//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Dawn of a new Day // by Furor //------------------------------// Rarity was sitting in the back end of her shop, working on her latest dress, when she heard the doorbell ring. A little annoyed at the interruption, but always glad over another customer, she called into the shop in a cheery tone. “I'll be right there.” The designer applied the last stitches to the seam, put the cloth down and turned off the sewing-machine. She stood up from her chair and turned towards the doorway to the boutique. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique. How may I -” she started as she was entering the shop, but stopped in her tracks as she saw which pony had just entered her establishment. “Rainbow Dash?” The pegasus just gave her a shy smile. “Hi, Rarity.” “Well, I must say you are the one pony I expected never to come here on her own. What brings you to my fine establishment?” Rarity gasped and her voice filled with delight. “Have you finally come for a makeover? Oh, I've been waiting to do something with that marvelous mane of yours-” “No,” Dash interrupted her. “That's not why I'm here.” The designer hid her disappointment well. “Why else then? Do tell.” Dash looked around the room and leaned slightly to the side, trying to peek into the area of the shop Rarity had come from. “Is somepony else here?” “No,” the designer responded. “We are alone. Why, what's the matter?” The pegasus took a deep breath before continuing. “Rarity, I - I need your help.” “My help?” the white unicorn repeated. “With what would you require my help?” “Well, I need your advice, actually.” “Oh, of course, dear. I could not possibly turn down a friend in need.” She walked closer to Dash and offered her a comforting smile. “Thanks.” Dash was staying quiet and looked at the wall next to her with empty eyes. “Well?” Rarity asked. “What is it?” Dash looked back at her as if just waking up from a daydream. She looked more nervous than before, eyes darting in various directions. “Can you promise that this stays between us?” “You have my word,” Rarity said and laid a comforting hoof on Dash's shoulder. The pegasus took another long pause, but Rarity did not want to interrupt her this time. Eventually Dash sighed and closed her eyes forcefully. “I think … I think I have a crush on Twilight,” she said, keeping her eyes shut. Rarity's mouth stood open. Had she really just said that? “Could … could you repeat that?” she asked slowly. “I have a crush on Twilight,” Dash said with more force and opened her eyes. “Why do you think you have a 'crush' on her?” Rarity asked through narrowing eyes. Dash looked away and frowned, a tint of desperation in her voice. “I can't spend a minute without thinking about her. When I close my eyes, she's there. When I turn around I expect her to stand there. Everything purple reminds me of her. Every time I look at my wings I think of her. Of what she's doing to help me, how much effort she's putting into … making me happy again.” Rarity was surprised to say the least. Her friend was unusually open with her. Her eyes went wide and a wide grin appeared on her face. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, that's simply wonderful,” she exclaimed and drew the pegasus into a hug. “W-Wonderful?” a confused Dash repeated. She squeezed herself out of the embrace. “How is that wonderful? I don't know what to do!” “Oh, isn't it obvious what you should do?” Rarity's grin had not disappeared. Dash merely stared at her with uncomprehending eyes. After a while Rarity put a hoof to her forehead. “Oh, of course.” A sigh escaped her. “You don't know,” she continued sadly. “Don't know what?” Rarity looked at her and turned her head away, biting her lip and groaned audibly. “Oh, that stupid Pinkie Pie promise,” she said, frustrated, and stomped the ground with one leg. “What? What promise?” Rarity turned her head towards Rainbow Dash, her eyes darting back and forth between Dash's in thought. After a while she gave her a hard stare. “Rainbow Dash, do you think Twilight is beautiful?” she asked, rather blunt for her own tastes. Dash's mouth stood slightly agape, gulping only a moment later. “Uhm … what? Why are you …” “Please, just answer the question.” The pegasus narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I - I guess,” she said looking off to the side again. “I never thought about her like that.” Rarity was pleased with that answer. Well, that's not a 'no'. So it's not mere physical attraction, she thought. “What do you feel when you think about her.” Dash looked back at her with a pained expression. “Is this going somewhere?” she asked rather angrily, probably thinking her friend was mocking her. “Please, Dash,” Rarity pleaded. “I need to know if I'm going to help you.” Dash glared at her friend for a moment longer, but eventually sighed and closed her eyes. “When I think about her I feel … happy.” A small smile appeared on her lips. “I want to be close to her, see her smile at me, feel her touch.” Dash paused for a few seconds before continuing. “When I'm