Chapter 1 - Finally, some peace...
"Fluttershy?" A cyan pegasus with a mane of the seven colors of the rainbow cracked open the door to her best friend's house. The shy yellow pegasus was nowhere to be seen, and the rainbow pony was in need of that friend. Rainbow Dash left the house walls and flew around to the back garden. "Fluttershy!" She was tending to her animal friends when she looked over to Rainbow dash.
"Rainbow? What brings you out here?" She trotted over to great her spunky friend.
"Twilight sent me out here to get you. She just received a letter from Princess Celestia, some sort of invitation to the castle!"
"Oh no! Is Canterlot in trouble?" Fluttershy displayed a worried expression at the thought of more chaos.
"Naw," Rainbow Dash reassured her friend, "It's not because of trouble but I'm not sure specifically what's up. The invitation doesn't say anything other than to come to the castle and when. We are leaving right away so pack up everything and meet the rest of us at Twilight's library."
"Oh! Okay! I'll try to hurry so I don't cause any trouble! See you in a bit!" Fluttershy quickly galloped into her quaint cottage and left Rainbow Dash to speed back to the library. Even though the speed demon wasn't gone for long, a royal chariot being pulled by stallion pegasi was parked outside the large tree. The four other member of the mane six, as well as Spike, were already waiting.
"Rainbow! Will Fluttershy be here soon?" Twilight approached her speedy friend.
"Yeah, she's coming she won't be too much longer." Twilight nodded and hopped back into the chariot. Rainbow followed the purple unicorn and they began to wait. Minutes later, the yellow pegasus was on the horizon. Soon enough, all six were ready to go.
"Sorry for the wait!" Fluttershy exclaimed, being the overly apologetic pony she is.
"Hey, it's cool! We aren't in any rush. "Rainbow said bearing a grin. Fluttershy then rebounded with another smile back. Then they were off to the capital of Equestria. The flight didn't seem long as the chatter and excitement of the group kept the ride lively and time flew by. In what could've been a moment, they had landed at the foot of the palace. Two unicorn guards stepped up to the group and ushered them inside. They were led into the large throne room, no place unfamiliar to them of course, and right up the Celestia.
"Ah, welcome back Twilight and friends," The princess rose from her throne.
"It's great to be here and all Princess, but why did you call us all here so suddenly? Is something the matter again?" Twilight asked her teacher.
"Not this time. I know you've been through quite a lot these past months and I thought it would be nice if you all got a well-deserved break. So you will all be staying at the castle for three weeks and for the Canterlot Ball," the girls exchanged glances in other in excitement.
"Oooooo! The Canterlot Ball! Another party!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she bounced about.
"The Canterlot Ball?" Twilight asked the princess addled. "I've only heard of the Grand Galloping Gala."
"The Canterlot Ball is a formal dance and is a smaller and more private event. It'll be much less chaotic than the Gala," The princess turned to her guards. "Would you be so kind as to show them to their rooms?" The guards nodded and led the girls, and Spike, out of the throne room. The ponies were led up the grand staircase and into a back hallway. In the hallway, six doors lined up against the walls, three on each side. Each door had an image of a cutie mark displayed on it, a room for each one of the ponies. The end of the wall opened up into a large spacious room with plenty of comfy seating and such. One guard spoke up, "Feel free to stay and leave as you wish," and with that the vacation had begun.
Rainbow Dash entered the door adorned with her respective cutie mark. To her surprise, the room was nothing like she imagined. Instead of the stereotypical princess room, the room was an enhanced version of her bedroom at home. It was almost her dream room. The bed was a marvelous cloud canopy bed, which she plopped down on. This bed was way more comfortable than her one at home. She snuggled into the cloud to examine the rest of the room. The walls were a pale blue and the floor was a fluffy white carpet which had felt snug on her hooves. An armoire, a vanity, a bookshelf (filled with Daring Doo books and others of that genre), and two warm looking chairs filled the rest of the room. Rainbow cuddled into the fluff of the bed while looking on her left. On the other side of that wall… She groans and turns and buries her head into the cloud pillow under her head. But wait… three weeks of free time… "This could finally be my chance to get closer…" She sits up to pat down her messed up mane. Smiling with hope, the pegasus floats to the door, "my chance…"