CHAPTER-7: Two Different Dances
“It’s confusing, finding out who’s the enemy. Only until someone shoots at you do you really know, and I think I’ve found the bullet.” –Chairman Richard Hawley
“Ma’am, I can assure you that the New Hope is being constructed as fast as we can do it. The whole NC’s behind it and your scientist’ support has been extremely helpful while dealing with that FTL drive, but we can’t push production any further.” Project Manager Axton Briggs said finally.
The High Priestess sighed, and closed her eyes for a second, rubbing her forehead as if she had a headache. Which she did, and it was solely the fault of the man before her. She’d been trying to convince Briggs to allow Vanu work teams to come in and assist in production, but he’d only scoffed at her when she suggested that her, quote “goddamn spandex assholes” could “go to hell for all he cared” and that “the scientists were enough”.
The High Priestess resisted the urge to have the man shot on the spot. Such insults thrown at the Chairman would not be acceptable, but, apparently shouting them at the leader of the Vanu was perfectly acceptable.
The High Priestess had long since tired of the New Conglomerate’s attitude towards the Vanu, and she could not get Chairman Hawley to do anything about it. Yes, he may have mandated the integration of Vanu scientists into the work crews, but he felt that the use of any more Vanu faculties would, quote “piss the people off”. So, the High Priestess dealt with it as best she could.
“Very well. I suppose I cannot convince you, so I shall leave you to your work.” The High Priestess said, exasperated. These fools had no respect.
“The New Conglomerate is slowing us down, mother. We must attempt something to change that, and I don’t think anyone aside from Hawley is open to any new ideas.” The High Priestess’ son had become very insistent that it was not Hawley, but his advisors that pushed him to make decisions, and that Hawley himself was, indeed, very open to these ideas. He couldn’t do it without his advisors’ support, or his approval rating would surely bottom out.
The High Priestess didn’t care for his approval rating, though, but she ended up agreeing with her son on many of the points he’d made. So, she’d been parading around the New Conglomerate, dealing with fools and imbeciles the whole way in an attempt to convince Chairman Hawley to accept more of her assistance.
So far, she’d found that there were some among his advisors that had doubts on what some of the others thought, and saw great opportunity in having the Vanu work more closely with the New Conglomerate to build the New Hope. Hopefully, there were enough.
Otherwise, their death would not be quick and painless. The Terrans would make sure of that.
The few weeks after Clarissa’s arrival had been uneventful. Right now, she was polishing her armor, which hadn’t been taken care of properly since her arrival. It calmed her to do such a normal thing, and it gave her time to think about what her next move would be. Tonight, her existence would be made public at the Grand Galloping Gala, much to her chagrin.
After being discharged from the hospital, Clarissa had been put under house arrest, or, as the princesses referred to it “close supervision.” She understood why they’d done it, but she had a slight twinge of anger every time she saw the guards whose eyes followed her wherever she went.
In all honesty, the ponies had been quite the gracious hosts to an alien that had pointed a weapon at some of their top people on more than one occasion to allow her to live in a major city. For that, she was less than grateful. She’d expected a definite enemy to emerge sometime, and being on her ass not fighting anything really grated on her nerves in a way she’d never contemplated it would.
As for being “displayed” at the Gala, Clarissa couldn’t be more repulsed. If it was anything that angered her more, it was attention. The whole point of being an infiltrator was to move unnoticed, kill anything that got in the way silently, and complete a set objective. There were a plethora of things that could go wrong, but they could usually be solved by a knife or a well-placed projectile. In this situation, though, she couldn’t simply solve her problems by killing. She had to sweet-talk her way around an official function, which was not her strong suit in the slightest. Sure, she was able to deal with a panicked nurse, and, after a time, some senior officials. She could only hope for the best.
Clarissa also wasn’t sure how the ponies would react to a human in full armor milling around in a crowd full of snooty upper class patrons. Her best option, she decided, was to pick a corner, and observe. If anything, she could glean something about the ponies from some of the gossip and such that was inherent to such up-tight events.
Shining Armor’s memories had faded over the last few weeks, leaving her only snippets of important facts she’d want to know about the ponies. Any intel that could be gathered would be valuable; so she’d recorded any information that she thought would be useful in the near future.
A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. Sighing, she gave stopped what she was doing, and treaded towards the door.
Gripping the handle, she opened the door.
There stood a smiling Princess Celestia, along with two guards that gave Clarissa a death glare. She ignored the guards, and drilled into Celestia’s eyes with her own.
“I have something for you, Clarissa.” Celestia’s horn ignited, and a brilliant sapphire dress floated its way into Clarissa’s field of vision. It was rather simple, and lacked some of the embellishments she’d seen on some of the Canterlot nobility.
Nodding her approval, she reached for the dress.
It promptly floated out of range.
“Something wrong?” Clarissa asked. Her expression darkened, and she retracted her hand.
“No, but I would like to talk to you while you put this on.” Celestia said, returning Clarissa’s sudden hostility through her eyes, her mouth curling into a smile.
“Mmh. Come on in, Princess.” Clarissa stepped out of Celestia’s way as she said this, and the pony in question walked past her. Shutting the door, the two headed for Clarissa’s living room.
Finally, the dress was passed into Clarissa’s possession. She sighed, and began changing into the dress while Celestia found a comfortable spot on Clarissa’s couch.
“No sarcastic remarks? No lewd jokes? I’m beginning to lose faith in you, Clarissa.” Celestia blinked lazily, and shifted into a more comfortable position on the couch.
