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


Mojo

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"Hey there, Watermelon! I'm Sorghum Sweet, and heck yes I'd like some candy!"

The pint sized earth filly recovered quickly from the shock of the impromptu fireworks display, and rushed into the room next to the aptly named watermelon pony.

"Is there any taffy? That's my favorite, especially the honey flavored stuff. I like the malted milk balls and caramels, too."

Sorghum got down on the floor and started sorting through the candy alongside Watermelon. She turned to look at the dark crystal filly who was having an arguement with a blue pegasus and another blank flank like herself with a Manehattan accent.

"So, what's that all about?" she asked her newest friend.

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The little filly groaned, “Well, my parents want me to get into military academy when I’m old enough, so they make sure I read enough adult's books like the 'Unhallowed Schism Saga', which I actually liked a good deal better than 'The Canter-Bury Tales' or...", she was cut off by the sounds of fireworks as they shot about the room. Once they were gone, the little filly glanced around the room for a moment, "Eh?", she could only mutter. "That's probably going to be a problem. A problem for Some-pony else.", she wanted to continue her threat, but Babs Seed already had another plan. While still in the mood for some tasty treats, the Pegasus pony threw her blindfold on and took a quick swing at her personal piñata. She was able to burst open the crudely made 'Daring Do', once she heard the tale-tail sound of the broken piñata, she quickly ripped off her eye covering in time to see the sweets rain from the ceiling. Lots of nasty looking hard candy. "Oh come on! Do they even make 'Hard Tack Candy' anymore?" After leaving the small pile of unappetizing candy, Wind Walker was able to catch the tail end of what the little earth filly had said.

“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.....

Wind Walker flew over to the pair and landed near Babs, "Yeah! I'm already bored with the candy and the 'almost getting blasted to bits by fireworks' game! Let's play something better!", she was curious to hear what the little crystal pony was going to suggest.

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“Well, my parents want me to get into military academy when I’m old enough, so they make sure I read enough adult's books like the 'Unhallowed Schism Saga', which I actually liked a good deal better than 'The Canter-Bury Tales' or..."

Tourmaline was kind of surprised at what she was hearing. Maybe this pony actually was familiar with it? She never would have thought she'd run into another filly who was. In preparation for a military academy too? She hardly thought a mind sharpened and developed by the erudite words of E.W. Moon was of much use to some soldier brute. It also seemed odd that she would compare it to the Canter-Bury Tales, that overly crass and vulgar assortment of vignettes that had been around even before the Crystal Empire had been cursed. Perhaps the march of history had altered its reputation some.

Before this other, at least somewhat learned, filly could finish her thought, a very loud sound came from nearby. Tourmaline looked to see some crazy child actually setting off fireworks. This was a stunning development. She had known these children were careless and lacking in restraint or sense, but this was just bringing it to a new level. Suddenly a stray stick flying across the room seemed less severe an offense.

"Eh? That's probably going to be a problem. A problem for Some-pony else."

"Honestly... how can one be so entirely devoid of any kind of sense?" she muttered, shaking her head.

"Fine ‘den, You don’t like us swingin’ sticks around, then why don’t you pick a different game ‘dat we can all play?”

It was then that the orange filly issued a sort of challenge. The crystal filly sighed. She had no interest in proving her mettle to some overzealous simpleton. Competition was something for fools to get worked up over. However, perhaps she could use this to her advantage still and succeed in getting some of these delinquent foals to remain quiet for a spell. Probably a good idea, as at this rate some of them would likely find a way to set fire to the castle if they could.

"I have little use for inane and childish games," Tourmaline said huffily. "But if you are so desperate for a means to amuse yourself, I would suggest that we take the time to quietly draw," she said, nodding to a table with some art supplies on it.

It was worth a try, but Tourmaline was not so naive to think they'd go for it.

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"I have little use for inane and childish games. But if you are so desperate for a means to amuse yourself, I would suggest that we take the time to quietly draw."

Despite the rather rude interruption from that fireworks filly, Babs Seed was doing her part to get the other troublesome kid to be less of a whiner. Proving that she was somewhat reasonable, the black crystal pony suggested that the gang go and draw. Even though Babs never got the chance to whack open her piñata, a moment of thought led to believe that drawing would be a good enough activity; “Alright ‘den; would yaw care to join-?”

“WHAT’S GOING ON IN HERE?!”

