Chapter 3: The Ticket Master
Hey Ghost here! And right under me is a new friend that's going to help us on the journey we I will take you on(I'm just giving him a try)
Hello. I am known as The Federation Justice, which will be shortened to TFJ. There is the remote possibility some of you know who I am. There is a higher chance none of you know who I am. In either case, I have been conscripted to help write this story. From initial examinations, I have found that this story is, indeed, worth my time to help write. I have edited this chapter extensively and to the best of my ability. I understand that my part here isn't all that important, nor do I expect praise for my work. I am doing this for the fun of it. My own days of being at the helms of stories are long over, and I have found my proper place in the background. Either way, I'm sure you wish to read this chapter… and so I shall cease my venerable words.
%TFJ
He asked himself the questions, the very questions that landed him here in a library with the protege of his sister. What happened to the family he once knew? How did it come to this? And what would have to occur before he believed that Celestia had become a reliable pony? He didn't have the answers, but he was going to make the best of what he had now until he did know.
He was sleeping soundly on his bed across from Twilight's. The rather comfortable bed he had come to rest in wasn't particularly grand, but it was adequate to his needs. The sheets of the bed were white, with a thicker white comforter laid over top of it. The pillows near his head were much softer than the sheets and comforters, nice and full and puffy. The bed itself was much smaller in comparison to Twilight's bed, which he felt was a little distasteful.
It had only been a few days in and he already noticing some old habits he had displayed when he was among the members of his old family. Partaking in a heavier sleep was one of these habits. To the fortune of the people near him, he was a light snorer. Despite his penchant for sleep, he was far from a morning person. He had slept with his head protected from the world by a single pillow. He had rested peacefully until around noon. Once his need for sleep was fulfilled, he rolled to his feet. Or at least he tried to. The crinkle of paper met his ears.
He uttered his displeasure with a guttural, throaty tone, waving his hand in an equal displeasure. The noise was somehow capable of annihilating any last semblance of drowsiness he once had. He slowly sat up, blinking away the blurriness in his eyes. The sight of polished oak walls and the musty scent of books met his eyes and nose. Eyeing the decorations and assorted furniture on the upper floor, he lifted up the sheet and eyed the piece of paper his body had crumpled. He smoothed it out and held it up to his eyes.
"Twilight's gone... And I bet this is the letter she left for me." He blinked once again before eyeing the handwriting. 'Dear Orion, I wish-' That little snippet of the note was all he needed to verify the identity of the author. He nodded in the confirmation that it was actually her. After the moment of inquiry passed, he returned his attention to the paper.
"Dear Orion, I wish I would've woken you up, but it was getting late in the day and Applejack, a dear friend of mine, needed help," While he was reading Orion let out a yawn and rubbed one tired eye with his free hand, "I didn't even have breakfast, so maybe when I get back from Sweet Apple Acres we can go out for some lunch. Until then, stay out of trouble, and try to have a little fun." The letter was signed 'Twilight'
"Interesting. Already on her way to building bonds with her friends. Just like Clover Clever," He chuckled and shoved the bed sheets off before getting out of bed,"She's right though. I'll need to just live and explore like any other civilian. Won't kill me to get out of the house."
Orion stood up. After a quick examination of himself in a mirror mounted on the wall, he decided it would be beneficial for him to take a quick bath. He walked through the upper level of the house, the wood beneath him creaking as he walked. After less than thirty seconds, he made it into the bathroom. After disrobing himself and closing the door he turned on the faucet. The Ponyville plumbing network was fed by water desalination and purification facilities located along the Everfree river basin. The details behind the turbines were unknown to him. In fact, he didn't even know they existed. Either way, the water poured from the faucet and filled the tub.
After a half hour in the tub, and a bit of grooming, he emerged from the bathroom rejuvenated and relaxed. His black hair was trimmed to the top of his neck, and clean to the point where it glinted in the sunlight. He walked out in a robe and walked back into the bedroom, gathering the freshly cleaned clothes he wore under his cloak. A silky white long sleeve shirt with an open collar that bared the top of his toned and smooth chest. Exquisitely manufactured black shorts, lightly armored. The armor itself was machined out of the hide of a black smoke dragon.
