//------------------------------// // Black-city-jazz // Story: White on Black // by TheSexyMenhir //------------------------------// White on Black Ch.06 “Black-city-jazz” Now that the dam was broken, questions rained down on the newest royal pair, leaving it to Celestia to calm the storm that the element-bearers were talking up. “Calm down, calm down my little ponies. I’m sure that you have a lot of question but I fear that I have to see to the day court shortly, and if you recall there was an actual reason that I called you here.” The white diarch (soon to be triarch) said. If she hadn’t been used to being the figurehead of a whole nation, Celestia might have become nervous under the amount of attention she was suddenly receiving. “Uhm...” Twilight Sparkle said in the sudden silence, stressing the word long enough to make it obvious that she was looking for something to say. “You know the reason why I send you an Invitation in the first place.” The solar empress continued. “...” Silence answered her from all ends of the table. “The wedding...” Celestia prompted. “Ah, yes, how are the preparations coming along?” Twilight asked, blushing slightly. “That is actually why I called you here. As you might imagine, the people of Canterlot are still a bit... ‘cautious’ of the new situation, and that’s why I wanted to ask you, if you would do me the honour of preparing the wedding again. Leading with a good example, so to say.” Celestia explained. “....” A barely audible squeaking noise startled everyone in the room, and caused some of the thinner glasses to shatter. Rarity fainted and dropped out of her chair, only to directly jump to her feet again, before she started bouncing around the room loudly exclaiming: “Not only do I get to make another royal wedding dress, no, I get to make TWO royal wedding dresses. This. Is. The. Best. Thing. EVER!” Seven pairs of eyes were locked on the exuberant designer. Rarity stopped dead in her track, giving a small ladylike giggle and blushing profoundly. “I mean... It would be an honour to assist your majesty again.” She said, back to her usual refined self. The room was dead silent, except for Rainbow Dash who lay on the floor laughing. --- Spike looked wide eyed at the construct before him. From the outside the changeling city had looked like a giant dodecahedron, suspended in midair by large chains, that stretched into the dark caverns around. It was obvious that the city originally hadn’t been built by changelings, since the grey and white stone, that was used to build canterlot, shone through wherever the changelings hadn’t covered it in their own black building material yet. Against the dark background it had been hard to gauge the size of the city, and only when Spike and his entourage had passed on of the massive chains, that held the city aloft, he had realized that it was easily half the size of canterlot. Another thing that soon had become apparent, was the fact that the city hadn’t been built with flightless creatures in mind. Spike was no stranger to flight, one of the many boons that came with being friend with two pegasi, but being carried by his buglike friends had been unlike the rhythmic up and down of pegasi flight or the gentle floating of a balloon ride. When the changeling had spread its wing a constant buzzing went through its body, and it’s flight pattern had been hectic, nearly erratic, compared to what Spike was used to. As the flight had brought the four friends closer to the town, the illusion of the cities perfect geometrical form had vanished, and more and more additions to the original structure came into view. Spike couldn’t help but thinking of them as ‘outgrowths’. Normally the near random buildings on the dodecahedrons surface would have seemed ramshackle at best, but strangely enough they seemed to follow their own unfathomable geometry. The largest surprise to Spike had come when they entered the city through a huge balcony like structure on its side. He had expected to see small crowded tunnels, or even crawlspaces fitting of the insect like nature of the changelings, but the corridor that they had entered seemed open and inviting. It was large enough to allow several carriages passage side by side, and the ceiling had been painted in bright blue and white colours in an obvious attempt to imitate an open sky. If Spike forced himself to not look upwards, he could even imagine that he was standing on Canterlots main street. Of course only as long as he ignored the mix of bat ponies and changelings that filled the streets with bustling activity. Finally when Spike felt that he couldn’t possibly take in any more of the strange new scenery all around him he turned towards his friends. “So... what do you guys do for fun around here?” He asked, earning a wide mischievous grin from his companions. --- Looking at the tense atmosphere in the room now that the element bearers were alone with Chrysalis, Twilight was more than happy that they actually had something to talk about. “Let’s see, I think there’s a lot of work to be done isn’t it?” Twilight said, causing Chrysalis and Rainbow Dash to stop scowling at each other and to look at her. With clearly visible strain the unicorn hauled a scroll of truly epic proportions onto the table. For a short moment everypony held his breath, listening as the wooden table protested under the sudden increase in weight. “Twi, what is that?” Applejack managed to ask her friend. “Emergency plans. You know it just usually pays off to be prepared.” The purple unicorn replied. “Ya mean to tell me, that ya actually planned for something like this to happen?” The orange farmpony inquired, quirking an eyebrow. “Yes, it should be around here somewhere.” Twilight answered, walking over the table along the slowly unwinding scroll. “Here! Point 36, subpoint b14, planning a wedding between the princess and an old nemesis.” She exclaimed happily. Chrysalis stared at the scene incredulously. “Are all ponies like