Chapter One: Golden ticket
"PRINCE LUNARIO!"
A white pony burst into the doors of the high courts with guards running after her but one glare from the princess caused them to look back to the prince, waiting for orders. Prince Lunario sighed, pushing extremely confidential records back into the abyss of their folders with his magic, taking his time to get everything back in order. Princess Bluebell tapped her hoof, daring to trot closer, growing impatient. From the far edge of the table, a younger colt with light pink hair and a crown too big for his head leaped towards the princess, as if summoned.
"What is it?" The prince asked finally, daring himself as to see how long he could keep his cool.
Bluebell took a moment will the tiny pink prince back to his hiding spot, avoiding verbal reprimand for the mysteries of alicorn power were, exactly that. She gave up, clearing her throat. "The gala is in three short months, and I want you to begin the preparations!" She jumped up, emphasizing her drama. "I need you to!" Lunario opened his mouth to have the guards drag her out by her hind legs, but the princess yelled again. "Do not botch the guest list again! You have to invite Elusive."
The prince cast an annoyed look. "I'm sorry?"
Bluebell groaned. "He is the best fashion designer in all of Equestria, and my future boyfriend." She gestured to her dress, an even whiter, overly extravagant ball gown with yellow trim to match her hair and way too many gems. "This is an original, custom made."
Lunario almost laughed. "Fashion designer? Shouldn't that tell you something?"
Bluebell stomped her hooves again. "Your hair sparkles and I don't see you ogling the guards."
Lunario rolled his eyes. "Fine, now leave." The princess twirled around and galloped out, slowing down at the end of the hallway, the guards closing the doors once more, and locking them from the inside this time. The prince looked down at his younger brother. "What do you think? Would you want to help?" Prince Sol thought this over, but the thought of responsibility scared him off to another room of the palace. Lunario thought of going after him, but changed his mind. Maybe mundane party preparations would take his mind off what was trapped among the folders. It wasn't as if he'd get to experience any of it anyways. There were too many ponies who wanted a greeting with the Prince of the moon, even more so now that young Prince Sol may be at his side, if Lunario let him.
Dusk Shine was methodical, redundant almost, waking at the crack of dawn and pulling Thorn out of bed five minutes later as the days had always proceeded. The dragon regularly fought off the pony's attempt before she was lifted into the air by means of telekinesis, while Dusk trotted downstairs and double checked the day's schedule. By then, Thorn was on her own two feet, one of the few bipedal animals in Ponyville. She yawned, picking off lint from her scales wondering if she'd already eaten her stash of sapphires the day before. The dragon walked over and sat on the stairway, waiting for Dusk to mandate where they were going, and what they were doing, when she nearly burnt his mane off with an unexpected burst of green flame, sending Dusk back to the bottom of the steps, staring wide eyed at Thorn, shocked from the sudden break in his routine.
"Sorry." The dragon shrugged, walking over to what had come from the Prince while the unicorn recollected himself. "Hey look, Dusk." Thorn lined up the golden pieces of paper in a straight on the stairway. "It's for the Grand Galloping Gala." she read.
"The gala? Isn't that in a month? That looks like too many tickets for the two of us." Dusk walked over, as if staring closer at the tickets would give him the answer.
Thorn counted them out."There's seven! I could come too. It's been a while since we've been to Canterlot, don't you think? Ooh, and we could show the others around too! Wouldn't that be fun?"
Dusk was too busy over analyzing things before he reached the first of many Eureka moments. Thorn sighed, not even bothering to get up as she and the tickets were levitated onto Dusk's back as he raced out the door. "I bet Elusive would love one, right? Then Rainbow Blitz, because of the Wonder Bolts, and Bubble Berry. We'd need his help to get Butterscotch to even consider though."
Thorn nodded, distracted by daydreams the moment she heard 'Elusive', only hoping they'd be in the Carousel Boutique long enough to get to talk to him before Dusk rushed on to the next victim. She was pulled back into the present by a knock on a door.
