“And just what the hell are you all looking at?!”
Rarity’s hoof planted itself firmly into her face. “That’s one way to make a first impression…”
Princess Luna smirked. “We admire his enthusiasm.”
“Admirable or not, there’s a time and place for everything,” Rose remarked, crossing her arms. “And after that little display, I think I’ll refrain from presenting myself for the time being.”
“Suit yourself,” Rainbow Dash jeered before turning to Applejack. “Hey, AJ, you wanna go find a bite to eat?”
Applejack shrugged and followed. “Why not? Ah just hope they got more than that fancy fru-fru food.”
“The buffet is in the next hall!” Celestia called after them as they blended into the crowd.
“Well at least we’re not all wandering off on our own again,” Rarity commented. “Fluttershy, would you like to join me on a walk through the gardens? I imagine you wouldn’t exactly like to immerse yourself into the crowd quite yet.”
Fluttershy rubbed her leg with a hoof and looked away. “Oh, I don’t know… I-I didn’t make the best impression on the animals last time…”
Rarity dismissed the thought with a wave of a hoof. “Oh pish, I’m sure they’ve forgiven you for all that by now. And if not, you could always take the opportunity to apologize.”
“Well… If you say so…”
As the two ponies walked off, Luna turned back to Rose with an eager grin. “So Rose! Do tell us more about this food heating technique using these ‘microwaves’ you mentioned.”
“Actually,” Celestia suddenly interrupted, “Luna, if it would be alright with you, I have some business I need to discuss with Rose - privately.”
Luna pouted. “Sister, thou take the wind from our sails.”
As composed as ever, Rose stared straight into Celestia’s eyes. “If it concerns what you discussed with Alex, then there is no need. I heard the entire conversation.”
Celestia tilted her head. “You did?”
“All Liandri act as my eyes and ears, Celestia,” Rose explained with the Nova walking up to stand beside her. “Whatever they see, I see. Whatever they hear, I hear. The unit accompanying Alex heard everything, and by extension, so did I. Besides, Alex already made a decision, and I have nothing more to say about it.”
Celestia nodded in understanding, mild astonishment present on her features. “A collective conscious! I must admit, I find that impressive. However, there is something else I wish to discuss with you.”
“Is it important?”
“Relatively so, yes.”
Rose sighed and turned to Luna. “My apologies, Luna, but perhaps we can catch up at a later point?”
“We suppose so,” Luna glared at her sister for a moment before grinning back at Rose. “But do not tally! We are eager to discuss further applications of these microwaves!”
“Of course,” Rose smirked at the lunar princess as she entered the ballroom. Turning back to Celestia, Rose held her hand towards the hall. “I imagine you would like to discuss matters elsewhere?”
Celestia nodded. “Indeed. Please, follow me.”
The two of them moved away from the noisy ballroom and into the more quiet halls of Canterlot’s palace, with the only sounds of Celestia’s hooves clopping, Rose’s heels clicking, and the Nova’s feet clanking to accompany them.
It didn’t take very long before Celestia spoke, “Some time ago, I heard that you and Alexander were interested in starting a private security company. Have you had any luck with it?”
“We abandoned the idea,” Rose answered just as abruptly.
“Oh? Any reason in particular?”
“Threats towards Liandri technological containment protocols.”
“I assume that’s a more formal way of saying that dubious ponies were looking to take advantage of you and your technology, yes?”
Rose raised a brow and turned her head towards the princess. “Yes, actually. I’m impressed you were able to infer such knowledge.”
Celestia smirked. “When you’ve lived for as long as I have, these sorts of things start to become familiar.”
“I see. However, you would be impressed at what a young mind would be able to accomplish with nothing but raw computational power.”
“Oh really? How old are you, if you do not mind me asking?”
“I don’t know.”
Now it was Celestia’s turn to raise a brow. “You don’t know? Do you not have a birthday?”
“Technically, I was never born, and thus, cannot have a birthday.”
“But there must be some day used to determine your age, isn’t there?”
“And what day would that be? Would it be the day Alex began writing my code? The day he employed its use? Or perhaps the day I developed the ability to record my own memories, or when Alex fully recognized me as an Artificial Intelligence? What makes one event more important than the other when determining something as arbitrary as my age?”
“Nothing, I would imagine from your point of view.”
“Precisely.”
“Would you permit me a rough estimate of your age, then?”
“If you insist. I am approximately two years old.”
Celestia stopped in front of a large pair of double doors, with royals guards flanking each side. “Two years old and you’ve already accomplished so much. I dare say, I am impressed.”
“I think you’ll find that Cybernetic intelligences are capable of a great deal many feats, regardless of their age.”
“On that note…” Celestia’s horn ignited, pushing the pair of doors open to reveal a large study room, lined with bookshelves and littered with tables and desks covered in sprawled open books, scrolls, and other notes. Despite the mess, a small table and pair of chairs, opposite each other, sat in the center of the room, somehow apart from everything else. Resting on the table was a checkered board, with tall black and white pieces resting on it. Celestia extended her hoof towards the center table. “Would you, perhaps, permit me to test this intelligence of yours with a simple game of chess?”
“I can see you’ve prepared well in advance for me,” Rose answered as she and the Nova entered the study. The Nova took a sentry position by the door as Celestia closed it behind them. “Pinkie Pie introduced me to board games some time ago, and I cannot say they were worth my time. If this one is any different, perhaps I’ll allow you the opportunity of a game.”
Celestia looked over at Rose quizzically as she sat down behind the row of black pieces. “Oh? Do you not know how to play chess?”
Rose gracefully sat down behind the white pieces and locked gazes with her opponent. “I do not.”
Celestia smiled as she began her explanation of the rules. “Chess is a game of strategy…” For the next few minutes, Celestia went into detail about the movement options and restrictions of each of the pieces, no one rule ever needing to be explained twice. After finally establishing the requirements for victory, Celestia concluded with: “So, would you like to play?”
Rose nodded once. “I shall.”
Celestia curtly bowed in return. “Excellent. Would you like to play black, or white?”
“It doesn’t matter to me.”
“I shall play black, then, as this is your first game.”
“Willfully giving me the advantage of playing first, I see.”
“It is only fair.”
“Fair, but a bad idea regardless.”
“We shall see.”
Rose stared at the untouched board for a several long seconds before finally looking back up at Celestia and moving one of her pawns. “So what business was it that you wished to discuss?”
Celestia moved her first piece as well, and Rose, quick as a whip, played her next immediately after. The princess blinked at this. “You don’t have to play that quickly, you know. You are allowed time to think about your moves.”
“I’ve heard it said before that you must always stay two steps ahead of your opponent.” Rose smiled. “I prefer that number to be several thousand. Now then, your business?”
Celestia stared at Rose blankly, carefully internalizing her words before clearing her throat. “It’s actually a security matter. I was hoping I would be able to employ some of your machines, but you’ve already stated that you’ve abandoned such ideas.” She moved a piece, and just like before, Rose played immediately after her.
“We might be able to come to some arrangement.”
“Are you saying you’ll make an exception?”
“Perhaps. It will depend on the nature of your request, of course.” While Celestia kept her eyes on the board as she played and conversed, Rose kept her gaze locked firmly on the princess, and never once looked down.
