At the Grand Galloping Gala
At the Grand Galloping Gala
It has been only a few months since the return of Princess Luna, and after the initial uproar and chaos caused by the shift in power, and the return to the diarchy sistem, all things seemed to have returned to normal.
Summer about to begin anew, and the whole of Canterlot was getting ready for the occasion. The decorations had been set up, the Wonderbolts had long since finished the exercise they prepared for the spectacle, the tickets had been sent months ago, and everypony who was anypony had been invited. The groundskeepers made sure that all the flowers in the gardens were just about to bloom, and the animals were well taken care off. With the night drawing closer, it was almost time for the esteemed guests to arrive, the event to behind, and for the entertainment to begin playing, and the Gala to begin.
“Places everypony, places,” a unicorn carrying a clipboard ran around the ballroom. Despite a veritable army of assistants at her disposal, she herself had to make sure that everything was just perfect. She did a last minute checks of the decoration, catering and of course the music. Every plate, every sculpture, every orderve was checked, every tie or bowtie was straightened, and the pony looked like she was about to roll over and die from all the stress she was under.
“They are here!” an assistant yelled.
“No, they can't be here already! It's too early!” the unicorn in charge panicked, and started to hyperventilate. “We need more time!”
“Come on miss, there is nothing we can do now,” the assistant came and took the poor pony away. “Come let get you a stiff drink.”
“How about you make you a double,” the unicorn said, trembling as she was taken out of the room. Before she exited the door she turned around to take a last look at the ballroom and spoke to the musicians. “You should start playing.”
Octavia grabbed the bow with her hoof, stood up, leaned the celo against her shoulder and after taking a deep breath to focus herself, before she started playing. The Grand Galloping Gala officially had began.
It started normally enough, carriages were pulled in front of the castle, where the valets would help the guests climb down, and take their carriages away. The guest would then walk up the path that led to the castle main gate, through the front gardens, be amazed by the Wonderbolts aerial show, and greeted by a choreographed fireworks display, before entering the castle grounds.
There, the red carpet would be rolled out, and Princess Celestia herself would greet each and every one of them from on top the main staircase, golden stainless glass murals shining behind her, and large golden chandeliers lighting the entire lobby.
Most of the guests had gathered in the main ballroom, where the orchestra was playing, and they were doing the usual. Ponies of high society talking about various topics, fashion, art, current events or even the occasional gossip. As usual a large group of ponies were gathered around the most influential pony in Canterlot, Fancy Pants, and his date for the evening, miss Fleur de Lis. As always all of them agreed with whatever the pony said and tried their best to imitate his gestures, doing whatever they could to get him to get his favor, or at least acknowledge their existence.
The ponies that were not part of his usual entourage were also engaging in casual conversation, or enjoying the open buffet filled with various delights, fancy cheeses, olives, finger sandwiches, as well tomatoes and other fruits, carved in the shape of flowers, the rose being the go to shape of the caterers.
Everything was progressing normally until something unexpected happened.
“I’m at the Grand Galloping Gala,” a blue eyed pony, with a pink fluffy mane, and matching dress, started singing and bouncing around the dance floor, grabbing the attention of everypony in the room. Octavia and the rest of the musician ponies were no exception, but, being professionals, they did not skip even one note, no matter how distracting the pony’s antics were.
“I’m at the Grand Galloping Gala,
I’m at the Grand Galloping Gala,
It’s all I ever dreamed,
it’s all i ever dreamed,” she sang as she jumped on top of a pedestal on which an minimalist golden alicorn statue resided on.
“Woo hoo!” she exclaimed, startling the harp player as well as the tuba player, causing them to play the wrong note.
“It’s all i ever dreamed.” The pony dashed behind Octavia.
“Yippee!” Somehow, she made her way into the piano, jumping in front of the pony that played the instrument.
“I’m at the Grand Galloping Gala.” she sang with an ever higher pitch than before, and by now everypony was staring at her.
“It’s all i ever... dreamed?” Her voice lost all her energy and cheerfulness, replacing them with sadness and exhaustion.
After the initial commotion, the night went on as usual. The band resumed playing, and the ponies resumed socialising, only a single pink pony stood distant from the rest, alone, her head resting on a table, talking to herself.
But the night moves on, and so does the Gala.
A full night is a long time for a musician to focus entirely on her music, so Octavia looked around the room for something interesting. Having played the song for hundreds of times, she left the playing to her more than capable hooves. The mare hoped she would see something that could at least be considered interesting, if not memorable. From the crowd of ponies, one particular golden maned stallion stood out. Walking on top the red carpet was a unicorn, his nose held high, both figuratively and metaphorically, and his broad chest sticking out. A blue bowtie was tied around his neck, and he wore a corsage in the form of a red rose on his chest.
