A Cherished Storm

Chapter Five: At The Gala

"Oh, where is it?!" Rarity sifted through an assortment of fabrics scattered on a wooden counter, "I mean, honestly! Only hours away from the Grand Galloping Gala, and I can't even find the materials needed to complete these dresses," she dropped the fabrics on the oaken countertop and opened a bag beside it.

A knocking came from the door, "Where's my dress?!"

Rarity groaned, ignoring the ferocious tapping, "Do they want their dresses or not? It is difficult to work when all I hear is a consistent banging on the door," she sighed, "Now, now, Rarity... They just want their dresses. They did pay for them after all..."

The knocking continued, "I say, this delay will cost me valuable time at the Grand Galloping Gala! I hope you do not expect pay for your tardiness, Miss Rarity!"

Rarity sighed as she continued searching the bag for the item she needed, "Ah, yes... That makes this situation so much better... Well, I suppose I'll have to deal with the consequences of my lateness and accept no pay."

She growled in annoyance and turned the bag upside down, allowing its contents to spill out across the carpeted floor.

Spike made his way over to her, a needle with the thread knotted around the loop in one claw, "What are you looking for?"

Rarity looked over at him with an annoyed frown. She sighed and shook herself of the look, "My sewing machine ran out of thread, and I can't find a spool anywhere!"

Fluttershy stood by another counter, a sewing machine in front of her working its magic on a dress of light-blue fabric. She pressed a button on it to stop it and looked over her shoulder, "What color thread did you need?"

"Pink thread, Fluttershy," Rarity said, dumping another bag out onto the floor to examine.

"Oh!" Fluttershy gasped as she looked on the floor beside her station. Finding the object she desired, she picked it up and placed it by Rarity's sewing machine, "There you go. Spike had some from earlier."

Rarity blinked at the thread from beside the mess on the floor, before breathing in to calm herself.

Spike swallowed fearfully, "I-I'm sorry, Rarity... I didn't know-"

Rarity shushed him softly, "No, no, Spike.. It's fine. At least we do have some." She walked back to her workstation, ignoring the remains of the bags on the floor.

Another knocking came from the door. Rarity bit her lip slightly, "None of this would've happened if it weren't for those imposters! I mean, honestly! The nerve of pretending to be employed by Fancypants...”

Spike had gone back to his place beside Fluttershy, the threaded needle in claw as he stitched two pieces of blue ribbon together. He looked up from his work, “What did they do, anyway?”

“Oh, don't get me started!” Rarity pounded her hoof on the counter, “First, they lied to me about working for Fancypants. Then one of them clumsily knocked over a lit torch and burns half the finished dresses, not to mention the entire room!” she breathed in to calm herself and shook her head, “It's beyond me why the choice of lighting in a place such as this would be fire.. Why not use magic-lit lamps? There's no shortage of magic here in Canterlot...”

Spike shrugged, “I think that Princess Luna had asked for the change. She enjoyed the darker light that flames give.”

“Ah, yes,” Rarity said, levitating a set of pink and white artificial flowers onto her dress, “I suppose that makes sense... Still, it's so primitive!”

“Um, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked from her station.

Rarity continued placing the flowers on the dress, not bothering to look away from her work, “Yes, dear?”

Fluttershy looked at her machine, “I think the machine ran out of magic..”

Rarity nodded her head and gently placed the rest of the flowers down, “Yes, I suppose it is time for a recharge,” she charged her horn as she approached the powerless machine, a faint blue glow surrounding both, “This will only take a moment.” She closed her eyes as waves of light-blue invaded the machine. After a moment, a small, yellow light blinked back to life, “There.. That should do the trick.”

Fluttershy nodded with a smile, “Thank you,”

Rarity shook her head and smiled, “No need to thank me. I should be one thanking you two. I really do appreciate your assistance,” she sighed and looked at the dress she had made for Fluttershy for the first Gala, and at the one that Fluttershy had finished for her, both worn neatly by mannequins, “Even if the customers are unhappy, and I don't get paid... The least I can do is deliver the most extravagant, luxurious dresses that I can possibly manage... I'm going to have to if I want to save my image.”

