Rainbow Dash flared her wings out, braking against the cool evening air as she neared her destination. She landed softly on the dirt in front of the massive tree, wasting no time in reaching up a hoof and knocking on the old wooden door. It was only a few seconds before the door opened.
"Hey, Rainbow," Twilight said with a smile from just inside the doorway.
"Hey, Twilight. I brought my stuff." Rainbow trotted casually through the open door and into the library as soon as Twilight stepped aside. The front door shut quietly behind her, gripped in Twilight's magic as Rainbow unceremoniously dumped her bags onto the floor. After a quick look around the room, Dash asked, "Hey, where is everypony?"
"Oh, sorry," Twilight said, putting on a sad smile, "but the others all had to cancel."
"Work?" Dash asked flatly.
"Work," Twilight repeated with a nod. "You know how busy they can get."
"Yeah, I guess. Spike here?"
"He's spending the night over at Rarity's," Twilight said quickly. "You know, because she has so much work and she needs the help."
"So, it's just us tonight, huh? Gotta say, I wasn't looking forward to Rarity trying to give me a makeover or something... again."
Twilight giggled a little. "Well, it is in the book, but I guess we could skip that part if you want."
"Yeah, I'd really rather not. Wouldn't have minded having Spike around, though." Dash sat down on her own bags. "So, what are we gonna do tonight? It's kinda late for more flying practice. I mean, I can fly around at night just fine, but most newbies have trouble with it."
"We could still work on it, though." Twilight reached back with her magic, pulling a book from a shelf behind her. "I just got this great book on—"
Rainbow batted the book away with a snort. "Twilight, you can't learn how to fly by reading about it. You have to get out there and really do it." She scratched at her chin for a few seconds, as if in thought. "I guess we could keep practicing hovering, if you want, since you've got high ceilings in here."
Twilight nodded, spreading her wings as Rainbow stepped up beside her. She watched Dash take off, coming to a halt a few feet above her friend. "Okay," Twilight muttered to herself, "legs slightly bent, head forward. Push down hard and hop upward." Twilight followed through with her own instructions, leaping straight up and managing to hover for about two seconds before sliding sideways and crashing to the floor.
"Um, Twilight?" Dash called down. "A bit of advice: don't think about it too much. It's like that whole thing with the millipede thinking about how many legs it has."
"Centipede," Twilight corrected and she got back on her hooves. "And what tripped it up was trying to figure out exactly how it could walk with so many legs all moving at once."
"Whatever," Dash said dismissively. "The point is that you need to let your instincts work."
"I'm not sure I have instincts for this, but I'll try." Twilight took in a breath and held it for a few seconds. She then released her lungfuls of air and flapped her wings, lifting up and off the library's wooden floor. She shut her eyes tight as her wings carried her upward, slowing to a hover at about the same height as her friend. She opened her eyes, smiling as she managed to hold herself steady.
"See? You can't overthink it." Rainbow slid a bit closer, wrapping a foreleg around Twilight's withers and holding her other front hoof out in front of her. "You've just gotta flow, you know? Just—"
Twilight fell sideways suddenly, grabbing hold of Dash and pulling both of them out of the air and into a bookshelf. "Sorry!" she quickly squeaked, pulling Rainbow upright with a blush. "I just, uh, lost focus there for a moment."
"Meh, it's okay." Rainbow brushed a hoof across her own back and flexed her wings once. "You wanna do some more, or what?"
Twilight stretched her own wings out, looking over them as she did so. Quite a few of her feathers were sticking out at odd angles. "Or what. I think I just want to relax for the rest of the night, if you don't mind." Twilight fired up her horn and a purple aura engulfed her wings, tugging on her feathers and trying to straighten them out.
"Hmm...." Rainbow shrugged after a moment. "Yeah, sure. I could go for a movie or something, if you've still got that old projector." Dash watched Twilight struggling with her wings for a few seconds more before saying, "Here, lemme help you with that," and trotting over. She reared up, putting one forehoof against Twilight's back and rubbing the other along the alicorn's wing.
Twilight turned away, trying to hide the blush that was forming on her cheeks as Rainbow nibbled along her wing, rearranging her feathers. "You're, um, really good at that," Twilight commented, her wings involuntarily twitching.
"Yeah, I preen Fluttershy all the time." Rainbow made one last adjustment before moving on to Twilight's other wing, repeating the process of straightening good feathers and carefully plucking damaged ones. "She doesn't pay much attention to her wings since she doesn't fly a lot, so I have to come over and help her sometimes. Been doing it for years."
"Is... is that so?" Twilight had to turn her head again to avoid exposing her deepening blush as her whole body shuddered ever-so-slightly. She winced with a squeak as Rainbow plucked out a broken feather, holding a purple hoof to her mouth briefly. "She doesn't mind that you preen other ponies?"
Dash dropped back down to all fours, giving her friend a curious look. "Why would she?"
Twilight gave an awkward shrug. "I guess she wouldn't. It's up to her, after all." She shuffled her hooves against the floor a little as the redness in her cheeks lingered. "So, um, what movie did you wanna watch?"
"I dunno." Rainbow stared vacantly at the walls of books for a few seconds before snapping her attention back to Twilight. "Ooh, do you have 'Attack of the Giant Space Flea?'"
"I don't think I do. In fact, I mostly have documentaries." Twilight gasped suddenly. "Oh, I just got this old film about the history of the Wonderbolts that we could watch."
"Nah."
"Seriously? It's not that long."
Rainbow sat down on a floor pillow near a desk. "I already passed my history exam, so why bother studying?" She tapped a hoof to her chin. "Do you have 'Rise of the Sea Ponies?'"
