How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back

Finite Sledgehammer

Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it.

---

The rooms were ready by the time they climbed the two dozen flights of stairs to reach them. Moonstruck was about at physical and magical limits as they were escorted in, and given a brief tour. As soon as the tower staff left, she cast her anti-snooping spell, determined that the room lacked any sort of listening devices that she could recognize, then dropped her illusion as she sank gratefully back onto all fours. The combination of magic, and walking in such an awkward position for so long was playing havoc with her back and head.

"Oh good gravy have I stepped in it this time!" Moonstruck groaned, dragging herself over to a truly ancient looking fainting couch and flopping on it. It smelled funny, but it at least wasn't dusty.

"Agh! That pony gave me the creeps!" Joseph said, loudly shaking out his wings. "I dunno if she was looking at me like a piece of meat or what but – gah!"

"Queen Lucena is even more terrifying in person than I imagined." Glenda said her voice sounding small and frail.

"Luckily she never even gave you a second glance. Not even sure she gave you a first glance."

"Y-yes."

"And what was with the prince? I mean... what is he supposed to be?"

"He is half dragon, as far as I know." Glenda said, sounding a bit disgusted.

"Going by nomenclature..." Moonstruck said into the couch, "I'd say he's the unholy offspring of Lucena and Magmanus."

"That is the rumor." Glenda grimaced.

"I'm pretty sure that's not possible." Joseph said firmly, wrinkling his snout.

Glenda shrugged. "It was supposed to involve some strange magic. There are many legends about it. I don't know how magic works, so I couldn't tell you which is more likely."

"It doesn't work like that." Moonstruck muttered. Magic could create some strange hybrids, but they were chimeras not... offspring. It was possible that Lucena had created the prince in her own image and claimed him as her son, but there had been something about his face, and the way he moved that seemed to indicate relation, and not a mad scientists rendition.

"Now that I think about it," Joseph said slowly, "he didn't really smell different from other ponies."

"You go around smelling strange ponies?" Glenda quipped.

"With a nose like this, I can't help it." Joseph snorted.

"Was he directly related to Lucena?" Moonstruck asked.

"Yes."

The room settled into silence, Moonstruck very much wanted a hot bath, and a long nap, but she sensed she had time for neither. For the immediate, she needed to cook up an illusion she could maintain even while her magic was doing strange things. For the long run, they needed to figure out how to get out of here without anyone noticing right away.

Heaving a sigh, Moonstruck pushed herself into a sitting position, and inspected her troops. Neither of them had experience with espionage, but they were both successful predators, so they could be quite sneaky if they needed to. Neither of them had spell magic, but she remembered many of her fathers spells that would allow her to enchant objects that they could use. They would both need invisibility cloaks, and teleportation nodes at the very least. She couldn't set up a nodestone network until or unless she got out into the city, since the spells would be relying on her memories of the destination. She nodded once to herself as priorities began to line themselves up.

"Okay, first order of business. We need to find a way out of the tower – pretty much everything we need to do to get out of here hinges on being able to come and go. Places like this usually have secret passageways, Joseph, you're in charge of finding them."

"Right. Er... wouldn't the queen know about all of the secret passages though?"

"I'm sure she knows about some of them." Moonstruck shrugged, sliding off the couch. "The tower's so big, she can't know about all of 'em. I just want you to find 'em, don't go exploring 'em yet. I haven't gotten a good read on her yet. There's no listening devices or anything in here, so either she's not expecting betrayal, or she's so arrogant that she doesn't think anyone can really challenge her."

"Can you challenge her?" Glenda asked.

Moonstruck scowled; that was a good question. "At full power, yes; I can be quite the headache. At the moment, no. Which is why I'm gonna play the airhead duchess for a while. Gives both of us time to recover, and do some scheming."

Glenda pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded.

"I need to build a puppet that I can throw that absurd illusion over, so you're gonna help me round up stuff." She inclined her head to Glenda. "Just whatever we can find around the suite will do."

"What about the prince?" Joseph asked as he poked his head behind a large tapestry depicting an ancient battle.

Moonstruck flopped her ears to the side. "He probably knows about the passageways too, but I got even less of a read on him than I did on the queen. I'll have to play that one by ear. Really wasn't thinking there'd be another alicorn around to deal with."

The admiral had mentioned the prince, but omitted the alicorn part.

"The prince is said to be immensely powerful." Glenda said, following Moonstruck as she began inspecting pieces of furniture.

"I doubt that," Moonstruck muttered as she picked up a wire waste basket and flipped it over. "This'll work for something."

"Can you detect the power of other alicorns?" Glenda asked, giving the waste basket an odd look.

"Not without casting a spell that would also inform the alicorn in question that I was checkin' their power levels." She shook her head. "He doesn't have a cutie mark. No pony without a cutie mark can tap into their full potential."

Moonstruck scratched her chin as she stared at a life sized wooden bust of an unnamed unicorn mare sitting on a shelf. She wondered if anyone would notice if that went missing periodically. Until or unless she was able to figure out a better illusion, or possibly even a doppelganger spell, she needed her puppet to disassemble.

"What is a cute mark?" Glenda asked as Moonstruck lifted the bust and placed it in the waste basket.

"Fancy magic butt symbols."

"Oh.

"They..." Moonstruck paused and scowled into space. It was one of those concepts that was so familiar that it didn't often need to be explained, which meant that when it came time to explain it, it was oddly difficult. "They're important. Basically when a pony finds their true purpose in life, they get their mark – which has something to do with that purpose. Then they spend the rest of their life doing whatever it is they do."

"I... see." Glenda scowled. "So this is something that unicorns get?"

"No, all ponies. Earth ponies, pegasus, unicorns, alicorns – even zebras have a sort of cutie mark."

Glenda took a small step back, eyes wide.

"That transformation spell was impressive, but I bet it's costly – probably why none of the higher ranking unicorns were using it, and why he didn't cast it until he was all the way up at the dais." Moonstruck smirked. "Plus, I bet delaying it drives his mother up the wall."

"Sure it wasn't just an illusion, like yours?" Joseph piped up from across the room.

