Twilight Sparkle sighed a pitiful sigh. In all her years, she'd held a certain pride in her ability to take a problem she was having and figure out how to fix it. No matter how big or small the problem was, Twilight Sparkle was often the one to turn to for a solution. She organized Winter Wrap-Ups. She solved Discord's riddle. She figured out how to get the Crystal Heart where it needed to be.
So why was something as simple as her wings vexing her so?
She was certainly not a great flier at all just yet, even despite the efforts of her marefriend to teach her. Something like that took time, and she was prepared to put the time in for it. Still, she was certainly better yesterday than she was today. She had clocked herself in at a much lower wingpower today than she had yesterday, and she couldn't figure out why. Her diet was still the same; she shouldn't have gained any weight. Her manecut was still the same, so she should have been fine aerodynamically. She'd even made sure to remember that she was flying against the wind during her speed test yesterday, and took that into account today. Still, the numbers didn't add up. Numbers not adding up was a nightmare for a pony like Twilight, and try as she might, she couldn't find a solution.
"Hey Egghead!"
Rainbow Dash burst into Twilight's room, her sudden entrance causing the papers she'd been studying to be blown about the room. Twilight and Rainbow had only started dating about two weeks ago, a mere week before Twilight had gotten the wings that were causing her such stress. Their pre-existing friendship, though, allowed them to get pretty close pretty quickly, to the point where Rainbow bustling into Twilight's room without even knocking wasn't too unwelcome in normal situations. Of course, in normal situations, Rainbow's entrance might not have scattered research papers around the room. Or maybe it would have, given Twilight's obsession with studying. Either way, Rainbow had entered, papers were scattered, and purple ponies were angry.
Twilight blew the piece of paper that had landed on her forehead out of the way, then observed the mess. "Thanks, Rainbow," she said, ears falling flat. Rainbow looked around the room at the scattered papers. It didn't take her long to put two and two together.
"Whoops!" Rainbow said, starting to gather the papers up. "Sorry about that, Sparkles. I was just looking forward to seeing you and all."
Twilight managed to smile a bit. It wasn't common for Rainbow to apologize or to say anything sappy. The lack of anypony else to witness those two events probably played a part in her decision.
"It's alright, Rainbow," Twilight said, gathering the rest up with her magic. "I'm just a little stressed is all."
"About what?" Rainbow asked, glancing down at the paper in her hooves. "What's all this about wingpower and flight times? You training for a race?"
"Not exactly," Twilight responded, carefully putting the pages back in order. "I noticed that I wasn't flying as well today, and I have no idea why."
"Well hey, flying's my thing!" Rainbow said with a smile. "Lemme see what I can come up with." She flew up next to Twilight and took a hold of one of her wings, causing Twilight to jump. Rainbow only spent about five seconds looking at her wings before giving her solution.
"Well here's your problem!" Rainbow said, pointing to a few feathers. "You haven't preened these babies once, have you?"
"Preened?" Twilight asked, a curious look crossing her face. Rainbow facehooved.
"I thought you knew everything!" Rainbow laughed, causing Twilight to exhale a little sigh of frustration. "Here, I'll show you what to do. My wings need a little preening anyway."
Twilight's eyes twinkled. She was going to learn something! She shifted her position, sitting to face Rainbow. Her expression dripped with eagerness, a look that briefly intimidated the pegasus.
"Well..." Rainbow said, smiling awkwardly. "Just watch me, alright?" She spread her left wing and folded it in front of her, beginning to scan it. "When you're flying around a lot, some of your feathers are gonna get bent and damaged. You keep those in, it's gonna affect your flying performance. Just look around for damaged feathers — like this one here — and give 'em a little pull." She closed her teeth around the feather in question and gave it a tiny tug, loosening it from its home.
"I see..." Twilight mused, watching intently. She went as far as to take notes as Rainbow finished the rest of her wing.
"And that's done!" Rainbow said with a smile. "Now you try!"
Twilight looked at her wing. She hummed to herself, rubbing the back of her mane with a hoof.
"...Do you think you can do it to my wing?" Twilight asked. "I'd be able to do it better if I could see how you hunted down the damaged feathers in my own wing." She looked up to Rainbow, whose face had turned a bright crimson.
"You want me to preen you?" Rainbow said, an uncharacteristic waver in her tone.
"I do," Twilight said confidently, completely missing the change in Rainbow's behavior. "Is that a problem?"
"Well..." Rainbow said, scuffing a hoof. "It's just...that's considered kind of an intimate thing in pegasus culture...something that ponies who deeply care about each other do together." The typically-confident pegasus stared down at the ground, a little grin on her face. Twilight, meanwhile, looked mortified.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed. "I should have studied up a bit more on pegasus culture! If you feel uncomfortable about it..."
"No..." Rainbow interrupted. She placed one hoof on Twilight's, looking back up to her. "I mean, I know we've only been going out for a little while...but I'm totally okay with it if you are."
Twilight looked into Rainbow's eyes. It was as if she was seeing a side of her marefriend that she'd never seen before; a side that was willing to let her defenses down just for her. She loved the usual Rainbow, but seeing this side of her was nice.
"I'm more than okay with it," Twilight said, nodding. She stretched her wing out in front of Rainbow. It was a simple gesture, but the joy in Rainbow's face was immeasurable. Rainbow returned Twilight's smile, then began her task. Twilight watched as Rainbow removed feathers one by one, taking note of the fact that the first feather she'd removed had been set to the side.
"All done!" Rainbow said as she finished Twilight's wing off. Twilight looked down at her wing; it looked completely flawless.
"You did a wonderful job, Rainbow" Twilight said with a grin. Then she looked over to the lone feather. "What's that there for?" Rainbow's blush grew more.
"It's something my parents did," Rainbow said, looking embarrassed. "When they started dating and dad thought mom was the one, he set the first feather he preened from her aside and had her tuck it behind his ear, so he'd always have a piece of her with him."
Twilight beamed; it was so uncommon to see Rainbow let her guard down like this. Without another word, she got up and took the first feather in her mouth. She could have used magic, but it felt just right as she leaned over and placed the feather behind Rainbow's ear. She giggled lightly and kissed the blush on Rainbow's cheek.
"Maybe I could preen your wings once I'm good at it," Twilight said. Rainbow gave her a smile and a nod.
