Fun for Two Fillies

“Rainbow Dash?! What are you doing?!” Twilight Sparkle poked her head out from under a pile of disheveled books. “Owlowiscious and I have been trying to clean up these books for hours!” The owl hooted, its feathers tousled, as it hung upside-down from a ceiling rafter in Twilight’s house.

Rainbow Dash could see at a glance that she had undone a lot of work. Twilight’s library, once neatly organized, now lay in disarray. The shelves were bare, and most of the books were strewn haphazardly on the floorboards. “Sorry, Twilight,” she said sheepishly. Rainbow Dash pulled her head out of Twilight Sparkle’s window, where she had accidentally crash-landed after another attempt at the sonic rainboom. “I was just practicing my flying for the Best Young Fliers competition, and - I just can’t seem to get it right!”

Twilight pulled herself out from under the pile of books with a sigh, knowing that it would take her hours to clean up the mess. “Rainbow Dash, is something wrong? It’s not like you to crash like this. You’re the best flier in all of Ponyville!” Twilight had heard that pegasus ponies in Cloudsdale used to call her ‘Rainbow Crash’, but this didn’t seem like a good time to mention it.

Rainbow Dash flew in through the window she had crashed into, and touched down on the mess of books on Twilight’s floor. “Yeah! I just can’t seem to pull off a sonic rainboom! The rest of my routine’s perfect, but without the sonic rainboom I’ll never win the competition.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t manage to mask the worry in her voice, and Twilight knew that something was amiss. “It seems like there’s more to this than a sonic rainboom. What’s really bothering you?”

Rainbow Dash looked down and pawed at the books on the floor, frustrated and embarrassed to meet Twilight’s gaze. “Well, I’ve been trying to convince Fluttershy to cheer for me at the competition, but... I mean, I like Fluttershy and all, but she’s just too... soft! And I may have... yelled at her, a little.” Rainbow Dash blushed. “But I didn’t mean to! I just... I just want to impress her, and I want her to cheer for me in front of the whole crowd in Cloudsdale!”

Twilight smiled; she was beginning to make sense of what Rainbow Dash was saying. “Rainbow Dash, I don’t think this is really about the Best Young Fliers competition, is it? You’ve been spending a lot more time with Fluttershy since your falling-out with Gilda, but I think you’re having trouble getting close to her because, unlike Gilda, Fluttershy is quiet and timid, and you’re... well, you’re Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash looked up at her, and her expression told Twilight that she was right. “I’ll need some time to sort out this mess, but I think I might know a spell that could help you.”

“Really?!” Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up immediately. “Something that could help me pull off a Sonic Rainboom?”

“No, I’m not talking about the Sonic Rainboom. And besides, it would be cheating if you won the Best Young Fliers competition because of my magic! I think I know a spell that might help you express your feelings for Fluttershy.”