The following day, the group agreed to hang out at the beach. The sun was shining, there was barely a cloud in the sky, and there was a nice breeze rolling in. It was surely a good day to go.
At the moment, they were all together enjoying lunch as they sat, chatted, and enjoyed the food that had been provided. Most of the food was apple-based because it came from the excess the crusaders had left over.
"It's amazin' after all them fancy food we've been eatin', this is still mah favorite." Applejack stated as she took another bite of her apple fritter.
"There's always some charm in the simpler things, really." Twilight stated
"I agree, there's just a different...flair to be had when it comes to a good home-cooked meal." Rarity agreed
"Did you girls have anything in particular we were all doing today? I mean, I know we're on the beach, but was there some activity that you all had it mind?" Twilight asked
"How 'bout me and Applejack play volleyball again. I have a score to settle with her." Rainbow rang out.
"Maybe later Rainbow. Ah ain't in any mood to play after a meal'." she stated
"What's wrong? Are you chicken?" Rainbow asked with a smirk.
"Ah ain't chicken! Ah just prefer havin' a lil' shut eye after eatin' is all." Applejack stated as shifted so she had her back resting against the pole of the beach umbrella they were using.
"Hmph!"
"If ya really wanna play volleyball now Dash, why don't ya play with somepony else fer now. Just don't come cryin' ta me when ya up-chuck half o' what ya ate or when I whup your tired flank later."
"How crude!" Rarity exclaimed in disgust.
"Ah'm just tellin' ya how it is." Applejack stated with a smirk, just before pulling her hat over her eyes.
"Well, I'm just going to stay here and do some reading. Fluttershy was nice enough to find the latest fashion magazine. With a little luck, it should give me the perfect idea for my next fall line." Rarity stated
"What about you Fluttershy?" Twilight asked as she faced the yellow pegasus
"Oh, um...I was thinking of just staying here actually. I thought it might be a good day to just take in the scenery and enjoy the ocean breeze. I mean...if that's okay."
"I think that's actually a very good idea Fluttershy. It's not very often we can just come to the beach and enjoy it." Twilight stated, earning a smile from Fluttershy.
"I like that idea too actually, so I'll join Flutters for a while." Pinkie declared, "Though I might do something else if something else super fun comes up."
"What about yourself darling?" Rarity asked Twilight, "What did you plan on doing today?"
"I think I'll stay here with you girls for a while. It's been a while since we were last able to talk about matters." Twilight replied, "At least, until later. I was thinking of getting some flight training done. I've always wondered how much the wind will affect my flying, and how I can counteract it's affects."
"It's just a breeze Twilight, it's not going to throw you off-balance." Rainbow stated.
"Still, it's good practice. It's not like I'm going to go flying around in a hurricane later."
"You probably wouldn't want to anyway. I think I'll just chill for a while. I need some sun rays on my wings anyway." Rainbow declared, as she produced a pair of sunglasses that she had hidden in their picnic basket earlier.
"What about you girls?" Twilight asked Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.
"We're going to build sand-castles." Scootaloo stated rather proudly.
"All the sculptin' ya did two days ago gave us an idea. Maybe we have our special talents in sand-castle buildin'." Applebloom explained
Applejack lightly sighed hearing that, "Finally, a safe idea fer those three." she muttered to herself.
The next two hours was mostly filled with the six friends chatting the day away, all the while the Cutie Mark Crusaders busied themselves attempting to create the best and the tallest sandcastle possible. The three fillies had actually already built three before, but the castles were incidentally destroyed. One rouge wave washed ashore and tore down the first, the second crumbled when Scootaloo accidentally tripped as she was passed a flag to Sweetie Belle and destroyed one entire side of the structure, and the last one got stomped on from playing a quick game with Spike. Right now, the little drake, as well as Pinkie, was assisting them in constructing a fourth castle, as he was technically the one who destroyed the previous one.
Eventually Twilight got up and opened her wings as she prepared herself to fly around. This caught Rainbow's attention as she insisted to on coaching the alicorn again. After hearing some words of advice from Fluttershy in regards to flying around in the wind, granted it was still only a breeze, Twilight took off from the sand and was quickly airborne.
Once Twilight got her bearings, she was quickly able to start doing her warm-up routine and onto her flight practice. Much of the routine was quite easy, thrust, slowing down, turning, and a few simple tricks like a loop. Once in a while though Twilight did dare herself to do something different and used the surrounding environment as obstacles in place of clouds.
Rainbow watched from the ground, only shouting at Twilight once in a while to remind the alicorn of certain things, as well as give her tips. All the while though the pegasus's wings constantly fidgeted and twitched as she tried to sit there comfortably. The others took notice of this.
