Harmony and Discord at the Grand Galloping Gala
A My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fanfic
by Mr. 86
If you'd told me six months ago that I'd be writing MLP fan fiction, I'd have called shenanigans. Regardless, here I am. Bronies represent.
Prologue
There are many mysterious questions which permeate into the realm of fridge logic when it comes to My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. These questions are common when the main (or in this case, mane) cast of a show have saved the universe, yet seem to gain no recognition for it. It can seem as though the world itself is made especially for a chosen few, yet maintains a status quo.
Is Twilight Sparkle really Princess Celestia's only prestigious student?
Is Rainbow Dash really unchallenged in her claim of being the fastest in Equestria?
Are there really only six Elements of Harmony?
And doesn't it seem a little contrived that the ones embodying the Elements would all happen to be linked together by one single event?
The show claims the opposite, but common sense dictates that the answers to those questions are no, no, no, and yes. And there was a crew of six stallions who made a name for themselves by unintentionally proving this point on a grand quest to save the universe.
This... is not that story. (Author's Note: Because, of course, I haven't written it yet.) But it does star those same six stallions not long afterward, when they received six tickets to the classiest shindig in all of Equestria... the Grand Galloping Gala.
The Cast:
Brass Sprockets: The crew's resident inventor and gadget-laden smart guy. As the embodiment of Understanding, he seeks to find a rhyme and reason for everything, but this sometimes causes him to not stop and smell the roses, and he just as often finds that understanding something means having enough self-control to avoid tampering with it. His cutie mark is a thought bubble enclosing a large gear interlocked with a smaller gear.
Midnight Rave: A late-night party animal who can keep the joint rocking until the moon itself can't keep up. The youngest of the Colt Crew, he's always on board with having a good time, but he juvenile personality sometimes gets on the others' nerves. As the embodiment of Optimism, he always hopes for the best and never lets the situation get him down, or at least, he tries his best to. His cutie mark is a pair of crossed green glowsticks, which actually glow in the dark.
Comet Tail: The self-proclaimed fastest stallion to ever roam the skies, who has performed a legendary maneuvre said to warp the fabric of time and space. The embodiment of Patience, he generally finds it easy to put up with others, but he's troublesome, misogynistic and is often incapable of keeping his own ego in check. His cutie mark is complicated: A large blue arrow with a lightning bolt-shaped shaft, pointing down and to the left, enclosing a smaller straight white arrow and flanked by two blue arrows the same shape and size as the white one.
Masterpiece: An aspiring artist whose paintings make emperors cry... with either joy or rage. Masterpiece is a metrosexual if you ever saw one, with a love of outer beauty and the finer things in life. Of course, this comes with the side effect of being an abysmal judge of character. As the embodiment of Helpfulness, he wishes to inspire other ponies with his artwork, but sometimes doesn't realize when he needs to lend a helping hoof directly... or when to just let others take care of their own problems. His cutie mark is an artist's brush dripping red paint.
Cacophony: A self-professed saxophonist, guitarist, drummer, violinist and karaoke singer whose musical ability lives up to his name. Charming, clean-cut and especially polite to the mares, he's the type of stallion every little filly's mother wants them to marry... mostly. As the embodiment of Integrity, he continually encourages his friends, presses on in the most dire of situations and never ever loses hope... not that it makes him any better at playing his saxophone. His cutie mark is a one-eighth note with a jagged stem.
Royal Flush: One of Princess Celestia's top students, and the straight man of the Colt Crew... which isn't saying much. A representative of the Element of Friendship (which, as everypony knows, is Magic), his main hobby is inventing new games, but was sent off to a little village called Ponyburg to "study friendship" (sound familiar?) when the princess decided he wasn't spending enough time finding ponies to play them with. His cutie mark is four fanned-out playing cards, with a diamond on the bottom, a club above it, a heart above the club and the Ace of Spades on top.
Now, without further ado, I present, for your viewing pleasure, Harmony and Discord at the Grand Galloping Gala. You may be amused, you may be astounded, you may even be disgusted. But the one thing you will not be... is bored.