“I can’t believe the Grand Galloping Gala is tonight!” said Pinkie as she and Twilight were walking down the path to Rarity’s Boutique together. “I’ve been waiting three years for it!”
Twilight looked at Pinkie, confused. “…Pinkie, I only got those tickets in the summer. That was only a few months ago.”
“Well…” said Pinkie, frowning up at the sky. “Someone dropped the ball on it…over and over and over again.”
No one answered her, but there was almost an embarrassed silence in the air. As if some unseen force was acknowledging that it had indeed dropped the ball.
“So!” said Pinkie, looking back at Twilight. “How are we going to get to the Gala?”
“Well…I transformed an apple into a carriage,” answered Twilight. “Applejack was…less than thrilled about it.”
Yesterday:
Applejack was on top of Twilight, her hooves around her throat. “IT AIN’T NATURAL!” she screamed as she throttled Twilight. Behind them was a rather nice looking apple-like carriage.
Now:
“I finally managed to convince her that it was alright,” said Twilight. “And then I wanted to transform some of Fluttershy mice into horses to pull it…”
Yesterday:
Fluttershy was on top of Twilight, her hooves around her throat. “CHANGE THEM BACK! CHANGE THEM BACK!” she screamed as she throttled Twilight. Behind them were two mouse-like horses, with twitchy noses and big ears.
Now:
“So, I had to change them back,” sighed Twilight. “Luckily, Rarity was able to convince Caramel and one of his friends to help…”
Yesterday:
“There you are, Darling!” said Rarity, handing a leather jacket to Caramel. “A brand new leather jacket! Just like you wore back in high school!”
Caramel smiled and put the jacket on. “Thanks Rarity,” he said calmly. “In return, we’ll pull your apple-type carriage to the Grand Galloping Gala. Right, Lucky?”
“I don’t want a leather jacket!” complained Lucky Clover. “They suck!”
Caramel dove at Lucky, knocking him to the ground. He pressed his hooves down on the other stallion’s neck. “YoU SUck YoU SON oF a BiTCh!” screamed Caramel, his eye twitching. “LeATHer JaCKets ARE ThE ShIT!”
Now:
“So they’ll pull the carriage to the Gala,” explained Twilight. The two ponies walked up to Carousel Boutique’s front door and stopped.
“Isn’t the Grand Galloping Gala in Canterlot?” asked Pinkie. “And isn’t Canterlot on the side of a mountain? How will two earth ponies get us there?”
Twilight opened her mouth to answer.
The front door to the boutique swung open and Rarity stormed out. “There you two are!” she said, grabbing them both with magic. “There’s only seven more hours until the Gala!” She walked back inside, the two floating ponies in tow.
“So we’re on time?” asked Twilight as she floated in the air next to Pinkie.
“On time?!” asked Rarity. “We’re way behind schedule! We need to make ourselves pretty, pronto!”
“We’re already pretty!” said Pinkie.
Rarity looked back at them, taking note of the bags under Twilight’s eyes and Pinkie’s wild and frizzy mane. She gagged and quickly looked forward again. “We have a lot of work to do…” she muttered, dragging the two ponies upstairs.
Four Hours Later:
Spike entered Carousel Boutique and looked around. “Um…guys?” he called. “Are you in here?”
“We’re up in the bathroom, Spike!” he heard Twilight yell.
Spike walked up the stairs. He came to the bathroom door and opened it. “Sorry I’m late,” he said as he walked inside, “I had to-”
Rarity shrieked and pulled a towel over her body. “Spike! We’re not dressed!”
“…Is…is that different than usual?” asked Spike. “You don’t wear clothes, remember?”
“Oh yeah,” said Rarity, dropping the towel. She turned around and started walking back to Twilight and Pinkie, who were underneath hair dryers.
“Awesome…” muttered Spike, eyeing Rarity’s backside.
“What took you?” asked Twilight as Rarity lifted the dryer away from her head.
