Chapter 22 - Masks, Part Two
The Traveling Tutor and the Royal Exam
Masks - Part Two
As the early arriving guests filtered in, Green Grass and his father stood next to each other and observed the costume party as it began to pick up velocity. Without Twilight or Lady Spring in the vicinity, the conversation topics between the two stallions were limited, but after a while, one of the two broke the uncomfortable silence.
“So,” grumbled Green Grass in as casual a tone as he could manage while trying not to look in the direction Twilight Sparkle had gone.
“Yeah,” responded his father, keeping his eyes pointed the same way. “What do you think they’re talking about?”
“Us, probably.” Two sets of eyes regarded the entrance of the ballroom and the Royal Herald taking his place to announce the guests. The two stallions checked their watches and let out matching sighs.
“Seven days almost to the hour,” said Baron Chrysanthemum. “When your mother and I were at this stage, our parents were still negotiating the final marriage settlement and resulting dowry. I’d only seen her twice by then, and hadn’t even heard her voice. Have you thought about a place to spend your honeyboom?”
“Dad!” Green Grass tried to frown despite the growing smile that was taking over his face. “Just because something happens every time we get together, doesn’t mean there’s going to be some end-of-Equestrian disaster during our wedding. What happened to Princess Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding was a fluke. After all, we’re both here, and nothing has happened so—”
“Announcing, Her Highness, Princess of the Crystal Heart,” sounded the stentorian voice of the herald, a rather short and nondescript Nocturne who seemed far too small to contain that much volume. “Ruler of the Northern Territory of the Crystal Empire and All Associated Airspaces, Vicereine of the Providence of Little Whinnypeg, Duchess of the Pericorn Valley, Dem— “
The herald paused with one hoof held up to the side of his helmet and a look of pure shock across his face, before doubling up with laughter and managing to wheeze out, “Princess Cadence and Shining Armor!” He was barely able to duck behind a curtain to compose himself afterwards, but that was not what caught everypony’s eye.
Cadence looked extravagantly radiant this evening, her mane done up in a series of glittering crystals and a golden crown that matched her elaborate gold-trimmed dress, while Shining Armor just looked… short. Far, far too short, in fact, trotting alongside Princess Cadence as they headed in Green Grass’ direction much as a young colt trotting alongside his mother.
In fact, exactly like a certain changeling colt trotting alongside his aunt.
“Greenie!” exclaimed the enthusiastic pink ‘alicorn’ with her forehooves opened wide. “Give your Aunt Cadence a hug!”
“Dad!” exclaimed Green Grass, nearly shoving his father in front of him as a somewhat rounded shield. “I’d like you to meet Ambassador…” He paused with one eyebrow raised in as much of a pantomime of Please-Tell-Him-You’re-Ambassador-Honey-Bear as he could possibly do without spelling it out on a placard and holding it up behind his father.
Besides, making his own sign was redundant, as Pinkie Pie was already standing behind his father with exactly the same message written out in pink lettering with glowing highlights.
“Ambassador Honey Bear of the Badlands,” she purred, ignoring the father’s outstretched hoof for a more personal hug that lasted far, far too long for Green Grass’ few remaining nerves, particularly after he saw Pinkie Pie bouncing away with a knowing grin. “And my son, Peep Sprout,” she added, motioning the smaller version of Shining Armor forward with the gentle push of her wing.
“I’m one of his students,” volunteered the little disguised changeling with a toothy grin. “This is awesome!”
“So this is your father,” Chrysalis said, turning to Martel with an evaluating look that swept across both father and son. “There’s definitely a family resemblance.” The disguised changeling took a deep breath with an expression resembling a small filly sniffing freshly-baked cookies. “I think I like Equestrian parties.”
Her nose twitched, Green Grass’ stomach gave a lurch, and the changeling queen leaned forward to sniff his stunned father right behind one ear.
“Ma’am!” Martel recoiled, but not before the disguised changeling queen got the most peculiar grimace and sneezed.
