. “Anyway, could you sleep on this side?”

“Yeah. It wasn't so bad, actually. It felt weird at first, but, well I guess I'm getting used to feeling weird.” Dash gave her a nervous laugh and Twilight saw her inexplicably blush and look away.

What was that about? Trying to ignore that action, she continued her questioning. “Did it hurt again at some point?”

“No.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at her friend. “Did you try to move it?”

“No … maybe … just a little.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Sorry,” Dash said with a sheepish smile.

“It's okay,” the unicorn said with a small grin. “I didn't really expect you not to try. When was that?”

“Only once two days ago.” A small pause. “And yesterday … twice.”

Twilight was now giggling quietly and sighing after a moment. She saw Dash relax and smile calmly. “And it didn't hurt?”

“No. Is that good?”

“Yes it is,” Twilight answered and stepped closer to the object in question, examining it closer. “That means it's going better than I expected.” She lifted a hoof to touch the limb, but stopped closely in front of it. She turned her head towards Dash's. “May I?”

Dash gulped quickly and nodded. “Sure. Why not? I mean you made it, right? Hehe.”

“Rainbow, is something wrong?” Twilight asked with lowered eyebrows towards the pegasus.

“Hm? No.” Dash closed her eyes and slowly shook her head before facing Twilight again. “No. I - I guess I'm just worried about my wing, that's all.”

That sounded like a legitimate reason to her, yet something still did not seem right to Twilight. But Rainbow Dash would not lie to her, would she? And she needed to focus on the treatment, anyway. “I promise, I'll be doing the best I can.”

Dash sighed. “I know, Twi. And I wouldn't want anyone else to do it.”

Twilight felt her heart pumping faster again like the numerous other times she had been talking with Dash. Damn it, she thought. Just when I thought I had it under control. But no, you just had to say something like that again, didn't you? With that adorable smile and those beautiful, mesmerizing eyes of yours. Why do you keep doing this? How can you not see that you're tearing me apart? Okay, Twilight. Focus. It's not her fault. Just keep calm and you can get through this without another breakdown.

She noticed the pegasus looking at her with slight worry. She had probably been staring at Dash for a while without saying anything. Just when she saw Dash's mouth open, she cut her off. “Thanks, Rainbow. That means a lot to me.” More than you'd ever think. Twilight felt the tears coming again and she quickly blinked them away and returned her attention to the incomplete wing. “Anyway, let's get on with it.” She once more lifted her hoof towards it and gently pressed against it, testing its firmness. “Do you think you can unfold it for me?” she asked without turning her head.

The limb slowly unfolded and now nearly horizontally hovered in the air in front of her. She carefully traced its length with her eyes, looking for any abnormalities. When she arrived at the tip she heard Dash's voice again.

“So?” she asked. “How does it look?”

“It looks beautiful - great! I mean great.” Keep it together!

“Awesome.” Dash folded the unfinished wing back to her side. “Today I get the feathers, right?”

“Right.” Twilight gave her a quick smile and motioned for Dash to follow her to the table. Next to the table was the familiar blackboard. The previous drawings had been erased and it was now showing three detailed schematics of different pegasus feathers and the tissue surrounding its base and attaching the quills to the respective wing bones. “Today I'll be shaping your feathers. All the primaries, secondaries and tertials.” She released a small groan. “Every single one of them.”

“Uhm, sorry for having so many feathers?” Twilight gave her a small, amused smile. “I bet that's gonna take a long time?” Dash asked.

“Yes. I don't know how long exactly. Once I've done a couple of them I might get an idea, but it's probably going to take longer than last time. Again you'll be able to sleep during the procedure. Or maybe you want to read a book for a change? I could recommend you some.”

“I don't know,” Dash responded scratching the back of her head. “I'm not that big of a reader. But I'm not really that tired either.”

“Well I'm sure we also have some magazines here. Or comic books,” she suggested with a smirk and then gasped quietly. “Or a coloring book! Awww, that would be so adorable!” she squeaked and held a hoof to her mouth to suppress her imminent laughter. “I could get you some crayons,” she finished in a high tone and her eyes were filling with tears before she broke into uncontrolled giggling and fell onto her haunches.

As the laughter was dying down Rainbow Dash was still shooting the unicorn a heated glare. “Hardy har har. Look who had a clown for breakfast. Just give me one of those comic books,” she said and waved a hoof at a far bookshelf.

Twilight was wiping her eyes dry and looked around the library without standing up, her midriff still giving her small, random spasms. Eventually she found the right section and floated several books over to Dash, displaying the covers to her. “Pick whichever one you like.” Dash began to read the titles of the various comic books. “But I think this one might spark your interest,” Twilight said and one book moved slightly forward in the air.

Dash turned her head towards it and Twilight could see her jaw fall and her rose colored eyes widen. “You have first edition Batmares?” she exclaimed, apparently already having forgotten about Twilight's mocking earlier. The pegasus grabbed the book out of the air with her forehooves, ignoring all the others, and sat down as well. The rest of the books drifted back to the shelf they had come from. “I should totally come here more often.” Dash was already lying on the floor, browsing the comic when Twilight turned her attention back to her.

“Hmm, if only somepony had told you that before.” She tapped her chin in a fake thoughtful gesture before she looked back at Dash and noticed that the pegasus was still fascinated by her comic book. “Hey,” she said. “Rainbow!” she nearly shouted, clapping her hooves together. Dash looked up from her book with an irritated expression. “Not yet,” Twilight reminded her. “Don't forget why you're here.”

“Aww, what else can there be?”

“Well you might have some questions before we start, for example.”

“Hm, yeah I had one earlier. But I think I forgot it …” Dash looked away and frowned. “Oh, right,” she exclaimed and her expression lightened up as she sat up on her haunches again. “Where's Spike? Shouldn't he be back from Canterlot by now?”

“Oh, Spike's upstairs. I asked him not to disturb us tonight. He's probably sleeping now, anyway. He looked a bit tired earlier.”

“Okay. And is that our dinner tonight?” The pegasus motioned with her head towards one of the plates on the table.

“Yes. The sandwiches and hayfries last time weren't so bad, so I thought you might like them again.”

“I don't have a problem with that. But the hayfries look still frozen.”

“Oh, we can let them thaw in the next couple of hours. And if they don't I can use my expertly trained talents in heating them up again.”

“Okay,” Dash chuckled. “And what's that?” She pointed at a small bound book lying on the table.

Twilight turned her head towards the table and looked at the book. “Oh, that? Just a journal of this treatment and your progress.”

Dash blinked and gave her a very confused look. “You're keeping a journal about me?”

“Only about your injury and how your wing develops. And I don't mention your name in it.”

“Why?” Dash asked.

“Well, as far as I know this is the first case of somepony regaining something as big and complex as a whole wing through Tramping's Method. Nurse Redheart asked me to record our progress to possibly help doctors in the future.”

“But I thought no doctor was as strong as you.”

Twilight shrugged. “You never know. Somepony might one day find a way for more than one unicorn to work on the spell. Besides I don't really mind keeping a record of your progress.” Twilight chuckled shortly. “Kinda makes me feel like a real doctor.”

Dash raised an eyebrow. “Did you want to be a doctor at some point?”

“Oh, well, no. Not really. I bet doctors just see the most horrific injuries from time to time. That's no job for a pony like me. But we're trailing off again.”

“Hm. I think those were all of my questions. I wouldn't mind starting now.”

“Okay, if you want to. Oh, before I forget …” Twilight floated the glass she had filled with the energy drink towards the head of the couch. “You might want to start drinking it now. It should also keep you from becoming sore again in the first place. Just say something if you want it refilled.”

“Alright. Is there any way I can help this time? I should probably try not to move again.”

“That would help.” Twilight nodded. “But other than that, not really. You should feel a sort of tickling sensation when I'm reshaping a feather, so if you want to say something or have a question, then please wait until I'm done with one feather or when I'm taking a break.”

“I can do that.” Dash took the book lying in front of her with her mouth and climbed onto the couch. Once on it she put the comic down next to the glass before stretching herself and lying down. She took a sip through the straw in the glass, opened the book and went on to support her head with her hooves. Twilight felt that she could have just sat there for the next couple of hours, watching the happily smiling pegasus on her couch in that adorable position. “Are you gonna start now?” Dash asked without looking up from her comic.

“Oh, yeah.” Twilight shook her head and moved towards the pillow she had placed in front of the couch. “I'll need you to spread your wing, please. You can just leave it hanging off the side, if that's okay.” The pegasus did so without another response and Twilight lay down in front of her and placed her head on the pillow. After a look towards the clock on the far wall and another smile at Dash she closed her eyes and her horn began to glow as she started the procedure.

Twilight opened her eyes and let go of the last magic for the spell until her horn stopped glowing. She sat up and looked at the clock again. It had been roughly an hour and a half since she had started, however she had begun the treatment by regrowing Dash's primaries - the largest and therefore most complex feathers on her wing. She looked at the wing and examined her work so far. Not half bad, she thought and gave herself a mental pat on the shoulder. The fact that each of them could be individually rotated had not helped matters either. But now that they were done, she decided it to be time for a short break.

She sat up and looked at Dash. Her friend still had her head in her hooves and was still engulfed by her comic. The glass next to her head, however, was empty and she looked a bit tired. “Rainbow?” she asked and Dash turned her head towards her, eyes half closed.

The pegasus blinked and opened her eyes fully. “Hm?”

“I'm taking a break. Do you want me to refill your glass?”

Dash looked at her glass and back to Twilight. “Oh, yeah. Thanks,” she said with a smile.

Twilight returned the smile and unscrewed the before opened bottle on the table before floating it over to the glass and emptying it. She brought the bottle back to the table and put the cap back on. Then she realized that she had forgotten a glass for herself. “I'm just gonna go to the kitchen real quick. I'll be right back.”

Dash only gave a nod and a “mhm” as an answer.

Absolutely adorable, Twilight thought and made her way into the kitchen, swishing her tail more than usually as she did so. She took a glass and another straw out of one of the cupboards and returned to the table in the living room. Passing Dash she saw the pegasus keeping her eyes shut forcefully and she could have sworn to have seen a blush on the light blue face. Probably a saucy passage in her comic, she mused with a slight smirk. She poured herself some of the tasty, yellow liquid and drank a good swag of it right away before putting it down beside the pillow. She walked back towards the blackboard and studied the feather anatomies again.

Next would be the secondaries, illustrated in the center drawing. They were shorter and thicker, and also more numerous and closer together as they would provide the main thrust for a pegasus. She had gotten considerably quicker towards the end while shaping the primaries, so she assumed that these would only take about two hours and the few tertials after that another hour at most.

She turned around to Dash again. “Rainbow?” The mare looked up with a questioning expression. “Do you mind if I light the fireplace? It's getting a bit cold in here.”

Dash shook her head. “Nope,” she said and returned her attention to her book. “Besides, pegasi don't really get cold.”

“They don’t?”

Dash faced her again with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah. You didn't know that?”

“No, I've never read it anywhere.”

Dash groaned and rolled her eyes. “Never read it anywhere ...” she repeated and started slurping on her drink.

Twilight was somewhat confused at that. Where else would a pony get reliable information? Dash continued with the comic while she turned around and ignited the already prepared wood in the fireplace. Soon the calming sound of crackling timber was filling the living room and the flickering, orange light casting soft, dancing shadows on the table, the floor, the couch and both ponies. Twilight took a deep breath and slowly released it before floating her drink over, taking a bigger sip and returned with it to the pillow on the floor. Lying down and putting the glass next to her, she closed her eyes and resumed the treatment.

