Chapter 3: The Royal Ball
Sunlight lightly streamed into the room through the blinds. Flash Sentry grumbled a bit and tossed his blankets over his head before rolling over to go back to sleep. The beds were luxurious and inviting. It was never easy to leave them in the morning. Discord slept upon a holographic bed while the six brothers snoozed on. It was a quiet and peaceful morning until the door creaked open and a loud voice startled them.
"Not waking up on time? That's strike one."
The boys sat up to look at the intruders. They were Prim Hemline and Sassy Saddles, the royal advisors. They were never satisfied with the way the princes behaved. It was their duty to fix them up before any important royal events.
Soarin turned his gaze towards the clock. "Is the ball really today? This week just flew by so fast."
"Yes and you boys are running extremely late," Sassy Saddles told them. "There's only an hour until the royal ball begins and you all look like you were tossed around in a tornado."
"Hey!" Fancy Pants cried.
"Come along now," Prim Hemline beckoned. "Wake up."
Flash Sentry rolled over, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. "Prim Hemline, Sassy Saddles, could you just wake us up a little quieter next time, so we don't almost have a heart attack?"
Spike groaned loudly. "Aw, just ten more minutes."
Prim Hemline was starting to grow impatient. "All of you! Get up!" she ordered.
Her loud, jarring voice sent the boys scrambling out of bed in a hurry.
"Stand in a line," Sassy Saddles instructed.
The princes awkwardly formed a straight line. Immediately, Prim Hemline and Sassy Saddles began to inspect them.
"So... what do we do?" Flash Sentry wondered. "Do we just fix our manes a bit and get dressed in something formal?"
Prim Hemline shook her head. "You are not even close to being ready for the ball! Look at you six! Not nearly presentable enough! Are you going to present yourself to your future wives looking like that?"
"Well, if it gets rid of them, we might as well," Soarin replied.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Prim Hemline said. "We'll fix you right up! Come along now!"
As the Prim Hemline and Sassy Saddles worked on preparing the princes for the ball, they talked to them a little about their appearance and behavior.
As Sassy Saddles moved onto working with Discord, she stared at him for a very long time. "Now, let's see here. The drac...dralonomy... the drumology?"
"Draconequus," Discord corrected, flatly.
"Precisely," Sassy Saddles said. "Now let's see what can be done about... that."
Discord furrowed his brow. "Did you just point to all of me?"
Sassy Saddles ignored his question as she took a shiner to begin shining Discord's horns. Discord let out a loud sigh as she worked endlessly to clean him up for the ball.
Meanwhile, Prim Hemline was working on preparing Spike for the ball. "Ah, yes. The dragon."
"Uh, hi," Spike greeted. He gave them a short, awkward wave.
"Stand still," Prim Hemline urged. "You're about to look fabulous!"
After each and every prince looked the best they possibly could, Prim Hemline and Sassy Saddles began to coach them on their ettiquette.
"Now, do you boys know the proper behavior for a ball?" Prim Hemline wondered.
The princes only stared at her blankly. Their mother had always told them to be themselves. They never remembered going over any mannerisms for a royal ball.
"Does Queen Celestia teach her boys anything?" Sassy Saddles asked.
"Yes," Soarin replied. "To be ourselves."
"Stand up straight," Prim Hemline began. The princes fixed their postures. "Divine. Make sure your posture looks inviting and---"
"Oh, Mother of Luna!" Soarin cried. "I think I broke my spine!"
Soarin collapsed on the ground. Discord, Fancy Pants, Spike, Cheese Sandwich, and Flash Sentry desperately made sure that he was okay. Soarin gave them a nod before rising to his hooves with a groan of pain.
"Now, it's almost time for you to go on," Sassy Saddles said, ignoring what had just happened. "Make your mother proud!"
"I'm feeling butterflies in my stomach," Cheese Sandwich declared as they began to go out for the ball.
"I'm feeling a little topsy-turvy myself," Discord admitted.
"It's okay, guys," Flash Sentry assured them. "It'll all be over after tonight."
"And then it's off to get married," Soarin muttered.
The princes let out a collective sigh. None of them wanted to be married to the strangers that came overseas. A few of the boys had even dreamed of finding a mare to fall in love with. That wasn't a possibility now. They doubted they would find love in the restless crowd.
