Nightshade: Gala Paradoxby JustPonyboyChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 1"YOU WHAT?!" Nightshade flinched at the fashionista's yelling, "That was a two thousand dollar shirt! And you just ripped the sleeves off? Are you insane?" She could be heard from outside where Lyra and Bon Bon paused in confusion for a second. "I spent hours on that shirt! It was the finest silk I had access to!" Nightshade sheepishly stared at her patterned floor, Sweetie Belle and Ace sat on the couch behind them silently. Nightshade stammered ready to move in case she threw something at him, "W-well you see there was a bit of... an... Explosion. A-anyways that's not why I'm here! You know the Gala's next week right? Ace here doesn't know what to wear." The anger faded from her eyes as she lit up, "Our dear prince needs something to wear?" "-Wait I never told you-" "Nightshade, I've known our dear Ace longer than you. Sweetie Belle, bring him over. Now... Nightshade- " "I know, I messed up! I didn't think I was gonna have a detour." She waved a hand dismissively eyeing up Ace, "I'll see about making you another. I'll call you in an hour or two when I've finished his measurements." It was 10 am when Nightshade left. He promptly returned at midday when Rarity didn't call him back, he knocked on the boutique door. Rarity opened the door looking confused and tired, "Nightshade what are you doing here? I told you to come back later- " "Rarity," Nightshade pointed at the sun, "It's midday. You said you'd call me back, you never did. Where's Ace?" "Oh well I got his measurements and he said he was bored so I let Sweetie..." She froze. "You did what?" "I let him run off with Sweetie!" Rarity cursed under her breath. "You should probably go find him before they do some damage." By the time Nightshade had gotten home, it was nearly 9 pm. Luna's moon shone brightly. Nightshade closed the front door, "So tell me how exactly you ended up at Diamond Tiara's house?" "Well, they said something about going to a party, I told them I was tired and they told me to drink some drink... I can't remember what it was. It burned a bit though." Nightshade facepalmed, "Of course they got into the cider... How did..." "Oh no it wasn't cider, I had that at the party. It tasted sweet. What they gave me was sour, they said it would give me energy. And then I blinked and I was at a party." Of course. They give the super-powerful alicorn an energy drink. Despite his day being wasted he couldn't bring himself to be angry, Ace looked as if he genuinely enjoyed himself. He had no clue how alicorn age truly worked but he could safely assume that the crusaders were much more mature than he was, Nightshade was thankful they didn't do anything to him. I'm more of a parent than Celestia is. He thought proudly as he sent Ace off to his room to sleep. I really should start getting everyone ready for the Gala. Speed needs her dress, Endie her tux... Bri and O'Malley already have arrangements. Whatever, I'll handle all that tomorrow. Chapter 2"Yes you actually have to wear it," Nightshade repeated for the third time to Ace who lay defiantly on his bed in a t-shirt and boy shorts with his arms crossed. Nightshade thanked his lucky stars that he wore those and not- "At least them on." A lavish black dress with gold accents and a tuxedo with similar gold trim and his cutie mark on the lapel. "Why? I don't get to do anything for the Gala except sit next to Luna and Mom." Ace had a fair point, that wasn't much incentive to go to the event. Nightshade pushed up his glasses, "Well... I could talk to Luna, pull a few strings to get you out of that boring routine- " "Could you get them to book Vinyl Scratch?" Ace asked trying to do what Nightshade could only assume was his attempt at puppy eyes. Nightshade chuckled, "Calm down, she might be there anyway. Performing or not. She and Octavia are probably going as a date. Or maybe that hasn't happened yet? Eh. Now come on, you have to try it on at least once." Ace sighed and begrudgingly opened his closet. A ginger maned pegasus smiled brightly as he followed a slate grey earth pony, "So. Octavia. Are you attending the Gala?" "Of course. I can expect to see you there with your date right?" Octavia's response froze him. He stopped in the middle of the street and stared at the ground for a moment, pushing up his glasses. "F-funnily enough, I was uh..." Octavia stopped walking and put down her case as he pulled on his collar. Her stare made him weak. "I was won-wondering, would you go to the Gala with me? As my date?" "I can't. I already have one. You remember Vinyl?" "I remember she pushed me into a pool after I told her I couldn't swim." "Ginger, she said she was sorry, she had downed a whole bottle of whiskey beforehand. I'm sorry. I can meet you at the Gala and we can talk." Ginger forced a smile, almost gritting his teeth as he kept his voice even. "It's fine. I... I was gonna go by myself anyways." Octavia's face went from a slight smirk to guilty but Ginger turned away from her with a wave and began to walk away from her before she could stop him or say anything more. "I'll see you at the Gala, Octavia." Within five minutes he walked into a flower shop, it was virtually void of flowers or premade arrangements. The Gala required more attention than personal business. The instant he entered, the bored mare behind the counter perked up. Her purple mane glistened in the morning light. Ginger leaned on the counter with a sigh, directly in front of the lavender mare. "So what'd she say?" the lavender mare wiped her hands on her jeans and straightened out her shirt as she leaned across the counter towards him. He put his head down, "She's already going with someone, that girl that almost drowned me at Melody's house party." "The rave girl?" Ginger nodded, "Huh. Woulda never thought she'd catch Octavia's fancy." There was a beat of silence. "Well, look on the bright side. I'll be there and we can still have fun together, it'll be just like prom." The mare sounded hopeful. "Yeah," Ginger looked up at her, "I guess you're right Mag. I heard they're going to have a hot air balloon you can take to get a view of the city at night." "You could literally see that view any time, you are a pegasus." Ginger glared at her. "Right, sorry. Forgot." "I always wondered what flying was like. So that's how." The sad look in his emerald eye pained her, she opened her mouth to say something but the words died in her throat when his glare softened. "If you're going, I thought we could meet up and do that." He turned and made for the door. "Wear something nice Magnolia, n-not that you don't look nice n-normally! You look nice n-now even! I mean- UGH! I'll see you at the GALA!" Ginger rushed out flustered, Magnolia stared at the door and banged her head on the counter. "I shoulda told him. Well, there's always the balloon ride. Then we can dance." She drummed her hands excitedly. It was a bad thing to be happy about, but she couldn't have been happier that Octavia rejected him. Now Ginger was all hers with no distractions. Celestia stood on the balcony of her tower looking off towards Ponyville as rain fell, to say she was worried about her son being in Nightshade's care was an understatement. She was beyond worried about what his associates were teaching her son. Soft metallic footsteps approached from behind the Sun princess. "You wanted to see me, princess?" "Yes, come." She dreaded this conversation, she knew the way it could possibly go. She watched her senior guard stand at attention next to her. "At ease Strike," She decided to drop the formalities, "You've been in the guard for longer than most remember, fought in some of our most dire moments, been a symbol of hope in the solar guard. What do your family think of your line of work? Surely they worry for you?" "I wouldn't know," She took off her helmet, allowing Celestia to see some white hairs in her mane of blonde. As long as Celestia had known her she could never pinpoint the mare's accent, she always assumed she was from Manehatten. Her cobalt fur looked dull and her muzzle and face scored with scars. "Haven't heard from my family since I left Appaloosa. I remember my mother telling me she 'Never wanted to see me again'. I wonder if the old bitch is still kickin' about... Sorry." Celestia seemed to be searching for the right words, "Have you considered... Settling down? Perhaps starting- " "What?" "I just worry that you may have invested too much in... I just want you to live a full life." "No disrespect to you Princess, but this is what I chose. This is all I want. There's nothing that makes me feel more full than making sure ponies are safe and keeping evil at bay. Nobody is gonna change that." This made Celestia chuckle, she knew the ageing mare would put up resistance. "Well, alright. I can't force you to retire." She leaned on the railing, "But I do ask one personal thing. For one night, the Gala... Just attend as a guest just for one night. As much as I hate to admit it, I do need you to do something. I... I have a special guest attending. Do you remember the changeling attack?" "Don't tell me- " "Sioux is different. When the smoke cleared, we found him cowering in the hedges. Out of all the drones, he was the only one who could read or even speak without duplicating somepony. As a