Subversion

Twilight slowly opened one eye, and then the other. It was morning, early morning, she was still tired from being up late, but she was the kind of pony who just had to get up early in the morning and start the day. Twilight moaned and rolled over, and remained still for a few minutes. She finally sighed, and got up. As she stood up on the crystal floor she stretched out her wings and legs, and let out a yawn, she then rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she walked over to the window to look out at the sunrise. It looked beautiful, the sun was just halfway over the horizon, the vibrant night sky was fading to daylight. Twilight sighed and walked over to a door and opened it, revealing a balcony, which she then walked out on. The crisp fall morning air filled her lungs and jump started her to be more fully awake. She inhaled deeply, and let out a content sigh as she closed her eyes. Twilight unfolded her wings and stretched them out as far as she could and then folded them back into place. She watched the sun rise for a few more minutes before heading back inside to clean herself up before breakfast. "Hmm, maybe I should invite all my friends over for breakfast, it'd be short notice, but I'm sure they'd like it." Twilight said to herself as she closed the bathroom door. She walked over to the mirror to look at herself, she'd definitely need to brush her mane. Twilight used to magic to turn on the water in her shower and grab the shampoo. Twilight waited a few minutes for the water to warm up and stuck a hoof under the running water, A little too hot. Twilight thought as she turned the temperature down slightly, the water temperature quickly adjusted and she checked it again, and then stepped inside the shower to begin cleaning herself off.

The warm water washed the sleep out of Twilight's fur and mane, slowly reinvigorating her with energy for the day, Twilight grabbed the shampoo with her magic and poured out a decent amount on her body and used her magic to rub it in, thinking all the while about what actions needed to be taken due to recent events. Twilight eventually finished rubbing the shampoo in and washing it off, and stepped out of the show, she used her magic to levitate a towel over to dry herself, she started with her head, gently drying her mane, and then carefully drying her feathers on her wings, and then worked her way to her tail. After drying herself off Twilight walked over to the mirror and levitated a brush off of the sink and started brushing her mane, eventually brushing it to perfection. She then carefully looked over her wings and feathers, making sure that none were displaced, she had to maintain her appearance of being a princess, as tedious as it was. After exhausting a decent amount of time making sure she looked perfect by her standards, she stepped out of the bathroom, inhaled, and let out a content sigh, feeling refreshed and ready to hit the day running. Twilight's stomach growled. "Well, better see if my friends would like to come over..." Twilight trailed off as she teleported four letters to herself and picked up four quills and began writing letters to each of her friends separately, without making any mistakes, multitasking was something Twilight was good at, and the fact that there was very little difference between the letters helped this also. Twilight then levitated the letters and started spinning them around her, and teleported them one by one to each of her friends, extending an invite to come over for breakfast. Twilight didn't know how many- or if any of her friends at all would show up, but she would at least be nice and offer them the opportunity.

Twilight walked over to the door, and paused for a moment, she still admired the beauty of the crystalline architecture of her castle, the colors don't really suit her, though. Maybe I could see about changing the crystal's colors... Twilight thought and shook her head, she would think more about that later. Twilight opened the door with her magic, and stepped out, she turned to the right and walked over to the crystalline door that was to Spike's room, she knocked gently before opening it and walking in. Spike lay asleep curled up into a ball in the middle of his bed, with a comic book beside him, Twilight smiled at the sight of Spike sleeping. Twilight walked over to Spike's bed slowly, avoiding making a noise as she walked towards him, once she had reached his bed, Twilight levitated the covers off of Spike. Spike stirred but didn't wake up. Twilight chuckled, she then turned and looked towards the window, Spike kept the curtain he had Twilight install closed all the time, Rarity had made the curtain and it looked beautiful, and did a good job at blocking the sunlight. Too good of a job... Twilight smiled slyly, and used her magic to peel back the curtains slightly, to see where the sunlight would land. The light landed right below Spike's face, Twilight smiled wider and quickly used her magic to carefully pull open the curtains to let sunlight flood the room, and Spike's sleeping eyes. Spike squinted and tried to shield his eyes from the light with a claw. Twilight slowly extended one wing, "Spike, it's time to get up."

