Chapter 1
The Courtship Catastrophe
Chapter One
“Alright, there we go. Nice and even. You’re doing great, Twi.” Rainbow Dash flew backwards ahead of Twilight, trying to guide the newly minted alicorn through the basics of flying. She watched her friend’s new wings to make sure she kept them even with each flap. “Remember, don’t think of your wings as two separate things. Think of ‘em like they’re connected.” She smirked when the alicorn’s eyes darting down to the ground. “Don’t worry, Twi, I’ll catch you if anything happens.”
“That’s easy for you to say, Rainbow.” Twilight took one last glance at the ground, which was distressingly far away, and brought her focus back up to her instructor. She tried to keep her wingbeats even so that she didn’t list to one side or the other. “You’ve been doing this your whole life… I’m not even used to having these things yet.”
“You’re doin’ great, though.” Dash flapped her wings hard once and pulled around into a quick loop, coming back to a hover in front of Twilight again. “Okay, let’s try and do a turn. Nice and easy, just bank to the left a little.”
“Wait, your left or my left?” Twilight looked to either side for any potential obstacles, but the pegasus had cleared the sky before they took to the air. She flapped her wings once and locked them out at her sides so that she could glide for a bit.
“Let’s go with your left.” Dash kept flying backward, drifting to the right so that she could stay in front of the alicorn through the turn. “Remember, don’t flap through the turn, just lean into it.” She watched Twilight’s wings as she banked to the side. “Okay, good… just—”
At the last second, she saw Twilight’s left wing twist, throwing her off balance and sending her tumbling through the air. Rainbow folded her wings in and dropped like a rock, falling past the flailing alicorn. After a moment, she flared her wings again and flapped them to come to a hover, holding out her forelegs. Twilight landed in them an instant later, but kept her eyes squeezed shut for a few seconds. When she finally opened them and looked up at Dash, the pegasus smirked. “See? Told ya.”
Twilight didn’t respond, instead trying to press herself further into Rainbow’s strong grasp. Her heart raced in her chest, and her wing not pinned against the other mare’s chest fluttered a little, lamely trying to stop her tumbling through the air.
“Hey, you’re okay, Twi.” Dash gave her friend a quick squeeze. “You wanna try again, or—” She stopped when Twilight shook her head vigorously. “Alright, hold on then.” She locked her wings and banked into a wide turn, gliding in a lazy circle down to the ground. When she landed, she let the alicorn down gently.
“S-sorry.” Twilight muttered, keeping her eyes fixed to the ground. “I shouldn’t have… I just…” Her shoulders slumped, and her wings drooped down at her sides. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s cool, Twi.” Dash sidled up next to Twilight and draped a wing across her back. “Lotsa ponies freak out when they fall, especially if you haven’t learned how to pull out of it. It’s all part of learning how to fly.” She gave her friend a light squeeze. “Besides, you were doin’ great up ‘til then. I bet you’ve got this down pat in less than a week.”
“Thanks, Rainbow.” Twilight smiled and leaned over, nuzzling the pegasus’ cheek, then sighed. “Well, I guess I’ll head home. I’ve got a couple more books on flight that I haven’t finished yet. Maybe one of them will help me realize what I’m doing wrong.”
“You’re not doing anything wrong, Twi. You’re just having a couple of accidents.” Dash shrugged and pulled her wing back in. “They happen. You just gotta keep at it and you’ll get it eventually.” She leapt into the air and hovered a few feet off of the ground. “You sure you don’t wanna try again? I’ve got a little time left before I gotta head back to the farm.”
Twilight looked up at the sky for a moment, then shivered. “No, that’s okay. I think that I’ll be keeping my hooves on the ground for a while.” She flapped her wings once to settle them against her sides. “Same time tomorrow?”
“Sure thing, Twi. See you then!” Rainbow pumped her wings and rocketed into the sky, relishing the feeling of raw speed while the ground fell away like she’d been shot out of a cannon. The temperature of the air dropped the higher she climbed, but she didn’t care. When she finally slowed to a hover, her breath came out in puffs of condensation and she could see the curvature of the ground when she looked down. Below her, Ponyville was barely a speck on the rolling fields of green, and even the mountain Canterlot was perched on looked to be only a few inches tall.
Dash sucked in a deep breath of the frigid air and spun slowly, taking in the length and breadth of Equestria below her. Man, I wish I could convince AJ to come up here with me. Maybe Twilight will eventually. I bet she’d get a kick out of it. She spent a few more seconds admiring the awesome view before folding her wings and letting herself fall. The first time she’d ever climbed that high, she’d learned the hard way that she couldn’t spend too much time in the thin air when she blacked out and came to a few hundred feet above the ground. She’d avoided becoming a pegasus pancake, but she’d felt the blades of grass tickling her stomach as she pulled out of her freefall.
While freefalling back to the ground was fast, it was also boring from so high up. It left Dash with a lot of time to think while she waited for the ground to get closer. She fell past a wisp of high-floating cirrus clouds and got a devilish idea. Using her folded wings to angle herself around, she swept through a few more banks of cirrus clouds and collected some tufts of them as she passed. Once she had a sizable ball of cloud, she rolled onto her back and dug her front hooves into it and waited.
Eventually, the ambient air warmed enough that her ball of cloud evaporated, and she rolled over to gauge where she was falling. Below her, ponyville was rapidly growing while she rocketed toward it, but she leaned just a bit to angle herself over Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow scanned the ground for a familiar splotch of orange against the sea of green. She found it soon enough, and she flared her wings so that she could glide the rest of the way down to her unsuspecting marefriend. “Hey, AJ!”
Applejack looked over her shoulder at the approaching pegasus, but kept walking. After a few moments, she felt her marefriend’s weight settle on her back. “Hey there, sugar.” She leaned her head back to nuzzle Rainbow. “Whatcha doin’ back al—Gah!” She jumped as a pair of still-freezing hooves found their way to her stomach. “Granny’s knickers, sugarcube! Where ya been keepin’ those things? The Frozen North?”