matter of fact, we didn't really know he was a changeling at first if I'm being quite honest. I would have one of Luna's best agents on this but she recently retired." "Rita, right? Last I heard, she was in therapy." Celestia simply nodded, "I just need you to make sure Sioux has a good night. Consider it like a... a break from regular work." "Alright. As long as..." Celestia looked back and saw Strike squinting at something in the sky, "Wow, I've never seen a meteor shower before." The princess looked at the sky as there were many trails lighting up the night sky. That was until one suddenly changed direction. "What the- " Was all Strike was able to get out. "That's not a meteor shower!" Celestia cast a protective barrier around the castle and Strike drew her rifle. The flaming arrow-shaped projectile zoomed past the castle and darted into the fog that hung over the Everfree forest with a deafening boom. Strike looked virtually unfazed as she noticed the smoke trail it left behind slowly dissipating. The princess dropped the barrier. "So. Do you want to call this one in or do you want me to do it? You know how he's gonna be." Strike shouldered her rifle. Celestia just stared at the area the object landed, "Send a squad down in the morning. They can inform him." Chapter 3Nightshade stared at the smouldering heap of metal as Celestia's guards kept air traffic away from the crash site. He had been holding his umbrella so that Ace stayed dry, he handed the alicorn his umbrella. Ace yawned, rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his rubber raincoat. His boots and pants splattered with mud. A younger stallion met Nightshade halfway to the site, he was about to speak but Nightshade cut him off. "Was there anypony inside?" "N-no, sir. There were some footprints and a discarded helmet but nothing else." "Thank you. Keep the locals clear of the area, there's still a lot of smoke and we don't want anypony getting hurt." The guard nodded and took off. Nightshade motioned for Ace to come over and the prince shivered as he followed Nightshade over to the crash, he felt bad for waking the boy up so early but he needed him. Nightshade grabbed the umbrella from Ace and pointed at the discarded helmet, it was coated with speckles of red. The glass was shattered and slowly filling with rainwater, "Ace, you think you can do that thing with this?" He nodded with another small yawn, the focusing gem turned clear and he placed a hand on Nighthshade's shoulder. He felt his whole body go numb as he was frozen in place with Ace and a sharp shiver ran up his spine, he'd never get used to that. The world around them darkened as a blurry, illuminated afterimage showed up. They were seethrough but visible. The same deafening boom shattered the light patter of rain that seemed ever-present in the Everfree forest. A metal door, bent almost completely beyond recognition, skid across the ground covered in burns. From the smouldering source of the smoke arose a pony shaped mass, it tumbled away from the wreckage and hunched over before forcefully ripping the helmet from its head taking in a massive gasp of air. He flexed his wings a bit. Nightshade took this moment to glance at the discarded door, he hadn't noticed it before. "Holy... Holy shit!" his sweat-drenched mane covering half his face as he squinted at his surroundings, whipping his head around left and right trying to get a sense of where he could have ended up. "T-trees? Are they real? Maybe I landed on a farming colony or Mainland Earth pony colony?" He coughed hard and gagged a bit. "Alright, cowpony this isn't your first rodeo... And now I'm talking to myself, while I'm doing that might as well make a note to scuttle the ship and put some distance between it and I. Shit's beyond repair and the last thing I wanna do is get busted by the authorities, again." He stripped down out of his flight suit and tossed it back into the ship as the fire was starting up again. All he had now was his black jumper, he quickly went through the pockets. In his breast pocket he found a strange pair of glasses, with a sigh he pocketed them. In another pocket, he found a butterfly knife style energy cutter and a taser. The pony took off running before the wreckage exploded again. Ace removed his hand and Nightshade looked perplexed. "Well," Nightshade started as he hit a button on his communicator, "That answers what was inside. But not who or where they're from- " That was when he spotted some words written on the side of the ship. 'Pegasi Cluster Research.' He held the button, "Computer, can you look for any disappearances? Namely from the Pegasi Cluster Testing facilities?" "Why do I have the feeling this isn't a random inquiry?" "What do you mean, she requested me?" Celestia marched down the hall with one of Luna's stone-faced guards. "Ma'am she refused to eat until she spoke to you. We thought it would be best to bring it to your attention, we could have handled it with force but this seemed like the better choice." It wasn't long before they were standing outside of the rust coloured mare's cell. True to the guard's word, she sat with her tray of food pushed away from her. Her magic straight jacket hadn't restrained her so the princess knew she hadn't tried to get physical. The cell didn't look so much like a cell, if you had taken away the bars it could function as a living space. "It's come to my attention that you've decided you don't need to eat. Why is that?" The mare's pale red eyes looked up at the princess with a smirk, "How else was I going to be able to speak to you? You wouldn't give me the time of day if I just asked nicely, I knew you'd listen to these boys." "You have my attention." "I don't want anything major." Her ears flicked mischievously, "I just want to attend the Gala. I've never been." Celestia could feel it. That wasn't it. "Something's gonna happen at the Gala. You just want to be there so you can escape." The pony snickered, her overgrown mane brushing the floor as she sat down. "Oh please. I have no plans on escaping. But you're right. Somethin's gonna happen, but the question is... Do you believe me?" Ginger glanced out the window into the rainy night, he'd spent all day at home. After all, he had no need to attend the orchestra practices considering he wouldn't be playing after his recent episode last month. No matter how much he attended practice and socialized he couldn't get medical clearance, as of recent he'd only been attending solely for Octavia but that was out the window now. She tried to call him but he had no intention of speaking to her. Not yet. He couldn't, he might have been overreacting but he was used to getting what he wanted. 'No' was not what he wanted to hear. There was a clap of thunder as the rain came down harder, Ginger forced himself out of his bed grabbing his glasses off his nightstand. The only thing he could think about right now? That zap apple cider and strawberry ice cream in his fridge, it wasn't healthy but he was an adult and he'd be damned if anypony tell him what he can and can't eat or drink. Not even Psyche. She'd have a fit about this. He entered his kitchen with the energy of a tired sloth as he flicked on the light and threw open the refrigerator, he grabbed what he came for and right as he was about to head to his room he heard three booming yet rhythmic knocks. "Rain must be coming down something fierce- " He was interrupted by the knocking again. "Hello? Is anyone home?" A voice called from the direction of his front door, out of instinct he almost rushed upstairs to get dressed but stopped himself. What the hell am I doing? Somepony's stuck out in that storm and here I am worried about someone seeing my pyjamas. He thought as he put his snacks down on the counter and ran over to the door. He opened it slowly. A sandy brown pegasus stood with his wings spread over his head in an attempt to protect himself from the rain, it was a clear failure as his black mane was drenched and his fur was soaked. With the black jumper, he wore Ginger imagined he was a groundworker or a plumber maybe. He held a pair of waterlogged boots in his hand and that's when Ginger realized he had taken off his shoes. In the rain. "Oh. Hello." The pegasus managed a smile as he was lashed with rain, "You're the first house that answered- You wouldn't mind if I- " Ginger opened the door, shutting it after the stallion entered. "Not at all. I'll get you a towel." Ginger rushed off to the bathroom, the stallion graciously accepted the towel and began to dry off his mane. Ginger just stared at him, at a closer glance he wasn't much bigger than Ginger. They made eye contact and Ginger averted his gaze. "I have a shower if you'd prefer that." "Sure." He carefully placed his wet boots down, "Lead on- wait. This is your house, right? I hope I didn't force some kid to let me in if that's the case I can wait outside until your parents get home- " "This is my house. Come on, it's upstairs." Within an hour, Ginger's new guest had showered and Ginger was laying out some blankets and pillows on his floor next to his bed. Ginger had also taken the liberty of hanging up the stallion's wet clothing and giving him an extra shirt and sweats. Ginger sat on his bed while his guest sat in the makeshift one on the floor. "Alright. My name is Ginger. I figured we might