Bluebelle of the Ball, The Musical

by mr lovecolt

Act 3 Scene 4: Changing Nightmare into Harmony

Author's Note:

The tune of "Memory" is property of Andrew Lloyd Webber, no copyright intended. However, the lyrics are my own parody. The song is Memory, from "CATS"

There is still something off here, Princess Celestia thought as she felt around the throne room with her magic while she read the items from the morning docket. She suppressed a yawn and continued to send her magic through the room to determine exactly what it was that was wrong, but nothing definitive came through yet. It is familiar, I know that. As she ruffled through more of the papers, she came across one document that came from the Ministry of Finances that morning marked urgent. This one contained the original proposal for the Equestrian Network for the Eradication of Tribalism. At the bottom, much to her dismay, was a series of lines written in red ink.

Celestia glanced up from her paperwork at the stallion who now stood before her in the throne room and sighed before looking back down at the figures at the bottom line. She kept an even tone, but when she took a deep breath before starting, she could already see the stallion’s shoulders lower in defeat, as though he knew exactly what she was about to say.

“Mr. Fancy Pants, I understand the need for such an organization, truly, I do. The presentation you gave two days ago gives me no doubt that there still exists a certain… prejudice… regarding unicorns, especially in more rural areas of Equestria.” she reached up to rub her eyes and caught sight of her reflection in one of her shoes; the bags beneath her eyes were an obvious sign of her restless sleep, “had the Minister of Finances given final approval before the events of last night, I am certain that you would have your funding.”

“I understand, Your Highness.” Fancy Pants replied. She saw that he kept a straight posture, but even somepony as well-versed in composure as he couldn’t stop his ears from folding over the sides of his head. “I daresay that payments to the guests and dignitaries have taken a toll on the budget for the fiscal year.”

“I truly am sorry, Mr. Fancy Pants.”

Celestia stepped away from the throne and made her way down the steps. The nearby guards inched forward but then stopped themselves. She stopped in front of Fancy Pants and waited for him to lift back up from his bow. “Until then,” she said, “we must all do what we can to make others see us as we are. I will be keeping this proposal near when the current situation has resolved itself.” the two made their way to the doors and she used her magic to open them, but when he stopped, Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Was there something else you needed?”

“It’s just baffling to me how such a small mistake like using the wrong icing can cause so much damage?”

The door closed once more. “I’m sorry?” she asked.

“I’m sure that both you and I know how rumors spread quickly through Canterlot. The word on the street is that somepony mixed some ingredients meant for the Ministry of Culinary Arts with that of Tactical Cuisine.”

“We really need to streamline our government.” Celestia mused out loud.

“And that’s only one rumor. Another is that as ponies were running away, they swore there were monsters in the castle.”

Celestia went to speak, but then she felt something in her horn. She turned to a nearby guard and focused her magic. As she scanned him, she turned back to her subject. “Mr. Fancy Pants, please excuse me. I promise that I will do what I can to make this dream of yours a reality.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Celestia opened the door once more, and as soon as he left, she slammed it shut and turned to the guards in the room. Her eyes turned green, and dark purple mist flowed out of her eyes. The guards flinched at the sight. A moment later, her visage returned to normal. Even though the spell was over, she could still see small black bubbles as they rose from each of the guards’ heads.

“Guards, I need you to tell me what you remember about last night.”

“Your Highness?”

“Tell me what you remember.”

“Princess Bluebelle was attacked, Your Highness.” she could see the look of fear growing in the guard’s eyes.

She turned to the next one. “And you? Do you remember who the attacker was?”

“I…” The second guard stammered. “It was a unicorn, I’m sure of it.”

Celestia turned to the last guard. “Cancel everything on the docket. Gather the guards in the Main Hall.” Celestia’s horn began to light, “it is not as though we would be expecting many visitors after last night, anyhow.” She disappeared into a ball of light.