“In two weeks time, there will be a wedding - a royal wedding. I will be presiding over it, and security will be of the utmost concern. I will be inviting Twilight and her friends, as well as hiring them all for tasks suited towards their skills. I would like to extend that invitation towards Alexander and yourself as well, and to employ your services.”
“What about your own guards? Are they not capable enough?”
“They will be as capable as they need to be, but a little extra help couldn’t hurt. I can assure you that you will be very well compensated for your services.”
“I see. We have two Liandri models that can suit your needs: the Cathode and the Nova. The Cathode is our standard security model, while the Nova” - Rose tilted her head towards the Liandri in question, standing by the door - “is a more advanced version. We’re still prototyping them, so their numbers are rather limited.”
Celestia smiled and nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Several more turns past in silence, neither one claiming the other’s pieces. Each move, Celestia took her time, while Rose responded with swiftness. Eventually, Rose claimed first blood, and shortly after, asked “How exactly do you believe Alex and I are integral to Equestria?”
Celestia blinked at her. “I beg your pardon?”
“Your conversation with Alex,” Rose explained. “You expressed our importance to Equestria, though left out a great many details. Alex might be content with leaving the subject alone, but I am not. I want to know exactly what you were alluding to.”
Celestia sighed and slowly shook her head. “My sincerest apologies, Rose... but it’s a topic for another time.”
Rose expression remained stone-cold. “I see..." she paused. "You play this game often, don’t you?”
Celestia allowed herself a smile. “Chess? I do, yes. It’s a game much older than even myself, but I am forced to admit that its quality is timeless.”
Rose frowned as she played her next piece. “Check - I’m not talking about the board game.”
Celestia moved a knight to defend her king from Rose’s offending queen, whereupon the AI immediately began flanking with a bishop. “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
“Politics,” Rose said flatly. “Playing behind closed doors. Saying the right words at the right time to convince the right people that you’re… right. You’re playing a game, and want to get Alex and myself involved. I want to know what it is.”
“I’m afraid you misunderstand me - I’m not playing anything.” Celestia moved a pawn forward, accidentally exposing her knight to be taken by Rose’s bishop.
“Check. That practiced poker face of yours might work on ponies, Celestia, but it won’t work on me. I can see your core body temperature rising, the tempo in that pulsing on your neck speeding up - you’re getting nervous.”
Despite Rose’s observations, Celestia kept playing without. “You may think so, but you’re mistaken.”
“Am I? You’re hiding things from your own student. You prepared specifically for our arrival. You’re making a concentrated effort to appease Alex and myself - you’re rushing, you’re short on time. For some reason, you’re eager for our help to change your own nation, and yet the time isn’t right, as if acting too soon will permanently close off your opportunity. Check. You’re using every skill at your disposal, and yet you’re taking every possible precaution, to the point that I would say you’re doubting your own actions. What I want to know is why.”
Celestia sat in silence, her eyes rested on neither the board, nor Rose, her face completely blank. She idly played her next piece, though to her mild surprise, Rose made no further movement. For her part, Rose simply stared at Celestia, making no attempt to break the silence she established. After almost a minute, Celestia gently closed her eyes and sighed, the image of a black mask flashing through her mind.
“You’re right. I am afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.” Celestia’s gaze moved to catch Rose’s own piercing blue eyes. “For what seems like the first time in my very long life, I can honestly say that I have no idea what I’m doing, and it frightens me.”
“And what, exactly, are you trying to do?”
The princess’ mouth moved to speak, but she stopped herself mid-action, briskly turning away. “Please respect my decision when I say that I’m… not at liberty to discuss it…”
“Not yet, I imagine?”
Celestia shook her head.
“Have you spoken to Luna about it?
“No,” Celestia blurted, though immediately took notice of her sudden outburst. “I mean… she, among a number of other ponies, must never know...”
Rose arched a brow. “I see…” After a momentary pause, Rose asked, “Might I provide some advice?”
Remaining silent, Celestia regained eye contact and her ears swiveled towards her blue-eyed other, fully intent on listening to what she had to say.
“Take your time,” Rose started. “Think deeply about your actions before putting them into practice. Contemplate every consequence. Form contingency plans. The more, the better. Never do anything until you are more than reasonably certain of the outcome and prepared for any potential shortcomings. I do this all the time - it’s in my nature. And as I’m sure you can see…” Rose finally played her next piece, her fingers lingering on it. “...It has served me well thus far. Checkmate.”
Celestia’s eyes remained on Rose for a moment before darting down to study the board. Instead of waiting for her scrutinize the pieces, Rose pushed her chair back and stood up, her heels clicking against the floor as she made her way towards the door. Examining the positions of each piece and quickly thinking over all of her potential moves, Celestia discovered that Rose had, indeed, achieved checkmate.
As Rose neared the door, the Nova reached over and grabbed the handle, though refrained from opening it. The AI herself stopped just short and called over her shoulder. “Oh, and one last thing. I don’t know what game you’re playing, or with whom, but know that Alex and I are not pieces to be played. We are another player altogether.”
With those final words, the Nova swung the study door open and Rose casually walked out, leaving Celestia on her own. She staring after them until the door closed with a loud wooden clunk.
Pinkie Pie held her head low to the bar, idly rubbing the spot where the Nova had hit her. “You didn’t have to hit me that hard, you know…”
The Nova glanced over at her, its eye glowing blue. “I know. But I wanted to.”
“Is he going to be alright…?” Twilight asked, her hoof gently rubbing over Alex’s back. His face was still firmly smooshed into the bar since everypony was afraid to move him, aside from slipping off his sunglasses.
“I don’t know,” Rose replied through the Nova. “He’s never had alcohol in my presence before, so I can’t be sure of anything at the moment.” The Nova turned its attention towards the curious crowd that was beginning to grow around them. “Move along! There’s nothing to see here.”
Thankfully, a pair of familiar ponies pushed their way past the crowd.
“I thought you two were going for a walk through the garden.” Rose addressed to Rarity and Fluttershy as they squeezed past the curious onlookers.
“We did,” Rarity answered, shooting Fluttershy a sympathetic look. “Although it seems the animals do remember poor Fluttershy from last time. They weren’t keen on any apologies, either…”
Everyone glanced at Fluttershy, expecting some sort of comment from her, although she simply remained silent and did her best to hide behind her mane. That is, until she noticed Alex. “Oh no! What happened to him?”
“Pinkie slipped him a Long Island ice tea,” said Vinyl, taking an extra gulp from her beer. “Turns out the big guy’s a super-lightweight and passed out after a little sip.”
Letting out a loud gasp, Fluttershy threw herself against the bar, leaning over towards the bartender. “Quick! Do you have any smelling salts?!”
The bartender blinked at her before stuttering out, “Um… y-yes, I believe I do.. one moment…”
After fumbling under the bar for a minute, the bartender stood back up with a rounded bottle in his hoof, clearly labeled ‘SMELLING SALTS,’ which Fluttershy immediately snatched away from him. “Somepony hold his head up,” she ordered. The Nova compiled by placing its metal hand under his chin and holding his body up with its other arm.