as well get acquainted, that storm looks like it might stick for a few days." "My name's Hazel." Ginger felt his face glowing when the stallion's brown eyes rested on him. "You know you really didn't have to lend me any of your clothes- " "I have too many anyway." "So... Is there a reason why you were gonna eat an entire tub of ice cream and a bottle of alcohol?" Ginger looked ashamed for a moment before taking a swig straight from the bottle, "I don't want to talk about it." "Are you sure? I won't judge and we have plenty of time." "It's kind of a long story... It started with an obsession really..." Chapter 4Ginger awoke alone in his room, the sound of rain greeted him. He glanced around his room, the blankets he'd lent his guest were neatly folded and the food and drink cleaned up. Even his glasses were neatly folded on his nightstand. He stood up sleepily, putting on his glasses, and froze as he smelled something. Eggs. He rushed downstairs slowly creeping into the kitchen, Hazel stood in the kitchen in front of the stove. Ginger hadn't noticed it initially but Hazel seemed to be quietly singing to himself as he gracefully navigated around the cupboards. "Staying still, eyes closed... Let the world just pass me by- AHH!" He flinched as he turned meeting Ginger's amused gaze, "You scared the hell out of me." "Sorry. Just... I'm not used to having anyone cook for me. Not since my parents left." Ginger frowned looking down at the floor. "Well, hey. I'd be glad to cook for you anytime." Ginger lifted his gaze with a sweet smile and felt his heart flutter when Hazel giggled, Hazel's smile seemed to brighten up the room. They sat down at Ginger's dining room table and began to eat. Ginger paused for a moment, "This is gonna sound weird. Considering we've just met. There's a Gala going on at the castle in a few days. I don't want to seem like I'm forcing you. But- " "There's a party going on?" His words broke the awkwardness. Ginger was surprised by the excitement in his voice. "Well, yes but you have to wear a suit and- " "I'm fine with that, it sounds like fun." Ginger couldn't help but grin at his eagerness. Strike stood outside a small home, holding an umbrella. Her boots were coated with mud, the last thing she wanted was to be in Ponyville in the rain. She didn't mind getting dirty but she preferred Canterlot's paved roads. A stallion cracked open the door open, "Goot Mornin'... You Strike?" "Yeah. The very Captain." He opened the door and allowed Strike in. "How are you, Sioux? Ponyville treating you nicely?" Strike carefully removed her muddy boots and left them by the door. He closed the door and offered Strike a chair at his dining room table, she sat and he brought over a chair for himself before sitting. His pearlescent black and green mane and fur shined oddly in the soft light, his pale green eyes seemed nervous but joyful. He was dressed in a short sleeve button up and khakis "Yes-s, we have enjoyed the time in Ponyville." "You mean I. You would say I, you are talking about yourself. Try not to speak in the third person." "You are right. W- I am enjoying my residence in this village. Everypony is so nice to me. The soft white one made me a suit even. But some of the colts and fillies look at me funny when I go outside. I live just like them do I not?" The changeling frowned. Strike nodded, "That may be, but you have to understand. You are different. Everyone is, even me. But being different is good, could you imagine if everyone looked and acted the same? Personally, I'd get sick of that quick. I like myself, but not that much." Strike ended with a chuckle and that seemed to lift his spirits. "Besides, I'm not gonna leave you alone during the gala. Now, even though you're a unicorn, I know you like the Wonderbolts and it just so happens I let slip to their rookie that I'd be attending... You're gonna be the only stallion there with two dates, let alone a date with a Royal Captain and a star Wonderbolt." She smiled at the giddy look in his eyes. Who knew a changeling could like the Wonderbolts? "Do you think whatever came out of that ship was dangerous?" Nightshade looked across the table at the alicorn who was absentmindedly picking at his food, "Honestly?" Ace nodded. "I have no clue. I'm treating it the same as the labs. I don't want to underestimate anything and I'm not taking any chances. That means you have to be ready too, with so many ponies congregated in one area it might be a target." "Bri and O'Malley are pretty scary..." "In public, sure." "What does- " "Don't worry about it." "They seem like they can handle this." Ace finally got out but Nightshade shook his head. "We can worry about this tomorrow," Nightshade got up from his chair, "Finish your food and get some sleep. We all need to be able to handle this. We can't rely on Strike this time because she has an HVI to protect, but there will be extra security. Hopefully, that helps us out. Goodnight Ace." Chapter 5Ace looked slightly embarrassed and hid walked closely behind Nightshade as reporters repeatedly snapped photos. It seemed Ace's new tuxedo was a hit and his flipped up hairstyle had them swooning, Ace was not enjoying the attention. "Mom said they weren't gonna do that this year," Ace whispered to Nightshade. Nightshade glanced at one of the guards standing by the entrance to make sure they weren't watching as he sent a magic wave their way, shattering the camera lenses. He chuckled and the angry shouts from the photographers as they entered. "Oops. Did I do that?" Nightshade pushed up his glasses with a grin. Ginger tapped his foot, Hazel was supposed to be dressed already. What could be taking so long- Ginger flinched as his front door opened and Hazel stepped out in a crisp black tux with a blood-red tie, Ginger looked down at his own black-tie before Hazel began to walk. "Alright," He stopped and posed for Ginger, "How do I look? Dressed to kill?" Ginger just stared. "Ginny?" Ginger snapped out of whatever trance he was in, "You- you look fantastic." "I could tell by the look in your eyes." "Let's just get to the Gala already." "Is all this really necessary?" Totoro walked alongside Celestia in a black dress and a crimson cape, in her opinion it made her look like a vampire. It was ridiculous. Celestia giggled, "Having second thoughts? If you're going to attend you attend under my terms and you have to look presentable. It isn't ladylike to have a matted mane." "They don't let me use comb or brushes in the psych ward. Told me it was too sharp and I might hurt someone." Totoro huffed as she walked like an angry dragon with the princess. "Now spill." "You won't like it," the earth pony grimaced. "I don't care." "Unlike our Sun princess to act this way... Your son is going to die tonight. I've seen it. It's fixed in time tonight." "When?" Toro stopped and glared at Celestia, "What do you mean 'when'? Surely you don't expect to alter space and time by preventing it. Are you out of your mind? You can't stop a fixed event!" "Dammit that's my child and I'll be damned if I stand by while he dies knowing I could prevent it!" Toro threw her head back in grim laughter, "We'll see. Then you better catch him before about... 11. You know, when Vinyl will swap from that awful noise to slow dance. It'll be fun to watch you get what's coming to ya- " There was a resounding smack as Celestia struck her across the face, Toro staggered back and leaned against a wall. "Don't you ever, ever try to tell anyone what they deserve. I won't be told such things by the likes of you," There was a hint of a snarl in her voice and Toro cowered slightly. "Now go to the ballroom and sit. If you move, I'll have you drugged and carted off the nearest ward for the rest of your worthless life." Toro scurried off muttering curses as Celestia began to compose herself in the hallway. Strike put her hand up and waved Nightshade and his friends over. "Captain Strike?" "Just Strike tonight," She straightened her bowtie and put her hand on Sioux's shoulder, "I'm here on my night off with my new friend." "Is he- " "See, I told you he'd ask a stupid question." Strike nudged the changeling and he laughed looking a bit less tense. "Yes. He'd actually bumped into you two about a week ago. Ace made him nervous." Ace bowed his head, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable!" "It's alright," He looked at Strike momentarily and she nodded, "I was still getting used to living in the town." "So is it just you two? He doesn't really seem like your type, Cap." Nightshade smirked. "It's nothing like that, we're here as friends. We're actually waiting for Thunderstruck- " There was a clap of thunder and almost everyone at the Gala took a quick glance at the sky that was surprisingly clear, in a flash of white a zebra-patterned mare with an electric yellow mane gracefully flew in accompanied by Spitfire and Soarin. The pegasus straightened her red dress and removed her sunglasses as she walked over to join Strike. "Nice to see you, Cap," Her electric yellow eyes made Strike's wings unfurl slightly before she pressed them to her back. "And you must be Sioux. Whoa, how'd you get that mane colour? Who's your stylist? I gotta get their number." "It's natural," Sioux said nervously. "That... is... AWESOME!" Sioux looked surprised and began to smile as Struck spoke a mile a