Wrapping Up Winter Wrap-up (Ponyville, Open)

[Windwright]

Oh, look. Trouble. Licorice surreptitiously slipped behind the new stallion, positioning himself to intervene if needed. But then the newcomer was introduced by the Prince, and Crusader seemed to confirm the introduction, so he retreated a step or two to the side. This put him adjacent to Naj and Red, but only coincidentally, and let him overhear Bevel's question.

Deciding he'd probably appeared to be quite stuffy so far, the guard cleared his throat and addressed her. "Actually miss, there are currently four Princesses major. Princess Twilight Sparkle of Canterlot, who resides here as Princess of Friendship, Princess Celestia, Princess of the Day and the Sun, and onetime sole ruler of Equestria, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Princess of Love and Empress de facto of the Crystal Empire, and Princess Luna, Princess of the Night, Moon, and Dreams." he supplied in what he hoped was a helpful tone.

He wasn't really able to keep everypony in the bar in full view anymore, but aside from the bartender he had most, and that would need to do for now. Besides, he'd been told not to expect too much trouble in Ponyville, all evidence to the contrary.

[Pretzelparty]

...

The silence from bevel hung thick in the air. With each passing second, those observing the grumpy looking pony could see her eyes slowly growing wider and her pupils shrinking as memories flooded her mind. There were quite a few happy ones, though due to what happened afterwards... they failed to make her smile. In fact after a few seconds she grit her teeth and seemed to be trembling with anger. For second her hoof moved from the floor as if her natural reaction was going to be to slap him across the face with it.

"Voronoi... huh?" The mare's eye were narrowed at the coffee scented stallion, "I don't care what you want to be called.I don't care about... your scars. I don't care about your fichu lettre! If I had a lighter on me I'd burn i--" The mare froze a moment as she noticed the neat writing on the letter and then again, this time at the box Java had placed on top of it. The useless box? The mare looked it up and down. The little swirls she drew on it when she was a filly back in prance... they were still there. It still worked after all the time it'd been away from her. That meant that Java had been Taking care of it; this only made her emotional state worse, at first she was happy to see it but then as she thought more about it she could only look back at the stallion with a scowl. 

"So..." The inventor cleared her throat, "You kept it in working order. I'll thank you for that, but..." The pony took another shot of her Vodka soda and stared daggers at Java, "You decided to keep both this, and a letter from my father to yourself and never sent or wrote me about either of them, or anything at all really. Since you NEVER wrote me at all... you'll have to forgive me if I don't seem very grateful."

The mare lifted her hoof and pushed the switch on the box, there was an audible buzzing emitted from it and the switch had lit up. The other end of the box lifted up and the poker promptly pushed it back.

"Thank you, your highness for the re-introduction to both my cousins...even though the second cousin I can't help but feel I could do without."

The guard who managed to bring up an answer to her question got a look from bev, It was a curious one. "Hm." The mare put her hoof to her chin, "I can understand maybe the sun and moon princesses as those a physical things in the universe ... I can't help but feel creating princesses that embody, protect or represent abstract concepts like love and 'friendship' doesn't make much sense. If one is speaking of 'love' in a romantic sense it hardly seems a necessary or useful idea that can help anyone besides propagation of a species, exceptions possibly being love related marks." with another drink from her beverage she looked down a moment, "I know two ponies whose love sure didn't help them when it came down to it."

"Friendship has some more uses though in a practical sense... I don't understand the pomp and circumstance behind it in this land now. It seems so romanticized. " The mare coughed a moment before looking back up at the guard, "When I lived here There was only one princess who I felt mattered and that was Princess Celestia since her school managed to help me learn more about what I could do with my own talents... this place has changed so much."

[Blueblood]

As thick as the Prince could sometimes be, he was not totally insensitive to verbal subtleties.  Thus, Red's little hesitation before the word 'nobility' had it's meaning fully come across to the alabaster unicorn.  Normally, he might have considered just dropping it; this was the first time that particular irony had been snidely alluded to in his presence, and it was hardly done in the most hostile of tones, either.  On the other hoof, he felt deep down that he really couldn't let this sort of thing go on, not if he wanted his reputation to recover from all the damage done by the echoes of past gossip... and past faults.  And really, wasn't that the whole point of his coming here?

"It was an impression my secretary sought to maximize.  Unwisely, I think.  The dramatic reveal is not quite a diplomatic approach, and given that our ultimate aim must be to replace war with diplomacy..."  He sighed.  "Well, what's done is done, in all senses of the phrase.  Let us, at least, personally, be at peace between each other."  There.  Not bad for an ex tempore little speech.  He was pretty sure that he'd told Star Crusader of his.... previous experiences with changelings, and so was willing to let her own little joke pass without comment.  There was some truth in it, as far as mares in general were concerned, and letting the small self-deprecation pass ought to produce an advantage for his side.