Fluttershy removed the cap of the bottle with her teeth, briefly gracing her nose with a scent so strong, it would have even been able to shock an elephant awake. She gently waved the bottle underneath Alex’s nose, muttering “Please work…” to herself.
Without warning, Alex’s eyes shot open, yelling “Ostie!” as he threw his head back, smashing it directly into the Nova’s titanium chest, whereupon he instantly screamed “AHH! Câlisse!” and clutched his throbbing head with both hands.
“Looks like that did it!” Vinyl said with a laugh.
“Ostie d'crisse de tabarnak, ma tête!” Alex yelled with complete disregard for the crowd of ponies his noise was starting to gather. “Sacrament, ça fait mal!”
“Huh? What’s he saying?” Twilight asked Rose, her worry having been completely replaced with pure confusion.
The Nova shrugged. “I honestly have no idea.”
“Arrêtez de bavarder et aidez moi!” Alex groaned. His arms covered his head resting against the bar. “Ma tête se sent comme quelqu’un m’a claqué avec un brique, tabarnak!”
Rarity raised a hoof. “If I may - I believe he’s speaking French. Although it appears to be some sort of dialect, since I’m having difficulty understanding some of his words…”
“I guess that’s what he meant when he said alcohol brings out his ‘Inner French Canadian,’” Pinkie commented.
“Mais oui je parle Français, ostie d’con!” he bellowed. “Es-ce que quelqu'un vas m'aider avec ce mal de tête ou quoi?!”
The gears in Rarity’s head continued to grind in an attempt to understand him. “Erm… I think he’s saying that he has a headache and wants somepony to help him…”
Without missing a beat, Fluttershy leaned over towards the bartender. “Could you please get him some aspirin?”
The bartender quickly nodded. “Of course! Just give me a moment…”
While the stallion was busy searching for the medication, another pair of mares forced their way through the crowd towards the tower of metal, glowing lights, and loud foreign noise.
“Hey, is he okay?” asked Applejack as she approached, eyeing the hunched over human. “Alex is makin’ a pretty big ruckus.”
Rainbow Dash chuckled as she followed up behind her. “Yeah, we could hear him all the way from the other room!”
Alex glared at her over his shoulder. “Ta gueule, ostie trou de cul...”
Before anyone could say anything else, Applejack’s eyes lit up in anger. “Hey!” she snapped. “That ain’t the way ya should be talkin’ to a friend!”
Every set of eyes were suddenly on Applejack. Even Alex stared at her in wonder. “Tabarnak, tu peux me comprendre?”
Applejack stomped her hoof. “Yeah, Ah can understand ya! And Ah know exactly what ya said to Rainbow Dash! Now apologize!”
Alex barely turned around, leaning on the bar with one arm while holding the other out defensively. “Okay, okay, je m’excuse! J’ai un mal de tête ou quelque chose, là - ça fait mal…”
Continuing to glare at him, AJ added, “Ah’m sorry ta hear that, Sugarcube, but t’ain’t an excuse.”
Her mouth still agape, Rarity blurted out, “Applejack, since when could you speak French?”
The farmer’s expression suddenly sank, keenly aware that everypony was staring at her and wondering the exact same question about her ability to speak, or at the very least understand, a language that should have been completely alien to her.
With a blush creeping up, Applejack nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “Ah, um… picked it up in Manehatten as a filly… Never really lost it, Ah guess…”
“Here you are, sir,” announced the bartender as he placed a small white pill and glass in front of Alex. “Some aspirin to relieve your headache, and a glass of water - just water. I would also like to sincerely apologize for giving you a drink other than the one you ordered. That was unprofessional of me.”
“Merci, mais je ne vous ai pas encore pardonné pour ça…” Alex grumbled as he took hold of the glass of water and quickly downed the pill. Everypony held their collective breath as they watched Alex hunch over himself, waiting to see what would happen. After a only a few tense seconds, Alex’s head suddenly whipped back as he gulped in a large helping of fresh air. He held the position for a brief moment before just as quickly slumping back over the bar, coughing out the words, “God damn, that was bad…”
Everypony let out a sigh of relief as Fluttershy rubbed a soothing hoof along Alex’s back. “How are you feeling?”
“Bright… too bright…” he groaned, carefully moving his head around with squinted eyes. “Where are my glasses…?”
“Here, don’t move,” Twilight said and she levitated his sunglasses over to him and carefully placed them over his eyes, earning her a quick but sincere thanks.
The blue-eyed Nova placed a hand over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s move you some place more comfortable.”
“Yeah, let’s… let’s do that…” said Alex as he allowed the Nova to help him to his feet. The Liandri also attempted to get Alex’s arm over his shoulders to better support him, but the model’s bulky pauldrons and unusually shaped back prevented Alex from reaching much further than beyond its neck. Still, it was enough for the Nova to support him as they and everypony else did their best to quietly leave the ballroom.
The Nova led Alex out of a different door than the one he had entered and into a smaller, and thankfully much shorter set of hallways that connected to an entrance hall. Drapery and stained glass windows adorned the walls while red carpeting covered the floor and trailed up a grand staircase. A good number of noble ponies were still arriving and waltzing through the main entrance with the same aura of entitlement as the ponies in the ballroom - fashionably late, of course.
Normally, this was the room where Princess Celestia would have personally met her guests, but the princess of the sun was nowhere to be found. That wasn’t to say that another princess wasn’t present: Princess Luna stood off to the side of the room, next to a large luxurious couch, talking with a small group of ponies and a familiar looking humanoid in a red dress and her bodyguard. As much as the ponies around her were vying for the princess’ attention, Rose appeared to be the only one able to keep it.
However, Rose had been standing between Luna and the group of friends concerned about the health of the man who needed help to walk. As Alex was brought closer to them, Luna soon took notice of what was going on behind her conversation partner.
She gasped and maneuvered around Rose to get a better look. “My stars! What happened?”
“He was given a drink he didn’t order,” Rose answered as nonchalantly as one would say they were walking down the street, while the Nova carefully let Alex down onto the nearby couch. “As you can see, it didn’t sit well with him.”
“How are you feeling?” Fluttershy asked Alex, who was slumped back into the couch and forcing his hand against his forehead.
“Like… Like… fucking terrible…” was his only answer, too distracted by everything wracking his body to come up with something more original.
Rose sat herself down next to him and replaced his hand with her own. “If what I’m reading from his BCI is correct, he’s feeling vertigo, nausea, and some lingering headaches. He’ll be fine, but I think it’s safe to say that his night is off to a poor start.”
Pinkie Pie quietly stepped up to the couch, looking over at Alex with puppy eyes and her ears pinned against her head. “I’m so super sorry, Alex. I didn’t know this would happen to you…”
Making sure to time it between his breaths, Alex raised his head to look at her. “Huh…? What do you have to be sorry for…?”
Vinyl downed the rest of her beer, but kept the empty glass floating beside her. “Pinkie got the barkeep to swap out your soda for a Long Island Ice Tea, dude. Figured you’d be fine.”
Alex’s jaw slowly unhinged itself as his gaze shifted from Vinyl back to Pinkie, who was staring at the ground as she rubbed circles into it with her hoof. He drew in a large breath to tell Pinkie just how stupid what she did was, but the sudden sense of disorientation, from performing that simple action, instead make Alex let his head fall back against the couch. “You know what? I don’t have the energy to be mad right now…”
Pinkie Pie averted her gaze again, whereas Rose continued to stroke Alex’s forehead. “Just rest, now. You’ll be fine soon.”
