//------------------------------//
// Chapter 38 - Preparation 
// Story: My Family and Other Equestrians 
// by Blade Star 
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Right, SITREP. My father has evidently spent too much time in proximity to Celestia, for he has picked up her talent for trolling. I’d had to very rapidly bug out of the club shortly after he’d turned up. It was lucky that Strong Shield had kept an eye on the time, I certainly hadn’t. If it weren’t for him, I would have been there when the ‘entertainment’ arrived. With my dad standing next to me. I was just about able to get him out of the club in time, though he was almost certainly on to me. His grinning and light jibs made that abundantly clear.

So, with that done, I of course had to take him out to lunch, though part of me demanded I literally take him out for his extremely untimely interruption. We went to one of the speciality restaurants in the tourist section of the city. The establishment was not perfect, but it catered to visiting griffons, and as such it served meat. I was surprised my dad hadn’t found this place on his own already. 

Anyway, I treated him to a steak dinner to buy him off a bit. It certainly brought my conflicting physiology to a head. The part of me that was human craved the well-cooked eight ounce steak that he was eating. My pony half on the other hand, had to work hard not to breathe in the smell for fear that it would cause me to lose my lunch. The smell was both alluring and revolting at the same time. Why can’t I just make up my mind? It must be possible for me to eat meat in some way; I’ve heard that horses can be taught to eat meats in harsher environments. Hay, King Sombra, if his teeth were any indication, was no herbivore, nor was Nightmare Moon according to legend. Again, I reminded myself to talk to Rainbow Dash about eating fish when I got back to Ponyville. 

After lunch, Dad said he would head down to the train station and go back. Apparently court was to be suspended for the entirety of the day, and might possibly have a knock on effect on Night Court too. And all for a pie. Still, the last time they let something sweet and innocent looking into the castle it had almost ended very badly.

I decided not to head back to the Officers Club, if just to avoid the impending ribbing that I would get from the guys there. It certainly was a nice place though. In spite of its size it had a very honkytonk feel to it. The bar was decent with a good range; the food wasn’t half bad either. Strong Shield joked that it was certainly better than the rations he made the new recruits eat during training. I’d made a few friends there too.  Sergeant Swift Wing, who I’d managed to almost take to the cleaners, was a Thestral in the Lunar Guard, actually a part of the Equestrian version of a POTUS team.  Corporal Buttercup on the other hand, in spite of his name, was a massive, and frankly, badass looking Solar guard who acted as a bailiff in Day Court, though only when criminal cases were heard. The rest of the time, he was on the gates to the palace. Finally, there was Major Hartwin, a Griffon in the officer exchange program. He was actually a member of the Iron Hawks, the Griffons’ airborne paramilitary group, but he had been briefly seconded to the Royal Guard as a way of maintaining relations, a counterpart from Equestria had been sent to the Griffon Kingdom. 

After Strong Shield let me into the club, I was quickly introduced and made to feel at home. So, when they asked me to join in a game of Dodge Junction Hold ’em, how could I refuse? I wasn’t too bad, I’d picked up a few tricks at university and the ponies large eyes made it easier to read them, though that was a double edged sword, and I had to be more guarded than usual. And of course, I remembered the key rule in any card game; if you can’t spot the sucker at the table, it’s you.  

By now it was getting on for three o’clock, the reception would be in a couple of hours, so I began to head back to the hotel room. I’d certainly sort of miss being here when me and Rarity headed back to Ponyville, though I did miss all my friends and family there. I found myself missing the Apple family keenly and Sweet Apple Acres itself. Of course I missed my family too, particularly Lizzie. Regardless of what had happened, I was still her big brother. Even if she was now a good foot taller than me standing up. 

I crossed the road to the hotel, Canterlot did not have that much traffic typically. The small winding streets made it difficult to manoeuvre large carriages, particularly when trying to turn around. According to Strong Shield though, this had also been an advantage in military terms, as a number of guards had successfully managed to barricade several areas of the city, including the concert hall, where an emergency CP had been set up. It was there that he had entered into contact with the enemy. Mind you, he still had not told me how he came by his injury.