Twilight shook her head, still smiling. "No, but I do have—"
"'Trophy of Doom?' 'Under the Fridge?' 'The Crust?'"
Twilight's muzzle lowered slowly as she continued to shake her head, her smile fading.
"'Behind the Bookcase?' 'Death Drain?' 'Killer Socks from Outer Space?'"
"Sorry, but I don't have any of those." Twilight's smile returned. "But I do have a copy of 'Two Mares in Love.'"
Rainbow gagged. "Eww! That sappy romance movie? I came here to have fun, not puke my guts out."
Twilight's ears fell flat, her eyes searching the floor as she shifted on her hooves. "Well, um.... Are you sure you don't want to watch it?"
Rainbow nodded as she looked around at the inside of the library. "Do you still have a copy of 'Rainbow War?'"
"Actually," Twilight said, her face brightening, "I do. I didn't think you were that impressed with it, though."
Dash shrugged again. "It's something to watch. Besides, it was kinda cool."
"Great! I'll go get the film." Twilight cantered off toward her basement.
* * * *
Twenty-three minutes later, Twilight shut the projector off and flipped the lights back on.
"I always forget how weird that film is," Rainbow commented, still sitting on the couch.
Twilight sat down next to the old projector and rewound the film. "I'm pretty sure it's a retelling of the old story of how the three pony tribes came together, albeit without the wendigos and the freezing death. The Blue Kingdom is obviously the unicorns, the Red Kingdom must be the Earth ponies with the way they didn't understand the other colors and were afraid of them, and the militant Yellow Kingdom must represent the rough and tumble pegasi."
"Huh, I never noticed that before. I always just thought it was a weird movie about fighting with paint."
"Sometimes, things that seem simple on the surface can be surprisingly complex," Twilight said, folding up the projector's arms. "Take some of our friends, for example. At first, I was kinda put off by Pinkie's zany antics, boundless energy, and general randomness. Then I got to know her and found out how much she really cares about all of her friends, and how fragile she can be."
Twilight finished packing up the projector, screen, and film. She headed back to the basement, saying over her shoulder, "You can find deeper meanings in a lot of things if you just look hard enough."
"Yeah, just don't look too hard." Rainbow went prone on the sofa, stretching her back with a series of popping noises. "You might start seeing things that aren't really there." She rolled over, putting her forehooves behind her head and staring up at the ceiling. "So, now what?"
Twilight returned from the basement, shutting the door behind her. "Well, I'd usually be reading right now, but I'm guessing you probably don't want to do that."
"Actually, I am a little tired. I guess I wouldn't mind laying around and reading a little. It's not really a group activity, though."
"We could make it one," Twilight said with a smile as she pulled a book from a shelf. "We can take turns reading to each other every other page or so."
"I guess that could work, yeah." Rainbow sat back up as Twilight took a seat next to her. She leaned over, looking at the cover of the book that Twilight had chosen. "'Daring Do and the Heart Stone?' That's the one where Daring gets a boyfriend."
Twilight nodded, cracking the book open with her magic. "A.K. Yearling was under pressure from her publishers to include some romance in her next book, so she wrote this one as a cliché-ridden parody to show them how bad such a story would be." She giggled a little as she turned a few pages. "Unfortunately for her, the plan backfired and her publishers loved it. Now it's one of her all-time bestsellers, even if it's been pretty divisive for her fanbase."
"Ugh, I had to skip a lot of that one. I like Daring as an awesome adventurer, not as a lame, love-struck damsel."
"Which parts did you skip?" Twilight asked, flipping back to the table of contents.
"I think it was chapter nine. You know, that one."
Twilight flipped forward again, stopping at the beginning of the ninth chapter. "Well, if you never finished, then that's what we can read together."
Rainbow leaned back against the couch, rolling her eyes, but didn't object.
Twilight cleared her throat and took a quick sip of water before beginning. "'Daring Do watched the flames of the campfire dance across the dried logs, occasionally snapping and throwing tiny embers up into the dark sky. Her companion sat beside her on the log, quiet as usual. Daring's eyes would—'"
"No, no, I read that part," Dash interrupted. "I stopped reading when they started... you know."
Twilight moved on to the next page, then the next, scanning across each one until she found the right spot. "'Daring's hoof ran down his face, meandering across his barrel and finally coming to rest against his cutie mark.' That sound like the right place?"
Rainbow nodded silently, and Twilight continued reading. Each time a page turned, Dash fidgeted just a little bit, shifting her position on the sofa. Dash found more and more things to look at around the room as the chapter went into more and more detail about just how thankful Daring Do was for her companion's help throughout the adventure, and what sort of things she was willing to do to express said gratitude. Twilight offered the book to Dash a few times, asking if she'd like to read a bit herself, but she always declined with a quick shake of the head. When Twilight finally finished the chapter and put the book down, Rainbow's flushed muzzle was tightly scrunched and her hooves were pawing at the sofa cushions.
"I don't think I wanna read anymore tonight," Dash stated.
"That's fine," Twilight replied. "We can just sit here and talk."
"Talk about what?"
"Whatever you want," was Twilight's response. "What did you think of that last chapter of the book?"
"It was okay, I guess. Not, uh, not really my style, though."
"I figured," Twilight mumbled. "What was your favorite part?"
"Do we have to talk about this?"
"What would you rather talk about?"
Rainbow shifted in her seat again. "Something else."
"Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine. Let's just talk about something else, okay?"
"Sure." Twilight looked Rainbow up and down, scanning her. There was a familiar scent wafting off the pegasus as she stared at the floor. "Hey, Rainbow?"
"Yeah, Twilight?"
