The Background Pony Crew Goes to the Gala

Chapters

Golden Tickets and Human Clothes
Huge Carrots and Deafening Wubs
Weeping Angels and Gala Dresses

Golden Tickets and Human Clothes

Chapter One: Golden Tickets and Human Clothes

Octavia opened the envelope, expecting notice of some concert she had been asked to play in. What she found exceeded her expectations greatly.

“Hey, Tavi!” Vinyl called, trotting down the street and seeing Octavia’s mouth wide open as she stared at a letter. “What’s up?”

A wide smile spread across Octavia’s normally frowning face. “I-I’ve been invited to play my cello-”

“Pfft, no surprise there,” Vinyl Scratch interrupted, taking off her glasses, “You always get invited to play at places.”

“I get to play at the Grand Galloping Gala!” cried Octavia, pulling a golden ticket from the folds of the envelope.

Vinyl’s eyes widened, and she smiled widely as she spotted a second ticket in the envelope. “HEY! Look what we have here!” she said, snatching the second ticket away with her magic. “it looks like they want you to bring somepony to play music along with you... somepony like... me, you think?”

Octavia snatched the ticket back with her teeth. Setting it back in the envelope, she looked Vinyl in the eye. “No. I would much rather invite my sister Fiddlestick. She is family.”

“Aww, c’mon, Tavi! Just imagine it, you and me, two best friends, playing music side by side in front of the richest ponies in Equestria!” Vinyl said, putting her glasses back on. “We’ll both be famous!”

“Fiddlestick plays a fiddle, Vinyl, which sounds much better with my cello than your- how do you say- ‘wubs,’” Octavia said, walking briskly away from her mailbox and toward her cozy Ponyville home. “Now excuse me, I must start writing a letter to Fiddlestick.”

And with that, Octavia walked inside her home and closed the door. Vinyl sighed and walked away. Ever since Octavia had moved to Ponyville, Vinyl had tried to make friends with her. Vinyl had always wanted to have somepony play alongside her during concerts, and Octavia was the only musically-inclined pony in the town. However, she was a snobbish, high class pony, one who would not dare to mingle her precious cello music with Vinyl's wubs. She also hated Vinyl's guts. That's why she wouldn't play alongside Vinyl.

But Vinyl knew that mixing their music would result in awesomeness. She had recorded Octavia playing her cello once, and remixed it along with a track of one of Vinyl's pieces. The result had been wicked cool. She'd tried getting Octavia to listen to the track, but once Vinyl had explained how she had 'remixed' Octavia's precious music, Tavi had slammed the door in her face, calling from the other side that she needed to burn the CD right away.

Vinyl did. But not in the way Tavi was talking about. Pretty soon everyone in Ponyville had a copy of the CD, and had heard the beautiful music. Except Octavia.

No, Tavi was as steadfast as they'd come. Vinyl knew she'd never get to play alongside her.

“OH. MY. GOSH,” cried a very excited Lyra Heartstrings. “Carrot Top! Look who is going to be speaking at the Grand Galloping Gala!”

Her snout buried in the latest issue of the Ponyville News, Lyra clapped her hooves together in happiness. She sat on a park bench very strangely, with Carrot Top tending plants in a garden beside the bench.

“What is it, Lyra?” she asked, curiously looking at the newspaper.

“Doctor Anthroof! He’s going to be covering special topics about Anthropology! Can you believe it?! It says here he’s the best expert on humans in Equestria! If ONLY I had a ticket to the gala...”

Carrot Top sighed to herself. Lyra had always been obsessed with humans, ever since Carrot had met her. Carrot Top assumed that her belief in humans was some kind of mental disorder due to a traumatic event in Lyra's life. Carrot Top did all that she could to help Lyra's mind heal, even if it meant playing along with her.

"So, you need a ticket...?"

"Well, yea! That's the only way to legally get in," Lyra said.

“Do you want one of mine?” Carrot Top said casually, getting back to pulling weeds.

“Wait-what?!” Lyra cried, “How do YOU have a ticket?”

Carrot Top shrugged. “My coltfriend works there. He gets me a few tickets every year. I can give you one, no biggie,” she said.

