“Here’s to Rainbow Dash, the best Wonderbolt!” Applejack shouted as she raised her cider mug and then took a chug.

The rest of the mane six followed suit while Spike raised a donut then took a bite.

It was a great day for Rainbow Dash. She had passed her history test and made it into the Wonderbolts reserve. She couldn’t have done it without the help of Twilight Sparkle and her other friends.

The gang celebrated that evening with a few ciders and entertainment at the local bar. Pinkie was tons of fun with her celebratory antics.

“I’ve heard of cow tipping but never bothered with it. ‘Cause they never deliver the pizza on time!” Pinkie joked into the mic. The sunglasses wearing bar drummer hit off the ba-da-tish accordingly.

“Pinkie is so funny somepony could get hurt.” Rarity said cynically with a smile.

Rainbow Dash was all laughs and smiles, but she was exhausted from the day of testing. In her back corner booth seat she eventually began to slump to her side softly. Her head abruptly stopped as it made contact with a smooth solid mass. It was inadvertently rested on Twilight’s shoulder. She then got back up straight, looked at Twilight and mildly grinned with a light blush.

“Heh heh, looks like our Wonderbolt has had a long day.” Twilight remarked with a smile.

“Yes my princess.” Rainbow Dash answered with an interesting albeit vague combination of both affection and cynicism.

With the star of the celebration being too tired to continue the gang called it a night and everypony went home.

~~

Surely enough Rainbow went to sleep very happily at her cloud-house. She dreamed of proudly flying in an official Wonderbolts uniform. Her friends were cheering on the ground below as she did maneuvers few flight capable ponies in existence had ever done. Behind her were other pegasi struggling to keep up. When she landed her friends ran up to her with jubilance. Pinkie was in the lead in a cheerleader outfit waving pom poms.

“Yay!” Fluttershy screamed almost as loudly as a normal conversational voice would sound.

Twilight kissed her right cheek and whispered “Nice flying sugar wings.”

Rainbow was a bit surprised by this.

“You know your own heart best.” Said the different, ominous voice of an unseen pony.

Rainbow Dash suddenly awoke with both joy and confusion.

“What kind of dream was that? I know my own heart?” she asked softly aloud.

Rainbow slogged off to the kitchen. After drinking a glass of water she quickly went back to sleep and dreamed of giant donuts and muffins.

The following morning Rainbow Dash had a bowl of Pony-O’s and didn’t think too extensively about the prior night’s dreams. They only crossed her mind once and she shrugged them off.

Rainbow was to meet Twilight to help her learn some dynamics of flying as the two had agreed during the prior day’s celebration. Rainbow felt that Twilight had been rather helpful in getting her through the Wonderbolts’ reserve exam and wanted to return the favor.
~~~~~~~
Twilight still hadn’t mastered some of the complexities of flying since becoming a princess. She wanted to learn some expert level maneuvers. Certainly not too many ponies acquire the ability to fly later in life. Generally one is born a Pegasus and has the biological ability to fly. Otherwise the pony is a member of one of the other two races and unable to fly. It’s usually that simple except in rare cases like becoming an alicorn like Twilight. Twilight’s friends understood this and usually didn’t laugh at her awkwardness when flying. Usually those were the circumstances.
~~~~~~~
Rainbow made her way to the Golden Oak Library to meet Twilight. She whistled as she glided along to her destination. At first she felt like a proud champ training a rookie. She then suddenly felt that she wanted the said rookie to be a champ of almost equal caliber to herself. The emphasis was of course on almost. Perhaps somepony (besides Scootaloo) deserved to have her kind of stamina for some reason, she thought. It was an interesting and affectionate second thought for the typically prideful Rainbow, who usually felt she rightfully left nearly everypony in the dust.

Once Rainbow arrived, she saw Twilight step outside the library and her first dream from the night before suddenly rushed back to her.

“Hi Rainbow Dash! Wanna come inside for a quick cup of tea before we start?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, yeah why not?” Rainbow replied half consciously.

Inside Twilight boiled some water and the tea was quickly readied.

“You can sweeten it with honey or sugar if you like.” Twilight said.

To Rainbow the words sweeten, honey and sugar rolled out of Twilight’s mouth like they were part of a richly enchanting spell. Rainbow tried to downplay it within herself.

“So, looking forward to some fun flying tricks and maneuvers today Twi?” she asked.

“Oh yes, and I have the best flight instructor in Equestria to teach me! Your flying is like something I’ve seen in a dream.” Twilght said cheerfully.

