10 VIII

The clock on her wall struck ten PM, startling Valerie. She stood in front of her mirror, studying her appearance. The voluminous white gown she had chosen looked much better on her than she had anticipated. Along with her curled hair and natural makeup, Valerie thought she looked almost beautiful. Of course, beauty could be cruel, and so was the Celestial sword hanging at her waist underneath the skirts of her dress, in case any trouble occurred. "Showtime," she whispered, turning around and opening the door to leave her room.

She immediately spotted Penelope and Terrance, walking toward her. "Val!" Penelope exclaimed, looking her over. "You look amazing," she smiled.

But Valerie wasn't the only one. Penelope wore a giant off-the-shoulder grey dress with intricate designs woven into the fabric. Her honey-blonde hair was pinned up into an elegant bun, with a few stray hairs curled and framing her face. The makeup they used was very light, just enough to look formal.

Terrance smiled lopsidedly from where he stood at Penelope's side. "I agree. Should we get going?" The trio made their way down the hallway and navigated through the many corridors and foyers until they reached two large golden doors that led to the ballroom. They were met with three other familiar faces and were delighted to see Leo, Camilla, and Charles.

"Pip!" Camilla squealed upon seeing her friend's outfit. "You look beautiful!"

Penelope smiled, looking down at her dress. "Thanks! You look incredible yourself!"

Camilla blushed, looking down at her hands. She never knew how to react to compliments. "Aw, thank you!"

Leo clutched a hand to his chest, mouth agape. "Oh, so no one plans on telling me how dashing I look?" he gasped.

Camilla laughed, patting her brother's head as if he were a puppy. "You look adorable," she cooed.

Leo pouted, waving her hand away, and turned to Valerie. "Val, that dress looks great on you," he quirked a smile and turned his gaze to his sister. "Which is more than I can say for you."

Camilla gasped. "How dare you! Don't make me slice that fancy gold tux into pieces," she warned, gesturing to one of the two daggers she kept at her side at all times. This time, however, they were hidden under layers of light yellow fabric.

Charles cleared his throat and the pair stopped bickering. "Shall we go?" he asked, looking over at Valerie for confirmation. She nodded and Charles pushed open the doors.

The ballroom was absolutely enormous and filled with hundreds of thousands of people, most dressed in elaborate gowns or tailored suits. Valerie gestured for the group to enter after scanning the space for any potential threats. Well, besides every single demon in the ballroom, of course. Terrance immediately made his way to one of the buffet tables, earning a few eye-rolls and amused smirks from his peers.

Charles turned to Valerie as the song ended and a new one began. "May I have this dance?" he asked, extending his hand. Valerie hesitated for a split second before nodded wordlessly, taking Charles's outstretched arm as the pair walked out to the dance floor.

Leo turned to his sister, but Penelope beat him. "May I have this dance, m'lady?" she asked Camilla, grinning.

Camilla giggled, taking her best friend's hand. "You may!" she laughed as they left Leo standing near the doors by himself. Chuckling and shaking his head, Leo decided to join Terrance at the buffet table.

"I don't like the looks of these demons," he murmured to Terrance, watching their guests dance in their ballroom and eat their food.

Terrance nodded. "Yeah, but what else is new?" They frowned for a moment before stuffing a cookie into his mouth. "Plus, we have orders not to engage. What are we gonna do?"

Leo shrugged, and throughout the entire first dance, the pair stayed at the table, surveying the rest of the ballroom. Despite that they were here as guests, both Leo and Terrance felt an obligation to overlook things.

"This is so much fun! I can't believe we actually get to dance this year," Penelope smiled, one hand around Camilla's waist while their others were interlocked.

"Yeah, this is a lot more fun. Actually-" Camilla cut herself off suddenly.

"What? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I just realized that I've never actually danced with you before! Formally, I mean," Camilla chuckled, cheeks rosy.

Penelope frowned for a moment. "You're right! Well, there's a first time for everything, I guess," she shrugged with a wide smile and Camilla couldn't help but smile too. Soon enough, the song ended and the pair began making their way back to Leo and Terrance, who were likely still near the food tables. Leo turned around to find the pair arm-in-arm, walking toward them. "Hi!" Camilla chirped.

"Hey," Leo replied, grinning. "Did you two have a good time?"

Penelope's smile was bright. "Yes! I didn't think Cami was such a good dancer."

Camilla frowned, mouth falling open. "Gee, thanks."

It took Penelope a minute to realize what she'd said. "Oh, that's not what I meant!" she fretted, but Camilla only patted her head with a grin.

"I'm just kidding, don't worry!" she chuckled, while Leo and Terrance watched with easy smiles.

Valerie soon came over, holding a glass of sparkling wine. "How's everyone doing?" she asked, smiling.

"We're all doing well," Camilla smiled. "At least I hope?" she turned to glance at Leo and Terrance.

"Oh, we're doing just fine," Terrance reassured her.

Penelope was about to say something, but the song ended and she paused, turning toward the group. "I'm going to go dance," she announced, turning around and weaving through the throngs of people to find a dance partner.

"Excuse me," a deep voice spoke from behind Penelope and she turned around to see a tall boy with raven-black hair and cool blue eyes. They also didn't fail to notice the pair of black horns jutting from his head. "Would you like to dance?" he asked.

Penelope did not think as lowly of demons as other angels in Celestia. She believed in second chances and keeping an open mind. "Sure!" she replied, and the boy led her onto the dance floor.

"What's your name?" he asked as the song began to play.

"Penelope," they smiled. "And you?"

The corners of his lips quirked upward. "Shawn," was the easy reply.

Penelope was surprised at how good of a dancer Shawn was; she had always assumed that demons didn't know how, or, perhaps more accurately, didn't care. Too soon, the song ended and Shawn led her back to the outskirts of the ballroom, out of the way of the dancing couples. "That was wonderful," Penelope blushed, smiling. "You're a very good dancer."

Shawn inclined his head in gratitude. "Likewise."

Another demon with pale blue hair and uptilted blue-grey eyes came running up to Shawn, looking flustered and out of breath. "Shawn!" she gasped, "there you are. No one knew where you were, so they sent me out to find you." He frowned, however, when they saw Penelope. "What are you doing with her?" the demon asked, noting Penelope's halo and wings.

Penelope sucked in a breath. This would be fun.