//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Getting to the Ball // Story: Generosity Games // by Talon and Thorn //------------------------------// Octavia was waiting. It had taken her quite some time and an awful lot of tea to calm down Fluttershy. While she was doing that she had had an idea on how to help her friend, but she had not wanted to raise her expectations unnecessarily. So she walked Fluttershy home and left her in the kindly paws of Angel and then headed back to the room she considered home, took up her quill, and wrote to her parents. As the Duchess and Duke of Chenneigh they got invitations to many formal events, her mother’s secretary spent a good part of his day going through them deciding which ones a member of the family should go to, which a donation or apology should be sent to and which should be binned. There was a fair chance that they had one for Count Glitter’s ball. Once the letter had been posted, the only thing she had left to do was wait. She tried not to think about all the things that could go wrong; the post from Ponyville was rather variable, it could be over a week until the letter reached Chenneigh, her parents could be busy and it could be days before they had a chance to look at her letter, they might not even have an invitation. So she waited. She did other things while waiting, her daily life continued; she jogged each morning, she practiced, she suffered joyously through a Pinkie party, but mostly she waited. It surprised her how excited she felt about the possibility of the tickets arriving, she had no great want to go to it but she knew it would mean the world to Fluttershy. Maybe this was a part of friendship she had not previously experienced, she liked it but feared the disappointment if it all came to naught. So on the day of the ball itself she found herself by the sweet shops post box. She had taken to sitting by it after her morning run to wait for the town’s eccentric postmare Ditzy Doo. She had mentioned the urgency of her post to the grey pegasus earlier in the week her hopes were raised when she saw Ditzy rushing towards her an envelope clutched in her jaw. Of course for Ditzy rushing meant she was travelling at the speed most pegasus would fly casually and she could even have been passed by most earthbound ponies. However, it was clear to those that knew her that she was pushing her fragile form to its limits. She collapsed to the ground in front of Octavia. “P..Post for yo...you,” she panted, “I think...I think it’s what you were looking for.” Octavia tore the letter from the post ponies grasp then remembered her manners and helped Ditzy to her hooves. “Thank you very much for this.” “Hey, it’s my job,” said Ditzy leaning heavily on the mailbox and mopping her brow. “And you have performed it excellently, you have my gratitude.” “Thanks.” Ditzy almost glowed with pride before lifting off the ground a little, bobbing gently before setting off to her next delivery. Octavia rushed into the house and up to her room before tearing the envelope open, to her joy two small pieces of paper fell to the ground, tickets to the ball. She unfolded the letter enclosed, it was written in her mother’s usual verbose style and covered almost a dozen pages. Octavia quickly scanned through it, the ball had been accepted by her house as a worthy cause but due to the distance between Chenneigh and the event itself a donation was going to be made rather than a personal visit by a scion. Octavia’s interest had been noted and the tickets forwarded to her along with a bankers draft for ten thousand bits to give to the charity. There was also a veiled suggestion by her mother that she should go to more such events to heighten her and her houses reputation as well as an update on her family's status. Her sister Viola had apparently recently broken up with a pony called Thrash. Octavia had never heard of him before, but she could never keep up with her older sister’s ever changing love life. She could examine the letter in full later as well as write a thank you in return, right now she had to tell Fluttershy the good news. Fluttershy’s surgery was open for the day and there were a handful of ponies and their pets in the cramped parlour that she used as a waiting room. “I’m sure Winona will be fine Ms Applejack,” said Fluttershy walking from her office with the orange mare and her dog in tow, “Just make sure you give her this medicine twice a day for a week. Remember chocolate isn’t good for dogs no matter how much she begs.” “Ah know Fluttershy,” said the earth pony patting her pet on the head and looking embarrassed, “But she’d worked so hard herding the sheep and she gave me those darn puppy dog eyes, I just didn’t have the heart not to give her a treat.” “Well maybe you can find some treat that is healthier for her? Anyway you could just ask the sheep