//------------------------------// // Recap Part 2 // Story: Fly Like You // by Jinzou //------------------------------// It was the morning after Pinkie Pie's party. The previous night had ended on an almost sour note, with Twilight berating Rainbow Dash for not thoroughly reading every piece of paper that was put in front of her. We were there for hours. Am I supposed to read stupid legal jargon that entire time? I'm pretty sure anybody who isn't Twilight would just go crazy if they were forced to do that, and I figured Twilight would steer me right. I mean, she's the smart one that always has an answer for everything, and I'm the athletic one that makes everything awesome! Rainbow idly landed near the Ponyville Schoolhouse and felt Scootaloo hop off her. Shaking her head a few times to clear her thoughts, she turned to the filly and fixed her with a smile. "Bye Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo chirped, sharing a hug with her idol before dashing off to meet up with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. Rainbow Dash sighed and braced herself for whatever bomb Twilight was about to drop on her. She took off in the direction of the library apprehensively, just hoping the news wouldn't be too bad. Twilight looked up from her book as she heard somebody rap on her door. She opened it telekinetically to expose a timid looking Rainbow Dash. "Keep this up and I'll start actually believing you're civilized enough to know how doors work." Twilight teased, attempting to break the ice. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes but did manage a chuckle. "Alright Twi, what are these conditions you were worried I didn't understand?" Rainbow Dash was obviously nervous about what Twilight was going to say. Twilight knew that Rainbow wasn't going to like it, but she'd probably take the news better if she was in a little more comfortable a setting. Fighting back the hints of a blush, she decided that the news could wait until they were both a little more comfortable. "Before all that, Rainbow..." Twilight trailed off awkwardly, trying to think of something to say to calm the pegasus down. "I uh... Was thinking about what you said last night. And you're right. A fully grown mare like myself should know better wing care. Can you... show me how you do it?" Twilight winced as she realized what she just said. Of all the things I could have said, and I went with that?! Now Rainbow's gonna think I'm either stalling some terrible news, or trying to come onto her! Twilight peered up to see the flabbergasted expression on Rainbow Dash's face. "You want me to teach you how to preen?" Rainbow finally asked. She received a weak nod in response. "Well... okay, sure. Let's go find someplace to get comfortable and I'll help you out." Twilight found herself leading Rainbow Dash to her bedroom. When Rainbow had said comfortable, her bed was the first place that came to mind, especially since she didn't own a couch or anything like that. She winced to herself again. First I ask her to help me preen, then I lead her to my bed? By Celestia she must think I'm flirting with her! Twilight chuckled awkwardly and turned to face Rainbow Dash. If Rainbow Dash was weirded out, she was doing a stellar job in hiding it. She appraised the bed with a neutral face before saying "Yeah, this looks fine. Now hop up and let's see the damage." Twilight sighed in relief and sat on her bed, joined quickly by Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash instructed Twilight to lay down and hold out one of her wings. Twilight immediately did so. Rainbow Dash took a second to survey her wing and let out a slow whistle. "Twilight, are you sure you even preen every week? Like, no offense, but it looks like a mess back here." Twilight flushed. "Well, I haven't had these wings long, and I haven't really had the time to read any books on pegasus hygiene, so..." Twilight poked at one of her feathers that was broken halfway down. "Like, we can just straighten these out, right?" "No, see this feather is broken, so you just need to yank it right out." Lectured Rainbow Dash, pulling out the feather in question. "Ow!" Twilight complained. "Well this would hurt a lot less if you did it daily, egghead." Rainbow laughed, as she set to work cleaning and picking out the broken feathers from the rest of the wing. Twilight relaxed her head and sighed in content. It was definitely odd, but it was a very soothing experience. The feeling it gave her reminded her of when she was young, and had her mother taking care of her every time she got sick. They both had the same kind of soothing... caring feeling. She relaxed into the soft bed, her mind turning to mush. "Alright, this one is done, let me see that other wing." Rainbow commanded all too soon, jerking Twilight back into reality. As she mindlessly drew her outstretched wing to her side and extended the other wing, an uncomfortable thought occurred to her. "Uh, Rainbow Dash? Isn't two adult pegasi preening each other considered... kind of an intimate activity? Like, something you'd do in a relationship?" Twilight asked nervously. "Now don't go getting the wrong idea here." Rainbow Dash replied nonchalantly. "Okay, yes, preening another pegasus is something you either do to your own brood until they can do it themselves, or while in a relationship. But you're a special case considering you got your wings as an adult, and your parents never taught you this. So in comes the awesome Rainbow Dash. Besides, if you trust me enough to false-marry me, then this shouldn't be an issue." It was sound logic, but Twilight felt she had to take it further. "It's just..." Twilight trailed off. "Well, this feels pretty nice, and with all this stuff about the civil partnership, and everyone else taking it out of context and shipping us together, it feels a