The calm state of the library was interrupted with a pop, signifying Twilight's successful teleportation. As she oriented herself to her new location, she heard a knock at the door. She breathed a sigh of relief to the fact that she had made it back to the library on time. Twilight trotted over to the door and caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror along the way. To her horror, her mane was an utter mess and her coat was not much better. Hair was sticking out in every direction with several obvious knots. She quickly ran her hoof through her mane and coat, hoping to make it presentable for her visitor. A few strands of hair were still out of place, but given the circumstances, she decided that she was presentable enough. Her hooves clacked against the wood floor of the lobby as she reached the door.
Twilight opened the door and expectantly, found Spitfire standing in her Wonderbolts captain's uniform with a package on her back. “Good evening, Princess Twilight.” She bowed to Twilight to Twilight's own uneasiness. Twilight waited a few seconds for Spitfire to rise, but she was adamant to show respect for the princess. Twilight's eyes darted left and right as she felt the familiar sense of uneasiness of an awkward situation wash over her. With Spitfire distracted, Twilight took the opportunity to quickly straighten out a few last strands of her mane before addressing the Wonderbolt.
“Uhh...thank you Captain Spitfire. At ease?” Twilight said with a hint of uncertainty at how to proceed. Spitfire did as she was instructed and returned to a full standing position. Spitfire used her wings to grab the package that was on her back and held it a few inches in front of Twilight. Twilight's magic began to glow as the box was levitated toward her. Twilight gave the box a few glances to make sure it was in pristine condition. Satisfied with its condition, she returned her attention to Spitfire.
“That is your uniform for Friday's performance.” Spitfire explained to Twilight as she pointed at the box. The grin on her face grew by the second. “It's an honor to have a princess make a guest appearance at our show. Thank you for accepting our offer.” Twilight mirrored Spitfire's smile.
“It's my pleasure. I just hope you don't expect me to do anything too crazy.” Twilight chuckled, hoping to clear the increasingly awkward mood. Twilight once again inspected herself, still feeling the sweat from the day's flying soak into her coat. “It may come as a shock, but stunt flying isn't something I've practiced. Rainbow Dash has been very helpful though.” Twilight looked over Spitfire's shoulder, half expecting to see Rainbow Dash come crashing into her library.
“No need to worry. It won't be anything too extreme.” Spitfire turned around as she prepared to take off. “You're more than welcome to join us at the Cloudeseum for tomorrow's practice if you want to get a feel for the routine.” Twilight nodded at Spitfire in understanding. “And remember to keep this a secret. This will be the first ever Wonderbolts event to feature a princess of Equestria.” Twilight smiled and used her hoof to “zip” her lips sealed. Spitfire took off with a trail of smoke behind her. Twilight looked down toward her box and closed the door.
She magically carried it over to an available table and used her magic to remove the tape, making sure to throw it away. She opened the flaps of the box and found a well folded Wonderbolts uniform. An official Wonderbolts uniform. Twilight couldn't help but squeal in delight. Her magic aura glowed around the uniform as she carefully lifted it out of its box. Upon unfolding it, Twilight noticed a number of minor alterations to the uniform compared to the standard uniform for pegasi. The most prominent being on the head of the uniform. She noticed a small hole, obviously to accommodate for her horn, as well as a small mounted clip, which Twilight assumed was to hold her crown. Twilight was more than thankful for the addition, remembering back to the most recent Summer Sun Celebration. Her stunt had nearly lost her the crown that she had just been given. Placing the uniform back in its box, Twilight picked up both with her magic as she walked upstairs toward her living space.
Spitfire was flying back to Cloudsdale, excited to see how Friday's event would turn out. It was sure to be a success and would have the Wonderbolts in the news for weeks. As she reached the outskirts of Ponyville, she turned around at the sound of air quickly approaching her. She couldn't help but slightly roll her eyes as a rainbow trail quickly caught up with her. Rainbow Dash soon appeared with a grin on her face, flying next to her captain.
“How's it going Spitfire? Uhh. Ma'am.” Rainbow saluted Spitfire. Spitfire gave Rainbow a quick glance of astonishment at Rainbow's use of formalities. Rainbow's introduction was startling enough to give Spitfire a few seconds of pause before responding.
“At ease Rainbow Dash.” She responded with a sense of authority, to play along with Rainbow Dash. Spitfire slowed down her pace in order to talk. The two of them flew for several minutes, in complete silence. Spitfire grew more impatient with each passing second. “Was there anything you wanted to talk about?” Spitfire said with a harsher tone than she had wanted to use. She smiled, though, as it was enough to knock Rainbow out of her daze.
“Oh. Right. I was just wondering why you were in Ponyville. You didn't need me, did you? I'm sorry I wasn't home, I was really busy today.” Rainbow looked hopeful that she was, in fact, needed by Spitfire. Spitfire responded with a shake of her head.
“No. I was just in town for some business. No need to worry.” Spitfire answered as vaguely as possible while still telling the truth. She noticed Rainbow take a few glances before Rainbow got slightly closer to her. She continued to look around in the distance.
“It's not about Bulk Biceps is it? Between you and me, something seems fishy with him?” Rainbow whispered to Spitfire with a suspicious tone. Spitfire shook her head, using every ounce of will power to avoid connecting her hoof with her face. She was about to respond to Rainbow, but Rainbow had decided to move onto another topic of conversation.