"Elusive! It's me!" Dusk called out. Thorn listened carefully, noticing that all the rooms were dark. There was a crash, a long list of complaints before the unicorn in question found the door handle and let in the early morning sunlight.
"Hello, Dusk. Pardon me. I couldn't find one light switch and wound up on the first floor anyway." His horn started to glow, making his purple hair look even more so, and Elusive's quest for light ended, the glory of the Carousel Boutique illuminated. "Ah, there we go. What was it that you wanted to show me?"
The unicorns went on in their own conversation, Elusive exclaiming how late the invitations were sent out, and how excited he would be regardless. Thorn went outside to stretch her legs, finally feeling fully awake, and a little hungry, hoping her sapphires were still back at the library. She went around the Carousel when she caught Butterscotch sleeping by a nearby tree. She hadn't come close before the pegasus startled awake.
"Oh, hello, Thorn." He stretched his legs, trying to shake himself awake. "I must have fallen asleep."
"I saw." she replied, repeating his motion to see if they would work earning herself a minor headache.
Butterscotch started flying, only a few feet off the ground. "May as well steal this opportunity and sleep at home."
Thorn watched him fly away, figuring he was too tired to be shy and wondering what he was doing behind the Boutique. As always, her thoughts were interrupted when Dusk called out for her. Now they were headed for Sugar Cube corner with all the hopes in the world that Bubble would be there, then it was off to Butterscotch's Cottage, who normally knew where Rainbow Blitz was, the two being pegassi and all.
"I could have given Buterscotch his." Thorn said. "I saw him behind Elusive's."
Dusk paused in his pace. "What was he doing back there?" He still faced forward, not turning to face Thorn.
The dragon shrugged. "Dunno. He said he was tired, but he seemed exhausted."
"Oh, well, everypony has their days. Come on, Thorn. We're almost there."
The air to Sugarcube Corner was almost intoxicating, sugar invading your nose and pounding on your lungs, inching its way into your brain for the glorious sugar high. That may have explained Bubble's nature, jumpy, hyper, and borderline invasive. It wasn't two seconds after the bell rang that the earth ponies blue eyes were inches away from Dusk's purple ones.
"Hallo!" he yelled, joined in by Mrs. and Mr. Cake before Bubble went back to his post, dutifully frosting cupcakes in rainbow colors. For a moment, Dusk wondered if showing the ticket now would be a good idea, but nothing gets past Bubble, especially the glint of gold in Thorn's tiny claws. This time, he was practically making out with the ticket, recognizing it's appearance in a split second. "You're invited to the Grand Galloping Gala! Congrats!"
Dusk shook his head. "Bubble, this ticket is for you. We're all going."
Bubble almost slipped, regaining his posture faster than he processed what Dusk was saying. "Me? You mean I'm going to the Gala. At the Palace. Where the Prince is."
Dusk nodded, surprised by his reaction. Bubble was the pony of parties! Yet, he was almost apprehensive. "Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to."
Bubble was back on the air with a dramatic gasp, his moment of eerie calm now history. "I am going! You all are, so I am too."
"Well, we're hoping we're all going. Elusive is in, you are, and I know Rainbow Blitz is but Applejack and Butterscotch? We'll need your help." Dusk explained.
Bubble smiled. "I know every pony better than any pony. Come on!"
Chapter Three: Wavering Sights
Most ponies thought being cross eyed was a bad thing, a disability, a handicap, but Derpy knew better. She saw better, at least, she saw more. With both eyes, Derpy saw happiness, and felt happy from them, but only one eye offered stability, with the other dimension seeming to teeter upon a rocky cliff edge. One night, Derpy was the happiest, a grand party happening in both worlds in the same place. She was still wide awake, despite the hours of the night, fueled by sugar and orchestral music. In one version, a pink mare took command of the band, while in another, a colt of the same shade slowly lurked outside, eyes darting around, tripping on petty fallen objects. Derpy trotted over to the colt who sat alone, head tilted back trying to spot something in the darkness, his eyes wide and pupils dilated. Derpy whimpered, the very action seeming out of place.
