Chapter Nine: Of Captives and Love

Mighty Wing, Central City.

Gilda strutted along the streets of the capital city within the Griffin Territories, known as Mighty Wing. Mighty peaked towers lined the central street on either side of Gilda, a mass of dark brooding browns and greens. Even the windows appeared to be brooding, dark and glazed as they stared out into the world beyond. Although it was a peaceful nation, it was clear that it was not a welcoming one. It was built by griffins, for griffins. Few other creatures were in sight, none of whom were ponies. As Gilda gazed around at the familiar territory, she wondered what could be causing such a fuss. Griffins were hurrying about, many on the wing. All appeared to be on a mission about something or another. Or rather, the leaders were just arguing over nothing again. That always came to be around here.

The young griffins entered her home, only to be greeted by her father’s servants. She brushed them off for the moment. She didn’t need to be tended to right now, let alone by several of his minions.

Gilda exhaled, feeling quite bitter about the events that occurred in Ponyville. She'd lost Rainbow Dash, the coolest friend anyone could ask for. What occurred was something she never expected, the very pony she found acceptable had become a dweeb. Most especially in their encounter right before she left.

Not to mention falling in love with the weakest and most pathetic pony she'd ever seen.

~Flashback~

“HEY! Where do you think you’re going, Gilda?!”

Gilda turned, facing Rainbow Dash with a deadpan look, “Listen dweeb, yeah, you’re a dweeb now, Dash, but I have no time for your stupidity. I’m getting out of here.”

“You have a lot of nerve, Gilda! I heard about what you did to Fluttershy!” Dash said angrily, her eyes narrowing dangerously. “What has she ever done to you?!”

“She’s a doormat you dweeb, she's not cool like you used to be.” The angry griffin cut back as she took up a defensive stance, ready to strike out at the pegasus who was once her friend.

“Hey, Fluttershy may have confrontation and insecurity issues, but she’s not a doormat!” Dash yelled, hovering in the air, “She’s my best friend, you know!”

“What are you going to do about it, little Rainbow Crash?” It was the first time Gilda had ever called her old friend such a name. Although it was once unthinkable to call her such things, the angry griffin now saw no reason to restrain her mean streak from lashing out.

“What is your problem?! All you’ve done since you got here was treat everypony like garbage, even right when Pinkie was nice enough to still try to reach out to you even after you made her feel like dirt....you STILL manage to mess that up!”

Brown wings flared in offense to the light blue mare's words. “My problem? They’re all lame little ponies! How can you stand to be around lowlife like that?”

Dash growled angrily, snorting through her nose, “Because they’re my friends! They’re all good ponies in this town! Fluttershy and I had to leave Cloudsdale and we came here! And I’m glad we did because it’s where we met our closest friends! They’re not low-lives!”

The nasty creature below the angry pony took off into the air, pressing her beak against Dash’s nose. “What’s that dweeb? I’m sorry... I can’t hear you above the weak cries of your pathetic friends. I’ll give you one last chance to come back with me and be cool.”

“HEY! You watch what you say about my friends! And by the way, I heard about the way you treated Fluttershy in flight school...” Dash said in a warning tone, touching down to the ground again. “YOU threatened her so she wouldn’t tell on you! How could you?! You’ve done nothing but torment her for no good reason!”

Gilda remained in the sky, feigning despair. “Oh why, how sad... the little filly needed teaching a lesson. She was checking out another filly... that was like... eww gross.” The feathered features of the airborne bully contorted with disgust. It was becoming very clear that in her world, it was not okay to be anything other than straight and cool.

The cyan Pegasus’s jaw dropped. “WHAT...did you just SAY?!!?! I dare you to repeat that!!!” Her eyes narrowed dangerously yet again.

“What? I didn’t need her looking at you like that. It would have made you soo uncool.” Gilda complained defensively, unable to step away from such a dare.

“Looking at....?” Rainbow faltered, looking surprised.