The second break came after roughly two hours, just as Twilight had predicted. But unlike the first it went by without both ponies exchanging any words. Instead the unicorn just sat in front of the fireplace, occasionally sipping her drink and watching the hypnotizing flames in an attempt to get her mind off everything – mostly the treatment, and Rainbow Dash herself – while Dash was resting her head on her legs crossed in front of her, still reading her comic, however through half-closed eyes as one or the other weak yawn escaped her.

~*~

Finally the last one of Dash's feathers was restored. Twilight shut down the flow of magic through her horn and kept lying on the floor with her head on the soft pillow for a few moments longer before she opened her eyes. Mentally worn out and having felt everything through her magic for the past few hours rather than seen with her eyes, it took her a good half minute before consciously recognizing the objects in her field of view. She saw the couch in front of her, higher than she had remembered, with a beautiful, sky blue pegasus wing hanging off the side of it. She followed the wing back to its owner, over the likewise colored body and found the pony's head with the most colorful mane attached to it.

Twilight squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed them with her hooves. She remembered the glass she had put down next to her and turned her and sucked the rest of the liquid through the straw. She lay her head back down on the pillow and took a couple of deep, long breaths. Eventually she felt ready to stand up. She took the empty glass by the rim in her mouth and put it on the edge of the table before yawning and turning around to the pegasus on her couch.

Rainbow Dash had not moved since she had finished the last feather and Twilight now saw that she had turned her head on the side and appeared to be sleeping. The comic book in front of her was still open on one of its last pages and yellow fluid was filling the glass next to her head up to a quarter of its height. Twilight walked around the head of the sofa and sat down in front of Dash. Her mouth was slightly open and her chest heaved gently up and down in a slow rhythm. It was one of the most peaceful sights Twilight had seen and she felt her mouth unconsciously form a small smile.

Twilight would have taken any excuse to simply sit there and watch Rainbow Dash sleep on her couch. But that was something she did not want to indulge in, if only because her fantasies would have come back to haunt her later.

She heard the clock on the wall announce the time. 9pm. Rainbow Dash had been there for about five hours and it was already well past Twilight's normal dinner time. She did not know when the pegasus usually took her meals. Probably whenever she wants.However now it was time to wake her up. Twilight lifted glass off the couch and put it on the table next to Dash's plate and she let the comic book float back to its shelf. “Rainbow,” she said softly. No response. “Hey, Rainbow,” she said a tad louder. Dash's tail twitched and the pegasus closed her mouth, but kept her eyes closed. Twilight used her hoof to bump Dash on the nose. “Wake up.”

Dash stirred slightly and let out a long yawn. “What is it?” she asked in an almost annoyed tone.

“Guess who's got her wing back,” Twilight cheered, knowing that that would get Dash awake in no time. And she was not disappointed. Dash's eyes shot open and her body darted up, causing her to tumble slightly from the fast ascend and Twilight to giggle at her predictability.

Dash jumped off the couch and sat down on her haunches, regarding her new, outspread wing with the most joyful expression Twilight had seen in a long time. “Oh, I've missed you so, buddy,” Dash said nearly teary-eyed and gave the limb a kiss. If it were physically possible, Twilight was sure that the pegasus would have hugged her own wing. After a long moment of smiling at her regenerated body part Dash faced her again. “Thank you, Twilight. Thank you so much. Oh, I could kiss you right now!”

The unicorn's expression fell and her eyes became wide, as well as Dash's own at the realization of what she had just said. Twilight felt the tears coming once more and she forcefully shut her eyes and turned her head to the side, not noticing Dash also turning away and blushing furiously.

Again, Twilight thought.You did it again, Rainbow. Every. Damn. Time. Ugh, why do I keep fighting it? I already know it's a lost cause. She took a deep, ragged breath.But I can't put that burden on you, can I? I can't show you what you're doing to me as it's only my fault and mine alone. I have only myself to blame. You're just being you, everything I love about you, reminding me of what I can't have.

I should just end it, leave, go far away and try to forget you. But you're the one pony who would come after me, wouldn't you? No matter how far, because that's you. The Element of Loyalty. Rainbow Dash doesn't have to think about things. Rainbow Dash just gets them done in ten seconds flat and deals with problems only when she can't avoid them anymore. I doubt you'd even understand what you're making me go through.

Another breath.And I'm not going to let you know. No. I can't let this break you, too. I'll keep my façade up for your sake.Twilight released a deep sigh.It's not like I've ever done it for myself, anyway.

She faced Dash again and saw the pegasus with a lowered head, giving her a worried and nervous look, while rubbing a hoof against the other, standing foreleg. “Sorry,” Dash said hesitantly.

Twilight did not bother putting on a smile this time. “No,” she said in a tired voice, “it's fine, really.”

“But you don't look so 'fine'.”

“Prolonged use of magic does the weirdest things to you,” Twilight responded in a tone that allowed no further argument. She held a hoof up to her forehead, closed her eyes, took a long, deep breath and released it slowly. She lifted her head to face the pegasus again, this time with at least a small smile. “Now, I'll need to look at your wing. Maybe I missed something or made a wrong feather somewhere.”

Dash gave a still doubting look, but did not seem to want to bring the situation from before up again. “Shouldn't that be impossible?” she asked. “From what I understood - and I can be completely wrong here - you said that you'd just be guiding the process and use my memories for how it should turn out.”

“That's largely correct, yes.” Twilight nodded, slightly surprised. “However, your memories don't contain every last detail of your feather anatomy. You seem to remember where the quills in your wing were, which was a really big help, and also how long and wide they were. But other than that they're mostly about how they feel in the air when the wind brushes through them. With your muscles and bones it was different. Your mind knew how everything was supposed to work, how it should feel, which muscle needed to be where and in what shape. But I bet you never really paid attention to every last one of your feathers, did you?” Dash shook her head. “See? Now, stop arguing. It's magic, I ain't gotta explain jack.” This got a short laugh from both ponies and Dash now visibly relaxed as she sat down and let her wing stand in the air next to her.

Twilight walked over to her and inspected the limb and feathers from the front with Dash nervously watching her, then went around the wing and repeated the procedure from the backside. When she was done she let out a sigh and started walking back around Dash to face the pegasus. “Okay, Rainbow. I have some good news and some minor bad news. Which would you like first?”

Dash looked uncertain. “Uh, the good news?”

“Alright,” Twilight said with a smile. “I didn't miss any feathers, all the bones and muscles have the right shape as far as I can tell and you seem to be able to move it quite well already.”

“Alright. And the bad news?”

Another short sigh escaped Twilight and she regarded the pegasus with a sad expression. “The bad news is … well, you remember the fourth session you saw on the blackboard? We're going to need that, because-” Twilight made a small pause before continuing, “-because you'll have to stay on the ground for at least another week.”

“What?” Dash exclaimed standing up. “But you said you were finished.”

“No, I didn't say that. Everything has the right shape, yes, but your bones are still somewhat weak, the muscles need to be stronger and some of the nerve ends haven't connected yet. Your body will do all of that on its own and Tramping's Method can't help there. My interference in that process could eventually do more harm than good at this point.” She gave Dash a pleading look. “Please, Rainbow, trust me with this. You can't fly yet.”

Dash looked defeated. “Another week,” she groaned.

“I'm really sorry,” Twilight said and put a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder. “There's one other thing.” She lowered her hoof and Dash looked up at her, the rose colored eyes staring directly into hers, making Twilight lose control of her heartbeat, however not of her voice. “You'll have to train your muscles in your wing, flex it every now and then. That's why we can't put bandages around it again to keep you from the temptation.”

“Twilight, you know how I get sometimes. Honestly, I don't think I could do it.”

Twilight sighed. “You have to. If you do try and fly off, you could seriously break something. Please, promise me you won't try to lift off.”

Now it was the pegasus' turn to sigh. She looked at her wing and gave it a slow flap before looking at Twilight again. “Okay. I promise I'll do my best … for you.” She drew Twilight into a hug before the purple mare could react. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

Stop it! Just stop it, Dash, Twilight thought, however found herself returning the embrace. Oh, just once I want to lift this act. I don't want to play anymore.

“Just promise you'll take it easy, Rainbow.” Dash loosened her grip and both ponies were standing on four hooves again. Twilight felt that she had become much closer to Rainbow Dash over the last couple of weeks. She could not remember any occasion where the usually cool-playing pegasus had been so emotional and open with her like on these sessions. Who knows, maybe once all this is over …

Dash cleared her throat and interrupted her introspection. “You said something about dinner earlier?”

“Hm? Oh, yes.” Twilight turned her head in the direction of the table. “The hayfries shouldn't be frozen anymore. Oh, I forgot to ask.” She looked at Dash again. “You don't look so worn out like last time. I imagine the drink helped?”

The pegasus gave her a bright smile. “Yeah, I guess it did. I mean I'm still tired like after another Running of the Leaves, but at least I'm not sore all over again.”

“Great!” Twilight exclaimed and mimicked Dash's expression before looking at the table again and tapped her chin with a hoof. “Hmm, I can't shake the feeling that I forgot something. Oh, right.” She hit herself with her hoof on the forehead. “Chairs. Hehe. I can't believe I forgot the chairs.” Twilight faced the kitchen with her horn glowing in a purple aura as two chairs came floating through the doorway.

“Are you sure you should be using magic right now?” Dash asked, no doubt referring to Twilight's excuse earlier.

“Oh, don't worry.” Twilight waved a hoof dismissively while keeping her eyes on the chairs. “Levitation comes to unicorns just as naturally as flying comes to pegasi.” The chairs arrived at their positions at the opposite ends of the table, however the glow around Twilight's horn had not faded. “Now, for the hayfries …” She could see them become darker and shine faintly in the light from the fireplace before she heard the sizzling and a surprising *pop* as one fry from her plate flew into the air and landed between the burning wood. Twilight bit her lip and raised an eyebrow. “Ups.”

“Maybe you're the one who should take it easy,” Dash laughed and received a smile from the unicorn. “Now, come on. I haven't eaten in hours.” Dash walked towards the chair closest to her while Twilight moved along the table and sat down.

It was already dark outside and the only light source in the library were the orange flames in the fireplace, adding soft shadows to their features while indulging Twilight with the sound of burning and crackling wood. It was so very much like the dates Twilight had had with Dash in her mind, all the countless times she had imagined them both together, sharing a romantic dinner. She knew this was not a date; Dash would not even consider it a possibility. For her it was just a meal between friends. But Twilight wanted to know what a date with Dash would be like. She needed to know what it was like to have Dash in her life, to share her secrets with her, to have her love returned. Sometimes it seemed to Twilight that the only times that she could really feel anything, when she did not look at the world through a numbing haze, was when she was with Rainbow Dash.

She knew her dreams were not real and that her fantasies were just that – imaginations of a love-sick filly. But right now she did not care. She did not want to care. She could still pretend, right? Her mind was still her own and she had become very good at pretending. She knew the tears would come later. There was nothing she could do to prevent them anyway. No. Reality could screw itself. This moment right now belonged to her. Now she could let her imagination run free, pretend her fantasies were real, if only for a short time. She was having a date with Rainbow Dash, she told herself. She suppressed and shut off the rational part of her mind, locking it far away. It would come back later, together with the pain, but not for now. She was on a date with the mare she loved. The tingling in her stomach came back, and her mind flooded with joy.

