//------------------------------// // Wings Anew // Story: Living with Rainbow Dash // by ArmourFox //------------------------------// Spitfire woke up next to her new wife; the sunlight streaming through the window highlighting all the little particles of dust floating around the room. It had been three days since she had married Rainbow, and yet it seemed like they had been together for a lot longer amount of time. She thought back to their relatively short honey moon. They had gone to Cloudsdale, Spitfire riding on Dash’s back, and had run into Soarin’ while they were there. He had yet to hear about Spitfire’s accident or her marriage, and insisted on buying them dinner. For whatever reason during dinner, the topic of children came up, alongside the topic of Artificial Insemination. After such an.... uh..... interesting talk, they split their separate ways and headed back to the hotel where a much more active night awaited. But that was then and this was now (and that over there was a clock), and she had to wake up her wife for she had to work. “Rainbow, hey Rainbow, you’ve got to go to work,” Spitfire said, nudging her wife. “Wha? Oh, yeah, yeah I’m up,” Dash returned, yawning afterwards. “Good, now come on.” Spitfire got out of the bed and walked into the bathroom, checking behind her as she did, she noticed that Rainbow was still in bed, and had fallen back asleep. Walking back into the bedroom she attempted to wake up Rainbow Dash again. “Rainbow Dash, get up! You have to get to work!” Spitfire told her again. “Can’t you take my shift?” Rainbow asked, instantly regretting her statement. Spitfire started to respond but lost her breath before she could talk. “Oh my gosh, Spitfire, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean it, it just slipped out of my mouth!” Rainbow said, leaping up from the bed to wrap her wife in an embrace. Spitfire however just looked back at her with a blank back and swallowed painfully. “No Rainbow, it’s fine,” she assured, kissing her wife before continuing, “I know you didn’t mean it. Why don’t you go get ready for work? I’ll be down in a bit.” Rainbow hesitated before nodding in agreement, and heading down the stairs. Spitfire however stayed upstairs with her flank flat to the floor. Lifting her head up to the mirror, she looked at her self and cringed. Her face was stained with tears and every time she looked at her back, she cringed even more. Remembering what that stallion at the wedding said, “It’s the D.A.R.T. Wing.” She thought back to Rainbow, and how she had to work twice as many shifts, because Spitfire couldn’t fly. She tried to remember if he had told her his name..... “Arcane!” She shouted, suddenly remembering. Now she had to figure out if he had told her where he lived. She couldn’t remember anything of the sort so she decided to go see if Twilight knew anything. Walking out of the room and down the stairs, she was about to jump off the front porch when she remembered that she didn’t have wings; she couldn’t fly off the porch like she used to. Rainbow wasn’t here either so she couldn’t get a ride down. Sighing in defeat, she closed the door and headed to the kitchen to make Rainbow’s favorite meal. Even though she hadn’t made her decision, she needed her to be in a good mood, even to just discuss the topic with her. ~Many Hours Later~ Spitfire was in the kitchen just finishing up dinner when she heard the door open. She knew who it was when a rainbow haired mane (attached to a head) poke its way through the door way. “Hey there Spitfire. So.... are you still mad?” Rainbow asked tentatively. “What do you mean still mad? I told you I wasn’t mad about it!” Spitfire said, bringing Rainbow into a hug. “Well, yeah, I know you told me you’re not mad, but I still feel kinda bad about bringing that up,” Dash said, nuzzling Spitfire’s neck, while in the hug. “I’ve already told you, and I’m not going to spend any more time on the subject. Now go wash your hooves. I made spaghetti,” Spitfire finished, gently pushing Rainbow towards the bathroom. “Yeah, yeah, I’m going,” Dash said, trotting over to the bathroom. Meanwhile. Spitfire tried to think of a way to bring up the subject of her wings, once again. (Even though she said she wouldn’t.) However she couldn’t think of any way, and by the time she was on to something, Rainbow was already walking back to the kitchen, and Spitfire didn’t have any time to expand on the idea. “So Rainbow, shall we eat?” Spitfire offered, still trying to think of a way. “Sure! I’m starving,” Rainbow agreed, digging in to the plate of food in front of her. Even after minutes of thought, Spitfire still couldn’t think of a way to bring up the subject and instead resorted to awkward silence, which didn’t work very well. Rainbow tried several times to make small talk but all were shot down by Spitfire. “So Rainbow-” Spitfire started, breaking the silence that was killing them both, “Do you remember that colt from the