//------------------------------// // Dealing with Bad Colts // Story: How my Little Brother Became an Alicorn // by WiseFireCracker //------------------------------// The sound of her peaceful breathing was, at first, the only noise in the white room. Though one certainly wouldn’t call it appropriate for a napping place, it essentially served that purpose at the present moment in time. Far away from the instruments, the wires and the central pedestal, her head resting awkwardly against a dark wooden desk, a purple alicorn rested, eyes closed and face hidden against her front legs. She was alone, voluntarily making that choice the day before, but, forgot to lock the door behind her research partner, allowing a few ponies to intrude. The mare’s sleep was thus soon interrupted by the shaking of her body by some familiar hooves. Her consciousness was slowly pulled away from the land of dreams, though the fog it made of the real world chose to fade at an equally agonizing rate. Warmth and comfort wouldn’t leave her. Her body subconsciously clenched to her place of rest, if only to keep that sensation vivid for a few more instants. “-light… ” The voices said. She couldn’t make sense out of them yet… they were so… distant… “Twilight!” Her eyes shot open and she instantly regretted it, as a bout of pain hit the front of her mind at this sudden irruption of colors and light. “W-what?” The poor alicorn jolted awake, jumping away from… a desk? “Where am-?” She stifled a yawn. Twilight blinked, staring at the sheets of paper previously spread under her face. …I fell asleep on it, didn’t I? Oooooh, I need to get rid of that bad habit so bad! Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were surrounding her, the unicorn frowning at her disheveled look, the other two seemingly more concerned outright exasperated. “Did ya just fall asleep doing your fancy sciency stuff?” Applejack asked with disbelief. “Again?” Shyly, Twilight looked away. That served as confirmation of what they had feared. “Frankly, darling,” Rarity chipped in. “It is not the first time you’ve let your research get the better of you… What was so fascinating that it couldn’t wait until tomorrow… well… today as it now stands?” Having heard that, Rainbow Dash’s interest was piqued and proceeded to fly over to her desk to grab one of her report cards. “Yeah, what was so interesting that you skipped breakfast with us?” “Oh, that was just some work about…” She let her words trail off, suddenly hit by an onslaught of memories. She remembered the trust he had put in her. She remembered the terrible uncertainty in his eyes and the silent plea for help. She remembered feeling flattered, impossibly so that he would ask her rather than any other, but also disappointed that it was all he asked of her. “You’re the only one I trust enough to confide on this.” His voice resonated in her mind, calm, but strangely void of that usual strength he put into it. She heard her mind snap back with whiplash. “Nothing!” Twilight lunged forward, grabbing the papers away from her curious friend. “Hey!” Said pegasus protested. “I was reading that!” “A-and there’s nothing to see here!” The corners of her mouth inched upward in a very convincing “I’m-not-lying-I-swear” smile, which nonetheless failed to serve its purpose. “Seriously?” The orange mare deadpanned. “We’re supposed to believe ya spent yer night studyin' nothing?” “YES!” The alicorn wildly agreed, sending magic coursing through her horn and using it to hide her first observations and theories. “T-this is just mindless babbling and stuff and that I just got caught up doing it in the end…” The three remaining mares exchanged skeptical looks, thoroughly convinced that their friend had chosen to hide something from them, possibly something embarrassing if they were to judge the dark purple coloration of her cheeks. More importantly, her face was pleading for them to believe her lies. “Well, Twilight,” Rarity started. “Regardless of whatever magical conundrum you studied yesterday, we thought it would be nice if we could spend the day together. With things in Canterlot the way they are, the time for us to return home might be closer than you’d think.” “Yeah!” Rainbow Dash landed next to her friend, placing a hoof around her neck. “So we figured, ‘why not take our egghead friend with us to have some real fun and leave some books for the actual worms?’” “Rainbow…” Applejack said with a tone of warning. “Oh, sure, I would like that. I’m beat anyway and I don’t think I can make much more progress without taking some time to myself first. ” “Attagirl, Twi, that’s the spirit.” The earth pony mare