Speaking of Star, however.... her family was now developing a conflict that seemed fit to prove even more intractable than Changeling-Pony relations.  Other ponies' family matters were not really something that paid to get stuck in the middle of, but given the Prince's connections to the family, this wasn't an issue he felt able to simply ignore.  It ought to be worth a try to at least pour some oil on the troubled waters...

"You're welcome."  He replied simply to Bevel's gratitude.  "I myself found Java to be a little... difficult at first to get along with.  Dark and bitter roasts are an acquired taste, but as you are Prench you know the effort to be worthwhile.  Though, to be fair, the stuff he brews for himself is plain toxic."  Blueblood snorted.  "He must have a literal stomach of iron.  One he probably built himself."  There, test the waters with a little humor, before guiding the conversation to a safer topic as he sipped from his new glass.

"As far as I understand matters of Princesses and ascension," Which was not very much farther than he could throw either of his aunties, "It is a matter of magic and power.  I... think I heard Twilight once say that social bonds held magical energy, much like chemical bonds held physical energy?  I don't confess to understand how it works, but I've seen the power at work for myself."

[RedCedar]

Red, it seemed, was no less prone to being surreptitiously overheard by the Prince as Naj had been, and he perked up when he realized the Prince was talking to him. Well, indeed, what has been done had been done, and Red continued to feel sorry for the Prince's secretary who would likely once again be feeling the brunt of the Prince's feelings on changelings once again when this was over. He didn't envy his friend that one bit.

Red responded with a raise of his glass, to the notion of peace at least, if not to his being convinced of the Prince's feelings on the matter. His brief encounter with His Highness the last time he and Naj were in Ponyville for exactly the undiplomatic event that the Prince was talking about hadn't exactly left him wanting to get to know him much better.

As it was, there were now two guards hovering nearby himself and Naj, which didn't exactly ease his mind into an evening of conversation, anyway. He sat and took another sip, slowly.

[DerpRavener]

Naj took note of the the guardspony she was speaking with keeping an eye on Red.  She didn't like the idea of Red being the subject of guard attention, and was willing to fight to keep him from getting caught up, but for the moment if the guard wasn't actually doing anything other than keep an eye out Naj knew better than to start the fight.

Instead Naj decided to answer the question that the guardspony hadn't quite asked.  “Well, I'm an immigrant, so I'd never heard of the prince and...umm...” The answer to the other half of the question was that she was a changeling, which she wasn't sure she was willing to talk about once she thought about it.  Here she was in an enclosed space, and while the guardspony seemed friendly and reasonable at the moment, so had Applejack, and telling the farmpony had turned out to be skirting disaster.  Naj settled for a weak compromise, looking away and quietly saying “...and I'll have to tell you the other thing later.”  She'd be up for telling the guard once they got out of the tavern she felt.  At least if they were outside and it turned out the guard couldn't stand changelings, Naj could get out of town relatively easily, as opposed to being outnumbered and enclosed as she was now.

 

Naj kept a wary eye and the other guard, the unicorn who'd tumbled in from the ceiling, as he approached their table, but quickly realized that he didn't seem to be paying the ponies at the table much attention at all.  She turned back to the ponies at her table, just in time to hear the aforementioned prince add his two bits to the discussion.

Rather than reacting with any sort of hostility, the prince offered what seemed to Naj to be honest criticism, suggesting that catching ponies off guard the way she did wasn't the ideal way to reveal oneself as a friendly changeling.  This was the second time today that she'd heard that sort of advice, and contemplating the notion was enough to distract Naj from being stuck in a building surrounded by guards.  If two ponies from such different walks of life agreed, perhaps there was something to it.

 

The prince had joined in another conversation, meaning Naj had to wait for a pause before she could voice her own question and hope to be heard.  “That was a fair point,” she called over to him, “but then how would you go about it?  I didn't really want to surprise ponies, but if I'd given any more warning than I did I'm pretty sure they'd have either run away or grabbed torches and pitchforks.”

[moonshineTheleocat]

Yup… just as Java figured… Bevel positively hated him. It was his fault, and he knew it… but the amount of venom she had toward him was absolutely unfair. It’s not like he had betrayed her trust, or screwed her over in any matter. He just… quite literally dropped off of the face of the world that day and went into a path of insanity. Or at least premature angst.

 

The stallion then looked to his friend, the prince. His expression clearly read as something that said not now.

 

“Well… I can’t blame you for holding me in contempt, it’s a world easier on the heart than to believe that some pony had forgot… or was possibly dealing with enough issues that caused him to become more reclusive than a trapdoor spider.” The stallion had finished off his glasses of water, and then wrapped his hooves around the mug.