“I'm sure they're going to love these dresses, Rarity!” Spike said, looking up from his work as he stitched, “I mean, look at them! They're beauti-OW!” he jumped up from the ground in surprise, spitting out a spew of green flames.

Fluttershy yelled out, dodging the flames. She looked down on the ground, “Oh, no...”

Rarity rushed over to them, “What happened? Are you okay, Spike?”

Spike stuck one of his clawed fingers in his mouth, “Yeah, just stuck myself. Ouch, that hurts...”

“You need to be more careful...” Rarity said, looking down at the remains of the blue ribbon Spike had been stitching.

Spike followed her gaze and gasped when he saw the ashes, “Oh my gosh, Rarity! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to- mmph!” he was cut off by Rarity as she gently placed a hoof on his mouth to quiet him.

She shook her head, “It's okay, Spike. I know it was an accident,” she turned around, removing her hoof from Spike's mouth, “We can remedy this! I have a large assortment of ribbons, I'm sure we have plenty of blue ones for Fluttershy's dress.”

She made her way to a wooden hanger in the corner of the room. Several curving stems of red wood branched off the center support, each one held a variety of colored ribbons. Her horn glowed as her magic shifted each of the lengthy ribbons around in an attempt to find the color she needed. She gasped when she didn't find it, “There's no blue? Why is there no blue? There's green, and yellow, and red... Even this hideous-looking black. But no blue!”

Rarity let go of her magic, causing some of the ribbons to plummet to the ground. She paced back and forth as she thought of her next move.

A knocking came at the door again; Rarity growled, picking up a spool of thread with her magic and launching it at the door. The knocking stopped.

Satisfied, Rarity brought a hoof up to her chin and thought, “Aha! That's it!” she raced over to Spike, “Spikey! There's a bag of ribbons in my room, in the corner by the door. Would you be so kind as to go and get those for me?”

Spike swooned at her touch, a blush creeping into his cheeks. He shook himself and brought his claw up in a salute, “Of course I will! Anything for you, Rarity!” he turned and began to walk to the door.

“No, no, no!” Rarity called out, grabbing him by the shoulder; he turned to her in confusion. She shook her head, “Not the front door, Spike; the patrons would run you over if that door opened... No, we need another way.”

Rarity looked around the room and spotted a window, “Hmm, maybe..” she walked to the window and pushed it open with both hooves. She looked around; a ledge ran along the outside of the wall leading in both directions. Far to the right, vines grew up the wall to balconies above. She looked down and gasped, “Oh, no way am I letting my Spikey-Wikey go out there...”

Fluttershy came over and poked her head out the window, “Oh, I agree... Wouldn't be a good idea to send him out a window on the third floor...”

Spike hopped in the window to see what the two ponies were looking at and gulped at the sight.

Rarity pondered their moves, “Well, if Spike can ease his way along one of those ledges... No! I can't believe I just considered that!” she turned away from the window with Fluttershy, “That would be way too dangerous.. I wouldn't want him attempting something like that.. No, I'll find another way to get the rib...” her eyes widened, “Spike?”

Rarity turned to find the window vacant of the purple dragon. She gasped, “Spike!” Her and Fluttershy ran to the window, instinctively looking down. Not seeing anything, they looked along the ledges and saw Spike inching his way along one of them, “Spike! You get back here this instant!”

Spike looked at her out of the corner of his eye and kept on toward one of the vine-covered walls.

Rarity's breathing quickened, “Spike! Sweetie... Please, come back?” Upon seeing that Spike wouldn't listen, she turned to Fluttershy, “Quick, bring him back!”

“No!” Spike said, looking back at them, “Don't do it, Fluttershy. We're in this mess because of me, so I'm going to get the ribbons. You need to stay and help Rarity finish the dresses,” he looked at Rarity sadly, “It's my fault.. So, please, let me fix it.”

Rarity stared at him for a second before hanging her head and sighing, “Okay... But I swear if you get hurt, I'll... I'll... I don't know what I'll do...” she looked at him with a narrowed brow, “But don't you go and get hurt!”

Spike nodded and gave a kind smile, “I'll be okay!” he looked down and gulped, “I hope...”

