The Gala (Part 2)
Fragrant barged through the door to the toilets brushing past several surprised courtiers and a pile of discarded clothes before rushing into the nearest unoccupied stall. Her breath came in sobs. It hadn’t been her, it hadn’t, it couldn’t, it was just a filly that looked like her, a perfect little princess, she thought. Like her but not her. She’d lost her, lost her in pain and silence. She had to get herself under control, she couldn’t break down, not now. Shuddering, she leaned heavily against the wall and tried to slow her breathing, still her heart.
There was a tentative tapping from the door.
“I’ll... I’ll be out soon,” mumbled Fragrant.
“Um... duchess,” came a hesitant voice. “It’s, um, Buttercup.” What was the mare doing here? thought Fragrant.
“Max asked me to check on you,” continued Buttercup. “He’s a bit worried. Well, a lot worried. I’m fairly certain he’ll come barrelling in here in a few minutes.”
Even in her misery, Fragrant couldn’t help but give out a gurgling laugh at that. “I’m sure he would.” She took a deep breath and turned. She could do this, she was Duchess Fragrant Posey, one of the most powerful ponies in Equestria. She wasn’t going to show weakness in front of this mare half her age. She could lock the pain deep down again, just for tonight; then another day, then another, then another. She pushed the stall door open. In front of her stood Buttercup, looking nervous. A few other mares stood around the room, studiously not looking at the duchess.
“Are you all right? Max said you were upset.”
“I... I am fine now, I saw something that... that reminded me of a very bad time of my life. Thank you for your concern.” Her voice wavered slightly. Control! She couldn’t break down again, not in public, She was the duchess.
Buttercup chewed her lip for a moment. She obviously wanted to ask a thousand questions, but was too polite to. “Well, it was Max who asked me to.”
“Yes, Max,” noted Fragrant, looking at herself in the mirror. She had worn more makeup than she normally would, and her tears had not done her any favours.
“Um, there’s nothing between us anymore, you know,” said Buttercup. She opened a small bag around one shoulder and passed it to Fragrant. She looked at it, confused for a moment, before opening it to find a small collection of makeup.
“Thank you,” she said, looking up at the younger pony. This, this was generous of her. She started to try to tidy herself up. “But Baron Max’s personal life is really none of my business.”
“I think we both know that isn’t true.”
Fragrant snapped her head around to the younger mare. “I... I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know your feelings for him are stronger than you try to let on, and that he feels the same way of you. I don’t know what you’re afraid of.”
She gawked at Buttercup for a moment. “A great many things. As you get older, these things seem to become a lot more complicated,” she said a little bitterly.
“I think you make them more complicated than they need to be. The thing with Max and me, well, it was good, it was fun, but I don’t think it would have lasted all that long, even if I hadn’t... If I hadn’t disappointed him.”
Fragrant paused in fixing her make up. She had questions, but she didn’t think Buttercup would feel any more like sharing her problems than she herself did. “He did seem happy when he was with you.”
“I knew you were interested, but he offered and... well, he’s good to be around, polite, caring, gentle, very noble...”
“Very noble...” agreed Fragrant looking into the mirror. “He makes me want to be a better pony,” she muttered.
“He’s strong and kind, and, well, sexy, he’s, um, very generous in that way, it, um, makes up for his physical, um, shortcomings.” She blushed a little. Fragrant raised an eyebrow. What ever could she mean? “Anyway, please don’t worry that I might get in the way, he’s decided he doesn’t want me anymore and I’ll stand to that.”
Fragrant looked up at Buttercup for a moment. “Thank you for that, and this,” she said, handing back the makeup kit. With her mask back in place, she felt she could face the world again, although the barrier was only wafer thin.
“You really should tell him, you know.”
“I... I will think about what you’ve said.” How could she let anyone in when she could break so easily? How could she risk more pain? How could she not? Maybe tonight would not be the best time? But if not now, when? “Now, I think we should go and see Max, don’t you? As you said, he’ll probably come crashing in here in a minute. Possibly through the window, knowing him.” She put on a smile more real than she had planned.
“Yes,” giggled Buttercup, then she turned serious “Good luck. Treat him well.”
“Well, um, thank you, I will I...”