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The shenanigans in the Happy Hooves Hop room did not escape the attention of the grownups; three grim-faced stallions of the Royal Equestrian Army, to be exact. Two wore the iconic armor of the Royal Guard and stood guard at the doorway, but their superior officer, dressed in a scarlet dress jacket covered in medals, took it upon himself to loudly get the attention of the room’s young occupants. The imposing pegasus in question, Col. Pummel, had the “fortune” of not being too far away from the daycare room when the fireworks went off, and he swiftly galloped over to the scene with two castle guards in tow.

Pummel did not take too kindly to this disturbance at all; his voice oozed with heart-stopping venom as he questioned; “Which one of you Celestia-forsaken brats is responsible for firing those rockets?” Without hesitation, Babs pointed at the rust colored filly who set them off. Miss Seed never cared for the other earth pony all that much, and so wouldn’t shed any tears over the discipline that would surely be administered now.

With each step of his pounding the floor as if he was Doom itself; the old colonel glared at the accused pony in question before he was right in front of her. “What’s your name young girl?” Pummel coldly growled at the little pony he stared down upon; “And did you set those infernal things off…?”

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Haywire released a heavy sigh. The blank flank filly's greatest fears were now realized.

"Sir," she nervously began to speak, "mah name's Haywire and them are all mah firecracker rockets, but they were all set off by accident. I had'm aimed ta launch out this here winder, but then that big ol' candlestand fell down, hit the floor, broke off, moved mah rockets and then set'm off. I know it all sounds unbelievable, but honest sir, that's what happened. I never meant for them things ta fly outta control in the castle!"

"Haywire speaks the truth," added Gold Standard, "all of this was an unfortunate accident just as Haywire described, See the broken candlestand on the floor? And these skidmarks beneath the launch platform clearly show it was forcably moved from it's original place. All she was trying to do is entertain all of us foals. Please don't throw her in the dungeon."

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"Nice to meet you Sorghum Sweet," Watermelon said with a friendly smile as the filly sat next to her, "Sure you can have the taffy. I'm more of a pony that likes mints and chocolates."

She wondered at first what the filly Sorghum meant with her question but saw two ponies talking to each other. Well, it was less like talking and more like arguing.

"I don't really know. All I know it that there are a lot of strange things happening here. That black crystal pony has been pretty quiet until now, we were hitting pinatas although I think somepony thought I was one one when they hit me on the flank, and there were firecrackers going off. So, yeah, it's been an interesting Gala!"

The appearance of the guards, especially the stallion dressed in military finery made Watermelon shrink up into a ball. She didn't like yelling and she was scared that after the fireworks they would all be put in a dungeon or banished or put into a dungeon that was banished.

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Miracle gasped as fireworks flew in random directions. She dodged them pointlessly with her wits, but was just lucky enough to be missed by all of them. She ran over to Haywire's bag of fireworks. Some of the fireworks had not yet been fired or ignited. She took them out using her leviation magic. "No, no, no. We can't use these here, I'm going to put these somewhere where they belong."

She knew it. She always knew it. Miracle woke up today knowing that somepony would get in trouble at the gala. She just wasn't sure who or how it would go down. In this case, Miracle felt guilty that she let her guard down enough to allow something like this happen. After all, she was entrusted to keep the unparented foals from trouble at the Happy Hooves Hop. She wondered if they would ever had punished her since it was her responsibility to watch over them. Fortunately, no one would have to know.

She walked around the area and couldn't find a safe cupboard or closet to keep the rest of the fireworks. Unable to find a hiding place, she walked back to the front of the room. "Little filly, I can't find- HUGHHHHH!" Miracle saw the stallion in uniform, and she immediately hid behind a small vase in the corner of the room, breathing heavily and trying to keep her levitation magic from glowing too brightly. Oh no, she thought to herself. If they find out I'm responsible, they'll banish me!

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Celestia had pestered Luna a few times to find the Happy Hooves Hop, in terms of the foals that would probably be excited to meet her. Luna was happy to run the errand too, it would allow her a chance to connect more with the generation that seemed to be the primary age group who associated with Nightmare Night fun. The study of the holiday grew increasingly interesting to her, and she wanted to find out more about what it is about foals and their candy that associates them with such a frightfully fun event.

Luna swooped down through one of the windows into the room. Her flutter as she landed breezed through the entire area. Luna had no idea of the fireworks inccident as she had just come from the throne room through secret private access as to not be bombarded with Canterlot's social ponies that wanted desperately to speak to her like she was some kind of rock star. "Salutations, dear children." Luna stepped lightly and lowered her pose. "So is this where all the fun is being had?" Luna winked an encouragement to everypony in the room, suggesting that this was the only place she wanted to be. And in many ways, at the current time, it certainly was.