"Yup." Moonstruck grunted. "I was watching for any clues to see how they do it, and that definitely wasn't an illusion." She didn't mention that she was surprised that Lucena didn't recognize that her transformation was merely an illusion – or if she had, she didn't care. Of course, she might just be toying with her, intending to throw it in her face later. This was going to be difficult; Moonstruck sincerely hoped that Lucena would be up for a few rounds of poker at some point in the near future.

The next few hours were spent building a crude puppet that she was able to throw a more solid illusion over, and practicing with it, to be sure it was convincing enough for what could be a lengthy party. A small team of dressmakers interrupted them shortly after lunch, forcing Moonstruck to do a rather awkward puppet show that she was amazed convinced the tailors that they were fitting her for a dress meant for a two legged being, instead of a hodgepodge of cobbled together household items attached to the back of a four legged being. Thankfully the dress itself was a ridiculous affair with puffy sleeves, clashing colors, oodles of ruffles, and something called a "hoop skirt" that completely engulfed her natural body, which made hiding under the puppet quite a bit easier.

The whole ordeal left her with a splitting headache, and she was forced to take a willow bark tea break, and a long nap as soon as the tailors left. When she woke two hours later, she was as groggy as she was after a long night camping with her friends – which usually involved some heavy cider consumption, a lot of impractical jokes, and very little sleep.

Joseph and Glenda were chatting softly when she shuffled into the main room of their suite. The dragon had disappeared off somewhere shortly after the dressmakers had appeared, and going by their conversation, seemed to have just returned.

"Wow, you look like something the cat dragged in." Joseph grunted, frowning.

"Yeah, dealing with the tailors really took it out of me." Moonstruck grumbled, pouring herself a cup of water from a pitcher that had been left on the coffee table.

"That was worst-case-scenerio interaction there. Had to really beef up the illusion, and hide my real body, and figure out how the dress was supposed to look natural over the puppet, when that whole stupid form is the epitome of unnatural."

"It was kind of scary." Glenda nodded, eyes wide. Moonstruck had tweaked the spell so that Glenda was immune to the illusion so as not to disturb her as much. She must have gotten quite the show from wherever she'd hidden when the tailors showed up. Moonstruck couldn't really blame her for hiding.

"Where'd you get off to, Joseph?" Moonstruck asked.

"Just poking around." Joseph shrugged. "Found a couple of possible secret passageways in the suite, then went out to explore the terrace and stuff. Our terrace is semi-private, but there's patrols every half hour." He scratched his chin. "All of the guards are unicorns, and they fly little airship things. Dunno how fast they are, but from what I saw, they didn't seem as agile as me, or a pegasus."

"Hmm." Moonstruck was impressed, she hadn't expected him to think to do any reconnaissance beyond looking for secret passageways. "You didn't leave, did you?"

"A little. Hopped over to some neighboring terraces between patrols. Looks like most of the rooms around us are empty, and the Eye can't see anything this close to the building, as near as I can tell."

Moonstruck grunted and nodded. "Okay, that's probably safe enough. We haven't been cleared to come and go yet." She eyed the dragon for a moment. "Actually, you know, I think I'll see if I can get you special clearance to hunt. That should give you a good excuse to disappear for a while on a regular basis."

"Good idea." Joseph agreed. "And I can bring something back for Glenda, if she needs it."

Glenda started. "You don't need to do that."

"It's alright." Joseph bobbed his head.

Moonstruck stared down into her cup of water, which she was levitating effortlessly. It seemed like she was recovering more quickly now. A few days ago even this would have been too much after overexerting herself. She sighed, and mulled over anything else she needed to have Joseph and Glenda do. Her mind was still a bit mushy from earlier, and she was still puzzling over how to conduct herself at the party. Really, what needed to be done would have to wait until at least tomorrow – she had a lot of ponies to get a read on at the party later, and whether or not she was sufficiently amusing would determine what level of autonomy they'd all have in the immediate future. Well, provided Lucena wasn't merely toying with her. Joseph and Glenda may end up doing most of the leg work, if that was the case. And it might all be for nothing.

She closed her eyes and shook her head, pushing that thought aside. "Well, I guess that's enough for you guys for the day. You can take it easy. I've got a lot of poking around to do myself at the party."

"You sure? Some of those passageways didn't seemed to have been used in a while, I can probably investigate further." Joseph offered, frowning slightly.

"Nah." Moonstruck wrinkled her nose. "It's too dangerous right now. Even if they haven't used them in a while, they might suddenly start using them again now that someone's staying in this suite. Sometimes staff uses them as servant entrances and stuff, and it's an easy way to spy on the occupants of rooms. Gotta keep an eye on 'em for a while to see who uses 'em to come and go."

"Right, hadn't thought of that." Joseph scowled. "What do we do if the tower staff use's em?"

"Learn their schedule." Moonstruck shrugged. "If they put spies in there, we'll have to figure out a clever way to deal with 'em. Maybe set up an ongoing illusion in the room to make it seem like we're doing typical mundane stuff."

"Shouldn't we eliminate spies?" Glenda piped up.

Moonstruck was only mildly surprised the old mare had said that, considering how her clan dealt with intruders. "That would actually be counter-productive. We don't want to be spied on, but taking out the spies would just draw more attention to us. Better to feed them misinformation."

"You know an awful lot about this sort of stuff." Joseph scratched the back of his head and furrowed his brow. "I thought you said you were a card playing dragonslayer back home?"

"Eh, heh, lets just say hide and seek at my house was serious business." Moonstruck chuckled. She closed her eyes for a few moments, trying to judge if she'd recovered enough to fiddle around with a routine for later. There was, she supposed, only one way to find out. Opening her eyes again, she set her glass down on the coffee table, then retreated to her room to dig out her deck of cards.

She had a few things she did to entertain important guests (and foals, and not so important guests and, occasionally random passer-by on street corners if she was bored) back home, so she wasn't entirely unprepared to put on a little show at the party tonight. What she wasn't ready for was working the puppet into every aspect of it. It certainly ruled out any and all acrobatic choreography, though she didn't have smoke machines or lasers to do any of her more flashy routines anyhow, and she doubted she'd be able to round any up in the few hours left before the party. Locating her cards, she shuffled back into the main room, absently shuffling them.