Lyra leaped into the air. “Oh, YES! Please!”

Carrot Top smiled. “Okay, then. You could come with me if you want. I’m entering some of my carrots in a produce competition up there. I also want to visit my coltfriend. He works in the gardens.” Carrot Top said, grimacing inwardly. She didn't want Lyra coming along, especially when she wanted to be alone with her coltfriend, but excluding her from activities might make her condition worse.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" Lyra cried, jumping off the bench to give Carrot Top a hug.

Getting the air squeezed out of her lungs did not help Carrot Top think her decision was good, but she hugged back anyway.

"I need to go and get ready," Lyra said, galloping away, "See ya later!"

Carrot Top smiled as she watched the cyan mare run away. It felt good to help others, even if it meant sacrificing some of your own time and pleasures. But soon her smile faded into a frown as she thought about something. If this 'Doctor Anthroof' was giving a speech on anthropology, did that mean that there were more human believers? That Lyra didn't make them up? That... perhaps... they were real?

"Poppycock!" thought Carrot Top, "Humans are only figments of Lyra's imagination, nothing more..."

“Hey, Doctor!” Derpy Hooves called, pounding her hoof against a strange blue box in her attic. “Come out! There’s something I want to ask you!”

The door of the box opened, and Doctor Whooves’ head popped out of the crack.

“Good morning, Derpy!” He said. “I’m frightfully busy at the moment preparing for a speech at the Gala. What did you want to ask me?”

“Well, I was just wondering if I could come to the Gala with you! I heard that there is an all-you-can-eat buffet, which means all-you-can-eat MUFFINS!” Everyone in Ponyville knew how Derpy loved muffins. Sometimes they would tip Derpy with muffins when she delivered the mail.

Whooves smiled. “Of course you can come! Perhaps Dinky could attend as well. I have enough tickets for that.”

“I’m sure she’d love to come!” Derpy said, giving a small ‘squee.’ Dinky was Derpy's adopted daughter. She loved to play dress up, especially as a princess. She would saunter around the house in a pretty little dress and tiara, holding her head high and talking in a Trottingham accent. Derpy would sometimes play with her too, pretending to be Princess Celestia. When they got tired of holding their heads high and walking like they were in a parade, Derpy would bake muffins and together they would primly eat them. 'These muffins are quite good, my dear Celestia,' Dinky would say. 'Ah, thank you, Princess Dinky. Might I add how ravishing your mane looks?' Derpy would relpy. Princess Dress-Up was Dinky's favorite game mostly because she loved princesses. If she went to the gala, she would have the chance to meet a real princess, Princess Celestia, who greeted ponies when they entered the Gala. Thinking about bringing Dinky also made Derpy think about inviting others, namely her best pals. “Maybe we could invite our other friends to come with us too, like Lyra, Octavia, Vinyl, and Carrot Top!”

The Doctor grimaced. “I don’t think I have enough tickets for that many pon-”

“I’ll go invite them!” Derpy cried, zooming downstairs.

“Oh, boy...” Whooves said, sighing and shaking his head.

Lyra sat in her Ponyville cottage, reading the gala article over and over. The Gala would begin tomorrow night, and she just couldn’t help being over excited. A knock on her door brought her back to reality.

“Who is it?” Lyra called, trotting over to the door.

“Me!” cried a familiar voice.

Lyra rolled her eyes and opened the door. “Oh, hey Derpy. Guess what? I’m going to the Grand Galloping Gala! Isn’t that the best thing EVER?”

Derpy looked confused. “Wait, you are? But, I’m going too, and I was just about to invite you to come along with me!”

“Really? Well, Carrot Top gave me one of her tickets. How in Equestria did YOU get one?” Lyra inquired, scratching her head with her hoof.

“The Doctor has some kinda job there. He said Dinky could come too, so I decided to invite all of my closest friends!” Derpy said cheerfully.

“Well come on in, Derpy!” Lyra said, motioning for the pegasus to step inside her home.

Derpy did so. Her eyes grew wide as she looked around the abode. The walls were covered in pictures of strange creatures Lyra called Humans. Sculpted models of hands were everywhere. Some were couch legs, some were arm rests, and a giant rug on the floor was woven in the shape of a hand.