Miracle gasped again. "Pickled blueberries, its the Princess!" Miracle started shaking. The ramifications of her failure would be displayed in front of Canterlot's highest. Good going, Miracle.

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Sorghum Sweet dismissed the two arguing fillies as unimportant, and went back to sorting the taffies from the chocolates on the floor with Watermelon Gush. She was so thouroughly engrossed in her task, that she didn't hear the royal guards come in until a loud voice behind her demanded to know “WHAT’S GOING ON IN HERE?!”

"EEEK!" she yelped and spun around, sending her pile of candy skidding all over the floor, and treading on a jawbreaker. Her hoof slid out from under her, and she fell down with a thud. "OW!"

“Which one of you Celestia-forsaken brats is responsible for firing those rockets?” So, they weren't officially part of the gala? But fireworks are always part of the big parties in Fillydelphia! Of course, they were usually set off from a barge on the river, not from inside a room, but still. Fireworks = Party, everypony knows that.

Sorghum's sore bottom and twisted ankle were making her grumpy. And when she was grumpy she got mouthy. "Now, wait just one dern minute, Mister. Don't you go throwin' nopony in the dungeon 'cause of a few little rockets." Before she could tell off the stiff military pony any further, a breeze blew in the window, and a princess appeared! Sorghum's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Sweet Sufferin' Succotash! It's Nightmare Moon!"

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"Sir, mah name's Haywire and them are all mah firecracker rockets, but they were all set off by accident... I never meant for them things ta fly outta control in the castle!"

Col. Pummel heard all he needed to hear from the immature weasel. Ignoring the protests of the other children, the bulky pegasus nodded to one of the Royal Guards, who took that as his cue to march over and seize Haywire with his muzzle. “”Sorry” isn’t going to cut it, little miss,” the unforgiving colonel chastised to a now dangling Haywire; “For smuggling of contraband and reckless endangerment of other ponies, you’ll be sent to the Detention Center until we can notify your parents and have them pick you up.” For PR reasons, the word “dungeon” was never used by REA personnel in favor of terms that didn’t invoke stereotypical images of a tyrannical queen’s rule. “And from this day forth,” Pummel ranted on; “You are not welcome in Canterlot Castle ever again, and your parents will be fined for any damages that you’ve caused tonight. Trespass onto the castle grounds, and you’ll be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

"Salutations, dear children. So is this where all the fun is being had?"

The old gray stallion was just about to give his signal to escort the meddlesome filly out of the room when in came Her Nocturnal Majesty, Princess Luna. Finally, another adult bothered to show up to the Happy Hooves Hop thought the grumpy Pummel, but he didn’t let his annoyance show as he and the two other guards saluted Luna. “Everything is under control Your Highness,” he reported matter-of-factly; “I have the situation with this thoughtless troublemaker taken care of.” Lowering his foreleg, Pummel nodded to the guard holding Haywire to start heading out of the room.....

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Tourmaline was rather surprised that the strangely accented orange filly seemed prepared to accept her suggestion to draw. Unfortunately such peaceful pastime was not permitted to immediately ensue, as more commotion suddenly erupted. An adult stallion in full military regalia burst through the door to accost the troublesome delinquent who had set off the fireworks. There was some level of gratification in seeing such flagrant recklessness fail to go ignored, but she ultimately had little use for very loud and domineering adults who were so sure they were in control of any given situation. All it took was a show from somepony with true power, and all the meaningless soldiers of this or and kingdom could be brought instantly to a knee, no matter how headstrong they were. The ponies here had seen that in the recent Changeling invasion and her own compatriots in the Empire knew it better than any. Ponies who thought themselves in control of this oh so chaotic world, they were the truly naïve ones.

Nodding at her own internal observations, Tourmaline was prepared to put her attention toward drawing something nice when suddenly yet another adult decided to make an appearance. Now, she recalled the prior excitement of the foals over the prospect of a pony princess possibly pay a visit to the proceeding. At the time, she hadn't thought much of it. Sure, the princesses of this realm had all sorts of power, but the bulk of them weren't worth getting so excited for, as Tourmaline had learned first hand in how little she had learned seeking out the newest princesses at a magic camp not too long ago. The princess who appeared before her now was the exception. She was Princess Luna--the one who had fallen to the allure of dark magic and become the fearsome princess of the dark, Nightmare Moon.

