Author's Note

So! This is the second chapter! I don't know how long this story will be, maybe two or three more? Depends on how my brain would like to take this. This one contains preening (and I did research for it, probably not well but I tried). Not quite smut yet, but it'll get there, in the next chapter. And also probably more than once. I hope this chapter is good. If you spot any errors please let me know as I don't have anyone but myself looking it over. And if I look to long I will just never post it

Kinder Touch

Twilight let out a huge sigh as she slumped onto her side, still laying down. She couldn’t deny the insatiable itch in her nethers, but knowing there was nothing she could do about it made hot tears of frustration spring to her eyes. Discord was sitting, well, floating in a cross legged position, quiet for once.

“Well?” Twilight said, not comfortable with the silence and her body.

“Please, Princess, I need to concentrate. I may be the Lord of Chaos but our land is vast and there are plenty of places to search for a magical surge,” Discord said, half playfully and half serious.

“Sorry,” Twilight squeaked out, returning her head to rest on the plush carpet. She sighed again, quieter this time. Her ears perked up slightly as she heard Fluttershy preparing tea in her kitchen. The subtle clanging of looking for her kettle in the cupboard, the soft sound of her wings aiding her reach up to the box of tea in the upper shelves, the water running as she filled the kettle. Twilight was finding peace in these comforting sounds, knowing them well as she had spent many an afternoon here enjoying tea with her good friend. The sound of the kettle being set on the stove, the clicking of the burner lighting up. Soft footsteps as Fluttershy returned to the living room.

“Okay, the kettle is on the burner. Discord, have you found anything yet?” Fluttershy sat next to Twilight, petting her mane with a gentle hoof. Twilight leaned into the touch, reveling in the comfort of a friend offering affection.

“Well… yes, but I find it to be quite strange.” Discord looked a little torn.

“Strange? How so?” Fluttershy asked, head cocked to one side.

“Well, my dear, the most recent magical surge came from Silver Shoals, just a few days over two weeks ago…” Discord trailed off, hoping Twilight would pick up on the implication.

“Wait a minute.. Silver Shoals? Where Luna and Celestia are living now? I mean… they’re not always there but… you don’t think they… do you?” Twilight fumbled with her words, ending by staring at her own hooves, eyes wide and conflicted.

“Well, I can’t be certain, it’s been too long now to check the exact spot unless it is in somepony’s house.” Discord finished, and then relaxed his snaking body, hating to be in one position for too long. He curved around the room and behind Fluttershy, just to whisper that the tea was done and he would prepare it before he slipped out of the room.

Fluttershy continued petting Twilight’s mane in an attempt to soothe her of her conflicting emotions.

“No.” Twilight said.

“Huh?” Fluttershy queried.

“No, there is no way in a million years that Luna or Celestia would curse me. It has to be something else or- or somepony else in Silver Shoals. They would never… they would never..,” her eyes were misty in spite of her adamant tone. To think about one of the former princesses cursing her made her panic like she was a little filly again, getting graded for an exam by Celestia.

“Oh, Twilight, it’ll be okay. Maybe it’s not even a curse but something else. Things go wrong with magic all the time, right? Why don’t we visit SIlver Shoals tomorrow and clear up this whole mess. Discord can take us.”

From the kitchen, Discord popped his head around the corner. “I can?!” He said, baffled.

Fluttershy didn’t say a word, she just turned to look at Discord, her eyes narrowing. Her teal eyes glinted, and DIscord gulped.

“Of course I can! We’ll leave first thing in the morning.” He disappeared into the kitchen again, but only for a moment, coming back out with the tea floating in front of him. He settled onto the ground, kind of coiling his body a bit and gave both Fluttershy and Twilight their cup of tea, each to the exact tastes of the pony. Discord chewed down on a teacup, loving the crunchy texture of the ceramic.

“Thank you Discord,” Fluttershy said, “for taking us tomorrow and also for getting the tea ready.”

“Oh, no problem dear, but I have to go now. I was in the middle of unplanting my garden, and I simply must get it done before tomorrow morning. Ta ta!” He blinked out of existence, a brand new teacup left where he had been sitting, in payment for the one he had eaten.

“He just didn’t want to be around me and my heat anymore, didn’t he?” Twilight asked with a small chuckle.

“Ha, yes, can’t get anything past you. Although I think that was very gentlemanly of him, he has gotten a lot better about paying attention to boundaries,” Fluttershy laughed, hoof coming to rest on her snout for a moment.

Twilight giggled, and took a long swig of her very pleasantly warm tea, the chamomile soothing her body a bit, she thought she could even taste a bit of lavender as well. “Thank you, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, there’s no need to thank me, Twilight. I care about you and I want you to be happy and feel good. It almost hurts to see you so defeated, honestly.” Fluttershy’s hoof that was petting her mane slid a little lower, brushing against Twilight’s wings.

Twilight gasped, her feathers ruffling. Fluttershy immediately pulled her hoof away, as if she had touched the hot stove. “S-sorry,” she stuttered, “your wings must be really sensitive right now.”