with her I feel safe. I know I can trust her, that she'd never hurt me on purpose. I want her to talk to me more, hug me more; I want her to laugh with me, to trust me, to …” Dash gulped once more and looked up to the unicorn again, “to care for me,” she finished in a weak tone. Rarity had listened to every word. She had small tears in her eyes and wore a wide, satisfied smile. To the designer it sounded like more than just a simple 'crush', but she would not have expected Rainbow Dash to know how to discern between these nuances. She started turning her head left and right, scanning the room for a certain pony. “What are you doing?” Dash asked her. “I'm searching for places Pinkie Pie could hide in.” “Uhm, why?” Dash raised her eyebrows. “Because I'm about to break a Pinkie Pie swear to Twilight.” “What?” Rainbow Dash looked shocked. “You can't break a Pinkie Pie swear!” “No,” Rarity replied with determination. “This is more important than Twilight's trust in me. You have to know this, especially now.” “Know what?” Rarity sighed. “Twilight … has a crush on you, too, Rainbow Dash. The poor thing has had it for a long while now. She was just too scared to tell you.” Dash stared at her with an open mouth, trying to process that new information. Twilight? A crush on her? How? “But … what?” “You are all she's been able to think about for weeks.” Dash closed her mouth, but her eyes kept their size. Was Rarity serious? “So … what should I do now?” Rarity sighed again. “Is it still not obvious?” She looked up at Dash again. “Today you have one of your 'sessions', right?” Dash gave her a hesitant nod. “The last one,” she said. “Well, then that's your chance.” She grabbed Dash by the shoulders and gave her an encouraging smile. “You go there now, say your hellos and the next thing you do is you plant a big, long, sloppy kiss right on that filly's lips.” Dash just continued her baffled stare. “Are you sure?” “Yes,” the fashion designer exclaimed loudly and pushed her friend towards the door by pressing her head against Dash's chest. “If you want something and you know it wants you, what do you do? You take it!” She opened the door with her magic. “I don't know.” Dash said shaking her head and trying to resist Rarity's efforts to push her outside. “Nonsense.” She put a hoof on Dash's shoulder again. “I know you have it in you. Go to her and claim her as yours.” She lifted her hoof in front of her and rolled it up, forming a fist if she had had hands. “Do it, filly!” She gave the pegasus a final, magical shove and closed the door behind her. ~*~ A knock on the door. Twilight looked up from her book, got to her hooves and walked over to it. Opening it she was greeted by the most nervous pegasus she had ever witnessed. “Uhm, hi, Rainbow.” Dash turned her head towards her as if surprised by Twilight's sudden appearance. “Oh, er, hi … Twilight.” Twilight raised her eyebrow as she noticed Dash staring at her mouth of all things and biting her own lip as if being in a mental struggle over whether or not to do something. However, no action came from her friend. After a while Twilight realized that nothing was likely to happen and decided to invite Dash inside. “Do you … want to come in?” Dash did not move her eyes and merely gave her a “mhm” and a barely noticeable nod. Twilight stepped back and gave her friend some space to step inside and closed the door while still eyeing Dash. “Is something the matter?” she asked and stepped around Dash to stand in front of her. “If you're having problems with your wing you should tell me.” Dash refused to make eye contact and responded quietly, “I didn't have any problems.” “Okay. You're still worried about your wing aren't you?” The pegasus mumbled something inaudible to Twilight. “Sorry, what was that?” “No,” Dash said in a flat tone and sighed. “Okay, maybe a bit.” “Well, you don't need to.” Dash faced her and Twilight gave Dash her most caring expressions and saw a small smile appear on the pegasus' face. “There's nothing that can go wrong from here on. In fact, even if your wing hasn't finished regenerating on its own, I've found a way to speed up the process,” she finished cheerfully. Dash's eyebrows rose. “Didn't you say you can't help with that?” “No, I said Tramping's Method can't help with that. The procedure was never designed to increase bone density and the book Nurse Redheart gave me had no mention of that. However, I found a suiting spell in another book describing treatments for osteoporosis.” “For what now?” Twilight sighed and chuckled slightly. “Decreased bone density,” she explained. “Oh. Yeah, I guess that fits.” “Yes, it does. So no matter what, your wing will be as good as new by the end of this session.” “Awesome!” Dash visibly lightened up while her nervousness had apparently vanished. “I knew you'd like it. But first I'll need to examine your wing of course.” Twilight stepped closer and Dash spread her wing out in front of her without a prompt. She began to test the firmness of the muscles with her hooves. “Have you been flexing it regularly?” “Yes,” came Dash's response