//------------------------------// // Step By Step Guide To Avoiding The Gala // Story: A blaze rekindled // by RedBlack //------------------------------// *Calming Blaze POV* As I sit inside my bed, I contemplate whether I should throw away this medal or not. The 1st place medal, throwing it away would make ME happy, but it would make mother upset. At first, I acted like I just forgot so I could get away from the masked sun. And, I don't exactly like the royal ass enough to want a reward from her. Then Buttons came to the library with the medal in hoof. Well, I can't blame him for being a good friend. With a sigh, I drop it back on the shelf as I move to get off the bed. Taking a look at myself in the mirror, I stare at my cutie mark. I was too distracted to check it again because of Celestia, then I pretty much forgot about it. In my previous life, it was a sign of calm for me, telling me that I have both the strength and the talent to live another day. Now however, it just feels wrong. Letting out a sigh, I try to distract myself with other things. Like the important event today. Tonight's the night of the Grand Galloping Gala. The last month and a half have been peaceful. As peaceful as it can be with 3 overhyped fillies causing some kind of accident every 2 days. The CMC as they called it. Huh. Now that I think about it, something only happens around the Mane 6 and ponies they're involved with. Maybe I should stay away from them every now and then, just so I can have a calm day. Eh, Pinkie would still find me in the pit of tartarus if she wanted to. Other me hasn't tried anything during the time, which is both good and worrying. I also missed a bunch of things, like a foalnapping and a talent show or something. Mother luckily hasn't forced me into anything after the race. Bit worried she's blaming herself for me getting sick, even though I only needed a day to recover. Well, not like she could have controlled whether I froze my body or not. A small burst of magic redirects my attention towards it. The crystal cube. Twilight asked to test on it, but I told her I was going to use it at some point. She relented, but only after a presentation that lasted almost 3 hours about how much good it could do to scientific development. As much as it could be, advancing science isn't exactly what I'm looking for. Anyway, the cube has been getting stronger since the day I got it. It seems to be recovering. It's an interesting technique. It pushes its magic outwards, creating an entrance of sorts, before pulling it back along with the ambient magic in the area, filling it more. "Blaze!" the voice broke my concentration. "Yeah mom!?" I ask back. "You should get ready, the carriage will arrive soon" "OK" With that, I put on the suit Rarity made me, and make my way down. I'll be riding with those 6. The ride was, surprisingly not boring. Than again, what would you expect from Pinkie Pie of all ponies. The carriage was actually bigger on the inside, space expansion enchantments were put on everything. Although, the longer the ride went on, the more I realized that these ponies were going to have a terrible time at the Gala. With completely different expectations of the Gala, they will be disappointed to learn that it's just an event for nobles to make connections with each other. It's supposed to be a charity event, but according to memory, Fancy Pants is the only one that donates regularly during the event. The others are just ponies looking to get on the good side of others. At least Fancy Pants is ridiculously rich, allowing him to single hoofedly donate enough to reach the needed amount, and then some. Looking at their reasons for visiting the Gala, the only one with a realistic thought process seems to be Twilight, who wants to spend the night with her teacher. The others' expectations are, how to put it nicely, not exactly realistic. If they think the event will be ANYTHING like in Ponyville, they'll be sorely disappointed. Anyway, whilst they're making sure they didn't mess anything up with their dresses, I decide to at least warn them. "Girls?" I speak with a slightly loud voice to get their attention. With all eyes on me, they look at me while barely containing their excitement. "I'll be blunt, your expectations of the Gala seem, unrealistic, to say the least" I carefully announce to make sure I don't kill their spirits too badly. They confusedly stare at me. "What do you mean?" Twilight asked as the natural leader of the group. "I'm saying, try to lower your expectations a bit, because at this rate, you guys will be terribly disappointed" I announce as we come to a stop. They don't seem to understand the implication. "Just, know that not everything is going to go the way you expect it to" I say as I turn to leave through the door, which Spike graciously opened. "Thank you Spike" Entering the Gala wasn't too much trouble, seems Luna told the guards about me since they let me in without checking my ticket. A few, if not all the nobles were giving me glares throughout