//------------------------------// // Going to the Gala Part 1: Invitations // Story: Romantic Mischief // by TheHardie-Boy //------------------------------// Spike and I were in the library, messing around with some pillows that were in the unused rooms in the castle. We had each set up our own walls, using books and tables. We peeked our heads out every so often to try and hit each other with pillows. “Come on, Spike, you know it’s inevitable,” I taunted, holding my pillow at the ready. “No way, Jake! You’ve won too many times! No more!” Spike replied. I laughed a little bit. Despite how mature Spike can act, I can sometimes forget he’s still a child. And, being completely honest, I had a bit of a childish side myself. I launched my pillow as Spike went to reach for one that was a distance from his fortress. Spike dodged my attack and grabbed the pillow, only to get hit by a second one that I threw. Spike puffed smoke out of his nostrils and threw his pillow at me. I ducked into my bunker as the pillow soared overhead. I peeked out to get hit by another one Spike had thrown. “You may have hit me this time, but this is far from over!” I declared. Suddenly, I heard the library doors open. “What are you two doing?” “Spike, time out,” I called as I looked toward the doors. It was Starlight, laughing her head off. “Just your average pillow war,” Spike said, matter-of-factly. Starlight blinked a few times, as if she didn’t immediately understand...which made sense the more I thought about it. “W-W-What?” I laughed, realizing Starlight had yet to see this side of me. “We used to do this sort of thing all the time at Golden Oaks Library, only now, we have way more pillows.” “Okay, but ‘pillow war’?” Starlight asked. “We got carried away with a pillow fight one time, and it’s been getting bigger and bigger ever since,” Spike explained. Starlight laughed again. “Sounds like fun. Mind if I join in?” “Sure, but I must warn you, pillow war is not something to be taken lightly,” I joked. Starlight put on a mischievous grin. “Oh really?” She then picked up a pillow with her magic and launched it straight at me. It hit me with so much force that it actually knocked me down. “Ready to kick some flank, Spike?” Starlight asked, still wearing the look of mischief. “Oh no,” I said, realizing that asking Starlight Glimmer to partake in a pillow war may have been a bad idea. “Let’s do this!” Spike yelled, grabbing as many pillows as he could. Starlight picked up a bunch of pillows in her magic, and by ‘a bunch’, I mean about fifty. “Rapid fire!” I ducked behind my barricade as the assault began. I could feel my wall shake under the force of the pillows being thrown at it. I knew it wasn’t long before it would fall down. “No fair! It’s two against one!” I yelled. “All’s fair in pillow war, Jake,” Spike reminded. I grumbled, remembering that I had used that exact same line after I beat Spike. The pillows kept coming, and I had nowhere to go. There was only one thing to do. I grabbed as many pillows as I could and charged at Spike and Starlight. They paused their attack as I drew closer and closer. It wasn’t long until Starlight started firing again. I took the shots the best I could and kept running. Once I reached their base, I dove with two pillows in hand. As I went down, I unleashed my pillows. They hit straight home, knocking both Starlight and Spike onto the ground. I crawled from the remains of the fallen base as best I could, but I ran out of energy. The war was officially over. Then...I heard laughing. I looked up to see Twilight had entered the library in the midst of our pillow war. She was also holding a scroll in her magic. “What?” I asked as Starlight and Spike stood up as well. Twilight wiped her brow with a wing as she stopped laughing. “Your pillow wars never get old. Anyhow, we got a letter from Princess Celestia that has to do with all of us.” Starlight quickly stood the tables back up and placed the books in all of their respective places with her magic. “What’d she say?” Twilight unrolled the scroll and cleared her throat. “My dearest Twilight, as you know, the Grand Galloping Gala is coming up, so I wanted to give you your tickets personally. My apologies for there only being three tickets with this note; I tried to convince the committee to give a fourth ticket for Jake, but you know how they are. But that doesn’t mean you can’t bring him as a plus one. Hope to see you there, Princess Celestia.” I rolled my eyes. I knew how Canterlot ponies could be: stuck up and fake-happy. It reminded me a lot of how people could be from my old world, and was one of the few things I could do without in Equestria. Even so, I never really let that bother me, as I didn’t actually live in Canterlot. “Well, it’s too bad, Princess Celestia couldn’t get a ticket for Jake,” Spike said. “It’s fine. I don’t usually take a plus one, so I’ll take him. Is that alright, Jake?