Rainbow Dash waited with Trixie at her side. Black/blue smoke boiled from her body, and when she looked in the mirror—for the hundredth time, or so it felt to her—solid yellow eyes stared back. The suit that seemed part of her fur was mostly dark colors. Purple hid most of her body, a gold lightning bolt wrapped her neck and each leg, and her hooves were black, as was the "mask" that covered her head.

Sitting beside her fillyfriend, Trixie kept stealing glances. She thought she had the look of a Shadowbolt just right, but the subtle differences to Rainbow Dash made it all the more spooky. "Princess Luna's letter said she would be here as soon as she can."

The doors of the map room flew open. Twilight Sparkle, her wings fluffed up and on display, was not the only alicorn who looked into the room. Beside her, Princess Luna had just finished schooling her expression into some semblance of her normally stoic one, despite having what was apparently the best joke in a thousand years revealed.

Luna thought it would be impossible to hold back her laughter, but memories of what Nightmare Moon had offered Rainbow Dash—on Luna's behalf—flooded her. The suit Rainbow and Trixie had been using was a poor imitation of the spell that rested around Rainbow Dash now. Every detail reminded Luna of much older times. "Princess Twilight Sparkle tells me my new recruit is now properly attired for her duty."

"Wait, my duty?" Rainbow Dash's eyes were wide, not that anypony could see (thanks to the goggles that seemed fastened to her face). "I totally didn't mean to, I mean, I am a Wonderbolt! I can't be a Shadowbolt as well!" When Luna's face didn't show any change, Rainbow Dash lowered her voice. "C-Can I?"

Twilight had had enough of tormenting Rainbow and Trixie. "Princess Luna, I won't let you push my friend into—"

Lifting her hooves, Luna gave them a gentle clop together. The magic of the night that had wrapped Rainbow into the guise of a Shadowbolt fell away. Dark smoke flowed off Rainbow Dash, pooling around the floor before it flowed up and seemingly into Luna. "You look good in that uniform, Rainbow Dash."

"Th-Thank you, Your Highness." Rainbow Dash sucked up her pride and tried to bow her head. Arching her back, she barely managed to dip her snout a little before straightening back up. "I guess this means no more performing as a Shadowbolt."

"I didn't say that." Luna clopped her hooves again, and once more Rainbow Dash was clad in the dark costume, smoke billowing from mane and tail. "Discord would love this." She started clopping her hooves together over and over, and each time the suit either appeared, or rolled away like smoke.

Rainbow Dash held up a hoof at Princess Luna. "Wait!" She managed to catch the Princess in one of the normal-Rainbow-Dash moments. "I don't think I understand quite what you are saying, Princess. And I thought you removed this…" Rainbow Dash clopped her forehooves together, and was once more clad as a Shadowbolt.

"A lot of years ago, there was a group of ponies who flew through my night and kept everypony else safe. My sister has always had her Wonderbolts, but while they defended Equestria during the day, it was my Shadowbolts who guarded it by night." Luna walked up to Twilight's throne, and with a quick smile to Twilight, she sat beside it.

"They were never many, but they were the best fliers and the best fighters. I think you see where this is going." Luna nodded to Rainbow Dash. "It is your choice. You can be a Shadowbolt, or not."

Rainbow Dash clopped her hooves together again, and again she was her normal self. "So a Shadowbolt is a good flier, who can give as good as she gets?" What confused Rainbow Dash the most was that it was practically a definition of her.

Luna saw the fire in Rainbow Dash's eyes and smiled. "The Wonderbolts slipped into a more relaxed role during a thousand years of quiet, but the world isn't quiet anymore." She stood up and ruffled her wings. "After Ponyville, I would like it if the Great and Powerful Trixie came to perform in Canterlot." Walking for the door, Luna gave Twilight a bright smile as she passed her.

Trixie was stunned. There was almost too much for her to take in. She turned from the doorway Luna had just exited through and looked at Rainbow Dash. Her friend clopped her hooves together, then again, and each time she changed from normal, to what Trixie always thought of as Shade.

