Hayden could not have easily described what about this pony made him so attractive. A month ago, she might’ve been so disgusted she rejected the feelings outright, or worse, made it clear just how she felt right in front of him. Lord Golden Glow was taller than she was, more muscular as well. He wore a tailed suit like the other stallions, only he didn’t seem like he cared about how he looked.
Instead of fluffy and loose like most of the other suits (including the one his butler was wearing), his was tight, trimmed with gold. Pony ages were still difficult for Hayden, but he looked about her own age. Smelled it, too. He was a unicorn, but that didn’t seem very unusual here. Most of the nobility were apparently unicorns, just like most of the military were pegasi. There’s got to be a historical reason for that. I’ll have to keep an eye out for it.
The butler had said something, but she hadn’t heard it. He repeated himself. “Lord Golden Glow,” he said again, gesturing for her to do something. Is he actually expecting me to bow?
Nightbreeze had been quite clear about that—she was part of the princess’s house. That meant she could not bow to anyone else, or create the impression that the princesses were submitting to them through some indirect way. So she ignored the butler, and only nodded politely. “Pleasure,” she said. “And I’m sorry I could not accept your invitation to dance.”
For a long moment, the stallion only stared back at her, as dumbfounded as she had been. “Lady Evening Star,” he eventually said, his voice not half as pompous as his butler. “Please, join me.” At his gesture, one of the chairs pulled itself out for her. He slid most of the plates out of the way, each one with only a few bites. So much food going to waste.
She moved forward carefully, setting herself down on the cushion as delicately as she could. She now had her back to the balcony (and the princesses), and was looking directly at him. Golden Glow did not levitate the food over for her, instead waiting for several servants to rush in and do that. Hayden remained still, keeping her wings folded to her side. She could’ve reached several of those plates herself—but she didn’t protest.
“I’ll admit, I was as surprised as anyone else to hear the Night Princess had admitted somepony to her house, after all these years.” He glanced once down at the dessert plates in front of him, and seemed to look through them more than at them. “You must be quite the mare to change her mind after all these centuries.”
Centuries? Hayden fought back her surprise to hear a pony in the real world repeat what so many of the books suggested. Yeah, and Kim Jung Un can golf 18 hole-in-ones, too. But she couldn’t say anything like that, not about her own princess. So instead she said, “I suppose I am. If you wanted to ask why, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. Princess Luna is as reticent with me as she is with everypony else.”
He chuckled. “Forgive my boldness, Lady Evening Star, but I can see what the Night Princess can see in you. I heard the same rumors out of the palace as everypony else… but I didn’t dare believe them.”
“Some of them are true,” she said, opening her wings so they would catch the light, going slightly transparent as they did so. “Except for the ones about my eating someone. I haven’t eaten anyone since I got to Equestria, and I’m not happy about it.”
The butler gasped, his eye widening with visible shock. But Lord Glow didn’t—he laughed, so loudly that ponies at the nearby tables all turned to stare.
He ignored them. “Don’t be cruel, Lady Star. Merriweather almost died of shock.”
She shrugged. “He clearly doesn’t approve of me. But neither do most of the other ponies in this room.”
“That makes two of us,” Glow said. Yet he didn’t seem to be looking at her as he said it, but past her to the princesses on their thrones. “If you’ll forgive my boldness, what are you wearing? That glass over your eyes… I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it.”
“Oh.” She blinked, blushing a little. “Glasses. They use lenses to bend incoming light and correct for…” She trailed off, realizing that none of what she was saying was translating very well. “They help me see. Ever since I was a child, I had poor vision. They make it so I can see like anypony else.”
He took another moment staring at them, before he shrugged. “Well, I warn you. Everypony’s disapproval won’t stop them from using you. Maybe for the moment ponies only point and stare. Soon enough they’ll remember their greed, and wonder about the others you represent. An unknown tribe, lost to time—new lands, new resources. They put on a good show of wealth for each other the same way a griffon will hide his limp from a dragon.”
She raised her eyebrows. “But House Glow is different? You’ll protect the naive newcomer from getting eaten alive?”
He laughed again, though a little less sincerely. “My father would say yes. Not me. House Glow might be more secure than they are, but we don’t ignore opportunity. My father…”
Merriweather cleared his throat loudly, approaching from one side. “Master Golden. I believe you had another engagement on the balcony. Lady Moonstone.”
He rolled his eyes. “Thank you for the reminder, Merriweather. I will conclude this conversation first. You may go.”
He huffed, then turned and stormed off.
“In the interest of honesty, you should know something,” Hayden began. She didn’t know if this was a good idea—really shouldn’t have been speaking with this pony in the first place. But it was too late to back down now. “All those other ponies are wasting their time. If they’re hoping to take advantage of some new tribe of ponies, with new lands to take. That isn’t why I’m here.”
“Oh?”
She nodded. “Those lands and ponies don’t exist. I’m the only pony like me on this whole planet.”
His eyes widened. Lord Glow opened his mouth, but it took him several long moments to say anything. “Then why?”
She shrugged. “There are things more valuable than land and servants. The things I know could change your whole world.”
If he’d been flustered before, at least Golden Glow had recovered quickly, his grin returning. “I see. It isn’t surprising Princess Luna would want a pony like you. Only that you would tell me so plainly.”
