Servant of the Queen

“It’s Wednesday, my dudes!” Lemon Zest cheered as she squatted atop one of her home’s office chairs. “So I’ve basically got my place set up already. Sunny, did you get the punch?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s right here.” Sunny Flare tossed a sack of powder on Lemon’s floor. “I swear, there was a boy in the store following me around.”

“Yeah, sure, not everyone is after you, Sunny,” Sugarcoat said, unamused. “Don’t you already have enough things to worry about?”

Sunny shrugged. It had already been more than a month since they had anything about Silver Rose or her estate. They’d been coming up dry.

“Has Sunset Shimmer had anything to say about the video footage from the drone yet?” she asked while opening a bag of candy.

“Hey, that’s for the party.” Sugarcoat smacked her hand. “If she has, she hasn’t messaged me.”

“You don’t think… they got to her, do you?” Lemon looked around suspiciously.

“Missing people or murders would appear on the news.”

“They wouldn’t kill her, would they?” Sour Sweet downed a glass of water after placing a pill on her tongue. “They’re not that brainless to just off a kid.”

“Yeah, haven’t you seen those vampire movies like, I dunno, Neighbraham Drinkin, Vampire Fighter?” Indigo leaned forward in her seat. “You have to blend into society.”

“Bad example. Vampires leave a lot of bodies.”

“Pretty sure she’s still alive,” Sunny said. “I mean, it’s been very quiet this past month. Maybe whatever’s going on in the Wings estate has moved on?”

“Sounds like wishful thinking to me…” Sour Sweet grumbled.

“Dudes, I think we should just forget about it for one night,” Lemon Zest interrupted them. “We have a house party to plan, and it’s going to be rad! My parents will be out of town for the rest of the week. Meaning we can get out the good stuff…” She began digging under her bed.

“Ooh, mayonnaise?” Indigo licked her lips.

“Have you been watching that Ewetube show about those maniacs who wreck their kitchen every time they cook?” Sugarcoat asked as she cleaned her glasses on her sleeve. “Again?”

“Hey, Nick Lass is a great cook!” Indigo defended. “So they make a bit of a mess, so what?”

“Aha, here we are!” Lemon brought up two clear glass bottles. “We can add this to the punch and boom! We’ll have a wild party.”

“Lemon, what is that?” Sour Sweet said flatly.

“What else would it be?” She tapped on them. “Vodka, straight from Stalliongrad. I ordered these online a couple of months ago for wicked parties like the one we’re planning!”

“Ooh, nice!” Indigo grinned.

Sugarcoat folded her arms. “You’re agreeing with this?”

"Lighten up, Sugarcoat," Indigo said with a wave of her arm. "It's Halloween, we can just blame it on the moon if things get too wild."

"And what does the moon have to do with this?" the bespectacled girl asked.

Lemon slid the bottles back under her bed. "Because it's a blood moon! Duh. Weird stuff is supposed to happen with a blood moon hanging over our heads."

“What do you expect will happen?” Sunny looked baffled. “You think werewolves are gonna show up?”

“Or maybe… witches...” Lemon replied knowingly.

Sunny didn't feel like pursuing this subject any more, so she swiftly changed the topic.

"Who's coming to this party anyway?" Sunny asked. "Did you already send out invitations?"

“Did you already send out invitations…” Lemon laughed. “Duh, of course, Sunny! The party’s tomorrow! I’ve only been posting about it all week on MyStable.”

“You mean you didn’t hand out the invitations directly?” Sugarcoat’s glasses almost fell off her face. “MyStable’s an open platform. Anyone can see it.”

Lemon Zest didn’t seem to see the problem with that. “Yeah, so?”

“Aren’t you afraid unsavory characters might show up?”

“Psssh, if they wanna come, they can come. It’s Halloween! It’s a party!” Lemon cheered. “Besides, this is a pretty good neighborhood. It’s not like anyone actually dangerous is going to appear.”

“Uh… Silver Rose?” Sour Sweet reminded them.

“What, she’s not gonna kill us.”

"What about the pink lady?" Sour Sweet continued.

“She didn’t kill Sunny the first time, why would she come just to kill her now?”

“Can we not talk about all this?” Sunny groaned.

“Well, whatever it is, the party’s open for all!” Lemon Zest said cheerily, stretching her arms out. “Well, except kids, I guess. Don’t want them drinking our spiked punch.”

Sugarcoat sniffed derisively and said nothing, while Sour Sweet was giving Lemon a prehistoric look.

“So what are you girls dressing up as?” Indigo flexed an arm, then mimicked swinging a sword. “I’m going to go as a cyborg ninja.”

“Didn’t you already wear that during the Eastern Fair?”

“Well yeah, but it’s cool, isn’t it? Waste of a perfect costume,” Indigo said. “What about you, Sugarcoat? Let me guess… A bat?”

“Too common,” Sugarcoat rasped and shook her head. “I’d rather be a hornet.”