With all of the excitement thoroughly dead, Vinyl Scratch clicked her tongue and motioned towards the ballroom. “Hey, I gotta go double check some things on stage for later. You guys still gonna be around for the show, or does the big guy have to call it quits tonight?”
Alex lazily waved his arm at her. “We’ll be there…”
“Awesome!” said Vinyl as she started to make her way back. “Catch ya later, Engie!”
As the others cheered their farewells to the DJ, Rainbow Dash chuckled at Alex. “Gonna tough it out?”
A low groan was his only reply.
“It’s best if we just let him rest, darling,” said Rarity. “Considering what he’s going through, it would seem that a nap would be- eep!”
Everypony eyed Rarity curiously as she ducked behind the couch as best she could. “Is something the matter?” asked Rose.
“It’s him!” Rarity hissed from behind her cover, pointing a hoof off to somewhere behind Luna.
Despite the lack of specificity in the action, everypony turned to look at exactly who Rarity was talking about. For most of them, all they could see were a number of high class ponies talking amongst each other around the main doorway, who occasionally shot a glance their way, either because of Luna or the Liandri.
Rose, however, had no difficulty in guessing who “he” was. She simply referred to information regarding the name and description of a pony Rarity ranted endlessly about just earlier that evening while fussing about Rose’s hair; a pony Rarity herself had mentioned she dreaded seeing again at this year’s Gala.
Only one pony among the many matched the description she was given: large unicorn stallion; white coat and blonde mane; blue eyes; cutie mark resembling two four-cornered stars superimposed over each other.
Blueblood.
Despite Rarity’s panicking, it appeared that Blueblood had only just arrived, quickly drawing himself to another group of high strung nobles and beginning to chat with them. Nopony could make out what he was saying, and while that wasn’t the case with Rose, the subject was much too mundane for her to care. Either way, Blueblood hadn’t taken notice of them yet.
“Hmmmm… Oh hey, it’s your prince charming!” said Pinkie, pointing a hoof at Blueblood. “You want me to go tell him you’re-”
“Pinkie Pie, if you tell him I’m here in any way I will cut off your mane and turn it into an accessory!” Rarity hissed.
“We are afraid you have lost Us, dear Rarity,” said Luna, eyeing the nobles near the entrance. “Art thou speaking of Prince Blueblood, or-”
“Yes! Him!”
Luna hummed to herself as she eyed him, attempting to draw up her own memories of the stallion. “We cannot say we have much experience dealing with Our good nephew, but-”
“He is anything but good!” Rarity continued to interrupt. “He is the most uncharming prince I could ever possibly imagine! He’s incredibly rude, gets nauseated at the thought of even getting slightly dirty, and the way he treated me last year was ACK- hescomingthisway!”
Rarity ducked behind the couch much more completely this time, prompting everypony to look back towards Blueblood, who was approaching them as warned. His own eyes were pinned firmly on Luna as he marched with a fervent stride and confident smile, seemingly ignorant of everyone else.
The prince hadn’t even gotten within hoofshaking distance before he called out to her. “Auntie Luna! Such a pleasure to see you tonight! I was afraid we wouldn’t get the chance to hold a conversation, what with you refraining from staying within the public eye and-”
Blueblood stopped himself mid-sentence when his eyes finally wandered over towards the two humanoids sitting on the couch, one resting against the couch and the other staring directly at him. The two other Liandri caught his attention soon after, forcing out a gasp and a cautioned step back.
“Is something the matter?” Rose asked, pretending to be oblivious to Blueblood’s shock.
“I… You… you can…” Blueblood stammered before lightly shaking his head. “I-I apologize. I wasn’t aware that foreign dignitaries would be attending the Gala this year, especially with such…” He paused as he looked over the Reds. “...interesting looking golems accompanying them…”
The girls all shared dull looks among each other, clearly unimpressed with Blueblood choice of words. In fact, many of them fully expected Rose to take some offense to use of the word "golem," and eyed her to see just how she would react. To their surprise, if Rose did take offense to what Blueblood said, then she did an excellent job of not showing it.
Luna held her hoof out towards the two sitting on the couch. “Nephew, this is Rose. The one resting beside her is Alexander. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond his control, he is feeling rather unwell.”
Blueblood held a hoof up to his chest and turned his head away. “Oh goodness! He didn’t catch something from one of the common folk, did he?”
As if he wasn’t unlikeable enough already, the girls’ collective deadpan stare somehow managed to intensify and yet simultaneously go completely ignored by the so-called prince. Even Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were forced to frown at his last comment.
“Nothing of the sort,” Rose quipped, somehow managing to keep a straight face and calm voice. “Now if you would be so kind as to tell us why you are bothering us…?”
Blueblood blinked at her for a moment before clearing his throat, lowering his hoof, and giving her a curt bow. “Ah yes, where are my manners? My name is Prince Blueblood. I am a part of one of the most prominent families in Canterlot. Very wealthy, I might add.”
“Mhm…” Rose hummed, completely void of any apparent reaction. “So what do you do, exactly?”
The words themselves almost seemed to slip into the prince’s ears and rattle around in his skull, never managing to settle in. His difficulty in understanding this simple sentence became obvious when he simply stared back at her, vaguely dumbfounded. “I beg your pardon?”
“What do you do?” Rose repeated, tilting her head ever so slightly and modifying her tone of voice to imply some sense of genuine curiosity. A lie, of course, but one that would make it easier to metaphorically beat him over the head later. “Surely you must be involved in some sort of work?”
After finally understanding what she was talking about, Blueblood waved a hoof at her, chuckling derisively. “Oh, I’m afraid you misunderstand! I don’t know what things are like where you’re from, but here, I am royalty. Somepony of my calibre does not simply ‘work.’”
“So you’re useless.”
The words rang out and echoed amongst the group like the bang of a bullet fired in absolute silence, striking Blueblood squarely between the eyes. It took everyone several seconds to comprehend just what exactly was said, and several more to realize just who said it. Everypony stared in slack jawed astonishment at the sheer level of bluntness thrown at the Canterlot noble. For their part, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but turn their lips up just a fraction.
Blueblood stood rigid, barely managing to choke out, “E-e-excuse me?!”
“You heard me…”
Slowly, even mechanically, the previously slumbering human leaned forward from his resting place, placed both of his hands on his knees, and stood himself up, being only slightly taller than the stallion he was staring down. With all the meticulous finesse of a master craftsman, Alex brought his right hand up to pinch the side of his glasses and carefully remove them, revealing a fiercely glowing eye that pierced clean through Blueblood, chilling his blood as he took a step back.
“I said…” Alex continued as he punctuated each of his next words. “You. Are. Useless.”
Words failed to escape from the prince’s mouth, stunned into silence with words never before directed to him. After being stared down by the offending biped, Blueblood finally managed to squeeze out, “Look, I don’t know who or what you are, but I’ll have you know that such a statement is blatantly false! I, alone, am worth over twenty million bits!”