She wiggled around, trying to dislodge the mare clinging to her back. But Rainbow’s grip only tightened, and she snaked her hind legs around to get a better hold. Applejack looked over her shoulder at her marefriend. “Ya really wanna try this again?” The pegasus only smirked and tightened her grip even further. “Alright, you asked for it.” With that warning, she bucked as hard as she could, trying with all of her considerable might to dislodge the mare on her back.
Dash put up an admirable performance, but a bronco had nothing on Applejack and before long, Rainbow met the grass at a speed not unlike those she encountered during her flying accidents. “Jeez, AJ.” She rubbed the back of her head. “I know you like it rough, but that was a little over the top, don’t you think?”
Applejack shrugged, grinning smugly. “Don’t come to the rodeo if’n ya can’t handle the ride, sugar.” She made her way over to the downed pegasus, placing a hoof on her chest when she tried to get up. “Hey now… where do ya think yer goin’?” Before her marefriend could respond, she pounced. Applejack captured Dash’s lips in a fierce kiss, feeling the pegasus squirm beneath her to try and free her hooves. However, the farmer quickly readjusted herself, countering the other mare’s every move and holding her down.
Eventually, Dash broke away from the kiss, squirming and biting her lip while her marefriend kept planting smaller kisses that ran down her neck. “C-come on, AJ… This isn’t fair.” She pulled as hard as she could to get a foreleg loose, but she was no match for the earth pony’s brute strength.
“You know the rules.” Applejack nipped at her marefriend’s neck, delighting in the shiver it sent through her body. She nuzzled her way up, peppering the cyan fur below her with kisses and nibbles. When she finally reached Rainbow’s ear, she blew a warm breath into it and watched it flick back and forth. “If ya want it, ya gotta come and take it.” She whispered.
Dash struggled for a few more seconds before giving up her struggle. “Alright, AJ, you—ooooooh.” Her words trailed off into a moan when her marefriend ran a hoof down her side. “You asked for it.” With a little more wiggling, she freed her wings and brought them to bear, tracing the tips along her assailant’s ribs.
Applejack tried to keep her composure, but the feathers dancing along her sides soon broke it. It started with a single chuckle sneaking out between kisses, then a steady stream of giggles, until finally she had to back off and stand up. “Alright, sug’, y-you win. C-cut it out.”
“Hmm… nah.” Dash reached up and pulled her marefriend back down, holding her in place while she continued tickling her mercilessly. She did her best to hold on tight and keep the earth pony from wiggling free, but once again Applejack’s superior strength won out. The farmer managed to free a hoof and pressed it into the pegasus’ side just below her flight muscles. Rainbow let out a yelp, and her wings flared out wide for a moment. Applejack used the momentary reprieve to pin the pegasus’ forelegs at her sides, trapping her wings under her body. Dash struggled for a second before realizing she was stuck.
“Give up yet?” Applejack asked, smirking.
“You cheated,” Dash said, glaring at the other mare playfully.
“All’s fair in love ‘n war, sug’. ‘Sides, you started it.” Applejack nudged her marefriend with an elbow, then leaned in for another kiss, this one much gentler than the first one. She wrapped her hooves around Dash’s neck and ran them through her mane. After a moment of wiggling and readjustment, she felt the familiar embrace of Dash’s wings wrapping around her. They lay there for some time, trading kisses and light nuzzles. Eventually, Applejack gave the pegasus one last kiss on the tip of her nose, then pulled back. “Ah love you, Rainbow.”
Dash smiled and brought one wing down, brushing the tip against her marefriend’s cutie mark. “I love you too, AJ.”
Twilight trotted into the library, humming happily to herself while she closed the door. She made her way up to her room, a spring in her step causing her hips to sway a little, but stopped dead in her tracks when she passed through the doorway at the top of the stairs and saw that her desk had been cleared off.
“Spike!” She called back downstairs to her number one assistant. “What did you do with Olive Branch’s General Guide to Gryphic Grammar? It was on my desk when I left earlier.” She waited a few moments for a response, but none came, so she tried again. “Spike!” Her second attempt was once again met with silence, so she headed back down to the landing of the staircase in the main room and looked around for her absent assistant.
“Spike? Where are—” Twilight stopped and sighed when she spotted the book she was looking for back in its spot on the top shelf. She was unsure whether she was irritated that he had reshelved a book she clearly wasn’t done with yet—all of the guttural throat sounds and screeches were making learning Gryphish a slow process—or pleased that he had been taking his expanded duties cleaning and maintaining the library more seriously as of late.
Regardless, she needed that book back. Running to the edge of the landing, she leapt out over the main floor, spreading her wings and gliding over to the shelf. She backpedaled as she got closer, but misjudged the amount of speed she had built up before jumping and bumped into the bookcase face first. Luckily, she managed to stay airborne and hovered just to the left of the shelf she had been trying to reach. Just as she made her way over and pulled the book off of the shelf, the front door flew open, and Spike waddled in whistling and carrying a bucket in one hand.
“There you are.” Twilight put a hoof on her hip while the other cradled her newly retrieved tome. “And where have you been?”
Spike looked up at the alicorn for a moment, then gave a perfunctory wave. “Hey, Twilight.” He resumed his trek toward the kitchen, talking back over his shoulder as he went. “I was over at Rarity’s. She needed some raw sapphires cut into some weird shapes for a necklace and asked me to do it for her.” He wiggled his free hand, showing off his diamond-hard claws, then lifted his bucket. “She even let me keep the shavings.”
Twilight giggled, slowing her wingbeats so that she gently lowered to the ground. “Well, just be careful. Remember what happened last time you got a peridot cut.” She couldn’t see his face while he walked away, but there was a slight hitch in his stride as he entered the kitchen and set the bucket on the table.
“Come on, Twilight, that was a long time ago… and I didn’t cry that much.” Spike coughed into a fist, then rounded on the librarian. “What are you doing home, anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be hanging out with Rainbow Dash?”
