//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: The Spell to Happiness // by ScientistTrixie //------------------------------// Rainbow and Twilight were happier than they had been in years. The pair had seen the Neighagra falls together, traveled north to visit Shining Armor and Princess Cadence in the Crystal Empire, and even had another dinner date with the Princesses. They spent almost every day together, and when they weren't out on a date, they were staying at Twilight's home, usually curled up reading together. The weeks passed quickly, and before they knew it, the pair had been dating for close to three months. At the moment, Rainbow Dash was just arriving at Twilight's, for what Twilight thought was a normal dinner date. She was sporting a rather large grin on her face as Twilight stepped out onto her balcony. "What's got you so happy?" Twilight asked, giggling as Rainbow hovered in place. "Oh, nothing important." She said as she drifted into Twilight's bedroom. "Has anything unexpected happened today?” "Um... no?" Twilight said, cocking an eye at the pegasus. "Why?" "Oh, no reason!" She exclaimed, busying herself by studying the bookcase next to Twilight's bed. Before she turned, Twilight could have sworn she saw her face fall for a split second. "Rainbow? What's wrong with you?" Twilight asked, stomping a hoof as she stepped in front of Rainbow. Rainbow sighed, and glanced at the floor. "I had a surpri..." She trailed off as she saw a large flash of light come from the balcony she had just come from just a minute ago. "Now, who could that be? The entrance to the library is downstairs…" Twilight asked, and trotted over to the door. She threw it open, and gasped as Princess Celestia stepped into the room. "Hello, my faithful student." She said, grinning at her student’s dumbstruck expression. “What...what are you doing here?" Twilight asked, frantically cleaning the room with her magic. In seconds, the room was spotless. "I mean, I wasn't expecting you!" "Calm down, Twilight. I am actually here to grant Rainbow Dash her special request." The princess said, smiling as her gaze drifted over to a beaming Rainbow. "What special request?" Twilight asked, glancing between the alicorn and the pegasus. Celestia arched an eyebrow at the cyan pony, who blushed slightly, her grin never leaving her face. "Rainbow wanted to speak with me privately after our dinner last week, and she asked me to bestow upon you a very special gift. I see now that she was keeping this a secret." Celestia said, amusement evident in her voice. "Rainbow, you didn’t have to do anything for me!" Twilight trailed off, smiling as Dash stepped forward and hugged her. "You don't even know what it is yet!" Rainbow said, leaning against the excited unicorn. "Oh? What is it?" Twilight asked, turning to Celestia. "How about I just show you?" Celestia asked, her horn aglow with her magic. Twilight sat down, stilling herself as Celestia bowed her head, her mane flowing in an invisible breeze. As Celestia's horn brushed Twilight, a bright flash blinded the occupants of the room. As Twilight blinked, trying in vain to clear her vision, she suddenly felt an intense itch in her back, as if her muscles and bone structure were changing beneath her skin. She glanced over her shoulder, and nearly fainted in shock as she watched pale white bones grow from her spine, quickly covering themselves in a mass of red muscle. Veins quickly crept along the muscle, which was quickly hidden by skin, which was in turn covered by her deep purple fur. She rolled her shoulder, trying to get rid of the strange sensations, and yelped in surprise as her newly formed wings shot out from her sides, clipping Rainbow Dash in the head. "What the hay!" Twilight screamed, her head twisting and turning as she studied herself, admiring the two beautiful wings protruding from her back. They were deep purple, with violet and rose colored feathers along the edges. "Did you make me into… into an alicorn?" Twilight asked, looking up to Celestia with hope and wonder in her eyes. Celestia laughed, her eyes sparkling as her mane flowed behind her. “I’m afraid not, Twilight. Even though you may look the part, you are certainly not an alicorn. I have only given you temporary wings, much like the wings you gave your friend, Rarity." She smiled as Twilight experimentally stretched her wings, flapping them slowly. "Wait, how do I know how to move them? They aren’t part of my natural biology, so how am I able to control them?" She flexed her wings, demonstrating her muscle control. "With Rarity's wings, she was able to use them because they were so large she had to just flap them to do what she wanted. With your wings, you need experience to be able to use them correctly." Celestia explained, grinning as Twilight took on her student-learning look. "Your wings will be gone by tomorrow morning. And since I wanted you to have enough time to enjoy them with Rainbow Dash, I transferred some of my memories of flying to you. You'll instinctively know how to use your wings, but Rainbow will have to show you some of the more advanced techniques." The princess said, nodding