Everfree Village

Rainbow Dash hovered near Barbara's head and playfully poked her with a hoof. She tried not to think about Twilight standing just a few feet away and gestured at the display case.

"C'moooon, you know you want it! It'll be so much better than just using your hands... besides, you owe me! For, uh... stealing my first kiss. Yeah."

“I’ve already spent enough on myself though, I need to make sure all of these coins go towards my village now.” She sighed and looked at the case longingly. She really, really wanted to be able to splurge on things SHE wanted, but she couldn’t manage to convince herself to do so. “I mean... I couldn’t, right? What if I end up two coins off of enough supplies...”

"Ahh, you'll be fine!" Dash waved a hoof dismissively, "Seriously, you have SO many bits. Tell ya what, if you somehow manage to wind up exactly two bits short after going through that whole pouch, I'll give you two bits."

Twilight looked from them, to the display case, and back at them again. She seemed confused and finally asked, "So... you're arguing over a shovel?"

“No! No no no, it’s not a shovel it’s a trowel. It’s not really useful for much in the village, but I could use it to make a little garden with flowers outside my home. Add some colors to the scenery, make it look nice!”

With Dash’s promise, she forked over a few bits and took the trowel in her hands. The metal it was made out of still perplexed her, but she was more happy over what she could be doing with it when she got home.

"Exactly! And just look," she held both her hooves out toward the Chief, "She's so happy about it, too! See I knew buying this was a good idea."

She turned back to Barbara, "Now what else do you need? So far we got... uh... Twilight, what do we got so far?"

The Princess rolled her eyes but she was of course happy to pull out her checklist again.

"Let's see... we've bought about a dozen different seed varieties, those fancy salts and spices you liked so much, a hoe, wheelbarrow, shears, pitchfork, and a scythe. Remember, we only--"

"Yeah yeah," Dash interrupted, "Just buy one of each tool so the Mayor knows what to put on the shipment. You've said it like ten times already, we got it."

“I’m sure my smiths could probably recreate tools so long as they understand them. Some of what you’ve shown me wasn’t too complex and others... may need to be reworked to be useful for us.” Without hands, some of the tools ended up having wildly different grips made for ponies only. Some tools could even be classified as being for unicorns only. “We will also need to gather herbal seeds. Things that grow into food is great, but herbs can become medicines and flavor enhancers. Our shaman will be able to tell which is which.”

The Princess nodded and scribbled something on her list while Barbara paid the shopkeep a handful of bits. "No need for herbal remedies anymore, Barbara. Here, I'll walk you through the Pharmacy. This way!"

Rainbow Dash groaned, hovering dejectedly behind them both, "Uuugh, I hate that place. It's so... plain inside. It's like they sterilzed all the fun from an entire building!"

Twilight ignored her and trotted across the street and down a block to a small, square, white building. Inside was more white and everything was quiet and white, with a couple rows of shelving packed full of pills, ointments, bandages, and every other sort of medical supply your average pony was expected to understand. The labels were plain and to the point, the shelves were logically organized and uniform, the shopkeeper was mild-faced, quiet, and polite. All in all, it was a truly mind-numbingly boring place and Rainbow Dash felt as if it was oppressing her, an almost physical force that bore her to the ground with the sheer magnitude of its plain-ness.

“Not to be rude, but... didn’t your mayor say we should start slow? You don’t think people in the village will have a big reaction to changes in how they are healed?”

Barbara tried to get interested in what she was seeing, but Dash’s attitude was rubbing off on her. There was no energy or life to be seen there. Even the other ponies in the pharmacy seemed plain in contrast to how lively ponies were out in the marketplace. Grabbing a clear bottle filled with pills, Barbara found herself annoyed.

“What even are these things? Small pebbles in an orange-ish container? How could these heal people? How do they do it? How would I explain this to people?”

Twilight hesitated and her ears flopped back nervously.

"I... guess you're right, the Mayor did say to take it slow. We aren't going to have any of the medicinal herbs you're used to though... this is our medicine." She sat on her rump and quietly began to explain, "You know how you can take a dirty rock and slowly filter it down until all you're left with is a tiny nugget of... say, iron? These medicines are the same concept, except we filter down the original herbal plant until all we're left with is just the part of the plant that actually does the healing. Swallowing one of those little 'pebbles' is like a concentrated batch of the purest--"

A loud, rasping snore echoed through the quiet building. Rainbow Dash's hooves were pressed to her head like she was laying on her side and she was peeking at Twilight through one eye, a smirk playing about her muzzle.

The alicorn sighed. "Yes alright, we're going. Barbara seemed interested in my explanation at least."

“Only once you started to tell me that you turned herbs into pebbles.” Put that way, the process did sound more interesting. Almost like the idea of turning lead into gold.

“So if we just get the herbs, then we’re good. We’ve gone through the other tools that were marked as acceptable. Even all the spices, salt, honey, seeds... I can’t imagine there’s much else till we get to those “appliances” I heard about.”

As soon as the party turned toward the door the pegasus leapt to her hooves and zoomed outside, hovering and seeming to relish the sensations around her. Twilight was still talking to the Chief as they walked out.

"Well there's still a couple things left on my checklist, but I guess we're already introducing a lot of strange things to your people, so this should do for now. Appliances are still a long way off. I mean, do your people even know what electricity is?"

Rainbow Dash zipped in front of Barbara, forcing her to stop walking.

"Here's an idea: so far all we have is a bunch of boring work stuff and some spices. How about we throw in a couple of things from the modern world that are just for fun. Like, I dunno... chocolate and and... beach balls. Y'know, stuff like that."