Much to everyone’s confusion, including Rarity after she poked her head out in morbid curiosity, Alex burst out laughing, as if Blueblood had just told the funniest joke ever invented. It wasn’t a quiet, dry laugh, but loud, bellowing laugh that drew its strength from every corner of his gut. Alex’s laughter continued on for what almost felt like forever, drawings looks of concern from his friends and nearby onlookers alike, even as his eyes began to water and tears rolled down his cheeks. It didn’t take very long before Alex’s hearty laugh became the only sound in the lobby.
Alex leaned against one of the Novas for support as he was forced to wipe the tears from his eyes, and his laughter eventually died down to a loud chuckle. When his breath finally caught up to him, he suddenly boomed, “Good god, you’re hilarious!” Alex punctuated his last word by slamming his left fist square into the Nova’s chest, causing everypony but the unyielding Liandri itself to flinch. If he felt any pain from the action, he was doing a good job of not showing it.
Blueblood took a precautionary step back, eying Alex as if he were an escaped lunatic. “I-I don’t understand-”
“Of course you don’t!” Alex shouted, cutting him off mid-sentence. “People like you can’t understand! You know why? Because you actually believe that money means you’re worth something!” The others backed up to give Alex space as his exaggerated movements turned into an odd dance. “Hate to break it to you, buddy, but as far as the universe is concerned, your money means nothing. Bits are just cylinders! Shiny, flat cylinders with some arbitrary quote unquote ‘value’ assigned to them. You know what that means? It means that at the end of the day, all that money is fucking worthless!
“Listen closely, sunshine, because I’m only going to say this once. Your worth isn’t determined by what you have, but what you can do; By what you have done, and what you will do. Me? I’ve accomplished a lot of stuff, and I plan to accomplish a lot more in the future. See these two things right here? I designed them. I built them. I created cybernetic life! Machines that not only think for themselves, but who also respond to my very thoughts! I understand the fundamentals of the universe, and I use my understanding to do things like this! To create my own world, based on my own rules! That is what I’m worth!”
Suddenly switching gears, Alex took a deep breath and ceased his random pacing and movements. Reaching his right hand into his blazer, he fished out his electronic cigar while shoving the other hand into a pocket. Whereas before, Alex’s mind and words were running at a hundred miles a minute, now he was taking all the time he wanted, calmly taking a drag and blowing the cloud of smoke above him before fixing his eyes on Blueblood again, speaking with a pace much more befitting of his new rhythm.
“So let’s back up to that question again, huh? What can you do? What have you accomplished? What have you done with your life? If you were to die tomorrow, would you die comfortable in the knowledge that you didn’t waste your time? That you were actually capable; that you accomplished something worthwhile? It’s a simple yes or no question, but here’s a hint: if you say anything but ‘no,’ then you clearly haven’t done enough.”
Silence dominated the entire lobby. With all the attention he had drawn to him, nopony found themselves able to mind their own business or hold their own private conversations. Now, with Alex staring Blueblood down and expecting an answer out of the prince, everypony began asking themselves similar questions. In the end, the answer wasn’t as important as the actions behind its reasoning.
With Blueblood still giving him a doe-eyed look, Alex sighed before taking a final drag of his cigar. He haphazardly exhaled the cloud of smoke while gritting his teeth at the pony before him. “Get out of my sight, you worthless waste of oxygen.”
The words snapped Blueblood back to reality, making him take several steps back before ultimately bolting out of the room, Alex staring after him. As soon as Blueblood was, in fact, out of his sight, Alex’s free hand reached up towards his forehead as he grit his teeth. Another severe headache suddenly assaulted him, but just as abruptly disappeared.
Shaking off the lingering pain, Alex turned to face the others, his right eye returned to normal. “Well that was cathartic. Dunno what drove me to do that, but I’m glad I did it.”
A single set of clapping hooves sounded, drawing everyone’s attention towards Rarity, who had just come out from her hiding spot and was leaning over the couch’s arm rest. “That was beautiful…” she said, her eye fighting back a tear.
Alex forced back a chuckle as he started idly rubbing the knuckles on his left hand. “Heh, glad you liked it.”
Applejack stepped forward, her face scrunched up in confusion. “Wait a sec, weren’t ya half passed out just a second ago? What the hay just happened that made ya all fit as a fiddle all of a sudden?”
“Yeah, he does that,” Twilight answered as casually as ever. “When he was living with me, he would do this thing with his brain where he ‘mentally reset’ himself. It was usually only good for about half an hour, though. He taught me how to do it, but I’m still trying to get the hang of it.”
“We must admit, your behavior is rather… peculiar,” said Luna, scratching her chin while eyeing Alex curiously. “First, thy outburst in the ballroom, and now this. Although it would seem this time you were more... forward.”
Alex scoffed. “I just hate people who think that money is a be-all, end-all. They were a blight in my world, and I don’t think any differently here.”
“Indeed,” Luna agreed. “Money is all well and good, but it is most importantly a means to an end, rather than an end unto itself.”
“Thank you!” Alex said with a short bow, extending his hand out to her. He turned to address the others, but quickly doubled back towards Luna. “Actually, I don’t believe we’ve formally introduced each other.” He held out his free hand. “Alexander Michael Laythem. Most people just call me Alex.”
“Princess Luna.” She extended a hoof and shook his hand. “My dear sister has told Us quite a bit about you.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Alex answered with a shrug. “Rose and I haven’t exactly been subtle, lately, and I can imagine she gets frequent updates on whatever activities we let become public.”
“She does. Admittedly, We had an interest in meeting you for ourselves, but preoccupation has forced Us to wait until this…” Luna paused as she glanced around the lobby. “...rather dull affair. We do not wish to speak ill, but this ‘Gala’ did not exist during our time, and We fear Our sister hath simply organized a gathering of nobles devoid of any fun!”
“Hey, yeah! I was getting that impression too! Actually…” Alex turned towards everyone else. “Hey, here’s an idea: why don’t we all make like a tree and go do something else until the fun party starts? I heard there’s this really good donut shop that’s not too far from here, and I dunno about you guys, but I could go for a few cups of hard coffee, myself.”
“Alex, it’s only nine fifty,” said Rose, crossing both her arms and legs from her spot on the couch. “The after party doesn’t start for another two hours and ten minutes.”
“Heh, I’m down,” Rainbow Dash smirked.
“Ah could do with some food that’s a little more fillin’,” said Applejack.
“So we’re just skipping ahead to the part where we drown our problems in sprinkles again?” said Pinkie.
Luna shook her head. “As much as We would like to, We are afraid it cannot be done. As an Equestrian princess, it is Our duty to be present at an event such as this…”
“Bull honkey!” Alex gave Luna a firm pat on the withers. “You’re the princess of the moon, aren’t you? I think that gives you a bit of leeway with how you want to spend your night, wouldn’t you agree? Live a little!”
Rose stood up from her seat and approached Luna with a sly smile. “You might as well come. I’ll have to go with him anyway, just to make sure he doesn’t get himself into too much trouble. It would be a shame for us to miss out on our opportunity to talk.”
“Perhaps...” Biting her lip, Luna glanced at a random group of nobles for a brief moment before looking over at Twilight. “Shall you go?”
