[HHH] Fillies and Colts at the Gala (Open)

[Mojo]

Haywire

"Can't believe mah family left me here!" Haywire neighed angrily as the blank flank filly walked into the 'Hop' room. "Mah sister tellin' me 'yur too little fer the ballroom, the Hop is a special place for special ponies like you.' Special my tail! This here's jist duh place ta stick us kids while all the grownups have all the fun! I'm gonna find a way ta sneak outta here an'.."

No looking where she was walking as she was complaining, Haywire collided with a unicorn colt who also wasn't paying attention to where he was. The two young ponies toppled to the floor. As Haywire looked up, she was surprised to see that the golden coated unicorn she had ran into was on all four feet, offering to help her up.

Gold Standard

:Are you alright, miss? Sorry I bumped into you," Gold Standard said as he helped the blonde filly up.

"Well, weren't all yur fault, I wasn't lookin' where I was goin'. Thanks fer helpin' me up, I'm Haywire!"

"And I'm Gold Standard, at your service!"

"Yur family dumped ya in here too?"

"Actually, it was Miss Piccafilly. She's my legal guardian. She brought me to the Gala as a reward for passing my first semester at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns."

"That thar magic school here in Canterlot?"

"The very same! Where do you go to school?"

"In Ponyville, I ain't nutin' special, not like you."

"I'm nopony special either."

"Hay Gold, maybe we kin make the best of this here situation and hang out together. Whatdoya say?"

"Splendid idea, Miss Haywire. Perhaps more fillies and colts will be joining us soon."

"I sure hope so," Haywire said outloud before thinking to herself, "Hmm. Gold's got magic, maybe if we kin round up enough foals, I kin organize an escape outta this here room and out ta where the REAL fun is! Fer now, I'll play along an' see where this goes."

[Hippo]

There were two pegasus ponies who loved each other very much, and when they found out that the Grand Galloping Gala was not going to be snooty once like the years past, they took it upon themselves to vacation to Canterlot from Manehatten, where they lived. These ponies were in love, and they planned out all the exciting things they would do in Canterlot, and during the Gala. So many things to see. So many ponies to meet. So many stories to make.

With them, they flew into Canterlot their little son. A red pegasus colt with a knack for napping. In fact, he was already sleeping when they arrived at the Gala. When they landed, he woke up disciplined, and arose to the occasion. He was amazed at all the lights and fabrications a festival of this size would garnish, and he couldn't wait to be apart of the action. But since his parents we so in love and wanting to spend valuable time with each other, they started out opting to send him to the Happy Hooves Hop, which served as a family fun place where ponies of all ages could enjoy the festivities, but where it also felt like several ponies were dropping off their foals as they would a typical daycare.

Remington was happy, though. And he was so ready to have the freedom to meet other ponies his age, and see what Canterlot's finest has to offer a little red pegasus like himself. As he stepped into the area, he spotted two young ponies talking with each other. He walked up to them. "Oh hay, I know you. You're that crazy fireworks filly from that one field trip we took to Fillydelphia!" Remington's recognized the filly's mischief, but was more pleased with his recognition of her face more than anything. Since he was not necessarily a pony that was easy to hold grudges, he tended to be more understanding and general easy to get along with for his age.

Remington turned to the other foal, another colt his age. "And you, I don't think I've met you before. My name is Remington. I'm from Manehatten. There sure are a lot of ponies here. We're going to have so much fun. I can't even see all the activities from here! Which game do you guys want to play first?"

​

[Lux]

Watermelon Gush was so excited to be at her first ever Grand Galloping Gala that she could barely contain herself! The watermelon hued filly had only heard fantastic stories about the event from folks visiting her parents farm in Solstice Heights and let her imagination do the work of her being dressed up in her finest, dancing, and maybe even meeting a Princess!

Now the filly, dressed in a simple but pretty red and green dress, walked into the room that was designated for fillies and colts.

"I wish I could have been out there with the older ponies," she said to herself with a sigh, "But at least I finally got to go to the Gala!"

She noticed that there was already a filly her age as well as two colts.

"Hi there," she said confidently walking up to the three, "I'm Watermelon Gush! Is this your first Gala like it is for me?"

[Bellosh]

Remington was not the only blank flank from Manehattan to be dropped off the Grand Galloping Gala’s day-care center. Like the pegasus colt, Babs Seed had been dragged here by her parents, who also wanted a chance to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. The goldenrod filly had mixed thoughts being stuck in the Happy Hooves Hop, which appeared to have been converted from one of the castle’s larger guest bedrooms.

