Saving the ponies Chapter 6: Broken
#6 of STP
Saving the ponies A new series by mavinator5
I'll be taking a brief break from writing to edit this whole story into a more acceptable format (IE: double spacing the paragraphs.) Sorry for the delay.
Chapter 6: Broken
"No, the big one with the icing and the cupcake with the candles. How can you not see it? It's the only building around that even has a remote chance of housing Pinky Pie." Rainbow said, trying to point out sugarcube corner to the human that she was now almost sure was blind. "You mean the one that looks like a giant gingerbread house?" Maverick asked. "YES! By Celestia, how could you possibly not see that monster?" Rainbow exclaimed. "Yeah, I guess the cupcake should have been a dead giveaway." Maverick grinned sheepishly. Rainbow resisted the desire to facehoof as they walked on. Sugarcube corner could be seen from the front door of the library, but she had had to walk almost halfway there before Maverick had finally managed to see it, despite the fact that he had just been to a party in that very store! Maverick inspected it as they passed it by, deciding that the quick glimpse he had gotten of it earlier had not done it justice. It was much larger than the show made it out to be, or maybe that was just because he was standing in front of it, and it smelled so good! It was like a chocolate factory mixed with a bakery and a sugar farm. "Keep moving kid." Rainbow said as she gave him a gentle but firm push from behind. "You'll see it again; it's our most common meet-up spot after all." The pair continued on to Rarity's fashion store. Although Rainbow wasn't usually one for dressing up, she did appreciate the fact that certain events had fashionable expectations. That was not, however, the reason of their visit. Rainbow glanced over at Maverick, who was walking next to her. His clothes shielded most of his body from prying eyes, just like all the humans before him. Pony's had no reason to wear clothes because they had nothing to hide, but humans seemed to get super embarrassed if they were caught naked. Rainbow thought back to the books she had in her saddlebags. She really needed to get around to reading those. Maverick wanted to visit Rarity because, as he put it, "Clothes aren't washed in the same way people are." Whatever he meant by that was beyond Rainbow; she wore clothes so rarely that she basically threw them out after she'd worn them. If she ever needed another dress, she'd just get Rarity to make her another one. 'Then again.' She reasoned. 'If he wore the same thing over and over again without being able to wash it, I guess that would get a little gross.' While Rainbow contemplated the idea of clothes, Maverick was watching the houses they past and trying to pick out the subtle differences between Equestria and earth. He noticed that each pony house looked different from its neighbor: whether it was the colour of bricks being used, the type of roof on top, the decorations adorning the front lawn, or even just the windows, something was always different enough for it to be impossible to mistake two houses. As they moved further and further away from the library, Maverick noticed that he could glimpse areas off to his left which had empty houses, or at least houses that didn't appear occupied. "What are those?" He pointed to said houses. "Oh, that's where the non-set Ponyville starts up. It's not as pretty as Ponyville because it's never on camera." Rainbow replied. "There's Rarity's house." Maverick turned his attention back to the road. The fashion designer's house was much simpler then sugarcube corner. It also resembled the in show store, although Maverick noticed that some of the model horses that usually lined the outside walls were missing. The windows were also closed, but for some reason the door was ajar. "Is that normal?" Maverick asked. "Rarity's probably just in one of her creating sprees. She must be making an atmosphere." Rainbow replied. She kept going for a second before realising Maverick had stopped. "Problem?" "I don't want to just walk in and interrupt her if she's making something." Rainbow shrugged. "She'll be cool with it. If the door's open, she can't really get mad just because we walked in. She'd put up a closed sign if she really didn't want to be bothered anyway." Rainbow doubled back behind Maverick and gave him another push. "Alright, I'm going." He said as he started his march back up. The inside of the shop was lit by candles placed somewhat haphazardly around the room, along with the light streaming in from the doorway. A heavy musk floated in the air, and Maverick saw several ponies inside lined up for something and chatting animatedly amongst themselves "Rarity?" Rainbow called out as the pair walked in. A few ponies in the line turned and gave Rainbow a quick, inquisitive glance before turning back to each other. Maverick noticed that all the ponies were unicorns, and they all appeared to be trying to get a glimpse of something or somepony on the other side of the group. "What's going on?" Rainbow asked a