The Trancer

by Ajaxis

14. Retanoga

The music was slow and serene. How he had managed to get ahold of music so fitting, she did not know. She swayed with him around the open space in perfect rhythm, each of the steps falling into place. The dance was easy, everything was easy. She felt utterly peaceful like this, dancing smoothly along with him. Everything was perfect, right up until his face was suddenly looming toward hers, and her body temperature skyrocketed. Eyes wide, face pink, Zuri tripped, regaining her footing just in time to avoid falling to the floor.

“Easy there!” Shade waved a hoof in the air, and the music halted. “It’s supposed to be a waltz, take it more slowly, otherwise you’re going to stomp on somepony's tail.”

Zuri huffed, standing up straight. “It would work much better if you did not insist on moving so close to me so quickly. T’was startling.”

“Oh, sorry,” Shade snickered, losing his critical look. “Feeling claustrophobic, are we? It’s part of the dance. You’ll have to get used to being that close; ponies do it all the time.”

Zuri rolled her eyes, in hopes of gradually getting rid of her blush. “I am not a pony, remember? It startles me, makes me think you’re going in for an undeserved kiss.”

There was a brief silence, in which Shade stared at her for a few seconds. Then, he grinned an exaggerated grin, mocking lechery, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Zuri snorted, attempting to muffle her giggling with a hoof. “That’s a look I’ve seen before, on less kind ponies than you.”

“Aha!” Shade cried, throwing a hoof in the air victoriously. “Finally got a compliment out of you! Let’s celebrate by starting again. Don’t worry, no kissing unless I deserve it.” With another wave of his hoof, the waltzing music started up again, and the two began to dance once more in a three-beat rhythm. “But seriously,” He said to her, as he spun her slowly around, “I wouldn’t kiss you unless you asked me to. It would be ungentlestallionly to try and go in for one if you didn’t want one.”

“You should tell that to the oaf who tried to force himself upon me the other day,” Zuri replied, swallowing a little harder than usual as that nauseating memory came back.

"Well, besides that," Shade continued, giving her a meaningful look, "I'm already seeing another mare. We're engaged."

"Really?" Zuri asked. "Ruby Nights said you claimed to already have been married."

"I... May have been exaggerating a little," Shade bowed his head, a nervous smile on his face. "I wanted her to be one of the first mares who didn't see me as a hungry philanderer. Given my... yeah. But it is true! My fiancé's name is Ultraviolet. I'll be taking you as your escort, Ultraviolet is my date."

Well, that was reassuring. Yet this news also gave Zuri a feeling of bitterness, though she couldn't come up with any reason what she wouldn't like about the fact that this stallion had no reason to actually come onto her. No reason that makes sense, anyway.

After some further practice, Zuri bade farewell, still trying to figure out where this bitter feeling was coming from. She exited the practice room set aside for her, and immediately found herself nose-to-nose with Druva, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Ruby Nights.

"You shameless hypocrite!" Druva said, though she was smiling.

"At least we're honest about it!" Rainbow said after her, also smiling.

"You lucky sneak! You got to him before I did!?" Rarity whined.

"I warned you!" Snapped Ruby. "I warned you! But you didn't listen, did you? Nooooo..."

Zuri, exaspersted, shouted back at them, "Shut up!" Momentary silence fell, as all four mares fo. "I'm not going after Shade, alright? I wouldn't dare. He has a fiancé..."

"Haha!" Ruby cried, triumphantly. "He told me he already had a wife! The lying, slimey-"

"He was overexcited, he wants you to think better of him. Her name is Ultraviolet, by the way. Is that a real pony? I'm sure you can check!" Zuri argued, looking expectantly at a gaping Rarity.

"Her and Shade? But... But nopony said anything about them, together."

"So she is real?" Rainbow interrogated her friend. "You being our resident gossip hotline, and all."

Rarity nodded, looking almost proud of the title. "She is indeed! She's an earth pony, lots of money, there was a scandal a while back when she was accused of sleeping with Fancy Pants by his wife, Fleur-De-Lis." She smirked for a moment, and then sighed wistfully. "That lucky girl, Ultraviolet. Shade's a hunk, and he doesn't have, well, these." She held up one of her metal hooves.

"They sound perfect for each other. Two ponies who keep sleeping with other ponies," Ruby put in.

Rarity snorted at this. "Well, Fleur was probably just jealous of Ultraviolet's good looks. You see, they're both cyborgs. Fleur had her front legs replaced, because of a muscle deformity, and then a lot more of her replaced, trying to get with the latest trends. Ultraviolet managed to do the same thing, and look better too, because she's also younger."

"Which Fancy Pants are we talking about, again?" Zuri asked.

"The first, the second's father. They've been married a few years less than their son is old." Rarity smiled a knowing smile. "They obviously had a thing going beforehoof, but they both had enough money to cover the whole thing up. Mostly, to those who don't go digging."

"Blech, that is yet another reason why I am not going after Shade." Zuri grumbled. "Too much sex, not to mention he's a pony."

"What? Don't be silly!" Rarity laughed, dismissively waving a hoof. "He's a very chaste stallion. Being the resident gossip hotline, after all, I can tell you most of those rumors about him are entirely false."

"Weird, because he did come onto me at one point," Ruby piped in, looking very disgruntled by Rarity's denial, who chortled at her in an almost critical way.

"Dear, you may have been misinterpreting his charming personality."

Ruby glared at the unicorn. "I didn't know you could misinterpret a proposition and a yank of the tail." Rarity went pink, blinking bemusedly.

"O-or some of those rumors could be true, I suppose..."

"Yes, some," Ruby snickered, with a sour look. "Well, at any rate, is he a good dancer? More importantly, are you learning quickly?"

"Quickly enough," Zuri affirmed. "The waltz and the foxtrot are what we are focusing on, for the Gala. He is a very good teacher, if a little uncaring about personal space."

Rarity heaved a long, envious sigh. "Ohh... I hope those rumors aren't true. Zuri, dear, if you're not going after him..."

"He is all yours, you're welcome to him," she interrupted dryly. "I am sure I can find someone for myself of my own species, back home."

Ruby Nights grinned broadly. "Aw, not even giving me a chance?" Zuri stared at her for a few seconds, before the thief mare giggled at her look. "What? I thought it was pretty obvious I was a fillyfooler. Would have thought you'd find it flattering, and I'm a shameless flirt."

"Told you..." Rainbow Dash whispered to Zuri from her other side, as the group of mares began to walk down the hall together. The rainbow mare's wing still had a bandage wrapped around it, but she had otherwise recovered unusually quickly, with her bruises and cuts hardly visible now. Druva must have given her some dictamnus as well.

Rainbow Dash raised her voice, speaking to the whole group. "Well, Uzul might be staying with me. I think I managed to convince him, without the use of sex."

"That's fine with me, it is his choice," Zuri replied, coolly.

"You don't have anything wrong with it at all?" Rainbow quizzed her, smirking.

"Not a thing, and the same goes for Druva with that Big Macintosh fellow."

There was a pause, before Druva gave a loud snort. "You are fancying that stallion! Don't want to be a hypocrite, is that it?"

"That's nonsense, he is engaged." Zuri murmured, her face heating up. She was merely enjoying the lessons with Shade, nothing more. It would be useless to try for him any way, even if he wasn't spoken for. She would probably be out of Paradise City by the end of the week. There was no point.

"Well, anyway," Rainbow continued, "I just checked with Moondancer and Thunderlane to make sure the Rainbow Riders don't end up burning down that inn or something equally stupid. According to them, a couple of ESSUG investigators were just walking by the inn when I called. Looked like ponies who meant business, and they might have been looking for us, or maybe that Shadow Master we keep hearing about." She looked meaningfully at Ruby.

"Why ever would they be looking for her?" Ruby mocked innocence, fluttering her eyelashes exaggeratedly. "I hear we didn't actually cause that much of a ruckus at the Ropes of Equestria."

"Why in Celestia's name were you going into a place like that?" Rarity asked, sounding appalled as her gaze when from Zuri to Ruby.

"To look for information regarding Filthy Rich, duh," the thief mare answered.

"Oh, of course, all goes back to him. I didn't know he stooped to that level, though. He was a wife and family!"

"Judging from how Tough Love acted when we met her," Rainbow Dash put in, "it'd explain a lot if her parents aren't very good at constancy. How many children does he have, again?"

"Just two: Tough Love and Diamond Tiara. The second one is an absolute brat. She bullied my little sister when she was still living on Equestria. We were all very happy not to deal with her when Filthy Rich announced he'd be moving to Palosol to oversee his businesses here."

"So he could inflict his daughters upon us, more like." Zuri muttered, gesturing to herself and Druva.

Rarity later excused herself, moving towards the dressmaking wing, saying that she ought to finish her work before the rest of the last three days went by. Ruby Nights detached herself, saying that she was going to follow the example of Rainbow Dash, and check in upon the Shrouded Blade. That left just Rainbow Dash, Druva, and Zuri alone in the expansive corridors of the castle. That was the case until a lanky purple reptile could be seen running towards them.

"Good, I found you three!" Spike stopped before them, catching his breath before continuing. "Twilight found something in her library about the, uh..." He lowered his voice and raised his eyebrows, looking secretive. "The bug problem. Come on!"

Reaching the library was easy, but taking in the sheer size of it was the hard part. After taking a simple path through several corridors, Spike lead them to a pair of large, wooden double doors, which opened to reveal a cavernous expanse. The walls that Zuri could see were lined floor-to-ceiling with shelves and shelves of books. The huge room was lit by giant glass skylights, which sent down frustums of illumination onto the soft carpet underhoof.

The smell of newly printed paper permeated the air, and the doors shut with a thunderous, echoing crash. It was only seconds before Twilight appeared to them, mid-flight near the ceiling, carrying a stack of books by magic, one levitating open before her, and another held betwixt her teeth. She made a noise, and then as if realizing it were there for the first time, she spat out the book in her mouth, choosing to stick it in with the pile floating alongside her. Her wings flapping quickly, the alicorn descended to the floor, landing near the double doors, and next to a table, which she set the collection of books upon.

"It took me a while, because I prefer the old-fashioned books that you can swat shut, but I've discovered something very interesting!" Twilight began, now without a volume muffling her. "Our records show that changelings can only feed off of love. The queen you came across could never have lasted very long in captivity unless someone was giving her affection of some form or another. Judging from how you said she rarely spoke of her time before being set free, I doubt this was the case. Which leads me to believe, seeing where Chrys was going on that train, that she was genetically modified to have the ability to live off another form of sustenance."

"Well, that's great, Twilight." Rainbow Dash interrupted her. "So she can get fat off of cookies now, cool, so what does that have to do with–"

"I'm getting to that! So, that means that Chrys was still being fed, by other emotions or physical foods, while she was being held. If she was the result of gene-modification, it would make a lot more sense if the Frontier Forest labs wanted her, because that's the exact kind of thing they're doing, to allow Equestrian plants to grow on Palosol soil. I then decided to pull rank, so I could examine a couple high-security ESSUG transport invoices." She smiled a sly smile at the three of them. "The train you used to get here was found yesterday. All high-priority cargo was accounted for, save for a crate of extremely valuable experimental terraforming equipment."

Zuri could guess exactly what the equipment was. "Chrys is for terraforming?" Rainbow asked, gawping. "How does that even work? How is a kid of a changeling supposed to be used for molding planets?"

"That's the next mystery," answered Twilight. "There's no further description for what the equipment was, but I bet you it was that changeling. So, there is a genetically altered adolescent Queen, built for terraforming in some way, loose in Paradise City. At least she isn't in Canterlot this time, masquerading as my brother's bride to be."

"At least, you say," said Druva, frowning. "How much of problem does all that make her?"

"Seeing as she beat the snot out of Rainbow Dash? A big one." Twilight's horn gave a little spark, and the chest piece she wore suddenly projected a bright blue hologram from the center jewel. She began drawing something with a shoe-clad hoof in the projection. "I'm going to look at ESSUG patrols and checkpoints, see if I can't shift some of their attention from a certain wayward zebra and onto finding Chrys."

"You're sending ESSUG after her?" Zuri asked, with a little too much alarm in her voice. "From all I have heard, that is going to be a death sentence."

Twilight stared at Zuri for a full ten seconds, and then shut off the hologram projector in her chest piece, to fix a meaningful look on the zebra. "Zuri, a changeling, whether they're a juvenile or an adult, can be a big problem. It's an even bigger problem, because I don't know what she's doing here in the first place. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, the only ponies who outrank me are Princesses Celestia and Luna, my elder rulers. When it comes to searching for information, there is no wall any ordinary pony can put in my way. Do you understand yet?" She stepped much closer to Zuri, a very hard expression on her face.

"I hold the highest authority possible, but I can't find anything about a changeling being shipped anywhere. Either this is something Celestia or Luna doesn't want me to know about, or it's something ESSUG is doing without permission. So, I have a stake in you getting to Filthy Rich now, too. He's the biggest sponsor for the Frontier Forest terraforming program. This means that, most likely, he was the one paying for whatever they did to Chrys."

"Well, shit," Rainbow remarked, staring at the floor. "It all goes back to Filthy, doesn't it?"

"He does seem to have his hooves in a lot of pies. It makes me wonder what else there is that leads back to him," she sighed, bringing up the hologram to finish her work. "I understand if you feel guilty about her leaving your little group, Zuri, but unless they did a lot of work on her brain, Chrys is just as dangerous as any other changeling. More so, because she probably doesn't need direct love to survive."

"I guess we should have let Ruby help us find her, then," Rainbow said ruefully. "Well, Twilight, is that all you managed to find?"

Twilight nodded, now sitting on her haunches to work with the hologram using both forehooves. "That's all. I need to focus on work now, so..."

"Say no more, Twilight," Rainbow said, taking the lead out the door.

