//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Nightshade: Into the Fire // by JustPonyboy //------------------------------// "Yes, you actually have to wear it," Nightshade repeated for the third time to Ace, who lay defiantly on his bed in a t-shirt and boy shorts with his arms crossed. Nightshade thanked his lucky stars that he wore those and not- "At least them on." Hung up in the room were two separate outfits designed by Rarity herself. A lavish black dress with gold accents and a tuxedo with similar gold trim and his cutie mark on the lapel. "Why? I don't get to do anything for the Gala except sit next to Luna and Mom." Ace had a fair point, that wasn't much incentive to go to the event. Nightshade pushed up his glasses, "Well... I could talk to Luna, pull a few strings to get you out of that boring routine- " "Could you get them to book Vinyl Scratch?" Ace asked, trying to do what Nightshade could only assume was his attempt at puppy eyes. Nightshade chuckled, "Calm down, she might be there anyway. Performing or not. She and Octavia are probably going as a date. Or maybe that hasn't happened yet? Eh. Now come on, you have to try it on at least once." Ace sighed and begrudgingly opened his closet. A ginger maned pegasus smiled brightly as he followed a slate gray earth pony, "So. Octavia. Are you attending the Gala?" "Of course. I can expect to see you there with your date, right?" Octavia's response froze him. He stopped in the middle of the street and stared at the ground for a moment, pushing up his glasses. "F-funnily enough, I was uh..." Octavia stopped walking and put down her case as he pulled on his collar. Her stare made him weak. "I was won-wondering, would you go to the Gala with me? As my date?" "I can't. I already have one. You remember Vinyl?" "I remember she pushed me into a pool after I told her I couldn't swim." "Ginger, she said she was sorry, she had downed a whole bottle of whiskey beforehand. I'm sorry. I can meet you at the Gala, and we can talk." Ginger forced a smile, almost gritting his teeth as he kept his voice even. "It's fine. I... I was going to go by myself anyway." Octavia's face went from a slight smirk to guilty, but Ginger turned away from her with a wave and began to walk away from her before she could stop him or say anything more. "I'll see you at the Gala, Octavia." Within five minutes he walked into a flower shop, it was virtually void of flowers or premade arrangements. The Gala required more attention than personal business. The instant he entered, the bored mare behind the counter perked up. Her purple mane glistened in the morning light. Ginger leaned on the counter with a sigh, directly in front of the lavender mare. "So, what'd she say?" the lavender mare wiped her hands on her jeans and straightened out her shirt as she leaned across the counter towards him. He put his head down, "She's already going with someone, that girl that almost drowned me at Melody's house party." "The rave girl?" Ginger nodded, "Huh. Woulda never thought she'd catch Octavia's fancy." There was a beat of silence. "Well, look on the bright side. I'll be there, and we can still have fun together, it'll be just like prom." The mare sounded hopeful. "Yeah," Ginger looked up at her, "I guess you're right Mag. I heard they're going to have a hot air balloon you can take to get a view of the city at night." "You could literally see that view any time, you are a pegasus." Ginger glared at her. "Right, sorry. Forgot." "I always wondered what flying was like. So that's how." The sad look in his emerald eye pained her, she opened her mouth to say something, but the words died in her throat when his glare softened. "If you're going, I thought we could meet up and do that." He turned and made for the door. "Wear something nice Magnolia, n-not that you don't look nice n-normally! You look nice n-now even! I mean- UGH! I'll see you at the GALA!" Ginger rushed out flustered, Magnolia stared at the door and banged her head on the counter. "I shoulda told him. Well, there's always the balloon ride. Then we can dance." She drummed her hands excitedly. It was a bad thing to be happy about, but she couldn't have been happier that Octavia rejected him. Now Ginger was all hers with no distractions. Celestia stood on the balcony of her tower looking off towards Ponyville as rain fell, to say she was worried about her son being in Nightshade's care was an understatement. She was beyond worried about what his associates were teaching her son. Soft metallic footsteps approached from behind the Sun princess. "You wanted to see me, princess?" "Yes, come." She dreaded this conversation, she knew the way it could possibly go. She watched her senior guard stand at attention next to her. "At ease Strike," She decided to drop the formalities, "You've been in the guard for longer than most remember, fought in some of our most dire moments, been a symbol of hope in the solar guard. What does your family think of your line of work? Surely they worry about you?" "I wouldn't know," She took off her helmet, allowing Celestia to see some white hairs in her mane of blonde. As long as Celestia had known her she could never pinpoint the mare's accent, she always assumed she was from Manehatten. Her cobalt fur looked dull and her muzzle and face scored with scars. "Haven't heard from my family since I left Appaloosa. I remember my mother telling me she 'Never wanted to see me again'. I wonder if the old bitch is still kickin' about... Sorry." Celestia seemed to be searching for the right words, "Have you considered... Settling down? Perhaps starting- " "What?" "I just worry that you may have invested too much in... I just want you to live a full life." "No disrespect to you Princess, but this is what I chose. This is all I want. There's nothing that makes me feel more full than making sure ponies are safe and keeping evil at bay. No stallion is gonna change that." This made Celestia chuckle, she knew the aging mare would put up resistance. "Well, alright. I can't force you to retire." She leaned on the railing, "But I do ask one personal thing. For one night, the Gala... Just attend as a guest, just for one night. As much as I hate to admit it, I do need you to do something. I... I have a special guest attending. Do you remember the changeling attack?" "Don't tell me- " "Sioux is different. When the smoke cleared, we found him cowering in the hedges. Out of all the drones, he was the only one who could read or even speak without duplicating somepony. As a matter of fact, we didn't really know he was a changeling at first if I'm being quite honest. I would have one of Luna's best agents on this, but she recently retired." "Rita, right? Last I heard, she was in therapy." Celestia simply nodded, "I just need you to make sure Sioux has a good night. Consider it like a... a break from regular work." "Alright. As long as..." Celestia looked back and saw Strike squinting at something in the sky, "Wow, I've never seen a meteor shower before." The princess looked at the sky as there were many trails lighting up the night sky. That was until one suddenly changed direction. "What the-" Was all Strike was able to get out. "That's not a meteor shower!" Celestia cast a protective barrier around the castle and Strike drew her rifle. The flaming arrow-shaped projectile zoomed past the castle and darted into the fog that hung over the Everfree forest with a deafening boom. Strike looked virtually unfazed as she noticed the smoke trail it left behind slowly dissipating. The princess dropped the barrier. "So. Do you want to call this one in, or do you want me to do it? You know how he's gonna be." Strike shouldered her rifle. Celestia just stared at the area the object landed, "Send a squad down in the morning. They can inform him."