my short journey into the castle. Luckily, I don't care as my only purpose today is to hang out with Luna. Asking a guard about Luna, he led me towards her room. I easily complied, happy about the fact that nothing is either going wrong or being extremely annoying, whilst also completely ignoring the white alicorn and the line in front of her. I'm happy for her that SO MANY ponies would want to greet her, so much so that she doesn't get even a single chance to annoy me tonight. I do feel slightly bad for Twilight though, since she won't be able to find the chance to talk to Celestia. Eh, I already gave my warning so, it's no longer my problem. "This is her room sir" the guard stopped in front of a large double door adorned with stars and a moon. Looked a bit foalish, but it's fine. "Thank you sir" I tell the guard and knock on the door. The guards on either side of the door didn't do anything, so she must've have told them about me. A few seconds of silence ensues, then a thud. Then the sound of something shattering. "Horseapples" a muffled voice comes through the door. "Are you alright in there Luna?" I ask, just to make sure. A few seconds pass as I'm only met with silence. I just look at the three guards with a questioning look, to which they stare right back at me with the same confused stare. I nod my head towards the door, to which they, thankfully, get my signal and draw their spears towards it. Pushing the one at the front to the side, I take my position as the spearhead. He seemed shocked at my strength but focused back on entering the room. I lift my right hoof to start a countdown. Once, we all get tense. Twice, we prepare to rush in. Thrice, my hoof slams on the ground, along with all my limbs, launching me inside the room with the guards quickly following me inside. Once inside, I gather my magic, preparing to cast any magic that's needed as I narrow my eyes to search the surroundings. What stops me however, is the sight of Luna with a face red as tomato as her backside is sticking through behind a couch. It should be noted that her face was in front of the couch. "Hi" she said in an embarrassed voice. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT PRINCESS!?" one the guards loudly ask, letting his voice reverberate throughout the hallway. This resulted in hundreds of hooves rushing throughout the castle, making the floor shake. "Great job dude, you just called the entirety of your guards" I punch him lightly in the shoulder as I move to break the couch. "Stay still Luna" I tell her as I put my hooves in the couch around her neck. Pulling it apart, I tear the couch in half, freeing the princess and saving her from the embarrassment she would have gotten from being seen like that by at least fifty ponies. "Thank you, Blaze" she said as she coughed away the embarrassment. "YOUR HIGHNESS, ARE YOU INJURED?" a guard with a full white coat and three types of cerulean colored mane comes in at the front of the guards. "At ease captain, as you can see, I am unharmed" Luna said as she levitated a few broken items into the hallway. Shards of broken glass, the two halves of the couch, a box looking thing and two halves of a game console. "Please inform the staff to throw away the broken items" she said as she used her magic to remove the guards from her room. Silence descends into the room after she closed the door. Slowly I look around the room and the immediate thing I recognize is the flat object in the wall with its screen being covered in particles of white and black as the object gave off an annoying sound. "I, apologize for the display Blaze" she said with a sheepish smile. "It's fine, though I AM curious about how you managed to pierce the couch" I ask as I take a seat on the large blue carpet on the floor. "Whilst waiting for your arrival, I decided to try a new game I had bought prior, one where I am tasked to solve puzzles with a device that creates portals" she finished with a simple smile, informing me that she's not going to tell me the rest of that story. With a chuckle, I take another look around the room, noting that every object had a moon and star style. "So, what should we do first Ms.Host?" I ask as I make myself a bit more comfortable. "Um, I-I don't, actually know, this is the first time I've hung out with anypony, other than my sister of course" she explained as she brought over a pitcher full of candies before putting one in her mouth with magic. "Seems you've recovered enough to use your magic freely" I say whilst taking my own piece of candy, a hard one. Huh, bitter candy. Haven't had that one before. "Yes, soon enough, I'll be able to traverse the dream realm once more" she excitedly exclaimed as she trotted over to a rather big closet. "Dream magic huh?" I smash the candy to pieces inside my mouth and start chewing it. "Correct, oh I wish you could witness it, the magical world of dreams is simply wonderful. With every dream representing its own star, it makes for a truly beautiful sight" she explained as she took out