13. Reflection Sum – Part 3
P A R T T H R E E
S I L V E R S P O O N
It didn’t matter.
None of it mattered.
I was going home.
I haphazardly piled belongings and clothes back into my saddlebags, caring little to ensure it was packed properly. I needed to pack. Didn’t matter how. The next train out of Manehattan would be leaving within the hour, and I had already wasted enough time.
Staying here was stupid. This entire trip was stupid.
Personal belongings.
Accessories.
Toiletries.
All in.
What was left?
Clothes.
I trotted over to the closet and slid open the door.
There was a dress. A lovely one, at that. It was a white one-piece garment, a steel-gray number with sharp blue accents. It lacked well-defined edges, corners, or angles. Just graceful, flowing lines, extending from the collarless neckline all the way to the flared hem that swept just a tinge past my rear hooves.
Striking, yet subdued. Bright, yet balanced. The very pinnacle of streamlined, seductive, minimalistic design. Revealing enough to show that there was a pony underneath, but obscuring enough to warn them that the pony still had her secrets.
I hadn’t even gotten an opportunity to wear it.
And all that reminded me of was how wasteful this trip had been.
I had accomplished nothing. I had driven myself into an emotional frenzy. And for what? Just so I could see Sweetie Belle sauntering in with her stupid little event? So I could see her mingling with such a dazzling example of a high-class mare like Prosperity?
No doubt that damn filly was having a grand old time. And here I was, being forced to confront that shameful fact that we had both gone on the same trip to the same city, and yet she was accomplishing so much more than I, for whom the trip had merely been a colossal and potentially destructive waste of my time.
She was just soaking it up, wasn’t she? All the attention. All the fame. All the prestige. Things she’d likely never felt in her life. Things that were commonplace for me.
Pah. What I wouldn’t give for a chance to go down there and show her what for.
And I knew I could. She was playing at high society. I was a master of it. I could show her. I could show everyone. Prove to them that she couldn’t hog the spotlight, that I was far more worthy of it than she could ever hope to—
NO.
I buried my face into my pillow, trying to shut out my thoughts, trying to shut out the world, trying to shut out what I knew was about to happen only ten stories underneath my hooves.
I couldn’t go in there.
I couldn’t.
If she saw me…
…she would know.
She would know everything. She would know I was Shadow Song.
I couldn’t let that happen. No matter what trite arguments Prosperity would present to me.
I had spent months getting to know Dovetail. Months. And, until Thursday, I had made a flawless run of maintaining my anonymity.
Was it worth it to show up and sacrifice all that I had made for myself in the game? Just for a little validation? A tiny slice of home? Just to prove a point? Just so I could bask in the liberty, the freedom, the power of holding the spotlight that the weekend had so cruelly denied me?
Just to not be alone for the rest of the night?
…Did it matter at this point?
My friendship with Dovetail was already strained. Now that she knew I was not the ‘man’ I claimed myself to be, it was foalish to think that things could continue in this fashion, no matter how close we were. I had already violated her trust.
I knew it to be true. That’s simply the way it was.
My friendship with her was strained. All of my friendships were strained.
…
No, that wasn’t true. I had more friends, even in Eternity.
Freya. Stranger. Zaid. Even Button, to a certain extent. They were my friends as much as they were hers.
To say nothing of the fact that I was truly good at the game. Hel, I was great. I wasn’t just some casual getting a piggyback ride by more experienced players. I could well and truly hold my own, both in the Crucible and in the wilds beyond the City walls.
And that, more than anything, gave me every right to be there. I was an Everfree Crusader, and the world of Eternity was just as much my home as it was Sweetie Belle’s, no matter what she had to say about it.
…Home?
Mere months ago, I would never have called a place like Eternity home. In fact, I would have laughed at the very notion.
How did things end up like this? How could it be that Dovetail—Sweetie Belle—had unwittingly become the tentpole to such a substantial tract of my social life?
…There was a certain sense of irony to that, wasn’t there? I never would have found Eternity had it not been for her. Not only had she given me something to distract myself from the strains of my day-to-day, she had given me a home away from home. She had given me Sanctuary.
Sanctuary… they were my comrades, my allies. They sought nothing from me but my friendship. Their companionship was granted of their free will. I never desired to manipulate them, for I was always free to speak my mind, to challenge their opinions. They let me assert control, with the mere expectation that I only relinquish mine in turn.
They were my friends.
…And they had no idea who I was.
What was I to them? What could I ever hope to be in their eyes? Did they consider me a friend?
No. How could they? I was the illusion of a friend, a pale shadow. They extended their friendship to me. And through my machinations, I spat on their offerings.
Prosperity was wrong. It wasn’t just Dovetail’s friendship on the line.
It was everyone’s.
How could she think it was so simple? She thought she was so damn smart and that she knew me better than I knew myself.
She knew nothing. She knew nothing of my circumstances.
And I did. I knew. I knew what would come of my attendance.
The consequences weren’t worth it.
At all.
S W E E T I E B E L L E
As Button and I wheeled around the corner towards the ballroom, we found a dozen or so uniformed ponies milling about in front of several large carts, stacked high with plush seating cushions. They glanced up as we approached, and one of the stallions in the front started towards us.
“Hey, we brought the seats and we’re ready to—” He froze, looking us over. “Waitaminute, you two aren’t the organizers! You’re just kids! Are you even supposed to be back here?”
Ugh. ‘Kids’ again. Whatever. “Sorry, we’re not the organizers, but we’re part of the event,” I explained, holding up my badge and waving my hoof behind me. “They should be able to—”
They were gone!
“What the heck?! Button, where’d the organizers go?”
“I dunno,” he said with a shrug. “They were right behind us just a second ago.”
Criminey. I turned back to the stallion. “Looks like they fell behind. Is there something keeping you from setting up the seats?”
“We don’t know where to put them,” he explained. “You never provided a floor plan for us.”
Crap.
“Nah, we got this figured out,” Button said as he trotted in, staring about the room.
“Button,” I said haltingly, “we have no idea—”
“Left side of the room is for games,” he observed. “Those stands all over the place? Those are for stratoscreens. Ponies are gonna be sitting around those playing video games. So just put seats in front of those. Three ponies per fireteam, so three seats per stand.”
…Well, okay, that seemed pretty obvious, I guess. I glanced over to the other side towards the artist’s alley.