"Bubble?" she called out, but he didn't seem to notice. Panicking, Derpy began jumping up and down, trying to remember how to switch worlds, just like the mare who was now getting verbally reprimanded taught her, but in her flustered state she couldn't remember how. Her head was in reality but her feet were stuck in the other. Derpy heard sparks and hoped she succeeded, calling out once more to the colt who was following his tired, slightly drunken friends to the carriages.
Still, no such luck.
Day break was a rude, invasive awakening to Bubble's first day as a real earth pony. He crawled out of bed, careful not to trip, but still crashing into a wall. He regained his posture and blinked, moving his eyes around, almost amazed at how everything looked when he had to use them independently for the first time in a long time. Although, he wondered why Elusive was so obsessed with the surface value of everything when it seemed severely limited.
Bubble headed downstairs after dunking his head in a sink-ful of cold water to the flour filled atmosphere of Mrs. and Mr. Cake. As always, their good morning rivaled the sugar permanently entrenched in the air. Bubble found it strange that they were using an old mixer they threw out months ago, and that the display counter they had put in had gone missing. Bubble shook the thoughts away, jumping on the bottom stair, hearing the familiar creak above the bakery's commotion signaling each day's start.
"Would you be a dear and go to town square for us?" asked Mrs. Cake.
"Uh sure." Bubble agreed. "What for?"
"We're just so busy." started Mr. Cake.
"And in thirty minutes The Mayor is announcing which pony prepares what at the Town Square." explained Mrs. Cake.
"I doubt we'll get picked for catering over Sweet Apple Acres since not very many ponies know of your killer cupcakes yet-" Bubble flinched."-but we want you to go just to be safe." finished Mr. Cake.
"You don't mind do you?"asked Mrs. Cake. "Maybe we'll get picked for something else in the Summer Sun Celebration!"
Bubble stood there for a moment, gawking.
"Bubble?"
"Oh, sorry. Of course!" Bubble shook his head again, completely lost."I was still half asleep."
"Tsk, tsk." scolded Mr. Cake. "Sleeping on the job could end up in charcoal cakes and, trust me, those are never popular with Ponyville."
Bubble nodded, laughing a bit. "I understand." He headed to the door, his mind slightly numb. "I'll be on my way."
"You know where it is right?" asked Mrs. Cake. "Feel free to explore the town!"
"Make some friends!" added Mr. Cake.
Bubble scoffed once he was outside. He was friends with every pony. Now? He lingered on the front porch, noticing how empty the streets felt in comparison to what he had become used to. He remembered this moment from less than a year ago when he was actually intimidated by this amount of people. Never having been near this many people in the riveting business of petriculture, Bubble used his talent of parties that eventually brought him closer to every pony. It was going to be strange having to act like he didn't know any pony.
He took in a breath rehearsing how he would act around the other ponies, what he would say, how he would ask them their names all over again. It was wasted time however, because something that Bubble should have seen out of the corner of his eye plucked him out of reality before Bubble's hooves had a chance to hit the ground.
Dusk Shine was pacing again, his hoof steps echoing off the many walls of the library. Thorn was hanging off the edge of a ladder, going through books, each one earning the title of "nope" before ending up in an ever growing pile of "nope" books. the young dragon was sure that the lavender unicorn was busy thinking, but darting eyes that sometimes found their way to the dragon made her think he was just growing impatient.
Thorn grumbled to herself, making a grab for the last book on the shelf when Dusk beat her to it with a sudden burst of magic.