*****

Luna sat in the middle of the Rose Gazebo and watched as the flowers opened in the early morning light. Though it was early in the morning and just past the beginning of Spring, the air still felt warm and stale. The winds are not moving today, she thought, it makes sense.

A bright light appeared next to her, and she turned to see Celestia appear in a flurry of brightness. She could see the tired look in her sister’s eyes, but behind the tiredness, she could see a sense of panic.

“I take it you have seen what has been surrounding the guards.”

“Luna, please, don’t be cryptic with me. I need you to tell me, what is this?” Celestia paced back and forth, but Luna simply turned to a nearby guard.

“Please leave us.” Luna said. He left, and the two sisters stood alone in the garden for a moment, looking into each others’ eyes until she turned back to the rosebush next to the gazebo. “Is this feeling not familiar, sister? The feeling that there is something dark that hovers above the ponies? It confuses you, but I know exactly what it is.” She looked back up to her sister with a tear in her eye. Celestia took a hesitant step forward.

“This is all about Elusive, correct?”

“Indeed, it is. I-”

“You found him and you let him go, didn’t you?”

Luna opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Instead, she kept her gaze on the roses in front of her. Her aura surrounded one of the roses until it was plucked from the stem and rose silently into the air. Celestia looked around and then took another step towards her.

Luna
Speak your mind now, dear sister
Tell me what thoughts went through you
Why did you let him go
Dearest sister
If there is anything I must know
Tell me how to see this through

“Harmony.” Luna said.

“Excuse me?”

“Harmony is trying to return to the ponies, sister. They’ll forget about the details, eventually. Just like the crystal ponies immediately forgot about Sombra once Princess Cadance returned.” she turned back to the rosebush. “Just like the ponies here forgot about me when I disappeared a thousand years ago. Do you know how easily they were able to forget me and let my story become an old mare’s tale?”

“Luna-” she tried to say, but Luna delicately shushed her.

“No, I get it.” she said, “ponies yearn for Harmony. Harmony will do anything that it can to ensure that our ponies live every day with as much peace in their hearts. Even if that means forgetting about me all those years ago.”

“We once wielded the Elements of Harmony, sister. But I know that even we could not control what Harmony herself does with our world.”

Luna’s eyes grew dark. “But know this. The Nightmare is not gone. Not completely. Not yet.” She looked on towards Canterlot.

Tia
Everything that has happened
Brings me back to mine memories
Of the Nightmare within
Though the darkness
Retreats once more with each passing hour
Still the traces here remain

Nightmare
Touches lives of the ponies
Like the shadow's caresses
Poor Elusive gave in
And his failure
To stop it from appearing again
It reminds me of mine own

Luna held her hoof up to a rose bush and tapped them.

See the dew on roses fall
Harmony is weeping
It stays saddened
And mine own heart stays maddened
With memories I am keeping

Tia
I cannot let Elusive
Suffer the way that I have
If the chance to forgive
Can be made now
to make things right now must be mine vow
For as long as I shall live

Celestia moved to place her hooves on Luna’s cheeks. They looked into each others’ eyes.

Sister tell me what I must do
To release these shadows

Let the garden
Of the heart now blossom

The bloom of forgiveness grows

She stepped back from Celestia’s embrace.

Trust him
Let Elusive’s new actions
Change the horrible Nightmare
Into Harmony here
If you trust him
The way you learned to trust me again
Look the Nightmare is no more

She pointed to the guard in the distance. Luna could see the dark bubbles dissipate into nothingness before her eyes. She heard Celestia gasp and knew that she, too, had seen the same. As the bubbles disappeared, they saw the light return to the guard’s eyes.

“Elusive has taken my words to heart.” she said, “Even now, his actions are forcing the Nightmare away.”

Celestia nuzzled her sister. “Very well, Luna. Bluebelle said she would give him a chance. To be honest, I am a little curious as to what those plans are.”

