Lyra peeked out into the hallway, looking both ways. No trace of the mob of soldiers from earlier. She pulled her head back into the room and shut the door behind her.
“Right," she said. “What’s the plan?”
Celestia stood up, doing her best to summon back her royalty. What she managed was a tiny waver of her mane and a brief resurface of her headache.
“The plan is that one of you is going to tell me what the bucking hell happened last night. The sun’s out of place, the entire staff is hungover, I’ve met with flesh-eating pony creatures below the castle, and there is a beautiful stallion hopefully still waiting for me upstairs. So I’d like to get this cleared up and get on with my day, if you don’t mind!”
Beauty blushed a bit, Harpo sniggered, and Luna rolled her eyes. The other musicians just looked confused.
“And you, Luna. Why are you so serious now? You were being a trickster pain in the flank earlier this morning. What happened?”
“The Gala. And the Sun. I thought it was something you could fix, but it’s become apparent you can’t.”
“No crap. Now tell me what happened.”
“Well, Sister,” Luna started, “What do you remember from last night?”
“I had one teeny-tiny drink. That you gave me.”
Luna, remembering the large, full bottle of AJ Daniels and the vodka, frowned slightly. “And what else?”
“Nothing. I think I went downstairs at some point, and...maybe there was music?”
“You’re correct. Here’s how last night went...”
*** *** ***
Celestia trots down the stairs to the main hall, swerving a little bit and tripping but for the most part staying upright. She looks to the left, then to the right, taking in the modest dinner that many of the servants and early Gala guests are taking part in. Guards man the doors, and maids and cooks rush too and fro making sure everything is running smoothly. A few notice the princess and nod their respects kindly.
Luna, across the room talking to an aide about the Gala, notices her sister standing in the entryway. She sees the look in her eyes. She knows this look, and she knows what’s about to happen, but as she opens her mouth, she knows it’s too late. She just wanted her Sister to take the night off, but this was either going to be much more fun or much more trouble... or perhaps both.
“OHHHHHH SUUUUUUB-JEEEECTS!”
The Royal Canterlot Voice echoes across the great hall, causing every pony in it to turn and stare at their liege. She gives them all a grin.
“Tomorrow’s gonna be all BORING, huh? Nothing but pompous frou frou-y nonsense. Whaddya ponies say we throw the REAL party? Who’s WITH me?”
The Princess of the Sun pauses, looking around expectantly. Nopony breathes. Nopony is sure exactly of what happened to their ruler. And most of all, nopony wants to respond.
Celestia stomps her hoof. “Hey! Are you deaf? I said, let’s-”
Luna steps forward. “Sister, when I suggested you take the night off, I didn’t mean-”
“Oh, stop it. You!” She points with a hoof at the guards. “Off duty for the rest of the night.”
Nopony moves. “That’s an ORDER! And you!” She indicates the servants. “Same for you. In fact, EVERYPONY’s got the night off. MANDATORY!”
The stunned silence persists. Getting frustrated, Celestia concentrates. Her horn glows, and a bright flash of light emanates from it, covering the whole hall. When the crowd can see again, bottles of alcohol have covered every surface. A maid picks one up hesitantly.
“Now, my most faithful servants! THE PARTY BEGINS!”
This, Luna thinks, should be interesting. She fades backwards into the shadows as the ponies around her begin to pick up the bottles.
*** *** ***
“You didn’t stop me? Why?"
Luna grinned, a hint of the trickster returning to her eye. “I confess I wanted to see where the night would go.”
“Well, what happened next?”
Instead of responding, Luna looked at the musicians. “I believe I recall seeing you at the party last night. What do you remember?”
Frederic answered. “Well, your highness, we all got to the castle at the same time. We were going to get in a bit of practice, but our cellist was, er... busy.”
“Yeah, she was practicing her hoofwork.” muttered Harpo.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.” Frederic shot him a look. “She’s in a relationship, and elected to stay with her paramour instead of us.”
