"You wanted to see me, coach?"

An approaching middle-aged man with fiery red and white hair and a physique rivaling any top athlete waved the young freshman into his office. His face was a bit somber and stern, and it was clear this was not a conversation he wished to have. "Come in and have a seat, kid." The placard on his desk displayed his name and title as Assistant Head Coach Fire Streak.The wall behind him was decorated with numerous medals and trophies the university's track team earned over the decades. Above his head was a huge pennant with the school's name spelled out in bold letters: University of Northern Canterlot.

"Alright..." The girl replied with a slight crackle in her voice. She brushed her short, messy head of rainbow hair out of her face and sat rather nervously in front of the desk. "Something wrong?"

"No, not yet at least. We do need to talk about something though." He sounded a bit reassuring as he crossed his legs and propped his feet up on the desk. "I received an academic advisement report this morning, and it had your name on it."

"Oh. Okay. Is that bad?" She asked as she combed the rest of her hair back with her fingers.

"Yes and no." He sighed heavily and tapped a finger against the desk before lowering his feet and leaning forward. "Look, Dash. There's usually some leniency when it comes to athletic participation and grades, but you're running on a full ride here. The university requires that you maintain at least a 2.5 GPA to stay enrolled as a student athlete. And..." He tapped on the mouse on his desk and glanced at the monitor balanced on top of an old binder. "...You're barely maintaining a 2.0 as it is. Like I said, normally it's not an issue, but it's different with you."

"I see." Rainbow Dash narrowed her brow and glanced down at her feet. The worry on her face began contorting her usually boyishly pretty features. "Well, to be totally honest, I haven't been on top of checking my grades and stuff."

"That's fine, but it sounds to me like you need to study more than just check your grades." Fire Streak crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "The second semester just started, so you have all the way until late finals in June to get your grades up. In the meantime, though..." He trailed off as he began typing something. "I'm writing you a tutor referral and printing a time card."

"Wait, a tutor? Like going to the library and having some egghead breathe down my neck kind of tutor?" Dash asked with wide eyes. The annoyance was definitely not lost on her coach.

"Better check yourself there, kid." He replied sternly, taking a moment to narrow his eyes at her to drive the point home. "Those eggheads as you call them are pretty much your last hope if you want to continue running for the Wonderbolts, so watch your attitude."

Ugh...fuck. Dash mentally complained to herself. She really wanted to voice those words aloud, but Couch Fire Streak seemed to be more annoyed than she was. "Wait, am I still gonna be able to make it to practice?"

"Yeah, that's not a problem, but you will have to miss the last hour. Instead of getting out at six, you'll be leaving at five to head to the library." He stopped typing and reached under his desk at the same time the sound of the small printer began filling the room.

"But I'm only gonna get two and a half hours in on the track. I'll miss all the time trials," Dash lamented, a bit too childishly than she realized. Although legally an adult for the past half a year, she found herself actually whining a little.

Fire Streak shook his head with a sigh and slid the two pieces of paper across the desk towards her. "Stop complaining, kid. I am the last person who wants to hear excuses, and we're not going to have a long conversation about this. A lot of your teammates would kill for the deal you got, so shut your trap, buckle down, and get to work. You know how to work hard, so apply some of that to your studies, okay? The school isn't asking for much."

Rainbow Dash immediately pinched her lips together tight and replied with a short and quick nod. It took some doing, but she finally understood the situation. "Okay. I understand,” she said with a bit of defeat in her voice.

"Good." Fire Streak turned the papers around so Dash could read them. "This first one is just a referral. Take it to the library, and you'll be assigned a tutor. The second one is a sheet the tutor needs to sign each day. Time in, time out. Got it? Each week you'll hand in the time card to me and I'll clear you to practice."

With a glance down at both pieces of paper, Dash exhaled a long, soft sigh. "Okay..." It took several seconds for her to finally pick them up and return her gaze back to her coach.

"Great. Practice is over today for you, so get changed and head to the library. Your tutor is already expecting you." He leaned back in his chair again and began thumbing up on his mouse while looking at the monitor.

Dash got up from the chair and slowly shuffled to the door. The papers in her hand felt heavy somehow, like she had just been handed down a sentence. Fuuuuuckkk...

"Oh, kid? One other thing. The sooner you get your grades up, the sooner you can practice full time."

"Okay." Dash nodded without looking back. She exited his office without offering anything else to say before heading to the locker rooms. For nearly a minute she stood in front of her locker, lightly banging her head against it. Damn-it...son-of-a... A flash of anger surged for a brief moment as she rapped her forehead much harder than she realized against the small metal door. Ow...

While rubbing her forehead, she looked around the locker rooms, feeling an uncomfortable and unfamiliar atmosphere. Under normal circumstances, she and rest of her teammates would fill the room with roaring cheers and mischievous laughter before and after practice. Now, however...

It's kinda creepy in here by myself. Dash opened her locker and began stripping out of her black spandex running shorts and tank top. She tossed her shoes half-hazardously to the bottom of her locker before reaching for her normal clothes. A cold chill ran up her shoulders and down her back during the few seconds she was completely naked, and it occurred to her that the twenty-plus teammates who shared this locker room also functioned as a source of warmth she was also missing out on. Well...that and sneaking a peek at everyone else, Dash admitted to herself with a slight blush.

When she first joined the team, Dash was doubly glad to meet so many girls all with their own lovely features. Some downright cute, some truly pretty, and even some handsomely built. When she realized everyone on the team, like herself, seemed to be all over the place on the spectrum, she felt even happier and relieved.

