Alright, apparently you guys like this version. The rewrite of chapter 1 will be posted later as a "bonus" chapter, later, and will be in an "Alternate Universe" of sorts, since the plot transpires differently than what you see here. Chapter 2 is on its way.

GoogleDocs link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jh0jsV5KJcmnHxnGp1r3sCry5toPBzgxxQE-WqI3RXQ/edit?hl=en_US

Twilight's eyes twitched, irritated, under her eyelids, the blinding light of the sun somehow piercing directly into the canvas of her subconscious mind, abducting her spirit from her fantasy world and dragging her up to reality. Her eyes opened, the whites of the purple orbs bloodshot as she stared up at the east-facing window that allowed the oppressive morning sun to bathe her room in its burning yellow light. She needed to go and purchase some blinds or something; this was beginning to be beyond irritating every morning. She often remained awake until ungodly hours of the night, simply gazing through her telescope at the night sky, and the previous night in particular was a stretch; she stayed up until 5:00 AM. She glanced at the analog clock face on the opposite side of the room from the window, its pointed hands reading something close to 8:05. She couldn't see the details, her vision still blurry from sleep, and didn't care to.

While every fiber of her being threatened murder if she didn't go back to sleep, she dragged herself off of her mattress and stood up beside her bed, her movements autonomous. There was... an odd sensation in her back. It felt...tight. Not just that; it was a tightness she had never experienced beforehand. A simple thought, and she felt the feeling ebb away, like stretching a cramped muscle. She tiredly slid her hooves on the polished wooden floor to bring herself to the doorway, before gripping the doorknob with her telekinesis, turning it, pushing the door open, and passing through. She couldn't find the strength to raise her head all the way up, and found her path through the carved wooden halls mostly from memory. Upon passing by the kitchen, the familiar aroma of steamed daffodils met her nostrils, but the pleasant odor might as well have been intoxicating a stump with how responsive Twilight was at the time.

The purple unicorn sat her haunches at the wooden table in the center of the tiled room, resting her head on the wooden tabletop, struggling to keep her eyes open. As there were no windows in the kitchen, the irritating natural light of the sun had been replaced with the even more irritating, ugly, artificial light from the arcane lamps hanging down from the ceiling. She thought she heard Spike give a friendly morning greeting to her, but she didn't listen to it. Too tired, Spike. Insert coin to continue. She outwardly groaned at her fatigue-born bad joke. Maybe Spike would just leave her alone, maybe he would leave, maybe he would turn off the lights. And then it would be dark enough for her to fall back asleep. She glanced up at the lamp shining down on her head, frowning.

"Twil...wh...th...ngs......" She heard the dragon's voice call, his words incomprehensible to the lavender unicorn, her brain in parking gear. She let out a small, pained whimper; unintentional, but it happened. Please turn off the lights, Spike. I wanna go back to sleep. The only answer to her thoughts were a few small footsteps and the sensation of a scaly hand gripping...something...on her back. She lifted her head, barely, and turned it to see her assistant gawking at the back of her torso. Turning her head moreso, she realized that the dragon had gripped one of the pair of lavender-feathered wings sprouting from her dorsals, moderate shock present on his draconic face. Okay, I can see you like those wings, Spike. Whoop de doo. Can you turn off the lights now? Twilight blinked, turning her head forwards again and resting it on the table once more, her eyelids sliding shut as she dismissed what she had just seen as a trick of the tired eye.

After a few minutes, her eyes opened wide, and she turned around again, her gaze once again falling on the same pair of wings. She just stared.

"Twilight? When did you get wings...?" The dragon asked, slowly, now that the unicorn was more awake. Twilight merely continued to gawk at the two additional appendages that had somehow found their home on her back.

"W..Wings?...I-I have wings?...." She asked, mostly to herself. A moment passed, and her expression fell flat with skepticism. She turned her head forward to glare at the baby dragon who had since resumed cooking at the stove, his reptilian body recoiling slightly at her irritated gaze. "Real funny, Spike. I told you, I'm not going to succeed Princess Celestia's duties. I don't care what some crusty old book says. Now, I'm tired, and I wanna go back to bed, so take these fake wings off!" She demanded, intensifying her glare. The dragon shook his head vigorously.

"Twilight, I didn't do this! And I don't think they're fake...They felt warm. Does this mean you can fly now? Try moving them." He replied. Twilight snorted in disbelief.

"Move them? And just how would I do that?" Twilight asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. But, she couldn't deny; Spike was a pretty good actor. And she was curious about the wings. She tried moving them, but just as a newborn foal can't walk, she couldn't move them....much. She turned her head and observed her new appendages as she tried to operate muscles she had no experience with. Her eyes widened when she discovered she could furl and unfurl them, and she gasped, her mood changing from surprised, to horribly anxious, all within the span of a few seconds. This...this wasn't good. She had just somehow joined a species with only two other members to its name. Two members that were responsible for celestial bodies and, by extent, everypony’s lives. …Was her life going to change? The words of the prophetic tome Spike mentioned came crashing down on her, and she frowned again, her eyes drawing upward. Was she actually going to have to replace Princess Celestia? Would she have to...learn to raise the sun? Would she be allowed to keep her old friends? Her frown widened, accompanied by the drooping of her ears as another horrible realization slammed into her like a freight train. W...what would her friends think? What if they didn't like her anymore?

Oh, so ya'll're a big shot princess now, huh? Ah-okay then, I guess ya'll dun need us little ponies no more! Applejack's voice echoed through her head, the phonetic accuracy striking, but with cruel words fished out from the darkest trenches of Twilight’s mind.

A horn AND wings? The HELL, Twilight!? What am I now, chopped liver!? Rainbow Dash's vocalization interjected, joining the cacophony of horrible wisps forming in Twilight's head.

