The Machine

by ADRNEL

Chapter XXVI~The Gala~

Chapter XXVI
The Gala

---

Day 197

"AT THE GALA~!" sang Pinkie as they reached Celestia's palace in Canterlot, where the gala would be held.

"Pinkie," began Rarity. "Can you please stop with the singing, it got annoying the third time."

"I'm just so excited for this night! It will be the best night ever!" bounced the pink pony as all of her friends and Adam followed behind.

"So," said Twilight. "What are all of you going to be doing?"

"I'm going to go and spend time with Adam of course." smiled Fluttershy as she nuzzled up against the human's side.

"Ah'm goin' to sell some goods from the farm...it's either that or sell an acre or two of the farm." stated Applejack who hoped her night will go well for her family's sake.

"I'm going to mingle with Hoity Toity and his entourage...maybe they'll offer me a new job opportunity." said Rarity with stars in her eyes.

"I'm going to hang around with the Wonderbolts, maybe even get the attention of one of them." dreamily said Rainbow Dash.

"And probably sleep her way into the Wonderbolts." said Applejack under her breath.

"HEY!" Rainbow Dash heard it and exclaimed in offense. "I want to sleep WITH a Wonderbolt...not sleep IN TO the Wonderbolts...there's a difference!"

"I'm just going to gorge myself on the delicious food this time...and maybe entertain a few guests." chimed Pinkie.

"What about you Twilight?" asked the human.

"Be spend some time with Princess Celestia of course, she needs my help to fun this gala smoothly." beamed Twilight.

The group reached the main enterance where they showed a guard their tickets and were let in. They soon reached the main stairway where on top, Princess Celestia greeted them.

"Good evening to you all, and welcome to the gala." greeted Celestia to the five mares and the human. "I hope everything has been themed correctly to your thoughts Mr. Gray."

"Well, I can't wait to see how accurately you portrayed the balls from my time period." slightly bowed Adam.

"Anyways, my sister Luna is at the ballroom to escort her to the table of honor, I'll join you all shortly."

"Uh...I think I'll stay here with you Princess Celestia." proposed Twilight. "It has been awhile since we spent time together."

"As you wish my faithful student." accepted the princess. Twilight took her place beside the alicorn as everyone else made their way to the ballroom.

As they reached the room, Adam was stunned to see that it was themed like a Victorian era ball, the decorations, the music, the dances, and the food (although the food now had hay in places where the meat should be).

"It's so majestic." said Rarity in awe.

"Ya humans sure knew how to party." stated Applejack.

"You mean we RICH humans sure knew how to party." corrected Adam as the six of them walked in to join the rest of the guests.

"Anyways, ah'll be makin' my way outside to set up my stand...see y'all later." said the orange mare as she walked out of the room.

At the same time, Rarity saw Hoity Toity socializing with his friends and associates, she just walked away from her friends without a word. Pinkie followed suit and made her way to the buffet and Rainbow Dash went off to find the Wonderbolts, which left Adam and Fluttershy.

"Ah! You have arrived just in time Mr. Gray!" greeted Luna to the human and yellow mare.

"You did a well job replicating my memories and knowledge of a ball from my time period." complimented the human.

"I did my best." smiled the lunar princess at the compliment. "Let me show you to your table." she lead the couple to another part of the room.

---

Outside, Applejack has finished building the stand and was ready to place all the items on it to be sold.

"Miss Applejack?" said a voice that briefly startled the mare.

"What?" she turned around to see that it was Soarin. "Oh...it's ya...just about to open soon."

"I see you are selling your wears again." pointed out the pegasus.

"Well...this year is very important...what with what happened and all at the reunion." stated Applejack with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Yes, I heard about the loss, but are you sure selling food at the gala when food is already being served is such a good idea?"

Applejack just sighed. "Worth a try."

"How about I take you to my friends instead and share with you a business proposal?" offered Soarin.

"Uh...okay...ah'll give ya a listen." Applejack was not sure if it was a good idea or not, she wanted to be the one that earned the money without any help.

"Well follow me, Spitfire and Fleetfoot are over there." the pegasus escorted the mare to the other side of the patio.

---

"So, how's business going Miss Rarity?" asked Hoity as he took a sip of his champagne.

"Not that bad considering most of the town hardly wear clothes." answered Rarity to him and his friends.

Everyone gives a laugh. "That's the boonies for you." exclaimed a pony.

Rarity was a bit offended by the comment but just laughed along so she would not upset her potential employers.

