//------------------------------// // 19 Ticket Trouble // Story: Crushed: The Beginnings // by Silent Wing //------------------------------// AN: Starts before Interluder IV and ends after it. I was sitting at my desk rereading the letter I got from Dustys earlier this day for the third time, before I put it aside. I know what it says, but it is still hard to believe and even harder to understand. Just why the buck is she inviting me to the Grand Galloping Gala? When I look at the pack of tickets, I can only wonder why there are so many of them. Four I could understand, but why the buck are there seven, that just doesn't makes any sense. I quickly write a short letter to her and burn it over the candle she gave me before she returned home. I try to focus back on my homework, but the moment I picked up my pencil, is surprisingly the same moment as her answer arrives. I ponder a few moments if I should read it now or do my homework first, before I pick up the letter. Hey Wingy, four of them are for you and your parents, one is for that colt you spend so much time with (don’t deny it, I know you like Rumble as more than just a friend) and one is for your aunt Cloudchaser. The seventh ticket is just in case, should your parents add another mare or stallion to your herd. Hope to see you soon again Dusty P.S. It would be nice if you could come a day earlier or two, it’s just to long since we pulled our last prank together and I have some great ideas for my mom and my cousin.  Pranking Princess Celestia? That could be fun, but how can I convince mom to go earlier to Canterlot without letting it slip? Well that is a problem for later, for now I have to tell some ponies the good news, but with who shall I start? Certainly not dad, since waking him up after a long shift is never a good idea. Mommy and aunt Cloudy are helping out in the weather factory, since many pegasi there got the feather flu and they are understaffed at the moment. Rumble is out of town, doing something with his brother, so that only leaves mama D. Luckily, I know exactly where she should be at this time. I get up and abandon my homework, checking if dad is still asleep, before I leave the house and fly to Sweet Apple Acres. What would have been a 20 minute trot, I manage in a quarter of the time and to my great surprise I don’t spot mama D in her favorite napping tree, instead she is arguing with Applejack and Twilight about something.  I fly over to where they are and make sure that I hover exactly above the spot in the middle of them, before I tuck my wings in and drop the last few feet to the ground, creating a dust cloud in the proces. “Hello everypony.” I ignore everyponies protests about my rude arrival, wondering how the buck they didn’t notice me earlier while I ask them about what they had been arguing about. “Why don't you give Spike the extra ticket, he is your LBBFF, if I remember correctly and family should always come first.” All three ponies look surprised at me and Twilight is about to open her muzzle, when somepony else answers my question. “Hey, leave me out of your stupid girly stuff.” “Okay, that answers it.” I think to myself, wondering why I hadn't thought of this earlier or how I could overlook him so easily, when he is sitting on Twilight's back, directly in front of me. I take a closer look at the two ponies in front me, before I come up with a great idea. “So AJ will be your date for the Gala then. Okay, that’s unexpected but I am sure that you two will make a nice couple.” Both of their eyes go wide as dinner plates, when there focus switch between me and each other. I watch that for a few moments, happy that I have achieved what I wanted before I turn around, only to find myself eye to eye with mama D. “As much fun as this is Wingy, why didn’t you help me to get the extra ticket?” “Why should I, we already got tickets.” I reply immediately, which softens her glare greatly and we two make our way into town. While we walk there, I tell her everything about the letter I got from Dusty. I can’t convince her to come with me, but she says that I can get everything I want for the Gala, just before we split up. While she goes to Sugar Cube Corner, I make my way towards Carousel Boutique. In the hope of getting Rarity's help. I hear the familiar tingling of the bell when I step into her home, which is followed by her usual greeting, when she looks up from her current work. “Oh, hello Silent Wing, what brings you here at this fine day?”  I wince when I hear her saying my full name. It took me a while to get used to it, but by now I am far more comfortable when others call me just Wingy, to be honest I actually prefer it. “Hello miss Rarity, I actually need your help with something.” “Please, just Rarity is fine.” I think for a moment if I should start the usual games, but decide against it, instead I decide that a simple nod is the best reply, in this situation. “So what is it I can help you with, a scarf? A new set of bows? Or do you finally allow me to make you a nice dress?” “Nothing of those, but can you make me a saddle for the Gala? Maybe in the same red as my mane colour if possible?” Her lack of response surprises me, since I expected her to complain that this wouldn’t be appropriated or something similar and only now, I realize that she is actually frozen in shock. “Rarity, you fine there?” I ask her slightly annoyed by her reaction. I expected some drama, but not that extreme. On the other hoof, she didn’t faint so it can’t be too worse. “Darling, this simply won’t do. You can’t just go to an event like the Great Galloping Gala with nothing as simple as a saddle. Please allow me to make you something nicer.” “Look Rarity, if it would be up to me I would just wear my Night Guard Armor or nothing at all, but even I know that this wouldn’t be appropriate. So what do you say. Can you make me a saddle that would look absolutely fabulous or are you not up to that challenge?” She sighs in defeat and gestures to me, that I shall get up on the pedestal, so that she can begin her work. “You play dirty, Wingy. Using my own words against me and question my ability? That’s something I didn’t expect from you.” “I am full of surprises.” I reply grinning, hoping that I didn’t go to far, with what I said earlier. “Look Rarity, if it