to move themselves you know, I’m sure you’d find them to be happy to help if you asked nicely.” Over the last few days Fluttershy had thrown herself into her work to try and ignore the disappointment she felt about being unable to go to the ball and bring her causes to the Prince’s attention, but the situation still stung. As she looked around her surgery she noticed that Octavia was among those waiting, to her surprise the normally reserved mare was smiling broadly. “Octavia what are..” began Fluttershy. “I have tickets,” interrupted Octavia, “To the charity ball tonight.” Fluttershy stood and gawked for a moment then grabbed her fiend and brought her into a crushing hug and nuzzling her. “Oh, thank you, thank you!” she cried, “Now I can ask Blueblood for help for the animal shelter and the Neightponees and to conserve the Slithy Toad and the Buffaloes..” Octavia looked around the room to see they were getting a number of interested gazes from the other ponies in the room. She gently tried to separate herself from the excited pegasus’s clutches. Fluttershy seemed to be coming down off of the wave of her excitement. “Oh once surgery is over I’ll have to arrange for somepony to look after my patients tonight and then I’ll have to get ready and how are we going to get there and...” she began to work herself up into a tizzy. Octavia raised her hoof to the babbling pony’s mouth. “You finish your job and organise your cover. I’ll look after the transport and pick you up at about six.” Fluttershy took a deep calming breath, “Oh, thank you Octavia, this means so much to me, however will I repay you?” “I am just doing my job as a good friend,” she smiled, gave a small bow and turned to leave the building. Composing herself Fluttershy turned to the other occupants of the room, “Who’s next?” she asked. The rest of the day was busy for Octavia. Her first stop was Vinyl’s place, Octavia thought that of her friends the white unicorn and her extended family were most likely to know how to arrange transport at the last minute. She was correct and the DJ mentioned that one of her cousins had a formal carriage they sometimes hired out and pulled if somepony in town needed to travel somewhere in style. The ball was close enough that she could have walked given a few hours but she was representing her house and had to meet certain standards, plus such a journey would probably ruin any formal clothes worn. She met up with Vinyl’s cousin, a rather disreputable earth pony called Del Colt Trotter, who confirmed that he and his brother could provide transport to and from the ball. The original price quoted was astronomical but once the ‘friend of the family’, ‘saved the world’ and ‘Fluttershy was involved’ discounts were applied it was reduced to expensive, but affordable. On her way home she was drawn towards Rarity’s shop and the stunning purple dress within, but she found the place to be closed. She assumed that the fashionista would be spending all day getting ready for the ball. Returning home she quickly prepared for her night out, sighing as she looked at her formal sari, still it would suffice for tonight. Carefully she began to wrap the material around herself. Fluttershy let the pen fall from her mouth and examined her work. In front of her led a list of the top five charities she wanted to ask ponies at the ball to support. She couldn’t expect even somepony of Blueblood stature to pay for everything but maybe he could support one or two and other donors help the others. She knew from past experience that if she was under pressure she would just babble about all of the good causes she supported and that tended to put off some ponies. This meeting was important so she had to be organised and write a list. It had been hard, heart-breaking work winnowing them down to just five but she had hardened her heart and eventually achieved her goal. Ignoring the dozens of previous drafts filling the bin she rolled up the scroll and carefully placed it in the shoulder bag she intended to take to the ball. Like Octavia Fluttershy’s day had been busy. As soon as her surgery had closed she had run off to visit her assistant Cat to ask if she could look after her patients and other animals for the night. Luckily the younger pony was free and happy to work tonight. Before she returned home Fluttershy was tempted to visit the spa but she resisted the call of her vanity. While getting dressed for the night she had been reaching for one of her homemade dresses when she spotted her other shame sitting alone at the back of her wardrobe, she bad broken out in a cold sweat just thinking about it. She didn’t know why Rarity hadn’t told Octavia about it but she was sure the fashionable pony was just waiting for the right moment to spring the surprise and ruin her reputation. The tension was killing her. She nervously took out her list