“Pardon me,” she gasped. “I seem to have gotten something up my nose. Thank you,” she added, as the older stallion pulled out a kerchief and floated it over to her.
“Ambassador, this is my father, Martel Chandler, Baron of Chrysanthemum. He’s married,” added Green Grass with as much emphasis as he could.
“Of course he is,” she purred. “I can tell. After all, I am the Princess of Love, at least for tonight, and he has the air of a stallion with a deep and well-aged passion. Like a fine wine, properly aged and served with the proper—” she fluttered her long eyelashes “—appetizers.” She slid one hoof down Martel’s jacket foreleg and looked over at his son. “Why don’t you take Peep to the nursery while your father and I get acquainted?”
“Because I don’t trust you?”
Green Grass had to admit the Queen of the Changelings had the perfect face for acting. The way she recoiled and held one hoof over her heart (or liver, or some other organ probably) was the perfect picture of extravagant outrage played for every bit of sympathy that any comedic actor would sacrifice a kidney to duplicate. “Moi?”
“Oui,” said Green Grass, determined not to yield an inch.
With a roll of her eyes, Chrysalis said, “Greenie. I’ll Princess Promise on this. No mind games, no tinkering with his willpower, and no angry Princess Luna hunting down my children for the next few thousand years. I won’t do anything but talk to your father about love and sex.”
With a push of one hoof on the back of his small odd student to get him moving, Green Grass trotted off with unusual speed in the direction of the nursery. “Come on, Peep. Let’s see what’s going on with the rest of the kids. You’ll love it.”
~ ~ ~ ♥ ~ ~ ~
“I really appreciate this, Mister Papercut.” Crosswind bumped her flank up against the stuffy unicorn as they strolled in a casual fashion through the evening Canterlot streets, past the tall mansions and ornate towers of the powerful unicorn families. Her impromptu tour guide had been unusually verbose when they had left the costume ball to begin their trek to the nearby ‘Commoner’s Ball’ at the Van DerHooven estate, even going so far as to make a rather oblique unicorn joke about how having two balls close together implied the presence of a rather large male organ, or a considerable number of smaller ones in the area.
“It is the least I can do, Miss Crosswind. If you would be so kind as to turn to the left at this intersection, we shall pass to the rear of Lady Lightningbug’s ornate multiflora rose garden.” The stallion pursed his lips momentarily with a sideways glance. “Her earth pony gardeners permit the bushes a rather untidy free reign over the back wall, but they are some of the most delectable in the entire city, and if we are careful not to hesitate for an extended period, we can catch a brief snack on our way to our evening entertainment.”
“So, have you nibbled on Lady Lightningbug’s rear… garden before, Mister Papercut?” It was just plain funny to watch his cheeks pink at the thought, and she continued, “Our neighbor in Cloudsdale kept water hyacinths in her cloud waterfall cascade. She always wondered why the blooms didn’t last very long. If we ever get there, we’ll have to drop by for a bite.”
“It’s a date.” The words seemed to silence the meticulous unicorn until their path reached a wide brick wall covered in multicolored flowers and surrounded by a breathtaking floral scent that stopped her in her tracks.
“Wow. That’s just… wow.”
She breathed it all in while Papercut coughed apologetically. “I must admit, Lord Green Grass is the one who suggested this distraction. I must remember to thank him. I’ve actually only lived in Canterlot for a few years, mostly inside the castle, and don’t have his in-depth knowledge of the popular attractions.” He nipped a yellow bud off the wall full of flowers and chewed thoughtfully. “Quite good, actually.”
To his side, Crosswind bit down on a soft reddish rose and moaned almost sensually. “Good? Try one of the red ones. I’m going to spoil my appetite for the dance if we stay here long.”
