//------------------------------// // The Gala // Story: A Second Too Late // by Thunder Seethe //------------------------------// A/N: Been thinking... I may be posting a preview of my newest story on my Facebook page. It'll be an incomplete paragraph, and most likely containing things I will change. Anyway, I figured that maybe I could post a chapter so hopefully you enjoy! The Gala Thunder Seethe Special Thanks: AppleMLP Follow me at: My Page Chapter 17 ================================================================================ ~The Gala~ ================================================================================ I wonder how I'm going to bring this up with Twi... I guess I'll just drop this off at Dashie's house, and hide it under all of my junk. That seems to be only idea that'll work. I walked out of the endless, relentless corridor, and relieved myself from the insanity that happened. Nopony will know what disgusting thing I just did. I left my memories behind, and set forth to make new ones. I left the citadel, and did my best to get out of the cavern. It was almost like a miniature labyrinth, it carried the same traits of one, as it comes to puzzles and dead ends. Only it doesn't toy with your mind and send you off into different directions with mirages. I managed to find all of the tracks I had left when I first entered the cave almost expertly. Saying almost because I had gotten lost a few times... nonetheless, I almost expertly followed my tracks, and found my way to the cave entrance. "Night already?" I pondered for a moment. I knew that there was something going on today, and it did involve my friends... I shook the thoughts away from my head, and proceeded to Ponyville to meet up with my friends, and stash away the weaponry. ================================================================================ "Spike, where are you?! It's only two hours before the Gala, did you get your suit that Rarity made you on yet?" Spike has been like a brother to me ever since we met; when I hatched him. He is very obedient compared to most stereotypical dragons that I've met. I'm just afraid that one day, he'll want to become like them, or due to natural selection, he'll end up like one of them anyway. Greedy, arrogant, lonely, and star struck of his non-genuine loyalty. I'm just glad that if it were to happen, it'll most likely be decades from now. Besides, he dislikes their selfishness and arrogance. I'm glad for that, and to have him as my brother. Spike came down with his suit on looking smooth, he probably wants to look best for Rarity. I just don't understand how Rarity is still clueless about it. "You're looking good Spike! Are you ready?" "Yea Twi, so... who's this Thunder, or Storm you're always talking about?" "Well aren't you being the curious one today? Well, you see... I can't tell you most of it, but let’s just say I like him a lot." Spikes eyes shot wide. Probably because he thought he'd never see the day when I actually like a stallion. I'll be honest, I didn't quite think so either. I just don't want to pursue it. I want to finish studying, but it won't change my feelings. It also won't stop me from being friends with him either. I shouldn't let it bother me too much. Besides, I'm sure he already likes Rainbow, and if not, already in a relationship. I have noticed that they were being quite clingy... "I never..." "Thought you'll see the day?" "Yeah. Before we let this get any more awkward that it should be, let’s go find our friends. It's only two hours before the Gala, and we still gotta find your... friend." He chuckled when he said friend, almost half heartedly. I laughed with him so the awkwardness would soon diminish. We left the library, and met with our friends where I first met Pinkie on the day I moved to Ponyville. "Hey Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy... where's Rainbow?" They all shook their heads simultaneously after giving each other a quick glance. "I... I think she's still at her house... I don't think... she wants to be bothered..." As you could guess, that was Fluttershy... one day I'm going to have to find someone to teach her to be... you know, not afraid to speak up, and just not being too afraid in general. "Thanks Fluttershy... where's Storm?" "Ah think he's still running around in that forest... Big Mac and ah went looking for him, but we couldn’t find him..." Applejack put her head down, disgusted at her own failure. "Well, what are we going to do? There's barely two hours left till the Gala, and we haven't even gotten everypony rounded up yet." No response, and I hate being late. I guess we're going to all have to search for them. "Alright girls, since we don't exactly have a clue where to start, Fluttershy, go to Rainbow's house and check if she's fine. Applejack and I will search the forest, Rarity and Spike," I purposely set them up together. I think that'll be nice for Spike seeing as the only time he gets to see her is when he volunteers at the boutique. "Go search around Ponyville, and ask