Rainbow Dash flew down Mane Street, excited for what she had in store for today. This had been the best week she could ever remember, and it was only going to get better. Twilight had wings now! The Pegasus gave another small squeal to herself; she had another flying buddy! As she passed over Fluttershy, she couldn't help but roll her eyes-this time she would have a friend that could actually fly.
Dash gave a quick loop through the air before landing in front of the library; she extended her wings, stretching a bit, before tucking them in to her sides. Twilight had promised to go flying with her after doing some more egghead studying on something. The blue pony snorted, then reached a hoof out to knock on the door. Rainbow Dash blinked as the door opened just before she could knock.
“Ah, Ms. Dash, have you come here calling on the princess?” Spike spoke very formally, standing in the doorway, wearing a butlers outfit, cap situated smartly on his head.
“Spike?” Rainbow Dash stared at the dragon, before shaking her head and looking over his head. “Where's Twilight, we're supposed to go flying today.”
Spike stared at the Pegasus, raising himself up to his full height-just barely reaching her chin. “M'Lady the Princess is indisposed, perhaps you could come back at a later date?”
Dash opened her mouth to reply, but paused when she heard Twilight calling from inside the library. Giving a quick flit of her wings, Dash sailed over Spike's head, landing behind him and moving into the room. The dragon swiped at her as she hopped over head, then turned and shuffled after her. “Cut it out, RD, she's a princess now, you have to be all respectful.”
Twilight smiled at her friends, “It's fine, Spike, really.” She shot a pleading glance at Rainbow Dash. “We were scheduled to go flying today.” She trotted around her dragon companion, and motioned to Dash surreptitiously. “We'll be back later, Spike.” She dashed out the door, and after a few seconds hesitation, Rainbow Dash gave a guilty smile, and was out the door.
As the Pagasus walked out, she heard Spike give a harumph, “No pony takes this seriously.” She heard him raise his voice, calling towards the ceiling, “Owlowiscious, come down here and put on your outfit!”
* * *
Twilight trotted beside Rainbow Dash, giving a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much. He's been wacko since the princess thing.”
As if what she'd seen wasn't enough, Dash asked anyway, “Wacko how?”
“He's been acting like my butler, insisting everypony call me 'Princess,' he won't let anypony in to visit me because 'my time is important,' and he even turned the mayor away because 'A princess outranks you.'” The pony moaned, shaking her head, “And that doesn't even count the ways he's been trying to make me more lady like, messing with my mane, primping...” she shuddered, “I can't tell if it's because I'm a princess now, or if he's trying to impress Rarity.”
Dash chuckled, “That's Spike for you, never doing anything halfway.” She opened her wings, looking over, “We're still flying today, right? You promised.”
Twilight gave a smug smile, “Yep, and I spent all night studying.”
“Studying?”
The alicorn smiled back, “Yes, studying the rudimentaries of flight. I never spent much time on those studies because, well, I couldn't fly, so it didn't seem important.” She flared her wings out, “But, it's something I should learn, since I can now. I'm ready for my first flight.”
Rainbow Dash cocked her head, looking at her friend, “First flight? Um, didn't you already fly from the castle?”
Twilight shook her head, “That didn't count. I didn't know anything about flying, I could have hurt myself. I mean, proper takeoff procedures, wing position, body position, how to flap your wings, I studied it all.”
“Studied?” Dash asked again, staring at Twilight. She finally laughed, “Flying isn't something you study, it's something that you feel in here.” She poked her friend in the chest with her hoof. “You learn as you go, find your own flying style, it's not something you do, it's who you are.”
Twilight brushed the hoof away. “I'm sure I'm fine, Dash, This is me, remember? When have books ever led me wrong?”
The other pony could list a few that came to mind, but decided to stay quiet. She shook her head, “You're arguing with me about flying? Me? I am the expert in flying. If there was a book on flying worth reading, I'd have written it. And since I'm not an egghead who writes books, you wasted your time.”