“Yea, it was fun... she stopped pretty quickly once the pain set in... it didn’t take much at all.” The bully reminisced, a giggle of past pleasure escaping as her claws stroked the back of a frightened imaginary filly.

“You.....!!!! Why I oughta....!!!! If you talk about Fluttershy like that ONE. MORE. TIME. I’m not afraid to use force!” Rainbow threatened, wings flared ready for action.

“Oh come on Dash. It’s not as if she’s important.” Gilda swooped far out of hoof range, doing her best to maintain her cool persona. She landed on a nearby cloud and gazed at her claws, seemingly dismissive of her past friend.

Dash let out a snarl of defiance, “Oh yeah?! Well you’re WRONG! Fluttershy is the most important pony in Equestria! I love her, Gilda, and nothing you or anypony says is going to change that! She’s my best friend and I would never leave my friends hanging!”

“Whatever dweeb... go run back to your little fillyfriend, she’s changed you Rainbow Dash... now you just suck.” Gilder dismissed her, slowly flying off.

“Hey! Fluttershy didn’t change anything! HEY! YOU COME BACK HERE! Don’t you fly away from me! HEY! I’M TALKING TO YOU!” The fired up mare cried out from the ground.

“Goodbye Rainbow Crash. Come see me if you ever get over that useless excuse for a flying pony.” The bully called back one last time before she began to pick up speed, ready for her long trip home.

“I DARE YOU TO COME BACK HERE AND SAY THAT!!!” Rainbow Dash was all to keen to pursue the departing griffin.

A fight was the only thing that would come from such an action and oh boy was her system calling for it! However, the one thing that kept her on the ground was her best friend, Fluttershy. As much as she hated it, Dash knew that there was little chance she could beat Gilda in a one on one fight. At least at this point in time. If she did go down and no pony saw it happen then there was no telling how long it would take for her friends to find her, for Fluttershy to find her. The thought of Fluttershy losing her forever kept her on the ground. She wanted to see her oldest friend again. Taking deep breaths to attempt to calm her rage, the pegasus lowered her wings, ever so slowly, just begging her opponent to return and start the fight.

Shaking her head at the soft display below her, Gilda muttered to herself  “You’re not worth it...” With a massive beat of her brown wings, Gilda picked up a great deal of speed. It was time to go home.

~End of Flashback~

Looking back, Gilda wondered if she could have done or said more about that. After all, Rainbow Dash, who was once awesome and cool, was actually wrapped around the hoof of a much lamer pony than even Pinkie Pie. ‘Should I have tried to save her...? Bring her back here where she could learn how to be cool again?’

“Miss Gilda, your father is in his study. Do you wish to go see him?” Asked the butler, breaking the brooding beast’s line of thought.

“Whatever...” The light brown griffin stalked on past as if the attendant wasn’t even there. As he began to scurry off she stopped. “Hey! Wait.”

The orderly immediately scurried back to his young master. “Yes?”

“Actually... I think I will see that old featherbag. Tell him I’m back and would like a quick word with him. I have his artifact.”

“Yes, Miss Gilda,” The scrawny young griffin bowed and flew off to deliver the message.

“Right... now that we have that all sorted... Off to go see-” Her musing was cut short by a voice she hadn’t heard in too long.

“Sis!” Came a voice from behind her. A smaller griffin flew ungainly over to her, a big smile on his face. “Oh my gosh, you’re back!” He landed on his rump, right in his older sister’s face.

A small, rueful smile overcame Gilda’s face. “Hey, Glen.”

“How was Ponyville? Did you see Rainbow Dash again? Was she as awesome as you always said she was? Do I get to meet her?” Glen asked eagerly, looking up at his sister with a curious smile as he bombarded her with questions, just about hopping up and down in his eagerness.

Gilda sighed, shaking her head as she patted his head with her claw. “Afraid not, little buddy. Turns out she’s just a big a dweeb as the rest of the ponyfolk. I thought she was cool when we were younger, but she went to the Dweeb Side.”

