//------------------------------// // Chapter 23 - Masks, Part Three // Story: The Traveling Tutor and the Royal Exam // by Georg //------------------------------// The Traveling Tutor and the Royal Exam Masks - Part Three Author’s Note: It may be a little difficult to track who has what costume at the ball, so I thought it would be a good idea to include a guide for those characters who are plot-specific (Spoilered for those who like the surprises): Green Grass : Wearing the uniform of his great-great-uncle, who was in the navy Twilight Sparkle : Disguised as Princess Luna Various and Sundry Guards including Specialist Grace : Dressed as servants Lady Spring Fresh: Wearing a ‘alicorn breezie’ costume Queen Chrysalis : Disguised as Princess Cadence, but calling herself Ambassador Honey Bear, because otherwise the ponies would get all upset and run around. No doubt she is being closely watched. Peep Sprout : Disguised as Young Shining Armor and most likely stealing kisses in the nursery Princess Cadence : Disguised as Queen Chrysalis and enjoying herself Prince Shining Armor : Disguised as Prince Shining Armor Princess Celestia : Nightmare Moon Princess Luna : Elkvis The costume ball had rapidly filled up as the obscure time of ‘Fashionably Late’ had come and gone, and there was still no sign of Princess Luna or Princess Celestia. An occasional guest still trickled in, making Twilight’s head twitch in the direction of the grand processional staircase every time the herald announced a new costumed alter-ego for one of the Royals, but no real princesses. The costumed stallions and mares gathered in small clumps around the open dance floor, sampling the refreshment tables and talking among themselves, most probably about Her Newest Highness due to the enormous number of subtle sideways glances she was receiving. Her friends were faring much better with less stress. Rarity and Rainbow Dash each seemed to have accumulated a number of horned and winged admirers, and were soaking up the attention in their own particular fashion. Applejack had cornered or been cornered by the refreshment tables, chatting up a storm with a number of earth ponies who could only have been members of an investment group due to their pirate costumes. Incredibly, she had been joined by Fluttershy, who was also contributing to the conversation, although a second look determined that she was primarily talking to the various parrots sitting on their faux-pirate shoulders. Pinkie Pie, of course, was nowhere to be seen, which only reinforced Twilight’s determination that the decision to send her after Green Grass had been the worst idea since flavored writing quills. Even Shining Armor was surrounded by a group of aging stallions who she suspected had once (long, long ago) been Royal Guards, and who Twilight suspected could still be addressed by name by Princess Celestia without a moment’s hesitation. Watching the milling crowd was a little like astronomy. The guests tended to gravitate like the sun and moon around their particular Equestria, their orbits determined by rank and status of the moment, only unlike celestial bodies, the orbits would change as each guest exchanged the latest gossip and flew away to a different globular cluster to sample the discussion there. Perhaps astronomy was a bad analogy. Bees among the flowers seemed to fit better, although the buzz of the guests was loud enough that only only a pony with exceptional hearing, or an alicorn, could have picked out the topics from each tight knit group as they passed by. Don’t grind your teeth. Don’t stress. Smile and nod. Celestia will be here soon. Where’s Greenie? “How are you holding up, Mademoiselle Sparkle?” Fleur came gliding up to Twilight’s side while holding three glasses of punch in her golden magic. Twilight wasted no time in liberating a glass of her own and draining it to the bottom in one swig, although she did check first to make sure it was non alcoholic with a quick spell. “Not too bad, I suppose. I just wonder where Greenie is hiding.” Ignoring the knowing sigh from Lady Spring, she continued, “I sent Pinkie Pie to look for him, but haven’t heard a word since.” Cadence cocked an eyebrow. “You sent Pinkie after Greenie.” “Yeeeeaaahhh,” sighed Twilight. “I know. I should have told her to bring him back.” Fleur rolled her eyes and collected the empty glasses, floating them over to a passing servant who was headed back to the kitchen. “At least Prince Blueblood has made his appearance and departed, thankfully. It was all I could do to prevent Mademoiselle Rarity from personally critiquing his costume.” She clucked her tongue while shaking her head. “A Crystal Unicorn costume, really quite ingenious of him. I simply must see if Fancy and myself can travel to your delightful kingdom to meet with the real article, Princess Cadence. Quietly, of course. Twilight has told us of the troubles the little ones have endured. We already have set up several branches of our