again and read it though, was the habitat of the Slithy Toad really more important than reducing logging in the south Everfree? she wondered, should she include the drive to highlight the plight of the dragons? It was so hard to decide. Suddenly there was a knock on her door, she dropped the scroll by her bag and walked over to see who it was. “Hi Miss Fluttershy,” said Cat Scratch. She was a short and pudgy off-white unicorn in her late teens. Her frizzy orange mane seemed to resist combing and her thick glasses made her eyes seem huge, her cutie mark was a set of scratching claws. She wanted to be a vet herself someday and had been working as Fluttershy’s intern for several months now. “Good evening, Cat,” said Fluttershy letting the younger mare into her house. “Thank you for agreeing to look after all my animal friends at such short notice.” “No problem Miss Fluttershy, I love your animals.” The enthusiastic pony thundered into the room. The nearby animals all started to back away, from the corner of the room a cat hissed at its namesake. “Is there anything you want me to do tonight?” asked Cat not noticing how the room’s occupants were reacting to her. “Well Mr Tortoise still isn’t feeling well, can you make sure he takes his medicine and wash out his eyes with saline before he goes to sleep? The bandages on Mrs Beaver’s tail could do with changing and make sure that Mr Eagle takes his cough medicine. Angel should be able to help you if you have any problems. Of course you’ll have to feed everybody as well.” “Right, so cough medicine for Mr Tortoise, wash out Angel’s eyes and bandage Mr Eagle,” said Cat tapping on the side of a bird box while the inhabitants cowered away. Fluttershy sighed, “Nearly, I’ve made a list of it all dear.” She passed over a list of her interns duties. “Now are you sure you can get home tonight?” “Oh don’t worry Aunty Vinyl’s got a gig tonight so she said I can crash at her pad. She’s so cool!” “Oh, umm, did she say if she’d turned off the booby traps?” said Fluttershy nervously looking at the uncoordinated pony. “You know she didn’t mention it,” Cat sat down heavily. Fluttershy steadied a nearby vase before it could fall. “I don’t think I’ll have a problem.” Fluttershy quickly changed the topic, “Well if you get hungry there's some salad and carrot juice in the kitchen. Thanks again for agreeing to help.” There was another knock on the door. “Oh, I think it’s time for me to go,” Fluttershy grabbed her bag knocking the scroll off the table. “Be good for Cat everybody, look after her Angel,” she gave the rabbit a quick hug. She opened the door to reveal Octavia. “Are you ready to go?” asked the grey mare. “I’m ready. I’m so excited thinking how much good I can get done tonight. You look very nice tonight... exotic.” Octavia scowled at the rather crass term, she knew that Fluttershy was not trying to be offensive but the inhabitants of Ponyville could be rather provincial. “I suppose fashions are different here but at home every mare wears these. Your dress is nice as well.” She noted that the dress seemed slightly lopsided and looked distinctly homemade. “However, we should be off now.” She turned to reveal their transport. The carriage looked somewhat dilapidated but had apparently recently received a new coat of paint. Oddly the front axle only had a single wheel placed in the centre. It was pulled by a pair of white earth pony stallions one short and squat, Del Colt, the other tall and thin, his brother Trotney. The two mares clambered into the back causing the suspension to creak worryingly. “We are ready to leave now,” noted Octavia. “Lovely jubbly,” called Del as he and his brother struggled to get the aged vehicle moving. Octavia leaned out of the carriage as it approached Count Glitter’s new home. The house was built looking out over a large lake and surrounded by acres of gardens. The building itself was easily large enough host a hundred ponies if necessary. It was built in a classic style and if she hadn’t been aware that building had only just been built she would have thought it had stood there for a hundred years or more. Her sensitive ears pricked up as she heard music in the air. It sounded like the ball had already begun, she did not recognise the band but they sounded distinctly second rate to her, it would seem that after building the house the Count was skimping on his entertainment budget, or maybe they were playing for charity. Octavia looked over at her fellow passenger, Fluttershy had been silent for most of the trip seeming to alternate between phases of extreme excitement and extreme nervousness. Octavia assumed the pegasus was visualising what could happen tonight and running through the pitch she would make to Prince Blueblood. The carriage came to a halt on a gravel driveway alongside several dozen other vehicles. “We’re here,” called Del