“Wow... you sure have been decorating this place lately...” Derpy said, feeling as if all the hands were reaching at her, trying to grab her...

“Yup! Lovely, isn’t it? I hoof-crafted all of the furniture, and wove the rug,” Lyra bragged. “Now follow me, I need your opinion on something...”

Lyra led Derpy to a door at the other side of the room. When Lyra opened it, all Derpy could see on the other side was a stairway leading down into darkness. Lyra’s horn flashed, and rows of candles on the walls lit up with flame, which lit the way down the steps. Lyra trotted down, Derpy cautiously following her.

The stairs led to a large hall-like basement. Derpy gasped as she saw what filled it. Shelves upon shelves lined the hallway, every one of them filled with strange objects. Covered in knickknacks, weird toys, and bizarre clothing, the shelves were packed with all sorts of things.

Lyra led her deeper into the place, going past sections of stuffed human dolls staring down at Derpy, wires spewing from metal boxes that scratched Derpy’s wings, and human mannequins gazing with white, lifeless eyes, making Derpy shiver. The walls seemed to be closing inn around her, wanting to trap her down there with all of the creepy stuff forever.

“Isn't this collection of human things just MARVELOUS?” Lyra squealed. “It took years upon years of scraping, spending, and searching, but it has all paid off... I will soon be opening a museum so everypony can see the wonders of human civilization! Ach, everypony will be so thankful that I taught them about what lies beyond this world... Don’t you think, Derpy?”

Derpy blinked, tearing her gaze away from a statue of a weeping stone human with large wings sprouting from its back. The candlelight flickered.

“Uh, yea... it’s great... now what was it you needed me for?” Derpy questioned, growing more and more uncomfortable by the second.

“I need your opinion on this outfit I’m wearing to the gala,” Lyra stated as they came upon a clothing-filled section of the hall. There was a set of doors between two of the shelving units. Lyra dashed in between them and came out a minute later, dressed in a horrid outfit.

Derpy jumped and cried out as Lyra came into view. She wore a strange set of pants, made from a form of blue fabric with studs set in it, gloves with fingers over her hooves, with the fingers stuffed so it looked like she had hands, a shirt that read “I LOVE HUMANS,” written on the front, and a set of human ears glued to a headband placed on her head.

“W-wow...” Derpy commented, giving a weak smile. “You l-look great.”

“You think so?” Lyra said, one of her real ears twitching, “Bon Bon says this outfit is ‘a crime against ponykind.’ Huh. Some best friend she is. Anyway, I’ve got some more preparing to do for tomorrow. Thanks for coming over!” And with that, Lyra trotted deeper down the hall, toward a large machine.

Derpy shivered and flew as fast as she could out of there.

She felt a small touch against her leg. Whipping her head around, she saw the weeping stone human she had seen earlier. It had moved, and was now in a pose as if it was reaching for her. Giving a scream, Derpy bolted away, going even faster than before.

Huge Carrots and Deafening Wubs

Chapter Two: Huge Carrots and Deafening Wubs

Derpy didn’t know how that weeping human had moved, but once she flew out of the house and into daylight, she began to wonder if her scare was just the result of her overactive imagination, or a trick of the light. Her heart was still pounding, though, and she still gave a little shiver when she thought about the statue.

Now that she had invited Lyra, she decided to go see if Carrot Top could come. Flapping her grey wings rapidly, Derpy headed toward Carrot Top’s cottage.

After a few minutes of traversing through Ponyville, she made it to the little house on the edge of the town. A huge garden surrounded the cottage, the hundreds of plants seeming to enclose the house in a warm embrace. Some plants grew on trellises hung on the outside walls, and vines grew all over the roof. All the vegetation was perfectly trimmed, and sat in rows. The whole look of the place made Derpy feel warm and safe inside. She could understand why Carrot Top loved gardening.

Flying up to the oval-shaped oak wood door, Derpy knocked on it. Nopony answered. Derpy knocked again. Like before, nopony answered the door, nor gave a reply. Frustrated, Derpy flew upwards, over the house. Looking down, she found Carrot Top working in the part of the garden behind the cottage. Alongside the yellow mare was the biggest carrot Derpy had ever seen.