her head at the cyan pegasus who was staring at Twilight's wings in amazement. "Wow, a biological spell, combined with a memory manipulation spell... That must have taken forever!" Twilight said, tilting her head. "Well, Twilight, you must forget that my sister is one of the top magic users in Equestria. The moment I told her of Rainbow Dash’s special request for Twilight, she poured herself into experimenting with different spells. I, uhhh… I actually walked in on her having four wings at one time..." She said, shuddering at the disturbing thought. Celestia glanced outside, eyeing the sun as she trotted to the doorway. "I apologize my little ponies, but I must be getting back to the castle. I have an aid waiting outside my chambers because I told him I needed to freshen up." She said, giggling to herself as she extended her wings to their full extent. "Farewell, Princess Celestia." Twilight said, bowing to her mentor. Beside her, Rainbow copied her movement, and thanked the princess profusely. Celestia took to the sky, her horn glowing with a beautiful golden haze. She flapped once, and vanished in a flash of light. "Come on Twi, I'm gonna teach you how to use these things!" Dash said, flexing her wings as she spoke. Twilight followed nervously, uncertainty on her face as she followed the pegasus onto the balcony. Twilight gulped suddenly as she glanced over the edge, noticing for the first time how tall her balcony really was. "I'm not sure I can do this, Dash." Twilight nervously said, shuffling her hooves together as she began to tremble in fear. Rainbow lifted Twilight’s chin with her wing, and smiled gently as their eyes met. "What's wrong, Twi?" Rainbow said, beginning to think that maybe her awesome gift was a bad idea. "I’m not sure if I can do this…" Twilight said, uncertainty clouding her heart. Rainbow smiled at the mare, pulled her forward with her wing, and kissed her passionately. As she felt her wings snap to attention, she broke the kiss and looked over her shoulder in confusion. "Why are my wings so stiff... oh." She said, blushing as she faced Rainbow. Dash was blushing slightly too, knowing that Twilight was thinking of the times that her wings had reacted in the same way. Changing the subject, Rainbow said, "Don’t worry; I'll be right beside you every step of the way! Just watch my wings and copy what I do!" Rainbow tilted her wings, flapping them as she slowly rose into the air, and before Twilight knew it, Rainbow was hovering beside her. Twilight nodded shakily, a steeled look crossing her face as she planted her hooves, tilted her wings, and began to flap. Her hooves slowly left the balcony as Rainbow cheered her on. She threw her arms out as she leveled out beside Rainbow, which threw her off balance and caused her to slowly tilt to the right. She focused intently, and flapped furiously to right herself. "Good job, Twi! Now, just follow my lead!" Rainbow said, grinning as she slowly drifted forward. Twilight chewed her lip, and before she could blink she was zooming past the cyan pegasus. Rainbow blinked, a challenging smile appearing on her face. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- An hour later found Twilight and Dash flying high in the sky, the clouds far below them. Rainbow was leading Twilight somewhere, but no matter how much she begged Dash to tell her where they were going, she remained silent. In the distance the pair were approaching a large bundle of clouds, but as they got closer, Twilight was able to make out different buildings on the clouds, with pegasi flying here and there. "You’re taking me to see Cloudsdale?" Twilight excitedly asked, her eyes widening as Dash nodded back at her, a large grin plastered on her face. "Well you took me to see your hometown, so I figured you should see where I was raised." Rainbow said, smiling as she rolled around a cloud. Twilight giggled at the mare's antics and smiled, and as they gained altitude, she could see the stadium where the Best Young Fliers competition had been held in. Rainbow drifted, her wings stiff as she lazily landed on a free-floating cloud. Twilight landed beside her and instinctively tucked her wings into her side. She grinned at Rainbow, who was looking at her marefriend with pride. "Over there…" Rainbow paused, and pointed at a large building, with a rainbow pouring off the top of it. "Is where Fluttershy and I went to summer flight camp!" Twilight sat back, her eyes following the mare's hoof as Rainbow pointed out building after building. "That's where I pick up my weather schedule, and next door to that is the Pegasopolis Gym." "What's so special about the Pegasopolis Gym?" Twilight asked, her eyes examining the building. "It's the premier gym for pegasi." Rainbow answered, stating the obvious. She shrugged as Twilight glared at her. "It has special equipment to make you a better flier." She said, glancing at the mare beside her. "Special equipment? Like what?" The unicorn had a familiar studious gleam in her eyes. “Weights, water training, wind tunnels..." She trailed off as Twilight nodded, stepping close to the edge of the cloud. "I'll make a deal with