“It looks like—” Uhh, no, it doesn’t look like, it is. Speak with confidence. “Each of those stands is a market stall,” I said, staring at the lined up booths. “Ponies are gonna sit behind those selling merch. So maybe one or two seats behind each one?” Oh crap, what if they didn’t have enough? “How many seats can the hotel spare?”
“Don’t gotta worry about us running out,” the stallion assured me. “We have more than enough to fill the ballroom according to the fire marshal’s capacity rating. Five hundred heads.”
“Oh. Well then, two per stand.”
“Three for the longer ones,” Button pointed out. Yikes, I hadn’t even noticed that some of the stands were bigger than the others.
“Got it.” The stallion blew a sharp whistle and waved a hoof in the air. “You heard ‘em! Let’s get those seats down!”
The rest of the ponies sprang into action, and soon they were carrying seating cushions through the open façade of the room like clockwork.
“You sure that was a good idea?” I asked Button. “What if we got it wrong?”
“At least the seats can be moved around,” he said, looking back down the hall in worry, only looking half-convinced at his own words. “If we need to move them around, we can. It’ll take less effort than starting from scratch.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” I glanced back at our carts, still laden with the packed-up consoles and stratoscreens. “Think we should start on these?”
“Ehhhhhhhh,” he replied uneasily. “Maybe let’s wait on that one.”
By the time half of the seats were deployed, the rest of the Mythic crew came running down the hall with their own carts in tow.
“Sorry, sorry!” said Miss Amaranth, charging down the hall. “We got held up unloading.”
“Yeah, and Props got stopped in the hall by some kid that’s attending or something,” said Mister Miller. “No clue what the deal with that is.”
Really? “Is now a good time for her to get held up like that?”
“It’s fine, her job is to deal with ponies,” Mister MacGuffin said with a shrug. “Ours is to get the event running—”
“Umm, Mac,” said Miss Amaranth, poking him in the shoulder. “Who told them to set up the seats?”
He did a double-take. “Huh? Uhh… that’s weird.”
“Weren’t you supposed to be in charge of that?”
“…Yep,” he said, staring at the ponies running around the room.
I bit my lip and stole a glance at Button. He gulped, then stepped up. “Uh, we did.”
They slowly turned their heads to us, staring.
“He started it,” I said quickly.
“Sweetie!” He glared at me. “You told them to do stuff too!”
“…Yeah, I guess I did.” I rubbed my neck with a hoof. “We didn’t know where you all disappeared to, and we were worried that time was running short, so when they asked us what to do, we kinda just… guessed.”
They blinked at us. I suppressed the urge to kick Button in the fetlocks.
Then again, I’d have to kick myself too, I guess. Grumble. Maybe next time I wouldn’t be the idiot that listened to him.
Eventually, Mister MacGuffin let out a small chuckle, and Miss Amaranth just shook her head with one of those motherly smiles that said, ‘oh you kids, bless your little hearts’.
But Mister Miller was watching the proceedings in the room.
“I mean, it looks like they’ve mostly got it right,” he said. “Aside from needing some extra crowd seating around a few of the stratoscreens, it looks according to plan. Did you two say how to do the middle?”
“No clue what the heck’s going on there,” Button said.
“We just focused on the sides of the room that seemed obvious,” I added.
“Good to hear. I’ve got a specific plan for the middle, so it’s better I let them know myself.” He turned to us. “I appreciate you kids helping, and this’ll definitely speed things up. But, uh… please be careful not to make too many decisions without us.”
“They seem to have enough discretion to know what decisions to make and what to leave up to us,” offered Mister MacGuffin.
“No, we overstepped our bounds,” I said, bowing my head in apology. “We want to help, but we don’t want to get in the way.”
“Oh believe me, you two haven’t been getting in the way at all,” Miss Amaranth assured us.
“Mostly,” quipped Mister MacGuffin.
“Oh hush! If anything, you two have helped immeasurably. Especially with Props.”
Huh? “Prosperity? What about her?”
“I think she means the stuff she talked to us about,” said Button. “All the drama at work about getting this thing going last minute.”
“Oh, that.” Duh. “Yeah, she seems like she’s been under a lot of stress.”
“Heh, well, you must’ve said something good to her,” said Mister MacGuffin. “When we came out to say hi to y’all, it was almost like we were talking to a totally different Prosperity.”
“Not a different one, but definitely one we haven’t seen in a while,” said Miss Amaranth. “She looked more energetic than I’ve seen her in weeks.”
Oh jeez. “Well, I’m glad we could help, but… are things really that bad?”
“Worse,” he said solemnly.
Before he had a chance to elaborate, the stallion of the hotel suddenly approached us. “S’cuse me, are you Mister MacGuffin?”
“That I am,” he confirmed with a curt nod.
“How would you like for us to arrange the center of the room?”
“Ah, yeah, lemme explain that. Ami, Miller, you two mind getting started on the stratoscreens?”
“Will do, Mac!” saluted Mister Miller.
“And you two,” said Mister MacGuffin to us.
We froze. “Uhh…”
“You know how to set up Hoofboxes and PlayStables and get them all connected and stuff, right?” We slowly nodded. “Mind helping out? We could use all the hooves we can get.”
“Absolutely!” said Button.
“Leave it to us,” I agreed with a nod. “Anything we can do to help.”
“Fantastic. Let’s get rollin’!”
One hour remaining.
With so little time left on the clock, the crew was kicking it into overdrive. Every single pony had a role to play. Even us.
We were in the thick of it, sweating bullets as we lifted, moved, organized, and worked like no tomorrow. I had never done so much heavy-lifting in my life. And yet, here I was, wheeling around carts, unloading boxes, posting stratoscreens, lining up tables.
Mare, was I getting a workout.
By now, most of the consoles had been set up. I left Button to deal with the PlayStables, which I had never owned and had no idea how to work. Granted, he didn’t either, but hey, figuring it out was his problem.
…Okay, that wasn’t really true. Fact of the matter was, it would take twice as much time for two of us to figure out than just one of us.
…But then, once I did figure it out, we could probably get it done twice as fast, too.
Crap. Okay, no, stop logicking it. You’re just creating more work for yourself.
“Oi, Dove!” shouted MacGuffin over the chaos, “what’s the status on the gaming section?”
I stopped what I was doing and rose to my hooves, scanning the area. Pretty much all of the stratoscreens had been set up with a console placed just in front of it. The area was packed.