I'm certain you'll be pampered far more in Canterlot than you ever will here, so I bid you adieu; have a nice life, Princess Twilight. Rarity's voice came, the last two words dripping with sarcasm, hatred, and false respect. Twilight began to tear up, staring off into space in reality, the blank beige coloring of the wall she stared at providing a horrible canvas for her nightmares to paint themselves upon.

I...Well...I'm sure you'll have a nice life in Canterlot...I guess you can't stay here, you know, since you have to raise the sun and all... I...I'll never see you again, will I? Fluttershy's voice carried a tone of sadness, rather than anger. It only served to make Twilight's mood that much worse.

Ooh, you're an Alicorn now? Neat! Even though you'll have lots of fun and throw lots of your own parties in Canterlot like the Grand Galloping Gala, before you leave you want me to throw you a GOODBYE PARTY!? Twilight flinched. Pinkie's voice came in her usual mood; fast-talking and cheerful, but upon the last two words, her voice changed as quick as a gunshot into a deep, angry snarl. The purple pony pressed her forehooves against her ears, shutting her eyes tight and beginning to shake violently as her conscience was assaulted by the horrible voices of ponies she knew, ponies she loved, all laced with hatred and broken trust. They melded together into a violent, impossibly-loud drone, not unlike the ear-splitting chaos that the local band ponies collectively generated with their simultaneous personal warm-ups, and the unholy sound was torturous to the one pony that could hear it. She suddenly became aware of two scaly elbows squeezing lightly against the sides of her neck, and two sets of fingers gently massaging her temples in a roughly circular motion. She blinked back to reality, just now realizing that her lavender cheeks were dripping with tears.

A small amount of irony presented itself to the unicorn; Spike had been reading a few specific books in her library on Massage Therapy, and through them the purple dragon had educated himself somewhat on the nerve clusters on a pony's body. But, he had never actually put this knowledge to a use before. However, as Twilight thought about it, she began to feel........safe. As her assistant sat on her now-winged back, rubbing lightly against the four pressure points, the mud of her troubles and worries seemed to slowly wash away from her body & mind, as if all was right in the world and she had nothing to worry about. Just moments before, she felt as if she were falling into a black abyss, infinite in every direction, no ground beneath her hooves and no one to help her as she plummeted through empty, freezing air. And, of course, regardless of the current situation, her wings did not work. But now, she felt like she had been pulled out and laid in a meadow laced with tall grass, lukewarm heat seeping into her body from the gentle sun above and the soft flora below.

Her thoughts veered into positive territory. Maybe....maybe it would all turn out OK. It's not like she would use her wings much. She really didn't need to fly; she stayed in her library most of the time, and could retrieve her books from the shelves much more accurately than flying by simply using her telekinesis. And who says Celestia's going to step down anyway? Who says Twilight even has to move to Canterlot? She could stay right here, with her friends, with virtually no difference in her everyday life. If she has to raise the sun... it can't be that hard, right? And her friends wouldn't care, right?....Right?

She began pondering the subject of her friends again. Most of them would understand, she guessed. But...how would she raise the subject? Hey, you’ll never guess what I found on my back this morning! No, that wouldn’t work. Should she just walk in casually and not raise it at all? Or should she tell them straight-up? But...Rainbow Dash still might not approve. That pony was stubborn, Twilight knew. And after all she had worked for, to impress her friends, to get into the Wonderbolts, she might not take too kindly to a feeling of being usurped.

She began forming a plan in her head. Tell Fluttershy first, Rarity second, and the other three last. Yeah, that would work. That would totally w-

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Twilight's blood froze solid in her veins. She whipped her head to her left, looking through the doorway to the front room at the candle-bearing wooden slab that served as her front door. She was sitting in plain sight; whoever was behind that door would spot her the moment they opened it.

"Twi? You in there? Dash here wants to check out a book on home cookin'." Applejack's voiced, laced with her trademark country drawl, sounded from behind the doorway, slightly muffled. An awkward shuffling of hooves followed in turn.

"Uh...Yeah, y'see, I kinda need to learn how to cook if I'm gonna impress my parents tomorrow...They're coming to visit me." A tomboyish voice added. Twilight's irises shrunk. These two were the absolute worst to tell about her situation first. They were both just a little bit conceited, and this would only lead to them over-analyzing her and/or hating her. She immediately shot to her feet; throwing Spike off with a yelp, and whipped her head back and forth as she frantically searched for a place to hide. Seeing no plausible location in the well-organized room, she turned around and dived back into the hallway she entered from.

"Spike, get the door, a-..and don't let them see me!" She cried, ducking behind the doorway and out of sight. The dragon rubbed his head and gave her a short grunt of understanding, before trudging to the door and opening it.

"Hey girls! If you're looking for Twilight, she's busy with her new wings. -UH, I...I mean... She's in the bathroom!" Twilight could hear the dragon's nervous grin. The ex-unicorn facehoofed, but the icy dagger of fear remained lodged painfully into her heart.

"The bathroom? Okay, err... You're Twilight's assistant, right? Could you just help me get the book I need?" Dash asked, her voice cracking like a frozen window.

"Yeah, come with me." Spike replied. Footsteps and hoofsteps signaled their trek around the front room, combined with the unmistakable clatter of a wooden ladder scraping against the floor as Spike performed his personal method of retrieving a very elevated book. Twilight moved her ear a little bit closer to the opening of the doorway she hid behind, hoping to improve the sound quality of her partial eavesdropping. She absent-mindedly flapped her new wings a few times, instinctively, possibly just because she was anxious. She had once asked Rainbow Dash why she sometimes had her wings fully outstretched, even when on the ground, and the cyan mare informed her that it was, for the most part, uncontrollable. They sometimes flare up when a pegasus is excited, or anxious, or generally when feeling any strong emotion. And since Dash was hyperactive, this generally meant all the time.

"What was that?" Rainbow Dash suddenly asked, sharply, somewhat interrogatively.

"What was what?" Spike replied, scribbling something down on a piece of paper; probably the forms for Rainbow's checkout.