charitable organizations in your lands to assist, but there is always space for more.” Fleur paused as a motion over by the other ‘Cadence’ and Baron Chrysanthemum caught all of their eyes. The two had accumulated several of the older couples as an audience, and were regaling them with what must have been a quite interesting story, from the laughter and general merriment ongoing, bolstered by a number of servants with serving trays full of glasses. “Ambassador Honey Bear seems to be quite popular,” volunteered Cadence with a small but badly concealed shudder. “She should have chosen a different costume,” sniffed Lady Spring. “Of all the cheek.” Twilight fidgeted, swallowing and trying to think of another conversational topic other than what Green Grass had told her about the ambassador and her ant. Or aunt. “I really expected Princess Celestia and Luna earlier than now. She never was late for anything when I was her student. Wait just a moment.” A small glimmer of indigo light escaped from her horn as she gently plucked an ornate earring out of her mane and held it to the side of her face. “This is… um… Egghead. Where’s Lucky?” “Where he always is,” said Lady Spring with a practiced sigh. “There’s no need to bother the nice young colts guarding the party.” ~ ~ ♥ ~ ~ The nursery of any major event in Canterlot always filled up fairly fast with the darling young of the high social strata. While their older parents and grandparents engaged in the complicated dance of status and political maneuvering, their young attempted to do the exact same dance in their fluffy animal and picture book crammed space, leading over the years to more than one multi-generational squabble over just exactly which noble house really had the rights to Mister Beaky the Penguin, and who really was responsible for young Lord Beetingham swallowing a button on a dare. Twilight Sparkle had been to a few social events as a foal and managed to survive, mostly by concealing herself behind a carefully constructed fortress of building blocks and books to resist the siege of her peers. That was where she had first formed her opinion of young colts, who only seemed to see her fortress as something that needed to be assaulted, and young fillies, who wanted access in order to lounge near a window and flip their mane while waiting on a noble prince to rescue them. Between the screaming and the temper tantrums, she had gotten almost no reading done until Cadence had begun foalsitting her. Which, come to think of it, did not allow her too much more time for reading either, but it was a lot more fun than the traditional screaming and squabbling of a room full of small ponies in unhappy chaos. When Lady Spring and Twilight trotted into the nursery with Specialist Grace close behind, that was the scene she really was expecting. What she did not expect was to see the entire room full of small fillies and colts in nearly constant motion around Green Grass, laughing and giggling as they played with bubbles drifting through the air. Little earth ponies were blowing bubbles as fast as they could at one end of the room while pegasi flapped their wings with various degrees of skill, making the bubbles swirl and dance all through the room. Leaping around in the middle of the room were the unicorns, each with a spoon stuck to their nose to keep their head up and throwing small sparks up into the air to either pop the bubbles or to knock them off into a different direction. Of course, that all dissolved into chaos almost the instant she stepped inside the door and the little colts and fillies saw her. With a joyous shout of “Princess Luna!” they cascaded towards her in a multicolored avalanche of cuteness. * ♥ * It took almost ten minutes to extract Green Grass from his happy students, with his mother glowering in the background and Twilight constantly assuring the little colts and fillies that yes, the real Princess Luna would visit soon, and no, Twilight did not have her little foal yet. Only when Pinkie Pie showed up with a vast collection of sugary sweets that most likely had not been approved by their parents were they able to finally slip away and trot down the corridor on the way back to the party. Green Grass shrugged back into his jacket, which had been retrieved by Grace from the coatrack on their retreat, and readjusted his hat, taking a small slip of paper from it and putting it into a pocket as they traveled. The silence of their return trip was broken when Spring finally said, “Now you see what I had to put up with for all these years, Princess Sparkle.” “I most certainly do,” said Twilight, glancing at her intended, who looked so smug that he resembled a green balloon ready to pop with joy. “I noticed somepony in the nursery got their cutie mark tonight.” “Two of them,” gushed Green Grass, his suppressed grin finally released to beam all over the hallway. “Dusty got her cutie mark in wind currents and the young Whiffenpoof lad got his from a very