"I don't wanna get up..."

"Now, Spike, we have company... You really should get up."

Spike mumbled something inaudible.

Twilight sighed, "Spike, last chance."

Twilight waited for a reply which never came, she smiled and giggled slightly, she extended her wing fully and gently stroked a feather on Spike's unprotected belly, and then started tickling him awake.

"Gah, okay, I'm up! I'm up, stop it already!" Spike said in between tickle attacks.

Twilight smiled, "Good morning, Spike."

"Good morning, Twilight." Spike said as he stretched and rubbed his eyes. Spike licked his lips and swallowed, "So, what do you want for breakfast, Twilight?"

"Don't worry about it today, Spike, I'll fix breakfast." Twilight paused, "Since Rainbow Dash spent the night here, I decided to invite the rest of my friends over for breakfast... How do pancakes sound?"

"Sure, pancakes sound okay." Spike paused, "Well, you'd better get to it before they get here then."

"I suppose you're right." Twilight paused and opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. Twilight then turned and headed back out the door.

Twilight entered the hallway and looked to her left, she turned and walked over to the room where Rainbow had slept, she paused at it and knocked softly, not wanting to disturb her friend. No answer. She must still be asleep then, not surprising. Twilight then stepped back from the door and reached out with her magic and teleported into the castle's kitchen.

The castle's kitchen was quite large, and Twilight had kept it well stocked on food, she walked over to the cabinet that held her cooking recipes, and levitated out the book on breakfast and quickly flipped through the pages with her magic to find pancakes, under P. She levitated the book before her and looked at the ingredient list and the amount of pancakes it made. Twilight debated for a few minutes how many batches to make, but she decided on six, not wanting to not have enough for everypony to have as many as they'd like. She quickly used her magic to assemble the needed ingredients from the storeroom, and levitated out a bowel to mix up the batter in. Twilight then also decided to add blueberries, and levitated a bag out and set it on the counter. A few minutes past as she was preparing all of the batter for the pancakes, and it looked like it would make more than she had expected, but she would worry about that later. After mixing all the ingredients in she turned her attention to fixing the pancakes, she used her magic to light the stove after putting the pan over the burner, and then slowly poured out the right amount of batter to make the perfect sized pancake. Eventually she had finished all the pancakes, and it had, indeed, made more than she had expected, not that Pinkie Pie wouldn't eat what the others didn't eat, anyway. Twilight then levitated the pancakes, stacked taller than Princess Celestia, into the dining room, along with 7 plates, and arranged them accordingly. Twilight figured that she had better wake up Rainbow Dash now before the rest of her friends that were coming arrived so she could take a shower and make herself look presentable, so Twilight teleported outside of Rainbow Dash's door just as Rainbow Dash was taking a step out. Startled at the sudden appearance of her friend, Rainbow jumped back slightly and her wings shot up.

"Ah! Twilight, don't do that to me, you know it makes me jumpy when you teleport around me." Rainbow said as she regained her composure and folded her wings in again.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you, I was just coming to wake you up."

"Well, as you can see, I'm already awake, and scaring somebody who just got up is a real great way to wake them up." Rainbow said in sarcastic annoyance.

"Sorry." Twilight paused, "I hope you don't mind, but I made breakfast and invited the rest of our friends over."

"That's nice." Rainbow paused, "Wait, when will they be here?"

Twilight thought for a moment, "Probably sometime in the next fifteen minutes if they're coming. I hope they're coming, I made a lot more pancakes than either of us could eat."

"Ah, well I uh... I should take a shower." Rainbow replied slightly concerned.

"I didn't figure it would bother you that much or I would have woken you earlier."

"Well I need to look awesome if I'm going to be around my friends for breakfast."

"Right, well you get to it then, Captain Awesome."

"It's Lieutenant Colonel." Rainbow replied slightly annoyed.

"More like Major D." Twilight replied mockingly with a slight grin.

Rainbow glared at her before stepping back inside and shutting the door to go take a shower.