On one hoof, Babs would have prefered staying back home instead of being herded into one area away from the grownups; the girl didn’t like it whenever it seemed the adults didn’t think of her as mature yet. All the same though, Miss Seed’s parents promised that she and the other kids would get a chance to personally meet with a princess without having to compete with the adults for her attention. For that reason, Babs chose to be a big filly this time and hang through this for one night.

Since Babs Seed and Remington were Manehattan Cutie Mark Crusaders, she followed right behind the colt as they entered the Hop Room. The little earth pony vaguely remembered the so-called fireworks filly from various misadventures from Ponyville, but so far couldn’t recognize anypony else. Babs never did like talking to kids she didn’t already know well first, so she remained a filly of few words (if any) until Rem asked what sort of game they should all play. “How ‘bout we wrack ‘dat paper-mâché ‘ding over ‘dere?” offered the filly, pointing to the colorful nine-pointed star piñata off to the corner. As it goes without saying, the filly’s more built-up frame gave her a subtle advantage in such activities compared to kids her own age.....

[Mojo]

Haywire was delighted to see more fillies and colts gathering around her and Gold Standard, some she recognized, some she didn't, but that didn't matter. At last, the 'fun' can really begin!

"Hi thar Remmington! Yep, y'all kin call me the fireworks filly. I'll wear that like a badge of honor! Nice ta meetcha Watermelon Gush! Babs Seed, do y'all remember me? I'm Haywire and this here's mah new pal Gold Standard! He lives in Canterlot!"

"Yes, I do. Well, at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorn to be exact. It's truly a pleasure to meet all of you! What shall we do next?"

"Yeah, this here's mah first Gala. My brother an' my big dumb sister left me off here. Well Babs, that sounds like a good idear, but I gotta even BETTER one! How about we play a game of Hide and Sneak, er, I mean Seek! Too bad this here room's SO small, hardly any place ta hide! Lookie over thar, Gold! See that wall vent thingie? Betcha that leads to all sorts of fun ventilation tunnels that all of us could use ta escape, er, I mean ta play Hide 'n Seek. How's about usin' yur horn magic ta pop that little ol' vent thingie off so's all of us kin play the game better?"

"Well," Gold Standard said nervously, :I don't know if that's such a good idea. After all, I think we're all supposed to stay in this room."

"Aw, c'mon Gold! You kin do it, can't he guys?" Haywire asked as she gave a distinctive wink to the others, hoping that they would all play along with the blank flank filly's attempt to escape from the room and go exploring.

[RarityDash]

Tourmaline Glass sat sulking in the corner, reading quietly from an abstruse tome of occult fantasy. For some reason, her parents had been interested in attending the Grand Galloping Gala and had decided to drag her along all the way to Canterlot. The capital of the ponies, the centre of magic in Equestria, was of much interest to the gloomily precocious crystal filly, but she had to say she didn't have an ounce of interest in this overblown social gathering. She had even less interest still in this Happy Hooves Hop that she was forced to visit while her parents went off to meet and greet royalty or whatever it was the adults got to do. It all had as little to do with her as the frilly purple dress she had been forced to wear to the event.

Nearby, other fillies and colts were trying to settle on childish games to play. Piñatas and hide and seek? Seriously, Equestrian children must be even more immature than the ones in the Crystal Empire. She certainly wasn't going to let any of them rope her into any of that nonsense. She just wasn't interested in the slightest. Instead she just stayed in her corner reading and hoping that none of these foalish fools had the gall to disrupt her.

​

[Hippo]

Remington listened carefully to Haywire. He was always really respectful to other pony's turn in speaking. After she suggested, Remington thought for a moment, cleared his throat and spoke when he knew no one else would. "Um, I dunno. That sounds great, but it looks like there's all kinds of fun stuff we can do here. I mean, that piñata has got to be the biggest candy-bomb I ever saw. The music here is nice. And I heard the princesses might come by later since foals aren't really allowed in the throne room. I want to meet them! I've never met a Princess before."

​

[Lux]

Watermelon's eyes looked over at to where the yellow brown filly looked.

"Oh the pinata? I had one of those for my birthday. This one's a big one though. Bigger that me!"

She then heard the others introduce each other which Watermelon took note of each name she heard.

