canterlot park [After-Gala]Gates of the Garden

[Zeig]

 

Ah...ah. 

 

Neighponese, that was most certainly it, and Revenant felt a bit irritated at himself for not figuring it out sooner. The Unicorn's accent had been slight enough for him to not immediately place it, left more as an afterthought that wasn't made apparent until her recent admission. Compiled with her apparent home's fear of Caribou, it was obvious that Medo had to be Neighponese in origin - either born and raised, or perhaps simply migrated. 

 

Which, really, might explain why they were now on a seeming collision course for the Empress, though Revenant kept his expression rather mild as the two of them strolled. Was Medo simply an awe-struck 'local' who wished to have a closer look at a ruler she would most likely never get a second chance to see up close and personal in her lifetime? Perhaps even a dissenter of her country's...enemies? Though they weren't really enemies anymore, and a real bloody shame, that. Still, Revenant wouldn't put it past some Neighponese to hold grudges long since passed in modern times, old familial slights and traditions that were cast down when the Long Guo government came to power.

 

Not that he thought this Neighponese, in particular, harbored any such doubts. She was clearly the meek and mild type, easily talked into a differing opinion with only a few words, based on her explanation of her conversation with the Caribou. He sincerely doubted the bloody sheep would even know how to hold a grudge. 

 

"Apologies, my dear," Revenant chuckled, holding his champagne glass with one hoof as they strode ever closer to the Empress and her escort, "I hadn't realized. You speak Equestrian very fluently." Another Unicorn was trotting up to the pair, this one with a fiery orange palette and sporting a blindingly obtrusive tattoo along her face, and Revenant subtly eyed the trio as he continued keeping pace with Medo. "The 'grape vine' is simply an expression used to convey the flow of information through unreliable sources," the darkly colored stallion extrapolated, "most notably word of mouth, with little to no factual evidence to correspond with. Gossip," he added, just in case his flowery language was lost on the foreigner. 

 

"An example," Revenant continued, glancing over to the trio of ponies they were getting ever closer towards, "if one were to listen in on the grape vine in the Crystal Empire, one would conclude the Caribou as mindless and heedless brutes, content with utter savagery." Blood red eyes narrowed in some incredibility as he observed the Empress seemingly abandon all pretense of formality with the orange Unicorn, as if she wished to hide her identity from the interloper.

 

Or simply couldn't be bothered.

 

"...But as we've both clearly seen this evening," the stallion concluded, drawing short as he turned to face Medo again, "the grape vine is utterly unreliable, and prone to excessive exaggeration." The last was said with a genial smile on his face, as if the two of them were sharing in some private joke - though, Revenant broke the moment in favor of pointedly glancing from the corner of his eyes towards the trio, before looking back at the Unicorn with a raised eyebrow.

 

He was content to let her lead in whatever intentions she'd had, bringing them over here. 

 

 

[Dubstep]

Tarisio smiled as it seemed that Edelweiss' senses were returning to him. Having a sure point of reference for where one was often did wonders. It made for good escapes, it made for knowing where your next stop was, and in this case it seemed to be good for fixing whatever fritz was going on with the young hippogriff.

Though as adorable as the child was proving to be, it proved even more so when he noticed the family crest resting on the captain's vest. When first choosing this vest for the gala, he wasn't certain that it would be the best of choices. There weren't any Goldplumes scheduled to attend that Gala that he knew of, but surprises seemed to fill every Grand Galloping Gala to the brim. But it was fortuitous in this case! "Sì, il mio piccolo fiore. Tarisio Mercutio Goldplume, at your service. And I do believe, Edelweiss, you've been looking for me?" he replied, gently patting the hippogrifflet's head.