“Looks like everything’s in place, Mag!” I yelled back at— wait, did I just call him Mag? “I mean, Mister—”
“Do we have any leftover consoles?!” he interrupted, apparently not noticing my faux pas.
I swept my eyes over the area once more until I spotted the stupid balloon hat propeller thingamajigger that Button wore, sticking out just a few inches from behind the top of a stratoscreen.
“Button!”
The rest of his head popped up. “Yeah?!”
“How many consoles do we have left?”
He glanced to his side. “…A ton! Like, more‘n a couple dozen left!”
“More than two dozen!” I shouted back to Mag, and his eyes bugged out. “What’s up? Do you need any for center?”
“Yeah, but only, like, six for the stage!”
Huh. That’s a lot of leftover consoles.
“Mag!” came another voice over the din of activity, and out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted Prosperity striding in, an alarmed look on her face.
“Ho, Propsy!” he said, waving a hoof and causing several heads in the room to turn. I quickly wrapped up setting up this last Hoofbox—the screen lit up along with the magical chimes of its startup sound—and began to make my way over.
“Glad you could join us, Propsy!” said Mag as I trotted up. “How are things looking outsi—”
“I’m so sorry for not being here to help,” she said in a near-panic, “but while I was out there, ponies started arriving into the lobby in droves, and I got caught up trying to manage everyone!”
“That’s fine, Props, divide and conquer,” said Amaranth, joining in. “You handle the people, and we’ll take care of things in here. Can you do that?”
“I’m not sure anymore,” she said quickly. “They’ve practically taken over the lobby.”
MacGuffin raised an eyebrow. “What, press and industry?”
“Not just them, attendees. I count nearly two hundred from regular attendance out there waiting for us.”
“What?!” Mag exclaimed. “That many?! Already? Are you sure?!”
“Almost positive!” she replied, even more urgency seeping into her voice. “I mean, I couldn’t get an accurate headcount, but they’re everywhere! And more are arriving by the minute!”
Holy smokes. That was a lot of ponies. I glanced over at the gaming section of the room. “I’m starting to think we miiight need to set up more consoles.”
“Crap, she’s right,” muttered MacGuffin. “You said we still had, like, two dozen more lying around, right?”
“Button did, yeah.”
“Can you talk to Button to see if we can get some more of those up and running? We need way more, otherwise we’ll be leaving a lot of ponies out in the cold.”
“Sure—”
“Actually,” interrupted Prosperity, “might I borrow Sweetie— er, Dove to help outside?”
Huh? Wait, what? Me, helping manage ponies? “Umm, are you sure? I don’t—”
“You’ll be fine, I just need help with the artists,” she said quickly. “Follow me.” She trotted out and I scampered after her.
Criminey. I wanted to, like, stop her and ask exactly what the heck was going on. At the same time I figured she’d tell me on the way, and it was better for me to give her room to explain, so I held my silence.
But all she did in the moments it took for us to get to the lobby was furrow her brows in consternation. And as we emerged into the lobby, I could see why she was so on edge.
They were everywhere. Hundreds of them. The lobby had gone from a quaint, relaxing lounge of errant businessmares and hoity-toity tourists to a figurative zoo, dispersed throughout the room and mingling in just about all of the lobby seating. Everywhere I looked, there were just more and more heads, too many to count.
“Holy smokes,” I breathed aloud.
“Yes, it’s…” A pause. “Overwhelming, to say the least.”
“No kidding. I had no idea so many ponies would be attending.”
“Neither did we.”
“I mean, that’s a good thing, right?” I ventured, giving her a supportive smile. “Your event is gonna be a much bigger success than you expected.”
“Oh yes, absolutely,” she replied with an unsteady grin as she scanned the lobby. “But… I’ve never even seen this kind of crowd before. Not for… for something I’ve done.” Her momentary pride evaporated as quickly as it started when she turned to me, clear worry on her face. “Can we even accommodate this many ponies with the size of an event we’re putting on? If we can’t, it might be…”
A disaster. Yeah. Maybe. So many might get turned away at the door because there just wasn’t enough room for everypony.
She sighed, staring at the crowd again. “I just really hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“I’m sure it won’t—” …Don’t say that if you’re not sure it’ll be true. “Well. For what it’s worth, all of us are gonna try and do the best we can so that it doesn’t.”
“That’s more than a mare can ask for,” she said, smiling. “Thank you.”
Yesss. Let me assuage your fears. It makes me feel warm and fluffy inside.
Her face went stern again. “Listen. I’m going to need to gather all the press and industry attendees so I can get them in the door and explain how it works and where they’re sitting. While I’m busy doing that, I need you to take care of the artists for me.”
I blinked. “The artists?”
She pulled a scroll out of her bag and hoofed it to me. “This is a list of vendors that we’ll be hosting in our artists’ alley. All I need is for you to round them up, bring them to the room, and assign them tables.”
I gave the scroll a quick scan. It was a clean, neatly-written list of names and table numbers.
“I already told them to meet off to the side of hotel registration,” she said, pointing over the heads of the collected ponies, towards a corner of the room. “So just meet them there and bring ‘em in.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you inside?”
“You bet.” She made to trot away, but something stopped her. “I almost forgot. Lemme give you the badges, too.”
After a moment’s shuffling in her bag, Prosperity hoofed me a stack of cards, each hanging from a lanyard. They were decorated with intricate Eternity-themed graphics, and imprinted upon the frontmost badge was the text: ‘Dovetail, Guest of Honor’.
“Event badges. Yours is on top. Hang that around your neck. It’ll mark you as a VIP, and it’ll also let any hotel staff know that you’re in charge if you need anything from them.”
Oh. Neat! “Can I ask them for cupcakes?”
Prosperity rolled her eyes. “Ask them for help only when you need it, silly.”
Grinning, I quickly roped the badge around my neck so that it hung freely off my chest.
“Great. Pass out the rest of the badges to the vendors once you assign them tables!”
“Got it!”
She waved me off, and I trotted into the lobby and began to work my way through the amassed crowd… which I was starting to find was nothing like I had expected.
Everypony here was here for Eternity, and it showed. Tons of them were wearing all sorts of Eternity-themed attire. Most were simple graphic tees and caps, some with saddlebags adorned with pins and stickers. But several were full-blown costumes, billowing Hunter cloaks and crafted papier-mâché Titan armor. But there were plenty of normal ponies too, dressed in nothing but the coathairs on their backs.
