//------------------------------// // 5c: Under Her Wings // Story: Man Cannot Live On Coffee Alone // by PropMaster //------------------------------// As I followed after Sapphire, heading back towards the castle, I asked her a question. "What's up with you being twitchy about wing massages?" Sapphire looked away quickly. "Uh, since you're new here, I'll give you a pass, but don't be offering to groom any random pegasus ponies' wings." I frowned. "Why not?" Twilight had mentioned something about this, but her lessons on pony etiquette had been months ago at this point. "It's, uh... like..." She frowned uncertainly. "It's not exactly something that you should offer at random." I squinted. "I mean, we're friends, right?" Sapphire shot me a look, her wings ruffling again and fluffing out a bit. "Yeah, we're friends. It's just... typically, you only let family members or close friends preen your wings." I looked down at her, trying my damnedest to read her body language. "So... no?" Sapphire composed herself, folding her wings in, and she went quiet as she considered something. After a moment, she sighed. "It's been a day and a half since I've had time to properly preen my wings, so it's going to be a bit of a mess." "So... yes?" Damn ponies and their body language. Something was up, but I couldn't quite pick up on it. Sapphire giggled. "Yes. If I'm being honest, I could probably use the help. And it's not a big deal, don't worry. Just, like... it's only because it's you that I'm letting you do this. I wouldn't let just anypony help me preen my wings." She gave me a serious look, her ears forward. "A pegasus' wings are really important, and we only let ponies we really trust do that. It's really important that you take it seriously, and don't screw around. Okay?" I realized that it wasn't just a simple thing, offering to help her with her wings and her accepting. We'd crossed some sort of threshold in our friendship. Sapphire trotted ahead of me, her tail flicking, and she glanced over her shoulder at me. "What?" "I didn't ask you anything inappropriate, did I?" Her reaction was still nagging at me. Sapphire scowled, blushing a bit. "No, it's fine." I squinted at her. "You sure?" Sapphire rolled her eyes. "Jake. Please. You're making it weird. Just shut up and help me clean up my messy wings." She turned and walked on. "Come on." I followed her, and we walked in relative silence back to the castle. Sapphire took a different turn than usual, leading me down a hallway that wasn't towards my room, and I followed her. We went down a few different corridors, heading into the outer wings of the palace, and stopped before a set of more simple double doors. The sign above declared it as a mare's barracks, and Sapphire gestured to the door. "I'll be back in a second, I need to grab my kit." I nodded, curious as to what kind of kit she needed. She slipped into the barracks and returned a few moments later with a small black bag balanced on her back. She headed towards my room, and as we walked, I reached down for the bag. I hesitated when she gave me a look, my hand hovering just before grabbing the black bag. "So, what's all this?" "My grooming kit. It's not exactly easy to clean your wings sometimes, so I've got some stuff that might help you out." She eyed my hands, "Though I have a feeling that you're going to have an easier time than I would with hooves." I shrugged, picking up the kit and opening it up to take a peek at the contents: A curry comb and a brush, a regular comb, and a set of tweezers. Inside an interior pocket were pouches of powders and bottles of oils. I picked one up at random, and Sapphire's wing stretched out and slapped the back of my hand lightly. "No messing with stuff until we're set up and I've had a chance to explain everything to you." "Sure, sure," I said, putting the bottle away and closing the black bag. We arrived at my room and Sapphire went through the door and directly to my bed. She reached up and grabbed a corner of my blankets and sheets in her mouth and pulled them off the bed unceremoniously. I frowned. "Hey, come on." "Shh," Sapphire hissed, still holding the blankets in her mouth. She hopped up onto the bed, dragging the covers with her, and she began to arrange them around herself, turning in a circle as she did so. My pillows were added to the growing pile of comforters, sheets, and heavy blankets, and soon the mess on top of my bed started to resemble something else entirely. Sapphire peered at it with a critical eye, her wings, hooves, and nose nudging and moving things about. "Huh," I murmured, fascinated. "You're... making a nest?" I chuckled. That was cute as hell. Sapphire blushed. "It's a pegasus thing, okay? Preening left you vulnerable, back in the old days, so we would build