Some Kind of Night
I sighed as I looked at the structure that I just left: an ivory castle, it’s grand towers topped with golden spires, lights littering along the sides. It somehow looked more awe-inspiring cast in the glow of the moon than when caught in the light of the sun. The soft sounds of an orchestra ensemble reached my ears, yet I couldn’t enjoy it much.
“I can understand why they invited me, but it really wasn’t a good idea to come after all,” I said softly to myself.
I looked around me and saw a few ponies arriving late, yet acting as if they had arrived early.
“I finally had a chance to walk around Canterlot Castle, yet it wasn’t worth it. Hay, all I was allowed to walk around in was the entrance, one of the halls, and the Royal Gardens.”
The sounds of faux laughter reached my ears as a few members of the ‘upper crust’ walked by, looking at me as if I didn’t belong.
I wanted to say something, but I just bit my tongue. Ignore them. Don’t let them rile you up. I closed my eyes and counted backwards from ten. The group was gone by the time I reached zero.
I looked back at the castle, just looking at it since it took up the majority of the immediate area. After enough time passed by that any onlookers would think I was some sort of nut job, I walked into Canterlot proper, with no real destination in mind.
The usually semi-busy streets of Canterlot felt deserted, everypony either asleep or at the Gala. It was quiet enough that the clip clop of my hooves striking against the cobblestone seemed to echo throughout the whole town, though I’m sure that was me thinking too much into the quietness.
I looked around aimlessly, seemingly taking in everything without actually taking in anything, trying to make sense of my evening so far.
“Seriously, why did I come?” I asked aloud. “There was no real reason to come. I mean, I get why they invited me, but it wasn’t worth it, not really.” I sighed and looked at the ground in front of me. “I might have given out a fair amount of my business cards, but I doubt even a small fraction of those ponies will even bother asking for my services.”
You know that that isn’t the real reason you decided on coming to Canterlot tonight, the stupid annoying voice in my head told me.
“Why can’t you shut up for once?”
Oh, I will; just have to admit why you really came is all. I sighed and shook my head, hoping to get rid of the voice in the process. You can’t get rid of me that easily, genius.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What do you think is the real reason I’m in the capital tonight?”
It’s because you wanted to see her.
I shrugged a little, feeling a slight weight in my vest pocket. “So, what if I wanted to give the Princess something in his—“
Not the Princess. You know who I meant.
“I have no clue who you—“
Twilight. You wanted to see her in a dress.
A small heat worked its way along my face as the image of Twilight in a dress, any kind of dress, popped into my mind.
You’d really think that by now you’d get a handle on the whole drooling thing whenever you see or think about her.
“S-SHUT UP!”
I would have been embarrassed if there were any ponies nearby seeing my having a breakdown of sorts. Luckily, I was still alone with my slowly fading sanity and idling thoughts.
I sighed and run a hoof along my face. “Fine then, I’ll admit it. I only came to this stupid event because of the slight chance of seeing Twilight. Out of everypony that would be there, I wanted the slight chance of meeting her, of running into her, chatting with her, getting to know her better, of spending the night with her.”
Why would you do that?
“It’s because I’m head over hooves in love with her!”
Silence once again took hold of the late evening.
“Oh, now you decide to shut up,” I mumbled as I looked towards the sky. “You get me to make your point and bail after.”
After what felt like enough time had passed without me getting any kind of response, I looked around, to see if I knew where my hooves decided to take me while I was arguing with myself, then decided to keep going down the road I was on in hopes of reaching some part of the capital that was familiar.
The buildings started to fade into one another, the uniformity becoming more and more apparent with each passing step, as I just took in the night, trying to enjoy the peace and quiet the capital provided. It didn’t even bug me that I randomly walked for what felt like hours, the atmosphere luring my mind into a peaceful wander, the cold night air running through my mane. I kept at this pace for a long while, the pleasant emptiness of my thoughts keeping me satisfied until the sweet scent of freshly-baked donuts pulled me out of my trance.
In front of me stood a corner store, a pair of bay windows with black borders and the wafting smell of fresh donuts the only things setting it apart from the other surrounding buildings. Light poured out from the windows, casting the surrounding buildings with soft shadows.
I reached for the door leading inside, finding it unlocked, the smell of the baked goods hitting my snout immediately, an overhead chime signaling my arrival.
“I’m sorry, but we are cl—“
The light amber unicorn stallion behind the counter looked up at me, the small paper hat on his moderate orange-brown mane slanting to the back of his head, a smile plastered on his face not a second later.