What surprised her the most, however, was the number of girls who were just like her that shared many distinctly similar features; the kind of features that one would have to strategically stuff into their shorts or pants. Dash wasn't lacking in that respect, but after arriving to UNC, she saw for the first time some real heat packed by some of the seniors which made even her feel a little self-conscious. The team captain being stand out example in her mind; Dash always loved taking the time after practice to glance over at her.

Great...I gotta miss the best fucking part of practice. Once dressed, Dash closed her locker with a bit too much force before gathering up her bookbag and slinging it over her shoulder. With her jeans, sweater, and old high school letterman jacket on, she exited the athletics building.

The biting cold of late January hit her in the face, sending a much greater shiver throughout her entire body than before. As her carefully positioned features below her waist began shrinking away from the cold, Dash began jogging towards the campus library. It took a few minutes to finally get there because she had to tread carefully. The inch of snow from four days prior had yet to begin melting, and much of the sidewalk was still slick with hardly any footprints to follow. Probably ‘cause the library sucks. The more time she spent outside, the more she missed the indoor track and luxury of working up a hot sweat. Just get those grades up and bye-fucking-bye, library.

As she opened the double doors and ducked inside, she was greeted with a welcome rush of heat that seemed to thaw her frozen core and graciously help relax her tense personal affects. The library also held an aroma of cinnamon and crème, and a glance to her right revealed a small coffee stand. At least it doesn't completely suck in here, she thought as she shook the cold off her shoulders. Now, where are the tutors?

"Excuse me, can I offer my assistance in some way?" a scrawny boy asked from the information desk to her left. The big, mousy glasses on his face made his disproportionate eyes bulge, and his buck teeth made it look like he was constantly sniffling. There was an unhealthy paleness to him, and Dash found herself hesitating to answer back. It was impossible to meet his gaze because his eyes seemed to wander, and Dash realized that through his iceberg thick glasses, he might be trying to check her out.

Better get this over with... Dash sighed and slowly approached the information desk. "Yeah, hi, what's up? So, I have this referral here for a tutor. Could you just point me in that direction?"

"Let me see the referral, please," he said, either not bothering to look away from her breasts or too lacking in social etiquette to realize his blatant behavior. He held out his hand streaked with ink stains and Dash passed him the form. Even with the glasses, he still held the paper mere inches from his face to read it. "Alright, allow me to page the tutor on call upstairs."

Dash glanced up to see a second-floor balcony lining the building. You could've just pointed to the stairs, fucking egghe—

"Your five fifteen appointment is here," he said through the phone on his desk. "I'll send her up immediately posthaste."

Really? Immediately posthaste?

He put the phone down and adjusted his glasses with great difficulty. "You may ascend the stairs now. Please extricate all snow off of your shoes, and if you are unaware, you must contain all audible volume to a minimum while in the library. Your tutor will be with you momentarily."

Oh, for the love of Pete... Dash was unable to hold back her long, frustrated sigh. After taking her referral back, she rubbed her forehead and gritted her teeth. It took all of her mental energy to keep her annoyance in check as she watched him stare directly at the front of her jeans. "Great, cool, thanks, see ya." She turned away and took a long deep breath as she trudged toward the stairs. My fucking tutor better not be that guy's twin brother. I will seriously lose my shit.

Heavily dreading what she would find at the top, Dash was in no hurry to walk up the stairs, even if it meant the creepy, sniveling hamster guy got more time to check out her backside. As her head began peaking over the top of the stairs, she was greeted by an unwelcome amount of bookshelves that took up the vast majority of space on the second floor. Because of this, it wasn't hard to find the tutoring section. Only a few tables littered the back corner which was stuffed with two computer desks and a printing station. Behind everything was door labeled Tutor's Lounge, and Dash caught a tiny glimpse of someone's purple head through the small window.

After tossing her bookbag on the nearest table, Dash sat down hard in one of the chairs and began twirling her thumbs. She propped her feet up on the chair in front of her and sighed loudly up at the ceiling. Her brain now registered the actual smell of books around her, and she felt more captive in her current situation than ever before. I might not make it through this... The walls around her felt cramped, the complete polar opposite to the indoor stadium where she usually spent her afternoons and early evenings. This would probably be a good time to get her books out and sorted on the table, but she had no motivation to do any of that any time soon.

With the lack of surrounding noise beginning to tighten her chest, Dash quickly removed her phone from her pocket. That tutor better get her soon. I'm already done with this stuffy place.

-o0o-

While on her second top ten list involving car crashes and police chases, the door in the back opened very quietly and slowly by someone doing their best not to disturb the quiet atmosphere. It was so quiet that Dash was oblivious to the small figure walking towards the table with nearly silent footsteps. When the shadow of someone's head moved across her arm, Dash glanced up.

What she saw in those silent, few seconds would be something that defied all expectations and make her question everything she thought she knew about the people of the academic world. Her eyes grew wide in genuine surprise, and a sudden heat began radiating from her chest down to her waist and beyond with such force that Dash felt the need to press her thighs together. In front of her was an impossible sight, with her height being the only average characteristic.

