//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The Gala // Story: Love Made of Metal and Apples // by Gearsmash King //------------------------------// The day of the Grand Galloping Gala had arrived. Copper Finish had shown up early with the Calliope on wheels and eight of his strongest assistants, to help haul it to the Gala. The Calliope was brightly polished, with engravings on the sides, a firewood catch, a small pedal to open the valve inside, and four small buttons for music selection. Copper Finish, himself, looked nice too. He was wearing his favorite top hat, with polished brass goggles, a tailored suit jacket with a black bowtie, and his polished special hoof gauntlets. "Excuse me..." he said, approaching one of the castle guards, "...could you tell me where the grand ballroom is?" The guard looked at him, "A little early for the Gala, aren't you?" The guard then looked at the Calliope, in amazement. "What, in the name of Princess Celestia, is that?!" said the guard. Copper Finish grinned, "It's called the Calliope, it plays music using steam whistles." The guard, trying to figure out how this machine worked, walked over to inspect it. "It's interesting," Copper Finish continued, "Princess Celestia personally invited me and requested that I..." "Wait," said the guard, interrupting Copper Finish, "did you just say, the princess invited you personally and asked you to bring this?" He looked hard at Copper Finish and couldn't understand why the princess would ask somepony like this, to bring such a strange looking contraption. But, he chose not to question it. "The ballroom is at the end of the hallway," said the guard, "try to be careful, they're still decorating inside." "Thanks," Copper Finish said, happy to get moving again, "we will, come on guys." Motioning to his assistants, they went inside. They moved slowly down the huge hallway, it was lined with red silk ribbons, and lovely flowers of every colour. They entered the ballroom and were greeted with a brightly polished marble floor, with a red carpet leading toward the grand statue on the other side of the room. Some ponies were still working on the stage for the musicians on one side of the room, when they entered. "Excuse me," said a stern voice, "are you supposed to be here?" Copper Finish turned to face the voice. A unicorn pony, levitating a clipboard, was standing in the middle of the room looking at him. She was the planner for the Gala and she wasn't to happy. On her clip board were several pages of lists, diagrams, and notes needed for the party. "Um, I think so." Copper Finish said, "But, I'm not really sure. Could you help me?" "What's your name?" asked the planner, rolling her eyes. "Copper Finish." he answered instantly. He waited as the party planner flipped the pages of her clipboard. "Copper Finish, Copper Finish." she said, as she looked through the pages. "Aha, yes, here you are," she said, "go set up next to the stage." She pointed to a spot that had a sign saying "Reserved." "Thanks," he said, "okay guys, lets park the Calliope and get some food." He lead the group over to the spot, where they untied their harnesses and set the wheel brakes. Afterward they left to get something to eat. About three hours later, the Grand Galloping Gala started. Copper Finish returned to the castle alone. His emotions were all confused, he was nervous, excited, and afraid. But, since it was his first time being at the Gala, it was to be expected. He approached the greeters with a small grin. "Good evening," said one of the greeters, "will you present your ticket, please?" Extending his hoof to Copper Finish. Copper Finish reached into his jacket and pulled out the gold ticket he was given. He gave it to the greeter and was shown inside. The foyer was busy with ponies from all parts of Equestria. Ponies from The Crystal Empire, Manehatten, Cloudsdale, Fillydelphia, Appleoosa, and Ponyville. There were many celebrities and VIPs (Very Important Ponies), including Prince Shining Armor with his wife Princess Cadence, Discord, the Wonderbolts, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, and her sister Princess Luna. "Wow," Copper Finish thought, "I knew it was big ,but I never imagined it would be THIS big!" He was so overwhelmed with excitement, that he didn't notice that Princess Celestia walked over to greet him. "Hello, Copper Finish. Having a nice time?" she said softy. Copper Finish turned to face her and instantly, humbly, bowed to her. "Oh," he said, still bowing, "hello, princess. It's nice to see you again." He returned to a normal stance and looked at Celestia. It took a moment for him