Ponyfeathers

by SaintThunder

RD and Rare at the Spa 2: Angel Wings

Rainbow's mind blanked. This was not in the plan. Actually, she didn't have a plan, but still, if she had had one, Twilight showing up was definitely not part of it.

"Oh! Hey Rainbow," greeted the alicorn. She was garbed in a white spa-provided robe, her coat visibly moist with sweat and steam. Her mane was wrapped in a similarly colored towel, exposing her forehead and the base of her horn. "Fancy meeting you here!"

The pegasus locked her primaries behind her back, keeping her wings restrained with all her might. As unenlightened with pegasi culture as Twilight was, Rainbow was certain she would know what a "full spread" meant.

"Uh, you okay? You aren't still upset about earlier, are you?" Twilight cocked her head to the side, her lips pursed into a small pout.

Rainbow moved to lean on the doorframe, pinning a wing down. Don't pop don't pop don't pop— "Y-yeah, I'm cool, don't worry about it. Didn't break anything anyway, haha," she said, tapping her skull. It wasn't like there'd be much of her left to be upset if that spell hadn't saved her sorry butt.

Twilight's smile shone with such brilliant exuberance that it was almost like staring into the face of a goddess. Then again, she kind of WAS one. Rainbow put all her weight on her pinned wing.

"So, uh, what brings you here? Didn't take you to be the spa-going type," said the alicorn.

"Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft," raspberried Rainbow, for much longer than appropriate. "I don't GO to the SPA, Twi; I'm totally here for a non-spa related reason. Seriously."

Twi's divine grin pulled down into a frown. "Are you here for Rarity then?" she whispered.

The creases deepened in Rainbow's brow. She could understand Sweetie Belle, but Twilight? "What happened in there?”

“It’s just…” Twilight mumbled. “She wasn’t herself; she was sitting in there all alone and didn’t greet me like she usually does. Wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, and then she kept ignoring me…”

Rainbow had expected Rarity to whine and complain, not give the cold shoulder. At least it wasn't as bad as Twilight made it sound.

“Hey,” she said. “She's had a rough day. Don’t worry about it, it's not your fault, anyways. I’ll go—“

The door slammed shut, smacking her right on her pastel blue bum. It seemed that the universe had finally had enough cool for one day, as her ass flipped through the air, dragged its owner behind it, and gave Twilight a faceful of what lay between the twin thunderclouds.

She let out a muffled scream and backpedaled like a roadrunner in reverse. The aerial derriere, having lost its momentum to Twilight's mug, crashed to the floor, with the alicorn's own following soon after.

"Rarity!" Twilight's features had grown purpler with rage, yet her voice was, if not calm, then at least collected. "That was uncalled for!"

The addressed mare, dressed in a skimpy gold-fur trimmed pink robe (of her own design, no doubt), sat loaf-style on the circumferential wooden bench lining the walls, gazing at her always pristine hoof for the millionth time as if there was some invisible stain only she could see. For the briefest of moments, one could have spotted a faint glow around her horn.

"Are you all right, Rainbow?" Twilight teleported herself upright, and extended a wing to the pegasus sprawled out on the floor.

"I'm fine," Rainbow replied, picking herself up rather than taking the wing. She'd rather not have any more... physical contact at the moment.

Rarity had changed up the game by staring at her other hoof. Incidentally, this one did have a stain on it. She wiped it away on a frilly handkerchief that matched her outfit. "The cold was coming in, darling. It was getting chilly."

Twilight disappeared with a flash, then reappeared nearly muzzle to muzzle with the white mare. "That is NOT an excuse. I know that you're upset—"

"All the better to just leave, then, as you were about to earlier."

The Princess of Friendship, spurned by her friend. The irony was not lost on Twilight; her eyes were full, her voice soft but breaking. "Rarity, I just want to help. And if you want to be alone, then I can respect that, but I can't allow you to treat ponies, your friends, this way."

"Can't allow? So, you're going to lord your new title over me now, Princess Twilight?"