“I mean it. Don't ever break his faith in you, like I did. I... I won't forgive you if you do that.” Buttercup suddenly dashed away as the two of them returned to the main hall. Fragrant was going to call after her when she noticed Max standing just outside of the toilets, nervously pacing backwards and forwards. A white-coated, purple-maned mare in an exquisite gown was apparently trying to talk to him, but as soon as Fragrant emerged he brushed her aside and dashed towards the duchess.
“Are you all right?” he asked. “I was worried.” He threw his forearms around her.
Surprised by the action, Fragrant found herself relaxing into his grip. “Yes, everything is fine now,” she muttered, luxuriating in the heat of his body for a moment before coming back to herself and gently pushing him away. “I... I was reminded of a very dark time of my life. It was a little overwhelming, but I am feeling better.” Max frowned and looked like he was going to ask a question. Fragrant quickly cut him off. “I would prefer not to talk about it right now, but I will explain it to you, one day.” If she could ever get through it without tears. “I hope I did not upset any of the f-foals.”
“Oh, they were worried about you like me. Maybe we should go back and tell them you’re ok.”
Fragrant froze and had to struggle to keep her eyes dry. Go back, back to see that little filly, she couldn’t. “No! I mean, no. I am sure they will be happy enough by themselves. They don’t need us upsetting them.”
“Alright,” said Max, a little unsurely. “What do you want to do?”
“Maybe we could just talk, just the,” she looked around, and saw that both Buttercup and that white mare seemed to have made themselves scarce, “two of us?”
“Oh, all right, um, what are you planning to do for the summer?” asked Max.
“Well, my niece Forming will be acting as my proxy while the court is closed, so I’ll be showing her the ropes for a week or two.”
“She’s the sculptor, right? She made that little hearthwarming scene you’ve got? The one with the founders and the fire of friendship.”
“Yes.” Fragrant smiled. She had a few of Forming’s works around her estate; she would have to find a space for the new one. “She’s observed for the last two years. I think she’s just about ready to be my full proxy for a few months.”
Max rubbed the back of his head. “I still haven't sorted out who’ll stand in for me, Mrs G would be the obvious choice but I’m sure she wants to visit her family for the summer. I suppose I could stay here all summer, but I really should see how Nulpar’s doing.”
“Indeed, it ill becomes a courtier to ignore their province and its ponies. Once Forming is settled in, I’ll spend the rest of the summer in Cloudsdale. You really should have sorted out a proxy by now.”
“I know, but I don’t know that many ponies in Canterlot and most of them are courtiers themselves.”
Fragrant sighed. “I have a few of my assistants I would trust with the responsibility, maybe even...”
Suddenly a yellow-coated, orange-maned mare staggered out of the crowd, almost colliding with Fragrant. Max instinctively moved to try and protect her but she gently shoved him aside. The yellow pony stared at the two of them stupidly for a moment as if surprised to see them.
“Um, excuse me?” said Max. “Might we help you, miss?”
“O-oh!” stuttered the newcomer. “Um…no, I’m – oh, I’m sorry, I need to… I’m sorry, your Lordship, your Grace, I forgot to bow – ” She stooped low, almost overbalancing.
Fragrant had to fight back a laugh at the attempt. “It’s alright,” she said, indicating the mare should rise. “Noblepony and gentry and commoner and everything in between are mingling freely enough tonight that I don’t think it makes much sense for anypony to bow. Everypony but the princess would spend the entire night on their knees.” This pony was obviously part of the Ponyville group; if anything she should be bowing to her after the REMM debacle.
Max gave a deep laugh while the stranger smiled, looking more at ease. “Thank-you, your Grace, if you’ll excuse—”
“You look familiar,” said Fragrant, tapping a hoof to her mouth. She was sure she had seen her at a banquet, with a group of other mares... of course, she was one of the element bearers. “Are you… Carrot Top, by any chance?” she asked. The orange mare nodded. “Then you would be my niece Fluttering’s new friend.” Fragrant grinned. It was so good to know her niece was making new friends, that however slowly she was recovering and reconnecting with the world.
“Yes, your Grace. Though I know her as Fluttershy.”