"What do you think a pony should do about somepony they have a crush on? Should they, for example, play love games to try and attract their attention and make them jealous? Maybe drop vague hints now and then and hope they make the first move?"
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, if you wanna be a total lamewad tease. If you wanna date somepony, just ask them out. It's not that hard."
"But what if it's somepony close, and you were afraid of hurting your friendship?"
"I dunno. If their friendship is so strong, it should be able to survive, right?
Twilight nodded, a sly smile growing ever wider on her face. "So, you think they should just go for it?"
"Sure. Why not? What's the worst that—" Dash was disallowed from finishing her sentence when Twilight leaned over and pressed their lips together. Rainbow scrambled backwards on the couch, falling off and onto the hard wooden floor. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What-what're you doing?"
Twilight pulled herself up from where she'd collapsed when Rainbow had slid out from under her. "You said I should go for it."
"I didn't think you meant.... I thought it was about...." Rainbow waved her forelegs in the air. "Not us!"
"You really didn't pick up on that? I was worried I was being too obvious."
"No! I didn't pick up on anything! I thought we were just hanging out."
"Oh. I thought for sure that you were getting it. Why'd you get all flustered, then?"
"Gee, I don't know," Rainbow Dash said as she rolled over, "maybe because one of my best friends was reading me porn and it was super awkward?"
"Oh, heh heh," Twilight chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry. I thought you were getting nervous because you were harboring hidden feelings for me and were on the brink of letting them out in a moderately-romantic setting."
"Pfft, you read too many romance books, Twilight. Besides, I'm not even into mares."
Twilight's muzzle scrunched up and her eyebrows dropped low. "But you just told me that you preen Fluttershy all the time."
"Huh? What does that have to do with anything?"
"You mean...." Twilight raised one eyebrow. "That's just.... I don't even.... So, you just preen each other as friends? Is that a pegasus thing? Being really open about that?"
"Twilight, what the hay are you talking about?"
"I.... I'm not sure anymore. I think one of us is confused." The alicorn scratched at her head with a hoof. "Are you saying that pegasi just preen each other all the time, and it doesn't mean anything?"
"Uh, yeah. Why would we care?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because it feels so hot?"
"What?!"
"You're telling me that having your wings nibbled and gently caressed doesn't turn you on? Because it sure does a number on me."
Rainbow shook her head. "It's just another chore. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard of anypony getting turned on by preening."
"Huh.... Maybe it's just an alicorn thing, then?"
"Maybe it's because your wings are so new, and that makes them extra sensitive."
"Could be."
Rainbow slowly got to her hooves. "So, when I was fixing your feathers, you were...."
Twilight's blush returned with a vengeance, and she nodded her head. "Yeah. I thought you were flirting with me."
Dash shook her head once. "Totally just a routine feather fix, Twilight."
"Huh...." Twilight fell silent for a few seconds as Rainbow kicked at the floor a little. "So, you and I...."
"Um, no," Dash said with a quick shake of her head. "Sorry?" She turned away, trotting over to her dumped saddlebags. "I think I should go now."
"Wait!" Twilight hopped down off the sofa. "How can you be sure?"
"Uh, my friend just kissed me and it's totally awkward in here. I'm pretty sure I should go before it gets any weirder."
"No, that's not what I meant." Twilight reached over, putting a hoof against the pegasus. "I meant how can you be sure you're not into mares?"
"It's not really hard to figure out, Twilight."
"Have you ever tried?"
Dash's face twisted into a cringe as the awkwardness spiked so hard it left a hole in the ceiling. She stared at her saddlebags as she replied, "Well, um, not really."
"Then how can you know for sure?"
"Twilight, please—"
"I think this calls for an experiment!" Twilight said with a smile, clapping her front hooves together. "That's what a scientist would do."
"Yeah, no."
"Come on, can't you just try it once?"
Rainbow looked long and hard into those pleading, violet eyes. "Uh...."
"You never know," Twilight cooed, running a hoof down the side of Rainbow's face and making the pegasus wince as she passed a little too close to her eye. Her hoof slid down through the fur on Dash's neck, coming to rest just above her shoulder. "Who better to try it with than a good friend?"
"I, uh," Rainbow stammered, sweat starting to bead on her face. "Well, um.... Maybe?"
"Great!" Twilight said, rearing up and clapping her hooves again. "C'mon, let's go on up and get started." She turned, cantering halfway to the staircase before she stopped and turned. "Or is that moving too fast? Should we sit on the couch for a while first?"
Rainbow's eyes watched the stairs for a few seconds. "Um, yeah. Let's, uh, take it slow, okay?"
"Okay," Twilight said cheerfully, hopping back onto her previous spot on the couch. She patted a hoof against the cushion, but Rainbow hesitated a moment before sitting back down on the designated spot, which was ever-so-slightly moist. There Rainbow sat, staring straight ahead at a wall of books on the other side of the room.
Twilight leaned away for a moment, flipping through and scanning a few pages of a little book before placing it back on the shelf. She scooted sideways once the book was put away, reaching a hoof up and around Rainbow's shoulders. "Gosh, you're tense," Twilight commented, rubbing her hoof across Dash's withers. "You'll never like it if you don't relax."
Rainbow scoffed. "I've heard that before."
"Well, wasn't it true?"
Rainbow shifted in her seat, her muzzle scrunched up a little as she shook her head. "Not really."
"Maybe you didn't try it for long enough. It takes time to get into things, sometimes." Twilight smiled, scooting a little closer to Dash. "I wasn't all that into the Hitchhiker's Guide to Equestria when I first started reading it, but then I got used to the quirky narration and started really enjoying it."
"Uh huh."
"And what about the Daring Do books? You didn't think you'd like those until you actually tried reading them."
