(OC pony takes a trip to Canterlot for a week...and things happen?)


Today had been…ugh…she'd had better. She was sprawled out on the bed of her hotel room staring lazily up at the ceiling. Her room had cost 170 bits, quite a chunk out of her travel money. Well those were the sacrifices one had to make when visiting Canterlot. She sighed softly, flicking her ebony tail against the sheets the line of white hair contrasting heavily with her coat. A small smile graced her features as she recounted her night so far maybe she'd get in some sort of fun before the night was through.

Being on a carriage to Canterlot was quite unsettling, especially when the sun was setting. But that was when she wanted to arrive, just as the daylight was fading to dusk. Her parents had insisted on getting her a first class ride to Canterlot and would hear no sort of objection from her. Tonight was special anyway, talented ponies from all over Equestria were heading to Canterlot to show their skills, the princesses were hosting the large gathering and Estrella just couldn't miss it. She looked at her cutie mark as the carriage trudged onwards, she could feel the outline of her comedy and tragedy masks staring back through the fabric of her shorts. She loved to be on stage, telling stories, acting sometimes with other ponies, maybe dancing a few jigs. As long as it was in front of a crowd then she was happy, although some crowds weren't as…ecstatic as others, she grimaced as memories of being booed off a few stages ran through her head, others were always courteous, applauding after her tales.

Tonight however was going to be big, she'd have to knock her crowd off their hooves, including the princesses! Only the best would suffice. Her trip from Manehattan soon came to an end, the door of her carriage sliding open to reveal the breathtaking sight of Canterlot. Places were filled to the brim with ponies. She nodded to the carriage driver, thanking him for the safe transport before levitating her saddle pack onto her back. First she needed to get to the hotel she had reserved. Hastily she made her way into the crowd of excited ponies and towards her destination.

As expected, it was swarming with ponies, not as crowded as the streets but still pretty full. She walked towards the daunting line that led towards the front counter, sighing with relief as she sat down on the smooth carpeting, resting her hooves a bit.

Then the giant pink thing crashed into her.

Estrella grunted as she was thoroughly floored, a wriggling mass trying to untangle itself from her saddle bags.

"OhmygoshI'msosorry!" Hastily spoken words from….a very pink pony.

"Pinkie Pie darling! You must watch where you're going. Crashing into Civilized ponies like that." A stern sounding voice reprimanded the pink one, finally getting untangled from her things.

Estrella hardly felt civilized, dressed in a pair of blue shorts and a white shirt, her flanks hidden from view, she didn't want anyone to truly see her until she was on stage.

Upon seeing her choice of outfits a startlingly beautiful mare looked as if she was about to suck those words right back into her mouth. She was dressed in a very elegant gown, she took the time to look around her surroundings and everypony was dressed up. Oh well, Estrella shrugged and stood, rearranging her saddle bags and smiling at the pink pony.

"It's quite alright, I guess I was a bit distracted myself, Canterlot really is something no?"

"Eh." The pink pony shrugged, practically vibrating in place however, her gown covered in…was that candy? "Last time we were here things got a bit…" She looked about as if there were spies listening in on her. "Chaotic." She whispered, giggling despite herself before making a surprised "Oh!" Offering a hoof. "My name's Pinkie Pie!" She grinned wide.

Estrella stared at the offered hoof for a moment, noticing the expensive looking shoes adorning them, each mare's dress was quite thoroughly put together, even their cutie marks were hidden under the flowing fabric. She gave the mare's shoes a gentle push and a shake. "Estrella." She answered automatically, finding it odd to introduce herself so…well…openly, usually she gave stage names to ponies that she first met.

"My, what a beautiful name." The white mare cooed, flipping her violet mane over her shoulders and giving a brilliant smile. "Rarity." She gave a small nod, Estrella returning the gesture.