around. Pinkie, you're pretty fast. Maybe you can use your Pinkie senses to help out with the search. You should come along with Applejack and I." They all nodded, and moved into their groups. "We can't be late to see our new friend get announced, so let’s do this!" "Yeah!" We all said in unison. "Meet back here in an hour." An hour should leave enough time to make it to the Gala, probably late, but the safety of our friend is still more important. We should still make it in time for Sean's appearance. We set off to find our missing friend, and the reasoning for Rainbow's sudden issue. ================================================================================ I am almost at Rainbow's house... If she's still there, maybe... now would be the best time to explain. I slowly turned the knob on the door, and creaked it open. Now that I'm inside, I just gotta place this in the cello case. I'll just put my instrument on a stand, or have it leaning against the wall, then it'll look pretty natural. I heard sobbing on the floor above me. It was coming from her room. There was inaudible talking... is this... Multiple illusions of Dashie getting tortured flicked into my mind, and disappeared. I dropped the shield instead of placing it making a loud clanking noise, so I could let whoever else was up there know that I'm here. I had my sword in hoof, and barged into the room Dash was in. Inside was just Dash though. She looked up astonished by my sudden break in. "Dashie, I can explain the sword, but tell me what's wrong? Is it about..." "Yes!" She glared at me with those big violet eyes. While shouting more words at me that I couldn't comprehend. I was shocked as well, she was angry at me. She doesn't know though... she shouldn't know. "I apologize. I'm sorry. It's all my fault and I doubt you forgive me." "That's the thing. No matter how mad I am at you, I still believe it's mostly my fault. I want to be mad, but I can't!" "Why do you want to be mad Dashie?" "Because!" "Look..." I trotted up to her, and placed the sword on the floor. I put up my hoofs on the bed where she lay, and whispered into her ear, "I know what I did was wrong. I'm sorry for this, but maybe someday... I... I don't know how to put this, but I can't tell you what happened. Which is why I'm leaving it as this is my fault. Don't worry about it, you can be mad at me. I can respect that, because what I have done was way worse. I shouldn't have attacked you, and if I could have stopped myself, I should have tried harder." Her sobbing turned to deep inhaling and exhaling. She must be getting calmer, or angrier at me. I'm fine with both. "It... I..." She was looking down staring off into the bed mattress searching for the right words with her mouth half open. "I don't..." "Don't worry about it. Are you hurt anywhere? I'd hate myself if I did. Please tell me you're fine." "No... I just want to know where you went off to." "I went-" Hoof steps were becoming audible as it got slightly louder. It seemed like it was hesitant to move further. What soon came into the room, or more like just poked her head in, was Fluttershy. "Oh... I wasn't... interrupting anything right?" "N-no Fluttershy, but uh... what brings you here?" I could still tell that Dashie was in no condition for a conversation with her other friends. So I took over. "We-well... if you don't mind... the Gala starts in about two hours... so... we don't want to be late for our friend Sean... so..." She beckoned her head to motion that we should probably get moving soon. "Alright, thanks Fluttershy, but we need some time... I have a lot of explaining to do." When I mentioned that, Fluttershy left, and Dashie put her head up and smiled with new tears still forming in her eyes. "Listen... Don't tell anypony this. Only you will know this much information. It may not seem important, but to me..." I explained everything, and more. I told her about Ron, and the dreams Sean and I shared. I told her more... I told her about the life I once had before coming here. I told her everything, and more. I told her about my lifeless life back on Earth... and more. I told her about the murders of my family, and my fortunate chance to meet them once more... and more. I told her about the hate that's been forming in me for the past years. I told her about the college. I told her about the loneliness, the sorrow, the pain, the agony. I told her about the failure, the horrible choices I made, and the luck I had that seemed to keep me going for all those years. I told her about my love life as well. How it was a fail. "I do hope you promise not to tell anypony." "I... I do... why are you telling me this?" "Here we go..." I elaborated on my love life, to explain one thing. She is my first love, and only. What I held back was, if this love failed, I would just give up. She seemed like she understood what I was telling her. "Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?" "I... I think." "Just to make sure, what I'm telling you is that you're my first love, my only love, and