from next to her. Twilight turned her head and raised an eyebrow. “Any attempts at flying?” Dash released a deep sigh. “No. I've kept my promise.” “Thank you.” Twilight returned her attention to the wing. “I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you - having two wings and not being allowed to fly.” “Well, I guess it's like having a horn and not being allowed to use magic.” “Haha. Yeah, I guess it is. Honestly I wouldn't know what to do.” Twilight turned her head towards Dash's again. “How do you earth ponies and pegasi even brush your mane?” Dash gave an uncomprehending look. “Brush my mane?” she asked, as if that concept were completely alien to her. Twilight rolled her eyes, smiling, and took a step back from the wing. “Never mind. I'm probably asking the wrong pony here.” “Definitely. So, what? Is my wing ready?” “Well, the muscles seem strong enough, but I still have to take a look inside. Just hold on for a minute.” Twilight closed her eyes and her horn began glowing as she examined the wing's interior structure. Roughly one minute later Twilight's horn stopped glowing and she opened her eyes, finding Dash suddenly very interested in a faraway wall with something on her cheeks that appeared to Twilight to be the remnants of a … blush? Is Rainbow blushing? Hm, must be the lighting. She turned her attention back to the wing. “Well, it's pretty much as I expected. The nervous system is back to normal and the bones have gotten stronger.” Dash shot her a hopeful glance, her face apparently blush-free. “However, not strong enough.” The pegasus let her head hang. “Hey, don't worry. That just means you'll have to wait 30 more minutes.” “I hate waiting.” “Yes, I know. But it's almost over.” “Okay. What do we need to do?” “Well …” Twilight bit her lip and embarrassedly looked around the room. The description of the treatment in the other book had been very insistent on one point: the patient had to move as minimally as possible or the practitioner had to find a way to compensate for body movements. The realization of what Twilight would have to do did not come without shock to the unicorn. “Other than Tramping's Method this spell actually creates something from nothing instead of helping your body regrow it. I'll have to create the …” she shot the pegasus a quick glance and searched for another term, “… stuff that makes up your bone and put it in the right place. For me to do that it is absolutely crucial that you move as little as possible relative to me.” Twilight took a deep breath and faced Dash again. “Basically you'll have to lie on your stomach with your wings spread out while I sit on top of you.” Dash's eyes went wide and her cheeks assumed the same red color as Twilight's. Now that's a blush, she thought. Well, I don't blame her. “You have to what?” Twilight closed her eyes. “If I sit on top of you and hold your wings down with my hooves I can adjust my … aim if you will and compensate for your breathing and other movements.” “But … I can lie still.” Dash looked distressed. Twilight would have expected such reaction from herself, not from the usually coolest pony in Ponyville. Twilight shook her head. “Not still enough,” she said. “There really is no other way for us to do it except an anaesthetic. Would you prefer that?” Dash shook her head. “Hell, no.” “See?” Twilight sighed quietly. “And I imagine you wouldn't like having part of a bone in your muscles or skin either.” The pegasus stared blankly at her, eyes moving back and forth between the unicorn's own, and Twilight began to think that Dash was seriously considering that option. “Look, the sooner we start the sooner you can fly again.” She offered Dash a comforting smile. She seemed a bit more at ease, although only slightly. Dash closed her eyes and hung her head for a moment, apparently accepting the safer option. “Alright,” she said lifting her head again. “What do we need to do?” “You just lie down and spread both of your wings and keep them as still as possible.” “Why both wings?” “I'll have to adjust the bone densities of your new wing and the old wing. And that's easier if it's in the same position or mirror position of the one I'm treating.” Dash sighed. “Okay, let's get this over with. The couch doesn't have enough space, I imagine?” “No, you'll have to lie down on the floor. Look, this is probably just as awkward for me as it is for you.” Dash just gave her a raised eyebrow. Yeah, I didn't expect that to help. ”The book says that if the patient is conscious during the treatment then it should just feel like a massage. Although why, it doesn’t say. Have you ever had a massage?” The pegasus shook her head. “Not really.” “Not really?” Twilight repeated. “Well, we …” Dash looked nervously around the room, “didn't get to finish it. Can we just start?” “Sure, just lie down and keep calm.” Dash turned to the side and lay down on her stomach before spreading both of her wings out to the sides and closing her eyes. Twilight took a few deep breaths and stepped over the lying pegasus and slowly rested her rump of Dash's lower back. She felt a flick of Dash's tail softly strike her back, but otherwise saw no noticeable reaction from the pegasus. She pressed her hooves down on the bases of Dash's wings. Hm, unusually fast heart rate. ”Don't worry, Rainbow. I'll make it as fast as I can.” “No,” Dash said to her surprise and released a sigh, but kept her eyes closed. “Take your time. This sounds more dangerous than the other treatment and I don't want to put that much pressure on you now.” Twilight found herself smiling. “Okay.” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and released it again. “Here it goes.” ~*~ “So, that should be it.” Twilight climbed off of the pegasus and gave her some space to stand up as well. “How did it feel?” Dash slowly stood up and tried to conceal the massive blush that had spread across her cheeks. “Uhm, like a massage?” she said. “Great!” Twilight exclaimed. “Does that mean you're finished? I can fly now?” Dash asked eagerly. “Yes,” Twilight answered, “but do take it easy,” she crunched up her face in emphatic pain after Dash had quickly taken off inside the building and almost immediately drifted off to the side and hit a bookshelf. “Or that might happen.” Dash was now lying upside down at the bottom of the bookshelf with a confused look and Twilight could not help but laugh. Dash shook her head. “What happened?” “Your pectoral muscles probably degenerated over time,” Twilight explained while Dash climbed back to her hooves. “But just a bit of training should do the trick.” “Can't you make my muscles stronger again?” Dash asked and flapped her wings to see if they had taken any damage. “Sorry, magic can't do everything,” Twilight lied. She could have easily given that muscle its strength back, but a part of her mind wanted Dash to be closer to her by every means necessary, and with the last of their sessions over that would not be the case if the pegasus would be flying away right now. Of course, she knew it was a silly tactic. But, still, it could work, she told herself. “Now, come here. I need to examine my work,” she said. “You need to what?” The thought of getting close to Twilight again made Dash’s heart race. “Don't worry, Rainbow. It's just a last checkup,” Twilight said with a reassuring smile. “I don't bite.” Dash breathed in deeply and walked over to her. She looked at her expectantly and raised an eyebrow as the unicorn sat down on her haunches in front of her. She smiled up at her and tapped her hoof on the ground at Dash's hooves, inviting her to sit down as well. She lowered herself and sat down on the library floor, about two feet away from Twilight. Twilight rolled her eyes and shifted closer to the pegasus, causing Dash's heart to speed up again, and her own pulse to rise, too. Although both ponies tried to hide their reactions from each other, Twilight was much better trained at it and she wondered why Dash seemed so nervous again all of a sudden. Could it be … she thought. No. No, she's just worried about her wing. She smiled at Dash again. “I'll need you to spread your wings for me, please.” “Both wings?” Dash asked “Of course. I have to compare them after all.” Dash slowly unfolded her wings to their full length, causing Twilight's eyes to shine in amazement before she blinked and collected her thoughts again. “So, let's see.” She let her bound journal and a pen float over and hover next to her head. The pen copied notes into the book as Twilight began to study the new wing visually. “Everything seems to have grown like expected. They're the same length, and have-” she paused and repeatedly looked from one wing to the other, “-the same density of feathers.” Twilight raised a hoof to touch the new limb. It retracted slightly at her touch. Dash's face showed an embarrassed expression. Apparently she had not expected Twilight to touch it. It was quickly replaced by a small smile and Twilight continued her examination. She traced her hoof along the wing and gently pressed its joints. After a while she removed her hoof from the wing and gave Dash a bright smile. “The feathers are firmly supported. The bones and joints are strong enough. Everything seems to be in order.” “It's just like before?” Dash asked. “Yep, just like the other one.” Twilight went on and prodded the new wing's feathers with her hoof. That caused it to spasm and forced a short laugh out of the pegasus. Dash quickly shut her mouth and looked off to the side. Twilight, however, raised an eyebrow and repeated the procedure. Prod, spasm and a suppressed laugh. A wide grin spread across her face. “Look who's ticklish!” she exclaimed, causing Dash to turn her head and look at her with a slight panic. “Please, no-” she started, but it was too late. Twilight already had her hooves in Dash's wings, close to their bases, ruffing up the feathers. The library exploded with Dash's laughter as she fell over on her side. “Stop, stop,” she forced out between sharp breaths, but Twilight showed no sign of stopping and instead just laughed deviously. “Stop? I've only just begun,” she proclaimed in a short pause. “Oh, it. Is. On.” Dash quickly shifted