27
“Darling! I almost thought that you weren't going to show up. I barely have enough time as it is to get all of us ready for tonight.” Aegis Flare rolls her eyes with a light chuckle as she is ushered into the main room of the spa with the rest of her friends. Looking around as she enters the room she sees that the others were all gathered and in various states of relaxation as the spa workers helped get them ready for that night. Out of them all, Rarity was the only one that was in any sort of panic since it was still the early morning and there was plenty of time to get ready.
“Calm down Rarity. Twilight planned everything out and left a couple hours to spare just in case of emergencies. I'm surprised everypony is here early still since there are still a few minutes until we agreed to meet up here.” Rarity calms down a little at her words but the worry is quickly replaced by excitement instead.
“I just can't help it. It's finally here, the day of the Grand Galloping Gala! I can't believe that the day of the most prestigious event in Equestria and we've all been invited. We can't have any of us looking less than spectacular when we show up and there is little enough time as it is. Now let's get that mane-tie off so that I see what we have to work wi-hi-hi-haaa!” All eyes in the room turn to look at the two as the orange mare's mane unravels from it's braid when Rarity pulls off the tie holding it and it poofs out to twice it's length becoming even longer than Applejack's. Glancing back to see what her friend was reacting to Aegis Flare rolls her eyes while feeling a bit sheepish.
“I guess it has gotten a bit long hasn't it? That enchanted mane-tie has just been too useful that I barely even paid attention to it beyond washing it. At least you have something to work with now, don't you?” Rarity stay frozen for a moment more before she let's out a squeal of delight while clapping her hooves together. Within moments the fashionista had spirited her friend away and dunked her into one of the large tubs while waving one of the spa sisters over with the mane care supplies.
While Rarity and Aloe whispered to each other while messing with her mane, Aegis Flare turned her attention back to the other mares with a raised eyebrow. “Ya know that she ain't gonna stop until she is satisfied, right? That crazy mare has been after me for years and your mane is even longer.”
“She isn't the only one. You know how many times a weak she tries to drag me here? I like my mane just like it is, anything else just won't be cool enough.” The other mares roll their eyes at Rainbow Dash's comment but they still nod at both her and Applejack knowing that it was exactly what they would expect from the white unicorn.
“Well she is the expert when it comes to looks and I trust her not to go too overboard.” Glancing back at the mare she only received a waved hoof as reassurance before turning back to the others. “Anyways I usually avoid these types of events so I have no idea what would work best with my dress so letting Rarity have her way is probably safer than trying to just do what I usually do with my mane.”
There was a snort of indignation from behind her, which she ignored, though the others nodded warily so she decided not to look behind her. They all started talking about little things while they were pampered and cleaned for the coming event until eventually Aegis Flare's mane was done in a fashion acceptable to Rarity. “Now just a touch there and... Perfect! Now tell me what you think of your new coiffure.”
Looking into the mirror presented in front of her, the mare turned her head from side to side looking over her friends work. Her mane was done up in a very loose curl which went over her horn then down on side of her head while a small bet stuck out the front along the other side of her horn. Along that same side of her head her mane came around the back of her neck to bounce in another lose curl that hung down past her shoulder. “It's not something that I would use all the time, but for something like this I think it will work.”
Rarity frowned at her friends lack of enthusiasm before rolling her eyes and letting a small smile grace her face as she realizes that is probably the best reaction she'll get from her. Seeing as her friends were well on their way to getting ready, and none of them willing to let her help them, the alabaster mare went back to her own preparations. After a few hours off cleaning, buffing, and various other activities to look their best the group of seven mares don their dresses and enter the carriage that Twilight had prepared for the occasion to take them to Canterlot.
While they were waiting for their ride to arrive in Canterlot they talked about what they were going to do when they arrive though Aegis Flare only made an occasional comment. Once the other six had finished going over their own hopes for the night they all turned to look at the orange unicorn. Hearing the rest of them go silent she looks back to see her friends looking at her expectantly causing her to roll her eyes. “No, I don't have any plans like all of you do since I never really cared about going to the Gala. I'll probably look around for a while before going to visit my aunt since I'm here.”
