A/N And here we go! Chapter 6! This chapter took far longer than I anticipated.
Anyways, you don't want to hear me talk. Well, you can't actually hear me... 'Cuz you're reading this...
Just read it already.
"…. and that is why, Prince Blueblood, why none of your proposals can be met!" Twilight shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice at the cowering unicorn.
At that particular moment, Twilight Sparkle was standing at the end of the long table that dominated the meeting room. Every eye had been fixated on her for the last few minutes as she had systematically dismantled each of Prince Blueblood and his ilk's plans for Canterlot's research teams.
The room was silent, save for the deep breaths that Twilight took; her rant had taken quite a bit of her voice. She hadn't really realized that using that kind of tone took that much effort; Princess Luna didn't seem to exert any effort when she used it. Then again, Luna was an alicorn.
Twilight walked down the table away from the huddled nobles. When she arrived at her seat, she deftly hopped off and sat on the cushioned seat. By this time, Blueblood had managed to recover enough to rise to his feet and begin talking.
"Uh, very well then. Our… new request of you is to continue your current research. Um… inquires and suggestions for any changes can be made following the festival next week. Dismissed." Blueblood made a beeline for the door, followed by his staff.
"That was… unorthodox," Dusk said to the self-satisfied unicorn sitting next to him. "Although this one could come back to bite you in the flank. Blueblood still hasn't forgiven me for taking his seat at the head table, and that was two years ago!"
Twilight merely rolled her eyes. "That pony? Blueblood can't do anything about this! His requests were inane and served no purpose! All I did was prevent him from wasting valuable time! He has no logical reason to be mad at me!"
"And that will stop him how?" Dusk asked. "For the last two years, I've been receiving death glares from him for just going to the feasts!"
"So then," Rarity said. "Dusk doesn't have a girlfriend. That unicorn hanging out with him was his sister."
"Yep!" Pinkie Pie said. "We should invite her over for some cake! Oooh! I need to invite her to Ponyville too! I can throw the full song there!"
"Yeah, Dusk has a sister. Big deal. I've known for that for the last five years," Spike said from the kitchen where he was washing the tea cups.
"WHAT!" Rarity shouted. "You've known for all this time and didn't tell us!"
"No one ever asked me! Twilight doesn't talk about all that kind of stuff."
"Spike," Rarity began, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. "How did you even know? For five years no less! Twilight doesn't even know!"
Spike rolled his eyes. "Twilight didn't really pay attention to any of the introductions of her team. She just had me take notes on all of them on what they said. She said she read the notes afterwards. I guess she just filed them away."
"So Twilight should have known that the mare hanging out with Dusk was his sister?"
"Yup."
Rarity leaned over onto Pinkie Pie, a look of disbelief crossing her face. "Twilight," she groaned. "Why couldn't you have just read the notes?"
The meeting room was nearly empty; a few ponies were still present putting together papers or talking about the performance Twilight had put on.
"So when did you get around to learning the voice anyways? I thought that was a royal secret or something?" Dusk asked.
"Oh, Princess Luna taught that to me after her first NightMare Night. I thought it would be handy for the next one. Or some other circumstance." Twilight replied.
"Well, I think all of us were glad that you knew it," Dusk said while rising from his chair. "Scaring Blueblood like that was quite priceless."
Twilight rose as well, following Dusk out of the meeting hall. The corridor they enter was filled with many ponies; most seemed to be scurrying around, carrying documents from department to department.
Dusk chuckled a bit. "I think that was the shortest meeting yet. Look, the sun's still out," he said gesturing towards a window.
Twilight looked out the window, noting the sun just beginning to disappear from sight behind the horizon. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at her friend. "Yep, it's just becoming dusk now," she said, earning a groan from the stallion. Twilight laughed before continuing. "C'mon, you should have seen that one coming."
"I should have, shouldn't I have? Well, I have to go. The princess wants me to tell her want happened with the meeting. I think she'll be pleasantly surprised when I show up this early." Dusk smiled and turned to leave. "I'll see you later, Twilight."
Twilight watched him begin walking down the corridor towards the Nocturnus Wing. However, he had made no more than 10 paces before he stopped and turned. "Uh, Twilight? I was kind of wondering if you were doing anything for the festival."
"Well, I am helping set up things in the town square-"
"I was talking about on a more personal level," Dusk said, cutting her off.
"Oh. OH! Um, I hadn't really thought about it," Twilight stammered. "I was kind of thinking-"
"I was wondering if you'd want to do anything together. You don't have to say anything now." Dusk paused, turning back down the hallway. "But could you maybe think about it, Twilight?" he said walking back towards the Nocturnus Wing.
Twilight stood in the hallway, watching Dusk walk out of sight.
Rarity and Pinkie Pie never even heard Twilight enter the rooms; they simply saw her walk down the hallway to her study. Nearly immediately, they followed her into the study.
"Well, how did the meeting go?" Rarity asked once Twilight had sat down at her desk.
"Hmm? Oh, the meeting went fine. Great actually. One of the shortest meetings we've ever had," the purple mare said while pushing papers around her desk.
"Twilight, darling, I'm sensing a but here. What happened at the meeting?" Rarity prodded.