to answer her question. Finally, he spoke, "I can't tell you how happy I am to be here," he had a very big smile on his face, "thank you for inviting me." Celestia smiled back, "Would you be so kind, as to have your Calliope start with the music?" she said kindly. "Of course, your highness," Copper Finish answered, "I even have the perfect intro and opening number for it." He then realized that, the fire, needed to make the steam, wasn't started. He bowed, excusing himself from the princess, and raced to the ballroom. When he reached the ballroom, it was crowded with ponies. He moved quickly through the crowd and accidently bumped into a young mare. They both fell to the floor, Copper Finish landed face down, while the mare fell backwards. He picked himself up and turned to the mare, who was brushing her hair away from her eyes. "Oh my gosh," Copper Finish said, walking over to help her, "I'm so sorry, miss, I guess next time I'll..." He stopped talking and looked in awe. The young mare was a light orange earth pony, with a blonde mane, done up with an apple shaped jewel and curls. She had three freckles on each cheek and olive green eyes. The dress she was wearing had different shades of pink, a diamond pattern in the skirt, and a small transparent train/liner at the bottom. Copper Finish stared at her for a moment and realized that he still had to help her up. He extended his hoof out to her, she took hold and he brought her to her hooves. "My apologies," Copper Finish said, "you're not hurt, are you?" "Nah," the mare said, in a country accent, "I'm guessin' ya'll were in a hurry. Where ya tryin' to go?" He had almost forgotten about the fire in the Calliope. He was about to say where he was going, but instead he started to babble and sputter. "I... Go... Music... Everypony..." Copper Finish stuttered. He turned red with embarrassment and quickly corrected himself. "I-I mean, I'm going to try to start my machine for everypony," he said, pointing to the Calliope, "excuse me." He walked away from the mare and toward the Calliope, still feeling foolish. He reached the Calliope without anymore drama. Grabbing some firewood from the wood catch on the side of the machine, he loaded the small firebox and lit the fire. There was water already in the boiler, but it would take a moment to build enough pressure for the whistles to play. At that moment Princess Celestia got on stage for announcements. "Fillies and Gentlecolts," she said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Mares and Stallions, I'm pleased to see that all of you could attend this year's Grand Galloping Gala." The crowd roared with cheers, whistles, and hoof stamping. Celestia spoke again, "This year, we have a special treat for you." she paused. Copper Finish, who knew what she was going to say next, began to tremble with fear. The Calliope had built enough steam for the whistles now, but he wasn't sure if he had enough steam for himself. "This year I invited our royal metallic artist and chief engineer, to astonish you with his extraordinary machine." she continued. Then, she looked at Copper Finish. "Copper Finish," Celestia said, " would you like to say anything before you begin?" Copper Finish nodded, nervously and proceeded to the stage. He got up and stood next to her. "Ahm!" he cleared his throat and spoke, "Thank you, your highness." She nodded and let him have the stage. "Good evening, everyone." he said, trying not to be afraid, "Tonight, I hope to impress and amaze all of you with my Calliope." The crowd murmured and spoke quietly. They were wondering and waiting to see what this strange machine could do. "And now," Copper Finish spoke again, "without further ado, I will start the music." He stepped off stage and walked over to the Calliope and pushed one of the four buttons. A light clicking sound came from inside the machine and then a whoosh of steam went through the pipes. Then silence came from the machine. The crowd started talking again. "Is that it?" one pony said. "Maybe, it still needs some work." said another. Copper Finish grinned and thought, "They have no idea, about what comes next." He pushed down on the pedal, which opened the valve, suddenly the whistles came to life with sound. The whistles started playing a fast and happy tune and soon everyone at the Gala was dancing to the Calliope's music. Everyone was having so much fun, except Copper Finish. He couldn't stop thinking about that mare he met earlier. When the music stopped, Copper Finish released the pedal. The crowd cheered for Copper Finish, who was happy the Calliope worked, but sad that he never, properly, introduced