A Simple Misunderstanding...? (For Gerrard, but PM HighRoller for an Invite!)

[HighRoller]

Stalwart was trotting through the quiet park, enjoying the afternoon cool. Business had been good lately; there was always some important pony or other who needed (or simply wanted) protection somewhere. As such, he could afford to take a day off.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard what sounded like the screaming of terrified foals! He galloped in the direction of the noise, coming upon a suspicious-looking unicorn standing in front of a pair of fillies.

[colour=#000080]"You there! Stop that!"[/colour] he shouted in his deep voice, utilizing his most commanding tone. The large, muscular pegasus stamped a hoof on the ground, punctuating his order.

[Gerrard]

A tall unicorn shrouded in a dark cloak stood before two fillies in the park. She had been accosted by two fillies, the mare respectfully stopping as they poked a glance under her cowl. They seemed unusually curious, wondering who this stranger was, the children not accustomed to seeing strangers garbed in any sort of disguise.

"Hi, are you a pony? What's your name? Are you mean or nice?" one of the foals asked in a hyper voice, lightly poking the black hooves of the mysterious stranger as the pair encircled her. The unicorn blinked her crimson eyes as she thought over appropriate responses to each question. She knew that children had to be treated differently from adults, and decided to carefully word her responses.

"Yes, I am a unicorn pony. My name is Asteria and it is not up to me to decide if I am mean or nice. That is a thing determined by the reactions of others to my own actions," she explained calmly to the children, seeming to have infinite patience as they asked her semi insulting questions in a curious manner. When she explained that it was up to them, the foals cocked their heads, an adult never really letting them decide for themselves before. They looked to each other and silently discussed something in secret, grins spreading across their faces.

"You're mean! You're scary!" the pair squealed loudly with delight, as they tried to climb up onto the unicorn's long legs. The pair of children had decided that the mare was something they liked, regardless of what they had actually said. Asteria blinked and glanced down on the children, confused that they liked her scary appearance. The mare was paralyzed in a matter of the word, not wanting to move her long legs because she might injure the tiny foals. When a deep voice called out to her, the ears of the mare stood up, carefully listening to his command as he ordered her to stop.

Asteria remained paused, the unicorn not moving regardless as he spoke to her. She had no intention of running, the stoic expression on her face not showing any trace of guilt as she contemplated lowering her hood to give him a better view of her face.The fillies were startled by his deep voiced shout, jumping off her legs and cowering behind the mare.

[HighRoller]

Stalwart slowly walked towards Asteria and the little fillies. "What precisely are you doing to those two little ones?" he demanded, swishing his pale gray tail back and forth. "You weren't trying to harm them, were you?" he asked, looking towards the little ponies.

'Poor little foals...they seem absolutely terrified!' he thought to himself. He spread his wings and shuffled them a bit, then folded them on his back again, silently staring down the unicorn and awaiting a response. Poor Stalwart honestly thought he was jumping to the aid of these poor, defenseless children. He didn't realize how wrong he was. The pegasus eyed Asteria incredulously. "Show me your face...now," came another barked order. "If you fail to comply, I'll be forced to bring you in. I'll have you know I'm a certified Equestrian peace officer."

Ah, jumping to conclusions. What fun.

[Gerrard]

Asteria blinked as he corralled the very foals he had just frightened. A dark red magical aura shrouded her cloak as he ordered her to show face to him, the mare carefully lowering her cowl to reveal her face. A clear look of her face revealed a black mare with a short cut scarlet mane, her intense crimson eyes peering across to the angry looking pegasus. "May I help you sir?" she calmly replied, not sounding at all like she had been caught doing something illegal. Asteria seemed to have an amazing poker face, or was actually not doing anything wrong, her presence making it a bit unclear as she stood before him.

"Miss Asteria, I don't wanna go with the scary stallion," one of the foals whined as they tried to squirm away from the strange police pony. Something about the whole situation seemed strange as the unicorn made no immediate attempt to defend herself from his accusations. It was hard to put a hoof on what exactly was wrong, but one thing was clear, Asteria was a very strange pony.

[HighRoller]

Stalwart looked at the little foal. [colour=#000080]"Y-you mean you're not...being threatened?"[/colour] he asked, looking at the little pony, suddenly feeling very foolish. [colour=#000080]"I...well, um...this is rather awkward,"[/colour] he said, scuffing the dirt path with his hoof. He turned deep red in the face, giving his cheeks a shade resembling a very deep purple.

He then looked up towards the mare, apparently named Asteria. He attempted to put on his air of confident authority again, with a little success. [colour=#000080]"Well, um...your face doesn't seem that of a pony caught in the midst of some evil act, so I guess I simply...messed up..."[/colour] he said, dropping his formal speech pattern at the end and heaving a deep sigh. [colour=#000080]"Please forgive me."[/colour]

The stallion shook his head gently, snorting a little at himself. [colour=#000080]'Stalwart, you fool...you should know better than to make stupid, stupid accusations like that.'[/colour] The stallion simply stared down at his hooves, the small area of the park the group occupied silent save for the cool winds rustling the colorful leaves decorating the ground, and those few of them still left on their branches.