"Aha!" he shouted, trotting by the foot of the ladder to catch Thorn who had lost her balance and then to the podium where the book was set and the unicorn began furiously flipping through the pages with Thorn looking over his flopping ears. There was another 'aha!' moment when Dusk found a page with the title "Solar Stallion" speed reading through it while Thorn casually sounded out the first few lines. In another moment, Dusk was back to the shelves, looking for something that was not revealed to the air by means of his usual verbal muttering. The dragon remained on Dusk's back, looking around to see if there was a snack she might have left behind but another 'aha!' and a gallop back to the podium nearly knocked Thorn off her balance a second time.
Dusk was still looking over the other book when Thorn took this opportunity to jump on to secure ground. "You know," she started, "You're probably just overreacting, Dusk." She looked around for the glint of a gen she swore she saw when she was on the ladder. "Even if this Solar Stallion escapes from the sun or whatever, why would he mad at Lunario. He still promotes the Summer Sun Celebration. "
Dusk paused, looking up from the book stand. "Prince Lunario respects his brother, and I'm sure he misses him dearly, but the Prince of the Sun threatened to steal away the light before he ever became the Solar Stallion. All the recordings have stated that." Dusk sighed when Thorn rolled her eyes. "I'm saying I don't think anypony. could reason with that kind of pony."
Thorn kept on. "I'm just saying, it's not as if Lunario-"
"Prince Lunario."
"It's not like Prince Lunario dragged the name of the Sun through the mud. It's more like he regrets it."
Dusk gasped, wide eyed in shock at the words. "The prince does not regret anything! Especially his own brother!"
Thorn grumbled. "I didn't say he regretted his brother. I meant as actions, as in what happened." Dusk turned back to his book, refusing to listen anymore. "Whatever." the dragon said to herself.
The sun was still high in the sky when the pair set foot on the dirt roads of Ponyville, the unicorn still grumbling over the Prince's sudden letter appointing him to look over the Summer Sun Celebration preparations. Thorn especially gloated over the last command. Dusk flattened his ear against his head trying to block out the words as Thorn once again repeated them.
"Make some friends!"
Dusk shook his head. No, he thought. Nothing will ever depend on me making friends. "What's first on the list?"
"Catering at Sweet Apple Acres." stated Thorn, matter of factly. "But you should at least try to say hello to somepony."
Dusk growled, but Thorn kept at it. "Look! There's another unicorn."
Dusk timidly walked over to the unicorn in question, a turquoise colt with an instrument of some sort as a cutie mark. Before a word could climb out of Dusk's throat, the other unicorn ignored him, as Dusk had interpreted it, and went on towards a tan earth pony with candy for a cutie mark.
Thorn shrugged, almost sorry for Dusk. "Better luck next time."
Dusk laughed weakly, head low and fuming.
A small red headed earth pony was on his way to breaking his apple tree climbing record when the tree was met with a violent kick, knocking every apple and everypony off its branches. Fortunately, the earth pony's record was only a couple of feet high, so he wasn't hurt, but he complained loudly.
"Aw, shuddup, Apple Bud. Ah told you not ta climb on the trees 'millions a times." An orange colt, much bigger than his younger brother headed over to the wagon, pouring the apples in when he added, " 'Specially not while Ah'm working."
"But, Applejack!"
"What did Ah say?"
Applejack hooked himself to the now overloaded wagon and started heading back to the barn while Apple Bud collected any falling apples behind him, 'himphing' occasionally only to earn a glare from his brother. Once inside, Applejack slammed the door a little too loudly, alerting the entire barn of his presence. There were a bunch of calls for help from the kitchen. Only Apple Bud answered, jumping on a counter to get verbally reprimanded for his dirty hooves. Applejack slowly made his way feeling gloomy as ever. The kitchen was jammed pack, every inch of space filled with earth ponies and apple cutie marks baking tons of apple flavored goodies. The only space was where Apple Bud had jumped up and was now getting dirt cleaned off it. Before anypony remembered to notice whom they had called Applejack slipped out, meeting his older sister on the way.
"There's a unicorn outside." she stated on her way to the kitchen, her words slightly slurred by a pail of milk in her mouth.
"Alright, Ah'll deal with 'em." Applejack said to himself.
