“I’m not really sure about this,” I say as I look at the large mirror in front of me.
“Are you talking about the dress or the Gala?” Splendour asked, waiting patiently for me to stop running circles like an idiot.
“I would never question your fashion sense.”
It could be considered a crime if I did. Splendour could make the most brutish of dragons look like royalty with just a dress or suit. That was her talent. Make the perfect attire you could ask for, no matter the occasion. She has dressed everypony of note, so I knew she was the perfect choice when I found out I needed to attend the Gala.
"With your colors and demeanor I think a vintage look, that is pretty but not too flashy, would be best," she had told me with a warm smile when I met her for the consultation and measurements in her boutique. "Emerald green silk and a matching pillbox hat would be lovely on you, and looks that harken back to times past are very much in vogue right now!" she had assured me.
And indeed, she had come up with a beautiful but simple dress that ─Thank Celestia─ didn't have any of the glitter and ruffles I was dreading. But she did surprise me by also bringing some costume jewelry and a pair of winged glasses. "It is a Gala, and a bit of glimmer never hurt anypony," she told me with a wink, "And if you'll allow me, I think I'd like to curl and style your mane up to show your pretty face and eyes a bit more."
And she was right. The dress is perfect for me. But still...
“Miss Raven,” Splendour said, placing a hoof over my shoulder to stop my useless movements. “If you would allow me a suggestion. Could you maybe breathe for a moment?”
I take a deep breath, holding the air in for a few seconds before letting it out. “Thank you.”
“May I ask why you’re so nervous about the Gala? I’m sure your line of work demands more than this event.”
“Honestly, I prefer the paperwork.”
“Does the Canterlot elite scare you?”
“No. I don’t mind them talking my ear off.”
“Then what is it dear? You won’t be comfortable in any dress unless you’re comfortable with yourself.”
“I just… it doesn’t feel natural to me. No pony in my family is really fond of parties. And we lived in the same town as Pinkie Pie! Dressing up and being around others. Having to smile and pretend I know what they’re talking about half the time. It feels… insincere. Like I’m obliged to ‘have fun’.”
“Does it really matter? The party will be a mess at the end,” Blueblood said from the other side of the changing room, glaring at his reflection in the mirror as he tied his bow.
“You don’t know that,” I say looking nervously at Splendour.
The stallion finished the knot angrily. “At least you won’t need to make a fool of yourself because Celestia had a stupid premonition.”
“Blueblood!” I shout, but Splendour waves it off.
“Oh, don’t worry, dear. My lips are sealed.”
I sigh, shaking my head. “Look, I know it’ll be unpleasant, but it’s necessary… for some reason. The Element of Generosity can’t marry you and move away from all her friends.”
“Couldn’t I just reject her if that was the case? I’m not interested in the mare anyways. There’s no need to make me the public enemy of everypony.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s not like they’ll call you a monster or anything.”
Blueblood scoffs. “A monster at least would get some respect. A jerk is just...” he shudders, unable to continue.
Honestly, I would pity him more if he wasn’t a bit of a phallus already.
“What Blueblood is unhelpfully trying to get across,” Splendour says. “Is that at the end of the day, it’s just a party. And if you ask me, even if you’re obliged to attend, it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun for a while.”
I sigh, looking away from her.“I’m not really obliged to attend. It’s just… you know… socially appropriate.”
“Tell that to Luna,” Blueblood spat.
“What do you mean?” I ask, turning my head towards him. “She can’t attend.”
“Yeah, but not because of some vision. She locked herself in her room at the mere mention of the Gala.”
I grit my teeth and turn toward Splendour. “I promise I’ll wear it in the next Gala.”
The mare gives me a smile. “Do not worry, dear. This sounds more important.”
I leave the changing room, heading towards Luna’s bedroom. “How did I not see this coming?”
I gently knock on the door of Luna's bedroom. "Princess?"
"There's no emergency this time, Raven," comes the response from the inside.
To her credit, I don't hear sobbing, but that doesn't mean that everything's right. "Can I come in?"
"Aren't you going to miss the Gala?"
"I'm not really made for it. I would prefer to be here with you."