minute to the changeling. "I'll be with Struck- I mean- not with her with her but like- walkin'- you know what I mean!" The flustered captain walked off with the two. Nightshade looked at Ace, "Guess it really is up to us. Strike's gonna be following Struck's tail all night." "Why- " Nightshade cut him off, "I'll tell you when you're older." "Wowza," Hazel murmured. "This is one high-class party." "You did not just say 'Wowza'," Ginger shook his head playfully. Ginger just smiled at his curious gazing about, to think anypony hadn't seen the interior of the Castle in Canterlot was almost unheard of. Hazel looked like somepony just offered him free ice cream. For the next hour or so they danced talked and ate, that was until Octavia made eye contact with him from across the room. He'd been midway through his glass of wine when her worried glance caught his eye. She knew he shouldn't be drinking, with that worried look and Vinyl in tow Ginger quickly downed his drink looking for an escape. No, no-no. I don't want to speak to her, not now. The place was too crowded for him to slip away and taking flight wasn't an option for multiple reasons. He did the only thing he could think of, he tapped Hazel on the shoulder and the moment the stallion turned his head Ginger pressed his lips to the other's taking him by surprise. The other stallion melted into the aggressive move and Octavia stopped her approach after a few hushed words from the DJ and a smile. Magnolia froze, she felt as if she was rooted to the floor and she felt her anger bubbling over. How dare he? How dare he lead me on? He did this on purpose, he did it to hurt me. She felt furious tears on her face, she turned away and wiped her eyes. She just couldn't stop smiling now. Magnolia made a trip to the food table, swiping something off it and coming back to where Ginger and the stallion stood talking. She put on a convincing fake smile as she walked up to them, "Ginger! Great to see you! Octavia didn't come around and ruin your night did she?" "No, she was too busy with her friend." "Is that right?" She looked at Hazel who looked questioningly at her. "Well come on then Gin, I wanna get on the balloon before the slow dancing starts." She began to walk off and Ginger looked back at Hazel, "Don't worry, I'll be back. I'd promised her we'd go at least once tonight." Toro sat alone at her table next to Luna as she just stared at the moon, "Soon." Luna just looked at her, not judgementally but Toro could tell she heard. "It's too bad your sister doesn't understand that nopony can prevent what is supposed to happen tonight." Luna just nodded solemnly. Toro had grown a decent amount of respect for her, then again, a thousand years alone would wise up anypony to what is and isn't in your control. Ace carelessly danced to the music blasting from Vinyl's turntables, Nightshade sat at a table content with keeping watch. He felt adrenaline pumping but couldn't pinpoint why he could feel the danger. Ginger smiled as the balloon reached the end of its tethering rope, they were so high up that the ponies inside looked like colourful specks. He marvelled at the lights of Canterlot. This was how I was meant to see it. I could watch it forever. "So who was he," Ginger looked back at Magnolia. The smile on her face was long gone, replaced with a snarl and a murderous glare. She held a kitchen knife in her hand. "Whoa! Mag! Wha- " "Don't play fucking stupid! I saw you! How... How dare you lead me on like that? How dare you cheat on me... With a stallion no less!" Ginger raised an eyebrow in confusion and fear. He needed to calm the situation. "What are you talking about? We aren't dating. Mag, I'm sorry if I made it seem that way. You're a great friend of mine but that's all I saw you as. You are the best anypony could ask for but- " "You know, you did like to talk your way out of trouble," She tightened her grip on the blade, "But talkers like to lie don't they?" "Wha- " She jammed the knife into his midsection and her vengeful grin turned into a look of regret as she realized the gravity of what she had just done, Ginger struggled to draw choked breaths as his shirt began to grow red. I... I didn't mean to... I... I can't go to jail... "I'm so sorry..." She whispered before she shoved the stallion over the side of the basket, looking away as he plummeted. Nightshade leapt to his feet as he spotted a shadowy figure crossing the dim dancefloor. I see you! He threw Ace to the floor as a shot rang out and a pony in a suit hit the floor. It only took Nightshade a moment to realize who it was and felt sick as he saw Struck and Sioux leaning over the fallen figure. "You just had to get in the way... Didn't you?" There was a deafening bang and a dull pain in Nights' skull as the sound faded away. Chapter 6Nightshade gasped and he saw Struck, Sioux and Strike walking away from him. What the hell? The last thing he recalled was seeing Strike die... But that was impossible because he was watching her joke with Sioux as they walked. Something wasn't right. This all felt familiar to him. "Guess it really is up to us. Strike is gonna be following Struck's tail all night... Deja vu." He felt sick as Ace began, "Why- " "I'll tell you when... you're older..." He felt bile rising in his throat, he needed a drink. He felt dizzy. Ginger and Hazel sat at their table laughing and drinking. Hazel was in the middle of telling a joke when Ginger felt the strong urge to look around, he did so and saw Magnolia approaching. He stood and gave her a warm hug, he felt a sharp pain in his midsection and instinctively clutched his stomach. "Hey, Gin you alright?" Magnolia looked worried and he slowly sat back down. "Y-yeah... Must've been something I ate. Mag, this is Hazel. He's been staying with me for the last few days." "Is that right?" Ginger felt sick again as she said that. "Well if you trust him in your home he must be alright. Hazel, was it? Nice to meet you, good to know I'm not Ginger's only friend." She giggled and Hazel burst out laughing. "H-hey! I have other friends!" "The teddy bear you sleep with doesn't count," Magnolia added making Hazel cackle with laughter and Ginger looked thoroughly embarrassed. "You didn't have to tell him that!" Nightshade grabbed a glass and drank quickly, he felt his sick feeling go away. But he couldn't understand why the feeling would arise anyways. Had something happened? Why did this feel so familiar? "You ever get that feeling of Deja vu? I hear it can make a pony sick to their stomach," Nightshade turned to see Totoro sitting at a table alone. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in confinement." He growled. "Celestia let me come on account of my good behaviour." "Bullshit. You told her something was gonna happen didn't you?" "So what if I did? I also told her that it would happen no matter what, the universe doesn't care about her feelings. She's powerless to it and so are you." "We'll see about- " Toro stomped a foot, "What is it with you ponies? Don't you get it? Did you not hear me? That kid is doomed to die tonight. Isn't it strange how you seemed to think that you experienced this before?" "How- " "How do I know? I have to commend you on one thing, Nightshade Valentine. You don't give up. This isn't the first time you came to talk to me you dolt, do you know how many times I watched you bungle the universe's plan just because you didn't like it?" "What?" He felt all the sounds of the Gala dampen as he focused on Toro. "Now you're starting to get it. I'm tired of reliving this night. All because of you. Because of you, I watched two innocent ponies die because you couldn't deal with it. This is the true reality because you won't interfere this time..." He grabbed Toro in anger and she shrieked causing two guards to pin Nightshade down. "Th-this stallion wouldn't leave me alone after I told him I wouldn't go home with him, I think he's had too much to drink." Nightshade struggled as he was hauled outside, "No! You can't do this! The prince is in danger! You gotta let me go!" The two stallions roughly threw Nightshade on the ground outside. "Why don't you sober up a bit pal?" The unicorn guard chuckled and drew his rifle when Nights tried to approach the doors, "Go home." Nights panted heavily in defeat. There was nothing he could do, If he made his way back inside he would be arrested on the spot. Hit a button on his communicator and he was transported to Pandora. He didn't care if there was a way to save him he was going to do it. He sped over to the controls and attempted to land Pandora inside the castle, his ship took off but no matter where he tried to go Pandora refused to go anywhere near the castle. Computer rushed out of the depths of Pandora, "Sir! She can't land! This is a fixed point. If Ace doesn't die tonight you could tear space and time. Nightshade, please. None of us wants this, but if you don't stop... You're going to destroy us all." Nightshade threw his fist into the console angrily, "I don't care! This isn't fair! Why him? He never did anything wrong!" There was a silence that settled over the ship as Pandora aimlessly flew over Canterlot. He couldn't even hear the hum of pandora's engines. He didn't want to see Ace die. Not again. Ace could live on in his heart and mind. He reached under the console and opened a hatch, flipping a switch as Pandora passed the moon...