you, Twi. If you can stay aloft in the wind tunnel at its highest speed, then I'll pay for our next date of your choosing. But if you can't stay aloft, you pay for our next date of my choice." She said, raising her hoof. Twilight watched her carefully, her eyes darting to the gym before they narrowed and returned to the pegasus before her. "I hope you enjoy paying for a science conference!" She said, shaking Rainbow's hoof. Rainbow wrinkled her nose in disgust, and growled as Twilight threw herself off the cloud, soaring toward the gym below them. Twilight didn't even make it halfway to the gym before a rainbow blur rocketed by her. Twilight landed in front of the gym and made her way through the front door. As she entered the gym, Rainbow was already signing herself and her guest in. She took the clipboard between her teeth and passed it to the large pegasus behind the counter. As he took it from Dash, his eyes darted to the doorway. His eyes grew large and he glanced first at Twilight's wings, than her horn. "Calm down, Speed. This is Twilight Sparkle, a naturally born unicorn. Princess Celestia cast a spell on her that allows her to have wings temporarily." Rainbow said, expertly guessing why the pegasus was gawking at her marefriend. He nodded, relaxing as he faced the smirking cyan pony. "Can you get a pegasus to meet us at the wind tunnel? I wanna test these bad boys out!" She said, laughing as Twilight gingerly extended her wings. "They'll meet you there, Dash." Speed said, trotting off as Rainbow wound her way through the gym floor. "There sure are a lot of ponies here." Twilight said, her eyes filled with pegasi of every color. Her skin crawled as one by one each pegasus would catch sight of her and fall silent, there eyes locked on her horn. She shuddered slightly, and bit her lower lip as she pressed against Rainbow dash. Rainbow grinned at the mare beside her, her grin falling as she saw the look on Twilight's face. "Twi, what's wrong?" She stretched her wing over her marefriend, shooting a glare at the ponies around them. Most still stared, but a few ponies had the decency to turn and continue their earlier conversations. "They’re all staring at me..." She trailed off, relaxing slightly as they passed through a doorway, into a nearly empty room. A single mare stood inside, a smile on her face as the pair approached her. "Hello Rainbow Dash, Miss Sparkle. My name's Windy." The mare said, introducing herself to the pair standing before her. "Who's gonna be in the tube today?" She asked, glancing between the two. She smiled as Miss Sparkle stepped forward. "Please come with me, Miss Sparkle. You may head into the viewing room, Rainbow." Windy smiled at the pair as she trotted off, and entered a doorway Twilight didn't notice until she opened it. As they walked through the doorway Windy had just went through, Rainbow extended a wing and blocked Twilight's path. Twilight looked at her in confusion, and then relaxed as Rainbow stepped forward and kissed the unicorn on her lips, coaxing a slight groan from her. Rainbow ended the kiss with a hoof, a grin on her face. "What was that for?" Twilight asked. "Oh, just because." Rainbow grinned at the purple pony and stepped forward, swatting her muzzle with her tail as she walked past. Twilight entered a large door, which sealed shut with a hiss behind her. She looked around in confusion for a moment, and examined the large room. A red square was on the ground, and against the far wall was a large red rune. Behind her sat a large net to catch those who couldn’t handle the tunnel’s strength. "Please step forward to the red square, Miss Sparkle. In a moment I will start the tunnel, and your partner will be in control of the wind speeds." The mare pointed to her left, where a glass wall separated her from Rainbow. Twilight nodded, relaxing her wings and rolling her shoulders as the window shut. A whisper of wind came from the end of the room, pushing her mane back and running over her feathers. She arched her neck, lowering herself into a takeoff position as the wind speed slowly increased. She flapped her wings and lifted off the ground. The wind speed increased some more, and then she heard a voice behind her. "One!" Twilight jumped, almost squealing as the voice echoed in her ear for a moment. The wind blew faster and faster, and she quickly went from a slow drift to pumping her wings as hard as she could. "Three!" She glanced over at Rainbow, who was smiling encouragingly at her. Twilight stuck her tongue out at the mare, whose face took on a look of shock, and suddenly the wind speed went up two notches. "Four!" "Five!" Before long the, wind speed had increased several more times, each time the struggle to fly growing harder and harder. “Nine!" Her wings ached, and she was flapping her wings as hard as she possibly could. Sweat poured down her face and she knew her mane lay in wet ropes down the back of her neck. She glanced at her marefriend who was looking at her with a mixture of surprise and, if Twilight wasn't mistaken, lust. Twilight smiled, a devious idea in her mind. Rainbow looked on, watching the sweat drip down Twilight's