MLP 30K: Rebel Dawn

Rays of golden light spill in through the slats in the blinds, shining deceptively over the scullery staircase leading down in an almost hypnotic spiral. Groggily stumbling down the steps first thing in the morning was probably a bit dangerous, but the distant waft of breakfast was hard to pass up. Moondancer narrows her eyes, hoping to clear away some of the hazy blur with little success. The occasional yawn only adds to the haggard appearance, complimenting the mare's mussed up mane and slightly askew glasses perched on her scrunched muzzle.

Early mornings like this could file themselves straight in the trash. Her mind wanders for a moment until her barrel brushes the chilly crystal wall, crossing her forehooves and making her pause in place with a snort of irritation. Reflexively scowling at the wall, she stares straight into the beam of light filtering through the shrouded window.

“GAH, Celestia damn it!” she blinks away the spots and growls before staggering half-blinded down the stairway. “Twilight, you're Celestia's student, make her cut those horse apples out.” She mutters darkly while bumbling down the steps leading to Ponyville Castle's kitchen.

Oh sure, it didn't have the splendor of the rarely used grand ballroom, but for whatever reason, Sunset and Twilight both seemed to enjoy the intimately set up breakfast nook. That cozy little corner of the tidy kitchen had been her destination every morning since their arrival in Ponyville.

“If I wanted cramped I'd have stayed at home.”

Not for the first since she'd arrived in Ponyville, or even the first time that morning, did the question of her leaving the rural Equestrian town enter Moondancer's mind. Sure, she was part of one of the princess's vanity project, or princesses if Twilight counted as part of this now, but it still felt like a monumental hassle. And she didn't even have much to do other than look up magical theory while not blabbing about it to anypony else in town. Which was perfectly fine, the local yokels weren't good for much beyond taking her lunch order. And even if she had, theoretically, let slip that they were researching alternate dimensions or the possibility of a Starswirl-Rosethorn bridge, they'd ask what was wrong with the Ponyville hoofbridge. 'It worked just fine.' Cretins.

Although apparently Lyra Heartstrings was apparently lurking somewhere around, and she was a bit... something or other.

'Maybe that's why Ponyville'?

There was so many weird things that happened that that nopony would second guess whatever cataclysmic mistake experimenting with an ancient magical artifact would produce. Ponies around here would shrug their withers and go on after an appropriate amount of screaming.

Buck the whole 'connected to the Everfree laylines' theory that Sunset had proposed. Ponies just didn't give a flying feather, and that was fine with her. And if something did blow up, it probably wouldn't make half of Canterlot city slip off the mountain. Just a few tents, some thatch roofs, and maybe a tree or two. Ponyville had a cart load of trees. So it was probably just the Princesses covering their bases, that's all

“I'm sorry again for all the trouble we're putting you through, Twilight.”

“Oh, it's no trouble at all. I'm happy to have you here!”

And there are the way-too-chipper voices pounding in her hea- a familiar scent wafts up the staircase and drifts past her. It was sharp, almost rank, and pungent enough to make her eyes water.

Coffee: the elixir of choice for non-morning mares.

By the time she's stumbled down the last twist in the stairwell, a pair of ponies already have their focus fixed on her while something sizzles away on a stove-top griddle tended too by a familiar purple drake. Though, at the crack of doom in the morning, Moondancer couldn't remember his name.

“Morning, Twilight, Sunset, harraugh-” she coughs and covers her muzzle.

Twilight and Sunset sit on some comfy looking embroidered cushions while facing one another in the cheery little breakfast nook. The light pours in over the checkered azurite tiled floor and across the wooden table, illuminating the curling wafts rising up from three cheerfully coloured mugs. A gleaming silver serving tray with a sugar bowl and matching cream carafe seems almost out of place despite the castle's other opulent amenities.

“Mmmhmm, espresso. Knew you might need-” the words hadn't even left Sunset's lips before the unattended mug is levitated over to Moondancer. The pony takes a cautionary sniff, drawing a slightly pleased smirk from Sunset.