With a chorus of 'awww's from the other six she rolls her eyes before her vision is blocked by a mass of pink as she feels her cheeks being squeezed. “Why are you being such a boring mcborington? We're going to the biggest party ever! A big party should have big plans!”
At that moment they had arrived at the palace and piled out of the carriage leaving Aegis Flare to shake her head and slowly follow after them them. As she steps outside she sees that they had started prancing towards the castle caught up in a song number causing her to bring a hoof up to her face. “Why do I have a bad feeling about this? This is an event run by nobles, there's no way that things can turn out like they expect, right?”
“I know right? I snuck in once and it wasn't really all that great. Of course things could have changed since then but who knows. I'm surprised you aren't with them as well though.” Looking back towards the carriage she sees Spike closing the door as he starts following after the other six and Aegis Flare joins him after a moment.
“I don't mind a good song, but I'm not getting my hopes up about how tonight will be. My parents used to attend and they never had much good to say about it. Most events run by nobles were the same way really.” Spike nods as they pick up the pace a bit to catch up to their friends as they finish their little song and reach the entrance to the Canterlot palace.
All of them look at each other before nodding and taking off to do their own things leaving Spike looking a bit down. While the others separated right away, Aegis Flare decided to follow after Twilight to pay her respects to the Princess before going off on her own. After talking to Twilight and motioning for her to take a place at her side the white alicorn turned toward the next pony in line and her eyes widened as she froze momentarily. “Princess? Is there something the matter?”
Celestia shook her head before turning to look at her young protege with a small smile. “It's nothing Twilight. I was just surprised for a moment by your friends mane for a moment. It reminded me of somepony that I haven't seen in over a ten years now.” Twilight looked at her mentor questioningly for a moment longer but she realized that she wasn't going to get any more information out of her. After paying her respects to the princess the orange mare went out into the party on her own for a while.
As Aegis Flare roamed around, the Grand Galloping Gala was shaping up pretty much how she expected with it being pretty boring. Even the food wasn't that appealing for the most part and the portions weren't even enough to satisfy one of Fluttershy's animals. About the only decent thing she could notice about the event was the music but even that was of the only variety the nobles would admit to listening to. As she was about to leave the hall she noticed an odd sight in the form of a pure white gryphoness that was smirking for some reason while watching her friend Rarity and some stallion.
Leaving the crowded ball room Aegis Flare sighed as she looked down the halls and wondered which way to go. While she was pondering this issue a voice called out behind her. “Excuse me, ma'am? Can I help you with something? The rest of the castle is off-limits for the guests of the gala without prior approval.”
Looking behind her, the unicorn sees a thestral dressed in a maid outfit watching her warily. She was confused for a moment but she remembered something from a letter her aunt sent her and came to a decision. “Ah, right. I was trying to find my aunt to spend a little time with her since I haven't seen her in... ever actually. I've only been able to talk to her through letters since my father was never welcome at home. Oh yes, her name is Noapte Aripa, Lieutenant Aripa last she wrote as well.”
The thestral maid was impassive the entire time that the unicorn was speaking but when the name of the unicorn's aunt was mention her eyes widened and focused on the unicorn's ears. Turning away from her, the maid started talking into her sleeve before nodding once and turning back around and bowing. “Apologies for not recognizing you Dame Flare. The Element Bearers are all welcome in the palace though the timing of your visit is odd. The lieutenant is currently in the royal wing taking care of her duties.”
Aegis Flare groaned at the title while rubbing at her head. “Please, no titles. I actually work for a living unlike most of the nobles I've met.” The maid looks at her oddly for a moment before starting to chuckle leaving the unicorn looking confused and wondering what she said. Once the thestral recovered her composure she gave the unicorn directions to where her aunt was before they nodded and parted ways. As the orange mare walked off the maid lifted her hoof to her mouth once again and let the other Lunar Guards know that she was heading up.
While walking through the palace the orange unicorn glanced at the various decorations that she saw and wondered how old some of them were. She knew that the princesses had been around for a long time but with the palace being around only since Luna's banishment she couldn't be sure of the ages of any of it. She had probably seen things older that most of the items in the Everfree, especially since that was where the home of the two princesses used to be.
