Moondancer trotted down the street, humming to herself as she headed for the cafe where she planned to meet her friends for lunch as they usually did. Life had been great since Twilight had come back and mended the rift they had both caused in their friendship. She hated admitting it, she had just as much to do with it as the lavender Alicorn had. After all, letters weren't that hard to write.
"Hey, Moonie!" a raspy voice shouted from above her, causing the Unicorn to look up, a smile blossoming on her face.
"Hi, Dash," she replied as the cyan Pegasus landed next to her. A brief kiss and nuzzle later, they continued walking, a blue wing draped over the other mare's withers. She glanced over, her glasses sliding down her face slightly as she trained her eyes on the athlete.
"Is everything ok?" she asked. "I thought we weren't supposed to meet until tonight."
"It's totally awesome!" Rainbow Dash cooed, trying hard to keep her voice down in her excitement. "I didn't want to wait till tonight to tell you, so I came right over before rehearsal for tomorrow's show."
Moondancer waited patiently, knowing her marefriend's habit of wandering all over the field around a subject before coming right to it.
"You look fit to burst, sweetheart," she said as they came into view of the cafe. "Tell me what's got you so hyper, Dashie."
"The Wonderbolts were asked to perform at the Summer Sun Celebration this year!" she crowed. Her wings flared out and her hooves momentarily left the ground before she landed and came around to face the Unicorn. "I know we had decided we were going to go to Rainbow Falls for that week, but the orders came down today and, well..." she circled a hoof nervously. "I'd really love it if my little bookworm could be there to cheer me on."
Moondancer smiled at the hopeful look in her marefriend's eyes. Underneath that brash and headstrong exterior, Rainbow Dash had as soft a center as any mare, and between the look on her face and the tone of her voice, it was like looking at a filly asking if they could get a cookie before dinner. It was adorable.
"Of course I'll be there," she replied, giving the rookie Wonderbolt a sly wink. "You know I can't say no to a mare in uniform."
Rainbow beamed. "Great!" she exclaimed. "I promise, I'll make sure you enjoy every minute of our vacation after that, Moondancer!" She leaned in and gave her a kiss before bolting off into the sky.
Moondancer shook her head and tried to fight down the blush as she heard Minuette's teasing coo come over from the cafe.
"That was so adorable!" the pony exclaimed.
"Oh, hush," Moondancer said with a smile. "It's not like you haven't seen that before."
"Yeah, but it doesn't make it any less cute," Minuette said.
Moondancer rolled her eyes as she slid into her seat. "So," she said. "What's up?"
Dash slowly walked into her room and dropped her rucksack by the door, gazing at the cloud bed before her.
"Sleep..." she groaned. This had quite possibly been the hardest rehearsal she'd ever been through since she had joined the ranks. All she wanted was a nap before dinner with Moondancer and nothing was going to prevent her from getting it.
Nothing, that is, except a slightly uncoordinated mailmare that came crashing through the cloud wall of her home and crashed into her.
"Ow," she gasped as she looked up into the other mare's face. "Muffins, what gives?"
"Sorry, Rainbow," the wall-eyed pony said. "Last minute delivery." She reached into her bag and pulled out a letter bearing the seal that denoted a royal message.
"Thanks," Dash said. "Could you leave a little slower, though?"
The mailmare smiled and flew back through the hole she had caused, the wall slowly resealing behind her.
"How did she make it through flight school?" Dash murmured as she opened the letter and read it's contents.
Oh...oh no. she thought.
All thoughts of sleep were crushed as she bolted out her front door, returning to the flight pitch. She arrived just as Spitfire was locking the doors to the office building.
"Captain," she shouted as she came in for a landing. "I just got the updated location letter. Is that accurate?"
Spitfire sighed and tugged on the hem of her flight jacket. "I'm pretty sure it is, Crash," she said. "Considering that I got the information straight from the Princesses themselves. The celebration this year is going to be in the Crystal Empire."
"I thought it was going to be in Rainbow Falls, though."
"Last minute changes, diplomatic complications," Spitfire said. "I don't really understand it all, it's above my paygrade. And yours too, for that matter. Something about helping bring the Crystal Ponies back into the full swing of the modern era." She spitted the cyan Pegasus with a look that challenged her to protest further. "Is that all? You look like you've something else on your mind."
Rainbow hung her head. "Yes, Ma'am," she whispered. "I'll just have to find a way to make it up to Moondancer."
Spitfire walked up to her and set a hoof on her shoulder. "Listen, Dash," she said. "I don't like it any more than you do. I've been waiting to head back to the Falls myself. But you've seen the Crystal Empire, probably know it better than the rest of the squad. Surely there must be something the two of you can do there. My husband and I personally want to try out those hot springs I've heard about."
Dash smiled weakly. "I'll talk to her tonight," she said. "Maybe it'll be better than the Falls for her. She's never been that I know of."
Spitfire smiled and spread her wings. "If nothing else," she said. "Mention the hot springs." Giving the other mare a informal salute, she took to the sky.
"Hot springs," Dash muttered, a thought forming.