She quickly takes a deep swig from the burning hot liquid, ignoring the uneasy grimaces of both her friends. With a satisfied gasp of air, Moondancer scrunches her nose a bit and looks at the liquid swishing at the bottom of the cup.

“It's not quite as good as yesterday.”

“I made it today.” Twilight harumphs and wrinkles her muzzle.

“Oh.” Moondancer awkwardly replies. “Then you're getting better.” She quickly drains the dregs and pads over towards the sink with a sour 'bleh'.

Spike quietly chuckles, looking over a shoulder as he teases the edge of a shredded haycake on the grill with a spatula. “Yeah, she is. Pretty soon it'll be something somepony might even ask for in the morning.”

“Spike!”

“Yeah, Spike.” Moondancer grins faintly while trotting over to the elaborate silver coffee machine resting in a disused corner of the kitchen. It was close enough to the dragon's prep-space where ceramic mixing bowls and globs of congealing haycake batter spot the countertop.

Checking the elaborate silver fluted coffee maker, Moondancer just looks back over her withers at Twilight. Her friend holds her gaze for a moment, long enough for the Unicorn mare to shoot her a slightly disappointed look before mumbling, “Thanks.” Then she starts again from scratch.

Her ears perk up when she hears Sunset's stage whisper, “didn't take her for a coffee snob.”

Twilight at least has the grace to nod try to hide the conversation, “Her sister's a barista at a pretty high end Canterlot cafe.”

'Yeah, and she'd probably faint if she saw a machine like this being used to make, well, whatever that was.' Moondancer checks the heating coils, peering carefully at the temperature gauges of the still hot contraption before adjusting a few silver toggles.

“I figure if it's black, caffeinated, and doesn't need a spoon to scoop out of a cup then it would be good enough.”

Shooting a look back at her friend, Moondancer spots the grin on Sunset's face. It was way too early for that filly to be smiling like a cow in clover.

Okay, that was probably a little speciesist.

“Wanna give it another try then, Twilight.” Spike grins, patting his pink frilled apron down and tossing a casual wink and flick of a spoon in her direction. A bit of the batter spatters across the floor halfway between the table and stove, prompting a glare from Twilight.

Twilight scrunches her muzzle, but promptly grabs a spare rag in her magic and wipes the floor clean. Then quickly scrubs it a little more, as if polishing out any hint of the batter before tossing the soiled cloth in the sink.

Moondancer turns back around to face the espresso machine, quietly chuckling as it coughs and gurgles to life.

Satisfied, Moondancer turns back and trots over to take her seat on the cushions. Sunset shuffles over, making more room and placing herself between Moondancer and a still slightly scowling Twilight.

“So,” Moondancer starts with a breath that turns into a resigned grumble, “where's Starlight and the blue braggart?”

“Starlight went back upstairs. Rainbow's not here yet.” Spike calls back.

Sunset snorts and bites her lip. “Heh, ouch. Little mean there.”

The drake merely shrugs at the offense, but alarm bells were ringing in Moondancer's mind. “Wait, Rainbow?”

It's Twilight's turn to shrug as she cradled her mug in her hooves. “Okay, I may have told her about the whole thing, and she may have been excited to see real life aliens. So I said to meet us at seven o'clock.”

'Filly, YOU told ME not to say anything about what we were doing!'

Sunset lofts a brow, “You did tell her that the whole 'mirror meeting' is actually happening tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah,” Twilight starts and takes a breath, inhaling the steam from her milky coffee. “But all the girls were excited, and we still have to make sure Luna's all ready and set for the whole delegation.”

Sunset's brow arches higher as she quizzically digs, “All of them?”

“Okay, Fluttershy was hesitant.” Twilight sniffs again and sips from her mug.

“I guess friends of the princess get to know everything." Moondancer huffs and calls back over her withers, "I'm more surprised that Rarity would want anything to do with that.” She catches a slight twitch from the drake out of the corner of her eye. Deciding to adjust her glasses and ignore the tell, she adds, “Or the farmpony.”

“Applejack's curious.” Twilight replies simply, leaving Sunset to fix Moondancer with a slightly sharper expression.