"I guess, yeah."
"So," Twilight said slowly, leaning in closer to Rainbow. "Why not give it a try?"
Dash's eyes swiveled around to look at the unicorn, though her muzzle remained directed at the floor.
Twilight giggled a little. "Wow, I never thought you'd be so shy about something like this. You're always so forward and brave about, well, pretty much everything."
Rainbow finally turned to face Twilight. "Hey, I'm not a coward!"
Twilight held a hoof to her mouth, recoiling slightly. "Sorry. I didn't mean that you were afraid, just, well, timid. I always thought you'd be the kind of mare who takes charge with things like this."
"Yeah... well...."
“Well?” Twilight’s eyes were locked on Rainbow’s, and for a moment, neither of them moved. Then, slowly and after a gulp, Rainbow leaned over a little. Twilight took that as her invitation and leaned her muzzle into Rainbow’s, tilting her head slightly to one side. That’s what the books said to do, after all. Their lips met for the second time that night, and both sets of eyes fell shut.
The two disconnected after a moment, Twilight half-giggling and Rainbow reaching up and laying a hoof across her own snout. “Well,” Twilight started, “how was it?”
“It was, uh...” Rainbow trailed off, her eyes moving about the room for a few seconds. “It was nice, I guess. A lot softer than the stallions I’ve been with.”
“Do you like it soft?”
“Well, uh....” Dash’s hoof moved from her face to a point at the base of her beck. “Heh, yeah, kinda.”
“Really? I always thought you’d be the type who likes it rough.” A book levitated over, held firm in Twilight’s magic, and she flipped through a few pages before slipping it back onto the shelf. “You're just full of surprises tonight. Are you ready to try some more?”
Rainbow nodded after a quick look at the ceiling, and Twilight moved back in to make another connection. Both mares moaned ever-so-slightly as their lips met again, with Rainbow pushing back against her friend's kiss. The pegasus brought a hoof up to Twilight's mane, and the mare responded by sliding a purple hoof across the cushion and onto one of Dash's hind legs.
A rose-colored eye popped open, turning downward briefly to Twilight's wandering hoof as it stroked her leg. Slowly, Rainbow's eye pitched back upward to the alicorn's face just as she tentatively reached her tongue out, prodding at Dash's lips. Rainbow shot off the couch and into the air, rapidly shaking her head from side to side. "No," she said, wrapping both hooves up and around her muzzle. "No no no! No no no no no, this is not cool!"
Dash dropped out of the air, landing hard on all four hooves. "I get it, you know? I'm awesome and super hot and everything, but I just don't swing that way, okay?" She turned, sticking her nose under her saddlebags and sliding them onto her back. "I'm done," she stated simply, trotting for the door.
Twilight popped up, hooking her hooves over the back of the couch to face Rainbow. "But we've barely even started testing. This isn't rigorous at all."
"I don't care, I'm out."
"Didn't you like it?"
Rainbow stopped short, her hoof reaching forward and eyes fixed on the front door.
"That's what we were trying to find out, right?"
The pegasus sucked in a quick breath and let it out slowly before turning her tail to the door. "Twilight, there's more to it than—"
"Did you like it?" the alicorn repeated.
Rainbow grit her teeth, stepping toward the couch. "Twilight, if you were doing it with a stallion, but you thought it was a mare, and you were having a good time, would that make you straight?"
"I'm bi, actually. I don't really see—"
Rainbow groaned, slapping a hoof to her face. "Of course you are." She slid her hoof back to the floor. "Okay, let's say you were doing it with a griffon, but you thought it was a pony, and you liked it. Does that mean you like griffons?"
Twilight held a hoof to her chin for a moment, her gaze roving aimlessly across the ceiling. "I guess it kinda would, technically."
Dash growled a little, narrowing her eyes. "Sometimes, you're so smart that you're stupid."
"Think about it, though." Twilight hopped off the couch, trotting toward Rainbow. "If you kissed a mare and liked it, wouldn't that mean that you—" but Twilight found a blue hoof against her muzzle before she could finish.
"No, Twilight!" she snapped. "It doesn't work like that!"
Twilight gently pushed the hoof from her mouth. "I think it kinda does, actually. And anyway, we barely even got started. If we want to know for sure, then there's more experimentation we ought to do."
"Yeah, well, maybe I'd rather be stupid."
"Ignorant," Twilight corrected, "and ignorance is never the better option. It's always better to know than to guess. Besides, if you do like it, what's the problem? What does it matter if I'm a mare or a stallion if you're enjoying it?" With that, she turned and trotted for the stairs, coming to a stop with one hoof resting on the lowest step. "So, are you coming? I promise it'll be fun." Her eyelids as well as her voice dropped a little lower as she added with a smirk, "I've done a lot of studying, you know."
Rainbow had to cover her mouth for a second as she choked back a snicker at Twilight's comment, which was probably sexier in Twilight's head. Once she fought back her grin, she twisted around, looking over her shoulder at the front door. Her gaze slowly moved down and across the floor, coming to rest on Twilight again.
"Well?" the alicorn asked, swaying on her hooves just a little as she stood at the edge of the stairs.
Rainbow lifted a hoof, taking one step toward the stairs. Twilight's mischievous smile widened, and she gave Dash a wink. With a gulp and a nervous glance over her shoulder again, Rainbow took another step, and then another. Soon, she was next to Twilight, who wrapped a wing around the pegasus and led her up the stairs.
The two found their way up to Twilight's bedroom shortly, and Twilight released Dash from her winged grasp. "Now, you said you wanted to start slow," she said as she stopped by the side of her bed, turning around to face Rainbow, "so that's what we'll do. We'll start out small and work our way up." She reached a hoof up to Rainbow's cheek, leaning forward a little. "Like this."