Fragrant screwed up her face. “Ooh! Rainbow Dash gave her that nickname. Fluttering likes it, but I’ve always thought it was belittling…”
“I like it,” Max said, waving a hoof slowly in the air, as though tracking the gentle flight of a butterfly. “Fluttershy…it sounds very sweet and demure. From what you’ve told me of her, it sounds like it fits very well, and as long as she likes… are you alright, duchess?”
Fragrant glared at Max. As always, he seemed oblivious to her. How could he be so annoying and so charming at the same time? Yes, Fluttering seemed to like her nickname, and it was a little fitting, but she felt her niece could be stronger than that, should be stronger... but hadn’t that been the problem, that she tried to make her something she wasn’t?
“I think she uses it because she doesn’t want to let everypony know she’s a Posey,” said Carrot Top, then she quickly did a double take. “Not that she’s ashamed! But she wants to lead a quiet, simple life. And she does seem to like the nickname, your Grace.”
Fragrant let out a long sigh. “As long as she is happy,” she said. “I’m afraid that both my brother and I put a touch too many expectations on her when she was a foal… Thunderous wanted her to inherit the weather factory. I have… had difficulties having foals of my own,” Max glanced at her sharply and she tried not to wince. Now he probably knew why she had reacted so strongly to the foals, even if he didn’t know how that one in particular had hurt her. “So I named Fluttering as my heir apparent.” Poor, poor Fluttering, they should have seen it coming. She should have seen it coming. “We were both less sensitive to Fluttering’s own needs than we should have been, and we have spent years trying to make things up to her.”
“So that’s why Thunderous was so adamant about Rainbow Dash moving to Ponyville…” gasped Carrot Top. “It wasn’t just to look out for Fluttershy, he wanted to make things up to her.”
Fragrant nodded, then frowned. What did she mean, Thunderous was adamant about Rainbow moving to Ponyville? She thought Cloudia’s daughter had volunteered to help her friend? Had her brother been meddling again? She was just about to ask the yellow mare for more details when a waitress glided up to them, a tray of drinks floating alongside her in her aura. “Aperitif, lords and ladies?” she asked.
Fragrant was just about to politely refuse when Carrot Top grabbed two of the glasses. “To Fluttershy!” she chanted, and emptied them both down her throat in a single gulp. Fragrant boggled.
“I like her,” Max declared with a grin. Fragrant glared at him reproachfully.
“Um.” Carrot Top blinked. “Uh, sorry, just… I’m still new to bumping shoulders with nobility, and… and I don’t normally drink like that, I swear!”
“That’s a shame and a relief at the same time,” Max said. “Honestly, pony like you, with your obligations to Equestria while trying to still lead a normal life… I do not know how you do it. I certainly could not.” He looked to Fragrant. “Isn’t that right, your Grace?”
Fragrant stood staring. This was Fluttering’s new friend! This drunkard! What was her niece getting mixed up in?
Carrot Top held up her hooves in contrition. “I’m sorry, your Grace,” she apologized. “I was just, um… very thirsty, and very worried, Ponyville’s had so many problems recently… and my farm! My farm’s irrigation system had to be torn up and worked on, and… oh, I’m sorry. I’ll go.” Fragrant felt a stab of shame. Had her actions with the REMM driven this mare to drink?
Carrot Top bowed. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Baron Mounty, Duchess Fragrant,” she said, before scampering away a little unsteadily.
“That was the Element of Generosity!” exclaimed Fragrant.
“Well maybe she decided to be generous to herself tonight,” said Max. “It is supposed to be a time to let your hair down. Maybe you could try a drink of two?” he suggested a little eagerly.
Fragrant considered for a moment. She could probably do with something to steady her nerves, but she had been unstable enough so far; she needed to keep control of her faculties. “Maybe later.”
“Very well,” said Max. Behind them the band struck up again and the area around them started to clear. Looking around, Fragrant realised they were standing in the centre of the dance floor. A few couples started to file onto the floor.
Max looked around and grinned. “Would my lady care to dance?” he asked, bowing low and looking up at her.
She should say no, she knew that, claim she was tired, or couldn’t dance.
She should say no, but Max was standing there looking up at her, looking so handsome.
She should say no.
But who could say no to that?
“Why thank you Baron Max, I would love to dance!”