The two continued to watch as a smile began to form on the guard’s face, as though a great weight had just been lifted off of him and he could finally breathe. The guard returned to his post as the sisters sat at the gazebo and looked out to the cityscape. In the distance, they could see a mailpony flying towards the castle. They looked on in confusion as the nearby guards took their places near the sisters. Finally, one of the guards called out to him as he landed.

“State your business, citizen.”

The mailpony reached into his bag and pulled out two envelopes. He gave them to the guard, who levitated it from the pony’s grasp. After checking to make sure it was safe, he presented them to Celestia and Luna. Luna opened hers first, and as she read ahead, a small smirk appeared.

“Turning back time, indeed.” she gave her sister a knowing glance, “well, Tia, it seems that we have some preparations with which to assist.”

*****

The streets of Canterlot were already busy with the morning’s hustle and bustle as ponies walked up and down the thoroughfares, most heading off to work at a normal pace while others went about in full gallop. Every so often, however, ponies would look up to the castle and shake their heads. The reaction was always brief to the point that nopony discovered each other doing it, but one pony, in particular, did take notice.

Elusive stood in front of an empty storefront and gazed into it, his attention only pulled away for a moment each time he saw a pony glance upward, after which it would return to its spot at the door in front of him.

“The dresses would have been on the left side,” he muttered aloud, “yes, definitely on the left side.”

“Looking at a Canterlot outpost for your boutique, old chap?”

He turned his head towards the older stallion that now stood next to him. “Fancy Pants,” he said, ignoring the question, “how are you doing?”

“Not too well, I’m afraid.” he replied. “I just returned from the castle.”

“Oh, right. You were there, too.” He glanced over at an empty bench and motioned towards it. “Care to have a seat with me?”

Fancy Pants nodded and together they made their way to sit down. Neither stallion spoke, but decided instead to simply stare out at the empty storefront. A few ponies passed them by, but neither they nor the seated ponies took notice of one another. Every once in a while, Elusive would look over to him, but would turn away when Fancy Pants glanced back over. Finally, Fancy Pants cleared his throat.

“Elusive, have you ever felt like you were close to a goal, only to have it taken away at the last moment?”

He hesitated for a moment before answering. “Yes.” he leaned over. “I take it that your question and the events that transpired at the castle are connected?”

“You have no idea.” he replied. “Suffice it to say, my project has been put on hold.”

“I know the feeling.” Elusive said as he turned back to look at his reflection in the glass.

“At least you and the other Elemental Bearers were there to stop the monster.” Fancy Pants chuckled to himself. “A rumor, of course. You wouldn’t believe how many are already floating…” his words trailed off as he turned to Elusive, whose hooves now clenched the wooden slats of the bench. “Elusive, are you all right? Pardon me for being blunt, but you look awful.”

Elusive shook his head, as though snapped out of a trance. “I’m sorry, darling. I just didn’t get much sleep last night and this morning, I’ve been busy.”

“Nothing. Nevermind. So, how much does this storefront cost, if I may ask?”

“About as much as Princess Bluebelle’s party last night.” He replied as his eyes glazed over.

“You’re not joking?” he rolled his eyes. “And I thought Fleur’s birthday celebration a few years back was extravagant.”

“Speak of the changeling, and she doth appear.” he replied as he glanced around. “Isn’t that how the saying goes?”

“Oh, don’t be like that. I’m certain she has turned over a new leaf, so to speak.” His horn lit up and he levitated a newspaper out of his coat pocket. “What she has done is front page news, in fact.”

Elusive slowly reached forward to grab the newspaper, afraid of what it might read. “Oh dear,” he said, “What is Hoity Toity going to say about this?”

*****

Hoity Toity sat at the breakfast table, waiting for his egg white omelette. As he waited, he glanced down at the newspaper.

“Hmm.” he muttered his only reaction at the headline. “Doily, could you come here, please?”

