//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - I Gotta Feeling (Tonight’s Gonna Be A Good Night) // Story: A New Year's Toast of Tea // by Witching Hour //------------------------------// Witch isn’t sure whether to be grateful or annoyed that, upon discovering her invitation to the infamous House Star New Years’ party, Cinna had insisted on overseeing her preparations. The secretary administrative assistant had promptly dragged a bewildered and protesting Witch bodily from the tea shop (without finishing their tea) and hauled her back to the house she shared with Monkey, with Midnight trailing along and laughing. The following hours (and Cinna lamented about the ‘lack’ of time until Witch was sure she’d turn blue in the face) were filled with flying makeup applicators, styling brushes and oh so many dresses until the assistant finally settled on Witch’s auxiliary dress uniform. “Has no pony touched this mess since I did your mane for the Gala, Witchy?!” Cinna demands crossly as she attempts to get the blue tresses to curl in the way she wants them to. “I got a trim before my leave,” Witch grunts and winces as Cinna’s magic-held curling iron pulls her mane painfully on one side. “And I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this! It’s not even a garden party!” “Witching Hour Grey, I know that you know that House Star doesn’t invite just anypony to their New Years’ party. Not even close friends get invitations!” Cinna retorts, still irate and pulling at Witch’s mane. “Which means that they don’t want formality, Cinnabelle!” Witch counters with another wince before shoving the excitable assistant away. “Sweet Gods, where’s Flash when I need her?” “Already over at Fleetfoot’s for the Wonderbolts’ New Year Party,” Midnight replies with a broad grin under the guise of helpfulness. Witch sighs and gives the pegasus a half-glare that makes Midnight quickly turn her chuckle into a cough. “The question was clearly rhetorical, Midnight,” Witch responds irritably, keeping Cinna at bay by one hoof against the tip of her horn. “And why aren’t you there right now anyways?” “Because this is the best entertainment I’ve had since Tide swapped the sparring partners around to punish Sky for going out with Moonbow until four-thirty in the morning!” Midnight replies with a smile and a shrug. Cinna gives up trying to get at Witch and turns to face the Ensign of Squad Six. “And because she wants me to style her mane so she might finally get a certain captain to look beyond her uniform for once?” Cinna suggests with a cheshire-like grin. Midnight turns a rather dark shade of purple as she blushes and stutters incoherently, causing Witch to smirk at her over her shoulder. The underside of her muzzle rubs against the stiff collar of her uniform and her expression quickly changes to a grimace as the collar tab pin scratches unpleasantly at her chin. “Do I seriously have to wear this Cinna? I haven’t even worn it for anything official with the Auxiliaries yet… Don’t you think I’ll be slightly out of place like this?” “Nonsense!” Cinna quickly retorts even as Midnight nods in agreement. “Don’t forget that Lieutenant Star from Squad Twelve will be there too, and I’ll bet a cart of tea that she’ll be wearing her dress blues!” Midnight adds, making Witch groan. “So you’re saying that not only do I have to be around nobles higher ranked than my grandparents, to say nothing of also outranking me by miles by military standards since exactly none of them are non-comms, but I have to spend the evening with a Troll?!” Witch moans in dismay. “Oh relax, Witchy. Azzy’s not that bad,” Midnight consoles Witch even as the unicorn levels a skeptical glare at her. A thought brings a smirk to Midnight’s face and she adds, “And you’ll have that handsome Navy pony to fend her off.” Witch groans again. “Not you too, Midnight… Stars above, it’s bad enough to have my mom saying things like that! He’s just being nice-” “Well if I had somepony being that nice to me, I wouldn’t be staying home with Tricks tonight,” Monkey retorts, making Cinna snort and Midnight giggle and wringing another groan from Witch. “MONKEY!” Witch cries in protest. “You know better than these two here that I just don’t work like that! How about I drag you along and use you to distract her!?” “Well, she is a beaut of a mare…” Monkey muses, and Cinna snorts her opinion of the Squad Twelve Lieutenant, but shakes her head. “But no. You were the one that taught me how ‘all important’ this noble protocol is, so no uninvited guests crashing the party. Besides, you wouldn’t want Tricks to wake up in the middle of the night and find both of us gone.” Witch glowers and growls at her roommate, mentally cursing herself even as she agrees with Monkey’s reasons for staying home. “At ease, Chief,” Midnight says, smiling kindly. “Bronze Star is