cheered. “Yeah, I’ve heard there will be an exclusive reading of the first chapter of the new Daring Do at the House of Litterature today. Interested?” “Hay yeah!” The cyan pegasus pumped her hoof, before realizing her friends were all smirking at her. Applejack in particular had this smugness to her demeanor that rubbed Rainbow Dash just the wrong way. “Sure ya don’t want to spend some time here with the bookworms, Sugarcube?” “Oh ha ha!” The daredevil crossed her legs, acting unaffected and mostly being unaffected. Only acute eyes would notice her cringing. “No thanks, I’d rather spend time with my friends.” The others seemed to pause, any teasing dying in their throats the moment it was formed in their brain. Finally, it was Rarity who spoke, smiling warmly at her friend. “We all do.” Twilight felt something flutter in her chest, but it couldn’t be compared with those she felt near the golden stallion. Whereas his presence had her mind racing with anxiety, it was just right to be with these ponies, to be with her friends. “W-we should go get Pinkie and Fluttershy,” she said, stumbling at first. “Excellent idea, Twilight,” Rarity approved. “This way, we can all spend the day together.” ‘So you won’t be alone when you hear about your crush’s interest in your best friend…’ went unspoken between Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. “Where are those two?” Applejack asked, suddenly frowning. “Ah don’t recall hearin’ much about them this morning.” “I think they took a stroll in the gardens before you arrived.” “Alright, let’s go, girls!” Twilight took the lead, heading out of the laboratory with her friends in tow. She winced when her wings’ muscles pulled at her shoulders. Without a doubt, there was an urgent need for her to discover a good sleeping position when doing researches. Her body was sore all over… Great. -- Her hoof rattled weakly against the ground, moving a few pebbles and making a strange drawing in the dirt. With her rump on the ground and her mane half as poofy as usual, Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to live up to her Element all that much. Her face was crunched up with a rather scary amount of focus. She was mumbling under her breath. At high speed. With a high-pitched voice. Was it any wonder that the pegasus behind her could not quite understand the dilemma? “P-Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked tentatively. Her voice, so quiet and hard to carry on any distance, made the other made snap her neck toward her. For a second, she shrunk back under the incredibly intense look Pinkie was sending her way. “Hi, Fluttershy!” Pinkie said cheerfully, somehow keeping up her intensively intense stare while being her normal self. “H-hello,” the pegasus whispered. “So, Fluttershy, what did you want to ask me? I’m only asking because you have this weird tic where you look away when you talk to somepony and you need to ask something.” “Hum…” She looked unsure. “I always do that when talking to other ponies…” “Which proves my point!” Pinkie nodded, crossing her front legs over her chest in a picture of self-confidence. “Because you are looking away when you're asking somepony something.” “I don’t think it works like that, Pinkie…” Fluttershy said with an apologetic tone. All of a sudden, the pink mare slumped down, letting out what she would herself qualify as a “BIG-low-on-sugar-and-that’s-terrible” sigh. “W-what’s wrong?” The pegasus moved closer, surprised by this apparent mood swing. Strong and spontaneous reactions were expected of her friend, but generally, those involved more party canons and less depressed faces. “What happened yesterday?” “Oh, we had…” Pinkie rolled her shoulders, looking sideway. “…Fun. Yeah, lots of fun! In fact, it was really really fun! Like one of the funniest day I’ve had in Canterlot yet, not quite the best, but pretty up there nonetheless!” As she had spoken, Pinkie’s color had indeed returned, getting more vibrant Fluttershy’s heart ached when her friend’s mane deflated again. “But then… then Bladey acted really mean!” She vehemently waved her legs in the air, eyes widened almost comically, but with an edge of distress that made Fluttershy step closer. “Like grade-A mean and I didn’t even think he could do that! Next thing I knew, Sammy does the same with Filthy Rich and BAM! The night of fun is all over a-and I...” A pair of yellow hooves encased her, forcing her into the embrace of the Element of Kindness. In this particular instance, if Fluttershy had worn the necklace, it would have shone like a thousand of Celestia’s sun. “I’m sure this was just a bad decision on their parts. Lots