I passed a group of young colts on my left playing action figures and comparing Eternity merch, while their mothers looked on in baffled amusement. A throng of teenagers to my right chatted back and forth, sharing war stories of their escapades in the Wilds, or gloating about Crucible victories. A few here and there were doodling into sketchbooks.
While there were several kids around my age, way more teenagers and adults filled the lobby. And aside from a few flabbergasted mothers and the odd filly here and there, most of them were stallions and colts. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised, and maybe even a little disappointed. But that didn’t stop the atmosphere from feeling positively charged with excitement. Everyone was smiling, laughing, tapping their hooves against the marble flooring in anticipation for the coming evening.
And I felt it. I felt empowered. I felt myself basking in the glow of their enthusiasm, in the collected spirit of the crowd.
I had been in excited crowds before. But never had I felt so… connected to all of them like this. We were all here for the same reason, united in our intent, our passion, our energy.
It was exhilarating.
I was so tempted to just stand there and soak it all in, to just trot over to a random group of ponies and kick up a conversation, meet new ponies, trade banter, revel in past and future glories.
…Of course, I still had a job to do. Prosperity was counting on me and I couldn’t be distracted.
But I felt my pace quicken, just a tiny bit more. I felt a spring to my steps that hadn’t been there before.
I finally made it towards a subdued section of the lobby, where a small throng of ponies had congregated. A few of them were quietly doodling on canvas paper, sharing occasional conversation. All of them seemed to have saddlebags and carts’ worth of things—most likely their art supplies or whatever else they were selling.
These were artists, right?
Oh. Yeah. There was a sign hanging on one of the nearby columns that said ‘Artists/Vendors, please wait here’. Derp.
Okay. Great! So, all I had to do was… err…
Huh. Somehow I couldn’t bring myself to break the silence.
Okay, okay, maybe I was a little nervous. I mean, it’s not like it usually makes sense for some filly to just randomly walk up to a dozen ponies in their late teens and early twenties, expecting them to pay her any heed.
Except one did. A mare glanced up from her canvas when she saw me walk up. “Hello there, little one,” she said kindly. “Are you looking to buy something from the artists and vendors? We haven’t quite set up shop yet.”
Little one?! Pfft. Okay, so maybe I was a little small for my age, but honestly! I was thirteen!
“Um… actually,” I cleared my throat, shakily. “I’m with the event, and I’m here to pick up the vendors. That’s you guys?”
That turned a few more heads. Another mare smiled. “That’s us.”
“Cool! Um, so uh, hello!” I waved a meek hoof. “My name’s Swee— I mean, Dovetail. I have your event badges, and I’ll be taking you over to the event hall so you can… get set up…”
I trailed off as several eyes widened, as if in shock. One stallion stood up, approaching me slowly. “…You’re Dovetail? Really?”
“Er… yes?” I answered, a little confused.
“Horseapples, it’s actually her,” said the mare. “Look, it’s on her badge!”
“No way.”
“Dovetail of Sanctuary!”
“The real Dovetail is here!”
Oh goodness. I hadn’t expected this kind of reception. Had all of these ponies actually heard of me?
Apparently, because as I began shaking hooves with the two in the lead, almost all of the others stood up, a few of them even craning their necks to try and get a better look.
And I couldn’t shake the fact that they were all… taller than me! A bunch of older ponies! Excited to meet me!
This was so surreal.
“Wow! I heard you were coming,” said the mare, shaking my hoof, “but I didn’t think I’d actually have a chance to meet you so soon!”
“Yeah, dude, this is awesome! I’m a huge fan!” said the stallion, barely able to contain his excitement. “Oh man, I actually have a piece of you and your guild to show you!”
A piece? What did he mean by that?
“Oh, you drew fanart of Sanctuary too?!” said the eager mare. “So did I!”
Fanart? What the hay were they talking about?!
Gah, it didn’t matter right now! We needed to get them set up before the doors opened!
“Right, um. It’s really nice to meet everyone!” I said, backing up. “I’d love to see your, um, pieces! How about we head to the hall, and then I can take a look once everyone’s all set up?”
“Sounds good!” said the mare, standing up and hefting her saddlebag.
“Great! Right, this way please!”
Without further delay, everypony began making our way through the crowd. As we trotted along, a couple of ponies made conversation with me.
“Mare, you’re actually Dovetail in the flesh,” one mare said in awe. “I had no idea the real Dovetail was so young.”
“I watch reels of your Crucible fights all the time!” said a stallion. “You’re crazy good for someone your age.”
“Well, you know what they say,” said the mare, “if you’re good at something, chances are there’s some scrappy kid out there who’s ten times better.”
“Ehehehe.” I laughed sheepishly. “Well, you guys are all artists, right?”
“Yep!” said the mare. “I draw a lot too, but most of my work is with fabrics. This Titan Mark I’m wearing is actually something I made myself.” She shook her flank a bit to show off the mark that cascaded down her legs.
“That’s awesome,” I said, staring at the intricate patterns sewn into the fabric. Having spent the lion’s share of my life in the company of a master seamstresses, I could tell the work of a true talent when I saw it.
“Dang,” said the stallion in awe. “That’s super cool. I’ve only been drawing since, like, last year.” He held up his canvas notebook.
“Holy crap,” I said before I could stop myself. It was a ridiculously detailed pencil sketch of a Guardian from behind, bearing her shield and revolver as she charged along with two others at a towering Hex Dragon twice her size.
…Waitaminute. Windswept hair, Hawkmoon in her outstretched hoof…
“It’s you!” he exclaimed with a proud grin. “You and the rest of Sanctuary’s battle against Theralon in the Citadel of Stars! I just finished it this morning!”
No way. So this is what they had meant by fanart.
“Only a year?” said the mare, glancing back and forth between him and the sketch. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.” He grinned nervously. “Actually, I only got inspired to start drawing because of Eternity.”
“Eternity’s been a huge motivator, yeah,” agreed the mare. “Still, only a year…? From what you showed me in the lobby, I’d have thought you’ve been drawing way longer. Your line confidence is insane for a new artist. I barely see any sketch lines.”
“Ehe, thanks.” He flushed a little at the compliment.
“That’s really cool,” I said, envious of their talent. “I wish I could do what you guys can.”