a console. The dream world. Sounds nice. "What's that console by the way? Don't think I've seen that one" I ask to try to keep the conversation going. "This, according to my sources, is the latest model of the Playbox" she said while hooking up some wires from the device on the wall to the console. Wait, that thing is a TV. "Cool, you're already abusing your princess authority" I laugh teasingly as I loosen my suit a bit. "Oh please, I haven't even scratched the surface" she responded with a cheeky grin as two controllers floated over. I let out a chuckle at the joke as I loosen my suit a bit more. This thing is getting more annoying by the second. "Why don't you just take the suit off, you feel uncomfortable in it don't you?" she asked as she brought out a box of discs. "Yeah, you're right" ignoring the obvious set up of an inappropriate joke, I take the suit off with a slight struggle from how tight it was. "Wow, am I hallucinating or are you way taller than before, and muscular" Luna said with surprise as I fold the suit into a nice square. "I am, been training for the last 4 months" *Knock, Knock* "We've brought your new couch your highness" a servant announces respectfully after a few quiet knocks. "Bring it in" Luna says with a calm voice as the servants come in to put the new couch in front of the TV, one that looks exactly like the previous one. "Please bring over snacks and drinks" Luna tells the retreating crew as they close the door. "Should I spend the night here?" I ask Luna, who seems to think about the question with great intensity. After she thought for a few seconds, seemingly weighing every possible outcome if we decide to do a sleepover. "Have you asked your mother about it?" she finally asked. "We can ask right now no? Do you have a mirror?" I say as I look around the room for a reflective surface. "Yes? What kind of mare wouldn't keep a mirror in her room?" a mirror floated over to me as her face took an expression of bewilderment. "One that doesn't care about their appearance I guess" I answer with a shrug as I lay on my stomach on the couch. Gathering magic the tip of my horn, the spell envelopes the small mirror. A few seconds of silence follows as nothing happens. "What did you do?" Luna asks from the side as she propped her head right next to me, the rather large couch and my rather small body easily allowing such action. "Sent a signal to form a connection" as I finish, the mirror is now filled with the sight of a familiar bathroom. A mare walks in, yawning as she rubbed her eye. "Hey mom!" I yell. With a startled jump, she whips her head around as she lets out incomprehensible threats. "Did she just say that she'll stick my hooves inside peanut butter?" Luna asks with a conused look as mother finally saw the mirror. "Blaze, honey, is that you? How'd you get inside the mirror" mother asks after getting close to the mirror, completely ignoring the presence of Luna. "Yeah, I learned a new spell, neat right?" "Yeah, it is pretty neat" she said as the vision turned to the side. "No, mom, we're not INSIDE the mirror, we just connected a mirror with the bathroom mirror" I explain as Luna softly mutters 'we' with a questioning tone. "Oh, that's much less worrying" she says after letting out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, mom, I wanted to ask, can I stay the night here? I'm pretty safe. Safe as a princess in fact" I say with a smug grin at the small joke. "Safe as a princess huh?" she softly said to herself as she held her hoof to her chin. After a minute that felt like an hour, she finally nods as she looks at my eyes once again. "If you're absolutely sure, then you can stay there for the night, are you staying with a friend though?" "Yeah mom, she's a pretty great friend" I could Luna literally brighten up at the statement and so could I see mother brighten up too. "No mom, we're not like that" I say plainly as I could. With a slightly amused look, she rolls her eyes. "Just make sure not to sleep too late alright?" "Yes mom, I won't sleep too late" With that the connection cut off. "Well that's a first, being ignored like that" Luna said while laughing as she started sorting through her discs. "That's parental love for you" I reply as I check out what games she has. She makes a small nod of acknowledgement at the joke. Another topic in the 'not to talk about' pile. "So, what should we play?" I ask to change the topic. "You decide, you're the guest" she tells me as she stared at me. "No, you decide, you're the host" I tell her as we stare straight at each other. "Well, you're the guest" "Well, you're the host" As we continue to stay at a srandstill, a maid walks in with a trolley full of snack and drinks after knocking. "Ok, we can't decide this alone" I say to break the argument. "Agreed, maid, do you happen to have a coin on hoof?" Luna agreed. The mare that was halfway through the door stopped and turned around, with a flip a coin falls onto her raised hoof without any indication as to where the coin came from. "I'll