handsome, and a Navy pony… I never said anything about him being your handsome Navy pony… And he seems the sort that would run interference to keep you from situations that would really upset you. I mean… He did go out of his way to find something for you to do for your birthday.” “By inviting her to possibly the most exclusive event he could…” Monkey mutters sotto voce, earning another glare from Witch. “Which just so happens to be the same day as her birthday,” Midnight quickly counters. “Which he is able to invite her to… So let’s all just hope Witch has a good time and let her get going,” she suggests, leveling a pointed look at both Cinna and Monkey. “Oh fine,” Monkey sighs with a half-sulky expression. “Wait! I have one more thing!” Cinna protests, almost diving back into her bag of supplies. Both Monkey and Midnight stare as nearly half the unicorn’s body disappears into the bag, making Witch snort in amusement. “You’ve never seen an expansion spell before?” Witch asks the two pegasi, humor clear in her question. “But… Why on a bag?” Monkey retorts, baffled. “I kept running out of room,” Cinna replies, finally surfacing. “I call it my bag of ever-holding,” she declares proudly, holding up a jeweled hair-comb. Witch groans at the sight of the Wonderbolts emblem in diamonds and sapphires set in yellow gold. “Really Cinna? That isn’t regulation by any stretch of the imagination,” Witch complains, even as Cinna starts pulling at her mane again. “Just hold still for- a- WITCHY!” Cinna cries in exasperation as Witch gets away from her. “One way or another, this hair comb is going in. It’s up to you if it draws blood!” “You’ve been working with Bliss too long,” Witch grumbles, even as Cinna’s umber magic is finally able to pull her mane back into place and uses the comb to pin the curls up. “There!” Cinna announces smuggly. “Alright Midnight, let’s get you spruced up for your own shindig.” Witch sighs heavily in relief as the unicorn and pegasus depart, leaving her with only Monkey in her living room. “I guess I’ll go join Tricks upstairs… It’s about time for him to go to bed anyhow.” “She says, knowing full-well that she’ll let him stay up as long as he can in hopes of seeing midnight anyways…” Witch quips, and Monkey laughs. “True enough, Twitchy, but you’d better get going… Weren’t you also the one who told me it’s rude to be late?” Monkey asks pointedly, gesturing with her wing to the grandsire clock in the corner. “You know full well why I’m anxious about -” “Going… Yes… I know… but it’s never going to get any better if you just sit like a lump. Go! Do something for yourself for a change instead of always worrying about everyone else!” Monkey cuts her off and starts pushing the unicorn bodily towards the front door. “And don’t make me start repeating your words back at you… I’m sick enough of hearing them already without having to say them myself!” With that, and somehow managing to get the door open with her roommate in front of her, Monkey shoves Witch out onto their front porch and closes the door before Witch could turn around and force her way back in. An audible click also tells the doctor that she’d been locked out of her own home. Not that Witch couldn’t get in if she really needed to, what with being able to teleport herself, but Monkey also knew that Witch is prone to doing things as those without magic could in deference to her patients and non-unicorn family members, so the locking of the door was more of a not-so-subtle hint that if Witch turned tail and ran back in now, she’d be in for all sorts of unpleasant harangue from Monkey. Stepping out onto the street in front of Fancy Pants’ manse, Witch wonders if this appearance at a family gathering would be such a wise idea for herself. Was it really a good plan to show up at such an intimate affair when she’d only been invited in the whimsy of a moment? Sighing, she sets off down the road to take her out of the Belle Maire neighborhood of Coltden and south towards the Kensington district, knowing that canceling at such a late hour would be an even worse offense than attending a family event when not related or involved with any of the family. “I was going to pick you up, you know?” Witch jumps sideways away from the new voice that breaks her from her thoughts, twisting mid-air to face none other than the reason she was walking to Kensington on New Year’s Eve. “I had to get away from my coworker before she decided that she wasn’t done ‘preparing’ me,” Witch explains to Bronze Star. Only then does she notice that he is wearing his dress blacks, moonlight glinting off of the several medals pinned to his chest. “It sounds like she was preparing you for the slaughter rather than a party,” Bronze comments with a smirk. “I’d almost wish for the slaughter with how she was going on about it… I haven’t been so tormented since