"Think I'll run through a simple routine a few times without the puppet first, then see how I have to tweak it." She said mostly to herself as she stopped in the center of the room. She threw a glance to her left, at the sofa. "Could you move that aside, please? And the coffee table."

"Sure." Joseph grunted, stepping over, and easily sliding the furniture out of the way. He perched on the newly relocated sofa and began grooming his wings as Glenda hid behind it, peeking over the back.

Moonstruck stepped to the very center of the large area rug that covered the ancient hardwood floors, spread her wings, and floated the deck of cards in front of her. For a quick warm-up, she sent them spinning around her in an intricate, interlocking pattern, careful to keep track of each suit as it went so as to present an alternating sequence of black and red to the viewers. Then she spread the cards out and swirled them into a figure eight pattern that then spawned small vortexes near where the lines interconnected. She bit her lip, then sent them around the room, dipping and diving like a flock of small birds. That was a good idea... she split the deck in half, then brought them back together again two at a time so that the cards flapped like wings, which made the bird allusion even stronger. She spent a few minutes playing with her card flock, directing it around the room, then brought them all back down to form a simple house in front of her. Releasing her magical grip on them, she waited a few moments to see if the house would fall, then gently blew it over.

Applause and faint stamping pulled her attention back over to Joseph and Glenda; the former of which was supplying the applause, and the latter of which was stamping her front hooves on the sofa, which she was now seated upon, and not hiding behind.

Moonstruck sketched a short bow and flashed a cheesy grin. "Thank you, I'll be here all week!"

She straightened up and gathered her cards up again. "Hmm, what do you guys think of audience participation?"

"Uhhhhhhh...?"

She scowled, "I mean, have them draw a card or something? Mess around with a little slight of hoof a bit before I get into the fancy stuff?"

"I dunno how that even works." Joseph furrowed his brow.

"Oh, well then, I'll show you!" Moonstruck shuffled the cards then spread them out face down in front of Joseph. "Pick a card, any card."

The dragon scrutinized the floating cards for a moment, then carefully selected one out of the deck.

"Now, look at it long and good, but don't show it to me. Got it memorized? Good. Now put it back."

Joseph slid the card back among its fellows.

Moonstruck shuffled the deck. "This is an old trick, very simple. You just have to have the skill, yanno? A particular kind of magic."

She winked and tapped her head with one hoof. "Okay, cards are good and shuffled, lets see if we can find it again, eh?"

She set the deck on the floor, then stomped a hoof next to it while adding a little extra puff of air with magic, which sent the cards flying. She snatched a card out of the air, and held it face up. "Is this your card?"

"Y-yeah!" Joseph raised his head, and blinked a few times. "How'd you do that?"

"A magician never reveals her methods." Moonstruck grinned. She scowled as she gathered the cards again. "That feels too gimmicky. It usually goes over better with foals, anyway."

"I thought it was pretty cool." Joseph muttered, as Glenda nodded.

"You're not a snobby unicorn." Moonstruck pointed out.

"True."

She called the cards back up to float in front of her. "The black and red pattern is a keeper, and the bird thing was pretty cool, right?"

"It was all amazing!" Glenda piped.

"I liked the house of cards, too." Joseph added.

Moonstruck nodded. There was something oddly poetic about blowing the house over. Maybe it was because she was currently gathering information to blow this particular house down. She smirked, then brought her cards to the ready. "Alright, lets see what else I can throw in there."

An hour later she had a routine. An hour after that she had a decent handle on how to do the routine with the puppet strapped to her back, and her field of vision limited to a basic remote viewing spell that allowed her to see things from the puppets vantage point. She was glad that she'd gone with a puppet, and didn't try to do a doppelganger spell; remote viewing through something that is physically touching her is far easier than trying to create a solid, purely magical puppet, and see through its eyes. And still see through her own eyes so that she didn't bump into stuff while working the puppet invisibly nearby. She was beginning to wonder if she could track down that transformation spell – it would be simpler, at the very least.

The dressmakers returned as she was putting the final touches on the routine. Once the dress was on, she shooed them off to run through the routine one last time before she took another nap to rest up for the party. She was feeling okay, but she didn't want to run the risk of overexerting herself again, and the party wasn't until after the sun set, anyway. She also had no idea how long the party would actually go for, much less when she would be allowed to retire for the evening.

Joseph woke her when dinner for he and Glenda was delivered. It seemed her staff was not yet authorized to mingle with the tower staff, so they were treated to room service for the time being. It was likely a better meal than whatever the tower staff ate. It wasn't anything spectacular; just some crusty oat bread, bean patties, dried alfalfa, and some sort of grain that reminded her of couscous, though lacking most of the good stuff one typically found in couscous. She made a mental note to smuggle out some fruit or desert for them as she strapped the puppet to her back and fired up her various spells.

The sun was just dipping below the horizon when she stepped out of her room in all her ridiculous glory, absently fiddling with the cards in her puppet hands to remind herself how to use said hands with cards.

"Shouldn't you have been out of here a few minutes ago?" Joseph asked as he tore off a piece of bread from the main loaf. They were seated on the couch; the cart sitting in front of them, utensils ignored. Glenda was munching directly off of a plate that Joseph had likely set on the sofa for her, while the dragon was just grabbing select morsels off the cart itself.

"Nah, gonna be fashionably late." Moonstruck remembered to shake the puppets head, and not her own. Interacting with other ponies was going to be the most difficult part, she knew. She watched the two of them for a moment, and made another mental note to teach them some table manners before they were expected to take their meals with the tower staff.

Frowning, she circled the room, mildly intrigued by how everything looked through the puppets eyes. Most basic remote viewing spells had a sort of tunnel vision effect, and this one was no different, it was just that she was taller than she'd ever been. Or at least, she knew what everything looked like from such a height. It was rather disorienting, all and all; especially since she could still see with her own eyes; the spell just gave her a sort of picture-in-picture view of the world from the puppets vantage point.

"How am I moving? Does it look smooth? Natural? As natural as it can be?" She blurted a few circuits later, turning the puppets head to look at them.

