//------------------------------// // Chapter Three; On Dirty Feathers // Story: Instinctual // by Kodeake //------------------------------// It was, perhaps, foolish of Twilight to think that a single afternoon with Applejack would suddenly make her an expert on all things earth pony magic. And really, she hadn’t expected to be an expert. No, all she’d expected - all she’d even hoped for - was some small amount of insight. Just a little nudge in the right direction. A clue to follow, or a lead to tug on. Instead, her impromptu magic lesson had only made her more aimlessly worried about her garden. It had become evident that the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach was more than just her usual anxieties. And that just made her more desperate to find a cause. Unfortunately, the little green sprouts seemed unwilling or unable to give her a straight answer. Her scowl deepening, Twilight reached out a hoof and gently touched the small leaf on one such seedling. The feeling she got from it was far more subtle than the one from Applejack’s tree - perhaps because the plant was smaller, or younger, or any other of a thousand reasons - and it was hard to focus on. One thing she could tell was that the flower was far more active than a tree; its thoughts, if she could even call them that, were much faster and more active, bouncing from sensation to sensation. Through the connection Twilight could feel the singular leaf basking in the sun - a different kind of warmth from how she felt it on her coat - and felt the stretch in her own tendons as the flower reached up towards the light.  She could also feel a slight tension in her back, and closer inspection revealed the beginning of a new leaf sprouting from the stem. It seemed the sensations she felt were somehow translated from the plant’s form onto hers. Which made the slight roiling she felt in her stomach all the more confusing. Plants didn’t even have a stomach, or anything analogous to it. Well, these plants didn't, at least. It would have been obvious if she was dealing with a pitcher plant. Then the stomach ache she was getting would make some kind of sense. In fact, it almost reminded her of heartburn. Which given the flower’s lack of esophagus was an even more utterly nonsensical proposition. Perhaps it was attempting to communicate something was wrong in either the xylem of the phloem, responsible for the distribution of nutrients and water. Some kind of infection, maybe? Fungal? But there were no outward signs to help narrow down the culprits and find a treatment. If Twilight’s brow knit any more she’d have a sweater on her forehead. A book was summoned from a stack that stood as tall as she did. Its pages rifled through at a speed that would make Rainbow Dash blush. Pictures and diagrams of all manner of flower, fruit, and vegetable whizzed past Twilight's studious gaze. The breakneck-pace halted as soon as she spied the chapter she was looking for, entitled Identifying Infections and Infestations. These pages were flicked through at a much more restrained pace, her eyes trailing over the depictions of various fungi and insects that might do harm to a plant. She worked through the chapter like a checklist, identifying a possible cause, and checking for the signs on her budding flowers before moving to the next. By the time she finished the chapter, Twilight's glare had become lethal.  "Augh! This is useless!" She shouted as the book was snapped shut and cast back to where it came from. "There's nothing wrong!" She touched a different flower, daring it to return the same feedback as the first. The plant was not intimidated by her. Catching her teeth grinding together, Twilight forced herself to relax her jaw and take a few calming breaths. In, and out, letting her anger fade. In, and out, shaking out her tension. In, and out, and she opened her eyes to look at her garden.  Her eye twitched as her stomach twisted. "Just tell me what's wrong with you!" She shouted, crouching down and getting eye-level with the tops of the shoots. "Is it the fertilizer? I made sure it was the right balance of nitrogen and phosphorus for your species. The climate is perfect for you - I triple checked - and you have the exact recommended amount of water every day." The flowers-to-be swayed in a gentle breeze. Twilight let herself fall back onto her haunches, her hooves coming up and running through her mane almost manically as her body sought to vent her frustration. "I don't understand! What is this feeling? Why are you so… so…" she trailed off. What was the word? It was there just a moment ago, sitting on the tip of her tongue, and now she couldn't remember and she wanted so desperately to spit it out but she couldn't and it all just made her anger worse. "Stupid!" She shouted finally. Her forehooves came down and stomped into the ground, and too late she felt a surge of unintentional magic run through them. A cloud of dirt and grass was blown up around her, stinging her eyes and causing her to cough. In the haze of debris the light of her horn shone through and an artificial gust of wind cleared the air, allowing her to take a clear breath. Looking down, Twilight's eyes widened as she saw the twin craters her hooves were sitting in. Each had a diameter twice as wide as her hoof, and were deep enough to make her slouch forward. Her mind buzzed with equations, calculating the force required, and the numbers she was coming up with shouldn't have been possible. Her hooves were relatively light, with not much mass behind them, had the magic translated to velocity? But she hadn't felt like she'd been moving that fast - and there hadn't been a sonic boom, which meant she stayed below the speed of sound. That shouldn't have been possible unless her hooves weighed several tonnes at the moment of impact. Hesitantly she lifted them, one at a time, and shook them gently. They didn't feel like they were as massive as several large elephants. "Earth pony magic is weird," she summarized to herself, stepping out of the crater and sighing as she examined the damage. "Great, one more thing I have to fix." She also inspected herself - once lavender fur now coated in a layer of soil that turned her a purplish brown. Her eyes refused to look back at her wings. Already she could feel the clumps of dirt between her feathers.  "And now I need a shower," she grumbled, shooting a withering glare at her flowers to let them know this was entirely their fault. The flowers did not wither. Dusting herself off with her hooves the best she could, Twilight turned to make her way inside, and froze. Her books, stacked down-wind of her, had been plastered with a thin but solid film of dirt and grass on the side facing her. Following this realization, a screech of; "my books!" was heard all across Ponyville and the surrounding area.  Far away on the edge of town, a snoring cyan pegasus shot upright, her bleary eyes glancing around confusedly until they narrowed on the clocktower. “Well I’m up now,” she growled, stretching languidly. “Guess I could check on the cloud report before I have to head to Castle Egghead.” Back at the library several things had been put in motion. Each and every book that had been affected was lifted in a magic glow and very, very gently shaken out. The largest chunks of dirt and grass fell away, but smaller particles remained stubbornly stuck to the pages. A conga line of dirty books followed Twilight inside, pausing only a moment as she wiped her hooves on the entrance mat. "Spike!" She yelled, already gathering several brushes and feather dusters. "Clear my desk, it's an emergency!" The dragon in question appeared from around a corner, arms stacked with books, inkwells and quills. "Yeah, I heard. Desk is cleared and dusted, all books, papers and otherwise have been removed from the immediate area." He paused, looked at the dirt-stained alicorn that frantically marched past him, and decided not to ask. "Thank you!" She called almost as an afterthought, finding her desk in the exact state she needed it. A single book was laid down gently on its spine, the rest remained floating around her. If she set them down carelessly the dirt would be pressed into the pages. Instead, her magic gently held them up by their spines while she worked on the first. A wide painter's brush was brought forward, its soft bristles brushing away the soil without harming the pages. Then a small brush to slip down between the pages where they were bound together. A final visual check was performed before the book was set aside - far enough from her workspace to be safe from any debris - and the next was brought down. Each page of each book, one by one, was cleaned and checked and, if needed, cleaned again.  By the time she was half way done, a few beads of sweat had amassed on Twilight’s forehead. The magic required was small in amount, but the constant strain and precision needed to avoid harm was beginning to take its toll on her. Although the growing stack of perfectly clean books brought with it a sense of pride that pushed her on. Then another was laid before her, a few tufts of grass sticking out from its pages, and she grimaced. Her work continued at a slightly slower pace. She wasn't sure how long it took, exactly, for the last cover of the last book to be snapped shut. Its pages spotless and its dust jacket free of dust, grime, and that stain that looked an awful lot like someone had been eating chips while reading it. She would have to have a word with Blossom Forth about that. But, at last, the job was done, and she gave a weary sigh as her aching horn dimmed and grew dark. Somewhere in the back of her mind a small spark of anger flared - anger at the flowers that had caused this mess in the first place. The knowledge that it was her own inability to control herself acted as a bucket of water, thoroughly dousing the flame. She would need to ask Applejack about it. Throwing her hooves over her head and leaning back in her chair, Twilight groaned quietly as she stretched, feeling her joints pop pleasantly. She gazed fondly at the results of her work, stacked neatly off to the side. Strictly speaking, not all of the tomes required such intimate care - several of them were newer volumes that the library housed multiple copies of, while others weren’t particularly hard to replace should the worst happen. A few were older and rarer, however, with one in particular hailing from an earth pony settlement before the unification of the tribes.  But, in Twilight’s mind, they each deserved the same level of care, and under her watch they would all receive just that as long as they resided in her library. Now, though, the time for book maintenance was over, and judging by the muddy streaks running along her forelegs - probably from wiping away sweat - it was well past time for some alicorn maintenance. Her eyes cast to the clock on the wall, and she winced. She had made great strides that morning in catching up on her lingering tasks from the past few days, but this recent venture had all but set her back to square one. What was supposed to be, at most, a half hour of research into her flower conundrum had instead become an hour of glaring at them and two hours of cleaning. Rainbow Dash was due over any minute for their reading night - which, in true Rainbow Dash fashion, meant she probably had up to a half hour before the tardy speedster would show up. Usually a point of contention between the two, Twilight was, for once, grateful for it. She would at least have time to shower off and make herself somewhat presentable. The thought of Rainbow seeing her wings in their current state almost made her nauseous.  