On wings of Glimmer

Twilight pushed herself further down into the welcoming softness below her. She was so happy her partner was there with her in this bed, in this night. Ever since she had met the pegasus, this was her favourite thing to do with her.

The smile on Glimmer's face widened even more. Usually, nopony would be allowed to do such things with her, but Twilight was special, so she had no problem with spreading her wings for Twilight to snuggle into.

"I love you." The unicorn whispered. Glimmer didn't respond, unless one counts loving kisses as responses.

That night, Twilight thought about many things. One of them was how she had met her life's fulfilling. It was on an order of Celestia that Glimmer came into Twilight's home. She may not be an unicorn, but she nevertheless had an extreme interest and talent for magical theory and history.

She surely could learn a lot from the books in the library, as well as from their librarian. Twilight simply was the first a pony should turn to when they needed information about the topic or maybe a demonstration.

But the most important magic she learned from her was the magic of friendship, and later, love. What was intended to be a one month visit turned into a so far permanent stay.

Twilight awoke, the smell of coffee filling her nostrils. She had a habit of sleeping in when there was nothing to be done that day, as opposed to Glimmer's disciplined schedule. Consequently, the pegasus was often the one making breakfast, in case Spike didn't.

Why hadn't Spike, anyway?

Twilight trotted down the stairs, welcomed by her friend with a smile and a cup of coffee.

"Morning, Glimmer. Where's Spike?"

"You promised to lend him to the fillies today, remember?" Glimmer was rarely precise in her speaking, but Twilight understood that she had to mean the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Oh right. Thanks for the coffee..." She mumbled after the first sip.

Twilight didn't have any work that day, and Glimmer's work consisted of her unicorn friend, so they decided they'd take a walk around Ponyville to see if there was anything going on.

Their first destination was Sweet Apple Acres. There, the known orange mare was already at work, bucking some apples and transporting them away. She wasn't working herself out too much with it, though. Only a few trees close to the farmhouse had been bucked already and neither her kicking strength nor her speed were anywhere near her maximum.

"Hey Applejack! Need some help with that?" Twilight called out to her while approaching.

"Nah lady. Them apple trees are jus' exercise ta keep me warm fer season."

Glimmer floated over to her shoulder. "You don't even want help from the fastest pony this side of Cloudsdale?"

"That's only 'cause my cloud house is on the other side!" All three ponies looked around for the owner of the sudden call, who soon revealed herself as Rainbow Dash. Twilight wondered where she could have come from, but then spotted a pillow on a nearby tree's strongest branch.

"That's what I said, don't you agree? Although I'm not sure if you're still as good as you say." Glimmer knew how to treat Rainbow. They had come to know each other in fillyhood, but then got separated when she left to study in Canterlot.

"Oh yeah? Want me to prove it? First over to the library and back wins!" Rainbow Dash unfolded her wings again after landing on the ground, ready to take off. Glimmer was still hovering.

"Sure!" Glimmer answered. Twilight rolled her eyes, not unnoticed by her marefriend. Pegasi all more or less loved speed and races, there was nothing to do against that. Glimmer shot her a revealing look. She understood.

The two pegasi took off simultaneously, however the steel coated one turned around a few seconds after.

"I see. She'll be pretty mad when she realises, though." Twilight responded to the trick Glimmer had played on Rainbow.

"Oh, don't worry. I know her much longer than you, she won't even notice I'm not there until she wants to rub her victory in my face."

Applejack chuckled. "Nice one. Now, y'all wanna buck some apples, or didya jus' wanna talk?"

The lovers exchanged looks. "Not now. We're kind of having a look around Ponyville."

"Nothing to say against staying a tiny bit, though. At least until RD comes back." Glimmer flew up to pick an apple, then laid onto the same branch Rainbow had napped on earlier.

"...Yeah. Do you know where the Crusaders are right now? I've got something for Spike to send, and he's with them."

"Ah think they're in tha clubhouse. Tha's what they told me, anyway."

Rainbow Dash returned, eyes closed in triumph. "Hey, where's..." Her gaze fell onto the dozed off pegasus. "Oh, I'm gonna..." She whispered something into Applejack's ears, who smiled and strongly bucked the tree Glimmer was on. Gravity quickly took effect.

"Whowazzawhat?" Glimmer struggled on the floor, disoriented.

"Did you really try to show ME? Nopony pranks Rainbow Dash, remember that." She offered Glimmer a helping hoof.

"Yes, now I remember why." Glimmer had to admit in defeat, but her mood was quickly raised by everypony around her laughing at Rainbow's cunning counter.

They set off across the orchard, towards the CMC clubhouse. When they arrived, they found the three fillies deep in thought with Spike sitting next to them, looking concerned. As usual, the table they were sitting around was cluttered with various plans and schemes. Twilight only just then noticed the Rainbow Dash doll in the corner. She'd love to know what the real RD thought about that.