"Are you okay Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked.
"What...?" she asked as she faced her.
"Are you okay darling?" Rarity repeated for Fluttershy, "You appear to be quite nervous."
"Nervous?! Why would I be nervous?" Rainbow asked.
"If ya ask me, ah think she's a mite bit jealous." Applejack voiced in.
"Me, jealous?! Ha! Very funny Applejack."
"Ah think ya are there Dash." Applejack stated as she corrected how her hat sat on her head, "This ain't the first time we saw ya bein' a bit twitchy Rainbow. Last time ya were this twitchy, it was when ya were coachin' Twi on how ta land properly."
"I'm not jealous. I'd never be jealous of Twilight." Rainbow stated angrily, "I'm the better flier. There's nothing I would be jealous of Twilight."
"If ya say so Rainbow."
"I do say so."
At that point they heard a yelp as Twilight came back to a landing. Unfortunately, she ended up landing incorrectly and almost fell flat on her face as she came to a stop.
"Careful there Twi, ya don't wanna get yerself hurt now do ya?"
"Don't worry Applejack. I think I'm past my worse when it comes to landings." Twilight replied, "I decided to come back down because you two looked like you were about to start a fight. I can almost hear you completely from up there." she added, her voice clear with concern.
"Applejack was telling us how she believes Rainbow is jealous of you." Rarity stated
"I told you, I'm not jealous!" Rainbow shouted
"Why would you believe that Applejack?" Twilight asked
"Why don'tcha ask Rainbow? She's the one twitchin' more than Pinkie on a sugah rush."
"Twitching...? You mean her wings?" Twilight asked as she looked at Rainbow.
"So ya do know what ah'm sayin'."
"Is that true Rainbow?"
"No. I mean...maybe. I dunno."
"Hm, well, I do have a theory. Rainbow, are you by any chance are you bothered that I'm allowed the fly, and you're not?"
"I'm not jealous! I'm..." she then gave a frustrated groan, "Just leave me alone." and started walking away from them.
Twilight quickly followed behind Rainbow as the pegasus sat herself down a few yards away from the others.
"Rainbow, please, I didn't say anything about you being jealous. I just want to understand why."
"I'm not bothered Twilight. Not in the least."
"Rainbow, please, if something really is bothering you, let me help." Twilight pleaded as she placed a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder.
Rainbow turned to look at Twilight, before turning away and looking at the ocean.
Twilight sighed before turning to leave. "Alright, if you really don't want to tell me."
"It just isn't fair." Rainbow stated, just barely a whisper.
"Hm?" Twilight turned to look at her again.
"I guess it kinda, sorta, bothers me that you're allowed to fly, and I'm not." Rainbow stated, "I know I took the bet, but it just feels so unfair that you're allowed to fly just because your deal with AJ is different."
Twilight took a seat next to Rainbow.
"I guess I really miss being in the air. That's where I belong." Rainbow sighed defeatedly.
"I think I can sympathize with you Rainbow, though not in the same context as you. To be honest, I don't exactly like the idea that I'm rather impaired just because I can't use magic. You have no idea how frustrating it is to learn just how reliant you really were on such a simple, and normal, component in your life."
"... Em, could you phrase that again, Twilight?"
Twilight rolled her eyes, "I can sympathize, because it turns out I'm reliant on magic for my every day activities, and I can't use it anymore."
"Oh."
"Interesting to learn though that you're as troubled as I am. I didn't expect to hear that you were that annoyed being grounded." Twilight stated with a grin.
"Don't rub it in Twilight." she half-heartedly threatened.
"Hm...Listen Rainbow. You helped me a little yesterday, so why don't I return the favor."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Follow me back to the others, and I'll explain. I need to make sure that Applejack is alright with this idea."
Rainbow gave a curious look, but followed what Twilight had told her and followed her back to the others.
Once there, Twilight explained what she was planning to do. She was going to give Rainbow a ride. Twilight explained that she was going to return a favor she owed Rainbow, though the others were still shakey on the idea. Applejack seemed somewhat willing to let Twilight try her idea, as long as the alicorn was positively sure that she could do it without resulting in either herself or Rainbow injured. After another bout of reassurance, the others agreed to the idea, and Applejack confirmed that it wouldn't break the bet, just as long as Twilight does all the flying and Rainbow doesn't open her wings. Any action that questions this breaks the bet.
"Are you sure about this Twilight?" Rainbow asked, still unsure.
"Positive. I've been doing the exercises you suggested, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle both of us in the air."
"O-o-okay, if you say so Twilight."
