Celestia cautiously looked around, casting a glance to the invitation she'd been given earlier in the year. It had suggested taking the day and the following 'off', as it was to be a celebration of sorts. One that was only meant for "those like us". Considering it had been a changeling royal that had given it to her, one that she'd grown to trust over the years, she had an idea what it meant, but that didn't make her any less nervous. She couldn't remember the last time she'd attended any sort of celebration in anything other than an official capacity.
"Tia! You made it! I was starting to think you wouldn't show. I imagine it was hard to get away."
That was an understatement. With the recent end of a war between the griffons and the ponies, she was being hounded day and night for her time, even more so than before the war. That's why she had agreed to this. It was something even her secretary had supported, albeit reluctantly. Even he had taken a few days here and there. The princess had no such chances.
"I did. I am still a little confused as to what it is I am attending though."
The stallion, a changeling royal that had approached her years ago with strange tales and even stranger technologies and allies nodded sympathetically.
"You know Janice is more than happy to sub for you."
"I can not allow such a thing at the moment. Ponies are still scared, and finding that I have been replaced, even if temporarily, could shatter their world."
"So instead you destroy yourself?" He retorted, raising and eyebrow and staring back at her.
She sighed, turning away but keeping up with his pace.
"It's not...I've had this conversation with you too many times, Recon."
"Yes, and I still think you're doing yourself more harm than good. Even a day every three years would be better than working for decades at a time. You need to unwind badly, before you strain something. Again."
"That wasn't-"
"It was muscle fatigue and we both know it."
He stopped, turning to face her and sitting on the stone floor.
"Sometimes you worry me. You certainly aren't going to stop to care for yourself. I've already learned that."
The alicorn smiled, pulling him into a hug.
"I know, and it's nice having somepony watching out for me once again. For the longest time it was just...us and then...it was just me..."
"Well that's why we're doing this," the changeling said. "Its a chance to socialize. Most of us are working on other things, but we all need to check up on each other every now and again. I thought it was only proper that you get an invitation as well."
"What is this, 'Shindig?'" the alicorn asked as they resumed their journey through the seemingly abandoned keep. She knew it wasn't though. There wasn't enough dust and dirt for this place to have been abandoned, even if it wasn't
"Its a get together as I said before, but it's special. Its for those like you and I. Those that live a bit longer. Those of us that can go years without speaking to another long-lived individual. For now its mostly the others I've found, those like myself. But maybe we'll try inviting others once we get settled. Wouldn't that be something?"
It really would. Individuals that she could form long-lasting relationships with, ponies who she could speak to, who...who Luna could speak to.
'Maybe if we'd found each other sooner...'
"Hey, none of that. This is a party," the stallion chided before his grin fell a bit. "Luna?"
"I just-maybe she wouldn't have, if there were others she could talk to?"
He shifted his shoulders, the pony equivalent of a shrug.
"Hindsight's twenty-twenty, Tia. We'll never know for sure. And we'll be ready to help if it's needed."
"That's nice to know. I'm still getting used to having others around again. Well, others that-"
He slowed in front of a door, the sounds of music and raucous laughter reaching her ears from the other side. It was dampened though, likely the effects of a spell. Otherwise the party would be heard from Canterlot, more than a days journey away.
"You have your signed oath?"
The solar alicorn pulled out the parchment, taking one last look at it before passing it to the changeling.
"No discussions about secrets, plans or anything like that. Exceptions are plans to attack me or my subjects, to be brought to the attention of the others the next day."
"Right," he said as he took the scroll and checked her signature. "Everyone inside is under the same rules, Tia, so there's just one more thing you need to do."
"You're really making me do this?" she asked in irritation.
"Last rule. You already agreed to it," he grinned, pointing to a closet door.
Celestia rolled her eyes and walked into the closet, passing by several large sets of armor, one of which she could have walked through, and several sets of weapons that she could feel power flowing from. They didn't rival her own blade, forged by her own sister and warmed by her own sunfire, but they were near things. One in particular held her attention, a blade of gleaming diamond that burned with an internal light. She might have to ask about that one later.
Finally reaching an empty alcove, she pulled off her regalia and crown, looking nervously to the old things as she set them on the shelf. Next were her golden shoes, her hooves feeling almost naked without them. How long had it been since she'd not worn them?
She felt odd as she walked back through the closet, finding the changeling nodding at her before he opened the door. She was really doing this. She was actually going to let herself relax. Or at least try to.