Spike walked with them out of the library, shutting the door behind him. "Huh! It's a good thing she already got most of the reworked laws passed. She spent hours and hours sifting through books in there, didn't so much as blink when I brought her coffee, earlier."

Rainbow Dash laughed. "That's the Twilight Sparkle I know. She'd spend weeks just reading for fun if she had the time. Which she doesn't much, anymore."

The three of them walked in silence, until Rainbow Dash went off to find Uzul. Now just a pair of zebras, Druva sighed, disappointed. "So much for leaving Chrys alone," Druva muttered, walking with Zuri back to their rooms.

Zuri frowned. "Well, if Chrys is as much of a danger as they all say she is, do we zebra really want to have to contend with her on Palosol?"

"But how could someone so small and scrawny looking be that dangerous?" Druva countered.

"You did not see Rainbow Dash when she came back yesterday. She was in a terrible state. Covered in bruises and cuts, one wing fractured."

"Maybe that was different," Druva said, defiantly. "Maybe she was just defending herself. Of course Chrys would hurt Rainbow Dash that much if she thought she would do the same!"

"Perhaps so," Zuri conceded. "I suppose we won't know unless she chooses to show herself again, and feels like explaining herself."

The pair reached Druva's room first, Zuri's being further down the hall, and the trancer bode a quick farewell when she saw Macintosh approaching them. Druva, sounding much giddier than before, invited him into her room as loudly as possible, so that even when Zuri shut her door, and looked at the zebra spirit on her bed, she could still–hang on a second...

Once more, Sibulla was present in her room, much like before, only this time she was average female zebra height, with a bangle on each leg, and her hair brushed elaborately around her face. The spirit also seemed to have much more accented eyes and lips than usual. On top of all of this, she looked very, very angry.

Zuri did not dare speak, for she knew exactly how dangerous an angry spirit could be. Sibulla broke the silence, "you little overeager sacöre..." She hissed the zebric word for slut with increased emphasis, standing up and walking off the bed, to move her glaring face closer to Zuri. "Here I am, all especially made up for a night of fun, and I learn that you haven't even waited for me to get a sample of that Shade fellow before you start pursuing him."

That's what this is about? Come ON! "I haven't started anything like that!"

"No? Not with all that dancing you two have done? He calls it practice. In your eyes, it's much more intimate than that." Her eyes narrowed, and she leaned her head closer to Zuri's, who responded by leaning back. "I see it in you eyes. I hear it from your mind. You are gaining a liking to him, and you didn't even wait for my turn."

"He's going to be married!" Zuri countered, more than a little hotly. "I wouldn't try and seduce a betrothed stallion, that's worse than... Than..."

"Than having a discolored daughter?" Sibulla offered, and Zuri's cheeks went red. "You're a pathetic liar, all the same. I was really looking forward to having fun with him, before you stumbled in."

Zuri scowled, and shot back. "Weren't you the one who said he was all mine?"

Sibulla seemed to swell with an intake of breath, her eyes glowing fiercely. "Stupid girl... Obviously I said that after saying I was going to have fun with him. Instead, you couldn't wait till after the Gala."

"You think I had a choice?" Zuri questioned her, though she knew she was pushing her luck. She had no idea what Sibulla could do to her if she lost her temper, and she did not want to find out. "Those stupid pony rules of etiquette demand that I have a date, and Shade volunteered himself. Couldn't you have, ugh, your fun with him some other night?"

"I didn't just want sex, you silly girl! I wanted a night of fun, socializing, flirting, everything you insipidly spoiled nobles get to have whenever you like. The Gala seems so bright and full of joviality... Dancir never takes me to anything! He is too protective."

"Find someone else to go to the Gala with," Zuri offered, surprised at how juvenile this whole conversation was. "I'm sure there are other ponies who strike your fancy."

"I set my eyes on Shade. Watched him until I knew exactly what kind of mare he'd enjoy the most." She gave a dramatic shake of her head, letting her mane fling smoothly back and forth. "And you ruined all that. Ponies cannot have two dates and an accompaniment. No one does that."

"Well, I'm very sorry, honored spirit," said Zuri, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. "But this is not my fault, so why not go have your night of fun with someone else, rather than yelling at me?"

As soon as Zuri said it, she knew it was a mistake. Sibulla's eyes shined like raging fires, and she next spoke in a high-pitched, grating scream. "Yelling? That was not yelling! This is yelling!" She shrieked, causing the whole room to shudder, and for Zuri's ears to ring. "Arrogant child! Dirty sacöre! You dare speak to me as if I was your equal?"

Zuri did not dare speak further. She stoodthere, fear holding her still. "I could crush you like a bug..." The spirit growled, her voice reverberating around them. "Just glare at you a little more and watch you compress into a bloody lump. I could..." Her gaze seemed to intensify for a second, and Zuri suddenly found it much harder to breathe, before the pressure lifted.

"If it weren't for your family." Sibulla finished, her eyes not glowing so brightly, yet the anger in them still burned. "Viva Sara wouldn't let me kill you. No one lets me do anything! How lucky you are, insolent Oun-Drii."

Zuri breathed heavily, waiting for the spirit to decide whether or not to continue ranting before saying anything. "Lucky indeed," continued the spirit, sounding very bitter. "Fine, I'll leave you and your future love alone. But I'm still going to that Gala, and if you try to do anything else that crosses me, sacöre, I will ignore whatever babble Viva Sara may throw in my direction."

With no more warning, Sibulla vanished, and the trancer heaved another sigh of relief. Honestly, it was as if the entire universe thought she was trying to go for Shade's heart. Would she never get peace from this? Apparently not, as there came a fervent banging on her door. Zuri turned and opened it, and Druva barreled in, knocking the trancer down with her.

"Where are they? Where are they?" Druva asked, standing and looking around the room. "Who was screaming at you, Zuri? It sounded as if they were going to kill you..."

Zuri suddenly found herself in an interesting dilemma. There was no way she could tell a lie that would convince Druva that there had not been someone in her room, she had obviously heard that it was a voice other than Zuri's. Yet, how could the Non-Ni believe her if she said that Sibulla the spirit envoy had been appearing to her, twice carrying a message, and once out of sheer passionate rage? She would think Zuri was crazy, surely.

"Someone was in here," The trancer began, choosing her words carefully. "But I doubt you'd believe me if I told you who."

"What? Come on, Zuri, don't you trust me?"

"It's not a matter of trust." Well, actually, I guess it is. "It's merely that the one who was just in here is... well... very scarcely seen addressing zebra such as me."

"Zebra such as–" Druva gave her a flat look. "Zuri, you're Oun-Drii, what, did a zebra hater suddenly materialize in your room and begin shouting at you? Because, well, minus the sudden materialization part, that's happened to us many times already."

"No, no, I mean..." Zuri sighed, defeated. "Fine, Sibulla, the Spirit Envoy, paid me a visit."

The reaction was just as she had predicted. Druva looked as if she was in shock for a split second, before bursting out laughing. This went on for a few seconds before the zebra gained control of herself again, and then noticed the level expression on Zuri's face. Her raucous smile faded slowly. "Wait, you're serious, aren't you?"

"As serious as ever. Sibulla was here, speaking to me, and she has done this twice before."

Druva stared at Zuri long and hard, before speaking again. "I knew that daturum did something to muddle with your head, ever since you started getting alone with that Shade pony..."

"For the last time, I'm not going after Shade!" Zuri shouted. "Sibulla first visited me the second night we spent in that Inn, long before you tried to give me that potion. It had nothing to do with the daturum."

"Sibulla actually appeared to you? The Sibulla?" Druva said, looking around the room as if she thought to find some clue that could confirm this.

"She was the one screaming. Do we know anyone other than a spirit that could scream loud enough for you to hear it? These walls are thick."

Druva still looked skeptical, but she asked another question. "Why was she upset? Are you allowed to say?"

"She thinks I am going after Shade, and she wanted to go after him first."

"So, Sibulla the Spirit Envoy wants to go after a pony? Zuri, you can't honestly expect me to believe that."

"I know it sounds strange, Druva, but think about it. Think about all the old tales of Sibulla presenting herself to some of the stallions she took to the celestial plane." Zuri continued, fixing the alchemist with as meaningful a look as she could manage.

"When she could get away from her inadequate husband; Dancir?" Druva finished for her, still frowning, though Zuri could see agreement dawning on her face. "But still... Sibulla wanting Shade for herself? I'm the one who is cuddling up with Big Macintosh, as you'd put it, and it still sounds ridiculous."

Zuri frowned, disliking having to further explain this. "She said she wanted to sample him, especially, before I did."

"Why in the world would Sibulla think you'd even want to?" Druva paused for a moment, before smirking with a mix of humor and displeasure at Zuri. "So were we right, or not?"

She had been afraid of this. Perhaps she had misjudged Druva's trust in her as far as the story about Sibulla visiting her, but surely, surely Druva wouldn't believe that Zuri actually went to the plain of the stars! She had no proof, nothing to show her friend that could possibly help to reinforce her story. Lying was the only option. "Sibulla said that Viva Sara had told her I would meet a future love here sometimes soon."

Once more, it was just as Zuri had predicted she would react. The alchemist's smirk lessened, eyebrows raising slowly. "Let me make sure I have this... You are saying that Sibulla has been speaking to you in private regarding a future love referred to by Viva Sara, your legendary ancestor?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying," Zuri answered.

Druva shook her head, walking slowly out of the bedroom. "The sooner we are out of this city, the better."

———

The last days before the Grand Galloping Gala passed very quickly, Zuri taking lessons from Shade on etiquette and ballroom dancing, while Uzul and Rainbow Dash seemed to grow closer and closer together. Every time the trancer saw one, she saw the other, right next to each other. For whatever reason, she also saw less of Druva, though did catch a glimpse of her around the castle, sharing personal space with Big Macintosh on more than one occasion. She thought she caught pieces of conversation between them, including everything from sweet say-nothings to little comments that, Zuri suspected, had something to do with herself. Druva never said her name, but she could guess from some of the snippets that the topic of conversation was indeed Zuri.

"I think the pressure from all this Gala business is starting to break her down," she vividly remembered Druva saying, when passing the two of them by while they thought they were secluded, together, by a windowsill. "I know it's not from the daturum. She might be having hallucinations."

"Why? What's she told you?" Macintosh asked, concern mixing with furtive discomfort.

Zuri heard Druva let out a sigh. "I... I don't think I can give you any details yet. If she's telling the truth, then telling you is taboo."

"Shouldn't have brought it up, then," said Macintosh.

Though Druva seemed to be doubted her sanity, at least she had the courtesy to keep the contents of Zuri's confession a secret. At this point, overhearing some of these conversations made her wish that she had told Druva that she wanted the laws regarding proper respect for an Oun-Drii upheld, even outside of a zebric society. If anything was breaking her down, it was the feeling of a growing separation from her fellow zebra.

"Go and talk to them, then!" Ruby Nights suggested, after Zuri confided in her, sitting in the zebra's bedroom. It was strange, but she found she was able to speak to the thief mare quite easily. She understood many zebra customs as well as Uzul or Druva did, and it made Zuri wonder how she had learned it so well. Like Ruby had once said, it was easier for her to keep company with zebra, and now Zuri had an idea why. "It isn't like they're glaring daggers at you at every opportunity. Technically they can't refuse to talk with you. It's weird that all three of you seem to have forgotten social custom for treating Oun-Drii properly!"

"How ironic for a pony to be the one to tell me that," Zuri grumbled, "this city is making me yearn for Otoul more and more, but I can't seem to remember how to command respect from either of them."

Ruby pursued the encouraging angle. "So long as you can command respect from the cream of the Equestrian nobility tonight, you can figure out the rest later."

"Shade has been helping me with that," said Zuri, "he's very well-versed–"

"In how to drag a mare into his bed. I don't care if he's married, getting married, or a gelding, I don't think you should spend any more time than you have to alone with him."

Zuri's eyes narrowed, "I'm not giving him a hope of pairing with me, but why are you so against him? Every time you talk about him, you sound more and more like... Like a former lover."

Ruby went her namesake shade of red. "Don't be silly! What experience would you have with mares like that, anyway?" She looked like she wanted to say more, but stopped herself. Zuri could guess what the thief mare wanted to finish with: seeing as you're a virgin Oun-Drii, who only began to interact with our species a week ago?

"Plenty," she lied, attempting to keep up an aloof exterior against Ruby's flustered one. "You say you know so much about our culture, then surely you know how often it is that particularly fickle Oun-Drii leave behind a string of resentful partners. Your noble caste seems so similar to ours—that Glamour Rose probably wasn't the first girl exploited by Filthy Rich."

"You're making a lot of assumptions about the creme of the Equestrian crop, Zuri. Though I admit it's spot on with a few of them, Shade being an example."

Zuri rolled her eyes, fuming up again. "You already gave me your warning, multiple times. If he tries to come onto me, I can take care of myself just fine. He wouldn't dare try anything ever again. I was just observing that you seemed especially against him, for one who learned of his reputation simply through word of mouth—not experience." What experience would you have with stallions like that, hmmm?

Ruby's face went redder. "He's... He's tried to seduce me multiple times in the past, usually when we were getting on good terms. This ruined said terms, usually, because I refuse to be polite to a stallion who thinks he can take advantage of me." She was talking faster than usual. A sign of dishonesty, perhaps? Zuri pursued it.

"Tell me exactly what was said to you by him. You may have misinterpreted his meaning. He might just be a shameless flirt."

"Pretty hard to misinterpret a slimeball grin and a low-brow joke about how he'd like to see me without my cloak on." Ruby continued, sounding angrier than before. "Why do you care so much? You're not chasing after him, again, so you say."

"You never had a fling with him or anything, so you say." Zuri countered.