“Just because she's a farmpony doesn't mean she's stupid or uninterested. You tell her that the Princess has been talking with an alien leader and she'll be just as curious as anypony else.”

“Alright, alright.” Moondancer flinches back, turning her head to the side and letting her untied mane obscure some of her face. “Point taken. What about Pinkie?”

“I've was told by Princess Luna that bringing Pinkie along might not be a good idea.” After a moment, Twilight seems to deflate. “Or, rather that, 'in no uncertain terms is Laughter to be permitted within the diplomatic delegation sent to greet the Warmaster.'” Her chin lowers to just above the tabletop as she gingerly shoves her mug further towards the center of the table. “It feels wrong not to include her.”

Caught in some awkward lull, Moondancer purses her lips as Sunset reaches out to pat the uncomfortable Alicorn's shoulder. “Yeah, I know Twilight. But maybe it's best to trust Luna on this one. I mean, he didn't strike me as much of a 'fun' kind of stallion. And there's always next time, right?”

A glimmer of hope seems to flicker in Sunset's eyes, but Twilight just nods and breathes out a resigned sigh, “I guess so. But she's going to be so disappointed.”

“Well, think of it this way: Luna's bound to have her friend show up, right? So there's bound to be a few more opportunities to get Pinkie to host something fun to make up for it.”

Twilight blinks and looks up, “a gesture of reciprocity?”

“What better way to welcome him to Equestria than saving Pinkie Pie's party antics for here?” Sunset flashes a bright and knowing grin.

“Whose decision is it, anyway?” Spike calls from his station, not turning around.

“Luna's,” Moondancer interjects, drawing whatever ire might have been directed at Spike. The Unicorn mare takes it in stride with a dismissive shrug, “What? It is, isn't it?”

“Yeah, though I'm sure we'll all be invited.” Sunset rolls a hoof and then goes back to smiling before patting Twilight's hoof. “It'll be fine.”

With that out of the way, a slightly awkward lull falls over the ponies. It's broken in another few moments by the coughing sound of the silver coffee machine, prompting Moondancer to wiggle out from her cushion with a muttered, 'thank Luna'.

Moondancer circles around to the spluttering contraption as Spike quickly darts to a broom closet. He drags a footstool to the pantry with a grunt, “So what's the plan for today, Twilight?” The diminutive dragon calls while rooting through the upper shelves.

Twilight's ears perk up. “Well,” she hesitantly starts before a smile forms on her muzzle. "We have time for breakfast, then we meet Rainbow at the sch-" her expression falls again. "At the research station."

"Sorry Twilight, I know this has to be hard for you." Sunset sighs, once more patting Twilight's hoof. The Alicorn swiftly gulps down another mouthful of her drink and nudges the empty mug aside. "Hey, Moondancer. Is there, like, maybe another cup in there?"

Moondancer opens her mouth but stops at seeing Twilight's morose slump. From her drooping wings, even tucked against her barrel like that, to the tightening jawline, her friend didn't cut the cheeriest sight. Biting back a sigh of resentment at a missed opportunity, the Unicorn mare nods. "Yeah, I think so." She quickly grasps Twilight's cup from the table with her levitation, before quickly refilling it with the rich, smooth espresso.

With a weak smile, she returns it to the table in front of the Alicorn. "Try that, it should perk you up a little. Or, y'know, at least give you a caffeine buzz."

Twilight flashes her a weak smile, "Thank you." Before she adds two spoons of sugar and a not inconsiderable amount of cream to the espresso, drawing a reflexive eye-twitch from Moondancer.

'Sure, drown out the taste, that'll do just fine.'

But Twilight's faint happy expression mellows the Unicorn as she returns to the coffee machine. "And speaking of machines." she says, clearing her throat.

"Uh, Moony? Nopony was talking about machines." Sunset grins.

"Okay," Moondancer says, flicking her tail in irritation before turning and holding up a forehoof. "It's like a quarter past six and not all of us can be as cheerful as you miss bouncy butt. You're lucky my brain's working at all. So as I was about to say ' and speaking of machines,' did Clare and the two sisters get everything put back together?"