“Bummer... I always wanted to meet a pony.” The dark tawny feathered hide of the younger griffin hit the floor once more as he came to an dejected rest.

“Even so, she’s a fillyfooler, anyway,” Gilda said, shaking her head again. “And with a lamer pony, no less. I’d rather you not see that, kiddo.”

“Wait? What? How could someone awesome grow up like that?” The younger griffin was clearly perplexed. He had heard so much about the most awesome pony ever and could not believe that something had changed.

“I guess she just spent too much time with that little dweeb of hers...” Gilda deadpanned, trying not to give it too much thought.

Glen looked at his sister sadly and sighed, “That’s too bad, sis. She sounded cool.”

“I know, little bro,” Gilda ruffled her brother’s mane a bit before letting him go.

He scampered off, happy enough in his own world, despite the bad news. It left the older griffin smiling, he always somehow managed to brighten up her day...

“Miss Gilda, your father will see you now,” The youngster in question scrunched up her face. The butler certainly knew how to announce himself.

“Great.” Gilda said, brushing past him to ascend the nearby staircase, determined to not be led along like some royal fool.

Up on the second floor of the mansion, she came to her father’s study just adjacent to the master bedroom. Her father was Chief Grandeur, one of the griffin leaders, a mighty and powerful griffin...in his prime, anyway. These days, while he was old and clearly ageing, he was still far from weak. Especially in how he had come out of retirement after the assassination of one of the younger leaders.

When Gilda entered, the old griffin looked up from his paperwork before setting it down on his desk.

“Gilda dear, you’ve returned,” he said gravely, his deep bass voice filling the air. “I take it your...excursion to Ponyville was far from satisfactory, then.”

“Got that right, dad.” The much younger creature plonked her hindquaters down just inside the doorway.

“I had warned you in the past...ponies are nothing but weakness and trouble,” he said, standing from his desk. “But you take after your mother...being as headstrong and independent as always, my dear.”

“You were right, dad. I just wanted to show them what real awesomeness was, in the name of us Griffins.” Gilda said proudly, but then sighed, “I thought one of them was worth it. She was fast, cool, daring, and powerful. ...But I was wrong. She’s as weak and lame as the rest of them.”

“Well I hope you taught her a lesson... Those ponies need a strong iron beak to rule their soft lives.”

“Believe me, dad, I let them know that. I even let her know that,” Gilda said agreeably.

“Oh good. Did thou find what I asked you to retrieve?” He asked offhandedly.

Gilda dug something out of her travel bag and delivered it to her father. It was wrapped in cloth yet a hint of gold was visible where the pointy part of the artifact had punctured its soft covering. “I couldn’t find it. I kept looking as much as I could, heck, I even asked a few ponies. They were lame and kept telling me they had no idea what I meant. But this item... I nabbed off a patrol, then gave them your new orders."

A few moments passed in brooding silence. The young griffin began to wonder if her father was going to speak again, or if she should just leave.

Before she could do anything, the old councillor spoke up. “It’s their Princess... she must have more of them than I thought... Oh well. At least I know that there are a few who can follow properly.” Chief Grandeur went to look out the window, standing with his mighty wings spread, looking contemplative.

“You bet, dad,” Gilda turned to the door, ready to leave.

“By the way...should you ever consort with their kind again...I have a special task for you...my dear daughter”

“Yeah, what?”

“....Do not hold back in teaching them that very important lesson, my dear. We are superior. Always and forever.” The massive predator paused as if in thought for a few moments.

He took his time once again, after all, nothing moved until he told it to. “Although neither the council nor Celestia suspects my next move, however they may discover my true motives before we are fully ready. Our scouting party is on its way to uncovering yet another artifact and I need you to make sure my prize makes its way back here before any other creatures know it resides within the city. If they find out, council would not take the news lightly. ”

“You got it, dad.” The serious young griffin trooped out of the quiet study.

The aging griffin trooped slowly back to his desk and stood leaning against a small bookcase.

“Does m’lord require any assistance?” The butler asked, reappearing seemingly out of nowhere.