Turning towards her bathroom, Twilight made it all of three steps before pausing. Her head tilted, and she stepped back two paces. A cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane was staring at her through a window. Twilight looked at her. Then back to her own wings. Then at Rainbow Dash again. Rainbow waved. In a burst of magic the window was locked and the curtains were drawn. “Hey!” Twilight didn’t notice the affronted shout from outside over the sound of her thrumming heart. She checked the clock again. Not only was Rainbow on time, she was - in an act that seemingly defied the very fabric of her character - five minutes early. Why, of all the possible days both past and future, had she chosen today to develop a sense of timing? The odds of such a rare event occurring were so infinitesimally small that for it to happen with such an uncanny precision on the worst possible day was surely a statistical near-impossibility. There was a tapping at the window. “C’mon, Twi, lemme in already.” She needed more time - time to finish cleaning up, and to shower, and to groom her wings so at least she didn’t look like she’d been rolling in her garden rather than studying it. How could she show herself before a pegasus whos feathers seemed to shimmer in the sunlight while her own were in such a state and- And… And why was she so worried about her wings, again? Sure, she didn’t exactly look great, but that was hardly a reason to have a full blown panic attack. Why was she so scared of being seen with messy wings? This wasn’t some kind of formal event, she wasn’t about to attend a meeting with the other Princesses. Rainbow Dash was a friend! And a close one. Looking a little haggard was fine. All she needed to do was invite Rainbow inside, explain the situation, and excuse herself for a few minutes to take a quick shower before their reading night. There was no need to- “So, uh, do I wanna know why you were rolling around in the dirt?” Twilight turned. Rainbow Dash was in her home - in her bedroom. Looking at her expectantly. Eyebrow raised. A slightly amused smirk on her muzzle. Wings so flawlessly preened Twilight swore she could see her own reflection in them. Could see the mud and sweat and dirt that clung to her coat. Her messy, frazzled mane. She looked at the shuttered window. “H-how-” “You know you have a front door, right? Spike let me in,” Rainbow answered with a small snicker. “Seriously, Twi, what happened to you?” Twilight had a traitor in her home. “Oh,” she said. The logical part of her mind was screaming at her to just use her mouth and talk normally. Like a normal pony who could talk normally. Instead, what she said was, “I got mad at my flowers,” as though that would somehow make her look less crazy.  Rainbow’s eyebrow managed to ascend even higher, until it ran the risk of lifting off her face entirely. “Uh-huh. So did you, like, get into a fight with them? And… lose?” “I didn’t lose!” Twilight argued, before realizing her implicit admission that Rainbow’s accusation was correct. “A-and I didn’t fight them! I just… got a little worked up. And stomped my hoof. And… poof,” she said, gesturing about herself in a pantomime representation of a cloud of dirt. “And… poof?” Rainbow echoed, mirroring Twilight’s motion. “Poof.” Twilight confirmed with a resolute nod, relieved that her explanation had gotten through. She was just being silly, wasn’t she? There was no reason to get so worked up over how horrible her feathers looked caked with grime. So what if she was an absolute mess? What did it matter that Rainbow was seeing her wings so packed with dirt it looked like she’d been using them as shovels. It was fine! It was totally okay and not at all panic-inducing! “Twilight, what are you-” “Shower!” Twilight shouted, sprinting for the bathroom so fast Rainbow was left looking at a Twilight-Sparkle-shaped dust cloud.  “What?” Hiding herself behind the bathroom door, Twilight relaxed slightly now that she was out of sight. “I-I’m just going to take a quick shower!” she called. “Um, th-there’s some snacks in the kitchen and lemonade in the fridge! Help yourself!” The door slammed shut, and Rainbow found herself standing in Twilight’s bedroom, alone and confused. She took a moment to examine her surroundings, and upon spotting nothing out of the ordinary, shrugged. Twilight being Twilight was not a new experience for her, but this might have been one of the most Twilight-ing Twilight’s she’d ever seen. There was definitely something going on. The shower sprang to life, and Rainbow thought better of interrupting to get any sensible answers. Instead, the word ‘snacks’ had lodged in her brain, and she allowed her stomach to guide her down to the kitchen. Twilight’s forehead, meanwhile, was rhythmically thumping into the wall of the shower, her eyes staring down as murky brown water spiraled the drain. “What is wrong with me?” Her stomach felt like a clown had gotten hold of it and turned it into a balloon dog. Her heart thundered in her chest. All because her wings were a bit messy, and Rainbow Dash saw her?  