"Well, fine!" Ruby shouted, stamping her hooves, face red as a beet. "If you're sooo confident in his gentlestallion's manner, why don't you prove it?"

"I already said I–"

"If you stop lying, so will I!" Ruby persisted. "You can tell the others what you like, but I just know you're into him. Did you really think an experienced bisexual wouldn't detect this a mile away?"

Zuri scowled at the floor for several seconds. This mare had just read her like an open book. "Alright," she conceded, "I admit I have been thinking about him. A little. But only because of..." She trailed off. Telling Druva about what Sibulla said was one thing. Telling Ruby Nights, a powerful head in Paradise City's underworld—also not a zebra—was another.

Ruby was too impatient to let her think of a good alternative. "Of what? A prophecy? Some future seer who said you'd find love in the most unlikely of places? Zuri, that's what they ALL say!" She winced at the thief mare's mostly accurate guess. There was an brief, albeit uncomfortable, silence.

"Well, I've stopped lying," prompted Zuri, looking at Ruby with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah yeah," Ruby waved a hoof, rolling her eyes. "I did have a short fling with him, once. I wanted to take things slowly, try something a bit less fast-paced than usual, for my escapades. But..." She paused, as if collecting her thoughts, her gaze now focused downward. "He didn't share the same idea. Thought I really owed him, or something. Next thing I new after a rare shared dinner, his hooves were where they shouldn't be, and we had a small fight about it." She sighed, "neither of us have mentioned it since. It's the first and only mess with a stallion I've gotten myself into where the stallion and I had to keep meeting, for business, and try to act like professionals."

"Professionals? You're a thief," Zuri said.

Ruby glared sharp daggers at her. "There's honor among me and my own, and I try to keep my dignity. You've got no idea how hard it is to stay on top of a thieving guild populated by a large number of males. Shade caught me at a weak point, and when he was groping me, I could look in his eyes and see just how little he thought of me. I couldn't have been the first one to get roped in by him, but I'd be the first to stay out of his bed, though still have to put up with his company. The way he acts towards me now, like you saw, I think that's his way of conveying an apology that he thinks I'll understand, after which I'll finally say to him I forgive him. Maybe he thinks I'll let him in between my legs after that." She scoffed sourly at the idea.

"But he's got no hope. I won't forgive him. I don't forgive objectification. Ever. I don't care if he's changed, is making an effort to change, whatever! If there's one thing I hate, it's a stallion who thinks he can get away with treating a girl like that."

Zuri didn't need the significant look Ruby gave her to remember the first time she had heard the mare say that. Could this be the main reason she had helped the pair of zebras accosted by a small party of haters? Had she thought she'd seen a bit of herself in Zuri, then, and didn't want the same thing to happen, only to get worse? She didn't want to ask, because the shadow mistress seemed pretty angry as it was, and Zuri did not want to push her luck.

"I'm giving you my last warning, before the Gala." The thief mare continued in measured tones. "Be careful about Shade. He's done a lot of mares, and even if he says he's engaged, I wouldn't believe for a second that he would be faithful to her."

"And what if he has changed, as he claims?" Zuri queried, in a cautious voice.

Ruby grinned a cold, sardonic grin. No happiness in it, only sourness. "So you say," she repeated, and left Zuri alone to her thoughts. Said thoughts were as sour and unhappy as Ruby's expression had been. So much for keeping any friends to the end of this convoluted adventure.

The clock on Zuri’s bedroom wall struck six, which was when Rarity had said to come see her in the dressing wing, to start getting ready. It was only a minute-long walk to get there, which Zuri was grateful for. The more time she spent alone, the more time she had to reflect upon her current state of company. It helped that when she got there, she found all five of Rainbow Dash’s—or should she say Twilight’s, or Rarity’s? It was impossible to tell who headed the bunch of them—friends, midway into donning their formal attire for the night. Druva was there too, but she did not look at Zuri. Ruby Nights was nowhere to be seen, either. Once more, Zuri was thankful for the distraction of getting familiar with the complex dress made specifically for her, and Rarity seemed much more talkative than before.

"Oh, I do so hope Pinkie Pie didn't go overboard with reworking the Gala. Now, when we all went before, it didn't live up to any of our expectations whatsoever." She smiled awkwardly at Zuri, as the zebra began to push her hooves into the four black shoes tailored to fit comfortably. "We succeeded in turning it from a dull, grueling party into an absolute disaster. Now you told me that your kind has many different kinds of dances, what sort of parties do you attend?"

Considering the multitude of celebrations and social gatherings Zuri had attended all her life now made her heart ache. Well now, that’s a great distraction, Zuri thought. Instead of just lonely, now I feel homesick, too! "Outside of the festivals and street-parties, which are all open to the public, Oun-Drii have many different kinds of meetings with one another. There is always a celebration of a newborn foal, then the after-party to a wedding. I was present for both of those, though I only remember one.”

“Ah, youngest in your family, then?” Rarity deduced, still smiling as she lit her horn, drawing long lace stockings up each of her black metal legs, before slipping them each into an off-white shoe. “Have any sisters?”

“Two sisters, two brothers. The closest is older than me by six years, as is his fraternal twin.”

“My, a big family!” Said Rarity, double-checking the extremely elaborate coiffure she had inflicted upon herself in the body-length mirror. “I once wished for a lot of siblings, but that changed quickly when Sweetie Belle came along. Her heart is in the right place, but she’s a little too erratic for me to handle for any large amount of time.”

“It doesn’t help,” Applejack’s voice came from a few meters away, where she had mistook the neck of her apple-motif primarily green dress for one of the forehoof sleeves, and was now threatening to pull the dress apart with her head and both forelegs stuck in it. “It doesn’t help that my own sister and Scootaloo plot alongside her to try to find their cutie marks. They make messes faster than Cider season goes by!”

“Oh, Applejack, hold still…” Rarity groaned, interrupting her own preparations to come to her friends aid. “But they manage to look so cute doing it, it’s very hard to be stern with them when they walk in, covered in mud or soot or pinesap, and the only explanation they can come up with is ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time’!”

Zuri chuckled at this. “I know I’ve certainly been a pain to some of my older siblings sometimes. I’m sure they could sympathize with you, in that regard.”

“At the expense of your dignity, I’ll bet!” Rainbow put in, flying over to Zuri with her dress on. It looked like it had been made not only so that it fit the personality and colors of the pony wearing it, but also served as a practical dress for—casual flying? Zuri definitely thought Rainbow Dash, who looked much more at home in that tight-fitting black combat clothing, seemed to find this dress just as fitting to herself. Rarity did her work well.

“Probably,” Zuri agreed, “all sorts of nasty stories about things I must have put in my mouth when I was a foal, maybe how annoying I was asking questions… I’d have to ask them myself.”

“Shoot, how’d you get yer clothes on so quickly, Zuri?” Applejack asked, trotting up to her with her legs going through the proper holes now, her dress seeming much more like it fit her, now that it didn’t look as if the dress had been trying to eat her. So many images of apples… Zuri felt a twinge of hunger, and hoped that the Gala would supply food.

“Practice,” Zuri answered, smiling proudly at the black silk traveling down one foreleg. “And Rarity’s dressmaking abilities, definitely. I've had to wear plenty of dresses before, but this is one of the more comfortable.”

“Nonsense, darling,” she heard Rarity say, and at first thought she was saying that in reply. She turned about, the back of her black grown turning slowly with her, like a sort of liquid cloth. Rarity was in fact hiking up the end of Fluttershy’s forest- and leaf-green cloth, examining the frills closely. “It’s not going to tear if you run, I made sure of it this time.”

“I ruined the last one you made for me because you said the same thing, and I was hunting after all those critters in the Canterlot Gardens…” The trancer expected to look at Fluttershy’s face and see an expression of guilt, to match her tone and volume, but instead she looked quite stern, her brow furrowed. “I told you before that you should have used a backstitch, and you didn’t even change it! If it’s the same thing this time, I won’t wear anything.”

This seemed to be a terrible threat to Rarity, who gasped and held a hoof to her mouth.

“Oh, shit, you weren't kidding,” Rainbow Dash muttered to Twilight, who had in the meanwhile walked up to her side, wearing a long gown of purple and white. “She’s gotten more assertive, but not to the point of going powermad, like last time.”

“Mmhmm. She wouldn't ever have agreed to have been seen at the Gala otherwise, especially not with all this business involving your," Twilight lightly tapped Zuri’s side with a wing, “assorted escapades.”

Rarity looked back, apparently having finished convincing Fluttershy of the strength of her needlework, at the little group of Zuri, Rainbow, Applejack, and Twilight, and frowned. “No no no, you four can’t just sit still like that. Practice moving around! And Zuri, don’t look so stoney, try to relax a little! Surely you can spend some time freely tonight, not just attempting to dance with Shade and pressuring a corrupt businesspony?”

“I think that’s reason enough not to relax,” Zuri replied, though now conscious of how stiff she looked.

"Alright, is that everyone dressed? Go on, in front of the mirror, all of you!" Rarity pulled the group of mares together, all eight of them, in front of the huge body mirror. It was quite an impressive sight, all of them dressed and made up. Even Pinkie Pie, whose dress seemed to be made of pink candy, and equally pink streamers, had a smooth, sleek elegance and beauty to her that her nigh-endless bouncing and broad smile could not diminish. Rarity, however, seemed unsatisfied at the crowd of mares wearing her handiwork. "One is missing... Where's that charming girl in red; Ruby?

"Just showing up," came the mare in question's voice. Ruby Nights walked in from the right, alright dressed, and her outfit completed the color spectrum that was Rarity's dress- ensemble. A copy of Ruby's cloak, made into a flowing dress and cape, billowed about as she walked casually over, avoiding Zuri's eye. "I've got this lovely thing on all myself, Rarity, but I'd like some help with my blush—hard to get it right in this late Samā weather."

"Samā, that's Palosol's hottest season, ain't it?" Applejack put in, and Zuri and Druva simultaneously nodded. "How hot does it usually get? What's the humidity like?"

"You mean for farming? Frontier Forest is the only place on this continent that would let them grow naturally—as close to natural as one can get, considering the forest is the result of terraforming." Twilight informed her.

"Right, right, I guess so. Shoot, I was expecting a bit more room to work with." Applejack sighed, shaking her head. "I guess I'll save the rest of that talk for the business folks out there," she pointed an orange hoof to the large door that lead out of the wing, and into the main castle, where the preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala were already underway.

"You might actually find some land to grow things on Naxav, the continent east of this one," Zuri informed Applejack, while Rarity was still working on Ruby's face. "There are Buffalo who live there, but they shouldn't be too offended. They are very lenient." And it would get you out of zebra territory.

"Buffalo tribes? Shucks..." Applejack cleared her through and put on an awkward smile. "We've dealt with them before—th'six of us. Got kinda out of hoof, and the only reason it didn't end in serious bloodshed was because somepony threw a pie at the buffalo chieftain's face."

"It didn't go as badly as our other excursions out west," Rarity intoned. "Like the last time; Pinkie and I got separated from the rest of the group, and we had to travel home on a small, lever-operated railcar. It cost us a couple days, and a portion of my sanity." She shot an accusing look at Pinkie, who halted bouncing shortly to smile apologetically and shrink back.

"I won't even ask how either of those things ended up happening," said Zuri, her face cracked in a grin.

"Good, I wasn't planning on telling!" Rarity replied, smiling back for a moment. "Okay, we're all decent, we'll be going out there soon, once the doors open! Twilight, shouldn't you be doing something?"

"I didn't forget," Twilight flexed her wings, billowing out the thick, smooth, purple silk on either side of her gown in doing so. "I'm supposed to be greeting every guest at the doors, once they open. See you in a bit!" She turned with a last smile at the group, and exited the wing in the direction of the main hall. Ruby Nights approached Zuri with a meaningful look on her face.

"I still think you're making a mistake about being so much as curious about Shade," she said in a hushed voice, "but I am sorry for earlier. Thought I should say it before things kicked off." She smiled at her. "Plenty of rich pockets around, at the Gala. I couldn't be upset for long with a profit like that to be made. Got to meet expenses, after all~"

"After all," repeated Zuri, smiling back, "you'll not be busy with trying to make a good appearance, while you're here."

The thief mare raised her voice to a normal speaking volume. "Easier to move around without trouble that way. Rarity does fantastic work, but however beautiful this thing is," Ruby looked over her cloak-like dress. "Some of my previous victims might recognize the signature color of mine. I don't really work on my wardrobe much."

"Nor I mine," Zuri agreed, thinking back to the sandy cloak in her room.

"Then we'll have to work on that later!" Rarity said, appearing next to them and causing Zuri to jump. The cyborg unicorn had shown up next to them surprisingly quickly, and was now pushing and prodding them towards the exit door. "Now come on, girls; it's the new and improved Grand Galloping Gala, let's have some fun!"

———

In the time spent by the mares getting ready, the castle had been transformed. Long strings of lights decorated the ceilings, windows accented by flag banners on either side, depicting a stylized sun and moon, with a six-point violet star underneath. The star was similar to the shape Zuri had seen once before, on Twilight Sparkle's flanks. Calm music reverberated clearly throughout the castle, as Zuri found when she drew nearer to the main hall.

Then, into her corridor stepped Shade, mane combed back, wearing a smart grey and white formal suit, which seemed to chiefly cover his front. He wore a boutonniere, made up of roses and—No... He didn't... Blooming hycasi!

Shade's face broke into a blinding smile, and he trotted towards her, the pale yellow and white Palosol-native flowers bouncing slightly with his movements. As he drew closer, he momentarily slowed down, his eyes widening, and Zuri guessed her own appearance in the black, blue and violet gown, complete with made up face and dyed hair, had an effect on him. She smiled courteously, still looking to the blooming hycasi pinned upon his chest.