“No danger there,” said Papercut, taking a bite of a tiny red rose and raising an eyebrow in appreciation. “The earth pony servants always bring the most amazing of dishes in almost a potluck dinner of sorts. There’s an informal competition to see whose dish is devoured first, and some sort of bonus points awarded if anypony is actually caught licking the pot.”
“Ummm…” whispered Crosswind as she sampled one of the light blue roses with yellow stripes. “Minty. So are the earth ponies responsible for setting up the whole party for the servants whenever the Royals have one of their blowouts?”
“Heavens forbid!” Papercut recoiled with one somewhat orange-ish petal hanging from his bottom lip. “Princess Celestia herself informed me that the protocol for the festivities had been established many, many years ago when Canterlot was quite young. It seems at that time, the earth ponies selected the entertainment, the unicorns brought the appetizers, and the pegasi selected the site.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” volunteered Crosswind, nibbling her way down a short string of chromatically hued petals and trying to figure out how the gardener made each one of them taste different.
“The pegasi selected a location with a very sharp dropoff all of the way around the ballroom floor and an open roof, the unicorns brought celery stalks with beet dip, and I mean all of them brought exactly the same dish, and the earth ponies brought a polka band.” Papercut’s lips curled up as if he had bitten into a green flower bud, but he continued with, “I suspect Royal meddling in the process. Princess Celestia looked far too pleased with herself when telling me of the incident. For some reason, all of the results somehow always wind up going her way no matter the decisions of whomever the ponies think is in charge.”
“It’s good to be the Princess,” said Crosswind with a brief and very pegasi-like burp.
“There are times she seems like Equestria’s oldest Magic Kindergarten teacher,” sighed Papercut, one pink petal peeking out from the corner of his mouth. “At least Princess Twilight Sparkle and Lord Green Grass have not learned to emulate her abhorrent sense of humor.”
“Hey!” Both Papercut and Crosswind looked up abruptly as an elderly yellow unicorn hobbled out of a nearby gate while waving a cane in her magic . “What are you youngsters doin’ eating my prize roses! I’ll have you arrested! Guards! Guards!”
“Lady Lightningbug,” whispered Papercut. “Crap.”
“Run,” whispered Crosswind, and promptly took her own advice, galloping as fast as she could away from the furious elderly unicorn with Papercut right behind.
~ ~ ♥ ~ ~
“I’m starting to get a little miffed at your son,” grumbled Twilight to Lady Spring during a brief interlude between costumed guests. An alicorn’s natural position seemed to be a three-hoofed stance with one hoof extended for shaking, much as she had been doing for the last hour, as well as the last two Grand Galloping Galas. Just like tonight, Green Grass had managed to evade being at her side on both of those social events, the first by the suspicious coincidence of not having met her yet and the second by having spent the week transformed into a potted gardenia by Sweetie Belle’s magic surge. Not this year. In three months and one week, he would be trapped between Princess Celestia and her side, condemned into the endless hoof-shaking even if she had to place his pot on a little stand and have the attending ponies each shake a leaf. The only downside she could think of was if he were mistaken for a part of the buffet table and grazed somewhat. Then again, he was always complaining about trying to lose weight.
“My son has always needed to be encouraged during social events,” volunteered Lady Spring once the next set of costumed attendees had been properly introduced and departed on their way to the buffet table. “It will take a firm hoof to guide him so that he does not embarrass the dignity and respect that Equestria has earned over centuries of Princess Celestia’s rule.”
“So you’re saying we probably shouldn’t dance tonight, right?” said Twilight with a questioning glance. The older mare’s look of puzzlement certainly indicated a lack of knowledge about her future daughter-in-law that Twilight determined was just going to have to be remedied by experience. Besides, she loved dancing, particularly since she had become an alicorn and the other dancers gave her a wider⁽*⁾ berth.
(*) When dance music started, some ponies dove for cover due to Princess Twilight’s reputation, some just out of an instinctual sense of survival.