defenses from predators." "There are literally no predators that would eat a pony within a mile of my bedroom. Unless there's a griffon delegate staying in the palace..." I mused. Sapphire frowned at me. "Not funny. We're taking this seriously, remember?" "I'm sorry, you're acting like a bird, I can't help myself," I said, smirking at her. "Whatever. Help me get this off," Sapphire muttered, reaching down and pulling at the straps on her armor. I stepped closer and helped her unbuckle her armor, being careful with her wings and mane as we worked. I set her armor aside on a chair, her helmet going last. The glamour on Sapphire dissipated, leaving her white dappled coat, two-tone wings, and blue mane on display. She sighed, stretching, and then settled into the nest, curling her legs beneath her. "Give me the kit." I picked up the kit and offered it to her, and she took it and opened it up, setting out the parts in a semicircle around the edge of her impromptu blanket nest. Combs and brushes first, then the tweezers, then the powders and oils. She eyed them for a moment before looking up at me and patting the edge of her nest. "Come and sit next to me, here." I pulled off my shoes and joined her on the bed. "All right." Sapphire spread out one wing, resting it across the edge of the nest. She shook it out a bit, straightening her feathers and shifting the majority of them almost onto my lap. "Pay attention, okay?" She pointed with her nose to the forward-most feathers on her wing, nearest the tip, and worked her way inward as she explained. "Those at the outer edge are primaries, and the ones closer to me are secondaries. They're all the really important flight feathers. Above them, the feathers are called coverts. The ones above the primaries are primary coverts, and the ones above the secondaries are secondary coverts." She bent her wing, gesturing with a hoof out to the top edge of her wing. "You can think of my wing almost like another leg... or an arm, I guess, in your case. There's a shoulder joint, closest to me, and then two points where it bends, like a knee and an ankle. There's a few more subtle joints, at the end, that are like one of your fingers. The feathers at the top of the wing, where the 'finger' is, are called alulas, and the little feathers that run all along are lesser coverts. There's also down, which is basically just fluff that help keep me warm at higher altitudes." I reached a hand out, pointing. "Primaries, secondaries, coverts... I think I've got it." Sapphire nodded. "Okay, so, part of keeping things clean is making sure that all the feathers are clean and aligned, and that none of them are loose. Pegasus feathers, thanks to our magic, are very strong and extremely resistant to most everything, and it's pretty hard to bend or damage them. Despite that, they're also really flexible. Some pegasus ponies can pick things up with their wings, but I don't quite have that level of dexterity." She flexed her wing, bringing it in close and bending it in front of her face, and then back again and stretched it out. I watched, interested, as she shifted herself a bit and placed most of her wing in my lap. "So... when we clean our wings, we're looking and feeling to make sure things are in alignment. I use my hooves and mouth at the same time to work my way through the wing, starting at the primaries and working inward." Sapphire brought her other wing up close to her face, reaching out with one hoof and her mouth and tucking her feathers in close. She ran her hoof along slowly, while her mouth worked in conjunction, her teeth gripping and pulling along her feathers. She extended the wing after a moment. "You're watching for spots where the feathers aren't properly aligned, or where there's breaks or gaps in the barbs. They sort of... zip together, so if you run your hand along the feather where there's a break in the barb, it should stick right back together and stay in place." She nodded towards the wing in my lap, and I reached down gingerly and touched the furthest-most primary feather. It was smooth, and out near the very tip was a spot where the feather's perfect shape was broken by a little gap where the barbs had been un-stuck. I watched Sapphire for a moment as she worked on a feather, biting it gently between her teeth at the quill and running it along the feather. I pinched the feather carefully and ran my fingers down the shaft of the quill in a zipping motion. The barbs clung together and stuck, and I glanced at Sapphire. Her eyes were closed as she worked on her other wing, and I caught the hint of a blush on her cheeks. "Like that?" "Mhm," she hummed, her mouth working on another group of feathers. I nodded to myself and kept focused. I worked through a few feathers, making sure they