“Yeah, but we kind of… wrapped up early.” Twilight finally landed and tucked her book under a wing, noticing a couple of misaligned feathers in the process. “Ugh, I just preened this morning. Well, I guess I’ll have to do it again before tomorrow’s lesson.” She sighed and trudged over to the stairs.
“Lesson?” Spike raised a quizzical eyebrow. “What is she teaching you, how to do the Sonic Rainboom?”
“No. I don’t think I could even do that if I wanted to. I mean, Rainbow’s trained her entire—” Twilight finally noticed her assistant giving her a deadpan stare and stopped her explanation, smiling sheepishly. “Aheh. Um, no. She’s just giving me instructions on some basic flying techniques and form. The kinds of things she learned when she first started flying.”
“But… you already know all that stuff.” Spike looked up at the shelf the alicorn had just been hovering in front of when he came in mere moments ago. “After you crash landed from your little coronation flight, you read like, three books on flight and aerodynamics that afternoon. You were flying around the library the next day!”
“I was crashing around the library.” Twilight closed her eyes and shook her head. “Oh, Celestia, I made such a mess. Sorry about that… again.” The dragon waved away her apology. She dropped her book on a table near the stairs and headed back over toward Spike. “Besides, Rainbow was really excited to help me learn how to fly, and I didn’t want to show up for our first lesson already knowing how to fly.”
"But if you told her, then you girls could spend your time actually flying together, instead of her 'teaching' you how to fly." He made air quotation marks around the word teaching.
"We are flying together. Oh, you should see her when I do something right. Her face lights up like I did a Sonic Rainboom instead of just flying in a straight line." Twilight said with a soft smile. "She wouldn't have that if I told her I can fly."
"Oh... kay." Spike raised an eyebrow. "But just imagine how happy she'll be when you show her what you know, instead of just flying in a straight line." He waved one hand around in an elaborate pattern of twists and loops, but just pushed the other in a slow, straight line.
"We'll get to that. It's not like I plan on pretending I'm bad at flying forever. Dash said I've already improved a great deal." Twilight clopped her hooves together and walked over to the table where she had put down the book on Gryphic grammar. "She wants to try flapping through turns tomorrow."
"But you're not really improving!" Spike threw his claws into the air. "You're just pretending to be bad, then flying as well as you already know how to. Heck, you were flying circles in here the other day until you got dizzy enough to crash into the staircase."
"This isn't about improving, Spike, it's about spending time with my friends." Twilight took the book and started looking for the page she had left off on. "Besides, it's not like I’m not improving at all, theory is great, but Dash can teach me things that aren't in any book."
"Really? There was actually an aspect of flying that wasn't in all those books you read?" Spike shook his head. “Well, whatever. Have fun in flying kindergarten, I’m gonna sprinkle some of those shavings on a scoop of ice cream.” He turned on his heel and waddled off to the kitchen.
“Don’t eat too much. It’s almost lunch time, and I don’t want you to spoil it with an ice cream induced tummy ache.” Twilight floated her book in front of her as she climbed the stairs, still searching for the chapter on screeching. By the time she’d found it, she’d reached her bedroom, so she dropped the book onto her desk and closed the door, leaning against it and letting out a relieved sigh. That was close… Luckily, Spike’s sweet tooth won’t let sapphires sit around for long.
She trotted over to her desk and sat down, pulling a notebook out of a drawer and flipping it open to the last page she’d been taking notes on. A clang of silverware rang out downstairs, and she glanced at the door. She hated not being honest with Spike, but if she told him, it would only be a matter of time before Rarity found out. That was a can of worms that she wanted to keep sealed, encased in a layer of concrete, and buried deep under a mountain for as long as she could, hopefully forever.
She finally found the page she was looking for, but immediately slammed the book closed again, blushing while she looked around the room. Once she was sure that she was alone, she lifted the cover back up, peeking into the small opening. Sure enough, the contents hadn’t spontaneously changed in the last few seconds. She flipped the notebook back open, her wings fidgeting on her back as she scanned down the page. At the top, there were meticulous notes on the different conjugations of ‘Skraak,’ but they got less and less meticulous as they went down the page, until they stopped completely about two-thirds of the way down. Below that were several doodles of a certain chromatic pegasus in flight.
“Oh, Celestia.” Twilight quickly flipped to the next page, briefly considering tearing out the offending page all together, incinerating it, and simply starting her notes over. Ultimately, she decided against and started taking new notes at the top of the next page. The scratching of quill on parchment, along with the occasional pause to get more ink, soon filled the room. However, a flash of movement out of the window caught the alicorn’s attention, drawing her gaze to the sky. She could have sworn she’d seen Dash race by just then, but the view from her window was empty save for a few wisps of cloud. She tried to shake it off and refocus on her studies, but the damage was done and her mind started to wander.
Her thoughts drifted back to the end her lesson with Rainbow, when she had ‘accidentally’ fallen and Dash had caught her. While Twilight had planned on twisting her wing to send her spiraling downward, the actual freefall through the air had still frightened her and caused her heart to race. But when Dash had caught her, she couldn’t help but feel safe. For the brief time that it took them to reach the ground, she could hear, even feel, Rainbow’s heartbeat through her chest.
Twilight finally snapped out of her reverie and realized that she’d been staring wistfully out the window for the last fifteen minutes while her quill hovered above a new sketch. Her heart leapt up into her throat when she realized that the new drawing was of Rainbow Dash cradling Twilight in her hooves, their lips dangerously close to touching. She could only stare at it for a few moments, the image burning itself into her mind, before she magically ripped the page out, crumpled it into a ball, and promptly set it on fire. She watched the flames dance for a few seconds before they petered out and only a ball of fine ash was left. Never one to leave anything to chance, the alicorn cracked open her window and tossed the ashes out, scattering them to the wind. Unfortunately, the wind chose that particular moment to take a break, and the fine gray dust drifted to the ground more or less intact.