As the boys walked into the ballroom, many colors were presented. The floors were cleaned and had a brand new shine to them. The walls were decorated with bright golden banners. In the corner, there was a snack table with an abundance of food. Gently frosted cake pops were included on a silver platter. There was also a savory vegetable platter with buttermilk ranch in the middle. There was a bowl of wholesome strawberries next to a fountain spurting out rich, creamy chocolate. In the middle of the room, there was a vast stage with an assortment of orchestral instruments. Near the stage, there was a black platform for the princes to stand. Sombra and Celestia stood upon this platform to greet their sons.
"Boys, you're just in time!" Celestia said. "The ball is about to start!"
Luna and her daughters entered the room, taking in the scenery with expressions of awe.
"The ballroom looks lovely!" Luna complimented. "The maids did a great job shining the floors! You may want to give them a raise."
"I will keep that in mind," Celestia replied with a chuckle.
"We are going to mingle with the guests when they arrive, but you will look great on the platform," Luna insisted.
Soarin gritted his teeth. "Yeah, great."
Only moments later, guests began to arrive in large crowds of ponies. About every time they thought all of the guests had arrived, a new crowd would come pouring into the ballroom.
"Alright, boys," Sombra said. "It's time for the ball to begin. I wish you the best of luck."
"Thanks," Flash Sentry said. "We'll need it."
"Stand up straight and tall," Celestia told them. "The trumpeter is about to introduce us to begin the ball."
Spike sighed. "But I didn't want the ball to start."
"Don't be ridiculous, Spike!" Fancy Pants said. "A royal ball is a great way to socialize with ponies and practice your conversation skills. It's just the arranged marriage part I don't like."
Spike chuckled. "That's true," he realized.
A boisterous fanfare began to play and the crowd came to an abrupt hush. After the fanfare was finished, the trumpeter cleared his throat and began to introduce the princes, "Announcing their Royal Highnesses, the Princes of Canterlot! Welcome to the Royal Ball! I am happy to announce that any princess here is eligible to try for any of the prince’s hooves in marriage! Proceed!"
"Well, I don't have hooves, so does that mean I'm free?" Spike joked.
"And my hoof is certainly not up here," Discord added.
Celestia turned the prince's attention to the suitors trying to act flirty to get the princes to notice them. "Boys, look! Look at the lovely suitors!"
"Uninterested," Soarin replied.
Suddenly, the suitors rushed over to the platform with excited squeals and screams to win the prince's hooves. Discord and Spike were excluded. All they could do was watch in shock as the rest of their brothers were drowned in the madness.
Discord turned to Spike. "Well, not much of a shocker here, huh?"
"Exactly," Spike agreed. "These princesses only want our brothers for their looks or their money! That's not what true love is. Love is---"
"Spike," Discord interrupted. "I don't need to hear one of your cringey, mushy talks about love."
"But love is the way two ponies look deep into each other's eyes and see the beauty in each other inside and out," Spike continued.
Discord groaned. When Spike continued, Discord covered his ears and sang loudly over him.
"Love is the way your heart pounds in your chest whenever you see her pass by," Spike claimed. "Love is the way you feel that swarm of butterflies flutter around in your stomach whenever she does that cute little snort when she laughs. Love is the way you miss her, even when she just left yesterday. Love is---"
"Spike, I get the picture," Discord said. "That's enough!"
Spike crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Discord.
"What?" Discord asked. "I didn't want to listen, okay?"
"No kidding," Spike scoffed.
"Think those suitors have stopped competing for our brothers attention?" Discord wondered.
"Well, it looks like they have a little air for now," Spike answered. "Come on, let's go!"
Discord and Spike rushed over to their frazzled brothers to help them to their hooves.
"Are you guys okay?" Spike asked.
"I don't want to look at a mare again," Soarin replied.
"Then, how are you going to be around Mom?" Discord inquired.
Soarin rolled his eyes. "I meant, any mare who wants to marry me for money! I can't stand it anymore!"
"Help me," Cheese Sandwich croaked.
"Cheese, are you okay?" Spike questioned.
"I cannot recall the sound of silence, nor the beauty of an empty room," Cheese Sandwich answered.