pair of darker coloured unicorns, one red and one purple. "Haven't you heard? Unifashy himself has come to inspect some of the designs that Rarity made." The red unicorn blurted out in a surprisingly high-pitched voice. "I heard he said that he was considering actually purchasing the rights to one of her newest dresses!" the other added, unable to help herself from squeeing like a filly. "The fact alone that he visited Rarity's will send her sales through the roof!" Maverick glanced over at Rainbow with confusion written all over his face. "Unifashy is the head of a tightly-knit group of fashionistas that are all unicorns and only sell their wares to unicorns. They're the arrogant type of ponies that think their race is superior to the other two. To make it into their team, a unicorn must make enough dresses of a quality superior to that of another member. Once they've done that, they kick the other member out and take their place. The group is composed of 10 unicorns, but the circle of groupies contains over a quarter of the unicorn population. Most of them don't share in the arrogance of the members, those one's are only in it for the fashion, but a respectable number has had their minds corrupted by the way of thinking of Unifashy." Rainbow explained. "If he wants to buy one of Rarity's dresses, it must be pretty impressive." The pair of unicorns nodded. "It's remarkably simple, considering it caught Unifashy's attention. We saw it for a few seconds while Rarity brought it in form her back room." The red one said. "It only had a few gemstones, it's cut rather short and it doesn't have any over-the-top qualities, but it's that very simplicity that pulls all the differences together. I think sh-" The purple unicorn cut off mid word as the whole group split itself to let the fashion designer pass. The first thing Maverick thought was that money was no object for this pony. His face was completely hidden in makeup and his eyes were covered with three sets of shades. He had more gold around his neck then Maverick had seen in his whole life, including the movies he'd watched, and his legs were covered in what Maverick guessed was either body paint or tattoos. His clothes looked like they were linked together by golden thread, and they were so covered in diamonds that he couldn't tell what colour the material was. The pony strutted his way slowly between his followers, all of whom back up and bowed respectfully. Maverick considered following suit as he remembered his experience with the Pegasi, but when Rainbow didn't budge, he stood his ground. A brave unicorn amongst his followers glanced up for the briefest of seconds and asked: "Was it?" Unifashy stood pensively, looking around very slowly. "The dress was of the highest caliber I have seen in years. I have bought the rights to it from lady Rarity." He said, addressing his words to all those present. With his declaration finished, he began to walk forward again, a few rather large unicorns flanking him as he set out. However, he stopped as he saw Maverick and Rainbow. Maverick couldn't see his eyes, but the strange little wriggle he gave as he stopped again suggested he was surprised. The three pairs of shades floated slowly off of his face, allowing Maverick to see a pair of startling yellow irises. His gaze narrowed slightly, and he took a few steps closer to Maverick, scrutinising him with quick, precise movements that came from years of practice. A few moments later, he returned the shades to his face and exited the shop, the gaggle of half-crazed unicorns following him out. "What was that all about?" Maverick asked Rainbow as she gave the back of the fashion designer's head a firm glare. "I don't know and I don't want to." She replied. "Common, let's go check up on Rarity. Lousy good for nothing racists. I hate anypony who thinks one race is superior to the other two." As the pair crossed into the other room, they saw Rarity lounging in a stool. "Rarity?" Her head shot up at Rainbow's voice. "Rainbow! Oh my stars, Rainbow, Unifashy just bought one of MY dresses!" She pranced about the room in utter glee. "He gave me 5000 bits for the dress and the rights to create and sell it. I won't have to work for months, but my business will be so busy from this moment on!" "Rarity, please tell me you don't intend to join his group." Rainbow asked, her face an impassive mask which hid her supressed anger at the racist fashion designer. "Oh I could never manage that, Rainbow. And really, what type of pony would join a circle that only sells unicorn clothes? I daresay I could never agree with his views and ideals, but to think he would actually buy one of my dresses!" The unicorn swooned, almost hitting the floor before her chair caught her mid-fall. "Well, I can see you're busy enjoying your fantasies, so I guess we'll come back later." Rainbow said, unwilling to watch her friend gush over such a disgusting pony. "Oh, you need something?" Rarity perked up immediately. "Why didn't you say so? What is it; a ball gown? A flight suit? Some frilly underwear?" "What? No, it's