overlapped each other like the rest did, using my hands and my fingers to both align and 'zip-up' feathers. I came to one that was felt different, and I pointed. "I think this one is loose." Sapphire eyed it critically for a moment. "Yep. Give it a quick pluck, and don't be shy about it." I nodded and grasped the feather by the quill shaft and gave it a sharp pull. The feather popped loose with a slight moment of resistance. Sapphire's breath hitched, her wing shifted a bit in my lap, and she exhaled slowly after a moment. "Nice work." "Didn't hurt?" I asked, looking down at the grey and white feather I held between my fingers. "No. It actually feels pretty good. Loose feathers are kinda itchy," Sapphire said, plucking a feather out of the other wing. "Okay. What about the oil and powder and stuff?" Sapphire nodded and reached out with a hoof, grabbing a bottle of the oil. "These are like... conditioner for my feathers, basically. They help keep my feathers flexible. The powder is just a fine dust that helps absorb the oil after you oil your feathers. So, since you're helping me out, as you work on the feathers, just get a little oil on your fingertips. The quills and barbs will naturally absorb the oil." I reached out and took the oil bottle from Sapphire, and gave it a quick sniff. It smelled like vanilla and minerals. I poured a bit into my palm and then rubbed my hands together, working the oil onto my fingers, and then went back to work on her wing. I moved my way up to the coverts, where the feathers were thicker. This was a little more tricky work, but it wasn't too bad, overall. I could feel the downy fluff tickling at my fingertips as I worked through the layer of feathers, straightening out and zipping them and aligning. I scooted closer to Sapphire, and she edged nearer in return, her side resting against my hip as we worked together. She was warm, and the scent of vanilla filled my nose. I sneezed, which made Sapphire jump, and then giggle. She smiled at me briefly before focusing on her other wing. I worked my way in towards her side, working through the secondary coverts, my fingertips brushing against her coat now that I was in so close to her shoulder. Sapphire shivered, glancing over at me and biting her lip. I raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" "N-nothing. You're doing good," She said, perhaps a bit too quickly. I frowned, but decided to ignore the vibe she was giving me, focusing instead on the lesser coverts. These little feathers were more fluffy, and close to her skin, so I was careful about working there. Sapphire let out a sigh and hummed happily. "That's really nice," she said, leaning against me. It was actually pretty calming work. I just stayed focused on the job, and slowly worked on each feather, being careful and taking her trust in me with the seriousness that deserved. She spoke up after a moment. "So, how are you feeling after all of that?" I stiffened up, frowning. "Not great, honestly, but better than I was. I'm still mad about a few things, and still trying to sort everything out." I sighed. "Twilight was pretty aggressive towards me back there." "Yeah, I thought that was strange. I know she's concerned about Spike, but it was like you'd gotten between a mother bear and her cub there," Sapphire said, turning and continuing to preen her other wing. I kept working on Sapphire's feathers, sighing. "It's so hard to argue with her. I owe her a lot, and she's a princess. Where I'm from, you're not really supposed to challenge the boss, you know? It leads to serious consequences." "Yeah. I know she told you that it was a conversation between friends... but that's hard to separate, sometimes. We guards have to deal with things like that all the time, and typically we sort of do what you did," Sapphire said, smirking as she tugged a feather loose and spat it out on the floor. "We say 'yes, ma'am', and move on with our day." "Yeah. It just an awkward position. I enjoy a lot of opportunity for being close to the Princesses, but with that comes... well, having to be close to the Princesses. As much as they want to be our friends, at the end of the day..." I shook my head. "Twilight shouldn't have insisted I apologize. I don't believe in just talking, I want to prove that I can do better. Why can't she let me just act on my own instinct?" "Twilight has a particular way of doing things. After all, she is the Princess of Friendship." Sapphire snorted, "And that's friendship with a capitol 'f'. The kind of friendship that you don't have a choice about. She's a bit overbearing, and she thinks that her way is the best way to do things. She's not wrong, per-se, but she could stand to be more diplomatic about how she dealt with you." "Yeah, you can say that again," I muttered, tugging