Grunting, Twilight turned back to her studies, dipping her quill into the ink in preparation for a third round of note-taking. But when she looked back to the Grammar Guide, the letters and words and words staring back at her were supremely uninteresting. She tried to force herself to keep working, but her thoughts kept drifting at the end of every paragraph. After a few more minutes of taking half-hearted notes, she stood up from her desk and trudged over to the bed, flopping down onto it and burying her face in a pillow. Rolling over—and wincing when she accidentally squished her wing at a bad angle—she scanned the titles held in her personal bookshelf. While she couldn’t get any work reading done, maybe a little pleasure reading would help reign in her roaming thoughts.
After half a minute of reading every book title several times, she grabbed the latest Daring Do with her magic. Of course, she’d already finished it, but the next one was slated to come out in a month and a little refresher couldn’t hurt. Just as she went to pull Daring Do and the Manticore’s Mace free from the shelf, her eyes flicked over to another book. It was one that she’d borrowed from Rarity, though the unicorn made it very clear that she would refute any claims made as such, but had never actually gotten around to reading. Twilight released Daring Do and floated Rarity’s novel over to the bed, opening it up to the first page.
“On Wings of Love: The Scandalous Love Affair of Platinum and Pansy.”
“That was such garbage! The book was way better.” Rainbow Dash trotted out of the exit of the Ponyville Cinema, throwing the door open with a little more force than necessary. Her wings ruffled on her back and she let out an agitated snort. “I mean, I can’t believe they cast Goldenfeather to play Sharpclaw… and the temple scene? All of the traps were messed up, and that last one wasn’t even in the book! I mean, a living game of Tic-Tac-Toe? Who would even think of making that, much less using it as a trap to guard the Gryphon’s Goblet?”
“Ah don’t know, Ah thought it was pretty good.” Applejack shrugged as she followed her marefriend out into the evening air, giving the still-open door a nudge closed. She quickly caught up with the fuming pegasus and bumped her flank. “Hey, would’ja rather of seen that sappy romance movie? Ah think a showin’ of it’s ‘bout to start if’n ya make it a double feature.”
Dash looked back at the theater, where a poster of two sappy looking unicorns in each other’s hooves stood in stark contrast to Daring Do swinging by a vine over a bottomless chasm. She stuck her tongue out at the sight. “Blegh. No thanks.” She threw a wing over the earth pony, and they started walking down the street. “I probably need to turn in soon, anyway.”
“Really?” Applejack spared a glance at the clock tower before turning back to her marefriend. “It’s still pretty early, and with all those naps ya took today there ain’t no way you should be tired already.”
“Hey, I did work, too. I mean, not as much as you, but I don’t think anypony can do as much work as you do. Maybe Big Mac, but other than that…” Rainbow trailed off and shook her head. “Whatever. Anyway, I’m not like… sleepy tired, but flying with Twilight this morning wore me out. We’ve gotta do it again tomorrow too, so I need to get some rest.” She pulled the farm pony down a turn toward Sweet Apple Acres, and soon the street lamps of town gave way to the darkness of the countryside. They walked in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other’s company and admiring the night sky as stars winked into existence. Eventually, Dash broke the silence. “You should come.”
“Beg pardon, sugar?” Applejack cast a sidelong glance at the pegasus walking next to her. “Come where now, exactly?”
“To see Twilight flying tomorrow.” Dash’s free wing flapped once, and she looked off in the direction of the field she and the alicorn had been practicing at. “She’s still just doing the basics, and she’s getting a lot better, but you should see the look on her face and the way she flaps her wings when she’s about to fall, it’s priceless!.” She chuckled at a memory from that morning’s lesson, then turned back to her marefriend and gave her a squeeze with her wing. “It’ll be fun. Plus, you need a break. You’ve been working yourself too hard, and you’re barely any fun when we do finally get in from the fields.” Rainbow chuckled again as Applejack cleared her throat and pulled her hat down to cover her eyes. “Besides, we finished most of the work already.”
“Well, Ah… Ah guess.” Applejack sighed and pushed her hat back up. “Does sound like it’ll be fun. Though…” She shot a glare at Dash. “What was that about me not bein’ fun?”
“Come on, AJ. I was just teasing.” Rainbow grinned abashedly. “It’s just that you’ve been really… tired after we get done for the day recently.” Her wing flexed and fidgeted across the earth pony’s back.
“Really, now?” Applejack smirked at the pegasus walking next to her, leaning in close enough to feel the heat radiating from her marefriend’s cheeks. She wrapped her tail around Rainbow’s and used it to pull the other mare closer, forcing their flanks to rub against one another while they walked. “Well, maybe on the way in we can swing by the barn and Ah can show ya just how much… fun Ah can be.”
Dash nearly tripped on her next step, and her free wing shot up into the air. “I… I, uh… That…” She sputtered incoherently for a few moments, then took a deep breath. “Listen, AJ, I really, really, wanna take you up on that, but—” A shiver raced down her spine as her marefriend blew a warm breath in her ear. “I… I gotta teach Twi how to fly tomorrow and I can barely fly right now. If we… swing by the barn, I’m not gonna be able to walk tomorrow, much less fly.” Rainbow stopped and bit her lip while Applejack trailed a line of kisses and nibbles along her neck. “S-so… I can’t. I want to. Oh, Celestia, do I want to… but I can’t.”
“That’s a shame, sugar.” Applejack leaned up and nipped at the other mare’s ear, then stepped away, letting her tail unwind and leaving an inch of space between them. “Still, Ah’m proud of ya fer takin’ yer commitment to Twi so seriously. Ah suppose one more day won’t hurt.” She winked at her marefriend playfully.
They crested the last hill before the farm, and the dual silhouettes of the barn and the farmhouse stood against the horizon. Dash bit her lip and her eyes darted between the two buildings. “Maybe for you it won’t.” She mumbled.
Twilight rolled from one side to the other, trying in vain to get comfortable. She’d been tossing and turning for the last thirteen minutes, but there were still two more minutes until her alarm was set to go off, so she lay in bed with her eyes firmly shut against the sunlight creeping in through her window. She tried to relax, but there was too much excited energy coursing through her body to sleep any longer.
