Twi/Dash ship

	Another summer day was drawing to a close in Ponyville. Hazy orange sunlight scattered through the trees across the horizon and spread over an unusually large one, festooned with doors and windows. Inside, two mares sat together in silence, reading passages from books on the tables in front of them. The librarian, a purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, studiously inspected an old tome embossed with the title Interesting Clocks and Where to Wind Them while her companion, a sporty blue pegasus named Rainbow Dash, was absorbed in a “Daring Do” novel, lost in tales of adventure, danger and treasures. They had been there for several hours, since early morning when Rainbow Dash knocked on the door and asked to join Twilight with her daily reading. The sun dipped lower and lower, and shadows spread slowly across the room, eventually making it too hard to read from natural light alone.
	Twilight looked up from her manual, and saw with surprise the sun sinking over the horizon, and with even greater surprise the blue pegasus sitting next to her, still engrossed in her book. She quietly set her book down and glanced over at Rainbow Dash. Judging by the way that she was staring at the page, unblinking, her folded wings quivering slightly, Twilight assumed that Daring Do must be trying to escape some sort of impossible trap. Even though she didn’t often show it, she felt incredibly happy that Rainbow Dash had discovered the joy of reading. When she brought the book to the hospital, she never imagined Rainbow Dash would take to it so strongly. A smile settled on Twilight's lips as she addressed her friend. “Rainbow Dash, it's getting a bit late don't you think?”
	Rainbow Dash looked up before hastily returning to her book, mumbling something along the lines of “a few more minutes”. Twilight rolled her eyes and ignited her horn. Purple magic picked Rainbow Dash up onto her hooves, shoved Daring Do and the Mystery of the Golden Chalice into her mouth, and pushed her towards the door. As pleased as she was with Rainbow’s new hobby, she preferred to have the library to herself at night; even Spike was usually asleep by sundown, and Owlowiscious preferred to stay outside until he was needed.
“Just take the book home, Rainbow. I trust that you can return it tomorrow.” Rainbow Dash stood stock still at the doorway before putting the book down and looking behind her.
	“But my house isn’t waterproof, Twilight. I can’t keep a book there.”
	Twilight sighed in frustration. It was true, houses for pegasi rarely needed any waterproofing since they weren’t bothered by rain or wind. Twilight still sometimes cursed herself for not remembering that when she had lent Rainbow half the Daring Do series, but the library had enough spare funds to order in another set, and she had considered it a worthwhile sacrifice. She briefly considered letting Rainbow Dash stay, but the pegasus often asked for help with difficult or unusual words when she was with Twilight, and while she was usually happy to help, she didn’t need any distractions.
	“Can't you just come back tomorrow? The book isn't going anywhere.”
	Dash turned around, looking shocked. “But I have to find out what happens to Daring Do! Please Twilight, let me finish this book!”
	Twilight saw the familiar pout forming on Rainbow’s lips and sighed again. Oh well, she’d tried. That morning, she knew that it would eventually end up like this, the very moment Rainbow walked into the library. “...Fine.”
	Rainbow Dash jumped into the air, flapping her wings ecstatically. “Alright! We can have an Egghead Sleepover!”
	Twilight grunted uncommittedly as she plodded towards the kitchen. “I guess I should go some make tea, then...” Might as well put up some token resistance.
- - -
	It hadn’t been nearly as bad as Twilight had expected. For the most part, Rainbow Dash had stayed absolutely quiet at the reading desk, only really needing help once. As Twilight signed off her last report with a flourish, Rainbow Dash tossed the book she was reading onto a pile and yawned happily.
	“I did it! I finally finished the last book!”
	Twilight looked up from her parchment and smiled. “Well done! So, Rainbow, what will you do now that you have the whole Daring Do series under your belt?”
	Rainbow Dash slowly stood up and stretched her wings. “I suppose... I could read something else.”
	Her eyes widened slightly as she realized what she’d just said. It was easy to say that she was an egg-head, but she had still never really accepted it, silently convincing herself that it was only Daring Do that she was interested in, not reading itself.
	Twilight walked over to her bookcase and levitated out a book. It was hay-leather bound and inscribed with conservative black font: The Mechanics of Flight: A Reference Guide. She set the book down in front of Rainbow Dash and as she turned back to her own book said, “You should give it a look-through. Some of the greatest fliers in Equestrian history invented their signature tricks after reading up on flight manuals.”
	Rainbow Dash looked down at the massive tome and opened it. A few diagrams, very small writing and a lot of big words. “Uh, Twilight?”