Before anypony could say anything, Spike gave his mistress a desperate look, expressing the need for help.

"Hey girls. What's going on?" Twilight began the conversation.

"Trying to find new activites to try for our cutie marks. We wanted to try defying gravity, but Spike won't let us!"

"It's not my fault. Somepony defined the laws of physics, and now we have to keep to them."

"Who needs gravity defiance when you can fly?" Glimmer tried to cheer them up, especially Scootaloo. Twilight's eyes widened in shock. Flying was a weak point of the little pegasus, both in physical capability and temper. But Glimmer had no way of knowing.

"Uh, I don't want to discourage the other crusaders..." Scootaloo tried to avoid the topic. Glimmer put two and two together in a moment.

"You can't fly, right?"

"I... No. But they say it's just a matter of time until my wings grow strong enough to carry me." She blushed a little.

"Aw, don't say such things. Every pegasus can fly, it's just a matter of faith. If you know you can fly, you can." Glimmer motivated the little filly.

"Really?"

"Sure! Come outside, I can show you some tricks."

It was not long until Scootaloo looked back into the clubhouse, this time from the window, unsteadily hovering. "Look! I really can fly! Oh, uh, aaah!" She had missed a beat of her wings and dropped to the ground again.

Everybody rushed to the window. Scootaloo called up to calm them. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Stretch your legs, but don't tense 'em, and let the impact flow freely through your body." She repeated what Glimmer had taught her right as the first thing after they went out.

Glimmer carried her up to the platform. As they both entered, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, or Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, rather, let out a disappointed sigh. "Still a blank flank, Scoots."

"Yeah... But flying really is awesome!"

Twilight pulled Glimmer aside for a private talk. "You boosted her, didn't you."

Glimmer waved the accusation off with a hoof. "I wanted to, but she already flew by herself like a chicken. All she needed was somepony to bring up her spirits and show her some beginner tricks. Front, back, beat." She did the takeoff sequence herself, doing a short round around the clubhouse.

"But she's been practicing with Rainbow forever. Why didn't SHE make her fly?"

"If I should be honest, Rainbow probably just doesn't know anymore how it is to barely hover off your hooves like that. I'm not sure she ever did, such a natural she is."

They both watched the Crusaders plot new adventures for a while, then Twilight remembered why she was here in the first place.

"Spike? Be a dear and send this letter to Celestia." She pulled a scroll out of her saddle bags. The baby dragon wondered why she had written it herself instead of letting him do it, but then just shrugged and blew his magical fire on it.

His question what the letter was about was ignored, but he figured it'd have to do something with the pegasus mare present.

Before leaving, Glimmer took the task of raising the other Crusaders' mood by coming up with something safe but entertaining for them to try. "How about abstract art? Even if it doesn't lead to your cutie mark, it'll still be a lot of fun!"

Spike was relieved upon hearing that he wouldn't have to help the fillies in another ridiculously dangerous activity and gave the mares a thankful look.

Twilight was more than impressed with Glimmer's performance. She just had to know.

"How are you so good with foalies?"

"Dunno. Kind of natural, I suppose."

"Oh well. Where do you want to go next?"

"What's closest?"

"If we continue through the forest that way, we should get to Fluttershy pretty quickly..."

"Sounds like a plan. Alright girls, we'll be off. Try not to kill Spike today."

When they arrived at Fluttershy's cottage, it was just lunchtime for the animals. Thus, the three ponies had a nice time feeding all the critters Fluttershy took care of, as well as the occasional guest from the nearby forest.

After they were done, Twilight and Glimmer realised that they had not eaten since breakfast. Fluttershy wanted to offer them eating with her, but Glimmer refused.

"Oh, I appreciate the offer, but I just noticed I haven't shown Twilight Cloud Candy yet."

Twilight was confused by the weird name, but Fluttershy, a pegasus from Cloudsdale herself, only smiled and nodded. That confused her even more.

"What's..."

"It's a delicious dish you get only in Cloudsdale. It's actually less of a candy type and more of a normal meal."

"Great idea. Just one problem." Twilight pointed towards the empty spot on her back, where a pair of wings was not present. They both stepped out of the cottage

"But you can make yourself able to walk on clouds, right?"

"Um, yeah, but I'd still have to get the balloon from the library, and that's across Ponyville!"

"Do you?"

Glimmer grabbed Twilight with all four legs, flying just slightly above her.

"Oh. Are you sure I'm not too heavy for you?"

"You could never be."

Glimmer had landed them near the border of Cloudsdale. It was a part of the cloud town Twilight had never been to, so she was dependent on Glimmer to bring her wherever she wanted to go.