"Hi Haywire, Gold Standard, Remington, and..." she looked at the yellow brown filly with an accent she never heard before, "your name is Babs' right?"

The red manned filly wondered why Haywire was so interested in going into the ventilation shaft there seemed to be plenty of things to do in the room they were in.

"Oh are trying to explore Haywire? Bet this is your first time being to the castle right? It is for me. This place is so big that I'd love to see more of it. Then again I'd like to take a whack at that pinata too like you two Babs and Remington."

Her eyes then lit up when the colt mentioned about a Princess going to visit. Watermelon, like other ponies, knew about the Princesses but never saw one.

"There's a Princess coming here? Oh wow! I've never seen one either. Of course did you know I'm a Princess? That's right, I'm the Princess of Watermelons!"

There was no joking about that title she gave as that was what Watermelon Gush believed she was. After all she was named, looked like, farmed, and even sometimes smelled sweet like watermelons!

[Bellosh]

Hide and Seek? NOT AGAIN! The last time Babs Seed let some random kid sucker her into a game of that, she and Apple Bloom found themselves trapped in a haunted house somewhere in the Everfree Forest. There was no way the goldenrod filly would ever play hide and seek again outside of someplace she knew intimately, like say, the back streets of Manehattan.

Remington thankfully was of sounder mind than Haywire, for he made a good effort to vouch for different activities. “Rem’s right;” Babs backed her trusted (if sometimes immature) friend up; “We’ll have more fun stayin’ here ‘dan gettin’ lost out ‘dere.” As for that watermelon colored filly, Babs nodded to her as a reward for getting her name right, but said nothing else to the unknown earth pony.

In an attempt to get the other kids to follow her, a smirking Miss Seed decided to issue a simple challenge; “I bet none of yah’ can whack ‘dat piñata harder ‘dan I can.....”

[Mojo]

Haywire could see that the growing group of foals gathering in the room were more interested in the pinata than trying to escape from the room. With a heavy sigh, the blank flank filly gave up on her 'plan' for now.

"Batting that pinata sounds like a marvelous idea!" Gold Standard neighed. "Remmington's right, perhaps the Princesses will drop in on us! I'd really look forward to that."

"Ok fine. Let's git ta work on that pinata. Can't argue with gitt'n candy!" Haywire shouted as she walked under it. "Reckon we got all the tools of the trade here! Who's gonna be the first of us ta take a whack at it?"

[tacobob]

Wind Walker was not a very happy pony at the moment. Here she was at the 'Grand Galloping Gala' but she was too young to experience the real event, and instead was dumped off at the 'kiddy' section. This was just as bad as the little table she was generally exiled to during major family get-togethers. While the adults had fun, she was stuck watching over her numerous cousins and nieces. "Maybe this won't be so bad.", she thought to herself as she entered the room the staff had prepared for them. There were a good deal of little-little ponies, but there were a few that appeared to be around her age. She noticed Apple Bloom's grumpy cousin, Babs Seed from where she entered, but the rest of the kids were all strangers to her. The blue Pegasus pony was pretty upset that none of her schoolmates had planned to attend the event, nor did she hear back from Glimmer or any other ponies or griffons from outside of Canterlot. Her spirits were raised a little when she overheard that a 'princess' was to be here. While she really liked Luna and was captivated by both the beauty and grace of the current ruler of the Crystal Empire, she had always wished to meet Princess Celestia. Her family had been serving the wise and gentle ruler of the sun for many generations and she knew if things worked out, the Pegasus pony knew she would be serving the princess, that is, after she hit the proper age and finished all the needed training.

Still, also was a rather cynical pony for her age. While a visit from a Princess would be awesome, she had a feeling in her gut that they'd probably just end up with a bored teenager in a bad 'princess' gown and tiara. She was pretty sure she had already seen a few helpers lurking in the shadows. Poor things didn't get a date, so they got stuck watching a bunch of kids for the night. Deciding a few early sweets wouldn't hurt, she quickly made her way towards the Piñata line. As she got closer, she gave a friendly nod over to Babs, "Alright! Let's slay some mâché!"

[RarityDash]

"What complete nonsense..." Tourmaline muttered under her breath as she rolled her eyes.

Ignoring the other foals was proving more difficult than anticipated as they blathered on about their puerile plans to amuse themselves. Was it really so fulfilling to attempt to break some papier mâché sculpture full of candy with a stick? It was empty destruction for the sole purpose of personal gain. It was pointless really too. Foods and sweets were already being supplied in full to the Happy Hooves Hop, all straight from the Castle kitchens. There was really no reason to get excited about whatever cheap candy was inside the thing--at least not one Tourmaline could perceive.