Colt. “Thank you,” said Octavia stepping from the coach, “The Ball should be finished by midnight we will meet you here again then.” “What are we supposed to do with ourselves until then?” asked Trotney unhooking himself from the carriage. “We can hobnob with the upper crust,” said Del, “I’ve got some business propositions that might interest them.” “You do not have invitations,” said Octavia pointedly, “If you go round to the servant's entrance no doubt there will be food and drink put on for you and the other chauffeurs.” Looking chastised the two white unicorns scampered away. “Thank you,” called Fluttershy as they left. “You know, I don’t think that’s fair, they did pull the carriage all the way here, why shouldn’t they get to go to the ball too?” Octavia sighed rolling her eyes, “Maybe you could do something about that matter after this ball, you have other things to do now.” “I suppose so,” muttered Fluttershy. Together they walked to the entrance of the building, there a servant opened the door for them. They walked down a richly furnished hall lined with paintings of the counts ancestors and past a cloak room for those ponies who had decided to wear them. At the far end another servant waited at a desk, stacked on and against it were various items of clothing, paintings, vases and other bric a brac. He looked up as they approached. “May I see you tickets Madam.” Octavia handed over the pieces of paper, “Thank you my lady and could you give me your item for the auction so I can add it with the others.” “My what?” she asked surprised. “Your item for the auction. As stated in your invitation each guest is expected to produce a gift to be auctioned off with the proceeds being used to help rebuilding in the wake of the recent... unpleasantness.” Internally Octavia cursed herself, maybe she should have read her mother's letter in full. “I am afraid there has been some mix up I was not aware of this.” Behind her Fluttershy squeaked in embarrassment. “Could I not just donate directly to the charity?” “I suppose that might be acceptable,” said the stallion dubiously, “However, there might be another option. There is a ‘slave’ auction being carried out tonight.” Suddenly Fluttershy pushed Octavia aside and thrust her face towards the servant, “Slaves!” she snarled, “You keep slaves!” “I... I.... I think you might have misunderstood,” he stuttered almost falling back off of his chair. “I mean some guests have volunteered to act as another pony’s servant for a day to raise money for charity. It’s all voluntary, it’s not really slavery,” he squeaked. “Oh,” said Fluttershy returning to her normal meek self, “Oh, that’s all right then. Sorry.” She blushed and backed away. Somewhat unnerved by the change that had come over her friend Octavia tried to recover her composure. “Then I will volunteer for that.” “No, you don’t have to do that,” said Fluttershy, “I’ll do it, I’m the one that wanted to come here.” “No offence, but I think that as a Duchess's daughter I may well raise more money that you, and that is what this is all about isn’t it? Plus you may need all of your time to talk to Blueblood,” “Oh, very well then,” she muttered. “Thank you my lady,” said the servant as he ushered them into the ballroom itself. The door opened at the top of a large staircase looking down over the ballroom itself. It was spacious and easily contained the hundred or so ponies of various tribes which huddled in small groups talking and laughing with each other. There was even a small area for foals in one corner when the guest’s children were currently being entertained or terrified by a pony in clown makeup. At the far end on a raised platform the band that Octavia had heard previously was performing, they did not sound much better up close. At present only a small number of ponies were dancing. The duo were met by a herald, who took their details and announced them as, “Miss Octavia Philharmonica, of the Chenneigh Philharmonica’s and her companion Miss Fluttershy, daughter of The Right Honourable Thundering Posey MP.” Octavia was surprised for a moment to be reminded that her friend’s father was a member of the commons, still at least that would mean she would have some experience at how to cope in this kind of event. Octavia gracefully glided down the steps as her tutor had taught her and stopped in front of the host and his wife. The count himself was a short, thin unicorn with a grey coat and a slightly receding blond mane. He was dressed in a grey formal suit. His wife was an earth pony both taller and more voluptuous that her husband. She was wearing a shimmering red dress. Octavia and Fluttershy both politely bowed to the host and again to the hostess “Thank you both so much for coming,” said the Count, “It is a true honour to have another two of the element bearers with us.” “Thank you my lord,” said Octavia. “If