He nodded as he threw the robe off, depositing it on the floor next to his bed. He sat down on the end of the bed and equipped his attire, without much of a hassle at all. He finished by snagging his cloak from the side of his bed and wrapping himself up until only his mouth was obscured from below while his head was concealed from above. This only left enough room for his eyes to peer out to guide his movement. He stood up and walked over, taking a good look in the mirror before nodding in satisfaction with his image. He then departed down the spiraling stairs with a flurry of footsteps before entering the main room.
As he stepped down from the stairs and particularly potent scent met his nose. One thought instantly crossed his mind: Food was available for consumption, and he was more than willing to partake in the activity. His nose lead him into the kitchen, exactly where he thought it would be located. He stepped into the kitchen and fired up his magic. The ethereal energies that coalesced in his palms formulated into the materium, the latent energies grasping a plate of semi-warm pancakes. After consuming a single one, he licked his lips. The golden brown food was particularly immaculate to his oral senses, and he smiled at the taste.
However, Orion was on a strict diet, and eating too much would be a problem. He tossed the plate, along with the remaining pancakes, to disappear into the trash. After this. He walked to the door and left the building.
He closed the door behind him, looking around. The surface temperature of the world was perfect for walking. Before he could ponder further on this further, a sharp glint caught his notice. He raised his brow and looked to the west, only to find a golden arrow posted right next to the door. The arrow itself was gold plated, excellently crafted. If it wasn't obviously enchanted, it would've been too heavy to remain airborne. Hanging from the shaft was a note, fluttering in the calm me summer wind. Curiosity sparked like fire in brush as he unraveled the note an began to read the note. It took him only one moment to frown and growl, seeing the note was from none other than Celestia, and with it was a ticket.
"Dear stranger... I fear I might have rubbed you in some sort of wrong way, but you are a hero all the same according to my faithful student," The long, curvy and delicate script of Celestia's well refined handwriting, "That is why you are invited as a V.I.P of The Grand Galloping Gala. I am eager to meet you on more pleasant terms, and thank you for your hoof in saving my sister."
"Are you kidding?! Did that mare not get any of the messages I sent her?!" Orion slowly began to voice his outrage after taking up the ticket. Rage sank it's tendrils into his mind, taking hold until he could only release. Orion roared into the sky, attracting through attention of various ponies. Their attention grew negative as he threw curse after curse, parents shielding their children's ears at the heretical obscenities.
"I don't want anything to do with her little 'gala' or anything that will just inflate her accursed ego!" Orion squeezed the golden ticket, wrinkling and ruining it's spending demeanor, all the while ignoring the looks he was getting,"I don't care if she's curious, I don't care if she wants to thank me! I am not- And I mean NOT! Going to her STUPID, GRAND GALLOPING GALA!"
"Not going to the Grand Galloping Gala!" Came a horrified gasp, "That should be a crime all in itself!"
Orion screamed, flail like flailing back away from the surprise. The mare who had interrupted his tangent of spite was a soft mint color. The sun shown down from above, half of her body dark while the other was light. Her mane was a similar co,leave as her coat but with a white streak running through it, along with her tail. There was a filed horn square in the middle of her head, signifying her race.
"How long have you been standing there?" Orion asked with a hand to his beating heart. He was too surprised to refocus on his anger, the aforementioned emotion fading away.
"Dude. It's hard not to notice when a two legged… pony or whatever you are is stomping, shouting and cursing in front of a library," The unicorn shook her head, mumbling something before she locked onto the golden, albeit crumpled, ticket. "Sorry... The names Lyra. You got a V.I.P ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala..? Why the hay with you pass off an opportunity like that?"
"It's my business… I have my issues with the Princess, and I want nothing to do with her stupid celebrations," Orion snapped at her and put the ticket in his cloak pocket, crumpling it even further. "I won't be going anywhere near her. No matter what she wants, get it…?"
"Problems with a Princess? I can understand if it's that sister of hers, but princess Celestia is the best pony in the whole world...!" Lyra made the unfortunate accident of slandering his sister while he was present.
"Excuse me...? What was that about Princess Luna?" He said while clenching his fists and popping the knuckles. He tried to stem the tide of the anger, but failed. Rather spectacularly, at that.
"I said... Uh... I can understand if it's that sister of Celestia. Since she's sort of Nightmare Moon-"
The mare was grabbed by the neck and hoisted into the air, unable to speak from her strangulation.