A tear ripped free from the ocean in her eyes. "W-what? No, I meant—"

The lady was gone; in her place was merely a well-hooficured bitch. "Well excuuuuse me, your Highness, but don't you have at least a modicum of tact? I said it was chilly, and I closed the door. This is a STEAM ROOM, for Celestia's sake. Leaving the door open to a steam room is simply neglectful of other ponies' feelings. You could have just come in and had your conversation without inconveniencing anypony else."

"B-but—"

"And another thing: talking about ponies behind their backs isn't very nice, but doing it in front of them? Is this what friends do to each other, Princess?"

Twilight stood, mouth agape, cheeks wet, for a moment before she managed to speak.

"I... I don't... no... I... I...!"

The door was nearly ripped from its hinges as Twilight turned tail and ran, her sobs and sniffles dampened by the thick blanket of steam in the room.

Rainbow leaped into the air to stop her. "Twilight, wait!"

But she'd already galloped away; the hem of her robe barely escaped the crack of the door as it rattled against the frame.

"What the HELL was that for?" shouted Rainbow.

"If you can't content yourself with staying on the other side of the room, without talking to me, Rainbow Dash, then I suggest that you follow Twilight out the door. I'm not in the mood to entertain you with whatever it is you wanted from me."

It took all of Rainbow's willpower to keep from flying hoof first into Marshmallow-On-A-Stick's pearly white muzzle. She grit her teeth and reminded herself that Rarity was her friend; a friend who needed help. "I know what's got your gears grindin', Rare."

A brief hint of surprise flashed across Rarity's face, before collapsing back into an petulant sneer. "And what if you do? How is merely knowing that my Boutique is in shambles supposed to help me here? You're no miracle worker, Rainbow Dash, and even if you were, you're the last pony I'd expect to bother."

"With the way you've been acting, I might as well be the first. Hell, the only. But don't forget, I'm the Element of Loyalty. And that means I stick by my friends. Don't think for a second that I'd just ditch you for being an asshole."

At that, the mare's eyes glared into hers. "How foul. I just want to be left ALONE, and nothing more. I am not a, er, that word you said."

"Here's the thing; if somepony says you're being an asshole, you probably are. And I think Twilight would've agreed with me, if ya hadn't just run her out of the building." Rainbow approached her, much like one would a stray dog. "But here's another thing: you don't have to be."

Rarity did that haughty little giggle all the little affluent mares had embedded in their DNA. "That's rich, coming from you."

Rainbow bit her lip, hard enough to hurt a little. "I've, uh, had to deal with this sort of thing before." She didn't want to tell that story, but it was the only way to get through to Rarity.

Not that she wanted to be gotten through to. "What, somepony trashed your office? I bet that was a field day for you. Had a nice nap and—"

Wings shot out and accosted her gold-fur collar, nearly lifting the mare from her seat. "Just SHUT UP and LISTEN, okay?" Rainbow drew in a long breath, and exhaled. She let go of the cloth. "And no, I mean... I'd lost something that was really special to me, too; something I couldn't live without.” She jabbed Rarity right in her fluffy exposed chest. “So don't you dare think that you're the only one."

That indeed, shut her up. Rainbow plopped down to her haunches on the floor, putting herself at eye-level with Rarity. The mare avoided her gaze. In a soft voice, the pegasus began her tale.

"Ten years ago, I broke my wings. Both of them, completely shattered, and some major fractures all over my right side. I had almost managed to get that last spin in my Bronco Bullet, but there was a mountain behind that cloud, and well..."

"You hurt yourself all the time, Rainbow Dash; how was this any different?" asked Rarity, eyes still averted.

"Because I was too young. In a grown-up pegasus, if they were training to be a pro flyer, the wings are sturdy and don't take long to heal, even from multiple fractures, cuz there's more magic in 'em. But for undeveloped foals... you know what foundering is?"

"Yes, but pegasi don't founder; the anatomy is different."

"Yeah, we don't. Not in the legs, anyway. The wings are another story."

Rainbow's wings unfurled to their fullest, three pony-widths long from tip to tip.