"As natural as it can be, I guess." Joseph wrinkled his snout.

"You seem to be moving better than before. Earlier it was kind of jerky and weird." Glenda added.

"Good." Moonstruck grunted.

She glanced outside, decided that it was dark enough, then straightened the dress and tucked her cards away in their pouch which was now around the puppets neck. "I'm gonna head out then. See you guys later. I'll teleport back if I screw up, and we have to make a break for it."

"Right. Don't screw up." Joseph grumbled.

Glenda nudged him reproachfully, then half turned to look at her. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Moonstruck chuckled and headed to the door, only one set of hooves making a clip clop noise on the floor. She was wearing the shoes that went with the dress on her front hooves, and had tied towels around her hind hooves to muffle them. It was a little slippery, but it'd have to do. She was stretched thin enough as it was, she didn't think it'd be wise to add a silencing spell on top of every other spell she was currently juggling – including a stealth magic spell to hide the glow of all of the telekinetic puppeteering she was doing. She was amazed that six week course she took on puppetry a while back was proving itself so useful.

She stepped into the hall, closed the door behind her, and headed for the stairs, though she barely made it a dozen paces before somepony was shouting at her.

"Y-your Grace!" A small orange and purple unicorn stallion wearing the tower livery panted, galloping up to her. He slid to a stop a respectful distance away, and bowed deeply, chest heaving.

"I- forgive me, I was instructed to escort you to the party and I -"

"It's quite alright, I know the way." Moonstruck said, unsure how snooty she should be with the staff. It was probably safe enough to be polite and professional to them when no one else was around, but an arrogant brat when in the company of of important ponies. She doubted they'd mention that she wasn't horrible to them when no one was looking.

"Er... that's not – I-I mean you can go that way, but it's much faster to take the lift." He stammered, standing up and hastily straightening his uniform.

"Ah, of course." She inclined the puppet head towards him, and let him lead her in the opposite direction. It made sense that a tower this size had elevators, though she had no idea why they hadn't just taken it earlier.

He led her back past her own door and down a dimly lit hallway that went towards the interior of the tower. The elevator was at the end, judging by the glowing signage, and there were doors lining the hall on either side. Moonstruck wondered if they were more guest suites, or offices, or store rooms. Likely not store rooms, or servants quarters; the woodwork around the elevator was too ornate. Store rooms would be near a freight elevator, and those were generally utilitarian; a staff-only lift would not be elaborately adorned either.

The doors opened as they approached, revealing a middle aged unicorn mare who stood at attention with military precision.

"Your grace," She sketched a short bow. Moonstruck made the puppet nod curtly.

"The great hall." Said the stallion escorting her. He stood aside to let Moonstruck enter the car first, then stepped on once she was situated awkwardly in the cramped space. At least, she was awkward from her place under the silly dress – the puppet was riding tall and proud on her back.

The elevator attendant used her magic to pull the lever to shut the doors, then she pressed a button on the console with her hoof. Moonstruck pricked her actual ears up a little as she gave the mare a closer inspection. The elevator lurched downwards. Generally one had to cast a specific spell to judge another magic user's power level, but the mare's professional facade seemed to crack slightly as she preformed the spell. Was even that trivial of a spell a strain for her? Or was she simply tired from doing it all day? Despite being older than Moonstruck, the mare did not have a cutie mark peeking out from under her uniform. There was also no way to discern how long she'd been on the job today – well, aside from asking, which she knew better than to do.

Moonstruck frowned as the elevator slowed, gave a concerning shimmy, then continued on its way. She would have to be extra cautious around the tower staff – she was very chummy with the castle staff back home, and it'd be easy to slip up and fall into her usual pattern.

The elevator ground to a stop, and the mare pushed the lever to open the doors. Her escort marched out, stopped a few paces beyond the doors, and bowed. Moonstruck strode out into the hallway, and fell into step behind and to the right of the stallion, whom had started off again at a stately walk. They emerged from a narrow passageway to a more spacious hall that Moonstruck had been through earlier on their way in to the tower. They turned down the same gallery of red windows, and approached the massive double doors, which were presently propped open, and guarded on either side by unicorns in flashy but highly impractical ceremonial armor. Her escort left her at the doorway, bowing deeply yet again, then trotting away as she stepped into the great hall.

Activity did not cease in the immediate area, but it did slow down a little as she made her way in to the room, the crowd parting around her. She ignored them, looking instead at the strange decor. Many couches, lounge chairs and small tables had been moved into the room; all draped in black velvet. More black velvet had been hung from the ceiling to break the massive room into smaller sections, though there did not appear to be any rhyme or reason to the arrangement, aside from the obvious VIP area near the throne. Great censors with pinholes drilled into them to let minute points of light through were hung from the ceiling, and likely held glowing crystals. Flares of what was likely magical fire were lined up outside the windows to cast a sickly, writhing red light across the macabre scene. The entire effect was eerie, to say the least; a stark contrast to the music, which was ancient, but otherwise fairly standard chamber music for shindigs such as this.

The entire chamber was full of unicorns. It seemed the entire tower staff was comprised of unicorns as well – she hadn't seen an earth pony, nor a pegasus pony among their ranks, though admittedly she hadn't seen much of the staff at all, since they'd been here less than a day. From what Sarah had said, pegasus ponies mostly pulled flying carriages, and earth ponies seemed to do most of the grunt work.

There didn't seem to be much of a spread, but waiters wove their way through the crowd carrying trays of horderves and some sort of libations – presumably fine cider, or perhaps wine, or champagne. Moonstruck sampled a few goodies as she leisurely wandered towards the VIP area; popping the small morsels into the puppets mouth area for show, while stealthily teleporting them down to her actual mouth.

The food wasn't bad, but it was nowhere near what she expected. Plain, would be a good word for it. Nothing flashy or glamorous about it, really. She wondered if the food in the VIP area was better. It was possible Lucena saved the good stuff for her inner circle, and let the bulk of the court munch on basic oatcakes, lentil patties, rhubarb tarts, and other pedestrian goodies. She enjoyed those goodies, but found it a little weird that a party of this importance would use those old standards.