---

Rainbow Dash trotted out of the bathroom, ready and confident in meeting the Wonderbolts. "Okay, just walked up to them, talk, impress them and you're golden! With the possible side of a foursome...hehe." she said under her breath. But she stopped in her tracks when she saw a painful sight; Spitfire and Soarin talking with Applejack. "What the buck?!"

---

"So this is what Charlotte Russe tastes like." commented Pinkie as she finished her twenty-one course meal.

---

"And welcome to the gala." greeted Celestia to another guest, Twilight by her side. The princess turned to her and whispered into her ear. "Mind taking over for me while I go off to take care of my needs?"

"Of course I wouldn't mind Celestia." nodded Twilight as she gladly took over. Celestia smiled and trotted off.

---

Adam finished his meal, even though the food had hay in it, the chefs made him special dishes with meat instead of hay. "Delicious, don't you think Shy?"

"It was." agreed the pegasus.

"Well...I guess I should go and relieve myself before we go on our walk in the garden...meet you later." smiled the human as he stood up and kissed Fluttershy on the forehead.

"Okay, I'll be waiting." smiled the yellow mare as she watched her boyfriend walk away. "Tonight is going to be so special." she said to herself as she blushed.

---

"It was pleasure doin' business with ya." smiled Applejack at Soarin.

"The same."

"But nature calls right now, so ah'll be right back to straighten out the details, be right back." stated mare as she trotted off to the bathroom. As she walked in, she was quickly pinned to the wall by a crazed Rainbow Dash.

"WHAT THE BUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" exclaimed the rainbow maned mare.

"Ah should say the same thing!" said a bemused Applejack.

"I saw the way you made googly eyes at Soarin!"

"What are ya talkin' about?"

"You're trying to steal Soarin away from me are you? MY Soarin!"

"Dash...really?" Applejack raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"Admit it! You have feelings for that stallion! You want to buck him raw-" Dash was quickly interrupted by a punch to the face.

"Nopony, and ah mean NOPONY, dares to accuse me of such immature and foalish things ya hear?" spat Applejack. "NOPONY!" Applejack just left to find another bathroom.

Rainbow Dash was left on the bathroom floor with a black eye.

---

Adam took a few minutes to appreciate the night-sky from the balcony before we went to pick up Fluttershy for their walk in the garden.

"Enjoying the gala?" interjected a new voice. Adam looked back to see Celestia enter.

"It's pretty nice, couldn't be more right at home." smiled the human at the alicorn.

"Thanks...nice view huh?" she walked up to next to the human.

"It is."

"Yes...I worked pretty hard the last few millennia to get this kingdom to its current splendor...wouldn't want it to get ruined anytime soon."

"And I appreciate the job you are doing." agreed the human as he looked up at the stars.

"And how are you and Fluttershy going?" Celestia asked with a smile, although it was fake, she had a long time to hone her acting skills.

"Very well...this is our first romantic night together in a long time, I want to make it perfect for her since it is the first I ever found love since well..."

"I understand." interrupted the alicorn. "glad you managed to learn to love again and find a new place you can call home."

"Glad you understand your highness."

"I know how it feels to lose someone you loved dearly, but when you become nearly immortal and a Princess to a kingdom of hundreds of millions of subjects, love becomes hard to come by...so never take it for granted."

"I won't Princess Celestia...I won't." assured the human. Celestia turned to leave. "Just one question though." she stopped in her tracks. "What do you know about the Brotherhood of the Fourth Sphere?" the human asked.

"How the buck does he know about that?! I dug holes and made statues to keep that a secret!" Celestia screamed in her head. "Come again?"

"The Fourth Sphere? What do you know about that?"

"Oh...just an old order that I disbanded shortly after my sister returned from her exile...although it hasn't been active in a long time before then." lied the princess. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you seem to know more about that than your are telling me." stated Adam suspiciously.

"Just focus on enjoying your time here with you marefriend...you never know how long it could last." ominously said the princess before she walked back inside.

---

Rarity walked in to use the bathroom when she saw the sight of Rainbow Dash at the sink nursing a black eye. "Don't tell me you got into another punch bowl brawl again Dash." groaned the unicorn with annoyance.

"Sorry to burst your fun, but it was AJ who gave me this...this time." Dash's left eye was black and nearly swollen shut.

"Why?"

"Because she's making moves on my dream colt!" exclaimed the cyan mare.

"I thought Big Mac was your dream colt?"