Intrigued and excited, Tourmaline approached the princess eagerly. "Night Princess, it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance," she spoke, looking up to the alicorn. "I am Tourmaline Glass, humble subject of the Crystal Empire."

"As a student with a keen interest in the intrigues of history, it would be my honor if you could regale me with knowledge of your time spent as Nightmare Moon, or perhaps of your battle with our dark king prior to the sealing of our empire," the precocious filly added, her excitement evident.
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"Oh for pony's sake!", Wind Walker made her way towards Tourmaline, "You have use for 'inane and childish games', cause you're a child. At least I think you are. You're not some sort of dwarf-pony, are you?", she eyeballed the crystal pony before making up her mind that she was in fact a filly, "You're gonna hate yourself when your ol....", she was deathly silent the moment mean old Colonel Pummel charged into the room. She had only seen him just a few times in the past, but she knew who he was. While her father had said some rather positive things about the older stallion, the little mare had already made up her mind the second she saw him and what she saw she did not like. The elder pony always seemed to have such a deep frown on his face which made Wind Walker to wonder if he ever smiled a second in his life. He resembled the villains in more than a few stories she had read. He'd be the type who snatched up little ponies and made them work in his mines. Her father had assured her more than once that the good Colonel was a well respected and very important member of the R.E.A., but the filly knew she was right! The old pony was a meanie! And he probably smelled like old mothballs.

She cringed a bit more as he spoke. Not only did he swear and curse, he also referred to her and the others as brats! If only she could tell her dad what he said! He'd give that mean old stallion a good clobbering, or maybe not? Her father actually liked that sour-apple-faced grump! He'd probably ask his superiors to give him a medal! A MEANIE medal! She was pretty upset, but what happened next made her simmer! Apple Bloom's cousin was not only grumpy, but she was a snitch! The Pegasus gave the earth pony such a glare! Still, she kept quiet as Haywire spoke. While she was rather foalish to bring fireworks with her, the blue filly was pretty impressed on how brave she was, standing up to that grumpy-faced-grump-head. Then another pony entered the room and it was.

Wind Walker gasped, "Princess Luna!", she gave Equestria's co-ruler a proper bow and waited her turn to speak. "We were having fun, until our room was befouled by several cases of the 'grumps'.", she was very sure this was the proper way to speak to an princess, "What would you recommend that we do, your highness? A magic spell to make them happy? Or maybe banishment to the Badlands?"

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Haywire knew she was in huge trouble now. The blank flank filly was about to be taken away by Royal Guards! Her own charm that had worked many times before to get her out of messes like this wasn't going to work on this stern looking Colonel. With a heavy sigh of defeat, Haywire strapped her saddlebag back on and prepared to leave with the guards. But just as they were about to leave, Princess Luna walked in, causing every pony in the room, including herself, to bow in reverence.

"Princess Luna!" Gold Standard neighed as he bowed.

"I gotta throw mahself at the mercy of the Princess!" Haywire shouted, squirming free of the Royal Guards as she rushed over to Princess Luna's feet and bowed as she began to plead. "OH PLEASE PRINCESS LUNA! PLEASE DON'T LET THAT THAR MEAN LOOKIN' COLONEL GOOMER TOSS ME INTA THE DUNGEON! WEREN'T MAH FAULT ABOUT ALL THEM FIRECRACKER ROCKETS AND STUFF! HAVE MERCY ON ME, PLEASE!!!"

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Luna was shocked at the appraisal of everypony's attitudes in the room. They came in all shapes and sizes. A military pony, one Luna had probably seen before was speaking on something terrible happening at the gala, something about a foal causing too much trouble. "Not a matter, Colonel, I appreciate the outlook, but these are just foals, they're trouble is hardly over-encumbersome." She addressed while shaking hooves with several ponies in the building. But then she looked at him. "Unless you think this foal is too much for me to deal with. Is that what you are suggesting?"

Luna was a little uncomfortable with the immediate responses from the foals. They also came in all shapes and sizes. Some were moody, some were excited, some were begging, some were mature. One pony called her Nightmare Moon. Without thinking she responded, "Yes I'm Night-, I mean, no, I'm Princess Luna. There shall be no Nightmares tonight." Luna smiled wide at all the foals, attempting to assure them that this was not haunting matter, even if for the fun.