Generally the host went all out for these sorts of things – her mother certainly had, and she was never particularly big on parties. Her father, Starshine and herself, generally did the bulk of the party planning along with the heads of the castle staff (who were doing the bulk of the work – though Moonstruck made it a point to personally sample any and all foodstuffs before it got the green light) – at least until Mighty Oak died a few years ago. Then it was split evenly between Starshine and Moonstruck, and the staff, with Acorn helping out here and there.

She decided not to try the beverages as she continued leisurely towards the VIP area, her mind drifting back to the last big dinner they had with the ambassadors from Llamauania. That was the last party Astromida had attended. She'd only really made a brief formal appearance, leaving Starshine and Dandilion Dream – their minister of trade – to do the bulk of the informal political jockeying. Moonstruck generally provided the entertainment, and a goofy, disarming counterpart to her sister's cool professionalism. She'd won a few juicy trade agreements that way. Some ponies did more business at parties than they did during official talks and meetings. The ambassadors from Neighpon were like that; very formal during meetings, and high profile shindigs, but absolute party animals during the after party. She was almost certain the bulk of their trade with Neighpon was because she knew where all of the best karaoke bars, and cider houses in Trot City could be found.

She swept her tunneled gaze around the room, and swiveled her actual ears, trying to gauge what sort of off-the-record negotiations were going down among these party-goers. Roanamia couldn't do anything with any outside nations, but different regions produced different goods, which means there'd be some bartering going on between various regional leaders. At the very least there'd be idle gossip, and political maneuvering on a smaller scale as the various families and organizations jockeyed for better positions within the queens favor.

It seemed to be mostly idle gossip, with a distinct drop off in conversation as she moved past various knots of ponies. They also cast furtive glances at her, but went to some effort to avoid her – or rather – the puppets gaze. This went against pretty much every formal or informal function she had ever attended. Moonstruck was used to being ignored around Trot City, as she spent a good portion of her time goofing around town and was therefore uninteresting to the locals, but this was different. These were high ranking ponies who were generally compelled to at least greet her politely, if not attempt to talk her ear off about some pet project or cause. She wondered for a moment if her illusion wasn't working, and they were simply all too terrified to point it out, but a few glimpses of her herself in various reflective surfaces scattered around the room indicated it was still running smoothly.

Nopony spoke a word to her until she was to the VIP area, and even then the guard attending the velvet rope only gave a formal greeting before allowing her inside. This was shaping up to be the weirdest party she'd ever been to – which was saying something because Patch and her bridwatching friends threw some seriously weird parties. She still couldn't look at certain shorebirds without flinching.

"Duchess Angelina Francesca Banana Fanna Fo'Fesca III, I presume?" Asked a tall, lean, frosty white unicorn mare with a mane and tail streaked with icy blue. Unlike nearly every other pony Moonstruck had encountered in Roanamia, this mare had a cutie mark. It was a bit fuzzy around the edges, but it was still recognizable; a snowflake resting in a circle of silver roses. She wore a snow white dress with gauzy, transparent panels on her flanks to display said cutie mark. She stepped over, easily levitating a goblet of a curious smelling clear liquid.

"Indeed I am." Moonstruck bowed politely and lifted a glass of the same liquid off a tray as a waiter wandered past.

"I am Duchess Eira Frostgard of Maredor." Said the white mare. She dipped her head regally.

"Well met." Moonstruck dipped the puppets head as well. "I am afraid I am unfamiliar with the families of Roanamia, are you cousin to the queen?"

"I am. Rosegard is the main branch of the family, Frostgard is an offshoot. We tend to be ice wielders, and so we rule the territory north of the planes of Roanham." She sniffed her drink, then inclined her head to the other occupants of the VIP area.

"Between you and me; the queen, the prince, you and I are the only true important ponies here. They're regional barons, but posses no alicorn blood in their family lines."

"A shame." Moonstruck sighed, sniffing her drink as she teleported it down to her actual mouth and replaced the goblet the puppet held with an illusion. She inspected the occupants of the VIP area. There were perhaps a dozen ponies here, most older, and bearing distorted cutie marks, going by the stallions, who wore no expansive gowns. They mostly chatted among themselves and cast a few curious glances in her direction, but like the bulk of the party goers, did not seem inclined to come bother her just yet. A maroon mare with a gray mane, wearing dark robes sat off to the side, brooding at a small table by herself. She did not look over, but Moonstruck suspected that she was paying attention all the same. An empty goblet rested in front of her.

"That is Kyrenai. You'll be wise to keep an eye on her." The duchess said cooly, following the puppet's gaze. "She's the leader of the queens private magic corps. You may gain the queens favor, but no one gains hers."

"Noted." Moonstruck murmured, then took a sip of her drink. The drink did not taste the way it smelled. In fact, it's flavor reminded her very much of the way paint thinner smelled. She couldn't fight back a cough.

"Pardon me, what is this?" She croaked as she replaced the actual goblet in the puppets hand.

"Potato spirits." Eira wrinkled her nose at the goblet. "The queen enjoys it immensely. Personally I prefer grape wine, but that has been hard to come by lately, even for us."

"Distilled... potatoes?" Moonstruck wrinkled her nose as well.

"Do they not have those in the outside world?" Eira quirked a brow.

"Potatoes, yes. We don't distill them, though this is very similar to a liquid we use to thin paint."

The duchess chuckled. "Desperate times."

Moonstruck could well imagine. With the drought so bad in the mountains, crops had to be failing left and right down here. Grapes took a lot of water, last she recalled.

"Well met, your highness." The duchess said, sweeping into a low bow.

Moonstruck whipped around and set her eyes on the nightmare visage of the prince in formal robes. She repeated the formal greeting and bowed as well, the puppet tilting forward as she bent her front knees. This contraption was a bit awkward, but certain motions were fairly natural.

"Well met your grace...es." The prince grumbled, bowing as well. "Mother will be down shortly."

"Excellent." Eira took another sip of her drink. "I heard that Lord Vertram was stirring up trouble again. Was she able to smooth everything over?"

"Yes, negotiations went well." The prince said in near monotone. "After she forced the shield down and took out most of his personal forces, he was far more willing to cooperate."

