A/N: I'd like to comment on a comment I received from seishi2.0 - there is a reason why Flutters acted like that. It's called PEER PRESSURE! Don't worry though! She isn't going to be like that in the end. Though I can't say the same for Rarity and Applejack...

Anyway... Enjoy, my wonderful readers, and please Read & Review! Commentary is appreciated if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Rainbows in the Twilight

Chapter 2: Confronting the Royal Council

Twilight's Castle, Ponyville, 06:00…

Rainbow Dash was currently flying through the clouds above Canterlot, decked out in a Wonderbolts uniform. She smiled at the cheering crowds below her and the flyers beside her. She was about to fly down when she started shaking from an unexpected turbulence of wind. "Rainbow…" she heard a voice call. "Who's there?! Show yourself!" the mare exclaimed as she tried to regain control of her direction, to no avail.

Just before she hit the ground she heard the voice call out once more. "Rainbow!" The pegasus was startled awake by a flash of light and she leapt out of her bed. Rainbow gazed around to see Twilight on the ground, groaning in pain while holding her head with her hooves. "Twilight? What are you doing?" the cyan mare asked her friend.

"What is your skull made of, Rainbow?!" the bookworm asked back. "You could've knocked me out if it had been just slightly harder." Rainbow gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, Twi. I should've told you to never try and shake me awake." Twilight shook the pain out of her head and got up. "Anyway, Rainbow, we need to eat breakfast before we go get your stuff for our trip to Canterlot." She informed.

The cyan speedster nodded and entered the bathroom attached to her room. The princess shook her head again and sighed before heading down into the dining hall to see Spike place two plates with salads and one plate with a heap of rubies and topazes on the large table. "Morning Spike." Twilight called out to her assistant.

The baby dragon looked up to see his surrogate mother standing in the doorway. "Oh, hey Twilight! Breakfast is ready. Did you go get Rainbow Dash?" he asked as he sat down in front of his plate of gems. The alicorn nodded and sat down in front of one of the salads before starting to eat it. A few minutes later the Rainbow-maned pegasus entered the dining hall and sat down beside Twilight and started eating her salad.

"Mmmm…Thish ish good Shpike!" Rainbow praised while chewing. Twilight stared at the other mare with a bemused expression. The mare noticed her friend's gaze and asked "What? It ish?" before swallowing. The alicorn shook her head. "You're dining with royalty and yet you eat like a pig." She commented.
Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Please, Twilight. You're more than mere royalty. You're my best friend!" she exclaimed. "Besides, you know I'm not one for all that fancy nonsense." The cyan mare blushed slightly. She wouldn't admit it, but she had seen a new side to the purple bookworm after the previous day. Twilight sighed. "I suppose…"

Spike entered the room and walked up to his caretaker/ surrogate mother. "Hey Twi, we have a chariot waiting in front of the castle." He notified her. She nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Spike. Tell them we'll be there soon." The dragon nodded and left. The two mares quickly finished their breakfast and exited the crystal castle, trotting up to the chariot and two stallion pegasi. They bowed towards Twilight.

"Princess Twilight, Princess Celestia informed us that you were to be flown to the castle in Canterlot by chariot and we are here to collect you and your friends." The one stated in a serious tone. "Yes, well… thank you, sir. It is only me and Rainbow Dash who'll be going. The others aren't too keen on being around us." Twilight said as they climbed onto the chariot.

The two guards nodded and took off into the sky towards Canterlot. Twilight closed her eyes, contemplating what she'd tell the Princesses of what had happened the day before. "Uhh… Twi?" Rainbow Dash's voice broke her train of thought. "Yes, Rainbow?" She asked back. "What are we going to do about the girls?" The voice was filled with fear and regret.