"That noise! It...It sounded like wings flapping. Is there another pegasus in here? Fluttershy?" Rainbow's hoofsteps led into the kitchen, and toward Twilight's position. The ex-unicorn's irises shrunk; she had been found out! She needed to think of something, fast! She immediately shot back down the hallway to her room, not caring about the volume of her hoofsteps, and quickly shut & locked the door behind her. She stood up on her hind legs and pressed her back against the door, purple chest heaving with fear. She heard Rainbow approach the portal behind her.

"Fluttershy? What are you doing in Twilight's room?" Dash asked, her face pressed up against the other side of the door. "Isn't that like, invading her privacy? She's still in the bathroom!"

Twilight was trapped. She couldn't think of anything to say, and teleportation was not an option; two ponies she didn't want to spot her were walking around her house, and the entire world was outside. She swallowed, sweat running down her brow as she stood, trembling, eyes wide with fear. Dash rapped on the door a few times with her hoof. "Listen Fluttershy, or whoever you are, if you don't answer me, I'm going to kick this door down!"

Twilight took a deep breath. "WAIT!!" She screamed, throwing her instincts of self-preservation out the window. Dash remained silent for a moment.

"...T...Twilight? Oh, it's you in there? I guess that explains it... But why did I hear wings flapping? You're not a pegasus. Is Fluttershy in there with you?" Rainbow asked, blinking in confusion.

"Nah, Fluttershy's on a trip to Froggy Bottom Bog, to drop off frogs or some'n." A southern voice inputted, initially faint but growing louder as another set of hoofsteps came to Twilight's door.

"S...Seriously? W-why did I hear wings, then? Does Twilight have wings?" Dash sputtered, completely baffled.

“I don’t know what yer talkin’ about; I didn’t hear no wings flappin’.” Applejack denied, pursing her lips. “You’re probably just hearin’ things.” Twilight pulled herself away from the door and fell to her hooves, looking around her room for something of use. Okay, okay, she didn’t have to reveal herself to them quite yet. Maybe she could wear some sort of garment to cover her new appendages. Her searching eye was caught by a sharp glint on the other side of the room; her Gala dress, folded neatly inside a glass case on top of a shelf, to keep the dust out. No, that’s way too formal. Ponies would suspect something. She needed something simpler, something casual. Well, wearing nothing at all was the very definition of pony casual, but that was obviously not an option. She telekinetically moved some of the knicknacks from her shelves around, before uncovering a small green chest. The latch clicked as it opened, revealing a beige-trimmed blue-and-green vest: It was her “All-Team Organizer” vest from her first Winter Wrap-Up here in Ponyville. She softly bit the inside of her cheek, just now realizing how cheesy of a title that was. She shook her head, dismissing the irrelevant thought, before lifting the vest out of its container, undoing a few certain straps, and affixing it to her torso. She took a deep breath to gather herself, allowing some of her anxiety to release with her exhale, before trotting back to her door. She fumbled with the lock with her mind’s eye, before unlatching it and slowly pushing the door open, wearing a false smile on her lavender face.

“Hey, girls. Uh...what’s up?” Twilight greeted, giving a toothy grin. Rainbow Dash squinted at her, causing the ex-unicorn’s eyebrows to turn upward as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. Spike had always told her she was a bad liar. Well, it can’t be hard to lie to a pegasus as oblivious as Rainbow Dash.

Applejack cleared her throat before speaking. “Twi, what were ya’ll doin’ in there? And why did you tell us to wait out here ‘till you were done?” The orange farmer pony asked with a raised eyebrow, adjusting her Stetson hat.

“I....wasn’t decent.” Twilight lied through her teeth. Rainbow suppressed a chuckle.

“Are you wearin’ yer Winter Wrap-Up vest? It’s mighty hot outside...” Applejack asked, eyeing two specific bulges on the sides of the garment; exactly where Twilight’s wings were. “Yep, real strange of you to be wearin’ that at this time o’ year...”

“I’ll live.” Twilight desperately hoped that some unorthodox event would occur to get her two friends off her now-winged back. Ex-Unicorn and Earth Pony stared at one another for a moment more, the expressions of the two not unlike Applejack and Pinkie Pie back when the group was trying to prevent the party pony from discovering her impromptu surprise birthday party before it was ready. Applejack’s gaze intensified into an accusing glare, and Twilight’s ears dropped.

“...Ohhkay then. C’mon Dash, let’s get back to the barn. I need to show ya’ll how to operate a gas oven without blowin’ up the east half of Ponyville.” Applejack submitted, turning tail and heading down the hallway to the front door, her pegasus friend wordlessly following suit. The farmer pony looked back over her shoulder and smiled at the still-grinning ‘unicorn’. “Thanks for lettin’ us stop by, Twilight! Ya’ll have a good one, y’hear?”

Twilight nodded over-enthusiastically as her two friends exited her abode, before loudly releasing a breath she hadn’t even known she’d been holding. That was close... Those two had a bit of a reputation for being nosy, and this was about the most horribly inconvenient time possible for them to live up to it. She hung her head slightly, and trotted back to the kitchen. Spike’s steamed daffodil dish had her name on it.

She ate in silence, conversation between pony and dragon having halted before it began. Half an hour soon passed.... Twilight began to simply stare down at the half-eaten bowl of food in front of her, distraught. She didn’t quite have her usual appetite; there were more pressing matters on her mind at the time than eating. A small wisp of thought rose in her mind; I could just keep it a secret..., but was quickly shot down by another; They’re eventually going to catch me and find out. And they’re my friends! I shouldn’t have to keep secrets from them!