Dash began eating her sandwich immediately. Twilight smiled at that. The pegasus always did that on their dates and she was not about to stop her from doing it. She loved Rainbow too much to try to change her and Rainbow knew it was one of the features she adored in her, which was why she kept doing it. Twilight had told her everything, after all. She had confessed her feelings to her about three weeks ago and the pegasus had been willing to give her a chance. The best decision of her life, she had told her later. Rainbow looked particularly exhausted today. Probably from a long day of practicing her stunts, Twilight thought. Her mane was unkempt, her coat somewhat messy, but it was just how Twilight liked it. Rainbow was still the most beautiful filly she ever saw and her lack of care for her appearance was even more attracting to Twilight.

She realized she had been staring at her partner for a while as Rainbow looked up at her, but she did not seem to mind. Instead Rainbow Dash just gave her a bright smile, a gesture which made Twilight's heart flutter, and resumed munching her sandwich. Twilight looked down at her own food and decided to start with the hayfries. A long day of experiments had strained her magic, so she kept to eating them with her hooves. She was trying to start a conversation with Rainbow, something they had not talked about yet. She wanted to know more about her girlfriend's youth. Her own life seemed so dull compared to what the pegasus had to tell about the adventures she had had with her friends as a filly.

Suddenly she saw a faint blush on Rainbow’s face and noticed that she was avoiding eye contact. Dash seemed awfully nervous. She never got nervous on their dates. Did Twilight do something wrong? Did she say something or do something to embarrass her? Did she forget to do something? She would ask her later about it, they were both too tired and exhausted to talk much now, anyway. They simply continued their meal in silence, the only sound coming from the crackling wood in the fireplace. Dash still seemed to refuse to meet her gaze and Twilight did not want to urge her to. She just kept to eating and pondering over what could be wrong with her girlfriend.

Eventually they finished their meal, both mares leaning back in their chairs, holding their stomachs. “Wow, I'm full,” Dash said towards the ceiling.

“Yeah,” Twilight responded, “me too.”

After a while Dash began to stretch her legs outwards to her side and she stood up from her chair. “Well, I guess I'm off then.”

Twilight looked at her somewhat sadly. “You're leaving already?” she asked with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Dash looked a bit irritated. At what, Twilight could not tell. “Uhm, yeah. I'm really tired.”

“I understand,” Twilight said and stood up as well now. “It was an exhausting day for us both.”

“Yeah, I guess it was,” Dash said and yawned, beginning to head for the door.

Twilight followed her to the door and opened it for her girlfriend.

“Well, uhm, see you?” Dash said with a smile at Twilight.

The unicorn chuckled to herself. “Yes. See you, Rainbow. And don't forget.” She nuzzled the pegasus softly on the neck. You promised to take me flying.

A deep blush appeared on Dash's cheeks and her wings stirred somwhat. “Uhm, yeah,” she stammered. “I won't. I promised you, right? I wouldn't break a promise, hehe.” She rubbed the back of her head. “So … Bye?”

Twilight giggled quietly. “Bye, Rainbow.” The pegasus left the library and Twilight closed the door. She giggled at the thought that she could still cause Dash to become flustered by such simple gestures. She looked at the table they had just left. The dishes could wait for tomorrow. She smiled happily as she trotted up the stairs to her bedroom. They had not talked about anything during dinner, but that was fine. The pegasus' simple company was enough for Twilight. She opened and closed the door carefully to not wake up the softly snoring dragon in the basket at the other end of the room. She yawned and huddled under the blanket of her bed, remembering the nice evening she just had with Dash.

Going over the events of the day she felt something in the back of her mind, a sort of realization she could not fully put her hoof on, like a word sitting on the tip of her tongue, but refusing to come out. The strange feeling became stronger and the memories of her previous dates with Dash faded, eventually disappearing. She panicked, her heart beating faster and faster. It was as if they had never existed. What was happening? Had she been dreaming and was just about to wake up? Then the realization hit her. Oh, no, she thought. Had she been imagining having a date with Rainbow Dash this evening? Actually being her girlfriend? Had she let her fantasies overtake her brain, turning away from reality? Was she going insane, finally losing her mind over that blue filly?

She remembered how joyful and happy she had felt during the evening. But now she felt nothing but panic, desperation and anger at herself. How could she let this happen? She wanted to be happy with Rainbow, but not like this. She did not want to lie to herself, suppressing a part of her mind doing so. Oh, but the fantasies could feel so good. She desperately wanted them to be real.

Why couldn't they be real? Why could she not have the pegasus in her life, this one pony she wanted to be with so badly that she was now losing her mind over it. The familiar pain was coming back to her and her heart sank as tears began to form in her eyes. She could only hope that she had not said anything stupid to Dash, blowing her chance with her as her mind was slowly falling apart and all she could do was sit by and watch, hoping that the pain would stop. She turned on her side and felt the still slightly wet stains on her pillow from the previous night. This pillow had taken up more of her tears than she had ever thought she could possibly cry out. And it was about to absorb many more.

She buried her face in it and tried to suppress her bawling sounds, but to little avail. At least Spike was a sound sleeper, she thought. She did not have to worry about him waking up and finding her crying her eyes out. After a while she stopped caring about toning down her sobbing and all she could do now was waiting for sleep to take her into another night of torturous dreams.

Chapter 5

Rarity was sitting in the back end of her shop, working on her latest dress, when she heard the doorbell ring. A little annoyed at the interruption, but always glad over another customer, she called into the shop in a cheery tone. “I'll be right there.” The designer applied the last stitches to the seam, put the cloth down and turned off the sewing-machine. She stood up from her chair and turned towards the doorway to the boutique. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique. How may I -” she started as she was entering the shop, but stopped in her tracks as she saw which pony had just entered her establishment. “Rainbow Dash?”

The pegasus just gave her a shy smile. “Hi, Rarity.”

“Well, I must say you are the one pony I expected never to come here on her own. What brings you to my fine establishment?” Rarity gasped and her voice filled with delight. “Have you finally come for a makeover? Oh, I've been waiting to do something with that marvelous mane of yours-”

“No,” Dash interrupted her. “That's not why I'm here.”

The designer hid her disappointment well. “Why else then? Do tell.”

Dash looked around the room and leaned slightly to the side, trying to peek into the area of the shop Rarity had come from. “Is somepony else here?”

“No,” the designer responded. “We are alone. Why, what's the matter?”

The pegasus took a deep breath before continuing. “Rarity, I - I need your help.”

“My help?” the white unicorn repeated. “With what would you require my help?”

“Well, I need your advice, actually.”

“Oh, of course, dear. I could not possibly turn down a friend in need.” She walked closer to Dash and offered her a comforting smile.

“Thanks.”

Dash was staying quiet and looked at the wall next to her with empty eyes. “Well?” Rarity asked. “What is it?”

Dash looked back at her as if just waking up from a daydream. She looked more nervous than before, eyes darting in various directions. “Can you promise that this stays between us?”

“You have my word,” Rarity said and laid a comforting hoof on Dash's shoulder.

The pegasus took another long pause, but Rarity did not want to interrupt her this time. Eventually Dash sighed and closed her eyes forcefully. “I think … I think I have a crush on Twilight,” she said, keeping her eyes shut.

Rarity's mouth stood open. Had she really just said that? “Could … could you repeat that?” she asked slowly.

“I have a crush on Twilight,” Dash said with more force and opened her eyes.

“Why do you think you have a 'crush' on her?” Rarity asked through narrowing eyes.

Dash looked away and frowned, a tint of desperation in her voice. “I can't spend a minute without thinking about her. When I close my eyes, she's there. When I turn around I expect her to stand there. Everything purple reminds me of her. Every time I look at my wings I think of her. Of what she's doing to help me, how much effort she's putting into … making me happy again.”

Rarity was surprised to say the least. Her friend was unusually open with her. Her eyes went wide and a wide grin appeared on her face. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, that's simply wonderful,” she exclaimed and drew the pegasus into a hug.

“W-Wonderful?” a confused Dash repeated. She squeezed herself out of the embrace. “How is that wonderful? I don't know what to do!”

“Oh, isn't it obvious what you should do?” Rarity's grin had not disappeared.

Dash merely stared at her with uncomprehending eyes.

After a while Rarity put a hoof to her forehead. “Oh, of course.” A sigh escaped her. “You don't know,” she continued sadly.

“Don't know what?”

Rarity looked at her and turned her head away, biting her lip and groaned audibly. “Oh, that stupid Pinkie Pie promise,” she said, frustrated, and stomped the ground with one leg.

“What? What promise?”

Rarity turned her head towards Rainbow Dash, her eyes darting back and forth between Dash's in thought. After a while she gave her a hard stare. “Rainbow Dash, do you think Twilight is beautiful?” she asked, rather blunt for her own tastes.

Dash's mouth stood slightly agape, gulping only a moment later. “Uhm … what? Why are you …”

“Please, just answer the question.”

The pegasus narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I - I guess,” she said looking off to the side again. “I never thought about her like that.”

Rarity was pleased with that answer. Well, that's not a 'no'. So it's not mere physical attraction, she thought. “What do you feel when you think about her.”

Dash looked back at her with a pained expression. “Is this going somewhere?” she asked rather angrily, probably thinking her friend was mocking her.

“Please, Dash,” Rarity pleaded. “I need to know if I'm going to help you.”

Dash glared at her friend for a moment longer, but eventually sighed and closed her eyes. “When I think about her I feel … happy.” A small smile appeared on her lips. “I want to be close to her, see her smile at me, feel her touch.” Dash paused for a few seconds before continuing. “When I'm with her I feel safe. I know I can trust her, that she'd never hurt me on purpose. I want her to talk to me more, hug me more; I want her to laugh with me, to trust me, to …” Dash gulped once more and looked up to the unicorn again, “to care for me,” she finished in a weak tone.

Rarity had listened to every word. She had small tears in her eyes and wore a wide, satisfied smile. To the designer it sounded like more than just a simple 'crush', but she would not have expected Rainbow Dash to know how to discern between these nuances. She started turning her head left and right, scanning the room for a certain pony.

“What are you doing?” Dash asked her.

“I'm searching for places Pinkie Pie could hide in.”

“Uhm, why?” Dash raised her eyebrows.

“Because I'm about to break a Pinkie Pie swear to Twilight.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash looked shocked. “You can't break a Pinkie Pie swear!”

“No,” Rarity replied with determination. “This is more important than Twilight's trust in me. You have to know this, especially now.”

“Know what?”

Rarity sighed. “Twilight … has a crush on you, too, Rainbow Dash. The poor thing has had it for a long while now. She was just too scared to tell you.”

Dash stared at her with an open mouth, trying to process that new information. Twilight? A crush on her? How? “But … what?”

“You are all she's been able to think about for weeks.”

Dash closed her mouth, but her eyes kept their size. Was Rarity serious? “So … what should I do now?”

Rarity sighed again. “Is it still not obvious?” She looked up at Dash again. “Today you have one of your 'sessions', right?”

Dash gave her a hesitant nod. “The last one,” she said.

“Well, then that's your chance.” She grabbed Dash by the shoulders and gave her an encouraging smile. “You go there now, say your hellos and the next thing you do is you plant a big, long, sloppy kiss right on that filly's lips.”