closer to her and pressed her own hooves on Twilight's sides below her ribs. That caused the unicorn to laugh hysterically and fall over on top of her. Soon they were both rolling around and forcing the laughter out of each other. After a few minutes the laughing became slightly painful and Twilight was the first to become weaker as her hooves were moving slower and slower and she finally collapsed under the pegasus lying over her, both ponies breathing heavily. “So, you give up?” Dash asked from above. “Yes,” Twilight panted. “I am defeated,” she said with a chuckle. “You pegasi just have too much energy.” Dash suddenly felt her face heating up as she realized the position they were both in and she saw a blush appear on the unicorn as well. She looked into Twilight's eyes and saw them blankly staring back into her own. This was what the chance she had been waiting for. Do it, said a voice in her head. You want it, you know she wants it. Do it, filly! “Rainbow -” Twilight started, but did not get any further as Dash pressed her lips against hers. Twilight's eyes went wide, but she could not bring herself to push Dash away. A rush of emotions flooded her body at the new sensation and she found herself closing her eyes and returning the kiss. Her mind went blank. There now was nothing else in the world but her and the blue filly pressing her body against hers as she closed her front legs around Dash's neck. They were taking in sharp breaths through their nostrils and Twilight felt hooves caressing her cheek and her mane. She felt a soft tail brush against hers and she wrapped her own tail around the rainbow colored one while feeling the slight draft of slowly beating wings over her. After what felt like an eternity of blissful ecstasy to Twilight, Dash broke the kiss and they both took a series of deep breaths. Dash rolled over to Twilight's side and faced the ceiling, while Twilight kept her eyes closed with a silly smile on her lips. Eventually the first coherent thoughts came back to her, together with the first doubts. Was this a dream again? It could not have been real, but it felt so much different than her other dreams. Rainbow could not possibly feel the same way about her. “I'm sorry.” She heard Dash's voice from beside her. She opened her eyes. So this was real. But what did it mean? Was it what she had been hoping for all this time? Or was it all just in a rush of the moment, caused by the adrenaline pumping through their bodies. She repeated Dash's words in her mind. She was apologizing to her. Apologizing? For what? Did she think the kiss was a mistake? Twilight turned her head and saw the pegasus of her dreams lying next to her on the floor and looking at her with sad eyes. “Are you … angry with me?” Dash asked quietly. Twilight scowled. Angry? Why would she be angry with her? Oh, no! She did think this was a mistake. She was going to leave her. This had been her chance and she blew it. Tears she had subdued for months were beginning to well up behind her eyes as she saw Dash turning her head away. The only pony she ever wanted to be with over everything else was going to leave her, rejecting her. She could live with the uncertainty, with her dreams and hopes that she might one day be strong enough to tell Rainbow about her feelings. She could handle waiting and not knowing, but she did not know if she could handle rejection. Dash began sitting up and tears began flowing down Twilight's cheeks. No! She had to tell her. She had to tell her now. But, how? She was growing desperate as she saw Dash now standing, facing away from her. “Wait, Rainbow!” she pleaded while trying to suppress her sobs, looking at the pegasus through teary eyes. “Wait?” Dash repeated quietly with a crackling voice without looking back and sniffed, which Twilight could not hear. “Why?” Twilight closed her eyes and mustered all the strength she had left. “Because …” she took a deep, ragged breath. Tell her! ”Because I love you!” she forced out, nearly whispering, and allowed the tears to come now freely. Twilight could not see Dash eventually turning around and was oblivious to the hoofsteps coming closer to her. All she could feel after the wave of despair had hit her and she was crying on the floor was the gentle touch of a hoof on her cheek. She opened her eyes and turned her head, seeing a blue shape through her blurry vision before being drawn into another kiss. This one ended quickly, however, and she instinctively wrapped her front legs around the pegasus again and held her in a tight embrace, determined not to let her go this time. Together they rolled over on the side and she felt the hoof from before stroking her mane, trying to calm her down, but she could not stop herself from crying. She sobbed audibly into the multicolored mane, giving voice to all the frustration and desperation that had been amassing inside of her for the past months. All the failed attempts at building up her strength, all the blissful dreams that had ended in tears, all the pressure she had put on herself and nearly collapsed under, all of her fantasies