not for me. Maverick would like some clothes because he doesn't want to wear the same ensemble day in and day out for the rest of his life." Rainbow paused. "Why suggest frilly underwear?" "A girl can dream." She answered, giggling and confusing Maverick and Rainbow even more. "Come in, come in. I'll need to take measurements." She led the pair into her designing room and had Maverick stand on the dais in the center. She quickly procured a measuring tape from the many drawers and began. As she measured, she made a few comments on how thin he was, putting more and more emphasis on it as she took his waist measurements. "Are you quite sure this is healthy, dear?" She asked. "No, but it's not like I'm trying to be super thin, I just am." He answered. She quickly finished with the measurements, but she was nowhere near done. She started asking him questions like what was his favorite season, his favorite colour, if he liked patterns or plain. At first he got the relevance, but once she started asking questions like the age difference between his parents and the month he was born in, Maverick couldn't figure out how the questions associated anymore. After what felt like at least an hour, she was finished. "Come back tomorrow; I'll have a few things for you to try." She smiled mischievously. "It's nice when I get to experiment on humans since your kind needs a whole different set of cuts and accessories." "Thanks Rarity. We'll come by later on tomorrow; I've got a shift and Maverick's got a meeting at the training center." Rainbow said as she turned to leave. "Thank you, dears, for giving me this inspiration!" As the pair left, they heard the clip-clip of scissors. "Should I be worried? I feel like I should be worried." Maverick said. Rainbow shook her head, smiling. "She might be crazy, but then again, who isn't in their own little way? I'm willing to bet that you'll like at least one of the things she makes. So, what were the other things you needed?" "A razor and a shower, and some shaving cream, if that exists here." Maverick listed. "Yeah, we have all that." She led him through the city, searching for the spa. She knew they sold what he was looking for, but Rainbow had only gone to the spa in the episodes during which the humans had her visit it, so she couldn't quite remember where it was. A brief trip and a few dead-ends later, the pair walked into what felt like the muggiest place in the world. The air was heavy with steam, making breathing difficult and visibility almost zero. Ponies were fleeing the building in packs, the last two being Aloe and Lotus. "Oh, I'm sorry Rainbow; one of our saunas has been tampered with." Lotus said as she glared at a small pack of unicorns, all with sheepish grins on their faces. "Apparently there wasn't enough steam, so some magically inclined nincomponies decided to give it a "little boost"." She turned to all the ponies, most of which were now also glaring at the unicorns. "I'm sorry everypony, but the spa will be closed until we can solve this problem." Rainbow made to ask a question, probably along the lines of: "Can I shoot in there and grab a razor real quick.", but before she could, Maverick held out a hand. "It's fine, I can go for a few days without shaving; it won't kill me." He whispered to her. Aloe was guiding the unicorns off the scene and over to a group of fireponies and policeponies while Lotus assured the remaining Pegasi and earth ponies that the unicorns would pay for their next trip. Either that or they would never set hoof in the spa again. Seeing as they no longer had a reason to be there, Rainbow set off towards sugarcube corner, unsure of what to do for the rest of the day. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember doing anything alone recently. She was always either with her friends or sitting around on a cloud. Even when she was with her friends, she hadn't been participating as much as she used to. 'Was I really that far gone?' She thought as she tried to remember the last time she had practiced her tricks. It wouldn't come, and she got worried. 'Dear Celestia, what happened to me?' As they walked, she discretely gave herself a once over. Because of the altered time flow in Equestria, it was harder to alter one's body; not impossible, just harder. As Rainbow gave herself a quick but through checkup, she realised that her muscles, usually super hard and lean, were now starting to soften and sag a bit. She checked her gut and saw she was a bit rounder then she remembered. She looked her wings over and was aghast to see just how unclean they'd become; she needed to preen them asap. Her lack of care for herself was a huge wake-up slap. She'd been WAY worse then she thought, and that changed today. Without warning, she popped in behind Maverick and threw her head between his legs. Without pause, she whipped her head up and let him slide onto her back with a muffled "ouf", followed by a cry of shock and protest. She heard none of it as she galloped down the street and set off towards sweet apple acres, drawing more than one set of eyes.