the reason for my well being. If this were to fail, I would simply ponder on. I would be at a eternal stalemate contemplating what I did wrong. I wouldn't seek for improvement either. I also wouldn't mind if you hate me right now, because well... I did attack you. I just don't know why." Her eyes shot open, and I failed to hold back the fact that if I were to fail this relationship then I'll give it up. I was starting to sob after sharing my miserable life. I hid myself by squinting my eyes as tight as possible and looking away. I could hear her shifting in the bed covers, and she soon put her hoof on my back. I opened my eyes, and turned to see her giving me a soothing reassuring smile. I smiled back, and I gave her a nuzzle. "It's been almost forty-five minutes, we should get ready." "Well, I don't exactly have anything to wear except the dress Rarity made me last year..." "Well, you'll be pleased to know that Rarity actually made both of us dress ware for this year’s Gala." I made myself seem like I knew it was today. I feel like an idiot, well that's how most days are. "She made us another dress? Why?" "She had a suspicion that we were going out. So she decided to put some inspiration to work, and made these." I motioned her to follow me. I led her to the bag that held the dress and tux. I pulled them out, and she looked really happy. So I am too. I helped her into her dress, and she helped me into the tux. So... this is what it's like to really love. I never want to let this feeling go. Ever. "Ready Dashie?" She smiled, and looked up at me showing the determined eyes that I fell in love with. "Let’s, do this!" We both grinned at each other, and we soon met our friends in the middle of town. ================================================================================ "Hey girls, sorry we took long." "Don't worry about it Storm, I'm sure whatever you had to talk about was important. Don't worry, we should still have enough time to make it there in time to see Sean's appearance!" Twilight responded with a reassuring smile. "I can't wait! So uh, how are we going to get there?" "Oh, we were planning on using the chariot like last years, but this year, I wanted to try a teleportation spell. You girls don't mind right? If you do, we can always use the chariot." We all encouraged Twilight to use her magic to teleport us. It worked well I guess. There was a bright white flash, and we soon reappeared in the front of the Canterlot Castle. It was a truly marvelous structure. The architecture, engraving designs on the walls, paintings, stained glass, were all really magnificent. "Wow." That was all I was able to say. The crowd was large, and usually in groups clustered together. You could tell apart who is in what group, but if you were to try and get through, you would fail and get stuck within the chaotic combinations of conversations. I examined my surroundings a bit more, and realized that Twilight, Rarity, Dashie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie were no longer with me. Maybe they ran off into the castle already. This is, after all, supposed to be some type of important event. I said to myself doing my best to assume I'm not alone. I went to the castle and saw many so called famous ponies. I recognized the Wonderbolts, and there was Dashie. She seemed like she was having a good enough time. I'm going to avoid her for now unless she comes up to me. I just feel... a bit awkward after I shared practically my entire life in an hour. She's the first to know, and hopefully the only one. I was staring at her for some time, and she took a glance at me then looked away. One of her eyes strayed back though, and she had a slight frown on her face then... was she wondering why I wasn't accompanying her? Now she turned her full head towards me. I could see... I believe her name is Spitfire. Dashie's favorite flier in the group. She was trying to get her attention, but Dashie refrained, and kept her focus on me. Does she care about me that much? I... I guess I should go over there. I don't want her hating me. Almost as if it was cued, the announcement of my new friend started. There stood, the two Princesses; Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. "I would like to thank all of my ponies for coming out tonight at our Gala. We have a special guest, and we wish for you to treat him with respect. Do not fear him, he's harmless, but he's afraid that he'll be discriminated by our species. Accept him as he accepts you." Sean walked out from behind the curtain, a few gasps, and one scream were heard. The rest were just astonished. They gawked at the sight of the creature, I've never felt more sorry for Sean... he must hate this. Then again, if he wants to be accepted into society, and not be changed like me, this must be done. It was now Luna's turn to speak. "I know what you're all thinking... but why would we bring anything here, or make a special announcement for something that could harm us? Notice how there's no Royal guards around this stage. He