“We told them we wouldn’t watch... that much.”
“Harpo!”
Luna sighed. “So, what do you remember?”
“Not much. We parted in the music wing. They presumably went to their room, and we went to the hall. We witnessed the tail end of that speech you just recalled, and then Harpo here convinced us to pick up a bottle. Not much remains after that, but personally, I believe I recall seeing Octavia again that night.”
Celestia interrupted. “They don’t know anything. Keep going, Luna!”
Just then, Lyra stuck her head back outside. “I think they’re coming back. We should move.”
“Right.” Luna stood up and took charge. “Follow me.”
“But-”
“I’ll finish the story later, Sister!”
*** *** ***
“This is preposterous. They could be anywhere. This castle is enormous.”
“Thanks for the support, Bluesy.”
“Shut up. What happened last night, anyhow? I’m sure it was an uncouth orgy of sweat and filth, but, seeing as you two were there, you may tell me the disgusting details.
Octavia looked over. “What do you remember, Vinyl?”
Vinyl winked. “Damn, Tavi, how could I forget?
*** *** ***
“I...Incredible.”
“Yep.”
“That was unbelievable, Vinyl.”
“I know.”
“I mean... I don’t believe I’ve even used those muscles before. I’ve never felt so stretched out.”
Vinyl winked. “Get used to it.”
“I intend to. Shall we do it again, right now?”
“Wow, Tavi. Well, if you insist...”
“Oh, I do.”
“Game on! Go ahead and get it out again!”
Octavia rolled out the Twister board Vinyl had just bought again.
“Would you like to go first?”
*** *** ***
“And then, one thing led to another, and we ended up on the floor, with...” Vinyl trailed off, realizing where she was and who was listening. Octavia had gone a particular shade of vermilion, and Blueblood’s expression was a mixture of disgust and fascination.
Octavia cleared her throat awkwardly. “Er... Yes, well, the important part of the story is that after... some time, Vinyl got hungry, like always, and we found our way to the main hall for dinner, where your Auntie was just wrapping up a speech of sorts.”
“What do you mean, ‘of sorts’?”
Vinyl poked Octavia and grinned. “Oh, I wanna tell this part.”
*** *** ***
The laundry rooms of Canterlot Castle are, oddly enough, mainly on the higher floors, forcing maids to carry the laundry up many flights of stairs.. Most of the rooms hold a few magical washing/drying devices, a few tables, and some old magazines. Occasionally the washing machines, magical as they are, teleport bits of clothing to another room somewhere else in the castle, leaving the owner of the laundry to search for it and wonder. Celestia had lost her best towel that way.
It was into one of these rooms that the crew of musicians and Princesses now tumbled. They hadn’t heard the sound of the guards for a few minutes, but Luna had kept onward, looking for a room where they would not be disturbed.
“What do we do now?” Celestia wanted to know.
Lyra looked at Luna. “We should find them.”
“Right.” The princess of the night nodded firmly. “They can’t have gone far.”
The musicians looked quizzically at Celestia, who shrugged back at them.
“I hope so, Princess, it’d be kinda hard to put the sun and the moon back in place if they’re in Manehattan.”
“Hey, wait,” Celestia said.
“With power like that, and a lack of skill, I fear they could end up in Saddle Arabia. Though with any luck, they will have wished to remain nearby.”
“Luna,” Celestia said, more urgently.
“You’re right, Princess. So where should we start looking? They were just colts, so maybe somewhere like the kitchens...”
“LUNA!” Celestia yelled.
Lyra and Luna jumped in surprise. Luna looked over. “Yes, sister?”
“Who?”
“Well, after your, ahem, speech last night...”
*** *** ***
The party rages. Maids are making out with guards, unicorns are conjuring rings of fire, and pegasi are trying to fly through them. There are a few singed tailfeathers. Luna has taken up a post near the end of the hall, in shadow, watching.