Everyone’s eyes were suddenly on Twilight. She simply looked around at her friends’ curious looks before finally shrugging. “I guess?”
“I-I wouldn’t mind a donut or two,” said Fluttershy, carefully raising her hoof.
With everyone having spoken their piece, all attention was then dumped onto Rarity, who gazed back at them with wide eyes. “What? Are we just going to simply forget the fact that we’re all dressed up for a formal evening? That we’re in the middle of attending one of the most prestigious gatherings in the world? Are we just going to let this entire Gala go to waste?”
Everyone continued to stare at her, their expressions completely unchanged. Either they refused to answer her questions, or they had already made their decision and Rarity wasn’t going to convince any of them otherwise at this point.
With a final huff, Rarity deadpanned, “Fine. Let’s all go gorge on donuts and drown ourselves in obscene amounts of coffee, then…”
Alex’s fist shot into the air. “PREACH IT!”
“... So then I flipped the switch, and then the insulation around the wires started melting!” Alex exclaimed to Luna, adding in his own laugh.
The princess stared back at him with wide eyes as they walked. “Oh dear! Why? How?”
“I wasn’t paying attention when I wired up the battery, and ended up putting it in backwards! Lemme tell you, there’s a damn good reason why you have to be careful when plugging those in. Completely wrecked the motor controller, too, so we had to order a new one for same-day delivery.”
After having settled on leaving the formal part of the Gala for the nobles to enjoy, everypony had made their way to Donut Joe’s shop just a few blocks away from Canterlot Palace. At the time, Joe had been enjoying himself by filling out the crossword puzzles in that day’s paper. It was tedious, but it occupied the time, especially on slow nights such as these. It was weird how popular events like the Gala would actually slow business down, rather than speed it up. Although he had caught wind that a less formal after-party would start at 11:00 that night, so there was still hope that some early birds would drop in for a shot of caffeine or sugar before heading there.
When the bell above the door jingled, it was a sudden, but not unwelcome surprise, and he dropped what he was doing to give his full attention to whatever customer decided his shop was worth their time on a night like this. Although he definitely wasn’t expecting the parade that came marching in through his door when he did. There were six mares, which he recognized from last year, four tall biped things, two of which looked like nasty metal aliens, and Princess Luna herself.
Words failed Joe in the heat of the moment, and he wasn’t brought back to reality until one of the tall creatures walked up to the counter and said: “You might wanna open a tab for me. We’re gonna be here awhile.”
After eating dozens of donuts and drinking at least half their weight in coffee over some lively conversation, everypony was now well on their way back to The Grand Galloping Gala to take part in what was the real attraction for the evening. Dozens upon dozens of other ponies, each of whom forwent the formal clothing, were traveling up to the palace alongside them with their own small groups of friends. Virtually nopony was traveling alone on this night.
Unfortunately, the crowds grew more dense as they neared the Palace. Evidently, the guards weren’t allowing anypony in until the clock struck eleven.
Probably to make sure the nobles have enough time to escape, Alex thought.
Luna hummed to herself as she eyed the crowd going up the main road. Going through the front door would take some time... She ushered the others to follow her. “This way, I have an idea.”
Instead of leading everyone through the main street, Luna took a collection of back roads and alleys around it. It was an odd detour, one largely devoid of much light save for the moon, but it eventually lead to a small clearing next to a tall stone wall, at least twenty feet high. If Rose’s sense of navigation was correct, that wall was the only thing barring them from one of the Palace courtyards.
“This looks like a dead end,” Rose commented.
“Nay, we must simply go over it!” said Luna, who promptly extended her wings and launched herself up, taking a perch atop the wall. She beckoned the others with a hoof. “Come!”
“Alright.” Rose looked over at Alex and shrugged. “See you on the other side.”
Before anyone could voice the fact that not all of them could fly, Nova One crouched down and launched itself skyward, gracefully landing with both feet on the edge of the stone barrier. Meanwhile, Nova Two crouched facing away at the base of the wall, cupping its hands together. Rose approached Nova Two who, upon having her foot placed in its hands, tossed her up towards the other. With all the confidence of a professional acrobat, Rose shot straight into the air while reaching a hand out, allowing the stronger Liandri to catch it midflight, hoist her up, and cradle her in its arms in a single graceful action. The inertia of their movements pitched them over to the other side, where the Nova landed with Rose safely in its hold, keeping her body and clothing intact.
“Wow,” said Pinkie, equally as impressed with the display of synergy as everyone else.
Alex stared at the Nova standing at the base of the wall. “Seriously?”
Its eye turned blue as it stared back. “Yes.” As Nova Two crouched back down and cupped its hands together, Nova One leapt back up to the top of the wall, positioned directly above its twin. “Now it’s your turn.”
Alex groaned and begrudgingly approached the Liandri. “You’ve gotta be kidding me…”
Twilight held up a hoof. “Um, you know I could just-”
“Shh!” Rainbow Dash silenced her friend by jabbing her in the side with an elbow. “I wanna see if he flops!”
“Let’s just get this over with,” Alex grumbled as he placed a foot into the Nova’s hands while gripping its shoulders.
“Do you trust me to do this?” asked Rose.
He nodded. “Yeah, but it doesn’t mean I’m comfortable with it. Just toss me already.”
After a quick countdown, Nova Two hoisted Alex into the air. Their combined effort was almost enough to propel him over the top, but Nova One quickly caught him and cradled him in his arms, just like it did with Rose, before dropping down on the other side. Nova Two wasted no time following after them in much the same way Nova One did, though instead leapt over the wall entirely.
Everypony else made their way over the wall in short order. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, naturally, lifted themselves to the other side, while Luna and Twilight used their magic to levitate everypony else. Taking a shortcut over the wall led to a lightly wooded area. It looked relatively far off the beaten path, and it didn’t seem like there was anyone around to catch them in their border hopping.
“Dude, that was awesome!” cheered Rainbow Dash as she landed next to the humanoids, with Fluttershy close behind her.
Alex, however, was busy massaging his right hand. “Yeah, maybe from your perspective. That hurt!”
Fluttershy gasped. “It did?! How?! What happened?!”
Alex held his hand up for her to see. “Take a look at my hand. Notice its shape and slight squishiness around the sides. Now look at his hand.” He gestured towards one of the Novas. “He’s got three angular digits, all made of titanium, and a grip so strong that it could probably splinter wood. You tell me.”
Rose chuckled as the others were carefully lifted down in Luna’s magic aura. “Don’t be such a baby. Your hand will be fine.”
Completely ignoring her, Alex gawked at the girls being gently placed on the ground next to them. He cursed under his breath, realizing that the act of robotic acrobatics he had just gone through was unnecessary. “God dammit, are you serious?”
“I tried to tell you!” Twilight exclaimed, quickly shooting Rainbow Dash a glare. “Except somepony interrupted me!”
While Rainbow Dash was busy holding back a snort, Luna floated down next to them. “We are glad to have witnessed that, actually! Twas an impressive display.”