speaks our language. He doesn't mean any harm. He just wants to be accepted." The ponies exchanged looks with each other, and began murmuring... they need to trust him. Well, now is the best time to be a good friend than ever... I started flying towards the stage, then landed next to Sean giving him what would have been a "fist bump". So... hoof bump? The murmuring continued, and more screaming. Princess, um, if you don't mind me asking, I thought this would have been easier... so what's going on? They are probably afraid... I'm glad you came up here to support your friend. Where are the others? I only saw Dashie... Just then, Dashie started taking flight towards the stage then landed on the other side of Sean giving him a playful punch to the leg. "Ow!" Sean started rubbing his leg. Of all things Sean could have said... the other Ponies watching were panicking thinking that he would hurt Dashie. Are they really that paranoid? Sean just stroked Dashie's mane. Now I could see Twilight trying to push her way through the crowd. "Excuse me! Ugh! Don't YOU DARE get near me with THAT! Get it away! That will stain!... No no no NO NO NO! You ALL STAY AWAY!" I guess Rarity was falling shortly behind. Of course, out of nowhere, Pinkie came from behind and scared both me and Sean. "Well uh, I suppose that this could have gone way better." "Oh really Sean? Maybe you should just try to show that you're friends with us." I guess I should do it for him. I turned to the crowd, and spoke up for him. "By a show of hoofs, and with your honesty, how many of you accept him?" About ten hoofs went up. "How many of you think he's harmful to us?" Half the crowd raised their hoofs. Sean was beginning to shake. "How many of you think it's not possible for him to live with us in our society." All the hoofs went up. "Alright. I'm going to share you a story, of my life. I won't tell you all of it, but I'll tell you some, that will apply here. I'm different. I was hated by everypony, discriminated in class discussions, even by the teachers. My family was murdered, I was homeless for most of my life. I was living by sheer willpower, and eventually it was thrown to the dust because it burnt down. Literally. My only chance for future, which was a college, has been burnt. This creature, saved me and sixteen. SIXTEEN others! He didn't care about his life, he put others first. Do you think. Honestly. Do you think that anypony else would save me, a worthless piece that will unlock no doors to the future? No. You may only think you will now because I've shared my story. Right now, you're showing sympathy. I can see it, it was everywhere when I was homeless as a child. Sean became my one and only friend. He didn't use me, and I rejected all of his offers to take me in." I was starting to tear up a bit. I never shared my past with anyone... or anypony. I squinted my eyes shut then opened them with determination to finish. "He is the single, nicest, person I've ever met. In species, one would be called person. Plural are people. The point I'm trying to get across is. If you can't accept him into society because of his looks, then I should be put into an asylum. Are you all that shallow? Look. I'm sorry for exploding on you like this, but I can't stand to see a good friend of mine to be rejected... so easily by society. He did nothing wrong, in fact, you only just met him. That is all I have to say. That is all I will share." I hope that worked... I just shared parts of my worst life... You did good Storm. I think they're taking a better liking to him now. I looked up to see ponies smiling. Is Storm actually turning into my name now? Word spreads fast I guess. Indeed it does. I started to cry a bit more remembering my loss, my gains, and my rejections... my life. I felt seven hoofs land on my back as well as a hand. I looked up, still tears forming in my eyes, and saw Princess's Luna and Celestia, Twilight, Fluttershy who was also crying, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity who was also tearing up. No more than a second later, I felt a kiss on my left cheek. I turned and saw Dashie. ================================================================================ Alright. We're almost there. Can you see the castle? "Yes, it looks quite magnificent." That's what I thought as well. Soon it'll be brought to the ground, and you'll obey me. "Yes Master." We're a bit late, when we arrive, we will be looked at as royalty. Don't act too sophisticated. Your friend Sean awaits. "Yes Master." A/N Small update, hopefully it's good. I accidentally fell asleep in the middle of writing, oh the disgrace... anyway, it took a lot of work to attempt the sad scene. Hopefully, I did well! Worth a try right? If you want to listen to the song that helped me write this chapter, (I won't link it... linking is annoying.) look up on YouTube, Google, or iTunes: Comptine D'un Autre Ete. It's a beautiful French piece. It's piano, so if you're into rock, pop, dubstep, or techno, then this may not be the song for you. Sorry.