The stallion was well known among the high class ponies, and his only two redeeming qualities were his noble ancestry and his close relation with Fancy Pants, but Octavia’s attention was more focused on the poor mare that walked besides him, or behind him to be more exact.
She was a white unicorn, with a purple mane, on her head she wore a little golden tiara, bright ruby earrings and gold earclips. Her dress was red, with what seemed to be opals sewed into it, and as far as Octavia could tell the mare wore glass, or more likely crystal slippers.
“Poor mare,” Octavia said, genuinely feeling sorry for her. “She must either be clueless as to who her date is, very desperate, or a tried and true gold-digger.”
After a brief conversation in front of a spilled drink, Octavia could see the mare tossing her scarf on top of the small puddle, and Blueblood just walking over it, leaving her behind to pick up the wet piece of clothing.
“Definatly not clueless,” Octavia closed her eyes and again focused on her playing as the hardest part of the song was coming up, just before the end.
“Hey, play the Pony Pokey,” a pony suddenly whispered in her ear, but before she could see who that was
It was not unheard of for song requests to be made during such large events, most of the time by none other than Fancy Pants himself, or by the host of the event, but nopony ever requested anything similar to "the Hokey Pokey," and not since her Conservatory’s days had she played that particular song. But they were paid to play, and canter to the whims of their extinguished, and most of the time excentric guessed.
“C'mon everypony! I know what will make you shake those groove-thangs!” the same pink pony that caused a commotion earlier said as she took the microphone. The crowd looked at her, their mouths hold open. While Octavia, as well as her fellow musicians all had the same expression on their face, a mile long stare, corked eyebrows, all saying: “Is she serious?”
But the pony started singing, and they provided the music.
“You reach your right hoof in.
You reach your right hoof out.
You reach your right hoof in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Pony Pokey meeting lots of folks with clout...
That's what I'm talking about.
You step your left hoof in.
You pull it right back out.
You step your left hoof in,
But you better help him out.
You do the Pony Pokey but should find a different route...
That's what it's all about.
You kick your back left in.
You pull your back left out.
You reach your back left in,
Just be brave and have no doubt.
You do the Pony Pokey feeling like you're gonna pout...
That's what I'm singing about.
You tilt your head in.
You tilt your head out.
You tilt your head in,
Then you shake it all about.
You do the Pony Pokey even though your date's a lout...
You're better off without.
You stomp your whole self in.
You stomp your whole self out.
You stomp your whole self in,
And you stomp yourself about.
You do the Pony Pokey and you give a little shout...
That's what I'm talking about.”
“You do the Pony Pokey...” She intentionally bumps into the pony playing the piano, causing him to botch up the music.
“You do the Pony Pokey...” She grabs Octavia’s hoof, startling her, and she forces the bow across the celo’s cords, producing something that could best be described as noise, before pushing Octavia to the floor. The harp as well as the tuba player, stood there and looked at her, leaving only the piano player to finish the song.
“You do the Pony Pokey...
And that's what it's all about.
Yeah!”
For the entirety of the song everypony in the room was just staring at her, not believing what was happening in front of their very eyes.
“Young lady, this is not that kind of party,” a pony from the crowd said, vocalising the opinions of the rest.
“Ooooooh... They don't want a party. These ponies want a paaartay!” the pink mare replied, causing a collective roll of the eyes.
Octavia picked herself up, and she, as well as the rest of the band move backstage for a break, while loud bass could be heard from the ballroom.
“What awful music,” Octavia said as she picked up a toothpick with a small cheese filled olive on its end.
Yelling and screaming could be heard coming from the other room, causing Octavia to drop her snack and rush to see what was going on. No sooner that she arrived that the rooms support columns came crashing down, and a cyan pegasus was left standing in the middle of the rubble, a golden alicorn statue on her back.
The ground shook and everypony feared that the roof was about to collapse, burying them alive, when the garden door slammed open, and an entire menagerie rushed in leaving a cloud of dust behind them.
The dust cleared and a yellow pegasus with a messy light pink mane stood there panting.
“You’re going to LOVE ME!” she screamed with a rage, almost equicidal, expression on her face. Panik filled the room, as ponies and animals alike started running aimlessly and screaming in terror, all under the confused gaze of Princess Celestia.
The Royal Guard was called in to help the groundskeepers round up the animals, and calm everypony down. As soon as the room was critten free, and most of the ponies were leaving the disastrous event, Octavia headed for the stage to see if by some miracle her celo survived the chaos. It did not.
“Well at least this means I get off early,” she said, after desperately trying to find something good about this whole fiasco. She let out a weak laugh and headed for the exit as she heard her name called out.
“Miss Octavia.” She turned and saw Fancy Pants heading towards her.
“I must say, that despite all of this, I rather enjoyed your performance this night.”
“Thank you mister Pants,” Octavia replied, a little embarrassed by the praise such an important pony was giving her.
“Please call me Fancy...”