Dash just continued her baffled stare. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” the fashion designer exclaimed loudly and pushed her friend towards the door by pressing her head against Dash's chest. “If you want something and you know it wants you, what do you do? You take it!” She opened the door with her magic.

“I don't know.” Dash said shaking her head and trying to resist Rarity's efforts to push her outside.

“Nonsense.” She put a hoof on Dash's shoulder again. “I know you have it in you. Go to her and claim her as yours.” She lifted her hoof in front of her and rolled it up, forming a fist if she had had hands. “Do it, filly!” She gave the pegasus a final, magical shove and closed the door behind her.

~*~

A knock on the door. Twilight looked up from her book, got to her hooves and walked over to it. Opening it she was greeted by the most nervous pegasus she had ever witnessed. “Uhm, hi, Rainbow.”

Dash turned her head towards her as if surprised by Twilight's sudden appearance. “Oh, er, hi … Twilight.” Twilight raised her eyebrow as she noticed Dash staring at her mouth of all things and biting her own lip as if being in a mental struggle over whether or not to do something.

However, no action came from her friend. After a while Twilight realized that nothing was likely to happen and decided to invite Dash inside. “Do you … want to come in?”

Dash did not move her eyes and merely gave her a “mhm” and a barely noticeable nod.

Twilight stepped back and gave her friend some space to step inside and closed the door while still eyeing Dash. “Is something the matter?” she asked and stepped around Dash to stand in front of her. “If you're having problems with your wing you should tell me.”

Dash refused to make eye contact and responded quietly, “I didn't have any problems.”

“Okay. You're still worried about your wing aren't you?”

The pegasus mumbled something inaudible to Twilight.

“Sorry, what was that?”

“No,” Dash said in a flat tone and sighed. “Okay, maybe a bit.”

“Well, you don't need to.” Dash faced her and Twilight gave Dash her most caring expressions and saw a small smile appear on the pegasus' face. “There's nothing that can go wrong from here on. In fact, even if your wing hasn't finished regenerating on its own, I've found a way to speed up the process,” she finished cheerfully.

Dash's eyebrows rose. “Didn't you say you can't help with that?”

“No, I said Tramping's Method can't help with that. The procedure was never designed to increase bone density and the book Nurse Redheart gave me had no mention of that. However, I found a suiting spell in another book describing treatments for osteoporosis.”

“For what now?”

Twilight sighed and chuckled slightly. “Decreased bone density,” she explained.

“Oh. Yeah, I guess that fits.”

“Yes, it does. So no matter what, your wing will be as good as new by the end of this session.”

“Awesome!” Dash visibly lightened up while her nervousness had apparently vanished.

“I knew you'd like it. But first I'll need to examine your wing of course.” Twilight stepped closer and Dash spread her wing out in front of her without a prompt. She began to test the firmness of the muscles with her hooves. “Have you been flexing it regularly?”

“Yes,” came Dash's response from next to her.

Twilight turned her head and raised an eyebrow. “Any attempts at flying?”

Dash released a deep sigh. “No. I've kept my promise.”

“Thank you.” Twilight returned her attention to the wing. “I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you - having two wings and not being allowed to fly.”

“Well, I guess it's like having a horn and not being allowed to use magic.”

“Haha. Yeah, I guess it is. Honestly I wouldn't know what to do.” Twilight turned her head towards Dash's again. “How do you earth ponies and pegasi even brush your mane?”

Dash gave an uncomprehending look. “Brush my mane?” she asked, as if that concept were completely alien to her.

Twilight rolled her eyes, smiling, and took a step back from the wing. “Never mind. I'm probably asking the wrong pony here.”

“Definitely. So, what? Is my wing ready?”

“Well, the muscles seem strong enough, but I still have to take a look inside. Just hold on for a minute.” Twilight closed her eyes and her horn began glowing as she examined the wing's interior structure.

Roughly one minute later Twilight's horn stopped glowing and she opened her eyes, finding Dash suddenly very interested in a faraway wall with something on her cheeks that appeared to Twilight to be the remnants of a … blush? Is Rainbow blushing? Hm, must be the lighting.

She turned her attention back to the wing. “Well, it's pretty much as I expected. The nervous system is back to normal and the bones have gotten stronger.” Dash shot her a hopeful glance, her face apparently blush-free. “However, not strong enough.” The pegasus let her head hang. “Hey, don't worry. That just means you'll have to wait 30 more minutes.”

“I hate waiting.”

“Yes, I know. But it's almost over.”

“Okay. What do we need to do?”

“Well …” Twilight bit her lip and embarrassedly looked around the room. The description of the treatment in the other book had been very insistent on one point: the patient had to move as minimally as possible or the practitioner had to find a way to compensate for body movements. The realization of what Twilight would have to do did not come without shock to the unicorn.

“Other than Tramping's Method this spell actually creates something from nothing instead of helping your body regrow it. I'll have to create the …” she shot the pegasus a quick glance and searched for another term, “… stuff that makes up your bone and put it in the right place. For me to do that it is absolutely crucial that you move as little as possible relative to me.”

Twilight took a deep breath and faced Dash again. “Basically you'll have to lie on your stomach with your wings spread out while I sit on top of you.” Dash's eyes went wide and her cheeks assumed the same red color as Twilight's. Now that's a blush, she thought. Well, I don't blame her.

“You have to what?”

Twilight closed her eyes. “If I sit on top of you and hold your wings down with my hooves I can adjust my … aim if you will and compensate for your breathing and other movements.”

“But … I can lie still.” Dash looked distressed. Twilight would have expected such reaction from herself, not from the usually coolest pony in Ponyville.

Twilight shook her head. “Not still enough,” she said. “There really is no other way for us to do it except an anaesthetic. Would you prefer that?”

Dash shook her head. “Hell, no.”

“See?” Twilight sighed quietly. “And I imagine you wouldn't like having part of a bone in your muscles or skin either.”

The pegasus stared blankly at her, eyes moving back and forth between the unicorn's own, and Twilight began to think that Dash was seriously considering that option.

“Look, the sooner we start the sooner you can fly again.” She offered Dash a comforting smile. She seemed a bit more at ease, although only slightly.

Dash closed her eyes and hung her head for a moment, apparently accepting the safer option. “Alright,” she said lifting her head again. “What do we need to do?”

“You just lie down and spread both of your wings and keep them as still as possible.”

“Why both wings?”

“I'll have to adjust the bone densities of your new wing and the old wing. And that's easier if it's in the same position or mirror position of the one I'm treating.”

Dash sighed. “Okay, let's get this over with. The couch doesn't have enough space, I imagine?”

“No, you'll have to lie down on the floor. Look, this is probably just as awkward for me as it is for you.” Dash just gave her a raised eyebrow. Yeah, I didn't expect that to help. ”The book says that if the patient is conscious during the treatment then it should just feel like a massage. Although why, it doesn’t say. Have you ever had a massage?”

The pegasus shook her head. “Not really.”

“Not really?” Twilight repeated.

“Well, we …” Dash looked nervously around the room, “didn't get to finish it. Can we just start?”

“Sure, just lie down and keep calm.”

Dash turned to the side and lay down on her stomach before spreading both of her wings out to the sides and closing her eyes.

Twilight took a few deep breaths and stepped over the lying pegasus and slowly rested her rump of Dash's lower back. She felt a flick of Dash's tail softly strike her back, but otherwise saw no noticeable reaction from the pegasus. She pressed her hooves down on the bases of Dash's wings. Hm, unusually fast heart rate. ”Don't worry, Rainbow. I'll make it as fast as I can.”

“No,” Dash said to her surprise and released a sigh, but kept her eyes closed. “Take your time. This sounds more dangerous than the other treatment and I don't want to put that much pressure on you now.”

Twilight found herself smiling. “Okay.” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and released it again. “Here it goes.”

~*~

“So, that should be it.” Twilight climbed off of the pegasus and gave her some space to stand up as well. “How did it feel?”

Dash slowly stood up and tried to conceal the massive blush that had spread across her cheeks. “Uhm, like a massage?” she said.

“Great!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Does that mean you're finished? I can fly now?” Dash asked eagerly.

“Yes,” Twilight answered, “but do take it easy,” she crunched up her face in emphatic pain after Dash had quickly taken off inside the building and almost immediately drifted off to the side and hit a bookshelf. “Or that might happen.” Dash was now lying upside down at the bottom of the bookshelf with a confused look and Twilight could not help but laugh.

Dash shook her head. “What happened?”

“Your pectoral muscles probably degenerated over time,” Twilight explained while Dash climbed back to her hooves. “But just a bit of training should do the trick.”

“Can't you make my muscles stronger again?” Dash asked and flapped her wings to see if they had taken any damage.

“Sorry, magic can't do everything,” Twilight lied. She could have easily given that muscle its strength back, but a part of her mind wanted Dash to be closer to her by every means necessary, and with the last of their sessions over that would not be the case if the pegasus would be flying away right now. Of course, she knew it was a silly tactic. But, still, it could work, she told herself. “Now, come here. I need to examine my work,” she said.

“You need to what?” The thought of getting close to Twilight again made Dash’s heart race.

“Don't worry, Rainbow. It's just a last checkup,” Twilight said with a reassuring smile. “I don't bite.”

Dash breathed in deeply and walked over to her. She looked at her expectantly and raised an eyebrow as the unicorn sat down on her haunches in front of her. She smiled up at her and tapped her hoof on the ground at Dash's hooves, inviting her to sit down as well. She lowered herself and sat down on the library floor, about two feet away from Twilight.

Twilight rolled her eyes and shifted closer to the pegasus, causing Dash's heart to speed up again, and her own pulse to rise, too. Although both ponies tried to hide their reactions from each other, Twilight was much better trained at it and she wondered why Dash seemed so nervous again all of a sudden. Could it be … she thought. No. No, she's just worried about her wing. She smiled at Dash again. “I'll need you to spread your wings for me, please.”

“Both wings?” Dash asked

“Of course. I have to compare them after all.” Dash slowly unfolded her wings to their full length, causing Twilight's eyes to shine in amazement before she blinked and collected her thoughts again. “So, let's see.” She let her bound journal and a pen float over and hover next to her head. The pen copied notes into the book as Twilight began to study the new wing visually. “Everything seems to have grown like expected. They're the same length, and have-” she paused and repeatedly looked from one wing to the other, “-the same density of feathers.”

Twilight raised a hoof to touch the new limb. It retracted slightly at her touch. Dash's face showed an embarrassed expression. Apparently she had not expected Twilight to touch it. It was quickly replaced by a small smile and Twilight continued her examination. She traced her hoof along the wing and gently pressed its joints. After a while she removed her hoof from the wing and gave Dash a bright smile. “The feathers are firmly supported. The bones and joints are strong enough. Everything seems to be in order.”

“It's just like before?” Dash asked.

“Yep, just like the other one.” Twilight went on and prodded the new wing's feathers with her hoof. That caused it to spasm and forced a short laugh out of the pegasus. Dash quickly shut her mouth and looked off to the side. Twilight, however, raised an eyebrow and repeated the procedure. Prod, spasm and a suppressed laugh. A wide grin spread across her face. “Look who's ticklish!” she exclaimed, causing Dash to turn her head and look at her with a slight panic.