Another pony begged a pardon. "Child, this is not necessary. I'm sure you are a good filly and you're just being seen at the wrong angle. Someone with a sparky personality like yourself should not be kept down, let us have some fun!" Luna grabbed Haywire and threw her up once, and then caught her to set her back down.

Luna saw a black crystal pony approach her. She was very young, but very mature. She was asking all kinds of questions Luna was not prepared for. She could not be prepared for the conversation the filly was wanting, but Luna had an idea. She saw a pinata that had not been broken. "Ah! This is the hit an object filled with candy with a stick while blind-folded game? I know this one. Miss Glass, I bet you love a good game don't you!?" Without hesitation, Luna blindfolded Tourmaline, put a stick her mouth and pushed her towards the pinata. "Go, child go! Try to obtain the most candy by fracturing the paper toy in half!"

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The presence of the guards, especially the one barking orders at a red filly, made Watermelon Gush tremble as Sorghum Sweet nearby spilled her candy. The poor filly curled up into a ball, looking more like the fruit she was named after than a filly. It was only the yellow earth pony next to her mentioning a Princess that she looked up in time to see Princess Luna standing in the middle of the party room! She tried to say or do something but all she could do was stand like a statue with her mouth opened in a gasp for a while. Realizing she probably looked like a fish than a filly with her open mouth like that, she thought of something to say.

"Nice to meet you, Princess Luna," she said not in the most formal of way but the only thing she could say on her mind.

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"Not a matter, Colonel, I appreciate the outlook, but these are just foals, their trouble is hardly over-encumbersome. Unless you think this foal is too much for me to deal with. Is that what you are suggesting?"

As much as Col. Pummel hated it, it looked like Princess Luna planned on letting Haywire off the hook. The old officer didn’t get why adults these days constantly let children get away with causing trouble; all that kids were learn that they’d never be punished for misbehaving. Luna’s pardon was especially odd, for surely hailing from a time 1000 years ago would make the Night Princess more predisposed towards instilling discipline in brats.

After a long exhale, Col. Pummel gave up the most immediate matter. “Do with this filly as you wish, ma’am,” the gray pegasus begrudgingly acknowledged his superior's will, but the disgruntled Pummel was not prepared to forgive and forget just yet. “As a standard precaution however, we have no choice but to seize all of Haywire’s belongings.” Before another objection could be raised, the royal guard closest to the rust-coated filly ripped the menace’s saddlebags off of her with his muzzle and marched out of the room without further delay. “The filly’s saddlebags will be returned to their owner at our discretion,” Pummel dispassionately instructed, fully intending the bag’s contents to be destroyed or thrown away as deemed necessary; “That will be all.” And with that, Pummel and the armored guards left the room; the colonel really hoped the princess could keep those kids in line.....

*Exit Pummel*

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As for Babs Seed, she bowed down along with the rest of the other children when Princess Luna made her appearance. The goldenrod filly didn't bother speaking at first, but she perked an eye up when she noticed how the alicorn was leading that crystal pony Tourmaline Glass over to the last remaining piñata left unbroken; Miss Seed's piñata. While Babs really did want to open that thing up, she also had to admit that it'd be funnier if Tourmaline swung at it instead. It'd serve her right after all of her fussiness earlier. So Babs waited in silence, wondering how successful the black-coated filly would be.....

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"Ah! This is the hit an object filled with candy with a stick while blind-folded game? I know this one. Miss Glass, I bet you love a good game don't you!? Go, child go! Try to obtain the most candy by fracturing the paper toy in half!"

This was not the response that Tourmaline had been expecting. She had been waiting with anticipation to see just how the Night Princess would answer her, but the answer she received was not one she could have foreseen. Inexplicably, she had been blindfolded and made to carry a stick before being pushed toward the papier mâché figure that remained unbroken. Was the Night Princess truly some kind of fool simpleton or was she just evading the question?

"Wha...? No... I don't want... I-I..." Tourmaline muttered feebly as she stumbled ahead, stick in hand. "Why...?"

She didn't want to play such a silly, meaningless and uncivilized game. It was beneath her dignity, truly it was! What could she truly do though? She had been commanded to the task by a being of immense power. This was Princess Luna, master of magics so great and so varied that the young filly could hardly comprehend. This was the mare who raised the moon each night and who was said to be able to invade the dreams of anypony she so chose to. This was the very mare who had battled the Dark King and the creature Discord back in the era Tourmaline was born before reigning havoc of her own as Nightmare Moon. What could Tourmaline do but entertain this pony's whim? At the beck and call of those with great power, the weak had no choice but to be shackled to their will. That was how it was when the Empire had fallen and that was how it was now.