The orange carrot was gigantic, about the length of three ponies. Uprooted from the ground, Carrot Top was cleaning it with a water-soaked cloth, rubbing away dirt and other filth from the orange skin.

Derpy landed beside her. “Hey, there, Carrot Top!” she said cheerfully, looking from Carrot Top to the enormous vegetable. “What’s with this carrot? Why is it so BIG?”

Carrot Top laughed, her voice sounding like a small bell ringing. “It’s for the competition at The Grand Galloping Gala. In the Canterlot Garden every year a produce competition is hosted. I usually just watch, but this year I’m going to be part of the action! I grew this carrot specifically for the occasion, using all of my gardening knowledge to make it the biggest and the best vegetable I have EVER produced!”

“Wow,” Derpy said, looking at the carrot, the fresh smell of it wafting into her nose. “Wait, you’re going to the Gala too?”

“Why do you ask?” Carrot Top inquired, setting her cloth down in a bucket filled with water.

“Well, Lyra’s going, I’m going, the Doctor is going, and Dinky is going! I just came by to invite you to come too, but it seems you already are!”

“Oh my,” Carrot Top said, “That is quite a few ponies. It’s very rare for so many in Ponyville to go. Most of us aren’t considered ‘Canterlot material,’ if you know what I mean. But if you want me to go with you all, that’s just fine. I might separate from your group for a bit, though, so I can spend time with my coltfriend. I don’t get to see him often.”

Derpy smiled again. So many ponies were coming with her and the Doctor to the Gala! It would be like a party within a party! “That’s fine!” Derpy said, “We just want you to come with us and hang out, that’s all that matters.”

And so, with a goodbye, Derpy launched into the air.

Vinyl’s house wasn’t too far away from Carrot Top’s cottage. Though you wouldn’t think it was a house just by looking at it. Vinyl’s place looked like a stage to many ponies, but what many of them didn’t know was that Vinyl lived there as well. The front was an outdoor stage, complete with colored lights, a few turntables, control panels, mixers, microphones, speakers, woofers, anything a professional pony DJ could want. But behind the stage was a small building connected to it, which was Vinyl’s house. True, there weren’t many rooms, but all Vinyl needed to be happy was her music and the equipment to be able to make it.

As Derpy flew nearer to the stage/house, she could tell Vinyl was home, even without looking. There was a reason Vinyl lived on the bare outskirts of Ponyville, her music was LOUD.

When Derpy arrived at the place, she covered her ears with her hooves. Vinyl was behind one of the turntables on her stage, cranking up the wubs. She didn’t even notice Derpy, being so wrapped up in her music world. Derpy had to fly up to her and tap her before her existence was aknowledged by the unicorn.

Vinyl jumped in surprise, turning off the music and taking off her sunglasses. “Oh! Sup’ Derpy?” She said, looking at the pegasus.

“Um, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Grand Galloping Gala with me and my friends! We’re going as a group, and our group wouldn’t be complete without our favorite DJ!” Derpy said with a smile.

Vinyl looked surprised. “I don’t have a ticket,” she said, putting her glasses back on as if that was the end of the conversation. She turned the music back on.

Derpy blinked in surprise. “We can get you one! I’m sure the Doctor had extra tickets!” Derpy yelled over the din. “That’s why we are inviting you! We wouldn’t if we weren’t sure if you could even come!”

The DJ once again turned off the music. She smiled. “Then of course I’ll come!” She said, clapping her hooves. “Tell me, is Octavia coming?”

Derpy shrugged. “I haven’t asked her yet. Why?”

“I want to see if I can get her to play her music with me at the Gala. We could both become famous!” Vinyl said with a grin.

“Well, I’ll ask her next,” Derpy promised, flapping her wings just enough to hover above the ground.

“Thanks, you do that,” Vinyl dismissed, turning her music back on and tapping a few buttons with her hoof. As Derpy flew away, she heard her own voice coming from the stage speakers, saying “Grand-Grand-Grand-Grand Galloping Gala! Gala!” along with the music. Derpy smiled and rolled her mis-matched eyes. Typical Vinyl.