—
“Oh, of course you should dance, Princess Sparkle.” Lady Spring fidgeted in place, looking at the dance floor as if it were a display case where valuables would be placed and admired by all of the guests. “Although my son is not the best dancer, it would be an unspeakable faux pas for the two of you not to start the first dance of the evening.”
* ♥ *
Back in the mansion’s kitchen, Pinkie Pie stopped In the middle of checking the assembled cakes for the proper amount of frosting. A wave of trembling swept across her bushy tail and jittering hooves, rattling the pink party pony into the hallway among a number of staring waitponies and servers.
“Wow, that one was a doozy. I better get back out to the party to see what’s going on.”
* ♥ *
“Ladies and Gentlecolts!” The uniformed herald at the front door had risen up on his fluttering bat-wings in order to get the best volume to address the growing crowd, and settled back down at the top of the stairway as silence spread out across the assembled ponies. “Please give a warm and loving reception to our next Royal guest, who has traveled here from far away to bless us with her presence. May I present, Her Majesty, Queen of the Changeling Empire and Special Guest, Queen Chrysalis!”
A roll of diabolical laughter flowed into the ballroom as a familiar tall dark changeling posed at the top of the staircase and swept her green-eyed gaze across the assembled nobles with a broad grin. “Good evening, my little loving entrees!” She added a cackle for effect and glided down the staircase in the direction of Twilight, calling out, “Princess Luna! How good of you to be here this evening. Come on, give me a hug!”
Alicorn met ‘Changeling’ in a collision of giggles as each of them put their noses to the other’s ears and whispered.
“My stars, Twilight! Your Luna disguise is just perfect! I never would have guessed it was you if Shiny hadn’t told me.”
“I think he’s feeling a little put out, Cadence.” ‘Luna’ pointed to the top of the staircase where Shining Armor was patiently waiting behind the herald, disguised, of course, as Shining Armor.
“Yoo-hoo!” called Cadence, waving a holey leg at her escort and shaking the herald out of his stunned silence. “You forgot to introduce Shiney!”
“Oh!” The herald jumped and scurried to one side. “And Prince Consort Shining Armor,” he added.
Shining Armor strode down the stairs without shaking his head, as Twilight knew he wanted to do. Instead, he stopped in front of the two giggling alicorns and dropped to one knee, bowing his head and announcing in a deep and very solemn voice, “Your Highnesses.”
Wriggling free from Cadence’s grip, Twilight nodded to the stunned unicorn by her side. “Princess Cadence. Prince Consort Shining Armor. I’d like you to meet Lady Spring Fresh, Green Grass’ mother.”
“Charmed,” purred Cadence, looking so much like a changeling as she extended one hoof and put on her most vulpine smile. “And where is your delicious… I mean handsome young progeny?”
“Away,” said Spring, gingerly touching hooves with the ‘changeling.’
“He was over with… well, ‘you’ and Baron Chrysanthemum a short while ago,” said Twilight, looking across the ballroom at where ‘Cadence’ and Greenie’s father were in close conversation. “Where are Princess Celestia and Luna? I would think they would be right behind you.”
Cadence giggled with a creepy cackle that still caused shivers to travel up and down Twilight’s back even though she knew it was just her disguised former foalsitter. “Oh, my aunties are having a bit of fun this evening.”
~ ~ ♥ ~ ~
“Well, that was fun,” chuckled Crosswind with a hip-bump to her partner in crime as they approached the large well-lit mansion where the Commoner’s Ball was being held.
“It was not fun!” protested Papercut with a glance over his shoulder, most probably looking for Royal Guard swooping down on the flower-thieves. “We could have been arrested!” he hissed.
“How scandalous,” said Crosswind with one hoof to her chest before being overcome with giggles, although her sporadic giggling afterwards continued until the two of them entered the mansion ballroom. “Wow.”