wedding?” “Which one? The gay one?” Rainbow Dash asked, scrunching up her face in what looked to be disgust. “Rainbow!” Spitfire said, shocked that Rainbow had said something so mean, “You’re gay too!” “Yeah, so? I didn’t say that being gay was bad,” Dash pointed out, confused at Spitfires outburst. “But your fa- Never mind, sorry that I yelled. But no, not him, the black one with the orange eyes.” Spitfire calmed herself. “Yellow eyes, Spitfire,” Rainbow corrected her. “What?” Spitfire asked, not sure what they were talking about. “Yellow eyes; he had yellow eyes,” Dash explained herself on more time. “Oh, ok then. The one with yellow eyes,” Spitfire conceded, not really sure why it mattered (It didn’t). “Yeah, I remember him. What about him?” Rainbow asked, forgetting the last minute or so of their conversation. “Well remember how he offered me wings?” Spitfire asked, trying to be gentle. “Yeah..” Rainbow was starting to get worried. “Well that’s what I wanted to talk to you about” Spitfire said, hoping Dash wouldn’t freak out. Rainbow Dash groaned, “Spitfire, I thought we talked about this. It’s too dangerous.... I can’t lose you, Spitfire.” “Well, I’m not saying I want to. I just wanted to talk to you about it. I also thought we could go talk to Twilight about it,” Spitfire explained, reaching across the table and placing her hoof on Rainbows. Rainbow Dash looked at her with uncertainty, but was broken when Spitfire gave her the puppy dog eyes and asked, “Please?” “Fine. But I don’t want to hear any more about it tonight, let’s talk about something happier,” Rainbow said, starting to eat once again. “So we’ll see her tomorrow?” Spitfire asked, trying to push the subject a little more. “Yes, tomorrow,” Dash answered plainly, determined not to talk about it anymore. ~The Next Morning~ After eating breakfast, and having quite the awkward conversation, the small family of two set out to find Twilight, both to gather what information they could on the stallion and get Twi’s opinion. Arriving at the library-converted-tree-house, they knocked on the door, only to have it answered by a small purple and green dragon. “Rarity how nice to se... Oh. It’s you two,” Spike said, disappointed that the pony of his affections hadn’t arrived yet. “Twilight! It’s Spitfire and Rainbow Dash!” he yelled to Twilight. “Could you send them upstairs? I’m kinda busy!” Twilight yelled back from upstairs. “You heard her,” he grumbled, retreating back into the kitchen. Exchanging a quick look with each other, Spitfire and Rainbow entered the library and started to make their way upstairs, of course stopping momentarily for Dash to put back the copy of Daring Do she had and grab the next one. Grinning sheepishly, Rainbow caught up with Spitfire on the stairs and they continued their walk to Twilight’s bedroom. Opening the door and walking in, they saw Twilight surrounded with piles of books, her notes thrown all over the room. “Twi? You ok?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking around the pile of books in front of her. “Wha? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Just doing a bit of studying!” Twilight explained, lifting her head up momentarily to speak to them. “A bit of studying, Twi?” Spitfire asked, raising her eyebrow. “Well yeah! I’ve been looking into that time traveling spell I discovered!” Twilight exclaimed, her face still buried in the book. Suddenly there was a noise that sounded a lot like a hungry tummy. “Twilight, have you even eaten lunch?” Rainbow asked her, trying to move the books out of her way. “Well, I mean.....Spike brought me some crackers!” Twilight tried to explain, knowing the excuse wouldn’t fool them. “You, lunch, now,” Spitfire ordered, not breaking her gaze on Twilight. “But.....fine,” Twi consented, giving in to the rumbling of her stomach. “Good, there’s some other things we wanted to talk to you about anyways,” Spitfire said, opening the door to the stairs, and shooing Twilight down them. After making some lunch for the three of them, Spitfire sat down next to Twilight and began to speak. “So Twilight, me and Rainbow have been thinking.” Rainbow coughed at this. “Ok sorry, I’ve been thinking about that colt at the wedding who offered to build me some wings.” “Wait, what? You’re joking right?” Twilight asked, choking on her sandwich a bit. “Um, no, I don’t believe I am,” Spitfire corrected, her expression still quite serious. “Huh, now listen, as highly as I think of Arcane, I don’t think anypony's ever been crazy enough to actually go through with one of his plans.” Spitfire was about to say something more but Twilight shushed her and began to speak again, “And yes, I said crazy. It may not be the most polite of terms, but what he’s trying to do is extremely dangerous.” “So I guess that answers the second part of our question, huh?” Dash said aside to Spitfire. “Now just wait a minute! What was the second part of your question?” Twilight asked, her