Preening... Right...
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
The rhythmic sounds emanating from Rarity’s clock reminded her of how late it was, and blended in with the sound of a cold wind outside. She should have been sleeping right then, but inspiration waits for no one; as such, she was in the process of designing a new dress.
As she finished up the sketch of the design, she figured it was about time to head to bed; a lady needs her beauty sleep. A rather uncouth yawn forced its way out of her mouth as she got out of her seat and stretched. She’d been sitting there for far too long.
The quiet sound of her hooves on carpet was suddenly drowned out by a rather large crash. Her first thought was that Sweetie Belle had broken something – before she remembered that Sweetie Belle was actually with their parents for the weekend; not to mention, the noise had come from right outside her front door.
She quickly made her way to the door, and – fixing her mane quickly – opened it, letting in a blast of cool air. She was greeted with a rather familiar sight, though not one she expected to see so late at night. It was Rainbow Dash, on the ground right in front of the door, looking at her with a sheepish grin.
“Hehe, sorry, Rares. I was practicing a new trick, and, well, you know.”
Rarity blinked a couple times, before finally finding her voice once more.
“Do not worry about it – I was still awake. Though, I simply cannot fathom what would drive you to practice your flying technique at-“
She quickly glanced behind herself to look at the clock on her wall.
“-one fourty-two AM.”
She was then treated to some difficult-to-follow bullshit explanation about the differences in wind currents at nighttime; she had actually been flying back home after seeing some rather interesting things Pinkie Pie and Twilight were doing at the library. Always the gracious host, Rarity noticed it was a little bit chilly, and as such, saw fit to invite Rainbow Dash into her home.
“Well, darling, ‘tis a bit cold outside. Perhaps you’d like to come in?”
Rainbow Dash chuckled lightly, awkwardly getting up from her position on the ground. Rarity saw her wince a little bit as her wings adjusted while she got up.
“Er, Rainbow Dash, are you alright? You seem to have injured yourself.”
Dash gave Rarity an appreciative smile.
“I’m fine, just a bit of a rough landing is all.”
Rarity followed Rainbow Dash inside, examining her with a skeptical eye, scanning her movements for any sign of discomfort.
“If you say so.”
Rainbow Dash settled herself down on a cushion in front of the crackling fireplace. As she tried to maneuver her wings into a more comfortable position, she winced again, letting out a little yip accidentally. This did not escape Rarity’s notice.
“Rainbow Dash! You are hurt! I knew it! Even a pony such as yourself can’t take a fall like that and be entirely uninjured.”
Rainbow Dash sighed, but smiled all the same, gesturing with her muzzle towards her wings. Feathers were splayed all over the place.
“Don’t worry about it, Rarity; I just need to give them a good preening. They got pretty roughed up during that landing.”
Rainbow Dash tried to fold her wing in front of her, so she could begin preening, but instead yelped again. The feathers were sticking out as such awkward angles that she couldn’t move her wings without little jolts of pain. Instead of moving them, she tried to reach her head around behind her to get to them, but couldn’t quite reach.
“I’ve… almost… got it…”
Rainbow Dash was just inches away from her wings, but couldn’t quite reach them.
“Er, Darling, you seem to be having a bit of trouble there. I’m aware that this is rather unconventional, but do you need some help with that?”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened, and she looked away, mumbling some excuse or another, a slight blush painting her cheeks a healthy pink. Rarity leaned in a bit closer, considering she couldn’t tell what Dash was saying.
“Would you mind speaking up? I’m afraid I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
Rainbow Dash gulped, and looked towards Rarity again, smiling nervously.
“Hehe, thanks, Rares, but there’d be a little bit of trouble with that…”
Rarity tilted her head in idle curiosity, trying to figure out what the problem could possibly be.
“I know that preening is generally done between close ponies, but you’re one of my best friends, for Celestia’s sake, and I don’t think you’ll be able to get home or do this on your own.”
Rainbow Dash just kept trying to mumble more excuses, blushing brighter and brighter – it was an absolutely wonderful Fluttershy impression. Finally she sighed and hung her head, resigning herself to her fate of having to explain one of her more embarrassing traits to Rarity.
“Well, you see, Rarity, Pegasus wings are rather – uh – sensitive, and mine are even more sensitive than most Pegasi, so-“
Rarity interrupted her, blinking a couple times.
“Sensitive how?”
Rainbow Dash blushed, knowing that things were going to get very awkward momentarily. She looked down and away from Rarity, her ears flattening against her head.
“Uh, well, you know… sensitive.”
Rarity flushed lightly, catching onto the not-so-subtle inflection that Rainbow Dash was using on that particular word. She glanced up at the clock so that her eyes would have something besides Rainbow Dash to look at.
“Ah! I, er, understand, now.”
Rainbow chuckled awkwardly, wincing again as the movement forced her wings to move a little bit. Rarity’s eyes continued darting around, momentarily landing on Rainbow Dash, and then quickly resuming their trek around the room.
“And, I suppose, since your wings are so… sensitive, it would be strange for me, one of your friends, to preen them…”
Rainbow Dash gave an encouraging smile, still blushing a bit at having to share one of her secrets with Rarity.