“Yes, sir?” his servant replied as he turned a corner.

“Could you be a dear and bring that crystal vase from the foyer?”

“The Kathiawari Dynasty one?”

“Yes, the fifteenth century one, not the fourteenth.”

Doily left and returned moments later with the vase in question and set it on the table. Hoity Toity picked it up and held it in his hooves for a moment, admiring the intricate patterns and the red roses that they held. He glanced back and forth between the vase and the newspaper. His eye started to twitch and his grasp became tighter. With a rather high pitched scream, he hurled the vase across the room, where it shattered against the wall. Rose petals exploded into the air before fluttering to the ground.

“That two-timing, backstabbing, no-account, good for nothing-”

Hoity Toity’s tirade continued as Doily’s wide-eyed expression moved from one side of the room to the other until it finally came to rest on the newspaper he had brought in without reading. At the top of the page was a photograph of Fleur De Lis, with a caption that read:

FORMER MODEL REVEALS ALL. VOWS TO EXPOSE CORRUPT INDUSTRY.

*****

“I daresay that Fleur may have found a new calling.” Fancy Pants pointed to the last page of the article. “she and some photographer by the name of Big Shot are apparently working to fix the corruption in the fashion industry.”

“Sure.” Elusive said, smiling awkwardly. “Look, I hate to cut this meeting short, but I still have a lot of work to do.” Elusive stood up. “If it’s okay, we should have lunch sometime soon.”

“Of course.”

“And Fancy Pants? If there’s anything you need, anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask me for assistance.”

Fancy Pants remained seated as Elusive trotted away and disappeared into an alley. He looked up and sighed. His horn glowed, and his monocle rose into the air as he pulled a cloth from his pocket to rub it clean. He got up and made his way home, paying no mind to the ponies around him. As he reached his home, he saw a mailpony standing at his mailbox.

“Can I help you?”

The mailpony reached into his saddlebag, pulled out a small envelope, and unceremoniously gave it to him.

“A letter for you, sir.”

“Thank you, but isn’t it a bit early for your delivery?”

“These letters were marked high priority.” he replied as he tipped his hat. “You have a good day, sir.” With that, he unfurled his wings and took off into the sky.

Fancy Pants shrugged and opened the letter. As he read the words, he squinted his eyes in confusion. He opened the door and walked inside.

“I guess I’m going to be at the castle again this evening.”

*****

The hours passed by, and the sun eventually made its way through the sky and touched the horizon. For Dusk Shine and Bluebelle, the hours went by without notice. Locked away in the library, surrounded by dozens of books, Dusk Shine paced back and forth in front of Bluebelle, both of them with determined looks.

“Now, what have we learned?” he asked.

“Conditioning is what happens when a given stimulus evokes a response. When two stimuli are presented coincidentally, either stimuli with eventually be interchangeable, to the same effect.”

“Excellent.” Dusk Shine said as he levitated a piece of chalk to the chalkboard and checked off the first line. “What else?”

“Counterconditioning is the process of reducing the stress associated with a certain stimulus by introducing an incompatible or incongruent response to the condition stimulus.”

“Yes!” he replied as he checked off another line. “I would also have accepted ‘reciprocal inhibition’.” he looked back at the board. “and most importantly?”

Bluebelle closed her eyes. “My stimulus is dirt.” She took a deep breath to keep her heartbeat slow. “I conflated a trauma with dirt, a neutral stimulus, thus attaching a negative connotation with said stimulus.”

“Right. Now that you know the elements of ‘systematic desensitization’, let us introduce the neutral stimulus.” Dusk Shine moved the chalkboard away, revealing a small table. On the table was a container filled with sand on one end and a pitcher of water on the other. He then made his way over to Bluebelle and gave her a hug. “I’m so proud of you, Bluebelle.”