“Ooh, ooh!” Lemon raised her hand. “I wanna guess what Sunny’s going to dress as. A s-”

“No, don’t you say it.” Sunny got off her seat.

“I was gonna say sexy vampire,” Lemon Zest finished. “You know, cause you like to… suck. Places. You know, Silver Rose places.”

“No! I don’t!” Sunny’s temperature shot up. “A-And besides I’ve n-never sucked Silver off!”

“Sure you haven’t,” Indigo smirked. “This party is going to be like those masquerade balls they had back in the prehistoric eras. People in costumes and masks all around, and nobody will know who is who! Brilliant!”

“Call me superstitious, but a blood moon on Halloween seems like an awfully big coincidence. The night that witches come out and there happens to be an evil omen like a red moon? Nothing can go wrong there, right?” Sour Sweet looked nonplussed.

“It’s just the moon.” Lemon shrugged. “I mean, we can’t control the moon. It happens when it happens. Some solar eclipse shenanigans, I can’t remember.”

“Meh, whatever. It’ll just make the party even cooler!” Indigo took one of the bottles of vodka and looked at it, impressed. “How’d you know which one to buy, Lemon?”

Lemon shrugged. “I just picked the one with the highest alcohol content. Figured if we’re going to get smashed, we might as well go all the way, right?”

Sunny gulped. “B-But what if we get… if we get, like… raped?”

“Everyone else will be smashed too,” Indigo reminded her friend.

“Besides. I don’t plan on drinking any of that punch. It’ll mess with my medication,” Sour Sweet growled. “I’ll make sure nothing too sketchy happens.”

“Great!” Lemon gestured at Sour. “See, Sunny? Sour Sweet’s got our backs. No problem!”

Sunny didn’t look entirely convinced, but she was interrupted by Indigo holding up her phone.

“Girls, check this out! The video of Mr. Fowl and Ivory Wings’ duel at the Eastern fair has over a million views on Ewetube!”

There on the screen was a somewhat shaky recording of the match between Crystal Prep’s fencing teacher and Silver Rose’s aunt.

“Her swordsmanship is indeed impressive,” Sugarcoat said as the video played. “I wonder where she learned to fight like that.”

“Maybe she cast a spell to make herself good at fighting.” Lemon Zest mimicked swinging a sword with her right hand.

Sugarcoat was less sure of that. “If I recall, Ivory Wings came into public view around the same time Silver Rose did. Do you think the two are related somehow?”

“No duh they’re related,” Indigo Zap said impatiently. “She’s Silver’s aunt.”

“Not in that way,” Sugarcoat said. “I mean their presence.”

“You’re losing me, Sugarcoat,” Lemon looked at her friend, confused.

“So party’s set!” Indigo pumped her arms up. “Everyone’s invited and there’s a blood moon. This is going to be the wildest party ever!”

“Hey, do you think we should ask that Sunset Shimmer and her friends if they wanna come?”

Sugarcoat thought about it. “I don’t think we have to. They can come if they like, but otherwise, there’s nothing we need to plot together.”

“Well, what if something happens on the blood moon night? You know, Silver being a witch and all?” Lemon looked at Sunny. “What if Sunny gets all weird on us during the moon.”

“I won’t! Stop talking about it!” The girl in question pulled at her hair. “I’m gonna be perfectly normal. Trust me.”

“Uh, right.” Sugarcoat waved a hand. “Anyway, we’ve done all we can at this point. Now we just need to wait and watch. See if anything fishy happens during the party, Sunny or no. We’ll be sure to keep an eye on Silver Rose.”

“How are we so sure she’s even coming?” Indigo asked.

“Well… we’ll just need to see if she shows up and if she does, we keep our eyes on her. Don’t let her out of your sight. Ever.”

“Righty-o, Sugarcoat.” Indigo kicked her legs up on the bed. “Sounds easy enough. Oh man, I’m so excited!”

“So, sexy vampire, Sunny?” Lemon nudged her friend and smirked. “I know you want to.”

“S-Shut up!”

“You going for the party, Silver?” Canvas Splash said on the other end of Chrysidea’s phone. “I heard everyone’s invited. At least, I think that’s what it says. It’s on MyStable and it doesn’t say who it’s for. I think that means everyone’s invited, right? I wouldn’t mind going to a party. I mean, I won’t actually party. I’ll probably just draw what I see. It’s still fun to go to.”

“Yeah?” Chrysidea said distractedly. She was busy cleaning her teeth, most accurately, having her fangs sharpened by her aunt with a small file. “Should be fun.”

“Ooh, then I’ll have to pick out a costume! I love costumes, what should I go as? An easel? A mime? Maybe a baguette?”

At that moment, the door to Chrysidea’s room opened and Chrysalis came in. She was holding the letter opener Home Run had given her daughter.

“Here,” Chrysalis said bluntly, holding the little knife out for Chrysidea to take. “You can use it as a throwing knife.”