She paused for a long moment, looking between the crowded dance floor, the band set up at the other end, and the buffet tables groaning with food. Happy ponies filled the air (well, the pegasi at least) with laughter and talking, while a busy bunch of party goers treated rolling a new keg of sarsaparilla over to the nearby drink station as some sort of competition. There was a soft tingle in her ears and the deafening chatter died down to a tolerable level while the light around Papercut’s horn faded.
“Muffling spell,” said the stiff unicorn with a rather complicated expression that mixed a smile and a frown together, and added a certain amount of distraction at the party surroundings on top. “Keeps you from having to shout at the top of your lungs to be heard. It’s a little more noisy than I expected. I’ve never really… been to one of these before.”
“Party virgin?” Crosswind poked him in the side and began nudging him in the direction of the dance floor.
“Well, I certainly… I don’t think… That’s hardly…” Papercut swallowed as the two of them progressed through the crowd, eventually admitting, “Yes.”
“Thought so,” smirked Crosswind with one wing over him as protection from any of the other single mares she could see trolling through the guests for hookup material. “Otherwise we would have gotten here sooner so we could graze the buffet before the dancing started.”
With a puzzled tilt of his head, Papercut asked, “How in the world did my scheduling for our arrival inform you of my… romantic inexperience?”
Crosswind stopped cold. “You mean you really are a virgin?”
~ ~ ♥ ~ ~
In the rapidly filling costume ball, the activity had picked up for Twilight Sparkle to the point where she no longer had the opportunity to talk with either her former foalsitter or future mother-in-law. Instead, there was a constant stream of somewhat familiar masked and decorated faces that she struggled to match up with the stuffy royals from her previous meetings at the Grand Galloping Gala.
How does Princess Celestia keep up with their names? I can’t match up more than half of them!
A pair of Royal Guards, done up in archaic armor from several centuries ago⁽¹⁾, paused in front of the three mares shaking hooves and saluted, looking from ‘Luna’ to ‘Chrysalis’ to the unknown yellow alicorn mare in confusion before one of the guards said hesitantly, “Your Highness, Princess Sparkle?” to Lady Spring Fresh.
(1) Stylistic changes in the Royal Guard armor occur once a century, and although Celestia would never admit it, the changes were solely for the purpose of reminding her what date to put on official documents after several embarrassing incidents.
—
With narrowed brows, the Breezy ‘alicorn’ replied in a clipped tone that Green Grass must have heard a thousand times, “Do not patronize me, young colt. The Royal Guard most certainly has been briefed on the costumes for your protective charges, and if you are not really Royal Guards, there are a number of fine young stallions around this party who would be more than happy to have you properly trained until you can wear that armor with the respect it deserves.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” Both guards drew up into perfect salutes, their eyes slowly drifting to one side where Twilight and Cadence were observing them in muffled amusement. Splitting the differences, the first unfortunate guard addressed them both. “Your Highnesses. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have been somewhat delayed at their previous engagement, and wished us to convey their regrets for any convenience… I mean inconvenience this delay may be causing.”
When Cadence did not immediately respond, but instead ran her tongue over her sharp teeth and eyed the guards as if they were part of the buffet, Twilight said, “That’s perfectly fine, Lieutenant Capricorn. Let us know when they’re on their way. We just need enough notice to get Green Grass collected from wherever he’s hiding when they make their entrance.” Ignoring Cadence’s muffled ghastly chuckle, Twilight asked, “So what’s keeping them?”
* ♥ *
“Ow!” Crosswind popped up into the air and rubbed one hoof, her wings brushing against several other dancers before she dropped back down to the dance floor and regarded her clumsy ‘date’ with less than admiring eyes.
“I’m sorry,” said Papercut in what was beginning to be a quite familiar apology. “I said I knew a little about how to dance, but this is nothing like a waltz or a foxtrot.”
“Nopony dances that way anymore in this century. Who were you practicing with, Princess Luna?” asked Crosswind, settling her shoe back on one hoof and obviously ignoring the scuff marks that had appeared on all four of the delicate dancing shoes that were taking on the role of armor this evening.