Twilight sat down so Rainbow could get on her back, and wrap her forehooves around Twilight. As soon as Rainbow felt somewhat secure enough on her back, Twilight pushed herself back to a standing position, granted she was a little shakey at the start.
"Okay, you better not be that shakey once you're up in the air Twilight."
"I just need to get use to your weight. Give me a moment." She replied as she flapped her wings to check that Rainbow won't be an obstruction to them.
"Ya sure about this Twilight? I know you've been practicin' an' all, but ya know it ain't too late ta reconsider." Applejack asked
"I'm sure. Besides, it might make for an interesting way to gauge my endurance."
"'Gauging...?!" Rainbow repeated, "I'm not one of your experimental hamsters, Twi!"
"Do you want get in the air again or not?" Twilight frustratedly asked Rainbow.
It took a moment, but Rainbow nodded, "I do. Let's just... let's just get this over with already."
"Alrighty then." Applejack stated as she backed off from the two.
"By the way Twi, why am I on your back?" Rainbow asked
"I need the running start Rainbow. I haven't taken off from one point with weight on my back before."
"You've done this with weight on your back though, right...?"
"Yeah, some weight." Twilight nervously admitted.
Rainbow took an uneasy breath, and held on tighter.
Once Twilight felt she was comfortable enough with Rainbow's extra weight on her, she started from a trot and progressively went to a gallop, all the while flapping her wings as hard as she could. It took a lot of effort, but Twilight managed to get off a few feet off the ground. They stayed low, before Twilight started to pull up and gain more altitude. The whole time, Rainbow's heart was beating in her throat; and, it didn't help that Twilight did seem to have a little trouble staying upright once they were off the ground.
Once it was done though, both ponies were able to calm down.
"You okay Twilight?" Rainbow asked as she heard Twilight panting hard.
"I-I'm okay Rainbow, just...just not use to taking off like...like that." she replied inbetween pants.
As the minutes passed, both Twilight and Rainbow started to calm down and start to enjoy the flight, which was more true for Rainbow than Twilight for obvious reasons. Twilight made sure make that Rainbow had as much fun as possible, as she pushed herself to go as fast as she could, and flew around obstacles and through what cloud she could find; and, if the laughter from Rainbow was any indication, Twilight was succeeding.
From the ground, the others looked on in amazement. It was quite rare to see Rainbow having to rely on somepony else for once. It was also rare to see Twilight going beyond their expectations as she managed to stay in the air for quite some time.
"Woo hoo! Yeah! This was exactly what I needed!" Rainbow cheered.
"Easy with the moving around Rainbow. I'm certain you don't want to mess up my balance while we're up here." Twilight stated
"Right...sorry." she apologized and tried settling herself into a position to reduce the amount of drag.
As Rainbow brought her head level with Twilight's shoulder, she started to hold on just a little bit tighter around Twilight, before feeling this strange lump in her throat. She tried swallowing, but it just wouldn't go away.
"What's with my throat...? Did I swallow a bug or something?" Rainbow mentally asked herself as she tried swallowing a few more times.
She then looked forward and the lump suddenly felt like it became bigger. Somehow in that one moment all her senses suddenly became enhanced. She noticed, as Twilight's mane was being blown in her face, how Twilight smelled so much like a freshly cut bouquet of roses and lilacs, and how she could practically feel Twilight's heartbeat where she held the alicorn. For the first time in Rainbow's life, she actually ignored the scenic sky.
The moment lasted for several minutes before Rainbow was snapped out of her weird trance as she felt Twilight begin to pitch down toward the ground. They were over the water.
"I'm getting tired Rainbow, I'm gonna go land." she heard Twilight tell her
"Got it." Rainbow replied, "Okay, remember what I told you, slow down nice and slow, don't make it abrupt. And make sure you don't push against the ground too hard, or too gently."
"Understood."
Both Rainbow and Twilight were now flying straight toward the beach, and heavily focused on every little detail that could determine if they land safely and suffer a rough crash landing. Rainbow easily put herself in Twilight's position, and began analyzing every aspect of her flying, and so far Twilight was doing very good. At least until she felt Twilight jolt a bit to her side, and pick up more speed as she pulled up again.
"What the...?! Twilight, what was that about?"
"I'm having some trouble slowing down, I barely slowed down enough to come to a stop over the beach. Our combined weight affected my sense of landing. Hold on, I'm going to try again."
"Twilight, you were doing fine."
"No, I wasn't. I was trying to slow down, and I wasn't, not enough anyway."
"Okay, okay, try again, and this time put a little more 'umph' in it." Rainbow stated, her previous nervousness returning, "Okay, listen to me, when I say so, just slow down as best you can. You got it?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, wait....wait....now!" Rainbow instructed. As instructed, Twilight started flapping her wings to begin slowing down.