of ponies and other people do that when they get mad. The best thing you can do is wait until everypony’s cooled down and ready to talk nicely.” Eating up every word, Pinkie sniffed loudly a few times, blowing her nose into a box of tissues that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. “D-do you know what this calls for?” She turned her attention to her friend again, voice shaking with some form of anticipation. “Hum… no?” Fluttershy replied meekly, forgetting her own advices just to make sure she would not contradict whatever idea had hit her hyperactive friend. “Well, me neither!” Pinkie almost shouted, grabbing on her friend for support, a hint of insanity glistening in those sparkling blue eyes of hers. “My plan involves parties, like all good plans, but I don’t think it’s going to work this time!” “Why not?” Fluttershy blinked in surprise. It was not that she believed the idea of parties as redeeming forces to be inherently great, but rather that Pinkie doubted it. “It’s Gilda all over again!” The pegasus flinched at the mention of the griffon. “Actually, this is not even like that time with Gilda. I mean, yes, I tried to be her friend at first and then she showed herself that she was just a jerk and I can try not to think about it – even if I sometimes feel like I wished Dashie had gone back and tried to make things right between them so we were all friends –, but it’s different now! Bladey is already my friend, but he acted mean anyway. And I’m not sure I understand why!” The pegasus mare had to distance herself a little in order to see the distraught expression on the party pony’s face. “D-did you ask him?” “Yes! He said they were mean bullies that deserved it! But when I said he had been mean, he sulked and said I was lying! I don’t lie to my friends like that!” Her gaze had started getting misty, as her mind seemed to be going in all directions. “It’s okay, Pinkie.” Fluttershy patted her back, her every instinct screaming at her to comfort her friend as best as she could, as quickly as possible too… “I know that. All of us know that. And it wasn’t your fault for the Gilda thing. We’re all very glad you tried to help her with your party anyway.” “Ah, you’re so incredible, Fluttershy! I feel much better talking to you!” She smiled widely, gratitude transparent through her every gesture. “Oh my gosh! I can do this! I must! I MUST!” She threw herself backward, in an impressive imitation of her more fashioned inclined unicorn pal. “D-do what?” Fluttershy asked, part of her fearing the answer. “A party!” Pinkie jumped to her hooves, shining with rebuilt confidence. “We’re going to throw these boys the best party EVER and then they’ll have no choice but to be nice to everypony! It’s foolproof!” S-she was glad that Pinkie’s energetic self had returned, Pinkie Promise! However… she might have preferred not being forcibly enlisted as the one to recruit partygoers. -- “C-can you repeat that?” Eric stuttered in disbelief. That had not been what he had expected… though he wasn’t sure why the conviction had been so strong in his mind to begin with. It was such a silly idea… to put so much faith in a scenario straight out of a fanfic… “Again, sir, if you wish to speak to our voice actors, you may do so by contacting them on other public accounts. Many of our employees can be found via social networks, including the ones making the recorded voice of the new alicorn characters, Calx Iugum and Ventus Vinco.” His grasp on his phone became so strong a dull pain started to radiate from his palm. It doesn’t make sense! He didn’t know what he was thinking anymore… -- It happened so quickly… they were almost shocked by how obvious their plan’s flaw had been. Some pony had simply walked up to Twilight and expressed their compassion to her situation. “Huh? What do you mean?” The clueless alicorn asked, a kind but confused smile on her lips. Thinking fast, Applejack’s hooves covered the intruder’s mouth. “Oh, ya know, Twi, all this princess-y stuff ya have to do all the time.” “Yeah!” Rainbow Dash flew to her side, wearing a painfully large smile and dropping so suddenly by her side that Twilight jumped. “So this pony is showing their appreciation of your efforts!” “Well,” she said, her heart beating too quickly in her chest. “That’s very kind of you, ma’am. And you really should move your hoof off her, Applejack.” Nopony could have said she hadn’t tried to be patient and understanding, not jumping to any conclusions or something, but she’d have to be blind not to see how little Applejack wanted to allow the now struggling pony to speak. “Applejack.” “W-what is it, Twi?” “Let