The Voices of Nobody

by BowtiesandFedoras

Chapter 16

I had no dreams that night, which I somewhat enjoyed, and when I awoke, comforting sunlight filled the room.

I stretched a bit, took a quick shower, and went for a walk around the castle, though I would be careful to not get lost.

I looked out a window, and saw (aside from a spectacular view) the castle's enormous courtyard. There was a topiary maze, several gazebos, and even an arrangement of large statues. I was immediately interested, and, after asking a few people in the castle for directions, I was strolling through the beautiful gardens filled with small animals wandering without a care in the world.

I looked at all the statues and admired the exact detail on all of them. Although, I was very drawn to one in particular. It looked like a dragon, only that wasn't what it was. It had the body parts of a handful of different animals; lion, horse, bat, goat, deer, eagle, snake, etc. It was the most realistic-looking statue in the garden, which made it intimidating to look at. The creature's body was in some state of recoil and fear; its face wide-eyed and screaming.

As I drew nearer, I felt the air around me shift in temperature and flow, and I could've sworn I heard the faintest chuckling in the distance.

"I wouldn't get so close if I were you," an unfamiliar voice said from behind me. The voice snapped me out of my trance, and I turned around to see several people arranging tables and setting up chairs. I was so captivated by the statue that I hadn't heard them.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Well, what does it look like?" the man in front of me answered. He looked young, was my height, and had blonde hair, "We're settin' up for the Gala!"

"The what?" I was unfamiliar with galas still ocurring, but that was probably due to my own ignorance.

"The Grand Gala! Duh. You're not from around here, are ya?"

"Actually, no. I'm not. Can you fill me in?"

After he looked a me funny, he explained to me that the Grand Gala was an annual event where Celestia held an extravagant party that was mostly invite-only, and it took place in the castle and on castle grounds.

He told me that once, Twilight and her friends nearly destroyed the place, but made that the most fun Gala so far in the process.

"Oh, well that sounds fun," I told him. I was intrigued by what he'd told me.

"It is. But if you'll excuse me, I hafta get back to work," and he went back to arranging tables.

I was looking forward to attending the Gala, but then, a dreadful thought surfaced to the very front of my mind: What if Vesania shows up?

---

"Princess!" I called as I met her walking down the hall.

"Yes? What is it, Nobody?"

"What's this about a 'Grand Gala?'"

"Oh, the Grand Gala. It's one of the largest-" She obviously didn't feel as worried as I was about the whole thing.

"No, that's not what I meant. When is it?"

"Tonight, of course."

Her answer shocked me. Well, the way she said it, rather. It was so non-chalant, as if she'd forgotten completely about the major problem going on.

I cleared my throat, "Princess, have you forgotten about Vesania? Do you know what would happen if he showed up at the Gala with all those souls in one place at one time?"

"Shh!" she said sharply. This surprised me a little, "What if someone should hear us?" she whispered, "We have to go somewhere more private if we are to discuss this."

I nodded, and she led me into a random room in the hall. She closed and locked the door behind us.

"Okay, now we can speak," she said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the Gala earlier, but it was short notice."

"Well, is- is there any way you could postpone it, or cancel it, maybe?"

"I'm afraid not. Believe me, I would if I could, but invitations have already been sent out, everything has been booked; I just can't do anything. My hands are tied."

My head was just full of worry and thoughts about what to do to avoid a serious incident.

"Can we warn everyone about this? Would that stop people from coming?" I asked.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Telling the people what's going on would just send them into a panic."

I sighed. I agreed with her judgement; we certainly couldn't have panicked citizens, and I know the incident with the nurse and Vesania was such short notice, but what could we do to a catastrophe like this? Surely he would notice that many people in one place, and he'll no doubt be "hungry" again.

"Please," the Princess began, "don't worry. I know those words don't mean much, but don't worry. I've already doubled the security for tonight, and I've called in my best Magic Beings to cast a protective barrier around the castle."

"What if he gets in while using someone else's body?"

"The barrier will take care of that, too. If someone's being used by him, the barrier will prevent them from getting in."

My mind kept thinking of all sorts of things that could go wrong, but somehow the Princess had thought of virtually everything, and managed to shoot down my theories in a few sentences.

After I felt assured that she knew what she was doing, and that tonight would go smoothly, I decided that I would help with some of the preparations; table setup, decorations, and such. At around four o'clock the entertainment arrived in various forms to prepare for the Gala. There was a string quarted, a pianist, some singers, and a DJ with a head of wild blue hair with light blue streaks in it.

Shortly after, Twilight and her friends showed up to do their own part in setting up. Applejack had a concessions stand, Pinkie Pie helped out in the kitchen, Twilight looked over the guest list, Rarity brought dresses of her own design for herself and the others, Rainbow cleared up the sky so everyone could view the night sky, and Fluttershy brought a (and it will puzzle me until the end of time) bird choir. She had actually trained a small group of birds to "sing" a song.

At about six, Celestia gave the order to set up the barrier to keep Vesania out. I watched in awe as a group of Magic Beings fired beams of light into the sky, and they stopped in mid air, and fanned out to create a transluscent dome of pink around all of the castle ground. I was told by Twilight herself that her brother was capable of putting up a barrier that enclosed all of Canterlot.

People started arriving as it was just getting dark, and all of the others changed into their Gala dresses. I gave myself a once-over, and felt bummed out that I had nothing fancy to wear to the occasion.

Rarity came up behind me as I looked up at the barrier and asked me, "More people will be here soon; don't you think you should change into something more... formal?"

I turned around to face her so I could tell her that I didn't have anything formal to wear. But when I turned, I saw her presenting me with a nice-looking tuxedo with a red bow tie.

"Ta-da!" she exclaimed, "I worked on it after I got home yesterday. I wanted to use one of those thin neckties, but Sweetie Belle though a bowtie would look better. Do you like it?"

"Wow. Thanks, Rarity. I love it. I'll go change into it now."

"Glad to see you like it!" she said before I left to change in my room.

Author commentary:

That's right. Our hero gets the full(ish) Equestria experience, complete with the Grand (Galloping) Gala! And yes, the Discord cameo was absolutely necessary.