The first striking feature Dash noticed was the perfectly carved facial structure of the girl, holding the perfect balance between sheer beauty and heartbreakingly cute. Her slender shoulders squared off completely with her hips that showed a symmetrical hourglass figure. Each small portion of skin not covered by black stockings or a white blouse held a true porcelain hue with just the right about of darkened pink. Her hair, the vast majority a deep-purple that exposed enough pink and lavender highlights to be noticeable, sat neatly groomed on her head which cascaded down her shoulders to her back. Her bangs, expertly trimmed across her brow, only added to the natural beauty she possessed. All her limbs looked perfectly proportioned, and Dash tried her best to think of someone else she knew who could rival just the silhouette of this individual. The fact that she failed to recall even one other person made Dash marvel even more.

"U-Uhh..." She stammered so heavily that she reminded herself of her last sports physical when the doctor had left the tongue depressor in her mouth while answering a call.

"Good afternoon," greeted the figure in a fantastically sweet and bewitchingly high voice. "Are you here for tutoring?"

Under normal circumstances, Dash's sarcasm drive would've been in high gear. After looking around the empty floor for a moment, she would've pointed to a magazine stand and said, "I think he was here first." However, her mind was still barely keeping up with the figure's captivating face. Her eyes hadn't even had the chance to take in the rest of her with any level of satisfaction before she could register that she had just been asked a question. "U-Uhh..."

With a patient pause, the figure waited for Dash's eyes to stop rolling with a snail's pace down her front, to her feet, and back up to her eyes. If there was even a hint of annoyance of her face, she hid it well. "Are you here for tutoring?" she asked again the very second their eyes met once more.

"I-I...Well I-I... I think so, yeah." Dash shook her head hard side to side for a brief second and swallowed deeply. "Yeah, yeah, that's me. I'm here for tutoring, yeah. Uh-huh." Her face immediately turned bright red with embarrassment after no doubt coming across as a flickering lightbulb.

The figure ran her small hands down the front of her purple, plaid skirt as she sat down. The blouse tucked into her waistline gave Dash the impression that she could wrap her fingers around the girl’s entire waist with just one hand. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I will be your tutor today, and mostly likely for the foreseeable future."

In a dumbfounded lack of brains, Dash's only reply to that introduction was "Uh...cool."

Twilight Sparkle gestured with a hand for Dash to continue as her lips parted into an amused but incredibly melting smile, completely banishing all remaining chill of the winter weather from Dash's bones. "So, you would be? Just going by your appearance, I would think your first name would be Rainbow, and with a high school letterman jacket, your last name is probably...Blitz, or Dart, or maybe even Dash?"

"U-Uh, yeah!" Dash exclaimed with excitement she only reserved for superhero movies or better running shoes. She immediately clamped her hands over her mouth, and the redness on her cheeks spread up to her nose and ears. "I mean, yeah. That's totally my name! Rainbow Dash!" she now exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. "Are you, like, some kind of genius or something?"

Twilight Sparkle put a hand over her mouth and began giggling, her adorable smile growing a bit bigger. "Not exactly. Your name is actually on my itinerary."

"O-Oh...heh..." Dash began feeling her blush tingle the tips of her ears, and she took a deep breath before placing her hands on the table. "Well, you got me pretty good then, Twilight Sparkle." Her words seemed to take too long leaving her lips—at least that's how it sounded in her own ear.

"I believe I did," she said as she lowered her hands onto the table opposite of Dash. "If you'd like, you can just call me Twilight. I'm not a teacher, so no need for last names."

"Uh, yeah sure." Dash nodded her head as she leaned forward a bit over the table. "I usually just go by Dash, but you can all me Rainbow or Dash or whatever."

"Alright then, Rainbow." Twilight pointed to Dash's bookbag. "Shall we take a look?"

"Right, yeah. Of course." Dash began shuffling her books out of her bag, now regretting not preparing earlier. Her breathing became a tad erratic, and she realized how nervous she was as the tips of her fingers struggled to turn the first page due to her shaking wrists. Holy shit, I'm going crazy for this girl...

"Hm. Introduction to Geometric Applications," Twilight recited as she picked up one of the untouched books. She lifted up another and glanced at the cover. "Studies in Modern Equestrian History." She set the books down and looked up at Dash. "Did you happen to recently purchase these? They look new, and this one even has the tag still on the back cover."

In that moment, Dash became very aware of how little she actually uses her textbooks and how disappointed she was in herself because of it. "U-Um...Well, it’s kinda hard to say." Oh wow...that was totally weak.

"I ask because someone tried to return stolen textbooks over winter break, and we're trying to find the original owner. I'd hate to think someone had to buy their books all over again because of that." Twilight's adorable smile turned into an equally paralleled look of concern.

"Nope...no, that wasn't me." Dash rubbed the back of her head and gave a slight shrug. "That does sound like a really shi—, uhhh...really crappy day though."

"The absolute worst," Twilight agreed as she stacked the books up into a neat, little tower on the side of the table with delicate care. "I don't know how I'd cope if something were to happen to any book in my possession."

Dash couldn't sympathize completely, but she did have a few trophies back home at her parent's place that she felt the same way about. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean." Dash began imagining the picture perfect little nerd in front of her frowning, and it tugged at her chest a bit.

"Anyways, I'd like to start by asking you a question." Twilight interlaced her fingers together on the table and brought her gaze into a direct path with Dash so their attentions would be fixed to each other without distraction. "I would like to know what your personal goals are for tutoring so I can help you reach them."

"Uhhhhh..." Dash looked up at the ceiling for a long moment and tapped a finger on her chin. I don't...I don't fucking know. Get my grades up so I can get out of here? Dash figured that probably wouldn't be the best way of putting it.