There's no response, but I wait for one. I know Luna wants to talk as much as I do.
Eventually, she asks me. "Why?"
"Because I don't want you to be alone like this." I move closer to the door, placing a hoof against it. "I can understand if you don't feel like talking, but you already spent too much time in isolation."
There's no response again, but after just a few seconds, the door unlocks and I'm allowed to enter. Luna's sitting in front of the window of her room, looking at the moon in a similar way to her sister.
"What do you mean that you aren’t made for the Gala? Do you not like the occasion?” She asks me as I sit down next to her.
“It’s not the Gala in particular. I’m just not accustomed to these kinds of events.”
Luna takes a deep breath before releasing it. “It was my idea, you know?”
I tilt my head towards her. “The Gala?”
She nods. “I wanted an event set at night. Where our subjects and other emissaries could go to the gardens of our castle and look at the night sky. I always made an extra effort for the night to be clear and beautiful that day.”
“And how did it go?”
“Celestia hated it,” she says with a chuckle. “I only got her to agree after promising to be the one dealing with the guests while she rested. The last thing she wanted after a day of bureaucracy was to deal with the nobility again. I think she was exaggerating. Sure, some would be too classy to be any fun, but others were pleasant and would even cheer and dance after a few drinks. I remember one of the emissaries from Yakyakistan brought a few bottles of some homemade ale to the party once. That was a night to remember, even if most of us couldn’t.”
Luna smiled and laughed, lost in the memories of the past. I don’t think I’ve seen her so happy before.
“That sounds much more interesting than the Galas of this time. Maybe you could add some more fun to them?” I suggested with a smile.
Luna leans on the windowsill, looking down at the gardens where some of the guests of the event were walking around and chatting. None of them watching the night sky.
“I would love to. But it’s Tia’s event now. It has been for a thousand years.” She turns her head to the side, looking at the castle. “A lot of things have changed. Our home is destroyed. We live on a mountain. The yaks closed their borders. The griffons live in ruins. There are cities made out of dustrock and steel. And Tia’s the reason for all of it. She has carried the kingdom on her shoulders for a millennia while we sat on the moon learning nothing.” She looks back at the moon, it’s light reflecting off the tears in her eyes. “Everything that defined me is gone. I don’t have a place to fit in. Even this room that Tia tried her best to make it feel like my old bedroom is just a memory of what I lost. If my sister can do everything I could before, is there even a point to me being here?”
I grab her shoulder and lightly pull on it, getting her to look in my direction. “Well, considering the Gala is now one of the most boring events in Canterlot, I would say she failed in that aspect.” Luna tries to hold down a chuckle at that. “Your sister needs you. She has needed you since the day of your banishment. And not because you do half of her job.”
She shakes her head. “I get what you mean, but I find it hard to believe. We pushed her into that situation with our actions. We’re the reason she had to take the full weight of the rulership.”
“Try to think about it this way; How much can you two accomplish now that you’re together? Nightmares have run rampant since your banishment. Celestia’s sanity is recovering now that you’re here and safe. You clearly had more fun dealing with things that your sister still to this day finds appalling. Do you know what was this day's vision? That your sister was 100% on board with?”
“Is she going to crash the party?” she asks with a bit of a smirk.
“The Elements will, but she’ll enjoy it nonetheless. They even have donuts at the end.”
Luna couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “Oh, I’m sure Tia will have a blast with that.” She looks out the window once again, but this time not at the moon or the city, but the horizon.
Thinking.
After a while, she turns to me, looking much better than before. “That dress looks lovely on you.”
“Thank you,” I say with a little bow. “Sadly, I don’t think I’ll attend the Gala.”
“Well, since we both have a free night,” Luna says as she stands up. “How about we spend it together?”
I smile. “What do you have in mind?”
As Twilight and her friends entered the donuts shop, Pony Joe greeted the purple unicorn he hadn’t seen in a long time. “Twilight Sparkle, ha ha! Long time no see.”
Twilight would have responded to the greeting, but her brain did a stop when she saw Princess Luna and a well dressed earth pony mare eating donuts along with Spike.
“Welcome Sparkle, how was the Gala?” Luna asked, wiping sprinkles from her lips.