“So, um, this is Golden Gates.” Sonya gestured at the pegasus.
“Hya everpony! Er, everyone. Heh.”
The rest of the staff members stared in disbelief, baffled by the highly unusual occurrence.
“It’s like none of you have seen a pony before,” Golden huffed. “Aren’t you bronies?”
Gawks accented the silence as Sonya rubbed the back of her neck nervously, followed by a few nods of the people that’d actually understood that Golden was speaking English.
“Geez, Sonya. You didn’t tell me you had such an impressionable lot.” Golden shook her head. “Do you guys not believe your eyes?”
The staff members in the front of the pack backed away as the clearly corporeal pegasus approached them, given one person who sported a naval warfare bottom and a green shirt marked with the letters “USMC” upon the chest. His eyebrow arched as she approached, but he stood his ground. Curiosity had the better of him.
“Go ahead. Touch me.” Golden urged the staff member by presenting her mane to him. “I can assure you that this is indeed true.”
A cautious hand started its descent from his side, the watchful eyes of a good twenty-plus staff members making the situation more pretentious than it needed to be.
“Can you guys seriously- I can’t even.” His hand patted on Golden’s mane as he turned to look at the bewildered members of his crew. “This is a pony. She’s super-soft. Get a grip.” She squeed in sync with his report, and the staff finally looked to have let their guard down. In a wave of bodies, the pegasus and the staff member were consumed.
“Take it easy guys!” Sonya called out as she tried to break her way into the center of the mob. “We don’t want to squish her, do we?”
“This ain’t nothing!” Golden giggled. Sonya could clearly tell she liked being the center of attention. “But there’s something I need to show you guys.”
The congregation dispersed as she unfurled her wings, beating back enough room for her to exit the room without a hitch. Sonya made a snide comment about the banner and her winged capabilities, but she followed after her, leading the pack of members as they went off toward one of the corners of the hotel.
“Since none of you have wings, we’ll need to take the elevators.” Golden maneuvered through the multiple corridors that all led to the ring of elevators on the airport-side of the hotel.
“Where are you taking us?” Sonya demanded calmly. The last thing she wanted to do was be on the bad side of her loyal staff members.
“The main hall,” Golden chimed. “But we’ll need everyone there if it’s going to be a real surprise.”
Sonya looked around her. Low whispers and gasps filled the ranks of staff members as they entered the small rotunda of six elevators. Suspicious as it was, maybe she should trust just a little more. One button lit up out of the six around the room. The result was comical.
Watching about thirty different bodies trying to cram into a clown car would’ve been even more hilarious, but an elevator car would have to do. Sonya’s only option was to start pulling people out and giving Golden the room she need to comfortably stand inside. “Geez, people…”
“I think it’s cute,” Golden giggled as she was finally able to turn around inside the car. Seven others were able to keep themselves inside with one spot for Sonya to ride down with the pegasus. Reluctantly, the staff members left outside didn’t fall to natural instinct and fight their way into the box and instead found their own elevators to head down to the atrium.
“S-So what is this about?” Another staff member piped up from beside Golden. The mare shook her head.
“Don’t you guys know what a surprise is?”
Sonya clenched the bridge of her nose and patiently waited for the elevator to reach the lobby floor. Or rather, patience really wasn’t on her side. “So who are we needing to gather up again?”
“Everybody. All the VIPs, the rest of the staff, and whoever else is playing an important role in all of this.” Golden nudged her way to Sonya’s side, and by chance, the door opened to the lobby floor. The elevator vacated and the few members found themselves back in the midst of convention preparations and gleams of hopeful wishes for the success of it all.
Golden cantered off toward the front of the hotel, a slight left from where the elevators began their runs. Sonya and the seven others followed close behind, surprised that she would freely display her presence to both the volunteers and public alike. The other section of staff that’d gone upstairs were catching back up to the leading group.
“Are you sure about waltzing around the hotel like this?” Sonya whispered harshly to the pegasus who could’ve given three bucks about the situation. She seemed to be enjoying herself, as if flaunting the fact that she was a real, live pony was the most innocent thing in the world.
“Oh, calm down,” Golden huffed as they passed by help desk and turned right to head into the depths of the lobby’s many halls. She was playing her pony card well, garnering the attention of bronies as they made their way to Hall of the Royal Pony Sisters. Sonya was surprised that the mare even knew where the main hall was.
The commotion of staffers and the musical quintet situated in the atrium above left Golden unphased as the group behind her followed the mare to the main hall of the convention center. By now, most of the VIPs and special guests had joined the march of pony fans, wondering what in the world had caused such a stir-up in the pre-Con preparations. Said crowd began to flood into the main hall, where Golden had dashed up to the podium and cleared her throat. The A/V’s job of handling the sound system was impeccable, right down to the point that they could hear the rustle in the pegasus’ feathers.
The eyes of the congregation looked upon Golden intently; some in attention. others in awe as they realized there was a live pony among them. A few coughs were heard here and there, but the room was surprisingly quiet enough that she could begin unraveling what she’d promised to show them back in the conference room.
“Good morning class. I’m sorry that this wasn’t on the convention schedule,” she started off, smiling like her normal self. The room held its quiet nature in response, given for the few people who’d met Golden firsthand.
“Good morning,” piped up the few about the hall.
Golden nodded in response. “Getting down to business, I would like to make an announcement. None of this is real.”
Everyone in the audience looked confused. A wave of whispering went through the assembled crowd. Golden continued. “I mean, it’s obvious that you’re dreaming. Look at me! I’m a pony in real life! Check your watches; they all say ‘toast thirty’ even the non-digital ones.”
This time, the whispers were louder. Golden noticed a few people in the back of the room not looking shocked at the revelation, however. In fact, they appeared quite displeased. They were also coming closer. And, Golden noticed, some of them were looking particularly menacing.
Their eyes flashed blue, the same color as changelings. That make perfect sense, really. They were elephants.
Just kidding. They were actually changelings, and they were coming right for her.