Twilight Sparkle was talking to her, and Starlight Glimmer wasn’t listening at all. She was staring at Twilight’s wing. There was a feather out of alignment. Actually, now that she was looking closer, there were a bunch out of alignment. Did she preen at all? Had anypony ever explained to her how to take care of her wings?
Actually, Rainbow Dash definitely would have, so Starlight was all but certain Twilight just neglected them. Should she fix it for her? There were a few, but it would be a quick fix with magic if she wanted to. Twilight would notice. Did she notice they were out of alignment? Did that feel uncomfortable? Starlight wouldn’t put it past her to just ignore a discomfort like that, even if it was only a minute to fix. That was just how she was sometimes, so set in her routine that solving a problem more permanently often never even occurred to her.
“Starlight?”
Her name snapped her out of her thoughts, she looked back up at Twilight’s face now. The alicorn was frowning at her. “Huh?” She grunted dumbly back.
“I asked you a question, but now I’m asking whether you were listening at all?”
Starlight hung her head, looking away, “Sorry Twi, I guess I’m a bit distracted.” She didn’t even remember what they had been talking about. Whatever it was, Twilight had come to her office to talk about it. She was definitely letting Twilight down as a friend here– she couldn’t even remember if it was something important.
“Do you wanna talk about it? Class assignments for next semester can wait.” Oh right, that was it. No wonder she’d spaced so easily.
“It’s dumb, really, it shouldn’t even be a bother,” She deflected.
Twilight pressed, “Really, if it’s enough to distract you this much, you should say something.”
Starlight sighed and hid her face behind her hooves, “Your feathers are out of alignment. You need to preen them.”
“What?” The alicorn blinked at her, then craned her neck to check both wings, “I guess that’s why they’ve been a little itchy, but that’s really been bothering you this much?”
Starlight nodded from behind her hooves, “See, they’d feel better if you took better care of them.”
Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes, “Rainbow Dash is always lecturing me about that, but you both know how busy things get. I guess Gallus and Silverstream are always poking fun at me for it too…” She put a hoof to her chin, seeming to consider it, “But you don’t even have wings!”
“WishIdid…” Starlight mumbled at the floor.
“Didn’t quite catch that, Starlight.”
“I said I wish I did!” Starlight blurted, cheeks burning red.
Twilight was silent for a few moments, staring at her, “You… Wanna be an alicorn?”
“No– I mean– Sort of!” Starlight threw her hooves up, “I mean, I wouldn’t wanna be a princess, not even if Princess Celestia came down from Canterlot and begged!”
Twilight gaped at her, as if the thought was unthinkable, “But… Wings?”
“Wings!” Starlight practically leapt on the spot, “I’ve always thought it’d be incredible to have wings, to soar around like pegasi do! Sometimes–” Her blush turned a shade fiercer, “Sometimes when I’m flying my kites, that’s what I imagine.”
“Starlight, you can literally levitate yourself around. And there’s spells for wings, too.”
Starlight shook her head vigorously, “No and no. That levitation spell is a lot of work, and it’s not flying, it’s just me carrying me around. And we both know that wing spell is terrible, you can’t dive and soar with wings made of dewdrops and a dream!”
Twilight crossed her hooves to her chest, “I still don’t see what this has to do with my wings being maybe a little out of sorts.”
“You’re living my foalhood dream and you take it for granted!” Starlight cried, desperation in her voice, “You act like you forget they’re attached half the time! If I had wings, I’d practically never touch the ground, Rainbow Dash has the right idea.”
“Well fine, if it means that much to you…” Twilight’s horn lit, and the stray feathers were wrapped in shimmering pink.
“Wait!” Starlight shouted, then slapped her hooves to her mouth at the outburst. Twilight’s magic faded and she looked expectantly– if irritably– at Starlight. “Let me do it?”
Twilight rolled her eyes again and nodded. Starlight sprang up and to her desk, pulling open a drawer and yanking out a brush with a very particular shape– designed for brushing feathers rather than manes.
“Starlight, why do you have a preening brush in your desk?”
