//------------------------------//
// LP24: Masquerade [Romance] 
// Story: Half Hour Horses: Legacy Prompts 
// by HoofAndQuill 
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The Prompt: Dance party.





You know, this just makes me think of the Japanese dub, where the Grand Galloping Gala was "Dansu Paati".  Which is fun!  I ended up running over on time here a bit, the limit was in the latter third somewhere.  Whoops.  Posting it anyway though.  I didn't get the pacing right but I still had fun with it.



"Ooh!  What's that, Twilight?"

Twilight Sparkle smiled at Pinkie, and levitated the little mask over to her friend.  Pinkie Pie ducked her head a little, and then smiled as the mask settled on her muzzle.  It was just a small one, that went over her eyes and just a little onto her muzzle.  Twilight looked her over now that she had the mask on, and then smiled proudly.  "There!  It's a masquerade mask.  I wanted this party to be a little different, so I made all of these!"

Pinkie turned to look into the mirror that Twilight gestured toward.  She gasped out in surprise.  There in the mirror was a white-coated earth pony, with a smooth, simple blue mane.  It wasn't Pinkie Pie at all!  Pinkie lifted her hoof to push the mask up.  As it slid just a little too high, she changed back to pink.  She laughed happily and put the mask back on properly.  When she spoke, she was surprised that even her voice was different.  "Wow, Twilight!  Now nopony will know who I am!"

"I got the idea from the EUP guard uniforms.  Well, that, and the old masquerade balls that noble ponies used to have.  Anyway, remember that part of the fun is nopony knowing who anypony is, so even if you figure out who somepony is, don't tell anypony."

"Okie-Dok--"  Wait, if she wasn't supposed to show who she was...  She intentionally calmed her voice.  "Okay, Twilight.  Thank you for inviting me."

Twilight smiled at her, and then turned to visit Golden Harvest as she trotted into the small room.  Pinkie Pie walked through the big doors into the ballroom in Twilight's new castle.  Oh, it was THAT kind of party!  There were streamers, but they were all black and white, and the band (all blue and white earth ponies due to their masks) seemed to be the same ones from the Grand Galloping Gala.  There was a cider bar to the side, and a few tables of little fancy snacks and things.  Despite all the fanciness of the room, it was still a ball, and quite a few ponies were dancing to the slow, formal music.  Pinkie Pie trotted lightly down the short set of stairs to join the group of identical earth ponies all around the floor.  The masks must hide horns and wings, too!  With everypony looking the same, even if she already knew every pony in town, she could meet new friends anyway!

It was strange to Pinkie Pie, to be at a party and not be in control of it.  Usually she would be zipping around from guest to guest, filling punch glasses and making everypony feel welcome.  But here she wasn't Pinkie Pie, she was just another mare in a big crowd of identical mares and stallions.  She wanted to dart out onto the dance floor and shake her flank, hop up and down, and join in with everypony's dancing, but then they'd all know who she was, and that would mess up Twilight's whole THING!  Except, well.  Pinkie was pretty sure that one mare surrounded by eight empty glasses and drinking a ninth glass of cider was probably Dashie.  Which meant that the mare next to her that kept fidgeting around and messing with her mane like she was looking for something was probably Applejack missing her hat.  With most of the ponies though, Pinkie had no way of knowing who was who.

So Pinkie held herself back from jumping up and dancing, and yelling, and being all loud and excitable.  But that only meant she suddenly had no idea what to do with herself.  Soon she found herself just standing against one of the walls in the big ballroom, with a couple other ponies that didn't seem to know quite what to do.  She offered a smile to a nearby mare.  "This is kinda fun, isn't it?  Nopony knows who anypony is!"

The other mare smiled slightly, and nodded without speaking.  After a moment, she spoke quietly.  "... Yes, it is kind of fun.  Though I don't know who my friends are, and that's... strange."

"But that's part of the fun!  Now if we talk and talk, we still won't know who we are tomorrow.  Or if I mess up dancing, and crash into a table, nopony can complain at me tomorrow either!  It's like we're all invisible!"

The stranger took a moment to think, and then smiled again.  "Well, would you like to dance, then?"





This pony was not very good at dancing.

Still, Pinkie was having a blast.

The other pony danced like she had never really had any practice dancing.  But she did it with a sort of weird happy freedom that made Pinkie smile, and seeing Pinkie smile seemed to make the other mare even happier.  So they danced together.  They danced slow songs, cheek to cheek, swaying back and forth with blushes on their muzzles.  They danced faster songs, holding hooves and almost tripping over themselves with inexperience and exuberance.  They laughed, they hugged, and neither of them had any idea who the other was, or who any of the ponies watching and sometimes giggling at the spectacle were.

As the night went on, their dancing got slower, and eventually the other mare stepped back.  "I'm sorry, but I... I can't keep going."

Pinkie just giggled and lead the way down toward the snack table.  They both had a few sips of cider in companionable silence, and then the other mare turned and walked toward one of the small balconies off of the ballroom.  Pinkie Pie followed, knowing that if she lost sight of this pony, she'd never find her again in the crowd of identical mares.

It was just a little cold outside, but the night wind felt nice on her coat after all the dancing and the crowd.  The other mare smiled at Pinkie, and then looked up at the stars for a few moments.  Pinkie Pie had to do everything she could to stop herself from just bursting out and excitedly trying to figure out who this pony was.  The whole point was the mystery of it, and maybe knowing would ruin everything.  So instead she just waited a few seconds, and then walked over and leaned lightly against the mare.

After a moment, the other pony turned just a little and nuzzled against Pinkie's muzzle.  Pinkie didn't know who this was, but... but that wasn't just a friendly nuzzle.  Somehow, she found herself nuzzling back in the same way.

The mare's voice was quiet again.  "... I still don't know who you are.  It's a little sad, that tomorrow we won't..."

Pinkie just made a shushing noise with her lips, and nuzzled the other pony happily.  Maybe just a little too happily.  When she opened her eyes, she found that the motion had pushed the other pony's mask up just enough, and now Pinkie could see yellow coat, and long, elegant pink mane, and it was all familiar enough that she knew immediately who it was.  She must have changed how she was standing or something, because Fluttershy opened her eyes again, and then looked down at her hooves and gasped.

All that happy freedom and confidence was gone immediately, and Fluttershy's ears folded back in a terrified panic.  "Um... I... um..."

Pinkie just reached a hoof out, and slipped Fluttershy's mask back into place.  The magic changed her back again, and Pinkie couldn't help but giggle, and then it ended up with a little snort of laughter that sometimes happened.  Flutter-- the other pony's eyes widened slightly, and the blush that had sometimes crossed her muzzle seemed pinker than usual.  "Is... is that you, P-"

"Shh!"  Pinkie Pie pressed her hoof to the mare's lips, and then giggled.  "We're just mystery ponies, remember?"

The other pony looked down at Pinkie's hoof, and then smiled when Pinkie pulled it away.  After a moment, her old confidence seemed to come back, and she leaned in and nuzzled her muzzle against Pinkie's again.  Pinkie nuzzled back, and then blushed herself when she felt the other pony's lips on hers.  The kiss only lasted a moment, but there was no way she imagined it.

The mystery pony looked up at the stars as they stood together on the balcony.  There were a few seconds of silence before she spoke.  "... Maybe we know each other already.  Then... it wouldn't be so sad, would it?"

Pinkie couldn't help giggling again, and she buried her muzzle playfully in the stranger's mane.  "Maybe we do!"

The two mares just smiled happily, feeling warm and happy together on the cold, windy balcony, and both hoping that this was only the first night of many.