[Gerrard]

"Meanie," one of the foals snorted as they hopped away from him and back to the spooky mountain they were trying to climb. Asteria did not laugh at the silly spectacle, her focused eyes simply tracing the movement of the children as they gravitated back to her. "I had no intention of threatening the children. That is of course my story and you are in no ways compelled to believe me," the mare explained in a strangely objective manner as she defended his honest mistake in an eerily understanding manner.

"I have been told that my face is as static as a statue, that would likely not be an efficient way to determine my guilt. Regardless, I have already forgiven you, it is only natural for a peace officer to investigate screams related to a questionable looking character. Protocol likely dictates that it would be unprofessional not to investigate a scream, regardless of the intent of it," she explained in an infinitely objective manner, the mare almost making herself out to be a criminal. This mare seemed extremely used to being investigated for some reason, but at least she didn't seem too torn up about it.

The children tried to follow her carefully chosen words but were soon lost in their meaning as she spoke in words that they probably didn't fully understand. One of the foals tugged on Asteria's scarlet tail and made a scrunched up face as they looked to her. "Miss Asty, you're weird and funny," the child complained in a non serious manner. The black mare blinked for a moment and thought over the comment. "I am sorry for speaking in such adult terms. Perhaps you should go find your parents. There is a high probability that they are worried and looking for for you," she explained with a voice that always seemed to border on monotone, the unicorn never seeming emotional at all as she simply made and replied to statements addressed to her.

[HighRoller]

Stalwart shamefacedly studied the stoic unicorn. She was an odd pony...very odd indeed. "I-I'm sorry children," he muttered quietly. He decided not to reinforce her advice to them, as it would probably make him seem even more of a "meanie", and they'd probably be disinclined to listen to him anyway.

"I was just trying to protect them," he said to himself softly, hanging his head. He watched the children and the enigmatic mare from the corner of his eye.

[sorry, couldn't think of much else to type. I'll probably have more to work with next post. ^^;]

[Gerrard]

A light breeze blew through the park, lightly scattering the mane of the attentive unicorn as she stood before the guard. The unicorn lowered her head to get a better view of his face as he hung his head in shame. "May I ask why you seem distraught? While they were not in danger this particular time, there is no way to know with certainty that the children were safe without investigating. Your actions have caused no harm to anyone, there is no reason to move on with regret, especially if nothing regrettable happened. In addition to that, pitying yourself serves no constructive purpose. If a bird decided to not fly after failing in a flight, it would be likely that no birds would streak across our sky," the black mare explained calmly, her words seeming aimed at inspiring the guard.

"I am Asteria Stillheart, honored to meet you sir. May I ask your name?" she politely remarked, the unicorn doing a subservient bow before the sad faced guard. The dark pelted pony patiently waited for a response before returning to a normal posture, the tall mare easily able to look him in the eyes if he decided to stop slouching. "May I ask for the specifics on your occupation? Your disposition seems different from the royal guards," she added calmly, the mare seemingly unable to take any offense from anything as she repeatedly tried to defend his own actions against her. Perhaps there was some trick to understanding this enigmatic mare, something unique about her perspective that would let him read the thoughts behind her stoic face.

[HighRoller]

Stalwart looked up and swished his tail as the children wandered off. [colour=#000080]"I am Stalwart. Nice to meet you, Asteria. And to answer your question...I do private security as my main job, but I'm also a certified peace officer. Not quite a royal guard, or a policeman, but my authority is nearly that of the latter."[/colour]

The large stallion cocked his head. [colour=#000080]"You yourself do not appear to be from these parts. Are you here on some sort of business, perhaps?" [/colour]His tail continued swishing back and forth. [colour=#000080]"And will you permit me to ask why you wear such a heavy robe everywhere you go? It seems as if it would be a bit uncomfortable...and it makes you look a little, uh, dare I say suspicious?" [/colour]

[Gerrard]

Her soft black ears perked up as he spoke up about his occupation. "Normally, security guards only have the same authority as private citizens, the exception being that they have full reign and permission to be in the area they are hired to protect. Being a certified peace officer as well is quite rare, your clients must appreciate having such a person on their pay roll. Not being a royal guard allows more freedom and personal direction in your life as well. You appear to have a unique collection of credentials and availability," she replied mechanically, the unicorn dissecting his comment thoroughly. Asteria seemed well versed in the limitations abilities of security personnel, perhaps she was very familiar with such people for reasons unknown.

"I am a native of Canterlot, although my talents are not uniquely suited for living in that town on a permanent basis. I was returning from business when I was accosted for play with the young ponies," she explained vaguely for him, the odd mare never seeming to give him exactly the information he needed. Her polite mannerism and vaguely fancy tone seemed to hint that Asteria was indeed from Canterlot, although she didn't exactly look like a normal member of the city by any means.

When he referenced her cloak, the unicorn paused and glanced over it again, her keen eyes verifying it's integrity. She paused again, the unicorn seeming to piece together a suitable response to his question. "There are many reasons I wear a cloak. While it is indeed heavy, growing used to it's weight will allow me to function at a higher level. I wear a multipurpose cloak to be ready for poor weather events that I have not forseen, and while it may make me look suspicious, the alternative may be much worse. Criminals are less likely to mess with dangerous looking characters, and while it may make me a target of policemen, I have nothing to hide and do not fear being arrested," she explained calmly to him. Her expression was just as serious as when he first spoke, and while she did answer his questions, it seemed as if she avoided describing what exactly she did.