"The doctors called it angel wing. Some llama thingamajig had expanded inside, twisting my bones into weird angles. Normally, it was genetic, and only affected the bones on the ends. For me... it was all of them.

"It started when the casts came off. At first, I would get random jolts of pain while flying. Then just flying at all hurt, kinda like being in a constant winglock. I had to drop out of school because I wouldn't let anypony fly me. In a few weeks, my feathers turned to sticks, and I had to wear a pillow under them when I slept cuz they started poking into my body.

"My dad took back to the hospital soon as my right wing started getting bent. He had to take me in a goddamned wheelchair; walking pulled on my wing muscles too much. I saw their faces as I rolled past 'em down the lobby. Some were grossed out, some were afraid, but for the most part, they all just looked sad. Took one good look at my fucked up wings, and another at the floor, or at the wall. They were pitying me. They thought I was gonna die."

Rainbow flapped into a standing position, wings still outstretched. The steam around them swirled and billowed, ebbing then flowing back into opacity. She glanced down at Rarity, meeting her eyes once again. The white mare had opened her mouth, but it took her a few moments to say, "But you're still here."

The speedster flashed a bright, toothy grin. "Hope you aren't too disappointed. Yeah, I got cured. But at the time, there wasn't one. And I was damn pissed off about it.

"You wanna know why I almost never go visit Cloudsdale? I burned all those bridges when this was happening. Burned 'em all to Tartarus. I couldn't stand seeing them, with their not-fucked wings and their not-fucked lives, holding onto their not-fucked dreams. I... lost everything that ever meant anything to me. No wings meant no racing, no tricks, no Wonderbolts... no being the best pony I ever dreamed I could be. It was worse than that actually, cuz at least if I didn't have wings I could've at least posed as an earth pony and lived without ever seeing those faces, all looking at me like I was worse than them.

"The doctors took two months to find the cure. In those two months I had punched out two of my hoofball buddies, called my aunts and little cousin 'a bunch o' featherbrained wackos,' sent three nurses home crying, spit in the face of the hospital director and beat Rapidfire into the cloud."

"Rapidfire? Isn't he a Wonderbolt?"

"Yep. Former friend slash rival of mine. The day I pummeled him, he'd just told me he'd gotten Specter Blaze to sign his mock-up flight suit. Wore the damn thing as proof, too."

Rarity's disgusted scoff earned a chuckle from Rainbow.

"Yeah, I admit, I don't really regret that one. I don't know if he was trying to cheer me up or brag, but either way, by the end of it he had a major concussion and lost about a third of his teeth."

"Hmph. Sounds like he deserved it, however brutish the method. Honestly, the nerve of some ponies."

"True that. But..." Rainbow folded her wings and hopped up on to the bench next to Rarity. "There are some friends I wish I still had today. I miss Roy and all the pranks we pulled on Mr. Nimbus; Myst, who helped me out around the factory and shared her lunch with me; Starbright and her sweet laugh and those silver eyes that shone like the moon..."

Tears began to bubble up from her eyelids. She blinked them away.

"I am glad, though, that I kept at least one. Fluttershy stuck by me, through all the mean things I said, through all the times that I hit her, through all the tears I cried on her shoulder, all the way to here in Ponyville. Right now, I want to be that pony for you, Rarity, even if we don't get along sometimes, or don't even hang out all that much. Because I don't want to see you crash and burn, like I did."

Rarity blushed, but otherwise did nothing. The two sat in silence, with only the occasional hissing of steam and their gentle exhalations to break it. Rainbow had never told any of her other Ponyville friends that story. Hell, she never even discussed it with Fluttershy, despite her large role in it. But still, she was glad to have told it, especially to somepony who needed to hear it.

Rainbow was so lost in thought that she didn't quite catch what Rarity just said.

She rubbed her ear and asked, "What was that?"

"I said I was sorry, Rainbow. For hitting you with the door, I mean." Rarity had rotated to face her now. Said face was beginning to wrinkle from the humidity, if not the guilt.

"Yeah, it's cool," said Rainbow, patting her on the head, ruffling her velvety curls. "Feel any better?"