Flash Sentry scanned the room. He saw ponies laughing and sharing drinks together. He saw ponies dancing gracefully on the enormous dance floor. He envied those ponies. They had joy and privileges he could never have. "Well... maybe I could just look for a good princess to be my future queen instead of waiting for them to come to me."
Flash Sentry continued to look around the ballroom. Moments later, his sights landed on a royal purple unicorn reading a book by herself. She smiled dreamily as she used her magic to turn each page. Her eyes were a dark purple and her mane was an even darker shade of purple. Streaks of violent-pink flowed through her mane like magma.
"Hey, the one reading a book is beautiful!" Flash Sentry said. "I'm going to greet her."
"Flash, don't get infatuated with her," Fancy Pants warned. "We don't even know if she's a princess."
"Well, only one way to find out," Flash Sentry claimed.
Flash Sentry stepped off of the platform to trot over to the young mare. The unicorn was so enhanced by her book that she didn't even avert her eyes until Flash Sentry spoke to her, "Hello, m'lady. Are you a princess that has come to seek my hoof in marriage?"
"No, I'm just here to enjoy the ball," she replied, closing her book with a warm smile. "It's actually my first royal ball. It's beautiful in the palace!"
Flash Sentry chuckled. "The maids and royal decorators really gave it their all for this ball. Where are you visiting from?"
"My best friends and I are visiting from Ponyville," the mare answered. "We're honored to attend, Your Majesty. Many thanks."
The mare lowered her head in a respectful bow and Flash Sentry stifled his affectionate laughter.
"It's alright," Flash Sentry assured. "No need for formalities. You may just call me Flash."
The mare looked at him with surprise. "Okay. Hello, Flash. It feels kinda strange addressing one of the princes that way."
"May I get your name?" Flash Sentry asked.
"I'm Twilight," she replied. "Twilight Sparkle. It's nice to meet you."
"Twilight Sparkle?" Flash Sentry breathed.
She nodded. "Uh-huh."
"That's a beautiful name," Flash Sentry told her.
Twilight smiled. "Thank you."
Flash Sentry and Twilight shook hooves.
"So, where are these friends of yours?" Flash Sentry asked. He remembered that Twilight had said she was attending the ball with friends.
"They're over there," Twilight answered, motioning to the snack table.
Flash Sentry looked over to the snack table to see five other mares by the snack table. An orange earth pony fidgeted anxiously as she struggled with mannerisms, a yellow pegasus hid behind her rosy pink mane, and a blue pegasus looked utterly bored. A pink earth pony had her face stuck in the chocolate fountain as she lapped up the chocolate pouring down from it and an off-white unicorn looked horrified.
"Pinkie Pie!" she cried. "Don't put your face in the chocolate fountain! That is extremely rude! What would Queen Celestia think if she saw you?"
"Sorry, Rarity," Pinkie Pie replied, sheepishly.
The blue pegasus moaned. "Ugh, I hate this. Can we go home now?"
"Don't you fret, Rainbow Dash," the orange earth pony said. "It's just a few more hours."
"Hours?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "How am I going to live?!"
"For Celestia's sake, Rainbow!" Rarity said. "It's a royal ball! Our first royal ball to be exact. You should enjoy yourself."
"Rarity, I'm bored out of my mind," Rainbow Dash replied. "There's no way I could possibly get something good out of any of this."
The orange earth pony sighed. "Uh... there's just too many manners to remember. Good manners are important and all, but half of these gosh darn silly mannerisms are downright unnecessary!"
"Now, now, Applejack," Rarity said. "These manners are very important. We must make a good impression on the nobles."
"I can make a good impression, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie claimed.
"Said the pony with chocolate smeared all over her face," Applejack joked.
"Speaking of that, here's a napkin, Pinkie Pie," Rarity offered. "Clean your face."
Pinkie Pie used the napkin to rub the chocolate off of her face as Rarity turned to another one of her friends.
"Fluttershy, dearest, this ball is definitely a time to work on your social skills," Rarity told her.
"Social?!" Fluttershy cried.
Rarity sighed. "Scratch that. We don't have time for this anyway."