“Pardon me, young mare,” said Papercut with a sniff. “Princess Luna does not lower herself to dancing with the servants. I had an instructor of great experience and skill.” He paused, blinking and looking away before adding in a much lower voice that Crosswind would not have heard in the noisy dance floor except for the enchantment on her ears. “My mother.”
“Excuse me.” An older unicorn in a perfectly pressed suit and with a small clip-on earring tapped on Papercut’s shoulder before floating a small cluster of flowers over and pinning it to the startled servant’s lapel. “And one for the lady,” he added, producing a small cluster of small delicate violet flowers surrounding a brilliant blue rose, and giving it to Papercut.
“What’s this for?” asked Papercut, shouting somewhat to be heard.
“Identification,” he replied before slipping away into the crowd.
“Ladies and Gentlecolts,” bellowed an announcer from the other end of the room, amplified by a sound system that managed to flatten any other voice. Without music, the mutter of whispered conversations died to a relative silence as the announcer continued, “Welcome to the one thousand, seven hundred and sixty-seventh annual Commoner’s Ball. Before we get started, I’d like to extend a hoof of appreciation for our event committee, starting with our chairmare, Miss Bluebelle.”
As the stomping applause went on, Papercut turned to Crosswind with the odd blue flower arrangement in his magic and shrugged his shoulders. “Miss Crosswind, I assure you, I had nothing to do with this.”
“Of course not, Needle—” She paused with a smirk. “That’s no way to talk to my date. Even if you haven’t done anything spontaneous and romantic in your entire life. Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome, Miss Crosswind,” said Papercut as he went about the delicate task of affixing the corsage to her thin dress without poking the pin where it didn’t belong, a chore made more difficult by the stomping applause of the rest of the crowd as the rest of the organizers were recognized. “But please. Do not call me sir. That is my father’s name.”
“That’s right. You come from a long string of Papercuts.” She nuzzled up to his chest and sniffed his corsage with a mischievous grin and a playful nip. “You know, reading each other’s files takes all the fun out of dating.” She hesitated before continuing, “I suppose that can be a good thing. I never would have dated my previous coltfriend if I had known he was married. With two foals on the side.”
“Not everything about either of us is on paper,” admitted Papercut, much like he was revealing a previous criminal record. “I would have never guessed you used to steal nibbles off the neighborhood flora.”
“And before tonight, I would have never guessed that about you either,” said Crosswind. “Now hush. They’re about to bring out the band.”
“And now, the moment you have all been waiting for,” bellowed the announcer over the applause of the ponies on the dance floor. “The Commoner’s Ball would like to welcome to our stage, the one, the only, PRINCESS!”
Amidst the screaming and applauding, Crosswind leaned over and whispered into Papercut’s ear, “I’ve got all of their albums.”
“Me too,” he whispered back. “Although it just isn’t the same since their lead singer died. A Night At The Clopera was their best work.”
“No way,” she whispered back as the music started to swell. “Whinnuendo blows it out of the water.”
“Good evening, Canterlot!” The band erupted into a brief flurry of music until their lead guitarist raised a hoof into the air. “Before we start, let’s all have a big round of applause for two of our special guests at this evening’s performance.”
A spotlight stabbed down from the ceiling and highlighted the awkward couple with their faces to each other’s ears, causing them to jump apart and blush as the applause doubled.
“Papercut and Crosswind, who have been keeping the newest Royal couple’s calendars organized, and from the looks of it, enjoying their jobs together just a little bit in the process.”
There was laughter among the applause as the announcer swept his hoof back and shouted, “In honor of our two special guests, we have two special performers on stage with us tonight for a limited time.” This time, the spotlights drew together on stage and showed two alicorns, equipped with matching guitars and microphones while waving to the crowd.
Sheer pandemonium erupted, with screaming and cheering that only died down when the first alicorn stepped forward, microphone hovering in front of her as she sang.