"Never talk trash about Princess Luna!" He roared at her as he tossed her, watching her fly through the air, before loosing surface velocity and hitting yards ground… rather, a fountain a few feet deep. He watched the unicorn sputter and splash in the pool before understanding the fact her hooves touched the ground. She stumbled and slipped as she tried to stand up in the pool while Orion ruffled his cloak. He turned to the ponies that looked on and shot them a look before steam blew out his nose.
"Now! Any pony else have something to say?" He asked with a cracked neck before a filly raised her hoof.
"Why don't you want to go to the Grand Galloping Gala?" The filly asked before Orion let out an outraged scream. If such things as automated communications satellites actually existed, they would've detected this scream in particular. Barring the fact that there wouldn't be any gas particles to vibrate and transmit the wave that is sound.
He seethed in outrage at the question, and got a churning, boiling feeling in his gut that this would not be the end of this particular question. Abandoning his previous crowd, he finally got moving (a rather delicate word for a swift sprint) through the town. As he moved the fact the town was particularly large ,etc his conscious. Ponyville was certainly more immense than it looked from he library balcony. He shook his head to let out a grouchy sigh from the rough start to the day. He needed to go out and get lunch to think, and that's when he found Twilight and Spike.
He sighed in relief at the sight of them and panted in exertion before he slowed to a halt beside her, missing a stallion who has approached from his right. The stallion uttered the cursed word: Gala.
"Mister O! Uh... What are you doing here?"Twilight asked before another mare of vanilla color approached, an inquiring look on her face. This time he was prepared and didn't punch her in the gullet.
"You got a ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala? And you don't want to go? Why not?"
None of your business! Now get lost!" He stomped his foot, inadvertently slamming a hole in the dirt with a spark of red magic. The kinetic energy from this action reverberated through the water mains. Somewhere in the Everfree river basin, purification turbines exploded from backwards pressure.
"Uh... I take it things haven't been going your way either?"
"Yeah. I got up, and just made it outside before I got this ridiculous ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala,"Orion yanked the ticket from his cloak and presented it to a surprised Twilight,"Oh my gosh...! You have one too?"
She quickly pulled out a two tickets to the Gala of her own and showed them to Orion. He reacted with a slap to his forehead now that both he and Twilight were both in a serious bind together. He looked to the tickets before picking up the fact that there were two.
"Two tickets? Are both you and Spike going to the Gala?"Orion asked while Spike suddenly gagged and stuck his tongue out.
"He doesn't want to go, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash started fighting over who should get the ticket,"Twilight explained her situation to a man who just nodded in partial understanding,"I can't exactly think at the moment...!"
"So... Who you gonna give the ticket to Twilight?"Spike asked again and stressing her even more so.
"I don't know, but I can't really think when I'm hungry, and I did promise mister O some lunch,"Twilight said while letting her friend join her for a more calm walk,"So where should we all eat?"
"Any place would be good. I ate one of Spike's pancakes, and I need a healthy lunch now."Orion got out before moving aside and watching Twilight crash into their party planning friend, Pinkie Pie.
The tickets flew from Twilight's grip and fell gracefully and slowly to Pinkies nose. The minute she opened her eyes to the tickets in front of her face, panic went off as she addressed them as bats. Screaming out bats and freaking out for a moment annoyed and even scared Orion. Feeling that her reaction was somewhat unnecessary for tickets to a Gala.
"Wait...! These aren't... Tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala?! It's the most Amazing incredible tremendous, super fun, wonderful, terrifically humongous party in all Equestria,"She explained and bounced in excitement for her luck,"I always always wanted to go there!"
"Why? It's just a stupid party for bigot nobles and Celestia so she can inflate her ego with the higher ups...!"Orion ranted with deaf ears on the mares as pinkie rambled about all the party favors there could be at the Gala.
Suddenly his heart sank and grew fast in beats as Pinkie did the unexpected, and began to sing. She chirped of the Grand Galloping Gala, from it's party favors, to food, to the music, and to the dancing. He looked to Twilight fearfully as he shook his head to the impending headache they would be forced to endure. At least no pony was questioning his choice to not go to the Gala. However it was soon that he would then be dragged into Twilight's problem as well.
"Oh thank you, Twilight. It's the most wonderfulest gift ever!"Pinkie Pie bounced in gratitude to Twilight.
"Um...Actually..."Twilight was then interrupted by the arrival of Rarity.