himself to the young mare. "Thank you," Copper Finish said, "maybe later on in the evening, I'll start the Calliope again. But, for now I have to give it a rest." The crowd groaned with disappointment. They wanted to hear it again. "I'm sorry, everypony," Copper Finish said, "but if it doesn't rest, the pressure in the pipes could cause too much stress and could be damaged." Princess Celestia spoke out to the crowd, "Don't worry, we'll still have music and fun. So enjoy the rest of your evening." The crowd disbanded into their own groups and Copper Finish stayed by his machine. Princess Celestia noticed that he looked upset and walked over to him. "Is everything alright?" she asked. Copper Finish looked at her and said, "Well, that depends on what you mean, your highness." Then he looked passed the princess and his heart beat quickened. There, on the over side of the massive ballroom, was the young mare he met earlier. She was standing with Princess Twilight and four other ponies, talking and laughing. Princess Celestia noticed that Copper Finish wasn't paying attention to her and turned to see what he was looking at. The princess smiled, "Why don't you go talk to her?" she asked. Copper Finish was wondering the same thing, but he found the reason very quickly. He was frozen with fear and couldn't move. His legs felt like rubber, he could hear his heart pounding in his ear, and thoughts were racing though his mind. He tried to calm down, by taking deep breaths. Finally, he calmed down enough to speak, "I'm afraid of doing something dumb." he said. "Well," Princess Celestia said, in an assuring tone, "you could start with a proper introduction. Come on." She started walking toward the group. Copper Finish, wondering what to do, decided to follow. As they got closer, he got more nervous about what to say. Should he say his name, start a conversation, or just say "Hello." "Hello," Princess Celestia said to the group of ponies, when they reached them, "it's nice to see you all again." The group looked at the princess and smiled. Copper Finish, however, was shy and hid behind her. "Twilight," Celestia said, speaking to the princess of friendship, "this is Copper Finish." She surrounded Copper Finish with a magical aura and levitated him to the front of the group. He stood in front of them, trying to calm his nerves. "Um, H-Hello," he finally said, still nervous, "it's nice to meet you." Then Celestia spoke, "Would you mind if he joined you and your friends for the evening? He doesn't know anyone here and it would be nice for him to make new friends." "Of course," Princess Twilight said, now looking at Copper Finish, "you're welcome to join us." "Um, thank you, princess." Copper Finish said accepting her invitation. "Please," Princess Twilight said, "just Twilight is fine." Celestia took her leave and went back to her place in the ballroom. Leaving Copper Finish, Twilight, the mystery mare, and the others to introduce themselves. "We've already been introduced," Twilight said, "these are my friends." Before Copper Finish could say anything, an energetic pink earth pony jumped in front of him. "Hi," said the pink pony, "I'm Pinkie Pie and I thought your super strange machine sounded super duper, I can't stop smiling!" "Pinkie," said the mystery mare, "when do ya ever stop smilin'?" "I don't know," Pinkie said, "I'm usually having too much fun to stop." She started laughing. "I'm Applejack," said the mystery mare, "I gotta say, the only thing that machine reminds me of is that weird new fangled thing, the Flim-Flam Brothers had." Applejack looked hard at Copper Finish. "Y're not with them, are ya?" she said. Copper Finish had heard about the Flim-Flam Brothers, their machines, and what they tried to do in Ponyville. Now he had to be careful about what he would say next. Feeling backed into a corner, he said, nervously, "N-No, no. Th-They actually sold their cider machine to me and I used the some of parts to make that." He pointed at the Calliope. Copper Finish could feel himself falling apart inside, the more he spoke to Applejack. "Hm, good use for 'em," she said, smiling, "better for music than cider." "Yeah," said a blue pegasus with rainbow hair, "awesome work. I'm Rainbow Dash, the best flyer around." "Oh, stop bragging, Rainbow Dash." said a white unicorn with a violet mane, "Try to be more discreet, if you please." Rainbow Dash looked hard at the unicorn, who paid no mind to her. Instead she was more focused on Copper Finish. "Ahm. My name is Rarity and might I say, your outfit and your machine are quite unique." said the unicorn. "Well, thank you, Rarity." said Copper