"How about this?" Twilight reached across the table and tapped a finger on Dash's wrist to get her attention back. The very slight but sudden contact sent the same radiating heat downwards with full force into her loins, and Dash suddenly sat up straight and squeezed her thighs together so firmly that her knees began shaking. "If I may, let me ask you something else. Why did you come to tutoring today?"

Dash waited a few agonizingly long seconds for the heat to dissipate back to her chest. This took just enough pressure away from the zipper of her jeans to relax her thighs and exhale slowly. "Well, it's kind of...I guess it's cause...I have to. Unless I get my grades up, I won't be able to stay on the track team, then I'd lose my scholarship, and..." Dash trailed off for a moment, really feeling those words sink in. It was one thing to hear them from someone, but to say it and admit it out loud held a great deal more weight.

"Hey." Twilight reached across the table again, but instead of tapping a finger on Dash's wrist, she laid her entire soft, little hand atop Dash's knuckles. "I will do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen. If we work together, we can make sure that doesn't happen."

Dash felt her face begin to tingle all over, and that same heat in her chest crashed back down below her waist like a collapsing building. The stiffness between her legs overwhelmed the material containing it as its length pushed down her right pant leg. She slumped her head forward and stared intently at the table as she took an extremely long and drawn out breath. Her mind flashed back to the most embarrassing moment of her life, which involved a failed backflip into a trash can in middle school, and she very well knew that memory might take second place if she wasn't more than careful.

"I can see this is really worrying you." Twilight gently patted Dash's now clenched fist. "Just take a couple of deep breaths and relax. I've helped at least a few other students get their grades up, and all it takes is help and encouragement."

"Th-Thanks." Dash said through the corner of her mouth as she bit her lower lip. With the immense constraining pressure between her legs gone, she was finally able to look up and meet Twilight's gaze. As long as she didn't need to get up from the table for a little while, everything should be fine. Since they hadn't even started yet, there'd be nothing to worry about. Just cool your shit, Dash, she thought before mentally addressing all of her individual physical components. Let's everybody just calm the fuck down, yeah? "I'll do that. Just a few, deep breaths." Dash nodded her head and inhaled a few times slowly. It definitely helped, although for a different reason.

"Excellent." Twilight pulled her handback and smiled brightly. "And I think I know what might help even more." She slowly stood and ran her hands down the length of her skirt again. "The little coffee stand downstairs has an excellent mint ginger tea. Perfect for calming the tummy and mind, and it's a personal favorite."

...Fuck... Dash brought her gaze up to Twilight with a completely blank expression. Her body now felt paralyzed in both the best and worst ways possible. Her lips parted as if to speak, but she made no noise other than a weird croaking sound that, although sounded like a word, didn't sound like any language anywhere.

"And maybe a little honey for your dry throat." Twilight's face brightened even more. "You did just get out of practice, if I'm not mistaken. Plus, a little sugar would do you some good after working off so many calories."

"Y-Yeah, totes," Dash eventually got out with a cracklier voice than usual. Good job, you finally said something. Wait, did I just say 'totes'? What a dweeb!

"Coming?" Twilight asked a she took a small step towards the stairs. "I assure you that the tea will help. It's never let me down before."

"Yeah, sure, sounds great." Dash replied as she tapped her fingers on the table. She began running interference body language to make it look like she was getting up from the table. That included placing her hands on her knees and scooting her chair back just slightly without giving away anything. This was a skill she tried to hone in high school, where her parents kept cheerfully bursting into her room every morning to help her get ready for the day. She didn't need the help, but they always gave it anyway. A lot like this stupid tea idea! She knew deep down it wasn't stupid, but the whole current situation certainly felt that way.

When Twilight finally turned away towards the stairs, Dash took the opportunity to quickly stand up. She yanked her jacket off and began tying it around her waist. The sudden change from sitting to standing put considerable pressure against her length again, making it hard to walk down the stairs without favoring a more comfortable bending of her other knee. Twilight was already at the bottom and rapidly approaching the coffee stand. Or am I just taking my sweet fucking time over here? Dash glanced down at her feet and watched her usually long walking pace become shortened to just over a foot between each step as if she was trying to run with her pants around her ankles. I would love that so damn much right now...

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked from across the geopolitical reference section. "Do you have a leg cramp?"

"U-Uh..." Dash glanced down at her knees before immediately nodding her head with a bit too much forced confidence. "Yeah, a cramp. Totally. It's kinda killing me right now, so just give me a sec." With a sliver of tension gone in her voice, Dash began making her way down one of the long aisles towards her.

"That looks like it really hurts." Twilight said with a very sympathetic coo. "I think some fresh fruit will help too. There're some bananas here that you can get."

"Yeah, banana, okay." Dash eventually made it to the coffee stand, being sure to keep a few feet between them and her jacket fitted to her waist. "I could eat right now." And that's actually not total bullshit.

Another young man occupied the first floor of the library behind the coffee stand, and Dash was glad to see he looked and behaved nothing like the creepy jerk behind the information desk. "Good evening. Hello again, Twilight. The usual today?"

"Yes, please. I would also like to make that a double on the tea with some honey in one of them, and please add a banana to the order." Twilight nodded her head at him and reached into a small pocket in her cardigan sweater for a small and very sensible wallet. Embroidered on the front was a small, six-pointed, lavender star that matched her lovely eyes.

"Coming right up," the young man said as he patted his parted bowl cut hair before grabbed two paper cups. His appearance looked far too groomed and maintained, and if Dash hadn't been more preoccupied with something else, she would've noticed his slight blush and lingering gaze on the adorable bookworm.