impressive barrier spell he was casting to protect the bubbles.” “A pegasus and a unicorn. Very nice, dear.” Twilight bestowed a kiss on his nearest ear, which caused both of the appendages to blush in an adorable fashion. So she did it again while they walked, despite Lady Spring clearing her throat and looking away. “Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she sniffed, “please try to maintain a modicum of dignity at least for the Royal personage you are costumed as. Certainly none of the other princesses would never permit such a public display of emotion.” To Twilight’s surprise, their silent guardian coughed once, looking suspiciously innocent as her protective designees paused. “Actually,” started Specialist Grace, “you might be wrong.” * ♥ * Papercut and Crosswind stood stunned on the Commoner’s Ball dance floor, watching the two Royal sisters step forward side-by-side on stage as the next song began to play. If the microphones floating in front of them were not enough to reduce two dedicated Royal employees into embarrassed puddles at the indignity of it all, the snow-white and pitch-black guitars they each were playing at full volume topped things off nicely. ♫ Ah, you gonna take me home tonight ♫ “I shall never forgive Lord Green Grass for purchasing Princess Luna that infernal Neighponese karaoke machine,” whispered Papercut through thin lips. ♫ Ah, beside that red firelight ♫ “They sound really good together,” whispered Crosswind back. ♫ Are you gonna let it all hang out Fat bottomed mares, you make my rockin’ world go round ♫ “Only one week left,” whispered Papercut. “Equestria and I can survive a week of this. I hope.” * ♥ * The relative silence among the costumed guests was Twilight Sparkle’s first clue that something was going on as they approached the last corner before the ballroom. The second clue was the number of eyes looking in their direction as the four of them rounded the corner and looked to see Princess Cadence and Queen Chrysalis on stage. At some hidden signal, the orchestra began to play a soft bouncy musical number that Twilight knew she had heard before, and that at least one of her companions recognized and then some. Lady Spring stopped cold in her tracks with wide eyes staring at the orchestra and the two smiling mares on stage. Twilight was not sure if the perfectly identical poses of ‘Cadence’ and ‘Chrysalis’ were planned, but each of them had a loving smile and a microphone hovering in front of them as spotlights held them in a gentle glow. “T-that’s our song,” Spring stammered. “The one they were playing when Marty and I were first introduced.” The soft notes of a Flank Sinatra tune wafted through the ballroom as a corridor opened up in the wall of bodies between Twilight and the dance floor, showing a blushing Baron Chrysanthemum standing there, holding a pink rose in his magic field and wearing a growing smile. Green Grass had once explained to Twilight in great detail how his parents were not ‘cold’ to each other, but ‘respectful’ of their mutual space for as long as he had known them, which now seemed to show a little bit of an observational bias on his regard, due to Spring’s fascinated wide-eyed gaze at her husband. What little romance had been in their arranged marriage a near half-century ago had supposedly died down into smoldering embers, but there was most definitely a spark in the older mare’s eyes, and the entire ballroom had been piled high with the emotional equivalent of kerosene and dry tinder. “Go on, mom,” whispered Green Grass in his role as parental arsonist. “B-but I haven’t danced in ages. What if I fall down? Princess?” Lady Spring looked at Twilight in desperation, but only received a gentle princess-nudge in return. “Go on. Princess Cadence must have gone through a lot of work to set this up, and you wouldn't want to disappoint her, would you?” Green Grass brushed up against Twilight while watching his mother take small tentative steps out onto the dance floor until she eventually stood uncertainly in front of her husband. The two older ponies leaned together and Greenie’s father whispered something that made Spring blush and giggle. Then they gently took each other’s hooves and kissed, ever so gently and somewhat clumsy as if they had traveled back in time to when they were young. The music swelled, the two swayed as one, and Princess Cadence and Chrysalis began to sing in an extremely good duet. ♫ L is for the way you look at me O is for the only one I see V is very, very extraordinary E is even more than anyone that you adore… ♫ Twilight brushed back against Green Grass and just leaned a little, feeling his warm side as he leaned back. Her world had turned upside down in just a little under two years, from being Celestia’s lonely student with only a baby dragon as a friend to being a princess now, with all kinds of new friends. On that first trip to Ponyville on what seemed to be so long ago, she had never dreamed what she