I entered the by now familiar hotel lobby, and rode the lift up to the correct floor. Fishing out my room key, I headed in to find Rarity setting shopping bags down on her bed. Evidently she had just arrived back as well.

“Hey, Rarity,” I said. Instantly, Rarity squeaked in surprise and moved to conceal one of the shopping bags with her under the bed.

“Darling, don’t do that!” she exclaimed jokingly as she got her breath back. “I nearly leapt out of my skin.” I smiled awkwardly.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to. What was that anyway?” I replied, gesturing to the bag now stashed under the bed.

“Never you mind, Blade Star,” she answered, prodding my chest with a hoof. Methinks the lady doth protest too much. Perhaps she’d got something for me or somepony else while she was out. “Anyway, we’d better start thinking about getting ready for the ball.” Again I smiled, though this time with a more relaxed air.

“Alright Rarity. Ah’ll just take a quick shower then ah’ll get dressed. Alright?” I moved to grab my waistcoat, but Rarity snatched it up with her own magic.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, darling. This is far too plain to attend a formal ball in. But never fear, I was able to temporarily acquire a far more fitting piece for you." She then levitated what looked like a dry cleaning bag over to me. Opening it, I found a full on tuxedo, minus the bottom half of course. And the shoes. And the socks. In fact, it was really just a shirt and jacket with a bow tie. But hay, pony fashions. I quickly placed the new attire on one of the clothes hooks in the room, and then headed into the bathroom to wash. 






I had never really cared much for showers back on Earth. When I was about five years old, I had fallen into a hot bath and been badly scalded, leaving me with several scars. While this had not caused me to develop aquaphobia, it had left me with a strong distrust of showers. Why showers I have no idea, the event had nothing to do with showers, and logically I ought to be more inclined to fear baths instead. But that was how things were. Perhaps it was the subconscious concern I had over controlling the pressure. We’ve all done it, set the temperature too cold or too hot and frantically flailed about to turn off the system, or possibly even hoped out of the shower completely. In my case though, the fear of such an occurrence had left me unwilling to use showers unless absolutely necessary. Unfortunately though, in this case, it was necessary, as there was no bath in the hotel room, an odd state of affairs given the otherwise opulent design of the Equestrian Imperial. 

This got me thinking, if this body, that is to say, my current form, was simply a version of my OC, then I ought not to have any scars. They had never truly bothered me, but it would be nice to know if they were there or not. I began to root around through my coat, attempting to translate the positions from my human form to my equine one. Sure enough, I found a small patch of unusually smooth skin on my right foreleg, next to it was a familiar criss cross pattern from one of the bandages, which had partially moulded some of the skin. And of my right side, just before my hind leg, there was another, much larger scar, just as there always had been. Strangely though, this gave me some happiness. It meant that I had retained some of my former self. The changes in physiology, had led to me feel that I might have been losing my humanity, and consequently myself, following my transformation. That helped lay those to rest.

I realised that I had been pondering for a good ten minutes, when I was supposed to be showering and preparing myself for the ball. Using a hoof, I opened the shower door and stepped in. I felt the slight twinge of fear, but it was by no means debilitating, and I liked to think I was no coward. I was certainly not going to be intimidated by a load of equine installed plumbing. 

Stepping inside I was confronted with the ultimate intelligence test. They say you are only smart until you try to turn on someone else’s shower. And I can assure you this is the case. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out how everything worked before I managed to get the system working. 

Even with my slight fear, I won’t deny that showers are enjoyable, but I was more focused on the utility of the device. I never was one of those people to enjoy sensory experience after all. I quickly worked to clean off my coat again, since my painful time at the spa, my coat had begun to lose a little of its shine. Luckily of course, that could be quickly fixed with a bit of shampoo and conditioner. Sweet Celestia, I’m starting to get too used to unnecessary grooming products aren’t I? 