The alicorn stared back at Rainbow Dash, suddenly looking the part of a princess. “Well, we'll just see about that, won't we Rainbow Dash?” Haughtily, she held her head high in the air, then spread her hooves out on the ground, getting into position for takeoff. She opened her wings a bit, then leaned forward and gave a mighty flap of her wings.
Twilight promptly went up on her front two forelegs, teetering wildly, her eyes widening as her rear legs started kicking, before she tumbled to the ground, face planting. Rainbow Dash leaned down, smiling, “Good takeoff, Twilight.” She started laughing as the alicorn glared back, chin on the ground, neck extended, her body pointing upwards towards the sky. She finally rolled over, narrowing her eyes at her friend.
“Just a fluke.” she insisted, getting back into position.
Dash put her hoof back up, shaking her head, “No, I think that...” She was far too late, as Twilight assumed the same position, then lunged forward again, this time managing to tuck her head in enough that she landed on her back, instead. The blue Pegasus winced, before slowly walking over, looking down at her friend.
“Told ya.”
Twilight growled upwards, rolling back over on her stomach, pulling her legs in to push herself up. “Fine.” She bit off the word, “What's the proper way to take off?”
Dash hopped forward, leaning her head up as Twilight had done, “Well, first off, if you lean that far forward, you're gonna land on your face.” She turned her head to look at her friend, “You, ah, already figured that part out.” Trying not to smile as she thought of what the alicorn had done, Rainbow Dash brought her legs a little closer, “Okay, the first thing I was taught in flight school as a filly was to keep your body even, not forward or back. Let your wings sort of flap gently, and lift you straight up. Don't try and make a fancy takeoff when you're just learning.”
Twilight did as she was directed, giving a few experimental flaps with her wings, lifting herself just off the ground as she hovered in place. She wobbled a bit in the air, so she started flapping her right wing a little faster...which made her start to tilt to the left, so the started flapping her other wing harder; she finally did a barrel roll, landing flat on her front. She huffed, blowing her mane out of her face. “Well, that didn't work.”
Chuckling again, Dash landed back in front of her, nosing her head under Twilight to help her back to her feet. “You're trying to do too much too fast. You're not me, you know.” Rainbow Dash set her feet back out, spread a little, as she went through the motions with her wings, “Open them up, then just flap a little, get them to work together.” She watched as Twilight did as she was told.
The alicorn gave a smile as she started to get the hang of it. “Like this?” Her friend nodded back, and Twilight grinned, watching the Pegasus carefully. She slowly flexed her wings, mirroring her friend's movements as best she could. Twilight had done some basic flight exercises at home before coming, fifty single flaps with each wing, and now it was a little difficult for her to get them to work together again. As she concentrated, though, her movements became more natural.
Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a few pointers, watching the alicorn getting more familiar with her still new wings. The Pegasus moved forward, using her hooves to set Twilight's legs, then shoulders, then head, getting her into the beginner flight position. Dash smiled, “Yeah, that's it, just like in flight school, you've got to learn to flap before you can fly.”
Twilight nodded back, opening her wings as wide as she could, then lifting them up until they touched, giving a slow, long flap, testing out her full range of motion. Finally Twilight asked, “Is that how you learned to fly?”
At the question, Dash popped into the air, reliving her days in school, “Nah, I was a natural. I was flying laps around my teacher's head before she'd finished the lesson. Of course, I got put in a time-out, but I didn't let that stop me.” Noticing that Twilight was still flapping her wings, and was starting to get a little lift, she kept talking.
“Actually, I had trouble following the lessons. The teacher wanted to talk about all sorts of 'proper' ways to fly. 'Keep your head down. Flap your wings evenly. Use your head and tail to keep your body straight or you'll veer off. Use your head to turn when you start flying.'” Dash shook her head, giving a faint smile as Twilight lifted into the air, wobbling a bit, but still focused on the story.