Finally, after two more agonizing minutes, her alarm sounded. It only got off one buzz before she silenced it with a hoof and sprang up, stretching her hooves to the ceiling and flaring her wings to work out the stiffness in them. Taking a quick glance at each wing, she noticed a few misaligned primaries from the night’s sleep and set to work re-straightening them. Unfortunately, she was still getting used to preening and used a little too much force when trying to straighten one of her primary coverts, pulling the feather clean off of her wing.
Twilight grabbed the feather in her magic and floated it over to her desk, smiling as she remembered the first time she’d preened and had pulled nearly half of the misaligned feathers loose. Thankfully, she’d been a quick study and had managed to preen herself without pulling out a single feather after the third time. Once her wings were in order, she hopped out of bed and trotted into the bathroom, magically picking up a brush and running it through her mane. While giving herself a cursory glance in the mirror, she froze when she thought she saw her horn drooping. Her hooves flew to her horn, checking it for any sign of sag, limp, droop, softness, or slumping.
Whew. False alarm. She ran a hoof along her horn, feeling the same rigidity it always had. Actually is it… getting bigger? She extended her hoof all the way to the tip of her horn, watching her own confused reflection in the mirror. Has it always been that long? She twisted her head around to try and look at her horn from every angle. Briefly, she considered pulling the measuring tape from her desk drawer and measuring it, but ultimately she decided that even if it was a fraction of an inch bigger, no one would notice but her.
As Twilight left her room and emerged out on the landing at the top of the stairs, the main room of the library was for once devoid of delicious aromas wafting out from the kitchen. “The price I pay for waking up early, I suppose.” In response, a resounding snore echoed from Spike’s new room, which had recently been renovated from a particularly large closet.
She hopped off of the landing, spreading her wings and gliding gently down to the floor. When she landed, she headed for the kitchen, but her stomach was already flip-flopping with nervous energy. One missed breakfast never killed anyone. Instead, she wheeled around and trotted to the door, throwing it open and speeding out the doorway. Her trot quickly built into a gallop, and her wings flapped a few times in preparation for takeoff. However, just before she leapt into the air, she remembered that she wasn’t supposed to know how to fly well and tried to stop. Her forehooves skidded along the ground, but the back ones actually lifted a few inches off the ground while her hindquarters tried to keep going through the rest of her body. She quickly realized she was heading for a mouthful of dirt, but a quick flap of her wings restored her balance and saved her from tumbling over her own hooves.
Once all four hooves were firmly planted on the ground again, she resumed her trip out to the practice field, her excitement pushing her trot into a light canter. She quickly left the buildings of Ponyville behind and reached her destination after a few more minutes. However, her teacher was nowhere to be seen, though she reasoned that she was probably a few minutes early due to her skipped breakfast. She sat down to wait for Rainbow, but once again, her excited energy made it exponentially harder to do so as time slowly dragged on.
Sighing, Twilight flopped onto her back. It was only then that she saw the lone cloud above the field with a familiar prismatic tail hanging off of it. I should have known. She sucked in a breath to call up to Rainbow, but had a better idea before she could. Standing back up, she gathered herself and jumped as high as she could, her wings pumping furiously to keep her airborne. After a second, she found a good rhythm and steadily climbed up toward the sleeping pegasus. She was slightly out of breath by the time she managed to reach Dash’s cloud, but she managed to settle down on the puffy surface without waking its occupant.
“Oh, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight used her best singsong voice, prodding the sleeping pegasus lightly. “Wake up! It’s time for our lesson.” Dash stirred for a moment, but didn’t wake. Twilight tried again, poking a little harder into the other mare’s ribs. “Come on, Rainbow, time to get up.” Once again, Dash wiggled around a bit, but ultimately didn’t wake. The alicorn stood up and pursed her lips, but perked up when she got another idea. She moved to the edge of the cloud and let herself fall, spreading her wings and catching the wind to shoot forward. Flapping as hard as she could, she climbed up above the cloud and came to a hover a short ways away. Carefully, she leaned forward so that she started to glide toward the cloud, flapping her wings only once to build a tiny bit more speed. At the last second, she folded her wings and turned to hit with her shoulder first, then let out a yelp. “Ah!” She hit the cloud and rolled, ending up on her back and pressed up against Rainbow.
For her part, Dash lifted her head, but only cracked one eye to try and see what had woken her. “Whassat?” She looked around for a few moments before finally finding Twilight. “Twi? What haaa—” Her question trailed off into a yawn, and she tried again when it was over. “What happened?”
“Sorry, Rainbow.” Twilight smiled apologetically. “I saw you were asleep and didn’t want to wake you up, so I was doing a little flying on my own. I banked through a turn, but when I went to start flapping again, my right wing came down at an angle and threw me off balance. One thing led to another and I sort of… crashed.” She rolled over onto her stomach and patted the cloud. “Luckily, I was able to adjust enough to land here, rather than on the ground.” She leaned over and snuck a peek at the ground. While she had been higher than they were, she still wasn’t used to, or comfortable with, it being so distressingly far away.
“That’s… that’s good.” Dash rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes, then used the hoof to try and stifle another yawn. After that, she stood up and stretched, arching her back and flapping her wings to work the stiffness out of them. She rubbed a hoof along the back of her neck, mumbling about being itchy. Without warning, she leapt off of the cloud and did a quick loop around it, landing in the same spot a moment later and sending a puff of moisture with her impact. She was much more awake after the brief flight; the wind rushing through her mane and wings always sent a spike of adrenaline through her system that cleared the last remnants of sleep from her mind. “Yeah, going back to flying from gliding can be tricky. It’s way easier just to flap through the turn.” Her lips pulled back into a cocky grin. “Here, I’ll show you a couple turns, and you can observe me.” She chuckled and leapt from the cloud.