"I don't know, Dashie, but we'll figure something out, I promised." Twilight responded. Rainbow nodded and looked down. "Yeah… I know. But I don't want to hurt them, ya know? I just, I dunno, want them to apologize I guess." She sighed, making Twilight nuzzle her neck softly, causing her to blush.
"Don't worry, Dashie. We'll be getting help from the Rulers of Equestria!" she exclaimed. Rainbow nodded again and smiled slightly. "Thanks for everything, Twi." Twilight smiled. "C'mon, Dash! I'm just like you remember? I'm doing this for everyone who are like us." She said still smiling. Rainbow nodded and looked out of the chariot at the ground below.

Twilight gazed at the rainbow-maned pegasus, feeling an unfamiliar feeling bring its way into her. It felt like a deep longing to be closer to her friend, like being on a choke chain which is tied down to the other side of a wall between the two: so close and yet so far. She couldn't figure out what it was. She'd have to ask Celestia about the feeling once she got the chance.

The two sat in silence for the rest of the journey.

When they arrived at Canterlot Palace they were greeted by a cohort of royal guards standing on either side of the three other members of the Royal Council, and Twilight's brother, Shining Armor. The duo climbed off the chariot and Twilight was immediately hugged by her brother. "Twily! It's great to see you again." He greeted her with a happy smile.

Twilight smiled as they broke the hug. "Hi Shiny. How's Cadence and the twins doing?" Shining Armor smiled "They're doing great! Really keeping their dad awake all night…" he muttered at the end, making the purple alicorn and cyan pegasus giggle. "Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash. It is great to see you again, but we have an urgent meeting to attend to." Celestia spoke from behind the white unicorn.

They were lead into a large room decorated with a map of Equestria on one wall, and various murals of battles on the other walls. Everyone got seated around the large circular table in the centre of the room, with Celestia and Luna at the head of the table, in front of the map.

"Now, Princess Twilight, might you be so kind as to fill us in on why this meeting was called?" Celestia asked in a serious tone. Twilight coughed lightly and started her explanation. "As you all know, I'm a fillyfooler: a mare that likes other mares in the romantic sense." Everyone nodded excluding Luna who held a confused look. "Is that truly acceptable in the present time?" she asked curiously.

Celestia nodded. "Mostly, dear sister, but there are some who are sadly against it still." The princess motioned for Twilight to continue. "Yes, well… Rainbow Dash had revealed to me and the rest of the former Elements of Harmony that she was a fillyfooler as well, and they didn't take it so well." The purple alicorn sighed. "They all sided against it, and insulted Rainbow, and myself, in the process. That action had made me come to a decision to bring awareness to the fact that being a fillyfooler is not bad."

Cadence smiled at her sister-in-law. "And how do you plan to pull that off?" she asked. "Well-" "My dad'll be willing to speak about it!" Rainbow interrupted, making everyone turn to her. "And who is your father?" Celestia asked calmly as usual. "Rainbow "Rocket" Blitz, the greatest athlete from Cloudsdale excluding yours truly and the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed with much exaggerated gusto.

Twilight coughed and glared at Rainbow for the interruption. "Then we'll have to meet with your dad to ask for permission before we do that." Giving a quick glance to her friend to ensure she'd stay quiet, Twilight continued. "And we could hold an annual event to promote homosexuality even! We can make it a weekly event that changes from location, much like the Summer Sun Celebration!" she finished.

Cadence and Shining nodded at the idea. "We could hold it in Canterlot this year or next year, then in the Crystal Empire, and then in Appelloosa and so on." Shining offered, finally getting a chance to speak. Celestia and Luna nodded. "Then we can have events to let people have fun like games and races and stuff like that." Luna said with a smile.

Rainbow Dash was smiling, excited about how everything was going thus far. She once again glanced towards her book-obsessed friend with a blush. She had a crush on Twilight since the time she broke her wings and Twilight introduced her to Daring Do, or at least, that was when she had started feeling that way. At first it was merely a crush, but after everything they went through it turned into more…

Celestia's voice broke the pegasus from her thoughts. "Well then, we will prepare to introduce the event to the public as soon as you two go and talk to Rainbow Blitz." She concluded the meeting and everyone exited the hall and went to the dining hall for dinner. After dinner, Twilight and Dashie were lead to a room where they both collapsed onto the bed before falling asleep.