//------------------------------//
// Thunderlane's Personal Invite 
// Story: Friendship's New Flight: Second Takeoff 
// by Masterob 
//------------------------------//

Twilight and Spike made their way to Sweet Apple Acres, along the way Twilight had asked Spike to send a letter to Celestia, asking her for a letter. After some walking, they got to the barnhouse on Sweet Apple Aces.

"Here we are, lets talk with Applejack", Twilight said and knocked on the door.

The door opened and they were greeted by Applejack's sister Apple Bloom, cheery smile and all.

"Howdy Twilight, anything ah can help you with?"

"Hi Apple Bloom, I just need to speak with Applejack"

"Sure thing" Apple Bloom went in the house, "Hey Applejack! Twilight & Spike are here!"

"Coming!" Applejack said and went down, "Thanks Apple Bloom, I got it from here"

"No problem sis", Apple Bloom said and walked of.

Applejack approached Twilight in with her usual friendly attitude, "Great tah see ya Twilight, are yah here to check up on how things are going for this little event that Celestia's hosting?"

"Yeah, I just wanna see if things are going well, it's only two days before the big event, we're all gonna be leaving for Canterlot soon, I want to make sure things are set up properly"

"Relax Twilight, you old pal Applejack's got this, the desserts will be ready and we'll all be en route to Canterlot"

Twilight nodded, "Good, I gotta make sure everyone else is ready, I may need to do some rearrangement with the rooms too"

Applejack got a little confused, "I thought yah had the rooms ready by now?"

"I did until a little bit ago when Rainbow Dash asked me to get Thunderlane and his friends some passes"

Applejack's friendly demeanor faded into a more serious one, "Thunderlane? She got you to get passes for Thunderlane?"

"I haven't gotten a response from Princess Celestia yet, Spike sent the letter on the way over here, so-", At that moment Spike spat out a letter, "Oh, great timing", Twilight used her magic to lift the letter and read from it, "Dear Twilight, having a few extra friends won't hurt one bit, I'm glad that you and you're expanding your circle of friends, you're showing what being Princess of Friendship is all about, Yours Truly, Princess Celestia"

Twilight rolled up the letter and teleported it away, "Wow it's so great how she's able to reply to my letter almost instantly"

Applejack tapped the ground to her her attention, "Focus Twilight, why are you letting Rainbow Dash bug you into bringing Thunderlane along?"

"Well it seemed important to her, she did mention wanting to show off in front of The Wonderbolts and that she wanted her own team that would consist of Thunderlane, Flitter, Cloudchaser & Rumble"

"Still, he's getting special treatment, suppose I wanted to-"

Spike waved his hand a bit, "I already tried that speech with Twilight"

Twilight rubbed her temple a bit, "It's not gonna hurt to have Thunderlane come Applejack, even Celestia is fine with it"

"Besides I thought you were ok with Thunderlane?" Spike asked.

Applejack glanced to the side a bit, "It's not that, I have no issues against the guy, I just don't think he should be shoehorned into our group, our friendship started with The Elements of Harmony, it made our friendship special, Thunderlane just seems well...there"

"What about Spike?" Twilight put a hoof on Spike's shoulder, "He's not an element but he's still a close friend"

"Yeah but in Spike's case, he's like family to you, that's like if Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo wanted to join our little circle of friends, they're already family so it wouldn't be out of place, in fact they're practically already close friends to us, the girls do look up to yah"

"Well technically Scootaloo isn't related to anyone of us", Spike pointed out in a 'Matter of Fact' way, "So she would probably be in Thunderlane's position"

Applejack looked annoyed at Spike's statement, "Well she's close to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle so I don't think that counts"

Twilight interjected, "And she became close by being their friend, no element required, we don't need our friendship to be elements only, Thunderlane deserves an opportunity to be all of our friend, in fact I will personally give Thunderlane the news that he will be joining us"

Applejack sighed, "If you say so Twilight, maybe we should give the guy a chance, he seems nice enough, maybe I'm just being a little stubborn"

Spike scoffed, "A little?" One glare from Twilight shut him up.

"Well I'll see you all later, gotta check on the orders", Applejack said and closed her door as Twilight and Spike waved good-bye.

"Lets to Thunderlane's house Spike", Twilight said and walked toward the direction of his house.

Later, the duo arrived at Thunderlane's house, "This is it Spike", Twilight procceded to knock on the house door.

Spike stood with his arm crossed in a bored way, "Do you think he'll even wanna come Twilight?"

"Not sure Spike, we're about to find out".

Thunderlane opened the door and found Twilight & Spike outside, "Hi Twilight, Hi Spike, what's up?"

Twilight put on a friendly smile, "I got some good news for you".

Thunderlane looked interested, "Huh? What is it?"

"You see, Celestia is hosting a big event, a talent fair so to say, and I'm here to announce that you will be getting a personal pass from Princess Celestia to be there!" with the way she said it, Pinkie's party cannon would really come in handy.

Thunderlane's eyes grew wide, "Really? Like a VIP?"

"Yeah, you, your brother, Flitter & Cloudchaser will be attending and you also will be able to perform, in front of The Wonderbolts"

Thunderlane's smile started to grow wide, "That's so cool, wait why does Celestia want me there though?"

"Rainbow Dash helped with that, she talked to me and I asked Celestia to give you a pass, you'll be traveling with me an my friends tomorrow, one day before the event in question, I need to figure out the room arrangements but that's no big deal, but the question is, do you even wanna come?"