She blinked, then her ears flattened. “I… I don’t think it’s what you think. I’m not smart enough for that.” She looked up from the table, at the ancient room filled with servants. “I’m an inventor.”
“Like Star Swirl, or like Avalon?” He hesitated. “Wait, don’t tell me. It’s like Avalon, isn’t it? You’ve got a costume just like he does. Only yours is… physical. I had heard you were tearing out walls in Luna’s tower. She must be building something interesting up there.”
Hayden opened her mouth to explain exactly what she’d been building up there. Then she shut it again. This wasn’t how you were supposed to play the game. I’m not very good at this. “Yeah,” she said instead. “She was impressed with my work. I’m sure the castle blacksmith is sick of hearing from me.”
Glow laughed again, then rose. “I’m afraid Merriweather was right about my engagements. I am frightened to speculate on what my father would do if he heard I had been truant. But I enjoyed our talk.”
She rose as well, a little less gracefully. Neither of them had touched their food. “Likewise.”
“I have no doubt I will see you again, Lady Evening Star.” He stepped closer to her, around the table. “Be mindful of these waters—you’re surrounded by sharks.”
“I thought we agreed you were going to interact with Equestria’s ponies as little as possible.” Luna said, fuming as she paced back and forth in Hayden’s dark room. None of the torches were lit, but Hayden hardly noticed. A little moonlight coming in through the window was more than enough for her to see even without them. She didn’t usually light candles unless Nightbreeze or somepony else was visiting.
“That was the plan,” she admitted. “But things didn’t go that way.”
“No, they didn’t.” Luna stopped a foot away from her, mane whipping about in a ghostly breeze as she glared. Hayden wasn’t afraid—she was never afraid of Luna. How could she be? “Hayden, you were only there to be seen! Now everypony is talking—you weren’t ready! If they realize you’re a fraud…”
“I tried to get back to the table,” she said, honestly. “But it didn’t work out. They all wanted to talk to me, Luna. Don’t you know what that means?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “The only reason anypony cares about me is because of you. I may not understand what’s going on, but I know that. Lots of them had contracts they wanted to make with you, or the military. Sounded like they were pretty desperate.”
Luna balked, all her anger melting away in the face of embarrassment, and she looked away. “I’ll admit, I… haven’t been attending to that aspect of my duties as I should. I have… missed a few engagements. Left contracts unsigned.”
“Yeah.” Hayden sat down on her haunches. It was quite late, well past midnight. The later it got, the drunker the ponies at the party became. Hayden had always found an excuse not to drink, or to sip delicately at what she was served. “I get that. That’s why you brought me here. Fine, whatever.” She looked away, unsure if she was being too bold.
She might be a captive in this universe, brought against her will, but Princess Luna was still a princess. In theory, she was half the ruler of a whole country. One that could survive invasion and other great distress, and still come out intact. “All I’m saying is, maybe you’re stuck in a rut. Waiting to be ‘ready’ for everything. Wanting to know all the information perfectly, to have a plan for every aspect of what you’re doing. Talking to people in the real world isn’t like that, it almost never is. So I was trying something different.”
Luna winced, and Hayden did too, wondering if she was about to be blasted with another wave of terrible magic.
It never came. “There is… some merit to that,” Luna eventually admitted. “I brought you when every mundane method ended in failure. None of my advisors could help me. I’ve heard advice like yours before, but never… never acted on it. Not successfully, anyway.” She dropped to her haunches, looking at the floor. “Every time I try something like that, somepony makes me look the fool. I’m afraid to leave my throne. Celestia remains with me out of solidarity, not because she wouldn’t rather be with her subjects. Schmoozing.”
“I think you’re missing the most important part of tonight.” Hayden walked past her, over to the now-finished bathroom. She turned on the sink, waited a minute for the cool water to run out of the system and down the drain, then stuck her face into the flow. She washed away all the powders and cosmetics they had applied atop her coat, held her head in the warm water until it ran clear, then switched it off and wiped her face on a towel.
“I’m not surprised,” Luna said, groaning. “How have I failed this time?”
Hayden ignored her tone. “Your sister thought making it so I couldn’t hide would make it impossible to bring me to court. But her subjects didn’t run away screaming, like she thought. They stared, sure… but I forced them to see I was just like them. I made a list of contacts—lunch and dinner appointments with some of the ponies here in Harmony.”
“They’ll use you,” Luna said glumly. Even so, Hayden could see she was smiling. The thought of besting her sister had struck a chord. “They took advantage of me, and I refused to speak with them. Now they want to do the same through my proxy.”
“Your proxy isn’t going to take their shit,” Hayden said, struggling in vain to undo the strap holding the dress to her neck. “Princess, are you done yelling at me? Can I get Nightbreeze back in here to help me get this off?” Hayden doubted very much even real Equestrian ladies could get out of clothes like this without either magic or good help.
Princess Luna rose, then nodded. “We will see what our spies say of you by morning,” she eventually said. “My sister will not have been sitting idle. It is possible her manipulation will win over our work.”
“Possible,” Hayden admitted. “But I don’t think so. She doesn’t really want to sabotage you, right? It’s just… she has a different idea about how to protect people. She’s trying to look out for them. Not make them think things that aren’t true!”
Luna laughed bitterly. “And you think you’re going to do better than I did with her nobility?” She left without another word.