The princess nods, and after a sip of her drink, she finally sits back up. "We had to go through and work out a few technical difficulties, but I probably wouldn't have believed it unless I'd seen it for myself. Everything's set up down there. It's just a matter of testing and examining the results to see if Clarion Call's theories surrounding signal transmission are valid. But the receiver is working just fine, and they have been updating us on their progress, umm, periodically."

"Meaning whenever they surface from their dungeon for food and, hopefully, showers?" Moondancer mutters, though by the covert cough covering up a laugh from Sunset, it wasn't quiet enough.

"Something like that."

“And it'll really work? We're going to be speaking to aliens and monsters and just hoping that everything turns out perfectly fine?” Moondancer scrunches her muzzle and caresses the warmed silver body of the espresso brewer while mumbling, “Once more, my new friend, once more.”

“C'mon, you don't have to say it like that, Moony.” Sunset chirps with a candid smile. “I know there's some scary stuff out there, but between the princesses, including the one sitting right here in this room-” she shoots a hoof out to bump Twilight's shoulder with a wink, “I think we're more than ready for whatever happens. You'll be fine going over there.”

'Wait, going over-'

“Pffft, HAH!” Moondancers laughs and spins in place to face her friends. “Yeah, buck that, I'm not trotting off to Luna knows where.”

“Moondancer... Language.” Twilight casts a sharp glare her way, and Moondancer traces her focus to Spike. The young drake had been looking her way, and the weight of at least a little guilt made its presence known on her back.

Spike shook his head with a nearly imperceptible huff, 'Heard worse with Rainbow around.'

“Weeeeell y'know,” Sunset grips her mug in both hooves, seeming to roll it from side to side to look over the lattice pattern. “That should be fine. You'll have Trixie and Starlight here to keep you busy while we're gone with Luna.”

The young dragon returns to his haycakes, and Moondancer returns her attention to the glossy silver machine that once more starts to gurgle and splutter when she flicks the lever. Staring ahead, her vision focused on the stretched image of her reflection staring back at her.

“Clever filly.” she mutters. “Okay, okay. How about a compromise? You take Trixie with you, and I'll... and you can feel free to finish the rest of that sentence however you want.”

“Deal with telling Pinkie Pie she can't go meet Princess Luna's newest best friend.” Once again, Moondancer catches a blurry reflection of a grinning Sunset looking her way.

Moondancer sighs and presses a hoof to her forehead just under her horn. This morning hadn't started well, it wasn't going well, and now it felt like she was being tugged along on a leash by a particularly manic pet owner. A smiling morning pony of a pet owner.

“Fine,” she huffs, “Who else is going?”

“-And BOOM, that's it! They'll be super impressed, and we'll get a sweet start to the whole 'getting to know the alien' thing! Heh, no need to thank me!”

Moondancer's eyes unblur as she blinks, the downdraft of wings ruffling her mane and clipping the thermos held in her telekenetic grip. She can only bite back a frustrated snort of derision as the gaudy blue Pegasus loops a barrel roll over Twilight's back and landing on the Princess's far side. Though 'land' was something of an exaggeration. She kept airborne after barely scuffing her hooves on the dirt.

Now she was the only pony lingering behind the little herd, three abreast in front of her, trotting down the dusty Ponyville street in the early morning sunlight. The faint breeze whisks away the early morning mists, still set alight by the rays of sunlight spilling over the Canterlotian mountains, turning the dusky slate peaks an incandescent orange to match her friend's fiery mane and glowing disposition.

'Bleh, morning ponies.'

“Lets just go easy to start with, Rainbow.” Twilight turns to look at her cocky friend, her bright smile looking far more genuine than the reserved grin she pasted on her muzzle at breakfast.

Sunset's giggle melded with the distasteful cringe and none-too-subtle eyeroll that Moondancer gave the grinning narcissistic sports mare.

'Yeah, sure, crack open a cider and watch da game, gorlz. Right? Wonder if it's a 'blue pony' thing.'