bit... I don't know. If we were in a relationship I'd say it's moving too fast, but we're not, and it just feels kind of... strange. N-not that there's anything wrong with that." Sighing, Rainbow Dash plopped on the bed beside her friend. "Twilight, be 100% honest with me. Do you like me like that?" Twilight felt butterflies in her stomach at the question. Why am I being so weird and awkward about this? We're just friends, and Rainbow is just helping me out on some things I never learned. There's absolutely nothing weird going on here. "Uhh... Not in the romantic sense, no." Twilight said after a moment of hesitation. "Then chill. Okay sure, this has been a bit weird, and I've been a bit uncomfortable along the way too, but I've come to expect weird ever since my 'little sister' became my daughter." Rainbow Dash twisted her face into a strange look. "That still feels weird to say. Look, all I'm saying is, yes, we've grown closer, and this whole... civil whatever is really weird, since I'm not so sure about how our relationship is seen... Like, if I liked another pony would that be seen as cheating?" Rainbow tapped her chin, lost in thought for a moment. "But you know who we are, and I know who we are, so stop sweating the small stuff. What's important right now is us giving Scootaloo a great life. If anything else comes up, we'll tackle it then. Sound good?" Twilight couldn't help but fix Rainbow Dash with a warm smile. Rainbow had always been a good friend of Twilight's since day one in Ponyville, but Twilight couldn't help but like the pony Rainbow Dash had been becoming ever since taking care of Scootaloo a lot more. "Rarity is right. You really have matured recently. I was expecting you to just joke about it." Twilight looked away at that moment. "But that just kinda makes what I'm going to say a bit more awkward... Since you elected not to read some of the government documents you legally signed..." Twilight rolled her eyes. "I'm going to have to explain it to you. Those documents you signed regarding the civil union had some more... conditions." Time to drop the bomb. Please Celestia, let her take it well. Rainbow didn't respond, electing instead to fix Twilight with a curious look. Here goes nothing... "So, some of the conditions you signed for say that the... couple... has to have the same residence. And since my place here in this library counts as a public building, and therefore unfit to raise a foal... I am either supposed to move in with you, or we're supposed to find some place together on the ground to move into together. I mean, we could try to blow this off, but for the next two years we're going to get visited by FPS personnel once a moon to make sure all the conditions are met. If they aren't, they could legally send Scootaloo away to an orphanage. And then there's this thing whole thing with Scootaloo having to be able to access it, but with her current progress with flight..." Twilight bit her lip nervously. Rainbow Dash flopped onto the bed and rolled onto her back expressionlessly. Nobody said anything for a couple minutes, and Twilight was starting to get nervous that Rainbow Dash was now angry at her. "Well I'm not giving up my cloudhome, that's for sure. And the thing is... not that I really have a problem with you moving in, but that I only have two rooms in my house, and I don't think Scootaloo is at the point where she's comfortable sleeping alone without having nightmares... But she's going to have to get used to it soon. And my room isn't really... big enough to fit two different beds..." Twilight felt her whole face turn red when she realized what Rainbow Dash was implying. "I might be able to make it bigger if I move some stuff around..." Rainbow Dash said, more to herself than Twilight. "But if you promise not to try and preen me while I sleep, I suppose I can live with that." Rainbow Dash visibly brightened up. "Plus, I bet you've never slept on a cloud mattress before! They're way better than a normal box-spring like you have. The experiences aren't even comparable!" She took that way better than I expected. But with the current situation, I suppose she feels she doesn't really have a choice. All the same, she did just offer me the chance to move in with her... The pair were quiet for a few minutes. Having recovered from her earlier panic, Twilight found herself to be enjoying the companionable silence. "Hey Twi," Rainbow Dash spoke up out of nowhere. "Do you think you can help Scootaloo fly? I mean, it's not like her wings are weak, she rides around on that scooter all the time. And when they were trying out for flag carrying, she scootered all the way from Ponyville to Trottingham to get on the train. And sure, her wings are small, but most fillies her age don't really have too much larger wings. Those usually come in a growth spurt. I mean, it might not mean too much to you, but it would mean the world to me and Scoots if you could help." Twilight let out a soft hmm. While she admittedly didn't know much about the specific flight related maladies that could plague a pegasus, she never said no to a chance to expand her knowledge. "Well, I could give her a look. Scan for magical imbalances in the body, test her wing synchro, maybe take a look at the form, but I'm not going to promise results." She heard Rainbow give off a happy sigh as she rolled onto her stomach, giving Twilight a thankful look. "That's all I can ask for." The two lay there in silence for a few moment more before Rainbow Dash remembered she was halfway through preening Twilight's second wing. Getting to her hooves and taking her place behind Twilight again, she proceeded to work in silence. Twilight sighed in content and buried her face into her blanket. After several more minutes of silence proceeded, Twilight found herself drifting off into sleep's loving embrace.