Rainbow's eyes slammed shut as Twilight kissed her again, her hooves rooted to the wooden floor like little blue trees as her saddlebags were pushed off and to the floor. Once again, Twilight's tongue snaked out to poke at Rainbow's lips, this time sliding in past them as the pegasus clenched her eyes shut even tighter. "Mmhmm hm hmmm."
Twilight pulled back. "Huh?"
Rainbow was panting a little as she responded, "This is so weird."
"Is it just the gender that's an issue? I know some spells that—"
Dash held up a hoof, shaking her head vigorously. "N-no thanks. That would make it even weirder. And it's not just that." She prodded at the floorboards with her hoof again. "It's also that, you know, you're my friend and all. It's weird."
"Well, maybe you shouldn't think of me as your friend, then."
"Then what should I think of you as?"
Twilight sauntered closer, brushing her cheek against Rainbow's and whispering into her ear, "More." She then nipped lightly at the ear before sliding back and planting another kiss against Rainbow's lips, moaning into the other mare's mouth. Twilight slid a hoof around her neck, edging her sideways until their legs were resting against the side of the bed. A little more pressure, and Rainbow climbed atop the violet sheets, breaking the kiss to see where she was stepping as Twilight climbed up with her.
"This seems pretty fast to me," Rainbow commented anxiously, shuffling her hooves against the sheets.
"Depends on the pony," Twilight replied. "Some like to go faster than others. I can slow down a little more, if you want." Rainbow nodded, and Twilight reached her hoof up again, stroking it across Rainbow's jawline. "Anything for my little Dashie," she said just before moving in for another kiss.
The pair kept at it for another few minutes before Dash leaned back and turned away, stirring the sheets with a hoof. "So, um, w-what are we supposed do, exactly?"
"Well," Twilight said, drawing out the word as she retrieved a book from her dresser. She didn't finish the thought, however, upon seeing Rainbow's look of disapproval. She put the book back into the drawer, chuckling a little. "I'll just take the lead and show you what to do, okay? I'll lead you through it."
Dash nodded silently, and found Twilight's front hooves pressing against her shoulders and rocking her backward. Rainbow fell softly against the mattress on her back, and Twilight positioned herself over the pegasus. She leaned down, whispering into Dash's twitching ear, "Just let your instincts work. Trust me."
Rainbow nodded again, though she was starting to shiver a little, and Twilight began making a trail of little kisses down from the base of Rainbow's ear. "Really, really fast," Rainbow muttered as Twilight nuzzled in against her neck. Twilight obliged, taking her time as she made her way down Rainbow's supine form, pausing along her meandering path to gently caress her muzzle against Dash's fur.
Rainbow wrapped her forelegs around her barrel once Twilight's head was out of the way, her body shuddering and her hind legs quivering as she watched Twilight working her hooves into the mix, sliding them up and down her sides. The shaking intensified, nearing full-on convulsion as Twilight laid her forelegs over Rainbow's thighs, leaning her face down between her hind legs.
With a squeal of pain, Twilight was sent sliding across the floor by a sharp kick to her left shoulder. Dash rocketed off the bed, tossing away the sheets. Her front hooves slid down between her rear legs, covering herself as she glared down at Twilight. "Not cool. Super weird. I'm done." Without another word, Rainbow Dash shot out the nearest window, tearing the curtains right off the wall.
Twilight stood back up, rubbing a hoof against the sore spot on her shoulder as she hastily approached the window. She could just barely see a speck fading into the distance above Ponyville to the east. Her head slid down to rest against the windowsill, the dull thud of a sonic boom reaching her ears as they fell flat against her head.
Twilight kicked off from the dirt road, keeping Rainbow's advice from the previous night in mind as she took to the air. She was quite unsteady, barely making it up to the solid porch of the cloudy home before she lost control and fell onto her side. She stood up with a little groan, flexing her wings once before folding them up and reaching out to knock on the double doors to Rainbow's house.
It took a good three minutes and two more knocking sessions before the door finally opened, a messy-haired and surly-looking Rainbow Dash standing just inside. "Yeah, what?"
"Hey, Rainbow. How're you doing?"
"Fine," was Rainbow's clipped response.
"I brought your bags. You left them at my place." Twilight pulled the saddlebags from her back and offered them to Rainbow, who took them and tossed them into her house. "Listen, I think I should apologize for last night." Twilight's head lowered a little. "I might have been a little pushy about... you know."
"Yeah, you were," Dash said flatly.
Twilight's head drooped even lower, her ears falling flat. "I'm sorry, Rainbow. I shouldn't have pressured you like that.” She pawed at the porch a little, looking up at Dash from under her brow. “We're okay, though, right? I mean, it wasn't really that weird, was it?"
"It was pretty weird, yeah." Rainbow sighed, turning slightly to one side as she said, "Yeah, we're cool, I guess."
Twilight sighed, a small smile forming on her lips. "That's great. Well, I have some studying to do. I just wanted to drop by and apologize."
"Uh huh."
"I'll see you this afternoon," Twilight said as her ears perked back up, turning and spreading her ruffled wings.
Rainbow shook her head, running a hoof through her mane. "Wait, what?"
"Today's the day for our Pony Pet Playdate, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, right." Dash yawned, pushing the door shut. "See you then."
Twilight nodded, hopping down off Rainbow's porch and making her inelegant way to the ground below. She headed back to the library at a trot, crossing the river and making her way through Ponyville without any interruptions. She pushed open her front door, smiling as she got a look inside. "Oh, you're back already."
"Yep," said Spike.
"Did you have a nice time at Rarity's?"