The front door to the main hall opens just a crack, and a green unicorn head pops in. She takes in the revelry, the drinking, and most of all, Celestia herself, in the center of a crowd making a whole table full of shots disappear.
Before she can do anything, Celestia’s voice booms out. “You! By the door!”
Startled, Lyra Heartstrings opens her mouth to stammer out an excuse of some sort, but shuts it when she realizes the Princess is not referring to her. A few feet in front of her, a tan earth pony with an apple cutie mark and a hat swallows loudly.
“M-me, yer high-ness?”
“Yeah, you. Come over here.”
The stallion trots forward, trembling. The crowd has become mostly silent, or as silent as drunken ponies get.
"Uh... What can ah do fer you?"
Celestia leans in close, inspecting him. Everypony holds their breath.
"You're cute."
Braeburn's eyes widened. "What?"
Instead of responding, she kisses him, long and loud. The crowd goes wild; the cheering and catcalls rise to the ceiling. Most ponies go back to their bottles and their various other activities, but Braeburn remains, rooted to the spot, unsure of what to do.
Celestia winks at him, downs one last shot, and begins whispering in his ear. The settler pony begins to turn as red as the apple he’s named for.
Lyra raises her camera, but hears a voice behind her. She turns to see the Princess of the Night standing two feet away...
*** *** ***
“I asked Miss Heartstrings if she would kindly share the picture she was about to take with me,” Luna finished.
“And I said I would.” added Lyra.
Celestia stared daggers at her sister, who smirked in return. “I thought that such a picture could... come in handy.”
“Yeah, you’ll need something to entertain you on the mo-”
Frederic broke in. “That still doesn’t explain who we’re looking for.”
“Oh. Right.” Lyra shook her head. “A few minutes after I met the Princess, two new ponies showed up...”
*** *** ***
“So, uh... we’re just gonna hide here?”
“Right! I don’t know why all those crazy ponies are looking for us, or what even happened last night, but we better stay here for now.”
“I can tell you what happened last night.”
Snips and Snails nearly jumped out of their new wings at the voice behind them. Spinning around, they saw what appeared to be a pony in a large white cloak. The voice emanating from within was raspy and bubbly, and Snips had the faintest feeling he’d heard it before somewhere.
“Who-who are you?”
“You don’t remember me? We met only last night.”
“Uh... we don’t remember last night. But we got wings!”
The voice sounded as if the speaker was smiling. “I know. I gave them to you.”
*** *** ***
“There, you look a little more alert. How do you feel?”
“Ah think ah’m a little better, thankya. I don’t know what got into me...”
“I think I know, and you don’t want the Canterlot PD to find out.” Bonbon sighed as she cleaned up the remains of the french toast.
Braeburn sat before her, a mostly empty cup of coffee (his fifth) in front of him. His coat was still wet from the numerous buckets of water the mare had dumped on him, and he was shivering slightly. His head was clearer, and he was finally down.
“So what happened to you last night?” Bonbon asked from the sink.
Braeburn scratched his head. “Ah’m not really sure. I remember getting thrown out of the durn castle, and seeing some colts, and then ah think ah heard some big ruckus, so ah said to myself: ‘Brae, that’s gotta be the Gala, and you’re sitting out here like a rotten apple missing it. Ya gotta get back in there.’ So ah snuck back in, and somepony tossed me a bottle of AJ Daniels, and then...” His face scrunched up in thought. “Ah don’t remember.”
Bonbon sighed. “You’re not the only one. So where did you wake up this morning?”
“Umm... Ah think it was the Princess’s room. Yup.”
“What?”
*** *** ***
***Author's note
Hey guys, I'm typing this on my kindle at work, so it's gonna be short. This chapter was a little slower than others; we had to finally get some info on what happened that night. Hope you enjoyed it anyway. Don't forget to comment and everything! See you next time.
Aryn