She returned the hug, her hooves resting gently on Dusk Shine’s back. “Thank you.” she whispered. They stayed that way for longer than necessary, and Bluebelle could feel her heartbeat speed up. Try to stay calm, she thought. Is the sight of the dirt really what is making your heart race? She shook her head at the thought that had intruded upon her focused once more on Dusk Shine, who had now released himself from the hug and was in front of the table. His horn glowed, and a victrola began to play a song. The strings began, followed by an alto voice.

When you're feeling down and out
Wondering what this world's about
I know a place that has the answer.

“Is this the female singer from Black Ivory?” she asked. “I didn’t know she did a collaboration with Buck Pongione.”

“I know, right?” he replied. “I know you like jazz, so I’m going to use this as your stimulus.” He reached out to Bluebelle. “Don’t worry, we’ll get through this.”

Bluebelle stepped forward and looked down at the dirt.

“We’ll start easy. Just touch the dirt. It’s not wet, it’s not sticky or anything.”

Bluebelle took a breath and reached into the container. Her hoof came into contact with it. A flugelhorn joined in with the strings. A triangle tinkled just beneath the other instruments.

“Good. Now tell me what you feel.”

“I feel...” she looked over at Dusk Shine and found herself staring into his lavender eyes. Her gaze moved down until it came to a stop at the fur around his muzzle that held a gentle smile. “It’s soft, like tiny pearls. My hoof sinks into it very easily.”

“Are you feeling alright, Bluebelle?”

She nodded as the guitars joined in. “Yes, I’m fine.”

“Good. I expected that. You never seemed to have a reaction to just dirt. It was mud and things like that I usually notice when I’m looking at you.”

“And how long were you looking at me?” she chuckled as his eyes widened and he reached up to rub the back of his neck. He’s so bashful when it comes to anything personal, she thought as she took her hoof out of the container.

“Um, it’s not… What I meant to say was… I was just looking out of… concern.” Dusk Shine stumbled over his words as he looked down at the table. “Okay, water…” he levitated the pitcher, and Bluebelle noticed how he was trying to search for what to say next. “Water… good old Dihydrogen Monoxide.”

“Are you feeling nervous? she asked.

“No, it’s just...” he bit his lip. “Are you ready?”

Bluebelle watched the water as it left the pitcher and landed on the sand, changing its coloration from light tan to a darker brown. The tiny pearls coalesced into an amorphous blob. As more water was poured in, she felt her breathing go faster. It is a conditioned response, she thought, just a response. Though she tried to control herself, she still felt her body tense up as she looked at the sludgy material. She closed her eyes.

Suddenly, she felt something warm on her hoof. She opened her eyes again and saw that Dusk Shine had placed his hoof on top of hers and was holding it. The song grew louder, but not too loud to where Dusk Shine had to raise his voice. Immediately, she felt her muscles loosen and her hoof extend towards the mud.

“We’ll do this together, okay? Just listen to the music.”

They did, and as the music reached its first crescendo, Bluebelle couldn’t help but start to sway back and forth with the music. As she did, she turned to Dusk Shine, who was also getting into the music. As he swayed his hips back and forth, she saw his tail swishing in an almost circular motion out of the corner of her eyes. He still is an awful dancer when he thinks nopony is looking, she thought. Then why are you looking? came the intruding thought once more.

She looked away and gasped when she saw that her hoof was already in the mud. She looked up to Dusk Shine and saw that his smile had grown exponentially.

“You’re doing it, Bluebelle!” She took a deep breath and instinctively jerked her hoof away. As she trembled, she felt Dusk Shine wrap around her and was pulled into another hug. “I’m so proud of you! It was only for a few seconds, but you were able to distract yourself long enough to touch it.”

She felt his chest against hers and cautiously pulled away. “Yeah,” she said, rubbing her hoof, “can we get this stuff off now?”

Dusk Shine levitated a nearby towel and placed it on her leg to get the mud away. “Tell me what you felt.”

We are waiting
To help you find
The dream made just for you.