Perhaps these foals simply has proclivities toward violence and destruction. Looking at them, that seemed all together feasible. A number of them seemed to have a surplus of energy or carry themselves with too much bravado. They were probably all derelict hooligans like that Flakey Shards back home. Other foals honestly were so tiresome and ridiculous. She supposed at the very least she could be pleased to say that none of them so far had come up to her in some misguided attempt to rope her into their horseplay. This was the one positive she had really. No wide eyed imbecile had walked up to her to gawk at her crystalline black coat or otherwise try and make friends, leaving her able to read her book in peace. She could only hope it would stay that way.

​

[Hippo]

"You're on, Babs!" Remington revved up with excitement. He couldn't wait for everything to get started. And wouldn't you know it, there were just as many piñatas as there was ponies. Remington went over to a bucket full of blindfolds and started wrapping them around everypony so that they couldn't see. "Who said we gotta take turns? Let's all go at it at the same time!" He placed a blindfold around Babs, then around Watermelon, then Haywire, then Gold Standard, and around the new cute filly pegasus. Afterwards, he placed a stick inside the mouths of all the temporary blind foals. There was another filly with a very dark pelt that lingered in the corner of the room. Remington stared for a bit but then shrugged it off. Maybe she just wants to be left alone. Remington then tied a blindfold around himself and picked up his own stick. "Alright everypony, ready? Everyone spin around! Keep going, keep going, and... STOP! Get swingin'!" Remington wound up his stick in his mouth, and swung as if he knew the piñata was right in front of him.

​

[Mojo]

Both Gold Standard and Haywire eagerly accepted Remmington's proposal. Now both blindfolded ponies began to swing wildly with their poles hoping to smash open one of the many hanging pinatas. After five minutes of constant misses with her pole, Haywire decided to peak. Then she quickly fished her slingshot out of her saddlebag and shot the pinata above her with a rock, bursting it open.

"HAY GUYS! I GOT MINE!" the blank flank filly cheered, quickly replacing her mask and then pretending to remove it as the eager foal started collecting candy.

"That's great, Haywire!" the still blindfolded Gold Standard neighed as he continued to swing with his pole, hoping to connect with one himself.

"KEEP TRYIN'!" Haywire shouted as she munched on candy. "Y'know, y'all's been so nice and friendly, I think I kin fix y'all up a nice sur-prize!"

Haywire galloped to the other side of the room with her saddlebag to prepare her 'surprise' to be ready once the other ponies finished playing with their pinatas.

[Lux]

Before she could react, Watermelon was blindfolded and began to spin herself around. The filly never heard of everypony at once hitting a pinata, but she was willing to try anything once. There was such commotion that the watermelon hued filly didn't quite know where everypony was or what was going on. Then suddenly she felt a smack on her flank with she knew was somepony with a stick. It thankfully wasn't a hard hit but it did sting!

"Ouch," Watermelon Gush said wincing as she dropped the stick from her mouth, "Hey, that was my flank you hit, not the pinata!"

Her quest for the candy, however, distracted her from finding the culprit as the filly pickled up the stick and waved it in the air to feel for the paper mache ball. When she came into contact with something the rustled like paper, Watermelon reared back and dropped her stick down as had as she could. Pulling back her blindfold, the green filly saw that not only had she snapped the ball from its string but shattered the paper ball as if it was a busted melon!

"Yay! I got mine," she neighed as she collected her candy, "Anypony want to trade? I'll give you the sour candy for chocolate!"

[Bellosh]

As Remington discovered, plenty of other piñatas were about for all the kids to whack. For a moment, Babs Seed wondered if they should be waiting for an adult to come by and manage their activities. After all, it wouldn’t be like grownups to leave children unattended at a fancy schmancy party. But as no big ponies were forthcoming, the goldenrod filly shrugged her concerns off and let her friend blindfold her eyes.

When given the command by Remington, Babs started her attempt to bash the piñata open. Her first swing hit its target, but the stick didn’t go in; it only impacted on the surface. The second and third swings missed their marks, for the piñata was mildly swaying from that first impact. But oddly on the fourth try, Miss Seed lost her grip hold on her stick; the little earth pony couldn’t see it, but her stick flew out of her mouth and careened thoughtlessly towards that loner crystal pony off to the side.....