“Sorry if I’m not that good,” apologised Max for the dozenth time as he bumped into his partner again. He’d had some practice at the Jubilation, but he was still feeling very awkward here. Maybe it wasn’t that he was bad, it was just that Fragrant was so good! She had been rather hesitant to start off with, but had quickly found her pace and was now dancing circles around him, literally on some occasions.
“How did you get so good at this?” he asked over the sound of the music.
“I’ve had a lot of practice!” she announced, gracefully sweeping past him. “I had lessons as a filly and, well, I haven't always been an old mare, you know. I used to love to dance.” She sighed. “It has been a long time, though.”
“You’re not an old mare!”
“I am older than you, by almost a decade.”
“That’s not old, it’s mature.”
“Like cheese?” she snorted.
“Like a fine wine,” he corrected, reaching out and grabbing Fragrant. She rolled onto his forearms and came to a stop her muzzle just a few inches from his own. Suddenly he found he was having trouble keeping his breathing under control. Her body pressed against his seemed so hot! Even through both of their clothes she was scalding. Then she was gone again, pulling back as the music came to an end. She seemed tired as well, panting hard; she was even sweating. Maybe it was time to take a break. He’d come very close to... to kissing her there, and that would have ruined everything. He had to keep himself under control. As long as there were no more dances that required them to stay quite so close together, he’d be fine.
The band started up a new tune.
Max’s eye’s widened. That wasn’t good, not good at all.
Next to him Fragrant’s eyes likewise widened. “Oh,” she gasped. “It’s, um, been a while since I’ve danced a tango.”
Max nodded. Actually this was a dance he knew; Zephyr had loved it, and, well, at the time he had too. Maybe he should just lie and tell her he didn’t know how to dance it. Then, to his surprise, Fragrant reared up and put her forearms around him, hind legs starting to swing as well. She looked scared for a moment, then he found his balance as well and rested his head against hers. Holding each other up, they began to glide across the floor. Max’s attention sharpened; no longer were they on a crowded dance floor, no, it was just the two of them holding each other. Even the music began to fade into the background but still their bodies moved in sync.
She leaned back, one hind leg locking behind him to stop her falling. He felt her dress fall away while fabric still covered her leg, but he dared not look down; instead he shifted his weight to keep the two of them stable. She unlocked herself from around him and staggered back, steps still following the beat of the music. He followed, desperate to catch her again, to never let her go, but just before his hooves could touch her he followed the call of the music and spun around and stood with his back to her. She reared behind him and her wings flashed forwards, running up and down his sides a few millimetres from touching him, but still somehow more sensual than if they had actually made contact. This was the regal duchess Posey?!
He turned and – trying to suppress a shudder – took her in his arms again, lowering her to the ground before hauling her back up again, her pegasus physique and his earth pony strength working together to make the move simple. They embraced again and began to move around the floor, Max’s forearms gripping Fragrant’s sides tightly, their faces less than an inch apart, staring intently into each other’s eyes.
Slowly, Max became aware than the music seemed to have come to an end. He and Fragrant weren’t actually dancing any more, just frozen in place, both leaning into each other but never quite forcing their lips into contact. Fragrant was the first to say anything. “That... that was intense,” she gasped, head not moving.
“Err, yes, the music, very intense,” mumbled Max. Say something! Say something! He begged himself.
“Oh, yes, of course, the music,” noted Fragrant finally, slowly dropping to all four hooves and turning away from Max. “You, you dance well, very well,” she said, still breathing heavily.
“Oh, you too,” he said, staring as she moved away from the dance floor tail twitching, dress tight on her flanks. Say something! Do something! Cried his brain and a few other organs.
He trotted after her on somewhat shaky legs. He open his mouth to speak, but his throat seemed as dry as a desert. He grabbed two glasses of punch from a passing servant. He held out one for Fragrant; she paused for a moment then reached out and took one.
“Max, I...”
“Fragrant, I...” they said together.
“After you...” they continued.
Fragrant nervously nodded to Max for him to speak first. He raised his glass. “To... to the Night Court,” he managed. “May it rule wisely forever.” No! cried his mind, that was not what you wanted to say! He drowned out it clamouring by taking a mouthful of his drink. Looking a little disappointed, Fragrant repeated the toast and took a drink as well.
