A Night at the Gala

by Locomotion

Prologue

“Tia, are you quite finished with those invites? You've been at it for nearly three hours now.”

“I'll be done in a minute, sister,” soothed Celestia, as an agitated Luna paced restlessly behind her. It was early spring, and preparations were well underway for that most prestigious of all Equestrian traditions, the Grand Galloping Gala. Most of the invitations had already been sent out, with only a few still remaining; and this year, Celestia hoped, was to prove especially significant. Murmuring under her breath, she finished off the final covering letter and placed it in an envelope with two golden tickets. “There,” she declared, “that's the last of them.”

“About time too,” grumbled Luna as they left the study and headed for the ballroom. “If I'd known you were going to take this long, I'd have insisted you write and post those letters to Twilight and her friends a lot sooner. We still have a lot of preparation work to oversee, you know.”

Celestia chuckled. “Yes, I'm fully aware of that,” she conceded in her most disarming tone, “but those weren't for Twilight or her friends. Theirs had been dispatched only two days ago.”

“Oh? Then who, pray tell, are the recipients?” inquired Luna, forgetting to be impatient.

“The three founders of the Cutie Mark Crusader movement, for one thing – and of course a certain young couple we met last autumn.” Before Celestia could elaborate, she was interrupted by a polite cough from her nephew, who was coming the other way. “Ah, Blueblood. Everything going smoothly in the ballroom, I trust?”

“All told, yes – aside from that cheeky hoodlum Discord loitering around in there.” A long time ago, Prince Blueblood would have meant that in the harshest and most derogatory way imaginable; but after being very severely put in his place by Rarity, and publicly humiliated when a political will of his backfired on him with tragic consequences, he had gradually mellowed out and become a lot humbler, as evidenced by the small, hearty smirk on his lips. It certainly helped that another, azure blue unicorn mare with an impressive magical talent had become involved with him over the past few years.

“Well, that's alright then,” smiled Celestia. “Just be sure and mind your manners, Blueblood – I don't want to hear you've been mistreating our lady guests again, you understand?”

Blueblood's smile faded, and he shook his head in dismay. “Must we go through this again, Auntie Celestia?” he groaned. “I gave you my assurance it wouldn't happen again.”

“It'd better not!” Discord suddenly appeared behind him. “I know I promised these two I'd be on my best behaviour, but that doesn't mean I won't turn you into a frog if you don't play the game.”

“You wouldn't dare!”

“I'm sure there won't be any cause for that,” interrupted Celestia calmly. “As long as you both behave yourselves, all will be fine.”

“So I should hope,” added Luna sternly. “Especially you, Discord – if we have to deal with a repeat of your first time attending the Gala, I for one won't be too pleased. It's a wonder Celestia saw fit to overlook...”

“Oh, loosen up, Luna,” interrupted Celestia. “So perhaps Discord let his jealousy get the better of him that night, but he's gotten a lot better at keeping it under control. Besides, at least it livened up the whole event.” She winked broadly at Discord; “Off the record, if you do catch Blueblood being prudish, then you have my leave to deal with him as you wish...within reason.”

“My dearest Celest,” chortled Discord, “it'd be my pleasure! Anyway, can't hang around here all day – Blueblood isn't the only one who has new outfits to go through.” He vanished in a cloud of smoke; but reappeared momentarily to give Celestia a quick, chaste peck on the cheek.

Luna sighed wearily. “I just can't understand you sometimes, Tia. Letting Discord go to such unspeakable lengths...”

“I'm sure he won't do anything rash unless provoked,” Celestia reassured her. “Anyway, Cadance, Twilight and myself will all be keeping a close eye on him.”

“Hmm...I suppose,” murmured Luna, unconvinced. “Now, about that...ahem, 'young couple' you mentioned earlier...?”

“Oh, yes...you remember Locomotion and Hornette, don't you?”

“Only too well – and even more so the tribulations they had to face in their youth,” smiled Luna sombrely, recalling how she had visited the young Locomotion in his dreams seven years ago, after a serious train accident east of Ponyville. It pained her to see him so broken after a long night of rescuing survivors from the wrecked Bridleway Limited; but seeing how poor Hornette had been treated from the moment she came into the world was even more of a wrench. It didn't matter to her that the latter was a changeling – no young soul should have to deal with this kind of trauma. “Don't tell me you're inviting them to the Gala too,” she added, a look of concern starting to cross her face.

“And why not? They did help to end the stand-off with what was once the Badlands, after all,” Celestia reasoned. “Besides, it'll be good for our cultural relations, having at least one changeling mingling amongst our high society.”

But Luna only frowned uneasily as a long list of scenarios began to flow through her mind. “That's exactly what I'm worried about,” she muttered under her breath.