Scarlet (& Friends) at the Grand GallopingGala! *Chapter 1*

CHAPTER ONE: Arrival at the Gala I trotted into the Gala. I still had no idea why she had been given two golden tickets in the mail. However, I decided to take Moonlight Shadow as my plus one. Mainly because I had no date and Moonlight’s special some pony had been invited to the Gala by Princess Celestia since he began playing Buckball. Everypony came to the Gala for a reason. I had no reason to be here, apart from my bucket list of course. As we both walked into the Castle, my curiosity grew. “Why did you want to go to the Gala?” I asked Moonlight, and she simply stared at me blankly. She didn’t answer. Must have been something to do with her past, which she liked to keep to herself. We reached the stairs, and I noticed Ambient Waves with her nine tails, in a shimmering gown, that made me feel a little underdressed. Princess Celestia greeted Moonlight and I at the top of the stairs. “Welcome to the Gala Ms. Gleam!” The Princesses bowed their heads in unison. Celestia knew who I was. How? I hadn’t ever said a single word to her before! I would see if I may get a small chance to ask her later. However the odds of that happening were extremely slim. Princess Twilight and Celestia said nothing to Moonlight, they just simply nodded. It was weird, but I thought nothing of it. That was her business not mine. In the ball room, I looked around. Moonlight teleported over to her ‘Special Somepony’, Rhyano (The rhino pony hybrid) and I was left alone in my plain purple dress and my mane in an Aurburn French braid. This was a once in a lifetime chance, so I thought instead of just standing around doing nothing, I would talk to somepony. I saw Angel Wingate heart talking to the Wonderbolts, probably talking about the Airforce or something. I thought I wouldn’t but in, since I’ll probably get publicly yelled at, as I never show up to practice. Lemon Jubilee was sitting sassily at a table. She was looking her usual emotionless self. I decided not to interrupt. I continued scanning the crowd as I wondered outside. Prince Glaciem was in the corner regally talking to all the ponies, who were questioning his Alicorn-ness. I couldn’t seem to find Kitsunegami Eiko Aki, but then I guess magical Kitsune might not be invited to these sorts of events. Fluttershy and Discord were strolling through the garden. I decided not to be a third wheel like Ebon Heart who had been sadly rejected, by Fluttershy already. I looked into his dark blue eyes, they looked completely uninterested in what either of them had to say. With nopony to talk to I looked out from the balcony, listening to snippets of conversations. “Hey are you Scarlet Gleam??” A familiar voice called behind me. “I read your travel blog ALL the time!! I’m not really a Travel pony, but when you travel from Manehattan to Las Pegasus for movie locations, I thought I would read up on the places first.” I looked behind me. OH. MY. GOD. This wasn’t happening. The stallion was very tall and a little on the skinny side. He had golden hair with green highlights at the end. He was UpStage. Somewhat famous in Equestria for his ability to change his appearance slightly. A master of disguise. Nopony knows how he does this, there is a conspiracy theory online that he is a changeling. However I don’t believe theories like that. It must be a lie because he always has the same cutie mark. If Upstage read my blog….maybe Princess Celestia did too. Maybe that’s why she invited me here and maybe that’s how she knew who I am? I stood there in awe. He was even more handsome in real life. “I-I um….urr…..Hi!” I took a deep breath in. “You are so cool. I’ve seen a lot of your movies!” I give him my classic yet simple smile, hoping desperately he likes me. “Thank you.” He smiled shyly laughing a little. “Would you like to get something to eat?” Upstage asked, politely, breaking my little fangirl daydream and making it a reality. We headed over to the main ball room and talked for a bit about nothing to important. “Why were you alone on the balcony?” I asked as curiosity overtook me again. “Um….I know it’s a bit creepy but I was watching Discord. It is my one chance to actually meet him! He’s so cool!” I could see the excitement in his face. It was a little relaxing to know that someone as famous as Upstage had the same fangirl problems as me. This made me giggle a little. We bought a Apple Fritta each, from Apple Jacks stall which, according to Upstage, had gained recent popularity at the Gala, compared to the first time Aj had come. When we went back inside the ball room, Moonlight came running towards us. “HI! OOOHHH WHO IS THIS??!!? Is ThAT UPstaGe!! OH. MY. GOSH.” She nodded her head towards him in respect and I could feel myself blushing. Moonlight was acting a little strange. “Ur…..She hasn’t had any cider, just a little too much Colta-cola.” Rhyano informed us, noticing our concern. This was a common problem with Moonlight at parties, she had heaps of Colta-Cola and then suddenly she was acting like Pinkie Pie. She took another sip of Colta-cola from the bottle she held up with her horn. “Maybe we should go outside then.” I suggested. I looked at everypony for approval, they nodded. So as a group we travelled out to the garden. As we were out in the cold night air in the distance we heard a small pony mumbling. I started to shake a little. In a bush we heard a small rustle and everpony jumped. “You guys should have seen your faces!!! THEY WERE HILARIOUS!!” Moonlight was rolling on the floor laughing as nothing had emerged from the bush. Then the voice returned. “CELERY!! WHERE IS THE CELERY??” Moonlight jumped and everypony else laughed. Then suddenly a mare appeared in front of them on the path. “Shhh, I’m trying to find the celery in this fancy garden. I need to concentrate.” I saw the pony was quite frazzled. “Um….I don’t think there IS any Celery in this garden….sorry.” I replied nervously, trying not to hurt the mares feelings. The mare simply stared at everypony. “Why do you like Celery? It disgusting.” Rhyano stuck his toungue out. All of us were embarrassed by Rhyano’s rudeness. So much so that Moonlight teleported and slapped him behind his neck. “My name is Celery Clover, and I’m disgusted by your asperity towards Celery! Take it back RIGHT NOW!!!” Celery leapt towards Rhyano. Upstage had to ask me what asperity meant. Moonlight used her magic to stop the two from fighting. There was an awkward silence, but at least everypony was calm. “Um….There might be more Celery inside….Do you wanna see?” I asked breaking the tension. Everypony agreed with me. So we went inside.