Max lowered his gaze. Why couldn’t he get the words out? Why couldn’t he just tell her? There was a flash of purple light, but he didn’t notice. “Fragrant, I’ll never get the nerve to tell you but I think you’re the most beautiful pony I’ve ever seen. Everything about you is just perfect, you’re wise and graceful and kind and gorgeous. I’d do anything to be together with you, but I’m just a baron and you’re like a princess.” He frowned. “Am I saying all this out loud?”
“Max,” gasped Fragrant, “You’ll never know how much I’ve wanted you to say that. I’ve only known you for a few months but you’ve become the centre of my life, you’re so alive, so brash, so fun. I need to find some way to let you down gently even if it breaks my heart, no matter how much I want to tell you I feel the same.” A look of confusion passed over her face. “Wait a minute, I can’t stop talking, why can’t I stop talking?”
Around them, the background hubbub of the gala seems to become louder as every pony began to talk at once.
“No! I need to stop,” continued Fragrant. “Everypony will know what I’m thinking, everypony can see me...” Her voice started to rise in panic. “Max will know how I feel and how broken I am...”
“I have to find some way of stopping us talking, something to take our minds off talking,” Max pushed his head forwards until his lips met Fragrant’s. Her eyes bulged for a second and her mouth tried to keep moving but then she relaxed and leaned into Max, her forelegs flopping over his shoulders before pulling him closer, her mind completely blank.
After an infinite moment they separated, and stared at each other silently. Around them the guests started to rush around, trying to escape their own thoughts being loudly broadcast to the whole world. Nobles rebounded off each other as they ran.
Finally Fragrant broke her silence. “Tingles,” she muttered. “Tingles all over.”
“Oh, princess, I kissed Fragrant,” began Max, his brain restarting along with his mouth. “It was really good, did she think it was good? I want to do it again!”
“Tingles,” repeated Fragrant distantly, staring at Max. “I really want to do that again.”
“Again!”
Fragrant threw herself forwards, wrapping her legs around Max’s head and drawing him into a second kiss. It lasted even longer this time. There was a flash of blue magic followed by a second flash of purple, but neither of them noticed.
“Oh my!” gasped Fragrant when she finally broke contact. “Why does he taste so good? What am I doing, I feel like a wild mare.”
“Try not to think of Fragrant as a wild mare, try not to think of her tearing off her dress and...” He brought a hoof up to his mouth to try and stop his stream of consciousness resulting in a painful bite, then he caught sight of something out of the side of his eye. “What?” Through the crowd he noticed some sort of fight going on as several ponies tried to pile on a hidden target. To his surprise one pegasus tumbled to the ground as her wings suddenly vanished! The he noticed something else: the small wall around the playground area had been breached by some stumbling noble and the guards stationed there were desperately trying to contain their young charges. However, just as panicked, several of the small ponies had escaped only to find themselves trapped in a forest of legs as the stampede rumbled past. It was only a matter of moments before one or more of them would be trampled.
“Stay here!” he warned Fragrant before ducking his head down and barrelling through the crowd towards the foals.
“Why’s he not talking?” demanded Fragrant as Max leapt off into the crowd, “Does he really not think at all when he does this sort of thing? I better help him before he gets hurt, oh don’t let him get hurt.” She leapt into the air, wings outstretched before wobbling a little. “Ouch, bucking dress,” she swore, trying to follow Max from the air. “I’ll have to get rid of it.” She flailed out with her legs and wings for a moment, before – with a ripping sound – the outer layer of the dress tore. She finished the job with her teeth, throwing the remains to the ground, resulting in her only being clothed in the less covering inner layer. “Sorry Suri, sorry Coco.”
Below, one of the lesser nobles caught the dress and looked up in astonishment at the sock-clad legs of the pegasus. “I really want to bend that mare over a table and...” he began, before receiving a slap from his wife who proceeded to tell him exactly what was on her mind, even though she hadn’t had the punch.
Max careened across the flow, leaping over and around the fleeing ponies. “Sorry! Get out the way! Look out!” he yelled.