	“What is it, Rainbow?”
	“I don't think I can read this. It's not exactly... Uh, well the thing is...”
Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash perplexedly. Seeing Rainbow holding the massive book nervously, as if it might bite her, she smiled as she realized what the problem was.
	“Rainbow, do you need help with that?”
	Rainbow stiffened, then gave a curt nod, flushing slightly. She didn’t like admitting any form of weakness, and even asking for help with single words had been extremely hard for her. However, there was no accusation or condescension in Twilight’s steady gaze, just a quiet warmth that Dash found strangely comforting. Twilight led her over to the couch where she did most of her light reading and waited patiently as Dash settled herself next to her before opening the book to the first page
	“Ahem... Chapter 1: A basic review on classical aerodynamics...”
- - -
	Time flew by quickly as the two mares busied themselves poring over the flight manual. They were almost halfway through the fifth chapter when the clock chimed midnight. Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight somewhat sheepishly. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay here?”
	“Of course! Why wouldn’t it be okay? I’ve had the others stay over here all the time. Besides, I do enjoy the company, sometimes.” She leaned in close and stared at the flight manual pages. “So, what does the next chapter say?”
	Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes as she silently mouthed the first few words to herself. “... Wing Musculature and Its Importance in Flight.”
	Twilight beamed. “Oh, this should be good, Rainbow. After all, your wings are in great shape! Perfect examples of what they’re showing here.”
	Before Rainbow Dash could react, Twilight scooted right up to her and placed her hoof on the base of her left wing, while at the same time motioning towards the diagram in front of them.
	“Now, these are the pectoid muscles. They’re located between the deltoid and pectoralis muscles and provide power to the wings...”
	This was new. Rainbow Dash began to feel light headed as Twilight gently ran her hooves up and down, describing the purpose of each muscle and tendon. As she continued to run her hooves over her friend’s wing, her lecture got quieter and quieter until she ceased to speak entirely, engrossed in allowing her hooves to explore the elegant contours.
	Rainbow Dash had barely been listening to Twilight’s speech as she enjoyed the unintentional massage but did happen to notice that Twilight had gone silent. “Twilight, could you... um... switch to the other wing? What you’re feeling does good- Uh, I mean, what you’re doing feels good!”
	Twilight giggled at her Dash’s obvious embarrassment as she switched over to Dash’s other wing. “I can feel a lot of tension in your wings, Dash. How long has it been since you’ve had them examined?”
	Rainbow Dash smirked. “I don’t need any of that. I’m more than tough enough to handle any- OW!” Rainbow Dash jerked her wing away as Twilight chuckled.
	“I don’t think that muscle knot would agree with you, Dash. If you don’t take better care of yourself you could wind up hurt. I think I can help with this, if you’ll let me.” Swallowing a lump in the back of her throat, Rainbow Dash nodded and shakily stretched out her other wing.
	“O-okay. just don’t push so hard this time. It really h-” Rainbow Dash suddenly relaxed as the tension seemed to flow away under Twilight’s gentle ministrations. “That’s... nice.” Twilight smiled. Somehow, it seemed a lot easier than the books suggested.
	Half an hour passed before Rainbow Dash started to fidget again. Twilight quickly lifted her hooves from the spot she was rubbing. “I’m not hurting you, am I?”
	All that escaped from Dash’s mouth was a small croak. Twilight leaned in close. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
	Rainbow flushed hotly as she closed her eyes. “I was just trying to say thank you... for all of this.” Twilight blinked in surprise as Rainbow Dash turned around and locked eyes with her. “You’ve been really cool to me and I just wanted to say that I... uh... am grateful.” Twilight studied her curiously. It was like she was about to say something different.
	She hesitated briefly before replying. “Anything for a... friend...”
	There was an awkward silence. Both ponies studiously avoided each other’s eyes. Twilight’s eyes widened as everything fell into place and she finally understood what was going on. Without looking up, she shifted forward and wrapped her hooves gingerly around Dash’s waist, causing her to jump in surprise. Twilight could feel the tension beneath her skin as she spoke into the warm blue fur.
	“You... didn’t really need to finish that book, did you?”
	Twilight felt cold shivers run down her spine as Rainbow Dash stiffened and mumbled nervously. “Well... I suppose I... well...” Despite the deep breath she took, the final word was little more than a whisper in Twilight’s ear. “No.”
	What ran down Twilight’s spine was something much more extreme than shivers as she felt a trembling tongue touch her ear. To the two mares sitting inside the library tree in Ponyville, the night had only just begun.