"Like it?" He asked, not removing his eyes from her.

"Where did you get those?" Zuri hissed suspiciously. "They grow almost exclusively underground. They hardly ever bloom..."

"Being Minister of Defense, I've got a few connections." Shade responded, clearing his throat and finally meeting her gaze. "And... It helps that I know a few things about Palosol myself."

"Ah..." She paused a moment, before continuing. "And what about your fiancé? Has she not come?"

"No, she's come with me. She's my date, and I'm your escort. Ultraviolet is currently waiting for me..." He pointed to the balcony, and lead Zuri over to it. He directed her attention towards the large crowd below. Twilight Sparkle stood at the top of the center stairs, receiving one magnificently dressed guest after another. A crowd stood around the stairs, compose of clumps of guests, and the din of conversation emanated from the many ponies there and in the corridors beyond. So many ponies... And still the music could be heard over the dialogue.

"There she is," Shade pointed with a hoof, towards a mare in one of the larger clumps. Zuri looked, and it was immediately obvious which one was his fiancé. Ultraviolet had a grey–white coat, and a rich, glistening violet mane, probably the reason for her name. Even as the lady Ultraviolet turned around to speak, and Zuri could see the smiling, beautiful face, she could also see the bright, amber-yellow metal eyes, whites and irises all entirely colored, but pupils glimmering with a pitch-like metal sheen. Even more, all her legs glinted from the lights, from the hooves to the shoulders. However, unlike Rarity's onyx–black legs, these were painted only a slight shade darker than the mare's natural pelt color.

Ultraviolet's dress was built around her cybernetics and her long, extremely purple mane. A flowing, mostly purple and silver gown, that matched her hair and coat perfectly, to the point of being an extension of her body. She raised her head, to look up with those metal, amber-yellow eyes, and they focussed upon Zuri, and then Shade. Her expression brightened, and while Zuri thought that the mare was very pretty, for a pony, once more, the metal eyes left a very unsettling feeling in her.

"Ah, she's seen us now," Shade muttered with a grin in his voice. "Let us go down, Dell Mansa, and introduce you." He sidled up next to her, still politely outside of her personal bubble, but close enough that Zuri could touch him easily. ...If she wanted to.

Shade lead her down the flight of side stairs, into the crowds of mares in ball gowns and stallions in suits, many of them wearing a multitude of differently styled hats. "Ultraviolet, dear," Zuri's escort spoke up, when they reached the amber-eyed cyborg mare. "This is Zuri Oun-Drii Sara, noblemare of the zebric people."

"Ah," Ultraviolet's greeting sigh revealed that she had a smooth, buttery, sweet voice, almost unnatural in quality. "All these friends you make on your own time," she walked over, and planted a kiss on Shade's cheek which lasted several seconds. She then turned her attention onto Zuri, by way of setting her metal eyes upon her. "And how do you do, Lady Sara? Shade has told me only a few things. Firstly," she hid a giggle behind a metal hoof, "everything needed to assure me that I was not going to have, ahem, competition."

"I am well, Dell Ultraviolet." Zuri responded, using the terms outlined by her society's standards, to strengthen the idea of her being an ambassador. "Your fiancé has been very kind to me. His skill at teaching ponies' current dancing practices is very good."

"Ha! Another who understands the reasons why I told him 'yes'," Ultraviolet laughed, and the small crowd around them tittered with her. "Pardon me, but what does Dell mean? A zebric word, I assume?"

At last, another pony who didn't know zebric. Zuri's smile became much brighter. "Dell means 'fair lady'. It is customary for Oun-Drii, my caste, to address one another as such, and I extend the gesture to ponies."

"Oh, how kind of you!" Ultraviolet beamed at her, which coaxed a rumble of warm agreement from the ponies around them. What kiss-ups... "So, Zuri, what brings you to Paradise City, at the time of the Gala?"

"I came to experience pony society for myself," Zuri replied, carefully choosing her words, "to bridge the gap between our two cultures. Princess Twilight Sparkle has been most kind in granting me temporary residence here."

Ultraviolet nodded understanding, still smiling brightly at her. The trouble with those metal eyes was that, like every cyborg Zuri met who possessed them, it was suddenly much harder to figure out what the pony was actually thinking. They just seemed so... Blank, most of the time. There was less emotion that could be read in the eyes, which, Zuri supposed, was good for ESSUG soldiers, but made Ultraviolet's warmth seem bittersweet. It didn't help that the grey surrounding the pupil dissolved unnaturally in a gradient pattern to the amber yellow that was obviously her irises. It was only a few seconds after this reflection that Zuri remembered her eyes could still be read perfectly well by anyone paying attention, and repressed the thoughts quickly.

"What a lovely dress you have on, Lady Zuri!" Remarked another noblemare, who looked alarmingly like Cherry Jubilee, save for a white coat and and a brighter shade of red for her hair. Her complementary smile, however, was a bit fixed. "It complements your... exotic color very well!"

Zuri nodded, smiling back at her with what she hoped was more sincere than pointed. "Thank you, Miss Rarity made it specifically for me, as well as the earrings." This caused another rumble of words to run through the group, and Zuri looked around to see envy and admiration on the nobles' faces. Without this outfit, winning these ponies over would be impossible.

"You mean to say you had the Rarity prepare a dress for you, as a part of an ensemble?" Inquired the same mare.

At this, Shade cut in with, "not an ensemble. Rarity made Zuri this dress for her personal use, not for mass production." Oohs and aahs followed, and Ultraviolet's brows rose, her smile still as wide.

"That's a–really! I wonder if I could convince her to do such a thing for myself. She is, after all, the bearer of generosity, ah..." Ultraviolet paused, regarding Zuri with curiosity. "Pardon me, I just realized you may not know what the Elements of Harmony are."

"No no, I had the elements explained to me earlier, I want to know as much of your culture as you will permit." Zuri answered. It was surprising to her that she did not have to draw on reserves of patience to deal with these nobleponies so far. Perhaps this was just because Ultraviolet was the tip of the iceberg. ...Or perhaps she was the base of it.

"Are you the only one of your kind to come to the Gala tonight?" Inquired a rigid-standing noblestallion. The question wasn't out of curiosity, Zuri could tell from the way he said it, and the uncomfortable expression on his face. It was as if her presence inflicted physical pain on him.

"Two companions of mine are around, yes. Most likely you can find one with Rainbow Dash. I can promise, they will want to talk to you as much as you to them." She followed this with a passive aggressive smile, which seemed to make the stallion's pursed mouth tighten even more. He nodded and gave very curt thanks, stepping away from her quickly, and bumping into a mare behind him.

"Oh! Pardon me, sir," said Ruby Nights, as she slipped past the stallion, and flashing him with a dazzling smile. He blinked, and grinned back, not noticing his wallet suddenly ducking underneath Ruby's dress cloak. Only Zuri noticed this, but quickly moved her eyes elsewhere. She certainly wasn't going to get Ruby caught.

Ruby's face brightened at seeing Zuri, then darkened at seeing Shade, and then contorted with surprise at the sight of Ultraviolet right next to him, smiling affably at her.

"Hello there, miss," she purred at Ruby. "I don't believe we've met. I am countess Ultraviolet, and this is my fiancé..."

"Oh..." Ruby said, a little stupidly. "Erm, I am Ruby Nights, and I know your fiancé, in fact." She eyed Shade, regarding him for a moment.

"Do you, now? It seems Shade has a lot of friends I know very little about." Ultraviolet gave him a look, and despite those synthetic eyes, even Zuri could understand the almost humorous, sharpened emotion in them. "I hope to remedy that soon enough."

"Yes, we definitely know each other," Ruby continued, switching between smiling at Ultraviolet and borderline-glaring at her betrothed. "For quite a while. We even sometimes do business, given his occupation."

"Right," Shade mumbled, quelled by the two pairs of eyes set on him at once.

Someone leaned over to whisper something in Ultraviolet's ear, and she cleared her throat. "Pardon me, I've got some matters to settle in private. It was lovely meeting you two!" She beamed again at Zuri and Ruby, before departing. Other nobles who had crowded around them broke off into separate discussions.

"I... Guess I should congratulate you, Shade." Ruby began slowly. "So... Why didn't you ever mention her name, to get me to believe you?"

Shade regained that wide grin of his. "You never asked, now did you?"

Ruby opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, then held up a hoof. "You are so lucky I'm in a good mood tonight."

Shade and Zuri laughed, for very different reasons. Ruby snorted and walked away, ducking into another group of ponies. "That probably wasn't the best thing to say to her," Zuri remarked, still grinning.

"I speak only the truth!" Shade declared, holding a hoof to his chest. "And nothing but the truth, except in the case of why you're here. Anyway, what do you think of her? Ultraviolet, I mean?"

"She seems very nice to me." Though I can't for the life of me imagine why you chose someone with so much metal replacing flesh.

"She's always that way, which is one reason why I chose her, rather than some other mares who tried dragging me in." Shade's eyes flitted over to a few other mares in the crowds, none of whom looked back.

"Most mares of your caste aren't as kind?"

"Some are, some aren't. A lot of them consider themselves to be worth a lot more than they are, probably because of bad parenting. I would know; I got some of it myself." Shade's lips curved downward in a frown, before he regarded Zuri again. "What are your parents like, are they still alive? Er–sorry, that was really blunt."

Zuri guessed he had reason to be so blunt, if his own parents were not. "It's alright, they are still alive, on that note." At any rate, I hope they are, by the time I get out of here. "I think they raised me well, though I hardly have enough world experience to really tell. You'll notice I'm still pretty young."

Shade shrugged. "Well, not too young. You'd be permitted to drink, here, if you wanted to."

"I don't want to. I've never tasted alcohol, and I'd rather not try it right away."

"Well, alright, I bet if you know Ruby at all she's tried to push it on you at least once."

"It wasn't really pushing, though. More like not-so-subtle suggesting it. Anyway, what are your parents like?"

Zuri could tell Shade didn't want to answer that one. His face set, he took a breath before answering. "Cold, hard to please. Know anyone like that?"

"I know a few, yes." Zuri could think of a lot of them, actually. A lot of Oun-Drii families in Oun-Drii weren't known for their forgiving nature.

"Good, then I don't have to go into too much detail. I'd prefer to instead set you up with a good crowd of nobles to converse with, while I go hunt down Ultraviolet again."

"Leaving me behind? I thought she wanted to be in private."

Shade grinned at her. "She did, but eventually she'll try to seek me out again. I'd rather save her the trouble."

They walked together for a little bit, before they were suddenly set upon by a very pregnant mare, wearing the same sort of regalia as Twilight Sparkle had. The only difference was that this mare was much taller, pink all over, with curled yellow, purple, and pink hair. Next to her walked an equally tall, white unicorn stallion, with a ruffle of blue hair, that looked as if he had just removed a helmet.

"Oh, perfect!" Shade said without a hint of sarcasm. "Zuri, may I introduce you to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and her spouse, Captain Shining Armor. And, your highness, captain, this is Zuri Oun-Drii Sara, paying a visit to experience pony civilization and high life."

"It is lovely to meet you," Zuri bowed her head respectfully to Cadence, but received but a poorly hidden giggle in response.

"Now that is a story some ponies strutting around here would believe." Chortled the princess, obviously trying to smother her laughter and doing a very bad job of it. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that was very impolite. Shining, is anyone looking our way? These stupid hormones..." She heaved a sigh, failing to work the smile off her face.

"You're fine, Cadence, just be careful how loud you talk." Her husband reassured her, having difficulty concealing a smile as well. He turned and addressed Zuri, "it is good to meet you, lady Zuri. Twilight told us a little about you, maybe a little too much."

Cadence spoke again, finally beginning to regain control of herself. "I won't let anyone know about that, Shining. I'm more worried I'm going to make a fool of myself."

"A rational fear," Zuri commented, "I'm quite certain I will do the same tonight."

"What, the Retanoga?" Shade questioned.

"No, the Waltz; you are only so good of a teacher." Zuri said, smiling cheekily at him.

Cadence suddenly cleared her throat, looking fascinated at Zuri. "Pardon me, but I was under the impression Sir Shade was already spoken for, or have I read things wrong?"

"You've, um, read things wrong," Shade coughed, sounding embarrassed. "Zuri is not my date, I am escorting her. My date is my fiancé, Ultraviolet."

"I know the name of your fiancé, Sir Shade." Cadence said dryly, smirking at him. Shade coughed again, looking more uncomfortable. "I wonder if you and Shining could keep one another company. I think I shall have a word with Lady Zuri, for just a moment."

Shining Armor looked surprised at this, but apparently picking up on some hidden message, he took Shade aside and delved into conversation with him. On what subject, Zuri could not guess. Her attention was directed towards Cadence, who stared intently at her, and Zuri realized it was a sort of soul-searching gaze.

"I know that look in your eyes," Cadence whispered, grinning a knowing grin. "Your eyes are the window to your heart, and of all ponies, I can see one's heart more clearly than any other can."

Those hormones must be worse than she thought, Zuri mused. "It's no use hiding it, Zuri, I know that look. That is the look of a mare who is gradually falling for a stallion and doesn't even know it yet."

Zuri blinked. "I-what? What are you talking about?"

"I'm the princess of love, Lady Zuri," Cadence explained, speaking with a sort of hushed smugness at confronting Zuri about this. "My special talent is spreading it around, fueling it, strengthening relationships between lonely souls. It just so happens I can pick up on you and Shade as if someone were hitting me over the head with it."

Zuri's eyes widened, face beginning to heat up. Terribly extreme hormones, then. "He's an engaged stallion of another species. I feel like I've said it a thousand times, now!"

"Probably because you have, to yourself, as an excuse." Cadence stood up straight. Infuriatingly, she was nearly as tall as Sibulla. "I've got a practiced eye, Zuri. You could hide your interest in him from me about as well as I could hide my pregnancy from anyone with eyes." She gestured again to her stomach. "Badly."