As she began to struggle helplessly with the stick trying to find the target without her eyes, Tourmaline wondered if she didn't finally understand the extent of this Princess' dominance. This was a glimpse of what this mare could compel her subjects to do, and with all certainty it was a fearsome thing. Now Tourmaline had no choice but to stumble and flail and make a fool of herself, all because she had attempted to obtain guarded knowledge. The more her blind and aimless flailing continued, the more Tourmaline became convinced of Princess Luna's brilliance and the sheer magnitude of it.

Then, suddenly, Tourmaline's blind fumbling about came to an end. She tripped on her own hooves and fell over face first into the ground. The stick she was wielding flew off behind her at a random angle. "Ugh..." she groaned in pain as she attempted to lift herself back up.

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"Oh for pony's sake.", Wind Walker grumbled to herself as she quickly made her way over to the fallen crystal pony. "Here, let me help you up.", the little filly wasn't too keen on being completely ignored by her second favorite princess, but she was sure Luna had her reasons. For one thing, she simply did not appear to be very comfortable with the younger set, unlike her elder sister. Still, she tried the best to hide the frown on her face which ended up morphing into a grimace. Wind was also not a big fan of the grumpy blacked coated filly, but could not stand to watch her struggle. "Just give me a second, but don't take off the blindfold!". After helping the filly get back on her hooves, the blue Pegasus hunted down Tourmaline's wayward stick and snatched it up.

"Here. Sometimes it's just for the best to hold it in your mouth. We have powerful jaws for this reason. Or you can place it between your front left leg there. Whatever works. I've moved you within range of Rodrigo the Piñata here. Since you can't see, you must rely on your other senses to complete your task. You must picture in your mind where you saw the Piñata last. You must remember that it's hanging from the ceiling, high, but not too high that you can't reach it. When you think you know where it's at, just swing! Swing until you hit it hard enough that it breaks!". Once she was sure the girl was ready for some serious stick swinging, she spun the filly around a few times before backing way into a safe area, "There! Now swing! Hit that thing!"

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Haywire was very relieved that her plea for mercy was answered by Princess Luna! The rust colored filly squealed with delight as the Princess of the Night tossed her up in the air and then caught her again. Her 'charm' had worked again!

"Oh, thank ya, Princess Luna! Thank ya, thank ya, thank ya!!"

But just as suddenly, the blonde filly's saddlebag had been ripped away from her and taken away by the Colonel and his guards. Instead of breaking out into tears, Haywire burst out laughing.

"Haywire, are you alright?" Gold Standard asked. "those guards just took your saddlebags from you."

"I know!" Haywire cackled. "Reckon they want'm more than I did! All that's left in'm was mah frog collection on one side, and mah snake collection on the other! I wonder when they're gonna find out..."

As she spoke, there was very loud screaming of mares and stallions heard echoing from the outer hallways.

"Looks like mah critters got loose! Can't blame THAT on me! I was in this here room the whole time! Hope the Colonel and his pals are good at catch'n frogs and snakes! Took me two whole weeks ta corral'm all!"

"But what about the rest of your things? Didn't you have anything else in those bags?"

"Nah! Already took mah slingshot out of it and the rest of mah firework rockets got took by that there mare hidin' over thar!" Haywire neighed, pointing over at Miracle. "Hi lady! Thanks a heap fer rescuin' mah rockets before Colonel Meany took'm all! Now we kin set'm all up and launch'm right!"

"That's probably not a good idea," Gold Standard said as he turned towards the hidden mare, "besides that, Princess Luna is here and we're having a lot of fun without any more rockets. Hello ma'am! Are you the adult who's watching over us tonight?"

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Sorghum Sweet glared at the colonel and the guards as they satisfied themselves by confiscating the litttle red filly's saddlebags and left the room. "That's right, you'd better walk away." she grumbled at their retreat. She rubbed her sore flank with one hoof. "Ow."

Turning towards the princess. she bowed and said, "Beggin your pardon, Your Majesty. I didn't mean no harm by callin you Nightmare Moon. It's only that Nightmare Night is my favoritest holiday of all. It's the only time I can go out and have fun and eat all the candy I can carry!"