Octavia’s house was a lot like the other houses in Ponyville. With a straw roof and pale walls, it wasn’t anything special compared to the others, besides having a famous cello player living in it.

Derpy tapped on the door of the modest home, hoping Octavia wasn’t in a grumpy mood. She didn’t like Derpy when she was in a grumpy mood. She didn’t want to be friends with Derpy when she was in a grumpy mood. And as Tavi opened the door, Derpy saw she that she was in a grumpy mood.

“What is it?” Octavia said irritably, staring at Derpy with an annoyed look on her face.

“Umm, I just wanted to invite you to come along to to Grand Galloping Gala with me along with a few other friends! It’s going to be really fun-”

“I’ve already been invited by the Gala committee. I am playing my cello there,” Octavia interrupted.

“Oh... well... you could still come with us and hang out,” Derpy said with a nervous smile. “We would really really really like it if you would come.”

“We?” Octavia inquired, “Who is ‘we?’”

Derpy sighed. “Well, the Doctor, Dinky, Lyra, Carrot Top, Vinyl-”

“Vinyl? Ugh,” Octavia once again interrupted. “Just because Fiddlestick couldn’t come with me to the Gala doesn’t mean Vinyl can worm her way into playing alongside me!”

“What? You don’t want her to play with you?” Derpy inquired with a frown.

“Exactly,” Octavia said, disgusted at the very thought of her beautiful music crudely mixed into a mess of wubs.

“But your music sounds very pretty alongside hers,” Derpy said, “In fact, it’s some of my favorite of Vinyl’s mixes.”

“How would you know?” Octavia asked.

“Didn’t you know? Vinyl played a song at one of her concerts that featured music from your cello remixed with her music. Everypony loved it,” Derpy answered.

Octavia blinked, remembering when Vinyl had offered her a CD of what she had called a ‘remix of both of their best works.’ Tavi groaned. “Fine, I shall attend with you all, if only to make sure Vinyl doesn’t play that horrid song in front of hundreds of ponies...”

“Oh thank you thank you thank you!” Derpy cried enthusiastically, giving Octavia a hug.

Octavia backed away, which was hard to do while in Derpy’s firm grasp. “That’s enough. Don’t make me regret my decision,” the earth pony said as the pegasus hastily backed away. “Now good day.” And with that, Octavia shut her door.

Derpy walked away, about to fly home when she felt a cold chill at the back of her neck. Gulping and turning around, she saw the statue of a pony standing on the top of a fountain. Its hooves were covering its face, its large wings flaring up behind it. Derpy glanced behind her for a second, to see if anypony else had noticed the strange sight. When she looked back, the statue was staring at her.

It had the face of a human.

Weeping Angels and Gala Dresses

Chapter Three: Weeping Angels and Gala Dresses

The Doctor was used to mayhem and mystery following him at every turn; that was part of the job description of being a timelord. So when Derpy came crashing into the TARDIS in a panic, the Doctor just furrowed his brow and said, “What is it this time!? Cyberponies?” He rushed to Derpy’s side, holding her up as she collapsed.

“It-*huff* was-*puff* a stone statue of a pony with a human face! And it moved!” Derpy gasped as she got her breath back.

In surprise, the Doctor let go of Derpy without thinking, and she crashed to the floor.

“Ouch!” Derpy cried, giving the timelord an annoyed look as he rushed to get his sonic screwdriver and some other things.

“Quickly! Tell me more about this thing you encountered!” The Doctor said as he dashed around the TARDIS.

“Well,” Derpy began. rubbing her head, “I first saw it in Lyra’s basement. It was a human, and was holding its head in it’s hands, like it was crying or something. And it had huge wings, like an alicorns’.”

The Doctor cried out, momentarily stopping. “In Lyra’s BASEMENT?” he said, a disgusted look on his face. “I don’t know which I believe more, the fact that there is a weeping angel in Equestria, or that it was in Lyra Heartstrings’ BASEMENT of all places! This is most certainly definitely not good...” suddenly the Doctor’s face changed. “Did... did it touch you at all?”