Her head hit the wall again and stuck there. "It has to be a pegasus instinct," she reasoned. "Some social impulse that makes me overly self-conscious about my wings." She looked back at the limbs in question, spread slightly to catch the water. "And it's not very helpful." Her wings did not reply. She held a hoof to her neck, feeling her pulse. "It has a strong physiological effect, whatever it is," she mumbled, her analytical mind beginning to kick into gear. "I didn't feel like this around Applejack. Maybe it's only pegasi that cause it?" Would Fluttershy trigger a similar reaction? Or an unknown pegasus? Would the effect be stronger if it was a first impression? A basic test procedure was already being drawn up in her head, and it wasn't until Twilight tasted dirt in her mouth that she realized how far she'd let her mind wander. "Bleck!" She spat out her wing - along with a mouthful of soil - and sighed, grabbing several bottles in her magic. She would have time to run her experiments later. For now, she had a guest that was known for an extreme lack of patience waiting, and probably gorging herself on the snacks that had been meant for both of them. Seven minutes and thirty-two seconds later, a sparkling clean alicorn emerged from the bathroom. It would have been faster if she hadn't spent so much time cleaning between her feathers, but if it eased whatever was causing her anxiety about them then it was worth it.  Somewhat predictably, the bedroom was empty, her guest having vacated it in favor of greener pastures. Specifically, the green pasture of a plate full of snacks prepared earlier that day, and Twilight braced for the worst as she descended the stairs. “No, look - they screwed up his mask, it keeps changing.” “It’s supposed to change. It’s based on those ink-blot pictures where you have to describe what you see.” Twilight came around the corner to see a plate that was, thankfully, only half empty. Rainbow Dash was leaning over the back of the couch, eyes transfixed on a comic held open by Spike. “Wait, you mean those pictures that always just look like me flying, or me doing tricks, or me napping?” Rainbow asked, batting Spike’s claw away to stop him turning the page. “They kept showing them to me at school.” “You always see yourself?” He asked, then paused as he held the book up for her to get a better look. “Nevermind, that makes sense.” “He’s pretty cool for tracking down the killer like that.” Spike shook his head. “Just wait till he finds them. He’s not really a good guy.” “But… it's his story, right? He’s the main character?” “Just because he’s the protagonist doesn’t make him the hero. He’s-” Twilight cleared her throat loudly, and Spike nearly jumped out of his scales as he shoved the comic that he knew he wasn’t supposed to be reading between the couch cushions. “T-twilight! I-I was just, uhm…” Rainbow waved a lazy hoof. “Heya, Twi,” she said, shooting a glance down at the panicked dragon. “I found this cool-looking comic on the shelf and asked Spike if he knew anything about it.” “Oh really? You found it?” “Yep.” Rainbow patted Spike’s shoulder. “Little dude was helping me out. So, hey, now are you gonna tell me why you were wrestling your flowers?” Twilight’s train of thought wasn’t so much derailed as it was sent careening off a cliff. “I told you I didn’t fight them!” “Right, right,” Rainbow said, nodding her head slowly as she circled around the couch - conveniently providing cover as Spike slipped the comic into a nearby stack of returns. “You were just rolling around in the dirt after getting ‘a little worked up’.” Her air quotes couldn’t have been missed by a blind pony.   “I was not!” Twilight gasped indignantly. “I told you what happened.” “Oh, of course.” Rainbow made a not-at-all cloud-like gesture with her hooves. “Poof, right?” Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Yes,” she said, performing the correct gesture. “Poof.” “Was that before or after you tackled the poor things?” “I didn’t!” “You know I’ve never seen Roseluck try that in her garden. Maybe I should suggest it?” A low growl bubbled up in Twilight’s throat as her jaw clenched. “I said-” “Pretzel?” Spike asked, holding up a bowl between the two mares. Both of them shrugged and took one, the tension in the air fading almost instantly. Swallowing the salty snack, Twilight sighed. "There's something wrong with my flowers," she explained, much more calmly.  "Besides you fighting them?" Rainbow asked with a snicker, reaching back for another pretzel. Twilight shot her a look, but thought better of taking the obvious bait. "I don't know what. Applejack taught me a little about using earth pony magic to feel how a plant is doing, but what I'm feeling from them doesn't make any sense. And they still look to be growing fine - maybe a little slowly, but that's it." "Sounds annoying." "Gee, thanks," Twilight muttered flatly. Rainbow just shrugged at her. "What? Don't look at me - I don't do the plant thing. Most pegasi don't. Dirt and feathers don't exactly mix." "I noticed."  “Speaking of, how are the wings going?” Rainbow asked, the corner of her mouth twitching upward. “Still chewing them?” Twilight blushed slightly, finding her eyes trailing along the floor. “A-a bit, yeah. It’s more common when I’m frustrated or distracted. It, um, seems to help.” “Maybe you should do it more - you’re a little, ah, uptight,” Rainbow pointed out, frowning as her hoof passed through the pretzel bowl that was no longer there. Spike glared at her from the couch, the half-empty bowl held protectively in his lap. She stuck her tongue out at him. Twilight rolled her eyes. “I have plenty of time to unwind, thank you very much.” “Riiiiiiight, because body-slamming a flower is totally a sign of being relaxed.” “I-” “Glide!” Rainbow shouted suddenly, cutting off Twilight’s indignant protest before it could start. The alicorn yelped in surprise, but her wings snapped into position behind her. “What was that for?” Twilight asked indignantly, though she held her pose as Rainbow stepped up to inspect. “Still too high,” Rainbow said, tapping the wing that was always off-level. “I gotta make sure you’re ready when we do finally get you in the air. Also - it’s fun.” A retort tickled the tip of Twilight’s tongue, but she was stopped as she tried to fold her wings by a pair of hooves grabbing the leading edge and holding it up for a more thorough inspection. “Plus, I was curious about something, and it looks like I’m right.” Rainbow released the wing, stepping back to face Twilight properly. “You aren’t preening, are you?” “Oh, no,” Twilight confirmed with a shake of her head. “I haven’t tried yet. I’m not really sure how to. There weren’t any books on it in the library. I ordered some from a shop in Cloudsdale but they haven’t arrived yet.” A bark of laughter shook Rainbow’s chest. “Hah, of course, I shoulda’ known. You and your books.” Twilight scowled at her. “Hey, it’s not like my parents taught me when I was young.” Her eyes lit up, suddenly, and her sour look quickly melted away. “Oh! That’s right - I was going to ask you to show me.” “Show you?” Rainbow echoed warily.  “I thought, since I don’t know what I’m doing, and you take such good care of your wings…” Twilight trailed off, looking between Rainbow’s face and the aforementioned plumage. “Well, I was hoping you would teach me.” "Oh." Rainbow took a nervous step back, rubbing at the back of her neck with a hoof. "I-I dunno Twi, that's kinda…" she trailed off, not quite sure how to phrase her objection. However, before she could settle on a word, she made the mistake of looking up. What she saw was Twilight Sparkle, recently-minted alicorn and newest Princess of Equestria, pouting. "Please, Rainbow?" Twilight asked. There was not a soul in Equestria who could resist the persuasive power of Twilight's puppy-dog eyes. Rainbow wilted as she sighed. Whatever doubts she had in mind were nothing in the face of that. "Fine." Instantly Twilight's weaponized pout evaporated, replaced by a giddy smile as she clapped her hooves excitedly. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you, Rainbow! I've been so stressed about my wings being messy and worried about doing something wrong and now I don't have to since your wings are always so clean and soft looking and… and pretty and…" she trailed off like a train running out of steam, the last few puffs of her enthusiasm bringing with them the dawning realization of what she'd just said. A blush raced across her face as she turned away and coughed awkwardly. "U-um, thank you," she mumbled. Rainbow just blinked at her, still trying to process the explosion of words that had just washed over her. "Um, y-yeah, don't mention it," she said uncertainly.  There wasn't another sound except for the occasional scraping of a hoof against the floor, and even that seemed to be smothered by the oppressive silence. Neither mare could muster the strength to look at the other, nor could they help the matching scarlet hues on their cheeks. "Awk~ward," Spike sang, elongating the word for emphasis.  Both ponies snapped their heads toward him "Spike!" They barked together. The dragon shrugged. "What? It was." "Augh!" Twilight grunted angrily, turning away and marching towards the stairs. "Come on, Rainbow. My room is more private." The red glow coming from the pegasus's face could have lit up the dark side of the moon, but she followed along. "And no ice cream!" Twilight called, shooting a glare over her shoulder as Spike froze mid-step towards the kitchen. "I'll be checking." With that, she flicked her tail and continued up the stairs, a somewhat meek-looking Rainbow Dash following in her wake. Once they were upstairs - and out of earshot from a certain Nosey Nelly - Twilight's gait slowed, and she smiled awkwardly at her companion. "I'm sorry about that." "Huh? Oh!" Rainbow laughed uneasily, waving a dismissive hoof. "Don't worry about it - it's just Spike." "Not that," Twilight said, a darkness coming over her face for a moment. "I'll deal with him later. I meant, um, what I said. Making things weird like that," she clarified. "A-and trying to lock you out when you showed up." "Oh." "It's just…" Twilight sighed as she led them into her bedroom, closing the door behind Rainbow in purple haze. "I don't know what's wrong with me - well, I have a pretty good idea - but I've been really self-conscious about my wings around you. And really, really aware of how much better you are at taking care of yours compared to me," she explained, spreading a wing to show her obviously misaligned feathers. "I think it's another instinct I'm getting from my pegasus side, and it's driving me nuts." Rainbow's eyes widened as she took in what her friend was saying. It made sense, of course - the wing chewing was an inherited instinct, so it followed that others would come with it. Plus it also explained the way she'd caught Twilight staring at her wings during their flight lesson. Somewhere in that Egghead's egghead was a pegasus version of herself telling the rest of her how awesome Rainbow's wings were.  And it was right, they were awesome.  But the nerd was being all flustered and nerdy about it, instead of just allowing herself to appreciate the glory that was Rainbow Dash. Rainbow smirked. "Hey, Twi, relax," she said breezily, subtly fluffing up her feathers. "I get it - I'm a prime example of a pegasus, and you just didn't realize it until you became part pegasus too." "Uh, what?"  "I mean, it's obvious, isn’t it?" Rainbow asked, strutting towards the alicorn and unfurling her wings, putting them on full display. "You're feeling a little, ah, bothered by my wings, right? A little hot under the collar, maybe?" She watched as Twilight's eyes seemed almost magnetically drawn to them, flicking back towards her face but always being pulled away before too long. "Don't be shy," she said, craning her neck forward so her mouth was right next to Twilight's ear as she whispered; "you can look all you want, but don't touch." Twilight launched herself back, her rump quickly hitting the back wall as her face erupted in red, stuttered and stammered false starts pouring from her lips. "N-no! I-i-I d-didnt… I-I mean I'm not- i-i don't…" And then Rainbow's mask broke, and she doubled over laughing, clutching her gut and falling onto her side. "Oh-oh my gosh, Twi! Twi your face! Y-you you need… you need a mirror! Oh Celestia!" She cried around peals of hysterical laughter that echoed around the room. Still glowing with embarrassment, Twilight’s shock melted into a deadpan stare. “Are you proud of yourself?” she asked flatly. Rainbow managed to look up at her for all of two seconds, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes, before once more losing control of her mirth. “Twi you’re redder than AJ’s brother!” “Very well,” Twilight said, turning away and sticking her nose up - partially to hide her crimson cheeks. “I had planned on letting you pick the book tonight, since we finished the new Daring Do last week, but if this is how you’re going to be I’ll choose instead.” As though she’d been prodded by a hot iron, Rainbow’s laughter abruptly ceased and she bolted upright, a look of abject horror on her face. “No, please! Don’t make me read another textbook!” Twilight, fighting to keep the corner of her mouth from drifting upward, sniffed disdainfully. She peered down the end of her muzzle. “You owe me next pick, remember? I let us read those copies before their shelf date - I could get in trouble if the publisher found out.” “I’m sorry!” Rainbow shouted, a sliver of desperation slipping into her voice. She remembered - vividly - the last time Twilight had picked their book as a way to get back at her for a prank. Rainbow Dash was not supposed to know words like ‘mitosis’ and ‘semi-permeable membrane’ - she was still trying to forget that the mitochondria was the powerhouse of the cell.  “Oh don’t be dramatic,” Twilight chastised lightly. “We just got a new edition of the calculus textbook from Celestia’s School. I’ve been meaning to brush up. It’ll be fun.” An icy fear gripped Rainbow's heart. “Wait, please, I’m sorry, okay? I’ll do it - I’ll teach you everything you wanna know about preening.” Twilight gave her a sidelong glance. “You mean it?” “Absolutely!” Rainbow confirmed with an enthusiastic nod. “By time I’m done your wings will be just as good as mine. Promise.” Holding her disinterested posture for a few seconds more - enjoying the mixture of fear and pleading on Rainbow's face - Twilight gradually let it fall away. "Very well," she said, and her face split into a genuine smile. "Thank you, Rainbow - you have no idea how much this has been stressing me out." "Heh, I do have some idea," Rainbow said, visibly relaxing now that the looming threat of learning something boring had passed. "You aren't the only one with a pegasus's instincts." “Honestly, I don't know how you deal with it. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack when you showed up at my window." "Well, that just sounds like regular old unicorn you," Rainbow said, smirking slightly at the glare she received. "But seriously - you'll get used to it. And until you do, taking proper care of your wings will probably help you feel better." “Which is why you’re going to teach me how to preen myself, right?” Twilight asked hopefully. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. I promised I would.” Rolling her eyes, Rainbow spread out one of her wings and held it up for Twilight to see. “There’s not much to it, all you really gotta do is make sure your feathers aren’t crooked or anything, pull out any damaged ones, and check that they’re laying flat.” "Wait, wait!" Twilight cried urgently, and Rainbow snapped her wing back against her side. "What?" Instead of answering, Twilight all but dove over to her desk, which Rainbow only now noticed was covered in paint brushes as well as a fine layer of what looked like dust. A few drawers were ripped open in a lavender glow and several items floated out - namely, a quill, an inkwell, and a fresh stack of parchment.  "Okay," Twilight said, now fully equipped with all the necessary tools for note-taking. "Ready." "Egghead," Rainbow muttered, cutting off Twilight's complaint by once more unfurling a wing. "Look, you just gotta start by fluffing them up-" she shook her wing to ruffle up all her feathers. "And you work from the bottom up." Twilight's quill dutifully scribbled away, the alicorn's eyes never once leaving her instructor.  "And you just… kinda…" Rainbow trailed off as she took a random feather between her lips and made a show of running over it from base to tip, making sure it was straight before laying it neatly atop the ones below it. "Straighten them," she finished lamely as she released it. "Hmmmmm…" Twilight's eyes narrowed on the wing displayed before her, and she glanced back at her own. "I wonder if that's how birds do it." Rainbow's glare went ignored. "I wouldn't know. Pegasi aren't birds." "No," Twilight acknowledged, leaning forward to get a better look. "But you are very bird-like in some respects. Your feather structure is remarkably similar." Bristling as Twilight got a little too close to her wing, Rainbow shuffled back. "Hey, watch it." "Could you show me again?" Twilight asked, entirely unphased as her quill scribbled away. Rolling her eyes, Rainbow repeated the motion - this time taking two feathers at once. She raised her eyebrow as the pace of note-taking increased. “Twi it’s really not that complicated.” “Says the mare who’s had them since she was born,” Twilight pointed out, pausing to re-ink her quill. “Some of us only figured out how to move our wings as an adult.” Forced to concede the point, Rainbow sighed and continued preening herself - making a show of slowing her movements for the Egghead to absorb as much information as she could. It was hard to slip into the unfamiliar rhythm, nevermind trying to ignore the fact she had an audience. And that constantly scratching quill. It was starting to grate on her nerves in the otherwise-silent room. Repetitive and just loud enough to be unignorable, Rainbow had made it just barely through half her wing before it was akin to someone scratching a chalkboard in her head. What was she even writing, anyway!? “Twi,” Rainbow grunted quietly.  