"I would assume so!" The duchess chuckled. "Duchess Angelina was just telling me that they do not distill potatoes in the outside world."

"A shame." The prince said wryly as he nevertheless scooped a goblet off a passing tray and downed half its contents in one gulp. Moonstruck wondered if he could breathe fire – she suspected a fire breathing creature wouldn't be too bothered by that.

"What do you drink out there, then?"

"Cider, ginger beer, grape wines. Kirsch, is rather nice. It's made from cherries." Moonstruck swirled her potato spirits in her glass, and thought fondly of the bottle of kirsch that the delegates from Germaney brought a few years back. It was fine to drink, though she preferred it in cakes.

"Apple cider, I'd assume?" Eira asked.

"And pear."

"How droll." Eira smirked. She finished off her drink and placed the empty goblet on a passing tray. "What do you suppose Kyrenai is brooding over this evening, Maximus?"

"Likely the arrival of Duchess Fo'Fesca." The prince sighed. "It shouldn't be possible."

"So I have been told, many times." Moonstruck rolled the puppets eyes, as well as her own.

"Few understand the shield spell. She's more likely wondering how such a powerful individual could wander into the country unnoticed." Eira noted, taking a proffered horderve. "Keeping an eye on the extreme borders is supposed to be one of her responsibilities."

"No one's been able to maintain the old borders for some time." The prince shook his head. "Between the drought and the distortion, it's a lost cause."

Moonstruck silently grabbed an horderve as well and munched while she listened. This one was considerably better than what was out in the main party – a dried fruit tartlet with some sort of cheese, and honey.

"Really? I hadn't realized it was that bad." Eira frowned. "Though I haven't been to Bridle-Dur in some time. I had assumed you were still gathering pegasus out there."

"Presumably your shield-side borders should be suffering the same fate." The prince pointed out. "And I haven't overseen slave acquisition for several years, so I could not speak to that. You would have to ask Admiral Desmond."

Eira wrinkled her nose. "The shield falls on the glaciers – even without it there it's so desolate no lone pony could make it by herself – even an alicorn." She sniffed. "And if somehow someone did, they wouldn't be attending a party right now. They'd be at a base near the glaciers being interrogated."

Ah, there was the bureaucracy; one simply had to approach Roanamia from the north to find it. Moonstruck resisted the urge to point out that spies could slip in more easily that way, but remained silent. She couldn't go around being ironic until she knew what sort of mental opposition she was facing.

"I can't say I mind the party, all things considered." Moonstruck said instead. "It's been months since I've had a proper bath, a good nights rest, and a decent meal. My servants are loyal, but not good conversation partners."

Eira chuckled, the prince nodded silently.

A hush settled over the partygoers, prompting the three of them to turn around and stare down the length of the great hall to the massive double doors. The pink unicorn from earlier stepped out into the middle of the red carpet.

"I present her Royal Majesty, Queen Lucena of House Rosegard." The mares voice rang loud and clear across the hall. She bowed deeply and stepped aside, head still low.

The hall rippled as the queen stepped into view, the ponies closest to her bowing so low their noses touched the floors, and those beyond them followed suit. Moonstruck sank into a kneel with the rest of the guests in the VIP area as the queen strode forward. She wore another gauzy dress, this one with a long train. Her salt and pepper mane was tied up in an elaborate bun, and she wore a delicate crown of twinning roses made from various gemstones. Moonstruck would be absolutely paranoid about wearing such a delicate headpiece in public. Or at all.

Nopony moved until she was standing before the throne. She turned around, swept her yellow eyes around the room, then lifted her hand. "Let the feast commence!"

Cheers erupted from the gathered dignitaries, then music and conversation sprang up once more as waiters began bringing in long tables and various trays of food. The queen sat on her throne, and nodded to those in the VIP area.

"Ah, Eira, you made it. I was afraid it was too short notice even for you."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world, dear cousin." Eira chuckled, strolling over to the throne. "It is not every day we have such an esteemed guest. What is it you do again, Angelina? Can I call you Angelina?"

"Yes, that's fine. And, I am minister of trade for Bananalund." Moonstruck said smoothly, not surprised that the duchess had been given the lowdown on her already.

"It must truly be strange out there, to have such a low ranking alicorn." Eira mused.

"It seems strange to me that alicorns do not occupy most important positions." Moonstruck countered.

"Touche'." Eira inclined her head towards her.

"The alicorns in charge must be immensely powerful." The prince said cautiously.

"Akin to gods." Moonstruck chanced taking another sip of the vile liquid. It wasn't any better on second tasting. She hoped they had water with dinner.

"As it should be." The queen grinned, leaning back on her throne and pulling a grape out of a bowl that had been set on a small table next to her just moments before she reached into it. She popped it into her mouth. "I was just reminding Maximus earlier that power is our birthright, and we are meant to wield it however we choose. He has difficulty doing so when it comes to dealing with the barons, I'm afraid. I should not have to interfere with such trivial matters."

"I was attempting to preserve as many of his resources as I could." Maximus sighed. "It's no good to the queendom if we carry out his threats for him."

"Bah," Lucena waved a hand dismissively. "Making an example of him will serve us better in the long run. Besides, he was only bluffing. As soon as I incinerated his militia he backed down."

"Well played, cousin." Eira nodded. "Though I daresay the prince has a point. Vertrams holdings are no good to anyone if they're destroyed."

"I suppose." Lucena sighed dramatically. "Though he doesn't produce much out there anymore. Been having bad luck with the slaves. They seem to be loosing the will to work. He's likely pampering them too much. If he acts up again, I may just kill him and be done with it. Though it really should be you enforcing my will, Maximus."

Lucena lazily inspected the spread that was being set up on scattered tables around the VIP area. Then her eyes fell on the brooding mare in the corner.

"Oh, Kyrenai, come over here, no need to cloister yourself away like that!"

The maroon mare flinched, looked over, scowled at the four of them, then got to her hooves, her scowl only darkening as she approached. There was a second empty goblet resting next to the first on the table she'd previously been occupying.

"There now. Duchess Fo'Fesca, this is the Wizard Kyrenai, head of my personal magical forces."

"Well met." Moonstruck nodded.