A pony coughed, grabbing Fancy Pants attention.
“Right. Miss Octavia, have you meet my friend, Prince Blueblood of House Platinum?” he asked as the very same stallion approached them.
“No, I don’t think I had the pleasure,” Octavia said to her teeth, doing the best to force a smile, to hide her disgust for the stallion in question.
“Well that just won’t do, I am sure by the time the sun will rise you and me will get to know each other very closely,” the prince said as one of his hoofservants brought him a new vest and a new matching clip on bowtie.
“Charmed, but I really must be going...” Octavia excused herself.
“But Octavia, where in the world could you have to be going at this late hour,” Blueblood said as the servant finished dressing the prince.
“I would have liked to get some rest,” Octavia told them. “This night has proven to be a lot more... eventful than I expected it to be.”
“Sleep? nonsense Octavia, I insist you join us for an early breakfast,” Prince Blueblood told her. “There is this exquisite phancy restaurant on Eiffel Rue, down in Little Phrace. The Palmier there is to die for.”
“Indeed,” Fancy Pants added.” “And I would also like to have a talk with you about a small event I am planning.”
“Event?” Blueblood asked.
“Ah yes, I didn’t tell you yet. The birthday of an old friend of mine is coming up in a short while, and I am holding a dinner party in his honor,” Fancy Pants said to Blueblood before turning back to Octavia. “And it would love for you to play there.”
“What kind of a dinner are we talking about?” Octavia asked, her interest peaked by the prospect at playing at a party hosted by none other than Fancy Pants himself.
“Oh you know, a small open air dinner. No more than a hundred couples. If you are interested we could discuss it over breakfast.”
“Well I...”
“That would be an excellent idea, business and pleasure at the same time,” Prince Blueblood interrupted Octavia.
She looked at the clock tower that was visible through the windows. It read four in the morning, still having about an hour to spare, she agreed.
“Excellent!” Fancy pants said. “I will get the carriages ready. Prince please go and find Fleur.”
Blueblood rolled his eyes and headed to find the mare, leaving Octavia alone, hoping that she did not make a grave mistake.
The morning after the Grand Galloping Gala
The morning after the Grand Galloping Gala
“Damn it,” Octavia said to herself as she ran through the marble corridors of Canterlot Castle. “I’m going to be late. Damn it Fancy Pants, of all morning you had to show any interest in my music, you had to chose today.”
Octavia passed through the Hall of Heroes, passed the lifesize statues of the great ponies that made Equestria the nation it was today. She passed through that corridor countless time over the past few weeks, and it always impressed her just how much of a difference could a pony make just by being at the right place at the right time.
Her hoofsteps were the only sound that echoed through the castle so early in the morning. Further down the corridor, the two Nightwatch guards that stood in front of the massive wooden doors that led to the inner courtyard heard them, and immediately knew who they belong too. Their horns glew and the door swung open.
“Good morning, miss Octavia,” they said as the galloping pony came into view.
“Good morning,” she replied as she ran past them.
As Octavia passed through the door that led to the inner courtyard, a large garden opened in front of her. By now she thought she would get use to the view, but its beauty never failed to impress her.
On the right side, arrange in a sun like pattern that was only visible from above or from the highest towers in Canterlot, were a large collection of yellow flowers, surrounded by smaller blue flowers representing the clear blue sky above. On the opposing side were white flowers arranged in a crescent moon like pattern, surrounded by dark blue and violet flowers. Small green shrubs delimited the pathways through the garden, and small but color flower beds popped out from place to place.
Two rows of alternating yellow and blue flowers lead to a small central lake, in the middle of which stood a small, circular teahouse, connected to the path by a simple wooden bridge. The sun bathed everything in a warm glow, it’s rays reflected by both the lake’s crystal clear water, and the small droplets of dew that covered everything, from the stone pathways, to the flower bulbs, and even the leaves of the few small trees that were scattered from place to place.
Octavia ran through the gardened, pass the bridge and headed straight for the little tea house.
As she got closer she gradually slowed down as she saw that there was nopony there. All that there was inside was a small table, two chairs on either side of it, with two empty plates in front of them. A small bell resting on one of them. Aside from the plates a vase holding a dozen white and yellow roses stood on the table.
“I guess I am late,” Octavia said to herself as she approached the table and sat down.
“I am sorry,” she said again placing her head on her forelegs. “I am sorry.”
She felt a gentle breeze and a warm familiar voice calling out to her.
“I am so sorry I am late.” The voice seemed nearer, and Octavia raised her head and a smile crept onto her face when she saw who was talking to her.
From the sky a mare was flying towards Octavia. Her feathers and coat were blue, while her short curly mane, and long fluffy tail were only a few shades lighter. Her hooves were covered by crystal blue slippers that sparkled like stars in the clear night sky. A dark blue chestpiece with her cutie mark on it, and a small tiara-like crown completed her outfit. From beneath her locks Octavia could see two gorgeous cyan eyes looking down at her, totally distracting her from the large horn she had in the middle of her forehead.