The scratching paused. “Hmmm?” “Do you really need that many notes?” Twilight’s eyes widened, taken aback. “Of course I do! How else am I supposed to remember all this? Reference material, Rainbow Dash, is important. Look-” she turned her notes around for the pegasus to see, the quill tapping against the page to highlight a diagram of a feather with various arrows and notes attached to it. “This kind of resource is paramount to the learning process.” Blinking, Rainbow leaned forward to get a better look. She held up her own wing for comparison. It was actually… really impressive. Was Twilight secretly good at drawing? The page was shuffled out for another - this one with a picture of Rainbow’s entire wing, complete with detailed feathers and basic shading. Twilight Sparkle was secretly amazing at drawing. “Wow, Twi… these are really good?” The alicorn’s smile beamed with the radiance of the sun. “Notes are important, and I make sure to do them right. I didn’t think you’d appreciate-” “Not the notes, the drawings,” Rainbow clarified, oblivious to the way Twilight’s smile melted away. “They aren’t ‘drawings’,” Twilight huffed, turning her notes away from those who wouldn’t appreciate them. “They’re diagrams. Anatomical diagrams, for exclusively educational purposes.” “Aw come on, don’t be like that. Oh, oh oh wait wait wait-” Rainbow ducked her head below her wing and in a series of rapid, flowing motions, skillfully preened the rest of her feathers back to their nigh-perfect state.  A single tear rolled down Twilight’s cheek both at the lost opportunity for note taking as well as the beautiful elegance on display. Both were quickly forgotten, however, as Rainbow Dash reared up on her hind legs and struck a pose that would fit right in amongst the statues of famous pegasi that lined the streets and plazas of Cloudsdale. “Draw me,” she said, with all the confidence and self-absorption of a hunter gazing into a pond.  Twilight’s eyebrow climbed her forehead like the sun crawling over the horizon. “You want me to draw you?” Momentarily breaking her pose to turn her head, Rainbow nodded rapidly. “Yeah, yeah! You totally should! You’re really good, and I keep trying to convince Rarity to draw me but she’s always saying sketching dresses and drawing ponies are entirely different things and that if I want to be drawn so badly I have to wear one of her frilly dresses. But you drew my wing perfectly! So, draw the rest of me.” As soon as she was done her head snapped forward back into perfectly-rigid lockstep with the rest of her pose. “I'm not an artist,” Twilight said, setting her notes aside. “I'm no good at drawing.” With a grunt Rainbow fell out of her pose. “Twi, come on, I saw what you can do. You can't tell me you're bad at drawing after those ‘diagrams’ of my wings.” “Trust me, Rainbow, you don't want me to try and draw you.” “Trust me, Twilight, I do.” Bristling, Twilight shook her head. “Just because I can do an anatomical diagram to aid my notes doesn't somehow make me-” “Okay, okay, I get it,” Rainbow interjected, waving a wing dismissively.  Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” “I didn't want to play this card, Egghead, but you leave me no choice. In return for teaching you how to preen, I want you to draw me.” In an instant Twilight's relief was washed away by the endless tide that was Rainbow Dash's stubbornness.  But she was prepared with sandbags and wave breaks. “And here I thought it was in return for not picking a textbook for our reading night?” Rainbow was given a moment’s pause - but only a moment, as she weighed her options. “Draw me, and I'll read anything you can throw at me.” “Really?” Twilight asked, genuine surprise lifting her brow. “Anything?” The tone in the alicorn’s voice told of the dangerous ground she was treading, but the mental image of her awesomeness fully captured on paper, forever, spurred Rainbow on. Her image would be held in the same galleries she’d visited on field trips, where she’d marveled at the great sculptures of legendary pegasi.  She planted her hooves firmly. “Anything.” Twilight took a step back, the sheer determination burning in Rainbow’s eyes seeming to physically knock her off balance. It was a fool's errand to try and dissuade the mare when she got like that, and Twilight was no fool. She knew any attempt to refuse would, at minimum, string up a sour cloud over the rest of their reading night as the stubborn mare spent the evening sulking, pouting, and generally being a nuisance. In the name of a peaceful night of knowledge, Twilight sighed. “Pose.” Rainbow lit up like she'd been electrocuted. “You’ll draw me!?” A piece of paper peeled itself off the desk. “I will draw a diagram of you,” Twilight said, as her note taking tools were drawn forth. “Pose.” “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, okay okay okay. Um. How do I…” Rainbow trailed off as she struggled to think of a pose. She wanted it to fit in amongst the other great pegasi, but to be unique to her. Even among legends, she should stand out.  “And after that we'll read Encyclopedia Floria. Maybe I'll find what's wrong with my garden.” “Uh…” Rainbow trailed off. Suddenly, she didn't feel like being drawn or diagramed as the weight of her choices hit her. “Twi, maybe we-” “Too late,” Twilight said, inking her quill. “Pose,” she repeated in a tone that made the pegasus curse her own big, stupid mouth. Rainbow posed. Twilight’s quill scratched against parchment. The noise very quickly became unbearable. “So, uh… that book you want to read…” Rainbow started hesitantly, turning her head to watch her friend. “Don't move,” Twilight hissed, and Rainbow’s head snapped back forward so fast she heard something pop. “What about it?” Rainbow’s muzzle scrunched as she stared into the far corner of the bedroom. “It uh… it sure does sound… interesting…” The quill paused for only a moment. “It does, doesn't it?” “I'm just not sure if it's really for me, y’know?” There was a longer pause this time, broken by a quiet giggle. “I'm not going to make you read an encyclopedia tonight, Rainbow.” “Oh thank Celestia,” Rainbow breathed, almost falling out of her pose entirely were it not for the glare she felt suddenly burn into the side of her head, daring her to relax. “But,” Twilight started as the scratching of her quill slowed. “You do owe me after this.” Rainbow bit her tongue so hard she thought it might fall off the next time she opened her mouth. So instead she kept her lips shut and listened to the sound of her likeness being committed to paper, basking in the flavour of her own hoof. It wasn't that much longer before the final stroke of the quill left the room in complete silence. “I'm done,” Twilight said. Rainbow dropped back onto all four hooves. “So… what do I owe you?” “I haven't decided yet. Here,” she said, offering the parchment. “Because like, if you wanna make me read a dictionary or something, you've gotta do at least two more of these drawings.” Twilight laughed quietly, waving the offered picture. “I promise I'm not going to make you read anything you don't like, you showed me how to preen myself, after all.” “And I'm teaching you how to fly,” Rainbow added brashley. “That's gotta count for something.” “Yes yes, you are the flight instructor of Equestria’s newest Princess. Even if you are annoyingly you sometimes.” A rough bark of laughter punctuated Rainbow snatching the paper out of the air. “All day every day,” she said, shooting a cheeky grin and a wink at Twilight before looking down to a near-perfectly drawn ‘diagram’ of her posing. Her eyes widened slightly as she took it in - she’d seen what Twilight could do with smaller pictures of wings and feathers, but this was something else! If she didn’t know any better, she’d have sworn the picture was cooler than she was in real life. She did know better, of course, but it was still impressive. At least it was, until she looked at the drawing’s face.  “Twi, why don’t I have eyes? Or… a mouth?” A mumble was all she got in response, and when she looked up, Twilight was very sharply looking away. “Twi?” “You… don’t want me to draw your face. Trust me.” For a moment, Rainbow was confused, but that quickly melted away to a snicker. “Really? You’re this good at drawing but you can’t do faces?” Twilight’s face erupted in a fiery red glow. “Diagrams! I can draw diagrams for my notes! I’ve… never been good at faces. Last time I tried it looked like someone glued googly eyes to one of Rarity’s mannequins.” “Pfft, oh come on, now I’ve got to see it!” “No, no no no. No way.” Twilight said, shaking her head firmly. “I already drew you - that’s the end of it.” Rainbow made a show of pouting, but she was above pleading, and it seemed Twilight’s wasn’t about to budge on it. “Fine,” she sighed, large and exaggerated. “I guess this is good enough.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “It’s really not that good.” “Nah, it is. Super awesome, actually. Almost as awesome as the real me, but y’know, not. Oh-” Rainbow’s eyes brightened with an idea in a way that made Twilight swallow nervously.  Making her way over to the small desk, Rainbow searched through drawers and cubbies at random, making the alicorn wince at the thought of cleaning up but too morbidly curious to stop her. “Ah!” Rainbow pulled away, having found what she was looking for, and Twilight put two and two together as Rainbow examined the wall, picture in one hoof and a tack dangling from her mouth. “Hey, I thought you wanted the picture for yourself?” Shrugging, Rainbow flapped her wings and hovered up into the air. She glanced back down, gauged her height, and moved a little higher - easily out of reach of anyone standing on the ground. The picture was tacked to the wall there, and she floated back to admire her work. “I did, but I had an idea. No magic or ladders allowed - when you can take this picture down and give it to me, we’ll consider you graduated from basic flight lessons.” Twilight looked up at the paper - hung far out of reach, with the stipulations Rainbow put in place the only way she’d be able to reach it was with her wings. “Besides, I already get to admire myself every day - now you can admire me every day, too!” Rainbow declared. “It’s a win-win.” Shooting her friend a glare, Twilight ruffled her feathers on instinct. “That picture is coming down.” “Good, Egghead, that’s what we want,” Rainbow chuckled, pulling her wings into her sides and letting herself fall back-first onto Twilight’s bed. “But you can worry about that later. Isn’t it about time we do some reading, or something?” Twilight glanced at the clock, cursing under her breath as she realized how late it had gotten. “You’re right. Let me go get the snacks from the kitchen. And I’ll choose the book while I’m down there - I have something in mind.” Rainbow grimaced. “Not a text book, right?” Twilight shot her a smile over her shoulder as she left the room. “Twi? Twilight!?” Rainbow shouted, running to the door and watching the alicorn descend the stairs. “Please!”