“Hah, well, we wish we could play half as well as you do,” said the mare, grinning. “Everypony’s gotta be good at something.”
I guess.
“Is this it?” asked the mare.
I glanced away from the art to find that we had reached the ballroom. Thankfully, it now looked considerably more prepared to receive attendees.
“Yeah, this is it,” I said, leading the pack of artists over to the vendor tables and pulling out the scroll from my saddlebag.
From there, it was just a matter of calling out names and pointing out which table was theirs, a process that went by quickly as the vendors got themselves situated and began unpacking their wares. There were a few unclaimed badges and tables, but I figured they just belonged to ponies who hadn’t shown up yet.
The last name on the list was the stallion’s. “Spark Sunder, table six.”
“Thanks, Dovetail,” he said as I passed him his badge. “Oh, and before I forget…” He held out his drawing of my character in one hoof and a camera in the other. “Do you think I could get a photo with you and the drawing?”
A… a photo? He wanted to take a photo? With me? “…Er, yeah. Sure.”
“Here, I’ll help you two out!” said the mare, apparently having overheard us. With a grateful smile, Spark quickly hoofed the camera to her, then gave me the drawing, before standing next to me to pose for the picture.
Feeling completely out of my element, I held up the drawing and gave my best smile.
“One, two…”
Flash!
“Done!”
“Thanks a lot!” he said, before turning to me. “And thank you so much, Dovetail. It was seriously an honor to meet you.”
“Y-yeah, likewise,” I said, holding out the drawing.
“No, that’s for you,” he said. “I’d like you to keep that.”
W-wait, what?! “Are you sure? You said you spent all week on this!”
“Yeah, one-hundred percent sure,” he nodded eagerly. “I made sure to get a ton of copies printed this morning to sell at my table, so I’d love for you to have the original.”
“I…”
I didn’t know what to say.
Up until a few minutes ago, this stallion had never met me before. And yet he had already drawn a picture of me—or, at least, my character—based on… what? The fact that I played a video game?
It blew my mind.
We quickly exchanged goodbyes and we’ll-talk-laters so that he could begin setting up his booth, leaving me to marvel at the breathtaking reality that had somehow taken hold of my world.
“One at a time, please, one at a time!”
Mister Miller’s voice rang out above the din of the crowd of ponies in the hallway as they all waited to get inside. They weren’t a rowdy crowd by any means. Just a very excited one.
The last hour or so had passed in a blur, but despite how quickly everyone had worked, there were still things left to do. Stage lights and speaker systems that refused to behave, consoles that wouldn’t connect to the net, and a very irritated head chef waxing philosophical to a frustrated Miss Amaranth about how special needs meals were a “toxic blight upon the culinary arts”.
But twenty minutes past the official door opening and there were still people outside being forced to wait as the crew scrambled to get everything together. Impatient attendees and press were beginning to wonder if the event was even on, and vendors were itching their fetlocks at the number of sales they weren’t making.
It was thus that Prosperity had made the executive decision to simply start admitting ponies and to just clean up problems as they came up. And now, thirty minutes in, things were finally starting to look like a genuine party. A steady stream of ponies was beginning to disperse towards various parts of the room—setting themselves up at unoccupied consoles, perusing the half-completed food spread, or admiring the various wares across the vendor hall.
It wasn’t the most auspicious start to the night, but it was something.
“Yes, we’re with Sweetie Belle!” came a familiar voice from a distance. “We have an urgent delivery and need to speak with her at once!”
Even through the din of the excited crowd, the elevated voice of a melodramatic fashion horse came loud and clear. I looked over towards the entrance to the ballroom from where I was standing on the center stage, and could see Rarity arguing with the doorman in charge of admissions.
Not only that, she had Miss Coco in tow! And just behind her was a younger filly who—aside from a more vibrant coat of yellow—didn’t look all that different from Miss Coco herself. This must have been her younger sister. Even her aqua mane and tail were a dead match, though they were both tied up into braids and adorned with bows, rather than cut short.
Both her and the filly’s presence surprised me. I hadn’t expected either of them to be here.
I quickly hopped off the stage, weaved my way between wandering attendees and harried workponies frantically finalizing the event, and made my way to the front door, towards the sound of her non-stop insistence.
“I don’t know anything about this Guest of Honor business, but I’m her sister Rarity, for Sun’s sake! …A fan? Ex-cuse me, but I am no fan! I am Lady Rarity, hero of Equestria, Wielder of Gen— Ah! Sweetie Belle, there you are!” She finally caught my eye as I approached. “Be a dear and explain the situation to this gentleman?”
“Miss Dovetail, is this woman someone you know?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at me for the second time that night.
“Yeah, these ones are actually with me this time,” I said quickly. “Come on in! I have your badges in the back.”
The group stepped across the threshold into the ballroom, Rarity sweeping past the doorman with an indignant huff. “Can you believe the nerve? A fan. Sun and Stars.”
“Sorry about that,” I said as I led them through the crowd and made a beeline for the back of the room. “Half an hour ago, there were a couple strangers trying to get backstage by pretending they knew me. It was… weird.”
“Indeed? Well, color me pleasantly surprised!” she said as we ducked under a velvet rope fence and approached a quiet area next to the stage that would leave us in relative peace. “I knew you had the makings of fame in you, but I didn’t expect it to manifest this early in your life. To think I’d be the one having to insist that I ‘knew someone’ just to get somewhere I was needed! At an event as spectacular-looking as this, to boot!”
“Yeah, usually that’s something I have to deal with when it comes to you,” I said with a chuckle. “How the tables have turned.”
“Indeed. Honestly, I’m relieved you came when you did. You have no idea how cacophonous the crowd is out there.”
“My fault, obviously,” I joked, eliciting a grin from my sister. “Well, the event’s starting to get into its swing, so I’m really glad you could make it before things really got underway.”
“As am I! Though it might take a few moments to change you into the dress. It is a deceptively intricate ensemble. We had to split it between multiple packages!” She placed hers in an alcove upon the side of the stage. “Our dear Coco Pommel truly has an unparalleled knack for subtle detail. Even my trained eyes underestimated the intricacy of her designs! It cost us a tad in time, but it absolutely paid off dividends in result.”
Miss Coco, despite her haggard appearance, beamed at the compliment as she placed her package delicately next to the first. “I’m just glad we got it done in time.”