“Yes. Go away. And remember, you hear nothing.” The iron tone left little to the butler’s imagine as to what would happen to him if he were to ever speak up.

“I hear nothing.” Confirmed the obedient griffin, before backing slowly out.

The door closed, leaving only the brooding council member to his own devices. He turned to face the bookcase. A claw found what he was seeking and slowly pressed a button. With a slowly grinding, it slid back to reveal a small messy den. It was roughly hewn into the side of the room and looked almost as old as the griffin himself. From the celling of the small den hung a oil lamp and some odd spiky instruments.

The light stench of death hit Chief Grandeur’s nostrils and he stood for a moment to allow the smell to seep into his system. It made him think of war. War was good, war would purify the lands and erase all ponykind. The smell also reminded Grandeur of the lengths he had to stretch to accomplish the most important of tasks. He alone would succeed where no griffin before him had.

A grin appeared on his face as he stalked in. “Hello again. Sorry to leave you but I had guests.” A cruel claw turned the face of a battered white pegasus stallion to face the griffin Grand Master.

If looks could kill, this one would set the mighty griffin alight.

“Oh now don’t give me that face, I would hate to go round three with you.” From the tone of Grandeur’s voice, it was clear he was entertaining the thought of dishing out more pain to his captive.

Stony silence met the words of the cruel ruler. “You know, I don’t want to kill you, you know. You must be as noble as my own royal guards... for a pony anyway. Anyway... down to business. I know Celestia has one of my artifacts and I want it back. One way or another, thou will give me what I seek.”

The roughed up royal Canterlot guard kept his silence as he glared at his captor.

“Okay then. It’s on to round three. As your host, I shall be... kind... generous... and all that nonsense... Now where were we? Ahhh... yes.” Chief Grandeur took a deep breath. As much as he knew most of his fellow councilors were sure to protest against his incoming actions, they didn’t have to know a thing.

After all, what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them, or spoil his fun.

Canterlot, edge of the city

Two young lovers landed at their destination, Canterlot. The outskirts near the train station seemed to be a perfect pick for two ponies who wished to go unnoticed as the crowd appeared to have somewhere to go or something to do. No eyes lingered upon either mare, a fact that Fluttershy was thankful for. After all, crowded places were not really her thing. But while she felt nervous, the quiet mare felt it best that they at least make their presence known to the Royal Guard as they were Element bearers.

The pair walked side by side toward the main city and kept their wings to themselves to dissuade unwanted attention.

Rainbow Dash kept her wings to herself for other reasons too. As the fastest flyer in Equestria, she did not wish to appear a softy or uncool. As the bolder and more excited of the two, Rainbow Dash led her fillyfriend along confidently toward the palace. She paid no heed to the snobbish ponies they encountered, content to keep her ego to herself. She wondered why they had to wear such silly clothes, it wasn’t like there was a special event going on in the city. She snickered when an especially overdressed-for-Rainbow Dash-couple walked past. The stallion shot her a dirty look earning a grin in return.

Fluttershy meekly followed her best friend and lover, intrigued by the sights and intimidated by the sheer amount of ponies around her. She began to wish she was back with her animals instead of allowing herself to be dragged out into public by an attention seeking pegasus.

“All right Fluttershy. Your surprise is coming up.” Rainbow Dash declared as the pair rounded a corner to face the majestic sight of the palace.

Looking to her companion curiously, Fluttershy mulled over what it could possibly be. A beautiful sight? Most likely, what else could she have possibly been able to set up, considering neither of them had ever been there?

The bold cyan mare broke her friend’s trail of thought, “coming right up pal. I just don’t want you to go around telling everypony what we are about to do.”

“Oh... okay.” The shy pegasus wondered what kinds of trouble her fillyfriend was planing for them.

“You trust me, right?” Rainbow paused, ready for take off. “Because you’re going to love it.”

“Of course I trust you Rainbow. You just make it sound like we’re about to do something dangerous...” Fluttershy trailed off, still nervous.