“Or proper alcohol like I had at the bar. Do you know what people would give to have some wine? Let alone any of that other stuff that I had, though we can’t make it cold.”

As Dash hovered close to Barbara, she would feel a hand scratching through her chest fluff. The woman seemed to mean it as a ‘thank you’ for the suggestions and being around to help.

“Oh, actually, there is something else we could use. Well... something Rohan could use. We have some animals in the village that we take care of or train and it might be helpful to have an expert that can give us tips. Rohan especially, since he has trained some of the wolves to be companions during our...” She leaned down to whisper the words “...hunting trip,” since ponies seemed to be adverse to the idea. While the humans couldn’t help it, Barbara could at least be respectful about what others thought.

The two ponies exchanged a nervous glance. At first Barbara thought it was because she mentioned the hunting, but then Twilight said, "Well... we do have an animal expert in town, and she loves meeting new species, but..."

"She won't like the hunting thing," Dash continued bluntly, "Like, not at all."

Twilight nodded, "She's very sweet, gentle, and timid. From what I can tell she doesn't mind carnivorous animal friends, but I don't know how she'd react to an intelligent creature choosing to kill another creature."

"Worth a shot though," the pegasus shrugged, "What's the worst that could happen, she hides in her hut for a day or two?"

“To be fair, Rohan doesn’t like to hunt or fight. He just also really hates to see others suffer.” Barbara grabbed Dash and pulled her over so she could rest on the woman’s head while they walked. Really she just wanted an excuse to feel the fluff against her. “That said, there’s no one else I’d rather have by me in a fight for my life. Man’s as capable as they come.”

Dash let Barbara pull her close then sat on her shoulders and leaned forward to rest her chest and forehooves across the top of her head. Her tail dangled down the Chief's back and bounced around slightly as she carried her. She tilted her head down and gave the Chief a little smirk. "I guess you did want to get between my legs, didn't you?"

Twilight blushed and tried to focus on where she was trotting, "Well... m-maybe if we just, uh... don't mention the hunting? At least, not at first. Does he tend to any creatures other than the hunting dogs?"

“Hmm... I’ve seen him check on the boars before. He also tends to be the one to keep the uhh... shoot, what did they call em...” She scratched her chin for a minute and finally snapped her fingers when it came back to her. “The cockatrices. Those little lizard birds that turn people to stone. We caught a couple and keep em so we can get eggs.”

"What!?" Dash pulled back on Barbara's forehead to look in her eye, "You actually farm those little demons?"

Dash yanking her head back caused the woman to come to a full stop in order to avoid falling back.

Though she seemed uncomfortable with the idea, Twilight nodded slowly, "After one petrified me in the forest I did some research on them. There wasn't very much to tell the truth, but I think Fluttershy might be able to tame them... maybe even befriend them."

The pegasus turned to give Twilight an incredulous look, still holding the Chief's head tilted back.

"You really think she could stand to be around those things after what happened when she fillysat the crusaders? The only way she saved them was with the stare, and you know she hates using that!"

Barbara said, “Yeah, that’s my head Dash. It’s also attached to my neck, which doesn’t like being jerked back violently. Well, not that way at least. I’d let ya pull my hair once.”

She gave a smirk as Dash let go and freed her up to move her gaze back down to Twilight. The pegasus blushed and sat back, spreading her wings out for balance. She then realized everypony was staring at them as they walked by and her muzzle darkened even further. She hesitated a moment longer, then leaned back and flipped as she fell, landing neatly on her hooves behind the human.

“We’d actually much rather have chickens, but we have found herbal ways to stop the petrifying gaze so it’s not too bad. Some of them are actually a little nicer than others.”

Twilight had slapped her muzzle with a hoof. "Of course! Obviously there's no need to work with the dangerous cockatrices when we can just send you some chickens!" She pulled out her checklist again and began scribbling. "I don't think we can fit much more on this shipment, but we should be able to squeeze in a hoofful of hens and a rooster. A couple more small things maybe, but this is a lot of weight for just one pegasus to pull."

Lodestone could probably carry twice the weight she had listed so far, but of course Twilight had no way of knowing that.

“Let’s finish up so that we can relax for a bit. I wanted to try your “tub” as spike called it. A heated bath any time you’d like...” The idea sounded amazing to her, since the closest she had ever heard of were from large civilizations. Even then, that was large bodies water heated in the morning through fires or hot stones to be shared with many people.

"Oh right!" Twilight grinned up at the human, "I'd forgotten just how significnat heated water was for primitive civilizations. Let's head back and I'll have Spike prepare it for you." She started to walk away, then hesitated and turned back. "...Actually, I'd like to show you something, Barbara. You've seen plenty of what earth ponies and pegasi can do... I want to show you what a unicorn is capable of: magic."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes but Twilight held up a hoof before she could protest.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do some silly drawn-out demonstration. I'm just going to teleport us to my castle. We're clear across ponyville and it will take a long time to walk all that way."

She flew up and hovered in front of Barbara, smiling gently.

"You probably don't even know what 'teleport' means, but don't worry, I'm very good at it. I promise you won't feel even a twinge of jerking or dizziness - which can happen if the unicorn is inexperienced. The only thing you'll feel is a bright flash of light, then we'll instantly be standing in the castle, okay?"

"Uhh, yeah, sure. Sounds fine, Twilight."

Even despite saying that, she felt the need to at least press part of her leg against Dash to feel her there. If Dash wasn't scared, she knew she wouldn't have to be, but if the spell was as amazing as Twilight was trying to make it seem, then it was only natural to be a little cautious. As the horn lit up, she hear a pop and saw the flash that she was warned of. When her eyes adjusted, she found they were standing in the castle library.