Starlight blushed again, “Well, Rainbow Dash brought it over so we could talk about her feathers– For my kite stuff, she’s actually really smart about aerodynamics, as long as you don’t use any words from a textbook, and I thought it would be great to have on hoof for Silverstream or Gallus, just in case, you know, but then Rainbow Dash explained they both just use their beaks and only pegasi really use brushes, so now I have a preening brush.” She breathed a great gasping breath in after the long winded explanation.
Twilight just said, “Right.”
Starlight hurried over with the brush and sidled up next to her, “So it’s okay if I…”
Twilight smiled at her and nodded, leaning just a bit closer. It actually made it a little harder to brush her wings that way, but Starlight wasn’t going to complain about the affection. She strapped the brush to her hoof and began to gently work it through Twilight’s feathers. The feathers were soft and smooth, just a bit fluffy in a way characteristic of pegasus wings. Starlight wanted to nuzzle her face against it, but settled for simply brushing and smoothing with her hoof.
Twilight was quiet, her breathing steady and even and her eyes shut. She kept relaxing into it more and more as Starlight set the feathers to order. Starlight’s cheeks were burning. She hadn’t thought about how intimate this would feel when she asked. She hadn’t really thought at all when she asked, actually, she’d just wanted an excuse to see Twilight’s wings up close. And fix those feathers of course. Rainbow Dash was nice and all, but she wouldn’t feel at all comfortable doing something like this with her wings. Twilight was just different somehow.
She realized she was just brushing the same spot over and over, too lost in thought. She had already finished this wing and was simply mechanically repeating her last stroke. She cleared her throat awkwardly and stood, settling down on Twilight’s opposite flank and beginning the other wing.
“Doesn’t feel this good when I do it…” Twilight mumbled.
“That’s good,” Starlight’s reply was robotic, she was trying not to think too hard about anything, just brush. She started rambling instead. “I’ve never told anypony about that. I’ve always known it was a bit silly, after all, I’m a unicorn! I should appreciate that! And I do, we both know I probably appreciate being a unicorn a little too much sometimes. I was really disappointed that all the spells for it aren’t quite like the real deal, but I did get over it. Just, sometimes I see Rainbow Dash soar overhead, and I bet she feels so alive, like nothing on earth could ever keep her down.”
Twilight was quiet for a while. Just as Starlight was starting to worry she’d overshared, Twilight spoke, “Starlight, would you like to do this regularly?”
“Wha– Like, brush you again? After this?”
Twilight nodded slowly, “And again after that, and again after that. That’s what regularly means.”
“Of course!” She swallowed hard, “This was nice.” The wing was finished, the feathers all aligned in proper order. They were rich purple and perfectly smooth, and Starlight idly wondered how they’d develop as Twilight grew. She set the brush aside and nuzzled affectionately at Twilight’s neck.
“You know… We are two of the most powerful spell casters in Equestria,” Twilight said idly.
Starlight perked up, giving her an odd look, “What are you suggesting?”
“I’m suggesting that all the spells that exist right now aren’t quite like the real deal. What do you say to some independent study?”
Starlight glanced at the paperwork on her desk, “You know we don’t have time for something like that.”
Twilight turned Starlight’s head with a hoof. She felt like she’d melt, looking into the alicorn’s eyes. “Faculty research is very important for an institution’s credibility.”
Starlight couldn’t help but break into a grin. She knew when the Princess of Friendship had sniffed a problem she could solve, and she knew the alicorn would not be dissuaded at this point. She couldn’t help but stare at her and wonder how she could be so lucky to have such an amazing mare for a friend, after everything she’d been through.
“Fine, you can read the books while I brush your wings. That way I don’t end up distracted from our actual jobs again.”
Twilight clapped her hooves together, “It’s a deal! And when we get you wings, I get to brush them.”
Starlight leapt from her seat and tried to play it off as a casual trot back to her desk to store the brush, “So, about those class assignments, huh?”
Twilight smiled serenely, taking the deflection in stride, “Right. Real jobs.”
Twilight started talking. Starlight barely managed to listen. She was thinking about Twilight’s wings.