The Pegasus shook her head ruefully, “I got something of a nickname in flight school, they called me Rainbow Crash.” She snorted, now engrossed in her own story, “I couldn't do anything right when I tried to do like they said. I was always running into other ponies, or flying into the ground, or hitting pillars.”
Rainbow Dash smirked as she watched her friend fly higher, next to her. Twilight was focused completely on the Pegasus, and hadn't even realized she was in the air. Dash waved a hoof through the air. “One day I managed to crash into an older pony. All of the fillies knew that you did not want to get him angry, and I just knew I was in for some trouble. Not that I couldn't handle myself.” she added hastily, continuing, “He stood up and dusted himself off, and then gave me this glare, before he actually smiled. I think my heart stopped.”
“I was ready to fly off, as best I could, but he called me by name, and I stopped. Then he told me something I'd never forget. He told me that he'd seen me flying around, and said that I had talent. I couldn't believe him-I couldn't fly straight, was crashing all the time, they were thinking of grounding me permanently. But, he told me I was trying too hard, trying to follow all the rules too closely. He told me flying comes from the heart, it's not something you learn, it's something you're born with.”
Dash flapped her wings a bit, backing up away from Twilight, and the alicorn had to fly towards her to keep listening to the story. The Pegasus smiled, “He told me not to think about flying, just to do it, and that if I kept up my practice, made good on my skills, that I could be good enough to join the Wonderbolts. Maybe even lead them some day. I was in shock, but even more as he looked me directly in the eyes and said, 'And I should know, kid...' and he walked off, shouting back, 'I'm the one who started them!'”
Twilight blinked, looking at her friend, having trouble imagining her as anything but a great flier. As she looked around, though, she realized she was in the air, too, giving a small gasp of surprise. Dash zipped around her, before giving a lazy fly by, hooves behind her head as she flew backwards past her friend. “Looks like you needed the same advice...” She teased.
The alicorn glared back, at being distracted so thoroughly, before smiling, “Fine, you've made your point.” She flapped her wings a bit more, getting more confident, as she gave a sneaky grin, “Look like I can fly now. Not bad for my first flight, hmm?” She looked back towards town, smirking, “Last one to Pinkie's house is an earth pony. Ready-set-go!” She took off in a blur, still not entirely coordinated, but getting better as she practiced.
Rainbow Dash laughed as her friend flew off. “She's racing against me? Me?” Still floating lazily backwards, the Pegasus chuckled, “I think I can give her a few more seconds.” Ticking them off in her head, Dash finally smiled, and put her game face on, then took off in hot pursuit.
* * *
Twilight swooped down from the air, making a confident landing in front of her home. She was much more sure of herself, now, after flying with Rainbow Dash. As she looked at the library, she gave a rueful shake of her head. Yet again she had been reminded that there was more to life than book knowledge. And that sometimes her friends knew more practical knowledge than she did.
As she walked forward, she shook her head again, chuckling, before running headfirst into the door. Pulling back, she winced, rubbing a hoof across her nose. She'd gotten to where she expected Spike to open the door for her, even if she had hated his attitude. Twilight blinked, then rapped her hoof on the door, opening it. “Spike, are you still here? Is everything okay?”
She peered into the main room, calling out again, “Spike?”
Finally she heard a small noise from the back of the room. As she walked in, her eyes adjusting to the dimmer light inside, she had to stifle a chuckle. Her number one assistant was standing stiff in the center of the room. Stiff because he was tied up head to toe, wrapped completely in rope, a gag stuffed in his mouth.
Sitting on top of his head was her pet, Owlowiscious, the end of the rope held in his beak. He was wearing a disheveled butler's outfit similar to Spike's, and wearing a tired but proud stare. He gave another tug on the rope, then noticed Twilight. He dropped the rope from his beak, giving a guilty 'who.'
Turning her head downwards, she gave a bemused glance at Spike, the dragon looking back at Twilight. Spike shook his head to get the gag out of his mouth, before giving a whine, “I don't wanna be your butler any more.”