Chapter 1"YOU WHAT?!" Nightshade flinched at the fashionista's yelling, "That was a two thousand dollar shirt! And you just ripped the sleeves off? Are you insane?" She could be heard from outside where Lyra and Bon Bon paused in confusion for a second. "I spent hours on that shirt! It was the finest silk I had access to!" Nightshade sheepishly stared at her patterned floor, Sweetie Belle and Ace sat on the couch behind them silently. Nightshade stammered ready to move in case she threw something at him, "W-well you see there was a bit of... an... Explosion. A-anyways that's not why I'm here! You know the Gala's next week right? Ace here doesn't know what to wear." The anger faded from her eyes as she lit up, "Our dear prince needs something to wear?" "-Wait I never told you-" "Nightshade, I've known our dear Ace longer than you. Sweetie Belle, bring him over. Now... Nightshade- " "I know, I messed up! I didn't think I was gonna have a detour." She waved a hand dismissively eyeing up Ace, "I'll see about making you another. I'll call you in an hour or two when I've finished his measurements." It was 10 am when Nightshade left. He promptly returned at midday when Rarity didn't call him back, he knocked on the boutique door. Rarity opened the door looking confused and tired, "Nightshade what are you doing here? I told you to come back later- " "Rarity," Nightshade pointed at the sun, "It's midday. You said you'd call me back, you never did. Where's Ace?" "Oh well I got his measurements and he said he was bored so I let Sweetie..." She froze. "You did what?" "I let him run off with Sweetie!" Rarity cursed under her breath. "You should probably go find him before they do some damage." By the time Nightshade had gotten home, it was nearly 9 pm. Luna's moon shone brightly. Nightshade closed the front door, "So tell me how exactly you ended up at Diamond Tiara's house?" "Well, they said something about going to a party, I told them I was tired and they told me to drink some drink... I can't remember what it was. It burned a bit though." Nightshade facepalmed, "Of course they got into the cider... How did..." "Oh no it wasn't cider, I had that at the party. It tasted sweet. What they gave me was sour, they said it would give me energy. And then I blinked and I was at a party." Of course. They give the super-powerful alicorn an energy drink. Despite his day being wasted he couldn't bring himself to be angry, Ace looked as if he genuinely enjoyed himself. He had no clue how alicorn age truly worked but he could safely assume that the crusaders were much more mature than he was, Nightshade was thankful they didn't do anything to him. I'm more of a parent than Celestia is. He thought proudly as he sent Ace off to his room to sleep. I really should start getting everyone ready for the Gala. Speed needs her dress, Endie her tux... Bri and O'Malley already have arrangements. Whatever, I'll handle all that tomorrow.
Chapter 2"Yes you actually have to wear it," Nightshade repeated for the third time to Ace who lay defiantly on his bed in a t-shirt and boy shorts with his arms crossed. Nightshade thanked his lucky stars that he wore those and not- "At least them on." A lavish black dress with gold accents and a tuxedo with similar gold trim and his cutie mark on the lapel. "Why? I don't get to do anything for the Gala except sit next to Luna and Mom." Ace had a fair point, that wasn't much incentive to go to the event. Nightshade pushed up his glasses, "Well... I could talk to Luna, pull a few strings to get you out of that boring routine- " "Could you get them to book Vinyl Scratch?" Ace asked trying to do what Nightshade could only assume was his attempt at puppy eyes. Nightshade chuckled, "Calm down, she might be there anyway. Performing or not. She and Octavia are probably going as a date. Or maybe that hasn't happened yet? Eh. Now come on, you have to try it on at least once." Ace sighed and begrudgingly opened his closet. A ginger maned pegasus smiled brightly as he followed a slate grey earth pony, "So. Octavia. Are you attending the Gala?" "Of course. I can expect to see you there with your date right?" Octavia's response froze him. He stopped in the middle of the street and stared at the ground for a moment, pushing up his glasses. "F-funnily enough, I was uh..." Octavia stopped walking and put down her case as he pulled on his collar. Her stare made him weak. "I was won-wondering, would you go to the Gala with me? As my date?" "I can't. I already have one. You remember Vinyl?" "I remember she pushed me into a pool after I told her I couldn't swim." "Ginger, she said she was sorry, she had downed a whole bottle of whiskey beforehand. I'm sorry. I can meet you at the Gala and we can talk." Ginger forced a smile, almost gritting his teeth as he kept his voice even. "It's fine. I... I was gonna go by myself anyways." Octavia's face went from a slight smirk to guilty but Ginger turned away from her with a wave and began to walk away from her before she could stop him or say anything more. "I'll see you at the Gala, Octavia." Within five minutes he walked into a flower shop, it was virtually void of flowers or premade arrangements. The Gala required more attention than personal business. The instant he entered, the bored mare behind the counter perked up. Her purple mane glistened in the morning light. Ginger leaned on the counter with a sigh, directly in front of the lavender mare. "So what'd she say?" the lavender mare wiped her hands on her jeans and straightened out her shirt as she leaned across the counter towards him. He put his head down, "She's already going with someone, that girl that almost drowned me at Melody's house party." "The rave girl?" Ginger nodded, "Huh. Woulda never thought she'd catch Octavia's fancy." There was a beat of silence. "Well, look on the bright side. I'll be there and we can still have fun together, it'll be just like prom." The mare sounded hopeful. "Yeah," Ginger looked up at her, "I guess you're right Mag. I heard they're going to have a hot air balloon you can take to get a view of the city at night." "You could literally see that view any time, you are a pegasus." Ginger glared at her. "Right, sorry. Forgot." "I always wondered what flying was like. So that's how." The sad look in his emerald eye pained her, she opened her mouth to say something but the words died in her throat when his glare softened. "If you're going, I thought we could meet up and do that." He turned and made for the door. "Wear something nice Magnolia, n-not that you don't look nice n-normally! You look nice n-now even! I mean- UGH! I'll see you at the GALA!" Ginger rushed out flustered, Magnolia stared at the door and banged her head on the counter. "I shoulda told him. Well, there's always the balloon ride. Then we can dance." She drummed her hands excitedly. It was a bad thing to be happy about, but she couldn't have been happier that Octavia rejected him. Now Ginger was all hers with no distractions. Celestia stood on the balcony of her tower looking off towards Ponyville as rain fell, to say she was worried about her son being in Nightshade's care was an understatement. She was beyond worried about what his associates were teaching her son. Soft metallic footsteps approached from behind the Sun princess. "You wanted to see me, princess?" "Yes, come." She dreaded this conversation, she knew the way it could possibly go. She watched her senior guard stand at attention next to her. "At ease Strike," She decided to drop the formalities, "You've been in the guard for longer than most remember, fought in some of our most dire moments, been a symbol of hope in the solar guard. What do your family think of your line of work? Surely they worry for you?" "I wouldn't know," She took off her helmet, allowing Celestia to see some white hairs in her mane of blonde. As long as Celestia had known her she could never pinpoint the mare's accent, she always assumed she was from Manehatten. Her cobalt fur looked dull and her muzzle and face scored with scars. "Haven't heard from my family since I left Appaloosa. I remember my mother telling me she 'Never wanted to see me again'. I wonder if the old bitch is still kickin' about... Sorry." Celestia seemed to be searching for the right words, "Have you considered... Settling down? Perhaps starting- " "What?" "I just worry that you may have invested too much in... I just want you to live a full life." "No disrespect to you Princess, but this is what I chose. This is all I want. There's nothing that makes me feel more full than making sure ponies are safe and keeping evil at bay. Nobody is gonna change that." This made Celestia chuckle, she knew the ageing mare would put up resistance. "Well, alright. I can't force you to retire." She leaned on the railing, "But I do ask one personal thing. For one night, the Gala... Just attend as a guest just for one night. As much as I hate to admit it, I do need you to do something. I... I have a special guest attending. Do you remember the changeling attack?" "Don't tell me- " "Sioux is different. When the smoke cleared, we found him cowering in the hedges. Out of all the drones, he was the only one who could read or even speak without duplicating somepony. As a matter of fact, we didn't really know he was a changeling at first if I'm being quite honest. I would have one of Luna's best agents on this but she recently retired." "Rita, right? Last I heard, she was in therapy." Celestia simply nodded, "I just need you to make sure Sioux has a good night. Consider it like a... a break from regular work." "Alright. As long as..." Celestia looked back and saw Strike squinting at something in the sky, "Wow, I've never seen a meteor shower before." The princess looked at the sky as there were many trails lighting up the night sky. That was until one suddenly changed direction. "What the- " Was all Strike was able to get out. "That's not a meteor shower!" Celestia cast a protective barrier around the castle and Strike drew her rifle. The flaming arrow-shaped projectile zoomed past the castle and darted into the fog that hung over the Everfree forest with a deafening boom. Strike looked virtually unfazed as she noticed the smoke trail it left behind slowly dissipating. The princess dropped the barrier. "So. Do you want to call this one in or do you want me to do it? You know how he's gonna be." Strike shouldered her rifle. Celestia just stared at the area the object landed, "Send a squad down in the morning. They can inform him."