“But how about you try –reading- the buckin letter before making assumptions about the kind of stallion that I am now! Because if you remember one single shread of me, there was rarely ever a SECRET kept from you. And try being in my shoes, when you watch uncle… descend into a recess of borderline madness… and knowing the cause of it all, PLUS MORE! Then try being asked to do what I did, to keep something on your conscience that reminds you everyday with just a single thought of a your uncle’s daughter… ‘Hey! I’m lying right in her face!’”

The stallion gripped his pint of cider, and swallowed it as if it was a shot. He thunked the cup down onto the counter and pointed a hoof to the letters. The irritation was immediately drained out of his tone. Instead, it was now calm. “We’re not discussing the details in public. Please read the letters. Either now, on your own time. If you think it’s a forgery, you’re free to carbon date it. The ink has a weak acid, that yellows the paper with time.”

 

-

 

Crusader… wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about revealing these details to her cousin now. Perhaps it was best to do it early? No… no… she distinctly remembered the reason why such a decision was made. Her behavior immediately caused concerned for her own safety. To chase after her father’s work… would likely lead to her own ruin the moment she started a single test. 

 To chase after her father’s work… would likely lead to her own ruin the moment she started a single test. Yes… it was for the best… even if it –did- mean a later family fallout.
 

Instead of looking off to the two, she did her best to keep her gaze and focus on Naj… whom just mentioned that she was an immigrant. That… was definitely curious. It is possible that ponies live in other provinces… but still. This mare also said something about needing to show her something.

Crusader’s brow raised with a hint of curiosity as her eyes settled on the other’s eyes for a moment. The exchange between the Prince and the smaller mare had also been peculiar. Something about the mention of pitch… wait. That definitely explains the perfect coat.

The large mare’s eyes finally lifted up to look to the wall for a brief moment, and then she gave a soft nod of apprehension. It seems like she was able to piece things together. There wasn’t a single change in her expression or posture. No sense of hostility, not a single look of worry. In fact, it seemed like she genuinely thought nothing of it. Maybe she really didn’t care about the racial tensions between Changelings and Ponies. Or… that she was a mare that could probably and very easily crush a griffon’s skull between her thighs.

“Well, just as any other civilian… as long you do not provoke the need to enact my duties, you and I will have no quarrel.” With the amount of professionalism that she keeps… it was her attempt at letting the other know she didn’t mind.
 

[Windwright]

This...was starting to get out of hoof. He wasn't sure the family dynamics or history at work here, and frankly it wasn't his business, but things were escalating, and that was no good. He carefully adjusted his position again so he could quickly get within a leg's reach of the other stallion if he needed to, but his voice was as calm and steady as ever.

 

"I wouldn't know much about the Princess's School, if that's to what you're referring, nor Princess Twilight's theories. Magic theory is a bit out of my depth, so to speak, but I know I'm able to get better results when I'm working with ponies or places that I'm more familiar with, or feel an emotional connection to. In my case it might just be making it easier for me to focus, but I shouldn't wonder that other unicorns might find something similar." he said, looking to Prince Blueblood for confirmation, "Your Highness?"

 

While speaking, Licorice caught Star's attention and hopefully held Bevel's, and nodded toward Java, silently gesturing a 'Want me to take care of this guy?' look in their direction. 

[Pretzelparty]

Bev scoffed, a moment. "Actually I haven't had coffee in ages. I made a coffee machine once when I'd gotten a bit too... Drunk." The mare put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully, "It drained all the magic in the localized area not belonging to magical species that could manipulate it and made an amazing drink afterwards... I had an assistant try it and he said he needed to 'contemplate eternity' as he put it." 

 

"Somehow I don't think that that's -all- there is to this ascension. Destiny is force in Equestrian lives in a much more overt way then other species who seem to rely more on causality and their own choices rather than whatever has ordained them worthy of immense power. I'm sure there are many other individuals in this land who have forged such bonds but they do not gain such position or authority." Bevel looked at her own hoof for a second and snorted. Perhaps it was the values she'd been taught when she'd decided to re-invent herself after a certain somepony didn't write her for whatever reason, stopped writing.

 

"Whatever abstract unnecessary things -at least in relation to me- espouse I'll worry about it when I need to." She took a momentary sip of her drink and just stared flatly at her cousin as he spoke up whatever excuse he had. 

 

The mare paused a moment and took the information in, she woudl admit both her father and mother were strange... she'd heard that. Her mother was actually a reformed master thief turned toymaker. Java's words did show reason and sense; Bevel was conflicted. She could see and understand the points he made about his own things to deal with, maybe fate just had it out for them, she didn't know.  So bevel found herself in the awkward position of having to acknowledge his criticisms as Valid, but being too angry still to really voice her thoughts on the matter without making a scene. Rather than making a foal of herself by having a shouting match over who's life stunk more in a tavern full of ponies who probably wanted their family problems to be the center of attention, She chose another option. 