"Sure." Dash gratefully accepted the banana and began peeling it intently before cramming half of it into her mouth. Doing so would accomplish two things that she needed desperately. Now I don't have to talk too much, and maybe some of the blood in my damn—Dash chewed hard and began pulling on the little strands of cellulose clinging to the peel. ...Maybe some of the blood from there will go into my stomach so I can walk straight. Not a bad idea, but Dash knew it would take a lot more than that to deal with the still surprisingly achy tension.

When the tea finished brewing, the young man put two hot, paper cups with cardboard sleeves down on the small counter. Twilight was quick to pick them up with a polite, little bow. "Thank you."

"Anytime," he said with another ridiculous blush. "And let me know what you think of Ponderings on Zen Existence. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did."

Dash was conscious enough to catch that painfully nerdy sentence which seemed to take more attention off her stiffness than the banana. Oh, yuck. Sounds like a real page turner.

"I will definitely do that. Thank you, again." Twilight smiled back at him, sparking a strangely petty tinge of jealousy in the athlete. She walked over to one of the small, round tables in front of the coffee stand with the two cups and sat.

With a great deal of mental energy going into keeping a straight face, Dash sat down across from her and shuffled her feet to get somewhat comfortable. "Thanks for this. You know, you didn't have to buy it for me."

"I was the one who suggested it, so I think I did. Besides, it would be pretty rude of me to be sipping my tea while trying to get started." Twilight slowly pushed one of the cups towards her and smiled that unceasingly breathtaking smile. "Also, this does give us a chance to get properly acquainted."

Why are you so damn cute? Dash slowly nodded before blowing softly on the surface of her tea. She was pleasantly surprised at the soothing aroma that relaxed her shoulders a bit. "Alright, that's cool," Dash smiled back a bit as she put the other half of her banana down to hold the cup with both hands. "Like you said before, I'm Rainbow Dash. I...run for the track team and play for the soccer team, and...I guess that pretty much sums it up."

"Two teams? That's a lot of work all year round. Finding time for yourself must be difficult." Twilight remarked before taking a dainty sip of her hot tea.

Seriously, stop being so cute! Dash let out a long sigh and a shrugged. "Sometimes, I guess. I do love it though. As soon as I could walk, I was running everywhere."

Twilight giggled and nodded her head. "I can definitely see a cute, smaller version of yourself bouncing off the walls."

"H-Heh, yeah..." Dash began to blush again, and she did her best to keep herself still by sipping her tea. As soon as the sweet, warm mint of the brew trailed down her tongue, she fought the urge to drink faster and risk burning her tongue. "Wow, this is...actually really good. I kinda see why this is a thing now."

"I'm glad you like it." Twilight took another sip and began wiggling the tip of her finger against the surface of her tea. "Tea was once the world's most valuable commodity long before the refinement and practical use of fossil fuels, and even then, it was considered a luxury."

For the very first time is Rainbow Dash's entire life, she felt tantalized by sheer nerdiness. Just the way you said that...is making me question everything I think I know about girls... "I didn't know that. Sorta thought tea was something people drank ‘cause they didn't have coffee." That made Twilight smile brightly and giggle hard into her hand, leaving Dash feeling rather embarrassed. Normally, that sort of thing wouldn't bother her, but with Twilight, everything felt different. She actually wanted to impress her, to satisfy that courtship instinct going off like fireworks in her head. "But since coffee was invented after tea, maybe it was the other way around?"

Twilight stopped giggling and calmed herself by taking another sip. "I think the preference of tea over coffee and vise-versa is an acquired taste. I've never much cared for coffee, so I've always leaned more towards tea, even for my caffeine needs."

I'm more into energy drinks,Dash thought as she took another excusatory sip to keep from having to reply. But if you get enough whiskey or vodka in me, and I'll lean every which way but Sunday. She tapped a finger on the table before finally trying to deflect the conversation towards something else. "So...are you like a teacher's assistant, or work in the library? If you tutor at the same time, then you probably don't get much time to yourself either."

"True." Twilight sighed softly and nodded before reaching into the other small pocket of her cardigan for a glasses case. She removed the square frames and dabbed the microfiber cloth stored between the lenses in her tea before wiping them down. "I do spend the majority of my day here when I'm not in class. As a tutor and an assistant librarian, I know the many shelves of this building better than I do the bookcase in my dorm room."

"It really works for you," Dash said before realizing it. "U-Uh, I mean, you're doing what you love, and I totally get that. I'm right there with you, but...you know, not actually, heh."

"You and I have a lot in common then," Twilight replied with a warm smile. "Which is quite the relief, considering how worried I was about our session."

"Worried?" Dash asked. "How come? I mean, if it's cool that I ask."

"It's cool." Twilight nodded with another giggle. It was clear she didn't use that word often, and she was having a friendly bit of fun at Dash's expense saying it. "When I first got the email from the scheduling department about your arrival, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I usually get referrals for students from the math center or science division, and I think is fairly obvious that I'm more akin to the academic type. With student athletes though, well...you are definitely the first for me."

"Oh, yeah, I can see that." Dash glanced back down at her tea and drummed her fingers around the cup. "Some of us jock types can be...really wild, I guess." It was an easy thing to admit considering two of the favorite locker room pastimes included the wet towel whipping and sword fighting, the latter of which requiring a certain piece of equipment probably best kept private. "Well, I'm glad we're getting off on the right foot then," Dash began with great sincerity. "You're really cool, and it's a big relief for me, too, since you ended up being my tutor. I wasn't sure what to expect either."