Twilight and Sunset's friend was annoying, but thankfully not completely insufferable. So that was a plus. And admittedly the pinion clip to her mug did snap her up out of that early morning fugue she'd dropped into somewhere along the way to the lab. Now she was staring dumbly at Twilight's flank like a perv with the expression of a traumatized custodian after a Pinkie party.

“Yeah. Don't want to blow all our best diplomatic moves the first time out, right?” Sunset bumps her flank into Rainbow with a knowing wink.

She'd blocked out the blathering Pegasus from the moment she showed up on Twilight's front door ten minutes ahead of schedule, instead of at the laboratory.

Upending the last of her travel thermos, a final trickle of life-infusing coffee dribbles down onto her tongue before giving up its last breath. You shall be missed, valiant caffeinated friend.

The first step across the arched bridge of Twilight's one-time school catches her by surprise, nearly causing her to stumble, and drawing a quizzical glance from Sunset. The kind of glance that made her feel like a foal and asked if she was alright.

'Don't patronize me, Sunny.' She pushes her glasses up her muzzle, but it can't quite hide the rosy blush of embarrassment completely.

“You okay there?” Sunset asks, her question drawing the attention of Twilight and Rainbow who look back over their withers.

“Sure, she looks alright to me.” Rainbow actually throws a bit of a smile, perhaps some form of camaraderie? Or the dope was just too eager to stop for a second to make sure.

“'M fine.” Moondancer mumbles under her breath and busies herself packing away her thermos in her simple saddle bags.

“So then hurry up!” Rainbow's smirk widens into an almost manic grin as she shoots off over the bridge and to the front door masked in early morning shadows. “What are you waiting for, Harthswarming?”

After a quiet chortle and a final shake of her head, the Alicorn princess redoubles her pace as she trots forward.

“Well,” Sunset merely slows her pace enough to ease in alongside Moondancer, “She seems better than she has in a while.”

“Hmm.” The pale Unicorn hums noncommittally. The pair wait for Twilight to fish out a key from her saddle bags and open the front door to the enormous marble hall before turning to her friend. “Is it as insulting to you as it is to me?”

Sunset blinks and shoots a bewildered look at her friend, “Hmm? No. Why?”

“Oh, I don't know. Maybe because she's been moping around and turning down everything I've tried to do all week to help her. Then little miss noisy eye sore comes along and it's business as usual with a spring in her step and a burr in her backside.” Moondancer scrunches her muzzle.

“Wow. You're a bitter little filly this morning, eh?”

“Six in the morning wake up calls will do that to you miss sunshine snoot.”

Sunset sighs a bit and shakes her head, “Just be glad Twilight's snapping out of it. And besides, Rainbow can have that effect. Trust me, it's better for everypony this way.”

“It's that or incoherent rage, according to the farm filly.” Moondancer follows with a sigh, dipping into the comforting coolness of the shadow cast by the west entrance of the building.

“That's part of her charm.” Sunset smiles, holding the wide whitewood door open for Moondancer.

The Unicorn enters the cool foyer, already hearing the echoing tap of hooves and hushed voices echoing off the high ceilings and bouncing among the towering rows of marble pillars rising from either side of the entrance. “Charm is Clerk Stables or Viridian Lee, not-” the Unicorn makes an emphatic gesture towards the Pegasus.

Sunset chortles and closest the door with an echoing boom. Amid the resonant echo, Moondancer was mostly certain she heard Sunset say something about 'works for her'.

'Everypony in this town is crazy.' Moondancer mutters back under her breath and waits for Sunset to trot alongside, adding the clip-clop of their hooves to stagnant pall of the oppressive entrance hall. Twilight's hoofsteps sound a little lonely with Rainbow Dash never setting hoof on the ground, but the smile of the face of her friend was genuine, even if the odd acoustic disconnect a little unnerving.

Nevertheless, the coolness was pleasant and the subdued ambiance something close to a weekend lab class at Canterlot U. “Just one coffee short of a decent start.” Moondancer mumbles to herself again.

“I still haven't got a clue how you aren't in the washroom every five minutes. What's that, number four?” Sunset asks, giving Moondancer a nudge. The slow blink and deadpan stare in reply only makes Sunset roll her eyes with a smile still gracing her face.