Chapter 3Nightshade stared at the smouldering heap of metal as Celestia's guards kept air traffic away from the crash site. He had been holding his umbrella so that Ace stayed dry, he handed the alicorn his umbrella. Ace yawned, rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his rubber raincoat. His boots and pants splattered with mud. A younger stallion met Nightshade halfway to the site, he was about to speak but Nightshade cut him off. "Was there anypony inside?" "N-no, sir. There were some footprints and a discarded helmet but nothing else." "Thank you. Keep the locals clear of the area, there's still a lot of smoke and we don't want anypony getting hurt." The guard nodded and took off. Nightshade motioned for Ace to come over and the prince shivered as he followed Nightshade over to the crash, he felt bad for waking the boy up so early but he needed him. Nightshade grabbed the umbrella from Ace and pointed at the discarded helmet, it was coated with speckles of red. The glass was shattered and slowly filling with rainwater, "Ace, you think you can do that thing with this?" He nodded with another small yawn, the focusing gem turned clear and he placed a hand on Nighthshade's shoulder. He felt his whole body go numb as he was frozen in place with Ace and a sharp shiver ran up his spine, he'd never get used to that. The world around them darkened as a blurry, illuminated afterimage showed up. They were seethrough but visible. The same deafening boom shattered the light patter of rain that seemed ever-present in the Everfree forest. A metal door, bent almost completely beyond recognition, skid across the ground covered in burns. From the smouldering source of the smoke arose a pony shaped mass, it tumbled away from the wreckage and hunched over before forcefully ripping the helmet from its head taking in a massive gasp of air. He flexed his wings a bit. Nightshade took this moment to glance at the discarded door, he hadn't noticed it before. "Holy... Holy shit!" his sweat-drenched mane covering half his face as he squinted at his surroundings, whipping his head around left and right trying to get a sense of where he could have ended up. "T-trees? Are they real? Maybe I landed on a farming colony or Mainland Earth pony colony?" He coughed hard and gagged a bit. "Alright, cowpony this isn't your first rodeo... And now I'm talking to myself, while I'm doing that might as well make a note to scuttle the ship and put some distance between it and I. Shit's beyond repair and the last thing I wanna do is get busted by the authorities, again." He stripped down out of his flight suit and tossed it back into the ship as the fire was starting up again. All he had now was his black jumper, he quickly went through the pockets. In his breast pocket he found a strange pair of glasses, with a sigh he pocketed them. In another pocket, he found a butterfly knife style energy cutter and a taser. The pony took off running before the wreckage exploded again. Ace removed his hand and Nightshade looked perplexed. "Well," Nightshade started as he hit a button on his communicator, "That answers what was inside. But not who or where they're from- " That was when he spotted some words written on the side of the ship. 'Pegasi Cluster Research.' He held the button, "Computer, can you look for any disappearances? Namely from the Pegasi Cluster Testing facilities?" "Why do I have the feeling this isn't a random inquiry?" "What do you mean, she requested me?" Celestia marched down the hall with one of Luna's stone-faced guards. "Ma'am she refused to eat until she spoke to you. We thought it would be best to bring it to your attention, we could have handled it with force but this seemed like the better choice." It wasn't long before they were standing outside of the rust coloured mare's cell. True to the guard's word, she sat with her tray of food pushed away from her. Her magic straight jacket hadn't restrained her so the princess knew she hadn't tried to get physical. The cell didn't look so much like a cell, if you had taken away the bars it could function as a living space. "It's come to my attention that you've decided you don't need to eat. Why is that?" The mare's pale red eyes looked up at the princess with a smirk, "How else was I going to be able to speak to you? You wouldn't give me the time of day if I just asked nicely, I knew you'd listen to these boys." "You have my attention." "I don't want anything major." Her ears flicked mischievously, "I just want to attend the Gala. I've never been." Celestia could feel it. That wasn't it. "Something's gonna happen at the Gala. You just want to be there so you can escape." The pony snickered, her overgrown mane brushing the floor as she sat down. "Oh please. I have no plans on escaping. But you're right. Somethin's gonna happen, but the question is... Do you believe me?" Ginger glanced out the window into the rainy night, he'd spent all day at home. After all, he had no need to attend the orchestra practices considering he wouldn't be playing after his recent episode last month. No matter how much he attended practice and socialized he couldn't get medical clearance, as of recent he'd only been attending solely for Octavia but that was out the window now. She tried to call him but he had no intention of speaking to her. Not yet. He couldn't, he might have been overreacting but he was used to getting what he wanted. 'No' was not what he wanted to hear. There was a clap of thunder as the rain came down harder, Ginger forced himself out of his bed grabbing his glasses off his nightstand. The only thing he could think about right now? That zap apple cider and strawberry ice cream in his fridge, it wasn't healthy but he was an adult and he'd be damned if anypony tell him what he can and can't eat or drink. Not even Psyche. She'd have a fit about this. He entered his kitchen with the energy of a tired sloth as he flicked on the light and threw open the refrigerator, he grabbed what he came for and right as he was about to head to his room he heard three booming yet rhythmic knocks. "Rain must be coming down something fierce- " He was interrupted by the knocking again. "Hello? Is anyone home?" A voice called from the direction of his front door, out of instinct he almost rushed upstairs to get dressed but stopped himself. What the hell am I doing? Somepony's stuck out in that storm and here I am worried about someone seeing my pyjamas. He thought as he put his snacks down on the counter and ran over to the door. He opened it slowly. A sandy brown pegasus stood with his wings spread over his head in an attempt to protect himself from the rain, it was a clear failure as his black mane was drenched and his fur was soaked. With the black jumper, he wore Ginger imagined he was a groundworker or a plumber maybe. He held a pair of waterlogged boots in his hand and that's when Ginger realized he had taken off his shoes. In the rain. "Oh. Hello." The pegasus managed a smile as he was lashed with rain, "You're the first house that answered- You wouldn't mind if I- " Ginger opened the door, shutting it after the stallion entered. "Not at all. I'll get you a towel." Ginger rushed off to the bathroom, the stallion graciously accepted the towel and began to dry off his mane. Ginger just stared at him, at a closer glance he wasn't much bigger than Ginger. They made eye contact and Ginger averted his gaze. "I have a shower if you'd prefer that." "Sure." He carefully placed his wet boots down, "Lead on- wait. This is your house, right? I hope I didn't force some kid to let me in if that's the case I can wait outside until your parents get home- " "This is my house. Come on, it's upstairs." Within an hour, Ginger's new guest had showered and Ginger was laying out some blankets and pillows on his floor next to his bed. Ginger had also taken the liberty of hanging up the stallion's wet clothing and giving him an extra shirt and sweats. Ginger sat on his bed while his guest sat in the makeshift one on the floor. "Alright. My name is Ginger. I figured we might as well get acquainted, that storm looks like it might stick for a few days." "My name's Hazel." Ginger felt his face glowing when the stallion's brown eyes rested on him. "You know you really didn't have to lend me any of your clothes- " "I have too many anyway." "So... Is there a reason why you were gonna eat an entire tub of ice cream and a bottle of alcohol?" Ginger looked ashamed for a moment before taking a swig straight from the bottle, "I don't want to talk about it." "Are you sure? I won't judge and we have plenty of time." "It's kind of a long story... It started with an obsession really..."