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, I guess. Who knows, maybe I’ll have a bit more fun this time,” I answered. “Trust me, it’s gotten a lot better since you last went,” Twilight told me. “Alright, but I’ll hold you to that.” Grand Galloping Gala huh? Sounds like fun Twilight had let me borrow the journal she uses to communicate with Sunset Shimmer. It had been a while since I’ve seen her, so I wanted to talk to her. That makes one of us. I just don’t really look forward to something this formal You’ll be fine. You just gotta ignore everypony else. And besides, you’ll have all of your friends there with you, not to mention Twilight and Starlight Speaking of which, how’s everyone over there doing? It’s been a while since I’ve seen them Everyone over here’s doing good. Twilight even got herself a boyfriend Good for her. Tell her I said ‘congratulations’ I will Twilight walked into the library and picked up a book she had been reading. “Hey, Jake. How’s Sunset doing?” “She’s doing good,” I answered. I then got an idea. “Hey, do Starlight or Spike usually take a plus one to the Gala?” Twilight rubbed her chin with a hoof. “Let’s see, Starlight said Sunburst got his own ticket since he’s Flurry Heart’s crystaller, and Spike doesn’t usually take anypony. Why do you ask?” “You think one of them would be okay with taking Sunset as their plus one?” I asked. Twilight blinked a few times before sharing her head. “Woah, woah, woah, that’s not a good idea. Sunset left Princess Celesita on terrible terms. If those two get together, things could get really ugly, really fast. Ask Sunset; she’ll tell you the same thing.” “Oh yeah, she told me about that,” I said rubbing my forehead. Twilight sighed. “Look, Jake, your heart’s in the right place, and it’s one of the things I love about you. This time, it’s just a better idea to leave it alone.” I figured Twilight was right...but still shook my head. “Twi, do you know how close exactly Sunset and Princess Celestia were?” Twilight tilted her head in thought. “Umm...Princess Celestia told me that she considered Sunset a daughter.” “Do you know if Sunset felt the same?” I asked. “As far as I know,” Twilight answer. I rubbed my chin in thought, memories and ideas stirring about in my head. “So, they were like mother and daughter that were separated.” Twilight blinked a few times. “I-I guess you could say that. Why do you...Jake, please don’t start this.” “Start what?” I asked. “I know losing your parents was hard on you and you don’t want that to happen to anypony else, but this isn’t as simple,” Twilight said, raising her voice. “Twilight, you have no idea how much I hate to see a suffering family,” I responded, my voice raising as well. “Jake, listen to me. This isn’t something you can fix.” “Twilight, if this were anyone else, I would leave it alone. But Sunset...I really care about her, just as much as I do you and Starlight. And Princess Celestia? I highly doubt she’s the type to hold this kind of grudge,” I countered. “Okay, say Sunset agrees to go. What if your wrong? What if Princess Celestia does still hold a grudge?” Twilight asked expectantly. “Then we won’t go into this blind and just hope for the best,” I answered. “What do you mean?” Twilight asked. “I’ll...ask Princess Celestia if it’s alright if Sunset comes. That way, we’ll know for sure if it’s a good idea or not,” I reasoned, making it up as I went. “I don’t know, Jake. I usually try not to medal in my friends’ lives,” Twilight said. “Then you don’t even have to be there. Princess Celestia doesn’t even have to know you were a part of this,” I responded. Twilight closed her eyes, trying to come up with a good counter argument. “Please, Twilight? You know how I feel about this kind of thing.” Twilight sighed. “Fine.” “Thank you.” Jake? You still there? I turned my attention back to the journal. Yeah, I’m here, Sunset. I have to go do something, talk to you later Alright, talk to you later A few minutes later, I was waiting in the foyer of the castle. Spike had sent a letter to Princess Celestia, telling her that I had something I wanted to ask her. My nerves were starting to tense. ’Maybe Twilight’s right about this, and I should leave it alone’ I shook my head. There was only one way to find out. A few seconds later, there was a brilliant flash of golden light, and Princess Celestia appeared before me. “Hello, Jake Taylor. Spike sent a letter saying you wished to speak with me,” she said. I bowed my head and replied, “Yes, there’s something I wish to talk to you about. I’m sorry if I pulled you away from anything.” Princess Celestia raised my chin and smiled. “It’s not a problem. With the Gala coming up, there’s nothing to be done for now. Speaking of which, my apologies for not getting a ticket for you.” “It’s no