A sharp clop of hooves from further down the hall heralds the arrival of somepony else. “Did they really need to take out all the carpeting?” Moondancer sighs and cranes her head up, as if finally emerging from the protective cowl of her turtle neck sweater.

“That's what's different!” Sunset mutters with a groan, only to be interrupted by an echoing voice.

“Princess Twilight!”

Moondancer recognized the voice as one of the reasonable sisters, the non-lisping one. Sine? Cosine? She lost track of them pretty quickly. The plum hued mare merely trots in from an adjacent corridor in the north wing.

It snaps Twilight and Rainbow out of their friendly conversation. “Yes, miss Wave?” Twilight replies as officiously as possible. Rainbow's lip bite and eager high pitched sound were pretty indicative of her hope.

“The princess is waiting in your office.”

“YES!” Rainbow laughs, turning a sharp loop above the Alicorn's head.

“But we've got another message, it sounded pretty urgent. Actually I was just getting my saddle bags to head over to the castle.”

Now that Moondancer got a little closer, sure enough, she could see the hastily packed saddle bags on the somewhat disheveled Unicorn's flank. She had bags under her eyes, her fur was ill-kept, and her bushy mane was frazzled and split every which way. Definitely the 'scholar all nighter' look. Digging through her pack quickly, Sine Wave produces a small square of folded paper.

“Urgent secret special message about aliens?” Rainbow's raspy register rises another few notes until it was a scratchy murmur. “Soooo cool!”

It's taken from the mare's magical grasp by Twilight, who quickly and carefully unfolds the missive. She goes quiet for a moment, and evidently reads it again.

“C'mon, don't leave me hanging!” she zooms up behind Twilight, nearly laid across her back as she reads it from over her shoulder. “What's it say?”

By now, even Moondancer could feel that faint electric tension from a too-quiet Twilight. Picking up her pace at the same time as Sunset, Moondancer hurries towards the Alicorn, forming a little knot now gathered around the simple stationary torn from a lined notepad.

Twilight reads the message aloud, a rising note of concern creeping in from the very start. “Alert code vermilion. Repeat. Alert code vermilion. Translation complete. Fleet has arrived at site two-five-one lagrangian point prime. Ident, Vengeful Spirit, Cthonic Dawn, Judicature, three ewe-delta class vessels. Course projection, black prime. Disposition, war footing, aggressive. Eee-tee-eh-eye-oh sixteen-two-seventeen. Course of action requested immediately. Repeat. Course of action requested immediately. Aech-Dee.”

“Fleet?!” Moondancer grimaces as Rainbow's scratchy shriek blasts her ears flat. “There's gonna be a fleet?!”

Despite the irritated glare Moondancer shoots her, the Pegasus seems to vibrate from excitement. A notion that nopony else looked like they shared judging by the mixture of somber and pensive looks going around the rest of the circle.

Sunset's curious sideways glance asks a question that doesn't quite translate out to Moondancer. Twilight stares at the missive, more obviously puzzling out the question of the acronyms.

“Well,” Sunset pips up after a few awkward seconds of silence broken only by wingflaps of the Pegasus. “We shouldn't keep Princess Luna waiting.”

“O-oh, right.” Twilight folds the note up and quickly bobs a head to Sine. The Unicorn pony steps aside wordlessly as the party continues on their way down the empty corridors of the nascent 'School of Friendship'. A few hanging gonfalons in the main entrance hall are emblazoned with the Equestrian signet while several sapphire banners bear the mark of Luna alone. But something else draws Moondancer's eye as entrance corridor passes into an obnoxiously long carpeted hallway. There were negative spaces, vacant spots as obvious as empty statue plinths just waiting for something else.

The mystery passes into silence, leaving the mare alone with a few lingering thoughts and the innate feeling of unease. But she plods along, blocking out Rainbow Dash's faint chittering questions that sounded only passively answered by Twilight.

A bump on her flank awakens the mare fully, getting her to look to the offender only to see Sunset's grinning face. “Don't go blindly stumbling down the halls now, Moony.”