“But, you’re keen to give it a go?” The eager mare asked, a hopeful grin upon her mug.

After a moments consideration Fluttershy nodded slowly. “I’ll do it, um... whatever it is.”

“Alright! Come on, I’m sure you won’t regret it!”

Fluttershy smiled shyly she she followed her fillyfriend to one of the walls of the palace. She spotted the cyan mare scanning the walls, checking for signs of guards. Happy that the coast was clear, Dash nodded to her with a smile.

“Um... Rainbow... What are we going to do?” Fluttershy asked, feeling a wave of butterflies impact with her tummy.

The bold cyan mare motioned up at the wall, still grinning like a filly about to fly into the out of bounds zone on the flight course.

“But why? Can’t we just ask nicely to be allowed in?”

“If we were coming for a boring visit I would have marched right up. But I’ve got something exciting to show you. It’s like the most awesomest pet I’ve ever heard of!”

This new piece of information caused Fluttershy to have a change of heart and her nerves and fears quickly disappeared. A pet that was cool enough to make her mare excited, must surely be an amazing specimen.

“A pet? Ooooh...what kind of pet?”

“You’ll see! C’mon, Flutters!” Rainbow Dash lifted off, offering her fillyfriend a hoof with a slight snigger.

Fluttershy accepted the offer, propelling herself carefully upwards alongside her friend. They flew along the palace walls, avoiding detection from the Royal Guards, as Rainbow searched for a specific window to view into. It took some time, even a couple circles around, as she tried to locate the one she was looking for.

“In here.” Dash motioned with her free hoof.

Fluttershy mutely nodded and allowed herself to be guided into the window. Right near it, on a perch, was majestic and beautiful phoenix. Bright fiery red feathers, yellow accents, a strong beak, wise gleaming eyes, and talons that looked both sharp and yet majestic all at once. Fluttershy was stunned. She had never seen a real phoenix outside of documented pictures in the books she’d read. Now there was a real one right in front of her, looking just as amazing as they were described and shown in images. Much like years ago, when she had laid her eyes upon real animals for the first time, she was awed and amazed. A real phoenix. The very real, majestic bird.

The awestruck mare was brought back into reality by the quiet giggling from the pegasus beside her. “Oh dear, sweet Celestia... You should have seen your face... You look so adorable...” The bold mare managed between suppressed giggles.

“Rainbow...” Fluttershy giggled back, looking embarrassed, “But how can I not be? It’s a phoenix! I-I’ve never seen one before! Oh, she’s gorgeous! Look at her!”

“I know... isn’t it awesome! I just didn’t expect such a cute filly face when you saw it.” Dash nuzzled her, filling the shy mare with a warm buzz inside.

The creamy yellow pegasus giggled, overtaken with affection and awe all at once. She was also glad they were so far up in the sky and out of sight. “Oh, Rainbow, thank you! I love it! It was wonderful of you to show her to me! Wow! Ooh...I wonder who she belongs to...”

“Awesome. Uh... don’t tell anypony, but this belongs to Princess Celestia herself. I heard Twilight talking about her and thought my cute little filly might be interested in seeing the sights.”

“Oh...I see....” Fluttershy nodded in understanding. It made sense that the Princess herself would have a majestic pet.

“Just don’t tell anypony I was sneaking around. Egghead wouldn’t like it.”

“Well I...don’t like you sneaking around, but... I understand, I won’t tell.” Fluttershy promised, with a massive delighted smile upon her muzzle.

“Thanks.” The prankster grinned then snuck a quick kiss.

“I wonder where she is, anyway...” Fluttershy wondered aloud.

“Who? The phoenix is right here silly filly.” Dash gave her a confused look.

“No Rainbow, I meant Princess Celestia. Surely she wouldn’t let her pet out of her sight for too long.”

“Uh, Fluttershy, she’s got a lot of things to do as Princess and all. I think she’d make sure her pet could handle themselves, but she’d care about them anyway. I mean, even you can’t have all your animal friends in sight every five seconds. You’d want them to be able to take care of themselves when you’re not around, right?”