it wasn’t for you girls,” said his wife with an incongruous lower class Trottingham accent, “Things could have been much worse with Nightmare Moon and Burning Sun.” “Indeed Moonblossom’s family,” he indicated his wife, “Were saved by Cadence herself during the disaster.” “The tyrants were lucky they left before my old gran could get to them,” joked the mare, “She would have given them a seeing to, I’ll tell you.” “But not everypony was so lucky and it’s our responsibility to help those who were less fortunate. Hopefully we can raise a good sum tonight to help in the rebuilding.” “Oh, so do I, sir,” said Fluttershy, “And other good causes too I hope.” “Wait did you say another two element bearers? Who else is here?” asked Octavia in surprise. “The element of laughter, Bluenote I believe her name was.” said the Count. “She hasn’t mentioned anything to me about being here.” Still, thought Octavia, Bluenote did take these things very lightly, it might have slipped her friends mind. Looking around she noticed other guests were starting to line up behind them, “I think we’ve taken up enough of your time for the moment, maybe we can talk later?” “I would be delighted,” said the Count before turning to his next guest. From the heights of the stairs Octavia surveyed the room. At the foot of the stairs was Prince Blueblood, Rarity was right he was a fine figure of a stallion. He was a good hoof taller than average and his white coat almost glimmered. He was wearing a perfectly tailored suit with a bright red flower as a button hole, his blond mane was done in a ponytail. He was surrounded by a large group of hangers on who were laughing loudly at his jokes. She recognised a few other VIPs around the hall but didn’t see any sign of Rarity amongst the crowds. However, as the host had mentioned she saw Bluenote standing alone near the currently empty buffet table. The two element bearers weaved their way through the crowds towards their friend. She saw them coming and waved a hoof in greeting. The Blue earth pony was wearing a simple black dress that hung somewhat baggily on her frame. Her mane and tail were shiny and had been expertly styled. “Hi, girls,” she called cheerily, “I didn’t know you were coming too.” “We were unaware you were going to be here as well,” said Octavia. “I’m mostly here for the food,” said Bluenote looking mournfully at the empty table. “Chef Ram Sea is providing the grub.” “Ram Sea?” asked Fluttershy. “Yeah, he’s a sheep chef from Coltland, they say his food is just to die for,” her stomach grumbled loudly, “Sorry, I skipped lunch to prepare my palate, I’m even wearing my big dress to give me extra space to fill up. Rarity wasn’t happy about that, it’s apparently unlady like, but as she’s my plus one she didn’t have much of a choice.” “Rarity’s your guest?” asked Octavia, surprised. “Yep, when she heard I had tickets she insisted I bring her. She owes me big now. Of course she dumped me as soon as we got in, I’m heartbroken,” she said with a smile. “Still the signs were all there, she kept going on about some big shot on the journey here, Blueblood something, how tall he was, how shiny his mane is, how perfect his teeth, how big his..” she paused holding her hooves several feet apart, Fluttershy blushed brightly, “Bank account is,” she continued, “It’s always a bad sign when your date does that.” “How did you get tickets anyway? Mine went to my family.” “Oh it was much the same with me, Dad got some and he thought I’d be more likely to want them.” “Why would your father..” started Octavia. “Excuse me madam, are you Octavia Philharmonica?” asked a uniformed servant. “Yes, I am.” “Count Glitter has asked that everyone participating in the ‘slave’ auction come to the stage now.” “Thank you,” said Octavia politely. She turned back to Bluenote, “I’m one of the ‘slaves’” “Ah, that’s another reason why I’m here. There’s a whole bunch of chores building up at home; the windows need washing, the garden needs digging, the roof fixing and so on. I’m hoping to be able to buy someone to get them all done for me.” Fluttershy and Octavia glared at their friends laziness, “What? It’s all for a good cause right.” “Are you sure you can afford the auction, you are not as well off as most of these other ponies,” said Octavia bluntly. “Rarity’s going to match my bids, up to a limit, its payment for the ticket and when the host found out I was an element bearer he agreed to throw a little something in as well.” “That sounds like you might have a chance then. Well I better be off,” said Octavia turning to Fluttershy, “Good luck with your meeting with Blueblood.” She gave the nervous pegasus a little hug and followed the servant to the stage. “You’re after this Blueblood guy to? He must really be something.” “Oh, I only want him for his money,” said Fluttershy. Then she realised how that sounded, “I mean