Finish, feeling a little confident, "You mean that in a good way, right?" "But, of course," she answered, quickly, "I don't see any reason to say anything bad about it." Copper Finish looked and saw a face hiding behind the group. "Fluttershy," Twilight said, "don't hide, come say, hello." "No, no," Copper Finish said, kindly, "if she doesn't want to say anything, then she doesn't have to." Fluttershy stepped out from behind her friends. She was a light yellow pegasus with long, light pink hair. "Um, hello," she said, softly, "I'm Fluttershy, I noticed that some of your whistles sounded like bird chirps, or, um, maybe I was imagining things." "No, you weren't imagining anything," Copper Finish reassured her, "what you heard was a special kind of whistle. They're called bird whistles, mostly because they're small and sound like birds. They're hard to find." Fluttershy smiled and felt less afraid inside. For most of the evening, the seven ponies all talked about where they lived, what their favorite pastime was, and favorite jokes. They were so busy having fun that none of them noticed someone slithering through the crowd. Copper Finish, who was still nervous, was looking down and talking about his hoof gauntlets, when he noticed that his reflection on the polished marble floor moved when he wasn't moving. "BOO!" said the reflection. "AAAHHH!" shouted Copper Finish, jumping backward and falling to the floor, "Why is my reflection moving and talking?!" "I'm not your reflection..." said the reflection, in a chuckling voice. The reflection then came to life and transformed. It was Discord, playing one of his mean tricks. "Discord!" Twilight yelled, "What are you doing?" "What's wrong with having a little fun?" Discord said, laughing. Fluttershy spoke up, "You know better than to scare ponies you don't even know." Discord stopped laughing and felt bad now, he turned to Copper Finish and apologized. "I'm sorry," he said, "sometimes I can't help myself." Discord extended his lion paw out to help Copper Finish back up. Copper Finish was a little sceptical, at first. But, he accepted Discord's help anyway. After he was back on his hooves again, Copper Finish looked at the strange creature, that stood in front of him. "I've never seen anything like you before." he said. Discord replied, "That's because no other thing exists, I'm the only one." That made Copper Finish wonder if, being so different bothered him. But, before he could ask, Discord turned away to leave. "Well," Discord said, "I'm off to see if I can liven up the party outside. Ta ta." He then disappeared in a flash. "Don't worry about him," Fluttershy said, "he can actually be very nice." "Yeah, right," Rainbow Dash said in a doubtful voice, "I still have some doubts." At that moment, the musicians started to play a nice country tune. Copper Finish and Applejack looked over at the stage. They both knew that tune and liked it very much. Copper Finish then looked at Applejack. He was more nervous than before, but calm. "Applejack..." he said, still trying to keep calm. She looked at him, wondering what he had to say. Copper Finish started to shake with fear. "Dance... You... Want..." he said, babbling in broken words again. "What?" Applejack said, giving him a confused look. "I-I mean..." Copper Finish stuttered, taking a deep breath and putting a hoof to his face. "...Would you like to dance?" he asked, even though his legs went back to feeling like rubber. "Uh.." she said, somewhat confused and a little embarrassed. She then looked at her friends, who were motioning her to accept his invitation. "Uh, alright," Applejack said, with a small, nervous smile, "but, I'm warnin' ya, I'm not the best dancer here." "Oh, don't worry," Copper Finish said, feeling a little better, "neither am I." They both walked over to the dance floor and began to dance to the rhythm of the song. They were actually better than they said they were. The other ponies looked and were amazed at how well they moved with each other. "Now that is simply wonderful." whispered Rarity to Twilight. "Yeah," Twilight whispered back, "I knew Applejack could dance. But, I never thought she'd be this good, especially with a partner." Fluttershy started whispering, "It's almost like they were meant for each other." "Yeah," said Rainbow Dash, also whispering, "but, we all know Applejack isn't one for relationships." Pinkie Pie thought for a moment, then said, "That's true, but, you know the old saying: look before you leap." "Pinkie Pie," Rainbow Dash said in a normal, but confused voice, "what are you talking about?" "I don't know. Hey, what's that on the table?" Pinky