[IceStorm]

~~~Medo~~~

 

Medo couldn't help but blush a small bit more when she heard the stallion next to her, Golden Vortex was it? She believed that's what he said his name was anyway. She was always bad at remembering names at home, let alone names that were in the foreign tongue. Of course she couldn't really even call it that anymore. That was one of the things that she made sure of was that she earned enough bits so that she could go to a language school before she came to Equestria so that she could speak the language here as fluently as she could. Apparently it had been well worth it as the stallion said that he couldn't hardly detect her accent at all. That was a good thing. That meant others wouldn't have a hard time understanding her as well. That was something that she was somewhat worried about when she came over here, but for the most part that never really seemed to be an issue. She understood the instructors enough in her classes that she passed her first semester with flying colors and was part of the reason why she was attending the gala to begin with.

 

When she heard him start explaining what the proverbial grape vine was, she nodded and listened. Apparently it was the spoken word of what could be described as either truths or false truths, uwasa ya goshippu, as they were called back home. Much of it always had a biased stain in it that was directed towards furthering one's own advancement, or at least the one that spoke of the goshippu was anyway. He then proceeded to accentuate how unreliable the proverbial grape vine was by what she had heard tonight. She nodded once again before speaking up once more as she noticed that the gap between her and the Empress was getting smaller.

 

"I appreciate the compliment on my speech. I went to one of the best language schools in Neighpon before I came over here once I found out that I had a scholarship for Canterlot University. I don't know how I obtained it, but it was one of the most expensive scholarships that Neighpon offered and was more than enough to cover my learning as long as I could cover my travel expenses, whcih I even had a few vouchers for the first few trips. But I simply refused to seek refuge in a new nation and learn their traditions and their ways without at least knowing the language that they spoke first. That would be highly arrogant of anypony to believe that everypony else had to learn their language so that they could fit in somepony else's nation," she replied to him.

 

Their stroll continued and they were getting every so close to the Empress now, but Medo kept her attention for the moment on the stallion next to her. "Back on the topic of grape vines though, or gossip and rumors as you will, at least home, most of them always carried some form of embellishment to make those who the gossip is about seem worse than the ones that are doing the gossiping, whin in turn, it's really the ones that are running around and talking about and spreading the gossip around that usually have something to hide. So they cover of whatever they are trying to hide by inciting drama or creating something completely false to make them seem not as worse off as others might think them to be. It really is a shame, but I suppose somethings don't disappear between nations," she finished as they were now standing with the Empress, as well as a Silver coated unicorn, and an orange unicorn who's dress seemed to flow straight out of her coat! Medo had never seen anything like if before ever in Neighpon! it was so pretty! She just had to say something to the mare.

 

"Oh wow! I've never seen a dress like that before in my life! It's amazing!" she said aloud not catching any of the previous conversation that the mare might have been having with the Empress and the silver unicorn. She hoped that that she wasn't interrupting anything with her small burst, but if she didn't say something right there, she knew that she would forget to do it later. She then gave a nod once again to the empress, although seeing that she had dropped her formal attire, she chose the less formal way to greet her while still maintaining a sense of formality. "Kon'nichiwa futatabi Heika," she spoke in her native tongue.

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

Yue's remark got a subdued laugh from the grey coated stallion. Perhaps his use of magic may have been a bit... showy in hindsight but he'd rather not dirty his bow-tie by touching it with hooves that had been walking on the garden's paths. "I suppose it might have been a bit much, but this was a gift and It'd be an insult to the one who gave it to me if I'd sullied it so soon after first wearing it." The stallion only had gotten a few steps before the appearance of a familiar face came forward. It was Sunrise skies! An influential fashion designer that he had shared a dance with this very night due to them both having come without dates.

 

As if by reflex, Yu's hoof had already slipped free of his own. Already, Silver was starting to miss it's presence but other ponies needed to be addressed. He couldn't help but notice that tone in her voice. She sounded ... irritated in a way. "It's nice to see you again, Miss Sunrise!" The stallion said in a pleasant tone before giving a bow in greeting, "This is-"

 

"My name is Jade Moon, I'm honored to meet you, Lady Skies....."

 

Silver paused a moment, glancing in Yu's direction but quickly back to Sunrise, "Um. Yes. This is Jade moon. She's visiting from the lands to the east." He said, feeling rather... unusual about suddenly telling half truths to a friend he'd made this night. There was this strange tension in this air that silver felt was hanging around the three of them like a fog as "Jade" approached Sunrise. Silver cannot say he'd really been exposed to this atmosphere before... it was, unsettling. For now all he felt he could do but wait and hope that Sunrise accepted this hoofshake.

 

 

 

[PyroBlaze]