her go.” Her tone left no ambiguity or room for protest. Still, Applejack shot a quick glance at Rarity, who nodded gravely, knowing there was nothing else they could do to delay the inevitable. As soon as the grip had loosened, Applejack winced, preparing herself for a bad moment… “Are you hiding it from her?!” The pony’s voice came out in a disbelieving and actually scary hiss. “Hiding what?” Twilight’s eyebrow rose. “How Prince Ventus went, behind your back, on a date with the Element of Laugher! It says so in the Sunrise News!” “Oh, that’s all?” The alicorn tilted her head, unflappable. The assembled ponies blinked dumbly, sending blank stares at the serene reaction from the Princess of Magic. “Well, that one is just so ridiculous, it’s not even credible.” She giggled softly. “Pinkie wouldn’t do this to me and I seriously doubt that Prince Ventus would pursue a relationship in his current situation.” The mare’s eyes widened almost comically. “But... but there was a picture of them together!” “So?” Twilight shrugged, not particularly impressed. “I bet plenty of ponies could take plenty of pictures of me and my friends, but that wouldn’t imply that we’re dating, right? Besides, they were already wrong about their previous headlines. They already lost most of their credibility with me anyway.” Her friends had long since lost the capacity for words. “In any case, thank you very much for your compassion. It really warms my heart to know that you cared enough about me to give me your best wishes. Thank you.” With a bow, she proceeded to stun every and any pony in sight. Amongst them though, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash tried hard to squash their guilt at putting so little faith in their friend’s strength. An apology was due. -- I had seen it coming, with perfect clarity. The scenario had all played out in my head before Celestia had even started talking. She never raised her voice, not even once, to stop his tantrum. His screaming had carried all throughout the dinner hall, rendering the few remaining nobles utterly silent. It was a combination, I guessed, that made them so pale and dumbstruck at the scene happening in the antechamber. The nerves, of course, of screaming at the most prominent ruling authority of the land, but also the few insults that had started to slip in his dialogue, must have been the most appalling thing ever for any Equestrian. I, personally, could not find it in me to show strong disapproval toward this. It hadn’t been a lie that Tom had already done a lot of studying. How could he not have in more than sixty years of life. Even at a slower learning rate, he had earned his knowledge and, though he might not flaunt it, his lack of maturity could not hamper the fact that he was a master on the subjects of geology and agriculture. I might have laughed in the heat of the moment, but, in the end, I wanted to side with my little brother on this issue. Frankly, it wasn’t even being bratty; from his point of view, this was like having finished school and being told you had to go back because they didn’t like your attitude, completely disregarding everything you might have known. In other words, Celestia brought this on herself. In the end though, it did not matter. Her mind could not be swayed, certainly not by a child throwing a tantrum about it. With a hint of steel, she ended the discussion with the details of his first lesson, which was to happen tomorrow. At that, Tom’s face probably crunched up in the most rage filled display possible. “I HATE YOU! YOU’RE NOT MY FAVORITE PRINCESS ANYMORE!” My guts twisted at the painful remembrance brought on by the words. They had once been aimed at me, with the same kind of childish coldness. Their weights had been so hard to carry back then anyway. And then… A wave of cold dread crashed over me, as my imagination ran wild over what he might do. For the first time since Celestia had called him, I bolted out of my seat, toward the door leading to the antechamber. All I saw was a blur of wooden brown and a blow of wind hitting my face, to punctuate how close to being hit I had been. In my shock, I stopped dead in my track, in time to have a small colt ran straight into me. A mild bout of pain struck me, in the spot his horn had rammed into, but already, I pushed it aside in favor of the foal groaning on the ground. “Little brother,” I said quietly, half of an apology transmitted through my tone alone. “Y-you knew!” He sniffed, eyes shining with tears of anger. With a pained grimace, I grabbed him, lifted him, but he stayed mostly limp, sullenly refusing to share one more word with me. Frankly, his