Pie said, walking to one of the food tables. A moment later, the song ended and everyone went back to their own groups. Everyone, except Copper Finish and Applejack. They stood in the middle of the huge ballroom, facing each other, in silence. Copper Finish was the first to break the silence. "You're actually not that bad of a dancer." He said, kindly and feeling a little foolish. Applejack took a moment to think of something to say. She finally found a reply. "Well, thank ya, ya'll ain't so bad y'rself." She said, smiling. Copper Finish, then looked behind her and saw Princess Celestia waving him over to her. "Um... Needed... Have... Go... Bye..." he said, shaking. He, then, started walking toward the princess and Applejack went back to her friends. She didn't fully understand why he spoke like that, but she understood what Copper Finish meant. "You're such an idiot." he thought to himself, "You're lucky, she didn't laugh at you." For some reason, as Copper Finish got further away from Applejack, the more hurt he felt inside. He didn't want to leave, but, when you're part of the royal staff, duty comes before anything else. At least that's how he was taught. He approached Princess Celestia slowly and bowed humbly. "Yes, princess," he said, returning to a normal stance, "how can I serve you?" She smiled and said, "The evening is coming to a close. Would you be so kind as, to play your Calliope one more time?" Copper Finish nodded his head and said, "Of course, I even have to perfect closing, too." He walked over to the Calliope and checked on the fire, which was nothing but ambers now. He, then, got the last pieces of firewood and put them in the firebox. After the fire got going again, he went to the side of the Calliope to check the water in the boiler. He still had enough water for steam. He, then, got on stage next to Celestia, who was about to announce the evening was coming to a close. "Fillies and Gentlecolts," she said, "I want to personally thank each and every one of you for attending this years Grand Galloping Gala." The crowd cheered and stamped their hooves. "Unfortunately," Celestia continued, "it's time to bring it to a close." The crowd, then, started to groan and mutter in disappointment. "However," she said, "Copper Finish has offered to start his Calliope one more time." The crowd started cheering again, they were happy to hear the Calliope again. Celestia motioned to Copper Finish, to take the stage. He took the stage and was about to say, thank you, when he stopped before saying anything. He looked into the crowd and saw Applejack looking back at him. She was smiling, but she was patiently waiting for the Calliope to play, like everyone else. He quickly realized that he had to hurry and start the music. "Ahm! Thank you, princess." he said, clearing his throat. "Well, everypony," Copper Finish chuckled, "I did say that I would start my Calliope for you later on. I guess, now is as good of a time as any." The crowd chuckled and giggled as he walked back to the Calliope. "Let's try something a little different." he said, pushing on of the buttons. Like, before, a small clicking sound came from the machine. Steam whooshed through the pipes, then, silence. Copper Finish pushed down on the pedal and the whistles came back to life with sound. Only, this time, they played a soft, slow, happy tune. Some ponies in the crowd began dancing to the tune, others stood where they were and just listened. After the music ended, Copper Finish released the pedal and bowed to everyone, as they cheered. "Thank you very much, everypony," he said, feeling proud of himself, "I hope to see you all next year. Good night." Everyone started making their way out. But, Copper Finish stayed behind to think. He wanted to say goodbye to Applejack, but he lost her in the crowd as they left. After everyone left, Copper Finish stood, alone, next to the Calliope. "Well," he thought, "that was fun, while it lasted." He found it hard to smile and thought for a long time. Copper Finish decided to leave the Calliope, at the castle, until morning. He finally started walking to the exit, he knew he was the last to leave. But, he couldn't get Applejack's face out of his mind. Her smile, her hair, her eyes, all burned into his mind. "What does this all mean?" he said, quietly, to himself. He thought about her all the way home. When he got home, he took off his goggles, hat, gauntlets, and jacket. Copper Finish put his outfit away and got ready for bed. As he pulled back the covers and climbed into bed, another image of Applejack crossed his mind. "I hope we meet again." He thought as he went to sleep.