*****
As Rainbow finally slowed to a canter, Maverick managed right himself on her back. She'd kept him from being thrown off by guiding his bouncing body with her wings, trying to get him to land on her normally, but he just couldn't manage it. Now that he was in a sitting position, Maverick took a brief moment to catch his breath, and then eat her alive. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT!" Maverick wasn't one to lose his temper, but on the very rare occasions he did, it wasn't too pretty. "I have half a mind to break one of your wings, or both!" He wasn't ever violent, and he'd never managed to hurt anybody no matter how mad they made him, but even he had a breaking point, and it had passed about 20 bucks ago. "Oh calm down. It's not like I was trying to kick you off." Rainbow said, bucking her rump a bit to cause him to fall against her neck. She gave him a quick, apologetic nuzzle before turning her attention back to the road. She had no intention of telling him the reason behind her actions. Now that she knew just how fall she'd fallen, she decided to soar even higher then she used to be. She was going to throw herself back into life with a strict training program, a healthy diet and a socially acceptable reappearance. Rainbow had been broken, now she was about to remake herself from the pieces. She felt Maverick huff before leaning forward and resting on her neck. He'd done so much for her without even knowing it. He'd saved her from herself, and now she was going to make it up to him. She'd become the Rainbow he knew and loved. She would refine herself until she was worthy of calling him her boyfriend. And that started with a lesson in hard work. Her recovery meant she would have to remake her body as well as her mind, back into the strong and fit pony she'd been before, and then stronger still. Apple bucking seemed like a good start; it was strenuous, it was dull and it was helpful. "Applejack!" She yelled as she saw the orange earth pony in a distant field. Normally she would fly across the short distance that separated them, but the human on her back impeded that somewhat. She decided to just hop the fence instead. "Well howdy Rainbow Dash." Applejack replied, a very brief look of confusion rolling off her face to be replaced with joy at seeing her friend doing something without having to be prompted. "What brings you 'round these parts; you outta apples again?" She asked. "Nope, I want to help you with the apple bucking." She answered, eliciting another, much more obvious look of confusion. She couldn't help but smile at her friend. "Um, no offence Rainbow, but I never took you for a pony to willingly offer to do work. Who put you up to this?" She asked, glancing around to see if she was being watched and this was some little prank. "It's not a joke, Applejack. I honestly want to help you." She replied. "Why..." Applejack asked, narrowing her eyes at the Pegasus. "I'd um, rather not say. But don't worry; it's not a prank or a favor or anything like that, I promise." Rainbow explained. The earth pony kept staring at the Pegasus. More often than once, she'd wished that Rainbow had taken a lesson in honesty; that pony could take lying to a whole new level. "Um, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to help too." Maverick said, sliding off of Rainbow's back. "Wait, why?" Applejack turned on the human. "Why does everypo-, um... why do yall wanna help me all of a sudden?" "Well, I can't speak for Rainbow, but back on earth, I really didn't do... anything. I was really lazy and useless. Now that I'm in Equestria, if the show was anything to go by, you ponies can't relax quite as much as we could. Everypony seems to have some sort of job to do, and the young fillies and colts are seen helping out as well. I want to know what it feels like; having to work to survive." Maverick tried to convey his thoughts to the other two. Applejack nodded to him. She might not be the best at understanding big, complicated feelings or drives, but she knew an honest answer when she saw one. She turned back to Rainbow. "You still not up for sharing?" "No. Your call, you can either accept the help of Ponyville's fastest pony and get the job done in half the time or you can say no." She gave Applejack a serious stare, daring her to say no. The orange earth pony sighed. She had a feeling she was going to regret this, but she couldn't just leave an offer for help like that, and taking the help of the human while leaving Rainbow out to dry seemed unfair. "Alright, but if this is some sorta joke, there'll be hell to pay." She threatened. "Great!" Rainbow disappeared in a puff of smoke, returning a few moments later with a basket for the apples. "Where do we start?" Applejack sighed again and led Rainbow over to a row of trees. Rainbow flipped the basket down and bucked the tree as hard as she could. The result was instantaneous. A few dozen apples fell down, almost all of them missing the basket. Rainbow zoomed around the ground, collecting all the fallen fruits and flipping them back into it. "Yeah, that's the idea." Applejack said as she watched her friend. "Once you've finished cleaning the first buck, give it a few more to see if any other apples will fall, pick um up and then move on to the next tree." Applejack instructed before she moved to the next line of trees with her own basket. She kept a firm eye on her rainbow coloured friend, still unsure about her reasons and determined to figure them out. Then she remembered Maverick. The human was observing Rainbow as she bucked the tree again, causing a few stragglers to come rushing down. Applejack knew he could never manage to buck the trees like they could, but