The line had moved forward quite a bit while they were introducing themselves, after a few bouts of chit chat Estrella was informed that the two mares along with their friends were already registered in this hotel, visiting Canterlot for the upcoming performance. Estrella mentioned that she was here for the performance as well, the pink mare giving her a strange look, her eyes shining a bit too brightly and her smile somewhat too wide. Somehow she knew her cover was blown.

"Name?" A deep surly voice asked behind her. A brown unicorn stallion operating the front desk was staring down at the three girls.

Rarity's nose scrunched up slightly at the tone of voice, although with this many ponies vying for a place to stay she guessed that it could wear on somepony's last nerve.

"Estrella." She hastily replied, not wanting to further antagonize the stallion.

The unicorn's horn flared a bit as the shuffling of papers was heard behind the counter. "Sorry mam. Some other pony bought your room for double the price." He shrugged and looked past her incredulous face towards the line of ponies behind her as if that was the end of it.

"I made that reservation three days ago." She stared at the clerk, the stallion giving an indifferent gaze back. Money was money as far as he was concerned.

"Please…How much did this pony pay?" She went on, intent on getting her room.

The stallion, sensing up on a potential haul in of bits was quite eager, even going so far as to be extremely polite, to dash her hopes into the ground. "About 300 bits for the whole week, if I remember correctly." He grinned, levitating a clip board and pencil. "350 bits and the room is all yours." He purred.

There was a shocked gasp from behind her before purple and white passed her vision. "What kind of stunt do you think you're trying to pull!" Rarity practically snarled, "350 bits for a room! How do ponies like you sleep at night!" Her tirade went on and on, the stallion arguing back about price changes and supply and demand, some of the customers even left the establishment, crazy ponies and overpriced rooms? No thanks. It wasn't until Rarity dropped the name Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia along with something about punishments being met out accordingly, that the stallion visibly backed off. Estrella didn't know a brown coat of fur could turn that white.

She ended up having to pay 170 bits for her stay, 20 bits more than usual but she didn't mind. With her room key safely floating behind her mane she accompanied the two mares down the finely crafted hall.

"Pinkie Pie you've been unusually quiet." Rarity suddenly spoke up in the silence, the trio of mares passing by walls filled with paintings and other different attention grabbing items. This place was really top of the line.

"Well of course silly, you were the one who nearly bit that pony's head off." Pinkie giggled, bouncing slightly as the two other mares walked, the gentle clop clop of their hooves echoing down the hallway. "It kind of reminded me of this one time when…."

Suddenly her room number came up, Pinkie was still talking and she vaguely remembered passing other ponies heading back outside, but she had no idea they'd get there so fast. "Well here I am." Estrella breathed a sigh of relief, that story Pinkie was telling went all over the place. She turned to the two mares and gave them a wide grateful smile. "Thank you so much for helping me." She gave a small bow. "I don't know how I'll be able to return the favor."

"Nonsense!" Rarity gave her tail an annoyed flick. "The nerve of that…that foal. Trying to cheat a lady out of her bits." She pouted a bit; glaring down the hall as if she was going to trot right back down there and make sure the clerk learned his lesson.

"Oh yeah that was nothing!" Pinkie bounced, that overly bubbly attitude was…kind of cute on the mare. "Besides you'll more than pay us back tonight." She grinned, Rarity giving the mare a quizzical look before dismissing it without another word. Estrella felt like she was missing something.

"W-well…thanks." She stammered, caught off guard by the sudden statement, unlocking her room door and heading inside. There was a call from down the hallway and Pinkie Pie answered it with a joy filled hop before disappearing to the left of her door.

"Our friends have arrived." The mare smiled, looking over to Estrella. "Come come, you must introduce yourself."

She hastily shook her head however, improvising on the spot. "I'm terribly sorry. It was quite a long trip and these…clothes" she put a small hint of disdain in her voice, the other mare instantly sympathizing.

"Oh darling I'm sorry. You get changed up; maybe we can meet you at the theatre?" She offered.