Ahead of him he could see that Scootaloo had realised the danger and was physically showing her friends back to the safety of the enclosure. However, she was too busy to notice a particularly rotund earth pony stallion galloping towards her. “Monster!” he yelled. “Let it eat somepony else, preferably Fisher.”
Seeing the danger, Max leapt forwards to put himself between the filly and the stallion’s flailing hooves. There was a thud, and Max gritted his teeth in pain as the stallion crashed into him before staggering away, eyes still wide with panic. “Are you all right?” he asked the filly.
She nodded while trying to scramble to her hooves.
Max likewise tried to get up, but another panicked pony bounced off of him, knocking him back again. He glanced around to see a sea of hooves rushing towards him. “This is going to hurt!” he announced, scuttling forwards and grabbing Scootaloo. The filly squeaked as Max tried to wrap himself around her as best he could. “Maybe I can keep her safe at least.”
“Max!” came a cry from above. “Grab my hoof!” Above him, Posey was swooping down.
“Fragrant is wearing socks,” he gasped. “That’s so hot!” He stretched out and managed to grab one of her hind legs as she pulled up.
“Oh, princess! I didn’t think he’d get to see those! Well I might have hoped a little!”
“Scootaloo, grab my neck,” cried Max. The filly did as she was told, locking her forelegs in place tightly enough to make breathing a little difficult. The little filly’s wings started to buzz frantically; to Max’s surprise, they actually seemed to be generating some lift.
With a rather unladylike grunt, Fragrant flapped her wings as quickly as she could, pulling herself and her two passengers into the sky as grounded ponies rushed past where they had just been. “Why is he so heavy?” she asked. “I know muscle weighs more than fat but is he really that muscular? Maybe I’ll get a chance to find out, to run my hooves over his whole body, from end to end. I still can’t stop talking!”
“Fragrant! There is a foal present,” gasped Max. “I’d like to run my hooves over your body as well, to touch and caress every part of you and then...” Max’s eyes widened, unable to stop the direction his mind was heading. Above them, a wave of silvery magic spread out over the room, and suddenly the room became much quieter as Max found his tongue ceasing its constant babbling. “Oh thank the princess,” he muttered. Glancing up, he saw just how true that statement was as Luna stood a floor above them, looking down on the now calming crowd. Duke Greengrass was held in her aura for some reason.
“What does caress mean?” asked Scootaloo, “And what did you want to do to her after you did that?”
“Um, maybe you should ask your father about that?” suggested Max as Fragrant dropped them back to the ground. Well I don’t think I’ll be getting those cart related favours after she does that, he thought.
“Needless to say, the rest of the Gala will be cancelled,” announced Luna. “I must ask for everypony here to remain while the Night Guard ascertains what happened and if anypony needs immediate help, then you may leave. I ask for patience for just a little bit.”
Once Scootaloo had been dropped off to traumatise her father, Max and Fragrant tried to find a quiet a corner to try and sort out what had happened.
“So um, truth potion, eh?” said Max, feeling exceptionally awkward.
“Yes,” agreed Fragrant. “So you said what you really meant.”
“I’m so sorry! I know what I said was wrong but...”
She held a hoof up to his lips. “Were you listening to what I said?”
“Well, yes, but I thought that...”
“Truth potion, remember.”
“Well, yes, but what we think and what we really mean can be different. You know, if you want to just forget all of this we can...”
She paused for a moment, and he felt his heart drop. “No, no, I do not want to forget tonight.”
A wide smile raced across his face. “So what does this mean, what are we?”
“Something different to what we were at the start of the night.” She looked down. “Look, Max, I... I don’t really know, I want us to be more but, well, maybe we can at least wait for somewhere a bit more private before we discuss it?” She gestured around the crowded room where the guests still milled around, overseen by guards.
“Oh, right, good plan,” said Max, looking a little down. To his surprise he felt the touch of Fragrant’s wing over his back and she leaned into him.
“But we will talk, Max.”
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I really love this part.
Carrot Top's a lot of fun here, and I love the wild chase scene when Posey and Max try to rescue Scoots. And also when they kiss and inadvertently disrupt the truth serum, which I think is excellent. True love can override any magical cantrip!
At least we now know what it was like to BE one of the nobles affected by the serum. It bothers me that people objected to this when it could have been so much worse. As a for instance, Greengrass could have been Pony Malcolm Tucker......