before she could think of a task for him, he walked off. She gazed in confusion at the spot where he vanished, only to be pleasantly surprised as she saw him return with a pile of baskets. As she watched, he lay one under each of Rainbow's trees and then under each of her own, and once Rainbow moved on from her first tree, he picked up the first basket and lugged it back to the barn. Satisfied that she'd provided both of her assistants with what they desired, she began bucking her own trees. The three of them made short work of the two rows, moving on to the next pair in record time. In under an hour, they had cleared that whole section of the orchard. "Well, that there was some of the best apple bucking Ah done seen in a long time." Applejack said as they rested. She still hadn't seen fault in Rainbow's actions, so she'd decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. She also noticed how... out of breath her friend seemed to be. Rainbow might not work very hard, or work at all for that matter, but Applejack knew she had more stamina then this. She wasn't troubled at all, and yet Rainbow was panting hard. "You okay there, Sugarcube?" She asked. "Just... a bit... winded." She replied. Applejack stared hard at her friend, quickly picking up on the small changes. She considered a new possibility for Rainbow's actions, but decided not to say anything; if Rainbow didn't want to admit to her depression, that was fine. So long as she got better. Applejack turned her eyes on the third member of their group. Maverick had had what was arguably the hardest job of the three, and it showed. He was lying on his back, dead to the world since he'd fallen asleep about 10 minutes ago. The poor guy had made it through the majority of the bucking, but about halfway through he's begun to lag behind, and as they reached the last few rows he's almost collapsed with a basket on top of him. Thankfully, Rainbow had had her eyes on him, as had Applejack. The moment it was clear he wasn't able to keep going, they'd sat him down and told him to rest. He's been out in seconds. "Well, he definitely ain't the most athletic human we ever got, but good on him for making it that far." Applejack commented as she turned her gaze back to Rainbow. She saw Rainbow give him a quick look of pride. "He's much stronger then he looks, that's for sure." Applejack was about to ask about how it felt like, for Rainbow to get her first human after so long, but she was interrupted by a loud rumble of the Pegasus's stomach. Rainbow grinned sheepishly. "Guess I haven't eaten yet today." She said. "Want some apples? Ah dare say Ah could spare a few after all the help you gave me." Applejack offered, but Rainbow shook her head. "I already have something. Care to join me for a few leftovers of fruit paradise?" Rainbow offered. "F-f-fruit paradise?" Applejack stuttered. "How in the hay did you afford a fruit paradise? Those things cost more than 50 bits!" "I called in a favor." Rainbow said simply. "Since it was free for me, I can't see why we shouldn't share it." She flew off to the spot where she'd dropped her saddlebags and picked them up before flying back to her yellow maned companion. She quickly opened the left bag and removed the carefully wrapped up castle. "Well Ah'll be, 's been a long time since Ah last saw one o' those. You sure it's okay if Ah have some? Them thing's dun come cheap." Applejack questioned. "Just eat it." Rainbow said, elbowing her friend in the ribs as she moved the dish between them.
*****
The meal was still as delicious as it had been yesterday, and even with Applejack's help, they hadn't managed to eat half of the castle. Once they finished, Applejack had returned to the barn to sort and store the apples. Rainbow decided to let Maverick sleep, taking the opportunity to start on the books Twilight had given her. She levitated out all three and set aside the cookbook; she could get to that one later. The other two both seemed important enough to read first, but Rainbow settled on the book about human nature, leaving his emotions for later. Unfortunately for her, Twilight seemed to have made a mistake on what the book meant. By "human nature and how to play with them" she had meant "human anatomy and how to 'play' with them." Rainbow opened the book, unknowingly setting herself up for an awkward afternoon. She began by reading the overview of humans: how they're bipedal, omnivorous, sentient, blah blah blah. She skipped ahead to the next chapter and came face-to-page with a naked human male and female. *SLAM* She closed the book, face flushed. 'What did Twilight give me?!' Rainbow cautiously returned to the page with the naked people. She looked underneath the pictures to the next paragraph and carried on. "Human anatomy is very different from that of ponies." It began. "The most notable difference being the form. Humans walk on only two legs, making their sense of balance much poorer than that of a pony. They also have no fur, this being the most likely reason for clothes; to keep their bodies warm. Human males do tend to grow some hair on different parts of their body, but it is not as thick as pony fur. Females grow hair as well, but it is even less coarse and less widespread." This continued on for the rest of the page, moving on to opposable thumbs, lack of tails and manes, facial differences and so on. As Rainbow turned to the second page, she got a close up shot of human genitals. "Perhaps one of the largest differences, but hardest to notice, is the human genital system. Human males have no sheath like stallions do. Instead, their penises are always showing, another potential reason for clothes. The human penis inflates when a human is sexually stimulated in the same manner as a stallions does; by filling with blood. This is referred to most commonly as a 'boner', not unlike a Pegasus's wing boners." Rainbow paused, unsure if she really wanted to continue. She flipped to the next page, skipping the rest of the information about boners, and groaned. What she saw was a human couple copulating. Rainbow was torn. On one hoof, she really wanted to learn about Maverick, but on the other, this hardly seemed like the right thing to learn about, and it wasn't the right way to learn about it either. She flipped ahead again and could only sigh as she was now in fertilisation and pregnancy. 