The gala continued, Discord did leave to go check to see how much Equestria has changed in 1,000 years.

After he left, Princess Luna soon joined the party. And as soon as she did, Rainbow Dash decided to have a chat with her.

"Rainbow Dash, I take it your curious about the Shadowbolt offer I mailed to you." Luna said. "The offer still stands if you want to take it." She added.

"I have some questions I want answered before I do anything else." Rainbow Dash said. "After all, you weren't exactly clear on some of the finer details." She added.

"Very well. I suppose if it will make your decision easier, I will answer your questions as honestly as I can." Luna said.

"I was wondering specifically about where you'll put the new Shadowbolt HQ." Rainbow Dash said.

"That's easy. After conversing with my sister, I found a nice air space not too far from Ponyville's rural areas that would make for a great spot to put the new Shadowbolt HQ. That way, you wouldn't have to go too far to and from your home in Ponyville to get there. The proximity to the place would allow you to stay where you live and be able to see your friends pretty much every day after practice was done." Luna explained. Rainbow Dash had a map of the air space of Ponyville and it's outskirts. "...Where did you get that?" Luna asked.

"A little something I was giving when I took the job as being the new weather factory manager at Cloudsdale." Rainbow Dash said. "Show me on this map where your talking about." She added. Luna put a hoof in a place.

"There." Luna said.

"That's...probably going to require me to move my house then." Rainbow Dash said.

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" Luna asked.

"My house is in that airspace pocket." Rainbow Dash said.

"Wait...you meant to tell me that your house is a cloud house?" Luna asked.

"Yep." Rainbow Dash said. "I put my house there so it wouldn't be over anything major." She added.

"Oh...I see. I apologize. I wish I had asked you about your house sooner." Luna said. "I suppose I'll have to look a little beyond this map in this case." She added.

"Hey it's no big. I'm sure I can find some other place to park my cloud home." Rainbow Dash admitted.

"I'd rather not cause you to move your home unnecessarily. Though..." Luna did notice something. "This pocket of airspace not too far away from it that's just barely covered by this map...what's there?" She added.

"That would be the lake that cloudsdale uses to make rain at the weather factory." Rainbow Dash said.

"Ah...best not to obscure that then." Luna said.

"Hey don't worry. Your a princess, I'm sure you'll come up with somewhere not too much further away. And like I said, there's other pockets of airspace I could put my home at that wouldn't obscure anything." Rainbow Dash said. "Like right here for instance." She added, pointing to the top left portion of the map. "There's nothing really that can go there that would still be part of Ponyville exactly." Rainbow Dash noted.

"Actually miss Rainbow Dash, how about you keep your home where it is now? I think you have solved my problem for me." Luna said.

"Oh...heh...well I try..." Rainbow Dash said.

"Were there any other details you wished to discuss with me?" Luna asked.

"Yeah. Just a few others. Like, who else is going to be on the team." Rainbow Dash said.

"Now that, I would rather leave as a surprise. But make no mistake, I have sent out invites to some others that I have my eyes on. I think you'll appreciate the ones I have selected. For the most part." Luna said.

"So long as you don't accidently pick wonderbolts, I don't see a problem with Celestia happening." Rainbow Dash said.

"Actually, I asked my sister for a list of them so I wouldn't. Though there is one stallion I have my eyes on that is the brother of a Wonderbolt. I wonder if you've heard of Thunderlane?" Luna asked.

"The guy whose brother is Rumble right? I know of those two, but we only really met once." Rainbow Dash said. "I think Thunderlane was alright. Nice guy at least." She added.

"I'm trying to make my selections based around those I think not only would make great stunt fliers like the ones in the Wonderbolts, but I also those I think would get along well with each other. I want this new version of the Shadowbolts to have some loyalty to the rest of the squad, and the best way to do that, is to allow for them to get along nicely with each other. Skill is the main factor still, but if one shows promise in getting along with others, it'd make the the new Shadowbolts all the better." Luna said.

"Well sign me up for that!" Rainbow Dash said.

"I knew you'd say that as soon as you heard that. Now as for your place on the team..." Luna said.

"I'm not exactly sure if me being captain right away is a good idea..." Rainbow Dash said. "Just because I'm first wouldn't make it right. I want to earn something like that you know?" She asked.

"Don't worry, I had a feeling. I just wanted to confirm it with you. Your still going to be on the squad, I just wanted to know if you'd be okay with taking orders from somepony else for a while." Luna said.

"It'll be fine. I want to earn the captain's seat." Rainbow Dash said.

"Good. Because I did sort of already have a captain in mind." Luna said. "...You may come out now." She said to the shadows nearby. A lone mare wearing a costume not unlike the Shadowbolt apparitions that Luna created while Nightmare moon trotted up to Luna and Rainbow Dash.

"So...this is her then." The mare said.

"Yes. This is Rainbow Dash. I trust there's not a problem with her." Luna said.

"Consdering the squad wouldn't have gotten remade without her stopping you from being evil, no. There is no problem with her. I just expect nothing but her best." The mare said.

"I'm going out a limb here, and guessing your the captain Princess Luna was just talking about." Rainbow Dash said.

"Yes I am. The name's Night Wing. And let me make something clear to you, miss Rainbow Dash: You may have let the Shadowbolts be created, but if you don't pull your weight as well as get along with everyone on the squad, then you can be easily replaced. Got that?" The mare said. "I won't tolerate those who slack off or fail to get along with the others of the squad. So I'd advise you to make sure you have your A-game at all times and make sure you don't have any alterations with the rest of the squad." Night Wing said.

"Shouldn't be too much of a problem ma'm." Rainbow Dash said, giving a salute.

"...Uh...At ease..." Night Wing said. Rainbow Dash stopped saluting. "And uh...please just call me Night Wing when we're not doing practice." Night Wing said sheepishly.

"Okay Night Wing." Rainbow Dash said.

"I'm not...normally such a drill sargent. Something about being captain sort of brings that out of me." Night Wing said.

"Heh...I know the feeling. Same thing happend to me my first day of being the Weather Factory Manager. Which does remind me, I'll have to pick a replacement." Rainbow Dash said.

"Ah yes. That would be best. I did forget that you mentioned that." Luna said. "I'm sure whoever you pick won't disappoint you." She added.

"It's Rainbow Dash; she'll make sure to pick the best pony for the job." Night Wing said. Rainbow Dash smiled.

"You and I are going to get along just fine Night Wing. I can just tell." Rainbow Dash said.

"I hope your right." Night Wing said.

Author's Note

Bet you thought I forgot about this, didn't you? And yeah, the new Shadowbolt captain is not only an OC I created, but their name is indeed a reference to Batman.