"He's my rutting colt...and nothing more!" she clarified.

"Still struggling with your self-esteem I am guessing?"

"What makes you say that?" scoffed the pegasus.

"Only ponies with severe self-esteem issues would act all boastful like that...to help cover up their insecurities, believe me, I know, I do the same thing sometimes." explained the unicorn.

"You don't know anything." bluntly stated Dash without a glance at Rarity.

"How about you join me and hang around Hoity and his entourage?" Rarity offered.

Dash thought about it for a minute. "Like I have anything better to do." she reluctantly sighed.

Rarity smiled at the cyan mare before she escorted her out of the bathroom.

---

Adam and Fluttershy were in the palace gardens, walking and enjoying each others company. "Tell me Adam," began the mare. "is your world as beautiful like this?"

"It can be...I have seen so many starry nights, so many sunsets, so much of nature, but sometimes I ask myself...do we have a destiny? Or are we all just floating with the breeze?"

"Well...what do you think?"

"Maybe it's both...maybe my destiny is to find love and happiness...and me accidentally ending up here was the breeze blowing me closer to it...maybe I was meant to fall in love with you." smiled the human as he crouched down to get a better look at Fluttershy.

"I-I feel the same way as well." Fluttershy was touched by the statement, she was in awe of the human. "I think tonight is the perfect night for me to express how much you mean to me."

"Me too." smiled the human as he leaned in and kissed the mare deeply.

What they did not notice, was that they were in front of Discord's statue. A faint evil laugh could be heard emanating from it.

---

The entire gala started to wind-down.

"Anyways, thank ya for the offer Soarin." nodded Applejack as she walked with Soarin out the main entrance.

"Anything to help a fellow pony in need." smiled the pegasus stallion. "So, you'll be spending the night here I heard?"

"Bein' good friends with royal has some benefits." joked the mare.

"Well, tell your friends and the human that they'll be receiving season VIP tickets to our shows." stated Soarin.

"Really? Ah know Dash will love it!" she was in complete disbelief.

"There we go!" smiled Soarin

"COME ON SOARIN! WE HAVE TRAINING TOMORROW!" yelled Spitfire.

"That's my cue...have to go...see you around Applejack!" Soarin waved to Applejack goodbye before he sprinted away.

Applejack was in awe.

---

"I'd never thought I would ever have fun with a bunch of snobs before." exclaimed Dash who had a very good time with Rarity and her fancy friends. She wore her sunglasses to hide her black eye.

"Glad I managed to make the night fun for you Dash." smiled Rarity, happy to had made a difference in someone's night.

Soon, they met up with the rest of their friends, Celestia and Luna in the now empty ballroom. Unfortunately, awkwardness fell between Dash and Applejack, they both refused to say a word.

"Did you all have fun tonight?" asked Celestia to the six mares and human.

"We did, a much better night than last year." stated Twilight.

The rest of the conversation was drowned out by Applejack and Dash who gave each other dirty looks.

---

Both Adam and Fluttershy stumbled into their guestroom making-out with each other. The mare pushed the human onto the bed as she started to remove her dress.

"Are you still sure about this?" asked the human as he wanted to be sure Fluttershy was ready.

"I am very sure Adam, very sure." smirked Fluttershy as she got on top of him and resumed the make-out session.

"I...love...you..." the human said between kisses as he started to run his hands along the mare's sides while the mare started to remove his suit.

"Together forever?" asked the pegasus.

"Together forever." assured the human.

---

At the same time, Celestia sneaked out of her chambers and made her way over to Discord's statue. She used her magic to teleport inside it. She now found herself in a white void in front of Discord who sat on his throne.

"Welcome back Celly...ready to beg?" mused the creature.

"Only under one condition Discord." snarled the alicorn.

"And that is...?"

"You take credit for the entire thing and that no one gets killed."

Discord stroked his chin. "I guess I can accept those terms...don't worry Celly...by the time I get through with him, his mind and will will be broken beyond all recognition. He'll be begging to return back to where he came from." he chuckled. "Now beg Celly."

Celestia gave the creature one last dirty look before she reluctantly got down to the floor to start the process of begging.

"This is going to be so much fun." thought Discord as he immediately came up with a plan to break the human...something that will bring him so much pleasure in doing. He gave an evil smirk from the thought.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Note:

Discord is back!

Comments

[Mr_Moon]

Oh shit...

[Even Evil Has Standards]

Au contraire mon capitane! He's back!