“Yes...” said Derpy, feeling uncomfortable with the Doctor staring at her. “I was flying out of the basement when I felt it touch my hoof. I looked backwards, and I saw that it had moved! It was reaching towards me, and-”

The Doctor cursed under his breath. He found his screwdriver and put it in the pocket of his long overcoat. “It didn’t hurt you... but why?” he asked no one in particular, staring into space.

“Um, if it helps any, I saw it again just a few minutes ago, at the Ponyville fountain,” Derpy said. “It had the body of a pony, but it still had the face of a human. I don’t know why-”

“AHA!” The Doctor cried, jumping up, “It’s following you! You are leading it to something it wants, and it came into contact with you so that it could take the shape of a pony! That way everybody would think that it is only a normal statue, and it could get away with anything!” The Doctor gave Derpy an excited smile, but then it faded away, replaced by a frown. “But what can you lead it to that it needs...?”

Derpy, thoroughly confused, furrowed her brow and cocked her head. “Doctor, please! What’s a weeping angel?!”

The Doctor gazed at Derpy. “Weeping Angels are creatures from another world. They feed on electrical energy as well as potential energy. When you look at it, it is still like a stone statue, stuck in quantum lock But when you look away, or even blink... it attacks,” stated the Doctor in a dark tone.

Derpy’s eyes grew wide. “So, it could have... killed me?” Her mismatched eyes began to moisten. “I might have died?”

The Doctor gave a slow nod. “It also could have sent you to the past with only one touch, feeding off of your potential life energy. But like I said, it didn’t. It needs you for something.”

Derpy wiped her wet eyes with her hoof. “What are we going to do?” she whispered.

The Doctor gave a small smile. “We’re going to lead it to what it wants.”

“Wait, what?!” Derpy cried. “Why in Equestria would we do that?”

“I’m assuming that what it needs is at the Gala, since you were talking with Lyra about it in the basement. So we will let it follow us there, and keep an eye out for it. Whatever it wants, it will most likely have to come out in the open to find it. And when it’s out in the open, we’ll see it, and when we see it, we can warn the Princesses about it. And once we’ve warned the Princesses, they can use their ‘magic’ to teleport it to a safe place where it can be contained! Brilliant!” The Doctor beamed, a smile spread across his face.

“That sounds... dangerous,” said Derpy hesitantly. She in no way understood his hastily explained plan.

The Doctor shrugged as best as his equine body could. “All in a day’s work for me.”

“Do you have this in brown?” asked Octavia, rubbing her chin with her hoof. She held a lovely blue dress draped over her hooves, and was looking it over casually.

"Yes, I do!" said a white unicorn standing a few feet away from Tavi. "Though that shade of brown should really only be used for accents..."

"Could I see it?" asked Octavia, hanging the blue dress up on a rack. "I will probably purchase it today, if you do not mind."

"Oh, that's quite alright," said the unicorn, "I will fetch it right away." She trotted into the back room, her purple tail bouncing up and down in time.

***

Octavia sighed and looked around the room. She had never been to the Carousel Boutique before, but she needed to buy a proper dress for the Gala. She couldn't go trotting in without the proper attire.

The sound of a bell made her whip her head around. The door of the shop had opened, producing a jingle from the bell attached to it. Several ponies stepped into the room.

The first to enter the shop was Vinyl. She had an ecstatic look on her face, shuffling while nodding her head in time with a mental tune. Derpy came in next, her usually cheery face sporting an unusual look of quiet dread. Next was the Doctor, also wearing a frown, though he did not look quite as melancholy as Derpy. Carrot Top and Lyra entered close to the same time, both wearing interesting clothing. Octavia just rolled her eyes when she saw Lyra's outfit. The mare was dressed up like a human again. No surprise. However, Carrot Top's ensemble was different. She wore a red and white plaid dress with short, puffy sleeves, as well as some white stockings and red shoes. The outfit looked nice on her, even Octavia had to admit.

"What in Celestia's name are you all doing here?" Octavia asked the group.

"Buying some clothing for the Gala!" Vinyl answered, her hoof tapping in rhythm on the floor. "You?"

"The same reason," stated Octavia, hearing hoof steps behind her. The white unicorn entered from the back room, a brown dress in her magic's embrace. She gave a smile as she saw the new group.