really matters so much to you, you can make me a dress and I decide at the day of the Gala, what I will be wearing, okay?” I offer her in exchange, hoping that this will help her to calm down a bit. Whatever she wanted to say next is lost to both of us, when a purple blur rushes into the Boutique and slams the door shut behind it, gaining both of our attention. From all three of us, Rarity is the first one to recover and focus on the most important part. (At least in her opinion) “Twilight dear, you look horrible, what happened to your mane?” She immediately begins to “fix” this so called mess, not giving her a chance to explain anything. “Hey Spike, what the buck  happened to you two after mama D and I left?” I ask the young drake, which also looks slightly shaken, but not nearly as bad as Twilight. “You mean after Twilight explained to AJ, that it isn’t as you said and she doesn’t think of her that way?” He replies annoyed, not in the slightest bit happy with that joke from me and I have to admit that it was one of my worst.  “When we came back from Applejack, we ran into Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie who somehow already knew about the extra ticket. This isn’t your doing, right?” He asks me with a glare, that could melt all snow at winter wrap up within seconds and for the first time, I am actually scared of that little dragon. “No, I didn’t tell anypony about it Spike, why do you ask?” “Because the whole town is now chasing us, only because they want that stupid ticket.” A shudder runs down my spine and one thought runs through my mind. “I can only hope that nopony finds out, that I have a spare ticket to.” I already had Spikes attention, but now Twilight and Raritys heads also turn into my direction, which makes me fear only one thing. “I said that out loud didn't I?” The question is answered sooner than I would have liked, when Rarity asks me if that is true and if she could have it. When I want to know from her, why exactly she should get the ticket she tells me something about a Prince Blueblood and how she could impress him and that is where I decide to put a stop to it. “So let me get this straight, you want to go there so that you can impress a pony you know nothing about, expect the fact that he is a prince, so that you can marry him and become a princess of your own?” “I wouldn’t put it like that.” She replies within a moments notice, not even trying to deny it and it is this exact moment, in which I know that she won’t get anything from me. I remove everything, that she had already arranged on me, before I step down from the pedestal and make my way towards the door. “Wingy, where are you going, we hadn’t been done yet?” “Home of course, I still have something to finish, before dad wakes up.”  “But what about your order? We had barely started yet.” She replies upset, only now realizing that focusing all her attention on Twilight, the moment she arrived wasn’t the best of her ideas. “Consider it cancelled. I get that from a pony that doesn’t abandon the customer she is currently working with in favor of a friend.” I answer her question, not caring in the slightest, how she will take this news. “You know Rarity, that was kind of rude from you.” Twilight surprisingly adds her own view of the situation, as I walk the few remaining steps to the door.  “Hey Twilight. Regardless what happened earlier, I hope you find a solution to your problem and some pony that is actually worth your extra ticket.” I tell her, before closing the door to Carousell Boutique behind me and make my way home. The next evening at a not so random encounter: I observe the way from the marketplace back to the Golden Oaks Library, waiting for my target. If my information is correct the mare in question should pass by here very soon and I can finally finish my self given duty. “Hey Twilight, I heard you are looking for somepony to go with you to the Gala, is that correct?” I ask her the moment I spot her, while catching up to her and make sure that my step match hers. “Oh, hello Mango.” Twilight replies in surprise, which is followed by a few moments of silence, before she decides to answer my question. “Yes, I am already going with all of my friends, but I still have one extra ticket.” “And you don’t know who to give it to, since everypony only cares about the Gala, but you want to get something more out of it?” When I hear her sigh and she admits that this is indeed, what is troubling her, I decided to help her in the only way possible. “I can't help you with the ticket, but I can introduce you to some of the guards, when we go to Berry Punchs bar on saturday.” “All of them are Night Guards?” This question takes me a bit by surprise and I can only wonder, why this should be from importance. “Yes. I hope that isn’t a problem for you.” “No, not at all.” She replies to my relief and I am glad that she isn’t one of those tribalists, that has a problem with us Thestrals. But from the way she said this, I know that there is more to this, than just the difference in tribe. Unwilling to pressure her, I wait patiently for her to tell me the story behind this question. Almost a minute passes in silence, before she explains the reason for her question and to be honest, it isn’t something I could have guessed. “You should know that my brother can be a bit overprotective when it comes to me and the problem is that he has a position in the Royal Guard, that allows him to turn his threats into reality.” “And since the Royal Guard has no say about us, we are safe from everything he would like to do to us?” I finish for her, which earns me a nod of approval, but this still lefts one question unanswered. “Just what did he promise those Guards?” “Let me quote something, I overheard him saying to a fresh bunch of recruits on their first day. "If any of you takes more than one look at my sister, I make sure you are permanently assigned to the frozen north".” We both walk in silence, somehow, none of us is interested in conversation for now and soon we reach her home. “I'll pick you up on saturday around eight, if that is alright with you.” “Sure, I can’t wait for it.” She answers me, before we say our goodbyes and while she (probably) goes to bed, I head towards the barracks, so that I can prepare for another long night.