The pegasus walked somewhat unsure, though.

"You do know the way?"

Glimmer smiled. "Of course. It's just that 'Dale is as shifting, yet consistent as the clouds themselves, and I haven't been here for some time. Everything's where it was, but the way is a different one every day."

At last, they arrived at the restaurant Glimmer had been looking for. It looked like a cozy little place to eat. Most of the tables were taken by pegasi happily chatting over their meals. Being a unicorn, Twilight felt a little out of place, but she suppressed that and entered alongside her friend. They sat down at a table for two not too far away from the exit.

"What can I bring you?"

"Two servings of Cloud Candy, please."

"In a moment, miss."

It had not missed it's effect on Twilight. Cloud Candy was made of any kind of watery substance with something to give it taste. Small portions of it were cooled down past the critical point, where they formed small clouds. They weren't made of pure water, so they were minimally denser than the air around them.

Still, the little clouds fell at a surprisingly low speed. Twilight had spent the last five minutes playing around with her portion, giggling like a schoolfilly. She was halfway through with forming them into a representation of the local night sky, when Glimmer interrupted her.

"You know you can also eat them?"

"Oh, yeah." Twilight instantly stopped and felt terribly embarassed.

"It's normal to be fascinated by it the first time you see it. At least for earths and unicorns." She indicated around them. Nopony paid any attention to Twilight's behaviour.

She just chuckled and threw a little cloud ball into the air, ready to catch it with her muzzle. Twilight hadn't calculated for their low density, however, and had to bring it back down magically, which brought an annoyed expression to her face.

After lunch, they had a look around Cloudsdale. The marvels of the floating city never ceased to amaze either of them. Before long, a streak of rainbow pulled across the sky, spotted them and stopped on a nearby cloud floating above their position.

"Hey you two. Whatcha doing in Cloudsdale?" Rainbow Dash called down. She could have just landed next to them, but that was too easy for her. Also, the seperate cloud provided her with some privacy.

"Heya. We'll come right up!" Glimmer called back. She signaled for Twilight to climb onto her so that she could fly both of them over to the cloud Rainbow was on.

"Hey look, it's Shlimmer!" Glimmer closed her eyes in annoyance. She knew that stallion.

"Long time, no see. Oh look, you finally found your destination! Carrying around ponies too stupid to grow wings themselves is totally something everypony dreams of, right?"

"Or are ya practicing for tonight?" These three idiots from her foalhood hadn't gotten any smarter in the meantime. Glimmer sighed.

"How about YOU finally stop using words from another language you don't even know how to pronounce. Maybe if you went to Marelin, you'd finally learn how to say "Schlimmer". Not like that'd be my name, anyway." Glimmer had heard that nickname so often from ponies that had no idea of the language it was from. Most likely, they didn't even know what it meant.

"As for you, I wouldn't call other ponies stupid if I couldn't read myself. Or did you finally do something about that? Finally, you. Let me tell you, that's not how we do it."

The skilled counter had shocked the three bullies. Glimmer was thinking of a followup, but Twilight took the initiative herself. She began casting.

"Look, her fillyfriend is teleporting away! Such a baby, can't take it!" The leader of the three called.

Twilight finished the buildup and let the spell finish itself. All she said was one word. "No."

While the pegasi wondered what she'd done, the cloud under them began to thinnen and dissipate. All three dropped, screaming in shock.

After coming back up, they only murmured insults and retreated, clearly outclassed.

Rainbow Dash laughed on her cloud, peeking down on them over the border. "THAT is how you do it. So, you gonna come up now? It's getting boring all alone up here, and I still have to do four seconds' worth of work."

This time undisturbed, Twilight climbed onto Glimmer's back and had the pegasus carry her to Rainbow.

"Better. Now, what are you up to?"

"I showed her Cloud Candy. Why didn't any of you do that before me?"

"Don't you know? Bringing a non-pegasus to Cloudsdale for Cloud Candy means confessing your love to them."

"Oh. Well, I suppose..."

"You could bring me here every day and it still wouldn't be enough to express our relationship, don't you agree?"

"Yeah. I love you." Glimmer embraced her marefriend in her wings.

"...Could we please come to another topic? I didn't expect such a thing to happen. I mean, I'm happy for you two, but watching you snuggle up against each other almost makes me feel like I'm a filly fooler myself... Err, sorry. Didn't mean to say that..."

"Of course. How's your day going?" Twilight ended Rainbow's awkward moment.

"Awesome, of course, like me. At the rate I'm tearing through weather duty right now, I'll probably be done before another hour passes. I'll have to go see Fluttershy, though. One of the clouds I'd usually just speed through was frozen over and now one of my feathers looks off. It's probably nothing serious, but I'd like a second opinion and possible treatment.