Twilight giggled as Rainbow closed the door. There was a knock on the main castle door. "Looks like they're here." Twilight said to herself as her horn glowed and she reached out with her magic to teleport to the door. There was a flash of light, a pop, and she disappeared and reappeared at the castle's main door, she used her magic to grab the door and open it to reveal all four of her other friends standing there. "Girls! I'm glad you could all make it on such short notice!"

"Well, of course darling, your castle is simply divine, why would i pass up an opportunity to marvel in it's glory?" Rarity answered first.

"He-he, of course we came, Twilight, it's always super fun to have breakfast with friends!" Pinkie Pie said happily as she bounced on through the door.

"Thanks for the invite, Twilight." Fluttershy said as she calmly walked inside.

Applejack started to walk in but paused, "Say, where's Rainbow?"

"She's taking a shower."

"She's already here?"

"Oh, um, I guess... I kinda forgot to mention that in the letter." Twilight said slightly embarrassed, cheeks turning slightly red.

"What is she doing here anyway? She in some kind of trouble or somethin?"

"You could say that..." Twilight mumbled, "Uh yeah, I'll let her explain... if she wants to, but I can't really go that far into it for... Uh..." Twilight paused to think for a moment, "Princess reasons." Twilight said in a more asking than stating tone, Applejack raised an eyebrow at that.

"Right..." Applejack said as she walked inside.

Rainbow Dash stepped out of the shower, she had been quick and efficient about it, hoping to get done before the others had showed up. It felt a little strange, using a shower that seemed to have been designed for royalty and their tastes. The shower was nice though, and the water was even more refreshing than that of her own shower. Rainbow Dash found a towel and dried herself off thoroughly, before finding a brush to brush her mane with, she quickly brushed her mane into it's normal style, and then took care of her feathers. Rainbow Dash checked over her mane, tail, and wings one last time before stepping out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. She glanced out the window quickly before exiting the bedroom and entering the long crystal hallway. Rainbow Dash walked slowly along, she had never really noticed how dark and gloomy, and just plain depressing the color scheme of Twilight's castle was. Shades of violets, with green outlines, although the architecture was impressive, it just felt cold. As Rainbow approached the stairs she started to hear voices, which she realized were her friends. "So they got here before I was done..." Rainbow sighed, and flew down the stairs, down the hallway, turned a corner, and then flew into the dining room. "Hey girls."

"Ah, Rainbow Dash, how nice of you to join us." Rarity greeted as Rainbow took a seat.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Right, you say that now..." Rarity mumbled.

"Jeez, Twilight, sure looks like ya made a lot of pancakes." Applejack said in an attempt to change the subject.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I didn't realize it would make that many." Twilight replied as she slowly rubbed her head in embarrassment. "Well, dig in." Twilight said as she used her magic to levitate pancakes to everyone. They ate in silence aside from chewing and swallowing for the next fifteen or so minutes.

Rarity levitated a napkin to her mouth and wiped it before saying, "So, Rainbow Dash, darling, whatever were you doing here?" All eyes turned to Rainbow Dash, whom looked at Rarity, and then at Twilight.

"Uh, hey, Twilight, can I speak with you for a moment in private?" Rainbow asked.

"Sure, Rainbow." Twilight answered her and got up and walked right past Rainbow who had started to stand up, but Twilight cut her off and used her magic to levitate her to follow her.

"Um, Twilight... What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"Taking me somewhere against my will."

Twilight laughed, "You said you wanted to talk in private."

"You could have just teleported us, let me follow you, or you could have even cast a sound blocking spell."

"True."

"Then why didn't you?"

"I have my reasons as a princess- and more or less as your commanding officer."

"Uh, right." Rainbow paused as Twilight lowered her to the floor, "So, Twilight, how much am I... allowed... to tell them, you know... uh, about how I was injured?"

"The mission was classified, so no details about the mission. For instance, saying you were injured at work would be acceptable, saying you were doing a covert mission, or anything about the mission, wouldn't be." Twilight paused, "How about I just cut you off whenever you start to screw up?"

"Hey! Who says I'm going to screw up?"

"Sorry, Rainbow, I uh... Just have a bad habit of thinking in worst case scenarios..."  Twilight paused, "That all?"

"Yes, that's all."

"Good." Twilight answered and took Rainbow in her magic again, except this time she teleported herself and Rainbow back into their seats.

