"Welcome to the Grand Galloping Gala." Twilight shook the noble's hoof, a large smile covering her face.

In the moment between guests, Celestia leaned over to her fellow princess. "Softer, Twilight. Your smile will last longer."

Twilight nodded but didn't change her smile for the next guest. "Welcome to the Grand Galloping Gala." She waited for the guest to walk away. "How much longer?"

"Just the ones we can see at this point."

Twilight looked out across the crowd. "That's still a lot. Welcome to the Grand Galloping Gala."

Celestia watched the guest walk away. "It's far less than before."

"Ohohoho." An elderly stallion trotted up to the princesses. "You two don't seem to like what you're doing."

Twilight chuckled. "Not really. It's very boring."

The stallion forcefully shook Twilight's hoof. "Don't worry, your highness! I'm sure this event will be a blast! You've just got to get through the boring parts."

"Of course!" Twilight's smile was even more exaggerated until the stallion was gone. "Who was that?"

"Grey Fly." Fancy Pants trotted up to Twilight. "He appeared rather recently in Canterlot, but he quickly made a name for himself. There hasn't been an event in the past month that he's missed."

"Though that does remind me of those horrible disasters recently." Fancy's lover was tapping her chin. "I don't think Grey Fly has anything to do with them, but they are concerning none the less."

Celestia nodded. "They don't seem to be caused by someone, but they have been occurring with alarming frequency as of late."

Twilight swallowed. "Let's hope they stop before too many ponies are hurt."

Rainbow groaned. "Where is Twilight? I need to talk to her."

Applejack shrugged. "Greeting the guests still, probably."

Pinkie's head was on the table. "I feel bad for her. The rest of this is boring as is."

Fluttershy looked at the one friend of their's that seemed to be enjoying herself. "Well, it's definitely not as exciting as last year."

Rainbow looked around. "Is Discord even here?"

Applejack shook her head. "Nope. They banned him. Until Celestia can slip him back on the list."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Then why didn't they ban us after-"

Pinkie pointed her nose to the sky. "I'M SO BOOOOOOORED!"

Rainbow stood up. "I'm going to find something to do. I'll find Twilight later."

Rainbow passed by Spike, who glanced at her as he headed towards the rest of the girls. "Hey, I'm headed to Donut Joe's. Want to come along?"

Pinkie responded by leaping over the table, grabbing Spike's tail in her mouth, and running out the door.

Fluttershy sighed. "Well, I'm headed out back if you need me."

Applejack watched as the last other pony left the table. "Might as well get some more grub."

Far above everyone was a small insect, moving small metal balls into places they couldn't roll out of.

Author's Note

I'm gonna casually leave a Patreon link here.