Twilight scooted over to the edge of the cloud and watched Rainbow fly. Of course, she already knew how to flap through turns, but she still had to pretend to be immensely interested in the technique and trying to master it. She tried to focus on Rainbow’s wings, but her eyes kept drifting to the pegasus’ flight muscles, watching them flex and loosen while her lithe body cut through the air. She could almost imagine—
Twilight quickly buried her face in the cloud, trying to purge the errant thought from her mind and hoping that somehow the cool mist of the cloud would wick away the heat in her face. While the freezing wisps of cloud licked against her burning cheeks, Spike’s word from earlier echoed in her head.
...you girls could spend your time actually flying together…
But you’re not really improving! You’re just pretending…
She lifted her head and searched for Rainbow, who was flying tight circles around a nearby cloud to make it spin. Twilight chewed on her lip. While she had meant it when she said that she learned things from Rainbow’s teachings that weren’t in the books, they were little things that she probably would had have figured out on her own with enough practice. I’m gonna do it. I’ll show her how well I can fly today. Her eyes darted down to the ground, and memories of falling uncontrollably through the sky came back to her. Well… maybe I’ll still take it a little easy.
“Alright, you ready to try?” Dash flew over and circled the cloud a few times before finally coming to a hover. “Just take it slow, like normal, and I’ll be right here if you need me.” She flipped over onto her back and started flying backwards, swinging her forelegs like she was swimming.
“Sure.” Twilight stood up and flapped her wings a few times, then leapt from the cloud and flew in a straight line. She kept her wingbeats measured to make sure that she didn’t fly too well right off the bat. Banking into a slight turn, she kept her wings pumping and easily flew in a wide circle.
“There we go…” Dash flew over and hovered in the middle of the circle, turning to watch Twilight as she flew around and around. She rubbed the back of her neck, grimacing a bit while she worked on a persistent itch. “See? Easy peasy.” She smiled and zipped over to fly a smaller circle just inside of the alicorn’s. “Now, how about something a little harder? Let’s try a figure eight.”
“Okay.” Twilight pulled out of her circle and leaned to the other side, flapping a little faster to pick up some speed. She spared a glance at Rainbow and saw the pegasus beaming at her. She wanted to squeal in excitement, but her lungs were currently extremely busy with breathing, not to mention that it would have been more than a little awkward. They flew lazy figure eights for a while, though occasionally Dash would do a barrel roll and flip over to Twilight’s other side.
“Lookin’ good up there, Twi!” Applejack’s voice drifted up from the ground, barely audible over the wind. Dash looked down at her marefriend and waved, then tapped Twilight on the shoulder and pointed down, motioning for them to land. The alicorn nodded and straightened out of her turn, locking her wings in a gentle downward glide. Rainbow dove to the ground ahead of her student, landing next to Applejack a few seconds later.
“See? What’d I tell ya?” Dash looked back up at Twilight while she glided slowly toward the ground. “She’s doing great. Heck, she looks better than yesterday, even.” She furrowed her brow. “Like… a lot better.”
“Eeyup. She looks like she’s gettin’ along pretty well.” Applejack watched the alicorn for a while before realizing that it would be quite some time before Twilight reached the ground. “So, uh, does she know how to get down any faster than that? Or is she just gonna haveta glide all the way down?”
“Well, we haven’t really gotten to diving yet.” Dash rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. “So far it’s all been trying to stay in the air, so we haven’t had time to worry about getting down yet.”
Up in the air, Twilight watched Applejack and Rainbow talking while she glided in lazy circles. A quick calculation told her that it would take her nearly a full minute to reach the ground at this rate. She immediately thought back to the chapters on descending and landing in the books she’d read, and while she’d practiced jumping from the stairs of the library to land, she was much, much higher than any height she had practiced from. Regardless, she angled her wings down and went into a dive. She kept a wary eye on the ground as it rushed to meet her, but she hit a patch of turbulence on the way down and was thrown off-course and tumbling through the air.
“Twilight!” Dash leapt back into the air, streaking toward the falling alicorn. Her wings were blurs at her sides while they pumped furiously, and the air seemed to try to hold her back. She pushed forward as hard as she could, quickly angling to meet Twilight in her fall.
Twilight watched the earth and sky swirl around and switch places with one another, her legs flailing for purchase that wasn’t there. A diagram from one of the books flashed through her mind, and she pulled her wings back to her sides. She waited for the horizon to come back around in front of her and flared her wings as wide as she could. They caught the air and stopped her freefall, though it felt like they were going to be ripped from their sockets in the process. Twilight grunted and locked them out so that she could glide the last few feet to the ground, hitting the grass at a gallop before slowing down and eventually just crumpling and rolling onto her back on the grass.
“Twilight!” Applejack raced over, her hooves thundering against the ground. She skidded to a stop and leaned over the downed mare, looking for any injuries. “Ya alright, sug’? Anythin’ hurtin’?”
“No no, I’m… I’m fine.” Twilight lifted a hoof to try and wave away her friend’s concern, but it just flopped back onto the ground, splayed out in the grass with her other five limbs. Her heart thundered in her chest, racing from a mix of fear, excitement, and plain old physical exertion. “I just… need a minute.”
“Twi!” Dash zipped back down, hovering a few feet off of the ground. “That. Was. Awesome!” She threw her hooves out wide and did a quick loop on the last word. “I mean, pulling yourself out a freefall? That’s advanced stuff, and you just did it like it was nothing… on the first try! And then, you just—” She paused in her excited gushing and cleared her throat, looking abashed. “Uh, you’re okay, right? You don’t need me to take you to the hospital or anything, do you?”
“No. I’m okay.” Twilight rolled over and sat up, flexing her wings experimentally. They hurt, but nothing seemed sprained or torn. “I just need a few minutes to rest. That was—” Scary? Exciting? Terrifying? Exhilarating? “—intense.” She took a few slow, deep breaths to try and calm her heart rate, then looked up. “So, good morning, Applejack.”
“Mornin’, sugarcube.” Applejack chuckled and sat down next to the alicorn, throwing a foreleg across her back. “Gotta say; that was some mighty impressive flyin’, before ya started droppin’ like a rock, that is.” She chuckled again, but after a moment, her smile faded. “Say, Dash, didn’t ya say that pullin’ outta a fall was really advanced thing to do?”