"Which I can completely understand." Twilight gave her a big, appreciative smile beaming with pride as she held out a hand. "It's nice to formally meet you, Rainbow."

"You too, Twilight." Dash immediately squeezed her hand, jumping on the opportunity to make real, physical contact. "Totally."

-o0o-

"U-Uhhh..." Dash let out a long sigh as she began scrubbing her paper clean for the fifth time in the past ten minutes. Now back upstairs in the tutoring section, she sat at their original table with her Geometry book and college ruled notebook open. The open page of the notebook had accumulated eraser and pencil smudges from border to border, and Dash had lost all hope from progressing past the first problem after the first two failed attempts. Her frustration was building, and the only thing holding her back from swearing openly was the desire to not upset Twilight sitting next to her. The thought of putting a frown on her perfect face enhanced by those square frames over her eyes made Dash carefully watch her body language.

With their session off to a rather slow start, Twilight continued to offer her encouragement as she walked through each step of the problem's process, her smile never wavering. With each attempt, she congratulated Dash on making it one step further towards success, and now that success was very near. "Be sure to substitute the new value on the graph into the equation."

"This one?" Dash asked, pointing to what she hoped was the right number hastily scratched onto the poorly drawn line.

"Yes, that one." Twilight nodded, waiting a moment for Dash to work through the next step. "Excellent. Now plot the two given numbers into the second equation, and that will give you a slope to draw the second line."

"Okay...okay..." Dash exhaled slowly and paused for a second to mental shift to the second part of the problem. It took another moment to work out where to substitute the values, and a couple more minutes to slowly work out the solutions. "Alright, so the numbers they gave me are the 'x' ones, and the ones I just made are the 'y' ones, right?"

"That's right, exactly. Go ahead and draw the line."

Dash dotted two positions on the notebook paper and began using the borrowed ruler to slowly carve a new line that intersected the first. "Ohhhhkay. How's that?"

"The lines need to be longer so the bottom one intersects the x-axis."

"Uhh..." Dash put the ruler down and pointed to the vertical line running up along side the rest of the graph. "This one."

"I'm afraid not."

Damn-it... Dash began sighing again as she rubs her face rather hard with both hands. "Ughhh, why is this so hard? I do one thing right, then it wants me to do something else that doesn’t have jack shit to do with the first stupid thing, and I don't even know what the point of all this is!"

As soon as Dash dropped everything from her hands and finished her little outburst, Twilight placed a hand on her shoulder and patiently waited for her to calm down before speaking. "Rainbow Dash, listen to me, please." The use of her full name and a stern hint in Twilight's voice made Dash wipe her agitated look off her face before turning to her. "Right now, you're letting this get to you, and you're giving all of your frustration too much power. I need you to relax, focus on your breathing, and take your time. This isn't a race, so all we're worried about is working through it."

It is kind of a race though, At least for me,Dash wanted to retort back, but decided against by offering an argument instead. "I guess, but...there's like, twenty more problems left, and this is just the first subject. At this rate, I'll be stuck on just these stupid math problems for over two hours!"

"Not necessarily." Twilight said as she shook her head. "Have you heard the expression about teaching a man to fish?"

"U-Uh...yeah. Feed a man for a day, teach a man for life, something like that."

"Yes, and once the man knows how to fish, do you think he might be better and faster at it than while trying to learn?"

"U-Uh...yeah, totally." Dash brought her gaze up to the ceiling with a nod and put a finger on her chin. Huh...this girl is just as smart as she cute.

"I'm glad you see it that way, because once we finish this first problem, I know for a fact that you will speed through the rest of these in a fraction of the time." Twilight gave Dash a very encouraging smile as she rubbed her hand around Dash’s shoulder for a moment.

Mmnnn...damn-it, she's sweet as fuck too. "Yeah, yeah, that'd be awesome." Dash said with the increasing tension in her lap agreeing completely. "Ok, I'm ready."

"Thank you. All you have to do for this part is extend this line here down past the x-axis here." Twilight pointed out every necessary line on the paper.

"Right. The 'x' one is the sideways one then. Got it." She did as instructed and put her pencil and ruler down.

"That's perfect, Dash. Now use this here." Twilight slide a plastic protractor towards the notebook. "Measure the angle between the two lines you drew and between the bottom line and x-axis."

"Easy enough." Dash absentmindedly did as she was told, but something in her mind lingered on the results. She carefully inspected the figures as she did the measurements again, and her eyes grew wide in surprise. "Whoa...the angles are the same!"

"That means you did everything correctly," Twilight said with a little giggle. "That wasn't so bad, right? All it takes is a little help, and the rest just comes together."

I did it...I fucking did it. I actually finished a math problem that wasn't multiple choice. Holy shit, I might actually have a chance at passing a midterm now. Dash stared blankly down at her paper before turning to Twilight. A big desire to hug the adorable, little bookworm made Dash's arms raise slightly, and she immediately gasped, fearing her body language had given too much away. However, she was pleasantly surprised to feel Twilight circle her arms around her shoulders and give her a firm, little hug that instantly made her jeans feel no less cramped than a vacuum sealed plastic bag. As seen on TV, huh? Dash joked to herself as she boldly pressed her nose into the top of Twilight's head and sniffed. Mint tea... A massive wave of disappointment for both herself and her restricted zipper draped over her when Twilight ended the short hug.

