August 6, 2015
“Uh, hello, princess.”
Luna looked away from the conversation she’d been having with Maria. “There you are. I require your assistance.”
“What do you need?”
“I am unable to locate your friend Gary.”
Oh boy. Maria and I traded glances. She said, “I have no idea where he went with Chrysalis.” She looked impatient, as if it wasn’t the first time she’d explained that.
“Yeah,” I agreed, shrugging for Luna. “It’s not really my scene.”
“But we must fetch him,” Luna insisted. “Celestia’s first panel is tomorrow bright and early. Mine, Cadance’s, and Twilight’s follow it. They must go perfectly.”
I raised my hands. “Hey, I’m sure they will. BronyCon seems well-run. They’d drop everything for you.”
“We cannot leave anything to chance,” Luna pressed. “This is perhaps the biggest event in the history of either of our worlds.”
Well, since she put it that way. “Okay. I’ll try to find him.”
I headed out the door, walking down the hallway to the elevator. I pushed the button and waited, surprised to see Luna step up beside me. I hadn’t heard her hooves on the carpet.
We stood there together, the muzak playing lightly. I shoved my hands into my pockets. She shifted her hooves.
The door opened and I stepped into the elevator. Luna followed me in, carefully turning around.
I pushed the button for the lobby and asked her, “Which floor?”
“I’m coming with you.”
“Out in public? I thought you wanted to introduce ponies tomorrow.”
“I have an incognito spell. It comes with being Princess of the Night. If I am not expected, then I may as well be invisible.”
Her horn lit up, and a soft blue glow enveloped her body, fading after a few seconds.
“I can still see you.”
She tossed a look at me. “Because you were expecting me.”
“So people won’t notice you’re there until you call attention to yourself?”
“Precisely.”
The elevator door dinged open and we stepped out into the hotel lobby. Sure enough, nobody seemed to see Luna. Well, they walked around her, but paid her no more attention than if she’d been a potted plant.
I pulled out my phone and looked up the nearest bars. Luna stared at the device with interest, though when I glanced at her, she looked away.
“There’s an Irish pub across the street and most restaurants around have bars. It might be a long search.”
“Then we had best begin.”
I led her to the crosswalk and waited for the light to change. She stood at my side, glancing around, perhaps somewhat impatiently.
We crossed the street. I looked at the other people crossing with us. It was so freaky how I was leading a midnight blue alicorn with a sparkly mane and polished jewelry around downtown Baltimore and nobody seemed to care.
We walked through the Irish place, but Gary and Chrissy weren’t there. Out back, Luna paused, staring at the wooden sailing ship at the wharf.
“Good old ship there,” I said. “It’s named Constellation.”
“It looks respectable enough.”
We crossed to the next block where the World War Two submarine USS Torsk was also a museum.
“What in the world is that?” Luna asked. “It’s such a sleek ship, though still nothing compared to cars.”
Well, sleek compared to a wooden frigate, I suppose. “It’s a seventy-year-old submarine.”
Before Luna could ask, I spotted Gary, Chrissy, and a crowd (herd?) of colorfully-dressed others coming out of a bar. I pushed into the crowd and got Gary’s attention. His breath had at least a few drinks on it. “Hey, I need you for some business.”
He grinned. “Oh, hey Sandy, I was just thinking about something. You drive a Fiat. You’re always complaining about it. But you know what Fiat stands for, right? Fix it again, Tony.” He frowned, as if suddenly remembering something.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But I need you to come with me.”
Reluctantly, he disengaged. Chrissy gave me a wave and went with the crowd of others, who were displaying various levels of subtlety in ogling her.
“What do you want?” Gary asked.
“Here’s Luna,” I said, gesturing at the mare beside me.
Gary blinked. “Oh. Where did you come from?”
“It’s a spell,” she explained. “You don’t see me if you don’t expect me.”
I nodded. “Anyway, ‘Ol Spanish Inquisition here needs your help.”
Gary sobered up as we walked back to the hotel and Luna explained her requirements. She seemed to be getting what she wanted, so I left them and went back to the room.
“Did you get things sorted out?” Maria asked as I returned.
“Yep. Let’s hope that’s the last we hear of it.”
Ordinarily, that phrase would be a jinx. But with four princesses around, I figured we had less to worry about in terms of invasions or otherwise.
The next day, the convention kicked off. Ten thousand bronies converged on Baltimore. It was pretty close to the mother of all parties and I was pumped. My previous convention experiences had been great, well, at least the parts that hadn’t been terrifying.
I didn’t see any signs of conflict, invasion, or anything else as Maria and I walked to the convention center. Opening ceremonies went well. Afterwards, we stayed in our seats. The Mane Stage was the largest room in the center, and this would undoubtedly be the place the announcement was made.
A couple of minutes went by. A few reporters, brony press and otherwise, filtered into the room. Cameras were set up. A few people with administrator-level badges appeared. Nobody really seemed to know what was going on, except that something big would be happening.
I checked the time and saw that it was getting close to the top of the hour. Anticipation building, we waited. Nothing happened.
Maria and I glanced at each other. The door opened and I saw Luna walk in. I was the only one who seemed to notice.
She looked around the room. It seemed like she was searching for something or someone and not having any success.
I suddenly had a bad feeling.