She looked around the huge room as she walked in, her pace slowing as she took in the others already present. Three dragons, one nearing the size of a large house who likely was the owner of the giant armor set. Two more changelings, both female as far as she could tell. And...her breath caught in her throat. Alicorns. Four of them, all sitting around a table and playing cards while cheerfully speaking and drinking. Then the scent hit her. Alcohol, the strength of which she'd not been exposed to in centuries. A single pony mare sat at a bar across the way and she was confused for a moment, before noticing the sunken cheeks of the mare and the pale patchy flesh. A...zombie? A vampire?
The changeling hadn't been joking when he'd told her the group was strange and diverse. This would take some getting used to.
"I don't believe it," Chell muttered as she stared past Recon. "You actually managed to get her to show up."
"What did you bribe her with?" the second queen, Flicker, asked even as he took his seat and accepted a drink and several letters for their game.
"Little, actually. I told you, I've been trying to get her to accept help for a long time. After her...incident a few years back where she tore several ligaments in her legs and strained her wings to the point of disuse, even the doctors were on her to take breaks. I offered this in return for a decade without bothering her about breaks. She accepted."
"Poor thing, she looks so out of place," Chell said, giggling as the alicorn awkwardly asked the undead mare behind the counter for a drink. "I still can't believe Chaz managed to get a vampire as a bartender."
"Same line of thought for changelings, Chell. Give her access to blood and she's more than happy to accept it. Even if its not fresh from the tap. Doesn't hurt that our little settlement has better medical and storage technologies than most others. How's the planning for the city going?"
"Slow," the second queen replied. "Its fun trying to learn the Everfree's patterns. I've never been so challenged in my life. But I will figure it out. And we'll have access to the best and biggest city on this planet. I will have my hover-cars.
"You can fly, Flicker. You don't need hover cars."
"That's not the point! I was told I'd have anti-gravity hover boards in my lifetime and I was lied to! All we had were those stupid fan-boards which had horrible power issues. I obviously can't wait for it to happen because it won't. This time, I'm doing it myself, and I'll do one better!"
Recon chuckled before he took a swig of his drink, taking a few letters and adding them to the board.
"Core. 3, 1, 1, and 1. Eh, 6 points."
"Didn't even have to guess where she'd take her drink," Flicker chuckled, stealing a glance towards the bar.
"Honestly, feel kind of sorry for her," Chell giggled. "None of us are heavy drinkers, unlike those four."
Celestia had approached the bar nervously, only to smile awkwardly when the mare had turned her predator's eyes in the alicorn's direction.
The mare had been oddly understanding though, nothing like the monsters she'd seen, nothing like the demons who hunted ponies for food or sport. Instead the mare had asked if she had any idea what she wanted before making several suggestions. Apparently she'd been a bartender before, so for her this chance to serve drinks had been a dream come true.
Holding a drink the mare had called a Mimosa, she sipped it sparingly as she looked around the room. She only knew the changeling stallion Recon in any real way, but the other changelings made her nervous. She also hadn't the slightest clue how to approach the table even if each of the groups tables had more chairs. Would more be showing up? The dragons were also setting her on edge, one holding a large keg with the top missing. He lifted it easily, pouring the drink into his mouth before slamming the keg back on the ground, only to receive a warning from the bartender. To her surprise he apologized, checking the barrel for damage before setting it back on the ground. A second dragon chastised him, saying something about being...sore?
She started moving towards the one group she felt more comfortable around. Alicorns were rare as it was, to see one again after so long, she was curious. Why hadn't they approached her like Recon had? What were they like?
"May I sit here?"
The table turned to look, a steel-colored stallion nodding before turning back to his conversation partner.
"It's not the same. The grains are wrong, makes the product taste different. You need to take that into account when you distill it."
"Pah! No need to taste it, you wimp. Vodka is supposed to be strong. It's supposed to knock you on your ass."
"You, we haven't even been here for an hour and you're pissed. Slow down or you'll pass out before the next hours up."
Celestia blinked, looking at the group she'd approached. The steel alicorn with white mane waved a hoof dismissively before taking several powerful chugs of his drink, a drink that the mare could smell from across the table. To his right was another stallion, this one a forest green with a black mane who was nursing a brown drink with ice in it. Next it was a pink maned and orange alicorn mare who was cuddled into the second stallion's side, a deep blush on her cheeks and a strong smelling drink in her glass. Then it was Celestia, and to her right was a third alicorn mare, this one an earthy brown with a golden mane with a frothy mug of some sort of ale.
"Don't pay attention to them, they'll argue over brews till the end of time if you leave them to it," the mare said. "I'm Bethany. Introduce yourselves, ya jerks."
"Chaz," the steel alicorn replied with a nod.
"Gunther," the second stallion said. Moving his shoulder to shift the mare he grinned. "And this is Fumi. She was nervous about this so she's already had a bit too much to calm her nerves."