The little filly looked up at the princess of the moon and grinned a huge grin. "This year, I'm gonna dress up as a bat! Do you like bats? I kinda do, but Momma doesn't. She says they're dirty, and tries to shoo 'em out of the mill when they roost in the rafters. Hey, do you like candy, Princess? Would you like some of mine?" Sorghum looked down at her scattered sweets all over the floor. "Or, um, you could have some that hasn't gotten trampled on..."

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"Hi lady! Thanks a heap fer rescuin' mah rockets before Colonel Meany took'm all! Now we kin set'm all up and launch'm right!"

It was now official: the eavesdropping Babs Seed thought Haywire was among the most annoying children she had ever met. Tourmaline may be a grump, but at least she didn’t fake being sorry about putting others in danger like Haywire did. And since it looked like the guards went away for now, it looked like Babs would have to stop that stupid little twerp once and for all!

Seeing the vase that Haywire mysteriously pointed to, a perplexed Babs Seed galloped in the direction plowing through any kids that got in the way. When she got to the vase, Babs found the pony Haywire alluded to; a scared dark gray older filly hiding behind the object. “Hey, what’s ‘da big idea?” the goldenrod filly asked, “Where are Haywire’s fireworks?” Finally noticing the glow on the unicorn’s horn, Babs looked up and saw Haywire’s bag floating right under the ceili-

“I APOLOGIZE FOR THE INTERRUPTION.” Babs turned her head to see a lone royal guard at the entrance. “I just want to inform everypony that if they heard screaming a few moments ago, nothing is wrong. A stallion suffered a fainting spell and spooked a few bystanders, but he’ll be completely okay. Feel free to-”

“Excuze me, sir!” Babs waved over to the armored stallion; “‘Dis pony found some unallowed fireworks. Can yah’ take ‘em away?” Miss Seed didn’t want any other pony getting in trouble thanks to bumbling Haywire, so she deliberately left out the fact that older pony was hiding behind the vase.

As no foul play was detected, the guard simply walked over to the chaperone and politely instructed; “Thank you, ma’am. I'll dispose of the fireworks if you don't mind.....”

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"Oh, you like Nightmare Night," Watermelon Gush said with a smile, "I heard about it but never been to one. There really isn't anything going on in Solstice Heights with any big parties except from going from farm to farm for candies and small parties. I would like to go to Ponyville one day to see theirs. Maybe this year i can go!"

Sorghum Sweet then explained to princess Luna about her costume which made the green filly wonder.

"Hey, that reminds me, I have to think about what I'm going to wear this year. I was a ghost before, so maybe a scarecrow or a pirate!"

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Miracle had been hiding this whole time, shivering behind the vase that barely covered the circumference of her bulging tummy. Eventually, the colonel left, and it left Miracle with a little relief, but seeing as the Princess was still around, it was merely a half exhale. Suddenly, a colt approached Miracle, seemingly to know she was there the entire time, asking her for the rockets. Almost immediately after, Miracle fell out of her hiding space with Babs informing another guard of her possessions. Miracle panicked. And as the tones in this end of the room were raised, surely the Princess would gain attention to it as well. "No! I didn't do it. These aren't mine!" Miracle dropped all the rockets beneath her, and then started frantically looking for a place to escape. She looked at everyone as if they were about to throw her in a dungeon. "No, no!" She then used her magic from her horn and she disappeared.

Seconds later, she reappeared in the same space she was standing. She stared at everyone with fear, and galloped sheepishly out of the front door to the room.

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Luna was confused. "What a strange mare."

She shrugged it off a moment later and tended to the curiosity and explanation of the young ponies who were bent on talking about Nightmare Moon. Luna would oblige them. "Well, young ponies, you're in luck then, because I have some great things planned for the Nightmare Night festivities later this year. It's going to bring joy and amusement for everypony who celebrates. And maybe..." Luna back her expression off a little but used a small amount of illusion magic to make her pelt darker, and her eyes glow. "Maybe, Nightmare Moon will even show up herself! HAHAHAHAA!" Luna peeled back her magic and returned to her form, her pelt returning to the beautiful blue, and her eyes reflecting teal.

"Well children, I'm sorry to do this, I know you have lots of questions for your growing minds." She patted the heads of the fillies and colts close to her. "But, your Princess of the Night needs to be elsewhere, meeting other ponies at the gala." Luna raised her wings and began fluttering towards the window. "Have fun at the rest of the Gala, and sweet dreams!" Luna dove out of the window before angling her wings against the wind that flew by her. She would be seen next at a distant, soaring towards the other halls of the palace.