Rainbow felt quite good about that statement. She considered that she was actually genuinely the best and that Twilight’s statement wasn’t mere flattery. Something in her made her feel she at least wanted to be the best if only for Twilight. However, the background of her mind for some reason wanted Twilight to also be good enough to be able to stay close to her. Close for some reason.

In the meanwhile Twilight was also subtly having colorful thoughts around Rainbow she couldn’t quite place. She thought of just how delightfully intriguing Rainbow Dash’s appearance was. Nopony she could readily think of had such a colorful mane and tail. Rainbow also had a somewhat uncommonly athletic body amongst female ponies. That’s not to say ponies in general weren’t frequently athletic. Rainbow was a champion among champions though, and even the oddball tough guy Bulk Biceps looked up to her.

Twilight briefly looked at Rainbow’s right cheek and for some reason felt a very mild tingling sensation in her wings. It was a blissful feeling that quickly evaporated as she refocused her thoughts on the lesson at hoof.

The two then made it to a field suitably sized for takeoff and landing. After a mile or so of basic warm up flying laps, the two were ready for somewhat more advanced training.

“Ok Twi. First I’ll demonstrate this cool corkscrew pattern.” Rainbow Dash said.

Rainbow Dash ascended as if she was the heroic guardian of Equestria herself. Twilight studied Rainbow's form yet again. If there was a heaven up there she was an angel reporting for duty. Her colorful mane and tail whipped in the wind as the sun shone upon her beautiful form. Her wings, legs, flank, and really everything appeared beautifully proportioned in size and muscle mass. For a pony who specialized in magic it was Twilight who seemed to be under a spell herself as she watched the marvel.

Twilight only lightly absorbed the actual maneuver as she watched. Rainbow Dash ascended to the ground level and proudly bowed as if there was a cheering audience. She certainly preformed in a manner worthy of such a gesture.

“Wanna try it now or should I demonstrate again?” Rainbow said with a grin.

“Oh, let me give it a try.” Twilight answered with slight enthusiasm while trying to downplay her Dash-captivated thoughts.

The princess took to the sky and somewhat humorously failed to match the twists and turns as gracefully as Rainbow Dash did. Nevertheless Rainbow visually absorbed the beauty of the alicorn who was flying to the best of her ability. There were only apparently four alicorns like her in Equestria and Rainbow thought of her (understandably) as a rare treasure. She regretted ever calling this beauty an egghead.

Twilight returned to the ground with an awkward grin on her face.

“It’s okay Twi. You haven’t been a flyer for quite so long. We could try another maneuver if you want.” Rainbow Dash said with remarkable empathy.

“Ok. Anything we can do in sync? Twilight asked. “A little hooves on guidance could probably help me.”

“Sure, some low speed obstacle dodging would be easy to do in parallel.” Rainbow answered.

The two then went on to obstacle dodging flight exercises. Rainbow proceeded notably slower than she normally would so Twilight could keep up and observe the proper ways to move. The two ponies were now flying with splendid unity in spite of their differing athletic ability in flight.

After the flight training was done both ponies were tired, but Twilight was noticeably more so. They decided to lie out on the grass to relax for a while. Eventually Rainbow started subconsciously massaging Twilight’s shoulder for no discernable reason.

“Yes. Good. How did you know that shoulder was a little stiff? That’s helping.” Twilight said.

She didn't.

“Oh. I uh, sometimes have stiff shoulders too after a lot of flying.” Rainbow said evasively.

After a few seconds more of massaging Rainbow Dash stopped.

“Well, I’m exhausted. I need to hit the hay Twi. Do you think you have room in your schedule for maybe another hour of flying lessons tomorrow?” Rainbow asked.

“Why yes I do. I stayed up a little late doing research stuff, so with that out of the way I can work in an hour.” Twilight answered.

Twilight returned to the library and Rainbow returned to her cloud house. Both mares were tired but their warm feelings were becoming less subtle within themselves (as much as they buried said feelings).

~~

Rainbow had a few oat chips and went to sleep. She soon had another interesting dream. In it a courier stallion knocked at her door.

“Rainbow Dash? I’m happy to tell you that you’ve won the Equestrian Royal Tropics Sweepstakes. If you accept this you and anypony of your choice will be shipping off to paradise for a week. Anypony! Even a sparkling princess if she’s interested!

“Wow!” Rainbow said with a thrill before she suddenly woke up.

“Buckin’ nuts. Why couldn’t this one have been real?” she said aloud. She stalked off to the kitchen, had a few more oat chips and quickly went back to bed.