"I, I see," the princess stuttered. "I'm afraid I haven't done anything like this in a very long time so I understand her nervousness. I almost refrained from arriving myself."
"Well you'd never know if you'd enjoy yourself unless you show up. Worst that could happen is you find out you don't like it and you leave early. A day lost at worst. When you have centuries, its not much of a risk."
"I'm still wrapping my head around that. Scary, isn't it?" Bethany asked the others. "What about you?"
"Prr...Celestia." the mare managed to say, cutting out her title for the first time in decades.
"Pullin' my leg, the mare who runs Equestria?" Chaz asked, all of his focus on her? "That cockroach managed to get you to show up?"
"He's going to get you for that. They all will."
Celestia looked to the changeling table, seeing all three scowling in the boisterous stallion's direction. Recon even drew a hoof across his throat before they all broke into grins and returned to their game.
"Bah, I ain't scared of them. Worst they'll do is trim my primaries when I'm sleeping this stuff off. A few days on the ground won't kill me."
"I don't know how you guys can stand that. I get sick when I try to fly. I always had bad acrophobia," Gunther muttered.
"It's not so bad, you just need to start low. Learn to flap them and hover. When there's no real danger of falling, your fear of heights tends to dry up."
Bethany fluttered her own wings, settling them to her sides once again.
"It takes some getting used to, but I enjoy being able to watch the stars without clouds in the way. Not to mention the clouds themselves are pretty neat to touch. I've even teased a few ponies by shaping clouds in the wilder areas and let them blow past a town. One or two freaked out, but the rest seemed to enjoy it."
"I'm getting sick just thinking about being that high," the green alicorn muttered, laying his head on the table and resting his hooves over his muzzle.
Celestia actually felt a giggle escape her, the idea of an pegasus, much less an alicorn, who was afraid of heights being ridiculous to her.
"She's laughing at ya now, ya wimp. Pull on your big boy pants. Otherwise you'll be a ground-pounder and I'm going to shit on you every time I see you. Maybe even literally."
"You're disgusting," Beth said, shaking her head.
"And he's a fuckin' wimp."
"Bitch I will eat you."
"No, you'll blow me."
Celestia, having shifted slightly away from the escalating argument, was taken by complete surprise when two large claws dropped down on both stallions, driving their heads through the table and into the stone floor.
"Next time I'm throwing you out," the dragon rumbled as he moved back to his seat. "And I may not use a window."
"Don't even," Beth said with a cool tone, watching the stallions pull themselves back up and flare their wings in the direction of the dragon. "You're going to ruin the night for everyone. I guarantee everyone here will be on your ass and you wont be coming back. Either drink your drinks or leave and beat the piss out of each other a few miles away."
Chaz flicked his eyes from the dragon to the green stallion before taking a chug of his drink.
"Sorry."
"We're all tense right now," Gunther sighed, looking at his spilled drink. He slumped a little, taking his cup in his magic as well as Chaz's drink. "That's the entire point of this kind of thing. A time to relax and chat, maybe make some long-term friends."
"We're all adjusting, some of us better than others," Bethany said as the forest alicorn walked off to grab some refills, setting her own mug on his back and shooting him a grin. "Most of us are like Recon, this being a...second life of sorts for us. Scarlet though, she's a natural Equestrian. Found her crying in a pool of her own blood about a year ago, when she'd reached her bottom rung. She'd always wanted to be a bartender but nobody hires a vampire, much less tolerates them. So we did. We already have a bloodbank, albeit a primitive one, so it's not hard to take a few packs and give them to her. She gets what she needs and we've got a new friend."
"She's such a sweetie," the last alicorn, Fumi, slurred. She'd been jostled a bit by the argument and was now taking her time looking around the room. "Nobody else?"
"It's kind of a new thing, Fumi. Can't expect a lot of people to show up for the second one, can you?"
"I was terrified, too. Now I just feel silly," Fumi said, her wings drooping. "I don't like crowds."
"Crowds. Right. Have you not been paying any attention? The densest population I've found doesn't even match my hometown, and we were pretty small. Maybe a couple hundred people. Canterlot is only at, what was it? Ten thousand ponies? It wasn't a lot."
"The last census was about twenty thousand, actually. We've had a population boom in the last fifty years and some of the families have more than doubled in size."
"My family is from Chicago," Gunther said as he returned and passed out drinks, including a second orange-flavored drink to Celestia. "Last I recall, the census put them at around two million. I really don' know what the tech versus population line is supposed to look like, but I have a feeling it's pretty steep, so don't feel bad about that. I'm sure once better farming, transportation, and harvesting techs are adopted you'll take off.