5154018
Well its not so much that the potion stopped working, truth is a scourge makes your conscious international monologue less internal, unless you think about breathing you dont keep going on about breath in, breath out, by shutting down their conscious thoughts and going to something a little more primitive there were no conscious thoughts to broadcast. The same thing happened when Max ran off to save the day, he literally wasn't thinking, just acting on impulse so no monologue.
5154376
Luna, you are a ****ing omnishambles!
4991990 Well, Twilight isn't going to have THAT problem any longer. Seeing ponies as individuals rather than as ciphers who play the part of a statistic on Daddy's charts is going to give her a sense of perspective he's sorely lacking.
It was a factor in her breakdown if not the entire reason.
Well if you've read my story 'Time after Time' the sixth Doctor chapter you'll see that Kroop berries have a certain hallucinogenic effect on ponies
so it could be a very interesting party once Mrs G starts handing out her flapjacks.
Well his story continues in Pinkie and Bluie, nothing to bad so far although his might be making other appearances later in Mountain.
Hahaha, he so would.
Good on Buttercup. Doesn't manage to catch and keep the stallion, is helpful and encouraging to the mare with a better chance.
Hmn, I'm suddenly wondering. Do Max and Fragrant both get hit with the truth poison? Could be a hilarious consequence of something that mostly went terribly if it happens to force the two to confess their interest in each other.
Heh, poor Lunaverse Rarity. She even misses out on the one stallion in the Night Court who we all know to be a good guy. Not that Max was particularly available in that scene, but still.
Very smooth, Carrot Top. But hey, we got out of that scene with Fragrant's "I have… had difficulties having foals of my own" comment, so a net win. Sounds like my previous working theory was loosely on the right path, though a bit off in some of the exact details.
Oh my, that tango.
And now, the truth poison!
*fist-pump*
Dude, the entire end of the chapter. That was everything I was hoping for and then some. I'd comment like I normally do, but I think I'd just have to quote the entire text, so instead I'll just list the key bits I especially loved: the kisses, Max not saying anything when rushing off to be a hero, the socks, the wild mare, the socks. Also, I'm not sure that the conversation about the socks and everything that followed was rated appropriately for Scootaloo to have been standing right next to it.
Bwhahahahaha!
5155491
Actually that line and a bit from a the Fragrant's night where she talks about Fluttershy to Greengrass are the two bits written by other authors that I would like to ignore based on how I'm writing the character (They wrote them first so I really shouldn't complain). To me both issues are rather private to Fragrant, who is a rather private pony at best, and wouldn't mention them to strangers.
Fragrants foal issues, well there enough bits around for most people to figure out in general terms at least, they will eventually be investigated more but probably not for a while (about 9-11 months in universe, and no that time period is in no way significant
, really its not, really don't try to put any significance to it, it's just a time period, nothing more. really 
).
It could be considered a bit crass for her hitting on him now.
"My sort of mare friend just ran into the toilets sobbing!"
"So you're single then, darling?"
5155679 You gotta strike when the iron's hot!
5160867
Thanks, I knew you wouldn't really approve of this part of the story in general and you're likely to be even less keen on the second part of the Gala and the next chapter to be published, although you might be happier with the chapters after even if only by a bit.
However, I can't please all of the people and well I suppose I'm mostly pleasing myself.
God, I love those two being able to talk like that. :) Now let's skip the BS drama and get them hitched, for god's sake!
5160904 : You're not just pleasing yourself. I for one also enjoy this story a lot. :-) And I think RDD has said elsewhere that he likes this story so much that he wishes it had been written earlier to give a more nuanced view of the Night Court, though I could be remembering that wrong.
5161690
Thanks, although that wasn't quite what I meant, I'm writing the story I like rather than thinking to much about what other people want. Although I am at least listening to feedback.
I have to admit to being kind of surprised at the effects of truth is a scourge on Max and Fragrant. I thought the stuff automagically brought up whichever truths would most hurt and unsettle the listener, so I was expecting Max to start babbling about his relationship with Buttercup and Fragrant to start listing all the reasons she and Max couldn't be together, or else start talking about whatever went wrong with her previous relationship.