The following day Rainbow went off to train Twilight again. They brought Fluttershy along to be cheerleader. Rainbow Dash knew in reality she invited Fluttershy by virtue of her shared ability to fly and thus potentially assist more so than her ability to cheer. The trio made their way to a field on the edge of Ponyville.

“Ok, today we’re going to try acceleration and emergency stops. It is a very important flying concept that could mean the life of a pony. This requires calculation and care, things I know you are an expert with Twilight.” Rainbow said.

“I’ll demonstrate first.”

Rainbow took off like a professional air racer. Her speed made the best archer in the land seem to be firing snails from his bow. After several seconds she slowed down surprisingly gracefully and quickly.

“Arch your wings like this to alter the air flow and you’ll slow down pretty fast.” Rainbow pointed out as she demonstrated.

“Yay!” Fluttershy shouted with enough force to move a very light leaf.

“Ready to try Twilight? You don’t have to go nearly as fast for the sake of practice.” Rainbow asked.

“Ok, sure.” Twilight answered with a smile.

She tried to repeat the process that Rainbow Dash had demonstrated but didn't get very far. The acceleration seemed to be on course, but she quickly lost her balance. She only flung herself out of control and into a muddy puddle before she could adequately arch her wings and apply the brakes.

Rainbow and Fluttershy rushed to her to see if she was ok.

“Twi!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Twi, uh, are you ok?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, good thing this puddle broke my fall.” Twilight answered.

“Omygosh Twilight, I’m glad you’re ok!” Rainbow Dash blurted before she instinctively grabbed the cloth Fluttershy pulled out of her bag. She began wiping Twilight off vigorously to Fluttershy’s surprise.

Once Rainbow made it to Twilight’s well rounded flank region, Twi noted how Rainbow was cleaning her off quite diligently. Though she enjoyed the friendly gesture and somewhat the physical motions of Rainbow’s cleaning, Twilight quickly felt she was clean enough. Plus Fluttershy was watching.

“Thanks Rainbow, I think I’m good.” Twilight said with an awkward smile.

“Oh, yeah. I’m glad you’re ok Twilight.” Rainbow said with a barely visible blush.

“I’m glad too. I think you did well Twi.” Fluttershy added.

“Perhaps we should try this again tomorrow Rainbow Dash? I have some things I want to do.” Twilight said.

“I’m not sure I can make it again tomorrow. I promised Angel we’d go for a picnic.” Fluttershy said.

“Well, that’s ok. Your support really helped today Flutters. Thanks.” Rainbow replied.

“Glad to help. See you later.” Fluttershy said.

“Well Rainbow, it was fun. Almost as fun as a vacation to paradise somewhere with you. See you tomorrow.” Twilight said.

What a coincidence she would mention that.

Just when she got to her cloud home trace thoughts of cleaning the mud soaked princess crossed Rainbow’s mind. Twilight is so beautiful. Her wings are angelic. She noted particularly how that flank was lovely, slightly larger than her own due to a zesty royal diet and Twi being somewhat less athletic than Dash. “Why am I thinking about that?” Rainbow second guessed while snapping out of it just as her wings began to lightly tingle.

~~

Before long it was bedtime and Rainbow Dash dozed off again. During her sleep she dreamed of a trio of attractive mares rapping and dancing.

“Huh, what’s this?” Rainbow said puzzled.

“I’m here to say in a friendly ol’ way. You’ve got a certain passion and it’s here to stay.” The leader began.

“I think you know, though your friends would never guess. She’s the purple T to the lavender S.” The second continued.

“So when you think you don’t know what to do, follow your dreams and they’ll sure come true.” The third finished.

Then the three merged into one dark obscured pony and faded off.

“Yes, they’ll sure come true.” The voice concluded. It sounded vaguely like… Princess Luna.

Rainbow Dash woke up from the dream.

“That was certainly interesting.” Rainbow said to herself.

In seemingly no time Celestia raised the sun and a rooster crowed. It was morning again. It was time for yet another day of flight lessons for Twilight. Rainbow was slightly intrigued of how the purple princess was finding such ample time to take the lessons and with such enthusiasm. Maybe she liked being with Rainbow at least equally as much as the lessons themselves? Friends do tend to savor each other’s presence like that. It was intriguing to ponder in a way.

This time Twilight would be coming to Rainbow’s cloud house. Rainbow wasn’t quite as skillful at tea making, but she prepared some anyway. Twilight arrived in due time.

“Hi Rainbow.” She said

“Hi Twi, come on in for tea.” Rainbow replied.

As Twilight entered she was humming the tune that Rainbow swore she heard in the rap song in her dream. She was amazed but said nothing.