'Buck it.' She thought, skipping ahead to the next chapter which was titled: Sexual stimulation; all you need to know about fun in the bedroom. ... Rainbow glanced around guiltily, making sure that there was nopony around and that Maverick was still sleeping. She turned the page and began to read. "Humans are quite like ponies in their sexual desires, which is to say that they have a wide list of preferences to the type of foreplay, sex and after-sex wind-down. Many humans enjoy many different combinations, and many humans dislike certain aspects of sex. The most common types of foreplay that are both enjoyed and hated by humans are caressing, full body exploration, cuddling, oral sex and mutual masturbation. This is not a full list of possibilities and should not be treated as such; the best way to learn about a human's sexual desires is to ask him or her about what "turns them on" to quote a very common human expression. Take note that humans are also aroused by oddities like ponies, commonly referred to as "sexual fetishes". Each human is different in their list of fetishes, some having none, some having many. Currently, the most common fetish is believed to be incest." Rainbow paused, glancing at Maverick. She hoped he didn't role that way; she'd always had problems with incestual relationships. On to the next page. "The human body is very sensitive, this sensitivity increasing as one is sexually stimulated. During foreplay, it is best to start slowly and build up a good rhythm so as not to end the encounter too quickly. Humans have a limit to the amount of times they can orgasm before they become too tired to continue, quite like ponies do. It is not uncommon for a couple to achieve orgasm twice during the encounter; once during foreplay and once during the actual sex. This is not, however, the only way to proceed. There are many diff-" *Yawn* Rainbow slammed the book closed again as she saw Maverick stretch on the ground. She quickly stuffed the three books back into her saddlebags and closed it before walking over to him and nuzzling the side of his neck. "Hey sleepy-head." She whispered as he came to. "You feeling better?" Maverick's eyes opened slowly, still heavy with the residual wisps of sleep. He smiled groggily as he gazed at her. "Now I am." Rainbow blushed, ducking behind her mane a bit. Fluttershy would be proud. "I'm glad." She took a brief moment as Maverick wiped the sleep from his eyes to stand tall. "I was wondering, um." Rainbow realised she hadn't thought of what to do next. Thinking on her hooves, she said: "Would you mind helping me practice for Pegasus games that are coming up?" Maverick glanced at her quizzically. "What do you mean?" "Well, I haven't been practicing as much as I used to. I've never made the finals before, and there's no way I could make it this time if I don't get some hardcore practice in. So, I was hoping you could lend me a helping hand by acting as a resistance for me." She flung it all out as she thought of it, hoping Maverick would fall for her lame excuse to get back into shape. He gave her a quick smile. "I'd be glad to, but do you really need my help? Can't you just make yourself weigh more to train your strength?" Rainbow considered this. She'd thought about it before, of course, but there had always been a problem with that strategy. Now what was it...? "Oh yeah, I remember now. That can't work because I can't control the shift in weight well enough. When Pegasi shift their weight around, they can only control it to a certain degree, some better than others. I only have 3 settings: normal, flight and clouds. I've tried to alter it before, but I just don't have the natural talent for that kind of thing." She explained. "Fluttershy gets how to do it. She's tried to explain it to me before, but I couldn't follow what she said." Rainbow waved the thought away. "So are you willing to help me?" "Of course I am. All I have to do is sit on your back, right?" He asked. "Sit on my back while I'm trying to go as fast as I can." Rainbow corrected. "It'll be MUCH faster than we've been going up until now." Maverick nodded, a wee bit intimidated. He'd seen how fast Rainbow could go. "One question before I say yes or no." "Hm?" "Can you actually do a sonic Rainboom, or was that made up too?" Rainbow grinned and stood tall. "Not only can I do a sonic Rainboom, I'm the ONLY pony that can do one, asides the princesses, but that hardly counts; they're alicorns." Maverick trembled a bit as he imagined breaking the sound barrier. "We're not going to do one, are we?" "Haha, no. It would be too dangerous to break one with another creature near me; the only reason I could catch Rarity and the Wonderbolts in that one episode was because of VERY precise magical intervention." She said. "Well, no time like the present. Hop on." She said as she flared her wings and kneeled down. "Wait, if you can do a sonic Rainboom, why do you need to get faster? Surely you're the fastest pony in Equestria and you should be able to win that race no problem." Maverick