//------------------------------// // Part 12: True royalty. // Story: Harmony Unfurled // by Saturni_Rose //------------------------------// Stepping through, Luna saw her, rising, as ever, so above it all. The carpet laden steps painted the world around her in a crimson, leaving her a white spot of perfection. Beside her was the sorbet trio of princesses, including the one she hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting.  The stranger wore a royal cape with faux fur lining, striped lily white and daffodil yellow. Twilight’s dress was cornflower blue, with a big regal collar. Sunset beside her wore one with a tail and dancer’s frills, in a burning hot shade of foxglove reddish pink. And the white queen, Celestia, she had a layered, pleated ensemble to match the osiria rose; the blood red skirts and sleeves and trimmings unfolded to give way to pure, clean silvery white innards.  These royals wore smiles and pleasantries at the first landing to bid their guests welcome to the gala. Loathe as she was to wait in another line, Luna found herself shuffling among many well-to-do strangers. Timing could not have been better, though, as the cutoff for getting to enjoy their acknowledgement came shortly after they started waiting. Her sight was fixated, her breath becoming bated as time went on.  At long last, princess Twilight clicked her hooves together with great excitement. She leaned across Sunset’s chest to get the queen’s attention. “Celestia--oop, I mean, your grace. Look, those fillies, toward the end of the line. They’re the ones I met in the Everfree--the ones who defeated Nightmare Moon.”  “Then that means…” Celestia’s eyes had glazed over by this point. This gaggle of nobility all supported her in some way, but none of them truly knew her. Granting this facade of acquaintanceship, it felt so empty. But now her eyes perked up as she looked past the familiar strangers. “There she is. She came after all.”  Rarity went first when they became the new front. She bowed before the royalty and said: “My friends and I are most grateful for your invitation to the gala, your grace.”  Applejack followed her darling. “Thank you kindly, should it please her grace and their majesties.”  Rainbow Dash bent her knee. “Most awesome majesties.” From the side, Rarity merely shook her head at her. Moving along, she shrugged, mouthing: “What?”  Fluttershy gulped and accidentally bowed so low, her hair swept across the floor. One of her little flower clips popped open and she had to scoop it up and hurry along.  Pinkie Pie did something rather funny, in that she came up to the stairs and bowed. Then, after standing back up, she knelt down a second time. As she made way, she met eyes with a very confused queen, and shot her a wink. The queen alone then had the spark of understanding.  Luna came up to the spot. A long moment of quiet seemed to fall over the room, the murmuring fading away until naught remained but her and the silent locking of eyes she kept with her sister. She bent in both her knees, prostrating before them. “Your grace.”  Celestia put on a most frightfully awkward smile, her lips nearly trembling. Her sister began to walk away from her and the line came to an end shortly after. The smile grew all the more forced. By the end, she announced: “Welcome to the Grand Galloping Gala, one and all!”  A mild cheer sounded throughout the hall.  “If you’ll briefly excuse us,” continued their queen, “the princesses and I are going to freshen up a little, and return shortly. Please, help yourselves to some catering, just down that hall. The band will also be playing in the ballroom shortly. Or you may mingle out in my garden, if you’d like; my roses have done exceptionally well this summer.”  Luna watched the royal party ascend and disappear further into the castle. It seemed like the ground floor was all that was available to the gala goers. She sighed.  Fluttershy came along and asked: “How are you feeling, Luna?” “Yeah,” added Pinkie, “you okay?”  “I feel rather foolish.” she admitted to them. “I had so much more to say than ‘your grace,’ and I just didn’t.” She made to drag at her eyes, but paused, remembering the makeup. She could see Rarity’s sympathy fading when it seemed she might have to fix that again. Applejack, feeling somewhat fluent in the topic, pat her on the back. “That was your sister up there, girl. Surely you coulda asked to go up and chat?”  “I’m afraid I fell victim to particulars of ceremony.” Luna told her, nibbling on her lip. “My place as a guest was to bow and greet and be greeted. Besides, I didn’t want to deprive the ponies behind us of the opportunity to meet with their queen as well.”  Rarity saw Applejack’s confused grimace and nodded. “Sadly, she is right; adherence to social custom is a big to do at high society events. But let’s not fret, now, I’m sure that an opportunity will present itself at some point. The royal party always finds the time to mingle with their guests, after all.”  “I suppose you’re right.” Luna lifted her chin anew. “At any rate, what are all of you going to get up to?”  “Rainbow and I are going to the dining hall.” said Rarity, sidling up beside the chuffed pegasus.  “This shindig has gotta have the best catering!” Dash excitedly rubbed her hooves together in anticipation of all the delicious, expensive food.  Nonplussed, Rarity broke eye contact with her and added: “We’re also going to try and network. Food is practically the best ice breaker.”  It suddenly hit Rainbow Dash again. “Oh yeah, I heard some Wonderbolts are here! Wonder if they’d make time to talk to one of the heroes who helped return the sun?”  “I’m going to spend some time in the garden. It’ll be quieter, and I’d love to see the peacocks!” Fluttershy was nearly a tizzy with excitement.  Applejack sidled up beside her and put a hoof over her shoulder. “And I’m gonna escort her. ‘Sides, I might find some more, shall we say, agriculturally minded folk out there gawkin’ at the plants. That’s a bit more my speed.”  Luna began to realize she hadn’t put all that much thought into what she was going to be doing. She tried not to let it show, however, and told them: “Alright, then girls. Let’s all meet back here in the main hall by the end of the gala, like we agreed.”  Nods were shared, and they all branched off. Luna gave those stairs one last glance before wandering off in no direction in particular. So Pinkie hopped along beside her and said: “Hey, why don’t we check out the dance hall?”  Luna wasn’t so sure. “Dancing?”  “We don’t have to dance, but that’s usually where they serve the drinks.” She wiggled her eyebrows up at her as they went along, heading that way.  “Drinks?” Luna shot her a skeptical look. “Is that a good idea?”  “Including the coffee bar.” added Pinkie, scrunching up her face, scoffing. “C’mon, I’m not gonna load you up our first night together. Whaddya take me for?”  Luna resigned herself to her fate, taking Pinkie in under her wing. She chuckled and said: “Alright, I get it. Let’s go, then, just you and I.”  There were several tables that filled in the corners and lined the walls of the ballroom. Curtains were drawn over the stage, behind which the band was surely preparing; tuning strums and hums quietly squeaked above the murmurs. Pinkie found a small table just for them, and pulled out a chair for Luna. With a sweeping gesture, she told her: “Here, my dear. Take a seat, I’ll get us a couple coffees, and then our night can really begin.”  “My, what excellent manners.” Luna put her hoof to her chin, pleased as the punch they weren’t drinking, as Pinkie tucked the chair in under her. From the lining of her toga, she produced a kerchief to wave. “Don’t be long now, heheh.”  At the entrance to the ballroom around that time stepped one Twilight Sparkle. On her head she wore a simple silver tiara, which she was well assured, several times went better with this lightish blue ensemble. Little silver stars dangled from her lobes. Much as she had insisted she looked good in purple, she ended up letting herself be convinced these were good compliments. In the end, she had to admit it did look pretty nice. A growing confidence filled her up; she’d never felt this pretty. Not even at her crowning as a princess.  Sparkling like her namesake, her eyes lit up when she spotted her. There sat Luna in the white and gray and gold. Twilight smiled to her eyes, glad to see a friend, and made to trot across to her. When she saw Luna notice her at last and smile back, she beamed.  “Princess Sparkle,” cooed Luna as she came along next to her table, “it’s wonderful to see you.”  Twilight leaned her elbow against the table and teased her. “Psh, c’mon, Luna. You can call me Twilight.”  “Formalities tend to be important at prestigious events such as this.” Luna told her. There was no malicious intent to it, but that disappointed face disheartened her. “A-alright, Twilight it is.”  