“More customers, I see. Lovely! The Gala is certainly giving me more business than I've gotten in a while," she said, setting the dress in front of Octavia. "What do you darlings need?"

“We’d like to buy some new threads for the Gala,” Vinyl told the unicorn, giving a grin.

“Of course,” said the boutique owner, motioning to racks of varying dresses and tuxedos. “Take your pick.”

Vinyl, Derpy, and the Doctor looked through the forest of hoof-stitched clothing, each searching for the perfect outfit. Carrot Top trotted over to Octavia, already wearing her chosen Gala dress.

“That’s a lovely Victorian gown,” Carrot Top stated with a friendly smile.

Octavia ignored the comment. “Is that what you are wearing to the Gala?” she asked.

Carrot Top looked down at her outfit. “Yes. It was my mother’s. She wore it the first time she went to the Gala.”

“Oh,” Octavia said simply. Such a country-style dress was not appropriate for a high-society event, but Octavia did not feel the need to tell this to Carrot Top.

“I think this would be a good suit. What do you think, Derpy?” the Doctor’s voice stated, muffled by the hundreds of clothing pieces he was surrounded by.

Derpy talked next, in a low tone. “That looks alright,” she said.

Octavia furrowed her brow. Derpy had been so cheerful earlier. Now she looked and sounded like all of the happiness had been sucked out of her. What was wrong?

The white unicorn who owned the shop gave a small squeal as she looked behind the rows of clothes and saw the outfit the Doctor had picked. “Magnificent!” she cried. “Go try it on at once!”

The Doctor did, stepping into a changing room for privacy. He came out a few minutes later, wearing a dapper dark blue dress jacket and tie. The white unicorn smiled in glee, brushing her purple mane away from her face.

“Well, how do I look?” asked the Doctor, trotting over to Derpy and striking a pose. “Certainly was a challenge putting clothes on this strange pony anatomy, but I think I did a good job, no?”

This prodded a small smile from Derpy. “It looks great on you,” she said, blushing.

Strange pony anatomy? Octavia was really starting to wonder how sane the ponies she hung out with were. Speaking of ponies with questionable sanity, Octavia spotted Lyra aimlessly wandering around the store. She was constantly adjusting her strapped on human ears. A small white unicorn filly near the back of the store saw Lyra doing this.

“What are those things on your head?” asked the filly, tilting her head to one side.

Lyra spotted the source of the question and smiled. “These are human ears, my good filly! I’m dressed up like a person!” She explained jubilantly.

“What’s a human?” asked the filly, walking up to Lyra.

“You don’t know? Well, let me explain...” Lyra responded. She put a foreleg around the filly’s neck and began talking about the “wonderful world of the human race.”

Octavia grimaced. “There she goes, polluting the future population,” she muttered under her breath. Carrot Top just sighed.

“Hey! Everypony!” Vinyl called among the clothes. “Found my Gala dress!” She trotted out into the open, holding up some clothing in a swath of magic. She dashed into a dressing room.

Derpy walked up to the boutique owner. “Could I order a custom dress?” she asked. “Something with bubbles and muffins. Those are my favorites.”

The boutique owner grimaced. “I have many custom orders to finish today... but I will try my best, darling,” she said. “Perhaps you could follow me to pick out fabrics, and we can discuss the price.” The white unicorn led Derpy into another room, probably the sewing workshop.

Vinyl popped her head around the dressing room door. “Okay, you all ready for this?” she asked.

“Sure!” said the Doctor and Carrot Top simultaneously. Octavia just shrugged.

Vinyl stepped out of the dressing area, decked out in a blue and black modern-style dress with a black belt and choker. Black boots on her back legs and almost shoulder-length stockings on her front completed the look.

“So! Whadda ya think?” Vinyl asked, raising her shades with her magic.

“Very nice,” said Carrot Top.

“Fantastic!” said the Doctor.

Octavia just brushed past them all and headed out the door. She had had enough of these ponies. She would relax and practice her cello tonight before the big day tomorrow.

As she walked out of the Boutique, she heard a small filly’s voice. “Rarity! Guess what I heard!” the filly squeaked. “There are these creatures called humans who-”

Octavia closed the shop door, cantering home in a huff.