“Please, no-” she started, but it was too late. Twilight already had her hooves in Dash's wings, close to their bases, ruffing up the feathers. The library exploded with Dash's laughter as she fell over on her side. “Stop, stop,” she forced out between sharp breaths, but Twilight showed no sign of stopping and instead just laughed deviously.

“Stop? I've only just begun,” she proclaimed in a short pause.

“Oh, it. Is. On.” Dash quickly shifted closer to her and pressed her own hooves on Twilight's sides below her ribs. That caused the unicorn to laugh hysterically and fall over on top of her. Soon they were both rolling around and forcing the laughter out of each other. After a few minutes the laughing became slightly painful and Twilight was the first to become weaker as her hooves were moving slower and slower and she finally collapsed under the pegasus lying over her, both ponies breathing heavily. “So, you give up?” Dash asked from above.

“Yes,” Twilight panted. “I am defeated,” she said with a chuckle. “You pegasi just have too much energy.”

Dash suddenly felt her face heating up as she realized the position they were both in and she saw a blush appear on the unicorn as well. She looked into Twilight's eyes and saw them blankly staring back into her own. This was what the chance she had been waiting for. Do it, said a voice in her head. You want it, you know she wants it. Do it, filly!

“Rainbow -” Twilight started, but did not get any further as Dash pressed her lips against hers. Twilight's eyes went wide, but she could not bring herself to push Dash away. A rush of emotions flooded her body at the new sensation and she found herself closing her eyes and returning the kiss. Her mind went blank. There now was nothing else in the world but her and the blue filly pressing her body against hers as she closed her front legs around Dash's neck. They were taking in sharp breaths through their nostrils and Twilight felt hooves caressing her cheek and her mane. She felt a soft tail brush against hers and she wrapped her own tail around the rainbow colored one while feeling the slight draft of slowly beating wings over her.

After what felt like an eternity of blissful ecstasy to Twilight, Dash broke the kiss and they both took a series of deep breaths. Dash rolled over to Twilight's side and faced the ceiling, while Twilight kept her eyes closed with a silly smile on her lips. Eventually the first coherent thoughts came back to her, together with the first doubts. Was this a dream again? It could not have been real, but it felt so much different than her other dreams. Rainbow could not possibly feel the same way about her.

“I'm sorry.” She heard Dash's voice from beside her. She opened her eyes. So this was real. But what did it mean? Was it what she had been hoping for all this time? Or was it all just in a rush of the moment, caused by the adrenaline pumping through their bodies. She repeated Dash's words in her mind. She was apologizing to her. Apologizing? For what? Did she think the kiss was a mistake? Twilight turned her head and saw the pegasus of her dreams lying next to her on the floor and looking at her with sad eyes.

“Are you … angry with me?” Dash asked quietly.

Twilight scowled. Angry? Why would she be angry with her? Oh, no! She did think this was a mistake. She was going to leave her. This had been her chance and she blew it. Tears she had subdued for months were beginning to well up behind her eyes as she saw Dash turning her head away. The only pony she ever wanted to be with over everything else was going to leave her, rejecting her.

She could live with the uncertainty, with her dreams and hopes that she might one day be strong enough to tell Rainbow about her feelings. She could handle waiting and not knowing, but she did not know if she could handle rejection. Dash began sitting up and tears began flowing down Twilight's cheeks. No! She had to tell her. She had to tell her now. But, how? She was growing desperate as she saw Dash now standing, facing away from her. “Wait, Rainbow!” she pleaded while trying to suppress her sobs, looking at the pegasus through teary eyes.

“Wait?” Dash repeated quietly with a crackling voice without looking back and sniffed, which Twilight could not hear. “Why?”

Twilight closed her eyes and mustered all the strength she had left. “Because …” she took a deep, ragged breath. Tell her! ”Because I love you!” she forced out, nearly whispering, and allowed the tears to come now freely.

Twilight could not see Dash eventually turning around and was oblivious to the hoofsteps coming closer to her. All she could feel after the wave of despair had hit her and she was crying on the floor was the gentle touch of a hoof on her cheek. She opened her eyes and turned her head, seeing a blue shape through her blurry vision before being drawn into another kiss. This one ended quickly, however, and she instinctively wrapped her front legs around the pegasus again and held her in a tight embrace, determined not to let her go this time. Together they rolled over on the side and she felt the hoof from before stroking her mane, trying to calm her down, but she could not stop herself from crying.

She sobbed audibly into the multicolored mane, giving voice to all the frustration and desperation that had been amassing inside of her for the past months. All the failed attempts at building up her strength, all the blissful dreams that had ended in tears, all the pressure she had put on herself and nearly collapsed under, all of her fantasies that she feared would never come true and all the long hours she had spent watching Dash from her balcony practicing her stunts without the pegasus knowing.

She had learned over time to hide her feelings better in public, until the time was right, she had told herself. She grew apathetic and detached towards strangers and put on smiles for her friends. But that had not changed a thing. On the inside she had been tearing herself apart and had begun to hate herself for her own cowardice, thinking that it could be any day that Rainbow would start dating somepony else. The thought of the filly she loved being together with someone else had nearly broken her.

Dash had been patiently holding and comforting her and eventually the flow of tears slowed down and stopped, leaving her and Twilight in a firm hold of each other, the unicorn's muzzle still buried in Dash's wet mane.

After a few moments Dash also stopped stroking her mane and simply rested her hoof on her neck. “Twilight?” she asked.

Twilight gave her a quiet “Hm?” as response, but otherwise did not move.

“Can we … talk?”

Twilight sighed. She knew this had to come, eventually. She took her head back and saw Rainbow Dash's concerned look. Twilight gave her a small smile under her reddened and tired eyes. “Yes,” she said weakly, “of course. I'm … sorry for the bawling.”

Dash smiled softly at her. “No, it's fine.”

“It's just that this has been gnawing on me for so long, eating me up from the inside, that -”

Dash planted another kiss on her lips, causing them both to close their eyes and Twilight's body to go limp. After they broke the kiss they kept their eyes closed and Dash rested her forehead against Twilight's. “Really, it's okay. I understand.” In truth, however, Dash knew as well as Twilight that she was far from understanding what Twilight had felt, but she accepted the comforting words and pushed that issue away for another time.

“So …” Twilight gulped, but keeping her eyes closed, almost fearing the response, “do you feel the same?”

“I don't know,” Dash said, upon which Twilight expected another wave of sadness rolling in. “I don't know if I can call it 'love',” Dash continued. “I've had girlfriends before. One or two. And I thought I knew love.” Dash took a deep breath and opened her eyes, shifting her position so that Twilight would open hers, too. She looked deeply into the unicorn's eyes for a moment. “I've just never felt anything like this before.”

This was enough for Twilight. She knew now that Rainbow loved her or was at least close to it, even if she did not know it or could not admit it to herself. A wide smile was showing on her face as she leaned forward and finally gave Dash a kiss of her own. They held the kiss for as long as their lungs could support their efforts, Twilight rolling onto Dash for a while, but eventually broke it and lay on their sides again, their foreheads once more pressed against each other. Twilight pulled Dash's body closer to herself. “How long?” she asked quietly.

Dash understood what she had meant. “Second session, I think.”

Twilight laughed quietly. “I knew there was something odd about your behavior after that.”

“Hehe. Yeah, at first I thought I was sick or something. A side effect from the treatment. You?”

Twilight sighed deeply. “I can't really give you one specific point in time. But it's been a few months now, actually. Four or five.”

“Five months?” Dash repeated and looked up at Twilight. “Why didn't you say anything?”

Twilight now also lifted her head and looked sadly into Dash's eyes. “How would you have reacted?” Seeing the realization on Dash's face she continued. “See? That's why I didn't tell you.” She gulped. “I don't think I could have handled rejection.”

“Well,” Dash said with a wide smile, “we have a happy ending now, don't we?”

Twilight giggled softly and returned Dash's smile. “Yes, we do.” She planted a short kiss on the pegasus' lips. “Although I don't hope this is an end.”

Dash laughed. “Oh, believe me. It's far from it.” With that they nuzzled each other and resumed their embrace, the purple unicorn resting her head on Dash's and listening to the calm rhythm of her breath.

Twilight was the first to speak again after a few minutes. “Rainbow?” she asked.

“Hm?” came the answer from the mare in her forelegs.

“I don't feel like standing up,” Twilight said with a chuckle.

“Hehe. Me neither.”

“So what do we do now?”

“I have an idea.” Dash rolled on top of Twilight, giving her a playful grin. “You just have to hold on tight.”

Twilight knew what she was planning. “Are you sure you can manage both of us with your weak muscle?”

“Sure I can. That little crash earlier was nothing. I can find my balance.”

“Well, if you're sure. I trust you.”

“You just handle the doors and I'll get us up there in no time.”

Twilight wrapped her four legs tightly around her and together they took off, both of them laughing at first. They toppled in the beginning and Dash quickly began panting and sweating, but they steadily made their way up the stairs and into Twilight's room, the unicorn magically closing the door behind them.

Chapter 6

Twilight and Rainbow Dash had spent the time until evening in the library's bedroom, lying on the bed, cuddling, kissing, telling each other secrets about themselves and simply wallowing in the pleasure of their partner's company with Twilight's favorite music playing in the background. Right now Dash was lying on top of Twilight, forelegs wrapped around the purple neck, and staring intently into her indigo eyes, while Twilight's forelegs went around Dash's body, her hooves meeting over her wings.

“How do you think the others will react?” Dash asked.

“Hm. Well, I know Rarity won't have a problem with us.”

Dash laughed shortly. “Yeah. I went to her for advice before I came here.”

“You did?” Twilight asked with a grin. “You actually asked for advice. What would Rainbow Dash have needed help with?”

Dash narrowed her eyes. “Ha ha. But that's what she asked me, too.”

“Well, what did she tell you?”

“Hehe. She actually told me that I should kiss you as soon as you opened the door.” Twilight began to giggle under Dash. “A big, long, sloppy kiss, she said.” Both ponies broke into laughter.

“So that's why you kept staring at my mouth!” Twilight exclaimed and resumed her giggling.

“Hehe. Yeah. I wasn't exactly subtle, was I?”

“Not in the slightest. I've never seen you so nervous.”

“Probably because I've never been so nervous.”

“Aww. But you are so adorable when you're insecure.” Twilight lowered her hoof and rubbed Dash's cheek with it.

“You know, you're the only pony I'll ever let me call that.”

“Really? Well then, I'll have to make good use of that, won't I?”

“Don't overdo it,” warned Dash and gave Twilight a quick kiss. “But what I actually meant was how they'll react when they find out that we're …” Dash's voice trailed off.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “That we're … what?”

“Fillyfoolers,” Dash nearly forced out. “Shouldn't that be an issue?”

Twilight's eyes widened a little. “I don't know. Should it?”

“I don't know,” Dash repeated. “I mean I've been teased in flight school after I got my cutie mark and when I lived in Cloudsdale for some time, but not really since I moved here.”

Twilight smiled up at her new girlfriend. “Come here,” she said softly and pulled Dash's head down into a long kiss and felt Dash's body become weaker over hers. “See?” she asked, after pulling her lips away, while Dash was regarding her with a dreamy smile. “Did that feel wrong?” Dash slowly shook her head. “You can't argue against nature, Rainbow.” She pulled Dash around so that they we're both lying on their sides and gave her another short kiss. “I love you and that's all that should matter.”