I want him to donate to my charities,” she stuttered blushing. “Looks like you might not be the only one wanting to talk to him,” she gestured towards the crowd surrounding the stallion, “You know what you want to say? You might only get one chance.” “I’m prepared,” stated Fluttershy opening her bag with her wing, “I made a list,” she rummaged around in it and her face fell. “Oh, no,” she gasped, “I think I left it at home.” Octavia waited patiently by the side of the stage while the band worked their way through their last number. Hearing more of their music had not improved her opinion of them, while the pianist was acceptable verging on the good the rest of the group was sub-par, the Cellist was barely professional in her opinion, his instrument did not even seem to be properly tuned. She did not want to cause a scene but decided she should have a word with the Count later. While waiting Octavia tried to distract herself by looking over the various lots which were being set up around the stage. She almost instantly recognised several dresses produced by Rarity which were presumably her donation. There were several paintings, a large food hamper and a large vase, none of which caught Octavia’s eye. Then her gaze was drawn to an old style recording, she leaned forwards to try and read the note in front of it. It said it was a recording of the music played at the funeral of Herdi as conducted by the diamond dog conductor Art Toscanine. Octavia’s heart caught in her throat, it was said that that was one of the largest musical events ever, she had not previously been aware it had been recorded. I had occurred in her grandparent’s times, to be able to hear it today would be amazing! The quality of those old recordings was poor but maybe Vinyl would know some way to improve it and to hear even hear a pale copy of the original would be an honour. Others would likely want it as well but she would at least have a chance to bid on it. While she was thinking the band finished their music and moved aside to give their host room. Count Glitter took central stage and stared out somewhat nervously at his guests. “I’d like to thank you all on behalf of myself and my wife for coming here today,” he said looking about the crowd, “And for making so many generous donations to our worthy cause tonight.” He gestured down at the lots, “The auction itself will not take place until ten so you’ll have plenty of time to examine the lots and decide what you want to spend your bits on. I know I’ve got my eye on a few things. As you know in addition to the normal auction we will also be holding a ‘slave’ auction where you will have to chance to bid for the chance to win the services of some of your fellow guests. However, without further ado I will pass you over to the stallion in charge of the action itself, our guest of honour Prince Blueblood!” Glitter scampered away as the larger stallion bounded athletically onto the stage sliding to a stop in the spotlight as the crowd stomped and sang their approval. “Oh! It delights us to see you Blueblood” choruses the crowd “We're so glad that you threw this ball” “Of qualities we find attractive, Blueblood” “We've noticed that you have them all!” “Monacolt has a great ruler in you:” “You're witty, you're pretty, you're spry!” “We want our stallions to emulate you” “And it's not very hard to see why...” “No colt's sharp like Blueblood” “Has such heart as Blueblood” agreed Fluttershy joining in with the rest before looking around self-consciously. “Is as skilled on the classical harp as Blueblood!” noted Octavia from the back of the stage. “For there's nothing about him that's phony” “He's perfect, a pure paragon!" “You can ask any mare among ponies” “And they'll tell you whose chest they prefer to swoon on!" From the back of the crowd there was a flicker of magic and a white unicorn mare collapsed onto a fainting couch. “No colt's fine, like Blueblood” “With a mind like Blueblood's” “In leadership nopony shines like Blueblood!” “My reign's been described as exhilarating!" agreed Blueblood from the stage. “What a great stallion, Blueblood!" “Give half, a cheer” “Then give, the rest!" “Blueblood deserves all because he is the best!" from the stage Blueblood looked momentarily uncomfortable, before his expression relaxed into an amiable smile. “No colt's lean like Blueblood” “A machine like Blueblood!” agreed Rarity in a husky voice as she frantically fanned herself. “No colt's coat has a smooth, gorgeous sheen like Blueblood's!” “For there's no colt around half as handsome--" “As you see he’s got beauty to spare!" “Not a hair that is matted or knotted--" “That's right!" roared the crowd. “And it goes perfectly with all that he wears!" “No colt rocks like Blueblood” “Pony's socks like Blueblood!" several mares in the crowd peeled off their socks and blushing threw them onto the