//------------------------------// // A Gilded Cage // Story: Project Re-Do // by akajulester //------------------------------// "Thank ya kindly, Princess, for helping me out. Ah bet Big McIntosh Ah could get all these Golden Delicious in the barn by lunchtime. If Ah win, he's gonna walk down Stirrup Street in one of Granny's girdles!" Twilight winced at her statement. "I thought I told you all to not call me that, AJ." Applejack giggled nervously. "Sorry, sugarcube. It's just... when Ah saw them wings on ya-" she gestured to Twilight's "new" appendages -"Ah thought for sure that ya'll were some secret princess the Princess had hidden, and had been pretendin' to be a normal pony to see what it was like!" She stopped walking for a minute. "That and it would be mighty hard to go and make friends when yer a princess." Spike nodded at that. "No kidding. The ponies from the Sol Invictus place worship Princess Celestia like a goddess, not to mention the old Nightmare Cult." Twilight sighed. "I guess I'll have to get my own cult, or group of obsessed ponies someday..." Spike smirked. "At least you'll have loyal servants to help you with your crazy magic experiments!" Twilight and AJ giggled, but before the former could respond, her stomach growled loudly. "Fergit somethin', sugarcube?" AJ asked with a chuckle. Twilight rubbed her stomach sheepishly. "I may have not eaten very much for breakfast..." Spike dug through the basket of apples Twilight was carrying, and fished out a shiny gold apple. "Sweet! Snack time!" Before he could sink his teeth into the delicious treat, Twilight snatched it away in her magical aura. "Hey!" cried Spike indignantly. Twilight took a huge bite out of the apple, swallowed, and stuck her tongue out at him. "Sorry, lazy bones, but I was the one working while you sat around doing nothing!" Spike began to retort, but was once again cut off this time by belching. A scroll formed out of his fire, and floated gently down. Spike grabbed it. "That must be from Celestia," Twilight said, her grin fading somewhat. "Ah wonder whut she has ta say," AJ wondered. Spike cleared his throat. "Hear ye, hear ye. Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce The Grand Galloping Gala to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot, on the 21st day of, eh, yadda yadda yadda, cordially extends an invitation to Twilight Sparkle plus one guest!" Applejack gasped. "The Grand Gallopin' Gala?!" Oh, sweet Maker... Twilight thought. I need to find a way to stop this mess before it happens! "You'd want to go?" Twilight asked AJ. AJ stared at her. "Land sakes, sugarcube. Of course Ah'd want ta go!" Spike belched again, and two gilded tickets appeared. "Look, two tickets!" "Have ya'll ever been to it?" AJ asked Twilight and Spike. "Nah," began Spike, "Twilight was always locking herself in her tower, and I don't want any of that girly frilly frou-frou nonsense." Twilight bumped him lightly on the head. "Now, Spike, don't say things like that. The Gala's mostly a political event, anyway." She turned to AJ. "I'm assuming you'd like to go?" "Why, I'd give my left hind leg to go to that gala!" Twilight groaned internally. "Do you think you c-" "Whoa!" Twilight and AJ let out little startled shrieks as Rainbow suddenly fell out of a tree next to them, and landed on top of them. "Are we talking about the Grand Galloping Gala??" "Rainbow Dash!" AJ exclaimed angrily. "You told me you were too busy to help me harvest apples. What were you busy doing? Spyin'?" "No, I was busy napping." She gestured up to the tree she had been in, and hovered off the ground, upside down."And I just happened to hear that you have an extra ticket?" She grinned. Twilight sighed. "Yes, and I-" "YES! This is so awes-" Rainbow's shout of delight was cut off by Twilight forcing her lips closed with her magic, who rolled her eyes. "Please let me finish." She let go of Rainbow's mouth, who landed on the ground, disgruntled. Twilight turned to face the both of them. "I want you two to go find Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, and bring them back to Golden Oaks. Can you two please do that?" "Sure we can," AJ said, "but why do ya want us all there?" Twilight waved a hoof impatiently. "I'll tell you all later. See you girls then!" She hoofed the basket of apples she had been carrying over to AJ, grabbed