Rainbow Dash was growing increasingly annoyed. "Fluttershy's social skills aren't the problem here. The problem is those high class noble ponies staring at me like I'm a hobo! It's starting to freak me out! Let's leave!"
Rainbow Dash tried to usher her friends out of the ballroom, but she was only met with disapproving glances from the rest of them.
"Wow, what an interesting set of ponies," Flash commented.
"Yup," Twilight replied. "Those interesting, insane, lovable ponies are my best friends." She held her head high as she looked over her friends with pride.
"Such a diverse group of friends too!" Flash added.
"Oh yeah!" Twilight said. "I like to, um... meet around, you know?" She chuckled nervously.
"Are you okay?" Flash asked her.
"Ugh, I'm sorry," Twilight told him. "It's just... I feel so strange talking so casually to a prince."
"Don't worry about it!" Flash reassured her. "You can be yourself around me." He smiled warmly.
"Thank you so much for everything, Flash!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Of course," Flash said. "Anything to make you feel comfortable."
Flash looked over and caught sight of his brothers. Soarin was waving him over, impatiently.
"Oh, I'll be right back!" Flash claimed. "One of my brothers needs something."
"And I'll be waiting for your return," Twilight said.
Flash and Twilight gazed at each other for a moment longer before Flash broke the eye contact and turned away to meet with his brothers. Making his way back to the platform, he snuck glances at Twilight every now and then.
When Flash reached the platform, Soarin began to speak, "What are you doing, Flash?! Mom will get us in huge trouble if she finds out you've been giving special treatment to that girl!"
"Relax," Flash told him. "Mom won't find out... right?"
"Mother is quite smart and might see through your scheme, brother of mine," Fancy Pants claimed. "I just don't want you to get in trouble."
Flash sighed. His mother wasn't a fool and couldn't easily be tricked. She'd probably find out what he was doing in no time. He realized Fancy Pants was right. "Alright. This is the last night I'll see her anyway. Maybe we should just wander looking for the suitors who have come to call."
Fancy Pants nodded. "I agree. We certainly can't disobey our mother."
Spike sighed wistfully. "Let's go. I really doubt I'll find love in any of those high class princesses, but I guess love isn't really the point anyway."
"You're probably right, Flash," Cheese Sandwich said.
"I know we don't like it, but what choice do we have?" Soarin said. "Mom seemed very upset when we argued with her about it."
Discord decided to add his thoughts into the mix whether they were wanted or not. "I, for one, despise this! I am a draconequus and deserve to be treated as a living thing! I will not be a mere prize to some prissy princess pony!"
Soarin narrowed his eyes. "Discord, you're going to get in trouble."
The word 'trouble' only made the notion sound more enticing to Discord. "Exactly!" he replied. "That's the fun part!"
"You know what isn't fun?" Soarin asked in exasperation.
"Your stupid decision to marry a stranger?" Discord shot back, impenitently.
Soarin wasn't having any of Discord's attitude. "Your attitude against this. No princess likes a prince with attitude."
Once again, being reminded of the fact that he would most likely never find true love for himself, Discord reined himself in and growled angrily. "Fine! I'll look around! But you know that all of the suitors came for you, not me!"
The princes broke apart and unhappily wandered throughout the ballroom. They weren't intent on looking for suitors as much as they had claimed to be, but if they happened to run into a princess that wanted their hoof, they would talk to them.
By fate, Flash managed to stumble upon Twilight once more. Twilight's facial features lit up as bright as the sun when she saw him. "You're back! Did things with your brother go okay?"
"Hm? Oh! Oh... uh... yeah." He was happy to see Twilight again, but he was still feeling crummy from his current predicament.
Meanwhile, near the punch table, Rarity was levitating a glass of punch and was about to take a sip when Fancy Pants accidentally bumped into her. Rarity's punch went flying forward and splattered all over Fancy Pants's tuxedo.
Rarity gasped in horror and humiliation. "Oh, I am so terribly sorry!" she cried. "Let me help you clean up!"
Rarity levitated a wad of napkins over to Fancy Pant's tuxedo and began to dab them against the stains on his suit.
"Oh no, it's quite alright, miss," Fancy Pants assured her. "It happens quite frequently with the butlers and such."