She shifted her wings inside her vest in an attempt to get more comfortable. Wearing this vest now...it hurt. It felt like her wings were being crushed. It was comfortable before all this, but that was because it was designed to be a tight fit for a unicorn. It just didn’t have room for a pair of wings. She momentarily wished that her vest had holes in it for her wings, but then remembered that it would defeat the current purpose of wearing it. She picked herself up from the table, muttering a brief “I‘m not hungry...” to her assistant, before trotting back to her room, physically and mentally exhausted. She laid back down on her cobalt-blue mattress integrated with star patterns, not even bothering to lift the comforter up first, and rested her head on her pillow. She wanted to take her vest off and stretch her wings or something, anything to alleviate this awful, crushing pain, but then came to the cruel realization that it would be better if she left it on. This way, if anypony else that knew her came to the library while she slumbered, they wouldn’t come across a sleeping purple alicorn lying in her bed. She shifted slightly, trying to retain the little comfort she had.

….

She felt a pair of draconian hands shaking her. She creaked her eyes open, laying eyes on her scaly library assistant, who wore a passive expression. She refocused her vision to the clock on the wall behind her, blinking a few times. 11:50. Oh good, now she had five and a half hours of sleep instead of three. But it was almost noon already. She groaned, and stretched her limbs across her mattress, feeling her bones popping, and winced as the same pain as before exploded in her wings from inside her vest.

“Uh, hey, uhm, Twilight?... I... I kinda told Rarity about this... She stopped by the library while you were sleeping, and-” Twilight’s eyes shot fully open, and she jerked upright, horrified. Spike held his hands up and shook his head. “Wait! She understands, and promises she wouldn’t tell anyone without your consent. She’s..uh...she’s in the kitchen. She says she wants to help.”

Twilight grit her teeth, her expression an indistinguishable blend of relief and anxiety, before lying back down on her bed, a deep frown lining her muzzle. She didn’t want to get up. She didn’t want to face Rarity, no matter how well-mannered and sensitive she was. But, now that she thought about it, she and Pinkie Pie were the only two ponies the alicorn even had the slightest flicker of hope for being able to safely inform about her situation. Well, maybe Fluttershy too, as long as Rainbow Dash didn’t succeed in prying it out of the timid yellow pegasus. Rarity was complacent and understanding, and Pinkie, although she never stops talking, would shut up about a specific topic if asked. But still...Maybe Rarity was the better choice for who to tell first.

The lavender alicorn, after gathering her thoughts, dragged herself out of her bed, her frown only widening as the crushing pain from her wings shot back to her once again. She trotted, slowly, back down the same hallway as before, before slowly peeking her head around the doorway to the kitchen. Her eyes laid on a white unicorn, who had begun to read one of the many books in Twilight’s library to pass the time, before she spotted the lavender pony in her peripheral vision and turned her head to face her. Rarity’s expression remained mostly blank, but one could spot undertones of concern in her gaze.

“Twilight? Darling, you look like you’re in pain...” Her friend eyed the two bulges on the sides of her Winter Wrap-Up vest. “...is it the vest? You should take it off...” Rarity suggested, softly, to avoid alarming her friend by being too forward. The alicorn didn’t respond as she trotted into the kitchen and stared at her friend, her eyes narrowing with cautious aggravation. The dressmaker’s horn lit up, and the All-Team Organizer vest was quickly surrounded in a deep blue glow, the straps gently undoing themselves and the garment sliding away from Twilight’s figure, revealing two sweaty purple wings with greatly disheveled feathers. Twilight never broke her gaze with Rarity, but did slowly stretch her wings out, to wring out the cramps that had formed from them being smashed into her sides for three consecutive hours, before folding them back against her torso. Rarity gasped slightly, but then covered her mouth with a hoof. “I...I....”

Twilight narrowed her eyes moreso. “Thanks Rarity, it’s great to know that I’m the local freak show.” The sarcasm in that statement was so thick, it could be cut with a knife. Rarity shook her head, mouth hanging open.

“No, no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to gawk... I.. I just wasn’t expecting this...”

“Neither was I.” Twilight frowned at her friend, oppressed anger clearly showing through her features. Rarity bit her lip, knowing that she was already off to a bad start with her friend on this extremely sensitive subject.

“I...I...I didn’t know that your colors would look so good with wings, my dear!” Rarity chimed, quickly changing the subject with a wide, toothy, yet unsure grin. She trotted to her friend and examined her additional appendages up close. “Such a glorious purple sheen! Tell me, do you use that new feather-shining conditioner I’ve been hearing so much about lately?”

Twilight’s eyebrows fell flat enough to build a house upon. The “glorious purple sheen” was probably her sweat. Applejack was right; the vest was very uncomfortable and very hot on such a sweltering day. “Rarity, I just got these this morning. Or...late last night while I was asleep. I don’t know.”

“But they’re so...eh...erm..” The white unicorn had already run out of things to say. Her face scrunched up in thought, her eyebrows still drawn upwards. “...D..Darling...Your assistant Spike told me that you wanted a casual outfit to hide them with, correct? A-and don’t worry, I promise I won’t tell anypony. I swear. I Pinkie Pie swear. Cross m-” She was interrupted by a hoof to her mouth, and a despaired sigh from the hoof’s owner, who looked at the floor.

“You don’t have to Pinkie Pie swear. I mean, they’re all going to find out eventually...” Twilight’s voice wavered slightly, the alicorn growing upset. Going out of your way to hide something never works out for long. Sooner or later, you slip up, or somepony walks in at the exact wrong time, and they find out. Rarity pushed away Twilight’s hoof, and sat down on her haunches, formulating her next sentence.

“O-okay....Now, tell me, did you just...grow them? Or was there some spell involved?” The dressmaker asked, trying to spread her weight out on thin ice. Twilight didn’t respond, sitting down on her own haunches, and continuing to stare at the floor. “...Twilight?”

“I don’t know, Rarity. I know I grew them, but I don’t know if it’s because of a spell or not. There was...this old tome up in Canterlot Castle that prophesized that one prized student of the monarch might eventually take her place. I don’t know if it’s because the Princess casted a spell on me to cause this to happen, or if it just happened by itself...” Twilight’s voice was lined with uncertainty. “...Either way... If the crackpot that wrote that book was right, I’m going to have to... to learn how to raise the sun. A-and fly, I guess. But I don’t know how to do either of those.”