"Are these what I think they are?!"Rarity gasped as she saw the tickets Twilight and Pinkie had.
"Yes, yes, yes. Twilight is taking me to the Grand Galloping Gala!"Pinkie exclaimed with joy.
"The Gala? I designed ensembles for the Gala every year. But I never had the opportunity to attend,"Rarity admitted as she imagined the beauty of the Gala,"Oh the society, the culture, the Glamour! It's where I belong, and where I'm destined to meet... Him!"
"Him who?"Both Pinkie and Orion questioned Rarity's day dreaming of meeting the perfect stallion.
He was forced to withstand a mushy unicorn's fantasy about a stallion. A stallion he himself shared the same blood with, and he would not know until he decided to go to the castle and see for himself. Until then he felt his stomach getting sick from all the love talk Rarity rambled about. Only to be thrown into the chaos that was resentment with the tickets.
"Twilight, I simply cannot believe that you would invite Pinkie Pie so she can... Party, and prevent me from meeting my true love. How could you? Hmmm?"Rarity questioned wile Orion could feel resentment hitting his face.
As It appeared that an issue was going to grow. Orion heard Spike shout while a white rabbit suddenly had taken the tickets and scurried away. Only to meet with Fluttershy and make her gasp by the sight of the tickets to the Gala.
"Oh Angel. These are perfect...!"Fluttershy grabbed their attention.
"Twilight? I recommend we leave before this gets worse...!"Orion begged her to depart before she then accidentally revealed that she has not chosen who the second ticket goes to.
"Um, excuse me? Twilight. I would like to ask, I mean, if it would be alright,"Fluttershy's quiet voice would have made Orion's ears droop if he had any pony ears to lower,"If you haven't given it to any pony else..."
"You wanna go to the Gala?!"Pinkie and Rarity exclaimed with surprise.
"Oh my gosh...! This is only more reason that I don't want to go to the stupid Gala in the first place...!"Orion groaned before the girls gasped.
"You DON'T want to go to the Gala?!"They all shouted and drew in the attention of other ponies.
"Oh no...! I'm not putting up with this crap! Twilight I'm leaving!"Orion yelled and ran off to escape the crowd forming, leaving his friend to deal with the conflict of her friends.
He blocked out the voices that sounded in his head, voices that spoke of the Gala's beauty, and the princesses willingness to host the celebration. He growled and held his head as he shoved his way through a crowd. He then spotted a slightly busy restaurant, and his stomach spoke to him for healthy sustenance for lunch. He sighed in relief and rushed over to the establishment to escape the criticism. He planted his flank in the chair and growled with another sigh before the waiter was already coming over.
"Uh... Afternoon sir...! Can I get you anything?"The waiter asked in a fancy tone while Orion denied his menu.
"I'll take a crispy ranch salad with plenty of cheese, and apple juice...!"Orion made his order quick and gave the waiter his tip early with ten whole bits.
He slouched and looked to the sky, ignoring a filly pointing to him and talking about the Grand Galloping Gala. He rolled his eyes and looked away from the sun that nearly shined to reveal his face. He looked down to the table and awaited the return of Twilight, letting his gut feeling tell him that she would be here soon. He heard the arrival of his drink tapping the table in a glass before he sat up and took up his drink for a swig. With a small slurp of juice, he felt a bit invigorated, but still felt irritated.
He gasped from the cold drink and inadvertently spotted Twilight arriving on scene, just like he thought. She sighed with exhaustion as her and Spike sat with the disguised man and ordered their own lunch, Twilight got the daisy sandwich while Spike got hay fries with his meal. She rubbed her face in stress, and looked to Orion with a slight upset look due to him bailing on her.
"Sorry about that, but I was done the minute they asked about me going to the Gala,"He apologized, but it left her still a bit mad,"I don't see the whole deal about this place. It's just a fancy party for self righteous nobles and high class ponies that ridicule the less fortunate and give praise to Celestia...!"
"Well It's fun. It has so many opportunities for the less fortunate, and it brings ponies together. At least that's what I thought till today,"Twilight groaned as she thought of her ticket problem while Orion got his salad,"I still can't decided what to do about these tickets...!"
"Oh, you're still on that?"Spike questioned thoroughly fed up with the ticket problem.