"You know what this means, right Trixie?" Rainbow left herself in her normal guise, and turned to look at Trixie. "Three words: Royal Command Performance." She smirked as a huge grin blossomed on Trixie's face. "Is that a—"

Watching as Trixie catapulted across the table at Rainbow Dash, Twilight turned from the map room with a big smile on her face. She followed in Luna's hoofsteps, and almost bubbled over. "This must be how Cadance feels."

A dull, flat monotone stole all of Twilight's focus. "What is what Cadance feels?" Maud looked at her lover, and a tiny smile pulled up at the corner of her mouth. "They can look after themselves. Come on, pet."

"Tonight has been really awesome, Trixie." Rainbow Dash held up her hooves and gently tapped them together. A wash of feeling rush through her, and despite all the crazy stuff she really should have been thinking about, Shade slipped into the fore.

Rainbow Dash felt Shade taking over. Shade was Rainbow, if only a more animalistic side. Instincts rushed in around her, and without thinking twice, Shade trotted around behind Trixie and sniffed under her tail.

"Shade!" Trixie jumped to the side and clamped her tail down. "You know that is bad behavior! Come on now, it's time for Trixie to take her pet to bed."

Happy to follow her owner, Shade pranced along, her dark form no longer just a trick of magic. When Trixie opened the door to their bedroom, Shade leapt up on the bed and curled around herself on top of the covers.

Jerking her head up, Shade shook the sleep from her mind. A glance around the room revealed not the little wagon she was so used to sleeping in, but the Castle of Friendship. Looking up the bed, she eyed Trixie still asleep.

Rainbow Dash, happily letting Shade deal with the morning, worked her thoughts over the night's dream. She had been soaring, flying in her Wonderbolt uniform, and at her side had been Shade. They had been unstoppable, beating up every baddie that came their way. Day or night, it was all the same, but during their nighttime battles, Luna's moon had watched over them.

Trixie Lulamoon had gotten used to a large, pony tongue rasping over her face; being licked by Shade had been her alarm clock for months. She knew that shielding her face would just encourage Shade to further shenanigans, so she put up with the face-bath, and giggled.

Encouraged, Shade bounced in place and spread her wings. A blanket of smoke poured around the bed before the Shadowbolt flopped down on top of Trixie. Nuzzling her head in against Trixie's neck, Shade relaxed.

"Whenever you're ready, Shade." Trixie Lulamoon lay abed with the best excuse for not getting up. Her left foreleg managed to sneak out the side of the blanket and reach up and around Shade's withers.

Being a pet meant that Shade had no intention at all of getting up. She was warm, and snug, and had Trixie pinned down and giving her snuggles. Closing her eyes, Shade drifted off to a dreamless sleep that lasted nearly another full hour.

Shade's ear perked up when she thought she heard her name. She twitched it again when she did hear her name. Opening her eyes, she was already looking right at Trixie's face.

"Shade." The third time Trixie said Shade's name, she knew she had her pet's attention. "Shade is Trixie's pet. Shade is the best pet." She kissed Shade's nose, and got a lick back for her trouble. She spent some effort to even her tone, and bring a hypnotic tone to it. "If Shade or Rainbow Dash don't want to be Trixie's pet, then they aren't.

"If Shade or Rainbow Dash think anypony is in danger, they are no longer Trixie's pet. If Shade or Rainbow Dash curl their feather tips,"—Trixie reached down to one smoke-covered wing and gently turned a feather a little—"like this, or if Trixie says 'Show's over,' then Shade and Rainbow Dash are no longer Trixie's pet. Barking will let Trixie's pet refuse any command, but she will still be a good pet."

Rainbow Dash felt a little distracted in her head. The wording was a little different, it wasn't just sinking into Shade, it was also affecting her. It dawned on her after a few moments of silence; Trixie had included both their names in the commands. "B-Bark.