The animal lover giggled, realising her mistake. “Silly me... You’re right.”

“Course I’m right!” Dash grinned. “Okay, we better go before-”

“Hello, my little ponies. It’s so good to see you again.” The majestic form of Princess Celestia came into view inside the room.

“Meep!” Fluttershy squeaked in fright and jumped into the hooves of Rainbow Dash. It was clear her wings had temporarily seized up in fright.

“Princess Celestia!?! We um... were... just here to... um...” The guilty blue pegasus glanced around trying to find an excuse for the couples seemingly random appearance.

Princess Celestia giggled, smiling at them warmly, “There is no need to be afraid, Rainbow Dash. I was coming to feed her, and I overheard your voices. Hmm, I don’t know why you couldn’t simply come to me and ask to see her. Be that as it may, I see you’ve met Philomena! Isn’t she lovely?”

“Yes! She sure is!” Fluttershy replied energetically, the timid mare found her wings once more as her delight in the new pet returned.

“Yea... She’s cool... and stuff... yeah...” Rainbow Dash confirmed, unable to offer much else in the face of the mighty princess.

The princess held out her hoof and Philomena flew and perched onto it, before Celestia nodded. The phoenix flew out the window, inspecting Fluttershy. Nervous, the yellow mare held her hoof out as well, to which Philomena gently landed to perch on it, happy.

“I see she appears to know of your kindness, especially to animals, Fluttershy.” The royal alicorn commented.

Fluttershy blushed at the compliment. “Oh...”

“It’s times like this Fluttershy that your love of animals pays off, all right! That is cool!” Rainbow Dash grinned as she took in the regal sight of her mare with the fiery bid perched upon her outstretched foreleg.

“I see that two friends appear to be more than you used to be.” Celestia smiled kindly up at them. “You have my congratulations.”

“H-H-How... did you...?”

A soft chuckle escaped the princess, “I have seen displays of affection such as yours many times, Fluttershy. I know love when I see it. After all... My sister appears to show similar symptoms.” A further laugh escaped, as if something recent had caused her mirth.

“Oh... okay.” The shy mare hovered, happily in the sky with the most remarkable creature she had ever seen perched upon her forehoof. A wonderful sensation filled her. This was amazing!

She found herself swept off her wings and into Dash’s embrace as the trickster slowly flew down to meet the alicorn.

“I do not mean to pry, of course, but I do ask simply because I’m curious, what brings the two of you to Canterlot?” Celestia asked, holding her hoof out for Philomena to return to her, which the phoenix did so.

“Well, I wanted to show Fluttershy that nifty bird you have there! And I guess for a change in scenery!” Dash declared happily, completely missing the point that she had broken into Canterlot’s palace to do so.

“I see. Does this mean that I am able to entertain two of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony for the evening then?”

“Oh n-no, we could never impose upon you, Princess!” Fluttershy replied humbly.

“Don’t be silly, you two. It would bring gladness to my heart to spend time with the two of you, if you would like.” The smiling princess lit the room with her radiant smile.

“Hey, that’d be cool! Sure! We’re in!” Rainbow Dash promptly agreed. She promptly dumped her mare at her side. In doing so, she also ceased any and all ‘snuggly’ actions. It would not do to lower her coolness rating in Canterlot, least of all around a princess.

With a massive grin upon her muzzle, the blue pegasus turned to her loved one. “This is going to be great Fluttershy! You’ll get to see more of this awesome phoenix and then we’ll get to stay in one of these massive rooms together.”

“Of course,” Celestia added, placing Philomena onto her perch. “Should you two wish to stay the night, I would be very happy to offer you a room.”

“I... I... um... all right... thank you, Princess...” The reply from the yellow pegasus was barely audible, yet caused the already bright smile to expand.

“Yes please!” Rainbow Dash cut her quieter companion off before the quiet ramble could continue.