"Oh, yeah, it was totally great." The little dragon plucked a book from a shelf near the couch, looked it over, and then put it on a different shelf. "I mean, she didn't have any work to do, so she just had me play games with Sweetie Belle so she could be alone in her room for a few hours, but that was actually pretty fun, so it was alright."
"Glad to hear it." Twilight moved into the kitchen as Spike dusted his hands off and followed her.
"I still don't know why you wanted me out of the house so bad." Spike climbed up the counter, reaching for a box of Frosted Wood Chips cereal on the top shelf of the cabinets. "I won't complain about getting to spend time with Rarity, though." He retrieved his cereal and hopped back down to the floor.
"Well, Spike," Twilight began as she put together a sandwich, "sometimes, we girls just need some time to ourselves, with no boys around."
"Yeah, that's what Rarity said last night, too. So, how was the sleepover, anyway?"
A shot of mustard missed its mark as Twilight winced ever-so-slightly. "Oh, it was alright. We watched a movie and then did a little reading."
Spike scooped out a clawful of cereal from the box and shoveled it straight into his mouth as Twilight finished her sandwich and sat down at the dining table across from him. "Cool," he said through the mouthful of food.
A few hours later and Twilight was approaching the park, her pet/assistant Owlowiscious perched on her back. Her friends came into sight as she crested a hill. There was Applejack, tossing a stick for Winona. There was Fluttershy, watching Angel play charades. There was Pinkie Pie, rolling around in the grass as Gummy stared vacantly at a pair of trees some distance away. There was Rarity, tempting Opal with a surprisingly-ratty toy mouse.
Rainbow Dash, however, was nowhere to be seen.
"Has anypony seen Rainbow?" Twilight asked as she approached the little gathering.
Fluttershy was the one to respond, "I stopped by her house before I came over, but she said she couldn't make it today. She said she wasn't feeling so well."
"That's odd. She seemed fine when I saw her this morning."
"Are you suggesting there might be something else going on?" Rarity asked, holding out a toy that her cat was completely ignoring.
"Hmm." Twilight turned away, looking out toward the east end of town. "Maybe I should go see her later."
"I was going to check up on her as soon as we were all finished here," Fluttershy cut in. "You could come with me, if you want."
Twilight nodded, twisting her neck around to say something to Owlowiscious. Alas, her pet was fast asleep, because he was an owl. Twilight just sat down and watched the others play with their diurnal pets, as she often did at these meetings.
It didn't take too long before everypony started dispersing from the park with their pets. Some of them had jobs, after all. Fluttershy was one of the last to go, followed (literally) by Twilight, with both mares carrying their tired pets on their backs.
"So," Twilight started, "did Rainbow say exactly what was wrong with her?"
"No, she didn't. I hope it's nothing serious, though." The pegasus sighed. "Poor Rainbow. I can just imagine her, miserable and tired, soaking her hooves in a hot bath. Or what if she has the pony pox? That can get really nasty, sometimes. What if she has the feather flu? Ponies go to the hospital for that, sometimes, and she's just sitting at home, not getting the treatment she needs." The pegasus was hyperventilating by the time she'd reached the edge of the park. "Oh, gosh, what if she broke her wings, and she can't leave the house because she can't fly, but she's too proud and embarrassed to admit it, and she stays up in her house and starves to death because she can't get any food?!" Fluttershy broke into a gallop, her wings flapping along with her steps as she sped across the dirt road toward her ailing friend in need. "Oh, Rainbow, I'm coming!"
Fluttershy shot straight up and onto Rainbow's porch, whimpering with worry as she gently tapped on the double doors.
The door opened after a few seconds of Fluttershy anxiously dancing in place. "Hey, Fluttershy," Rainbow said once the door was open.
"Oh, Rainbow!" Fluttershy flung herself forward, wrapping her hooves around Dash's neck. "I just got so worried!"
"Um, okay." Dash reached around, patting Fluttershy on the back with a look of mild confusion. "Why?"
"You said you were sick," Fluttershy explained. "I was coming to see if you needed anything, and I just kept thinking about..." Fluttershy sniffled a little, "thinking about what you must be going through." She pulled back a little, looking Rainbow in the face as tears slid down her yellow face.
"Oh, right," Dash said, rubbing a hoof against her head and coughing a few times. "Yeah, I have hay fever. It's no big deal, though, I just need to get some rest."
Fluttershy finally pulled away, letting Dash go and sniffling again. "A-are you sure you'll be alright?"
"Did you say, 'hay fever?'" Twilight pulled herself up onto the porch, her wings and mane a mess after struggling to attain enough altitude. "I know of a recipe for a soup that should help you recover faster. Zecora taught me about it. I could make some for you."
Dash waved a hoof. "Nah, it's fine. I'll be okay."
"Don't you want to get better?" Fluttershy asked.
"It won't take long, and it's guaranteed to reduce the symptoms of hay fever by at least sixty-four percent."
"Did I say 'hay fever?' I meant, uh, pneumonia. Y'know, because it's really wet in my house, because clouds."
"Why do you live in a house that makes you sick?" Twilight inquired, one eyebrow rising above the other. Fluttershy, too, was tilting her head with a quizzical look.
"Well, uh, it's not normally this humid, but there was an accident with my air conditioner, and it, um...."
"Rainbow, is there something else going on here?"
"Pfft," Dash rolled her eyes, "of course not. My air conditioner is just on the fritz and it's making me sick."
"Then why are you staying home with the thing that's making you sick? Pneumonia is a serious problem."
"Why the hay won't you just leave me alone, Twilight!?"