“It’s okay, really. It kinda felt nice. Not a lot of ponies know to be soft with wings. I mean, I’m not sure that Unicorns or Earth ponies ever preen wings unless they get a partner with a pair of them, or a job that requires it. I certainly didn’t know how to take care of my own wings when I first got them. Learning to fly was technical and routine, more like a PE test than anything else,, but the first time I went to the spa for a preening I..,” she blushed very deeply, “well, let’s just say I couldn’t look the spa mares in the eyes afterwards and I didn’t go back to the spa for almost four months. Thankfully, they had taught me enough to preen on my own… oh, but it does feel so nice to have somepony else do it now and then.” Twilight sighed dreamily and took another drink of her tea.

She nearly choked on that drink as she felt Fluttershy’s soft lips gracing the spot where her wings met her body. She quickly swallowed the tea so she wouldn’t actually choke. She turned her head around to look at Fluttershy. Fluttershy met her gaze, genuine care behind her teal irises.

“If you don’t mind, I can preen your wings for you. They are quite disorganized and that could cause potential health risks.” Fluttershy let a soft smile grace her kind face.

“Uh. Uh… sure, I guess, it will certainly feel nice and you’re right about the health thing… go for it Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy beamed, her head returning down to Twilight’s wings, nuzzling her snout against her back where her wings sprouted from her body. She nudged slightly harder in the dip between her wings on her body and Twilight shuddered and her wings extended. She shook them a little, before relaxing her head back down onto the soft carpet beneath her. Fluttershy began with her left wing, using her teeth and lips to very carefully pull and move her feathers around. She smoothed each area with her tongue, then using her teeth, mandibulating against the princess’s soft feathers. Every few feathers, she pulled against the shaft of a feather to position it back to the top, massaging the soft down feathers back beneath the harder pennaceous ones.

After doing a full sweep of Twilights left wing, she went back to the join of her wings to her body and licked hard against the uropygial gland until a bit of preen oil was worked out. She nuzzled her snout hard against it, gathering plenty onto her nose and even some on her cheeks. Twilight was sighing pleasedly every few moments, the soft caress of her friend putting her into a much better mood than she’d been in in two weeks.

Fluttershy’s snout, now slightly glossy, rubbed against Twilight’s wing, spreading the oil around which would help to naturally protect her feathers from all sorts of things, not the least keeping her feathers safe from pests or bacteria. It was a quiet affair, the only sound the occasional coo from Fluttershy, her preen instinct fully activated, and Twilight gently moaning like she was getting a particularly good massage.

Finally, Fluttershy switched to her right wing and started the process over again. She nuzzled Twilight’s feathered wings, nipping to pull the feathers back into position. Twilight’s wings were much larger than her own, but she was fully calmed and tuned in to the preening and she felt perfectly contented to just preening this endless expanse of purple feathers before her. Gathering more preen oil, Fluttershy wiped her face against Twilight’s right wing, smoothing everything down. There had been a few feathers that were broken and had to be plucked out and they lay on the carpet around Twilight. Twilight had been in so much bliss she had hardly noticed her broken feathers being plucked.

“Thank you Fluttershy,” Twilight breathed out, dreading when her heat would sneak up on her again with more pain, but happy for a few moments of calm.

Fluttershy settled in next to Twilight on the ground, resting her body against her friend and spreading out her own wings to start preening. She was still almost fully taken by instinct, so she cuddled against her big, warm friend, and preened her own wings. It was a lot quicker of a process for several reasons, her wings were smaller; she was used to her own wings; and also that her wings weren’t all that messy. When she finished she relaxed against Twilight.

Twilight extended her left wing to rest on Fluttershy beside her, sharing some of her warmth to her smaller friend. Fluttershy let out a long sigh.

“It’s been so long since I preened somepony else’s wings. I forgot how calming it was,”she punctuated her sentence by nuzzling into Twilight’s massive wing that held her.

Twilight smiled gently, but the relaxation couldn’t last forever, as her loins lit up with a fire again and she felt suddenly all too close to her friend. She fidgeted, the wing covering Fluttershy shuddering.

Fluttershy sensed the change, and turned to look at Twilight, her muzzle nearly bumping into hers it was so close. She blushed a little. “Uhm, Twilight… I know that I couldn’t quite figure out the source of your issue on my own, what with my tools not working.. but maybe there’s another way I could help you? I mean… even more than the preening…” she trailed off, nervous.

“Fluttershy… I don’t want you to think you have to feel obligated to do something like that just because… well, I know that you’re the element of kindness, but you don’t have to do something so intimate just to make me feel better.”

“Well… to be honest, I’d be partially doing it for me... “

Twilight’s eyes bulged. “Really? With me..? I thought you and Discord..,” she didn’t finish the sentence.

“Well, Discord and I… have a delicate relationship. We’re not together, not really. I… can’t trust that he won’t just jump to somepony else. As much as I love his chaos, he’s too unpredictable to really date seriously. Not to say he doesn’t… ‘help’ me with certain things, I just haven’t tied myself down. Besides, I did always prefer mares anyways,” Fluttershy lidded her eyes, almost teasingly, “and you are quite attractive, you have such a soft and flowing mane, you’ve rivaled even Celestia with your ethereal princess-ly body, and not to mention I know how good of a friend you are, so I know you won't hurt me or anything crazy.”

“Well. Not to say I’m not flattered, but, are you sure? It’s not out of some obligation or- or something?” Twilight sounded hopeful.

“No obligation here, Twilight,” Fluttershy said confidently, “though it’s really sweet of you to make sure.” She nuzzled her friends cheek, waiting for Twilight to affirm approval as well.

“Okay, Fluttershy… why not?”