“Thank you so much, Miss Coco,” I said. “I really appreciate you going through all this trouble for me.” I glanced at the filly standing next to her, who was staring wild-eyed at the events unfolding around us. “Is that why you decided to come along? Last night, you mentioned plans with your sister. I hope we didn’t intrude on that or anything.”
“Oh!” Miss Coco’s eyes widened in realization. “I’m so sorry, I completely forgot introductions! This is my younger sister, Pastel.”
She turned to face me with a shy smile. “Hi there.”
“Hi! I’m— well, my real name is Sweetie Belle,” I said. “Nice to meet you, Pastel.”
“N-nice to meet you too, Sweetie Belle,” Pastel said demurely. She seemed quite shy…
“It turns out that this was the event she was planning to attend!” continued Miss Coco with a serendipitous smile. “That worked out quite well for us, considering we had to drop off the order anyways. Funny how that works out, huh?”
“Yeah, that’s quite the coincidence. I’m glad you two could make it.”
“As am I! It’s wonderful to know that there’s another filly like her that enjoys the things she does. Are you an artist like her?”
Hah, I wish. “Oh, no! I mostly just play. I wish I were that talented.” I laughed it off a bit, trying not to think about it too hard. “If you’re an artist, does that mean you’ll be vending?”
“I will,” she said with a nod. “It’s my first time vending.”
“Cool!” I said. “My schedule is pretty packed, but if I can find the time tonight, I'd love to visit.”
“Oh! Um, I’d really like that!” She beamed. Seemed like she was really excited to be vending here. “Though if you get there after the tournament starts, I won’t be there, since I'll be participating.”
“Ooh, you’re gonna be joining?” I said excitedly. “I can’t wait to see you play!”
“Thanks…” She glanced away nervously. “I don’t think I’m that great, but I want to at least have some fun.”
“I’m sure you will,” I said with a smile. “Will you be staying as well, Miss Coco?”
She nodded. “I’m going to take over for Pastel at the table when she joins the tournament,” she said with a little wave of her hoof. “I’m mostly here to support her. She was excited about coming, but also very nervous, what with meeting new people and, er, ‘vending’ for the first time and such.”
“That puts us both in the same boat then, it seems,” said a mirthful Rarity. “Here to support our sisters and keep them safe from strangers!”
“They honestly seem like a really cool crowd so far,” I said, glancing at the vendors. “Another one of the artists even drew artwork of me and my guildmates!” I pulled out the sheet and held it out for them to see.
“My, that’s… That’s stellar!” Rarity said, shocked. “The line work is magnificent.”
“And the penciled shading is a strong weight, but very effective,” said Miss Coco in agreement. “In fact, Pastel, this reminds me a lot of your cartoonist technique, no? …Pastel?”
Noticing she hadn’t replied, I glanced at the filly to find her eyes wide with astonishment.
“…This is Sanctuary, isn’t it?”
“That’s the name of your, er, guild, isn’t it Sweetie?” asked Rarity, eyes flicking to me. “If I recall correctly, that is. Pastel, do you recognize them?”
“I do,” she said quietly, her eyes tracing across the image. “I’ve followed them for… a long time.” Her eyes left the paper and rose to meet mine, filled with an analytical intensity that I couldn’t place. “When the guard out front called you ‘Miss Dovetail’… At first I thought I misheard, but… I suppose it must be true, then? You’re Dovetail?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” I confirmed with a nod.
“Wow…”
She stared unblinking into my eyes, but it didn’t seem like they were quite looking at me anymore. Instead, they had the distant look of someone staring off into a middle distance.
Not that I was letting the thrill of being recognized so often today get to my head or anything, but I couldn’t help but feel bewildered that her response was so subdued compared to everypony else’s. She seemed less excited by my presence and more… mystified. I wonder why?
“Really, the lengths of your fame here seem to know few bounds,” said Rarity, not seeming to notice Pastel’s sudden change in demeanor. “Which is why I’m extra glad that we finished the ensemble. If this event deems you a mare of great import, you cannot grace this stage without looking your absolute best.”
“If you’re planning on boarding the stage anytime soon, you should probably get changed,” said Miss Coco with a token concern. “This dress doesn’t come and go easily.”
“Yes! Yes, you’re absolutely right,” agreed Rarity, an urgency entering her tone. “We must make our way backstage posthaste!”
“Yeah, good idea.” Suddenly I remembered something. “Waitaminute.”
“What’s wrong?” asked Miss Coco.
“I need to give your sister something. One sec!” I ran over to Pastel, who seemed to be staring at a fixed point on the floor. “Pastel!”
“Oh!" She looked up at me. "Er, yes, Dovetail?”
“Before you head out, I need to give you a badge for you to identify yourself as a vendor at the artist alley. Are any of these yours?” I fished in my dress for the badges that hadn’t been claimed yet and held them out.
“Oh! Let me take a look.” She picked the one named Pastel Palette. “It’s this one. Thank you so much. I was wondering who I needed to pick it up from.”
“Sure, no problem.”
…Wait. Pastel Palette? That sounded familiar…
“Sweetie Belle, posthaste!” said Rarity urgently. “You must get changed before your big moment!”
“Ah, shoot, sorry!” I ran back to Miss Coco and Rarity and waved goodbye to Pastel. “I’ll see you in the vendor hall!” She giggled and gave me a small wave back.
We made our way to an antechamber behind the stage, where I found Prosperity and Button hunched over a table, poring over several scrolls. Button noticed me out of the corner of his eye. “Sweetie Belle!”
“Hey Button, hello Prosperity,” I said, approaching. “What’s the plan?”
“Dovetail? Excellent.” Her eyes flicked to me only for a moment, still jotting something down on the scroll. “We will need you on stage very soon to provide a welcoming statement to everyone. Do you think you’re ready?”
“Almost.” I nodded with a glance at my tailers. “I have to change first. My sister just got here with my dress for tonight.”
“Your… sister?” She finally glanced up at us. “Oh, goodness! I’m so sorry, where are my manners? You must be Lady Rarity—” she gave a practiced bow of her head, breaking eye contact only to scan our group in full “—and entourage. It is truly an honor.”
Likely not expecting the courtly gesture, Rarity hesitated only for a split second before returning the bow with her own, though not quite as low as Prosperity’s had been. She swept a hoof towards the others, each giving their own slight bow. “Miss Coco Pommel. And truly, ours is the honor, Miss Prosperity. My sister has spoken ever so highly of you, and it is wonderful to finally put a face to a name of such high regard.”