“Yeah.” Rainbow landed and walked over to Twilight and Applejack, trotting in a circle around them. “I didn’t learn it until my fourth year in Flight School, and even then, they kept adults around to catch falling students for another year.” She giggled to herself. “Fluttershy got to know them pretty well.”
Applejack pulled her leg from around Twilight and scooted away a bit, her brow furrowing. “Seems a bit odd that someone who can’t fly too well—no offense, sugarcube—would be able to pull off somethin’ like that, don’t it?”
“Eheh…” Twilight chuckled nervously. “Beginner’s luck, I guess.”
“Luck, shmuck. It was awesome!” Dash trotted over to Twilight and threw a wing over her back for a quick squeeze.
“Thanks, Rainbow. Though, I’d rather not try that again for a while… a long while.” Twilight draped her wing across the pegasus’ back, returning the wing hug. She held it for a moment longer, gave a final squeeze, then let go.
“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack yelled, scrambling to her hooves. She stamped a hoof in the grass and snorted. “What’s the big idea, Twilight?”
“Wh-what?” Twilight leaned back, her wings rustling nervously on her back. “I don’t know what you mean, Applejack.”
“Yeah, AJ.” Dash looked at her marefriend with a raised eyebrow. “What gives? All she did was give me a hug.”
“The darn hussy did more’n that.” Applejack stepped around Rainbow and stalked over to Twilight, narrowing her eyes. “You feathermarked her. Ah saw it.” The alicorn could only sputter incoherently in the face of Applejack’s furious accusation.
“Calm down, AJ.” Dash stood up and laid a hoof on her marefriend’s shoulder. “Sure, a feather or two might have hit the edge of my cutie mark, but it was an accident. Twi would never do something like that. Heck, I doubt she even knows what it means.” She turned her attention to the floundering alicorn. “Right, Twi?”
“F-feather… what was it? Marking?” Twilight shook her head rapidly, taking a small step away from the earth pony. “I-I’ve never heard of that.” Her ears folded back against her head. “I’m sorry, Applejack. I don’t know what I did, but I didn’t mean to do it.”
Applejack stared at Twilight for a few more seconds, then took a deep breath and shook her head. “Ah’m sorry, sugarcube. Ah didn’t mean to blow up on ya like that. It’s just that Ah didn’t sleep too well last night ‘cause Ah was a little… wound up.” She glanced at her marefriend, who smiled apologetically. She turned back to the alicorn and let out a sigh. “It just… looked like ya feathermarked her.” Twilight only stared at her in confusion.
“It’s a pegasus thing.” Dash volunteered. “It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like; touching your feathers to somepony else’s cutie mark. But it’s a really… special thing.” She smiled, but it was making her a little uncomfortable to be getting sappy. “It’s something you only do to ponies you like… like, really like… in a serious, romantic way. It’s kinda like…” She paused, her mouth opening and closing while she thought. “I don’t know if there’s something like it for unicorns or earth ponies.”
Twilight thought for a moment, her eyes darting around before going wide. “Oh, it’s like saviatio.” She blushed a little when both Applejack and Rainbow stared at her. “It’s, um, the unicorn equivalent of feathermarking, I suppose.”
“Alright.” Applejack nodded, her eyes darting back to the alicorn’s wings for an instant. “Ah know yer still gettin’ used to those things, but just… try not to do it again, okay?”
“Chill out, AJ.” Dash threw a wing over her marefriend’s back and leaned in for a nuzzle. “It’s not like I like her that way.”
Twilight froze, her mind refusing to process what she had just heard. Regardless, the words echoed in her head, and she felt her heart sinking in her chest. She was vaguely aware of Applejack talking again, but she couldn’t pay attention. All she could focus on was the casual indifference with which Rainbow had dismissed having any feelings for her beyond friendship. Everything that she had daydreamed about for the last few months dried up and blew away like dust in the wind.
“Twi?” Applejack reached out and gave the alicorn a light shove to try and shake her out of her trance. “Ya doin’ alright there, sugarcube?”
“Huh?” Twilight blinked for a moment. “Oh, um, yes. I’m fine. I just remembered that I have to, um, go… read… my laundry. E-excuse me.” She turned and fled, galloping as fast as her hooves could take her. She wasn’t sure where she was going. All that mattered was that it wasn’t here, in the place where her dreams had died.
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So an AppleDash to begin with, and Twi has the hots for Rainbow?
...More stories to read <.< bleh
I like the sound of this! Will read as soon as I can.
Ooh, drama!
This is an interesting take on the relationship. Applejack seems a bit quick to be suspicious about things, but as she said, she was tired, and people/ponies aren't always themselves on little sleep. On the one hand I love Appledash, and on the other I feel really bad for Twilight. Obviously she probably logically knew that Dash didn't like her like that (cuz, you know, she's dating someone else) but knowing something in your head and actually hearing it spoken are two very different things.
I'm quite interested in seeing where you take this, how you might make things work or not work. All in all, great start, and I eagerly await the next bit whenever it's ready.
I do enjoy AppleDashLight, and this, so far, is shaping up to be pretty good. I liked the setup, characterization is good, and overall enjoyable writing. Didn't notice any erroneous errors, but i also wasn't really looking for them. A favorite, upvote, and moustache for you good sir.
Now go write me a second chapter.
I love this story. Obviously, some one's going to end up hurt, and that sucks, but I hope it works out in the end.
I'll definitely be excited to see ore of this in the future.
4001376 Is having more stories to read a bad thing?
4001464 It's actually all ready and waiting to go. I wrote this story for the AppleDashLight group's contest, and the initial deadline was March 1st, so I wanted it ready by then.
4001624 As stated above, already done. But I'm going to wait a little bit between releasing each chapter (not too long, a week, tops) to give me some time to get work done on a chapter for my other story, Unexpected Confessions.
I'm glad to see everyone enjoying it.
4001886
Nah... but I have over 40 in my RL xD
great start, i wonder when Twilight starts to fly around alone ...
Oh you and your silly ponies crushing on ponies who are already taken.