Twi sat down and Rainbow quickly brought the tea. They both took a sip.

"This is excellent Rainbow. You must be quite the tea enthusiast." Twilight remarked.

"Actually, I rarely have tea Twi. I'm glad you like it." She smiled.

"I was thinking we could do some fun reflex drills today. Like apple catching. AJ will probably let us use a basket of apples and a corner of Sweet Apple Acres for the lessons. Beginner level of course." Rainbow chuckled.

The two mares set off to their training ground on the far side of the apple orchard. Their colors showed beautifully over Ponyville as they traversed the sky nearly side by side. They sporadically waved at ponies with mischievous chuckles as they passed. Soon enough trees laden with delicious apples were in sight.

"Here we are. How this works is I fly ahead staggering speeds and drop an apple occasionally without notice. Try to fly below me and catch them one at a time with both hooves. It's a simple reflex test." Rainbow said.

Rainbow grabbed a hoof full of apples and set forward for the first sortie.

"Get ready Twi!" she shouted.

Some semi-synced flight commenced with the two. Rainbow dropped the first apple which Twilight successfully caught. The second was a miss.

"Keep trying Twi." Rainbow said.

The next apple was a catch.

"Good going Twi, keep it up." Rainbow Dash relayed.

Rainbow soon dropped another apple and Twilight attempted to swoop forth and catch it. Somehow her hooves missed entirely and the apple became impaled on her horn. It was remarkable the fruit didn't explode given the relative speed. It was a humorous sight. Twilight slowed down to a hover as apple juice ran down toward her face.

Rainbow looked back and laughed lightly at what she saw. She glided back toward Twilight.

"Ha, that's the apple of your eye huh?" Rainbow asked mischievously. She then rubbed a little of the apple juice that had nearly reached Twi's nose on her hoof and tasted it. "Pretty Sweet."

"Yes you are." Twilight said somewhat quietly.

"Eh?" Rainbow Dash countered.

"The apple juice. Yup." Twilight said, giving it a taste herself before pulling the apple off and tossing it to the ground.

"Well, let's continue a little while. Until we run out of fruit." Rainbow said.

So the exercise continued with relatively no interesting happenings afterward. The humor and subtle tenderness of that little incident certainly didn't escape their minds though. Within a half hour there were no more apples and the exercise ended.

"Well, I think this lesson is over Miss AJ. By that I mean apple juice." Rainbow said with a laugh.

"Yeah, that was kinda funny." Twilight added with a slight chuckle.

"We should take a break tomorrow. Pinkie and the girls will be at Sugar Cube Corner. We could meet them." Rainbow suggested.

"Of course." Twilight agreed.

Both had a warm feeling of mutual indescribable sweetness in the sharing of that small taste of apple. As they parted they felt mildly blissful.

Rainbow's evening went normally. She read a dozen or so pages of a Daring Do Paperback before turning off her lamp and snoozing.

Her dream that night was fairly simple but not without some interesting occurrence.

There were no words. She simply saw purple hooves with a pony behind a curtain making the shape of a heart in sugar. It was incredibly surreal. Rainbow then found herself with a small mound of sugar in front of her somehow. She somewhat cynically did the same in making a heart pattern. She then felt remarkably happy and smiled too.

When Rainbow awoke she felt an inexplicable sense of thrill.

"I know what's going on I think." She said happily.

The training took a hiatus that day as Rainbow and Twilight agreed and the mane six met up at Sugar Cube Corner. Twilight and Rainbow were seated directly across from each other. Pinkie was clowning around balancing appetizer cookies from her nose then eating them as they fell. With Fluttershy typically less than talkative and Rarity marveling at the bakery's new glassware, Applejack was hoping for some conversation.

"Ain't y'all kinda quiet?" Applejack gestured at her friends, especially Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

"Flying lessons are exhausting." Twilight plausibly answered.

"Yeah, they are." Rainbow added and subconsciously gave Twi a light grin.

Soon enough the main course sweets were ready and Mr Cake brought them over on two platters. The girls happily wasted no time getting busy with their pastries.

While everypony else momentarily focused on the food, Rainbow only casually nibbled on her éclair. She found herself casually watching Twilight eat with mild captivation. The beautiful purple unicorn princess levitated a nice medley of sweets one at a time and quickly consumed them. Rainbow noted a donut, a cupcake, and a muffin in that order be consumed with pleasure. A ring of sugary powder lightly graced Twilight's cheeks. The sugar shimmered beautifully.

