//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: True Beauty // by bahatumay //------------------------------// The next day, before settling down to read, the two mares ate the lunch that Applejack had provided. Applejack finished her sandwich and looked at Rainbow Dash. Clearly, she wanted to say something, and Rainbow shifted uncomfortably. “What?” Rainbow asked. “Do I have mayo on my face?” “Rainbow…” Applejack steeled herself. “You know how there’s kindof a funky smell up here? Ah finally figured out what that smell is.” “Oh, yeah?” “Yeah. It’s you.” Rainbow scowled. “It’s not that bad.” She lifted a foreleg and sniffed under her armpits, and then recoiled in disgust. “Ok, maybe it’s a bit bad,” she conceded. “How long’s it been since your last shower?” Applejack asked. Rainbow shrugged. “Couldn’t tell you.” “No, really,” Applejack insisted. “No, really,” Rainbow repeated. “I kindof can’t get in the tub very well.” Rainbow looked back up at Applejack and scooted away at the look in her eyes, letting out a grunt of pain as she did. “No. You’re not touching me, and you’re definitely not putting me in the shower.” “Come on, Rainbow,” Applejack wheedled. “No,” Rainbow spat. She said it so firmly that Applejack decided to try another approach before she lost all the progress she had made. “At least let me preen your wings,” she offered in compromise. “Ah bet that hasn’t been done in a while, either.” Rainbow Dash tensed, as this was true. Her wings hadn’t been preened in a long time. Some pegasi would preen their wings numerous times daily, and Rainbow hadn't preened for nearly a month, leaving the majority of her feathers (the ones that hadn’t fallen out, that is) at strange, painful angles. Her instinctive reaction was to say yes, but she hesitated. After all, preening wings in and of itself is not foreplay; but it is fairly intimate. Centuries of trusting their lives to their wings have left pegasi extremely wary of who is allowed to touch them, usually choosing to permit only family members and special someponies to preen them. It really doesn’t help that preening feels really good for the recipient, and it also doesn’t help the preener and preenee have to be really close (their bodies touching) to get to the proper angle to realign the feathers. Both mares knew this, and so there was a bit of tension in the air as Rainbow painfully got off her chair, lay down, and then hesitantly spread her wings. “Fine, if you really want to,” she said. Applejack slowly knelt down next to Rainbow. She had done this quite often before, and even though she (being an earth pony) didn't have the natural preening oil secreted in her saliva like pegasi did, she still knew how to preen and keep Rainbow's wings clean. Though this time, she wasn't even sure where to start. Her wings were so bad that some down feathers were poking through the primaries. She imagined that it was very painful for Rainbow even to have her wings like this. It looked like a tangled mess of feathers that had no beginning or end. But then again, Applejack loved challenges. She slowly climbed on to Rainbow, who flinched but made no effort to buck her off. When she felt comfortable, she chose a feather from Rainbow’s left wing and slid it back into place, As she did so, Rainbow Dash flinched. Applejack quickly pulled back. “Was Ah bein’ too rough?” she asked. “No, it’s just…” Rainbow sighed and closed her eyes before speaking. “I kindof haven’t been touched in a while, by anypony.” She lowered her head onto her forehooves and mumbled something that sounded vaguely like, “feels kinda nice.” A tiny smile played on Applejack's face as she chose another feather and continued. For twenty minutes they lay there, Applejack gently but firmly sliding feathers back into place and Rainbow moving her wing as best she could to let Applejack have easy access. Applejack couldn’t help but smile as she felt Rainbow slowly relax underneath her. Her breathing calmed, and more than once Rainbow let out a tiny whimper of pleasure as a particularly nasty feather was slid back into place. “I… I missed this,” Rainbow whispered, so quietly it almost seemed she didn't want her voice heard. “Ah missed you too, Rainbow,” Applejack whispered in return as she kept working. Soon, the left side was complete. Rainbow flapped it once and let out a little groan. “Oh, Celestia… that feels so good,” she whimpered. “Ah still have one more,” Applejack said. She turned to Rainbow’s more injured wing and paused. This wing was more scar tissue than feathers, and Applejack wasn’t entirely sure where to start. She chose a feather at random and pulled. “Ow!” Rainbow flinched and pulled away her wing. “Sorry,” Applejack said quickly. “Just… be more careful next time,” Rainbow hissed as she extended her wing as best she could. Applejack scanned her wing and tried another one. “Ouch!" Rainbow flinched. "Are you even trying?” “Sorry,” Applejack said, words tumbling out before she could stop them. “It’s not like you have a lot of feathers for me to choose from here.” The air seemed to grow colder for a brief moment. “I think I'm good,” Rainbow said, retracting her wings. “But Ah'm not done ye-” “I said, I'm good!” Rainbow spat, forcing herself to her hooves. Applejack tumbled off as Rainbow stood up straight. “Just… leave me alone. Thanks, but you should go.” Applejack nodded, slowly getting to her own hooves. Why had she said that? It had been going so well! “A’ight," she said, trying to sound as nonthreatening as possible. "Ah’m sorry for hurting you.” “Just go.” Applejack left. As she slid down the rope, she couldn’t help but feel that she had taken one step forward and two steps back. * * * Spike slammed the book shut and groaned. “Nothing. Twilight, we've searched all of the Canterlot library, and we've found nothing.” Twilight sighed and shut her own book. “I'm sorry, Spike. I really am.” “But this isn't the end of our research, though, is it?” Twilight didn't answer. “Is it?”