questioned. "Well, I can't exactly pull it out of nowhere. It takes a lot of effort to do a Rainboom. I have to be going downwards, and I have to use all of my strength to get up to speed. The race isn't just a little sprint; it's too long for me to keep up a sonic Rainboom for more than a quarter of the race, even if I was allowed to go downwards." Rainbow explained, adding in mentally that in her current state, there was absolutely no way she could manage a sonic Rainboom. "Oh..." Maverick, seeing no possible way out of it, hobbled over to Rainbow. He got on, more than a little fearful, and waited as Rainbow prepared to take off. She took a running start again, getting an extra boost. Maverick grit his teeth, closing his eyes and tightening his grip. And then they were airborne. Maverick could feel the wind whipping his face. He could feel every clench of the muscles beneath him. His stomach was knotted, but it wasn't all that bad... Until he looked down. He really shouldn't have looked down. They were flying low to the ground, so low that when he saw all the trees whipping by mere feet below his face, he shut his eyes and prayed to Celestia (Maverick doesn't believe in god) that he would survive. Rainbow was panting within seconds of their take off. This was much harder then she had thought it was going to be, even though she was on cloud setting. The shortest sprint was only 2 miles long, but she'd barely finished the first mile when she had to slow down. Not only was she slower then she used to be, but she couldn't even pull off a full two mile sprint! She berated herself mentally, not happy. "We're done." She told Maverick. "That was bad, really bad. I'm going to need a lot of practice if I want to make it to the finals, let alone qualify for the tournament." Maverick was shaking again, so she landed. "We're on the ground Maverick, its safe again." She said. He loosened his grip, but other than that she felt no change. "Maverick, are you okay?" "In a second..." He managed to wheeze out. "I guess this is too much for you. You know, you don't have to help me if it scares you so much..." Rainbow said. Maverick just pressed his face into her mane, breathing in her wild and potent musk. It helped to calm him down a bit. "No, I can do it. I'm fine." He said, albeit quite shakily. Rainbow didn't believe a word of it, and it made her heart shine that he was willing to do this for her despite his fears. "Are you sure, I can find something else to help me, you know." Rainbow offered. "I'll do it, and you're just going to have to live with that." He said, re-tightening his grip. "When do we go up again?" And so they trained. Rainbow would take-off as fast as she could and fly as fast as she could for as long as she could. Maverick would hold on tight and try to keep from fainting, throwing up or doing anything else. Once Rainbow had flown her best, she would land and catch her breath while Maverick fought down his panic attacks. How romantic? They kept at it for the better part of, well the rest of the day really. By the time they decided to call it quits, Rainbow could hardly flap her wings and Maverick was sporting such a green completion that it looked like he was wearing a face mask. The pair left the field they'd ended up in. Rainbow had flown from one to the next randomly and they'd ended up really close to the city, to their immense pleasure. They returned to Ponyville on foot, Rainbow too tired to fly any longer and Maverick too queasy. Their first stop was the spa. Lotus and Aloe were still there, carefully replacing the lobby after the explosion of steam had displaced everything, as well as mopping up the whole floor, the walls, the ceiling and every other surface in the store. Rainbow asked how they were doing, to which she got two enthusiastic great's. Apparently the unicorns had felt so bad for their actions that, on top of paying for the repairs and the disrupted customers, they were going to give the girls some free publicity from their respective businesses. Once Rainbow was sure that they were in a pleasant mood, she asked if they could possibly sell her a razor and some shaving cream for Maverick. A few minutes and a few bits later, the pair walked back out of the spa, a razor and shaving cream added into the saddle bags. At this point, the sun had almost disappeared under the horizon and Luna's moon was just visible in the sky to the east. Rainbow had Maverick mount her again, but try as she might, she couldn't get herself off the ground. She was just too tired to fly them back up to Cloudsdale. This led them to their second stop of the night. *Knock* *knock* Twilight opened the door to her house to see one exhausted pony and one ill-looking human. "Hey Twilight, sorry for asking about this, but there is no way I can make it back to Cloudsdale tonight. Could we stay here until tomorrow?" Rainbow asked. Twilight shook her head. "You never knew when to stop, you don't know when to stop, and you'll never learn when to stop." She said as she beckoned her friends in. On the inside she was positively glowing. The fact that Rainbow was too tired to get home meant she'd been doing something. Whatever that something was, it was a step up from what she had been doing not 4 days ago; nothing. Twilight quickly led the faint hearted Rainbow to one of her many guest rooms, putting her to bed. Rainbow fell asleep the moment she entered the room, forcing Twilight to levitate her the last few meters and tuck her in. Maverick had followed her up, albeit somewhat shakily. "Are you feeling okay?" Twilight asked. Maverick shook his head. "I just spent hours helping Rainbow fly at dizzying speeds, in the air. On top of that, I haven't