Rarity looked up and finally noticed who he was, a look of shock crossing over her face. "Can it be?! Are you Prince Fancy Pants?!"
"Yes, I am," Fancy Pants answered. "Hello, miss."
"Oh, I can't believe I could be so klutzy, Your Highness!" Rarity continued. "Allow me to finish cleaning that divine suit of yours!"
"It's alright," Fancy Pants said. "It's not necess---"
"Please, Your Highness! I insist!" Rarity told him. "I love fashion and I cannot let my crime against fabulousity go uncorrected!"
"Alright," Fancy Pants said with a smile. "I will allow it. Just this once though."
Nearby, Discord had stumbled into Fluttershy.
Fluttershy squeaked nervously. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I hate to be a bother! I'll just get out of your way!"
"Uh... that's okay," Discord assured her, awkwardly. "Do you need help?"
"Wait..." Fluttershy realized. "There's only one creature in Equestria with looks so unique, so diverse! Prince Discord! Is it you?"
"I'm sorry," Discord said, once again letting the awkwardness in the air get the best of him. "I'm not very good at the whole princely thing. I'm not actually very fond of it."
"Oh, I can see why," Fluttershy said. "It must be tiresome. I'm glad I got to meet you, Prince Discord! I'm honored!"
Discord smiled as he looked at her. Her eyes appeared to be shining in the light like a million crystals on a chandelier. "The honor is mine."
Not far away from them, Cheese Sandwich had stumbled into Pinkie Pie. They turned to each other simultaneously.
"Oopsie!" Pinkie Pie said. "I'm sorry! I can be such a klutz sometimes!"
Cheese Sandwich laughed in understanding. "Me too!"
Pinkie Pie inhaled deeply. "Prince Cheese Sandwich?!"
"The one and only!" he replied.
Pinkie Pie felt her excitement bubbling up from inside of her. "Wow!" she breathed. "You throw the second best parties in all of Equestria! I'm so excited to meet you!"
"Second best?"
"Only next to mine, of course!" Pinkie Pie joked with a playful wink.
Cheese Sandwich chuckled. He had a feeling that they would get along just fine.
Just a few feet away, Applejack had bumped into Spike.
"Oh, pardon me!" said Applejack. "I'm not so good at watching where I'm going."
"You're pardoned," Spike said. "I like your accent by the way."
Applejack was delighted. "Why, thank you kindly! You're Prince Spike, right? Well, howdy there! Nice to meet ya!"
"Nice to meet you too!" Spike agreed.
Spike wrapped his claw around Applejack's hoof to shake it. The two had to admit that it felt a little strange, but it was still amiable to do so.
Once again, as if by fate, Soarin stumbled upon Rainbow Dash. However, Soarin accidentally went tumbling forward, knocking him and Rainbow Dash to the ground in an awkward position.
"Hey! Get off me!" Rainbow Dash demanded.
Soarin's cheeks reddened from the embarrassment. "Heh, sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!"
Soarin awkwardly scrambled to his hooves and offered one of them to Rainbow Dash. "Allow me to help you up!"
"Prince Soarin?" Rainbow Dash was taken by surprise.
Soarin nodded and gave her a playful smirk. Rainbow Dash took his hoof and Soarin pulled her back to her hooves.
"Please forgive me," Rainbow Dash said, quickly. "I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to get all snappy." She didn't really want to come home and tell her friends that she had upset a prince that day.
To her relief, Soarin smiled and seemed to be very understanding, "No, it's okay. I understand. We all have our days."
Everyone finished their exchanges and walked away, feeling their spirits rise a bit higher.
Twilight, in particular, felt a great sense of excitement and had to tell her friends about her encounter with Prince Flash. As she rushed over to her friends, she could have sworn that her friends were also running towards her at the same time.
When Twilight reached her friends, Twilight and her friends spoke in unison, "Girls, you will never believe what just happened! I stumbled into one of the princes!"
Twilight and her friends just stared at each other for a long time. Had they really all just said the same exact thing?
Rainbow Dash was the first to speak again. "Whoa, we all met one of the princes?"
"Well, there's six princes, six of us," Twilight observed. "It must be our connection as friends!"
Twilight and her friends shared a laugh. That always felt nice.