The second solo started, combining the flugelhorn and saxophone. Bluebelle started to respond, but when her thoughts turned to the mud, she thought only of Dusk Shine’s hoof as it felt on hers. “It felt warm.” She answered.

“Warm… that’s a neutral response.” he looked around the table. “I don’t want to push you too far today. But I’ll be honest with you. The progress that you’ve made in just one day is amazing.” Dusk Shine blushed. “You look like a completely new pony. You look a lot more open.” he turned away and picked up the pitcher. “I like the new you.” His eyes darted back and forth. “I mean, you were fine before - very pretty - I’m sure you had many suitors.”

Bluebelle raised an eyebrow.

“What I mean to say is…” They stared at one another until his eyes looked behind her. “Oh my, look how late it is.” He said. “How long have we been in here?”

Bluebelle turned to the window and saw that the sun was on the horizon. “We must have been in here all day.” she said. “are you hungry?” Both of their stomachs rumbled and they laughed. “Well then, that answers that. Let’s just clean up,” she said as her horn lit up, “and then we can-”

She stopped speaking the moment she felt it. Dusk Shine had used his magic at the same time to grab the towel, and the two of them could feel their auras wrap around one another. As the colors of their auras blended together, they couldn’t help but look at one another once more.

“I just wanted to say that I’m glad that Princess Celestia sent me that letter to help you.” he craned his neck back slightly and gave a lopsided smile.

She felt her throat go dry as his gaze peered down towards her. I never realized just how much taller than me he is. She brushed her mane to the side. “Thank you. For what it’s worth, I’m glad you did, too.”

“Bluebelle…”

“Yes?”

The sound of an inkwell falling to the floor sent a loud pinging noise through the air. Both Dusk Shine and Bluebelle turned their heads towards the sound, only to see Sergeant Lighthoof cowering in a corner next to the door.

“Oh Celestia's mercy!” he cried out, holding his hooves in front of his muzzle for protection, “I didn’t realize that both of you were in here! Please, I didn’t mean to interrupt!”

Dusk Shine turned to Bluebelle. “Are we really this frightening when our studies are interrupted?”

“Maybe we should call a meeting to give a vow to the guards that we’ll stop throwing things at them.”

“Agreed.” Dusk Shine trotted cautiously towards the guard and held out a hoof. The guard peeked through his hooves and slowly reached out his own to help him to stand. “Sergeant Lighthoof, what brings you here at this hour?”

“Well, you see,” Lighthoof said, still nervous, “There’s… well… Their Royal Highnesses require your and Her Highness Princess Bluebelle’s presence in the ballroom.”

Bluebelle shrugged her shoulders, and together, they made their way through the hall. “Do you think she needs us to give our accounts of the evening?”

“That doesn’t make sense. What if they’ve caught Elusive?”

“I’m fairly certain he would be in the dungeon if that were the case.” Bluebelle sighed as they reached the ballroom doors. The guard walked ahead of them and took his place next to it, leaving the two to open it on their own. Bluebelle prepared her magic to open the door, but then stopped and reached forward to touch the handle with her hoof. She looked back at Dusk Shine, who was looking back at her with a warm smile. She opened the doors. “We’ll find out soon-”

“Surprise!”

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Nice job Elusive. This is great. Thanks for the update. I loved reading it.

[Daedalus Aegle]

This is a great fic and I don't know why it has so few votes

[mr lovecolt]

5371104 Thank you for that. I think the R63 factor may play a role. That, and the musical format can be a bit difficult at times. But hey, I like you guys and girls - I'd rather have an intimate group of readers who like unique things than something cookie cutter.

[mr lovecolt]

5370757 I know, huh? We're getting near the end, though, folks.

[Noctus Umbra]

I like the fact that you put some of the story through song, I especially like that you've used some of my favorites (and with that my inner theater geek came out)

[dangerbrony]

5371488 i don't want it to end.