would find, or more particularly who, and how many. A muscle in her abdomen twitched and made the corners of her mouth turn up as she considered just how her foal was going to be spoiled by three alicorns, her friends, and of course, her husband. Friendship was an additive and multiplicative process that was just growing every time she met a new friend, even her friends in ‘other’ places she had never dreamed about before. As she watched Martel and Spring glide across the dance floor as if they were thirty years younger, it made the warm glow inside her ribs flow across her entire body until it seemed to fill the ballroom with happiness. It was a moment that all of them would treasure, and even the presence of the Changeling Queen only muted the feeling slightly. Maybe she’s going to try farming to raise love for her subjects instead of just taking it. No, she’s just between schemes at the moment. Relax. Enjoy the moment for as long as it lasts. Her musing about their unexpected guest lasted through three dances led by the Father and Mother of the Groom, and even partially through her own rather slow and dignified circuit of the dance floor at the hooves of her incipient husband, fortunately without any serious casualties other than a ding on a support pillar that would buff out with some sandpaper and a little paint. * ♥ * When it finally happened, the long-delayed entrance of the Princesses of the Sun and Moon into the costume ball was handled with a flair that never would have been possible at the Grand Galloping Gala, which could most probably be credited to the costumes and the sense of implausible deniability they gave the normally prim and proper princesses. ‘Nightmare Moon’ was first to be announced, in a flurry of thunder and flash of lightning, although the quartet of singing Nocturne stallions with long villainous moustaches was probably just a little over the top. She swept into the ballroom in a flurry of evil cackling that sent more than one overdressed Royal under a table, finally landing amid mixed laughter and screaming in front of Fancy Pants and Fleur to declare ‘The Buffet Shall Last Forever!’ Naturally, the feat of not only filling a plate from the buffet during her rapid circuit of the room, but managing to steal a substantial slice of cake in the process was met with wild applause by Pinkie Pie (and the rest of the Royals once the shock had worn off and they crawled out from under tables and out of the decorative shrubbery). The second alicorn sister made a much more reserved entrance, although topping the previous display would have been nigh impossible. Dressed in creamy white silk with the glitter of a thousand rhinestones on her jumpsuit, she glided down the staircase in the glow of brilliant spotlights to the quiet applause of all and a general sense of relaxation that there was at least one sane alicorn in the kingdom, although there was a great deal of gazing at her mane. Heaped up on the forehead of ‘Elkvis’ was an absolutely magnificent white pompadour like the prow of some rock-and-roll galleon with small antlers peeking out to either side that matched the diamond-spangled white guitar slung over her back and her sparkling white boots. Meeting the applause with a raised hoof, she slung the guitar in front and broke out in a few quick country riffs, ending with a “Thank yew! Thank yew very much!” Smiling in her normal enigmatic way, the tall alicorn swept up to Twilight Sparkle and Lady Spring, who was taking a brief break from dancing while her husband fetched drinks. They chatted briefly, exchanging a few pleasantries before ‘Elkvis’ had to excuse herself to make the rounds among the rest of the guests. It actually took Twilight a long while to twig to the fact that the dark ‘Nightmare Moon’ who was still bellowing and swooping around the room (while snitching various sundries off unguarded plates and giving the occasional older stallion a kiss on the cheek) was in fact Princess Celestia, and that the understated Elkvis Przewalski who was passing among the guests with guitar unslung to give impromptu romantic serenades was in fact Princess Luna. Perhaps Green Grass is right. Sanity is highly overrated. After a suitable amount of socializing and scandalizing, both of the Royal sisters visited the nursery to the overwhelming joy of the inhabitants and the once-in-a-lifetime experience that followed. Each of the new cutie mark recipients got a piggyback ride around the top of the ballroom atop the princess of their choice, shrieking and screaming at the top of their lungs to the applause of the crowd (and one or two particularly jealous looks from the older stallions). Green Grass remained uncharacteristically quiet and well-behaved at her side for the rest of the evening, a perfect model Prince for a Princess. It was suspicious behavior to say the least for anypony who knew him well, but it seemed to calm the usually flighty Royals in a fashion that even Celestia would have