"Alright. I'll read it, We'll talk more about this later. " The mare's face still betrayed feelings of hurt but she stuffed the letter into her coat pocket and pressed the button on the box again. This time the box spun slowly in place, stuck up a white flag, waved it about and pulled back in. The mare offered her hoof to Java, "Truce, for the sake of the bar's collective sanity?"

 

Hoping to change the subject to something... calmer she shot a look in Licorice's direction, "I don't think you've mentioned your name, Monsieur. What do you go by and what do you do for a living... if you don't mind my query."

[Blueblood]

The conversation was quickly becoming multi-faceted, and a little heated, like sunlight concentrated by a diamond.  Blueblood had heard once that one could vaporize a gem by heating it too much, though he'd yet to see any proof of the phenomenon.  Nevertheless, the Prince was determined to retain his own cool in the situation, and attempt to spread that cool to balm the minds of ponies around him.  It was for such duties that his kind were tolerated at all, for upon such situations could hang the fate of nations...

 

Not that such momentousness was likely to attach to this, but it never hurt to get in a little practice.  First up was Bevel, as her question was undoubtedly political, and her situation the most potentially volatile.  "Yes, many do forge such bonds, but very few ever gather their friends together to go and rescue a Princess from possession, or a land from chaos, or a city from invasion.  I mean, that's the sort of thing that generally elevates one to status, wings or no.  Success in such ventures very often depends on retaining good bonds with one's comrades... as I have come to learn."  He sat back, giving a smile at Star Crusader... and eventually Java.  "As for destiny... well, I can't speak to that.  I don't suppose we do have as much control over our lives as we like to think.  Case in point," He nodded his head towards Java, just now giving his reasons for not delivering the letter promptly.  The transition seemed to work, as Bevel, if not satisfied, was at least calmed.

 

Excellent.  Now, for the other pressing matter.  Wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead, he turned to Naj, not hesitating at all in answering her question.  "Lay local groundwork.  I would have started with a one-on-one meeting with the Mayor; local officials hate being blindsided, but are often quite accommodating to anypo- anyone that actually asks them for permission.  Heck, more than likely you could have gotten her support, by pitching the event as a way to promote the town as a forum for reconciliation.  Given that she's a multiple-term Mayor, she's obviously trusted; therefore, having her vouch for you beforehand will do a lot of good."  He reviewed his advice, found it quite sound, and nodded decisively.  

[RedCedar]

Red watched the face of the large pegasus guardsmare nearby, waiting for it. Ah yes, here it comes. There, there was the dawning of realization on her face as she put it together. Now the question was, what was she going to do with this information...

 

Apparently nothing for now. She even said as much. Red subconsciously breathed a little sigh of relief, loosening the grip he had on his cider that he hadn't even realized he'd tightened.

 

After another sip, he turned to the exchange Naj had been having with the Prince over the last time they had crossed paths. He smiled a bit as Naj seemed to be holding her own quite well, at that. He didn't know which he found funnier in the end - that Naj had asked the Prince what he would have done, as though he had any idea about what it would be like to be a changeling in Equestria, or that the Prince actually provided an answer as though he did.

 

A little louder than strictly necessary, he turned to Naj. "Silly us, then, right, Naj? We should have gone to see the Mayor instead of talking to Princess Twilight Sparkle first."

 

After that, he turned to the Prince directly. "There's no right way to do something that's never been done before. You just have to do what you think is right and hope no one vilifies you for it later."

[DerpRavener]

Naj twitched a bit as she realized what the large, armoured pegasus was talking about when the latter said she's treat Naj like any other civilian.  Even though being open about her species was one of her current goals, she still grew a little anxious every time a new pony learned.  That aside though, this was progress.  The guard caught her out but decided to treat her as any other pony.  Heck, on the off chance a mob did form Naj thought this guard might take her side, given that she wasn't intending to cause any harm.  Once she had a moment to recover, Naj nodded, if a little stiffly.  “I appreciate your understanding.”

 

With that out of the way, her conversation continued.  She was about to reply to the prince when Red chimed in.  Naj glared at him a bit, though it was out of annoyance rather than any real grievance.  She nodded in agreement with the second thing her coltfriend said however.  In fact, almost those exact thoughts were going through her head back then.

 

“Funny you say that,” she said looking back at the prince, “that was kinda the idea.  I actually looked into talking to the mayor a bit, but, uhh...” she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, embarrassed.  “...I couldn't figure out how.”  There were still a few aspects of Equestrian life that she struggled with, and proper procedure, or more specifically where there wasn't any that was strictly adhered to.  "We did manage to speak to Princess Twilight, and while she gave the idea her blessing, but she was called away on official business and wasn't able to actually be there for the reveal.”  She paused for a moment, before remembering the obvious answer.  “And I didn't really want to wait, because I was already worried about losing my nerve...”  She trailed off there, not really sure what to say next, but still hoping the prince might have another idea.