frustration seemed to pale with the rapidly fading flame of his happiness. Heck, he hadn’t struggled or fought his way out of my grip yet. In spite of any control I tried to exercise, I came to resent her nonetheless, for hurting him so. Right wing stretched in front of us as a shield, I shot a look at the white alicorn still standing in the room. Of my anger, I let as little as possible filter, instead trying to show only my disappointment and a hint of rejection. A twisted part of me enjoyed the fact that she would doubtlessly pick up on it. Before letting myself fade into a gust of wind and taking Tom with me, I kept up this mask for a few more seconds, taking in her reaction. She was immobile. Her face was an especially stoic mask. Princess Celestia’s soul piercing glare was the last thing I saw of her today. -- As soon as we reached our room, I let go of my hold on him. He lost no time getting back to his hooves and glaring at me. His traits held an accusation and an anger I did not like to see in him. It made my heart clench with fear. “You let her do that!” He shouted, his wings flaring into extension. “I didn’t want to,” I said softly. “It was out of my power to stop her.” But he did not want to hear it. “Why didn’t you try?!” He looked at me with the eyes of someone that had been stabbed in the back on their birthday. “IT’S NOT FAIR!” On that, he ran to our bed, hiding under the covers to hide both his tears and the rest of his shattered pride. With a sigh, I decided to let him nurse those wounds himself, at least for a little while. When he had calmed down a bit, I’d try to talk to him again. Perhaps he would feel more receptive then. As such, I decided to sit down next to our window, gazing outside, beyond the city and toward the sky. In Equestria, it seemed to always be a perfect shade of blue, set with a manageable number of clouds and wind that seemed to pulse in resonance with my own heartbeat. So easily, I felt my consciousness slip toward this greater ocean above. It was my heart’s desire, to unshackle myself from this self of mortal flesh and be the wind. More disturbingly, the thought made me serene. As much as I tried to, I could not summon the appropriate horrified response this thought process should have called for. In a way, my true nature seemed to be attuned outside of myself. For a long time, I stared at this part of myself, unsuccessfully trying to orient my mind toward more pressing issues such as our return to Earth and the safety of my human parents. I could hear ethereal neighs through the song of the wind. “H-hum… hello?” The voice was so soft it almost failed to pull me out of my reverie. However, my hearing was particularly sharp at times. I turned around with a peaceful expression, already deducing who had gently peeked through the door by her tone alone. As such, I replied as calmly as I could. “Miss Fluttershy, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” The poor mare started stuttering, blushing beneath her mane and desperately trying to avoid my gaze. Her voice weakened to a meek, incomprehensible squeak. “Miss Fluttershy,” I repeated, taking her chin with my wing, doing my best to ignore her shaking. I forced my voice to be as soothing as I could dish out. “I assure you that whatever it is you want to tell me, I will not judge you, get angry at you or make you uncomfortable. I promise.” With the kind of delicate movement that came so naturally to her, she shook off the tip of my wing and steeled her resolve, looking about as confident as a slightly shy pony. “P-Pinkie decided to throw a party… and put me in charge of the invitations…” I winced, feeling a bit of compassion for the introverted mare and her predicament. “I-if you’d like to come… in the western ballroom… t-this evening…” We were both startled though, when a booming noise erupted in the room. “AWESOME!” Tom barreled into view, grinning from one ear to another. Someone’s feeling better… “I didn’t even get to go to more than one of her parties!” Glancing at the bed, I saw the sheets still flying in the air, thrown with too much force for it not to have been magical in origin. “Wait, you had a party for you organized by Pinkie Pie?” I turned to him, slightly shocked at the pang of jealousy I felt. “Oh, hum, well, that’s just something Pinkie does…” Fluttershy explained, misunderstanding my question. I’m certainly not going to correct you though. “How kind.” I offered her a gentle smile, hoping to put her in a more relaxed mood. “Do not worry. You can tell her we will attend without fail.” “BUCK YEAH!” Tom screamed, earning a mortified look from the shy pegasus. I could