stage. In a few cases their husbands glared at them, most shrugged recognising they could not complete with the stallion on the stage. “In a boxing match no colt cleans clocks like Blueblood!" “As a pugilist, yes, he’s intimidating!" Blueblood put on a fighting stance and shadowboxed on the stage. “The match to Blueblood!" “When he was a colt he had twenty-two stylists” gossiped Rarity. “To make him the most handsome guy.” “And now that he’s grown he’s two-hundred plus stylists” continued Rarity sighing in wonder. “He outshines the stars in the sky!” “No colt's fair like Blueblood!” “Debonair like Blueblood!” “Nopony's cologne sweetens air like Blueblood's!” cried Rarity sniffing the air. “His scent I've been told is intoxicating!" “What a great stallion, Blueblood!" “Thank you! Thank you!” Blueblood bellowed his voice carrying across the whole room. “It’s good to be in Equestria again, you have the friendliest and most musical ponies here. And thank you to our handsome host and his ravishing wife for inviting me here,” he bowed towards Glitter and Moonflower where they were waiting in the wings. “However, before we get on with the fun I think it’s important to think about where all our money is going today,” he sounded suddenly much more sober, “The attack by Nightmare moon and Burning Sun could have been much worse if it wasn’t for Princess Cadences actions and the heroism of the new element bearers, several of whom I believe we have among us tonight.” A wave of muttering passed through the crowds. “But on top of these paragons the actions of normal ponies also saved lives both those trained such as your soldiers, police and fireponies but also everyday heroes who with no thought of their own safety helped their fellow citizens. Although none were killed many were injured and even more made homeless. Although our two nations have not always seen eye to eye, today myself and all of my countryponies salute you,” he bowed low, “And I will do all that I can to aid your country in its reconstruction after the terrible damage caused by the twin tyrants.” He paused for a moment. “However, tonight isn’t all going to be about doom and gloom we are after all here to have a good time, are we not?” A cheer went out across the crowd, Octavia thought she could make out Bluenote’s voice among the others. “Good, now as Glitter has already told you about the standard auction, I’ll skip over that apart from to say that I expect to hear some record bids here tonight and I don’t like to be disappointed. And I have my nation’s military to back me up.” There was some nervous laughter, “Just kidding. Anyway if the ‘lots’ for the ‘slave’ auction would like to come up on the stage we can show the audience what they can win.” Octavia and about half a dozen other ponies trotted on stage. “There they are ladies and gentlemen, can I have a round of applause for them,” the crowd stomped loudly, “Good, remember if you win one of these lovely ponies they have to do what you want for a whole day. Well as long as its legal and moral.” He winked at the audience and wave of laughter passed through them. “Now on to the actual stars of the show, let me introduce you to our willing slaves...” One by one the ponies next to Octavia were called forwards, introduced themselves and explained what they could do for their ‘owner’ if they were won. There were several low ranking nobles, an actress, an athlete and a weather factory owner who promised to supply personal weather for the person who won her. Finally Octavia was called forwards and stood at the front of the stage next to Blueblood. The larger pony looked down at her and gave her an encouraging grin, “Now finally we have an unexpected addition to our program Miss Octavia Philharmonica. Now I understand you are one of the elements of harmony?” “That is correct, I am the element of honesty.” She stared out at the crowd several ponies seemed interested. She noticed one pony in particular, he was a bulky stallion wearing a crumpled and sweaty suit who seemed to be staring at her flank most intently. She shuddered slightly. “Well I’m afraid I’m not going to be bidding on you then. I certainly don’t want ponies telling the truth about me, the lies are much nicer. Anyway what skills can you offer the pony that wins you?” “I am an excellent musician, a student of the princess herself. I can play the cello but am also passable with several other instruments. I also keep myself in shape and am fit for any physical tasks my ‘owner’ may ask of me.” “Oh, I’m sure some of the ponies out there will be interested in you carrying out ‘physical tasks’.” Another wave of laughter passed through the crowd, she couldn’t help but notice the sloby pony was among those who laughed the loudest. She started to sweat slightly thinking that maybe signing up for this auction hadn’t been the best of ideas. Since