Both of the others recoiled at Rainbow's outburst. "Rainbow, what's going on here?" Twilight demanded. "You've been acting really weird ever since—"
"Ever since last night? Really? Wow, I wonder why?" Dash cut in.
"Wha-what happened last night?" Fluttershy asked, barely above a whisper.
Twilight turned to Fluttershy for a second. "Fluttershy, I think maybe you should go."
Dash huffed. "Oh, now you care about how your friends feel."
"What happened last night?" Fluttershy said again, this time a little more firmly.
Twilight faced Rainbow again, her expression sour. "I said I was sorry, and you said that things were okay. Maybe if you would stop lying to me—"
"What happened last night?!"
This time, it was Twilight and Rainbow's turn to recoil, both turning to Fluttershy as she stared them both down, alternating from one to the other and back again. "Nothing happened," was Dash's reply.
"Don't you lie to me." Fluttershy "stomped" over to Rainbow, bringing their faces close. "Something bad happened last night, and you're holding all your hurt inside." Fluttershy reached a hoof up to Dash's face. "Don't be afraid to let it out, Rainbow. Tell me what happened."
Dash stared forward, rose eyes fixed on Fluttershy's. She reached a hoof up, draping it over that of the other pegasus. Then she sighed, her whole body slouching slightly as she shut her eyes. "Twi and I were hanging out last night and... she, uh.... She kissed me."
"Wow," Fluttershy responded, looking over at Twilight. "I had no idea you felt that way. But, you do know that she's—"
"Straight, yeah, she told me."
"Wasn't enough for you, though," Rainbow hissed.
"I was just giving you the chance to try something new," Twilight said with a shrug, "I thought you would like it."
"I told you I didn't wanna do it, but you wouldn't leave me alone."
"Well, sorry, but I thought you would be assertive enough to walk away or something if you didn't wanna do it with me."
"I tried! You kept bugging me about it and pulling me back! I said 'no' twelve times!"
"It was nine times." Twilight rubbed a hoof to her chin for a second, turning her eyes to the floor. "Well, actually...."
Dash rolled her eyes with a groan. "I don't care how many times I said it, Twilight."
"That brings up another question, though," Twilight said, looking back at Rainbow. "Why were you freaking out about it so much? Even before we kissed, you got all nervous."
All traces of Dash's anger vanished in a moment. Her ears fell flat, her brow softened, and she turned away from the alicorn.
"She doesn't like to talk about it," Fluttershy answered, stepping in front of Rainbow. "And why would you even think about trying to flip her like that? It's... it's just awful!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't... I was...." Twilight took in a breath. "I've liked Rainbow for a while, now, and I guess I didn't want...."
Dash spoke up. "You didn't want to lose me, huh?" Twilight nodded, and Rainbow huffed once as she stepped away and into her house. "Great job."
The door slammed shut, leaving the other two alone together on the porch. Twilight simply stared at the set of doors for a few seconds, her gaze eventually drifting to Fluttershy's disapproving leer. "I really screwed up, didn't I?" Fluttershy merely nodded, glanced back at the front doors, and hopped down off the cloud without a word. Twilight stood there on the porch, eyes glued to the big, blue doors that lead inside Rainbow's house. Four words dripped softly from the alicorn's mouth.
"What have I done?"
* * BEFORE * *
Rainbow Dash hovered above a cloudy street, a pair of white pegasi trotting along below her. "Did you guys see when I totally took out seven clouds in one blow? That was so totally awesome, I almost can't believe I did it."
The stallion below gave an amused little snort. "Yeah, babe, we saw it. Pretty cool."
"How about when I hurled that cloud across the field and knocked half the other team out of formation? Didn't even see it coming."
The mare below spoke up this time, snickering as she said, "It took them forever to recover from that. They never even stood a chance."
"Pfft, duh," Rainbow responded, "I wasn't on their team."
"That's you, Dash," the mare said with a smirk as she watched Rainbow make lazy loops in the air, "unbeatable."
"You know it, Bolt. There'll be a Summer Sun Celebration in Tartarus before anypony gets one over on me."
The stallion rolled his eyes before going back to watching Rainbow. "Hey, are you just gonna roll around up there, or are you gonna give your boyfriend a victory kiss?"
"Dunno," Dash said. "You were pretty useless out there today, Whitewash. Only scored one goal, and that was after I punched a hole in their defenses."
"Rainbow...."
"Tch, fine." Dash rolled over once, dropping down and landing beside him. She glanced up and down the street a few times before leaning over and giving Whitewash a quick peck on the lips.
"That's it?" he said in disappointment. "C'mon." He wrapped a hoof around her neck, pulling Rainbow in for a longer kiss. Dash's body tensed a little as her eyes flicked from one side to the other, keeping an eye on the street as she kissed him. Bolt started snickering again after a few seconds of watching the two.
Rainbow pushed away from Whitewash, though she kept her hooves against him. "Better?"
"Ehh," he said, shrugging with a grin.
Dash lightly punched his shoulder and turned back around. "C'mon, I wanna get home already."
A few minutes later, Rainbow pushed open the door to her Cloudsdale apartment and shoved her way inside, tossing her saddlebags onto the coffee table. "Make yourselves at home," she said over her shoulder to the two pegasi still following behind her. Whitewash nodded, closing the front door after Bolt had come in. Rainbow turned to face both of them, continuing, "I'm gonna grab a quick shower. You can just hang here 'till I get back, 'kay?"
Bolt and Whitewash both nodded, taking seats on the couch as Dash trotted off into her bedroom. The apartment wasn't much to speak of, but it was enough to call home for the time being. She made her way past the bed and its old Wonderbolt sheets, slipping into the only bathroom in the apartment and shutting the door behind her. A quick flick of the hoof, and soon a jet of hot water was spraying down into the bathtub. After a test with her hoof, she stepped in and pulled the curtains shut.