"I wonder what that was about." Applejack asked.

"I um, don't know. What if-"

Rarity interrupted Fluttershy, "I wonder if they're-" Rarity was interrupted by a flash of light and looked to see Twilight and Rainbow sitting back in their seats, Rainbow's wings were extended.

Rainbow moaned, "Twilight, tell me before you do that for ponies sake!"

Everyone except Rainbow Dash giggled at that.

"ANYWAY... If you want to hear the story about why I'm here..." Rainbow paused and looked at Twilight, "Well, yesterday I was... Working..." Rainbow's eyes glanced at Twilight, who nodded approvingly. "And I got... stabbed a few times." Rainbow again looked at Twilight, who wasn't making any motions this time. Maybe too many details...

"Oh my goodness, you were stabbed?" Fluttershy asked in concern, "Who would do such a thing!"

"Knowing Rainbow Dash, she probably started it." Rarity said, which made Rainbow glare at Rarity.

"Wait, you were stabbed? More than once? What!" Pinkie jumped out of her chair, "Then I should throw you a get well soon party." Pinkie paused and thought for a moment, "No, wait, you're already better... A welcome back party?" Pinkie again paused, "No, I'll throw a..."

"Pinkie." Twilight interrupted.

Pinkie slowly sat back down, saddened that her party planning had been interrupted.

"As i was saying, I was stabbed multiple times, and my t-" Rainbow paused and glanced at Twilight who was shaking her head 'no'. "Um, I mean, friends took me to the infirmary." Rainbow had meant to say hospital. She kicked herself mentally for screwing up. Twilight was glaring at her.

"Wait, infirmary? Not hospital? Wouldn't that mean you were doing something..." Rarity paused and swallowed, "In the military?" Rarity let the word hang in the air for impact. Rarity looked around at everypony, she noticed Applejack's eyes had widened, Pinkie had a strange look on her face, or rather strange for her, Fluttershy had shrank back into her chair, and Twilight didn't seem phased at all by her comment. Rarity opened her mouth to say something, but paused to think, "And this happened yesterday? And you're fully healed now?"

"Yes."

Rarity thought for a moment, "How is it you are fully healed, was it not that bad?"

"No it was bad I could have been..." Rainbow noticed Twilight motioning her to stop.

It looked like nopony had realized what she was going to say- except Rarity, who's eyes had widened.

"Twilight heard about it, and came to check on me, and she healed me with her magic."

Rarity looked at Twilight who said, "Well, making my friends feel special is a talent of mine." with a smile.

Rarity coughed and turned back to Rainbow Dash, "Please continue, darling."

"Twilight flew back to my house with me, but I had forgot my keys, and since I didn't feel like going back and getting them Twilight offered to let me stay at the castle."

"Anyway, Rainbow Dash has the next three days off from... work." Twilight said.

"Wait, Twilight, darling, how do you know that?" Rarity asked.

"Well, I'm her commanding offi-" Twilight paused and winced, she had definitely meant to avoid saying that.

"Say what?" Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow.

Twilight let out a sigh, "I'm her commanding officer." Twilight paused, "She's in the Wonderbolts, not just the reserve now, but more active duty..."

"Wow, wow, wow, so wait, let me get this straight, you're Rainbow Dash's commanding officer, so does that mean you can boss her around and do things like that to her?" Pinkie Pie asked wide eyed.

Twilight thought for a moment, and smiled widely, and turned her head towards Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow shrank in her seat. That's not good.

"Yes. Yes it does, Pinkie Pie." Twilight said happily.

"Uh, Twilight, you wouldn't do anything you'd regret... right?" Rainbow asked slightly concerned by the smile on her friends face.

"Of course, Rainbow." Twilight said in such a way that unnerved Rainbow Dash.

"Ha...ha...ha... Okay, I'm going to go now. Have to get my keys back, Okay, bye." Rainbow said quickly as she got out of her seat, spread her wings and flew out of the kitchen towards the castle's main door, being trailed by a faint rainbow.

Twilight laughed.

Griffon weapon shipment set to arrive in Equestria tomorrow, Equestrian unicorn scientists overjoyed.