"Are you kidding? I'd love too! Thanks Twilight, you're awesome", Thunderlane said while pulling Twilight into a hug, then breaking it once he realized what he did, causing both to blush a little, "I'm sorry, was that out of line?"

Twilight shook her head, "No that's fine, a little unexpected but I understand your excitement, besides we're friends now so hugs are ok"

"Just wanna be sure, you're not just a friend, you're a princess"

Twilight put her arms up, "Oh please don't feel intimidated by that, I'm just another pony like you"

"So humble too, you're pretty awesome Twilight"

Twilight blushed more, "You're really sweet, especially for a jock, I can see why Rainbow Dash speaks well of you"

Spike scoffed,, "Well? She seems to insult him quite a bit"

Twilight shot Spike an angry glare to shut him up.

Thunderlane waved it off, "It's fine, I know I have my faults so-"

"Everyone has faults Thunderlane, even me, and while Rainbow Dash acts high and mighty, she has a fair of faults as well, so don't them get you down"

"I won't, never do, it actually motivates me somewhat"

"Good, well I should get going now"

Thunderlane frowned, "So soon? You can stay a bit longer if you'd like, I don't mind"

Twilight smiled at his kind nature, "Thanks, but I need to prepare for everything else, but don't worry, we'll chat tomorrow, you can bond with all of us"

Spike pointed a finger at Thunderlane, "Just don't bond with Rarity TOO much"

"SPIKE!"

Spike stepped back but gave Thunderlane an 'I got my eyes on you' look and gesture.

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Ignore Spike, bond with whomever you want, see you at the train tomorrow".

"Ok, see you tomorrow, and if you see Rainbow Dash, tell her I said thanks"

"I'm sure you'll be able to tell her yourself tomorrow, but I'll still relay the news"

"Thanks, like I said, you're the best", Thunderlane then closed his door.

Twilight walked off, "He's really nice, such a caring personality, handsome too, maybe Rainbow struck some gold on this one"

"For everyone else's sake, lets hope so"

Twilight groaned, "Stop being so negative"

"Just being honest"

"Well sometimes misplaced honesty can lead to bad things", Twilight's demeanor went serious, "Something a certain farm girl needs to remember", Twilight said with a serious tone on the last part.

Meanwhile back at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was inspecting the desserts but still kinda lost in thought about the Thunderlane business. Sure she said she's fine with him, and she has nothing personal against him, and yes she thinks he's a pretty ok guy but she still doesn't like how he seemed forced into things, she wonders what Rainbow Dash is up to with Thunderlane.

Apple Bloom, who was also inspecting some desserts, noticed her sister was pretty out of it.

"You ok Applejack?"

Applejack was still a bit out of it, almost like she was in deep thought. Apple Bloom waved her hoof in front of Applejack, "Applejack, snap out of it!"

Applejack shook her head, "Oh sorry about that, must'a been deep in thought about somethin', no biggie, lets just get this stuff ready to be loaded into the train tomorrow"

"Sure thing, I gotta get ready too, maybe there's some crusading to be done in Canterlot, glad Rumble is coming, with him with us maybe the numbers will be in our favor"

"How are things with you and Rumble, he being a good colt?" Applejack asked the last part pretty sternly.

"Yeah, he's really nice, I wish he would talk more, he seems so quiet, I think he's nervous, and it doesn't help that Sweetie Belle occasionally gives him nasty glares"

Applejack's interest peaked, "Sweetie Belle? What for?"

"Not sure, I get the feeling she doesn't like him, hope that's not the case, if she doesn't like him it will be hard to continue crusading"

"Hard? So you would still keep Rumble even if Sweetie Belle doesn't take to him?"

"Duh, of course, I'm not gonna give him the boot because Sweetie's not giving him a fair chance, that's pretty mean and selfish, right sis?"

Applejack felt some sweat break, "Uh Yeah sure", then she did a nervous laugh, "But still, what do you think caused Sweetie to sour on him"

Apple Bloom scratched her head in thought, "Maybe it's because Scootaloo just sprung him in on us, she made him a crusader without really consulting us, funny that he originally didn't even wanna join us, I guess she managed to change his mind on the subject"

Applejack scratched her head, "I thought she talked to y'all before taking him in?"

"She asked us about the possibility of him joining, we didn't really give the ok though, don't get me wrong, ah don't mind him with us, he's really sweet but I guess he was sorta...shoehorned in, but maybe it's a good thing, gives us a chance to know him, no regrets, well not for me at least"

"Yeah maybe", Applejack found this little development weird and close to home for her, what's ironic is that she feels the same way about Thunderlane that Sweetie Belle feels about Rumble, yet while her little sister likes Rumble, Sweetie's big sister likes Thunderlane, bit of a mind swap on things.

"Maybe we just need to bond with him, if this trip goes well, we can all be like one happy family, right sis?"

Applejack's guilt peaked at Apple Bloom's innocent smile, "Maybe, time will tell, for now lets just get back to the pies, we need to finish that order", she went back to work, still a bit out of it.

Apple Bloom looked a little suspicious at Applejack but she didn't want to press the issue right now, she decided to just move on and do what she needs to do.

Meanwhile at Rainbow Dash's house, she was going over some flight plans on how to woo the Wonderbolts, figuring out the perfect formations that would put keep all of them on The Wonderbolts' radar until it was time for them to consider new recruits, easily earning all of them a spot.

She tossed away several papers trying to figure things out, until she got a light bulb in her head.

"That's it!" she went to work on the diagrams, "This is gonna be so cool, Wonderbolts here we come!"