Rarity made a half-hearted attempt to swat her hoof away. "I... I suppose so. And I should thank you, too, for telling me that story. It helped me find some perspective."

"Forgetting somepony?" asked Rainbow with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, and I should apologize to Twilight too. I was rather horrid to her for no good reason..."

The eyebrows escalated to greater heights.

"And yes, to Sweetie Belle as well. I shouldn't have been so harsh with her, even if she was the cause of my miseries today. She was just trying to do something nice for me, and that at least deserves a little praise."

Rainbow gave herself a mental wing-five. Mission accomplished. Rainbow Dash, you are the MARE. Though, she couldn't help but think that she was forgetting something...

Rarity stepped off the bench and declared, "So, for helping me today, I'm going to return the favor and help you, Rainbow."

The pegasus looked at her like she'd just finished a lecture on quantum mechanics.

"Huh?" she grunted.

"Well, obviously, you didn't come here first, did you?"

Rainbow shook her head. Rarity began circling the edge of the stone bowl.

"Of course not. You went to the Boutique, found Sweetie Belle amidst the chaos she'd wrought, and she'd told you that I'd gone here. Before that, you had no way of knowing of the state of the place, or that I was even in there."

Rainbow nodded her head. Rarity stomped her forehoof as she made her conclusion.

"Therefore, you had another reason for coming to see me today. Is that correct?"

Rainbow finally remembered what she was here for in the first place; her cheeks flushed red enough to burn eggs on.

Rarity smirked and said, "Oh... I see. You're in a spot of trouble. Love trouble, I presume?"

"H-how did you know all that?"

"I have a thing for mysteries, if you recall. Remember that whole fiasco with Wind Rider?"

"Oh yeah."

"So tell me Rainbow Dash," said Rarity, taking her spot back on the bench, "who is this mare that you're in head over hooves for?"

Rainbow scowled at her as she took an adjacent spot. "Seriously?! First Applejack, now you? Is it really that obvious, or are you just going by the whole 'rainbow' thing?"

"Trust me, darling, it's obvious,” —Rarity waved her hoof in dismissal— “and with the way you were standing frozen in the doorway earlier, I'd say you're interested in somepony you and I are close to? Somepony who simply loves literature? Somepony whose name rhymes with Highlight Farkle?"

Rainbow's lips were moving, but the sounds coming out didn't resemble any sort of language. A light blue glow pinched her muzzle shut, which only served to muffle her babbling.

"Calm down, darling, I'm only teasing. It was just a guess. But I want to hear you say it." Rarity released her magical grip, but only now did the pegasus hold her tongue. "I want you to tell me, sincerely and truthfully:

"Who do you like?"

She stared into those bright pink eyes as if Rainbow was a diamond buried deep in the earth. And she was going to dig her out, whether she wanted out or not.

Rainbow swallowed what little saliva she had. I told Applejack, I can tell Rarity. Isn't that what I'm here for?

"Ya got me. It's Twilight."

Blue magic pinched her furry cheeks and stretched them into putty. "Ooh, Rainbow Dash, you're simply too much," squealed Rarity.

"Fay, quwve iff!" she spat through her distorted lips.

The magic faded, and Rainbow rubbed her even redder cheeks as Rarity rocked from side to side, threatening to knock the pegasus to the ground. "Do go on now, darling. Tell me, what's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Your relationship, dearie. How do you two... interact?"

"W-whaddya mean relationship? Isn't that what you're helping me get?"

"No no, I mean your relationship as friends. Would you say that you're rather... close?"

"I dunno. We hang out sometimes; earlier today, we did for a little bit... but... lately she's been too busy."

"Well, there's no helping that; she's a princess, after all." Upon seeing the back of Rainbow's head, she said, "Oh buck up, now, Rainbow Dash. Just because you don't spend as much time together as you used to doesn't mean that she doesn't like you. Speaking of, do you think she does?"

"Does what?"

Rarity sounded like her brain was slowly deflating. "I don't know if you're avoiding the question or you really are THAT dense. Anyway, I mean: do you think she likes YOU?"

