//------------------------------//
// Misleads - Fuzzyfurvert - Dec. 14, 2014 
// Story: The Sun and Stars: Lightning Round 
// by JKinsley 
//------------------------------//



By Fuzzy Furvert



“Ok, you remember the plan, right?”

“Yes.”  The shorter pony nudged nudged her crown so that it sat straighter on her head.  “We walk in on the second fanfare, proceed to the bottom of the stairs, turn and bow to the emissary from Cambul.  Then we turn to the crowd, smile and wave.”

“Don’t forget the kiss.”

“Ugh...must we?  You know how I feel about public displays.”

The taller pony chuckled quietly as the first of the trumpet fanfares started.  “The kiss is part of the dance, part of the play and the audience expects it of two happily married mares.  We have to follow the script.  Now get ready, we have just a few seconds before the curtains go up.”

The trumpets blasted again, louder this time, and the curtains pulled away to reveal a titanic crowd of ponies and camels that started to stomp and shout as the Princess of the Sun and the Princess of Friendship were announced over the loudspeaker system.  They smiled brightly as they did indeed proceed stately down the stairs, their formal vestments flowing elegantly behind them.  The crowd’s roar became deafening as they reached level with the Cambul emissary and bowed.  It somehow became even louder when they turned and waved to the crowd.

“Time for that kiss, love.”  Celestia whispered in the purple colored ear of her companion.  “And make it passionate, too!”

They turned to face each other and reared up to place their hooves together before leaning their heads together.  

“Stop teasing me!  This is important!”

“Yeah, your first lesbian kiss in public.”

The Princess of Friendship huffed and puckered her lips as the other mare leaned in closer with that playful twinkle in her eye that said she was about get a mouthful of tongue.  Time seem to slow to a crawl as she reminded herself that she loved this pony more than anything, teasing aside.  Her lips made contact and not for the first time, it was like fireworks going off.

Only this time, fireworks were going off.  Out of the corner of her eye, a camel came out of the crowd, his traditional robes billowing out as he charged up the stairs.  He had a vest on underneath and he had a wild look in his eyes to match the lit stick of dynamite clenched in his teeth.

She shoved Celestia away and whirled on the attacker, her horn flaring with a bright purple aura.  The camel made it two more steps when a shield of solid arcane power slammed into place around him.  “I’ve got him!”    

“Now, Twilight!”

The Princess of Friendship lifted the shield up off the ground in case the explosive force of the dynamite was enough to shatter the shield and endanger the crowd when one of the camel guards standing by the emissary morphed into Twilight Sparkle.  The alicorn vanished a split second later and appeared inside the shield with the crazed camel and then both of them vanished, leaving the robes, vest and dynamite behind just before it detonated.

The crowd’s cheering turned to confused shouting and a near stampede broke out, but the Royal Guards quickly had them back under control and moved safely away from where the royals and diplomats were composing themselves.  Twilight Sparkle reappeared in a flash of light with a now unconscious camel as an elderly male camel stepped forward from their congregation.

“Princess Sparkle.  You are as skilled as the legends say.”  He smiled crookedly and bowed respectfully.  “I apologize again for bringing such violence to your doorsteps, but the factions in my home nation continue to clash.”

“Think nothing of it, Ambassador.”  Twilight smiled tightly.  “With cooperation, it was a simple matter to mislead this extremist into revealing himself.  I and Princess Celestia were both on hoof in case it went badly.”

She nodded to the emissary’s body double who morphed into the rainbow maned Princess.

“And then we had Princess Cadance and my brother, Shining Armor standing in as us to act as both bait and to shield the bystanders.”

She pointed at the doubles for herself and her wife and Celestia dissolved into the pink Princess of Love.  Her own double turned white and her hair became electric blue and shorter, but the body remained the same.

“Brother?”  The emissary raised an eyebrow.

Shining Armor looked down at himself and groaned before fixing his wife with a glare.  “Cadance!”

“What?  I meant it when I said you were going to get your first public lesbian kiss, my sweet Gleaming Shield.  Now pucker up!”