She beamed anew. “That’s more like it. And ah, look, our earrings match.”  Luna’s cheeks flushed just a little bit when Twilight propped up next to her, their stars nearly clinging together. “That they do.”  Still bright and bubbly, Twilight took the seat across from her. She propped up her chin in a most unprincessly way, and said: “So, where’d all your friends go? Not that I’m not glad to catch you alone, heh.”  “They’re all around, mingling, you know.” Luna paused, parsing her next words carefully. “And I am, erm, not by myself at the moment.”  “Oh yeah?” She glanced around, trying to see one of the element bearers. “Which of your friends came with? I’ll bet it was Rarity, she’d fit right in with this crowd.”  “I’m here with m--ahem.” Luna wasn’t fully sure why admitting this felt so difficult. Little pin pricks crawled just under the thinnest layer of skin, all along her spine and through the back of her neck. She averted her gaze to finally cough it up. “My girlfriend.”  Twilight’s purple eyes snapped back over to her, and her face followed suit. Her mane whirled round, and those silver stars swayed in this incomplete orbit. “Your girlfriend.”  It wasn’t so much a question. At least, it didn’t sound like it, despite a certain bewilderment haunting the word. Luna nodded timidly. “Yes, that’s correct.”  One of Twilight’s ears flickered, and she put on a smile. “Well, who is she? Can I meet her?”  Right on cue, a pair of saucers clinked onto the little table, complete with two dainty cups. With a huge smile, Pinkie Pie gave her a bright: “Hi, Twilight! Nice to see you again, princess.”  Luna stood up and came around to her. Shy as she was about it, she managed to unfold her wing to wrap over Pinkie and bring her in nice and close. After trading a smile with her, she told the princess: “Twilight, you remember Pinkie? Well, we are, um, d-dating now.”  “Hehe, she’s my girlfriend.” added Pinkie, very straightforwardly.  Twilight too rose from her seat. She approached them. “Wow that’s gr--wait, hold on. Pinkie this,” she said, gesturing at her outfit, “this is… so cute! Oop, I mean, Luna, your outfit is stunning too, but wow I’d love something like this.”  Chuckling, Luna presented her with a card. “Rarity made personalized dresses for each of us, and asked us to carry a few of her business cards. I’m certain she’d be happy to hear from you.”  Twilight slipped it into a pocket. “I’ll drop her a line. Here though, I’ll let you two enjoy your drinks, and maybe catch up later.” Luna watched her go, wondering if maybe she didn’t seem at least a tiny bit in a hurry. At any rate, she sat down across from Pinkie taking her seat as well. The aroma of this coffee seemed nice. She blew the steam away and took a sip. “Thanks for getting us a couple cups.”  “Of course.” said Pinkie cheerily. She drank and mushily added: “Anything for you.”  Their idle chatter ambled about the topic of other different coffees Luna was curious about trying. By the time they got back to the notion of weening oneself off adding sugar, they both agreed it unnecessary, and set their emptied cups onto the saucers. A server happening by asked if they wanted refills, which they declined. And shortly after, the curtains rose at the platform to reveal a small orchestra.  All the wallflowers bloomed. Pinkie turned about in her chair to watch them with a “Hmm.” “What,” teased Luna, “not going to rush off to join them? I know how you love to dance.”  Pinkie gestured at them. Their steps were slow, cautious, planned. There was a routine to it--a tradition. She admitted: “I actually don’t know how to dance like that.”  Luna was simply beside herself with how bemused she was right now. She pushed up from the table and took hold of Pinkie’s hoof. “Haw, isn’t this rich? Me, teaching the famed party pony how to dance?”  “I don’t tend to do… fancy parties.” The slightest bit of reluctance showed as Pinkie hesitated to follow along with her.  “You needn’t worry about having humble origins.” Luna attempted to reassure her. “Here. I’ll show you.”  Heart filled with uncertainty still, Pinkie let Luna position her. She watched her hoof steadily bob with the rhythm. Past it, though, she could see some over the shoulder glances of judgement from gala goers. Doubt seeped into her mind.  “Seems they’re starting with a simple waltz; these I actually remember.” She got in closer, directing Pinkie’s attention to her hoofwork. “Follow my lead, alright? Step, two, three, step, two, three--and so it goes.”  