Twilight Sparkle stood in front of Princess Celestia’s chambers, looking over the plans Celestia had drawn up for the next Grand Galloping Gala, her brow creased. She sighed, then knocked on the door. It opened, revealing Celestia wearing one of her eternally warm smiles.
“Hello, Twilight. Come in.” Twilight entered Celestia’s room, the door closing behind her. Celestia went to her bookshelf. “I would have started implementing them myself, but I’ve got quite a few books to sort, as you can see. Are the schematics to your liking?”
Twilight rubbed the nape of her neck. “That’s the thing, these aren’t so much plans for a Gala as they are a series of deathtraps.”
“Whatever do you mean?” Celestia asked as she examined the spine of a book before carefully placing it on the shelf.
“Well, what do you expect when you give me schematics that…” Twilight said as she looked over the schematics, her eyes widening. “What even is a ‘chainsaw slide’?”
Celestia placed another book on the shelf. “It’s a slide made of chainsaws.”
Twilight buried her face in her hoof. “Really, Princess? With the kind of carnage your version of the Gala would provide, you’d be better off inviting Queen Chrysalis and her changeling horde to the Gala.”
“...what was that last part?” Celestia asked, halfway through placing a book on her shelf.
“I said, you’d be better off inviting Queen Chrysalis and her changeling horde to the Gala.”
Celestia dropped the book onto the floor. “Twilight, do you realize what you just came up with?”
Twilight shrank back. “I-I’m sorry, Princes—”
“You’ve just come up with the best idea ever!” Celestia spun towards Twilight and looked her in the eye. “Now how do we get into contact with Queen Chrysalis?”
“W-what?” Twilight bit her lip.
“I asked you how do we go about inviting Queen Chrysalis to the Grand Galloping Gala.”
Twilight gasped. “You can’t be serious.”
“Serious as a heart attack, Twilight. Now how do we invite the changelings to the Gala?”
“Princess Celestia, one does not simply invite the Changeling horde to the Grand Galloping Gala.”
Celestia wandered around her room, tapping her chin. “You’re right. We’d have to lure them in somehow.”
“Wait.” Twilight shook her head. “You’re not actually—”
Celestia threw herself onto her bed and clopped her front hooves together. “A wedding! We’ll hold a wedding during the Grand Galloping Gala!” Celestia sat up and smiled at Twilight. “Moments like these are how I’m reminded that you’re my best student.”
Twilight tilted her head. “You do realize that this would cause untold chaos, right?”
“Indeed it would,” Celestia said with a giggle. “It’ll be better than what the Gala usually is, anyway.”
“Some of us would like to make that decision for ourselves.”
Celestia’s giggling slowly ceased as she lifted herself off of the bed and trotted towards Twilight. “Is there… something the matter?”
Twilight snorted. “Well,” Twilight said as she paced around, “it’s just that I’ve heard stories about how the Grand Galloping Gala was such a prestigious event to attend but some of us don’t know that because someone ruins it every time!” Twilight glared at Celestia, her chest heaving and her eyes squinted. “Some of us wanted to attend the social event of the year, not ‘Princess Celestia got bored so she decided to invite Changelings and include a chainsaw slide’!”
Celestia and Twilight exchanged glances, Twilight’s jaw clenched and Celestia merely gazing at Twilight. Twilight then put a hoof over her mouth and backed away.
“I-I’m sorry, Princess Celestia.”
“Hmm.” Celestia cocked her head to the side. “Are you saying that you don’t enjoy the machinations I set in place to spice up the Gala?”
Twilight pressed her ears to her head. “N-n-not at all, Princess Celestia, they’re perfectly fine—”
“That’s not what it sounded like you just said, Princess Twilight.” Celestia shook her head. “It sounded like you said you were displeased.” Celestia maintained eye contact with Twilight, who shook like a leaf. “Are you displeased?”
“N-no—”
Celestia smiled. “Honestly, Twilight. There’s no need to fear me.”
“It’s just—” Twilight ran a hoof through her mane “—I wanted to go to the Gala of which I’ve dreamed since I was small.” She bowed her head. “I understand that you may have been to countless Galas and may have become disillusioned to the grandeur and majesty of it, but…”
“But what, Twilight?” Celestia smiled.
Twilight took a deep breath. “Some of us haven’t been gifted with the extended life that you possess. Some of us have never been to a real Grand Galloping Gala before.” Twilight looked at Celestia. “Some of us want to make a decision on whether or not we enjoy the pageantry of the Gala before the choice is robbed from us, despite your good intentions.”
“I see.” Celestia pressed her lips together and paced around. “I… suppose we could arrange for the Gala to go as planned.”
“I understand if you don’t want to—what?”
Celestia faced Twilight and smiled. “It appears that I have been putting my own amusement ahead of the will of my subjects. You speaking up today helped me put that back into perspective. So, as per your request, the Gala will go as normally planned.”
Twilight stared at Celestia, then raised an eyebrow. “Everything? No chainsaw slides or Changeling invasions?”
Celestia nodded. “It will be the Gala that you’ve dreamed of since you were small, Princess Twilight.”
Twilight blinked, then lifted her chin and puffed out her chest. “I’m glad we could come to an agreement, Princess Celestia.”
“Likewise,” Celestia said with a grin as she watched Twilight exit her room.
Celestia shook her head, rested herself on her bed, and chuckled softly. “I was wondering what I’d have to do to get her to finally stand up to me.”