"Well met." Kyrenai grunted, eyeing her darkly.

The mare stared up at the puppets face, but Moonstruck wondered if she knew this whole silly contraption was a sham. A high ranking wizard should certainly be able to spot an illusion when she saw one. So should an alicorn for that matter.

The longer Moonstruck was getting away with this, the more she wondered. Did they know, and simply didn't say anything? Or were they all completely fooled? And if they were fooled, how in blazes could such powerful sorcerers be fooled by such a simple illusion? Or, series of simple illusions, rather.

"After dinner, Duchess Fo'Fesca will entertain us with card tricks. Won't that be quaint?" The queen chuckled.

"Quaint." Kyrenai repeated softly. "Yes, it will be quite quaint."

"Card tricks, oh my." Eira chuckled. "I haven't seen anyone do card tricks since I was a foal."

Moonstruck made the puppet smile, not sure how to respond. Thankfully she didn't have to, as dinner was brought out, and the conversation shifted again, and the barons who had been carefully avoiding them seemed to sense that it was safe to come over and chat. Moonstruck made idle conversation with a few of them as she munched, and kept an ear on the conversation between Eira, Maxamus and Lucena. Kyrenai retreated back to her table to brood. She took no food with her, but acquired another goblet of potato spirits from somewhere.

As far as power plays were concerned, the only clear player was Eira, though what she was gunning for was unclear at the time. She seemed on very good terms with the queen, but also seemed to be trying to win the prince over in some manner. It wasn't until Lucena got drawn into a conversation with a pair of older baronesses that Moonstruck realized what was going on.

"How have you been lately, dear?" Said Eira, gently nudging the princes hand. They were all lounged around one of the larger tables, so the height difference between the bipedal alicorns, and the un-transformed ponies wasn't so great.

"Nothing to report." The prince said, not returning the gesture, but also not insulted by it, apparently.

"We've missed you up in Maredor. Icereach hasn't had a proper summer since you stopped coming around."

"I've been busy."

"I suppose you have. What with the queen grooming you to replace her." Eira sighed. She sidled a little closer to him and smiled coyly. "Perhaps I should start some trouble so that you'd have to see to me personally."

The prince finally glanced down at her; scooted away a little. "I suspect Mother would feel compelled to step in, since I am inadequate, in her eyes."

"Oh, you know she only wants the best for you." Eira frowned.

"Yes, she always wants the best." Maximus murmured, then excused himself. He stood, then strode off towards a side door in the VIP area that Moonstruck had been informed lead to the lavatories.

Eira sighed heavily and rolled her eyes towards Moonstruck, whom was making a good show of inspecting a stuffed, roasted tomato. These tomatoes were amazingly bland. She had half a mind to get Acorn in here to show these poor ponies how to properly grow their fruits and vegetables.

"Stallions," Eira huffed, "you practically have to spell it out for them! And even then..."

Moonstruck chuckled, keeping her nervous grimace off the puppets face. If she were the prince, she'd be a bit disturbed as well. Eira was probably fairly closely related to the queen. "Cousin" was just a catch all term for ponies whom were related in a complex way. Royalty was notorious for keeping things in the family, but considering how long Roanamia had been isolated, how closely the duchess and the queen resembled one another (coloration aside), inbreeding could potentially be a serious problem. Not to mention it was just plain creepy to be hit on by someone who was probably closer to being an aunt than a distant cousin.

"Angelina, perhaps you should – oh, where did that lout go?" Lucena turned around, scanning the VIP area and the crowd around it.

"Lavatory, I assume." Eira grumbled.

"He has the worst timing." The queen snarled. "Very well then, when the prince returns, you may start your little show."

"I would be honored." Moonstruck nodded the puppets head regally. "Should I do it here, or clear a space out there?"

"Oh, out there. Something as quaint as a card show can be enjoyed by all the guests." Lucena smiled. She gestured to a waiter, whispered something to him, then sent him off.

Moonstruck wondered again if they knew this was all just an illusion. Outing her in the middle of her routine would certainly be a cruel way to go about things.

The tower staff began clearing a space closer to the center of the great hall, pulling curtains back and shooing party goers out of the way. She stood up and straightened her dress, then pulled her deck of cards out of its pouch. If this was all a scheme to publicly humiliate her, she sure as heck was gonna put on an amazing show in the process. She even had a few ideas of how to incorporate being revealed as a fraud into the routine. Hopefully she wouldn't have to use them.

The queen stood as the prince returned. She shot him a reproachful look, then lifted a hand, which had the amazing ability to silence the party-goers.

"Rejoice, my subjects! For tonight our honored guest Duchess Angelina Francesca Banana Fanna Fo'Fesca III will entertain us with her little card tricks!"

Moonstruck steeled herself, and strode out of the VIP area to polite hoof beats, absently shuffling the cards in her puppet hands. Once she was at the center of the cleared space, she spun around slowly to take in the décor once more to make a few tweaks to the routine based on the various obstacles in the room. Once she was facing the queen, she bowed deeply, then straightened up.

Normally she'd give herself a bit of an introduction, but she sensed that this time staying silent would work out for the better, so she simply started into her routine. At first she did a little bit of trick shuffling, sending the cards between the puppet hands at a speed slow enough that everyone watching could follow along. As the ponies leaned in closer to see more clearly, she sped up, and sent the cards flying in more intricate patterns. Then she added a sub-routine to her stealth spell that unmasked the natural glow of her horn, but transferred it up to the puppets horn, and canceled the spell entirely on the cards as she sent them flying out around her.

The cards danced through the air seemingly at random for a few seconds, then she brought them into a neat ring around herself, flicking them back and forth to show the audience a flickering pattern of black and red. Then she sent half the cards arcing over her so quickly it likely looked like she was standing in a fluttering dome of cards, while the ring still spun around her. There was more hoof stomping, a little more enthusiastic this time.