take tails, now flip it" I nod at her declaration and watch as the coin is flipped in the air and land on the ground with a loud thud. Bouncing multiple times, the coin swirls around on its side, causing complete unnecessary suspense. As I looked on with bated breath, the coin seems to just keep spinning. It spins for a ridiculously long amount of time. As it finally slowed down, it still stayed on its side. Finding it annoying, I give a small blow of air, resulting in heads. "So, what do you wanna do?" Luna asked with a small smile as the maid left with the coin. As I think about it, a thought came to me. "I haven't actually ate dinner yet, so I'll use this chance to show you something you've never had before" I say as she follows me out the door with a curious expression. "So, where's your personal kitchen?" "This way" The ponies who have led the rebellion for the last decade have gathered inside a broken house. Or at least, what's left of us. We first formed the rebellion with Twilight Sparkle, a well known mad scientist, as the head of it all with her superior intelligence to all topics of importance. Several ponies of high standing and greater knowledge in warfare were the leaders. Now there were only four of us. Leaning against a wall, I let out a tired sigh as I throw away the helmet made of crap silver. Our equipment has been terrible since we lost our blacksmiths after Tirek's bullshit. I let my head fall down to rest my eyes. It's been an awful month. A non-stop fight against an army of controlled beasts with shadow magic. "Look alive soldier, we mustn't lose hope before it's over" I hear a rough voice say to me. "Shut up Ruther, I'm only resting my eyes" I say as I turn my head to look at the yak prince. "Good, we must rest when we can, we must be on high alert if we wish to continue this rebellion" he finished as he took a seat next to me. "Don't tell me you've already lost hope" her condemning voice came in. As tired as I was, this only served to annoy me as I jumped to her full white mask before I could think. "I HAVEN'T LOST SHIT EXCEPT SOLDIERS OUT THERE, 'MY' SOLDIERS!" "Good then, hold onto that hope and take a rest for now" she said with her usual psychotic tone as she sat down, pulling her signature device from that coat that somehow always stayed white and put it in her mouth by hoof. I ignored the loud snoring from the side as I waved the smoke off with a hoof. Didn't do much but I had to conserve my magic reserves. "Do you really have to smoke that shit here?" "My body physically can't handle magic without the infuser, you know that" Ugh, how does that mask not cover her face when she wants it not to. That smile always creeped me out. "I mean, did you have to smoke it inside" "No, but I shouldn't risk being spotted for your convenience now, should I?" "No, you shouldn't" a new voice came in as the kitchen door opened. He came in with a round object in his magic as his armor clanked against the wooden floor. "Whatcha got there Blueblood?" I ask as the smell comes in, almost breaking my decade old soldier training. "You've somehow made actual food?" the commander asked with genuine surprise. "Food? Did somepony say food?" Rutherford asked as he woke up from his slumber. "I wanted something that didn't taste like salted dirt for once and your house had some useful ingredients" he said as he levitated over a table and took the dust away with magic. "You sure ANY of it was usable? Those stuff are almost a decade old" I say as I pull a chair to the table by hoof. Too bad forcing an alicorn ascension stops me from being able to gather ambient magic. "The flour was a bit questionable but the cheese and canned tomato sauce were fine" he said as he set the circular dish on the table. "I still used magic to make it fresh, took a bit of my magic reserve but it should be fine, besides, none of us will refuse this" "Yes, only an idiot would refuse such a wonderful treat during this time" Rutherford said with enthusiasm as he took a seat on my left. "This dish seems to be quite unhealthy, but Ford is right, only a moron wouldn't want to taste this" Twilight said as her mask's lower half opened up to reveal her mouth. The nasty scars revealed themselves as the mask closed back after she took a bite. I followed suit and took a bite of my own slice I however, stare at her after I noticed something by the third bite. "Do you have a problem with how I eat soldier?" she asked with a monotone voice. "Lift your coat" I simply say as the other two stared at us. "I know I'm one of the only mares left in Equestria, but I thought you'd have better class than that" "Stop fucking around, how much do you have left?" With a sigh, she pulls a small string out of her coat with magic, causing it to fall off entirely. The sight makes us lose more hope. Starting from her heart, a black substance traveled through her bloodstream, causing her to have dark colored marks spread towards the rest of her body. Countless needle scars were shown through out her heart area. The