“Well, dear, maybe you could receive instruction from the Princess on raising the sun. And for flying, you could probably ask Rainbow Dash. I’m sure she’d jump at the chance to teach somepony something she’s so very good at and proud of.” The purple alicorn gave her a disbelieving stare.

“Yes, Dash is proud of her flying skill, and that’s the problem. If she even found out that I have wings now, she might feel like I’m trying to pass her up, since..." Twilight frowned, thinking of how the rainbow-maned pegasus reacted back at the Best Young Flyer's competition, when Rarity wanted to use her new wings to upstage her, but the bookworm remained quiet to avoid offending her present company. The alicorn looked at the wooden floor again, feeling a light burning in her eyes. A few tears dripped from her purple orbs to the wooden slabs below, creating minuscule puddles on the gloss coating intended to protect the floor from water damage.

Rarity frowned, and laid a hoof on one of Twilight’s wings, attempting to comfort her, but Twilight quickly flared said wing and threw her hoof off. “...Just...Let’s just get started on this vest for me.”

For the next few hours the unicorn worked, measuring Twilight’s dimensions with a tape measure and trimming pieces of cloth accordingly. The ex-unicorn requested that the vest be nonchalant, so Rarity designed a simple garment that was a slightly darker shade of purple than her friend’s fur, trimmed with protruding white strips at the seams. It was simple, yet elegant. Rarity gave special attention to the sides, certifying that certain areas were loose enough to be comfortable for Twilight’s wings, but didn’t make them horribly obvious.

“Thanks, Rarity. This’ll let me go outside without making a scene.” Twilight thanked, giving a soft smile to her friend. Rarity’s eye twitched slightly--Twilight hadn’t even noticed the fashion value of the vest--but she shook away the thought, knowing that the clothing had an ulterior purpose.

“Oh, it’s absolutely no problem at all, dear! Now, erm, now that I’ve made the vest for you, Applejack actually would like your help harvesting her apple orchard. She’s not feeling well, you see, and she can’t find the strength to buck as many apple trees as quickly as she usually does. I-I know this isn’t an opportune time to ask you, but she won’t see your...your wings, now, so... Do you think you’re up to it?”

This caught Twilight off-guard, and she pondered the request for a moment. It would be unlike her to turn down a friend in need, yet she didn’t want to run the risk of potentially tearing the vest and being found out. But....No, friends come first. “Sure, I guess. Tell her I’ll be there in about half an hour. I have some...things I need to take care of first.”

---

Rarity walked daintily down the dirt road leading from Ponyville to the famous Sweet Apple Acres, to deliver the message Twilight had asked her to. Applejack, oddly, had actually asked Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to help out with the farm as well, figuring that the two pegasi would be able to grab the more stubborn apples off of the trees. The white one had not told the entire truth to the alicorn; Rarity had another purpose for being there. She had a secondary message to deliver. She felt bad about betraying Twilight’s trust in her, but her plan was to tell their friends everything she knew about Twilight’s situation, so they would understand when the lavender pony eventually mustered up enough courage to come clean. On terms of Rainbow Dash, telling her would also cause her to cease her prying, which would ultimately help Twilight feel more comfortable around her.

She ignored the ever-nagging voice in the back of her mind that told her to keep from getting her hooves dirty. It’s for a friend, it’s for a friend, she told herself. It’s just dirt. It’ll wash out. She could deal with it.

After a few more minutes of trotting, she finally entered the orchard clearing that nestled the Apple Family barn within its confines. Off in the distance, she could pick out three specks; one orange, one yellow, and one cyan with a rainbow trail. She galloped towards them, methodically as to not kick up dirt, and soon enough, Applejack noticed her approach and gave a welcoming smile.

“Howdy Rar-*cough*...Rarity... How’re ya’ll doin’?” The orange earth pony greeted. Rarity’s eyebrows upturned upon sighting the orange mare; she did not know her condition had deteriorated this quickly! Her colors were paled, she trembled as she stood, and she appeared to have trouble keeping her eyes open. Her voice was raspy, and all in all she looked like she would collapse at any moment.

“How am I doing? I’m more concerned with how you’re doing, Applejack!” Rarity replied, rather dramatically. The farmer pony laughed softly, before her chortling was interrupted by another coughing fit.

“I..I’ll be fine... I can still help ya’ll with the orchard, I ju-Who-oa!” Applejack lost her footing on two of her legs and fell to the ground. She picked herself back up, shakily, as if the action carried a large amount of difficulty. Rainbow Dash helped her back up, flapping her wings for extra leverage.

“Uh Applejack, I don’t know the first thing about diseases, but you seriously don’t look good. You go and rest; we’ll handle all the hard work.” Dash said, just a little bit teasingly with a smile on her face. Applejack smiled back at the cyan mare, and allowed her friend to walk her back to the barn so she could lie down, leaving Rarity with Fluttershy. The two mares awkwardly looked at eachother and shuffled their hooves.

“So...have you three started yet?” Rarity asked the yellow pegasus, scratching the back of her own neck with a hoof.

“No, we’re waiting for Twilight...is she coming?” Fluttershy replied, looking at her white friend curiously. Rarity pursed her lips.

“Erm...Yes. She’ll come later, she told me she has some business to take care of first.” Rarity pondered if she should describe Twilight’s situation to Fluttershy, right here, right now, while the two more arrogant ponies were absent. The butter-yellow pegasus could definitely keep a secret. The unicorn opened her mouth to begin her sentence, but closed it shortly, not entirely sure what to say.

“Ahem...Fluttershy? Can you keep a secret? It...it’s important, and it’s about Twilight.” Rarity asked, pawing at the ground.

“What about Twilight?” Fluttershy suddenly perked upright, interested. “Is she okay?” Rarity nodded.