eaten a thing all day." He said. "Oh my, let me get you some food." Twilight made to run to her kitchen, but Maverick stopped her. "I've already got something. It's in the saddlebags." He shuffled across to said saddlebags, which Twilight had discarded upon levitating Rainbow into bed. He opened the one on the right and took out the castle of fruit, which lay almost entirely whole. "Want some? I'll never manage to finish this, no matter how long I have before it goes bad." Twilight stared in shock. That was a fruit paradise! How in Equestria had Rainbow gotten her hooves on that? Lacking a response to his question, Maverick turned and gave Twilight a questioning stare. "Oh, um, sure, I'll have a bit. Thank you, but maybe we should eat in a different room?" She motioned towards the unconscious body on the bed. "Sure." Maverick got up, stooped to pick up the castle, and managed to get it about halfway off the ground before he slipped. Lucky for him, Twilight caught both him and the castle in her magic before they hit the ground. "Maybe I should carry it." She added, levitating the castle out of the room and, after a moment of consideration, Maverick as well. He didn't protest, enjoying the sensation of floating without having to worry about falling; he was only a foot off the ground after all. Twilight dropped the cake off on her kitchen table, seating Maverick on one end and taking a seat in the other. Maverick proceeded to peal one of the tower roofs apart with his fingers, too hungry to bother asking for a fork. Twilight watched him for a few minutes before peeling off a few slices of pineapple for herself. She'd already eaten dinner, and as such wasn't very hungry. The sun had disappeared completely by the time Maverick finally finished his meal. He sighed in contentment and lay back in his chair. Twilight kept her eyes on him. Such a stranger creature he was. So much power, so much potential for disaster, was contained within this one, innocent little human. What happened if he died, just like that? Maybe if he fell off a cloud, or was mauled by a wild animal? Twilight rebuked herself for thinking such things; nothing good would come of worrying over some silly things like that. She was about to ask him if he was ready for bed when she noticed he'd already nodded off. Smiling in a coy manner, she levitated him and the castle and began to return him to his room... Until she realised; it was entirely possible for him to die, just like that. But she could help protect him from some of those possibilities. After a brief mental debate about the morals she was throwing into question, she lay him down on the couch and brought the cake back to Rainbow's room, returning it to its bag. Once that finished, she placed a spell of sound distortion on the stairs so as not to wake Spike or Rainbow and returned to the main floor. Twilight wasn't stupid; she knew that she couldn't save Maverick from everything. However, she could give him a certain level of protection. With the help of her impeccable sorting order, Twilight quickly pulled out a few books from random shelves across the library. She flipped through them, searching for the section on innate Pegasus magic. Once she found what she was looking for, she began casting the spell that protected Pegasi from fall damage. It was much more draining then she anticipated, and she was forced to rest for a few minutes after it was over. 'Well, that's one less thing to worry about.' Twilight though as she gazed at the sleeping human. Over the course of the next hour, she added on three more spells; one that would signal Twilight if he was ever alone and lost, one that allowed her to pull him back to her side across vast distances, and one last one to help keep his body alive should he ever get hurt really badly. Satisfied that she'd given him a much better chance in the wild and dangerous world that was Equestria, Twilight levitated Maverick back off the couch. She brought him back upstairs with her, taking another spare bed from the adjoining room to Rainbow's and placing it in Rainbow's room. Her spare beds were only big enough for one, so Maverick and Rainbow would have to sleep in separate beds for tonight. It was probably close to midnight at this point, but Twilight had one more thing to do before she went to bed. Taking out her quill and a roll or parchment, she began writing.
Dear princess Celestia,
Maverick and Rainbow are in a relationship. I had hoped this wouldn't come to pass quite so quickly, but seeing as it has, I will be keeping a close eye on them. Also, this information is supposed to be a secret.
On another note, Maverick has given me his reverse pill, instructing me to keep it from him should he ever appear with the intention of leaving Equestria. He wished to be certain of his decision before taking the pill. Now that he has done this, it is impossible for him to leave. Should he ever ask for it back, I shall cast the spell to ensnare his mind.
Rainbow's depression is improving. I do not have conclusive evidence of this yet, but rest assured that I am fairly certain of my conclusion.
I hope you and Luna are well.
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight knew the letter was a bit under her usual standards, but seeing as it was now past midnight, she blamed it on her desire to get herself to bed. She rolled up the scroll and sent it herself, unwilling to wait until Spike woke in the morning to send it off properly. After that she replaced all the books she'd taken out and then got ready for bed. The moon was just beginning its decent when the purple unicorn fell asleep, thinking of the coming Pegasus games and how they would keep here away from Cheerilee.