Alex scoffed while waving away the pain in his hand one final time. “At least you got a kick out of it. Let’s just get back to the palace…”
Luna once again took the lead, bringing the group through the trees towards a much larger clearing, one populated by well defined paths, colorful flowers most of them wouldn’t have been able to identify if their life depended on it, and even a number of fountains and statues. As they neared the palace proper, Alex’s eyes wandered over to poorly lit statue - one very distinct from the others. While every other statue depicted some pony or another in some heroic stance, this one portrayed a creature with an obscenely long body, composed from a random assortment of body parts. What was probably the most important feature, though, was the look of absolute horror on its face.
“That’s discord,” Twilight answered Alex’s unspoken question. He had stopped in front of the statue long enough for her to guess at his curiosity. “He’s the literal embodiment of the spirit of chaos.”
“The spirit of chaos…?” Alex muttered. “Why would ponies make a statue like this?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, as in that statue actually is Discord. The princesses used the elements of harmony to trap him in stone over a thousand years ago, and my friends and I had to do the exact same thing. Less than a week before you showed up, actually.”
“So you guys petrified him twice?” Alex gazed at the statue’s terrified features. “What did he do to deserve that?”
Twilight sighed. “Green skies, cotton candy clouds that rained chocolate milk, roads made of soap, homes torn out of the ground and floating upside down… Among many other things… He was tearing Equestria apart, Alex - completely out of control. We didn’t have much of a choice.”
“Huh…” Alex allowed himself a few extra seconds of curiosity before moving to catch up with the others. “Glad I wasn’t around to see that…”
It didn’t take long for Luna to lead them all back into the palace itself. A group of guards stood around the doorway between the building and garden, and while Alex was sure they would have asked any number of damning questions related to how they didn’t see any single one of them go out into the garden, Luna’s presence seemed to dispel all of it.
By the time they all managed to make their way back to the ballroom, the nobles had already thinned out, leaving it largely empty. Palace employees were also busy cleaning off tables and replacing their chairs, making sure they were ready for the second half of the night. Up on stage, Vinyl Scratch was messing around with her equipment while her marefriend and her ensemble were playing what was presumably their last musical number of the night.
Alex inhaled deeply through his nose, released a content sigh afterwards. “I like how this place was aired out. Smells fresher.”
Pinkie sniffed the air for herself. “Really? I don’t smell anything different.”
“The nobles, Pinkie,” Alex answered as he eyed Vinyl Scratch. “It’s the smell of nobles losing their precious ego stroking fun time. Hey, you guys go find us some tables, I’m gonna go see if Vinyl needs any help setting up.”
Alex left before any of them had the chance to respond, and their calling out to him fell on deaf ears. Nova two, however, kept pace.
“Need any help?” Alex asked as he walked up the steps along the side of the stage.
Vinyl’s head whipped in the direction of his voice. “Engie! Dude, there you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Thought you bailed on me.”
Alex let out an involuntary chuckle. "Nah, I bailed on the nobles. Been killing time at Donut Joe's for an hour and half. Why, you need me to help you with something?"
Vinyl ducked behind her new turntables, fiddling with some unseen object. "Yeah, dude. The instructions you gave me were great and all, but I'm having a tough time finding even half of the stuff you mentioned."
"Heheh, here, lemme give you a hand." Alex moved over to her side and inspected the cables for himself. He wasn't sure how she managed it, but Vinyl ended up getting most of the major connections tangled up. He was really starting to wish he color coded them for her… "Son of a bitch..."
"Yeah," breathed Vinyl as she pinned her ears against her head and chuckled nervously.
Alex ran a hand over his head. "Okay, um... Alright, I have an idea." He quickly unplugged everything, singling out a cable and removing it from both ends. After getting that cable free, he handed the rest to Vinyl, saying "Here, split those things apart while I set things up."
Vinyl nodded her head and set about doing her task. Meanwhile, Alex took the cable he had separated and plugged one end into the turntables. He then asked the Nova to bend down and, with only a thought, asked it to open an access port on the back of its head, revealing an input compatible with his chosen cable.
Gotta love universal standards, Alex thought as he plugged the cable into the Liandri. "Alright, unit, give me a diagnostic of the system in port one."
After a few seconds, the Nova replied with "Diagnostic complete."
Alex turned his attention to a blank section of the turntables, where the image of a user interface materialized out of nothing. Alex's hand instinctively began working through the shifting image until a he could easily see the system's connections, telling him what was responding and what wasn't. Much to Vinyl's confusion.
"Hey, Engie? What are you doing? Also, why is your eye going all glowy...?"
Instead of going into a long winded explanation about the premise of oculus-based augmented reality, Alex simply replied with, “I’m troubleshooting… You get those cables untangled?”
She held them up to him in her magic.
“Okay, good. Let’s make sure we get this right.” Tracing each of the cables, Alex carefully plugged them back into their intended ports, double checking the diagnostic to make sure the intended subsystems were responding to the turntables.
Since Vinyl’s turntables ultimately acted as the master control panel, the two of them had to ensure that all of the lights, fog machines, auxiliary speakers, and main speakers were all responding, resulting in an excess amount of wires that left a small part of him dead inside. Eventually, the Nova’s diagnostic went green across the board and Alex performed a few more routine checks to make sure everything was truly working properly, before unplugging the Liandri and placing the cable he borrowed in its proper place.
“Hey, thanks, Engie!” Vinyl cheered as she offered him a hoof bump, which he accepted. “Really saved my flank there.”
Alex gave her an extra pat on the back. “No problem. Just give us a good show, alright?”
“You can bet that neat little hand of yours, I will!”
Jogging down the other side of the stage while doing his best to remain out of sight, Alex walked himself over to the tables his friends managed to hold down. They were the kind of tables meant for hold snacks and drinks while you held a discussion, rather than the ones to sit down and eat an actual meal, but they were still fairly sizable. However, they were still meant for ponies, and as such, the tables and their accompanying chairs were uncomfortably low to the ground.
It didn’t take very long before Vinyl’s marefriend and the rest of the orchestra began packing up their instruments. Once they were cleared, Vinyl used her magic to position her brand new DJ deck to the front of the stage, being extra careful to not yank out any of the cables from underneath that snaked off elsewhere.
Once she was set up, a song started playing through the the speakers, although it wasn’t very loud or noticeable. It was electronic, of that Alex could tell immediately, but it was the kind of song that would be playing in the background with enough volume to be present while everyone was waiting for the main event to start. Almost like loud elevator music, except not shit. At the same time, the room’s lighting was altered, where most of the ambient lights were dimmed while the stage’s various chromatic spotlights and lasers lit up to replace them.
Soon enough, ponies started filing in in droves. Unlike the nobles from before, virtually all of the new arrivals came in undressed, as was the norm pretty much everywhere. Alex did his best to see if he could recognize anyone in the crowd, but even with his ability to see in low-light conditions thanks to his cybernetic eye, they all effortlessly morphed into a giant mass of color that left their individual identities at the door.
“Oh, this is so exciting!” Luna said from her spot at the table, nearly bouncing with giddiness. “A truly modern party, with strange, yet entrancing music! Why did Tia not simply make the Gala this?” She paused. “Where is our sister, anyway?”
“Luna, there you are!” came Celestia’s voice, right on time. Alex turned around from where he was sitting, spotting Celestia approaching them from behind Luna. She looked vaguely worried. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, Luna. Where have you been?”