[RarityDash]

As the rest of the children began to loudly flail about blindfolded with their sticks, trying to bat their papier mâché figures down, Tourmaline continued to read, only glancing up on occasion to shake her head and sigh at how ridiculous they all were. Ultimately though, it had nothing to do with her and she was still thankfully being allowed her space to read. She could focus all her intention on the thick, heavy tome in her hooves, a high fantasy epic telling the adventure of a young earth pony who outsmarts a dragon and claims a powerful magic sword which inadvertently puts him in the center of a conflict between a demonic conqueror and a corrupt pony king.

Presently in the story, the hero was in a deep cavern, surrounded by evil specters his companions, a brave griffon huntress a cunning changeling prince and a flaky unicorn wizard having all been separated from him, their fates unknown. As the ghostly fiends closed in on the protagonist who could only swing his sword in vain at their immaterial forms and all appeared to be lost, the young crystal filly only became increasingly engrossed. A smile appeared on her face as she reached to turn the next page, wondering just what would happen next.

What did happen, was not exactly something Tourmaline could have predicted. The heavy book hit the ground with a thud as a very startled filly found a flying stick suddenly collide with the side of her head. The stick was not a full sized bat or anything, but it flew at the young crystal pony with significant force behind it and as such was enough to leave her face stinging. Anger building quickly, she lifted the stick and stared with contempt toward the other children. It had been a mistake to stop watching them. She grumbled furiously as she clenched the stick and searched the room until she found the one filly not holding a batting implement. She was an orange filly with a short mane swept to one side. Tourmaline stomped toward her with the stick.

"You there! Must you honestly be so careless?" she started furiously. "I know the lot of you are too simple-minded to refrain from this sort of puerile horseplay, but that does not entitle you to disregard the safety of those not involved!"

​

[tacobob]

While there seemed to be more Piñatas than ponies in the room, the young filly decided to try an attempt of her own. Hopefully there would be good candy in hers. None of that nasty mint hard candy stuff. She wanted chocolate! Butterhooves! Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups! Gummies! Wind Walker scooped up a blindfold, but stopped when a certain 'Butterhooves' lost control of her swinging stick. While she considered catching the missile, it proved to be too fast for the filly and ended up hitting the crystal pony who up until the present time had been reading by herself. Thankfully, it did not appear that the little mare was hurt, and normally the blue Pegasus pony would have returned to what she was doing, but she could not. What the filly said filled her with anger. 'Simple-minded?' 'puerile'? While Babs Seed was a grouchy-girl, she did not deserve the abuse she was currently receiving.

"Hey now!", the filly quickly made her way over to Tourmaline, "I haven't been here for more than five seconds, but already I'm getting tired of your whining!", she growled, "And for your information, this room was set up for horse, er pony-play! We're supposed to have fun here while our parents and siblings enjoy the ball! So if you don't play nice and apologize to Babs, I'm gonna give you such a hoof-...", she stopped short on her threat when something more creative entered her mind, "Actually, I won't do that, I'll just tell you what happens in that book you're reading!", a sly smile fell on the child's face, " I'll tell you what happens in the end! Then I'll tell you what happens in the sequel, the prequel, and then the sequel of the prequel! But I won't tell you what happens in the sequel's prequel's second sequel. Cause that wasn't very good and I never got to the end!"

[Bellosh]

"You there! Must you honestly be so careless? I know the lot of you are too simple-minded to refrain from this sort of puerile horseplay, but that does not entitle you to disregard the safety of those not involved!"

By the time Babs Seed finished fumbling around to take off her blindfold, the loner crystal filly with that shiny black coat got mad at her for being hit. Almost immediately, the goldenrod earth pony expressed her indignation over the other’s fussiness with a death glare. Why, Babs would make sure to give that twerp a taste of the good big city attitude-

"Hey now! I haven't been here for more than five seconds, but already I'm getting tired of your whining! And for your information, this room was set up for horse, er pony-play! We're supposed to have fun here while our parents and siblings enjoy the ball! So if you don't play nice and apologize to Babs, I'm gonna give you such a hoof-... Actually, I won't do that, I'll just tell you what happens in that book you're reading! I'll tell you what happens in the end! Then I'll tell you what happens in the sequel, the prequel, and then the sequel of the prequel! But I won't tell you what happens in the sequel's prequel's second sequel. Cause that wasn't very good and I never got to the end!"