"I would never pursue it," Zuri protested. "He is—"

"Engaged, yes, but not yet married. What if he and Ultraviolet aren't a good match? I could only tell you that if I spent a while with each of them. Learnt the specifics of their personalities."

"Yet you can supposedly pick up on my attrac–interest?" Zuri shook her head, biting her lower lip at the slip-up.

Cadence's eyes narrowed with amusement. "I can see it in your eyes whenever you look at him. Whether you like it or not, it's there. You're interested, and more than that, perhaps. He most certainly doesn't dislike your physical aspects, but he'd need a wakeup call from Ultraviolet if he were to be yours."

"But I don't want him to be mine!" Zuri argued, trying to keep her voice down. "I've got a number of reasons for it."

"Oh? Let me hear them." Said Cadence, still looking very amused.

"Firstly, he is a pony," Zuri began. "I am a zebra. That is so may differences put together —culture, society, home planet..."

"Though we're from different planets, we're awfully similar, don't you think?" The princess responded, looking as if she were enjoying baiting someone, rather than arguing.

"Secondly," Zuri began more firmly, ignoring her. "His personality would never fit mine. Ruby Nights and I were arguing about him, and in trying to convince me to avoid him she warned me about his objectification of mares in the past."

Cadence's smile grew. "And what if he has changed since that 'past'? What if he's become more worthy a stallion? And think carefully, if she had to convince you, you might have been defending him, then. Why bother doing that if no part of you even marginally liked him?"

Zuri opened her mouth to answer, and closed it again. She wouldn't lie, and telling the truth wasn't going to help her case. "Finally, I am leaving this city very soon. There would be no point in going after him in that short a time!"

"What is there to stop you from coming back?" This time Cadence conveyed genuine curiosity. "Surely it would not be too much of a problem to visit again."

"Paradise City is only a stop on my journey," Zuri responded. "I'm trying to leave, and I have had enough trouble getting to this city just to find a way to go back home. I hate to think what I'd have to go through if this city was my end goal."

Cadence shrugged. "Then maybe it's better to try now than to lose any chance. Maybe I'll start working on that wake-up call... Let's get you meeting ponies while you're still here. I'm sorry for the intrusiveness, it's not just the hormones."

Reluctantly, Zuri allowed herself to be lead over to another crowd of nobles, and she exchanged her name and title with them. She was happy to find that none of them knew anything about zebric culture or even zebric, and, Cadence apparently being extremely sharp in terms of judging character, they were all friendly enough to treat her as an exotic guest. There was Fancy Pants, an aging, fabulously rich socialite whom Zuri deduced was the father of Minister Pants, accompanied by his wife, Fleur-De-Lis. She had the same level of extensive cybernetics applied to her body as Ultraviolet, and though she had done herself up very beautifully—pink mane scrupulously brushed so that it went from the top of her pinkish-white head to the sides, then to the back revealing her metal cyan eyes accented by a near-excess of makeup—it was evident that age was not going to be kind to her. Both of them were very nice (albeit sometimes blatantly insensitive), though their son, also present, had a more fixed smile on his face when he greeted Zuri for the first time that night.

"I think I speak on the behalf of my fellow ministers, when I say you're a welcome addition to the guest list." He said, nodding a bit too much to be believed.

"Then I will thank you all, in turn," Zuri returned, beginning to enjoy herself now that the subject of Shade and her had left the forefront of her mind. "Minister Candid Camera did say she would like an interview, did she not?"

This seemed to intensify the degree of hidden displeasure in Minister Pants' face, much to Zuri's amusement. "Father, I've got business to attend to, pardon me." He declared, before making a hasty exit.

"You've made friends very quickly, lady Zuri!" Observed Fleur-De-Lis. "However did you do so? How do we compare to your, erm, pardon me, Oon-durrie?"

What an amazingly painful mispronunciation. Zuri got some practice keeping her kind, polite smile was genuine-looking as possible. "I see just what I came for, Dell Fleur-De-Lis, which was to discover any similarities between our two cultures."

"What conclusions have you come to, then?" Cadence asked in a very genuine- sounding tone.

"It is amazing," Zuri answered, truthfully, "our two cultures have such alike practices for social gatherings. This Grand Galloping Gala reminds me vividly of some weddings I have visited, or private festival celebrations. Though we often dance more than we speak, at the latter."

This caused Fleur-De-Lis, her husband, and the nobles around them to chuckle. "We'll do plenty of dancing tonight, Lady Zuri, do not worry."

"Come to think of it," began Fancy Pants, "I was under the impression that you would be dancing for us, tonight. A special, completely zebric arrangement."

There was a rumble of interest amongst the nobles, some nodding in assent.

Zuri nodded, "yes, tonight I am to perform the Retanoga, it translates to 'Lady's beauteous dance'. I am also under the impression that I will be performing a waltz with Sir Shade, my escort."

This information caused everyone nearby to suddenly grow much more interested, and emit a strange combination of noises of eager anticipation and, puzzlingly, amusement. Perhaps escort meant something Zuri had certainly not meant. It could also be that certain, less savory parts of Shade's reputation preceded him. "It promises to be quite a night for you, for all of us!" Said Fancy Pants, smiling along with the crowd. "I wonder exactly when that will take place."

Quite suddenly, Shade seemed to appear at Zuri's side. "In another five minutes or so, I'd say." He said, a little curtly, before pulling Zuri away from the group with an equally hasty, "pardon us, sirs, ladies."

"You seem very rushed, are we late for something?" Zuri asked, looking around as Shade guided her closer to the source of the music. A large orchestra, taking up a large part of the much larger room.

"What? Nah, but better to have some time to prepare oneself that doesn't involve talking about what you're going to do. Don't want to spoil too much, either." He grinned at her. "By the way, does that dress of yours allow you to pull off Retanoga?"

"As if it weren't there," Zuri answered. "Will it let us perform the waltz without trouble?"

"As if you knew the waltz by heart," his grin widened. "Which, of course, you don't, but I'm hoping you learned something."

Zuri shrugged, his humor was contagious. "Well, you aren't that bad a teacher, I don't think. Where are we headed?"

"To talk to the conductor, to make sure he understands what he's supposed to be conducting." He pointed to the gaunt unicorn at the head of the orchestra, dressed just like the most conservative of the noblestallions. The Conductor was very friendly, and though Zuri didn't recognize the format of the music Shade showed him, he seemed excited to use it. "Hardly ever get to play a song this extravagant amongst these ponies. The or hestra was surprised to see this on their repertoires for the month." He remarked, grinning at the both of them.

"Allegreatango, at the Gala! And here I was, thinking I'd never conduct something from Karl Flankins' remakes..."

"It's the closest thing I could find that you'd be able to perform the Retanoga with," Shade explained to her. "I hope it isn't too distracting."

Zuri scoffed quietly at him. "I've dealt with sand and fire coming at me from opposite sides, I'm a Sand Trancer, I can handle an orchestra."

"Well, good. You won't have much time to get used to them directing the rhythm, you're supposed to begin the Retanoga in about ten minutes, then the waltz when you finish."

"Where do I begin?" Zuri asked, looking around their crowded vicinity.

"Right over... There." He pointed towards a few groups of chattering ponies clumped together. Out the corner of her eye, Zuri saw the conductor wave a signal to someone in that direction, and suddenly the groups of ponies began stepping away from one another, clearing up plenty of space to perform any lone dance. "I'm to walk with you, while the announcements take place." And he did just this, guiding her towards the open space with a very gentle brushing against the shoulder.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts," began a loud voice, reverberating off the ceiling. Please direct your attention to the in the center of the hall. We are proud to be host to Lady Zuri Un-Dree Sara and her two companions, and as part of tonight's entertainment, Lady Zuri Un-Dree Sara has graciously consented to begin the dancing with a lone dance, one signature to her culture." Well, the pronunciation was even worse, but at least with this announcement Zuri could rely on most nobles greeting her the same way afterward. Shade stepped with her into the large circle, and Zuri looked around at the faces that made it up. There were so many she had never seen before, all their best features carefully cultivated, so many different combinations of colors for hair and fur. Then, there were some she did recognize, as followers of Ultraviolet, Filthy Rich, Fleur-De-Lis... Finally, she started spotting faces she knew by name, who had apparently just recently pushed themselves to the front of the crowd to see.

Yes, there was Druva, standing next to Macintosh as she had predicted, and Druva's encouraging smile seemed lackluster. Then she saw Uzul next to Rainbow Dash, stars, but she looked good in a dress, that crazy rainbow mane of hers somehow made to behave. Then Fluttershy, looking smaller than she really was, probably on purpose. Then Applejack, also next to Macintosh, giving Druva a suspicious look. Ruby Nights, looking quiet and calm, though her eyes were dancing with anticipation. Rarity with those black legs and black gown, beside Twilight and Cadence—between them, even—apparently near-paralyzed with excitement. Pinkie Pie, dressed in candy, looking near-volatile with, well, it was obvious. All of Zuri's acquaintances, and among them, her friends.

Zuri stood in the middle of the huge circle. Shade left her there, only after stopping to whisper in her ear, "you don't need luck, just work it."

This got a smile out of her, as he walked away. The lights dimmed for a moment, then brightened, and Zuri realized they were focussing on her, just like the hundreds of pairs of eyes. Now but for the gift of a backbone do I faint, because it would so fit my streak of luck...

The music began, slow and quiet. Zuri pushed back the sides of her dress, and began the Retanoga. It began with a slow, dramatic spin, letting the dress move with her like liquid. Her hooves clapped upon the cool floor in time with the music. Slowly, she dove, sweeping her legs with her, making as if she could glide above the surface, before straightening up and going into another dance step in one fluid motion. It was easier than breathing, with the music in the background, all her steps suddenly seemed to mold to fit into the rhythm and shape of the song. It sounded at first like the slow waltz music Shade had used for practice, but then changed suddenly with the entrance of a choir, not singing intelligible words, but... Vowels? It didn't

matter, somehow, it fit. Zuri was soon too caught up in the dance to care to look at the orchestra, but the music was perfect for this.

The crowd seemed to be enjoying it too, or at least was very well trained. They were stone silent, but their faces, even those with the cold metal eyes like Ultraviolet's or Fleur's, were alight with awe. Every flowing movement Zuri made was followed by the eyes of the crowd. Zuri felt more and more as if she were completely alone, with the silence around her. Flying in a room with nothing but music for company, what a peaceful thought. If she wasn't so wrapped up in the dance she might have curled up to take a nap right there.

Now, the music was slowly ending, with a new instrument and a lone dramatic singer involved. She fit her stepping rhythm to the instrument, giving all her motions more of a clipped sharpness, though still somehow smooth and round. As the song slowly wound down, with singer and solo instrument concluding their parts in a harmony, Zuri drew herself in, standing straight and still as a statue, and then bowed her head low as the ringing of the last note died in her ears. There was a beautiful, perfect silence for a fraction of a second, before the world came thundering back to Zuri in a storm of applause.

———

"I see you took my advice." Shade said, once he had a hold of Zuri, and the waltzing music began. "Filthy Rich is definitely going to have his mind off of his personal safety after seeing that. I wouldn't be surprised if you got at least twelve requests to dance, Zuri. That was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

Zuri went red, smiling more inwardly than she let on. "I'm guessing modesty will get me nowhere."

"It certainly won't. It was amazing, and unique. I've never seen any zebric dancing before, and something introduced like that by someone with your looks," at this he faltered only for a second, seeming as if he he almost wished to take back saying that, before moving on. "It's almost invariably going to be, well, stunning! I'll be the one to say it politely: that dress most definitely fits you. Now, if you could only learn a pony dance..." He chuckled, as she nearly stumbled and fell after a misstep.

"That wasn't my fault, you're making me blush." Zuri defended, feeling said blush begin to heat up her face. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, it was much more exhausting than this slow work."

"Very dreary, isn't it? That Retanoga is probably all the excitement some prissy ponies here can handle for the next six hours or so, given what little action they're used to."

With a smirk, Zuri observed, "I notice you exclude yourself from this group of prissy ponies. Are you trying to impress me?"

He shrugged. "If I haven't done it yet, then yes."

"You impressed me plenty when you agreed to be my escort, thank you. I think I might be getting the hang of this, don't try to distract me."

Shade put on an expression of helplessness. Zuri didn't believe for a second that he couldn't help himself. "Well good, the harpist in this piece is playing her heart out, and it'd be a waste if you couldn't enjoy it properly by falling all over yourself."

She frowned, still red, and retaliated by kicking one of his knees, getting a nice "ow!" out of him. "If I can help it, I won't be the one falling over tonight." She grinned at him.

"Bah, I've been going easy on you," Shade said, just as he spun her in time with the song, and spun she did, two extra times, just like the beginning of her lone dance. It caused her long black and violet gown to spin with her, looking like a vortex of dark silk. She ended the accent by locking forelegs with him for a half-second and then continuing the waltz normally. It won her a few more oohs and aahs from some onlookers, that time. "...Or maybe it's been the other way around. Have you been lying to me about your ability to learn, Dell Mansa?"

"I just feel giddy, pulling that off with everyone watching. Can you blame me?"

Shade looked like he was about to answer, before a stallion suddenly approached them. It turned out to be Fancy Pants, blue mustache twitching occasionally. "Pardon me, may I have this dance? My wife's open, unless someone else got to her first, Shade."

Shade smiled, nodded, and stepped away. "If so, I should give my own some attention. Wedding's coming up soon, after all." He moved amongst the dancing couples, and disappeared from Zuri's view. Fancy Pants took up the lead, and Zuri went right along with it.