“Bingo! So, I’ll just go, and–“
Rainbow Dash tried to get up from her spot in front of the fireplace, but was entirely unable to, as her wings suddenly protested greatly. She let out a little yelp, and stopped trying to move.
“Okay, ouch.”
Rarity was watching the scene nervously, an absolutely scandalous debate warring in her head. She fidgeted around, eyes shifting back and forth.
“I’ll understand if you are just too uncomfortable with the thought, but I really do not think you’ll be able to do it yourself; that’s not even considering that you definitely cannot fly home tonight…”
Rainbow Dash winced again as her wing twitched, and sighed. She looked up at Rarity with an apologetic smile.
“Well, it looks like I don’t exactly have much of a choice, huh? But, do you even know how to preen wings?”
Rarity’s eyes sparkled a little bit at that question.
“Let’s just say that I’ve been subjected to many lectures on very random topics whilst having tea with Twilight.”
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, and rested her head on her forehooves, cringing slightly.
Let’s get this over with.
“Alrighty, then. Go ahead and do what you have to.”
Rarity smiled comfortingly, and sat down next to Rainbow Dash, so that she would easily be able to reach one of the wings. Taking a deep breath, she leaned in, and carefully gripped one of the feathers with her teeth. Dash winced a little bit, but was silent.
Rarity gently smoothed down the feather into the position it was meant to be in.
Rainbow Dash held her breath – and held in a squeak – as Rarity continued the process with each feather of the wing, sending little jolts of lightning up Rainbow Dash’s spine.
Rarity knew that Rainbow Dash didn’t want her to know, but it was clear by the little noises that Rainbow Dash was making that she was enjoying this a little too much. Rarity blushed, but kept going, working her way from the base of the wing. So far she had only covered secondary and tertiary feathers, but she was quickly approaching a primary feather.
Rainbow Dash held in a gasp as Rarity gently took the feather between her teeth.
She couldn’t quite hold in another gasp as Rarity smoothed the feather into place.
“Mmnn~”
Rarity blushed brightly at the sound, but continued, approaching another primary. Once more, she gently smoothed it into place, adding in a little nibble for no discernible reason. This time, a little whimper escaped Dash’s slightly-parted lips.
“A-ah…”
Rarity’s heart rate was climbing just as much as Rainbow Dash’s, but Rainbow Dash seemed disappointed in herself. Her ears were drooped lightly, as if she feared reproach from her friend.
“S-sorry…”
Rarity smiled gently, even though Rainbow Dash couldn’t see her face.
“There is no need to apologize, dear!”
Rarity gave an admittedly characteristic nuzzle to Dash’s neck, before returning to the wing. She wouldn’t admit it, but she enjoyed every little happy sound that Rainbow Dash made.
When she finally finished that wing, Rainbow Dash relaxed visibly, but then tensed up again, realizing that Rarity still had another wing to preen. She flushed brighter. She wasn’t sure if she could handle it. As Rarity changed which side of Rainbow Dash she was sitting on, Rainbow Dash bit her lip nervously. Rarity leaned in, and began preening her once more, throwing in little nibbles every now and then, just for good measure.
Rainbow Dash was blushing brightly, unsurprisingly, considering her wings were fully extended and her tail was flagging slightly. It was clear Rarity noticed, judging by the blush on her cheeks, but she gave no other indication. As she approached the primaries, she began throwing in little licks along with the nibbles and tugs; Rainbow Dash was practically putty in her hooves, by now.
By the time she was reaching for the first primary, Rainbow Dash was shaking horribly. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash tensed up, and her eyes flew open in a panic.
“R-Rarity, y-you have to stop!”
Rarity blushed. She took that as her cue. It was now or never, and she couldn’t quite resist the urge to do this. Hopefully, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be mad. She dug her tongue into the sensitive flesh and brought her hooves up to begin massaging the wing in front of her. Rainbow Dash bit her lip, and cried out loudly.
“A-ah! R-Rarity – Mmph! – I-I can’t- A-Ah~"
Rainbow Dash shuddered, violently arching her back, whimpers and cries flowing out non-stop. Her hind legs ground together, and she shook. Rarity was again nibbling on her wing, employing her tongue, and holding onto her with her hooves. Rarity’s blush burned hotter than Celestia’s sun, as she watched Rainbow Dash squirm around in her grasp.
All too soon, Rainbow Dash’s whimpers slowly faded, as she panted heavily, coming down from her high. Her eyes shrank to pinpricks, and then darted around, before coming to rest on Rarity’s own eyes. Rarity had a small smile on her face, and she leaned forward to deliver a nuzzle to Dash’s neck.
“Dear, I do hope you aren’t mad at me. I simply couldn’t resist!”
Rainbow Dash sighed in relief, realizing that it had been Rarity’s intention to bring her to an intense climax, and she hadn’t messed up and ruined their friendship irrevocably.
“Not at all, Rares, not at all,” she spoke, nonchalantly examining her hooves, before meeting Rarity’s eyes again, with a smirk.
“In fact, I think that I should repay you for your… generosity.”
Rarity’s eyes widened, and she stuttered out a few half-sentences, trying to find a way to respond. She finally took a deep breath to gather herself, closing her eyes. She opened them, and met Dash’s smiling gaze. She tilted her head with a slight smirk.
“What did you have in mind, hmm?”
~~~