marks reached her neck, continuing to her jaw. "I'm out, this'll be my last meal" she said as her coat was levitated back on. Using her magic, eight screws from around the edges of her mask fell off, freeing her face from her mask. With black lines almost reaching her horn and scars of varying sizes, her eyes were almost filled with the black substance, leaving only the slightest bit of white without her pupil and iris. She herself however, looked like she couldn't care the least bit about it. "Well, this is the best time for THIS I suppose" Rutherford said as he put his hoof inside his traditional cloak from his royalty days. With a bang, he places a small wooden barrel on the table. Well, small for his size I suppose. How the tartarus did he fit it inside that? "You're kidding" Blueblood started as he put his half slice down. "You had that the entire time and you didn't share?" "I was waiting for right time" he said as he put both his hooves on the top and started twisting it. "This whiskey is one of the oldest things from Yakyakistan, father said that ancestor wished it to be opened in only a truly improtant moment, which I judge as now" he said as he finally took the top off. Pulling away several layers of cloth, he finally took away one last piece of wood, revealing the extremely aged whiskey. "And I doubt I can find good snacks after this, uhh, what is name of food, friend Blueblood?" "It's called 'Pizza', a friend of mine called Dough Riser invented it" Blueblood said as I brought over 4 cups. "Have you cooked before this then?" I ask as the whiskey gets poured equally inside the cups. "No, I was a prince, in name only, but still" "Mmhm?" I smugly look at him. "Alright, I need to know, what do you think of it?" With a chuckle I sit back down and take my half finished pizza and take a bite. "The dough is dry as fuck" I said plainly as we all look at each other. Laughing as we enjoy our meal and drinks, we forgot, for just a night, how war had teared us all apart. "Are you alright Blaze?" Luna asked me from the side, distracting me from my memory. "Yeah, just watching to make sure I don't burn anything" We had finished preparing the ingredients from scratch. Now it was just waiting for it to cook inside the oven. "I must say, this dish seems most interesting, however did you think of it?" "Just came to mind" "I never would've expected a dish like this from a pony like you" she said after a small laugh. "Don't expect it, I AM a fighter after all" "That you are" Sharing a chuckle, I look around the pantry for some kind of snack or drink to have while waiting. "You know I can not allow you to drink alcohol right?" Luna said after looking at my actions. "Why nooooot, I can handle whiskey just fine, so I doubt any one of your bourbon can do much" I say with a teasing voice. Then I immediately realize my mistake. I got too caught up in memory. Crap crap. Hope she doesn't tell mother or something. She however, just stares at me with her jaw dropped. "You're allowed to drink whiskey?" she asked in a hushed voice. Hmm. Now there's two choices. Either tell a lie and tell her that it was just a bad joke. OR I could tell the truth and try out some expensive bourbon. "Well, I can handle my alcohol pretty well" I say smugly to try to tell her that I am allowed without really saying it. "I can't believe you're allowed to drink but not me" Luna complained with a pout. What? I chuckle as I ask her. "Can you not handle your alcohol?" "I CAN!" she protested with a red face. Barely holding back a laugh, I cough to try to talk better. "Then why aren't you allowed to drink?" "It's because" she pauses for a few seconds to think of the right words. "It's because I'm an alicorn, so my age is counted in alicorn years, therefore, technically I'm underaged" "Wait really?" I never actually knew that. She nodded in response. "Then why do you have so much bourbon here?" I ask as I open the extremely large cabinet behind me to reveal about 200 bottles of bourbon with writings so fancy that I couldn't actually read it. "I, have heard that alcohol tends to taste better after ageing" "You'd be right about that" I say as I levitate a bottle over. "Are you going to drink that right now?" "Yeah, the pizza is almost ready and I can make some ice" With that, I try to find a bottle opener as she brought down two glasses. "Not those ones, bring down the ones on the right" I tell her after I spotted her bringing down shot glasses. "I don't think I'd be able handle it with these big glasses" "Don't worry, it's only big because we're gonna put ice in it" "Oh, that makes sense, I think" *Ding* "Pizza's ready" With that, I bring out the hot dish and present it on the table. This one, now with plenty of useful ingredients, had been topped with hay and carrots. A great combination if I say so myself. "That smalls incredible" Luna quietly says as she propped her head on the counter. Why is she oddly adorable. "It should taste better" I say as I grab a knife with magic to cut the pizza. Dividing it