Rainbow's first thought was a clear, resounding MAYBE. On one hoof, Twilight did seem to enjoy spending time with her; on the other, she didn't particularly show any special interest in the speedster either. The one thing that they alone shared with each other was Daring Do, and that was hardly a romantic subject.

The room started swaying, and it took Rainbow a few seconds before she realized Rarity was shaking her. "Hellooooo? Rainbow Dash? You still in there?"

"Hubwuh?"

"Back to Equestria then? I hope you weren't imagining anything too explicit," teased Rarity.

Just hearing the word explicit made Rainbow blush herself into submission. "N-no! I was just... thinking."

The grin faded from the white mare's face. "Thinking or avoiding the question?"

Rainbow's red cheeks now represented a different emotion entirely. "I said I was thinking."

"So what's your answer?"

"I don't know." A fact. "But if you wanted a hard answer... I'd say no." An opinion.

"Oh? Why do you think so?"

"Like I said, she's always busy. And... she never says anything like, flirty or whatever. She's just nice."

Rarity let out a rather unladylike snort. "Darling, you can't REALLY expect somepony like Twilight to flirt. It's not her type."

"Even if it was, I wouldn't really expect her to flirt with me, anyways."

A white hoof made its way to Rainbow's shoulder. "Darling, you—"

"Does Twilight even like mares? And if she did, would she like me? Wouldn't she like somepony more... girly?"

As she spoke, her voice got higher and higher, louder and louder. The hoof slid across her withers to the other shoulder. "Rainbow Dash, calm—"

But she kept on, heart pouring out like a waterfall in a thunderstorm. "And if she liked stallions, would she make an exception for me? Does she even see me that way?"

Rarity said nothing this time, opting to scoot in closer to the panicked pegasus in lieu of words.

"What if she only likes smart ponies? What if she's still mad about all the stuff I broke? What if—"

Magic had clapped her trap shut again, but its grip quickly dissolved into a soft boop on the nose. "Enough, Rainbow Dash. Now you're just being silly." Rarity held her closer, as if to squeeze out every bit of anxiety and panic. "What good will it do you if you just sit here wondering about her feelings, when you can just fly out that door, chase her down and find out yourself?"

"Because I'm..."

"Scared?"

The pegasus couldn't bear to meet her gaze; she lowered her head as low as it could reach, the prismatic strands of her mane tickling the stone floor.

Then Rarity laughed; a lilting outburst of chortles that didn't seem to fit the pony they were coming out of. She had to stand up to keep from falling over.

"What's so funny?" asked Rainbow.

Rarity looked over her shoulder at the smoldering pegasus. "You know something Rainbow Dash?"

"What?"

"You're the bravest pony I know."

Rainbow blew her mane out of her face. "Doesn't mean I'm never afraid..."

"Of course not. You have the right to be scared. But you don't have to be.

"This fear that you're feeling right now is proof that you truly are in love with Twilight. You want her to love you back. Tell me this, though: will you be any less of a pony if she doesn't?"

"I don't know what I'd do... if that happened."

"I'll tell you what you'd do. You would get angry, and with tears in your eyes, fly up high to where nopony, not even Celestia, could hear you and you would scream and cry and demand that love be put to DEATH!" Rarity mimed every verb, ending her tirade standing on the bench, out of breath, hoof raised in mock outrage.

Rainbow scooted away a few inches. "Uh... a bit over the top, don'tcha think?"

"Haha, perhaps. But have I got you right?" said Rarity as she sat back down.

"I guess."

"So do you know what happens next?"

"... Are you gonna tell me that I'm just gonna get over it?" said Rainbow, eyes a-squint in suspicion.

"Well, in a way. You might not forget a love like this, but surely you can move past it."

"How do you know that?"

"Because now I know YOU, Rainbow," —Rarity held her hooves, holding them close to her chest— "and out of all of us, I think you are the truest to her Element. Even if Twilight rejects you, you'd forgive her, in time... because in the end, you. Are. Still. Friends."

"I dunno..."