"Woah woah WOAH WOAH! WHAT WAS THAT?! You meant we could literally just pop and appear in the castle?! PONY MAGIC CAN JUST DO THAT?!"

Twilight had been expecting fear and confusion, so Barbara's pure astonishment made her giggle, partly with relief.

"That and a lot more! Most unicorns can only cast telekinesis," she floated a nearby book between them to demonstrate, "and one or two spells related to their cutie mark, but I've been studying magic since I was a filly."

She set the book down, then with the same pop and flash, instantly shifted a few feet to the side, staying in Barbara's line of sight.

"I learned to teleport a while ago and have been practicing it daily to improve my range and precision."

Dash, getting impatient, flew up to a nearby shelf and quickly snatched the next Daring Do book in the mini-series she'd been working on recently. She was back beside Barbara within seconds and tucked the book under a wing, casually pretending she hadn't done anything at all.

"Dash! If a unicorn can do this then that means you have to have been holding out on me! You control weather and fly fast, wait- don't tell me..."

She plopped down and pulled open a wing to look at it closely, causing the book to fall on the ground. She wasn't quite as concerned about that, rather than sticking her face close to Dash's wing.

"Hmm.... super muscular wing, you said you fly fast.... I got it! You didn't show me just how fast you really are. See, now I have to see you do something so awesome that blows unicorn magic out of the water!"

"Oh I got something awesome alright," Dash said, a gleam in her eye, "It's called a sonic rainboom and I'm the only pegasus that has ever done it... but I can't just fly around leaving explosions of color everywhere I go... ponies would get bored of it and it wouldn't be awesome anymore!"

Twilight grinned to herself, then stepped closer wearing an innocent expression.

"It has been an awful long time, though. Are you really sure you can still manage it?" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "I mean... last time you almost couldn't do it at all, and you rarely even fly close to those speeds these days."

Dash looked away self-consciously, stuttering indignantly, and the princess used the opportunity to shoot Barbara a knowing wink.

"Oh! oh, oh oh! OHHHH! GOTTA SEE!"

Tucking the small mare under her arm, Barbara ran for the door of the castle and back outside. With all of the grace of an over-excited child, she tossed Dash into the air and watched with heavy anticipation.

"Do the thing, Dash!"

Twilight hurried after them, trying not to giggle too loudly, and poor Dash squawked in surprise but righted herself instantly and glared at the human.

"What, now?" She looked around indignantly at the ponies casually milling about, "I can't do it NOW! There's no build up, no performance, no justification... i-it'd just be some obnoxious mess that would startle and annoy everypony around!" She pointed a hoof imperiously down at Twilight, "And why the hay are you giggling!? You should be trying to stop this, not egging her on!"

When Twilight just snorted and laughed harder, covering her muzzle with a hoof, Dash folded her forelegs and pouted, refusing to look at either of them.

"It's perfectly justified!" Barbara said excitedly, "You have to show the leader of the humans what ponies can do so she can brag to her village about how awesome, friendly, and inviting ponies are! As for the performance, I can give you that later!" With a wink, Barbara grinned again and sat by Twilight with her eyes fixed on the blue pegasus. "Oh, oh! I got it! I will buy two of those zap apple drinks the next time we go out!"

Dash's head whipped around, her ears perked up, and for a second it looked like she would blast into the sky right then and there. Then a thought seemed to strike her and instead she hovered closer and tapped the Chief's nose with a hoof. "Fine, but just this once, and I gotta go do something first, alright? I'll be back in a bit."

Twilight looked up, still grinning, "Wait, why, where are you going?"

She waved a hoof dismissively, "No way I'm doing a sonic rainboom right off the bat, even with the promise of zap apple cider. I gotta prepare something first."

Before either of them could interrupt her again, she zoomed off through the sky, a bright rainbow streak trailing behind her only to vanish almost before you could see it.

"She had better hurry, cuz now I'm all excited." Laying back in the grass, Barbara stared up at the sky and let her mind wander. She thought of how different things were and just how different things would end up being. While that scared her, it also excited her. Change meant new and bright opportunities and she wanted to meet such a challenge head on.

"You know, I wouldn't mind living in a place like this. You ponies are nice company and things are a heck of a lot safer out here. Maybe we could make a proper home outside the forest someday."

Twilight was dying to know what her friend had under her hoof, but she wouldn't dream of leaving this fascinating new creature, so she settled into the grass beside Barbara and began idly floating pebbles in an intricate pattern just above the ground.

"I thought you said you would stay in the forest with the ancient spirits?"

"True, I'm just imagining a world that could be, I suppose. Though, if the spirits could be moved so that we can continue to revere them and seek their guidance, that would be great. I would have to see how they feel about that, but I can't imagine being stuck to one place with nobody there was fun."

She didn't quite know how she felt about moving them. The cave was where they decided to place themselves, after all. But if they could be moved, and didn't mind being moved, then why stay in that forest? Excluding the spirits, the forest had already brought so much death and pain to the humans.

The alicorn fell silent for a moment, then turned to glance at the human. "How big is the spirits' crystal anyway? Depending on its size, maybe I could just teleport them to safety." The Chief frowned slightly and Twilight continued hurriedly. "I wouldn't dare without your permission, of course! A-And I'd only teleport them somewhere you had seen and agreed upon previously... It's not like I'd just move them to a vault in Canterlot and never let you see them again!" She chuckled nervously and the pebbles clattered as her focus wavered.

"If that's the case... About the size of a large boulder? It's hard to be specific on such a thing, we don't go into the cave often enough, nor do we really waste any time when we need to go."