"Your lone dance was a spectacle to behold, lady Zuri," he told her, his expression glowing. "I've seen many incredible dances performed by ponies on stage, and that easily matches the best of them. You should be proud of that skill you have with hoofwork."

"Thank you, mister Pants," Zuri answered, anticipating a long night of hearing complements such as this, probably degrading in sensitivity as they came along.

"I also see Lord Shade did a marvelous job teaching you the waltz—I've had to dance with many inexperienced mares in my time." Is that why you left your wife behind in favor of me? "But you're unlike them. You're a natural with your legs. Now, Un-Drii is your caste, correct?"

"Oun-Drii is, yes." Zuri corrected him. Could none of these ponies pronounce it right save for Shade? At least he took the time to say it right, Fancy Pants rattled it off completely the wrong way.

"What about central government? Do you have a monarch? Minister?"

"We have premier elders ruling, those among us wisest, most experienced, elected most ideal for the role of leadership. The only zebric monarchs are those in the far marshes."

"I see," he said, sounding as if he'd been expecting a different answer, but wasn't really impressed or disappointed by what he did hear. "Why no monarchy further out west, in these desert lands?"

"The desert makes it harder for there to be a centralized government, but Otoul, my home, is usually regarded as the center of culture among desert zebra."

"Interesting!" Fancy Pants said, sounding as if he meant it. "And what of the fashion? I understand you acquired this dress of yours from miss Rarity—a good friend of mine! It complements your fascinating colors very well. How does it compare to what you normally where?"

Zuri smiled bashfully, "we Oun-Drii often wear many different kinds of regalia, upon our necks, bodies and legs. There are many kinds of dress cloaks, which one wears to parties and outside in the desert. This dress is something I would wear very rarely, maybe just to keep it in ideal condition."

"Oh, I agree with that. Isn't Rarity a fantastic dressmaker? I once had a chance to offer her all the connections she'd need to become the talk of Canterlot." He smiled ruefully before continuing, "that was just before she lost her legs, and she didn't exactly need to accept my offer then."

"You sound upset about it," Zuri murmured.

"Oh, Lady Zuri, I'm not upset that she denied my offer! She chose to value her friendships above her own gain, something I respect greatly, and it in the end worked wonders for her business. After all, look what she's done for you!"

"Pardon me, may I have this dance?" Came another voice, this time from yet another perfect-white unicorn stallion, only this one had golden-blonde hair, and royal blue eyes.

"Ah, come to meet tonight's special guest, Blueblood?" Fancy Pants said, his grin suddenly very tight.

"Mm, yes, pardon me, Fancy." He said, in an unmistakably arrogant tone. "I want to have my own time with Lady Zuri."

Blueblood turned to her, and she was immediately struck by the aesthetic likeness to Shade, with the exception of color. His hair was combed back, letting her enjoy his eyes and face. Arrogant though he may be, he did not look bad, not at all. Zuri stopped for a moment, glaring at herself inwardly. First Shade and now this one, too? Something must be really wrong with her. Or maybe it was that the ponies in their decadent self-indulgence filled the air with many sexual hormones. Those hormones couldn't be her own.

The stallion flashed her a blinding smile, and bowed. "Hello, Zuri Oun-Drii Sara," Stars above, did he say that right the first time? He did! "I am Prince Blueblood. My, you have a lovely dress on, and your dance, the Retanoga, was absolutely captivating. I am so glad you chose this Gala to come, I decided I must meet you." His smile continued being bright and eager, confident. He took her forehoof and kissed just above the shoe, not taking his eyes off hers. Wait, is this colt actually trying to court me? That's never happened before. At least he's charming.

They began to dance, and she immediately noticed he lead powerfully. He practically carried her around the hall, all the while continuing to complement her, almost excessively. "You dance divinely," he murmured, a little melodramatically, in her ear.

"I'm sorry, but I know that is a lie." She whispered back, fighting to retain some semblance of the blue natural to her cheeks. "I hardly know this dance."

Blueblood frowned. "No? But you've been such a good follower! And again, that Retanoga was a marvelous sight to see."

Zuri fought back the growing urge to beam at him. "Maybe that's just natural talent, as Fancy Pants said. Shade only had a few days to teach me anything."

"In that case your talent lies in being a fast learner, otherwise you'd never have made it this far." Blueblood continued, giving her a very warm grin. "You know, you're the first lady I've met—first Zebric lady too, mind you—who has been so honestly humble. It's a trait you ought to keep."

"Thank you, Your highness, erm, should I refer to you like that? I'm unfamiliar with your customs."

"Just call me Blueblood, lovely Zuri." 'Lovely Zuri'? Someone should give this colt a trophy.

Blueblood seemed concerned for a moment, before laughing a little. "Lady Zuri, you're blushing so brightly! Have I offended?"

Goodness, he only noticed now? She'd been the same shade of beet-red for more than ten minutes. Was it poor eyesight or just chivalry? I like the latter. "I... No, your words are just very, um..." She couldn't find the right word for it.

"Ah, I see. Pardon me, but I feel I ought to give credit where it's due."

Well, she'd found a few decent nobles after all, among these ponies. Maybe even Ruby would have no scruples with this one. The one thing she couldn't put her hoof on was the feeling of familiarity with his name. She was certain she had heard it somewhere before, but wasn't sure where.

"You have such beautiful stripes, lady Zuri." Said Blueblood, his eyes only searching her over once while he said this. Once! Yay, chivalry! "Are you the only zebra with such colorful stripes? It seems so unique..."

"I-I am," Zuri stammered, as he swung her gently around. "I don't get very much appreciation from most zebra. They're used to black and white stripes—eep!" In her continued flushed state, she had tripped over someone's hoof, probably her own, but Blueblood moved faster than she fell, and caught her. It took a few seconds to realize that this catch had gotten

her suddenly very close to him. Chests touching, noses warming one another with breath close. Stars, he's good at this. What a complexion. Blueblood smiled dazzlingly again, letting her stand straight before picking the dance back up.

"Evidently not many of them know what real beauty is." He continued, almost as if nothing had happened. "Among all these ponies you are a singular beauty, Lady Zuri. I could tell from the moment I saw you dance alone, you were worth more than just your stripes."

His words were chosen perfectly. Blueblood had gotten Zuri even more giddy than before. She was surprised to find that she also felt very warm in an area that could be politely referred to as a nether-region. Hello, nether-region. Haven't heard from you in a while. Very charming indeed. A thought snagged her feelings for a moment, reminding her that some of what Blueblood had said had been said by others. But, she argued with herself, no one else said it that way. Except for, say, Shade. Then again, he's off limits, and this Blueblood isn't.

But you're leaving so soon, remember? Waste of time, like you said earlier.

Best to take advantage then, maybe, and follow Cadence's advice? He's just a charming stallion... Besides, it really wouldn't be that bad to try. What's the worse that could happen? It was a tempting proposition, to allow herself to be wooed for tonight. She could do with a good wooing, there had been so few for her. So far, Blueblood seemed to have done marvelous job of it.

Blueblood interrupted her thoughts. "Might we take a short walk out in the gardens, Lady Zuri? I think you could do with some fresh air."

Well, how could she say no to an offer like that? "Yes, I think I'd like that."

"Very well then! Come, I can take you to the gardens." He took her aside from the dancing crowd, and guided her towards a large doorway, where a cool breeze was coming in from outside.

As they went, Zuri noticed several eyes following their progress. She looked around, to see several couples staring at her. No, not her, but Blueblood. What a strange expression on their faces. Was it disgust? They most likely resented him for spending time aside from the dancing with a zebra. The racists, they wouldn't even look at her. Every time she caught someone's eye, they frowned, shook their head, and turned away. It made her annoyed, but not enough to override the other feelings she presently had.

Blueblood showed her to a dark path along the inner castle wall, lined with decorative plants of every color. The only light was from the hundreds of stars, the bright, huge windows on the castle's walls, and the twin moons orbiting Palosol, looking like a pair of eyes watching all the goings on at night. Everything was so peaceful, with small birds twittering in the background, the wind rustling the leaves of the huge assortment of foliage.

"Hardly any clouds tonight," Blueblood said, looking up with her. "I've always this your planet's twin moons, slowly circling one another in their orbit. They look very much like they're having a dance of their own. Though," he looked down at her, grinning. "I honestly think you might be better at it than either of them."

She giggled, though she admitted this wasn't helping her in the fresh air at all. She still felt like her stomach was full of very hormonal butterflies. "I thought you brought me out here so I could use the fresh air."

"Mm, I did, didn't I? Well, I thought it may also be a better atmosphere, Lady Zuri." He continued grinning, though his head turned from one side, slowly, eyes seeming to search their surroundings, before returning to her. Looking at her seemed to make him very, very relaxed. "Even in the moonlight, you are a nonpareil belle. Why are you not spoken for already? Ah, because most zebra dislike your colors?" Zuri nodded mutely. "So unfair of them! Zebra though you may be, I can see you deserve all my attention. And, Lady Zuri, you have my undivided attention." He edged closer. Much closer, actually, in a very short timespan. Oh stars, is he coming in for a kiss? I think he is... Why am I not moving? For whatever reason, Zuri's muscles had stopped responding, and she suddenly felt Blueblood's mouth upon hers.

Well, this was much better than that stallion in the alley. This colt knew how for one thing, and he knew it very well. He kept his lips firm, yet not too firm to make them uncomfortable. It was like sticking her muzzle into a soft pillow, with very warm lips. Unconsciously, Zuri began to lean into the kiss, her eyes already shut, cheeks ruby-red. She couldn't tell which one of them pulled away first, but either way, the kiss broke.

Blueblood smacked his lips once, then flashed her a very warm smile. "My, that's a fine lipstick you have on. ...I'm sorry, have I overstepped, lovely Zuri? Am I too forward?"

"I-I... Well..." Zuri babbled, unable to form complete words. Instead, she shut her mouth, still flushed, and shook her head with a nervous smile.

He grinned, and leaned in again for another. Well, why not? Certainly not unwelcome.

This one was just as good as the last, and Zuri nearly melted, scooting closer so she didn't have to lean into the liplock so much. Stars, he was good at this. Too good, in fact. Now he was pushing a little. A little more now, smiling into the kiss. One of his forehooves had found itself on one of her shoulders. She broke the kiss this time, gasping a little. "P-pardon me, b-but your hooves..."

Said hooves didn't move. Neither did he, though he smirked at her. Now, she saw a certain, familiar look in his blue eyes. "Ahhh, my hooves...?" They were moving again, but not off of her. She had moved very close to him, and now one foreleg slowly trailed down her back, around her middle, and pulled her to his side. "I hope you don't mind a bit of pushiness, Lady Zuri. It comes with my station, as I'm sure you're familiar with."

Zuri blinked. "What?"

"Shh." He kissed her again, and while she had to admit it was very nice, his forehoof didn't remove itself from around her middle. In fact, it was sliding lower, lower still, until she felt a very sharp, very not-nice grope upon her left flank. Alarmed, she pulled away again, this time having to push him away with a hoof on his chest.

"I'd... Really rather you not do that, Prince Blueblood." She murmured, trying to emphasize his position, hopefully reminding him of the chivalrous code he seemed to have upheld earlier.

Blueblood cocked his head to one side, smile not entirely gone from his face. "Why not? Come here, you need to relax a little." The leg wrapped around her middle—no, that wasn't her middle, those were her flanks—tightened slightly, holding her to his side. Another rubbing grope, and Zuri let out a surprised squeak. "Shh, shh, come now. Don't play hard to get with me, Lovely Zuri. I've got to give you the royal treatment, after all." This time he pecked her on the cheek, much less nice. She stared at him in bewilderment. What was he doing? He was doing much better with just the kissing, but even that was pushing it. "What's the trouble, Lady Zuri? You don't look so well at the moment. Do you feel faint?"

"No, no I do not." She said, more firmly, trying and failing to wiggle gently out of his grasp. Ordinarily she'd just squirm away as roughly as possible, but this was the Grand Galloping Gala. More than that, this was the supposed Prince Blueblood. A member of royalty. You didn't hit royalty, especially if you were trying to escape from their city with as little delay as possible.

"I think you look much more pale than before." Blueblood remarked, still holding her very close, his other hoof slowly caressing her chest. She certainly felt pale. Red in the face she may have been, now she was utterly stunned by this sudden turn of events. "Come now, just relax, I'll show you a magnificent night."

"Y-you can't... You can't expect me to lay with you?" She said, her voice ending in a cracked squeak. This was not going the way she had hoped.

Blueblood looked sincerely surprised by this question. "Why, of course! Royal treatment, and all." He winked at her in what he must have thought was an endearing way. "Come, hike up that pretty gown..."

"No!" Zuri squeaked again, this time getting a little more force into her voice. "Prince Blueblood, really, what gave you the idea–"

"Why so coy?" He said, still holding her side to him, though he began to lean again, and simultaneously pushed her towards the soft soil path. "Come on, lovely, let me see more of that blue color of yours." His hoof made a grab for the edge of her dress, and tugged up.

"No! Stop that!" Zuri shouted, shouting loudly now. Not panicked yet, but if nopony came soon... "Get off of me, please!"

"Isn't this what you're used to?" He asked, grinning lasciviously, moving in for another kiss. He managed to stay on her lips for a few seconds, before she gave a hard shove—where was her strength before? His face came away from hers, and he grunted loudly. "What was that for? Touching my chest with your slippers on, and I just had myself groomed!"

"I told you to get off..." She growled, still struggling against him. Why couldn't she get free? Normally she'd have been able to pin him to the floor. It was then that she noticed his horn, glowing brightly. He was restricting all of her movements with that unicorn magic of his.

Blueblood side, and fixed her with one of those stunning smiles of his, but it didn't have the same effect as before. "Now see here, Lady Zuri, this is no way to behave. I'm merely treating you appropriate to your station."