The smile on Dash's face got wider. “Uhm, what was that?”

“I said I love you, Rainbow,” Twilight repeated also with a wide smile and gave the pegasus another kiss.

Dash's expression changed into a grin. “I'm sorry, can you repeat that?”

Twilight now pressed her lips forcefully against Dash's. “I love you,” she whispered and gave her another kiss. “I love you.” Another, this one next to Dash's mouth. She pressed her chest against Dash's and could feel the blue mare's heartbeat rising. “I love you.” Another on the cheek, heating up the cyan face. “I love you.” A kiss next to the eye, and Dash pulling in a ragged breath. “I love you.” Her last kiss, this one under the ear, causing Dash's wings to tremble shortly. “I'll always love you,” she whispered directly into Dash's ear. Her wings closed around Twilight’s body and the pegasus pulled her back to eye level and into a tight embrace.

“You know,” Dash said quietly into the unicorn's mane, “I can't shake the feeling that you might love me.”

Twilight began giggling and nuzzled Dash's cheek before looking into her rose eyes again. “Those were for all the times I didn't say it. All the times I've been to scared and afraid of what might happen.”

“Wow. This has really been nagging on you, hasn't it?” Twilight closed her eyes and nodded sadly in response. “Do you … wanna talk about it?”

Twilight slowly shook her head, smiling. “No,” she said and opened her eyes. “Right now I only want happy thoughts. We can talk about it later if you want.”

“Happy thoughts, huh? I think I can do that.” Twilight looked at her expectantly with raised eyebrows. “Hey, what's blue and smells like red paint?”

Twilight began giggling softly. “That's not what I meant,” she said and gave Dash's shoulder a bump with her hoof.

“Oh, come on. What's blue and smells like red paint?” Dash insisted.

Twilight sighed. “I don't know?”

“Blue paint.”

Twilight started laughing louder than she intended and rolled onto her back and out of the pegasus' embrace. “Th-That's … s-so … s-s-stupid,” she brought out between breaths.

“Yep,” Dash said to herself and retracted her wings to the sides of her body. “Gets them every time.”

Eventually the laughing stopped and Dash shifted over to Twilight, lifted herself on top of the unicorn again and once more slung her forelegs around her neck.

“So …” Dash started and gave Twilight a short kiss. “Why do you … you know?”

Twilight released a short breath. “Why do I what?” she asked, smiling like in pure bliss.

“Love me.” Dash said with a hint of anticipation in her voice. “Why do you love me?”

“Hmm. I don't know if I can point to one reason specifically.” Twilight looked away in thought, but quickly faced Dash again. “Well, for starters, I think you're the most beautiful pony I've ever met.”

Rainbow Dash was trying her hardest to contain her laughter. “No, seriously,” she said after a while.

“I mean it,” Twilight stressed.

“How could you even compare me to somepony like Rarity?”

“Oh, you don't have to cover yourself in makeup, style your mane or wear fancy dresses to be pretty. You have a whole other kind of beauty.” Twilight saw the incredulous look on Dash's face. “Don't believe me? Okay, let's start with your hair. Other ponies' usually have just one color. They can style it, make it shine in the light, but that doesn't change a thing to me. They're still monotone and boring. Yours on the other hoof simply has every color.” She slowly ran a hoof through the perplexed Dash's mane and considered each of its hues. “It's a rolling sea of red, magenta, orange, yellow, green, cyan, deep blue, violet and purple. The way it flows in the wind, the colors mixing with one another-” she closed her eyes as if she was remembering a particular scene, “-the sunlight and even the moonlight reflecting off of it, especially when it's still slightly wet from kicking clouds.” She sighed deeply. “It's just the most marvelous display of colors I can imagine.”

Twilight opened her eyes and looked into Dash's own with excitement and adoration. “And your eyes. Oh, I could write whole books about your eyes. I could lose myself in them, just lying here and studying their depths, imagining the places they would take me. They promise adventure, excitement and the most amazing time of my life.” She stopped her monologue for a few moments in which she simply stared, absorbed, into Dash's rose colored eyes before resuming her speech. Her eyes travelled further down Dash's body, as did her hoof. “Now, your wings.”

“Uhm, my wings?” Dash asked. “But you made one of them.”

Twilight blinked, not having expected to be interrupted. She quickly looked the pegasus in the eyes. “Oh, no. I only helped regrow it. I just took care of the little details and gave shape to what was already there, under the surface-” her eyes found the new wing again, “-waiting to be released.” She slid her hoof between Dash's body and the wing tucked at its side and gently pressed against it. Dash understood the instruction and dramatically spread both of her wings to their full length, watching Twilight take a deep breath in amazement.

“They're the most magnificent set of wings I've ever seen,” she continued, her hoof smoothly tracing the limb of the newly grown wing. “I can only imagine the places you could go with them, the speeds you could reach. While I was shaping it I felt their strength and firmness. And they have to be, seeing as they're driven by powerful muscles.” Her hoof found the side of Dash's chest again and the pegasus gave her wings a waft, but not enough to lift both of them off the bed. Twilight simply chuckled and said, “you have the body of a true athlete, Rainbow.”

“Just wait until my other muscle grows back, too,” Dash said quietly, causing Twilight to lock eyes with her again. “I'm going to take you to the stars.”

Twilight smiled softly and leaned upward. “I can't wait,” she whispered into Dash's ear and gave her another kiss on the lips. She sighed and continued her monologue. “And now we come to the best part,” she said with a grin and both of her hooves grabbed the pegasus' rear, causing Dash's eyes to widen and her wings to jerk up tall in the air. “Your flank,” Twilight continued and closed her eyes. “Oh, I'm not gonna lie. I've had dreams about that flank. I feel like I could spend hours just staring at it and thinking about the things I would do if we were alone. And … well, to be completely honest I have done exactly that.” Twilight's cheeks were heating up and becoming slightly red. “Many times.”

Rainbow Dash closed her mouth and began collecting herself, blinking several times. “Uhm, we are alone,” she said with a playful smile.

Twilight returned the smile. “Yes we are,” she said, wrapped her forelegs around her lover's neck and pressed her lips against Dash's. She rolled them both over on the side and continued the passionate kiss, stroking her mane and pushing her body against the pegasus'. Eventually they broke apart, both of them breathing somewhat heavily. Twilight slid her lower hoof under and past her neck and rested her head on her leg, while gently caressing Dash's cheek with her other hoof. “But that's just one reason and by far not the biggest,” she continued her answer. “I don't think I can even find words for how I love your personality. Not now, anyway.”

Twilight paused and saw that Rainbow Dash was about to say something, but she quickly cut her off. “But the biggest reason I have for loving you is: I simply do. I'm sorry, it's not something I can explain or analyze critically. When you're not with me I feel like there's something missing, something that needs to be there to make it all complete. I just want to be close to you, kiss you; feel your touch, your heartbeat and your breathing; hear you brag about your newest stunt or just lie here and fall asleep next to you, knowing that you'll still be there in the morning when I wake up.” Dash had a stunned look on her face. “I hope that answers your question,” she said with a chuckle.

“Wow,” Rainbow Dash said. “I don't know if I can tell you how I feel like that. I mean I've been trying to think of something, anything, but-” she took a small pause in which she looked away in thought before looking at Twilight again, “-every time I try to describe you in my head, the only words I can think of are 'cool' and 'amazing'.” Dash's voice showed a hint of desperation.

“Oh, it's fine, Rainbow, really. I know talking isn't one of your strong suits,” Twilight giggled.

“But I want to tell you so badly, show how much I want to be with you-”

Twilight had put a hoof on Dash's mouth. “You don't have to. Not now. Take your time to think if you feel you need to. All I want to hear from you now is that I can trust you, that you'll be there for me just like I'll always be there for you. Can you promise me that?” She removed her hoof from Dash's mouth.

Dash gave her a determined “Yes.” Her expression left Twilight no room for doubt.

Twilight gave her a loving smile and placed her head on Dash's chest, wrapping her forelegs around her. “Thank you,” she said. It was not nighttime yet - the sun was just beginning to set - but right now there was nowhere else she wanted to be. She was finally with the filly she loved and nothing in the world could take that away from her. All she wanted to do now was to simply lie there and listen to her new lover's heartbeat until she could fall asleep.

The soft music was beginning to fill the room, both ponies listening in silence. Eventually the song changed, Twilight recognizing it immediately. “Hmmm,” she moaned, “one of my favorites.”

“I think I know that song,” Dash said. “It kinda fits our situation, doesn't it?” Twilight only hummed in agreement and began silently mouthing the lyrics.

The thoughts of yesterday forgotten,
I like the way this new skin feels.
Bring me splinters of tomorrow,
Collect the parts where I win.

“Hey, I forgot to ask,” Dash began. “What happened to Spike? Shouldn't he be here?”

“Sleepover with the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Twilight answered with a tired voice.

“Heh, wonder what they're getting into.”

Concrete breath and dust filled tears,
A one way ride to inner peace,
I never thought I'd join the others

“You know what Twilight?” Dash asked in a resolved tone.

“Hm?” came the quiet response.

“… I think I love you, too.”

Twilight shifted her body closer to her and moved her head higher up Dash's chest. “I know,” she said and closed her eyes.

Dash gave her a kiss on the head shortly behind her horn. With an idyllic smile she resumed her pondering over how she could show her affection to Twilight.

Dawn of a new day
Never looked … as good as this.

~*~

Rainbow Dash woke up early the next morning with the sun barely above the horizon. She saw that she was still holding Twilight, but they were lying on their sides with the unicorn facing away from her. It was not unusual for the flyer to wake up that early and normally she would have just drifted back to sleep, but now she tried to stay awake so she could better enjoy the sight and the feeling of holding Twilight close to her. She shifted her position slightly and draped a wing over the unicorn. Last night she had not gotten further in her search for how to express herself to Twilight.

The only new thought she had, besides 'cool' and 'amazing', was 'absolutely awesome' - not very impressive in her opinion. But seeing her wing covering the purple mare - that was when the idea hit her. She knew how fast she could forget even important things and she would have tried to find something to write it down. How hard could it be to find a pen and paper in a library, after all? But she also knew that it was important for Twilight to be there when she woke up, even if it was only today, and she did not want to risk upsetting her. So she just kept to refining the idea and repeating it in her head, not moving from her embrace of the unicorn.

Eventually Twilight woke up. She yawned and saw blue forelegs around her and felt a soft wing covering her under the blanket and the familiar sensation she had been experiencing all yesterday evening returned to her stomach. She turned around and was greeted by a beaming smile.

“Good morning,” Dash cheered and gave her a short kiss.

“Mmph! Morning,” Twilight gave her a sleepy smile,h eyes still half closed. “How long have you been awake?”

“Oh, about an hour, I guess.”

Twilight giggled and gave Dash a soft hit on the shoulder with her hoof. “You didn't have to wait for me.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to. Besides I got the most awesome idea and I just had to tell you before I forget it.”

”Oh? What is it?”

Rainbow Dash explained the idea to her. Twilight was surprised at first and then incredibly touched, but also a bit concerned. What Dash had in mind seemed oddly fitting, but still somewhat hasty to Twilight.

“Do you think you can do it?” Dash asked her.

“Sure I can do it,” Twilight said carefully. “But I might not be able to reverse it.”

“Why would I want to reverse it?”

“Doesn't that seem a little rash to you?”