“Honestly, Princess, I don’t want to do this. For all the parties my father took me to, I never for the life of me could figure out how to ride the political surfboard,” Clarissa paused to slip the dress over her shoulders. “I can deal with publicity. I’ve gotten my fair share of hero’s welcomes, and press conferences, the like. But my father was always there for me.” She tried to grip the zipper at the back of the dress, but she couldn’t quite do it. So, Princess Celestia got off the couch and zipped it up for her.
“Do continue, Clarissa.” Celestia said, stepping back to observe the dress as it now looked upon the woman in question.
“I just… I feel helpless when I need to actually talk to somebody, er, somepony, I mean. I don’t have much in the way of tact when it comes to conversation. You of all people should know that, Celestia. You’re the only one who’s come and had a meaningful conversation with me… well; maybe that Cadence chick counts, but… I feel as if I’ve been abrasive at best.” Clarissa turned to face Celestia, the rich blue dress she wore twirling in concert.
Celestia sighed. “I suppose you have been. But it’s quite a refreshing experience compared to all the drivel I get to listen to all day. Coming in here at the end of my day has become… something I almost can’t live without,” Celestia paused, looking into Clarissa’s small eyes. “Almost like seeing my sister bring the night.” She whispered, looking down at the floor and smiling slightly.
Clarissa’s gaze hardened, and she stared into Celestia’s comparatively gigantic orbs.
“With all due respect ma’am, I can’t mess this up.” Clarissa’s eyes drilled into Celestia’s.
“Yes, I suppose you can’t.” Celestia simply sighed, and stepped up to Clarissa, putting a golden-booted forehoof on the infiltrator’s shoulder.
“I have faith that you won’t.”
“How long did I give you eggheads to get that portal running? Two days? And now it’s been more than two WEEKS. I want some results, and I want them soon.” The Terran field marshal berated the “eggheads” that stood before him with his best drill sergeant’s voice.
One of them, not fazed by the marshal’s stiff manner, spoke confidently.
“And I told you over two weeks ago that we’d need more than two days, sir. We don’t-“ The field marshal cut the scientist off, chokeslamming said scientist into the floor.
“I DON’T care what you DON’T have, I WANT RESULTS!” The field marshal leaned in closer to the scientist, and continued his rant. “NOW! Do you understand me, you little shithead?” The venom in his voice made the scientist cringe with every word.
The scientist nodded vigorously, and the marshal released his grip. By the time the scientist had gotten on his feet, the field marshal was already halfway down the hallway.
He needed to have another “chat” with the prisoners.
Clarissa currently stood backstage, awaiting her cue to reveal herself to the audience of nobleponies and the Elements of Harmony. She stood stock still, and took up a parade-ground stance, as she did every time her father put her on display at one of his political meets.
To an observer, she looked ridiculous. The dress she wore certainly didn’t match the pose she was in, and the obvious tension in her muscles screamed “I don’t want to be here right now” to most any onlooker.
After a few minutes of waiting, the time came. When one of the attendants pulled back the curtains, she hurried to Celestia’s side, not caring about the fact that she looked like a buffoon on the way.
Most of the crowd held back their laughter, but a few snickers could be heard throughout the hall.
The Princess shut them up with an authoritative stare.
By now, Clarissa had realized how nervous she looked, and attempted to go into “the zone”; a term her squad mates had made up when they saw how she focused before sniping an important target. It worked to calm her nerves a bit, and she could feel some of the tension fading; but most of it remained.
All the while, Celestia spoke to the crowd.
“As I had told you, tonight will be different from the other Grand Galloping Galas we’ve had. Not only will I be introducing Clarissa; there is a new theme this year.” Celestia scanned the crowd, giving piercing looks to those who looked like they may be snickering at the human standing next to her.¬ “In light of the last Gala, I have decided to invite performers from around the world for your enjoyment tonight.” Gesturing grandly to backstage, Celestia smiled warmly as five zebra drummers emerged from behind the curtains. Setting up their instruments, and adjusting their tribal garb, they readied their hooves over their instruments.
“This group is but the first of many that will be performing tonight, which includes the ever-popular DJ PON3, the Stalliongrad Symphony Quartet, among others. If any of you have questions for the performers, they will be in the crowd shortly after they perform.” Celestia concluded, stepping off the stage with Clarissa.
A few seconds later, the zebrican band began playing. Their polyrhythmic beats echoed through the grand hall, and set the stage for ponies to converse, dance, and eat food from the generous helpings on snack tables scattered around the room.
As Clarissa and Celestia passed through the curtains, Clarissa fumed silently.
“Now, there’s no need to be so tense, Clarissa. Nopony will hurt you here.” Celestia gestured with her left hoof while the right ensconced itself on Clarissa’s shoulder.
“Hey princess, I-“ A voice began, abruptly cutting off when Clarissa’s head snapped in the direction of the intruder. Her eyes burned with the last embers of her fading anger and embarrassment.
Smiling warmly, Celestia nudged Clarissa towards the intruder.
“Hello, I, um, I’m Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight Sparkle, now, I guess.” Smiling sheepishly, the purple alicorn extended a hoof in Clarissa’s direction.
Nodding slightly, Clarissa tentatively shook the proffered hoof.
“See, I can tell this will be the start of a great relationship.” Celestia whispered in Clarissa’s ear, taking her hoof off said human’s shoulder.
“So, uh, can you tell me a bit about yourself?”