“Grey!”
“Hey Joe.”
“What brings you to my fine shop?”
“Not sure about ‘fine,’ but I’m here at your shop because my hooves wanted me to come here apparently.” I turned my gaze around the shop and only saw one empty glass of milk. “Slow night?”
“It’s the Gala,” he sighed. “It tends to make ponies want to go to bed early for some reason.”
“Guess trying to dream about what it’s like to go,” I said, taking a seat at the counter.
“Maybe, maybe.”
“Anyway, who’s sitting over there? Did the pony just leave or something?”
“He had to use the bathroom for a bit.”
As if on cue, the bathroom door opened up, a small dragon of purple scales and green barbs stepping out. The tuxedo he was wearing looked like it was stolen off of a stuffed animal.
“Grey?” Spike asked me. “What are you doing here?”
“Heard that this was a good place to buy some sofas, but all that’s in stock is donuts.”
Spike rolled his eyes and took his seat next to me. “Funny. Why are you actually here?”
“I was at the gala, but everything got old quickly and I got bored, so I left early.”
“Wait, you were there too? Who invited you?”
“Two old clients of mine invited me. Way of showing their appreciation for my help. Plus, they thought it would help me get some more clients, though I doubt that would be the case.”
“How come?”
“You and Twilight are from here. You know how the ‘royal elite’ tend to be.”
“Yeah, I get you.” Spike slouched a little as he absentmindedly run a claw along the rim of his cup.
“You alright Spike?”
“Just wanted to spend the night with my friends, but they all wanted to do their own thing.”
“You went to the Gala with friends?”
“Yeah...I wanted all of us to do things together and enjoy the night, but as soon as we got there, not even two seconds passed by, they each went to do their own individual things.” He slouched a bit as he rested his elbows onto the counter. “All I wanted to do was have all of us create some amazing memories at the biggest party in Equestria. Is that too much to ask?”
“Spike, you weren’t asking for too much.” I placed a hoof onto his shoulder. “Wanting to create memories with friends isn’t a bad thing to ask for. Sure, they probably would have had their own reasons to come to the Gala to begin with, but they should have probably picked up on how much you wanted to make it a friend based event. Did you let them know what you wanted to do tonight?”
“I did...a few times…”
“Well, guess the night is better off without them for today.”
“What you mean by that, Grey?”
“I mean, just look at you dude; you are a dragon—a mighty, fire-breathing dragon—yet you showed up to the Grand Galloping Gala in a tuxedo. Sure, you could have come without, have your scales for all the world to see, but you decided to tone it down, to show off your softer, fashionable side instead.”
“W-well, all I did was try to dress up for the party, just like everypony else there.”
“I bet Rarity made that for you, huh.”
Small flecks of red started to spread across his cheeks. “Y-yeah...she wanted me to look my best for tonight.”
“It does you justice, dude.”
“Thanks Grey,” his face getting a bit more red than before.
“De nada, amigo.”
Spike jolted up slightly and gave me a look. “Was that Aztecan?”
“Yeah? Why you ask?”
He laughed a little and shook his head. “So, you are why she started to learn Aztecan.”
“‘She?’ She who?”
“Oh, nopony in particular. Nopony at all.”
“Don’t be like that Spike.”
“Hey Grey,” Joe said.
“Yeah Joe?” I replied as I turned towards him.
“I was wondering if you could help me out with something.”
“What kind of help you need?”
“The professional kind of help.”
“Oh? What’s going on?”
“Well, if it’s okay with you, I’d rather talk about this in the back, in private,” he jerked his head to the side, emphasizing the last part of his sentence.
Spike did an absentminded wave as I shot him a quick glance. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, Spike,” I told him, getting another wave.
Joe ushered me to his back room, closing the door behind us as we took a seat.
“So, what’s going on Joe?”
“Well, I’m kind of coming up short the past few weeks and I don’t know why.”
“You’ve been trying to do the things I showed you last time?”
“Yeah, I’ve been keeping track of everything that has to do with the shop and writing it down the way you showed me.” He slid over a small calendar folder. “I still don’t see why I’m coming up short.”
I gave the first written page a quick look and whistled. “These are some pretty detailed journal entries. You’ve even jotted down a brief description of what the transaction was about.”
“All I was doing was trying to follow your example from the last time.”
“Well, I guess I could give it a look for you, Joe. Shouldn’t take too long.”