Chapter 4Ginger awoke alone in his room, the sound of rain greeted him. He glanced around his room, the blankets he'd lent his guest were neatly folded and the food and drink cleaned up. Even his glasses were neatly folded on his nightstand. He stood up sleepily, putting on his glasses, and froze as he smelled something. Eggs. He rushed downstairs slowly creeping into the kitchen, Hazel stood in the kitchen in front of the stove. Ginger hadn't noticed it initially but Hazel seemed to be quietly singing to himself as he gracefully navigated around the cupboards. "Staying still, eyes closed... Let the world just pass me by- AHH!" He flinched as he turned meeting Ginger's amused gaze, "You scared the hell out of me." "Sorry. Just... I'm not used to having anyone cook for me. Not since my parents left." Ginger frowned looking down at the floor. "Well, hey. I'd be glad to cook for you anytime." Ginger lifted his gaze with a sweet smile and felt his heart flutter when Hazel giggled, Hazel's smile seemed to brighten up the room. They sat down at Ginger's dining room table and began to eat. Ginger paused for a moment, "This is gonna sound weird. Considering we've just met. There's a Gala going on at the castle in a few days. I don't want to seem like I'm forcing you. But- " "There's a party going on?" His words broke the awkwardness. Ginger was surprised by the excitement in his voice. "Well, yes but you have to wear a suit and- " "I'm fine with that, it sounds like fun." Ginger couldn't help but grin at his eagerness. Strike stood outside a small home, holding an umbrella. Her boots were coated with mud, the last thing she wanted was to be in Ponyville in the rain. She didn't mind getting dirty but she preferred Canterlot's paved roads. A stallion cracked open the door open, "Goot Mornin'... You Strike?" "Yeah. The very Captain." He opened the door and allowed Strike in. "How are you, Sioux? Ponyville treating you nicely?" Strike carefully removed her muddy boots and left them by the door. He closed the door and offered Strike a chair at his dining room table, she sat and he brought over a chair for himself before sitting. His pearlescent black and green mane and fur shined oddly in the soft light, his pale green eyes seemed nervous but joyful. He was dressed in a short sleeve button up and khakis "Yes-s, we have enjoyed the time in Ponyville." "You mean I. You would say I, you are talking about yourself. Try not to speak in the third person." "You are right. W- I am enjoying my residence in this village. Everypony is so nice to me. The soft white one made me a suit even. But some of the colts and fillies look at me funny when I go outside. I live just like them do I not?" The changeling frowned. Strike nodded, "That may be, but you have to understand. You are different. Everyone is, even me. But being different is good, could you imagine if everyone looked and acted the same? Personally, I'd get sick of that quick. I like myself, but not that much." Strike ended with a chuckle and that seemed to lift his spirits. "Besides, I'm not gonna leave you alone during the gala. Now, even though you're a unicorn, I know you like the Wonderbolts and it just so happens I let slip to their rookie that I'd be attending... You're gonna be the only stallion there with two dates, let alone a date with a Royal Captain and a star Wonderbolt." She smiled at the giddy look in his eyes. Who knew a changeling could like the Wonderbolts? "Do you think whatever came out of that ship was dangerous?" Nightshade looked across the table at the alicorn who was absentmindedly picking at his food, "Honestly?" Ace nodded. "I have no clue. I'm treating it the same as the labs. I don't want to underestimate anything and I'm not taking any chances. That means you have to be ready too, with so many ponies congregated in one area it might be a target." "Bri and O'Malley are pretty scary..." "In public, sure." "What does- " "Don't worry about it." "They seem like they can handle this." Ace finally got out but Nightshade shook his head. "We can worry about this tomorrow," Nightshade got up from his chair, "Finish your food and get some sleep. We all need to be able to handle this. We can't rely on Strike this time because she has an HVI to protect, but there will be extra security. Hopefully, that helps us out. Goodnight Ace."
Chapter 5Ace looked slightly embarrassed and hid walked closely behind Nightshade as reporters repeatedly snapped photos. It seemed Ace's new tuxedo was a hit and his flipped up hairstyle had them swooning, Ace was not enjoying the attention. "Mom said they weren't gonna do that this year," Ace whispered to Nightshade. Nightshade glanced at one of the guards standing by the entrance to make sure they weren't watching as he sent a magic wave their way, shattering the camera lenses. He chuckled and the angry shouts from the photographers as they entered. "Oops. Did I do that?" Nightshade pushed up his glasses with a grin. Ginger tapped his foot, Hazel was supposed to be dressed already. What could be taking so long- Ginger flinched as his front door opened and Hazel stepped out in a crisp black tux with a blood-red tie, Ginger looked down at his own black-tie before Hazel began to walk. "Alright," He stopped and posed for Ginger, "How do I look? Dressed to kill?" Ginger just stared. "Ginny?" Ginger snapped out of whatever trance he was in, "You- you look fantastic." "I could tell by the look in your eyes." "Let's just get to the Gala already." "Is all this really necessary?" Totoro walked alongside Celestia in a black dress and a crimson cape, in her opinion it made her look like a vampire. It was ridiculous. Celestia giggled, "Having second thoughts? If you're going to attend you attend under my terms and you have to look presentable. It isn't ladylike to have a matted mane." "They don't let me use comb or brushes in the psych ward. Told me it was too sharp and I might hurt someone." Totoro huffed as she walked like an angry dragon with the princess. "Now spill." "You won't like it," the earth pony grimaced. "I don't care." "Unlike our Sun princess to act this way... Your son is going to die tonight. I've seen it. It's fixed in time tonight." "When?" Toro stopped and glared at Celestia, "What do you mean 'when'? Surely you don't expect to alter space and time by preventing it. Are you out of your mind? You can't stop a fixed event!" "Dammit that's my child and I'll be damned if I stand by while he dies knowing I could prevent it!" Toro threw her head back in grim laughter, "We'll see. Then you better catch him before about... 11. You know, when Vinyl will swap from that awful noise to slow dance. It'll be fun to watch you get what's coming to ya- " There was a resounding smack as Celestia struck her across the face, Toro staggered back and leaned against a wall. "Don't you ever, ever try to tell anyone what they deserve. I won't be told such things by the likes of you," There was a hint of a snarl in her voice and Toro cowered slightly. "Now go to the ballroom and sit. If you move, I'll have you drugged and carted off the nearest ward for the rest of your worthless life." Toro scurried off muttering curses as Celestia began to compose herself in the hallway. Strike put her hand up and waved Nightshade and his friends over. "Captain Strike?" "Just Strike tonight," She straightened her bowtie and put her hand on Sioux's shoulder, "I'm here on my night off with my new friend." "Is he- " "See, I told you he'd ask a stupid question." Strike nudged the changeling and he laughed looking a bit less tense. "Yes. He'd actually bumped into you two about a week ago. Ace made him nervous." Ace bowed his head, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable!" "It's alright," He looked at Strike momentarily and she nodded, "I was still getting used to living in the town." "So is it just you two? He doesn't really seem like your type, Cap." Nightshade smirked. "It's nothing like that, we're here as friends. We're actually waiting for Thunderstruck- " There was a clap of thunder and almost everyone at the Gala took a quick glance at the sky that was surprisingly clear, in a flash of white a zebra-patterned mare with an electric yellow mane gracefully flew in accompanied by Spitfire and Soarin. The pegasus straightened her red dress and removed her sunglasses as she walked over to join Strike. "Nice to see you, Cap," Her electric yellow eyes made Strike's wings unfurl slightly before she pressed them to her back. "And you must be Sioux. Whoa, how'd you get that mane colour? Who's your stylist? I gotta get their number." "It's natural," Sioux said nervously. "That... is... AWESOME!" Sioux looked surprised and began to smile as Struck spoke a mile a minute to the changeling. "I'll be with