“Splendid, then. Oh, and I had forgotten to mention, Twilight Sparkle is here as well. She came this morning to study on some subjects she had wanted to catch up on, due to not owning the books that she can find here in the palace library,” Celestia informed them.

Both mares looked at the princess in surprise then at each other. “Twilight?”

“Yes. I had my sister join her. Poor Luna is more reclusive that even Twilight used to be. And I know they are sure to get along very well.” Celestia smiled knowingly.

“Oh... I’m sorry...” Fluttershy said softly. “It’s... very nice of you to let them work together.... I... mean... well... is it all right? Do they get along?”

“If you like... we can go and find out.” Celestia gave them a kind smile before turning and starting to walk off.

“What the hay, sure! C’mon, Fluttershy! Let’s go see what this shindig is about!” Dash eagerly waved for her fillyfriend to follow.

Celestia led the way out, she briskly clopped off down the hallway. It was clear she knew the pair would be hot on her tail.

Just before the pair were about to leave, Rainbow Dash leaned in close to whisper in the yellow mare’s ear. “Imagine what we could do in a bed in this palace... it must be huge.” The cheeky cyan pegasus pulled away, she wore a grin from ear to ear. It was clear she had a few ideas in mind.

“Oh....” Fluttershy blushed and looked away. “T-that sounds...fun...” She allowed a wing to brush against her lover’s side.

Tingles raced though both pegasi as walked out of the well adorned room into the hallway.

“Of course it will be.” Giggled Dash. “I’m sure I’m not the only one with ideas too...”

Fluttershy smiled back shyly, she did in fact have a few things in mind, none of which she felt willing to share anywhere near other company.

The trio walked along the corridors in complacent silence, nothing but the sound of hooves on polished floors to announce the progress of the three mares. They quickly made their way to the grand library and Celestia motioned for them to stop outside.

“While I understand that Fluttershy will have no troubles with the rules of the library, I would like you, Rainbow Dash to please remember that this is a quiet zone. Ponies from all over Equestria are here reading and researching and will not appreciate it if somepony bothers their quiet.” Celestia addressed the couple, doing her best to ensure that they understood.

“Okay, okay, Princess... I’ll be quiet!” Dash nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ve lived with Fluttershy for years, you do get to pick upon these things!” She made the motion of zipping her lips, a cheeky smile playing lightly upon her face.

“That is good. I hope you understand, but I just had to make sure.” The snow white alicorn turned to the grand doors and upon contact with her powerful magic, they swung gently open revealing shelves upon shelves of books.

Rainbow Dash had to fight to stop her jaw from hitting the floor. The was an unbelievable amount of literature. Whats more, inside were more eggheads than she had ever clapped eyes on in her life, and they were all in one huge room together!

Although not a reader to Twilight’s level, Fluttershy couldn’t help but get lost in the amazing sight. What it would be like to spend a day in the royal library, with all kinds of books on just about everything! She wondered what animal books they would have, and couldn’t help but scan a few of the titles as they three of them walked along.

“Please... follow me.” The alicorn turned and silently paced down a side aisle.

The trio came across two mares, buried in their reading as they studied, side by side. Twilight was completely absorbed by her material while, beside her, Luna’s tail twitched with the early signs of boredom.

Although having seen her before, Rainbow and Fluttershy were amazed at the sight of Princess Luna again, especially in how more relaxed (albeit a bit bored) she looked.

Fluttershy instinctively kept to her fillyfriend’s protective side, unsure if she should be terrified or not of the old Nightmare Moon.

“Twilight, Luna? Do pardon the interruption, of course, but your friends wanted to see you.” Celestia said in a very soft voice.

Twilight looked up, and looked surprised. “Oh! Rainbow, Fluttershy? What are you girls doing here?”

Princess Luna looked up as well, studying the two pegasi, “...Ah... we have seen you two before... Elements of Loyalty and Kindness. It is our pleasure to see thy both once again.”

“We...? You guys both?” Dash questioned, pointing one hoof to Twilight and then Luna, all the while keeping herself planted solidly beside her mare.