into 12 separate slices, I place it all onto a giant plate. Luckily, royals have everything they could need in their kitchens. "Why so many?" "You gotta savor good things you know?" "I see" Levitating over two balls of water, I turn it to clear ice and drop it into the glasses. "Try not to drink too fast, alcohol comes at you at once" "Is that so? Your knowledge on alcohol amazes me" Luna complies as she takes only a small sip from the glass. "Mmhm, it is sweeter than I had thought" "Yeah, bourbon is pretty sweet" I smile at my small pun as I finish the glass in one gulp. "Gah" Haven't tasted good, well, ANY alcohol in a looooong while. "Wow, how can you handle the taste" "A bit of experience" "Is that so?" A new voice says from behind us. "GAH!" Luna screamed in surprise. "WHAT THE FUCK!" I also yell at the sudden intruder. With a jump, we both turn around to note the ridiculously tall alicorn with a big butt. "TIA! What is thy problem?" Luna accidentally slips into old equiestrian. "Yeah, what the tartarus were you thinking, sneaking up on us like that" I say as I pour myself another drink. Gulping it down, I grab a slice of pizza. Why is she even here? "I just came over to bid goodnight to Luna before going to my chambers, but I never expected to catch you making her drink" she said with a strained smile. "It's a friendly drink between friends, one that you shouldn't exactly stick your nose in" I reply with my own strained smile. She may be all powerful, but I'm not about to let her assert her dominance over me. Luna just seems confused about the situation. Wait. "Luna, how much did you just drink?" I turn to ask her with concern. "It tastes sweet" she said with a flat voice before she passed out. First, I checked her vital signs, relieved to know that she was just asleep, I turn towards the bottle. "It's half empty" I spoke with confusion and a hint of pride before taking a sip myself. "Straight from the bottle?" Celestia said with her slightly judgemental voice. "Sunbutt, I am NOT about to argue with you about drinking" I say as I use magic to make the bottle colder. She stares for a few seconds, before finally taking a seat at the counter and speaking up. "Why do you hate me?" "What?" I ask incredulously at the question. "I'm asking, why do you hate me? I don't mind that you don't like me, but I do want to know what made you HATE me" she said as she poured herself a drink in Luna's glass. The question stopped me. Why did I hate her? A few seconds of silence, giving me peace to think of my next words. "It's because, you're a coward" I spoke as I sipped my drink. She stares at me, telling me to continue my part. "You are by far, the most powerful pony in the history of Equestria, yet you refuse to deal with villains, letting them hurt ponies and such" "When have I-" "When's the last time you used your full power?" She was about to answer, but stopped. "I know you didn't use it against Nightmare Moon, I know you didn't use it against Discord, and i know for sure that you didn't use it against Sombra, so tell me, when have you truly used your strength to the fullest, other than the time you first raised the sun?" Taking her silence as an answer, I continued. "I can, and do, respect fear, it tells me that the pony knows what they're getting into, it tells me that that pony is seeing and is aware of what is happening, and that's good" I finish my drink with another sip. "Cowardice however, is unacceptable" I slam the glass down out of anger. "Cowardice gets you killed, cowardice gets the ponies around you killed, and cowardice leads to the worst results, this trait is simply one that a ruler, such as you, must NEVER have, else you will only lead your country to ruin" She seemed greatly concerned about the idea. "What! But Equestria has thrived under my rule, not to be narcissistic, but I have led the act of unification among ponies AND have undone over a centamillenium of conflict" "Then what about the enemies you've made, all that hard work will be in vain if they were the slightest bit patient" The bottle was almost empty by now. "You're so scared of ponies fearing your power, you'd rather have your hoofpicked team deal with centuries old villains rather than yourself, nor have you properly trained your guards to do it" fully finishing the bottle, I take Luna in my magic as I take the leftover pizza towards her room, leaving two slices. Leaving Celestia alone with her thoughts, my vision was slightly blurry from the alcohol. Fucking tartarus. The alcohol made me spill more than necessary. Hmm. Actually, maybe that was what I needed to do. Eh, I'll see the effects tomorrow. With that thought, I enter Luna's room, tucking her in before collapsing on the couch myself, a slice of pizza in my mouth. *Sigh* "I definitely can't sleep after that" I mutter to myself as I pick up the player 1 controller in front the still lit TV. Guess I'll try out some games before sleeping. Hmm. Only Higher 2. Must be pretty good if they made a second one. Yeah, I'll try this one.