"Look. Twilight, I'll clue you in on this. Sometimes when something good doesn't have what truly means something to you. It's better not to indulge in it unless you can enjoy it as a whole,"Orion gave her a little hint to her problems,"Now lets stop the grief and lets enjoy lunch before these crazy ponies bug us about tickets and the Gala...!"
He caused Twilight to fall silent in confusion from his simple, but strange riddle. She shrugged and lifted up her sandwich to eat with him before a crowd of ponies rushed into the restaurant. It took them by surprise from the quake of their hooves before the fancy waiter called out to the trio.
"Eh madam, and sir...! Are you going to eat your food in ze rain?"He asked in his heavy french and fancy accent.
"Rain? What Rain?"Orion asked before he and Twilight looked around.
"It's not raining,"Twilight started, but they both stopped and saw rain all around them accept for their table,"What's going on...?!"
"Oh...I see what's going on..."Orion gestured to the sky where a small hole in a storm was opened by Rainbow Dash.
"Hi there. Best friend forever. I've ever ever had. Enjoying the sunny weather?"Rainbow asked from above as Orion sat back in his chair.
"Great. Now their brown nosing for Twilight's ticket. I'm not putting up with this...!'s brown nosing"Orion threw down his napkin and tried to ignore Rainbow Dash's brown nosing.
"Rainbow Dash? What are you doing?"Twilight asked in the distance before a earth pony mare of vanilla fur and a blue and pink mane stopped him.
"I heard you were the one who tossed my best friend Lyra into a baby pool! What's your problem,"The mare questioned with irritation before he snapped from the next question,"And what's your beef with the Grand Galloping Gala?"
It was only a moment before she too had been thrown into a baby pool and passed by. Orion shook his head, and left the mare trying to swim in the tiny pool before more ponies were suddenly arriving on scene to question his choice on the Gala. They were almost like the zombies he fought at the misty dead mountains in the north parts of Yakyakistan. He backed away, but the questions rang in his head before he let out a scream. He took off like a scared bunny and was pursued by the ponies.
"It's none of your business!"He yelled, but it did nothing to stop the crowd from chasing him around.
He jumped into a bush and watched the crowd pass by before he sat back in the bush and took a thirty minute break. The ghost seemed clear, and he stepped out of the shrub to dust off some of the dirt he collected while in hiding. He then heard a giggle and looked down to find a colt looking up to him and saying the dreaded question.
"Why aren't you going to the Grand Galloping Gala?"
He screamed and bolted through the town to get to the safety of the library. However as he looked back to see if he got the attention of the crowd that chased him earlier. He felt himself slam into some pony before he struggled to stay standing and looked to the clumsy pony. Only to see it was Twilight and Spike both appearing to be in a hurry themselves. He rushed over and helped them up before looking around.
"Geez... Are you ok? Sorry about that, but these ponies are crazy. They keep following me and asking me about the Gala!"Orion said before he froze and saw a huge crowd of ponies charging towards them.
"Funny you mention that...cause... I sort of had the same problem. RUN!"Twilight screamed as the three of them bolted away from the crowd,"Pinkie let loose about the tickets and now every pony is wanting to do things to try and earn the ticket!"
"Oh for crying out loud...! Will this day never end?!"He yelled before picking his friends up and teleporting away with them.
Next thing they knew, they were dressed up as parents and pushing Spike in a baby carriage to hide from the crowd. Only the disguises failed thanks to Orion being tall, and standing on two legs rather than four. They bolted from the crowd again and soon found themselves surrounded by the townsfolk in every direction. Twilight panicked while Orion sweated in fear of having to use force to keep them all away. Thankfully Twilight reacted in time and lit up her horn with purple to teleport them away.
Before they knew it, they were back in their home and in full lock down to keep all the brown nosers out.
"Man that was a trip, now lets lock this place down...!"Orion lit his hands up and rushed wooden planks to the doors.
"Ugh... You guys need to warn me next time you're going to do that...!"Spike groaned as he fell against Orion's leg.
"I didn't even know that was going to happen. Now quick! Lock the doors!"Twilight said before turning and seeing her friends before her while Orion dropped the hammer he conjured up with the planks.
"What the?! Awww give us a break! Look! She can't decide who to give it to, and your kissing up and doing suck up favors is not helping either of us,"Orion finally exploded just as Twilight was going to break down and blurt out her problem,"You're all her friends, and she doesn't want to disappoint any of you...! But your stupid attempts to get her ticket are driving her insane...!"