my grandmother put me through my paces for my Debutante Ball ten years ago,” Witch complains petulantly as she starts walking again. “Well, at least with my family, you won’t feel like a bargaining chip or a piece of meat to be bought,” Bronze offers as he falls into step beside her. “No, I’ll just feel awkward the entire time because I’ve never worn this uniform before,” Witch grumbles, pulling at the collar of her jacket and wincing as the collar tab scratches her neck yet again. “To say nothing about the awkwardness of being invited at the last minute for a family event that not even close friends get invited to, or the fact that you all outrank me by miles.” “We’re not that much higher,” Bronze starts but Witch cuts him off with a skeptical noise. “Okay, maybe not by nobility standards, but I suspect you’re more concerned about the military rank difference. All of us who have gone military are officers, while you’re a non-comm. More so, since I know the Wonderbolts don’t stress rank outside of the Elite tiers, and it’s even less significant for the Auxiliary Corps, so it’s little better than simply adding letters to the front of your name.” Witch feels a keen sense of relief that he understood her trepidation, then wonders that he had. Few who had just met her could. Twilight Sparkle had been an extraordinary exception, to Witch’s mind, given how similar they were, but now here is this stallion who had managed to see her thoughts from one expression. It makes her feel a little vulnerable, but also comforted to know that she isn’t as incomprehensible as she’d thought. “Well, if it’s any consolation, you won’t be the only one with a doctorate present this evening,” Bronze offers tentatively. “My mother was certainly delighted to learn you were attending. I think she gets bored with our endless military prattle, and she’s keen to have someone with whom she can… I believe her words were ‘have a sensible conversation for once’.” “That is… Some reassurance at least…” Witch grants cautiously. She tries to silence the voice that screams for her to run away, that this stallion has some design on her that she had no intention of fulfilling. Anything more than friendship was simply not in her capacity, and she already knew that from painful experience. She decides that she’ll have to find a time to tell him at some point and nip this in the bud early, before it could hurt either of them. Bronze Star frowns briefly, as if he can sense Witch’s discomfort, before calming his expression into a lopsided grin. “I’m guessing that ‘inadequate’ counts as ‘some’ in this case, doesn’t it?” asks Bronze. Despite her nervousness, and anxiety over her escort’s intentions, Witch manages a laugh. “I’m just… I don’t go out much, and even then it’s usually with just friends. I don’t do this dating thing. It’s never worked before and-” “Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!” Bronze exclaims, eyes wide despite the smile on his face. “Who said anything about ‘dating things’?! This was a ‘friend’ sort of invitation to begin with! I honestly just wanted to get to know you better… The fact that it also happens to be something nice I could do for your birthday is simply icing on the cake.” Witch lets out a long breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Oh thank heavens…” she sighs in relief. “In that case, I’ll be glad to give your mother some sane conversation… But what about you? You said you needed me for defense against your father and cousins?” she asks, now able to return his smile honestly. “… Yes… About that…” Bronze coughs apprehensively. “You’re an Auxiliary, so you’d already know my cousin, Azure, and my father’s reputation precedes him, for better or worse, but are you at all familiar with… Quark Star?” “No, not really,” Witch answers, confused. “Which cousin is he?” “Oh dear…” frowns Bronze. “Well, you know how shady individuals always say that they ‘know a guy’? Well… Quark is… that ‘guy’... if you know what I mean...” “I… think I do…” Witch responds, clearly hesitant. “I take it that’s a warning I shouldn’t say anything I would mind being universally known?” “Don’t eat or drink anything he offers for you, politely decline any help he offers, and for the love of Celestia and Luna, do not ask him about his work…” Bronze deadpans. “Avoid if possible; be polite if not…” Witch clarifies. “In short, treat him like I would my grandparents?” “Oh, you don’t need to be that careful…” Bronze chuckles. “Believe it or not, he doesn’t actually mean you harm.” “My grandparents don’t think they mean me harm either,” Witch grumbles, half under her breath, but still clearly audible to her companion, who laughs outright. “You’ll be fine… And I think you might even, dare I say, enjoy yourself!” Bronze teases her with a grin. “Tell me, my dear doctor… Do you play poker at all?” he asks.