curiosity peaked. “We were going to ask you if you thought that Spitfire should try the operation,” Rainbow said, looking over at Spitfire in the process. “Well, I think that if you really want to try, and you think that you have a chance of flying, then sure,” Twilight said, taking another bite of her sandwich. “Wait, what? I thought you just said that they had to be crazy!” Spitfire asked, surprised at Twilights change of heart. “Well they would, but if you’re crazy enough to try, then who am I to deny you?” Twilight started, “I trust Arcane, and I trust you Spitfire. If you think you’ll be safe, and you’ve talked it over with Rainbow then go ahead. I have complete faith in both of you.” “Well in that case, Twilight, give me his address” Spitfire requested, as Twilight got up from the table to go get said address. “Wait Spitfire, we haven't even ta-” Rainbow tried to stop Spitfires extremely rash decision but was silenced by her, “No Rainbow, I trust Arcane, and I hope you do too. Just trust me on this one ok?” Spitfire looked at her wife with pleading eyes that Dash couldn’t help but give into. “Fine, I trust you,” Rainbow said, kissing Spitfire on the lips. Not satisfied with staying down stairs and waiting, the two decided to go get some more information about Arcane. Walking upstairs they heard quite a bit of shuffling and even more when they opened the door. Twilight was searching through multiple books trying to find an address. “Hey Twi? We just have one more question,” Spitfire asked, finding her once again. “And what’s that?” Twilight asked, her face lighting up as she found the address, and then proceeded to copy it onto a separate piece of paper. “Do you have any more information on Arcane?” Spitfire asked, tilting her head slightly. Rainbow however was absorbed in reading the next Daring Do book that she had checked out on the way in. “Hmm, well I could tell you what he told me in college. But beyond that, I don’t have much information on his personal life,” Twilight told them, giving the address on paper to Spitfire, “But from what I know he was born in Hoofwich, and at 16 he came to CSFTG tha-” “CSFTG?” Spitfire asked, not understanding the acronym. “Canterlot School for the Gifted” Twilight explained, “That’s where I met him, as well as Skylight. But we didn’t really become friends until around one or two years ago. But he’s still one of the most brilliant minds I’ve ever met. Did you know he can combine machines and magic together?” “Twilight I’m going to stop you right there,” Spitfire said, not wanting wait through an entire lecture. “I think well be on our way, bye Twilight” Spitfire said, walking out the door and nudging Rainbow Dash to get up. Walking out the door, Spitfire turned to address Rainbow Dash, “Ok, I’m going to go to the train station and get us some tickets, you go home and lock up. Ok?” When Rainbow nodded in agreement, Spitfire gave her a peck on the cheek and started towards the Train Station. -A Short While Later- Spitfire was sitting (or perhaps lying? I don’t know) at the Train Station waiting for Dash, hearing her name being called behind her she turned and saw Rainbow coming up the steps onto the waiting platform. “Hey Spitfire! I locked up the house and left Tank with Fluttershy,” Rainbow said, handing her the key to the house. “Oh good; I completely forgot about Tank. Thanks for dropping him off,” Spitfire said, remembering the tortoise. “Yeah! It’s almost like the writer forgot to add him in the last few chapters!” said a voice that almost sounded like it was coming from above the two. And looking up, it was confirmed. There was Pinkie Pie just standing on the ceiling. “Pinkie? How are you standing up there? And what writer are you talking about?” Spitfire asked. Dash’s mouth was still dropped so she couldn’t talk. “What? Oh suction cup shoes! See? And forget about the writer. I forgot I wasn’t supposed to talk about that.” Pinkie showed them her suction shoes, “Sorry Mr. Writer!” she apologized, in a seemingly random direction. “Bu-Wha? Never mind. Pinkie, you’re so random,” Rainbow Dash said, shaking off Pinkies actions as though they were nothing. “So? Where are you two headed?” Pinkie asked them, dropping from the ceiling. “Oh, we’re off to Canterlot to see that ‘Arcane’ stallion,” Rainbow explained, as Spitfire removed her tickets from the saddle bag on her back. “Oh him! He’s superduperreallyreallyawesomely Smart! And you know what they say about Stallions with big minds..” Pinkies said, both making up a word and waggling her eyebrows in one go, “They have big coc-” “Pinkie!” Spitfire exclaimed, hushing the pony. “Oh yeah! I forgot you’re married, and to a mare at that... Maybe I’ll pay him a visit!” Pinkie said, beginning to hop away. “Pinkie, you’re in a relationship with Twilight...” Rainbow said, giving her a suspicious look. “Oh right! Shoot, well the writer... I mean I didn’t think that out, huh?” Pinkie said, scratching her head, but