that she feared would never come true and all the long hours she had spent watching Dash from her balcony practicing her stunts without the pegasus knowing. She had learned over time to hide her feelings better in public, until the time was right, she had told herself. She grew apathetic and detached towards strangers and put on smiles for her friends. But that had not changed a thing. On the inside she had been tearing herself apart and had begun to hate herself for her own cowardice, thinking that it could be any day that Rainbow would start dating somepony else. The thought of the filly she loved being together with someone else had nearly broken her. Dash had been patiently holding and comforting her and eventually the flow of tears slowed down and stopped, leaving her and Twilight in a firm hold of each other, the unicorn's muzzle still buried in Dash's wet mane. After a few moments Dash also stopped stroking her mane and simply rested her hoof on her neck. “Twilight?” she asked. Twilight gave her a quiet “Hm?” as response, but otherwise did not move. “Can we … talk?” Twilight sighed. She knew this had to come, eventually. She took her head back and saw Rainbow Dash's concerned look. Twilight gave her a small smile under her reddened and tired eyes. “Yes,” she said weakly, “of course. I'm … sorry for the bawling.” Dash smiled softly at her. “No, it's fine.” “It's just that this has been gnawing on me for so long, eating me up from the inside, that -” Dash planted another kiss on her lips, causing them both to close their eyes and Twilight's body to go limp. After they broke the kiss they kept their eyes closed and Dash rested her forehead against Twilight's. “Really, it's okay. I understand.” In truth, however, Dash knew as well as Twilight that she was far from understanding what Twilight had felt, but she accepted the comforting words and pushed that issue away for another time. “So …” Twilight gulped, but keeping her eyes closed, almost fearing the response, “do you feel the same?” “I don't know,” Dash said, upon which Twilight expected another wave of sadness rolling in. “I don't know if I can call it 'love',” Dash continued. “I've had girlfriends before. One or two. And I thought I knew love.” Dash took a deep breath and opened her eyes, shifting her position so that Twilight would open hers, too. She looked deeply into the unicorn's eyes for a moment. “I've just never felt anything like this before.” This was enough for Twilight. She knew now that Rainbow loved her or was at least close to it, even if she did not know it or could not admit it to herself. A wide smile was showing on her face as she leaned forward and finally gave Dash a kiss of her own. They held the kiss for as long as their lungs could support their efforts, Twilight rolling onto Dash for a while, but eventually broke it and lay on their sides again, their foreheads once more pressed against each other. Twilight pulled Dash's body closer to herself. “How long?” she asked quietly. Dash understood what she had meant. “Second session, I think.” Twilight laughed quietly. “I knew there was something odd about your behavior after that.” “Hehe. Yeah, at first I thought I was sick or something. A side effect from the treatment. You?” Twilight sighed deeply. “I can't really give you one specific point in time. But it's been a few months now, actually. Four or five.” “Five months?” Dash repeated and looked up at Twilight. “Why didn't you say anything?” Twilight now also lifted her head and looked sadly into Dash's eyes. “How would you have reacted?” Seeing the realization on Dash's face she continued. “See? That's why I didn't tell you.” She gulped. “I don't think I could have handled rejection.” “Well,” Dash said with a wide smile, “we have a happy ending now, don't we?” Twilight giggled softly and returned Dash's smile. “Yes, we do.” She planted a short kiss on the pegasus' lips. “Although I don't hope this is an end.” Dash laughed. “Oh, believe me. It's far from it.” With that they nuzzled each other and resumed their embrace, the purple unicorn resting her head on Dash's and listening to the calm rhythm of her breath. Twilight was the first to speak again after a few minutes. “Rainbow?” she asked. “Hm?” came the answer from the mare in her forelegs. “I don't feel like standing up,” Twilight said with a chuckle. “Hehe. Me neither.” “So what do we do now?” “I have an idea.” Dash rolled on top of Twilight, giving her a playful grin. “You just have to hold on tight.” Twilight knew what she was planning. “Are you sure you can manage both of us with your weak muscle?” “Sure I can. That little crash earlier was nothing. I can find my balance.” “Well, if you're sure. I trust you.” “You just handle the doors and I'll get us up there in no time.” Twilight wrapped her four legs tightly around her and together they took off, both of them laughing at first. They toppled in the beginning and Dash quickly began panting and sweating, but they steadily made their way up the stairs and into Twilight's room, the unicorn magically closing the door behind them.