only offer her a sheepish grin in guise of apology. She unsurprisingly accepted it, but seemed uneasy nonetheless. -- Somepony had gone overboard with the decorations in this place. Streamers, balloons, confetti, cakes, all of those were hanging from the ceiling, covering tables, sticking on the windows, creating the most cake frosting PINK ballroom I had ever seen in my entire life. It could have hurt all kinds of sensitivities and the Sam side of me was in utter shock that it hadn’t. Somehow, it worked. Barely. But it worked. A few ponies had already arrived, forming a crowd spread throughout the whole room. Most of them were grown-ups, of course, but, in a corner, a bunch of foals had gathered around Pinkie Pie. Her curly mane bouncing with her jumps, she seemed to be singing along with them, playing entertainer for the whole dozen of them. By my side, my brother’s eyes lit up with pure joy. Judging exclusively by the amount of shaking, I had a few seconds left. “Don’t get into fights and if you do, call for me.” I grinned, ruffling his mane before letting him run off. I felt a bit better after seeing his own wide grin at the idea of joining the other kids. Eh, with Pinkie Pie around, he’d have no trouble integrating with the rest. Following his progress for a few more minutes, I saw his blue form met the group of foals and him rapidly taking place in the circle, being just one of the kids. A bit of weight disappeared from my shoulders, making me sigh in relief. With that bit of peace at the front of my mind, I decided to just take a first look at the room. Walking between ponies, I distantly heard the exchanges, most if not all of them goodhearted exchanges. I greeted a few of them, having an easy time looking the part of the charming prince. Quickly though, I caught sight of an interesting gathering. Not far from table of refreshments, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were discussing some topic with varying expressions of approval or disagreement. With a little focus, it became easy to make out their words far before I made my way up to them. “Can’t say Ah’m really mad the little troublemakers got told off. Celestia knows Ah’ve been aching for somepony to beat some decency into those heads of theirs.” “Yes, I understand, Applejack. Half the time Sweetie Belle comes home in tears, those two horrible fillies are the one to blame,” she said, momentarily angered. Quickly, however, the emotion faded, leaving her staring blankly into space, pensive. “Still, I heard it was a scandalizing event…” I felt as if fatigue was catching up with me, making me so tired of this and wishing the whole night had gone differently. For a moment, I contemplated changing my course of action, just to avoid dealing with this crap again. “And just where d’ya ‘hear’ that, Rare?” The cowpony’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Have ya been readin’ that magazine again?” “No…” She whispered, her gaze flickering toward Pinkie for a split second. Ultimately, it was her behavior that pushed me to get moving again. The embarrassed and quick deflection I had expected did not come. In fact, had it not been for her half-hearted answer, I would have believed Rarity hadn’t heard her friend at all. Instead, she was looking straight at me, worriedly, as if suddenly discovering something unexpected. For the first time, her gaze was not dreamy, wistful and filled with the fantasies of knights in shining armor she fashioned me to be. For the first time, they held an unspoken fear. She was seeing something unexpected in me and she did not like it. The others followed her gaze and finally noticed me just stepping next to them. “Oh, hey there, prince. Didn’t see ya before.” Applejack said, lifting her hat to me. After a nod from me, she turned back to her friend, halfway whispering. “Ya could have told us he was here, Rare.” “So you wouldn’t have continued talking about my actions?” I asked, feeling amused at this turn of event. Rainbow Dash shrugged, clearly not guilty. “We were just saying we aren’t completely disappointed in lil’ Calx for snapping at the two fillies.” She got a hoof to the shoulder for her trouble. “What? It’s true.” “Ah wasn’t saying that!” “Oh, it is quite alright.” I waved a hoof dismissively, faking a smile. “Everypony is entitled to their opinions.” But can they please not be about us?! As I expected, the mares just nodded, seeing as this was practically self-evident, especially in Equestria. Thus, I opened my mouth to steer the conversation away from that topic, when I was saved the trouble by a sudden weight on my back making my knees flinch. “Hey, Sammy! How