Dash sighed. “Twi, I've spent the last hour thinking about it. I want this. You said yourself that I'm not that good with words, but I want to show how much I want to be with you. I want the whole world to know about it.”

Twilight now also let out a sigh before giving Dash a loving smile again. “Make it official, hm? If that's what you want then yes, we can do it.”

“Thank you!” Dash exclaimed and kissed her again before pulling her into a tight hug.

“Hehe, don't thank me yet. Let's see how it turns out first.”

“Oh, I know it's gonna be awesome.”

~*~

The group of four ponies stood at the entrance to Sugarcube Corner, chatting with each other about the letters they had received from Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

“Do you girls know why they wanted to meet us all here?” Rarity asked.

“I bet Rainbow jus' wants to show us that new wing of hers,” Applejack responded.

“But the letter mentioned a 'surprise',” Fluttershy said into her mane.

“I love surprises!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed and began bouncing up and down, causing Fluttershy to emit a weak “Eep!”

“Well, I reckon we don' have to wait any longer. Here they come,” Applejack said and pointed her hoof at a pair of ponies approaching the group. “Hm. They're walkin' awfully close to each other.”

“Did Rainbow Dash just rub her cheek on Twilight's?” Rarity asked nopony in particular as a smile crept onto her lips that none of the others noticed.

“Oh, look how happy they are. They're laughing!” Pinkie Pie proclaimed.

Rarity chuckled to herself. “That looks like more than simple laughing, my dear.”

“What's that on Dashie's wing?” Pinkie Pie pointed at Rainbow Dash’s side, ignoring Rarity’s comment.

“The other one has it too,” Fluttershy said looking up.

“Hm. Could they be something like casts?” Rarity proposed.

“On both sides?” Applejack asked her with a raised eyebrow.

The two ponies finally reached the group. “Hi girls!” Twilight exclaimed brightly as she and Rainbow Dash approached.

“Heya!” Dash said and waved her hoof.

“Well you’re sure lookin' happy, sugarcube.” Applejack said with a grin. “Something good happened, I reckon?”

“You betcha!” Dash said and jumped happily up and down. “I can finally fly again!”

“Well, don't keep us waiting, dear,” Rarity said. “Show us.”

“Uhm,” Twilight started and pawed the ground, looking at Dash and then the others again. “There is something else I would like to tell you all first.”

Dash groaned beside her. “Come on, Twi. What difference does it make if we tell them or they just see it?”

A small sigh escaped Twilight. “Yeah, I guess you're right. Go on, then, show them,” she said with a smile and bumped Dash’s shoulder with her own.

“Woohoo!” Dash exclaimed, spread her wings and took to the air.

She performed a loop above the group and slowly circled them before coming to a halt, hovering over the position she had just left at Twilight's side. She was careful not to move from her current position so that they could all see the inside of her wings. The group of friends gasped audibly. There, among her usual cyan blue feathers, were also some new, purple feathers. In fact about half the feathers on both wings were the color of Twilight's coat, chosen in a seemingly random pattern. The four ponies were stunned and stared at them with open mouths; Fluttershy had sat down on the ground.

Rarity was the first of them to regain her composure. “They're beautiful,” she said quietly and regarded Dash and Twilight with a beaming smile. “So it worked?”

Dash floated to the ground next to Twilight and wrapped a wing around her, pulling her closer. “Sure did,” she said brightly.

Fluttershy was the next to say something. “So you two are …” she began.

“Sure are,” Dash exclaimed, causing Twilight to blush as she nuzzled the purple mare.

Applejack looked confused from the two ponies to a happily smiling Fluttershy. “What?” she asked and turned to a beaming Rarity. “What's happenin'? I don' get it.”

“Ugh, Applejack.” Rarity groaned and rubbed her forehead with her hoof. “Can't you see?” She pointed her hoof at Twilight and Dash while looking at the farmer. “They're a couple now.”

Applejack raised her eyebrows and turned her head towards them. Twilight was resting her head against Dash's while looking at her with a blush and a lowered head. Dash was wearing a winning smile as if she had just performed another sonic rainboom in front of them. “Well Ah'll be …” the farmer started as a grin appeared on her face as well. “How'd that happen?”

“Oh, I'm so happy for you Twilight,” Fluttershy said, brightly smiling at the purple unicorn. “And for you, Dash, of course,” she added.

“You know what this calls for,” Pinkie Pie exclaimed and began bouncing around the group.

“Lemme guess,” Applejack chuckled. “A party?”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! A big party with cake and music and streamers and dancing and punch and friends and candy and more friends and more candy!” She suddenly stopped, gasped and looked at Dash with big eyes. “Did your trail change color, too? Has it more purple in it now?”

Dash looked at Twilight with an irritated expression, which Twilight only returned. “Uhm, I don't know,” she said slowly and looked back at the bubbly mare.

“It's unlikely, but it could be. I don't know how your trail forms,” Twilight said with a look at Dash.

“I haven't flown fast enough yet,” Dash continued. “My muscle is still a little weak on this side.” She rubbed her side with the new wing on it.

“Well, don't overexert yourself now, darling,” Rarity said, “or you might injure something else.”

Dash waved her hoof. “Don't worry. I'll take it easy. Besides, I've got the best nurse in the world right now.” She planted a kiss on Twilight's cheek, causing her to giggle.

“I bet that's a mighty interesting story you two have to tell,” Applejack said. “Care to share it?”

Both ponies looked at each other briefly. “Sure,” Twilight said. “If we can leave out some details,” she added with a chuckle.

“Oh, but of course,” Rarity replied. “But let's not do it out here. We can have it much more comfortable inside.” Her horn glowed and the door to Sugarcube Corner opened.

Pinkie Pie bounced in first, followed by Fluttershy. When Applejack and Rarity got to the door at the same time, the farmer took a step back, smiled at Rarity and stretched out a hoof. “After you, my lady,” Applejack said.

“Oh, thank you, dear,” Rarity proclaimed somewhat surprised and gracefully trotted inside.

After Applejack entered the bakery Twilight and Rainbow Dash stopped short of the doorstep. “Phew, that could have gone worse,” Twilight said.

“Yeah,” Dash replied scratching her head. “I half expected Applejack to be … disappointed.”

“Applejack? Why?”

“Well, I've always thought she kinda … likes me.”

Twilight was laughing now. “Don't be silly, Rainbow.”

“Hey, what's that supposed to mean?”

“Don't you know? She's with Rarity.”

Dash was dumbfounded. “Rarity?” she repeated. “But … Why? How?”

“Do you remember their trip to the rodeo some time ago?”

“You're kidding me, right?” Dash asked, to which Twilight shook her head. “That was months ago! How didn't I notice anything?”

Twilight suppressed a witty answer as a voice called them from inside the building. “Are you two comin' inside now?” It was Applejack. “You better not be makin' out out there.”

“We're coming,” Twilight called inside.

Suddenly Pinkie Pie appeared at the entrance, took the new couple by their hooves and dragged them inside. “Come on, now,” she exclaimed. “You have to tell us everything.”

More laughter emanated from inside the building until the door to Sugarcube Corner closed itself with a magical shimmer.

Chapter 2

There was a knock on the library door and Twilight looked up from the textbook Nurse Redheart had given her. “Coming,” she called, stood up and walked over to the door and opened it. She was greeted by a friendly smile from Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, there,” the pegasus said.

“Hi, Rainbow,” she replied and smiled as well. “You're early.” It was Saturday afternoon and they had set the time for their first session to 5 pm, but the watch hoof had just barely passed the 4 o'clock mark.

“Yeah,” Dash said with a shy smile, an absolutely adorable sight to the unicorn. “I guess I couldn't wait.”

Twilight chuckled. “It's okay. Come on in.” She stepped back and towards the couch in front of the fireplace, followed by Dash who had closed the door behind her. “I didn't want to start until the library closed, but I don't think there's going to be another customer showing up today.”

“Can't you close the library anytime you want?”

Twilight thought about it for a moment. “I suppose I could. But that wouldn't be fair, now, would it? It's my job after all.”

“Twi, it's the weekend,” Dash insisted with a small laugh. “Most ponies don't even work on weekends. You need to learn to relax.”

Relax when you’re coming over? Twilight thought. “So, do you want to start right away? Or do you want me to explain what I'll need to do?”

“If you think I'll understand it.” Twilight had an unsure look on her face, but Dash only chuckled softly. “Don't worry, I'm not offended, really,” she continued, to which Twilight gave her an apologetic smile. “I know you live for this stuff and I actually don't care about all that magic and science or whatever it is, as long as it works. It is gonna work, right?”

“Oh, yeah, totally. I've got it all under control,” she said hastily and bumped her chest with her hoof. I'm making a foal of myself in front of her, she thought

Dash just gave her an amused smile. “So what's the plan?”

Twilight was irritated. “I thought you didn't want me to explain …”

“No,” Dash cut her off and waved a hoof. “I mean the general plan. Like a schedule?” she proposed at the helpless look on Twilight's face.

“Oh, you mean why we need several sessions.” The pegasus nodded at her. “Right. We haven't talked about that, yet.” She pulled her blackboard that had been standing off to the side in front of the fireplace and flipped it over. The front side was now showing a series of anatomical drawings on the top half, which might as well have been hieroglyphs to Rainbow Dash, as well as a list of planned events with dates behind them. “The book from Nurse Redheart only described the procedure of regrowing various body parts and organs. Muscles, bones, skin and such. Its descriptions are very detailed and I copied some of the anatomical drawings from other books. But it's only a reference book; I had to devise a plan for your treatment myself.”

Twilight cleared her throat and pointed at the first date on the list. “Today is the first session. It's not going to be that straining for us, since I'm just going to assess the damage and try to … secure the … imprints of your wing, so that it will still be … fresh next week.” She was again struggling to find words a laypony would understand, but only got a blank stare from Dash. Twilight sighed. “Today you're just going to lie on the couch, while I do some magic and fiddle around in your head a bit.” Twilight felt a shiver run down her back at her last words. That was not how she wanted to say it.

“See, that I understand.” Dash smiled happily at her. “But that fiddling in my head part? It sounds a bit dangerous.”

“Don't worry, Rainbow. I'll be gentle,” she said with a coy smile. She knew she could not really do any damage, not that she would ever try to.

“Alright,” Dash said with some hesitation, “I trust you.”

Twilight's heart sped up at those words and she took a deep breath. She returned her attention to blackboard. “Like I said, it won't be that exhausting and shouldn't take long, either. About 15, maybe 20 minutes.”

“Okay. And after that?”

“After that? Well, I've made some dinner for myself. You're invited … if you want to, that is,” she said, now looking at the ground.

“Uh … sorry. I already made plans with Pinkie.” Dash looked irritated. “But I can stay next time,” she added with a friendly smile.

“Yeah, of course.” Twilight kicked herself mentally. Stupid filly, she told herself.But, hey, she said ‘yes’ to next time. Could have gone worse.

“But I actually meant what's gonna happen next week.”

“Oh, right. Well, next week we're going to need dinner afterwards,” she laughed. “The second session next weekend and the third one in two weeks will require the most energy from us. We will regrow the bone and muscle tissue first, together with the skin layers and coat on it. And in two weeks we'll add the feathers,” she finished with a smile towards Dash.

“Is it gonna hurt?” Dash asked with a streak of worry on her face.