“Thanks Grey,” he said, holding my hoof between both of his. “This means a lot.”
“You’re a friend and a client, though mostly a friend. Least I could do is look through this folder.”
“How much would I owe you?”
“Oh, nothing much; just three doughnuts and keeping an eye on Spike for me.”
“That it? That doesn’t seem right to me.”
“Just think about it as a ‘friend discount’ as well as a ‘Gala discount,’ dude.”
Joe sighed and shook his head. “You aren’t going to accept anything other than that, huh?”
“What gave it away?”
“Swear, you and that smile; the mare who ends up with you is going to have a blast dealing with you.”
“Hey! I’m not that stubborn!”
“Sure, sure,” Joe said, the door closing behind him.
If the door would be able to talk, it would have asked me to stop glaring daggers at it, which I did for a minute or so in hopes of Joe coming back in to give him some lip.
The calendar folder seemed pretty straight forward – each section dedicated to journal entries, ledger accounts, balances sheets; the usual stuff a bookkeeper, like me, would either need or create to help out a client.
A quick look at his revenue and expense accounts seemed to be the logical place to start off with. My hunch was right and I spotted a few transactions that weren’t recorded correctly; nothing too bad, just a slight error in a few different ledger accounts. It took a while, plus a lot of erasing, backtracking, triple checking, math skills, and pulling on my mane, but I finally got everything to balance out correctly, showing that Joe was doing pretty well this month.
For added touch, I decided to look at his expense accounts and see if I could find a trend or two, in hopes of helping Joe out some more. There was a weekly transaction that caught my eye and decided to make note of it to him as I placed everything back into its place within the folder and went for the door.
There was a small group of ponies in the back corner of the shop that seemed to be in good spirits, going off of the laughter and cheery voices coming from them. Spike must have joined the group since I didn’t see him at his seat.
“They seem to be a cheery bunch, Joe.”
“They just got back from the Gala and must have enjoyed it.”
“Sounds it,” I told him as I hoofed over the folder. “I looked over the whole thing and got everything to balance out right. All it was just a few minor errors in some ledger recordings, which lead to wrong amounts at the end. Fixed those for you and you did pretty well this month; not too much revenue, but enough where you aren’t doing badly.”
“Thanks Grey!” he said as he clapped my shoulder. “It means a lot.”
“I did have a question for you from something I noticed.”
“Oh?”
“How come you buy bags of yeast and cake batter three or so times a week?”
“I have to make sure I have an ample supply ready for whenever I make donuts for my patrons.”
“I understand that, but shouldn’t there be a bit leftover from the previous bags before you buy some new ones?”
“There is a bit left over, but not enough that I wouldn’t have to buy new bags.”
“I’ve seen how much you spend a week just for the bags. If you want, I could ask a few friends of mine who own a bakery in Ponyville where they get their bags of yeast and batter, on your behalf.”
“You sure they would give you that information? And that they don’t spend a lot for their yeast and batter?”
“I’ve helped them out a few times and it looked like they were spending less than you are.
Besides, they are good ponies and wouldn’t mind helping somepony out.”
“This is going to be like the payment, huh?” he asked after a few seconds.
“Pretty much, yes.”
“Guess I can’t refuse.”
“Oh, you can. Nothing would come out of it though.”
“Figured as much.”
“You make it sound like that’s a bad thing.”
“Joe, could we have anot-, Grey?”
I turned around and felt my jaw drop, blood rising to my cheeks. Silky midnight blue fabric encased her middle, a cape flowing over her rump. The cape itself was dotted full of stars, and I’d bet my bits that they were as accurate as they could get. Around her middle, what looked like a constellation formed what could only be described as a saddle, the stars glinting in the light. A collar, clasped around the front by a giant steel blue star hid her braided mane. A single star was used as an earring, nearly hiding all the work she had done with her mane. Her hooves were snuggled in dainty light blue slippers, more stars dotted around the top. Her dress might have been tattered and scratched up in places, but that didn’t make her seem any less lovely.
“H-hey T-twilight...”
“H-how come you are here?”
“Oh...I was invited to the gala by some old clients...”
“Oh...”
“Y-you look lovely Twilight...not that you don’t always look it....just extra lovely....” Please, somepony shut me up!
“T-thank you Grey. You look handsome...”
Thank goodness for Joe saving me from death by coughing into his hoof to get Twilight’s attention. “So, Twilight, is there anything you and your friends need?”
“Oh...Oh! Would be it alright to get another plate of donuts?”