Twilight must have that "just right" body proportioning metabolism Rainbow thought to herself. It was no wonder Twi has such a shapely flank without the rest of her body being bulky. It's such a beautiful thing she thought with a slight tingle in her wings again.

"Rainbow?" Pinkie interrupted.

"Oh, yeah Pinkie?" A suddenly conscious Rainbow answered.

"Ya gonna finish that éclair?" Pinkie asked.

"Oh, I don't think I can. Have it."

Pinkie Pie then devoured the pastry.

"Mime tho glad youra helpin Twi fly beddar." The pink party pony said with her mouth full.

"Yeah it's fun." Rainbow remarked, concealing her slight feeling of annoyance.

While Rainbow was distracted by Pinkie, Twilight had just finished making a small heart shape with the traces of sugar on the table with her hoof. Rainbow caught it out of the corner of her eye with silent amazement. These coincidences.

"Twi..." she whispered.

"You also had sugar on your mind even before we got here huh?" Twilight said quietly and winked.

The mystery was certainly fading quickly. The two briefly gently rubbed legs beneath the table and smiled. They felt that pleasurable energy in their wings for a quick moment but knew to stop and not be obvious with their friends present. Not just yet.

Twi winked again and Rainbow returned the wink this time and they ceased.

The meal seemed to have been concluded.

"So anything else y'all wanna do today?" Applejack asked.

"Well I think I need to get ready for more flying lessons tomorrow with Twi." Rainbow answered with mild jubilance and a wink.

"Yeah." Twilight concurred.

The others nodded in agreement knowing they had things on their itineraries to do as well. They returned to their homes with contentment.

~~

Later that night Rainbow returned to her quarters. She fell asleep in short order and began dreaming again. This time she was on a dock off some coastline witnessing a small ship about to embark. To her surprise Twilight was on board in the dress of a dignified captain. Just like when Twilight dressed as Commander Easyglider before, she looked amazing.

“Hey there first mate! This ship is about to set sail, so why aren’t you aboard yet?” Captain Twilight beckoned as she made the most passionate wink and smile.

Rainbow Dash jubilantly flapped her wings and hopped on board with a feeling of fun attraction. She playfully saluted the Captain.

“First mate reporting Captain! What’s the first order of business?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“This schedule? Let’s see… total leisure! Enjoy the island sights and the smoothie. Wait, there’s only one smoothie but two straws.” Twilight answered mischievously.

“That’s fine with me.” Rainbow replied as she looked at the Captain with borderline bedroom eyes.

The two began consuming the fine mango strawberry smoothie and rubbed noses with a grin as they did so. The ship wasn’t necessarily sailing toward paradise anymore because paradise was on board.

“You still know it in your heart.” said a bodiless voice unmistakably belonging Princess Luna before Rainbow Dash woke up again.

“I know it… yep.” Rainbow said as she leaped out of bed. She comprehended and embraced meaning of the recent dreams.

It was morning and in fifteen minutes Rainbow was supposed to meet Twilight for another brief round of flying lessons. Rainbow skipped breakfast and set off again for the library.

Even shortly before arriving she felt the sweetest emotions of attraction. She had a genuine “thing” for the Princess and couldn’t deny it. She was vaguely aware of the possibility of Twilight feeling the same for her now.

Rainbow arrived at the library and entered.

“Hey Twi, I’m ready but no rush if you wanna take your time.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Want some tea again before we start first mate?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, I like it with sugar and honey like last time.” Rainbow answered. She caught on to the mention of first mate just a second before Twilight continued.

“You got it sugar wings.” Twilight answered.

That remark rang a bell. Rainbow Dash felt a rush of ecstasy in hearing that revealingly phrased answer. It was now clear Twilight knew of the dreams! Those apparent coincidences that referred to them were not coincidences at all.

“Say, after the flying lessons you want to go for some hayburgers and fries? It’ll be my treat.” Twilight offered.

“I’d be honored. And maybe a smoothie? I have a taste for mango strawberry lately!” Rainbow answered ecstatically.

“Well ok, but I only have enough bits now for food for two and a smoothie for one. We could always use two straws.” Twilight answered with increasing attractiveness in her tone as she said the second sentence.

“That’s perfect. Oh so perfect!” Rainbow remarked before they exchanged a light kiss.

A beautiful energy filled the two and their wings became firmly upstanding without constraint.

The two loving mares stepped outside and took to the sky with no limitations on the passion in their hearts. Elsewhere, another princess was proud of being able to help make good dreams come true.

Author's Note

This is the second edition of what started as a WTG prompt "Learning happens in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways in Equestria, as this one pony finds out."