Flash and his brothers had grouped up and talked about the same events. Now, they were eager to talk to the girls again and approached them once more.
"Excuse us?" Flash said.
Twilight and her friends turned to face the princes. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. "Whoa."
"Oh my gosh! They're all right there!" Pinkie Pie squealed.
"Oh, we almost forgot!" Rarity claimed.
Rarity's friends recognized what she meant and they bowed in respect to the princes.
"It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Your Majesties," Rarity said.
"We apologize greatly if this seems too personal, but may we perhaps get your names?" Flash wondered.
Everyone, but Rarity looked at each other uncertainly for a moment.
"Why, certainly!" Rarity exclaimed. "My name is Rarity! I plan on owning a personal boutique here in Canterlot!"
Fancy Pants already felt his infatuation with the young mare beginning to grow. "A rarity indeed," he purred.
Rarity felt quite touched by his compliment and smiled to herself.
"Flash has already received my name, but the rest of you might as well know it too. It's Twilight Sparkle. Twilight for short."
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm Ponyville's prime party planner! After all, you can't live life without some fun!"
Cheese Sandwich grinned. "I love to throw parties!"
"I know that, silly!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "I attend all of your parties! I never miss out on a chance to have fun!"
"Me neither!" Cheese Sandwich agreed.
The two exchanged a hearty laugh. The girls continued to give them their names.
Rainbow Dash was beginning to gloat. "Rainbow Dash. Best flyer in Equestria. Currently in the Wonderbolts Reserves. My dream is to become the best Wonderbolt in the skies!"
Soarin felt himself growing excited. "I love to fly! I want to be a Wonderbolt too, but I can't since I'm a prince and everything."
"And that's a shame too," Rainbow Dash said, genuinely. "You would've made a pretty awesome Wonderbolt. Not as awesome as me, but up there!"
Soarin narrowed his eyes and began to tease her, playfully. "Oh, we all know I would've beat you by a mile."
This only amused Rainbow Dash and her smirk grew even wider. "Don't get your hopes up, prince."
"My name's Applejack! I live on Sweet Apple Acres down in Ponyville. Sound familiar?"
Flash nodded. "We've heard of Sweet Apple Acres before!"
"They have the best apple pie!" Soarin added.
Soarin's brothers shook their heads and laughed while Applejack and her friends giggled.
"Why, thank you, Prince Soarin!" Applejack said. "We down at Sweet Apple Acres sure do try our best to grow the best gosh darn apples in all of Equestria."
"Have you been successful?" Soarin asked.
"So far," Applejack replied, proudly.
"I have no doubt about it!" Soarin said.
"Wow, that sounds amazing," Spike said. "I sure love the apples from Sweet Apple Acres! Is it fun to work in the fields?"
"Yes, but it can be hard work sometimes!" Applejack replied. "But it sure is worth it!"
"I know that for sure," Spike said.
Fluttershy chimed in quietly. "And I'm Fluttershy."
Discord chuckled. "What a fitting name for a mare like you!"
Fluttershy smiled timidly and nodded.
"Uh... she opens up once you get to know her," Rainbow Dash claimed.
"Discord, you're really amazing," Fluttershy told him. "I adore animals and you are a mix of so many interesting creatures."
Discord was surprised. "W-wow, that... that is the nicest thing anypony has ever said to me. Th-thank you, Fluttershy."
"My pleasure," Fluttershy spoke.
"It was really nice to meet you," Twilight told them. "All of you. Thank you. You have made us feel like the luckiest mares in Equestria."
"Of course," Flash said. "It was nice to talk to you girls. Do... do you think you'll be at royal balls in the future?"
Twilight's smile carried a mysterious allure. "Perhaps. Only time will tell."
"Why, of course we will!" Rarity said. "A chance like this just cannot be ignored!"
"Rarity, we don't know if it we can always make it to---" Twilight started.
Rarity quickly interrupted. "Alright, then we'll be at most of them."
"We can't wait to see you there," Flash told them.
"It was nice meeting you!" Twilight exclaimed. "Goodbye!"
"See ya later!" Applejack said.
"Goodbye!" Fluttershy added.
"See ya later, sweet potater!" Pinkie Pie told them.