The pony flapped her wings a couple of times after she landed in the garden, and promptly folded them before walking across the wooden bridge that lead to the teahouse and to Octavia.
“Octavia, I am sorry I am late, it seemed that my sister thought it more appropriate to enjoy some sweets with her student and her friends, than arriving at time and relieving me of my royal duties,” the mare said as she entered the teahouse.
“Are you alright?” she proceeded to asked. “It looks like you were crying.”
“Huh?” Octavia swiped her hooves under her eyes. “I am fine. A little tired maybe, the Gala this year was more tiring than I expected.”
“We could reschedule if you like.”
“Oh no Princess, I am fine. Really I am.”
“Very well,” she replied, “and Octavia...”
“Yes Princess?”
“You know you can call me Luna when we are alone.”
“Yes Prin... I mean Luna.”
Luna smiled and took her seat. Then using her magic, she picked up the bell and rang it a few time. A few moments later a unicorn, wearing the royal waiter uniform came across the bridge and entered the teahouse.
“I think I would have some pancakes,” Luna said to the waiter. “The chefs know how I like them.”
“Very good Princess, and what about miss Octavia?”
“I’ll just have a coffee, black, no sugar, no cream.”
“Anything else?” the waiter asked.
“That would be all,” Luna said. The waiter bowed and left in a hurry to bring their order to the royal kitchen.
“You know Octavia, when I saw that Celestia was rising the sun and yet she did not appear to be on the castle ground, I thought that I might not see you today.”
“Oh, Luna. You know I would never...”
“Breakfast is served,” the waiter interrupted her as he levitated a large stack of fluffy pancakes, dripping with butter and syrup in front of Luna, as well as a knife and fork wrapped in a napkin, and he placed a medium sized cup of coffee in front of Octavia. “If there is anything else you want please don’t hesitate to call me. Enjoy.”
And with that being said, he took a bow and left the two mares alone. Luna began eating her pancakes as Octavia let out a small giggle and saw to her coffee.
After the short breakfast, which both of them enjoyed, the two went on a stroll through the garden, leaving the waiter to clean up the table.
Luna asks Octavia about what happened at the Gala, and the mare proceeds to tell her everything she could remember, leaving most of the parts that involved her and the pink pony out for obvious reasons.
Luna could not help but laugh at the whole situation, not ever attending the event herself.
As the two continued talking about last night, Luna doing her best not to bore her friend with all the complicated workings that were Equestrian politics, they eventually found themselves resting at the shade of one of the few trees that actually provided any shade.
Normally it was forbidden for anypony to leave the pathways and step on the grass, but nopony would have walked up to one of the supreme rulers of the nation and tell her what she could, or could not do.
Luna and Octavia sat down and leaned against each other, trying to make use of what little shade the tree provided against the increasingly hot day.
“This reminds me of the day we first met,” Octavia said as she leaned her head against Luna’s neck.
“Yeah, I remember that day well,” Luna replied resting her head on top of Octavia’s, and placing her wing across the pony’s back, causing shivers to run across the mares back as the alicorn’s cold feathers touched her.
“I guess it must have been two or three weeks since your return,” Octavia stared at roofs of Canterlot, that shined in the distance. “I was heading back home from a small recital, where I was lead violinist, and decided to take a shortcut through the park. It’s funny, if I took my regular route home, you and I may never have met.”
Luna nodded.
“It must have been fate, that made us both be at that exact same time, at that exact same place... But there I was, minding my own buisness, heading home, when I heard a pony crying... well not exactly crying, more like sobbing, and I went to see what was wrong.”
Luna nodded again.
“You can only imagine my surprise when I saw you, sitting beneath a tree, just like this one, saddened and alone. So I walked up to you and asked you what was wrong.” Octavia giggled.
“You almost had a heart attack when you head me.”
Once again Luna nodded.
“I think you were not expecting anypony to be there at that hours,” a gush of wind passed by and blew the princess’s mane across Octavia’s neck causing the mare to giggle again.
“So there we were, bright and early in the morning, two mares with red eyes, mine from the lack of sleep, yours from crying, just standing under a tree, and talking. I told you how hard it was for an aspiring musician to find any decent work, and you first told me how much things have changed since you were gone, how much ponies have changed, and how lonely you were. I guess you did most of the talking back there. Isn’t that right?”
Luna did not reply.
“Luna?” Octavia asked turning her gaze upwards.
Luna’s breathing was deep, her mouth slightly opened, and her eyes were closed, one partially covered by her mane.
Octavia smiled, and buried her muzzle in the princess’s neck, making herself comfortable.
“Sleep well Luna, and know that I will always be here for you.”