this?” “Noperony, Twilight is a very special one in a million case.” Pinkie chimed energetically. “Thank you Pinkie.” Twilight deadpanned. “No problem Twilight.” The pink party mare cheered, oblivious to the dripping sarcasm in Twilight’s voice. Not for the first time Twilight had to shake the feeling that she was being made fun off. “Anyway, according to my list, there are several things that have to be taken care off. How many of the castle staff are willing to help?” She asked the black queen. Chrysalis smiled wryly, before answering: “None.” Twilight’s face froze as she turned towards Chrysalis. “Could you please repeat that? I think I misheard you.” She said through a very forced smile. “Safe for Cellie’s personal attendants and the guards nobody remained in the castle after she announced our marriage.” The changeling queen said, obviously trying to sound bored and unaffected by what she was saying. A few strands of hair, sprang up from Twilights otherwise well tamed mane. “I’m sure that will be no problem.” She said her face still frozen in a smiling position, before her face connected with the table. A groan escaped the purple Unicorn. “Now, now, darling, is that a way to act in front of the happy bride to be?” Rarity interjected. “I still have some favors that I can call in, just leave this to me.” “Ah think a could call up some of ma relatives as well.” Applejack picked up where the white fashionista had stopped. Like a drowning pony, Twilight latched onto this small piece of hope. “Yeah, you’re right. No use getting stressed out over every little problem.” Notably her mane still remained in it’s rather disorderly state. “What about your changelings, will any of them help?” She asked Chrysalis. “Most of them aren’t used to interacting with ponies, without a disguise but I will see what I can do.” The changeling queen answered. Twilight looked surprise for a moment, when she got an honest and helpful answer from her. ‘What are you thinking Twilight? It’s her wedding, of course she will try to help,’ she mentally scolded herself. “Okay, let’s see, we will need to take care of the dresses, catering, invitations...” As the unicorn slowly made her way through the list, she could feel her deflated confidence coming back to live. Maybe this all would work out after all... --- Chrysalis looked at the strange little creature that was currently planning her wedding. To be honest she didn’t care for the whole ceremony, bringing so many people together only to ‘prove’ their love seemed like a silly idea to her. But it seemed important to Celestia, and that was reason enough for her to find it important as well, a mindset that she apparently shared with the purple unicorn in front of her. The little pony perplexed the changeling queen to no end. What was so special about her, that she took such an high place in Celestia’s heart and mind. Sure, her talent for magic was impressive for a Unicorn, but even without the power of love to supplement her own powers she still outclassed the young mare by a wide margin. From what she had seen so far, the young Unicorn was awkward, panicked easily, and her obsession with order and checklist would someday feed a small army of therapists. ‘And yet she was the first to see through your disguise,’ She was reminded by the small nagging voice of doubt. The queen grimaced. “Sorry, ya don’t like apple fritters?” The voice of the orange earthpony, Applejack if she remembered correctly, drew her back to reality, reminding her that it might be a good idea to actually listen when your own wedding was being planned. “Not exactly.” She said, trying to regain her footing in the missed conversation. “Well if ya’re not into fritters that’s no problem, we could also make, apple pie, apple strudel, apple pancakes, apple smoothies...” The orange mare started to drone. “How about something without apples?” Chrysalis deadpanned. Applejack visibly tensed up. “Uhm...” “Oh, you've got to be kidding me.” The black queen groaned. “Uhm, maybe we’ll discuss this at a later time.” Twilight interjected in an attempt to defuse the situation. “Fluttershy, what do you think we could do about the music?” “Uhm... I guess we could... “ The yellow pegasus began, only for her voice to become inaudible, as soon as Chrysalis eyes focussed on her. Chrysalis facehoofed. This was sure to be a long day... --- This was going to be a long day. Celestia ruler of the lands of Equestria, sat on her throne and it took all her willpower to not slump at the tedious task that lay before her. For the sixteenth time today, she had received a petition to ban the changelings from Canterlot. For the sixteenth time she told the petitioners off, reminding them that she had steered the kingdom flawlessly for one thousand years, and asking for their trust in this matter as well. Sometimes it had actually worked, but more often she found the applicants unwilling to listen to her. It wasn’t like she hadn’t expected this. From the moment the idea of releasing the changelings had formed, she knew that it wouldn’t be an easy task, but her experiences with Luna and Discord had made her confident that it was doable. If only it wouldn’t be so damn tedious. For a short moment she allowed her warm motherly smile to falter as the page announced yet another “Petition to ensure the safety of the Equestrian population” or some variation of thereof. She actually had thought up a drinking game, centered around how often the applicants used phrases like “concerned citizen”, “safety of the populace”, or her personal favourite “we only want to provide a safe environment for our children”. A real shame that she only ever would be able to play this game with her sister or her fiance, since any lesser pony would probably be killed by the alcohol poisoning. She sighed in relief when the page announced something other than a petition for once, only for her mood to drop again, when she heard just who it was, that sought an audience. “Announcing Prince