a feather into alignment. Sapphire yelped a bit, and I winced. "Crap, sorry. You okay?" Sapphire nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine, you just surprised me. It's okay to be a little rough, but give a gal a warning first, eh?" I rolled my eyes. "Are you making sex jokes? Seriously?" "Don't make me slap you with my free wing, here. I just got it cleaned up!" Sapphire said with a laugh. I shook my head, chuckling, and pulled free another loose feather. Sapphire relaxed, and spoke up once more. "I just think she's concerned about you, deep down. After all, you sort of threatened Spike." "I didn't sort of threaten him. I definitely threatened him." I scowled, feeling a bubble of frusturation. "He just... pushed the wrong button at the wrong time. I know it's my fault, but I still feel a tiny bit like I'm the one getting a lot of flak when it's Rarity that really placed him in that situation." "You know that Twilight and Rarity had a huge fight the other day, right?" Sapphire chimed in. I looked up at her in surprise, and she nodded. "Yeah, it was after my shift in the evening. She and Rarity went to a meeting with Princess Celestia, and I guess the whole story about what happened came out. We could hear Twilight shouting all the way down in the barracks." Sapphire sniffed, tilting her head up a bit. "I'm not too proud to admit that I snuck out to eavesdrop on the whole thing." I raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" Sapphire nodded. "Yeah, 'oh' is right. Apparently, Rarity lied to Twilight about some magic that Twilight did. A hat, I guess? Which didn't make any sense. And then Rarity put Spike in that crappy position of lying to you. Rarity ran out a few minutes later, crying, and Twilight was gone pretty soon after. She was really upset, too." I nodded. "Yeah. The hat. Frankly, I'd almost forgotten about that thing amid all the other crap I'd been dealing with. Rarity had Twilight make a hat, so she could hide the sounds of the hydra from me." Sapphire sat up, her eyes wide. "Oh, wow..." She scowled. "Well, Princess Celestia and Twilight were not very happy with her at all... so she's been getting it from them as well." Sapphire settled back down, nibbling on a feather. "... I'm really sorry that you had to deal with all of that." "Yeah. Me too," I said, my mind wandering as I considered how I felt about the whole situation. It was... somewhat gratifying, in a twisted way, to know that Rarity's whole deception had been laid bare, and before the Princesses, no less. She'd probably gotten it worse from them than she'd gotten from me, and that was probably good news... I felt a little better for taking it a bit easy on her, too. She didn't deserve to suffer... not really. She just needed to work herself back into my trust, and I just needed time to accept her again. A part of me was struck by the thought that things would never truly be the same between us... between any of us. That day had messed a lot of things up. I was gripped by a shock of fear, suddenly. Was this where things started falling apart again? "Mm, Jake, that's really nice," murmured Sapphire. I glanced down and realized that my work on her feathers had shifted to stroking her back and shoulders like I was petting a cat. Sapphire, for her part, had snuggled closer and was practically purring, her eyes closed and her hooves gripping the bed. "Sorry. Got distracted," I murmured. "Stay distracted," Sapphire sighed, nuzzling her cheek against my side. It was extremely cute, and I reached up and ran my hand through her mane, scratching at her ear. Sapphire trilled happily and practically melted, leaning against me. "Yesssss..." "You okay? Am I blowing your mind?" I said, smirking. "Fingers are awesome. I will pay you for scratches," Sapphire said, giggling. "Wait until I really get going," I said, winking at her. "Don't threaten me with a good time," Sapphire said back, and we both started laughing. After a moment, I reached down and grabbed one of the brushes, and started brushing her coat. Sapphire smiled. "This is really nice." "It really is. Thanks for letting me help you out," I said. "I know why you're doing this, too. A little show of trust for me, after all of this stress? It helps. A lot." Sapphire smirked. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just suckered you into cleaning my wings and brushing my coat." "Well, aren't we clever," said, chuckling. "Yes, we are. Now, my tail needs some attention, if you don't mind." "Isn't it a bit early in the date for getting to your tail? You haven't even bought me dinner. I'm insulted." "Jake!" Sapphire slapped me with a wing, and I yelped and laughed. "So crude!" "Yeah, well, I learned it from you." "You learned it from Marge!" "Yeah, I learned it from Marge."