“I wasn't...” Moondancer blinks and realizes full well that even now she'd have to awkwardly turn to enter the Headmistress's office. “Well...” she starts but notices the Unicorn mare's smarmy grin and wink, “Quiet you.” And between them, the pair trots into the dreary office space.

“Princess Luna?” Twilight calls as Moondancer's eyes adjust to the gathering gloom of the quarters. With thick swathes of purple drapes covering the wide bank of windows, only a pale green shrouded lamp and flickering candle illuminates the paper strewn desktop. The scent of sealing wax and sharp tang of ink permeates the air, mingled with the slightly musky pong of lavender and dried elderberries. From the coffee rings plain to see on the desk, Luna had been there for quite a while.

“Iiiiis everything okay?” Rainbow's hesitant question seems to snap the Princess of the Night from her entranced work.

“Ah, Twilight Sparkle. Loyalty, oh, good evening everypony.”

The Diarch's voice holds an edge of tiredness. It's almost strange that aside from the pale glow of her magic, the Alicorn Princess's forehooves were illuminated in the desk light, but besides that, she was as shrouded as the darkest recesses of the room.

“Evening?” Sunset asks, then clears her throat.

Aside from her voice, not even a breath of air disturbs the hauntingly silent chamber.

“Can we maybe open the curtains?” Sunset asks aloud while gesturing at the windows.

“Hmm?” Luna pauses for a moment, “Oh, of course.”

With a 'shick' of rattling curtain rings, the blazing sun floods in, warm and uninviting.

“GAH!” Moondancer screws her eyes shut, feeling the throb in the back of her head even as Sunset gives a little sigh of contentment. “You are a wicked, wicked pony, Sunset Shimmer.” Moondancer mumbles angrily and opens a single watery eye to gaze blurrily at the dark blue outline silhouetted in the burning eye of the sun itself.

“You said you wanted to see us?” Twilight interjects.

“Is the alien fleet already here?!” Asks Rainbow just as eagerly, “What do they want? Whaddya need, Princess?” Her racing tone and the little swooping sounds of displaced air give the somewhat blinded Unicorn an idea of the Pegasi's careening movements.

“Hmm? Nay, nothing of the sort, Loyalty.”

“But the letter-” Twilight begins, only to be stopped by the raising of a hoof, though it still looked like a blob or an aubergine to the Unicorn.

“The meeting is set for noon on the morrow.” She takes a breath, “But We wished to speak to you, Twilight. It concerns what will take place.”

There's a small lull, just long enough for the desk to squeak as it's opened by Luna's magic. Moondancer's eyes had cleared enough to see the frazzled, unkempt features of the Princess of the Night. The papers strewn across the desk were in rough piles, but fanned out so the Alicorn could see them all at a glance. Even a perfunctory peek reveals pictures and obnoxiously long correspondence typed on official looking stationary.

“The Chancellor believes that the initial meeting should be met with a degree of professional aplomb and dignity, not overly spectacular and certainly not hostile. And in that regard, We are forced to agree. Thus, we are to keep our welcoming retinue to a minimum.”

“If this is about Pinkie-” Twilight begins, only to stop when Luna holds up a hoof again.

“Chancellor Neighsay has made the argument that none of the Elements of Harmony should be placed in danger in meeting a relatively unknown entity before it is guaranteed to be safe.”

“Pfft, buck that!” Rainbow snorts and turns to Twilight, “C'mon, after what we've dealt with there's nothing we can't handle! It's just a single lame stallion who wants to be the center of attention. Seriously, who's better at this stuff than us?”

Sunset looks back and forth between a silent Luna and an equally quiet Twilight. “She's kinda got a point, Twi. I mean, you are the Princess of Friendship. I'd think that you'd be just about the best pony other than Luna to set up a first meeting.”

Luna hadn't said a word. Moondancer's attention focuses on the dark Princess as she sits with her forehooves steepled in front of her muzzle, keeping her cyan eyes locked on the younger royal. Blinking a few more times, Moondancer steals another glance at the pictures of ponies on the desk just as Luna's magic closes them. The half dozen files are shuffled into some semblance of order before she sets them aside.