her face soon lit up with a new idea, “I know! I’ll go tell Applejack! She’s still straight right?” “What do you mean ‘still’ Pinkie?” Spitfire asked her, giving a quizzical look as well. “Well you never know with these writers! Did you know he still hasn’t fixed that plot hole in chapter 15?” Pinkie asked, somehow managing to speak numbers? “Wha-I don’t eve- You know what? I don’t even want to know!” Rainbow said, as their train pulled into the station, “Well this is our train, come on Spitfire. Bye Pinkie,” Rainbow waved good bye as she walked over to the train. “Yeah, bye Pink-” Spitfire tried to say goodbye to Pinkie but she was gone when she look back. Deciding not to dwell on the fact that she had disappeared into thin air, Spitfire ran over to the train and hopped aboard. When she got onto the train, she walked down the aisle until she found Rainbow posed seductively on one of the train beds. “Oh come on Dash, were on a train. We’re really not going to do that right now!” Spitfire said, playfully shoving Rainbow Dash further on to the bed, “Now move over, I want to get some sleep in before we get there”. When the two of them woke, the air smelt of smoke and the streets sounded of bustling ponies. “Ah, the sights and smells of Canterlot! Eh Rainbow, aren't they great?” Spitfire said, taking in a large breath through her snout. “Yeah, Wonderful. Now come on, let’s go see that Arcane,” Rainbow said, moving along quite quickly. “Hey! Wait up!” Spitfire said, seeing that Rainbow Dash was already moving along. It was about an hour of walking and asking random ponies for directions, some of which were not very helpful, before they found the address of Arcane’s extremely large house. Or dome, rather. Walking up to the door, they found that it was open, and walked right inside. They walked calmly through the large hall that was the main room, looking at strange doors labeled in languages that neither of them could understand, that is until they heard a deafening explosion, and an annoyed voice soon after, “For god’s sake, why can’t I get this right?! Breach, set bolt 25,467 five centimeters to the right this time. I’ll be back in half an hour” Taking off his earmuffs, Arcane turned around to see the two mares standing there with their mouths open. “Wha-How did you get in? Sheesh, can’t a colt have an Augmented Reality Explosion in privacy anymore? Seriously what has the world come to?!” Arcane ranted, while walking over to them. “Anyways, sorry about that. Name’s Arcane Data. Inventor extraordin-” “Yeah we know, we met you at our wedding,” Dash interrupted him. “Oh yeah! You’re that pegasus that married an earth pony, right?” Arcane said, floating an Apple over to himself. “No I’m a pegas- How are you doing that?” Spitfire asked, one again staring open mouthed at the floating apple. “What this? Oh, it’s nothing it’s just my B.R.E.A.C.H. console. It’s like a unicorn’s horn in the sense that it allows me to levitate objects. But it also accepts voice commands and connects directly to the computer of my house,” he said, briefly explaining the system. “Now what can I do for you?” “Yeah, well I’m the one you talked to about the Wings?” Spitfire told him, trying to spark his memory. “Wings, wings, wings. Ah! Yes, you’re Pitfire, correct?” he asked, slightly butchering her name before adding, “And that’s your wife, Rainbow Blitz?” “My name is Spitfire and that’s my wife, Rainbow Dash” Spitfire said, correcting the names he mispronounced. “Ah right, so sorry. So you’re the one I recommended the D.A.R.T. Wings to?” He asked, trying to remember the exact conversation. “Yep. I came today to tell you that I’ve thought it a lot and I want to get them,” Spitfire replied, taking in a large breath. “Well what in Equestria could have compelled you to change your mind so quickly?” He asked. “I mean what could make you want to try something so dangerous that it could end your life?” “Well.... Rainbow's been flying a lot lately. I really want to fly with her. It’s my life, and I can’t live without it. Long story short, I really love the mare behind me and flying is one of the ways we connect, I guess. I don’t really know how to explain it,” Spitfire confessed, looking slightly sheepish. “So you’re risking your life to fly with her. Because you love her. You would risk your life because you love her?” Arcane wasn’t really sure what to think of this. “Yeah..... I guess so.” There was a bit of an awkward silence after Spitfire said this, as Arcane digested the information. “Hey... Arcane you ok?” Rainbow Dash asked, almost sounding as though she cared. “Wha? Oh-Yeah, totally fine. Why Wouldn’t I be? Wow I’ve know you for five minutes and you already asked questions! Gosh so pushy,” Arcane said, forcing a quick recovery. “Anyways I need to sign the waiver saying that I’m not responsible for any injuries that happen, blah blah blah ect.” He gave Spitfire the waiver and added, “Now sign here, here, here and