Nevermind; a vaguely familiar pegasus filly did Miss Seed’s job for her. Babs couldn’t quite remember the filly’s name, but she recall seeing the pegasus before on one of her trips to Ponyville. Anywho, it didn’t really matter who the kid was, since her passionate calling out of the rude pony did a good part to calm the goldenrod filly down. When the pegasus’s rambling ceased, a somewhat unsure Babs now prepared a more conciliatory apology to the crystal pony she managed to accidently hit; “Ehhh, look pal, ‘dese ‘dings happen sometimes. It was just an accident; I didn’t mean t’ hurt nopony.....”

[Hippo]

Remington swung a few times in the air. And that's all he got. Expecting to hit something, Remington just kept swinging through invisible nothings. He wasn't sure where he was or which direction he was facing. But soon, he heard Haywire get her's open, and then another one opened. There were also other cracks, but it sounded a lot less hollow than a paper mache object filled with candy. Remington kept going, not minding the sudden stoppage of play. He was setting a new pony league strikeout record. Until finally he swung so hard that he rotated his entire body around and made him lose his footing and he fell down.

​

Miracle had never been to the gala before. However, she didn't much care to go to it anyway. But seeing as how there is food at the establishment, she thought she might as well try it now that she's not necessarily invading Canterlot highfalutin with her lifestyle, something she never became aware enough of. She decided to volunteer herself to get a better look at the event, and she was assigned to be a casual chaperon at the Happy Hooves Hop, where the foal to pony ratio was greater than desired.

After grabbing a few obligatory snacks from the table, she walked up behind Haywire who seemed to be digging into something she brought to the gala. With no context about what was going on, Miracle leaned in and spoke up, only after swallowing her mouthful of food that is. "Hey, filly. Whatcha got there?"

​

[Mojo]

Finally, Gold Standard's wooden stick connected with the pinata above him, sending candy raining down on the gold pelted unicorn colt.

"I got mine! I got mine!" he shouted. Using his horn magic to gather up all of the fallen candy, Gold turned to see the newcomer into the room now talking to Haywire.

"Oh, howdy thar!" Haywire neighed, returning Miracle's greeting. "I got me a SUR-prise I'm sett'n up fer all of us! See these here firecracker rockets? I'm fixin' ta launch'm inta the night sky above the castle. That's why I got'm set up near this here winder."

"Haywire," Gold said sternly, "I don't think that's a very good idea. Firecrackers can be very dangerous and.."

"Don'tcha worry none. I know exactly what I'm doin'! All I did was set'm up ta launch. I ain't gonna light'm up till all of us are done with our pinatas. Wanna make sure all of us git ta see these beauties flyin' through the sky! It'll be fun!" the blank flank filly neighed as she noticed the levitating 'ball' of candy Gold Standard kept airborne beside him. "That's all yur candy, pal? Kin I have that thar chocolate bar on top of the heap?"

"Ok, let me rotate this mass of candy for you and..:"

"Ya ain't gotta do that! I'll jump ta git it!" Haywire shouted as the blonde filly leaped upward, crashing into the floating ball of candy, causing Gold to lose his concentration. When the levitation spell broke, all of his candy dropped to the floor along with Haywire. The hard jarring of the floor caused a tall ceremonial lit candlestand to fall downward. When it crashed into the floor, the lit candle popped out and landed over near Haywire's set firecracker rockets, immediately turning them in randon directions and lighting all of their fuses.

"Uh oh!" Haywire uttered as all of the rockets launched at once, in all different directions. Several of them did fly out the window, but at a lower trajectary. Some of the rockets flew through the slats in the ventalation grid that Haywire was trying to trick Gold Standard into opening earlier. One bounced off the ceiling, then off the floor and then out into the hallway where four more of them followed behind.

"Haywire! What have you done?" Gold Standard yelled. "We better go tell a grownup fast!"

"Weren't MAH fault, Gold! It was an accident. Besides, maybe them thar rockets won't cause no damage. If'n we git grown ups involved, we'll ALL git in big trouble, not jist me. Best ta jist let it go fer now."

"I don't know, Haywire. I think we better do something, but I'm not sure what."

Where will all those firecracker rockets go? Check my other entries in the Gala to find out! Haywire might end up in more trouble than she bargained for this time!