Estrella couldn't bring herself to decline; she did owe the mare for her room. "Sure, It'll be pretty easy to spot me." She gave a smile, flicking her black mane over her shoulder, a trail of white cutting through the ebony hair like a beacon.

Rarity looked thoughtful for a moment, giving the mare a quick once over. "You must stop by Ponyville Estrella." She nodded. "I'd love to design a dress for you."

She was surprised by the sudden offer, about to give a reply before Rarity's name was called from further down where Pinkie had disappeared. Boy did that voice sound grating.

Rarity rolled her eyes and gave an apologetic glance to the mare. "I do so hope to see you at the theater. Pinkie seems to find you quite interesting." With that little piece stated she made her way towards the voice, bidding Estrella a polite adieu.

Those two were nice. She softly closed her room door, levitating her saddlebags onto her bed before giving a large sigh, shoulders slumping a bit as she relaxed her body, soon stretching out and giving a groan of relief as tension drained away from her. She flicked her room light on with telepathy and glanced over at the clock. Two hours before the show began and ponies would be showing up early for good seats.


That bath felt blissful, as if she was in a realm of pure comfort, almost her entire body had been submerged in that soothing water. After she was done bathing, walking out of the bathroom as she used her magic to dry herself off with a outrageously comfy towel, another ring of magic spiraled around her horn, her saddle bags opening up, a carefully wrapped package floating out and hovering in the air. She began to slowly unwrap the parcel, a white dress gown flowing free from it. She laid the garment gently down upon her bed, her mother had bought it for her and insisted that she wear it for her big debut performance. A small argument ensued afterwards; Estrella had given small surprise performances around Manehattan, avoiding the pony photographers by disguising herself as a normal unicorn, white and black coloring like hers tended to stand out.

Still the dress was lovely and she had gone through with the request, carefully sliding the garment around herself, levitating a matching pair of white shoes from her saddle bag as well. Why so much white? One might ask, well the stars were always brilliantly white at night and her tale tonight would be about those very same lights shining in the distant reaches of space. She turned to look at herself in the room mirror, smiling pleasantly at the lovely mare looking back at her. Her horn flashed once and her whole visage changed, the white stripe trailing down her mane and tail spreading over the surrounding ebony locks, turning them white as well. Once the illusion was complete she once again looked into the mirror. Some say white is quite a bland color but she didn't think so, a brilliant star gazed back at her from the reflection before she ended her illusion, her white colored mane receding back to the single line that ran through it, surrounded by the raven locks. She gave herself another look over, she looked show worthy and that was enough. With one final nod to the actress in the mirror she set out for the theater.


She got quite a few gawking stares and wolf whistles thrown her way by some of the head strong colts. Some were even bold enough to walk next to her, asking vulgar question left and right. Obviously drinking was involved. She gave them the brush off though, ignoring angry mutterings of their hurt pride. Soon she was at the theatre and boy was it bustling with activity. Ponies were lined up in front, around the sides, even Pegasi were crowding the air, and a few of the performers were practicing their routines around the grass surrounding the large building. She shifted about as she walked up behind a well-dressed Stallion, waiting for the building to open along with every other pony, some of the clothes ponies had dressed made her dress look…well…insufficient. She shook her head to clear the thought, clothes didn't matter, her performance did.

There was a loud call for every pony's attention, a unicorn stallion standing tall at the front of the Theater. Practices stopped and everypony gathered around the speaker, the line-up of ponies trailing far out from the building.

"Greetings and salutations fillies and gentlecolts." The announcer spoke, magic amplifying his voice. "It is my pleasure to welcome you to Canterlot's Nightlife Talent Show." There were a few whoops and gentle clopping of hooves as ponies applauded. After everypony settled down the announcer took up his speech again. "We're happy that such a wide variety of talent has arrived from all over Equestria, unfortunately we don't have a lot of time to showcase every talent, so spanning over this week we shall call groups of ponies to perform each night." There were a few groans and indignant shouts, the announcer rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "We're really sorry ponies, but if we tried to show all of your talents, some of you indeed seem like you have very…lengthy…performances, well we'd be here all night and the whole of the next day." The male levitated a list of paper, everypony suddenly tensed and awaited with baited breath. "Chosen at random by our princesses themselves." He then proceeded to call off the names of the ponies that would perform.