Steam rose around her as she rubbed her hooves through her mane and preened herself, removing the traces of sweat and dirt that had accumulated on her during the day's classes. She reared up, hooking a hoof up and over the shower curtain rod to bring her belly into the water's path. Her hoof stopped short of grabbing at a scrubber when she felt something warm wrap around her body, and a glance down brought a pair of white hooves into her sight. "W-what're you doing, White?"
A warm body pressed into her back, followed by a pair of soft lips nuzzling into her neck. Despite the heat of the water, she shivered. The warm muzzle tugged on her moist fur, kissing and nipping lightly at her neck. The two hooves slid down away from her barrel, nestling themselves between her hind legs, and Rainbow let out a gasp at the touch, followed by a shuddering moan as she leaned back.
"Heh heh, this isn't exactly how I imagined I'd do this," Dash said between heavy breaths. Rainbow arched her back for a moment, biting her lip. Then she twisted her head around, eyes closing as her face moved into the hot spray of water, and locked lips with the pony at her back. "But what the hay, right?" she breathed, taking a moment to indulge in another kiss, "I think I've waited long enough." She opened her eyes, only to scream at the sight of a pair of bedroom eyes that did not belong to her boyfriend. She reached around to shove the white mare off of her, hooves slipping and sending Dash to the hard floor of the tub.
"Hey, hey!" a masculine voice called as Whitewash appeared in the open doorway. "I said to just get her started, not bring her all the way 'round!"
"W-wha-what the hay is going on?!" Dash shrieked, standing up with her rump pressed to the tiled wall just under the shower head.
"Well, it was supposed to be a threesome," her boyfriend said with a bit of disappointment.
Bolt rolled her eyes. "I didn't finish her without you; she freaked out when she saw me."
"Something wrong, babe?" the stallion asked, stepping over to the tub and turning off the water.
"Uh, yeah!" Dash said, holding a hoof to her pounding heart. "This is totally not cool, Whitewash!"
He narrowed his eyes at her incredulously. "Really? Huh.... I thought for sure you'd be into it."
"Uh, why?" Rainbow turned to the mare. "And get out of my bathtub!"
"C'mon, you've known Bolt even longer than you've known me. You really telling me that you never thought about hooking up with her?"
"Of course not, you idiot!"
Whitewash tilted his head, his expression held in confusion for a good ten seconds before shifting to one of surprise. "Ohhh.... Really? I thought for sure you were into that. Bolt, didn't you say...."
Bolt just held up her hooves, "I thought she was just plain gay before she started dating you, yeah."
Dash was shaking her head, splattering water onto the walls and floor from her soaking mane. "Huh uh, nope. Not."
"You sure?" Bolt asked. "I can usually tell, and you seemed pretty into it a moment ago."
"Hey, yeah, maybe you just never realized you were bi," Whitewash added, stepping closer and reaching out a hoof to Dash's face.
"That's not—" Rainbow was cut off by a kiss from Whitewash. He broke it after a moment, and she held a hoof across her own muzzle. "I'm, uhh.... I don't...." Her stammering was silenced with another kiss, her heart rate starting to go back up again as he pressed her against the tiled wall. Her eyes jolted open after a few seconds, however, as another wet mouth landed elsewhere on her body. She tried to pull back, but her head was sandwiched between Whitewash's muzzle as the wall. She settled for shifting sideways and slamming a hoof into his face, instead, reaching down a moment later and shoving Bolt's head out from under her. She hopped up, pushing them out of her bathtub.
"Get out, both of you," Rainbow growled, her body quivering, damp mane still dripping as it lay plastered to her face. "We're done."
* * AFTER * *
Princess Twilight looked up from the friendship report in front of her on the desk as a sharp knocking sound came from her office door. "Come in," she said cordially.
The door slid open, and Rainbow Dash stepped in, a little stack of papers tucked under one wing.
"Oh," Twilight said, standing up as Dash approached the desk.
"Weather team needs you to sign off on this storm schedule for April," Dash said, almost in a monotone as she dropped the papers onto the desk.
"Right," said the princess, tearing her eyes from Rainbow's vaguely-bored expression and looking down at the pages before her. She sat down, lifting the schedule in her magic and shuffling through it. Neither said anything as she reviewed the proposed plan, the only noise in the room at all coming from the rustling of paper.
After a few minutes, she wordlessly dipped her hoof in ink and stamped it on each page, giving them all her royal approval. Then she stood back up and held the stack out in her magic. Rainbow took the schedule under a wing, turned around, and trotted for the door.
"Hey, Rainbow?"
Dash paused in the doorway, though she didn't turn around.
Twilight took a few steps around the side of her desk. She reached out a hoof momentarily, paused, and then retracted it. "Four months ago, I made a terrible mistake," she began. "I betrayed a friend's trust, you see. She said she didn't want to do something, but I kept pressuring her until she did anyway. I lost my friend that day because I couldn't let go of something I had thought was a sure thing but turned out not to be at all. We haven't really spoken much since then, but I hope that she'll forgive me, one day."
Twilight paused a moment, looking at the back of Rainbow's unmoving head. "Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"
"I wouldn't hold my breath." Rainbow stepped out into the hallway and slid the door shut behind her.
Twilight sighed, trudging back over and slumping down onto her seat, resting her head in her hooves. After a few minutes, Twilight just went back to her paperwork, trying to ignore that empty feeling she'd become so familiar with.
Author's Note
I'd just like to mention that I have absolutely nothing against this particular ship, the FlutterDash ship, characters being of any sexual orientation, or shipping in general (or sexy preening).