“I had to get something from home,” said Spike, tearing his gaze away from Rarity's rear. “It took a while to find it…”
“Find what?” asked Pinkie as Rarity lifted the dryer off of her. Her straight mane poofed back into her usual curls.
“Uh…breath mints?” said Spike nervously. He cleared his throat and quickly said, “So…what are all of you going to do at the Gala?”
“I’m planning on meeting with Princess Celestia,” said Twilight. “It’s been so long since I’ve had an intelligent conversation.”
Everyone stared at Twilight.
“…Aside from you guys, of course!” amended Twilight, laughing awkwardly.
“I’m gonna par-tay!” cheered Pinkie. “It’ll be so much fun!”
“I…I don’t think it’s that type of party, Pinkie,” said Twilight. “It’s more of a formal event that-”
“Boring!” yelled Rainbow Dash. “I’m gonna meet the Wonderbolts and impress them with my moves!”
“...Ok,” said Twilight. “I have to ask because it’s you. When you say ‘moves’, do you mean flying? Or do you mean sex moves?”
“Whatever works,” answered Rainbow.
“I’m going to the gardens in order to see all of the Princess’s animals,” said Fluttershy.
“Do ya really have to wait for the Gala to do that?” asked Applejack. “Ah mean…the Princess knows us, right? You could just ask her to see them.”
“Yeah…well…” said Fluttershy. “The last time I was near one of the Princess’s pets, I sort of kidnapped it. It might look a little suspicious if I show up asking to see more of them.”
“Fair enough,” conceded Applejack. “Ah’m gonna take advantage of the fact that all those rich dumbasses are all in one place and sell them apple stuff!”
“…Isn’t this thing catered?” asked Spike.
Applejack stared at him. “…Is it catered with apple products?”
“I don’t think so,” said Spike.
“There ya go!” said Applejack triumphantly.
“Well, I am going to meet with my Prince!” said Rarity. She sighed dreamily. “Can you imagine it? We’ll fall in love at first sight, he’ll ask for my hoof in marriage, we’ll-”
“Boring!" yelled Rainbow again. Ignoring Rarity's glare, she turned to Spike and asked, "So what are you going to do during the Gala?"
“M-me?” asked Spike, suddenly aware of everyone’s eyes on him. He chuckled awkwardly. “I-I don’t know. I’ll probably just hang out somewhere.”
“You can come see the animals with me,” said Fluttershy.
“Or you can party with Pinkie!” offered Pinkie.
“You can come talk with Princess Celestia with me,” said Twilight.
“You could help me watch mah stand,” said Applejack. “God knows you’d be better at it than Apple Bloom.”
“No!” said Spike loudly. He blinked and said, “I mean…I don’t want to ruin all of your nights!”
“Are you sure?” asked Twilight.
“Positive,” said Spike. With everyone still watching him, he cleared his throat and said, “Shouldn’t we be getting dressed? It is kind of a long trip, so we should leave soon.”
“You’re absolutely right, Spike,” said Rarity. She clapped her hooves together and said, “The dresses are in the other room, ladies! Let’s get moving!”
“Does mah dress come with galo-” began Applejack.
“NO, IT DOES NOT COME WITH FUCKING GALOSHES!” screamed Rarity. Her horn glowed as she picked Applejack up with magic. “Now, come on!” she ordered. She marched out of the room, a floating Applejack in tow. The other girls followed her, leaving Spike alone in the bathroom.
“Finally…” muttered Spike. He reached behind him and pulled out a glowing blue stone. “Zecora said this stone would let me change into someone else,” he muttered. “If I use it tonight…”
“Spike!” called Rarity. “Your suit is in here! Come in and get dressed! We’re running out of time!”
“Ok!” called Spike. He tightened his grip on the Shifting Stone. “Don’t worry,” he said quietly, “We’ll have the whole Gala to be together…” He chuckled, which soon turned into a loud evil-sounding laugh.
“Spike! Are you laughing evilly in there?!” asked Rarity.
“Uh…no?” said Spike.
“…Alright then,” said Rarity.
Spike waited for a moment before cackling quietly.