Struck- I mean- not with her with her but like- walkin'- you know what I mean!" The flustered captain walked off with the two. Nightshade looked at Ace, "Guess it really is up to us. Strike's gonna be following Struck's tail all night." "Why- " Nightshade cut him off, "I'll tell you when you're older." "Wowza," Hazel murmured. "This is one high-class party." "You did not just say 'Wowza'," Ginger shook his head playfully. Ginger just smiled at his curious gazing about, to think anypony hadn't seen the interior of the Castle in Canterlot was almost unheard of. Hazel looked like somepony just offered him free ice cream. For the next hour or so they danced talked and ate, that was until Octavia made eye contact with him from across the room. He'd been midway through his glass of wine when her worried glance caught his eye. She knew he shouldn't be drinking, with that worried look and Vinyl in tow Ginger quickly downed his drink looking for an escape. No, no-no. I don't want to speak to her, not now. The place was too crowded for him to slip away and taking flight wasn't an option for multiple reasons. He did the only thing he could think of, he tapped Hazel on the shoulder and the moment the stallion turned his head Ginger pressed his lips to the other's taking him by surprise. The other stallion melted into the aggressive move and Octavia stopped her approach after a few hushed words from the DJ and a smile. Magnolia froze, she felt as if she was rooted to the floor and she felt her anger bubbling over. How dare he? How dare he lead me on? He did this on purpose, he did it to hurt me. She felt furious tears on her face, she turned away and wiped her eyes. She just couldn't stop smiling now. Magnolia made a trip to the food table, swiping something off it and coming back to where Ginger and the stallion stood talking. She put on a convincing fake smile as she walked up to them, "Ginger! Great to see you! Octavia didn't come around and ruin your night did she?" "No, she was too busy with her friend." "Is that right?" She looked at Hazel who looked questioningly at her. "Well come on then Gin, I wanna get on the balloon before the slow dancing starts." She began to walk off and Ginger looked back at Hazel, "Don't worry, I'll be back. I'd promised her we'd go at least once tonight." Toro sat alone at her table next to Luna as she just stared at the moon, "Soon." Luna just looked at her, not judgementally but Toro could tell she heard. "It's too bad your sister doesn't understand that nopony can prevent what is supposed to happen tonight." Luna just nodded solemnly. Toro had grown a decent amount of respect for her, then again, a thousand years alone would wise up anypony to what is and isn't in your control. Ace carelessly danced to the music blasting from Vinyl's turntables, Nightshade sat at a table content with keeping watch. He felt adrenaline pumping but couldn't pinpoint why he could feel the danger. Ginger smiled as the balloon reached the end of its tethering rope, they were so high up that the ponies inside looked like colourful specks. He marvelled at the lights of Canterlot. This was how I was meant to see it. I could watch it forever. "So who was he," Ginger looked back at Magnolia. The smile on her face was long gone, replaced with a snarl and a murderous glare. She held a kitchen knife in her hand. "Whoa! Mag! Wha- " "Don't play fucking stupid! I saw you! How... How dare you lead me on like that? How dare you cheat on me... With a stallion no less!" Ginger raised an eyebrow in confusion and fear. He needed to calm the situation. "What are you talking about? We aren't dating. Mag, I'm sorry if I made it seem that way. You're a great friend of mine but that's all I saw you as. You are the best anypony could ask for but- " "You know, you did like to talk your way out of trouble," She tightened her grip on the blade, "But talkers like to lie don't they?" "Wha- " She jammed the knife into his midsection and her vengeful grin turned into a look of regret as she realized the gravity of what she had just done, Ginger struggled to draw choked breaths as his shirt began to grow red. I... I didn't mean to... I... I can't go to jail... "I'm so sorry..." She whispered before she shoved the stallion over the side of the basket, looking away as he plummeted. Nightshade leapt to his feet as he spotted a shadowy figure crossing the dim dancefloor. I see you! He threw Ace to the floor as a shot rang out and a pony in a suit hit the floor. It only took Nightshade a moment to realize who it was and felt sick as he saw Struck and Sioux leaning over the fallen figure. "You just had to get in the way... Didn't you?" There was a deafening bang and a dull pain in Nights' skull as the sound faded away.
Chapter 6Nightshade gasped and he saw Struck, Sioux and Strike walking away from him. What the hell? The last thing he recalled was seeing Strike die... But that was impossible because he was watching her joke with Sioux as they walked. Something wasn't right. This all felt familiar to him. "Guess it really is up to us. Strike is gonna be following Struck's tail all night... Deja vu." He felt sick as Ace began, "Why- " "I'll tell you when... you're older..." He felt bile rising in his throat, he needed a drink. He felt dizzy. Ginger and Hazel sat at their table laughing and drinking. Hazel was in the middle of telling a joke when Ginger felt the strong urge to look around, he did so and saw Magnolia approaching. He stood and gave her a warm hug, he felt a sharp pain in his midsection and instinctively clutched his stomach. "Hey, Gin you alright?" Magnolia looked worried and he slowly sat back down. "Y-yeah... Must've been something I ate. Mag, this is Hazel. He's been staying with me for the last few days." "Is that right?" Ginger felt sick again as she said that. "Well if you trust him in your home he must be alright. Hazel, was it? Nice to meet you, good to know I'm not Ginger's only friend." She giggled and Hazel burst out laughing. "H-hey! I have other friends!" "The teddy bear you sleep with doesn't count," Magnolia added making Hazel cackle with laughter and Ginger looked thoroughly embarrassed. "You didn't have to tell him that!" Nightshade grabbed a glass and drank quickly, he felt his sick feeling go away. But he couldn't understand why the feeling would arise anyways. Had something happened? Why did this feel so familiar? "You ever get that feeling of Deja vu? I hear it can make a pony sick to their stomach," Nightshade turned to see Totoro sitting at a table alone. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in confinement." He growled. "Celestia let me come on account of my good behaviour." "Bullshit. You told her something was gonna happen didn't you?" "So what if I did? I also told her that it would happen no matter what, the universe doesn't care about her feelings. She's powerless to it and so are you." "We'll see about- " Toro stomped a foot, "What is it with you ponies? Don't you get it? Did you not hear me? That kid is doomed to die tonight. Isn't it strange how you seemed to think that you experienced this before?" "How- " "How do I know? I have to commend you on one thing, Nightshade Valentine. You don't give up. This isn't the first time you came to talk to me you dolt, do you know how many times I watched you bungle the universe's plan just because you didn't like it?" "What?" He felt all the sounds of the Gala dampen as he focused on Toro. "Now you're starting to get it. I'm tired of reliving this night. All because of you. Because of you, I watched two innocent ponies die because you couldn't deal with it. This is the true reality because you won't interfere this time..." He grabbed Toro in anger and she shrieked causing two guards to pin Nightshade down. "Th-this stallion wouldn't leave me alone after I told him I wouldn't go home with him, I think he's had too much to drink." Nightshade struggled as he was hauled outside, "No! You can't do this! The prince is in danger! You gotta let me go!" The two stallions roughly threw Nightshade on the ground outside. "Why don't you sober up a bit pal?" The unicorn guard chuckled and drew his rifle when Nights tried to approach the doors, "Go home." Nights panted heavily in defeat. There was nothing he could do, If he made his way back inside he would be arrested on the spot. Hit a button on his communicator and he was transported to Pandora. He didn't care if there was a way to save him he was going to do it. He sped over to the controls and attempted to land Pandora inside the castle, his ship took off but no matter where he tried to go Pandora refused to go anywhere near the castle. Computer rushed out of the depths of Pandora, "Sir! She can't land! This is a fixed point. If Ace doesn't die tonight you could tear space and time. Nightshade, please. None of us wants this, but if you don't stop... You're going to destroy us all." Nightshade threw his fist into the console angrily, "I don't care! This isn't fair! Why him? He never did anything wrong!" There was a silence that settled over the ship as Pandora aimlessly flew over Canterlot. He couldn't even hear the hum of pandora's engines. He didn't want to see Ace die. Not again. Ace could live on in his heart and mind. He reached under the console and opened a hatch, flipping a switch as Pandora passed the moon...