"I'm really proud of you, Dash. You worked through every step, you put everything together, and you achieved success." Twilight's smile grew bigger with beaming pride. "All in all, it really didn't take that long. We've only been at it for fifteen minutes, so this is a huge step forward."

I spent eight fucking hours in math class last week, and I learned more right now than I did then! This girl is AMAZING! "Twilight, thank you. Thank you, thank you! I've been stuck on this for what feels like forever!"

"That's what I'm here for." Twilight softly patted Dash on her knee before pointing to the other problems in Dash's open textbook. "Would you like to try and tackle the rest of them now? I'll be here every step of the way, but I'm confident you won't need my help."

"Sure, yeah, totally. Let's do it!" Dash turned back towards the table, feeling an odd mix of mental focus and arousal. Normally, those two didn't work at all together, but anything felt possible now after spending time with the university's best kept secret. She began outlining a new graph and started imputing new values into the new equation, and within a matter of seconds, she already had a new graph outlined. It took just another few seconds to do the other graph, then a few more to measure the angles. Same. They're the same. Damn, I'm good!

"There you go! Perfect." Twilight gave Dash a pat on the back before scooting away a bit to pick up her Equestrian History textbook. "While you finish those up, I'll take a look at where you're at with you other classes. At this rate, I think we can make some wonderful progress, and soon enough you'll be back at practice. Sound good?"

"Uh, yeah, s-sure." Dash nodded her head slowly and began staring blankly at the next problem without moving her pencil. Back to practice...back to practice. That's what she really wanted—and that was her goal—but the idea of their time together coming to an end was a little disheartening, even if they barely knew each other. She glanced back at Twilight, who was thoroughly engrossed in a chapter midway through the text while jotting down a few lines from each page. That's not gonna be for a while, probably. I still have lots of time. Whatever.

Another fifteen minutes later, Dash set her pencil back down and marveled at her paper. The entire front side of the sheets was covered in graphs and small paragraphs of mathematical work, a marvel in and of itself, considering the best she'd been able to accomplish in the past were half-worked scribbles that barely earned her a passing grade. Everything now looked organized, and Dash wondered if her instructor would believe she actually did all the work. "Ok, I'm done."

Twilight scooted her chair back over and peeked over Dash's shoulder, almost resting her chin on the athlete's sleeve. "Mhm, yes, yes...yes, yes, yes...yes..." Twilight paused as she skimmed the rest of the problems all the way down to the bottom of the page. "...and yes. A perfect score."

Yeah, you really are. "Are you serious? One of them's gotta be wrong. At least one." Dash raised her eyebrows and waved a finger over the page.

"You are a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for, Rainbow." Twilight said through a giggle as she rolled her eyes playfully from behind her glasses. "You know how to work hard, and you know how to focus when you need to. That more than half the battle."

"Huh...right." Dash slowly nodded again and began rubbing the back of her head. Her face began turning red as Twilight lingered around her shoulder. "That makes a lot of sense. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Like I said, that's what I'm here for." Twilight reached for the history textbook and switched it out with the math book before holding up a sharply written outline in very legible cursive handwriting. "I would like you to take a look at this outline I made for your upcoming chapter. I've written out all the key events by date with important figures and their significance underneath."

"You...did all that just now?" Dash marveled at the outline as she took it in her fingertips and glanced up and down the page. "How did you read the whole chapter so fast?"

"I didn't." Twilight shook her head with an adorable smirk. "I've taken the same class before a couple years ago."

Couple years ago... "Wait, so...are you not a freshman?" Dash asked, her gaze returning to Twilight's face as she shamelessly studied her features. She's adorable and small enough to be in high school. There's no way.

"No, I'm actually in my second year here at UNC, but thank you for the compliment." Twilight said with an even bigger smirk.

"Sorry, I...just thought that since you're so..." Dash shook her head and lowered the outline so she could look away. "Never mind. That was kinda rude of me."

"It doesn't bother me. Assumptions happen, and we all make them." Twilight narrowed her brow and cocked her head slightly at her. "Besides, I also was under the assumption you were a senior since you're so..." She trailed off in much the same manner while putting a teasing note on the tail of the sentence.

Senior? No way, girl. You wanna see a real track team senior is all her huge long glory, go meet team captain, Spitfire. Dash's face turned completely red, partially from putting herself on the spot and partially from the mental image of her team drill instructor and captain's towering physique with equally as impressive equipment. No teammate dared challenge her to swordfight in the locker room, and none dared refuse one from her either. "U-Uhhh...yeah, you got me there, heh..." Dash vigorously rubbed the back of her head as her face and ears began to burn.

"I believe I do. Now, shall we go over this together?" Twilight asked as she danced the tip of her pencil against the outline on the table.

"Yeah, let's do it." Dash returned her gaze to the outline and put her hands on the table, squaring her shoulders directly forward to look as focused as possible, although the shift in attention only lasted a second. "Wait, one other thing. A couple of years ago? So, did you take a college class in high school or something?"

"A few, but nothing worth noting. I only wanted to get some of the elective credits out of the way before I fully enrolled." Twilight again pointed to the outline with her pencil. "Let's get back to this outline first. I'd like to go over it with you."

"Right, ok. I'm totally done drilling you now." ...Seriously, Dash? Fucking seriously? Dash swallowed hard and tapped her fingers on the edges of the table. This isn't water break during station training. Don't act like a stupid, dumb jock!