do you like the party?” Pink face in my face. “Does it make you feel better? Nicer?” Wow, that is so incredibly subtle… Despite that though, I was not exactly annoyed. My feelings on this were… confused. With the context she didn’t know I had access to, I could easily piece out that this was the same kind of party she had thrown for Gilda, hoping to make her a better person. For her to turn it around and give me one… well… it was both insulting and touching. It got me… pensive. Did I really come off as such a bad stallion? What was it about those parties that supposedly help ponies be better? The cake? The music? The dancing? Tch, now I just wanted to scoff in derision… Or it’s the other ponies that act like friends that care about you? Ignoring the inquisitive look from Pinkie Pie, I looked down, contemplating a thousand incomplete, fleeting, comforting thoughts. I-it was nice… when others treated us as friends… w-when Pinkie spent the afternoon with us… w-when T-Twilight… when we played with waterballoons or… or when she accepted to help us study the spell that sent us here… The image of yet another pony flashed before my eyes. “A-actually, if I can make a suggestion, Miss Pie…” I looked up. That got her unaltered attention. “Yes, Sammy Goody?” For the love of Celestia, never use that nickname again! I thought indignantly. Fortunately, all that came out of my mouth was inconspicuous. “Can you invite Prince Blueblood here? I believe he might find the event… eye opening, perhaps.” Pinkie’s lips broke into a really sly smile, the kind that made my mind think of creatures like dragons and manticores rather than pastel ponies. With a bounce, she appeared right next to me, teleporting during the slight interval necessary for me to blink in shock. “That’s all good, but I already invited him, of course!” “…What?” “Yeah, him, a bunch of other nobles and even Princess Luna! They’re all coming!” A strange uneasiness visited me at the mention of the Princess of the Night. I… I hadn’t given her much thought these last few days, but… well, somehow, I didn’t want to think of her. There was something about her… Come to think of it, have I actually talked to her yet? The only thing I could think of her at the present moment had been a passing glance she had given me after casting the spell of Truth with Celestia… it hadn’t been downright hostile, but… “Speaking of the timberwolf, there he is!” Pinkie turned my head around, forcing me out of my head and making me witness the scene of a few more ponies entering the ballroom, one particular stallion scanning the crowd with his blue eyes. “I think he wants to talk with you too! Let me go get him.” And before I could shout a very definitive “NO THANKS!”, she had already teleported away. My eye twitched. “Oh, for the love of my parents!” I groaned, a very distinct pang of pain running through my veins at the thought. Suddenly, my next thought was extremely appropriate. “Tell me this punch contains plenty of alcohol…” None of them truly impaired my trip to the buffet table, toward the gigantic bowl full of pink juice. Normally, I’d stay clear of this in Equestria, but clearly, it was an emergency. Not to mention that I was slowly growing sick of this charade. The most they did was follow, one pegasus flying a little over me. “Alicorns can get drunk?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking suspicious and… a little devious too. “I certainly hope so…” I muttered, levitating a cup of punch and downing it. I breathed a sigh of relief at the burning sensation that went down my throat. At least one mystery was solved. Now… for the other one’s elucidation… for science, of course… I grabbed another cup. “Whoa, easy there, partner. Wouldn’t want to make a show of yerself t’night, right?” The “again” was only heavily implied. “I am contemplating my options,” I grumbled, my mood darkening with each passing moment. If Blueblood came to me, speaking all about his superiority and rubbing any of my mistakes in my face, I might explode. Thus, when I turned around and came face-to-face with him, it took most of my self-control not to snarl. Taking this moment of hesitation as an invitation to open his stupid mouth, Blueblood spoke with a surprisingly trembling voice. “I… I would like to…” The stallion shifted on his hooves. “To respectfully request some of your time… to talk.” A moment of stunned silence followed his declaration. My eyes and mouth were wide open, staring with incomprehension at the nervous prince before me. W-well… it seemed like I got my answer. An alicorn CAN indeed get drunk, out of their minds, to the point of hallucinating.