"Trixie. You worded that to make both of us your pet." Rainbow Dash, not Shade, looked at Trixie from nearly point-blank. Their noses were so close that they could rub with minimal effort.

Realizing she had messed up the induction, Trixie opened her mouth and was about to say Show's over, when Rainbow Dash kissed her. She blinked. "Trixie can remove the—"

Rainbow kissed Trixie again. "If I wanted it to be over, I would have just thought it. Let's try it, just for one day." She leaned in and adjusted her position so that she could lay with their lips touching. Then Shade returned.

The soft, gentle motions of a pony were gone, and Shade engaged in giving Trixie another face bath. "You've already done this! Shade! Off!" Trixie's protests only encouraged Shade to greater lengths, and soon she surrendered, trying not to blush as Shade lapped along her horn.

Finally, seemingly done with cleaning Trixie's face, Shade stretched her wings and pumped them once. Sideways momentum from a perfectly angled flap of her wings sent Shade off the bed and to the floor. She shook herself roughly, shedding smoke all around in her excitement.

"Trixie and her pet need to start working on something new for Canterlot. Something that shows a little less 'savage Shadowbolt' and a little more 'fantastic Shadowbolt'." Climbing from her bed, Trixie stretched her shoulders and hips, the muscles used to long hours pulling a wagon and not so much soft beds.

If Shade could have looked Rainbow Dash in the eyes and sighed, she would have. Working on tricks was her other half's game, so Shade lifted her forehooves and clopped them together.

Rainbow Dash sighed and stretched her muscles. Looking over her body, she still marveled at what Princess Luna's spell did. "So, what do you think would work? We could have something appear to go wrong, and while Shade is being all angry and nasty, she rushes in and saves the day."

"That would definitely work, and it would be best if Trixie used somepony from the audience—Wait. Close-up magic tricks are always the best, and Trixie would prefer it being herself in any danger, rather than somepony else." Trixie had been too busy brushing her mane to even see the kiss coming, but when it landed on her cheek she practically purred.

"The way I was thinking of it, it would only look dangerous. Maybe something else you could do with magic that would look perfectly normal? That way, if it goes wrong, you just have an illusion wash over you." Pulling back from where she had rewarded the Brave and Responsible Trixie, Rainbow Dash lowered her body down, and pressed her wings to the floor.

"No, that would be easy to fake, but while anypony would see the illusion, there are so many things that would make it impossible to believe. The trick would be that whoever is on stage would return to the crowd and tell everypony that it was real." Watching Rainbow do her wing-ups, Trixie couldn't help but admire the physical strength her fillyfriend possessed.

"And it needs to be something they can't stop themselves. The stunt could quickly fall apart if one of our assistants tries to be the hero." Pumping her wings, Rainbow Dash lifted her body-weight again and again. "And there is somethin' else I gotta work on."

Trixie finished brushing her mane, and was moving on to her tail. "What is that?"

"Our second date." Hefting her body up from the floor, Rainbow tilted her head to the side so she could look at Trixie. She smiled at the look of surprise on her fillyfriend's face. "What? You thought one was going to be enough?"

Laughing, Trixie swapped over to brushing Rainbow Dash. "Trixie would not be resistant to a second date." She watched Rainbow Dash for a few moments, working the brush in time with the other mare's motions, but after a few long strokes Rainbow seemed to flop to the floor and just go boneless.

With both her ears splayed out to the sides, Rainbow Dash gave a happy groan. She lay still, barely moving apart from swishing her tail from side to side. "M-My weakness…"

"And to think, Trixie never discovered this one while they were traveling." Smiling and standing over Rainbow Dash, Trixie Lulamoon couldn't have been happier if she tried. Each stroke of her brush earned a little, happy groan from Rainbow Dash, and for the moment that was all Trixie wanted in the world.

Author's Note

So I do this "Ask x" thing, x can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and ~~I~~ they will definitely hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories and of course, ~~I~~ they will answer the best question(s) in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer, try and keep it to one answer per post! ~~I~~ They will pick one question per chapter.

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