Celestia let out a small hearty laugh, “please do excuse my sister. She still uses the old tongue.”

“It is the Royal We,” Luna elaborated, “It is customary of Canterlot Royalty to speak in this way, of course!”

“Right... Whatever...” Rainbow Dash appeared thoroughly bored already by the mild history lesson.

Fluttershy on the other hoof was clearly more interested in the strange custom.

“That’s...  um... well... very interesting, Princess Luna. I have never heard of that before.” Fluttershy admitted almost in audibly.

“Well, I could have given you the latest edition of the History of Canterlot Royalty,” Twilight mentioned dryly. “So, anyway, what are you two doing around here? I didn’t think Canterlot was really your cup of tea, especially you Dash.”

“Sure it’s not! But I wanted to show Fluttershy a change of scene!” Dash shrugged, speaking a bit louder. Catching herself, she began to whisper, “You know... to try new exciting things! New discoveries!”

Both Twilight and Luna exchanged looks and shrugged while the alicorn of the sun let out a small giggle.

Celestia quickly broke off her laughter. “I hope that you mean you came here to see my pet phoenix and other palace animals Rainbow Dash.”

“Yea... of course.” Confirmed the confident athlete. “I sure did come here to let my fillyfriend see your pet. Also I was thinking of taking a look around... you know.” ‘And maybe a few other fun antics that are only for those in the Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash club...’ She added silently to herself, feeling rather smug.

Luna looked at the couple with a fresh gaze, one that was very inquisitive.  She looked from Dash to Fluttershy and back again, then to Twilight, and her sister, before looking back at the couple once more.

“Dost thou mean that the element of kindness is thy lover?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Yes. She is... got a problem with that, moon brain...?”

“Rainbow! She’s just asking!” Twilight defended her. “Give her a break.”

“Thank you Twilight Sparkle. But we do not have a problem with that. It is just something we are not used to seeing.” Luna explained as she attempted to stifle a giggle at the silly name.

Fluttershy noticed and gave a small, nervous smile back as Dash continued to appear bored.

Twilight shook her head, sometimes Rainbow Dash and her names could go a bit far. At least in this case the princess didn’t appear to mind.

Trying to change the mood of the conversation, Flutterhsy piped up in the hope that she could ease the mild tension. “We understand, Princess Luna...”

“I do not know if thou does... but that is of no consequence.” The midnight alicorn replied.

Realizing her error, Fluttershy averted her gaze, “sorry...” The soft whisper was barely audible in the already quiet library.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy.” Twilight assured. “I think we all know what you meant by that.”

Rainbow Dash turned to her fellow pegasus. “How about we go for a nice flight... maybe see some more animals... then I’ll take you out for a meal.”

Fluttershy nodded. It probably would be better to leave the two to their studies after all.

“Okay... we’ll see you two eggheads later.” Rainbow Dash grinned as she turned to leave with her marefriend.

Luna burst out laughing, while Twilight did her best to not look too offended.

“Have fun then, you two,” Celestia offered kindly. “Would you like an escort, or would you rather go on your own?”

“Thanks for the offer, Princess, but that’s okay! I can protect Fluttershy from anything. We’ll be back later!” Dash grinned, leading Fluttershy out, waving at them. “See ya, Twilight!”

“Well, I didn’t expect to see them here. Please may Luna and I get back to our studies? I feel as if I am nearly there.” Twilight asked.

“Absolutely, Twilight. I should be getting back to my duties,” Celestia nodded. “Luna, I hope you’re doing well, and I will see you later.” She smiled at the two in a knowing manner before she headed to leave the library.

The two mares resumed their studies almost as if nothing had happened and Luna’s tail immediately began swishing around again. It roped the idle dark purple tail of the smaller mare, entwining with it. With the two deep night shades entwined, the princess ceased her restless action. A small grin played upon the face of royalty as she continued to read. Every now and then she would pause when she thought the other mare wan’t looking and peek up to admire her.