♫ Can anypony find me ♫
“How did they get Luna up on stage,” whispered Crosswind, now that the entire crowd’s attention was elsewhere.
“That’s not Princess Luna,” replied Papercut in a somewhat distracted whisper. “That’s Celestia, in her costume for later tonight.”
♫ Somepony to…♫
Crosswind glanced back and forth between the two alicorns, certain that there was at least one return glance in her direction just brimming with mischief. “This isn’t on their schedule,” she managed to stammer.
♫ Love ♫
“Oh, my.” Papercut looked down at the mare pressed up against him and had a sudden urge to follow the example his prim and proper princess was displaying in what just had to be as direct an order to him as if she were going to hold up a placard with the message written in large letters. Kissing Crosswind gently on the top of the head, he said, “After we’ve made our proper appearance here and Their Highnesses have departed, what would you say to an offer to do something totally spontaneous and fun?”
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Ah, a princess and her karaoke machine.
Woot!! This next few chapters are going to rock!
I do love how musical your takes on the sisters are. Though Zenith and Eclipse obviously aren't going to be seen. I think Lady Lightningbug would appreciate it if her mansion were still intact by the end of the night.
Meanwhile, the costume party is proving quite entertaining. Especially Celestia's means of keeping track of that pesky hundreds digit.
Next chapter: A song and dance, both truly unforgettable, though for very different reasons.
5893862 if you mean unforgettable with how twilight dances, i'm more than sure no one will forget it for some time xD. Also when you have as much time as Celestia and Luna, it is a given how freaking mischievous and silly those two can be. Wonder what kind of stunt or prank Luna will pull.
what's a highlit?
Also, great Queen reference and song
Having Chryssie and Cadence, both in disguise, at the same party will probably promise fireworks for later on. Meanwhile, Tia and Lulu are showing Cadence how the 'help ponies find their true love' thing is really done.
Wait I thought Twilight's costume was of Luna? It is going to be so embarrassing, always is showing up in the same outfit.
Newest chapter...so...cute...
It figures they'd have to beat Papercut over the head before he got the point. :)
Still not exactly the most reassuring promise...
5893732 5894156
I call shenanigans! Shenanigans, I say, shenanigans!
Oh won't you take me home tonight?
Oh down beside your red firelight,
Oh and you give it all you got
Fat plotted mares, you make the rockin' world go 'round
Minor quibble, you seem to be mixing up Chrysalis with her ambassador several times during her meeting with Green Grass and his father.
Or not making it clear that they are both present, if that's what's going on.
Or perhaps I've somehow missed that the two are actually one and the same, I don't know.
This continues in its trend of marvelosity, and I have so many pictures for that last scene. I'll start with my favourite. Forgive my image spamming.
fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/277/1/a/my_little_queen_by_hak2-d4btw9j.png
derpicdn.net/img/2012/10/30/136202/full.png
img0.derpicdn.net/img/2014/5/11/623556/thumb.jpeg
th00.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2012/305/8/9/spike_as_freddie_mercury_by_daniel_the_great-d5jolec.jpg
Yeah. I didn't think Green Grass got his sense of humour from his mother's side
Perfect answer
Van Der Hooven, hm? Technically from Dutch, "Van Der Hoeven"; "from the farmstead". Must have some earth pony in 'em
Funnily enough, the word "hoeve", meaning farmstead, and "hoeven", plural of "hoof" in Dutch, are wonderfully similar without needing any specific twisting for the horse pun, despite being completely unrelated etymologically
Wait, he said that? He has a sense of humour? He is capable of crass jokes?
Nooo! He has a mischievous streak? Him? Who would have thought?
Oh. Well. That explains
Nah. Green Grass brought his own
How did I not see this coming?
Ohgods!
My sides!
Brilliant! Oh, wow. Just amazing!
In his defence... he already announced Shining Armor
...
lol. Queen.
Uh-oh
Dressed as each other?
Wait, then both Celestia AND Twilight are dressed as Luna.