“I’ve also had the blade dipped in a paralytic poison,” Psithyra said. “Anyone you hit with that won’t be able to move for a few hours.”

Chrysalis blinked and turned away. “Yes. That’s right. Paralytic poison. Of course.”

“Useful, should you need to make a quick getaway.”

“What’s that about a paralytic poison knife, Silver?” Canvas asked in the young changeling’s ear.

“Uh, I’m playing Finest Fantasy,” Chrysidea said quickly. “I’m equipping my, uh, rogue for a mission. Yeah.”

Canvas snickered. “You know, they call those quests in these olden times games.”

“Oh yeah, a quest. Yep. My phone’s running out of power, so I’ll talk to you later, Canvas.”

“Alright. See you at the party, Silver! I’ll still have to decide what to wear! Ooh, I want to know what you’ll be wearing too! I guess it’ll be a surprise!”

*Click*

“Nice. You’re all done, sweetie.” Psithyra put the file back in her tool case. “You should have a better time closing your mouth when your fangs are out now. Honestly, your mother never filed your fangs for you since you were born. You’re lucky you haven’t punctured your own gums with them yet. I don’t know what she’s been thinking. Oh wait, she wasn’t thinking.”

“I’m right here,” Chrysalis said grumpily. “And we didn’t need to file our fangs when we were her age. All you’re doing is creating problems for yourself to solve.”

“Well, you filed yours.”

“For a smoother bite,” the changeling queen huffed. “Sharp fangs make for less flesh tearing when you bite someone. It’s common sense.”

“Yes…” Psithyra raised an eyebrow. Then she shared an unamused look with the younger changeling. “Yes it is.”

Chrysidea giggled, then immediately stopped. “Oh um, so the Shadowbolts are having a party tomorrow.”

“Oh, yes. I saw the ad.” Chrysalis brushed her hair with a hand. “It’s all over MyStable. It’s as though they didn’t think they could be inviting trouble.”

“I suppose you want to go to this party?” Psithyra asked as she poked at her phone, texting someone.

Chrysalis blew a raspberry. “As if I’d go to some lowly party like this? I have an image to keep up.”

Psithyra rolled her eyes. “Not you. Dea, sweetie?”

“Oh, uh, y-yeah, if that’s o-okay with mother…” Chrysidea grinned sheepishly. “I’ve never been to a… party party before.”

Chrysalis remained with her flat face. “I’ve had to shoot enough parties in my career. There’s usually some obnoxious music, alcoholic drinks everywhere, and drugs. Not to mention the cadre of unsavory people who are sure to show up for free booze.”

“So that’s a no?”

The changeling queen shrugged. “Go if you want, but we need you to be at your post by eleven forty-five sharp.”

“Y-Yes, mother.” Chrysidea nodded. “And uh, don’t worry. Uh, I won’t drink. Or take drugs.”

“You had better not,” Psithyra said reproachfully. “We need you at your best and brightest tomorrow night. I’ll be occupied with the sirens and finalizing the leylines, so I won’t be around to watch you.”

“Yes, Aunt Psithyra. I’ll do my best. Promise.”

“Psshh.” Chrysalis sniffed. “Your best isn’t good enough, but I suppose it’ll have to do. There’s no one else like us to do this. And put the throwing knife in the case with the rest of your gear. You can change into it when I come to pick you up. As for what to wear to this costume party, well, I suggest something monstrous to keep up with the Halloween spirit. Maybe the Loch Roach Monster.”

“It’s Loch Horse, sister,” Psithyra corrected.

“Whatever. I’ll leave it to her to decide.” And she left the room, disappearing down the corridor.

“Mother’s going to come pick me up from the party?” Chrysidea said, bewildered. “Since when does she do that?”

Back before her aunt’s arrival, it would be Silver Platter who would drive them around. She’d never been in the car with her mother as the driver. When Chrysalis drove, it was always by herself.

“Your mother is a perfectly safe driver. You and she will be around the same location, protecting the ritual site. It’s just easier on everyone that way.” Psithyra emitted a strange smell for a second, but it was gone too quickly for her niece to make any sense of it.

“Hey, you know, Halloween is the one night we can actually be ourselves and the humans won’t even notice. I’ve been out like this before, though with a proper attire at least, and they were none the wiser. They’ll just think you have a really cool costume.”

“So I could just go out like this?”

“I mean, it has to make sense, of course. If you follow your mother’s suggestion and go as the Loch Horse Monster, then it’ll probably be a good idea to put on a persona. It won’t make sense to be a changeling and a sea monster. Now if you’re going as some samurai grandfather ghost, then yes, you could technically go as yourself, sweetie.”

“Oh, yeah okay, that makes sense.” Chrysidea turned the gears of her mind. She didn’t know what to go as. She’d never been to a costume party. There always was Ghost Hollow, but her aunt had said it probably wasn’t a good idea. Then an idea hit her and a lightbulb went off in her head. “I’ve got it! I know what I’ll go as!”