"Kyoto feels even more crowded. You can't walk down the streets without bumping into hundreds of other people in some places, especially during holidays. I mean it is nice to know you're not alone, but there comes a point at which it is intimidating."
"I'm sure there will be some cities that get closer to that later on," Chaz said. "I do enjoy more crowded areas, but I was from the 'burbs. Enough room to stretch out, and a city close enough to travel there if I wanted to."
"Worked on my families farm for a long while. Was pretty quiet in the country and I prefer it that way. Already working on plants, getting them to the point where they're properly resistant to heat and cold again. It's strange, doing it myself. Used to just go out and buy the blasted things. Corn here looks nothing like the ears we grew and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, considering the lack of fingers."
"What about you, princess?" Gunther asked, swirling his drink in his magical grip. "Where'd the ruler of a nation come from? I haven't heard any claims to your family line, and there aren't a lot of schools to teach mares like yourself. Who taught you?"
"I was trained by a stallion by the name of Starswirl the Bearded. He found Luna and I shortly before our ascension and was adamant that we learn what he could teach us. I may not have believed him, even as he cited several prophecies that he said linked us to Discord's fall, but the chance to learn under such a stallion was too much to pass up."
"I keep having to wrap my head around this 'no schooling' thing," Beth chuckled. "Back home you could get in trouble, both with your folks and the local law, if you skipped out on school. Here, kids are lucky to learn to read. It's shocking."
"It will get better," Chaz said. "Once you get ponies moving into larger economies, it will probably start moving towards what we had. Flicker was already setting up a schooling system the second she realized queens were the mothers of their hives. She's already got Recon on a printing press and Chell on the hydro-electric dam. Those guys are hell bent on enjoying modern accommodations again."
"Well when you're not as resistant to the weather, of course you'd want air conditioning. That and Flicker wants her kids to be comfortable."
"Oh my goodness, have you seen her hive?" Bethany gushed. "She had a hot-tub. A perfectly regulated hot tub with swirling water and everything. It was amazing."
Fumi giggled at her friends excitement.
"I may have to visit, in that case. A warm bath is a luxury and I'm not good at fire spells."
"You girls and your baths."
"Says the guy who complained for four weeks about the lack of toilet paper."
"It's a necessity!"
<-(0)->
"-and that's about how it went. It was a wonderful experience, even if it was confusing at times. It takes time to learn the differences in culture, but now that I know them it's much easier to connect. The dragons and changelings are also fun to speak with of course. And over the years, we've expanded even more. Of course, not every immortal or long-lived individual gets in. Chrysalis for instance was never given the chance as she's very unpredictable and would likely attempt to break or cheat the oath somehow, and Equis dragons rarely get in as well. Most are just too volatile. They're likely to break things even when sober, so nopony wants them around when there's plenty of drink."
Twilight looked up from her notes, taking special note of the whimsical smile gracing the older mare's face. The story was fascinating in itself, much less the idea that the immortals of Equis had created a secret society that held meetings that occurred every few years in order to socialize and relax. Of course, with the ease of communications thanks to the technology the Stewtopians used, including a gem-bracelet that she kept in a locked drawer in the castle for emergencies, such individuals had a much simpler time accessing others like themselves. Luna had one such communication device installed in her right slipper and used it often, sometimes using it to send messages when outside of the public eye. Most assumed she was using it to record notes using magic, but in truth she used it to keep in touch with her friends.
"So should I go?" Twilight asked her.
"I'd suggest it, but it's up to you in the end."
Twilight nodded. It would probably be a good idea, and there were already several individuals she'd met who she could ask for additional details.
"So how would I go there, and is there an age limit?"
"I don't really know about the age issue," the larger alicorn admitted. "If you're speaking of Spike, I'd doubt it. Some of the dragons at the city would likely want to speak to him beforehoof. And even then it's likely they will declare him too young. It is a party after all, one for older ponies. And yes, Pinkie knows but she also knows the reason for it. She was disappointed but understanding."
Twilight nodded.
"As for how you would go, well, you just contact Recon or somepony else who attends, such as myself, and I shall set everything up. I've already set it up for Luna this year, and Cadance was at the last one. I'll ask Cadance to be your sponsor."
"I need a sponsor?"
"Well it's more of a personal reference. Somepony who is willing to step up for you and put your name forward. You should be fine even if I'm bringing Luna. In fact, it was between myself and Solar Storm to see who would be bringing Luna to the Shindig. If it came down to it I could let her take Luna and you could come with me."
"It's fine, Princess Celestia. I'll ask Cadance."
Turning to the door and placing the notes in her saddlebags, she ran out the door and barely heard the mare behind her titter.
"Some things don't change, no matter the titles they gain."