[PedestrianWolf]

Sorghum Sweet's parents are not party-going sort of folk, so they weren't attending the Gala. Fortunately for Sorghum, her aunt Caramarsh is totaly a party pony, and she consented to bringing the filly along with her. However, rather than being allowed to hang out with the adults, Sorghum got dropped unceremoniously into the Hop with the other foals.

"Woah!" She yelped as she dived out of the way of an incoming rocket. Cautiously she looked around the doorway through the haze of firecracker smoke to see a room full of shocked colts and fillies with candy all over the floor. Maybe being stuck with the other foals wouldn't be so bad after all.

"I didn't know that they allowed fireworks in the castle! Cool! What other fun stuff do they have in here?"

[RarityDash]

"Hey now! I haven't been here for more than five seconds, but already I'm getting tired of your whining! And for your information, this room was set up for horse, er pony-play! We're supposed to have fun here while our parents and siblings enjoy the ball! So if you don't play nice and apologize to Babs, I'm gonna give you such a hoof-... Actually, I won't do that, I'll just tell you what happens in that book you're reading! I'll tell you what happens in the end! Then I'll tell you what happens in the sequel, the prequel, and then the sequel of the prequel! But I won't tell you what happens in the sequel's prequel's second sequel. Cause that wasn't very good and I never got to the end!"

Tourmaline's eyes narrowed as another filly approached to fight the orange one's fight for her. This energetic pegasus filly seemed bizarrely keen to argue that Tourmaline was at fault for getting hit in the face with a flying stick and had the gall to demand she apologize, going so far to threaten her with violence it seemed... until she changed her tone and decided to threaten her with spoilers instead. This was perhaps a more effective threat for Tourmaline; had she stuck to the violence, she ultimately would have been the one to get in trouble and she would have only proven Tourmaline's assumption that the lot of these foals were simple-minded ruffians.

The spoilers were more damaging anyway. Tourmaline staggered back a few steps at the possibility. Then she took a moment to think about it. Was she honestly supposed to believe that some cheerful little filly who enjoyed running around and smashing things with sticks had actually read E.W. Moon's Scions of Arcadia and so many other entries in the Unhallowed Schism Saga. No, this had to be a bluff. Even most adults Tourmaline knew found most of the books she favored difficult to read. Surely this silly pony in front of her couldn't have read any of it!

"Such obvious bluffs will not force from me an apology," Tourmaline said with a huff. "Am I honestly expected to believe you are familiar with Moon's work? The intricacies of the Schism Saga are far beyond what the average filly can comprehend!"

​

“Ehhh, look pal, ‘dese ‘dings happen sometimes. It was just an accident; I didn’t mean t’ hurt nopony.....”

The crystal filly gave a long sigh as the stick thrower finally spoke up for herself. Her anger toward the pony had deflated as the stinging of her face abated. Still, on principal she felt she had to remain firm.

"These things don't happen if you muster just an ounce of restraint," she said. "I understand that it was not in your intentions to cause harm, but such things remain an unequivocal consequence of flailing around like a maniac."

​

[Bellosh]

"These things don't happen if you muster just an ounce of restraint. I understand that it was not in your intentions to cause harm, but such things remain an unequivocal consequence of flailing around like a maniac."

Babs Seed still didn't like this twerp's attitude, and she still intended to stop giving the crystal pony the time of day once this argument was settled, but at least the twerp seemed like she mellowed out just a little bit. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep Babs from loosening up her guard. Probably thanks to that other pegasus and her threats of spoiling some silly book, it appeared the black crystal filly would be inclined to follow Miss Seed's course of action as well.

Yet right then, an ingenious suggestion came to the forefront of the young earth pony’s mind. “Fine ‘den,” Babs challenged, smugly blowing at the piece of mane hanging over her eye; “You don’t like us swingin’ sticks around, then why don’t you pick a different game ‘dat we can all play?” Babs Seed inched closer to the crystal filly as she made her dare, hoping the other would take a hint and stop whining.....

[Lux]

Watermelon Gush was busy sorting out her candy between what she wanted to keep and what she could afford to trade when suddenly she heard several things flying around her like big flies. She stood up in time to see a firecracker aimed right at her!

"Aaah," she said as she dove to the ground as the firecracker flew harmlessly over her.

The filly then noticed a new pony enter the room, also surprised by the sudden pyrotechnics.

"Hi there," she said to the yellow pony, "I'm Watermelon Gush, but you can just call me Watermelon. What's your name, and oh, do you want some candy?"