Twilight Sparkle stood by Princess Celestia as she greeted guests to the Gala.

Princess Celestia had arrived back in Canterlot only five days before from her trip to meet the prince of Snow Peaks. She had said that the trip had been more pleasant than she expected, but didn't go into any details about their conversation. All she had really stated was that the prince seemed to be a very troubled stallion.

Twilight looked around the entry hall; it was a large, square room, expanding up multiple stories. Two large pillars sat in the middle of the room, on either side of the red strip of carpet that ran down the center, leading from the door to the staircase where she now stood with the princess. The stone ceiling was vaulted; large banners hung down the center, above the carpeted path. Stallions and Mares were scattered across the room, each wearing elegant fashion only seen in Canterlot.

Twilight breathed a bored sigh, Why does this feel like Déjà vu?

“Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight looked around suddenly, until she realized who was talking to her, “Oh, uh... Yes princess?”

Princess Celestia chuckled slightly and smiled at her pupil, “There is no reason for you to have to stand here the entire night with me. Go and find your friends; you deserve to enjoy yourself this time.”

Twilight lowered her head slightly, “But, Princess Celestia...”

“Do not worry, Twilight, I will be sure to come and find you when I have finished greeting out guests.” Celestia smiled.

Twilight smiled back and nodded, “Thank you, princess!”

She turned up the remaining flight of stairs and entered the grand ballroom. The room was large and, unlike much of the palace, had elegantly-carved wooden panels covering the gray, stone walls; colorful paintings of varying sizes hung along them. Large, wooden tables, clothed in white silk, was spread out evenly along the exterior of the large room; padded, purple chairs surrounded each of the tables. The center of the room was left open to serve as an area for dancing, the wooden floors showed their polish.

Just like with the entry hall, the ballroom was filled with finely-dressed ponies, mainly nobles or others of high-class. Twilight saw a few recognizable faces in the crowd. She spotted a crowd of ponies surrounding a mare with a pale, light-grayish gold coat and brilliant blue mane. She grinned; she remembered Rarity talking about this Pony of Pop, I'll have to try and sneak a conversation in with her later.

On the far end of the room was a stage, complete with a DJ booth and magic-powered speakers, glowing a faint white to show they were powered; loud music resonated from them. Behind the booth were two ponies: One was a female unicorn with a pale yellow coat, almost white in the dim light, and a striped blue and cyan mane; she wore purple sunglasses. The other pony was... Well, Pinkie Pie.

Twilight shook her head and searched the room for signs of anypony else she knew. She spotted Rainbow Dash and Applejack sitting at a table near one of the large Monticello-styled windows. Just like her, they wore the dresses that were specifically made for their first Gala appearance. She smiled and began her trek through the crowds toward them.

Applejack sat comfortably in one of the soft, purple chairs by the window, pondering Rainbow's question, “Gosh, I haven't really thought about what ta do this year. I guess I'll try an' get some business fer the farm by advertisin' ta some of the pony folk here,” she sighed and straightened her hat, “Dunno how I'll manage without some of the delicious apples from Sweet Apple Acres, but I'll figure somethin' out.”

Rainbow Dash sat across from her in her own chair. She grinned, “Well, good luck with that. I know that I'm gonna try and get some hang time with the Wonderbolts.”

Applejack raised an eye at her, “Ya sure have been spendin' a lot of time with them lately. Ya sure yer not already a Wonderbolt?”

Rainbow laughed, “Nah, they forgave Fleetfoot, so I won't be taking her spot. Not like I wanted to, anyway. She played a little dirty during the race, sure.. But who hasn't?”

“Definitely not you,” Applejack grinned.

Rainbow crossed her hooves, “Hey, that was only one time! Besides, it's not like you were any better...”

Applejack saw Twilight and laughed, “Yeah, an' we both lost to her,” she nodded toward the approaching pony.

Rainbow turned her head toward Twilight, “Oh, what's up, Twi? Thought you were hanging with the princess.”

Twilight smiled at them, taking one of the empty seats, “I was, but she's busy with greeting the guests. She gave me leave so I could hang out with you guys!”