“Yes, she’s quite alright...Well, at least physically she is. Listen...” Rarity leaned closer to her friend’s ear, swallowing to quell her anxiety. “Twilight...she...She grew wings. Wings. Don’t tell anypony; she’s scared to death of what everyone will think of her now. I made a vest for her, to hide them, but don’t point it out and don’t ask about it, okay? I...I’m breaking a promise by telling you this...but I believe it’s for the best.”

Fluttershy didn’t respond at first, completely shocked. Rarity could tell there were a million thoughts running through her head, and nuzzled the mare softly to calm her. “Is..Is Twilight going to have to leave? To be a princess?” The pegasus asked quietly, casting a worried gaze toward the dressmaker.

“No, I don’t think she would. But...don’t be worried, okay? Twilight is probably worried about the same thing you are, having to leave her friends. Just...be strong for her.” Rarity whispered, moving away from her friend’s ear. Fluttershy opened her mouth to voice another concern, but a rush of wind and flapping of cyan wings stopped her as Rainbow Dash landed in front of the two.

“I’m back! Okay then uh, you two wanna get crackin’ on the orchard?...And where’s Twilight?” The cyan pegasus flicked her gaze back and forth, her rainbow-streaked mane whipping about as she searched for the absent ‘unicorn’.

Rarity cleared her throat. “I’m sure she’s on her way, Rainbow, no need to fret.”

As if on cue, a flash of deep-red light and a small “pop” nearby indicated the arrival of the mare in question. All three fillies turned their heads toward the source of the disturbance, seeing a well-groomed Twilight in a snazzy white-trimmed purple vest smiling warmly at them. Upon looking closer, however, one could see two black voids of fear lying just underneath her eyes. She...she was terrified, and she was trying to hide it. Rarity glanced at Fluttershy, seeing the look of comprehension on her face, and then at Rainbow Dash, who only looked concerned.

“...Twilight? Are you okay?” Dash asked, approaching the clothed pony and folding her outstretched wings. The lavender mare’s smile disappeared, and she backed away slightly.

“O-Of course, Rainbow Dash. Why wouldn’t I be?” The ‘unicorn’ answered, forcing a wide grin onto her features. She swallowed with trepidation. Dash’s eyebrows turned upward with concern; usually if a pony was being this nervous, she figured they were hiding something, but...the genuine fear present in her friend’s eyes told her that it was no laughing matter. She approached again, slowly, and gently laid a hoof on Twilight’s side. The blue speedster expected to feel the usual tautness and slight give of pony flesh under the vest, but instead felt something...soft. Feathery, even. Before she could investigate further by pressing deeper into the unicorn’s side, Twilight jerked away with a yelp, her ears folded back against her head. Rainbow frowned; she must have just poked an injury. And maybe the soft stuff she was feeling was the bandages.

“Oh...Sorry Twi, I didn’t know you were hurt. Um...” Dash bit her lip, her eyes flicking back and forth, before spreading her wings and jumping up into the air, beginning to grab apples off the trees and drop them into the baskets spread around the area. Everypony else wordlessly followed suit; Fluttershy collecting apples in a method identical to her rainbow-maned friend while the two unicorns pulled apples off the trees with their telekinesis. While Rarity seemed to only be able to handle one tree at a time, Twilight was working with massive chunks of the orchard, with seemingly no difficulty. Rarity’s jaw dropped slightly; she had seen Twilight clear several trees at a time back when Applejack tried to harvest the entirety of Sweet Apple Acres by herself, but now the lavender ‘unicorn’ was levitating the apples of nearly forty trees simultaneously! She squinted to refract some of the piercing sunlight out of her eyes as she gazed at Twilight for a moment. She couldn’t really tell, but...was Twilight’s horn just a tad longer?

Rarity sat down on her haunches and stared blankly at a dull brown tree trunk, her mind racing. Did Twilight’s magical capabilities increase when she grew wings? Or had she just been practicing? A realization stabbed into her like a knife. Rainbow Dash would be suspicious... And after the cyan pegasus poked Twilight’s vest and most definitely felt her wings underneath, this may only be adding to her suspicion. Rarity sighed and stood up, continuing to filter apples into the nearby woven straw baskets, sincerely hoping that the blue blur could wait until after they were done clearing the orchard to ask all her questions.

After nearly an hour with no contact with one other, the four regrouped to review their work. They had cleared about one third of the orchard. Excellent; they were making good time. As they sat down and munched on a few of the harvested apples for a leisurely break, conversation gradually rebooted between them.

“Phew... This is really hard...” Fluttershy moaned, running a hoof across her yellow forehead to wipe off the beads of sweat. “And it’s so hot outside today... I hope Angel bunny is taking good care of the animals while I’m away...”

“You said it, Fluttershy...” Dash breathed, just barely staying conscious under the relentless pounding of the sun’s heat. Her rainbow mane, usually unruly, was plastered to her forehead with her own sweat. Her half-lidded rosy eyes drifted over to Twilight. “....Wow...And I thought we had it bad... Look at Twilight over there; she’s gotta be cooking in that vest...” The lavender ‘unicorn’ was probably suffering from heat stroke, but at the time she didn’t care. It was better than revealing her ‘developments’ to all her friends. Dash coughed dryly, taking another sip of her bottle of apple juice, which she had retrieved prior to their meeting from Applejack’s surprisingly-cold apple cellar.

“Hey...Twilight....you don’t gotta torture yourself for the sake of fashion...That’s Rarity’s job...” Rainbow wheezed with a small chuckle, sweat dripping down her cheeks. She received a small glare from the white unicorn in response, but the sweaty rainbow-maned pegasus was too overheated to notice. “Take that vest off...C’mon....you’ll feel loads better...”

Twilight froze up, her heat-induced stupor shattering. “No no no no no, I-I’ll be fine. I can still wear it.” She grinned nervously. “Rarity always said I need to get in tune with my fashionable side.” The white unicorn would normally give her own two cents to the conversation, but she knew she needed to keep quiet, for Twilight’s sake. Rainbow Dash’s eyes scanned her figure, before widening suddenly, as if she had spotted something.