“By the way, I'll be at the show on Friday! Twilight was cool enough to give me a ticket.” At the mention of Twilight, Spitfire's ears perked up a bit. She turned her attention to Rainbow to see if she had noticed anything, but relaxed when Rainbow continued to talk about how excited she was. Spitfire looked from Rainbow to Cloudsdale, which was quickly approaching. In order to get rid of Rainbow Dash sooner, Spitfire increased her pace. She was not interested in being the one to reveal Twilight's guest appearance, to one of Twilight's own friends, no less.
“Oh. Would you look at that?” Spitfire said as she continued her flight toward the cloud city at an ever increasing speed. “We're just about at Cloudsdale. I'll see you at the Wonderbolts Reserve training tomorrow.” Spitfire saluted to Rainbow as she went full speed, leaving Rainbow Dash in a cloud of smoke. Rainbow Dash coughed up a bit of smoke, using her hoof to swat the last remnants of smoke out of her vicinity. Rainbow sat there with a slight look of confusion, contemplating whether to catch up with Spitfire. Although she desperately wanted to, Rainbow had decided the best course of action was to just wait until tomorrow.
Rainbow turned around and began the relatively short flight back to Ponyville. With no one to talk to, she began to think back on everything she had done for the day. An uneventful morning, filled with clearing the Ponyville sky for Twilight's flight practice came across her mind. As she got closer to Ponyville and with Twilight's practice in mind, Rainbow decided she would pay her friend a visit to make sure everything was alright. Rainbow Dash understood more than anypony what stunt flying does to someone. She made a straight shot toward the library, increasing her speed in order to speak with Twilight before it got too dark.
Rainbow's patience was once again being tested as she stood at the door for several minutes, knocking the entire time. Rainbow, for a brief moment, had a smirk on her face, ready to begin a constant barrage of knocks, only to decide against it as she thought back to the lecture that she dodged earlier in the day. “No need to push your luck, Rainbow.” She muttered to herself.
Deciding that Twilight nor Spike was home, she turned around to take off, putting off speaking with Twilight until the next day. Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Twilight teleporting home and instantly falling asleep in the middle of the lobby. Just as she took flight, she heard a distinct thud come from the library. Hovering up to the balcony of the library as quietly as her wings would allow, Rainbow took a peek through the window. Being able to hear a thud as loud as she did through the thick walls of the tree caused her enough alarm and she wanted to make sure Twilight was okay.
Rainbow looked back and forth through the balcony window, though the darkness and reflection of the rising moon was making it difficult to see. Squinting her eyes and pressing her face right up to the glass to get a better look helped, if only slightly. Again she scanned the room that was on the other side of the window and was able to see the silhouette of an alicorn moving around and appeared to be unharmed. Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief that Twilight was okay.
Twilight's horn lit up, giving a soft purple glow to the room until she was able to light a candle. She magically placed the candle on the table that was to the left of the mirror that she was standing in front of. After struggling for several minutes of putting on the full-body Wonderbolts uniform and falling down a few times, Twilight was now able to properly evaluate the uniform. She stared at herself in the mirror with a blank look, just taking in the sight.
Twilight, as much as she tried to keep a straight face, couldn't help but grin the widest smile she possibly could. She did a few slow turns, making sure the uniform fit and was worn correctly at every possible angle. The more she thought of the upcoming Friday, the more excited she got. Her excitement grew until she couldn't help but squeal in delight, doing a few hops while she was at it. Getting through the sudden burst of excitement, she took a few deep breaths to slow her breathing down and took one last look at herself in the mirror. She smirked at herself as she took flight and went slowly around the room in a circle.
“Fillies and gentlecolts! Put your hooves together as we introduce Twilight Sparkle to the Wonderbolts family!” Twilight said enthusiastically in the best announcer voice she could produce. As she continued her flight she gave a quiet shout to simulate the cheering she would expect in a full stadium. A few seconds of simulated cheering was enough for Twilight as she landed on her bed giving a contented sigh. She yawned as the excitement wore off and the physical activity she went through today caught up with her. The comfort of her bed was too much to overcome and she quickly drifted off to sleep, still donning her Wonderbolts uniform.
The candle Twilight had placed next to the mirror provided Rainbow Dash with enough light to see what was going on through the window. She squinted to see Twilight posing in front of her mirror wearing a Wonderbolts uniform. Rainbow's initial reaction was to gasp, though, she quickly stuffed a hoof into her mouth so Twilight wouldn't hear her. Given a few seconds to make sense of what she had just seen forced Rainbow to do a soft facehoof. She shook her head and with a grin on her face, she took off toward her cloud home for the night.
The relatively long flight to her home gave Rainbow plenty of time to talk to herself. “No wonder Twilight was in such a hurry. Who wouldn't be in a hurry to get their Wonderbolts uniform?” Rainbow smiled as her thoughts drifted back to her days as a filly. She had saved up every bit she earned over the previous year to place an order for an official Wonderbolts Team Shop uniform. She could distinctly remember sitting at the post of her mailbox, several days in a row, as she waited for the mailpony to make his daily deliveries. The thought of wearing a uniform of the up and coming Wonderbolt, Spitfire, was enough to motivate Rainbow to sit still at the mailbox for several hours every day.
Rainbow's memories were interrupted as her home was in her field of view. Rainbow's smile continued at the thought of Twilight becoming a fan of the Wonderbolts to the point of wanting to order a uniform. “Well, when you have someone like me in the Wonderbolts Reserve, how can you not become a huge fan?” Rainbow rhetorically asked herself. She heard the small poof of her landing on the front balcony of her home. Satisfied with how her day had turned out, Rainbow Dash went through her nightly routine thinking about how awesome it was now that one of her friends would be able to talk about the Wonderbolts as much as she would like.