“But you are a Princess, and as such, We are sure the Chancellor would not object to your presence at an official meeting. Tradition also states that one of significance may bring a second as part of a retinue.” Luna's looks towards the blue Pegasus and shares a tired smile. “I've already chosen mine, miss Shimmer.”

Sunset stiffens for a moment, then just bobs her head. “Alright, but I thought you said no Elements of Harmony?”

“Loyalty would be going as 'Miss Rainbow Dash' the escort for the Princess of Friendship, not an Element of Harmony or a Wonderbolt.”

“That seems awfully specific.” Moondancer hums, “Who else is going?”

'Please not me, please not me, PLEASENOTME.'

As if waiting for the question, Luna shoves the files towards the edge of the desk.

Moondancer looks over the files as Twilight quickly peruses the cover page and photo. “Doctor Fauna M.D. as a resident biologist and veterinarian. Doctor Northpoint emeritus, eminent architect and member of the EEA. Mane Allgood, Bachlorette of botany and biology-”

“Scoot's mom is here?” Rainbow ducks in, looking over Twilight's shoulder. “Yeash there's a lot of eggheads. That's what you get with a bonehead in charge.”

The awkward silence and vicious glare from Twilight gets Rainbow to plaster a fake grin on her muzzle, “heh, no offence.”

“As insensitive as Dash is,” Sunset starts and takes the first two files. Looking them over she mumbles, "This is looking like an all EEA science expeditio-”

“Ah mare, they got Snap, too?” Rainbow continues with a bit of a snort, “I mean I figured he'd be around with Mane. I wondered why they were back in town this week. They're never around for that long but I guess that explains it.” She bites her lip, looking a little awkward. Moondancer spots 'Snap Shutter', seeing photography and contractor for the EEA.

“Not all of them are EEA, Sunset.” Twilight replies, scrunching her muzzle up. She passes a file over, though it gets nothing but a little 'huh' from the cheery morning mare.

“Lightning Du-”

“WHAT?!" Dash snatches the file from Twilight's grasp, “No way, NO BUCKING WAY! The hay is this?!” The Pegasus snarls and slams the grinning photo of an athletic Pegasus mare down on the desk hard enough for Moondancer to feel the vibration through her hooves.

“So they're trying to keep us out of it but they go with that featherbrained washout?!”

For her part, Luna takes the verbal barrage without so much as flinching. “You disapprove?”

The Pegasus shakes, trying in vain to form something coherent in the face of Luna's neutral stare. “Uhh, yeah! You bet I do! She'll just show off and blow the whole thing! Trust me, it won't go well if she's there! That mare can't be trusted!”

Moondancer leans towards Sunset, whispering quietly, “Ex?” It only gets a shrug from her friend.

“We have already approved, just as we have approved your position in this despite the objections of Neighsay.”

“Objections?!” Twilight neatly encases Rainbow in her telekinetic grasp and tugs on her tail for a moment, dragging the fuming pony back. Despite a few more grumbled expletives, the Alicorn gently pats her friend's side to calm her.

“Yes. For the meantime, we shall all go over what the expected events and processes that must be observed for tomorrow.” Luna's gaze unexpectedly turns to focus on Moondancer, who had so far gone mostly unnoticed. “We do apologize that a position in the initial party could not be obtained for you, Moondancer.”

“Darn.” A light flutter of relief courses through her chest as she tries to hide the smile. It always sounded uncomfortable, dangerous, and just a little bit too frightening.

“Instead, you shall remain here with Starlight, miss Cosine and miss Call to listen and observe.”

Where there was a pleasant purple pony, there seemed to be a blundering blue buffoon too. “Great.” Moondancer mutters to herself.

“This is a mistake, I'd rather go on ahead and see this for myself just to make sure that Lightning Dope can't buck anything up. We should be going over there now to see what this place is like.”

“Loyalty,” Luna raises her head and for the first time that morning, cracks a wane smile. “We quite agree.”