She kept her gaze set on the alicorn long enough to be sure that her intentions were as she stated. With that, she watched the darkening sky above. "They said they had aided your leaders in the past. They're probably long dead, but can you tell me anything about them while we wait?"

Twilight gave her an odd look "Long dead? Oh no, they're quite well and are still ruling Equestria today! In fact, Princess Celestia is the one who made me an alicorn in the first place." She smiled sheepishly and set down the pebbles. "I've only been Princess for a little while, you see. To tell the truth, before then I didn't even know alicorns were made, I thought they just... were, you know? Only later did I learn Princess Cadance only ascended just a few years before I was born."

Suddenly her ears folded back and she looked away, mumbling awkwardly. "Wait hang on, I'm doing this all wrong, saying this all out of order, no cohesion, no lesson plan... Oh ponyfeathers!" She shook her head in frustration, "Where does a filly even start!"

"Still alive? But the spirits made it sound like it was ages ago! That castle is in ruins! It had to have been there for so long! But, well, we were told not to go there so I can't say for sure."

She never knew why, but the spirits probably felt that the evils of the forest were taking hold in that castle. Or that Nightmare moon was forever tied to the place. Barbara didn't really care enough to think about it deeply.

"I'll have to meet them sometime then. Maybe the moon one first, I always liked nights back home so maybe I'd get along with her better."

"Well it was ages ago," Twilight said, turning away to watch some nearby townsponies, "I mean... nopony knows exactly how long they've lived, but Princess Luna spent a thousand years imprisoned in the moon, and they were already the definitive rulers of Equestria before her imprisonment began."

She couldn't see Barbara's shocked expression.

"Celestia won't confirm even to me if all alicorns are immortal or if only they are due to some special magic, so I don't yet know if I'll live as long as they have, but most estimates put them at around fourteen hundred years old."

"Fourteen hundred...? As in one thousand and four hundred? Holy.... crap..."

Barbara fell flat on her back and watched the sky once more. It was hard to take in the thought of living for so long. How would they keep interested, how would they deal with the constant stress of being a leader for an eternity? But with that thought, she finally cracked a grin. "You know what, that's a bit too heavy of a topic for me to think about tonight. For now, I just wanna see Dash do this sonic thingy."

Twilight shrugged casually, "I'm not worried about it... which would probably surprise my friends. Some think Celestia and Luna made me and Cadance princesses because they want to step down, but I doubt it. Even if it were true, Celestia is my life-long mentor and I trust she wouldn't--"

She was cut off by three crackling blue streaks aimed straight at her and Barbara. They were moving so fast she hardly even had time to open her muzzle in alarm before they were upon her and in a flash of color they angled up sharply. Twilight realized the middle one bore Dash's signature rainbow-colored streak and grinned. The two blue streaks on either side angled slightly away so they spread apart in the air and everypony around turned in surprise, then whooped in delight at this unexpected surprise.

"It's the Wonderbolts!" Twilight shouted happily over the noise of wind, "She must have begged them for this impromptu show to lead up to her rainboom!"

"That girl is getting the best treatment I can muster." Barbara kept it at a whisper, though Twilight's sensitive ears probably still picked it up. She watched the seemingly impossible flips, dives, twirls and theatrics of the pair that had decided to help Rainbow Dash. Of course, they were probably just a distraction so that Dash could continue to climb for the upcoming dive. "Daaaang, this is what Wonderbolts do? It's... actually impressive! Doubt another person could ever hope to match such a show!"

The trio slowly rose higher and higher, weaving an intricate pattern in perfect sync, sometimes flying far apart, sometimes snapping together so quickly ponies would gasp, certain they had collided, only to sigh and cheer when the seemingly solid mass of blue separated again. Then there was a subtle change in the way they were flying: rather than all three working together to weave some invisible tapestry, the two blue flyers began to very specifically spiral and weave around the rainbow streak. They emphasized its turns, highlighted its straight bursts of speed, and almost seemed to be pulling it up.

Twilight, who had seen this particular performance before, nudged Barbara with a wing and whispered, "Here it comes!"

The rainbow streak, now only a distant splash of color against the perfectly clear sky, began to arc slowly downward. An excited murmur rippled through the crowd of ponies as the blue streaks whipped around the rainbow, spiraling faster and faster... and then the rainbow slowly began to drag away from the lines of blue that chased it. The other two straightened into a faster dive but the streak of color continued to pull away, its lead gaining rapidly.

Up in the sky, Rainbow Dash felt little pops breaking over her hooves as tiny bursts of color began to pulse out from her trail, leaving faint ripples behind her. She narrowed her eyes and, thanks to her goggles, could faintly make out the strange shape of a human lying in the grass near the castle. With the faintest twitch of her wings she corrected the angle so she was flying directly for Barbara and pushed for the last little bit of speed required. The dome of compressed air before her stretched into a point, and then a blade, and then...

The vast quantities of pegasus magic collapsed into itself and detonated into the burst of color everypony knew and loved. Dash fell instantly into that curious post-boom state where she flew far faster and yet there was almost no wind resistance at all. She cackled with delight and zoomed in a gigantic spiral around the entire castle, looping lower and lower over the Chief until she was as close as she dared. Finally, she showed Barbara the part few ponies ever got to see: breaking out of this super-speed.

She angled into a tight loop and entered her own rainbow stream from behind. The excess magic enveloped her and layered onto itself, rapidly becoming so thick she could actually feel it around her and she knew it was time. Then she stopped.

