'It's not fair.’
That was the prevailing thought in Rainbow Dash's head as she walked through the decaying halls of the old Castle of the Two Sisters and listened to Spike's rambling and excited story about how the new workshop had changed right before his eyes.
It just wasn't fair. All her friends were getting crazy superpowers like they were taking free samples at Barnyard Bargains, and yet she hadn't gotten any. Okay, she'd got one, but the ability to make things that fall apart easily barely counted. And sure, she'd been ahead of the pack from the get-go for being the fastest pegasus in Equestria, but that was all hard work and talent. She hadn't just been given it out of nowhere. Her skill was real.
It was frustrating to watch as Fluttershy wove magic out of crafting supplies. As Applejack took down trained Guards like they were foals. As Twilight—who was already way up there in the most powerful unicorn category—got gifted a whole new branch of magic.
Meanwhile she was stuck making cloud formations that busted apart in one kick.
Why was she the only one who got left out? What had she done to offend this mystical granter of superpowers? Didn't she deserve its gifts as much as the others? Everyone except for her had more than one now (not counting Fluttershy, but her oldest friend had quietly shared with her the true depths of what her power let her make, so Dash knew Fluttershy's one skill put everyone else's to shame).
She didn't want to admit it because she knew it was nothing they had control over, but she couldn't help but be a little frustrated at her friends for getting all the powers while she got squat. Even the not-so-cool ones like Pinkie's 'always-survive-surgery' and Rarity's weaving.
Not that she'd ever tell that to her friends! She wasn't jealous or anything. She was Rainbow Dash! The supermare extraordinaire with the awesome flair and the rainbow hair! 'Rainbow Dash' and 'jealous' didn't belong in the same sentence.
...unless it was someone being jealous of her, that was okay.
So she stamped down the envy simmering in her chest and put on a brave face as she tuned back in to Spike's story just as he was wrapping up.
"...so she's been up all night long playing with her new toy. Making it take enchanted trinkets apart and put them back together, testing just how much damage it can repair, pushing the limits of what counts as ‘reagents’. Apparently that origin-whatever rock is like candy for it. It was fun for a while, but she's determined to test every possible thing it can do and I just had to get out of there."
"I feel ya," she said. She too knew of the pain of being trapped in one of Twilight's egghead research sessions. The sheer amount of times she'd been asked to build a tower of blocks over and over and over in the name of 'sufficient data' made her shudder even at the memory.
She noticed Spike starting to jog and slowed down to match his speed. His stubby legs had trouble keeping up, especially when she got distracted and started flying too fast for him. “I'm glad she had a job that needed doing outside of the library so I could catch a break." He gave Rainbow Dash a friendly shove. "And thanks for volunteering to help me. You're gonna make it way easier."
"No prob! I had some free time." Time not spend squaring off against Applejack in a competition they'd had planned for ages, because what was the point now? "So what's actually the plan?"
"Okay, so since Twilight's theory about second Special Talents didn't pan out—" As if it'd held any water from the start. "—she wants to start fresh for her new theory. No assumptions, base everything on hard references. That said, there's no books in Ponyville that mention anything like what's going on with you all. She knows, she checked them all."
Rainbow Dash ducked under a dangling spiderweb. "And we're here in the Princess' old castle because...?"
"Because there might be something in the old library here, if any of it's still intact. Maybe even some of Starswirl’s other journals if we’re really lucky."
She groaned as she finally realized what she'd agreed to. "This is a research mission? I'm not gonna have to read a bunch of dusty old books am I?"
Spike chuckled. "Nah, we just need to gather together anything that doesn't look like it'll fall apart at a touch and bring them back to Twilight."
That wasn't too bad. A few trips back and forth between the castle and Ponyville, less if she could find a tarp or something to carry them with. After all, how many books could really survive a thousand years unattended and still be readable? Ten? Twenty?
"Here we are!" Spike pushed open a pair of double doors to reveal a massive library, three stories of shelves with sweeping walkways and the withered remains of ladders. And hundreds of intact books.
"Oh hay no. It'll take a week to fly all these back to Ponyville!"