After walking through the twists and turns of the palace she eventually came to an area close to where she was told to go and she slowed down when she caught sight of a group of a half dozen guards in gold armor. She was surprised to see them out and about since it was now night and the guard should have switched by now but she shrugged and brushed off her worries until they all turned towards her and the lead one spoke up. “The jam is moldy in the kitchen and the rolling rabbit gathers no moss.”
The orange unicorn looked at the group in confusion and tilted her head to the side. “Come again?”
“The monkeys are restless and my dog has fleas.”
“What in Equestria are you talking about?”
“If you can't stand the heat, go to the dentist and get it fixed.”
Blinking a couple more times at the nonsense from the apparent guards the mare shakes her head. “I have no idea what you are talking about and I don't have time to find out. I have somewhere to be.”
As she tried to walk past the group they dropped their spears to block her path causing her to stop and raise an eyebrow at them. The burliest unicorn member of the group stepped forward while glaring at the mare. “That proves it, she's the one that we we warned about that was going to show up tonight. Get her!.”
With that as her only warning him and the other unicorns each fired a bolt of energy from their horns at her which she effortlessly blocked with a quickly raised shield. When the smoke cleared from their attack the guards see the mare standing their behind a glowing barrier looking rather annoyed. “Really? Was that supposed to do something? I'm starting to wonder if you are really guards now since I highly doubt they would let somepony that weak actually be part of the Royal Guard, even if it is the Solar Guard.”
Her words angered the guards that were there and the obvious leader of the group let out a whistle causing the doors to the surrounding rooms to open revealing a full platoon of guards. Seeing that the numbers had increased to thirty the mare let out a loud sigh before doing the only sensible thing. As she turned around and took off running the guards just stared in surprise until one of them recovered. “Well what are you all waiting for? After her!”
While Aegis Flare was running from the group that was chasing her she muttered to herself in annoyance. “Come to the Gala they said. It'll be a ball they said. I don't see any of them being chased by ponies that may or may not be guards.”
Glancing back at the pack chasing her she saw that the leading ponies of the pack following her had already lost their helmets somehow. She frowned at the odd manestyles the three had as she looked from the bowl-cut of the middle one to the bald one on the left and the curls around the side and back of the one on the right. Deciding that the three earth ponies didn't look very smart she let out a small smile as she turned a corner and stopped, surprising another maid. “Oh, sorry about that. Do you mind cleaning up this mess for me? I'm in a bit of a rush.”
With that she threw up a small barrier just above the floor of the corridor as the group of stallions prepared to come around it. With the sudden appearance of the obstacle as well as how for below their normal vision range it was none of the guards had a chance to react to it starting a cascade of collapse as they all tripped on it. Both Aegis Flare and the maid watched in amusement at the thirty pony pileup, but they both winced at seeing where the horns of the unicorns in the rear of the group went when they fell headfirst into the ones ahead of them. “Ouch... I don't think they will be sitting down anytime soon. Well, see ya.”
Leaving the maid behind the orange unicorn took off running once again with the fallen guards following again minutes later, though some were limping along more slowly. When they passed by the maid could hear them cursing about their luck while she shook her head and raised her hoof to call into the other Lunar Guard about what she saw.
<><><><><><><>
Twilight stared in shock at the mess of the grand ballroom that her friends had made and only one thought went through her head. This night just can't get any worse. Unfortunately for her things did just that as the doors on both ends of the hall burst open revealing her two missing friends. From one came Fluttershy as she started screaming about something as a horde of animals ran away from her and from the other came Aegis Flare being chased by a group of guards.
Looking on in shock as things somehow got even worse the purple unicorn didn't even notice the princess leaning down next to her until she said a single word. “Run.” Shaking herself from her daze Twilight looked across the room before bringing a hoof up to her mouth and letting out a shrill whistle. When her friends looked over and spotted her she waved a hoof to them before running out of the room with the others soon following them.
The room was in chaos after they left while Princess Celestia watched impassively though inside she was laughing. The group of guards that had charged in had finally made their way to her side of the room and were about to charge past her when they were stopped by another figure. “And where do you think all of you are going!? You were told to stand guard in the royal quarters so why do I find all of you here!?”