approved. After all, the Princess of the Sun was presently drinking out of the chocolate fountain at the buffet, the Princess of the Moon had gathered a number of Elkvis fans for a sing-a-long, and the orchestra was being conducted by the Princess of Love… Or perhaps Chrysalis… It was very confusing, and Shining Armor had adapted to the chaos by treating various elderly widows to a dance each out of either compassion or a sense of survival. Twilight felt fairly certain that both Shining Armor and Cadence were going to use the changeling detection spell that Luna had created several times on each other tonight before bed. And far too soon, it was all over, with guests thanking their host and the various Princesses, both real and disguised, before filtering out the door into the late night. The buffet had been grazed down to a few celery sticks and some beet dip, which always seemed to show up at these events even though nopony ate it. Vaguely, Twilight was aware that her own parents had shown up, danced, and departed considerably earlier, although with all of the activity she could not remember what they had been wearing as costumes or even if her little brothers had been in the nursery. Only Lady Spring and Baron Chrysanthemum were left on the dance floor, doing one last pass to the quiet beat of the orchestra, which Fancy Pants had assured her was going to be well-compensated for their long night. When Grace showed up with word that their security detail was prepared to escort them back to the castle and could she please have her communications earring back because it had been signed for and needed returned to the armory, Twilight acceded to the request. They said their goodbyes, collected their things (which included Pinkie Pie, who was trying to get one last lick out of the depleted chocolate fountain, and Fluttershy, who had nearly camouflaged herself perfectly besides one of the ornamental shrubs with one of the purloined parrots⁽*⁾), and allowed the Royal Guard carriage to sweep them away to the castle for a long night⁽¹⁾ of rest. (*) A great amount of ink was spilled over the next few days on headlines as the press seized upon the alliterative opportunity to blow the event totally out of proportion. For three whole days, ponies opened their newspapers to phrases like ‘Borrowed Budgies’ or ‘Stolen Squabs’ and even one particularly innovative ‘Melancholic Misappropriated Macaws’ on a particularly slow news day. The headlines all stopped the day after Princess Celestia wrote a particularly polite note to the mothers of the editors, expressing her praise for their children’s clever literary talents. (1) ‘Night’ being defined rather vigorously as ‘If anypony wakes us up before mid-day, they had better be prepared for a few days as an amphibian out in the garden pool.’ And that was just Rarity. — ~ ~ ♥ ~ ~ The inky darkness that filled the Canterlot castle corridors only grudgingly acceded territory to the lamps next to the Night Guard standing at attention in front of a pair of guest bedrooms. It was a fairly open secret to the guards that one of the two bedrooms they guarded was empty, but still, the Night Guard had been ordered to guard both doors as a security measure. After all, if they did not know which of the doors contained the newest Princess and her rather odd husband-to-be, nopony else would either. One of the admirable traits of all Night Guards was selective deafness. No matter what their sensitive ears picked up behind the doors where their charges slumbered — or did not slumber — their mouths remained closed, both to their peers and to their superiors. That did not prevent both guards to the sides of one door from raising an eyebrow when Lord Green Grass slipped out of the door with a soft, “I’ll be right back,” called over his shoulder. He paused out in the corridor, looking at the two most decidedly non-curious Nocturne before whispering, “I have a very important private meeting just downstairs. It should only take a minute. Which one of you is going to sneak along behind me whether I want you to or not?” “Me, sir.” The impassive Night Guard did not even flinch as Green Grass looked him up and down. “Corporal Meadows, this meeting is intensely private. It does not need to be reported to your superiors, or the other guards, and particularly not to Twilight. Do you understand?” “Yes, sir.” “Good. Come on.” Making remarkably little noise for an earth pony, Green Grass slipped down the corridor into the stairwell, down a flight of stairs, and through a door blocked off with a sign that read ‘Under Construction - No Admittance.’ Turning to his silent shadow, he whispered, “Stay here,” before moving down two more doorways and entering a small bedchamber with signs of splattered plaster and recent paint on all sides. “Are you alone?” whispered a voice from inside the darkened room. “Yes,” Green Grass whispered back. “Now why did you send me that note and what kind of danger is my family in?”