“I have been out drinking caffeinated beverages and eating ring shaped pastries with our friends, good sister,” said Luna, indicating to everyone sitting around the table. "Twas a shame thou could not join us."
A slight frown crossed Celestia's face. "You left the Gala to go eat donuts and drink coffee...?"
"Correct."
"Guilty party, over here!" Alex called out, sensing her impending question and waving a hand over his head. "I was bored, and just so happened to convince everyone else it was a good idea."
Celestia turned her attention to Alex, and then to everyone else after his declaration of desertion. "You all left to go eat donuts?"
It took a few moments, but everyone eventually gave her a begrudging confirmation. Twilight looked particularly uncomfortable during it all, constantly shifting in her seat next to Alex while biting her lip.
"To be fair," Alex quickly started to defend, "We did come back for the rest of the party."
"I suppose," the princess sighed. "Although it is worrisome when almost a dozen of the most notable guests of the evening suddenly disappear."
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, probably to give the princess a hasty apology, but Vinyl Scratch's voice came out instead of her own. Or rather, Vinyl's voice boomed out of the speakers and drowned out Twilight's apology.
"Goodniiiiight, Canterlooooot!" the DJ drawled over the microphone. "How you guys all doing tonight?"
The crowd responded with a cheer, further drowning someone's ability to think. Vinyl continued with a party bag worth of standard energizing sentences - "Are you guys ready to party?" and the like. Alex ignored most of it until...
"Before we get this party started, I wanna give a shout out to the engie that made this possible: Alex Laythem!" Before he could react, a light from the stage swiveled to shine on Alex, blinding him for a brief moment. "There he is! Give him some love!"
As he attempted to shield his eyes from the light, a stern, high-heeled nudge in the rear from Rose sitting behind him forced Alex to his feet, where everypony managed to get a good look at him. Unlike the stunned silence from the nobles, this new crowd cheered and stomped, fueled by the excitement Vinyl was feeding them. He gleefully allowed the positive attention to soak in, smiling to himself as Vinyl said, “That two legged genius over there put together the deck and speakers for this party! Just listen to how low these puppies can go…” and then proceeded to play a loud, deep bass sound that bordered on infrasonic.
His fifteen seconds of fame over, the light wrenched itself away from Alex, leaving him oddly disappointed, though not unenergized. Vinyl had the courtesy of shouting him out, so it was only fair that he at least join the crowd for her first song. Unbuttoning his nanofibre jacket and laying it over the back of his chair, Alex tried yelling over Vinyl’s voice at the table of friends. “Hey, I’m gonna be in the crowd for her first song. Anyone wanna come with?”
Using her magic, Twilight grabbed the drink sitting in front of Applejack - hard apple cider - and downed a large gulp, despite her friend’s protest. From what Alex could tell, it was fairly obvious she was making a pained effort to not have to not make eye contact with the princess. “Yup! Let’s go!”
“Well shit,” Alex muttered to himself as his gaze followed after her. Quickly turning to Rose, he said, “You gonna hold down the table?”
“Of course,” was her answer.
“Cool! Keep the Reds here; don’t want them cluttering up the place.”
Alex quickly followed after Twilight before he could lose track of her in the crowd. Twilight, however, didn’t bother to turn around to see if anyone was following her. Vinyl’s first actual performance of the night kicked off, exciting the crowd with its electronic beat. Alex picked up his stride to catch up to Twilight, catching her by the withers and forcing her to look at him.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Alex yelled over the crowd and music. “Everything alright?”
Twilight bit her lip, quickly glancing in various directions before finally looking up at him. The beat of the music was starting to pick up around them. “I abandoned the Gala, Alex!” she yelled back. “Princess Celestia does this only once a year, and I disrespected my own teacher by just leaving without telling her!”
“So? She understands! Besides, I already took the blame for it!”
“That doesn’t matter! I still shouldn’t have gone with you! She must think I’m some kind of irresponsible pony now!” The tempo of the music dulled, whereas the ambient sounds of the song grew louder, indicating the impending drop.
“Oh come on, Twilight, now you’re just being silly! It’s not like doing one little thing means that everything you’ve accomplished so far is…” Alex’s words trailed off as he caught something within the corner of his vision. Looking up at the stage, his attention focused on the faint neon blue outline that appeared around the edges of the speakers themselves, which grew stronger in brightness as the drop approached. All thoughts of Twilight evacuated his mind as an old concern bulldozed its way to the front. “Goddammit! She’s overcharging the fucking speakers! I told her not to do that!”
Twilight noticed Alex’s sudden change in attitude, drawing her own attention to the stage. Whatever it was he was talking about must have been important if he was just going to change the subject like that. “What do you mean? Is that bad?”
“Cover your ears!” Alex yelled as he did exactly that, pressing the palms of his hands against his head with the full force of both of his arms. Twilight barely had enough time to fold her ears down and behind herself before it hit.
For a brief moment, there was nothing but complete silence as both the crowd and the song itself hesitated a breath in anticipation for the music’s drop. Vinyl herself held a hoof straight up in the air, and then slammed it down in time with the music.
The Liandri-made speakers, charged to the brim with energy, released it all at once. A blue wave of aetherial sound shot outwards and into the ballroom before them. Glasses shattered as the pressure wave swept over them, spilling their contents everywhere. Likewise, the tall clear and stained glass windows that lined the walls of the room exploded outwards.
Alex grunted as the shock wave knocked him off his feet. Most of the other ponies in the room remained standing, thanks to their lower center of gravity, though were all stunned into a discombobulated daze.
The speakers’ relentless assault, however, was far from over. As Newton had written: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The pony-made stage was never made to hold a force as raw as this. While it barely survived the initial pulse, each subsequent beat pounded the steel frame like a jackhammer on concrete. After only a few seconds, the structure began to bend and warp, straining its supports.
Everypony in the crowd was still reeling from the shock, while Vinyl was too entranced by her own music to notice the events going on around her. From his spot on the ground, Alex forced his eyes open, his cybernetic heart beating into overdrive. His eyes immediately noticed the growing structural failures around stage, and trailed up to the steel cables that connected from the top front of its frame to the opposite side of the ballroom, where their anchors to the wall strained against their breaking point.
In that split second, Alex performed the math in his head and came to the terrifying conclusion that the cable above him would inevitably snap and whip the ground near him.
No… he thought as his eyes trailed to his predicted location of impact. It’s going to hit Twilight…!
Twilight, however, was still reeling from the initial shock, doing her best to keep her balance while rubbing her head with a forehoof - completely oblivious to the danger above her.
Alex acted on instinct. From lying down, he swung himself into a crawling position and lunged at Twilight, planted his left hand on her side, and shoved her away, knocking her over with as much force as he could muster.
In that moment, the steel cable above them snapped, whipped against the ceiling, then came rushing down with a crack of thunder.
Twilight’s senses were still reeling from the shock wave of speakers, and she was unable to keep herself standing when something shoved her onto her side. When she finally regained enough of her senses, she was able to remember two distinct thunderous noises: one from the speakers, and the other from… something else…? When she finally staggered to her hooves, she looked over to where she was standing just a moment earlier.
In that moment, she let out a shrill scream, infused with pure, bloody terror.