The group freezes in place as they hear the voice and slowly turn to face the figure. “Um, hey Sarge. What are you doing here?” The figure they called Sarge just glared at the group for a moment before observing the chaos in the room.
“I'm here because I was called in since you all screwed up the simple task of guard a single hallway which is now unguarded. Since you all think that you are too good to listen to simple instructions then I think it's time to up your training a bit by letting her take over.” He gestures to another figure that was advancing on them looking extremely angry and the group let's out a synchronized gulp as they recognized who it was though only one of the spoke up.
“Please no. Not the Ball Breaker!”
<><><><><><><>
The seven mares sigh as they join Spike at a table at Pony Joe's Donut Shop and each tell him how their night went. Most of them already knew what had happened to the others since they were in the same general areas so Fluttershy and Aegis Flare paid the most attention. When Fluttershy finished up her side of the story they all turned towards the orange unicorn since they lost sight of her early on that night as well.
“Well after looking around the main Gala area for a while I decided to go looking for my aunt. Getting directions was easy enough but I eventually ran into that group of clowns who decided to stop me and speak gibberish before starting to chase me.” Looking down at her dress she frowned as she noticed the tattered edges of it and holes. “I guess they must have gotten a bit closer to hitting me than I thought during that chase.”
The others wince as the also look at their own dresses before glancing at Rarity who didn't seem to be any worse off than before after noticing the damage. Spike looked over the seven mares before shaking his head. “Wow. That sounds like the worst night ever.”
After they all started laughing at the dragon's comment they calmed down a bit and relaxed after the horrible event. They were all surprised when Princess Celestia showed up cheering about the night and was happy how they all had livened the event up. She joined them all at the table as Pony Joe brought something over for her and the princess looked over at Aegis Flare. “Your aunt asked me to give this to you before I left as well as her apologies for not being able to come herself.”
Curious as to what it was the orange unicorn took the item to find that it was a letter. Upon opening it and reading it over quickly she let out a groan before slamming her head into the table. The others looked at her in confusion before the mare started to explain. “It appears that I was somewhat right about those not being guards. They were actually recruits-in-training.”
The others looked at each other for a moment before bringing a hoof to their faces at the information. “Yeah, that's my reaction as well. It seems that they were supposed to be doing some training exercise tonight and I got all mixed up in it when somepony failed to tell them that I was heading up. That member of the Lunar Guard thought it would be funny for some reason to see them fail before it even started. Now he's going to be doing the same training as the rest of them until it's been decided that his punishment is over.”
The princess clears her throat causing them all to look at her to see he trying to avoid eye contact. “Yes, my guards and my sister's guards do not get along that well. It has become a contest between them to see who can pull the biggest pranks on the other without getting caught and sometimes they get out of hoof.”
With a sound of hooves impacting flesh the mares of the table slap a hoof across their faces before letting out a round of groans.
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Oh Diiiiiiiissssssscoooordddd
Aww! And here I thought she would stick with Spike! A pity she is leaving him too! Poor guy!
Well that at least explains that. Never thought though that the guards would stoop to such a childish level and would pick up the conflict the two princesses solved!
Ya know, this got me thinking...Will we ever see the Black Guard reactivates either officially or unofficially in this story? If recruits is the problem, then we have plenty of places to recruit from...That Canterlot slum for example. Plenty of foals that need purpose in their lives. Money shouldn't be much of an issue given that Celestia opened a bank account for the Bearers and gave them plenty of money along with a noble title. And If what I read in the next few chapters is true then, she just got upped on the nobility ladder and got more money.
okay... I know they are already 30 chapter published, but I can't resist : SUNSET IS F****** CANON in this story, YES !
...
now I can continue my reading.
The Three Stooges are a nice touch.
I'm rereading this since it has been so long but... I really hope Sunset makes an appearance, and gets a happy ending.
Aww, she never got to talk with her aunt, whom I assume is 'Ballbreaker'.
Maybe they should stick to pranks that don't involve anyone else. I'm sure they could find some if they wanted to.