As soon as Twilight came to a stop over the beach, Rainbow fell off as Twilight reared back too far, sending Twilight backwards, and right into the sand-castle that the Crusaders, Spike, and Pinkie built.
"Aw, Twilight!" Spike exclaimed, "We worked so hard on it too."
"Well, at least she only broke the ballroom and the front gate, and...the foyer, and one of the towers." Sweetie Belle stated
In truth, the sand-castle itself was considerably huge. With Pinkie helping, they were able to make a sand-castle that easily was fit for royalty, well if said royalty stood at about 3-4 inches tall.
"Are ya okay?" Applejack asked the two as she, Rarity, and Fluttershy rushed over to them
"Yeah, I'm good." Rainbow replied as she got up, rubbing her rear, "Twilight...? You good there Twilight?" she asked as she turned around to look at the purple alicorn, who was partially buried at this point.
After an extra moment, Twilight sat herself up looking dazed, before she shook her head and responded. "Yes, I think I'm alright. Nothing broken as far as I can tell. Sorry, about the landing, Rainbow."
"Eh, no big. That was nothing compared to the time I knocked over that tower of rocks I had Spike build."
The rest of the day went rather uneventful as Twilight took the time take a quick nap on the beach blanket and recover, while Rainbow, like the last couple of days, was sitting by her side enjoying a cold drink. Rainbow was mostly bored again, though her mind occasionally went back to Twilight, and that moment when they were still up in the air.
Rainbow wondered what that one moment was all about, why did it happen, and more importantly why it happened when she was with Twilight. It made her feel so strange, all at once it felt foreign and uncomfortable, but welcoming and pleasant. No matter how much she wanted to just push it out of her mind, it just stuck, it never left her thoughts. Even now, those feelings were still there as Rainbow absent-mindedly took sips of her drink, even when it was clearly all gone.
As the sun was beginning to set, the group prepared to leave and retreat back to the hotel, and started packing away their things, that is until Pinkie stopped them. The hyperactive pony insisted that they stay there a little longer. They really only question Pinkie as to why, but she insisted on keeping it a secret, though she did promise them it would be well worth it. So with a shrug, the stayed put and snacked on whatever bit of food they had left to stave off their hunger.
They waited, and waited, till Celestia's sun was completely gone from the sky, and replaced by Luna's bright moon.
"Pinkie, it's dark. How much longer do we have to wait?" Twilight asked
"Yeah, come on Pinks. Surprise or no surprise, ah gotta make sure Applebloom get's some food." Applejack complained
"Same goes for Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle." Rarity added
"Just wait a few more seconds." she happily declared and sat herself looking out to the sea.
The others could only give a frustrated sigh, before hearing a loud whistling sound followed by a loud explosion in the sky as it lit up in a vibrant red glow.
"Fireworks...?" Twilight asked, then another exploded in the sky.
"Yep! It was suppose to be for the Princesses since the were here. Well, at least only Princess Luna. It's so so sad that Princess Celestia had to miss it."
"She had important business to attend to, though I'll probably send a message to her later tonight to tell her about this."
The others quickly took a seat next to Pinkie Pie as they watched the fireworks show, as well as ensure their spots as several ponies started coming down to the beach to get close to the show. This was definitely well worth the wait.
Once the show had ended, it had lasted about half-an-hour, every pony started to disperse and either head back home or to their hotel room. The group was no exception as the headed back to the hotel, voicing how much they enjoyed the show.
On the way back, Rainbow took a few moments to steal a glance at Twilight. The firework show was really more of a distraction to her from her earlier confusion, now that it was over, she was back to trying to figure it out. It wasn't until they actually reached the hotel that Pinkie asked why Rainbow as blushing that she finally came up with a possible answer, and it was one that actually scared her.
"Listen here Pink, can you tell the others that I'll be right there. I need a moment." Rainbow asked
"Are you sure? Well, okie-doki." and skipped away.
Rainbow brought a hoof up to her face and felt how her cheeks were so warm, and started whispering to herself, "Am I starting to think of Twilight like that...? No...no way, there's no way I am. Its probably the adrenaline talking. Yeah, that's it, adrenaline." Rainbow started laughing to herself as she walked to the hotel. "Me, falling for Twilight? Yeah right."
Just as she neared the buffet area, she spotted Twilight waiting outside for her, and she nearly stopped in her tracks.
"Come on Rainbow, the others don't want to start eating without you." Twilight declared.
Rainbow swallowed hard and nervously grinned. "Okay, so maaaybe I am."