What was the most surprising thing about the entire evening wasn't Twilight's gorgeous appearance or her impressive smarts. No, not even close. What truly surprised Dash into utter speechlessness was that particular moment. With the same teasing tone, Twilight replied, "That didn't take very long."

Dash's mind immediately flashed to an experience in her Basic Cooking class. The biggest overachiever in that subject wasn't a nerd type but a wacky prankster type. Dash couldn't remember if what she went by was her real name, but with the nappy head of pink hair matched with different shades of pink clothing stretched tight around her lovely, ample hips and bust, it wasn't hard to remember what everyone called her. "OH NO SHE DI-UHNT!" Dash could mentally hear Pinkie's voice fill her head the same way her voice would fill the large kitchen. She slowly turned to Twilight with the corners of her lips turned up, marveling in awe at the witty and inappropriate comeback.

Twilight's adorable smirk grew even bigger, and after a few seconds, both girls began snickering. The snickering turned into erratic, nasally snorts before evolving into hoarse laughter.

-o0o-

It was nearly eight at night when Dash made it back to the athletic dormitory on the edge of campus. She barely caught the last campus shuttle, saving her a half hour's walk through the cold. With her gym and book bags slung over the same shoulder, she slowly marched her way inside and turned down the hall towards her room past three vending machines which all offering the same assortment of sports drinks, coffee, and energy drinks. Her mind continued to play back all of the tutoring session's best moments on a repeat playlist, and all the noises of neighbors flew right past her ears as she unlocked her door. It wasn't until she got her shoes off did she realize where she really was.

After looking around for a moment, vacantly taking in the tiny living room area littered with both clean and dirty laundry barely separated on the floor—which did include a great deal too many intimates—Dash plopped herself down on the small futon sofa in front of the TV, surrounded by a spider web of loosely gathered cables. She titled her head back and splayed her arms out to her sides as she exhaled very slowly. "That girl...is...fucking awesome." She mumbled to herself. "Fucking...awesome." She's so fucking cute, I wanna just scoop her up and fly off into the clouds. Just get really lost up there and make it rain...the...fuck...down. So hard that half the school gets closed off until the sidewalks get shoveled.

"Gross, dude," she retorted back to her subconscious.

Dash got up from the couch and headed to her small fridge to chug down a bottle of kiwi flavored electrolytes. She tossed the now empty bottle into the trash before putting a hand over chest. "D-Damn...my heart won't stop. I gotta do something about this."

Shower.

"Ok, that works." She inhaled sharply as she pulled her shirt off, adding it to the pile of dirty clothes before shuffling to the bathroom. Inside was a square stall formed by glass panels beside the toilet where the shower was located. It was a common complaint around campus that students had to get their arms soaked in cold water due to having to reach into the stall in order to turn the water on, but Dash could not give a single flying dill pickle tonight. She barely had enough brainpower to spare towards peeling her jeans and intimates off before getting into the shower. The only thing that drew her away from her thoughts for a split second was the pain of her still stiff piece smacking the shower door on the way in. A little tuck or flip up was usually good enough to avoid making that mistake, but that required actual awareness completely missing at this point.

As Dash's joints began loosening up under the warm water, the mental image of Twilight's figure scanned into every single file folder of her brain, completely filling her field of view as she closed her eyes. The figure didn't move or say anything, but none of that was necessary. The image alone was enough for Dash to lose herself completely into her own imagination.

A minute of bliss went by as her hair became soaked in water and the shower drain began making its usual gurgling, consuming the excess runout around the borders of the tile. The amount of noise any of the dormitory's showers could make at any given time drove the tenants living there insane, as neighbors on both sides of each room could easily hear the groaning of the old building's pipes. Tonight, though, Dash neither cared no noticed any of it.

A hot, burning sensation in her chest extended out her limbs to her finger tips and toes, but the greatest heat resided in a certain place with intense, physical swelling. The heat crept into her brain, making Dash's lips part and her cheeks stretch back into a wondrously happy smile. Her knees began shaking, and her head tilted back the moment the tingling fire in her chest began to afterburn waves throughout her entire body.

Too oblivious to even her own name, Dash fell to her knees as her body slid down the glass pane, cushioning her fall just enough to keep her from coming to. Had she been fortunate enough to feel the pain of her decent, she might have noticed just how audible her moaning might be to her neighbors next door. Cloud Chaser, to her left, would have no problem bringing it up come practice tomorrow, which would probably explain the awkward glances from her other neighbor, Spring Step, the following morning.

After gasping for air and allowing enough time for much needed oxygen to clear her head, Dash slumped backwards into a sitting position as the water overhead peppered her entire body. Her right arm felt numb, as opposed to tingling in her other limbs, and she traced her eyes down her right shoulder to her elbow, then to her forearm, then fingers. Holyyy shit... Dash swallowed hard as she both saw and felt her cock, an inch shy of a foot, still pulsating in her palm. A dull ache in her similarly proportioned balls told her she had not been careful while falling on her ass. However, the most shocking of the entire sight was the jagged trail of her spunk, starting with an unusually big splatter on the glass opposite of her that formed an increasingly narrow line down towards her legs.

"U-Uhhh-hhh...." Dash barely uttered as she tried to stand. She would’ve almost made on her feet safely had her heel not slipped in her own opaquely white and still thick mess now pooling around the drain, sending her tumbling back down on her ass with such force that the wind in her chest escaped her lungs.

She slowly curled up on her side in the fetal position, wincing heavily as she cupped her jewels with both hands. "O-Owwww-www...."

Author's Note

So yeah, that totally just happened!