The dense concentration of pegasus magic imploded, absorbing the force of her impact with the air and nullifying her speed in an instant. From the outside, it would seem as if she had stopped dead in the air, been surrounded briefly by a swirling mass of colors, and then the air would ripple slightly and she'd simply be hovering there, perfectly stationary.

Barbara watched with huge eyes as the sky exploded around Rainbow Dash. She had never seen colors literally streak through the sky like that, let alone burst in a circular pattern from where Dash hit mach 10! The wind whipped her hair around violently as Dash passed by, in fact it was almost enough to push her over. Even Twilight had to hold her ground, and she had earth pony strength. Still, the show wasn't over till Dash stopped and she made sure to stop in the most dramatic fashion possible

"Her magic is FREAKIN' AWESOME! Did you see that?!"

At this point, Barbara scooped up Twilight and bear hugged her, squeezing her till she felt like a stress ball. When Dash was finally close to the ground, the woman rushed over and tackled the mare to the ground to bring her into an equally fierce hug.

"Holy hell, that was amazing!"

"I KNOW, RIGHT!?"

Rainbow Dash was beaming with joy, just overflowing with it. She'd been sure she could do it, of course. Never a doubt in her mind, nope. Still, she was relieved it had worked and returned Barbara's hug, laughing helplessly.

Two blue streaks zipped to the ground nearby and Spitfire lifted her goggles, stepping toward them.

"Good show, Crash, but don't forget, you're on back duty to make up for dragging me out here."

Her tone was harsh but there was a smile playing about her muzzle. Back duty simply meant she'd be in the rear of the formation for a while, sticking to the standard blue trail and letting other Bolts have a chance at the spotlight for once.

Dash tried to wiggle free of the human's bear-like hug and managed something that resembled a wing-salute.

"Yes ma'am, thank you for doing this for me... and you too, Fleetfoot, of course! I owe you one."

"Oh hey, the leader herself! So this is what you meant by not the fastest flyer, but one of the more trained ones. I'll have to treat you to a show in my village sometime!"

Extending out a fist, they gave each other a bump and then the pair of pegasi parted ways with Dash. Barbara, having seen her go above and beyond, pulled the little pegasus into a deep kiss before whispering into her ear.

"And you're gonna get a lot out of me for this whole show, lady-killer."

A cheerful voice sounded, approaching: "Hey guys! We saw the show and it was- whoa..." Granite had come just in time to see the kiss and was now hurriedly averting her eyes and blushing.

"Hush, don't embarrass them!" Twilight whispered, of course loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Trying to salvage the situation, Granite went on in a too-loud-and-careful voice: "Um, so uh- why the sudden Wonderbolts show?" She realized it might sound wrong and quickly added: "Not that we mind, of course. It was amazing! We saw it from the window!"

Lodestone rolled his eyes and chuckled at their attempts but was too giddy to be properly embarrassed. He'd known about Rainbow Dash of course, but to not just see her in a real Wonderbolts show, but to experience one of her rare rainbooms AND meet her afterwards? He was practically vibrating he was so excited.

"Oh gosh, uh... Rainbow Dash! So sorry to interrupt... uh, hi Barbara. Yeah, I mean, um... ponyfeathers, I'm-such-a-huge-fan-you're-my-favorite-bolt-and--" He shoved a hoof in his mouth and sat hard on his haunches.

Rainbow Dash, having rapidly shifted through joy, relief, horny, embarrassed, flattered, and finally feeling sorry for this pegasus, fell back on her most reliable behavior that she'd done so much she could probably do it in her sleep: tending to an eager fan. She had no idea who Lodestone and Granite were, of course.

"Oh awesome, thanks so much! I always appreciate my fans. Here, you want a signature? Uh... oh, here," she pulled a small marker out of a pocket in her uniform and looked up expectantly, "whatcha got and who am I making it out to?"

Barbara grinned and said, "His name is Lodestone, and the mare with him is Granite. They are the ones that stumbled into my village and basically ended up bringing Rohan and me here!" She sat beside Dash and studied the stallion. It was easy to see he was star-struck and her grin only grew wider. "But I dunno.... He was kinda rude to me this one time. You might not want to give him anything, Dash, not till he earns it."

Granite made it past her own embarrassment and joined her lover, lightly touching his flank with hers. She wasn't even aware of doing it, really. "Sorry- about just now. I didn't mean to say that. N-Nothing wrong with it, of-of course." She wasn't quite meeting anyone's gaze and stared rather at the ground where she pushed a bit of dirt around with a hoof. The chief's accusation made Granite all defensive, though and she stepped protectively in front of the stallion. "Nuh-huh! Lodestone is a really nice guy, you gotta believe me! He totally deserves an autograph!"

The mare herself didn't seem quite as star-struck, but that was probably because she was an earth pony from a small village where the Wonderbolts were just a story. "If- if that's alright, Miss Dash..."

Rainbow Dash did a quick double-take, then understood what was going on. She gave Lodestone a thoughtful stare. "Hmm... Finding humans: awesome. Bringing them here: awesome. Being rude: not awesome. Being a huge fan of me: awesome." She looked up and shrugged at Barbara with a grin. "Sorry, seems like the tally's in his favor!"

Lodestone finally pulled himself together enough to form a complete sentence. "I'm sorry, Barbara. We didn't mean to abandon you, we just... got distracted. A lot. But, uh... oh gosh, Rainbow Dash, it's just... see, I'm a skycrane, really slow and really strong, yknow, but even in a straight dive I'm slower than you can fly in a straight line, so it's like, we're opposites, see? And I just really wish I could experience true speed once, but I guess maybe you might wish the same about a skycrane's strength and I thought maybe I could show you what I was capable of and if even you were impressed then it'd really mean something unlike all the grounded ponies that don't really understand what I'm doing, but, uh... w-well..."