Spike, placed him on her back, and galloped towards the library. "You're all probably wondering why I asked you to come here." Twilight was answered with five confused nods. She inhaled deeply, and exhaled the same way. "You see... I've received two tickets for the Grand Galloping Gala." Unsurprisingly, all of them became excited, even AJ and Rainbow, who already knew. "You probably all want to go..." Twilight turned to AJ as they all nodded eagerly. "Well, let's hear all your reasons." They proceeded to tell their stories, some weaker than others. Applejack wanted to sell her wares at a place with free catering. Rainbow wanted to be an atention whorse and crash the Wonderbolts' show. Pinkie had probably never been to a party that she herself did not throw. Rarity wanted to get with a stallion whose horrible reputation was known to almost all mares everywhere. Finally, Fluttershy wanted to hang out in a garden with animals who lived around the Canterlot nobles (enough said, really). Twilight sighed. "I suppose it would be upsetting to you all if I told you I want to refuse the tickets?" They all gasped, which was also unsurprising to Twilight. She held up a hoof to silence them. "I'm really, really sorry, but considering your answers, the Gala may not be the best for you girls. "Applejack, you're telling me you want to set up a food stand at a party with catering?" AJ's face fell, but she soon chuckled. "Ah guess Ah didn't exactly think that through. But Ah could always offer to cater as well!" Twilight thought for a moment. "You could, but it would be difficult, seeing as how the Gala is planned a whole year in advance, and it's only a few months before this one. But... seeing as how I'm the Element of Magic, AND the newest alicorn, I could pull some strings!" Applejack beamed widely. "Th-thank ya so much, Pr- Ah mean, Twilight." Twilight turned to Rainbow. "Rainbow, I'm pretty sure that if you crashed the Wonderbolt's show, they could have you arrested. Also, I doubt that they'd look on you favorably if you showed them up like that." She felt relief, seeing Rainbow merely look disheartened. She had feared her being all defiant and stubborn. "Don't worry, Twi! If I ever get locked up, I'll make sure it's because of something awesomer!" Twilight giggled and rolled her eyes, focusing on Pinkie. "Pinkie, what do you think the Gala will be like?" Pinkie's face lit up. "Ooooohhh, I bet it'll have streamers and balloons and a pony band and ponies singing and dancing and havingallsortsoffunandtheylllovemeandinvitemetoplaygameswiththemand-" "Yes, yes, I got it," Twilight interrupted, cutting Pinkie off before she went on for hours. "While I've never been to an actual Gala, my older brother is in the Royal Guard, so he's been to almost every single one single one since he officially became a guard." "Wai-wai-wai-wai-wait, you have a BROTHER??" Rainbow asked. "Yes, his name's 'Shining Armor.'" "Not really surprising, with that name!" Pinkie joked. "What rank does he currently hold in the Guard?" Rarity asked, a suspicious gleam in her eyes. Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, he's kinda the Captain..." The mares all gasped, causing Spike to roll his eyes. "What did you expect? He's the brother of Twilight Sparkle! The greatest unicorn ever!" Twilight began to correct Spike, but was cut off by Rarity. "So you're telling me that you-" she pointed at Twilight -"are the Princess' personal protégé, the most powerful unicorn of her time, an alicorn, AND you have a brother who is the Captain of the Royal Guard?!" Rarity conjured up a fan and began to fan herself. "Regardless," Twilight continued, "that wasn't what I was trying to talk about." She turned back to Pinkie. "Pinkie... the Gala isn't like the parties that you throw. It's largely a big political event that the Canterlot elite use to show off how much better they are than others." She cringed slightly as Pinkie's face began to fall. "Besides, the Gala is much... calmer than the parties you throw. It usually has an orchestra or chamber music, and the only dance ponies will be dancing is the waltz." She felt horrible. Pinkie looked absolutely heartbroken. However, there were still two to go. Twilight straightened her spine, and turned to Rarity. "Rarity, haven't you ever heard in the tabloids AND newspapers about Prince Blueblood?" Rarity