Rarity dropped those hooves as if they were a pair of fresh potatoes. "Are you saying you would rather cut us all off then, just to avoid seeing her?"

"No, of course not! That’s like, against my Element."

"Then the choice is easy, isn't it? Either Twilight becomes your marefriend or she doesn't. The first is the start of something, and the second the end of nothing. So, what will you do now?"

Rainbow considered it. Rarity was right... she HAD to be right! It was toss up between first place or no place. Rainbow Dash, the Great, the Amazing, doesn't settle for consolation prizes.

All she had to do was commit.

"I'm gonna... I'm gonna...um... ask..."

Rarity put her ear next to Rainbow's mouth. "Hmm? I can't quite HEAR you, darling. Louder."

"I'm gonna ask her out..."

"You call that conviction? Ask WHO out?"

"I'm gonna ask Twilight out!"

"Out on a WHAT?"

"ON A DATE!!!"

"That's right!" She lifted the pegasus off the floor and floated her towards the door, trotting close behind. "Now go!"

"W-w-wait!" Rainbow attempted to backstroke out of her telekinetic vice, to no avail.

Rarity lowered her down. "Whatever for, Dashie? It's time for you to go get your girl!"

"The thing is... I don't really know what to do on a... on a date."

Rarity's muzzle scrunched into a shape resembling crumpled paper. "You really ARE clueless. Luckily, I'm here to—"

A knock on the door. It was the pink spa pony. "Are you done in there, ladies? We're about to close."

"My apologies Aloe; is it closing time already? Goodness, I've been out of the Boutique for... “—Rarity felt her face—“err... far too long."

Rainbow disrobed and hoofed the cloth to Aloe. "You should get going. Sweetie Belle's all bundled up in your bedsheets waiting for you."

"Oh no… I do hope she hasn’t been sweating in them,” said Rarity, following suit.

“Well, even if she did, I think she’d do whatever it took to get ‘em clean. That’s what sisters do.”

“Definitely.” Rarity smiled; her face almost didn't look pruney. “Thank you again, Rainbow Dash, for helping me realize that.”

“Yeah. It's all good.” said Rainbow.

They walked through the spa, and had a nice chat about the various nothings and inconsequentials in their lives. Outside, the streets basked in the fading light of the setting sun.

Rarity tut-tutted to herself. "Well there goes that opportunity. Twilight must be asleep by now..."

Wow, I was out for a while... Guess that's good; no way am I ready for that conversation, thought Rainbow. "Hey, don't forget to apologize. Can't ask her out if you're all she's thinking about."

“Don't you worry about that. I'll have her over for tea first thing in the morning. Oh, and Rainbow?”

“Yeah?”

“Meet me at my place tomorrow, twelve o ‘clock sharp. I’ve got a lot to teach you.”

“O-oh.”

Author's Note:

Wow, talk about Artistic License: Biology. Angel wing and foundering are both real diseases, which I have exaggerated for dramatic purposes here.

Oh and for those of you who didn't get it, Cloudsdalian pegasi tend to use the word "cloud" instead of "ground" on account of the former being more abundant than the latter in CLOUDsdale.

Comments

[MidnightInkpaw]

8073329
Oh, ok. Kewl.
I haven't had this much fanfic fuel for 2 weeks! Keep going!

P.S. The cliffhanger on 'RD and Rare in the spa' was interesting.

P.P.S.

“Uh—” Rainbow Dash: ruiner of moments.

best line ever. (and totally honest)

[livinthelife]

8642349
Rarity, her arms wide.

[Fritzy]

Huh, late reader, again... yet I’m interested in what you have planned. Sure, sometimes it feels a little rushed, but hey, it doesn’t bother me to much. Keep going! It’s like I’m a puppet being forced to read it and enjoying it all the while. ^^

[Quantum Logic]

This is quite good, any chance it's going to get anymore?

[TwiDasherboop]

The pegasus locked her primaries behind her back, keeping her wings restrained with all her might. As unenlightened with pegasi culture as Twilight was, Rainbow was certain she would know what a "full spread" meant.

Wingbooooooner!