He suddenly realized the Princess, the Wonderbolt, the Chief of the humans, and his new Lover were all watching him... and he'd been rambling. He blushed intensely and quietly muttered, "...Sorry, I'm done now."

"Pfft, you abandoning me led me to Dash, so I guess I can forgive your rudeness this one time. Same goes for you, Granite. Buuuut, do it again and we'll have to resolve this the old fashioned way: Trial by combat."

She knew that both of those ponies had seen the axe she would be wielding. It was a big, scary thing that would likely end a life in a single good blow, while also dealing more than a small cut with a bad one.

"You won't get much of a chance to leave me alone tomorrow, since we'll be getting ready to leave. Just gotta make sure that Rohan meets a certain pony before we end up going."

"Oh. Um. Oh." Granite stuttered, unsure how to respond to threats of combat. "Sorry." At long last she spotted the other ponies around her and she gave a small gasp. "Oh! I didn't mean to barge in like that P-Princess! I didn't realize you were having a- um, meeting!" She was pressing against Lodestone as if he was the only solid pony in the world.

The Princess didn't seem to mind, so she just smiled vaguely and waved a dismissive hoof. "It's okay. We were just... watching Rainbow Dash show off a little. Just another day!" She grinned at her own little joke and stood up. "Okay, so what's next on the list?" The paper in question floated over and the alicorn started going down it. "We've got that. Done that. Hmm, I think we got that. Ditto..." It looked like she would double-check everything.

Dash stepped up and wrapped a wing around Lodestone in an attempt to help him relax, talking low so only he could hear, though Granite probably picked up on it too, being so close.

"Hey colt, don't worry about it. Everypony gets like this first time they meet me. Well, my fans, at least. You're the one helping Barbara right? Well, I needed an excuse to visit the village so I was already gonna help whoever the poor pegasus was that would have to carry all this junk, so we can hang tomorrow, aight?"

Lodestone nodded quickly, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah, okay. Thanks Rainbow Dash."

She released him to return to Barbara's side and he stepped over to Twilight, somehow more relaxed around a Princess than he had been with his favorite Bolt.

"So, anyways... what all is going on this shipment?" He quickly glanced over the list and scoffed quietly, "I could carry twice that much weight if you want. I'm not a skycrane for nothing... I fly whole pallets loaded with solid stone for a living."

"Well then, I think we know what we're doing all of tomorrow. You're going to pick out the rest of our list until we meet your carrying capacity while we go to see Rarity over cloth and simple garb."

With Dash back by her side, Barbara let her hands wander over the mare and delivered some idle scratches. In truth, she was partly paying attention to Dash's reactions to see what she would like later on. Seemed the mare had a soft spot right in front of her left wing.

Granite tried not to stare too hard. The idea of two mares was completely new to her by itself, but then there was the fact that they were different species. She kept looking over curiously, then blushing and averting her gaze. The others weren't paying her much attention - at least that's what the mare hoped.

Nearby, Twilight got through the list and let out a satisfied sigh. "Okay, we've got nearly everything. Next up is a pegasus-cart: you..." The Princess frowned a little as she tried to remember the name, "Lodestone, was it? I could use your help on this."

There was never any doubt that the pegasus would follow, so Twilight simply set off. She paused to look back after a few paces. "Oh, you should go check on your friend and I'll see you back at the castle when you're done, is that okay?"

From his folded ears, Lodestone obviously didn't want to leave Granite so soon. "So, uh... I guess you'll go with them to Rarity's then?"

He looked back up at Twilight, who was watching him expectantly and a little confused that he wasn't already following her, then he brightened and looked back at Granite. "Oh, wait! You'll need to look over the farm supplies, right? W-What if they got seeds for a crop that won't grow this time of year or something?"

Rainbow Dash watched this exchange curiously, then leapt up to hover near Barbara's ear. "So... what's up with those two, are they like siblings or something? Looks like they're afraid to be apart from each other..."

"Oh no no! Rainbow Dash, those two are looooovers. He won't do a thing unless he has that mare nearby, cuz she's got him wrapped around her fing- uhm... hoof! Wrapped around her hoof." Barbara made little kissy sounds in their direction and barked out a bit of a laugh. "So Lodestone, did you finally decide to ask Granite to help you deal with that big problem you were having at the village?"

The guess was right on the money, at least judging by the very nice pink patches on Granite, which replaced her usually white parts. "Eep!" She said and tried to crawl almost under the stallion. "It's not- we're not-" she attempted to deny, but couldn't lie about it. "Oh, Moo..."

Twilight looked uncomprehendingly from the pair to Barbara, then at Dash. "They're- oh. OH!" she exclaimed and also went a bit more pink in the muzzle. "Well, um- you can both come, of course. That should be fine. Um. Good for you..."

She obviously didn't know what to say in a situation like this, so she just put it out of her mind and focused again on her list. "We'll get the cloth from Rarity - I'm sure you can pay her later, and then we'll rent a cart. Come on."

Granite wasn't willing to look at anyone at all, so she just walked demurely beside Lodestone. "Sorry," she whispered to him, "I didn't mean to give us away..."

Lodestone sighed and trotted wearily after the Princess. "It's alright, mare, it would have come out eventually. I just wish some ponies were a little more tactful."

As they trotted away he could faintly hear Barbara's hearty chuckle and picked up the pace a bit, flicking his tail disdainfully, even though he knew she wouldn't recognize the gesture.