Just outside the fence of the fence to the main orchard was a the pony in question, a lavender colt craning his neck around like apples trees of this height were an intimidating army while a miniaturized lizard with matching scales chewed on a blue rock. The orange earth colt only got two steps closer when the unicorn jumped, fully realizing how short he was in comparison the towering work horse. The unicorn stared for a moment. There was something... off about the earth pony.
Applejack tapped his hoof, growing impatient. "Well?"
"You're gray." The unicorn sputtered, the lizard creature slapping him on the backside of his head.
The earth pony choked, preparing to buck this guy in the head repeatedly. "You care to run that by me again, hoity toity?"
The unicorn backed up a million steps, the lizard looking like it was about to fall. He yelped, putting a hoof over his mouth like a primped up prissy pony. "I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking." He straightened up, still a full five inches shorter. "I'm Dusk Shine, here to check on the-"
"Can it, hoity." snapped Applejack. "Food's fine. Now get."
Dusk gawked like an idiot. "Huh?"
Applejack reared on his hind legs, his forelegs kicking the air. "Get on out, hoity!"
Dusk ran out as fast as pony could with no muscle on him, the lizard thing shrieking as it held on to his tail. Applejack stood there, watching him bump into a couple ponies gathering apples and then the post of the sign on his way down the road. He turned around when lavender had vanished from his sights to meet the steely eyes of his older sister. Being the mare of few words she was, she only gave her little brother a few moments to dig out the trace of disappointment in her gaze before turning back to the barn, her brother following, looking out for a mirror, eventually settling on the window. He glared at reflection, making sure his coat was still orange, his mane; blond. Applejack huffed. This workhorse was definitely not gray. He may not be clean, but he wasn't colorless.
It wasn't until they reached town square that Dusk came to a screeching halt. Mad at himself and even madder at every thing else he proceeded to stomp his hooves, screaming at the air, frustrated with the sudden change from solitude in the Canterlot library with an almost apathetic dragon to the scrutinizing glares of half a million ponies. When he had regained enough sense to breathe deep and look around after Thorn had administered a seemingly highly needed whack to the head, many ponies started to hurry along, rushing back and forth away from the pony having a temper tantrum.
"I just can't handle it around so many ponies!" Dusk admitted, his lungs still tied up.
"Alright then." Thorn tapped her chin, having anticipated this. "We'll split up. I'll check up on decorations, you take care of music then we'll meet up at the library. We'll get this over with faster that way." Thorn cracked a sly grin at the brooding unicorn. "Think you can handle it by yourself?"
Dusk looked up to the sky, ignoring the dragon's question. "What about the weather? There's clouds everywhere!"
Thorn checked the list. "Weather is handled by a pegsus named Rainbow Blitz."
"Well I'm not wasting any time looking for him." Dusk started towards the park, which he assumed was the clearing closer to the forest that wasn't choked by as many trees. "See ya later."
Thorn waved goodbye as she started walking in the opposite direction.
At first, Dusk was ready to lecture himself on not drawing a map inside his head before venturing out for the park, but the sound of the carefully orchestrated sounds originating from small birds made it clear to him that he was trotting in the right direction. When Dusk was close enough to see a yellow pegasus leading the group, one of the birds started belching out a tune of his own, the notes sticking out like a sore thumb in what was otherwise a beautiful piece of music. Dusk watched from afar, the yellow pegasus proceeding to halt the chirping and correct the bird as politely as the colt could. The whole scene was like watching a stream of water trying to flow down a path of rocks without the water actually touching the rocks. Dusk shine came closer, using this moment to introduce, this time watching the words that formed on his tongue like a hawk.
"And a one two-"
"Hello!"
The pegasus shrieked, or squeaked while trying to squeak and fell to the ground when his wings froze.
Dusk gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you hurt?"
The pegasus stood up, steadily watching the unicorn.
Dusk tried to smile reassuringly. "That was a beautiful song. Anyways, my name is Dusk Shine and have been appointed by Prince Lunario to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration preparations."