... the only thing that could make this better is if Luna wasn't dressed up at all. Three Luna's!
Remarks and corrections:
> “You mean you really are a virgin?
Missing closing quote.
Oh, and you may want to substitute that link to Somebody To Love by the one on the official Queen channel, since the VEVO version is apparently not available in some countries... like mine.
progeny I rather suspect.
5894550
She a killer, queen,
changeling, in black and green,
Chrysalsis, why you so mean?
All the time-
Lyrics from Princess' newest hot single, Changeling Queen. With Filly Mercury as the main singer.
5895564
And Brian Hay on guitar.
I'm sorry but
Georg did you just imply that Freddy Mercury WASN'T the single most important aspect of Queen? Queen was a good band with one of the single greatest singers of all time.
5893862 Oh, Zenith and Eclipse have a cameo.
5893995 I'm fairly sure Twilight's dancing is 'unforgetable' in the regards that a witness may tell the pegamedics "I'm not quite sure what happened. I was just standing at the edge of the dance floor when Twilight Sparkle started dancing, and the next thing I remember is when you two were pulling me out of the wall. How many teeth did I lose?"
5894068 Fixed! (I swear keyboards are leaving characters out, not me)
5894108 Oh, I think Chrissie and Cadence have something up their proverbial sleeves too.
5894550 Hey! You're reading ahead again
5894727 I'm going to have to put an author's note in the next chapter heading detailing just who is disguised as who.
5894827 I just love the artists who hang around these wonderful ponies
5894859 Van Der Hooven was an entirely unintentional pun, which I'll take full credit for
"He is capable of crass jokes?" Well, he did wind up judging a dirty joke contest between Celestia and Luna once. Plus I think you'll like his idea of 'random' with Crosswind. And I'll fix the link.
5895102 Well, she is the Princess of Love, and GG is talented in the art of... um... Yeah, I'll change that.
5895620 Oh, I'm not getting involved in a battle of the bands.
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Now we need Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Cadence all rocking out on stage together just for fun.
Oh, and did Cadence see Peep Sprout in his little Shining Armor disguise? If not, she needs to squeal with delight when she does and ask Shining if they can keep him.
Amusing chapter, very well done. I'm guessing the herald was laughing at Little Shining Armor.
5895973 Oops, I must not have telegraphed that enough from last chapter. Recognize this pose from Grace?
'The herald paused with one hoof held up to the side of his helmet...'
5896031 Ok, I can see that now. Poor Twilight won't live this down easily.
5895817
Okay I avoided Equestria girls so I was only vaguely aware of that and just
what
I'm so confused
Chrysalis and Peep as Cadance and Shining? That's a daring costume.
From the sound of things he needs that talk, and in truth I can easily see Chrysalis as being qualified to speak on the subject.
Hahaha! Oh, Lady Spring, you haven't seen dancing til you've seen Twilight's dancing.
Cadance and Shining as Chrysalis and...Shining. Hilarious on several different levels. Cadance is really relishing this opportunity to chew on the scenery, isn't she?
I have a feeling that Celestia and Luna are late because they're at the Commoner’s Ball.
Now that just feels suspicious. Was the Commoner’s Ball another masquerade and I just missed it? If they aren't in disguise, why would they need identification?
Well, if the Princess singing with Princess tells you to find somebody to love, I think it's time to get on with it.
Didn't Nicole Oliver tweet or say at a convention panel that Celestia is an '80s Rock fangirl?
I'd kind of like to see her and Luna give a shout out to their Nocturnes and sing Ghost Ponies in the Sky.
Oh no, and now Baron Chrysanthemum's name is Martel. So now we've seen him be Marteau, Martau and Martel.
I have to say, I love the image of Celestia and Luna as dual frontmares for a rock band...
The Artist Formerly Known As
I like the queen reference
Crosswind whips around and snarks: "Okay who are you and what have you done with Papercut?!"