Pony Prom

by Moxypony

Chapter 3

Clair watched Moxi through narrowed eyes until she’d passed through the palace doors and out of his line of sight. “So what do we want to do,” Middy said, cutting the tense atmosphere, “should we head inside or wait out here to see if anyone else from Luneria is coming?”

“I have work to do,” Clair muttered, bowing to the ponies before him, “so here is where I take my leave of you all. I’m sure I shall see you later in the evening.” With that, the stallion trotted off leaving everypony else behind.

“Well,” said Willow after a moment’s pause, “I suppose it’s just as likely they’ve beaten us inside as it is we should find them out here, let’s get inside and just keep an eye open for familiar faces, eh?”

Everypony nodded their agreement and trotted through the flurry of illusory confetti to the magnificently adorned doors of Canterlot Palace’s banquet hall.

“When you said food,” Moxi said, watching Voltage scarf down an entire plate of chocolate-chip cookies, “I can’t say this is what I had in mind, Volty.”

“Whuh,” Volty said, speaking through a mouth stuffed to bursting with crumbling cookies, “s’goo’”

“Look,” Moxi sighed, gesturing at the room around them, Volty had stumbled on a table of cookies and punch right in the entry hall, the room was mostly deserted, save for the ponies who were passing through to get to the dance hall or the dining hall, “in about twenty seconds, Clair is going to walk through that door, and unless I’ve got a good, stiff drink in me, I am not going to be prepared for that!”

Volty turned to regard Moxi with that would have been an understanding and sympathetic face… were it not for the puffed cheeks filled with cookies and the crumbs scattered about her muzzle. “Okay, okay,” she muttered, pocketing a few more for later, “if I ask what happened between you two, are you going to answer?”

“No.”

“If I ask why, will you answer that?”

“No.”

Volty huffed out a breath as she followed Moxi into the dining hall, “Spoil sport.”

“Honey,” Kimono said, calling after Blue as he began scouring the palace garden. The gardens were sparsely populated by earlybirds walking the empty garden path and taking advantage of the private setting and sparse lighting the gardens offered, “Blue, Cherry can take care of herself for a little while, why don’t you take a night off? Relax, have some punch, dance a little.”

“I can’t,” Blue muttered, scanning the flora with a wary eye, “I have to find her before-” Kimono put a hoof on his arm and his features softened as he turned to her face.

“Please?” She said, and Blue could feel his eyes melt as her eyes sparkled in the starlight, “Come dance with me, let’s have dinner and some fun. I’m sure she’ll come find you soon.”

“Maybe you’re right, my love,” he said, smiling back at her, “I suppose Miss Bloom is old enough to care for herself for a short time, even if she doesn’t look it. Let’s go enjoy the festivities for—”

A high pitched, yet distinctly masculine screech arose from deeper in the garden and while it was nearly buried in the sound, Blue could hear Cherry Bloom’s voice hidden under the scream, “Hi Mister Graphite! What’re you and that colt doing?” and at a moment’s notice, True Blue tore off through the garden path after the sound.

Kimono heaved a heavy sigh, shaking her head as she slowly trotted off after Blue once again, “So close…”

“In public, Graphite?” Blue said, as he caught up with Cherry who immediately squee’d and leapt onto his back, “Really?”

"What?" Said Star Seams. The grey unicorn was draped over Graphite's lap, his coat and shirt unbuttoned and he tugged at the collar of Graphite's dress. "Everything we were doing was perfectly street legal," he said before turning with a sly wink to trace a hoof across the underside of Graphite's muzzle, sending a shiver of pleasure through the blue unicorn, “for now, at least.”
“What’s he mean, Onii-chan?” Cherry asked from atop the bodyguard pony.

“Nothing,” Blue shot back immediately, placing one hoof over her ears and nudging Zest into motion, “He means nothing. Now come on, let’s get back to the prom.”

“Take me with you,” Graphite called from the grassy patch where he lay, but Blue ignored him and trotted the two foals off down the garden path. Star Seams turned back to regard his date with a raised brow.

“Now,” he said, tracing a hoof along Graphite’s chest, “where were we? Ah yes, I remember.”

“Yeah, baby!” Dreamweaver shouted from the dance floor over blaring electronic music as another mare wearing a black and white dress and a pair of round spectacles danced up a storm beside her, “Rock it, Magpie!”

“Dreamie!” she heard a voice from just off the dance floor call out to her, turning to search for its source, her eyes fell on Dreamcatcher, she waved a hoof at him before wrapping it around Magpie’s and grabbing onto the coat of a nearby stallion and tugging them off the dance floor to greet her friends.

“Hey Catch, Snowy, Middy, Willow,” She said, giving each of them a hug, her gaze lingering on Willow long enough to say, “I saw Clair come in, figured if he was here you couldn’t be far behind.”

“We’re not attached at the hip, you know,” Willow groaned, “besides, I came here with Midnight.”

“Well if you decide to abandon me midway through the night for him,” Middy smirked, turning a gaze on the BarBuck talking with the night guardsmen tending the wet bar, “I wouldn’t blame you. Just bring back lots of pictures will you?”

Willow growled in annoyance, “Big fan of incest, are you, Middy?”

“Only when it looks good, Willow,” she laughed in return.

“Anyway,” Dreamie rolled her eyes, pushing her companions forward to greet them, “this is Magpie, my date, and Inks, he’s here with Chesh!”

“They know who I am,” muttered the yellow pegasus stallion dressed in simple finery, putting out a hoof in greeting, “Chesh has disappeared off somewhere so Dreamie and Magpie were keeping me company.”

“Speaking of,” Magpie said, massaging her hooves, “I’m beat, so you should conscript some of these ponies to occupy the dance floor in our place.”

“Alright,” Inks grinned deviously, grabbing Middy and Willow, “now come on, what do you say you two show me how light you are on your feet?” Amid sputtered protests, he tugged them off onto the dance floor where the trio immediately vanished into the crowd of ponies.

“Well they’re in for an interesting night,” Snowy chuckled before wrapping a hoof around Dreamcatcher’s, “what do you think we should do first? Some dancing? A bite of dinner? Maybe a nice, romantic walk through the garden.”

Dreamcatcher eyed the mare warily, swallowing heavily before blushing and looking around, his eyes finally landing on the bar. “Umm….” He stammered, “How about we grab a drink and then decide from there?”

Snowy eyed Dreamcatcher’s reaction warily. He’s getting awfully fidgety, she thought, oh Celestia, does he not get that I’m kidding? Is he taking me seriously!?

“Does that sound good to you?” he shot her his award-winning smile, a touch of color still lingering in his cheeks.

Oh crap, OH CRAP! She thought, terrified, He thinks I’m serious, and he’s HAPPY ABOUT IT!

“Yeah,” she smiled warily back at him, “sounds good, lets grab some drinks.”

Magpie turned to Dream Weaver as the pair trotted off to the bar, “Did I just see what I think I just saw?”

“Oh yes,” Dreamie said, barely containing a fit of the giggles, “This is gonna be a fun night!”

“Well shouldn’t we follow them?”

“Nah,” Dreamie shook her head, watching the pair retreat, both simultaneously trying to be closer to one another and to keep their distance, “Let it stew a bit. Trust me, this is the sort of thing that only gets funnier with age.”