The pegasus scratched the ground once or twice, remaining silent.
"What's your name?" Dusk asked.
Now the pegasus looked uncomfortable. His hoof planted himself on the ground and he looked away trying to sound it out.
"I'm sorry." Dusk's ears flattened, anxiety rising up."Didn't quite catch that." Something was off about this pony too, but not in the same was as the earth pony. The pegasus seemed... familiar, despite being a colt that had never laid eyes on each other until a few moments ago. Dusk shook it off, determined not to let first impressions sway him off course again.
The pegasus squinted his eyes at Dusk's hooves, making the unicorn wonder if there was something on them.
"My name is...Butterscotch..." The pegasus mumbled.
"Could you repeat that?"
"Butterscotch..."
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."
What came out of the pegasus' throat next was nothing short of the bastard child between a whine and a screech.
Dusk laughed uneasily. "Alright then. I could tell the music was coming just fine. I'll let you get back to your birds."
The pegasus nodded slightly. It wasn't until Dusk was at the far edge of the park that the song had started up again.
Thorn ran into Dusk on the way from town hall, her spiky head jabbing the unicorn in the side.
"Ow!" Dusk winced.
"Ah! Sorry!" Thorn apologized as Dusk levitated her onto his back.
"Well, you didn't cut anything. How were the decorations?" Dusk asked, still assessing his side.
"He was dreamy..." Thorn drifted off.
Dusk tried to bore a hole through the dragon's forehead with his eyes.
"What?"
"I asked about the decorations, not the decorator."
"Oh, they were good too." Thorn commented, checking on the skies. "Looks like that Blitz pony finally cleared up the clouds!"
"Took him long enough." Dusk took the dragon's word for it, trotting towards the library at a more relaxed pace when he told Thorn to check off music along with weather.
"Still scared about the Solar Stallion?" Thorn asked mindlessly.
Dusk gasped, this time galloping at his top speed, Thorn digging her claws into the unicorn to keep from falling, this time the colt impervious to the pain. "I forgot! I have to warn Prince Lunario!"
They burst into the library, reeking of cleaning supplies. Dusk allowed himself only a moment to cringe before snapping back to attention, Thorn jumping onto the firm wooden doors in exchange for the jumpy horse ride.
"Thorn, take a letter!"
"No."
Dusk was stunned. This wasn't the first time the dragon would rather sleep in the sunlight or raid the fridge of gems instead of climb onto the tippy top of ladders in the search of books and scrolls but each time she did, Dusk was in his stride, mentally charging horn first into whatever topic it was that seemed to be burned into his mind. Each time, the dragon purposely constructed a brick wall for the unicorn to crash into.
"I don't think the Prince has to be warned." Thorn explained, filling in the silence that was rolling out from Dusk's open mouth. "Just relax for a while. This is Lunario's brother we're talking about, not some royal member exiled and scratched out of history in place of myths and legends."
Dusk glared, looking away to the window, the sun already exchanging greetings with the horizon. "Fine." he muttered. A cat nap was what he needed after a tantalizing day.
Thorn petted him on the head. "Good, pony." She jumped up the stairs to the second level to scout out her nap time spot, ultimately deciding to drag the one on the lone bed to the floor until Dusk came up with one much more fitted for a dragon that could drowned in a blanket for a full grown pony.
"Wake me up okay?"
A long 'sure' came out of the pile of the blanket Dusk gave her and pillows that he realized was probably swiped from the bed. Dusk laughed lightly, levitating one of the many away from the now unsuspecting baby knowing he'd have to wake her up. The shadows growing longer over all of Equestria measured the worry festering in Dusk's stomach. His intuition wasn't the best, but something told him that night would bring forth terrible events.
Chapter Two: Door ways and Windows
Prince Sol woke up with a start. The skies were still dark, illuminated with tiny dots of bright light. Worried by the sun's late arrival, he raced out of bed, finding his older brother on the balcony, gazing at the stars. Sol crept quietly forward, as if the they were having a conversation he did not wish to interrupt. Regardless, Prince Lunario turned to glance at his brother.