“No, I'll make sure of that.” Twilight gave her a confident smile. “You don't even have to do anything, really. Your body will do all the work for you.”

“Seems easy enough. But why are these sessions all a week apart?”

“Well today's exercise won't need that much magic from me or any energy from you, so theoretically we could continue tomorrow.” She saw a shimmer of hope in Dash's eyes. “But I haven't read up on the therapy that far yet and didn't really have enough time to prepare. A wing is a lot more complex than a small dragon scale. I'd just feel safer if we waited.”

“And what about -” Dash started.

“I'm too busy on workdays,” she interrupted the pegasus. “And using that much magic on two days in a row is not safe. I'm really sorry, Rainbow. You'll have to wait a week before we can continue.”

Dash sighed before lifting her head with a comforting smile. “You don't need to apologize. I should be thanking you, actually, for doing this.” She drew the unicorn into a hug. “So … thank you. You're the most awesome friend.”

Twilight's eyes went wide and her heart went wild at the pegasus' embrace. She wanted to say something, but found herself unable to. Instead she just returned the hug and enjoyed the short time she was that close to Dash.

Dash let her go and they stepped back onto all four hooves. “You still haven't told me about the last session.”

Twilight tried to compose herself. “Hm?” she asked in her slight daze.

“The last one on here,” Dash said and pointed at the blackboard. She stepped closer to it and began to read the note Twilight had written for the fourth session. “What's it say? 'Refinement & checkup'?”

“Oh,” Twilight exclaimed. “Yeah. We might not need that one, but it's better to be prepared for it. If we do, I'll tell you about it.”

“Okay, if you say so.” Dash turned around to her. “Now … let's do this?” she asked with a grin.

“Let's do this.” Twilight returned the grin.

“What do you need me to do?”

“You just lie down on the couch and try to relax.”

“Alright. Anything I can do to help?”

Twilight thought for a moment. “Well, happy thoughts about what you lost are supposed to help,” she offered. “Try remembering how you used your wing.”

“Relaxing and thinking about flying,” Dash exclaimed. “Nothing easier than that.” She saluted Twilight and jumped onto the couch. “I was born for this.” She stretched herself and assumed a comfortable position, her eyes closed and a bright smile on her lips.

Twilight giggled like a little filly at that action and the adorable display of the happily smiling Rainbow Dash on her couch. She moved closer to the couch and sat down on her haunches in front of it, her head now near Dash's, only slightly higher. She tried to calm down, closed her eyes, took deep breaths and began to build up energy in her horn. “Try not to fall asleep, please,” she said quietly to Dash. With one last deep breath she delved into the cyan pegasus' mind.

Twilight had practiced this spell on Spike before Dash had come by. The baby dragon's mind was fairly organized. She had found sections about food, memories, friends, one entire section for Rarity and what seemed like a catalogue of most of the books in the library. She had wanted to become familiar with interfering with someone else's thoughts and get a feeling for moving around in another mind. But none of her work could have prepared her for what she found in the pegasus' head.

Rainbow Dash's head was a mess. Seemingly random thoughts were surrounding her as Twilight floated through the vast space her own mind created to resemble Dash's. Images, shapes, smells and memories were moving past her. Most of them were connected to flying – she could see clouds and the sun, feel the wind brushing through her mane and tail and surges of adrenalin from the high speeds her friend preferred. Then she saw what she was looking for. There, behind a huge memory of a sonic rainboom, she saw a glowing thread of Dash's soul. It looked like a magnified nerve ending to Twilight, only the bright cyan color of it breaking her analogy. As she followed its length the threads branching off of it made the whole system look like a cluster of countless nerves to her.

Thankfully, the pegasus was thinking about flying and hopefully concentrating on memories of her lost wing, because those strands of her soul connected to flying were lit up, seemingly having a glowing liquid pumped through them as auras of light were showing on their surface, travelling in pulses along them. Nonetheless, those that did light up made up more than half of what Twilight could see of the network. Rainbow Dash was a born flyer, nearly every single fiber of her being had to do with flying. Not finding the glowing lights particularly helpful, Twilight focused on the threads and studied the thoughts flowing through them. She found that the one she had been following was mostly about weather – clouds, rain, thunder and lightning.

It would be so easy for her now to find out what Dash thought about her, if she could possibly return her feelings. No. That was not why she was in here. She would not forgive herself for abusing her position and betraying Dash's trust like that, even if the pegasus would never know about it. She had a mission and needed to carry it out. She randomly examined nearby glowing veins and moved on through the network. Eventually she found a thread connected to Dash's memories about her body and followed along its path. Eventually she found the part of it she was looking for. She saw the lights reach a particular point in it, pass it, but glowing weaker after it. She moved close to that point and saw small tears and cuts in its vicinity, the glowing liquid seeping out through them and evaporating into the empty space between the strands of Dash's mind. Twilight stopped and looked along the thread towards its end. It was darker than the others. Where they had a bright, lively color, this one seemed dry, the memories at the ends of its branches beginning to fade.

She returned her attention to the damaged part. At first Twilight did not know what to do, but then she remembered that this was not really Dash's mind, only a representation of it. So it probably did not matter if she knew what she was doing. All that counted was the thought. She concentrated on the cuts first, healing them one by one with her magic. Next were the wider tears showing along its length. She willed each of them shut, pushing the fabric of whatever these veins were made of together and sealing them with a flare of her magic. She circled the formerly damaged area one last time, scanning for anything she could have missed, and looked towards the end of the thread again. The lights did not fade anymore and the color was beginning to lighten up again. The memories regained their … opacity? Twilight thought. She would have shrugged if it was possible for her to do so in this place. With one last look at the massive network of cyan blue – her favorite color – Twilight closed her ethereal eyes and faded out of the imaginary world.

Twilight took in a deep breath as she regained control of her physical body again. She opened her eyes and saw that she was still sitting in front of the couch and Dash was still lying on it with her eyes closed. Her eyes traced along her own body to make sure that nothing was missing and prodded various parts of it with her hooves. Eventually she put her hooves to the ground again and looked up at Dash. “Rainbow,” she said. “Dash, wake up.” She tapped the pegasus on her head.

“Hm? What?” Dash yawned. “Oh.” She stretched again and began to sit up. “You're done already?” Apparently she had almost been falling asleep. A look at the clock told Twilight that she had been combing through Dash's mind for roughly 20 minutes. Dash looked down at her side and a look of disappointment entered her face. “I don't see any difference,” she said towards Twilight.

“I told you I'd just be repairing the damage in your mind, so that your memories would still be fresh in the next session,” Twilight explained.

“So that's what you meant.” Dash traced a hoof along the stump at her side. “Hey,” she exclaimed, “the scar is gone!”

“You're welcome.” Twilight gave her a bright smile.

“I was beginning to like it actually. A bit. It looked kinda badass, hehe.”

Twilight chuckled softly. “Well, sorry, Rainbow. It had to go.” She stood up and examined the stump. “Do you feel anything different?”

Dash also stood up and jumped off the couch. She wore a thoughtful look before raising an eyebrow and closing her eyes. She flapped her remaining wing once and her lips formed a smile.

“Uhm, Rainbow?” Twilight stepped closer to the pegasus. “What is it?”

“It … it's weird.” Dash opened her eyes and looked at Twilight with a surprised expression. “I know my wing is gone.” She turned her head towards her former wing. “I can see it's gone when I look, but,” she closed her eyes again and faced forward, “when I don't look it's like it's still there. I can still feel it, somehow.”

Twilight sighed out of relief. “Yes, I should have warned you. I sort of refreshed your memory, made it seem to your mind like you've never lost it. It sounds to me like you now have a … phantom wing.”

They both chuckled at that name. “A phantom wing, huh? Sounds awesome.”

“It doesn't feel awkward?”

“No.” Dash paused for a moment. “Well, yeah it does, but I guess if I don't really pay attention to it I can feel like I was before.” She gave Twilight a wide grin. “Thank you.”

Twilight did not understand why Dash was so happy about an illusion, but her stomach tingled nonetheless at the sight of the joyful pegasus flapping her wing once more and she returned the smile. “You're welcome.”

“Oh, I can't wait to tell Pinkie. Was there anything else?” she asked, eager to return to her pink friend.

Right. Rainbow has no reason to stay now, does she? Sometimes Twilight cursed the pegasus' insensitive nature, but she could not hate her for it. Oddly it was one of the reasons why she fell for Dash. She always spoke her mind without the restraints politeness would have put on her. Twilight wished she could be that rash, simply shout her secret into the world. But she couldn't. She was too afraid of what might happen. She had only told her secret to one of her friends, the one pony she knew she could trust to keep it. But other than her, nopony knew about it.

“No,” she said and smiled at Dash. “I'm already a bit tired.” Twilight pretended to yawn. Over the last few months she had become quite good at feigning behavior and emotions. “I think I'll just have something to eat and then go to bed.”

“Okay, so …” Dash looked a bit unsure of what to say. “See you next week?”

“Oh, you don't have to come over just for the sessions. You can come by whenever you want.” Twilight hoped Dash would take that offer. The thought of seeing the blue filly more often made her heart jump. “Anytime, I'll probably be here.” It's not like I have much else to do, really.

“Oh, right. Yeah, I might just do that. There's really not much I can do here on the ground.”

Twilight laughed quietly. “As if you would do much in the air.”

“Hey, what's that supposed to mean?”

“Well, what were you doing all day, every day? Every time I ran into you, you were either sleeping on a cloud or in one of AJ's trees.”

“I did my job well enough,” Dash said, faking hurt pride. “You can't blame me for being the fastest at it. Just means more time off. And more time to practice my stunts.”

“Hehe. Sure.” Twilight loved watching the weather pegasus from afar, practicing her stunts. “But it's still three weeks until you can probably fly again.” She started walking the pegasus to the door. “You better find yourself a hobby.”

“Oh, I think Pinkie Pie will keep me busy enough.” Twilight opened the door for her and she trotted outside. “Thanks again, Twi, for doing this.”

Twilight gave her a warm smile. “Anything for a friend,” she said and watched Dash leave, become smaller and eventually turn around a corner and disappear. She closed the door and turned back to the now again empty room. She looked at the couch and the place Dash had lain only moments before, trusting her with the most precious thing any pony has. She sighed deeply and looked at the kitchen door. She did not feel like eating and doubted that that would still change today. She just felt like lying on her bed and wallowing in all too familiar melancholy. She slowly made her way towards the stairs.

She could not blame the blue pegasus for not knowing, for not thinking that Twilight would feel a slight pain in her chest every time she called her a 'friend'. She wanted to be so much more than that, but had only herself to blame for it. There had been many times, many opportunities at which she had been alone with Dash and she could have told her. Opportunities like today, but still not quite the same. Today had been different. Rainbow was coming to her for help; she was exposed and still vulnerable, even if she did not show it to Twilight.

She could have told Dash about her feelings today, but it felt wrong for the unicorn to do so, leaving aside that she would have probably been too scared anyway. Dash was trusting her with her life's passion and to force this onto her at such a time? Twilight could not do it. Yet she felt that she was growing closer to the pegasus. Maybe when this was over and Dash was her old self again they would be close enough that she could finally open herself to the brash mare. But that was still a long way ahead of her. All she wanted to do now was what she usually did in the evenings - thinking about Dash while imagining the things they would do together if only she were brave enough to tell her and lucky enough for the pegasus to give her a chance.