"Yeah, Twilight! I'm feeling a really good story here! What happened?" Pinkie shouted; she was already bouncing up and down.
"No, seriously, the meeting went fine. Normally these meetings go on for days, today we got out in just an hour or two."
"Then why do you look so… unsettled?" Rarity walked over and sat next to her friend. Pinkie Pie did the same, sitting down on Twilight's other side.
"Well, afterwards, Dusk and I-"
"HA! I knew he was involved! What did he do, Twilight? I swear, with Celestia as my witness, if he did anything-" The fashionista began, only to be cut off by Pinkie Pie's hoof, which was now covering Rarity's mouth.
"Shush! I'm trying to hear the story!" Pinkie Pie said, removing her hoof. Rarity, now quiet, nodded her head.
"He didn't do anything bad. He just surprised me." Twilight's friends just stared at her.
"I think he asked me to go to the ball with him."
"He did!" Rarity exclaimed.
"That's great, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie said, bouncing up to her feet.
"Well, he didn't exactly ask me. But he said that he wanted to spend time with me during the festival." Twilight let her head fall to the desk. "What should I do? I mean-"
Rarity placed a hoof around Twilight's shoulder. "Well, we found out today that the white unicorn with him was-" she began.
"Is his sister. I know, I found out today," Twilight finished. "So what should I do?"
"I know what we shouldn't do! We shouldn't be talking while we're thirsty! SPIKE!" Pinkie Pie cried. The purple dragon poked his head in the door.
"For the last time, I don't have any more muffins, Pinkie!" Spike shouted at the energetic mare.
"Well, you need to fix that! But I was wondering if you could bring in some of that lemonade!" Pinkie said.
Spike's eyes lit up as he dashed to the kitchen, returning with a pitcher and four glasses. He set them on the desk, then poured each of them a full cup.
"Thanks, Spike. I need this." Twilight brought the cup to her mouth and began to drink. She had barely taken a sip before she stopped and glared at Spike. He and Pinkie were already beginning to crack up. "Spike…" Twilight said in a low voice.
"HE SPIKED IT!" Pinkie Pie cried.
"I know, I know. He's been waiting for a moment to use that joke for quite a while," Twilight said, groaning. A sudden knock at the front door drew all of their attention. "I'll get it."
Twilight exited her study and walked to the front door. Outside, she heard two voices arguing. Twilight opened the door to reveal a yellow pegasus huddled face-down on the floor. Behind the cowering pegasus was another pegasus, this one blue with a rainbow-colored mane and wearing a peculiar costume.
"Fluttershy, just hurry up and knock!" the blue pegasus said.
"But, Rainbow Dash, what if she doesn't want us over right now? She's entertaining guests," Fluttershy said softly.
"Uh, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash attempted to stop her.
"I mean, what if she has new friends, and they don't like us? Or what if they're mean to us?" Fluttershy questioned, the fear evident in her voice.
"Then they wouldn't be very good friends, now would they?" Twilight said with a smile, looking towards her friends.
"TWILIGHT!" Fluttershy shouted. That is to say, at an audible enough level to be heard in the study. Rainbow Dash managed to push past the timid pegasus through the door.
Twilight examined her two pegasus friends. Fluttershy seemed much the same, although, sprawled on the floor as she was, it was difficult to tell.
Rainbow Dash had a peculiar uniform on. She was wearing a dark purple jacket with silver lapels. On her head, she wore a matching cap; in the center of both was a curious design of three crescent moons.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at the uniform, for the longer she looked at it, the more she was convinced that it was a uniform. Rainbow Dash noticed the look as she helped Fluttershy up.
Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Spike came from the study, still chuckling at Spike's joke. At the sight of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie jumped into the air, seemingly defying gravity, then blurred into motion, stopping directly in front of Fluttershy.
"Hi, Pinkie," the yellow pegasus said. She was standing now, her confidence appearing to have returned.
"Hi, Fluttershy! Hi, Rainbow Dash!" the energetic pink mare said. "It's been a while since I've seen you two! I mean, I see Fluttershy every once in a while when she comes to the shop, but I haven't seen you in forever Rainbow Dash! OOO! That's a nice costume! What's it for! Is there a costume party! Oh no! I don't have a costume! I need one! What am I-"
Rainbow Dash placed a hoof in front of Pinkie's mouth, silencing the pony. Before she could explain, however, Rarity spoke up.
"I do say! This material is exquisite! What is it? It's smooth and light like silk, but it's strong. Far too strong for silk."
"It's, uh, well," Rainbow Dash said, tongue twisting on her words. "Moonbeams."
"Moonbeams, you say? How do you harvest moonbeams? Unless…" Rarity said as she came to an understanding. "Princess Luna gave them to you? Oh I say, what did you do for the princess to give you such extravagant gifts!"
Rainbow Dash turned so her full profile was shown to her friends. "Girls, you're looking at the new Captain of the Shadowbolts!"
A/N Dun dun DUN! Yeah, I went there. Rainbow Dash is now the Captain of the Shadowbolts!
If you hate this idea, you can tell me by hitting the review button and stating that.
So leave me a review. It makes me happy.