"Starlight! Look at you!"
Starlight Glimmer scowled as she looked at herself in the mirror, a black suit was covering her front half, while a pair of black sunglasses rested on her eyes.
She looked at her boss and asked him a very important question.
"Can you talk with Celestia about this?"
Blueblood looked at her, confusion written on his face. "Talk about the sunglasses at night, or about the suit that simply doesn't fit your color scheme?"
"Neither! Both!" Starlight growled in frustration, "About how she's treating me!"
"Starlight... You know I consider you a friend, right?" The prince asked her, receiving a slow shake of her head in reply.
"Of course, being forced to carry you in the freezing north is part of the reason, but it mainly stems from me punching you in the face, and you not running away at the first chance you got."
It was Starlight's turn to stare at the prince in confusion.
"The Moment we reached Yakyakistan, you had no reason to come with me, But you did. And so allow me to tell you, not as your Boss, or as a Prince. But as your Friend."
Blueblood leaned forward in order to be at eye level with his bodyguard.
"Whatever complaints you have about Celestia, drop them." Starlight widened her eyes in shock.
"But-!" She wanted to yell but was cut off, "Let me explain."
"For all intents and purposes, Celestia doesn't see you as my bodyguard, she wasn't there to see you blast that monster in the tunnel. As far as she is concerned, you are still a cult leader trying to escape punishment." He explained to her in a calm and reasonable tone.
"Just give her some time, It's been barely two weeks," He smiled before he gently pushed her away from the mirror she was using to see her new outfit, "And besides, Having Celestia be slightly miffed at you is much better than spending years in a jail-cell." He rolled his shoulder as he looked at his new suit.
A White and blue striped shirt, covered by a white vest with blue pockets, lined with gold trimming, and a white coat, inlaid with a blue fabric lined with gold, the red and green gem fragment he found in the ruins of King Tarkus IV was placed in a breast pocket, taking the place that would normally have went to a rose flower.
Tying it all off with a blue tie around his neck, held by a gold button in the shape of his cutie mark.
As far as Starlight could tell, the suit he wore cost as much as the entirety of all the building materials she collected to build Our Town.
After looking himself over in the mirror, and moving some of his hair to the side, he smiled at his reflection.
"So just give her some time, okay?" He smiled down at her, before turning around and taking his leave.
Only to quickly walk back into her room, "And Remember, You can't steal anybody's Cutie Mark," And left again.
Only returning once more, "I'm serious, I can't help you if you steal a Cutie Mark here," and leaving once more.
Just to once again come in, "I'm very serious about this-" "I GET IT!" Starlight yelled at him.
Blueblood frowned at her, his body still halfway through the doorway.
"Yikes, You don't need to shout like that," He said with a roll of his eyes and left.
Finally leaving Starlight with time to think- BOOM CRACKLE BOOM
Only for the fireworks to signal that the Grand Galloping Gala has officially begun, and Starlight doesn't have time to sit around doing nothing up here, she's supposed to be busy doing nothing down there!
"Shit!" Starlight quickly ran to the ballroom where the Gala was taking place.
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"Ah, The Grand Galloping Gala, a once-in-a-year party of high society, a magnificent fundraiser to help those who cannot help themselves, I heard you organized everything in this year's Gala, Didn't you Raven?" I say as I look down at the garden connected to the ballroom hosting the Gala, next to me is Raven Inkwell, The Second Most important Pony in Equestria.
"I Did," She answered simply, also looking down at the guests slowly arriving at the Gala.
"So, May I ask, why are you not joining them?" I ask her, my eyes searching the crowd of ponies until I spot a certain Pegasus that I'm looking for.
"I don't want to," Raven said, her eyes glued to the crowd of ponies below us, so small they look like bugs from the tower we're standing in.
"I see, that is a perfectly valid reason," I respond to the Secretary of Equestria, "But should you decide to come down there, You simply must save me a dance," I smile and walk away, intent on making it to speak with Raincloud Dazzle, the chief manager of the weather factory.
And as I walked away, Raven Inkwell kept silently staring at the ponies down below, only barely turning her eyes and catching a glimpse of my back.
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"Miss Raincloud!" I call out to the Pegasus Mare, her light blue coat and grey hair turn to look at me, and a smile appears on her aging face.
"Prince Blueblood, To what do I owe the pleasure?" She asked as she watched me steadily walk towards her.
"I assure you Miss Raincloud, the pleasure is all mine," I smile and shake her hoof, "I heard that your husband is a member of the Shipwright Designer Club, is he not here with us tonight?" I ask her, receiving a shake of her head.
"He's back home taking care of the kids," She smiled gently, "But don't confuse him for any old member of that club, He's the head!" She said with a wider smile on her face.
Step one of the plan, is already going well, with Raincloud Dazzle in good graces, that leaves only Neighsay for later tonight.
Oh yeah, It's all coming together.
-----------------------
Starlight tried her hardest to stop herself from frowning as she stood behind Celestia, her eyes looking over the crowd of ponies coming and going around the Gala.
"Is that a dragon?"
"Princess Celestia!" A Purple Unicorn in a very sparkly dress said as she ran up the stairs to speak with the Princess.
"Twilight," Celestia smiled at the mare, "It is so lovely to see my star student," She told her.
"I am so excited to be here, we have so much to catch up on," The mare, Twilight, told the Princess, and Starlight couldn't help but listen intently to the duo.
Don't blame her, This is probably the most interesting thing that will happen this evening.
"Well, I want you right by my side the entire evening, so we'll have plenty of time together," The Princess told the Unicorn, and Starlight couldn't help but question if Celestia really did want the mare by her side, or if she just wanted someone who wasn't her next to her the entire evening.
"You know, I could be somewhere else right now, not bothering you," Starlight wanted to say but held her tongue.
Blueblood might be her boss, But Celestia is the ruler of Equestria, making it so she is her Boss's Boss.
Hearing Celestia's words, the Purple Unicorn quickly took a spot standing to the left of the Princess, "That's what I hoped you'd say," She smiled at her, and Starlight couldn't help but make a gagging sound as she saw the sweet puppy-dog eyes on the mare as she looked up to the princess.
"Oh, I didn't see you there, I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's pupil," The mare, seemingly hearing the sound Starlight made, quickly turned and introduced herself to her.
Starlight wanted to ignore her, make sure this evening passes by faster, but the sharp smile on Princess Celestia's face pushed her away from that decision.
"Oh, Ahem." She coughed, "I'm Starlight Glimmer, nice to meet you?" She ended with a question, looking at Celestia for her response.
Receiving a serious nod from the princess, Starlight took a few steps back and returned to her spot looking at the guests.
"Blueblood must be having the time of his life," She thought to herself.
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This is Horrible!
This is absolutely catastrophic!!!
[i]This is a disaster of an unimaginable scale!!!!![/i]
Why did nobody tell me that Chancellor Neighsay wasn't coming to the Gala?!?!?!
"Could this night get any worse?!" I yelled in my mind, my face a perfect mask of a calm and collected prince.