“Twilight?...Are...Are those feathers sticking out of your vest?” The cyan pegasus asked, gaping at the ex-unicorn’s attire. Twilight immediately shot a glance at the side of her vest. There was a lengthy tear in it, possibly from a stray twig cutting into her side. It was in a straight line, so it didn’t fall away to reveal anything, but a few of the lavender feathers from her wings had slid through it into the outside air. She shifted her wings slightly inside her vest to pull them back in, before looking at Dash and assuming an expression of false confusion.

“Feathers? What feathers?” Twilight dismissed, intentionally keeping her ears erect instead of letting them fold backwards and revealing the fear she truly felt. Rainbow Dash, with a sudden burst of energy, walked to her intimidatingly, glaring into her eyes and flaring her wings up.

“Twilight, I know I saw feathers. Does your vest have pegasus feathers on the inside? You-...err, Rarity got these legally, right?” Dash’s voice didn’t carry any hint of interrogation, but her visage did. Twilight felt her own wings extending instinctively, to match her friend’s, and consciously put an effort into keeping them folded against her sides. It’s instinctive, she told herself, remembering her read-over of the documentary on pegasi she kept on a top shelf in her library after Rarity left earlier that day. The instinctual fight-or-flight response. It forces a pegasus to flare his/her wings up when they feel threatened. It’s to make them appear larger for the former, or to prepare them to fly away for the latter... Due to how the alicorn’s vest ripped so easily from (apparently) being caught on a twig, if she let her wings flare up, it would tear the vest clean off, and throw her secret down the drain. She mentally facehoofed; of all the things Rarity could forget while making her vest, she just had to overlook durability. Keeping her wings down was difficult, to say the least. It was like trying to hold down two large, powerful springs. She couldn’t pay attention to Rainbow Dash’s next sentence; she was too focused on restraining her own body parts for any coherent thought to bubble forth. But, the rainbow-maned pegasus eventually backed away, allowing Twilight to relax and think clearly.

“Yes, yes Rainbow Dash, I bought the molted feathers of various lavender pegasi at the Ponyville marketplace earlier today.” Rarity interjected, nodding calmly, giving a false explanation to a false assumption. “Well, they weren’t selling them at stands or anything. I had to track several down, ask them if they had any spare feathers, and then wait until they went and fetched some before purchasing them, but yes.”

“Erm....alright.” Dash surrendered, folding her wings back against her sides. “...Twilight? Can you take that vest off so I can see it? You’d feel at least, ehh, forty-three percent cooler.”

The lavender one shook her head fearfully, a frown lining her muzzle. “No....” Removing her vest here would reveal her to two more ponies; and she didn’t want that. Yes, they were her friends, but it’s ironic how something like this can break a friendship. Nopony likes to feel replaced. Her deep purple eyes turned to her cyan friend again, and she bit her lip.

Even Fluttershy was staring at her now. Although her expression carried unsatisfied curiosity, rather than interrogating anger. Regardless, Dash took a step forward again, and Twilight in turn took a step back, her vest catching again on a tree she wasn’t aware was behind her. She cast a glance at the fabric, realizing that a strong piece of bark was caught on one of the seams. Her heart sank; one wrong move, and it was over. It was all over.

“Twilight... If you don’t want to rip your vest or whatever, just take it off.” Rainbow said slowly, eyes narrowing. Fluttershy stepped up behind the rainbow-maned pony and tapped her shoulder, receiving a glare in response, and shying away with an “eep!”. The butter yellow pegasus took a moment to gather herself, and rose again, her eyes flaring with new determination.

“Dash... You don’t need to be so, uh, prying to Twilight. If she doesn’t want to take her vest off, she d-doesn’t... need......to...” The animal-lover shied away again as she was stared down by the tomboyish pegasus.

Rainbow Dash glared at Twilight again, and began galloping towards her, intending to knock her out of her vest. The spellcaster’s eyes widened. “NO!!” She screamed, panicked, her voice echoing through the trees and scaring away various birds. Everything moved in slow-motion as her friend tackled her, her vision jerking as she was thrown backwards, taking the impact full-force. A soft ripping noise accompanied the event, and Twilight felt her vest sliding away from her body, exposing her feathered wings to the outside air. As the wind blew against the beads of sweat that had gathered on her torso & wings, it felt almost cool...

THUNK. Her torso slammed into the dirt, and the mildly pleasant feeling of the wind caressing her figure was replaced by rapid jabs of sharp pain, wildly fluctuating as she and Rainbow Dash tumbled across the grass, gradually sliding to a stop. Twilight’s eyes fluttered open to see her tomboyish friend standing over her, holding her front legs to the ground, squinting in an attempt to dispel the temporary dizziness of their rolling. Her rosy eyes shot open suddenly, flicking from side to side. Twilight’s followed, seeing a lavender pair of wings sprawled unevenly across the grass to her sides, in plain view for all to see. She then looked at her vest, which still hung from the thick bark of a nearby tree. Finally, she looked back at Rainbow, watching the cyan pegasus as she mumbled incoherently, her face twitching involuntarily.

“Y..y...you...you have wings?” Rainbow asked quietly, incredulously, coming to her realization that her friend was indeed hiding something under her vest. “Y-You’re an alicorn?!” Her incredulous visage hung for a few seconds, before slowly melting into a furious one. “You..This is just like Rarity all over again! But now it's you! You're gonna enter the Wonderbolts tryouts and try to beat me, aren't you!?" She growled, gritting her teeth, spitting her words as if they were acid. Twilight felt hot tears spill out of her eye ducts, blurring her vision. This was exactly what she had feared...and she didn’t know what to say. She knew how shallow and shortsighted Rainbow Dash could be, which was precisely the reason she had worn the vest in the first place; to avoid setting her friend off.