Fluttershy had left Angel had spent most of his time trying to calm the other inhabitants of the house. He could not understand while his mistress let this other pony look after them while she was away, she must have a reason but he could not grasp it. The smaller pony seemed sincere but she was clumsy and had cold hooves. She didn’t understand the needs of the animals in the same instinctive way that Fluttershy did. There was just something about her that grated on Angel, maybe it was that she was one of the pointy headed ponies. She had mixed up most of the animal’s foods but they were generally happy enough to swap, although Angel had had to intervene in a few disagreements and some were still hungry. Now that he had a free moment the Rabbit decided to settle down under the table, where he could keep an eye out on young pony and not be underhoof. To his surprise he found a scroll lying there, he remembered Fluttershy spending a long time working on it earlier today, he was sure it was important in some way, but how could he get it to her? Screwing up his courage he took the paper in his mouth and hopped out to face the pony looking after the house. “Hey little guy. What you got there?” asked Cat looking down at the rabbit while hugging a hamster which was trying to squirm out of her grasp. She put down the rodent which rushed to safety and took the scroll. “I guess this is some of Ms Fluttershy’s paperwork, I better put this with the rest,” she levitated it onto a desk. “Thanks Angel,” she said rubbing his fur the wrong way. Angel gestured violently towards the door indicating that the pony should take the important document to Fluttershy. “I’m sorry I can’t let you out tonight, if you need to go you’ll have to use the litter tray,” said Cat patting the rabbit on the head strongly enough to make his eyes spin. Why wouldn’t the pony listen to him? Thought Angel. The scroll was obviously important, Fluttershy had spent most of the afternoon writing it. He had to get it to her, but how? He looked around at the other animals that surrounded him and a grin spread over his face. Cat Scratch was feeling a little bored, she was lying on the settee flipping through one of the old magazines normally housed in Fluttershy’s waiting room. The animals had been quiet for the last half hour or so and they were starting to fall asleep. Maybe she should have taken up Ball Lightning’s offer to keep her company. While her colt friend being the only other pony in the house certainly had attractive possibilities she didn’t want anything to distract her from her duties. It was good of Ms Fluttershy to let her learn from her, it was a big help in college, she had to be responsible. She was shaken from her thoughts by loud squeals of what sounded like pain from the kitchen. She jumped to her hooves just in time to see Angel stagger in his white coat stained with red before collapsing to the ground. “Oh my gosh!” she cried grabbing one of the many first aid kits Fluttershy kept around the house and rushing to the rabbits aid, “Angel!”. She pulled out a strip of bandages, she couldn’t make out any obvious wounds on him and she bent forwards to examine him better. Suddenly the rabbit became a whirl of activity grabbing the bandages from the air and diving between Cats legs. She wasn’t sure exactly what happened but she suddenly found herself lying on the ground with all four of her legs tied securely together. “What’s happening?” she asked. Angel gave a whistle and a good half of the animals in the house suddenly stampeded towards the front door. A cat leapt onto the handle and after a brief struggle opened it allowing the herd to exit. “Angel, what’s going on?” asked Cat grasping the rabbit in her aura before he could escape, “Where are they all going?” To her surprise the rabbit started to squeal and thrash in her grasp. She suddenly remembered that Fluttershy had warned her never to use her magic on Angel. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she gasped and dropped the bunny. “Are you alright? I didn’t mean to scare you.” Angel stood shivering for a second before pulling himself together with an obvious effort. He ignored the immobilized pony as she started to use her power to try and untie herself and ran towards the door. A few birds knocked the all-important scroll from its resting place, Angel took a second to clean some of the tomato juice from her fur before picking it up with his mouth. Hopping to the front door the rabbit saw that the dogs in his party had already picked up Fluttershy’s trail and were eager to set off. However, they did not know how far she had gone and many of the smaller animals, himself included couldn't travel that fast. They needed a big animal to carry them, a very big animal. Inspiration struck and Angel gestured for his friends to follow him as he hopped into the woods.