Dash meanwhile, having anxious and dirty thoughts about what the Chief had in store for her, then picking up on her rather blunt innuendoes, couldn't help but sneak a peak under Lodestone's tail as he trotted away and was now blushing furiously. Despite her claims earlier, she was in such a state that even thoughts of a stallion were making her a bit wet in the dock. She turned to Barbara, looking a little flustered and more than a little heated.

"So, uh, about that Zap Cider...?"

"Right now? Ehhh, maybe I shouldn't be too shocked, it was a damn good drink after all." As she turned, she noticed Dash's expression and redness and decided to place a hand against her forehead. "Jeez, you sure you wanna drink? You're burning up you know. Might be better to go lay down for a bit."

"Yeah, sure!" She said too quickly, then bit her lip and continued more slowly, "Uh, I mean... you're probably right. But you'd better get me at least one of those shots before you leave tomorrow!" Eager to get going, she started to hover away, then stopped and looked back sheepishly. "So... I'd take you to my place but it's kiiiiinda made of cloud. W-Wanna show me where you're staying instead?"

"Yeah, just look left."

That would mean staring straight at the castle they were still outside of. Dash should have known that Twilight wasn't going to let a specimen stay at a hotel when there was a perfectly good guest room in her castle.

"I would show you around, but I have a feeling you're well acquainted with what's inside." Pushing the door open, Barbara looked back at Dash and waved her in. "Cmon, let's get you in bed so you can rest up a bit."

"Oh. Right. I guess that makes sense. Good ol' Twilight, making sense and all that. She's pretty good at that."

She followed Barbara inside, her nerves making her jabber endlessly about everything and nothing. Within seconds - at least it seemed that way to Dash - she saw a large, fancy bed and heard a door click shut behind her. She stopped suddenly and just stared at the bed, then her tail vibrated slightly as it tried to tuck down nervously and raise up excitedly at the same time.

Like before, Barbara tucked Dash under her arm and hoisted her up, only to set her down on the bed. Stripping free of her clothes, save for bra and panties, the woman plopped down on the bed and watched Dash carefully.

"So, how's this gonna go? You wanna just lay here and cuddle, or do you want me to get down to it and help you relax?"

The poor pegasus had gone stiff with embarrassed shock, but she looked down and took a deep breath, trying to regain some of her usual carefree nature. Nopony ever realized how much effort it took to always appear relaxed and she didn't have anyone she could truly let herself go around, not even her closest friends. Surely she couldn't do so now, in any case. So she focused intensely and visibly relaxed into Barbara's arms, eventually letting out a long, content sigh.

"I'm fine with either right now. Cuddling is nice. It's up to you, I guess."

"Well then, if it's my choice..."

Barbara laid rainbow dash down on the bed so she was laying on her belly. Moving to stand behind her, she placed her hands on the mare's left hind legs, just above the hoof as she started massaging the muscles. Though she was unfamiliar with equine anatomy, she was good at finding tension and her digits did wonders to actually dig in and force them to truly relax.

"I can tell you don't like to express what you really think or feel, Dash. Comes with expectations, I get it. But... try to let that go if you can, hmm? Just let loose and enjoy yourself for a while."

Her head plopped weakly onto the bed as those fingers dug into her leg. She turned her head and tried to reply, but all that came out was a low groan. She chuckled weakly, then focused and tried again. "I... don't get massages very often, and... oh gosh... those things you have instead of hooves feel amazing."

She slowly spread her wings and raised them above her head. "Think you c-could do that to my flight muscles? Just... try not to touch the wings too much, mkay?"

"I'll be sure to be delicate around them, Dash."

As her hands traveled up Dash's body, she leaned forward and gave one of the wing joints a small peck. Her strong hands rubbed up and down the muscles surrounding her wings, which was just the preliminary for what she wanted to do. It served to give her an idea of which muscles were tense, as well as acclimate the muscles to a gentle touch before the fingers would really dig in.

"You have a couple knots around the underside of where your wing is attached. You really should try to get someone to work out that tension more often."

One of the knots was almost as big as her thumb and required her to roll it with her palm to start unwinding the tense muscle. As it grew small, she switched to her thumb, then her pointer, till the knot was gone. For each one she found, she went through that same process, meticulously working to get those muscles to relax and sit right.

When she kissed the wing joint, Dash had jumped slightly and her wing rustled a bit, but since Barbara didn't touch them beyond that, she didn't say anything about it. At first, the pegasus merely laid there, occasionally squeaking or moaning quietly as she worked on a particularly sore spot, but soon she turned her head so she could watch the human over her shoulder. It was several more minutes before she said anything, but she kept her tone carefully casual.

"There isn't really anypony I can get this kind of massage from. Everypony knows I'm chill... gotta keep up appearances, right?"

"Mmm, maybe? I don't think anyone could hold it against you that your body gets sore sometimes. Training is supposed to be tough, not just on your mind but on your body."

With the flight muscles all worked out, her hands found themselves in the middle of her back. Here she could feel how the muscles would affect the spine and before long, she would feel something abnormal compared to the rest. Forming her hands into an upside down V, she cupped that part of her lower back and applied pressure, causing a very loud pop.

"Woah, didn't expect that much. How'd that feel for you?"

Dash hadn't even heard of cracking joints before as it wasn't very common among ponies. As the sound rattled her skull and she felt the spike of pain she gasped sharply, but the pain faded almost instantly and it felt like every muscle in her back relaxed all at once in ways she hadn't even known they were tense. Her ears splayed out and her wings shivered as she let out a long, quiet moan.

"Ohhh gosh, what was that? For a second I thought you broke something but... oh, Celestia that felt good." She arched her back and wiggled appreciatively, not really considering what that would look like for the human standing behind her.