"Hello, Sol."
Sol sat down next to the dark blue alicorn. "Why isn't the sun up yet?" he asked.
Lunario laughed lightly. "Because you overslept."
Sol gawked. "You mean..."
Lunario gestured out to the never-ending land beneath them, their reign bordered by the Everfree forest. "The ponies of Equestria are waiting."
Instantly, the young prince was terrified, the past coming to haunt him by force. "No! I can't!" he covered his eyes, hoping Lunario would raise it for him anyways, but the young alicorn found the weight of his crown settling in the birds nest of his uncombed mane. "Please, Rio. I couldn't handle it."
"Past tense, Sol. This morning will signify the start of an important day. Why don't you give your subjects that?"
Sol took in a deep breath, quietly recognizing defeat, but he was glad to do so. This was something he had not been able to do in over a thousand years. The weight of the sun was almost alien to him, but the ever changing colors of the sky were not. They were his now, as they used to be.
"I'm sorry for everything, Rio."
"I am too."
Elusive had his best friends in line from Butterscotch to Bubble Berry. The extravagant unicorn stopped in front of the pink pony, who's never ending smile countered Elusive's frustration. The unicorn almost growled at Bubble's hair. All the other ponies' mane was smooth and proper, ready for the Gala, but this earth pony had the audacity to reverse every attempt anypony put in to straightening it out.
"You." The unicorn said darkly, "are a challenge."
Bubble could only agree.
Elusive didn't take his narrowed eyes off the pink frizzy hay stack. "Every pony else, you are dismissed." He shot a dangerous glare at the other four colts. "I trust you can keep yourselves neat and clean before we leave in an hour."
"Of course, Elusive." squeaked Butterscotch. the other colts nodded vigorously, not wanting to get caught in the impending war between the frustrated fashionista and a stubborn stack of curls.
"Good luck!" shouted Dusk before running out behind Applejack.
It wasn't two seconds before Elusive had armed himself with an extra can of hairspray and a container of gel. Bubble only smiled, his eyes now holding a terrifying chill ignored by the opposing unicorn, ready to attack the mess upon his head.
"You will never win." taunted Bubble as Elusive made a leap for him, the earth pony just moving out of the way.
"Say that to my face!" Elusive yelled back, a shot of hairspray just missing the pony as he leapt onto a shelf, knocking down several rolls of fabric.
"I just did, didn't I?" Bubble strolled the shelf tops until he was near the door.
"Don't you dare," warned Elusive, his horn starting to glow.
Bubble made a pounce for the exit, Elusive catching him in mid leap with telekinesis. The unsuspecting pony lost sight of the situation for a split second, forcibly sending back the magic right into Elusive's mind. they both fell to the floor, the earth pony recovering faster than the unicorn. Bubble walked towards Elusive, who was put in a momentary daze and seemed to have trouble lifting up his head.
Bubble apologized. "it was a reflex."
Elusive shook it off, not understanding what had happened as Bubble helped him up and led him to the door. "Come one Elusive, lets head to the Gala."
It almost seemed planned. The moment the colts were in front of the palace, the ponies rushed to different parts as if they had been assigned posts. Dusk was sucking up to the Prince, Butterscotch chased animals in the gardens, Blitz was following the Wonderbolts, Elusive was getting stalked by Princess Bluebell and Applejack was conning a couple ponies into the "Wonders of Carnival Food". Only Bubble was out of character, hiding under the tables eyeing the only known exit. It was already an hour into the Gala yet the line of hoof shaking ponies showed no sign of an end. Well, Bubble thought, finally emerging, I may as well live up to my reputation, if the Prince isn't going to notice. Unfortunately, an all pink pony is hard to miss among the candy colored ponies of 'class' and 'elegance' and Prince Lunario excused himself, apologizing to Dusk for leaving him to deal with the party guests. The Prince made his way swiftly through the the crowd where Bubble was bouncing through. Once the earth pony caught wind of the Prince he started trotting through the more crowded areas, but the Prince teleported himself and Bubble ended up crashing into the Prince of the Moon. Lunario gestured to an incognito hallway with his wing which was bigger than Bubble itself.