“Has she? I’m flattered,” she replied with a simple smile towards me. “And please, Prosperity will be fine.” She glanced around. “Though I must apologize. Things are a bit hectic at the moment, and I do dearly wish we could have met under better conditions.”
“Oh, that’s certainly no fault of yours! Forgive me for imposing upon your duties,” Rarity said beatifically, putting her hoof on my shoulder. “I’m only here to deliver my sister’s evening ensemble, and I have another obligation to attend to this evening, so worry not! I shan’t be in your mane but for a few moments longer.”
“Ah, understood!” she said. “Is it a complex ensemble? Will you need help getting into it?”
“That would be me,” said Miss Coco, striding forward. “Is it alright if we take up this dressing room?”
“Certainly!” she replied. “Dovetail, Button and I should have your script ready for you when you’re done. It’s not terribly long or complicated, just a few announcements for how the evening will go.”
“Got it.”
“And I should soon be on my way,” said Rarity, checking her watch. “Once again, it was a pleasure, Miss Prosperity.”
“Of course, don’t let me keep you, Lady Rarity.”
Rarity turned to me and gave me a kiss on the forehead. “Good luck, Sweetie Belle. I’ll try to stay for your opening speech before heading out.”
“Thanks, Rarity.” I returned the kiss. “I’ll see you soon.”
I turned to follow Miss Coco into the dressing room.
This was gonna be a very busy night, wasn’t it?
S I L V E R S P O O N
Was this how you handled one simple weekend away from home? With petty dramatics?
Don’t be a fool. You’re better than that. You’re above that.
So your vacation from everything you knew wasn’t a spectacular adventure filled with mirth and joy. Big deal. You’re a big girl. You can handle a day or two of miserable loneliness.
Just because you’re bored for a few hours doesn’t mean that happiness is fleeting, an aberration in an existence overflowing with vapid superficiality.
Just because you’re frustrated with a friend doesn’t mean that the friendship is a lie, a façade built merely to provide an illusion of social gratification.
Just because you’ve caught a glimpse into a meaningless life doesn’t mean that the foundations for everything you know are predicated on specific conditions that could give way at the slightest disturbance, a house of cards that would scatter with naught but an errant gust of wind.
Of course not. What an insipid train of thought.
You’ve created a place for yourself in the world. You’ve designed a routine that provides structure to your reality. You have marketable skills that can be employed for tangible benefits. You have passions that fill your life with sound and color. You have diversions from which you derive a constant supply of leisure.
You have a family that loves you, a business that needs you, a best friend that values you, and rivals that cower before you.
You have purpose. You have meaning. You have a future. You have a life.
So what in Sun’s name are you crying over, you stupid little girl?
Why are you crying?
You’re going to ruin your makeup.
You’re going to embarrass yourself.
Stop being an idiot.
You’re better than that.
You’re better than all of this.
If anything, this should be a learning experience. You know what makes you miserable. You know how thin the barrier is between a meaningful life and a wasteful one. You know how dangerously close you’ve come to plummeting through that barrier.
So reinforce the barrier. Address your weaknesses. Cover up those flaws.
Find meaning. If you lose sight of it, pursue it. If it’s out of reach, grasp it. Don’t let it go. Don’t let it leave you behind.
Find what makes you happy.
What makes you happy, Silver Spoon?
What makes you happy?
S W E E T I E B E L L E
Was this what it felt like to be truly happy?
I dunno.
I mean, it’s not like I was one of those Yakistani mountain monks or anything. And hay, as enlightened as they probably were, I doubted even they knew true happiness.
But this? This was pretty friggin’ close.
Now changed into my dress—and Rarity had been right, it was a jaw-dropping marvel of tailoring design mastery—I tightly grasped a scroll in my hooves. It was a short outline of opening statements to introduce everyone to our event. I had only read it once, and though I felt the ever so slight pangs of nervousness, somehow the usual fear that usually came with the prospect of delivering a barely-memorized script to a teeming crowd of unknowns didn’t have the suffocating weight I expected it to.
Instead, I felt free. Freer than I had in years.
Peering from my place behind the backstage curtain, all I could see were ponies. Ponies just like me. Everywhere.
It was a wholly unfamiliar sight, and yet it came with a sense of home and safety.
For such a huge chunk of my life, I hid this thing about myself that brought me so much joy and friendship, out of fear that ponies would judge me for it. And, you know what? They did. Some of them did, at least. Sometimes even the ones that mattered to me the most.
But a lot also accepted it. They embraced it, even if it didn’t make much sense to them. They embraced me, despite my belief that nopony would understand.
Mare. How could I think like that? Looking back, that was kind of egotistical. ‘Nopony would understand’? Like, seriously? Might as well shut myself in my room and listen to Linking Parkas all day.
…Er, well, no offense to anypony who liked Linking Parkas. They had a cool sound, even if their lyrics were kinda whiny.
Heh, actually I think the DJ was mixing that up with Smash Muzzle right now. How did that even—? You know, I wasn’t even gonna question it. The crowd loved it. No one gave a shit.
…That was the thing that was really special about all of this, wasn’t it? No one gave a shit. We were all cramped into an over-decorated ballroom at one of the most friggin’ expensive hotels in Manehattan, playing video games and not caring what anypony else had to say about it.
Sun and Stars, I wished everypony was here. Cheerilee. My parents. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. I wish they could see that this was what it was really like. That it wasn’t just me, curled up in the dark by myself, wasting away in front of a screen. It was me and hundreds of people from around the world, many that I could easily see myself counting among my friends someday, all of us just running around and laughing and loving and living and dying and coming back to life just so we could do it all over again.
I was surrounded by people just like me. We were all here, we were all real, and we were all going to have the time of our lives.
Prosperity approached, ready to board the stage at my side. She bore a smile, one that fought at the corners of her cheeks, barely restrained. “Ready?”
My lips curled. “Ready.”
Nothing could ruin this. Nothing.
2022 EDIT: 
Happy Four Year Anniversary, TGOM.
Thanks to Zaid ValRoa, fourths, Autumn Rush, and Carabas for editing.
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It lives! *removes from dead-fic shelf*
Oh my Celestia...
