"I have one question," said Thunderbolt as he straddled Rainbow's lower back, on his knees, starting at her shoulders and working out the firm spots. "Ugh…" said Rainbow as he continued, though she had a smile on her face, "Shoot." "Why'd you snap a little when I called you 'coach'?" asked Thunder. "Nopony…" said Rainbow, groaning intermittently as she continued to breathe heavily, "Ever called me that… before. I just remember… calling my flying coach that… when I was a filly. He was a hard, firm, annoying guy. I thought that, if somepony called their coach that, it meant that their coach was mean and nasty. I… ugh… didn't want to be that pony. But… apparently…" "You're not that pony," said Thunderbolt, stopping his massage to look her in her deep magenta eyes, "I was being respectful. I'll call you 'Rainbow Dash' if you want." "We're friends now," said Rainbow, "You don't have to call me by my full name. Twilight calls me by my first name, Pinkie calls me 'Dashie', Rarity only calls me by my full name because she thinks it's formal, Fluttershy does the same because she's shy, Applejack calls me by my first name too. But… I think you should come up with your own name. I'm getting kinda bored of ponies calling me by my first name." "How about…" Thunderbolt, thinking, said, "How about I call you 'Bow'?" "I do call Fluttershy 'Shy' sometimes," said Rainbow, "So… sure, I guess. Just promise me you won't do that in public, 'kay? I've got a reputation to maintain." "Okay, 'Bow," said Thunderbolt, continuing his massage and moving down her back.
"Now I have a question for you, Thunder," said Rainbow. "Shoot," said Thunderbolt. "You… ugh… can't have come… all the way to Ponyville from… wherever you live… for me," said Rainbow before Thunderbolt cut her off. "Yeah, I did, actually," he stated, blushing. "Where do you live… anyways…?" Rainbow vaguely half-asked between deep breaths and enthusiastic sighs. "On a small island on the south-eastern coast, off the edge of Equestria," specified Thunderbolt. "Oh, I think I met a pony from there, a little while ago," said Rainbow, "How'd you get here?" Thunderbolt simply unfolded his wings. "Impressive endurance you've got there, kid," said Rainbow, apparently using 'kid' every time she complimented somepony. "Thanks, 'Bow," said Thunderbolt. "Still getting used to that nickname," said Rainbow, immediately letting out a deep sigh as several pops came from her spine. "My turn now," said Thunderbolt. "Nuh-uh," said Rainbow, wiggling her wings. "Oh, right," said Thunderbolt, moving his hooves apart to work on her wings.
Thunderbolt picked her right one up and began rubbing it between his hooves. It felt rock-solid, fairly bony as well. "What am I supposed to do?" he thought. As if she'd read his mind, Rainbow said, "Press a little harder, will ya? I can't feel a thing!" Thunderbolt nodded, though he knew that she couldn't see it. Rainbow's wing gave a little as he pressed harder. She let out a deep sigh as he continued to press down. Then he moved to the other one, it was equally rock-hard as the first one had been, but as Thunderbolt pressed on it, it gave more and more. "Ah…" said Rainbow, tilting her head back and then laying back down, sighing. She was breathing harder, but unlike in the workout, they were enthusiastic gasps. As he continued, he remembered a point in their workout where she had pulled a muscle in her wing and started crying. She wasn't sad, just in huge amounts of pain. He remembered Rainbow saying, "I'm… not crying. This is liquid pain." And that was enough to put a smile on Thunderbolt's face.
Then Rainbow said, "Hey, Thunder?" "Yeah, 'Bow?" asked Thunderbolt. "I was wondering if you'd be ok with trying something else…" said Rainbow. "Probably," said Thunderbolt, "Shoot!" "There's something I wanna try out," said Rainbow, flying over to the chest that held the massage equipment. Thunderbolt stayed put, watching her rummage through the trunk. "Here they are!" exclaimed Rainbow, flying back over to the bed and sitting down. "What are they?" asked Thunderbolt. "They're hoof-held heating pads," said Rainbow, "Put 'em on your front hooves. I kinda wonder how this'll feel…" "Probably awesome," said Thunderbolt as he put on what looked like beige socks and felt stiff, like they'd just been starched too much.
The heating pads became warm almost instantly. "Wow, that was fast," thought Thunderbolt as he walked over. He resumed his stance, straddling Rainbow's hips. He tried hard not to laugh as her tail twitched. "You ready?" Thunderbolt asked Rainbow as he held his forehooves up. Rainbow smiled and nodded. He immediately put his forehooves down onto her wing-joints, and a shiver ran down her spine. "That. Feels. So good," said Rainbow, "Do it again, harder!" "Okay then," said Thunderbolt, doing the same thing but pressing down afterwards. Rainbow's eyes went wide, the kind of amazed stare a little filly has when they first see a winter snow. "Dear Celestia, do that again!" exclaimed Rainbow, "Harder!" Thunderbolt then did the same but then he continued to rub back and forth up and down both wings at once. An exhilarated gasp erupted from Rainbow as he did so. He stopped momentarily, looking over at her. "Kay, now it's your turn. You prepared for awesomeness?" asked Rainbow, flying up and motioning for Thunderbolt to lie down. "Ready," said Thunderbolt.