Blueblood of Equestria!” The loud (but sadly not very melodic) voice of the page echoed through the throne room. Doing her best to reassert her smile, she watched the white Unicorn stallion enter the throne room. His great-great-great-grandfather had once been a great man, which had prompted Celestia to adopt him in the first place, but much to her dismay it had turned out that kind heartedness wasn’t hereditary. “Welcome nephew, to what do I owe the honour of your visit?” She asked, while she braced herself for the inevitable. Her mind raced, trying to imagine in just what way, the changelings might have ‘offended’ her nephew. “I come with good news, auntie. I’ve finally found a pony that is befitting of my presence.” The snobbish stallion exclaimed. “What?” The metaphorical gears of Celestia’s mind screeched to a screaming halt. “I’m engaged dear auntie.” Blueblood reformulated his answer. “That’s.... that’s great to hear. Who is the lucky bride?” Celestia managed to stammer. “He is the most amazing young stallion that I’ve ever met, he has poise, grace, a great personality, and if I might say so, is very handsome. If you meet him you’ll surely agree that he is the only one ever befitting of a stallion of my status.” He explained with a passion, that Celestia hadn’t thought possible of the narcissistic noble. “Well, is he with you today? I would very much like to meet the pony, that has won over my nephews heart.” Celestia said. Without even looking, Blueblood waved for the page to open the doors. Celestia skidded closer to the edge of her seat. She had a hard time imagining a person, that would fit her nephews standards, which made her all the more excited to meet his new spouse. The massive throne room doors opened and revealed... Prince Blueblood? With a few graceful steps, the exact copy of her nephew walked up to his mirror image before bowing before Celestia. Celestia facehoofed. “And how exactly did you get into the upper city without my guards noticing?” She asked the changeling who at least had the decency to look slightly abashed. --- “...and that is that. Seems like we all know what to do during the next days.” Twilight finished with her allocation of the tasks. It had taken them all day, but somehow they had managed to at least outline the plans for the wedding. Rarity would work on the dresses for both princesses as well as for the bridesmaids (they were still trying to figure out how this would work with two brides) and alter them as soon as they actually knew who the bridesmaids were going to be. Applejack and Pinkie Pie would work double shifts trying to figure out dishes that appealed to both ponies and changelings. Meanwhile Fluttershy would organize the ballroom and set up the decorations with the help of the changelings. Rainbow Dash would first race back to Ponyville and gather up, whatever supplies they needed from their workshops back home, and when she was finished with that she would run errands and carry messages between the five of them, to at least maintain some semblance of order. And finally she and Chrysalis would go around, checking up on the others progress, and giving input whenever needed, after all none of them had any idea what to expect from the changelings. This actually rather easy setup had taken far longer than it should have, and Twilight had an good idea what the reason for that was. When she looked at her friends she could still see the distrust in their eyes and their actions. Unlike her they hadn’t seen and felt the trust that Celestia put into the changeling queen, and Twilight was hard pressed to convey those feelings to her friends. That Chrysalis acted aloof and coldhearted towards them certainly didn't help either. Hopefully the time they would be forced to spend together, would help ease some of their worries. “Well if nobody’s got anything to add, I think it would be best to head in for the night, after all it seems like we have a busy week ahead of us.” She exclaimed, looking at her friends. Tired moans and stifled yawns answered her from all around, and even the ever so energetic Pinkie Pie seemed somewhat subdued due to the late hour. “I wish you all a goodnight then.” Chrysalis said decidedly polite, but with no real warmth in her voice. The alicorn sized creature stood up, and made her way for Celestia’s chambers, while the element bearers dragged themselves back to the library tower. --- Two guards stood in front of Celestia’s bedchamber. Their stone faced expressions betrayed no sign of emotion, and there eyes watched the corridors ever vigilant. Nothing would ever distract those two from their duty. Except maybe for the noises that currently came from the royal bedroom. “You know, Steel, it’s not like I don’t understand that they both had a stressful day and that they really need this right now, but do they have to be this loud?” Brick Wall asked his fellow guard. “Come on, they’re just ponies too... well not technically, but you know what I mean.” Steel Aegis replied, allowing himself to relax, and resting most of his weight on the spear he was holding. “As I said, it’s not like I have anything against it, but if they continue like this they’re gonna keep the whole castle awake.” Brick Wall continued, not ready to concede his point yet. “It’s not like they can help it.” Aegis answered, stifling a yawn. “I dunno, my mother always plugged my dad when he did something like that. Always shut him up pretty quickly.” Brick said. “Yeah, but do you wanna go up to those two and ‘plug them’?” Aegis asked, while making the corresponding gesture. Bricks mind seemed to drift of for a while, before he shuddered and replied: “Nah, I’d rather not get banished to the moon, or wherever changelings get send for banishment.” “Hah, just imagine the headlines. ‘Royal Guard banished for shoving corks up Celestia’s nose’ “ He joked, coaxing a short guffaw from his colleague. And so Celestia and Chrysalis slept through the night undisturbed, snoring happily away.