"See ya!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Goodbye!" Rarity added. "Again, many thanks!"
The princes watched until the girls disappeared into the sea of ponies.
"For some reason, I'm really looking forward to the next royal ball," Flash declared.
"Me too," the rest of his brothers agreed.
"Boys!" Celestia called from the platform. "I need you!"
Soarin sighed. "Come on, guys."
The princes met their mother over at the platform.
Celestia's expression was solemn. "Have you picked a mare to wed yet?"
Flash sighed. He and his brothers had forgotten all about the suitors after they had met the six mares that night. "No, mother. We have not."
Celestia sighed. Her eyes looked sad. "I'm sorry. We arranged this royal ball in hopes that you could have somefreedom in who you married. We hoped picking your suitor from mares who volunteered would ease the blow. But… it appears as if I will have to pick for you."
"Mom, no!" Flash protested.
"I have no other choice," Celestia claimed.
"Of course you have a choice!" Flash shot back. "There's always a choice!"
"Not when it comes to ancient law," Celestia continued.
Discord felt his rage spilling over the edge. "This is despicable! You can't force us to marry a pony of your choice!"
"We're sorry, but---"
Flash scoffed, louder than he had meant to. "There's nothing you can do? Ugh! Forget it! This ball is over!"
The princes stalked out of the room, sending a lot of glances from shocked guests their way.
"Boys, wait!" Celestia cried.
The door to the ballroom shut with a rather jarring slam. Everyone in the room just stared at the door, still taken aback by the sudden departure of the princes.
Celestia felt tears begin to well up in her eyes and a hoof place itself comfortingly on her shoulder. She looked over to see Sombra standing there with a sad smile on his face. Celestia sighed and turned her head back towards the door, questioning her decision.
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Ah, the most classic of romantic beginnings. Falling on-top of a stranger in a uncomfortable position.
Truly, Soarin is the best anime pro-tag.
Why does this have a bunch of downvotes? Everything works here. The pacing is a bit too fast, but the story is working here.
8697651
I'm not sure. I would appreciate it if some people would give me their feedback on it. It does kinda hurt when I have more downvotes than upvotes.
8697710
Eh, don't worry about it. Keep going, you have an audience. Trust me on that.
8697820
Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. It always helps to have someone who appreciates the effort you put into your writing.
The reason it's paced a little fast is because it was originally a screenplay and I only had about 2 and 1/2 hours to tell it all. If you have any feedback on how to pace the story a bit better, please do tell! Thanks!
8697823
...I actually don't have any real tips. I'm not good at advice. Sorry pal.
But please keep up the good work.
8697848
Aw, that's okay. Thank you for reading!
Some people might be down voting because of the shipping. Honestly, Raripants isn't one of my liked ships but I haven't down voted this. Some of the shipping here is so mainstream that it kind of get hate because of that. Honestly my favorite straight ships aren't really shown here at all. Rarity and Soarin, Discord or Big Mac are my Rarity straight ships, Flutterspike is my favorite spike ship, Rainbow and Fancypants or Blueblood are my favorite Rainbow straight ships, Pinkie and Caramel, Applejack and Blueblood or Fancypants, and Twilight and Braeburn. I'm weird okay, those ships are not common at all. Sometimes I also like Flutterlane and Fluttershy and Soarin.
But anyway besides my own likes, people see a lot of the ships that you have here. They are possible the top 10 of common straight ships, with maybe Applespike being the most uncommon. For some others, Flash Sentry is a boring character and they get very angry when he is shipped at all. There are only 19 votes as of right now though, so just hang in there and I'm sure that you will get more upvotes.
Also some of the story is too heavy in dialogue while other parts really need more. I think maybe going into detail about some of the attempts of the suitors to gain favor. Go into a little more detail about the goings ons of the characters. The flow of the story could be improved too.
Just remember that this is the first story you have on here. Most everyones first story has the most downvotes. (unless they are just attempting to get downvotes).
8699551
Thank you so much for your feedback!
Celestia done fucked up good
I like this. I like this a lot. Sure, it's a little fast and could use some more detail in some parts. I did love the part where Spike gets all romantic and annoys the living daylights out of Discord.
hiccup would find this comment and understand the feeling of discord...