"Rainbow Dash, flying into frozen clouds in the middle of summer." Glimmer whispered, just loud enough for Rainbow to pick it up however.

"Like a boss." Twilight added.

"What?" Rainbow Dash was confused at that addition.

"I... Don't even know why I said that."

"...Yeah. So, what are you two up to today? Please do me a favor and just skip the mushy stuff, okay?"

"Neither of us has any work today, so we figured we'd go on a small trip around Ponyville. Before Glimmer came up with the Cloud Candy, at least."

"Should I and ol' cloudmobile drop you anywhere? I think if I go this direction, you'd be little more than a dive away from Sugarcube Corner. Er... Or you could just float down together because not everypony is blessed with wings, I suppose."

"That'd be lovely. As well as if you finally cleared the sky." Glimmer teased Rainbow Dash.

"I'm through with it mostly! As I said, four seconds of work flat left." Rainbow pushed the cloud over to the bakery.

"Here's your stop. And come again!" After Twilight was securely on Glimmer's back, Rainbow bucked the cloud into dispersion. "You're welcome!" She called down to the falling couple and resumed her work.

This was nothing. Even as fillies, they had made games out of who could dive longer. But with a nearly panicking unicorn on her back weighing her down, Glimmer decided to play it safe and unfold her wings into a glide much earlier than needed.

They lost speed that way, but Twilight didn't seem to mind that when they finally made contact with the ground and she jumped off, trying to catch her breath.

"You do that kind of thing for fun?"

"It's not so bad when you have wings of your own, I promise!"

"Well, I don't. The next time I meet Rainbow Dash, she's going to feel how funny I found that. She's going to feel like After the Storm, I swear!" Twilight left out the emotions from her fall after the landing.

"Er, Twilight, why did you capitalise those two letters?"

"What are you talking about? I can't capitalise letters unless I'm writing them, you know? Sometimes, you make as little sense as Pinkie. What's next, some kind of alternate timeline where Dash gets hit by lightning, breaks her leg and picks up reading while in the hospital?"

Both ponies just blankly stared at each other for a second.

"Yeah. That's just ridiculous, don't you think, Twilight?" Pinkie broke the silence by hanging down from a nearby tree. "It's like our author is trying to get more views to one of his underviewed works."

"Who's that? More views? Pinkie, you're so random, even Discord couldn't match you." Twilight spoke out a thought she had only half been wanting to express.

"I know. But while we already shattered the fourth wall, why not have a little fun while it rebuilds? Hey, you, take that hand away from there! Yes, you. Stop clopping."

Twilight didn't even try to make sense from what Pinkie said. Sometimes, she could get even more random, talking things that did not even make the little sense she usually made.

Glimmer opened her muzzle, but was silenced by a purple colored hoof stuffed into her face.

"That's right, don't ask and I won't lie to you. But back to topic, what grants me this honor?"

"We're just having a look around Ponyville. Right now, it seems rather quiet. Not like recently, when there was basically a crisis daily. Good thing we solve most of them in little more than twenty minutes, or else there'd be hay to pay."

"I know what you're saying. All those things that always seem to happen to one of us six..." All ponies briefly stared in one direction, where there was nothing to be seen, away from Sugarcube corner. "Oh look, it's back up! For now."

The visit to Pinkie Pie had been even more confusing than it had been brief. The lovers were already on their way back to the library, when Glimmer was brought out of balance by a filly running by, fell and tore the silken butterfly she wore in her mane.

"Doesn't look too good, but Rarity should get this back together with only a few stitches. We owe her a visit to complete today's journey, anyway."

"Good evening dear, what brings you two to the boutique?" Rarity set aside the fabric she was working on when Twilight levitated over Glimmer's decoration.

"Glimmer fell to the ground and ripped her poor butterfly."

"Ungh, what a sin to let such beauty be able to be destroyed. I'll have it fixed in a second, just you wait. Dark Silver, it should be..." Rarity's voice trailed off as she chose a thread matching the butterfly's color, then bent over her work.

When she turned back to the other ponies, she had not only fixed the butterfly, but also worked a Moonstone into it.

"Gee, thanks! You shouldn't have..." Glimmer said as the decoration was levitated back into her mane, where it belonged.

"You deserve only the best, darling. Both for yourself and for Twilight."

The sun had already disappeared behind the horizon when the two ponies arrived at the library. Their day had been long and tiring, if simply from all the walking. So after dinner, Twilight didn't do much more than reshelving the books Spike couldn't put back without a ladder and checking the business summary, then dropping into her bed.

She was soon joined by Glimmer, similiarly, if not more tired from carring a fully grown unicorn to Cloudsdale and back.

"Kiss me, you."