problem. Twilight agreed to take me as a plus one,” I responded. “That’s good. Now, what did you wish to speak to me about?” I took a deep breath and steeled myself for a variety of possible outcomes. “Well...I’ve recently become...very acquainted with one of your old students...Sunset Shimmer,” I said. Princess Celestia’s eyes went wide with what I hoped was just shock, and not horror. Her gaze quickly returned to normal and away from me. I closed my eyes, expecting a full-blown outburst. “I see. How is she?” was all Princess Celestia asked. “Good,” I responded. “...I-I understand you two parted ways on rather bad terms-“ “That doesn’t even begin to explain it,” she cut off. Then, very much to my surprise, she chuckled. “But...Twilight’s told me she’s changed very much since then. If you don’t mind my asking, how exactly are you two acquainted?” “Well...she visited one day, that’s how we met. I went to see the world she lives in, and...she kinda joined the herd,” I explained. “Really? Okay then,” she said. There was a bit of silence between the two of us. I could tell Princess Celestia was holding back a substantial amount of emotions. I couldn’t tell if it were anger, sadness, regret, joy, or curiosity. “Twilight told me you two were very close,” I said, piercing the silence. “Once again, that doesn’t even begin to explain it. She...she was the closest thing I ever had to a daughter. When we had our fight, I...I just couldn’t believe myself. Especially when I had heard she had fought through a few of my guards and fled to another world. It...it broke my heart. And our fight...it was about the dumbest thing.” Princess Celestia’s eyes began to fill with tears, and tears of my own were coming as well. “I-I was pressuring her to make new friends. I should’ve let her do things at her own pace...” Her voice trailed off. I walked up to her and rested my hand on her shoulder as tears started to flow down my cheeks. “I understand how you feel. When I lost my parents, my entire world was turned upside down.” Princess Celestia stayed silent, save for a few sobs. “Do you wish you could see her again?” I asked. “Of course I do. I would give anything to have her back,” she responded. “I-I can probably convince her to come over here for the Grand Galloping Gala, i-if that’s okay with you,” I said, glad my request was finally out in the air. Princess Celestia closed her eyes and attempted to get her emotions under control. When she opened them, she looked directly at me. “Yes, please do,” was all she said. Princess Celestia had left a few minutes ago. I managed to convince Spike to take Sunset as his plus one, since she wouldn’t have her own ticket. I was sitting alone, in the library, with Twilight’s journal. Hey, Sunset, you there? A moment of silence passed by. Yeah, I’m here, Jake Something I wanna ask you What’s up? I told you the Grand Galloping Gala was coming up. I was wondering of you wanted to come? Spike said he would take you as I didn’t manage to finish writing before hysteric scribbling appeared under my writing. No, no, no, no, I can’t, Jake! Princess Celestia always goes to the Grand Galloping Gala. I’m nowhere near ready to see her again. Not after everything I put her through Sunset, it’s okay. I talked to Once again, Sunset cut me off. No, it’s not. She was like a mother to me, and I took her for granted. I yelled at her and called her a hypocrite, and then I ran away through the mirror. I just can’t see her! Sunset just listen to me! I paused to see if Sunset would actually hear me out or not. I took the absence of her writing as a sign she would to the former. I talked to Princess Celestia about it. I wasn’t gonna ask you if I didn’t know for sure. She misses you. She wants to see you again I don’t know. I just...what if I screw things up again? Let me ask you something. Do you miss her? Yes Do you want to make up with her? Of course Then what’s stopping you? Here, I’m gonna tell you something you don’t know about me What is it? I didn’t tell you this when I was visiting you before because I didn’t want you or your friends to feel bad for me, but when I was four years old, my parents’ house caught fire. I was fine, but my parents didn’t make it out Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry. But...why did you tell me that now? Because I can’t stand it when someone as close to me as you are has problems with their family. I would give anything to speak to my parents again, but I can’t. So you should make up or at least apologize to Princess Celestia before you don’t have that chance I waited a while for Sunset to respond. I didn’t know if she put her journal away and forgot about it or was just thinking it over herself. Come on, Sunset. Do this for me? It was dead silent. Time itself seemed to stand still. Until the words finally appeared on the page. Okay, I’ll do it