body. Her hair was ruined and was laying across her neck in wet clumps. She was panting and had a brilliant flush to her cheeks. Rainbow had never seen the mare before her look quite so sexy. Twilight's eyes were half closed and she darted a tongue out slowly licking her lips as she glanced over at her rainbow-maned pony. Rainbow felt heat rush through her, and for a moment she was astounded. As the flying unicorn smiled, Dash grinned as she realized that her marefriend was playing her. "Two can play at this game!" She whispered to herself, and glanced at Twilight, who was once again focusing her eyes on the opposite wall. Twilight heard a faint tapping, almost inaudible over the roar of the wind assaulting her ears. She looked to the window from earlier, which was still closed. Glancing to Rainbow, her eyes flew open as she saw her marefriend. Rainbow had turned around, her flank pressing against the glass. She twitched her tail to the side, and gave the struggling unicorn a full view of her muscular plot. Twilight growled as she felt her wings stiffen, which caused her to lose control and fall back into the net behind her. The wind cut off slowly, allowing the mare struggle to free herself from the net. As her hooves hit the ground, she threw the door open with her magic, storming out of the wind tunnel. Rainbow was standing just outside, a large grin on her face, which quickly fell as she saw the look of pure anger on Twilight's face. Before the mare could speak, she squeaked in surprise as she was yanked into the air, her body surrounded by a magenta glow. She sputtered, trying to speak, but no sound would come out. Her face turned red, and she tried to angle herself to see Twilight's face, but the mare was walking so fast Rainbow could only float helplessly behind her. Rainbow blushed as the pegasi around her glanced at her curiously, giggling slightly as she knew most of them were convinced Twilight was an alicorn. As the pair reached the streets, Twilight hesitated for a moment. Rainbow looked at her, her mouth trying to move for a moment before she remembered that she had been struck silent. She glared at the back of Twilight's head for a moment, and glared even harder as the mare twisted her head, looking this way and that way with a sly grin on her face. Twilight stretched out her wings, and took to the sky, the sun glistening off the sweat on her fur. Rainbow looked on in awe, screaming as she was suddenly rocketing through the air, coming to rest just behind the flying unicorn. Twilight stopped as the pair came to a comfortable height, her eyes darting here and there before they stopped on a thick cloud. She darted into the cloud and hid herself from view, and then released Rainbow. Rainbow glanced around, a white cloud filling her entire view. She knew Twilight was nearby, but the mare was hidden in the fluff. "Twilight?" She called hesitantly, her head twisting and turning. Her neck involuntarily arched as she felt her marefriend’s lips run down her neck. She moaned in disappointment as the feeling vanished, but that was quickly replaced by a moan of satisfaction when Twilight suddenly kissed her on her lips. She felt a hoof brush her spine, running between her wings. As Rainbow melted into the kiss, she felt a hoof start to stroke her cutie mark. Once again, Twilight vanished into the cloud behind her, leaving the pegasus gasping and desperately wanting more. She flapped her wings, rising out of the cloud, and glared playfully at the smirking purple pony, who was stretched lazily out on the cloud. Rainbow pounced on her marefriend, and softly kissed the unicorn’s neck. Twilight gasped in delight as Rainbow started planting small kisses all across her neck. Rainbow bit down gently, drawing a breathless gasp from Twilight. She groaned as Dash softly nibbled on her neck, blood rushing throughout her body. Rainbow ran a hoof down Twilight’s side, her hoof sliding across her sensitive cutie mark, which earned a blush from the mare below her. Twilight groaned as Rainbow kissed her, pushing her tongue into Twilight’s open mouth. Twilight suddenly grabbed Rainbow and rolled on top of the cyan pegasus. Twilight held her down and was just about to nibble on her marefriend's ear when suddenly she heard a loud rumbling. Startled, Twilight jumped up and glared down at the cloud below her, expecting thunder. However, when the sound repeated itself, Twilight glanced at Rainbow, who was holding a hoof to her belly; her cheeks redder than Twilight had ever seen. Twilight stared at the mare, and then she fell to her knees, laughing so hard tears came to her eyes. Rainbow glared at her for a moment, before she broke into laughter herself. "What a mood-killer, Dash!" Twilight said, grinning at the pony beside her. "Come on, Twi. I'll take you to the best restaurant in all of Cloudsdale! And afterwards, we can have some alone time…" Rainbow shot into the sky, leaving Twi alone on the cloud. Twilight stood, stretching her wings as she launched herself into the air, a happy laugh escaping her lips as she rose into the air, vanishing into the distance chasing after a beautiful rainbow.