Rainbow hopped off her seat, “Well, I would stay and chat, but I've gotta talk to Spitfire.”

Twilight's ears drooped slightly, “What, already?”

“Yup, afraid so,” Rainbow said, as she unstuck her rainbow-colored dress from the chair. She tugged it loose with an annoyed growl, “And this is why I don't usually wear dresses...”

Applejack laughed, “Ah, quit yer whinin'. At least it makes ya look presentable.”

Rainbow sighed, “Yeah... I guess,” she looked up and grinned at Applejack, “Speaking of presentable, Soarin' has been talking about how much he can't wait to get a taste of 'those apple pies'...”

Applejack's eyes widened in surprise, “You wouldn't dare...”

Rainbow laughed, “Oh, I would! I'd say you better get to baking,” she turned to Twilight and smiled, “Hey, don't worry. I'll come talk to ya after I hang with the Wonderbolts a bit. In the meantime...” she glanced over at the DJ booth and grinned, “You could go hang with Pinkie and the DJ... or save the DJ from Pinkie.”

Twilight watched as Rainbow walked away and sighed, turning to Applejack, “I guess you're leaving too?”

Applejack nodded her head slightly, “'Afraid Rainbow's not givin' me much of a choice. Wouldn't look good on the farm if I didn't have any promised treats... Even if Rainbow's the one doin' the promisin'.”

Static hissed from the speakers by the DJ booth, earning loud groans of distaste from the guests. Twilight and Applejack covered their ears. Applejack shook her head, “I agree with Rainbow, though. You should probably go an' fetch Pinkie before she breaks somethin'.”

Twilight nodded with a sigh, “Yeah, I suppose I should... Well, go and get those pies baked, then,” she turned and began to make her way to the booth, leaving Applejack to her own problems.

Pinkie was operating one of the turntables of the booth, her eyes turned upward in a smile. She moved her hoof around the record, nodding her head to the music.

The DJ looked at her irritably, “You know that's not how it works, right?”

Pinkie looked at the blue-maned DJ, her head still nodding, “What do you mean? That's how you were doing it, silly filly!”

The DJ shook her head, “Wrong! I scratch like this...” she placed her hoof on the turntable in front of Pinkie and moved the record back and forth in a rhythm, “That's the correct way to scratch... You're just spinning it around in circles.... And you know you're spinning it backwards, right?”

Twilight walked up to the two ponies, looking between them as they talked, “Um.. Is Pinkie being a problem?”

The annoyed disc jockey opened her mouth to speak, but Pinkie spoke first, “Nope! We're just rocking out!”

The DJ shook her head, “No, I'm just here preventing you from breaking anything else...”

Twilight looked at her inquiringly, “Anything... else? What did she break?”

“I didn't break anything!” Pinkie stopped and listened intently. She gasped, “But the sounds broken! I can't hear anything! Is it my ears?! Twilight, speak to me!”

The DJ rolled her eyes at Pinkie, “No... I'm just not powering that turntable with you on it...”

Pinkie looked at her turntable, “Oh... That's why it wasn't glowing...” she looked at the DJ, “Can you turn it back on?”

The DJ shook her head, “Nope.”

Pinkie put on pleading eyes, “Please?”

The DJ shook her head again, “Not happening.”

“Pretty please with sugar, and sprinkles, and cupcake icing on top?”

The DJ looked at her directly behind her purple shades, “No...”

After a second of staring at her, Pinkie burst out, “I say turn this thing on, and that's Vinyl!” she snorted a laugh and went into a giggle fit.

The DJ groaned, “That's DJ Pon-3! Don't use my real name...”

Twilight sighed and concentrated on Pinkie; a light-purple glow surrounding both her horn and Pinkie. She raised her over the DJ booth and brought her back down beside her. She turned to Vinyl Scratch, “I'm sorry about that, DJ Pon-3,” she looked at Pinkie, “I'll get Pinkie Pie out of your way.”

Vinyl sighed, “Thanks... I may have bits to spare, but I don't want to replace all my equipment in one night...” she powered the vacant turntable again and went back to her work.

Twilight turned Pinkie around and led her back to her table by the window, “Come on, Pinkie, we'll find something else that's fun to do.”