“Dash! Get off of her!!” Rarity’s pseudo-regal voice yelled out. Dash’s head snapped to her right for a moment, before the cyan pony gave one last glare to the alicorn beneath her hooves, and stood up to face the dressmaker. The white unicorn's scolding expression faltered for a moment as the hot knife of hypocrisy slit behind her ear--she was becoming angry at her pegasus friend for assuming Twilight will commit the same injustice that she did, all those months ago--but quickly regained her composure. “Rainbow Dash, I cannot believe you! Accusing your best friend of wanting to take something that you’ve worked so hard for! You should be ashamed!!” Rarity pushed her face into Dash’s, her expression dominated by oppressed rage. If Dash was staring daggers, Rarity was staring swords. The dressmaker forced the pegasus back several steps, her anger overwhelming, her teeth powerfully grit together. Rainbow continued to glare back at the unicorn, reminded of what she did at the Best Young Flyer's competition, but her fury soon vanished from her face, replaced by fear, her ears pressed flat against her head. “If you would honestly turn on your own FRIEND so easily, then I wonder just how BAD of a PERSON you really are!!”

“W-Wait...I...I..” Dash stuttered, her rump pressed against the very tree that Twilight’s vest had caught on. The dressmaker was deliberately targeting a weak spot; Dash was actually being extremely disloyal by accusing her friend of something like this, and shallow for jumping to conclusions. And Rarity’s words stung. Even Twilight and Fluttershy were incredulous to see the unicorn standing up for one of her friends so heavily.

“You will apologize to Twilight, right now.” The white pony ordered, growling through her teeth. “Unless you want to lose two of your friends.” Dash swallowed, a small, uncharacteristically submissive whimper escaping her throat, before turning her head to Twilight, who had only recently gotten to her hooves.

“T...Twilight...I...I’m sorry...” She mumbled, quietly. A growl from Rarity, and she took a deeper breath. “I-I’m sorry, Twilight!! I-I shouldn’t have said any of that! It was shallow and stupid!”

Rarity huffed. “That’s better.” She backed away, slowly, allowing Rainbow Dash to regain her footing. “You see, this is the reason I made that vest for her. So this wouldn’t happen. I didn’t think I would need to make it as tough as a hoofball uniform for it to stay together, because I didn’t have ‘being tackled’ in mind while sewing it.” Rarity shoved an angry white hoof into Rainbow’s nose. “And don’t you DARE go off telling anypony about her. She’s had enough problems so far.”

“O-Okay...” Dash replied. Rarity removed her hoof and trotted to Twilight, standing next to her.

“Take a good look, Dash, Fluttershy. This is Twilight now. Personally I don’t think it matters what she is, it matters more who she is. And who she is hasn’t changed.” Rarity announced, resting a hoof on one the alicorn’s semi-extended wings, earning a look from her. Twilight’s eyes were bloodshot, and her cheeks were still streaked with dried-up tears.

“I think she looks nice with wings...” Fluttershy vocalized softly, smiling at the lavender pony. “...Twilight, can you fly?” The yellow pony stood up and walked to the ex-unicorn, looking her wings over.

“Uhm.. No, n-” Twilight began, but paused and cleared her throat as her voice suddenly caught. “Not really. I...I don’t know how.” Fluttershy momentarily beamed in response.

“Oh, I could teach you! ...I-I mean, if Rainbow Dash is okay with it... Maybe she would like to teach you...” The butter yellow pegasus shrunk backward and cast her gaze to the blue filly, who currently looked guilty & distraught.

“...W-well... I-I mean, I could... I’d like to... but... I messed up really badly just now...” Dash answered, casting her gaze to the green grass below. “I don’t think Twilight would want me to...” The alicorn in question pondered the blue filly’s statement for a moment; true, she overall did not need to fly in her everyday life. She could reach anything she wanted with just magic, and got around just fine without any airborne transportation. It would be useful, but wholly unnecessary. That being said... Dash’s emotions often stuck with her if she didn’t know how to deal with them, and not being able to atone for a huge mistake would most likely depress her for several days, so perhaps allowing the pegasus to teach her how to fly would give Dash closure.

“Well, Rainbow... If you’re happy to teach me, then I would love it.” Twilight said, giving her anxious friend a warm, forgiving smile. A smile can solve any problem, or at the very least, make it less hard. The blue blur gave a small smile in return, her eyes beginning to regain their lost fire. “And...girls? I...really don’t want to be a princess. I’m happy right here, with a normal life, with normal friends, and a normal job.” Well, “job” was a stretch (Her library was more of a non-profit home business), but her point rang true.

Another thought struck her like a shovel to the back of the head, and her smile vanished. Her library, her house....was in the middle of Ponyville, a very populated city. Every day, she would have to bear the gawks of everypony in it... as the only resident that had both a horn and wings. Stares, murmurs, whispers... Some might even just avoid her altogether. Her thoughts led back to the situation at hand; if she was going to walk around with wings attached to her back, she might as well use them.

“...Don’t we have to tell Applejack and Pinkie Pie about this eventually?” Fluttershy asked, quietly, from the proverbial corner. “...I mean, they’d both be accepting, but Pinkie might want to throw a party, and...”

“Yyyyeaaahhh, let’s just start with Applejack.” Rainbow Dash suggested, her voice having regained its usual motivation, a confident smile plastered on her face. That smile vanished after a few seconds. “Oh...she might be sleeping. ‘Cuz, you know, she’s sick and stuff.”

“Well darling, we’ll just have to wake her up for a moment.” Rarity answered with a bit of trepidation, motioning towards the barn, which sat on top of a hill roughly two hundred yards away. Everypony began walking towards it, partially to help explain Twilight’s changes, and also to escape the heat of the sun for at least a few minutes. AJ’s relatives were all out of town to attend a nearby festival, so Twilight didn’t have to explain herself to more than one pony this time.

But... She still had to explain herself to two friends...and...pretty much all of Equestria.

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