"I believe we need to talk."
Bubble thought it over, pretending he had a choice in the matter, ultimately groaning and following the Prince deeper into the palace towards the high courts.
"I know a quicker way." Bubble thought aloud his voice echoing off the tall ceiling of the sunset lit hallway. The prince said nothing, however, and Bubble fought every urge to slip away quietly into the darkness, beating the Prince to their destination, but the tension in the air alone was enough to stifle him.
By the time they were at the top of the palace, the moon was next to them, the high courts earning their name for good reason. There were no guards, no artificial light. A spell had been cast, one that practically insulted the earth pony. There was nothing to do for him than to sit down patiently at one end while Lunario stood at the other.
"While I appreciate your efforts with the defeat of The Solar Stallion-" Lunario began, earning scoffs from Bubble. "and the overly occasional minor dimensional shift is small enough to be ignored-" Bubble rolled his eyes, glancing at the window where the moon was in full view. "Due to a quite recent event I wonder if this enchantment should be cast upon the colt itself."
Bubble sat up. Was it because of Elusive? He couldn't think of anything else. "That was an accident! It wasn't even that major. I swear by you, Elusive is fine."
"What?"
Bubble bowed his head. "You didn't know." He said quietly, almost to himself.
"That only strengthens my decision." Now the Prince's voice was decorated with bouts of anger. "But I am addressing to what you've done on your birthday."
Oh.
"Prince Lunario, I wasn't myself that day. I wasn't thinking about what I was doing because I got mad over a misunderstanding. No pony got hurt and it wasn't obvious." Bubble stood up again, a serious expression embedded in his eyes. "I am very careful."
"I'm sure you are, Bubble, but you said it yourself. You weren't thinking. Next time you won't think when you put a crack in the space of this reality!"
"Do you even know what you're saying?"
"What I'm saying is that the same spell that is casted on this room, should be put on you."
Bubble said nothing at first, taking a few steps towards the window, hoping there was a ledge of some sort. He couldn't see past the glass. The room to him was a floating box in space against the thought that it was really sitting on top of complex, intricate mansion. If he could see a ledge, or another building, he could get his senses in order for a jump, but they were so high up, and Bubble was so far away from the window. Once the Prince's horn began to glow, Bubble made a leap for it, but such a complex spell only needed a moment to be put in affect. The earth pony was in a daze, one he thought must have been similar to what he put Elusive in. He looked up, the moon just slightly above the window pane. It's moving fast. Bubble thought. He felt blinded and shackled.
Lunario headed to the door, his wings tucked away. His great hooves made pounding echoes as he made his way down the hallway, eventually Bubble finding the will to stand on his four tiny hooves and making the trek back down. Back on the ground floor, the Gala was finally winding down. With much difficulty, Bubble observed that Dusk had finally gotten away from the entrance and that Butterscotch had drunk himself into a raging fit while he argued with a pretty blond mare who's coat matched Elusive's who in turn wore a painful expression. Applejack had taken his operation to the inside, in front of the foods that Bubble did not know the name of and Rainbow Blitz was planted in a corner, head to the floor, pouting.
Bubble trotted outside where the air was clearer and the atmosphere was calmer. The only light came through the tall arching windows, shadows of ponies dancing inside flickered about the ground. Far off was the sky, speckled with stars and tinted with the slightest hint of the sun to come, pushing away the moon, bit by bit. Bubble looked up, wondering if it was Prince Sol who now tended to the bright celestial body. An hour ago, he wouldn't have had to wonder. An hour ago, he wouldn't even have felt the need to look up. He would have just known.