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Remington snored himself awake, still lying on the floor where he fell. He looked around, some fillies were still playing with the pinatas, but most of the were staring out of the window. Remington got up and looked out with them, not sure what he was looking for. He sighed. "When is Princess Luna gonna get here? I wanna meet her so bad!"

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"Goodbye, Princess Luna!" Gold Standard shouted, waving a front hoof at her as she departed.

"Bye bye Princess!" added Haywire as she also waved at the Princess of the Night until she was gone. The blank flank filly didn't know what to think of Miracle. After thanking her for rescuing her remaining firecracker rockets, they were taken away by more of those mean guards. Then, for no reason, the unicorn mare tried to vanish and then galloped out of the room.

"Well, so much fer adult supervision," Haywire quipped before turning her attention towards Babs Seed. "HAY Babs! What's the big idea of squealin' on me? I thought you big time city ponies were supposed ta be tough and not be snitches! How come ya act that way towards me?"

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"HAY Babs! What's the big idea of squealin' on me? I thought you big time city ponies were supposed ta be tough and not be snitches! How come ya act that way towards me?"

Haywire really managed to hit an angry cord with that snitch complaint. Back in the back old days, Babs Seed heard similar things from those schoolmates who bullied her over at her former school. Heck, Babs herself had once scared cousin Apple Bloom and from friends from complaining to grownups about Miss Seed’s harassing behavior. As it now stood, any possible chance Haywire had of being at least a friendly acquaintance of Babs now totally evaporated into the air just like that.

“Pffft,” Babs retorted angrily, huffing on a piece of overhanging strawberry hair; “I don’t make friends with anpony who tries makin’ me feel guilty for doin' the right thing. Why don’t you stop causing trouble for everyone else, ‘kay?” The goldenrod filly didn’t give the other earth pony time to respond before she turned away and headed off to see how Remington was doing.....

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"Oh for pony's sake. Here, let me help you up. Just give me a second, but don't take off the blindfold! Here. Sometimes it's just for the best to hold it in your mouth. We have powerful jaws for this reason. Or you can place it between your front left leg there. Whatever works. I've moved you within range of Rodrigo the Piñata here. Since you can't see, you must rely on your other senses to complete your task. You must picture in your mind where you saw the Piñata last. You must remember that it's hanging from the ceiling, high, but not too high that you can't reach it. When you think you know where it's at, just swing! Swing until you hit it hard enough that it breaks! There! Now swing! Hit that thing!"

Tourmaline was surprised to find one of the other fillies come to her aid. She had had a low opinion of them and she didn't expect them to support her through this plight she had been saddled with. It was especially surprising as, by the voice, Tourmaline was sure this was the same filly from before who had scolded her before. She helped the crystal filly upright and then pulled her along and gave her advice as to how to compete the task. Under the filly's guidance, she stepped ahead when instructed to and swung the stick, and she was pleased to feel as it made contact with something solid this time... at least until she realized it hadn't broke.

"Accurfed fing! Wah won ih break?" Tourmaline shouted as best she could while firmly holding a stick in her mouth. She was well aware that she did not have an excess of physical strength, but even she should be able to break through papier mâché. Frustrated, but not about to let the enemy known only as Rodrigo defeat her, she took a single step back and rushed at it, jumping toward it and slashing at it with all her might. This time, she could feel the give on the end of the stick and she came down from her leap into a mound of wrapped candies. Ripping off her blindfold she looked up immediately, and found satisfaction in seeing that the fiend Rodrigo had been slain, his left side smashed in and gushing candies onto the floor before.

Tourmaline smiled an uncharacteristically bright smile at her accomplishment. On the surface it might have just been an inane children's game, but no, it was about more than that here! The Princess had saddled her with a burden to overcome in response to her fool curiosity and she had risen to meet it. Looking around, however, it appeared that the night princess had already made her departure. Tourmaline had missed her opportunity for knowledge that day, but she wasn't going to let that get her down. She turned to the filly who had helped her and nodded.

"I offer you my thanks," she said in a low voice. It was not easy for her to show appreciation or find respect for others, but she genuinely did feel gratitude. "Your guidance proved sound and with it, I was able to achieve victory."

"And I apologize for my earlier doubt," she added, looking toward the corner of the room shyly. "Perhaps if we meet again someday we can discuss the Schism Saga and other literature we've might have read."

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