started. "How did you know??" "There's only one nephew of Celestia," Twilight said. "Oh..." Rarity cleared her throat daintily. "Anyway, yes, I have heard about him in the news, but surely those reporters were exaggerating, dirtying his image?" Twilight was saddened by Rarity's hopeful smile. "Rarity, I've met Blueblood. Hay, I practically lived with him, since I lived in the castle. And those things they've said in the tabloids, they're true. Not all of them," she added hastily when she saw Rarity's disgusted and horrified face, "he'd never harm a fly. It's just that... he has all those stereotypes of the typical snobbish noble. Not to mention that he's kept notches on his bedpost, if you know what I mean..." Rarity looked completely disappointed, but to Twilight's surprise, she smiled! "While it does disappoint me that the Prince is not at all what I dreamed him to be, I should never build up somepony I've never met that much! Thank you for saving me before I fell, Twilight." "Anytime, Rarity." Twilight turned to the last of them: Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, the animals that live in the castle gardens are scared of everything but the animal caretaker who lives there." She winced at Fluttershy's crestfallen look. "I'm sorry, but they've never really liked the Canterlot nobles. They only trust the pony that feeds them..." Fluttershy looked down, but raised her head with a little, hopeful smile. "I'll have to visit, then, someday, to help become more comfortable around ponies." Rarity cleared her throat daintily. "While we've all said our two bits, Twilight darling, you haven't said much about what you would have liked to do at the Gala." The others nodded, and looked at Twilight expectantly. Twilight blinked. "Well... when I was a little filly I wanted to stand by Princess Celestia and talk with her." She kept her face a careful, neutral mask. "I've learned, however, that she usually spends most of her time greeting the hundreds - if not thousands - of guests." She sighed. "It's silly, anyway; I used to talk with her almost every single day as her personal student." The group was rather silent for a while, but Pinkie spoke up. "Since all of our own original ideas are shot, why don't we all go as a group?" AJ looked at her. "Whut do ya mean? From what Twi told us, sounds like we woudn' have much of a hootenanny." "We could just hang out!" Pinkie said in a patient, yet with her perpetually happy, tone. "We could swipe some food off the buffet, chatter, and have fun as friends!" Rarity rubbed her chin. "That does sound more appealing..." She turned back to Twilight. "Is it possible to make some suggestions to the Princess?" "Like what?" Twilight asked, a bit apprehensive. "We can't change much about this Gala - they're always planned almost a year in advance." "No, no, no, not this one," Rarity waved a hoof idly, "just for the next one. Mayhaps an option for more... casual dance? Or foods from places other Canterlot and occasionally Fillydelphia." "That's actually not a bad idea!" Pinkie bounced excitedly. "OOOoo!! Maybe I could do the Pony Pokey!" Rainbow snorted. "Yeah, the prissy nobles up in Canterlot will tooooooootally wanna do the Pony Pokey." "Of course they will!" "Dear Princess Celestia, "I write to you today to ask for five extra tickets to the Gala for my five new friends (Spike will take the extra one). "I also want to ask a question: "Why send only two tickets when you clearly know that I now have five wonderful friends? Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle." Celestia reread the letter again, poring over the passive-aggressive-esque words on the parchment. "Doest something trouble thee, lief sister?" Luna looked at Celestia over her book, worry in her eyes. Celestia looked up at her younger sister, their brief conversation about Twilight ringing in her ears. She looked back at Twilight's letter, put it down, and smiled at Luna. "No, it's nothing. I just need to go find or make an extra five tickets for Twilight's friends." Luna watched her sister leave their private sitting room, still worried. She glanced at the letter, which had been left on Celestia's writing desk. She half got up from her cushion, before changing her mind and going back to her reading. T'would beest rude of me to behold through Celestia's belongings without permission...