Draamaa!!
Lllove it~
You probably meant to say, "Well, maybe on the way...
"higher than they were..."
"It's something you only do to ponies you like..."
P.S. - "Feathermarking"
Hm, I'm noticing a reference there...
Twilight, you bitch! Leave AJ's mare alone! You're being the un-friendiest of ponies right now.
Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
4003515 twidash is only tru ship
You just ship all characters into a giant ball of romance hu? Love unexpected confessions, looking forward to more of this XD
4003459 Thanks for pointing those out. Amazing how you can miss things like that after a dozen times reading it.
......*Sips a shot of vodka* Well umm....*Takes seven more shots* Time for trolls!!! This is the worst ship ever I hate the fact that people have been shipping all these ponies gay when they are obviously not! As much as I despise the fact that these obviously straight ponies are being shipped like that I can only support Lyra and Bon Bon for some reason but I still hate this fact! This was a little girl's show but now look where it has brought us! To the point where I will write this faggoty comment to troll you so you can reply to my comments and replies over and over until I pass out on my bed!
THESE ARE BUCKING STRAIGHT PONIES! 
*2 hours later* I am barely sorry for what I just said! All I can say is that congratulations for shipping rivals who are obviously straight with each other and somehow making it into the popular section. 
(But seriously this was just a longwinded comment to get me to unwind with this shipping ponies who are obviously not gay with each other. DON'T TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!)
4004027I I... I have no idea what just happened. Am... Am I supposed to take that seriously, or not?
4003515
Of course, there wouldn't be a STORY to speak of if she heeded such advice. I think AppledashLight might be my favorite Three way relationship.
4003917 TwiDash is best ship, but not only true ship. In the hands of a skilled captain, any ship can be made seaworthy.
4004228 There could still be a story if Twilight attempted to go about what she's doing in a way that wouldn't make her the bad guy. There's something to be said for honesty when the mare you want is dating the element of honesty.
I'm not saying the story is bad for having Twilight act this way, I'm saying the character provoked an emotional response from me.
Ehhhh, I dunno Dian. This might be favorite character syndrome talking but I'm not super fond of Twilight here... Seems a touch out of character.
Not to mention some kinda odd flashbacks to "Then Tomorrow Came" in a few places.
Interesting, but it just seems absolutely un-Twilight to pretend to be bad at something. She may try to humbly downplay her talents like in Boast Busters, but the concept of faking incompetence would be just plain unthinkable.
Romance, here i come!
I have to say, this is pretty impressive so far. I can't wait to see how this all plays out, and who will end up hurt. The element of Loyalty must choose to be loyal to one pony or the other...
4004167 Yeah... somewhat unfortunately, Pinkie isn't even in the story.
Sorry, Pinks.
4004802 Out of character in what way? Also, I've never read (or even heard of) "Then Tomorrow Came," so any similarities are completely coincidental.
4005071 True... unless she had a reason to do it.
Wasn't Twilght aware of the preexisting relationship between Featherbrain and Applebutt?`If so that'd be... unusually imperceptive of her.
.. if not she's a cunt.
4005466 Between the 'Chapter 1' title and the story being marked 'incomplete'... yes, there will be more.
Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
aw damn... poor twilight!
Bookmarking for excellent use of title and cover image. Some of the best I've ever seen. Also because the chemistry between these three makes me squee.
Please finish Unexpected Confessions one day too.I wan to know what saviatio is now.
4006170 Don't worry, you'll find out... Just not for another couple chapters.
4005962 I've already started on the next chapter of UC. And, not to give too much away, we'll also be seeing another entry into It Takes Three to Tango, if you're following that as well.
*SITS HERE AND WAITS FOR NEXT CHAPTER WITH EYES GLUED TO THE FANFIC*
*sips tea*
4004086 Don't take it seriously. Just need to unwind to the bullshit of shipping straight ponies into gay ones.
4007115 How do you know that they're straight? The only one that has shown any romantic/relationship interest in either sex is Rarity, who has crushed on Blueblood and now (slight S4 spoilers) Trenderhoof. Even then you can't call Rarity purely 'straight' because she hasn't shown dislike for females. The best you can do is say she's possibly bisexual.
Plus, almost the entirety of the main cast is female, so lesbian shipping has to happen. The only semi-main cast members who are male are Big Mac and Shining Armor, so any straight shipping has to be done with them (excluding AJ and Twilight, respectively), or use a background/OC character.
Are you gonna work on the next chapter soon?! Are you working on it now?
I CHECK THIS STORY EVERY TIME I GO ON THE COMPUTER TO SEE IF IT'S UPDATED 
4005420 Twilight having herself a freakout makes sense to me. The lying and manipulation doesn't make much sense to me.
4007279 It's kind of obvious when you see it in my mind but I'm too bored to give a shit right now.
4007935
Opp- Opp- Opp- Opp opinion time!
4008067 Yay. Ship Rainbowdash with Soarin would ya'.
4007742 As I stated in an earlier comment, I've finished writing the story. It's done and ready to go, but I'm going to wait a little bit between releasing chapters. Not too long, though. I'll probably put out the window extra one either tomorrow or the next day.
I can see Twilight going glowey-eyed rage mode at some point, blasting things with pure magical power rivaling or even surpassing that of Celestia...
4008119 There's no more basis for SoarinDash than any intra-mane six shipping. Up until recently, the full extent of their interactions together had consisted of Dash saving Soarin's pie. Even after Rainbow Falls, they showed no interest in one another other than Soarin' being a Wonderbolt and Dash liking the Wonderbolts.
4008119
But Soarin is totally into Pinkie's pie! if you know what I mean
4008695 Yes I do and I highly disagree.
4008725
Give me proof that RD isn't a lesbian. And also give me proof that she is straight. If you don't have proof, at least tell me why you think she is not a lesbian.
4008154
I didn't quite understand that because I no brain today
Are there going to be more chapters or not?
4008806 Yes. The rest of the story is already written.
4008854
OHHHHH. Thanks for making that clear!
Eeeyup.