"Rainbow Dash? What in Equestria are you doing?"
Rainbow froze. She whipped around, her ears folded back, and then grimaced as a few flecks of mud splashed onto Twilight's face.
Speaking of Twilight, she had only been out on a quiet night jog to stretch her legs and take in the sights of Ponyville (she was still trying to get to know her way around; yeah Ponyville was tiny compared to Canterlot, but there were also a lot of hidden vistas that she would hate to miss out on) when she passed through the middle of town and saw... Rainbow Dash. Standing completely caked with mud and furiously trying to clean her wings. In a birdbath.
Twilight had come to expect some crazy things from these ponies, but this seemed more like something Pinkie Pie would do.
"Oh!" Rainbow chuckled, scratching at the back of her neck with a hoof. Her cheeks were dusted pink. "Just, you know. Taking a quick bath."
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"You mean you're taking up the space of the poor birds?"
Rainbow Dash blinked owlishly, her tail flicking, and looked up. Standing at the edges of roofs and mailboxes, dusty birds sat chirping like mad.
"Well-- I mean- I got here first! And I needed to clean my wings," Rainbow squeaked, flicking the muddy feathers for emphasis. "What was I supposed to do?"
Twilight raised her other eyebrow. Then she looked up and around at the twinkling night sky, and quickly pointed to a nearby cloud that seemed full enough with rain.
"Oh. Uh, well-- I mean--"
Rainbow sighed. It was one of the most defeated sounds Twilight had ever heard come out of her mouth. For a second she just stood there with a frustrated scowl on her face and swirled a hoof into the shallow basin of water.
"Look, I crashed, okay? It was a pretty nasty one too, so my wings are kind of sore and I can't make it into the sky right now. I at least wanted to clean up before I barged in on somepony and asked if I could stay the night."
Twilight giggled just a little (she didn't want to hurt Rainbow's pride too much, after all), shook her head, and then gently held a hoof out to where Rainbow was still pouting.
"I'm sorry to hear that Rainbow, and I hope you're not too badly. But you know the library isn't too far from here, and I always stay up late to study. You could have just asked to use my tub."
"Yeah, yeah. I wasn't thinking, alright?" Rainbow snorted, but still accepted Twilight's hoof. Gingerly, she hopped down from the birdbath and gave a tiny shake to her hooves and the tips of her feathers. "But um... is that offer still open? This mud is getting kind of cold."
Twilight giggled again, then started a slow trot back towards Golden Oaks. "Of course, Rainbow Dash. And don't worry..."
She flashed a sneaky little smirk back at Rainbow, who blushed and grimaced.
"This whole thing will be our little secret."
"Thanks, Twi. You have no idea how much AJ would rub this in my face if you told her. I'd have to prove I was the better athlete ten times over before she's stop calling me birdbrain! Heh, I mean, not that I'm not the better athlete..."