With the showering done, I stepped out, soaking wet, and quickly levitated a towel to dry myself off. With that sorted, I quickly grabbed a comb and set my mane right. While a mane is not too dissimilar to normal hair, caring for a tail is a bit trickier. It is certainly more painful to comb as each snag I hit brought a small shot of pain up my tail. Nevertheless, by the time, I was done I looked the part. All that remained now was the tux. So I stepped out, leaving the bathroom to Rarity and prepared to get dressed.  






I took my time, both due to the fact that Rarity would undoubtedly be ‘getting ready’ for at least another hour, and of course the tux wasn’t mine. I’m fairly sure Rarity would want her deposit back. Judging by the quality of the material and the fairly ornate design, this tux was worth a pretty penny. 

I slipped on the white collared shirt first of all. It wasn’t as bad as I had expected. In the past, I usually only ever wore a suit to attend either a funeral or the odd wedding. That meant that the suits would be new, with stiff collars and generally uncomfortable all over. However, this one wasn’t too bad to wear so far. The collar didn’t constrict me too badly and the sleeves were just the right length. Evidently Rarity had gone to great lengths to ensure I had attire of the highest calibre. Next there was the jacket, a dark black affair lined with a deep red silk on the inside. After applying cuff links to the shirt (which can only be done with unicorn magic if you ask me), I slipped into the jacket. Again, it fitted like a glove.

All that remained now was the bow tie, after all to quote a certain clock repair pony back in Ponyville ‘bow ties are cool’. This one was the genuine article. I was used to tying a typical tie, but any bow ties I had worn, the last one being a university department Christmas party several years ago, had been clip on. Thus, I hadn’t the faintest idea how to tie it, and the four step diagram that I found in the dry cleaning bag didn’t help either. And of course, I had to do the whole thing with magic. 

Still, aside from that, I was ready to go, so I continued in my vain attempts to tie the bow tie off in a way that looked vaguely presentable. Luckily though, help was at hand, or hoof, as Rarity emerged dressed in her wonderful outfit as she had been the night before. She looked at me, still struggling with the tie and rolled her eyes.

“Honestly, darling, how old are you now?” she asked jokingly. 

“Hey, Ah’m used to clip on ties, Rarity. Besides, these instructions aren’t worth a damn,” I replied passing the useless instructions to her. She tittered at my misfortune.

“Alright, let’s get you sorted then.” My own dark blue aura was replaced by her much lighter one as she took the tie from me. The now seemingly sentient fabric wrapped itself around my collar, tugged itself taught twice and then proceeded to tie itself before my eyes. When her aura faded, Rarity turned me toward the nearby mirror. I beheld a rather handsome looking fellow in a dashing suit with a gorgeous mare standing next to him. 

“Well, Ah guess Ah don’t look too bad do Ah?” I said as I examined myself in the mirror.

“Indeed, Blade Star,” Rarity replied. “You are quite the handsome stallion after a good wash and manecut.” I couldn’t help but blush at that remark. I still hadn’t removed the connotations the word ‘stallion’ had in the vocabulary of human females. I quickly fought down my rising blush, which was undoubtedly noticed by Rarity, and slipped into the part I would be required to play this evening.

“Now, Miss Rarity. Shall we go?” I offered the crook of my foreleg to her and we departed.





We again rode down in the lift to the hotel lobby. Whilst I had been showering, Rarity had asked the front desk to arrange for a cab to take us up to the castle. The mare sitting at the desk informed us that the cabbie was already waiting outside for us. Heading out we found a dogcart pulled up and waiting. A ‘reserved’ sign hung from its side. After ensuring that we were the correct customers, the stallion reconnected himself to the front. I on the other hoof, being the gentlecolt I am, helped Rarity climb into the carriage before getting in myself. The driver then set off at a steady trot. We would arrive bang on time at the castle and would be led by the guards to the castle’s ornate ballroom. This was a rare opportunity, the only other time the room was in use, was either during special events in the castle, or during the Grand Galloping Gala. Needless to say, Rarity could not wait. And in all honesty, I was looking forward to it as well.