Moonstruck grinned to herself, then swirled her puppet hands, taking each half of the cards, and pairing them together to form the birds. Lifting the puppet hands, she sent the flock fluttering around the room in a twisting mass, flying them low over ponies heads, then high up towards the ceiling, she spun and sent them as far back into the great hall as she could see clearly, directed them around the various velvet curtains, then towards the VIP area, where they swirled in a figure eight pattern for a moment before returning to her and forming up to burst apart like fireworks. She brought the cards all straight down like rain, but then brought them together about six inches off the floor at an abrupt right angle, directing their flow to a few paces in front of her where they began forming an elaborate house. When the house was built, she carefully let it sink to the floor, then relinquished her magical hold on the cards.

The house did not budge, and many a pony held their breath in anticipation. Moonstruck knelt, held a hand to the puppets snout and mimed blowing on the house of cards as she stealthily nudged it over with magic. The house blew over and the cards scattered gently across the floor. She held her pose for a moment, then straightened up, then bowed to the queen.

The hall erupted into excited stomping, and genuine applause from the transformed alicorns. Moonstruck magicked her cards back into her pouch, then bowed again with puppet arms and wings wide. She straightened up, then strolled back to the VIP area.

"Well done!" Lucena beamed, still applauding. "I can't say I was expecting much, but that was truly impressive."

"Thank you, your majesty!" Moonstruck curtsied.

"Can't say I've seen parlor tricks taken to such an extreme before." Kyrenai, whom was now seated sullenly next to the queen, muttered.

"How is your telekenisis lately, Kyrenai dear?" Eira asked, smiling sweetly and batting her eyes at the maroon mare.

Kyrenai glared at her but did not respond.

Lucena chuckled. "Come, come, let us have dessert. The night is young!"

Moonstruck happily took her seat once more, and waited in anticipation for the waiters to bring out dessert. It had been months since she'd had any chocolate, it was starting to wear on her. Especially with all of the magic induced headaches. Chocolate totally helped with that. Especially the spicy kind.

The dessert that was set in front of her was not chocolate. It was some sort of fruit she'd never seen before, drenched in a honey glaze. The fruit was nearly tasteless and the honey was surprisingly bland. She was sorely tempted to ask if there was any chocolate, but resisted. And really, it was possible they simply didn't have any, seeing as how they didn't know what bananas are...

She kept the puppets expression neutral as her eyes grew wide and her lips curled back in a grimace. There was no chocolate. Chocolate was mostly grown in Zebronia and Crillobia, both of which are far south of here. The climate here was not favorable for cacao trees. There. Is. No. Chocolate. In. Roanamia. And she might be stuck here for a while.

Moonstruck twitched, and seriously considered teleporting back up to the others to beat a hasty retreat. She scowled and shook herself as much as she dared. She'd known going in that she'd be without chocolate for a while, this didn't really change things. Except the part where she'd assumed she'd be heading home after gathering some information. The going home part was where the delay was happening. She needed to stay focused. Letting out a small breath, she went back to munching on her bland dessert, and pondered smuggling some up to Joseph and Glenda. Really, they weren't missing much, and she'd already stashed a couple of tartlets from earlier in a saddle bag that she'd attached to the inner frame of the puppet for just such shenanigans.

"Angelina, I'd like you to accompany me on a tour of the city tomorrow." Lucena said abruptly, pulling Moonstruck out of her thoughts. She could just barely see both Kyrenai and Eira flinch out of the edges of her tunneled, secondhand vision.

"I'd be honored!" Moonstruck beamed.

"Splendid. I'll send for you mid-morning. I would love to hear how things have progressed out in the rest of the world, and I'm sure you'd like to see what technological advances we've made here."

"That would be excellent!"

"Good, good." The queen snagged a goblet of potato spirits off a passing tray, swirled it, sniffed it, then took a sip.

"Ah, I do hope I am not too forward for inquiring," Moonstruck said cautiously, "but would it be too much to ask for my draeglach to be allowed to hunt out in the hills on occasion? He can survive on a vegetarian diet, but he's a carnivore at heart."

The queen blinked a few times. "A carnivore? He doesn't eat gems? Well, he's not a dragon, so why would he?" She laughed. "I don't see why not. I assume killing and eating innocent creatures keeps his skills up too, eh?"

"Indeed it does." Moonstruck smirked.

"If only that predatory nature was passed on to my son." Lucena sighed, throwing Maximus a surprisingly tender look. "He's half dragon, but inherited none of his fathers charisma. He has the temperament of a librarian, I am afraid. It's taken me years to cultivate a fearsome image for him."

Moonstruck resisted the urge to quip about having grown up around some mighty fearsome librarians, and tutted sadly instead.

"A shame."

"Speaking of... Maximus, when was the last time you went to visit your father?" Lucena leaned over to address the prince, who was on the opposite end of their cluster of tables.

He flinched rather dramatically. "What's that, Mother?"

"How long has it been since you've gone to visit Magmanus?" Lucena said loudly and slowly, as if speaking to someone hard of hearing.

The prince grimaced. "A... while."

"Perhaps you should pay him a visit tomorrow while I show the duchess around the city. He so enjoys your visits."

Maximus's grimace sank into a scowl. "He's been deeply asleep for years, Mother."

"He can still sense your presence."

"I can come with you, if you like." Eira piped up, beaming up at the prince.

"No no, you're coming with us." Lucena chuckled. "We can have a mares day out."

"A-ah, I suppose I haven't seen the city in a while. Though I do need to get back up to Maredor soon." Eira said, a bit crestfallen.

"A mares day?" Moonstruck saw her opportunity and jumped on it. "I don't suppose either of you play cards?"

"As a matter of fact, I do!" Lucena grinned. "Eira can too, but she's rubbish at poker."

"I am." The white mare laughed nervously.

"Fantastic! It's been so long since I've played!" Moonstruck laughed and clapped her puppet hands together.

"Perhaps we should go sit in the top room at the... what was the name of that tea house..." Lucena looked to her left but no pony was sitting there. She scowled.

There was an awkward pause, then the queen turned back to the rest of the group.

"We'll work it out tomorrow."

---

A/N: ANOTHER long chapter! OH MY.

Back when I was trying to cook up titles for chapters (which I ultimately gave up on), this one was called This Ain't A Scene, It's an Arms Race. Not sure how many bricks would fly at my head for Mask of the Red Death (Poe) allusions paired with a Fall Out Boy title. X)