Spike gave her a look. "Yeah. It would," his look melted into a cheeky smile, "if someone didn't have a magic key to a big storage space."
Oh. Right. She did have one of those. She reached under her wing and grasped at the smooth piece of gold that hadn't existed there until she wanted it to. "In my defense, I never use the thing." They stepped into the library, shut the door, then reopened it into the crystal Hub.
Dash grabbed an armful of books from the nearest shelf. "Where does Twilight want these? Straight into the library?"
"That's what she said," he looked out at all the closed doors that faced them. "But it looks like she forgot to open the door on her end. Whatever. Just put them in the warehouse for now."
"In where?"
"Sorry, that's what I call the room with the arrows. All the empty shelves make me think of a warehouse, and we did get a delivery there."
Alright. She could do that. She could collect musty old books faster and better than anyone else. And she didn't need some freebie power to do it. "You take the low shelves, I'll take the high ones?"
Spike grinned. "Sounds like a plan."
They worked in genial companionship for about an hour, passing the time with small amusement like mispronouncing titles written in dead dialects and racing to clear a shelf. It was almost enough of a distraction to keep Dash's mind from wandering back to sulking over the unfairness of power distribution.
But a reminder soon came as another of the doors opened.
"Easy, easy. Careful with those tassels! Annnnd... set it down in one, two, three!" A long roll of blue and silver fabric settled down on the main table, a pegasus on one side and a unicorn on the other.
"Splendidly done, Fluttershy," Rarity said as she brushed some dust from her hooves (even though she'd been using her magic to help lift it). "Now let's go get the other- oh! Hello Rainbow Dash, what are you doing here?"
A hot spike of anger surged before she could shove it back down. "What? Am I not allowed to be here or something?"
Rarity offered her a look of innocent confusion. "Of course you are, darling, it's just that I've hardly ever seen you use the Nexus."
"I thought we were calling it the Hub?" Spike piped up.
"Twilight calls it the hub, whereas I felt it deserved something a bit more grandiose."
Dash forced the undeserved anger back down and tried to answer the question without inventing any mean-spirited subtext from it. "Spike and I are clearing out all the books from the old castle in the Everfree. Twilight's trying to research this whole—" she gestured loosely at everything around them, and themselves "—thing."
Rarity's eyes lit up and she laughed. "Really? Why, we're in the castle as well! What are the chances?"
Fluttershy (who'd finally caught her breath after lifting what looked like the lion's share of the weight) nodded. "We're salvaging--"
"Thrifting, darling, thrifting!"
"...thrifting some old royal banners and tapestries Rarity wanted to restore."
"Any historically significant ones of which I will, of course, happily give back to the Crown after their restoration," Rarity added slightly too quickly. "Oh, but have either of you had a chance to try these darling new Jump Boots Fluttershy made?"
She posed, showing off her brightly colored and kind of foalish-looking booties. "They're a marvel. Perfect for helping you grab those pesky things just a few dozen feet out of reach."
'And what's that compared to flying?' Dash shook the negative thought from her head before it could reach her lips. This was Fluttershy's work and she should be happy for her friend's accomplishments.
"Of course, it was only sensible to use this handy magic room to get them back home." She turned to Fluttershy. "Though, in hindsight, perhaps one of us should have stayed at the Boutique to open the door from the other side."
Fluttershy gave her a steady look through half-lidded eyes. "That's what I was trying to tell you all the way here."
"Ah, well, yes. What's done is done. I'm sure we can find somewhere in here to store them for the time being, no?"
"There's always room in the warehouse!" Spike offered, eager as usual when Rarity was involved.
"A fine idea!" She gestured to the far side of the banner. "Fluttershy, if you would?"
The pegasus made a pained face, but was saved the effort by Spike, who ran under the far side before she could move. "I got it, Rarity!"
"Thank you Spike, you're such a wonderful help." She batted her eyelashes at him and the lovesick dragon nearly swooned.
"If we're swapping," Rainbow Dash turned to Fluttershy, "you want to help me carry some books instead?"
Fluttershy’s thankful smile was a balm on her soul. "I think that'd be much nicer. Thank you."