Spike wiped his brow as he held tight to the rough, rock walls of the palace. He looked over the edge and swallowed hard at the sight, “Oh gosh... I was always told to not look down, why do I have to go and not listen?” he shook his head and looked up at his destination. Above him was a large, stone balcony, supported by stone beams protruding from the wall. On one side, against the wall, was a giant tangle of vines, snaking their way up against the gray and white stone.

Spike shook his head, “Ah, forget it.. Let's get this over with,” he grabbed hold of one of the thick vines and pulled at it. Satisfied with its grip to the wall, he pulled himself up. He eased his way up the wall, being careful to check the strength of each vine before putting his full weight on it. Eventually, he reached the top, pulling himself over the stone rails of the balcony. He hit the ground, rolling over onto his back to catch his breath, “That... wasn't... too bad...”

Spike eased himself back onto his feet as he looked around, “Is this even Rarity's room?” he strenuously dragged one of the heavy, stone stools to the window and peeked through the semi-open curtains. As far as he could tell, it had to be her room; it was far too well decorated for it not to be.

He shrugged and jumped off the stool and opened the door. Inside confirmed his suspicions. The walls were covered in paintings and drapes to cover up the dull gray of the walls. The floor wore a rich purple carpet. Every torch went unlit in the room, magic-lit lamps served as their replacement. In the corner of the room, by the entrance, was a stack of boxes and bags, just as Rarity had stated.

Spike smiled and made his way across the room. He searched the different bags, looking for the blue ribbons he had promised his crush. Not finding them in the first bag, he laid it to the side and searched another, “Nothing! She did say it was in a bag... right?” he opened another bag and peeked in, “Aha! Found you!” he pulled out a claw-full of ribbons.

He sorted through them quickly, filtering out any ribbon that wasn't the deep blue that Fluttershy's dress needed. When he was done, he placed the bag back on the boxes neatly, and folded the remaining ribbons neatly for easy transport, “Now to get these to Rarity... Oh man, she's going to love me for this!”

He made his way back to the balcony and looked over the edge where the vines were. He gulped as he backed away, “On second thought... I think I'll take the front door...”

Rainbow made her way through the maze of hedges, coming out on the other end to see what seemed to be hundreds of finely-dressed ponies. She sighed, Great... How am I supposed to find them...

Rainbow walked through the crowds, looking in between each group in a vain attempt to find a sign of any of the Wonderbolts. Each group ignored her and continued conversing with other guests. She dodged a few wandering ponies and rolled her eyes at their scolding. Another few groups and near-collisions with wandering nobles later, Rainbow groaned and launched herself up into the sky for an aerial view of the gardens.

She flew around slowly, searching for any signs of Spitfire or the other Wonderbolts. Still not finding them, she growled, Where are they? I was sure they would be out here... There! She spotted a glimpse of fire-orange by a large, circular fountain. She grinned and flew down to confirm her sighting.

By the fountain, Spitfire, Soarin', Fleetfoot, and Rapidfire stood, chatting about an upcoming race. Fleetfoot saw Rainbow and smiled, “Hey there, Rainbow!” the other members turned to look up at Rainbow.

Soarin' waved as Rainbow landed, “What's up, Dash? Your friend bring any of those delicious pies again?”

Spitfire laughed, “Soarin': Always thinking of food...”

Soarin' frowned at her, “What? I'm hungry...”

Rainbow grinned, “Actually, I think she's making some right now. If you hurry, you may be able to grab one before there's none left!”

Soarin' let out a shocked gasp, his eyes widening, “None... left? Not if I can help it!” he took off running, nearly knocking Rainbow over, “My bad! Coming through!” he yelled at nobles as he cut in between groups of them.

Spitfire sighed at his sudden disappearance, “I should consider pie as pay for him... Maybe he'd perform like that on the track,” the group laughed and nodded in agreement.

Rapidfire glanced in the direction Soarin' went, “Well, I should be following him... He stole my pie last time I got one. I don't know what it is with him and pie, but he owes me!” he took a few steps forward and nodded to Rainbow with a grin before running off after the pie-hungry stallion.