"Twilight, sugar. Ah didn't mean to put so much pressure so much on you, and if it helps. I don't want the ticket any more,"The group felt a change in their minds as they looked at Twilight's stressed mind, and Applejack was the first to speak,"You can give the ticket to some pony else. Ah won't eel bad. Ah promise."
"Me too. I feel awful that I made you feel so awful..."Fluttershy agreed and gained a nod from the man as he plopped down in a chair to relax.
"And me too. It's no fun upsetting your friends..."Pinkie submitted as well and Orion lifted his spirit to see friendship resolving a disagreement.
"Twilight. It was unfair of me to try and force you as I did."Rarity submitted before Rainbow celebrated and was about to claim the ticket.
"Don't even think about it hot shot...!"He warned as Rainbow nicely declined and submitted as well.
"You know. I haven't perfected my signature moves for the Wonderbolts yet any way. I don't want the ticket..."Rainbow humbled up while Twilight gasped and realized something.
"I understand. I understand what you were saying before at lunch Mister O! If I can't have what truly matters with me,"Twilight looked to her friends with a smile before looking back to him,"Then going is not worth it if I can't enjoy with all my friends..."
"There you go... Took you long enough to figure it out..."He chuckled as Twilight got Spike to take a letter and write exactly what she needed to say.
Orion nodded and relaxed before he saw Spike right at his side on the chair looking down with blush. He raised an eye brow and sat up before Spike suddenly took out a letter and gave it to Orion.
"I...kind of forgot to give you that. It came along with your ticket and princess Celestia's letter,"Spike dug his foot in the carpet out of embarrassment while Orion rolled his eyes and unrolled the letter,"It's from princess Luna..."
"Luna? She wrote me a letter?"Orion lightened his mood and looked to the letter before reading it with a vast amount of seriousness.
"Dear Orion. I sneaked this in so Tia wouldn't see your name and be alerted to you, but I was hoping to write to you and see what you were up to,"The letter started out as he leaned in more to the message and let out a sigh with a smile,"She's giving out tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. And I really hope you could come over too and see me. I really miss you..."
Orion slowly put a hand to his heart and let out a heavier sigh to his baby sisters whim. He had hoped to hear from her soon and conflict was threatening to take over with his choice to go now in question. However the next line finally struck him and made him want to cry, but his hard heart kept his composure.
"I want to see you again... We barely talked before when I was weakened from the elements, adjusting to the new times have been very hard,"The letter continued on and neared it's end,"I hope to see you at the Gala big brother. I'll pray for you to come. I love you Orion. Luna..."
The letter ended, and so did the thoughts of Orion's choice on the Grand Galloping Gala. He looked up and saw Twilight and her friends lighting up as six tickets then replaced her two tickets from before. He didn't believe in miracles before, but now it was almost certain that they existed now. Celestia showed a hint of generosity and gave them six tickets for every pony. He then thought about it and pulled out his own ticket and took a very deep look to it before gripping it tightly.
"Six tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala!"Spike exclaimed while the ladies cheered walked over to Orion.
"I guess our problem is solved now... The least we could do is help you with yours. We'll tell the princess you came down with something..."Twilight decided to help Orion with his issue, but he raised a hand before she could pull out a note.
"That won't be necessary... I have decided to go the Grand Galloping Gala,"Orion stood tall and announced his decision on the matter with a smile,"Not for Celestia, not for nobles or opportunity, but to be with my friends!"
The room erupted into a cheer with Orion choosing to go as well and completing the entire group that would attend the Gala.
"That's great! Now we can all go!"Twilight said as she then felt her stomach growl for food.
"Allow us to treat you dinner."Rarity decided for Twilight and Orion to celebrate.
"What a great way to apologize."Rainbow agreed with Rarity's plan.
"And to Celebrate. Come on every pony. Cupcakes are on me!"Pinkie celebrated early as they all left the library to go out to lunch.
Orion held his smiled and walked in the center of the group as they departed in satisfaction and a stronger bond. He looked back and noticed Spike burping out a ticket to the Gala and giggling to show that he too wanted to go. Spike noticed that Orion and Applejack caught him in the act and tried to play it off as the dragon ran to catch up with them.
Ghost here. I really hope this doesn't feel rushed or anything. I'm doing my best to settle some personal problems, and I promise I'll find time to write to you all. I promise.