"I am an Oun-Drii noblemare, Prince Blueblood. Is this how you treat your own noblemares? Please get off."

"Why, of course it is!" Blueblood said, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's a privilege for any noblemare to be called upon by the Prince Blueblood."

"Called upon I am, then." Zuri answered, getting more annoyed—and scared. "Please let me go. Why don't we just go back to the kissing?" She hadn't been expecting somepony this forward to corner her tonight.

For the first time, Blueblood frowned at her. "What? You're denying me? What was that before, then? I had you hot and bothered—I could tell. I could smell the pheromones wafting off of you." Once more, Zuri turned a perfect shade of red. "Aha, see? I can smell it on you now, and you say you don't want me."

"This is too fast for me. I don't want that..." Ugh... No matter how much my body might. What is with my hormones tonight?

Blueblood stared at her for a moment, still not letting her go. "I think you're lying. This is a clever ploy, isn't it? All girls like playing hard to get—they always do with me." Zuri almost shuddered at that. She probably wasn't the only mare who had rebuffed Blueblood's more forward actions, and she doubted any of them had been as lucky with actually repelling him. "Just to make me want you more, is that it? Unable to touch the forbidden fruit, hmm? Only now I am..." One hoof snuck under her dress, and Zuri went absolutely rigid. The hoof had gone straight to where no stallion's hoof had gone before. That was the last straw.

"Don't do that!" She shouted, trying to shove him away, and resorting instead to hit him in the face. He yelled in pain, and his horn lit up. Suddenly her hooves were held to her chest.

"That is not allowed..." Blueblood snarled, any semblance of kindness gone from his face. A few drops of blood came from the thick graze she had given him on one cheek, trailing down to his suit, and he scowled. "And I just got this suit from the tailor. You overexcited nag..."

Zuri continued to struggle. His hoof was still in a very forbidden place. Why didn't he take a hint, the stupid git? "Let me go, you edrecht!"

"Calling names, now, eh?" The unicorn took both forehooves, thank goodness, and shoved her against the ground, using his magic to restrict all her limbs. He then began to push her now slightly dirtied gown out of the way. "That's not part of the royal treatment. I think I'll get you to where you'll tell me what that means."

"I think what you're getting is yourself into a heap of trouble, Blueblood." Came another, very angry voice. Zuri turned her head around, still pressed agains the ground, to see Shade. Her hopes rose considerably, seeing as Shade looked particularly livid.

The sight of the stallion was apparently pleasing to Blueblood. He smiled, and waved a hoof in a motion that was evidently supposed to beckon Shade to him. "Ah, yes, Shade. I've got this nag all ready for myself. Sick of that robot frill yet? Metal's only fun for so long."

Shade did not move. "My fiancé holds my heart." He answered, looking near-pious. "Metal or flesh. Let Zuri go, Blueblood. This is a mistake."

"Bah, don't give me that." Blueblood scoffed. "Come over here, I'll let you have first round. Y'know, I usually took the first round, I think it should be yours at least once before you're married."

Shade stepped closer now, looking much angrier. "Nopony's having rounds, Blueblood. I already said it once, let her go."

Blueblood's smile faltered. "You're serious, aren't you? Want her all to yourself, then? Woo her better than I? She's an easy catch, that won't be hard. She strikes me as desperate for love, after all."

Well, that stung deeply. Zuri hid her face, afraid she might lose composure. "I don't want her to myself, Blueblood. I want her out from under you, now." Blueblood's smile vanished altogether. It seemed he finally understood what Shade was saying. "Make me, why don't you?" Blueblood said, arrogantly childlike. "What, going to hit the Prince like this nag did? I could have you shipped back to Equestria in a box just for trying to push me around."

"While you're looking for a good box to send me back in, look for one for yourself," Shade countered. "My rep may be rotten to some, but I've got friends in high places, and so does Zuri, here. Maybe you'd like to see how Princess Twilight looks when she's mad as all hell. You'd like that, I bet, given how much you ogle her behind her back."

Blueblood blanched—an impressive feet, given his white fur color. Thought it was obvious he wasn't giving up yet. "You'd never dare try that. Suggesting that a prince has an attraction towards his sister-in-royalty? Dirty mind you've got there, Shade. Why not use it more creatively on this zebra nag I've got under me?"

Shade's eyes narrowed. "You'd rather try and face Princess Twilight down, then? I hear her mane catches fire when she's really mad. She's also good friends with that fair Rarity maiden you met a year or two ago..."

Now that must have scared Blueblood. Almost immediately, Zuri felt her legs released from his magic, and he stepped quickly away from her. "This is some kind of reconciliation, is it, Shade? Trying to find 'inner peace' or some hogwash, after all those mares you had? Fine, I'll leave your love affair alone—don't bother denying it, your eyes say it for you, hypocrite. This isn't over, Shade, and not for you either." He glared at Zuri. Zuri glared back, getting to her hooves and beginning to straighten out her dress, just barely holding onto her composure. Nearly raped twice in the same seven days. How did anyone survive the whole thing?

Blueblood growled something unintelligible, and then went back indoors. Shade moved quickly to Zuri's side, helping her stay on her rather unsteady hooves. "Hey, Zuri, feeling okay? Blueblood's not a smooth stallion, really. He's a bit of a... "

"An asshole?" Zuri offered shakily, remembering the dialogue between Moondancer and Rainbow Dash, where she now remembered the name Blueblood from.

Shade blinked, then grinned and nodded. "Yeah, bit of an asshole."

"S-sure, a bit..." Zuri said with as much sarcasm as she could manage. It came out a very sarcastic-sounding whimper. No, stop it. No tears in front of anyone. It was bad enough with Rainbow Dash. Darn it all! I can't see with all this water in my eyes!

"You're not okay, then." Shade observed, moving in to put a hoof around her shoulder. Zuri began to move, thinking of how Blueblood's own hoof had gone first to her shoulder level, then lower, but she stopped. The damn tears kept falling.

She sat there and cried. For how long, she had no clue. Shade held her gently, not making any move, but simply acting as a shoulder to cry on. She rested in his mild embrace, simply waiting until she could regain control of herself.

"I thought he was real," Zuri stammered after a while. "He was so sweet and chivalrous—then turned out to be such an odilia. Why didn't anyone warn me about the slimeball that happened to be a prince?"

"I'm sorry, I should have remembered. That's his gig: he struts about 'till he spies a pretty and gullible loo..." He faltered, looking at the teary-eyed zebra resting her head on his shoulder. "Um... A nice looking mare who happens to be the star of a big show, and then flatters and woos them to where he can get between their haunches. Then he leaves. I know because he got me into trouble doing the same thing. That's... probably how Ruby got such a bad opinion of me. Sometimes he uses some heavy drugs to get the more clever, more resistant girls to give in. He's bragged to me while drunk that he sometimes keeps a mare tied up somewhere for a couple weeks, before using a memory-wipe spell and sending them out somewhere far away from him. You're one of the lucky ones."

"I hardly feel lucky." Zuri said, more like blubbered. "In the same hour I was being danced with, courted, and then downright dry-humped on the dirt road. I feel like an idiot." She spat on the ground, trying to get the residual feeling of Blueblood's mouth off of hers.

"Hey, Blueblood is a misogynistic bastard, but he's really good at dragging mares into his snare. You aren't an idiot, you're just lonely." He squeezed her shoulder gently, hugging her for a moment more. She definitely needed to use a shoulder to cry on, now with the fake wooing over. Thank goodness she hadn't worn much mascara, otherwise she'd have a much bigger mess on her face to clean up than must the dirt...

Lonely? Maybe. No, that was wrong. Who am I kidding, I'm downright miserable. "I'm not an easy catch, am I?" She asked, rather stupidly. Of course he wouldn't be able to answer that. He sighed and shrugged.

"I wouldn't know, but most of what comes out of Blueblood's mouth is either to make you feel butterflies in your stomach or as if you just got slapped in the face."

Zuri sniffed, managed a weak smile. "It's a weird combination of both, at the moment."

"That might be because you got your face smashed right into the dirt, which isn't free of rocks. Hold still, let me see." As gingerly as he could, he held her face with one hoof, examining her right cheek. It did hurt there, actually. She probably had a cut, to match the one she gave Blueblood. "Yeah... That ought to be cleaned. Your tears are starting to dry, how are you feeling now?"

Zuri swallowed, wiping her eyes with a hoof. "Nauseous, mostly. I always do after I have a breakdown like this."

"Not nauseous after nearly getting victimized?" He quirked an eyebrow.

Zuri smiled again, which seemed to please Shade as she spoke. "I guess a bit of that too. He seemed so real... I wanted something that was real, so it was easy for him to... Take advantage." Stars, now wasn't that a humbling experience.

"Well, nopony's alone forever. That goes for zebras, too," he encouraged. "Though maybe you ought to hold out for someone who isn't such a, y'know, asshole."

This time, she laughed, and however croaky it sounded, it was a laugh. "I keep hoping for that." She regarded him for a moment, and then felt a now familiar twinge, in multiple areas. Most of them were around the stomach-and-below area. All higher functions of her brain seemed to shut off for a moment, and before Zuri could stop herself, she kissed Shade full on the lips. Three seconds, a full three seconds of kissing, and then she got a hold of her wits again and pulled away.

Shade looked quite dumbstruck. No, not looked, there was no question about it. That kiss had left him completely and utterly gobsmacked. His mouth was open, no noise came out. Seeing as it was obviously becoming a recurring gag, at this point, Zuri's face was so flushed it was hard to imagine she had was any color besides red.

"I-I..." She began, now with wits returned to her able to realize what a huge mistake she had just made. "I wanted to..." She couldn't do this, especially not with Shade staring agape at her. Without anything else to say, she ran away, leaving Shade there, alone. She ran and ran, until she was inside again. She ran passed a very confused looking series of familiar faces, that she had no time to distinguish from one another. Then a pink blur caught up with her, somehow.

"Wheee~! Are we having a race?" Pinkie Pie chirruped, running alongside her.

Zuri slowed for but a moment, not really looking at Pinkie. "Where are the restrooms? Tell me now."

"Oooooooh, that kinda race!" Said Pinkie. "Over there, door on the left's the mares' stalls. Is it the fruit punch or the...?" Zuri went back to full gallop, her dress somehow flexible enough to allow this. She ran into the bathroom and shut the door behind her, breathing heavily. She seemed to be completely alone.

"Melose," she said aloud, hearing it reverberate around the sterilized white room. She stamped her hoof on the floor work out the emotional energy, shouting, "melose melose melose!"

Zuri went to the large mirror above the sinks, looking herself over. Face looked okay, aside from a red cut on her right cheek, and puffy-tear-stained eyes. The lowest parts of her dress were dirty, a few small tears all over it. She sighed and sat back, contemplating crying again. This is the most horrible night of my entire life. There is no way it could get even worse.

On cue, one of the stall doors behind her banged open, and Zuri looked up in the mirror to see... "Ruby? Why are you wearing Druva's dress?"

Druva blinked, looking as if Zuri were brandishing a gun at her. Then she blinked again, and her pupils suddenly became slits, irises turning emerald green. Her whole body, dress included, seemed to ripple, and change shape quickly. Zuri whirled around, staring in shock at Chrys, standing there in front of her. Only, she'd gotten a little taller.

Any thought of what had just happened flew out of Zuri's mind. All of her brainpower was focussed on trying to figure out how the changeling had gotten here, and moreover... "What happened to the real Ruby, and for that matter, Druva?"

Chrys blinked, then glared at her. It wasn't intimidating at all, merely indignant. "What, just because I put on someone's face means I have to beat them up? Have you been watching pony science-fiction shows? I just... needed a new disguise. My first one was too much of an attention whore, and I'll be damned before I dress up as a noblestallion."

After that, there was a prolonged silence, neither changeling nor zebra speaking, merely staring at one another. Finally, Zuri was able to break the silence. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm..." Chrys paused, wings twitching at her sides. She obviously hadn't expected to have to explain herself to anyone. "I'm still working on figuring out where I came from."

Zuri managed a, "oh, I see. Um... Have you found anything out?"

Chrys regarded her for a moment, probably deciding how much to tell her. "Some things, yes. I wasn't always this small, for instance."

"You were barely taller than a filly when we found you. What have you been eating?"

"It isn't so much food, as an accelerated aging process." The changeling answered, walking closer. "I found out this much: I was being shipped to the Frontier Forest terraforming labs, and I was supposed to reach full changeling maturity by the time I arrived, and then I would age normally. Well, normal for my species, that is."

"And how did you find this out?"

Chrys shifted in place, looking uneasy. "That's... That's the part I'd like not to answer at the moment. I've done a lot, in the time since I left you all behind."

"Well, that much is obvious, so why are you here now—specifically?" Zuri asked, even more curious.

The changeling walked up next to her, staring into the large bathroom mirror. "Give me a second to think of how to say this..." She licked her fangs, brushed a lock of her lifeless green hair out of her face, flicked her tail, and twitched her wings. "I'm looking for a stallion named Filthy Rich. Does that sound familiar?"

"The very same stallion we're looking for, actually." Zuri looked at her through the mirror. "He holds the key to our freedom from this city. What's your excuse?"

He's got a big stake in ESSUG research, which happened to be who held me in a box for such a long time. He sponsored that train's passage to New Appleloosa, and my transport to Frontier Forest. Moreover, he put a lot of money into the research budget spent on me. I want to know why, because I'm fairly certain he's one of the few ponies who actually knows where I came from, and why I was being genetically re-purposed for reshaping planets."

Zuri frowned at all this. "Would you be willing to tell me what that all actually means? What did ESSUG do to you, anyway?"

