>You are Anon.
>Princess Celestia - or as you know her, Mom - is fixing your tie.
>”Anon, hold -- still!”
>You’re squirming, naturally. Celestia never gave in when it came to these things.
“Mom, quit it. I don’t even wanna go to this stupid thing.”
>”Nope. Don’t want to hear it kiddo. You’re going whether you like it or not.”
>You give her a dirty look (after she turns her back, of course).
>”Do that again and I’ll bring you with me to my next conference,” she says.
>You revert your expression immediately. If there was anything that could make you behave, it was a threat to sit through hours of one of Equestria’s “peace conferences.”
>”So...have you thought about taking anypony to the Gala?”
>You look up to see her smirking.
“I’m not doing that, Mom. Besides, nobody wants to go with a monkey anyway.”
>Her smirk fades into a look of concern.
>”Anon, don’t you ever say that...you know it’s not true.”
>You escape from her grasp once she finishes your tie.
“Yeah, well...I still don’t want to go to this stupid thing.”
>Celestia smiles warmly.
>”You’ll survive, kiddo.”
>She starts for the door, but seems to remember something halfway.
>”Oh - and Twilight Sparkle is coming,” Celestia adds cheekily. You might want to dress extra well for this one!”
>You groan. Twilight Spergle has been trying (and failing) to court you since you met last month.
>Celestia seems to think you and her little protege are a good pair, but you want nothing to do with it.
>Doesn’t seem to stop her though.
>Celestia laughs and leaves the room. You are alone with your thoughts.
>You’ve been to one of these Galas once before, just sitting by Celestia and doing nothing.
>You imagine the same for this night as well.
>You won’t bail on this though.
>Celestia’s been good to you ever since you came to Equestria as a kid.
>Even raised you herself, basically. Became your new mom.
>You don’t remember much about your old life.
>Just that you didn’t have someone like that before.
>Your mom wasn’t around before, and your dad would only seem to yell at you and say words that were frowned upon here.
>...and hit you.
>You can still remember Celestia’s face when she first saw those bruises on your arm.
>Regardless, she’s been good to you and you owe her big time.
>Even if it means talking to her socially inept student.
>
>This punch is awful. It’s just shy of being water.
>You swallow it disdainfully and set your cup down to your right.
>To your left is, like last time, Celestia.
>”Thanks for coming with me, Anon,” she said, turning to you. “I know you don’t find these things to be very entertaining.”
“Mm. It’s no problem.”
>”Truth be told, I don’t like them very much either. But they seem to be very popular, so on they go.”
>You smile.
“Have you had this punch?”
>”Oh, it’s awful, isn’t it?”
>Your smile morphs into a grin.
“Actually, I’m a huge fan.”
>Celestia’s face scrunches up, embarrassed, but she seems to catch on almost immediately.
>She laughs.
>”I don’t know why they didn’t just use the same recipe as last year. That one was quite good!”
>”...well - better, anyway.”
>You nod.
>A purple pony trots up to meet you and Celestia.
>”Hi princess!”
>She turns to you and blushes.
>”Hi Anon…”
>It’s Twilight Sparkle.
>Celestia smiles at her.
>”Good evening, Twilight. I trust that you and your friends are well?”
>You give her a polite wave.
>”Oh yes, they’re doing alright...doing well…”
>She turns to you almost mechanically.
>”So...uh...Anon…while we’re here...I was wondering if you wanted to...um...get some punch?”
>Celestia gives you a look that seems to say Indulge her, please.
>You hold back an eye roll and crack your neck.
>”Sure...it’ll be good to stretch my legs.”
>Twilight squees and tilts her head (kind of cutely, you admit).
>You gesture for her to lead the way and follow her to the snack table.
>
>”So…”
>You avert your attention from the slew of treats in front of you and face Twilight.
>Her face is buried in a book.
>”Do you like music? What kind of music do you like?”
>You try to be polite here.
“I guess...a bunch of different things. What about you?”
>She looks up for a split-second.
>”Me too.”
>Twilight shoots her head back into her book.
>”So, how is having Celestia as a Mom?” she tries, but immediately blushes and shakes her head.
>”No, that’s too…”
>She looks up to face you.
>”One sec!”
>Twilight is pouring through her book nervously.
>”C’mon...c’mon...let’s see…” she starts.
>You gracefully snatch the book from her hooves.
“Twilight,” you say. “Let’s just talk. You don’t need a book to talk to me.”
>She scrunches up.
>”But all my talking points are in there! How am I going to woo - I mean, get to know you - if I don’t plan it out accordingly?”
“Well, you’re just going to have to figure it out.”
>Twilight scratches her mane with a hoof.
>”I don’t know...we stayed up all night writing this down…”
>You’re a bit confused now.
“We?”
>Twilight blushes. “My friends and I.”
>Out of the corner of your eye, you see a group of mares hiding behind a table, watching you and purple pone chat it up.
>One of them notices you looking, and they all duck down to avoid being seen.
>You smirk.
“Good to see the elements of harmony are hard at work keeping us safe.”
>Twilight’s as red as a turnip.
>You can’t help but laugh at that.
“I’m just kidding, you know.”
>Twilight brightens up a bit.
>”Yeah...it’s just a little...embarrassing.”
>She goes red again.
>You don’t know why, but this mare’s not as irksome tonight.
>You laugh again.
“Besides, my mom trusts you a lot. You’re probably not too bad.”
>You expect steam to start bursting from her ears.
>”She - the princess said that about me?..”
“C’mon,” you say. “Wanna walk around the garden?”
>Twilight smiles.
>”O-Okay! Sounds...fun.”
>You return a smile and stroll with her outside.