Pinkie nervously followed along, counting out triplets in her head. “Like this?” “You’ve got it, look at you go.” beamed Luna. “Now back, two, three,” she said parting, then returning, “and forth, two, three. Good! And, then, you, twirl, with, me!”  Her skirts whirled behind her, and Pinkie began to leave her doubts behind her. The whole entire rest of the world faded away, and all her focus could contain was Luna’s smiling face. The steps began anew and she hit them much more confidently.  Minutes passed. An orange and reddish blur passed them by on the last twirl of the song. “Mind if I cut in?”  “Princess Sunset?” Luna halted, and her searching eyes found a pleasant princess. She stared at her for a moment. “You want… to dance? With me?”  “It would give me a chance to catch up with a fellow alicorn.” said Sunset, wearing a wide, wide smile.  Luna’s brows tightened the slightest little bit. Their last solo conversation had been less than pleasant, to say the least. “Actually, Sunset, you know, I think I do mind. I’d like to dance with my girlfriend right now, if that’s alright.”  Sunset double-took who she was looking at. She glanced at Pinkie, then back to Luna. “Wait, girlfriend? Is that--I mean… What? Her?”  The furrow of Luna’s brow curled in further, and she leveled her gaze at Sunset. In a cool, cutting tone, she confirmed to her: “Yes. Her.”  Less confidently than she told the last princess, Pinkie put on a nervous smile and said: “Hi again. I’m uh, heheh, the girlfriend.” But she could feel the growing tension between them, so she stepped aside and cleared her throat. “I can take another quick hike, though, if you want to catch up with Luna.”  Just as Pinkie turned to go, Luna pulled her over and blanketed her shoulders with her wing. Standing tall, she loomed over Sunset, a cold storm cloud set to blot out the warm sun as it shrank back. “No, Pinkie, you don’t have to go anywhere.”  “Wow.” said Sunset dryly, stepping back. “Okay. You don’t have to make this weird. I was just wondering if you knew why Twilight suddenly became all dour.” She turned to leave them, but sourly added: “I Think I might understand now, though.”  “Oh.” said Luna as she realized what this very well might be all about. She scratched at the scrunched up bridge of her nose. “Oh no.” Ponderous and reluctant, she made to catch up with her. “Where is she--can I see her?”  Sunset’s head snapped around and she hissed a whisper to her. “Just remember what I told you last time. If you hurt her again--” “Right, right,” interrupted Luna, eyes rolling nearly right out of her skull, “you’ll probably try to fight me or something. I’m not interested in a fight.”  She scrutinized her, somewhat perplexed, but her face was no less tense and still. “Uh, you wouldn’t really get much of a choice? That’s sort of how a fight works.”  “Look,” said Luna, not backing down, “I get it. You’re just trying to protect her because you care about her. But you can’t keep aggressing me on her behalf, alright? Now let me go try and smooth whatever this is over.”  Mouth tight, Sunset continued along and said: “Fine.”  Pinkie, not far off behind, felt at her heart. What Luna said may have been intended for the princess, but it shook her to her core. She tried to shake it off, and caught up to Luna who was trailing behind. In a hush, she yelled: “Um, Luna, yeah, what in the hay was that back there?” Luna shrank down beside her with embarrassment as they loped along. “I have no idea, I’m so sorry.” She made sure Sunset wasn’t paying attention and added: “I shouldn’t let her rile me up, but I could not let that snide remark slide. It’s one thing for her to insult me, but--” “Hey, I’m fine, okay?” She shuffled along, eyes lazily sweeping along the tiles of polished stone. “I get it, though; a mare like you with a filly like me. It--” “What?” Luna gawked at her. She followed her gaze around at the other ponies, catching on that they likely had received some odd looks that she hadn’t noticed, her mind so occupied. “Listen, Pinkie. Don’t let any of these snobs make you feel inadequate, especially not Sunset.” “It’s just that you’re so… and I’m--” sputtered Pinkie, failing to tell Luna how otherworldly beautiful and perfect she seemed, and how she felt like a clown courting an angel. Or, more appropriately, the court jester falling for her princess?  “You’re plenty good enough.” insisted Luna. “Thanks.” sighed Pinkie, relief starting to settle in her heart. “That really means a lot to me.”  “Twilight!” sounded Sunset ahead of them. “There you are. I was just catching up with our old friend, Luna.” She gestured for her to come forth. “Wasn’t I?”  Luna approached to find Twilight making this half-hearted effort at sharing a dance with her older brother. “Y-yes, that’s right. Hello again, ser Armor.”  He nodded with that usual confident grin. “Luna.”  Twilight rather absent-mindedly stared at her over her shoulder, her dancing coming to a stop. “Oh. Hi again.”  Luna’s mouth felt dry. “Erm, actually, do you mind if I cut in?”  “Why sure, by all means.” said Shin, offering up his little sister’s hoof, thinking little of it. This mare was a friend of hers, after all. “If Twily doesn’t mind, of course.”  Odd as this seemed, Twilight felt a sort of plea in those eyes. So she said: “Alright, I suppose.”  Pinkie watched her dance away with a princess, who no doubt danced better than her, was smarter than her, looked way better in that super nice blue dress than her… She idly tapped her hooves together. Sunset was still standing nearby, and for some reason she asked: “Um. Would you like to dance? W-with me, I mean?”  Sunset pursed her lips. “Actually, I’m going to go get a cup of coffee, if you’ll excuse me. I can see it’s going to be a long night.”  Shin watched one of his charges sashay away, clearly dissatisfied with something. Under normal circumstance, he’d go along to keep an eye on her. But this friend of Luna’s seemed pretty dejected by that comment, and she seemed pretty nice. So he sidled up beside her and said: “I’ll dance with you. I’m Shining Armor, by the way.” He very smugly brushed some nonexistent dust off the shoulder of his cloak. “I’m sure Luna’s told you all about me.”  Without missing a beat, Pinkie smirked and told him: “Yeah, she told me about how you tried to kill her with a sword. That one you’re wearing right now, in fact.”  Physical pain seemed to wrinkle across his face. “Okay, I deserve that. Yeah.”  “I’m just joshin’ ya, guard boy.” said Pinkie. She gave his shoulder a light bop, and smiled. “Thanks for dancing with me, though. I could use the distraction.” “Could do with one myself, pal.” he said, taking the lead.  Luna meanwhile took the lead with Twilight not too far off. Two violinists rang out across the hall, and for a moment, she felt she actually recognized the piece. Returning her attention to Twilight, she got right to it. “Would you like to talk, Twilight?”  The question caught her off guard, so Twilight missed a step. “I don’t think… about what?”  “Sunset seemed under the impression you were sulking just a little bit ago.” Luna explained.  Twilight sighed, feeling as though the jig was already up. Not the literal jig she was performing, mind, that was still going. “Was she now?”  “Yes. So is there something you’d like to talk about?” A pause came into the words, which Luna left open to response. There was no pausing in their twirling steps, though, and no answer came right away. “I mean, it seemed rather odd to me that this was shortly after you found out I was romantically inclined toward someone.”  “Mm.” was all Twilight managed. “I see.”  “Do you maybe want to talk about that?” Luna pulled her in, lifting her hoof, and turned her about. “I think we should talk about that.”  “I hate myself for thinking it,” droned Twilight, excruciatingly slow, letting Luna’s leading hoof lean her left with the music, “but I guess I was wondering why it was her, and not somepony you seem to have a bit more in common with?”  The discontent was difficult to hide for Luna. “Do you maybe mean a pony like you?”  Twilight had the face of a particularly young filly who’d been caught sneaking an extra cookie from the jar. The music stopped, and so did the dancing. “I’ll admit that early on, I did have a little crush on you.”  Luna stood there, absolutely fizzling in that way one might when trying very hard to understand a difficult puzzle. In a relatively short amount of time, she’d given not just romance another try, but romance with a girl no less. Now yet another girl was admitting to attraction toward her. A lot of things swam around in her skull, like she was drunk on red, red wine, but also jittery from too much coffee all at the same time. All she managed, back here in reality was: “Oh. I see.”  “But look, I’ve worked through that.” Twilight glanced stageward as a different concerto began. Returning her attention to Luna as the two began to awkwardly follow the steps once more, purely out of habitual practice, she added: “I came to realize that, well, my immediate attraction to you was due--besides what a gorgeous mare you are, I mean, come on, just look at you, heheh.”  Once Twilight’s nervous laughter subsided, Luna asked her: “You think I’m gorgeous?”  “Oh my gosh yeah!” exclaimed Twilight, following the routine. She ducked under Luna’s hoof and whirled back around to meet her, continuing. “The way your eyes sparkle, and how your whole face lights up when--wait, okay, this is not the point.”  Luna snickered, missing a couple of the steps herself. “I’m sorry, dear, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I’m very surprised is all. Flattered too, though. Do go on.”  “What I was trying to say is,” muttered Twilight, coming in close, dancing no longer, “that I felt my crush on you might’ve been unhealthy.”  Luna’s skirts came to rest. The music continued around them. A delay came, between the words and her teeth parting to let them pass. “How do you mean?”  “It was wrapped up in all this hero worship.”  Luna gawked down into her eyes. That wording was so strange. “I’m no hero.”  “Perhaps that was not the best way to put it.” admitted Twilight. “But you are this larger than life figure that came into my life. And I think I latched onto that--the idea of you, rather than the very real mare you are. I-it was immature of me, and I feel pretty foolish…”  Luna fiddled with her hooves a moment, wondering if she should try to find the right step to dance again. “I’m sorry I made you feel that way. But then why get upset that I’m dating somepony else?”  “I’m a little surprised by it myself.” Her head sank. “I guess I wasn’t quite as over it as I thought I was.” She looked up from her shuffling feet. “But more than anything, I do still look up to you.”  “Do you mean that literally?” jeered Luna, trying to lighten the mood. Pinkie was rubbing off on her.  “Oh,” blurted Twilight with great emphasis, “my gosh. You two are more alike than I realized.”  “Snrk, okay, I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.” Luna’s ears folded back and she looked away to stifle her snickering.  “I’m gonna be as tall as you someday, ya know.” pouted Twilight.  “That may well be,” pondered Luna, “but back to the topic at hoof: what I want to know is that despite all of this, we can still be friends. Will that still be okay?”  An eager little smile curled upon Twilight’s lip. “You know, I was hoping you’d say that. More than some tall, pretty mare to fawn over, I mainly wanted a friend all this time.”  “I think I can provide that, happily so.” Relief washed over Luna.  Twilight glanced around with a chuckle. “Guess we’re uh, done dancing. We can go find Shin and Pinkie.”  As they began to lope along, excusing themselves past other gala goers still tracing the steps they’d practiced, Luna timidly added: “You know, though, Twilight? There’s a certain pony that really does care for you.”  Twilight’s ears perked up. “Oh?”  “It’s princess Shimmer.”  “O-oh?” was all Twilight could say to that. Her cheeks filled in with that berry pink. This was not something she’d considered, or even noticed.  Luna nodded. “Having spoken with her, it seems to me she really wants to look out for you.” She scratched at the back of her neck. “Maybe it’s not my place to tell you this, and I cannot say the erm… extent to which she appreciates your company, so to speak. But you two certainly have a greater history, and plenty in common.”  “I see.” mewled Twilight. “I will certainly have to think about this.”  Luna bit her lip, really, truly considering how to put this next part, or if she should mention it at all. Twilight began to get ahead of her as she hesitated, so she reached out for her shoulder. “Twilight? One last thing.”  She craned her head about and blinked up at her a few times. “W… what’s up?”  “Just… do take care. She might care for you deeply, but at times, she’s shown that to me in less than savory ways. And take it from me: sometimes the ones you care about the most can hurt you the worst.” Intended or not, Luna’s eyes grew intense. The toxic gnawing at the back of her mind surely showed.  Twilight took a moment to process this, and really consider it. “I think I understand. Thank you for talking to me tonight.”  “Of course.” Luna told her with great confidence. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that this is exactly what friends are for; we look out for one another.”  “Then I’m lucky to have a friend like you.” said Twilight, before throwing herself into a hug. She felt Luna gently pat her back a couple times, and let go.  Together, they went along to find the others, which they discovered moments later. Other ponies steered clear, and in the center of the avoided space, the head of the guard and this pinkish upstart seemed likely to shred up the very tile. As the violinists on stage sawed harder, their hooves seemed to move faster and faster.  “Well it seems you two are having fun.” announced Luna as they arrived.  “Oh, hey again.” Shin took Pinkie by the hoof and led her back to Luna. “I believe this is yours.”  Pinkie giggled. “Maybe not the best way to put it, but yes.” She let go of his hoof and hopped into Luna’s embrace. “You didn’t tell me your knight friend could dance.”  “It’s news to me.” replied Luna, incredulous at his… esoteric movements. “Though I’m more surprised he could keep up with you, what with all the bulk and armor.”  “No sweat.” boasted Shin, brushing away the very real trickle of sweat from his brow. “It was fun though, she’s definitely my second favorite pink pony.”  This perplexed Luna somewhat. “Who might the first be.”  Twilight rolled her eyes. “He’s talking about his girlfriend, Cadence.”  Here, Luna tapped her chin as the lot of them began to veer away from the dancing. “That name does sound familiar, hmm, Cadence…”  “Yes, that’s me.” came a voice.  Dumbstruck, Luna found herself wandering right into the path of a lilac pink alicorn with eyes of a regal purple. As ever, she found herself reflexively bowing at the sight of a crown. “Your majesty.”  From the serving table, Sunset downed her cup and passed it back to the server, politely declining a refill of her coffee. Dabbing the corners of her mouth with all the daintiness becoming of a princess, she watched as that pinkish girl scout exchanged niceties with Luna. Captain Shin, Pinkie, and Twilight gathered in around them; they were all chatting away with pleasant smiles, each and every one of them.  It made Sunset sick to her stomach. The wizened person she became grew more and more into a frustrating routine; how she longed to cut loose again, and really let it all out. There she was, one of Equestria’s greatest historical, existential threats. And everypony acted as though none of that happened and showered her with adulation. One of the new element bearers even fell for her.  She didn’t get it. And she couldn’t look on from afar any longer. So she made for the main exit of the ballroom, back out into the long foyer with the dizzily high ceilings. Along the way she brushed past her queen who had lifted her up, what felt like so long ago. Hesitating, all she had to say for herself before hurrying along to be alone was: “Your grace.”  Pinkie stopped laughing at the embarrassing story princess Cadence was telling about how she first met Shining. There in the vaulted doorway stood the white queen in red, temporarily confused by someone who’d just gone by. While she was looking over that way, she hadn’t spotted Luna. Her legs tensed, unsure if she should follow up on the idea she just got. She watched the queen getting shrugs from those two guards, before they slowly began to work their way in, waylaid only by citizens excited to see their ruler in person. Pinkie gulped.  Luna felt a tug at her shoulder and turned about, facing well away from the entryway. “Oh, yes, dear?”  “Hey, um, I’m actually kinda tired of dancing. Whaddya say we take a stroll in the garden, just me and you?” Pinkie gestured over to the far end of the ballroom, where a set of doors led out that way. The cool night air seeped in through the shadows, seemingly inviting after stuffy dance hall.  “That does sound rather nice. Certainly.” said Luna. She turned to her friends, old and new, and told them: “This has been lovely, and we should all catch up again later. But for now, I’d like to stroll alone with my sweet for a bit.”  “Oh, by all means.” beamed Cadence. In a tone as dulcet as cake, she told them: “It was lovely meeting you. We should have tea sometime!”  “The last time I tried that, we had to go fight a dragon.” jeered Twilight.  After a couple chuckles, Shining broke in with: “You fought a what?”