...it’s Button’s childhood friend
! And Coco’s sister no less
! What a twist
!
Man, that was some serious lag.
Is October like...the month of Necromancy here?
"Button? Would you kindly?" I fucking died at the bioshock reference
To paraphrase from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team,
"She's, uh... Staring at me adoringly. Those sparkly eyes... It's a little embarrassing. But this doesn't feel bad either! It's like i'm a hero!"
IT'S ALIVE!!!
You just had to think that, didn't you Sweetie?
...This is gonna be gooooooooooood.😯
more like this gay of mine hehe
...I think I need to comb through this story again since I actually play Destiny now. Dunno if there's a real life equivalent to the Regal Six (I mean, I can look up who had World's First on Leviathan, its Raid Lairs, and Last Wish), but the first chapter was clearly the Vault of Glass, and it just goes from there. Fantastic chapter, and I'm really happy to see this back. Just hope Button will be alright. Silver, too, since she seems to be having an existential crisis.
Woooo? WOO! Tons of emotions from finally getting the chapter! Super amazing, kinda wish sweetie got to go in cosplay as dovetail though.
9209000
I believe World's First VoG was Prime or some such.
The most hyped up con of the past half decade finally comes to its beginning. Man I missed this, and I'm glad it's back. Seeing the Destiny world brought to life like this is surreal for me, And the feeling of planning a night so important to a community is one I dealt with last night actually. You go swan. We're all right behind you.
Also seriously so much more of this is relatable after raiding with people. Shame that none of the Dreaming City stuff is gonna make it in (due to the elements required for this to remain vibe-y with D1) because Silver at least strikes me as someone who'd really dig the Awoken.
9208891
Just a part of the Destiny console experience.
Well, Sweetie's having the best day of her life and Silver's having a mental collapse less than a mile from each other, so I can only imagine the fireworks that are about to result. Both of their internal monologues are so well written--I'm sure that when we get the screaming and recriminations I'm going to sympathize so much with both of them. This will hurt.
Also, huzzah, it's back!
NO. NO, DON'T!
9208900
You and me both. I nearly spit out my brandy.
Managing a work crew when I get a notification that this story has up dated, my workers are now enjoying an extra long smoko break. They are happy and I'm even happier.
Also,
Has it been 2 years since the last one???
woah..... GLAD YOURE BACK
i frickin luv this story, man. Keep it up! Hype!
Welcome back!!!!!
thank you for continuing this
This fic is my first fic in my favorites shelf. Since then, I’ve favorited about 70, and tracked almost 200. But this fic continues to get me, because as a gamer like Sweetie, I relate to her.
Although I main Splatoon 2 and Mario Kart 8, not Destiny.
Thank you for this chapter. May there be many more.
Welp, it has been a looooong time since I last read this fic, and the truth is, this fic was the first fic I read on this site, and I used to love it. It's characters and story and writing and everything about it was so likeable. So seeing it come back from the dead has a special meaning to me :D
Welcome back.
Welcome back
I thought this story was killed and stuffed in a bag to rot.
Rarity needs to hurry up and hire Coco in this timeline. It's in everyone's best interests.
It's back! Thank you so much!!
9209685
Then Try Destiny 2. I recommend it highly.
9209000
Maybe some new legends will rise...
SWANNNYYYY! How I love ya, how I love ya. My dear ol' swany. (welcome back.)
Huh, so the writer DIDN'T have a heart attack.
IT LIVES! I WAS AFRAID IT WAS GONE FOREVER. YOU COULD ALMOST SAY I THOUGHT YOU HAD...
FORSAKEN IT
I know I've said this before, but you really do have a talent for making these high-word-count chapters just fly by. It's good to see you haven't given up on this story, and as always, I'm looking forward to more.
It's a zombie! Quick, shoot it in the head!
OH MY GOD! Thank you for sticking with this one, Swan (even though I have to reread it before hitting the new chapter)
I find I like this a lot more than I expected to, especially with some of the darker moments early on. Do continue!
100% accurate statement is accurate.
nice use of gifs in the author's note (lol)
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
this is awesome
Why is there not more?!
I've been binge-reading this for the past two days. Aah. I am filled with so much unresolved narrative tension you have no idea.
This is absolutely un-put-downable. Aah.
This is really good. Like, really really good.
Yay, it has updated!
Also, thank for providing a recap, but funnily enough, even though I have almost forgotten about this story, this just happens to be one of those stories where I don't NEED a recap. I can pretty much remember most of it just by seeing the story's title.
Anyway, great chapter! Can't wait to see how well the even will go and how wrong everything will go afterwards.
Welp guess who has two thumbs and just reread an entire 100k story in two days.
This guy.
images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121230050716/mlp/images/thumb/5/54/Spike_gives_Applejack_a_thumbs-up_S03E09.png/800px-Spike_gives_Applejack_a_thumbs-up_S03E09.png
How long have I been waiting? Too long.
Finally got around to reading this chapter. Every now and then my mind went back to this story, and I'm super glad it's back. Can't wait for the next one!
Adds obligatory "IT'S ALIVE!!!!"
I can’t be the only one who had the exact wrong idea pop into their head when this was mentioned. And now that people actually know what dovetail looks like...
I feel like the song Thriller should be playing in the background right now, so many good stories are coming back to life.
9228645
well, now you have 4 thumbs. what now?
9270957
Dang, I knew playing Fallout would cause mutations eventually!
It lives, now let’s read it and see how Murphy will screw with sweetie belle
I can't quite decide if this is a brilliant parody line, or some sort of freaking "life lesson" for the people who should by rights already get it. It kind of hinges on whether it's supposed to be the same on the metatextual level, because this particular brand of stupidity is why I find the whole story to be insufferable, yet the consistency of this paragraph with the whole of the narrative is eye-openingly brilliant. If this was on purpose, which, given the overall tone of the story and your writing style in general, then bravo. If not... well, it's just an easy thing for me to point at and go "see this? this is why I can't stand this story".
Again, I'd like to reiterate that your magnificent writing keeps me glued to the (digital) page. You set up the tension oh so perfectly and keep ratcheting it up even as you resolve smaller individual problems. I eagerly await to see the train wreck these characters are barreling toward. I do, however, dislike the blog linked at the top of the chapter. I didn't look before commenting on the blog itself, and thought you hadn't included any of it in the story itself. Anti-kudos for you, whatever that is.