initial here.” Spitfire followed each command signing the paper in multiple places. “Now why am I signing a waiver?” Spitfire asked, after she had finished signing everything. “That way you can’t sue me,” Arcane said, rather bluntly at that. “Anyways, I’m going to need a few samples to make sure the wings are compatible with your body and your cells don’t try to kill the wings.” “Ok, what kind of samples?” Rainbow asked, speaking up for the first time in a while. “Oh calm down. I just need a skin sample, blood sample, and a hair sample” Arcane took each one respectively. All followed by either a yelp or an ‘ouch’ from Spitfire. “Why do you need a sample of my hair?” Spitfire asked him. “No reason. Now if you’ll please step into the chamber onto your left..... I need to go find those wings.” Arcane left the room, going to find the wings he built some time ago. “So you’re sure you’re ok with this? This is your last chance to back out,” Dash asked Spitfire, trying once more to convince her to stop. “Yes Dash, I’m sure. I really want to do this. I really do,” Spitfire said, giving a short but passionate kiss to Rainbow Dash, before Arcane walked back into the room. “Ok, well I found the wings. They just nee- Oh come on! Will you two cut it out with the ‘lovey dovey’ stuff for a second? Now you, yellow pony. Get in the room. We have an operation to do.” Arcane and Spitfire entered the room, leaving Rainbow Dash behind. When Arcane and Spitfire entered the room, he motioned with his hoof towards a table in the center of the room, “You can lie down on that. I’ll be back in a second. I need to prep some equipment in the next room,” Arcane left the room as Spitfire laid back on the table. When Arcane came back in, he saw that Spitfire was on her back showing off some more, volatile areas, “What are you doing?! Lie down on our stomach. Goodness, I don’t need the whole show.” This comment made Spitfire blush furiously and quickly get on her stomach. “Oh.... Um sorry?” Spitfire offered. “Please, don’t be, you flatter me.” Spitfire rolled her eyes at that. “No.. Seriously don’t. I hate being flattered,” Arcane said, giving her a completely serious look. “Oh... Well how does the operation work?” Spitfire asked, desperate for a change of subject. Happy for a change of subject as well, Arcane began to speak, “Well, you fall asleep. Then while you’re asleep I put the wings on your back and start wiring nerves. When you awake, it will feel like you have wings just like you did before. Hopefully,” Arcane added that last part quietly hoping that Spitfire wouldn’t hear him. But as luck would have it she heard him anyways. “What do you mean ‘Hopefully’?” She asked. “Well, I mean I’ve never done this procedure before so I’m not really sure how well it’s going to work,” Arcane confessed, looking in the opposite direction, “So.... Here take these pills” He gave her a couple pills and a glass of water. After she swallowed them, Arcane looked at her expectantly. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Spitfire asked. “The pills effects are supposed to be qui-” Spitfire didn’t hear the last part of his sentence because she passed out cold on the table. “Oh...Well that went better than expected” Arcane said, “Thief?” He called for his pet parasprite. A small black parasprite came flying through the small hole in the door and over to Arcane. “Ah yes there you are. Go over and throw that switch will you?” Arcane took the wings and placed them on Spitfires back. He had a lot of work ahead of him. After about two hours, the room smelt of burnt flesh and lingering electrical current. Arcane was standing at one end of the room, washing his hooves and his face. He made a mental note to buy some more coffee later. Hearing a rustling and a small moan behind him, he turned around to see Spitfire waking up. “Ah, so sleeping beauty is finally awake.” “Wha-Did the operation work?” Spitfire’s eyes quickly perked right up. “Look for yourself.” Arcane motioned to the mirror on the far side of the room. Spitfire quickly trotted over to the mirror a squealed in delight. She tried flexing her wings, but the just shot straight out and in the process, knocked over a beaker of two. “Yeah.... You might need to practice with those a bit more. Preferably somewhere else.” Spitfire ran out the door into the lobby, where Rainbow Dash was sleeping on a couch in the middle of the room. “Dash? Rainbow Dash, wake up!” Spitfire said, trying to rouse the pegasus from her sleep. “Wha? Spitfire, you have wings!” Rainbow Dash shot up and embraced the yellow pegasus. “Arcane, I just want to thank you. So, so much. You gave me back the one thing that made my life worthwhile. Flying with the mare I love. Thank you so much” And with that, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash trotted out the door and flew out into the sun (Well Rainbow was flying, Spitfire was still learning a bit), leaving Arcane to ponder in his thoughts, alone.