"I popped your back, that's all. People do it all the time, especially with our knuckles, watch." Coming around, she formed a fist with one and and used her palms to press against the knuckles. Four rapid pops emanated from it and then she stretched them out. "Dunno really how it works exactly, but I think when your body has enough pressure, stuff gets slightly displaced and needs to be popped back into its proper setting. I'll try and learn more about it for you so I don't ever accidentally hurt you."

"Huh... that's weird. I wonder why Aloe and Lotus don't do that..." Her ears folded back and she looked away hurriedly, then rolled her shoulders and sighed. "Well, thanks... I feel so much better, like you wouldn't believe. That rainboom is a lot of stress on the flight muscles... honestly that's most of the reason I do it so rarely. I tried once too soon after the last and straight up couldn't. Had to make up some excuse..." Again she fell awkwardly silent, avoiding the Chief's gaze.

"I see, so you put your body under enormous stress for me, hmm?" Crawling into bed, Barbara pulled the mare closer and let Dash rest against her chest. "I'm glad you did it though. It really was a beautiful thing to see. All those colors and lights, plus how you work with your team. The amount of effort you put in really shows. You should be proud of yourself for that, just don't forget that you can take breaks from it too."

"Thanks, Barbara, and I guess I am proud of it, really." She turned her head slightly to peer at the human out of the corner of her eye. "A-And really, 'take breaks'? I mean, have you met me? Ask anypony around and they'll tell you I spend half the day sleeping in the clouds I'm supposed to be clearing. If anything I need to be working more!" She made a sound like a wet cough or maybe even a choked-off sob, then forced out a dry chuckle.

Her hand scratched at the base of Dash’s neck as she shifted to better face the mare. “Well, maybe I’ll just have to hold my tongue till I get to know you more, but it seems like you need something you aren’t getting.”

Both arms wrapped around the mare to make sure she was as close as she could be to Barbara. In a way, it was like a wing hug, but different.

“No matter what though, you don’t have to hide yourself from me. Cool, nerdy, sappy, whatever you feel and think is a part of who you are and I just happen to think you’re amazing no matter what.”

Dash didn't respond for a long while. If Barbara hadn't been listening to her breathing, she might have assumed she had fallen asleep, but she was just laying there, throat tight and teeth clenched so tight it hurt. Eventually, she forced her muzzle to relax and had to fake a yawn to stretch out her aching jaw and throat.

"Well, that's nice and all... but really you just think the rainboom and my floof is amazing."

“And those are intrinsically attached to you. Only you have those, Dash. But even then, no, that’s not true.” Craning her neck, she kissed Dash on the forehead and stared down into her eyes.

“I’ve already come to know a few things about you. You’re a hard-worker, you’re light-hearted with your friends, you don’t like to burden others, and you are extremely self-aware. I think all of those qualities make you an amazing pony, Dash.”

Saying she was a hard-worker and light-hearted just made Dash prepare another snippy response, but as she continued those words died in her throat and Dash bent her head down, too embarrassed to hold Barbara's gaze. The only pony who had ever noticed how much attention she paid to how her actions affect ponies around her was Twilight, and that egghead had brought it up like it was a flaw she should try to fix.

Unfortunately Dash wasn't sure she could open up to anypony yet, nevermind this strange creature she'd only just met, so the only response Barbara got in return was a slight tremor of the muzzle and an almost unconscious attempt to snuggle deeper into her arms.

Pulling the covers up, she nestled in so her face was level to Dash’s and smiled warmly. Her arms stayed around the Pegasus, keeping her in a good snuggling position.

“So, I am kind of curious... what is it you like about me, Dash? Both umm... both physically and personality wise.”

The pegasus froze, staring wide-eyed at Barbara's face so close to hers. "Uh... I, um... y-you have..." Her muzzle began to darken and she averted her eyes, no longer able to turn her whole head away. Any other time and she'd have had a snappy come back for sure, but this human somehow knew exactly how to knock her off balance every time she tried to get ahold of herself again.

When she finally spoke again, her voice was almost a whisper and she never once raised her gaze to meet Barbara's. "You just... do stuff. Anything. W-Whatever you want. Like, you see something you want to do, you just do it. Doesn't matter if it's silly or embarrassing or stupid or downright crazy... no bucks given."

“Maybe here I do, sure. Ponies don’t seem to be as judgemental, they’re easier to be around.” One of her hands went down to Dash’s belly to rub the soft spot as her smile widens. “But what about physically? What... makes me pretty in your eyes?”

Dash hesitated, took a deep breath, then finally looked up into Barbara's eyes, a trace of her usual smirk on her muzzle. "Yeeaah, I'll keep that one to myself for now."

She wiggling down and in, pressing right up against her chest, then slowly draped a wing over her hip. Finally, she angled her head and tucked her muzzle right up under Barbara's chin, slotting into place like she'd been designed to fit there.

“Oh well, another time I guess.”

With a powerful yawn, Barbara shut her eyes and relaxed herself. Dash’s fluff was plenty warm, making her feel nice and cozy in bed. The night hadn’t gone like she had thought, but there wasn’t anything wrong with that. In fact, she rather enjoyed where she was. Soon enough sleep took her, pulling her into the land of dreams.

Snuggling up with the human was quite comforting and soft, but Dash lay awake for a long time, deep in thought. She needed to decide how she felt about Barbara fast, as she had already said she was going to the village tomorrow, but quick as she was in the air, her mind was far too troubled to come to any rapid decisions. Eventually her mind spun circles in her head long enough to wear itself out and she finally, truly relaxed.