Chrys frowned as well, probably mulling over how to discuss it again. "I'm not really sure how they did it, but the kind of insect-spawning magic I use isn't some kind of offensive weapon, it's part of a more complex ecosystem stabilizer—a way to keep Frontier Forest the way it is, rather than have it deteriorate back into a barren desert area. From what I've been able to gather, I was supposed to reproduce at Frontier Forest, and with my newly made kin use the swarming magic to fill the forest with insects and microorganisms that couldn't have been shipped between planets conventionally. I know it's hard to understand all this babble, but in short, I'm supposed to be a multipurpose terraforming tool.

"A tool with no methods of control, it seems," Zuri commented.

This got a grin out of Chrys. "There were supposed to be genetic and magical safeguards implanted in me at the Frontier Forest labs. Of course, I never got there. You'd think that would be the first thing they put in, but apparently most of these heavy duty scientists have no common sense. By the way, you seem to believe what I'm saying right off the bat."

"I've already been told that you were being considered terraforming equipment. I've just recently gotten a few friends in high places."

"You mean like that princess who reads a lot? She's visiting."

"Yes! How did you know she-"

"There's a lot of information about her on pony information networks. Apparently she's a complete bookworm. Anyway, if she's that friend, that's a friend I could really use. Maybe you could introduce me."

Zuri winced, and shook her head. "That's not a good idea. She's also friends with Rainbow Dash, whom you beat up rather recently."

"Oh yeah..." There was another silence after that. It was a stroke of pure luck that no one else had walked into the bathroom. Finally, Chrys continued with, "I think I've got a proposition for you. Seeing as we're both trying to tackle Filthy Rich, why don't we work together? It might make things easier."

"Maybe..." Zuri looked her up and down with a significant expression. "You'd need a better disguise first."

"I'm open to suggestions. I can look like anything I can think of, but I'm not really good at thinking up an attention-diverting appearance on the fly." She smiled nervously.

"Hmm," Zuri mumbled, rubbing her chin and looking at Chrys' chitinous body. Stars, she had changed so much, so quickly. Nearly gone was the cheery, childlike creature she had met aboard Macintosh's train. Whenever Chrys looked at her, she could still see that familiar adolescent air about her, but just barely. One difference she noticed right away was that the feeling in Chrys' mannerisms and speech patterns that Zuri couldn't place before was now blatantly obvious. She's hungry, but for what? Some weird changeling form of emotional food? A friend? A home? Unconditional conjugal relations? Though she wasn't sure where that last thought had come from, the subsequent idea hit her like a brick to the head.

"Would you be able to change into me for a second?" Stupid question, Zuri had seen her do it before.

Chrys, as if remembering this, smirked, and was engulfed in green light for a fraction of a second. Zuri stood before Zuri, each in the exact same attire. "Easy."

"Now... Take the blue color out of your stripes all over, hair, body, everything. And make your eyes a different color. Restyle your hair how you like, and take off my dress!"

With a laugh, Chrys made these changes instantly. Now she looked more like any other zebra, with emerald eyes that looked very familiar. Though, she was still a perfect replica of Zuri's body shape. Stars, I should really eat more. I'm thinning, with all this stress and running around.

"So, what next?" Chrys inquired, looking over her zebra form. "I'll need a dress for myself. I'll stand out way too easily without one." She looked herself over again, before her face brightened. "Oh, wait! I've got an idea!" She disappeared in green light again, and reappeared clothed in an extravagant ballgown, using multiple shades of green and silver. "I saw this on the cover of a book somewhere, I think. I wanted an excuse to try it on, and well, here it is. So, who am I supposed to be, if anyone?"

Zuri grinned at this, that same idea was like a constant ray of inspiration from above. "Your name is Sibulla. Sibulla Oun-Drii Dakita. You're a close cousin of mine, and you've always enjoyed going to big parties. It might shock the Gala organizers who had no idea you even existed, but it won't matter in a few days." Well, the Dakita family being closely related to the Sara family was true, anyway.

Chrys looked pensive. "Sibulla... Isn't that one of your sacred spirits?"

While Zuri wondered in dismay how any pony had been able to learn that bit of culture and then was able to insert it in a changeling's mind, she answered coolly, "not very sacred to me, at the moment. She was going to show up at this party anyway."

Letting Chrys unravel that one, Zuri redirected her attention of mending her appearance. The changeling pitched in with her magic to clean dress of dirt and mend the cut on her cheek, and even did a little to help with Zuri's slightly disheveled hair.

Zuri walked to the bathroom door, with "Sibulla" close behind. "Now I left a lot of zebra and ponies out there very confused. Just hold to that story I gave you, improve it if you can think how. Out we go..."

Carefully, two zebras pushed open the door and walked back into the Gala hall. No one seemed to be looking their way at the moment, thank goodness. Zuri took up a trot, and Chrys followed suit, right beside her. "So, do you know what Filthy Rich looks like? I haven't found any picture of him, anywhere." The changeling asked, eyes surveying their surroundings.

"Not really. As far as I know, the plan was for Rainbow Dash to come find me when she'd spotted Filthy Rich, and then we'd back him into a nice, quiet corner."

Chrys' disguised face frowned. "But that would necessitate Rainbow Dash finding you—and, by extension, me."

They walked for a little longer in silence, smiling as politely as possible to anyone who looked their way, though no one approached them. That was until... "Lady Zuri! Oh, Lady Zuri! Might you know what became of my fiance?"

Uh oh... Zuri winced, turning around slowly, and put on a brave face for a smiling, although puzzled-looking Ultraviolet. "I don't think I have, Dell Ultraviolet. Why do you ask?"

"He seems to have completely vanished off the face of Palosol! I can't find him anywhere. I ask you because I saw you departing to the gardens with Prince Blueblood, and Shade following soon after."

"Oh." That one syllable hung in the air for a few seconds as Zuri scrambled to think about what to say. This was hard, because she was simultaneously scramblng to not think about the fact that she had spent the most intimate and enjoyable three seconds with Shade that she had ever spent with him not even fifteen-Stop thinking about it, damn it!

"Well, I didn't see him." She answered with a strained calm. "I left Blueblood in the gardens a while ago, in fact. I realized he wasn't good company." Wait, oops, is it alright to say that about their royalty—to their face?

Ultraviolet's lips curved upwards in a smirk. "Didn't take long, did it? Yes, some of us thought we should intervene on your behalf before Blueblood could drag you off, but if you managed to get away yourself—"

Oh melose, she's making it worse. I am so sorry I kiss your fiance, I really am. He just saved my innocence, his timing was amazing. Blame him! It isn't my fault he's got great timing and a sense of honor, and chivalry, and not to mention really kissable lips... What is wrong with me tonight?

"—we're just sorry you had to face him alone. It can't paint a good picture of our customs."

"Oh no, I don't blame your customs at all, Dell Ultraviolet." Zuri said, completely sincere, seeing as she blamed a particular stallion's natural attractiveness instead.

Ultraviolet smiled gratefully at this assurance. "Mm, well, if you do find him, try to direct him to me, would you? By the way, who is this?" She gestured towards Chrys, who blinked like a creature in the headlight of an oncoming train.

"My name is Sibulla Oun-Drii Dakita," she began, in the perfect imitation of a zebra who had not been speaking with ponies long. "Zuri and I are cousins. Did no one say I was coming?"

"Well, what a surprise! Not even Zuri mentioned you!" Ultraviolet said, bright and friendly as always. "It's so wonderful to meet you, Dell Sibulla. I am Lady Ultraviolet, and what do you make of our Gala?"

"Very big, very... colorful. I am unaccustomed to so many different colors of fur on ponies." Chrys commented without missing a beat, taking on the air of an Oun-Drii lady who was not entirely in her element.

Ultraviolet continued smiling, until something behind the two zebras caught her attention. "Oh, excuse me, I think I've spotted my husband." She darted off, and Zuri began trotting again, Chrys alongside her, in a different direction. The night wore on for several more minutes before she finally spotted their goal. There, finally, was Rainbow Dash, flanked by Big Macintosh and Moondancer. Even better, she was walking straight towards Zuri with an excited look on her face.

"I've found Filthy Rich. Going to pull him over now. Come on!" She hissed, not even noticing Chrys' presence. Well, that's just fine. We don't need distractions now. The same couldn't be said for Macintosh or Moondancer, however, who both eyed the second zebra with curiosity.

Rainbow Dash led them over to a part of the room where there were fewer ponies. However, there was an aging stallion present, with slicked back, graying black hair and a light brown coat. His pale blue eyes were complemented by his light blue tuxedo, which looked freshly pressed and kept meticulously clean. He didn't look particularly threatening. Zuri would say he looked uncomfortable, or anxious. Maybe because there was a lack of a personal guard around him.

Rainbow Dash snuck up until she was right behind the stallion, and with a big grin, she addressed him thus, "good evening, Mr. Filthy. I think we have a contract we need to discuss."

Filthy Rich whirled, eyes widening in alarm, yet somehow his eyebrows kept lowering in an expression of panicked anger. "M-miss Dash! I've had my ponies looking everywhere for you since Rock Pile. Why have you left your post? And more importantly, why have you attacked one of my daughters?"

Rainbow Dash smiled, looking as if she was enjoying this immensely. "Firstly, I've come to complain about the state you've left my mercenaries in with your employ. Secondly, Tough Love was a total brat, you should have named her something different and made her sleep in a room without the color pink in it. Pink bedrooms corrupt minds, you know."

Filthy Rich seemed to swell up in a mix of anger and an attempt to make himself look bigger. "You are hardly the one to be criticizing my parenting skills, Miss Dash, seeing as you couldn't even stay with your mercenaries at Frontier Forest!"

"Whatever are you talking about, Mr. Filthy? I brought my entire company with me. Didn't you notice my lieutenant, standing right next to me? We all have quite a few scores to settle with this contract."

"And why would that be, Miss Dash?" He asked through clenched teeth.

Rainbow brightly continued on. "Well, I guess this contract is like a serious cavity neglected by the dentist. It's slowly gotten worse over time and currently the only cure is to take the tooth out entirely." She fixed her eyes on his. "Come, Mr. Filthy. Let's discuss our business together, elsewhere."

The stallion looked as if he were about to react, but then he looked up, to see everyone Rainbow had brought with her.

"Mr. Rich," Big Macintosh intoned, "it would be a wise decision to do as she tells you."

At this, Filthy Rich snorted, but allowed himself to be led further away from anyone else at the Gala. Rainbow Dash lead her little party into a more secluded hall, turning a corner so that they were out of sight of anyone in the main hall. "So, are you here to knock me around?" Their target asked, sounding much more scared now than he had before. "You wouldn't dare, Miss Dash. Especially not with these zebra present. Think what the news media might make of it."

"Nice try, Filthy, but I already have a large amount of leeway over what the news networks say about me, being an Element of Harmony and..."

"And a friend of Princess Twilight Sparkle, I get it. The advantages of the preferential treatment."

"Mr. Rich, Ah'd ask you to avoid from makin' such ill-spoken comments about the princess while within these walls." Rumbled the big red stallion, looking not at all happy. He didn't have to expand on that thinly-veiled threat. The mere reminder of his presence quelled Filthy Rich considerably.

"Alright, alright, I'll deal," he said, looking at all of their faces with a mix of fear and hatred. The same kind of expression that Zuri had given many different ponies who had been threatening her with an assortment of discomforts. He'll get no sympathy from me. I didn't deserve that treatment, Filthy Rich brought this on himself.

"First off," Rainbow Dash began, sitting back on her haunches in a conversational manner. "I want me and my mercenaries out of this crappy contract you made us sign."

"Fine, that's easy. If you won't pound my face in while I take out my PDA..." He watched them cautiously, Big Macintosh especially, as one hoof reached into a sidepocket on his tuxedo. He withdrew a disk that was exactly the same diameter as his hoof. He placed it on the ground, and the device emitted a holographic image about a foot above itself. He manipulated something with his hooves, Rainbow Dash and Moondancer keeping a close eye on exactly what he was doing, before the device beeped, and the hologram vanished. "Done and done. Now you've got no mealticket." He sneered at them.

"That's next on the agenda." Rainbow Dash continued, grinning wider. "As part of ending the contract, The Rainbow Riders requires a group severance package, exactly equal to our pay from the start of the contract."

Filthy Rich's sneer fell off of his face, replaced with a very black expression. Oh dear, this might take a while.

Only, it didn't take a while. Macintosh just had to flex his excessively well-developed muscles and the coward broke down immediately. He offered no resistance towards Rainbow's third condition: to remove the order of landlock, and allow them to leave the city legally. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Filthy!" Rainbow Dash waved him off as he returned unhappy to the Gala, though she held his PDA in her own hooves. "Can't let him undo anything he just did. That would be dishonest business practice."

"That seems almost too easy," Zuri said. "What did you even need anyone besides Macintosh here for? He caved so easily."

"Well, you always have a mix of tough friends and tougher friends together, when you're trying to scare someone into doing something for you. Macintosh happens to count as toughest around here." Rainbow explained with a grin.

"Still though, it seemed so simple. We did so much work, and all Filthy Rich had to do to finish the job was push a few buttons. It just feels anticlimactic."

"Well, it should. Should it have felt properly climactic, that would mean there would be a higher body count. And contrary to what I say and do a lot of the time, I don't care for that, much." Rainbow shrugged. "This was the most ideal way to handle it."

"Well, then, we're in the clear, aren't we?" Zuri changed the subject, feeling upbeat. "Now we can leave Paradise City whenever we want."

Rainbow nodded. "Mmhmm! Right after I handle something else. Don't worry, it's real quick."

"Well, what is it, then?"

"Simple." Rainbow Dash turned to look at the still-disgsuised Chrys. "Who the hell are you?"

Zuri opened her mouth, though her brain lagged behind in coming up with an explanation. Instead, the zebra heaved a sigh, and with a shimmer and flash of green light, Chrys stood there in her natural form.

Rainbow Dash was not amused.