“Sure, I’ll get some ready all of you. Why don’t you go join them Grey?”
“What!?”
Even with his back facing me, I could tell that he had a smile plastered on his face. I would have jumped the counter and confronted him about that smile if it wasn’t for Twilight grabbing my hoof.
“There is somepony I want you to meet Grey.”
“O-oh?”
“Mhmm. I’m sure she’ll love meeting you.”
With that, she led me towards to group of ponies in the back, all the while my mind trying to figure out who ‘she’ could be.
Could it be an old friend? A classmate? Somepony she met at the Gala? Her mom? It’s her mom, isn’t it? I’m going to see her mom! I hope she doesn’t find me not worth her daughter. I have no clue how I would handle that.
A shake to my shoulder brought me out of my thoughts, a pair of emerald eyes looking at me.
“Yah alright, sugarcube?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m alright Applejack. Sorry about that. Been a long night.”
“I hear you on that,” said Rainbow.
“Where did you get that wonderful dress shirt and vest darling?” Rarity asked me.
“I got it as a gift from a pair of old clients and friends, who also invited me to the Gala to help me find some new potential clients.”
“Whoever picked it out for you might have had amazing taste. It looks lovely on you.”
“Thanks,” I told her, a small heat gathering at my cheeks.
“Are you going to introduce me to your friend, Twilight?” a voice from behind me asked.
I turned around and almost tripped over nothing. There, before me in her royal regalia, was Princess Celestia.
“My apologies, Princess Celestia. This is another one of my friends from Ponyville, Greyscale. Greyscale, this is my mentor and teacher, Princess Celestia.”
The Princess smiled at me and it felt like the whole room got so many shades lighter. “It’s an honor to meet me Greyscale. Twilight has told me so many things about you.”
My knees started to quake as a single thought went through my mind: Twilight told her about me?
“Grey, are you okay?” Twilight asked me.
“It’s okay, my little pony. Think of me as Twilight’s mentor instead of a Princess instead.”
I took a deep breath and looked at the Princess. “C-c-can I ask you something, your majesty?”
“Of course, Greyscale.”
“H-how do you get your mane to be like that?”
Time stood still for several seconds, then Spike and the girls laughed, Twilight facehoofed, and Princess Celestia covered her mouth with a hoof.
“You have an interesting friend, Twilight.”
I felt a warmness working its way through my face, which caused everypony in the group to laugh some more. I decided to try to cover my humiliation by burying my snout into a cup of Joe’s coffee, though the laughter still echoed softly in the back of my head.
“Did yah do anything at the Gala?” Applejack asked me.
“I did like walking around the Royal Garden a bit. It seemed like I was in another world. I could tell that the groundskeeper takes a lot of proud in his work. Though, kind of wished I could have seen some animals; probably asleep or something.”
Fluttershy slightly fidgeted in her seat, a soft redness appearing on her cheeks for some reason.
“Oh, I just remembered something.” I reached inside my vest, trying to complete a small task Icy charged me with. “Icy wanted me to give something to you, your majesty.” I lifted up a small encased letter. “He seemed really adamant on me delivering it for some reason.”
The letter was enveloped in a soft yellow glow as it floated towards the Princess. She opened up its contents and smiled as she read it.
Twilight softly nudged me. “What is in that letter?”
“Dunno. Icy didn’t really tell me anything and I didn’t want to pry too much. Apparently it’s something good.”
“I thank you, Greyscale. It’s been awhile since I last heard from Icy. It’s good to see he has a friend as kind as you.”
“I wouldn’t say I was kind…He’s just like a brother to me.”
“Then I am glad that he has found somepony to be close to in his new home,” Celestia said. “And the same goes to you, Twilight.”
Twilight jumped a little, and I realized that she had been looking at me. “Oh...oh, of course, Your Highness.”
I took another sip of coffee to hide the redness that was spreading across my face once more. Celestia reached out and took another donut as Rainbow Dash began talking about catching a drink with her back hoof.
I guess maybe coming tonight had been a good idea after all.
Author's Note
And this is finally out. Thank goodness! This one took longer than it should have, in my opinion. The initial thought behind this got expanded while I was writing it without really planning for it. That being said, I like this end result because of it.
Anyway, you peoples should know the drill: if you like it, hate it, want to burn, or are willing to threaten me for a sequel, let me know below, though please try to be constructive in your threats. How else will I know if I'm worthy for the threats if they aren't well thought out?