Rainbow raised an eye at him and turned to the remaining two mares, “Did Soarin' really do that?”

Fleetfoot shook her head with a laugh, “Nah, Rapidfire just likes to be a pain in Soarin's flank... They're practically brothers; goofing off and fighting all the time.”

Rainbow smiled, “So... What was that I heard about a race?”

Spitfire attempted to answer, but Fleetfoot spoke quickly, “You're not allowed to participate. We don't need you winning the race and making us look bad!” she laughed to show she was joking.

Spitfire rolled her eyes and shook her head, “Don't listen to her; you can come join in if you want. We're having a mock race between the whole team... Well, besides Lightning Streak. He's still out...”

“How's he holding up?” Rainbow asked with concern.

Spitfire and Fleetfoot shook their heads. Fleetfoot sighed, “Not good...”

Spitfire nodded slowly, her eyes lowered in sad expression, “He's out with a bad break in his wing. The doctor says they think he'll recover, but not fully. He may never have the strength he did before the crash...” she looked up and smiled sadly, “He's a fighter, though, so I'm sure he'll find a way to keep going.”

Rainbow nodded, “Yeah... It's gotta be tough. I know how it is; I fractured my wing one time, was stuck on the ground for at least a weak... Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, though!”

The two Wonderbolts tilted their heads slightly in confusion. “How so?” Spitfire asked.

“Well,” Rainbow began with a grin, “I was introduced to one of the most awesome fillies ever.”

Fleetfoot laughed slightly, “And that is?”

Rainbow looked between the two, “Daring Do,” Spitfire burst out laughing, causing Rainbow to growl, “Hey! I only read those books! Nothing funny about that...”

“Oh, no!” Spitfire said, calming herself, “No, Rainbow.. I'm not laughing at that. I'm just laughing at the irony of this.”

“Irony?” Rainbow said, confused.

Spitfire grinned, “Yup. I read occasionally, too. I actually really like the Daring Do books.”

Rainbow's eyes went wide in shock, “No way! Spitfire's an egghead? Seriously?” Spitfire nodded. Rainbow laughed, “That's totally awesome! At least I'm not the only one...”

Spitfire grinned excitedly, “Yeah, you read the new book?”

Rainbow nodded, “The Sea Serpent Shrine? Yeah, just finished it a few days ago.”

“What did ya think about that part near the end with the volcano erupting?”

Rainbow cringed at the thought, “I seriously thought Daring was done for... I mean, the lava got close enough to burn her tail hairs. That's insane!”

Spitfire nodded with a laugh, “Yeah... She's one tough pony, that's for sure... Can't say the same about her hat, though.”

Rainbow grinned, “Yeah... All-in-all, the book was great,” she turned around, “Anyway, I'm heading back inside to check on Twilight. I kinda left her with Pinkie...”

Fleetfoot chuckled lightly, “She's the crazy, pink one, right?”

Rainbow nodded, “Yup, nailed it!”

Spitfire nodded her head toward one of the palace entrances, “Then... We should probably go.”

Rainbow and Fleetfoot nodded and follow Spitfire inside.

Spike walked down the torch-lit hallway. Only a few serving ponies walked the halls, each wearing a tuxedo or dress. Spike easily dodged them and continued on his way to Rarity's temporary workspace. He held the ribbons in his arm, careful not to damage them.

As he made his way through the halls, more and more ponies began to appear. Spike dodged the guests, holding the ribbons close to his chest to protect them.

He turned down another hall and stopped, “Aw, seriously?”

The hall was filled with ponies, the mass creating a wall with small breaks in it. Spike made his way to the wall of ponies and searched for a gap wide enough for him to fit through. Finding one, he eased himself in and bumped into the hind leg of a stallion. The stallion looked down at Spike with disapproving eyes and pushed him away.

Spike sighed, “I forgot how big of jerks nobles can be...” he continued on his way through the crowds, catching a word of their conversations here and there; nothing really interesting from what he could tell, except for one thing. Spike slowed down by a group of noble mares wearing extravagantly-crafted dresses.

“Oh, your dress looks absolutely divine!”

“Yes, it is quite beautiful. Who designed it?”