Estrella shifted about, looking around the crowd as the announcer called names. Her form drooped slightly as a bunch of ponies were called but she wasn't. She didn't even see Rarity or Pinkie Pie in the crowd, the two of them should have been easy to find in any crowd. There was a collective groan as the announcer folded up his scroll, the mare's excitement at performing draining away.

"The last pony to perform for tonight will be Stellaluna." There were murmurs through the crowd at this chosen name.

"Princess Luna is performing?"

"It must be Princess Luna."

"What pony would dare try and impersonate the Princess?"

Estrella gulped and ducked down slightly, maybe that particular stage name was a bit dramatic…But she would be able to perform tonight! She couldn't help but smile as ponies began to file into the opening doors of the theater, a lot of the other ponies leaving the scene, performers that weren't called for tonight she guessed. She did feel bad for the ponies that had to wait; it was a big deal to perform on the very first night. Soon she was inside, guilt being replaced by the the surroundings that were absolutely breathtaking. The theater was larger on the inside than it was on the outside, a huge stage at the far back of the theater for the performers and rows upon rows of seats for the gathered ponies, masterfully crafted mosaics covered the ceiling and walls of the theater. In the upper stands, a private space reserved in the best position, were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, both of their majestic figures instantly drawing attention from the surroundings. Everypony in the theater quickly stopped hustling for a good seat and dipped low into a bow, Estrella hastily following suit. So the two sisters really were in charge of the whole set up. She couldn't resist giving a small tilt of her head, peeking up at the two radiant Alicorns.

Celestia was smiling down at them, softly bidding them to stand even though her voice was easily able to be heard. "Please take your seats everypony." She went on, gesturing towards the chairs, ponies hesitatingly trying to find their places again but at a much calmer pace, one didn't want to lose face in front of BOTH Princesses.

Estrella was gently bumped from behind, shuffling forward as ponies began to find places to sit, Pegasi flying up into the upper section of the theater. The mare made her way to the front of the theater; Princess Celestia was busy chatting with her sister, everypony soon dissolving into their own conversation with friends or dates they had brought along. At the head of the stage were a few seats that had only a few ponies occupying them, as she got to the rows she saw that these spots were reserved for the performers so they could be closer to the stage. She glanced around the theatre once again, this time for the two mares she had met at the hotel, giving a surprisingly disappointed sigh. She hadn't realized she was looking forward to them being here after meeting them in the space of a few hours. She took her seat as another announcer trotted out onto the stage, a blue colored unicorn mare with a purple mane. She waited for a few moments before gathering everypony's attention.

"Good evening everypony." She announced, bowing slightly. "Once again we take pleasure in welcoming you to the show most graciously hosted by our benevolent leaders Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." She gestured with a hoof towards the princesses, everypony rising from their seats, turning to acknowledge the two Alicorns once more. Both Celestia and Luna rose as well, nodding in unison to everypony before taking their seats. They really were a sight to lay eyes on, the embodiment of the sun radiating beauty and strength while her sister, the embodiment of the moon was equally stunning, but more so in a mysterious way.

Everypony took their seats once more as the announcer gave a small speech about the theaters past, how millions of other ponies performed here in the days of old. She gave a small bow after her speech and bid everypony that was performing good luck before making her way off of the stage. After a few moments a pair of colts made their way onto the stage, the announcer's voice echoing around the theater as she introduced them. The show was about to begin.


(Written at some horribly late time when ponies should be asleep...I blame Luna for berating me...tell her I said that though and I will deny every word...I have a few chapters planned out so tell me what you think so far~)