“The fashion designer staying here at the palace. Miss Rarity, I believe her name was?”

Spike put on a prideful look as he listened to the ponies spout praises for his crush, not paying attention to what was in front of him. He crashed into something and fell back, dropping the bundled ribbons onto the floor. Spike rubbed his head and looked up to see what he had run into, “Oh, I'm sorry, sir!”

The stallion looked down at Spike with mild surprise. He had a white coat and gray mane, and wore light armor across his torso. “Hmm,” he looked around the hall for a moment before looking back down at Spike, “Perhaps you could help me with something, young dragon?”

Spike picked himself up off the ground and began to retrieve the fallen ribbons, “Uh, sure.”

The stallion gave a relieved smile, “Would you be so kind as to point me to where your princess is? None of these ponies will even answer me...”

Spike retrieved the last of the ribbons and bundled them up in his arms again, “Uh.. Sure, just... Hey, wait a minute. You're that messenger from a couple of weeks ago!”

The messenger nodded, “Yes, I was here before.  Not to be rude, but would you please guide me to your princess?”

Spike looked down at the ribbons and sighed, “I can't show you myself, sir, because I have to deliver these ribbons. But if you go down this hall,” he pointed over his shoulder back down the hall he had come, “And head down the flight of stairs at the end, you'll end up on the first floor. Come back this way and you'll find the entry hall; can't miss it, has a giant staircase. She should be there... If she's not there, she'll probably be in the grand ballroom; right behind those stairs on the second floor.”

The messenger nodded, his expression neutral, “Thank you,” he hurried on his way down the hall.

Spike looked on after him, “Gee, he sure was in a rush... Oh well, I gotta get these ribbons to Rarity, pronto!”

Twilight rested her head on a propped-up hoof, watching and waiting for Pinkie Pie to make her next move. She watched as the pink pony concentrated on the parchment between them, a pencil in her mouth. Twilight looked between her and the parchment multiple times before lowering her own hovering pencil onto the table with a sigh, “So... are you going to take your turn?”

Pinkie shushed her and continued to concentrate intently on the paper. She slowly lowered her pencil to the parchment, sweat beginning to bead on her forehead.

Twilight rolled her eyes as she watched her friend struggle to make her decision. Finally, Pinkie made her move, placing an O in the middle square of the tic-tac-toe grid. Twilight smiled and readied her pencil, lowering it down to the bottom right square and placing an X.

Pinkie gasped, “You're gonna beat me again! Why do I always lose to you?”

Twilight laughed, “Because I'm not Rarity! No offense to her...”

Applejack walked up to the table with a serving cart holding several apple pies in tow, “Hah! Beat Rainbow back here!”

“So you did...” Rainbow said, walking up to the table with four Wonderbolts behind her, “Wouldn't have if we didn't have to go find Soarin' and Rapidfire...”

Applejack grinned, sticking her tongue out.

Rainbow groaned, “It wasn't a race anyway!”

Applejack laughed, “Oh, it's only not a race when you lose, sugarcube.”

Soarin' eased his way by Rainbow toward the cart of steaming apple pies, his mouth turned upward in a wide smile.

Applejack smiled at him, “Go ahead, slobber boy, eat up! Made them fer y'all anyway.”

Soarin' nodded and grabbed one by the edge of the pan with his teeth, “Don' min' if I do!”

The music stopped and the ponies looked around. Twilight spotted who had come into the room, “It's the princesses!”

The group lowered, along with the rest of the ponies in attendance. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna made their way to the group by the window.

Celestia smiled, “Rise, my little ponies, no need to be so formal tonight.”

Luna sniffed the air lightly, “I smell something sweet... Baked apples?”

The ponies all rose. Applejack nodded, “Yes, princess, I baked up some apple pies for anypony interested. If y'all would like a bite to eat, we've got plenty.”

Celestia smiled and nodded, “That would be delightful, Applejack. I-”

The door slammed open, drawing the attention of everypony. The messenger in light armor appeared, making his way toward the group.

Princess Celestia turned to face him directly, “You're back, kind messenger?”

He stopped, not even bothering to bow, “Your highness, the ships have landed.”