Sunrise looked at the female as she came forward and introduced herself as Jade Moon, a foreigner according to Silver. Well, she had expected as much. She had yet to meet a qilin from Equestria, but she supposed it was not out of the question. After a moment or so of silence, Sunrise took the offered hoof and shook it.

 

"The honor is mine, darling." She said in response. Well, at least she was still being polite, even if it was somewhat veiled. "You two seem awfully close, do you have history?"

 

What was wrong with her tonight? It was like she was a completely different mare! What was it about Silver that had driven her to these kind of feelings? The newcomers to the conversation gained nothing more than a small glance from the mare, but she did smile at the mare that complimented her dress and then gave an appreciative nod. After that, her attention turned fully back to Silver and Jade, one eyebrow raised expectantly and one hoof tapping slowly as she awaited the explanation from either one of them.

[Bellosh]

 

As if Sunrise's etiquette wasn't odd enough, apparently she needed to think on it before shaking Yuè's hoof. And then the first thing the unicorn asked about the qilin and her escort. A very strange question indeed; wasn't Silver simply doing his gentlecoltly duties as dictated by Equestrian customs? As far as Yuè was concerned, one did not need to be awfully close to another to serve them in a gallant manner.

 

"We've only met one another less than a hour ago," the qilin mare answered truthfully; "Sir Silver happens to be the brother of my new- an artistically skilled friend of mine." Yuè stopped herself before inadvertently revealing that she had taken Presteza under her patronage. No need to give Miss Skies any clues that the lowly qilin she was talking to was anything but.

 

Before either Yuè or Sunrise could talk further, their attention was redirected towards another pony. It was the Neighponese unicorn (who also found a stallion companion of her own) praising Sunrise's dress, which indeed was quite a work of art. While this development threw a wrench in Yuè's plan to remain anonymous, the Neighponese mare thankfully took care to address the Empress using her mother tongue. By all indications, Lady Skies did not appear to understand Neighponese, so the deception of "Jade Moon" remained intact.

[It is a pleasure to see you again,] Yuè nodded her head, using Neighponese to serenely speak with the unicorn from overseas; [By my request, you are no longer required to address me as a superior or refer to me using royal titles.] Trusting that the Neighponese mare could read between the lines, Yuè smiled as she switched back over to Equestrian; "Now then... I do not believe I had the opportunity before to learn your name.....?"

[Windwright]

If the hippogriff had seemed excited before, it was nothing compared to now. His wings beat in such an energetic staccato that he was generating a small breeze by himself. He started babbling in Germane while he hovered and zipped from spot to spot like a hummingbird some cruel soul had given a cup of espresso. "Vater! Ich habe überall nach dir gesucht! Sie können mich auf dem Luftschiff nehmen und wir können auf Abenteuer gehen und Schatz zu finden!" Surely he had to take a breath sometime soon? Right? "Ich fand schon einige Edelsteine und begruben sie außerhalb von Ponyville, und ich kann sie jetzt und zeigen Sie gehen zu finden, aber ich war nicht in der Lage eine Truhe zu finden, sie musste ich setzen in so ein Gebäck-Box zu verwenden, so könnten sie sein klebrig. Ich weiß auch nicht, was ein dubloon ist, aber ich habe einige baloons in der Box zu setzen!" Any minute now. "Ich kann nicht glauben, dass ich dich gefunden!"

[Zeig]

 

Interesting.

 

Revenant kept a blasé ear trained on the Unicorn's discussion involving grape vines, but couldn't help the spark of surprise that skittered up his spine as Medo abruptly began speaking to the fiery-coated mare, situated among the Empress and her escort. He'd anticipated, perhaps, a closer look at the Empress, or an admiration from afar, but Medo's sudden insertion of herself into the - what seemed like a serious, considering the orange's mare brief acknowledgment - conversation, over a matter as trivial as the complimenting of a dress, seemed strange.

 

So to speak.

 

As did the escort's complete lack of notice of the two of them, at odds with what should have been an alert and bloody observant lookout. Goodness knew he always remained aware of what, and who, approached Number One, whenever he was within even the general vicinity of WRAITH's leader. But this colt...seemed utterly oblivious - unless he was simply that good at masking his feelings, and considering the escort's honest and open face with the Empress just moments earlier, he was either a very good liar or an utter dolt, both of which caused Revenant to carefully reevaluate the setting. 

 

Mmm...probably not a guard. Or at least not one of the Empress' aces. Perhaps even an acquaintance only just met at the Gala...though, the thought of an Empress being daft enough to wander around foreign territory without at least one hoof-selected guard was a cringe-inducing sentiment worthy of the Sun Queen herself. 

 

Allies, indeed.

 

The surprises weren't fully finished, either, and Revenant kept his face passive even as he listened in on the sudden Neighponese that was being spoken. Bad form, to use a language that not all present company could understand. At least not fully. He was fluent in Prench, Germane, and Itailian, but the eastern languages had been so long removed from Equestria that they had only entered his privileged studies in passing - enough to use and understand them, but still short of true fluency. They were exchanging pleasantries - that much was obvious, even without any mastery of the language - and the Empress was informing Medo that she did not need to do something. Something to do with herself as an authority, if he wasn't mistaken. 

 

...Bloody Tautarus. First thing after the Gala, he was kidnapping some foreign language instructors and taking them back to base.

 

He would have to make do for now, however, and Revenant kept up his facade of neutrality as Medo and the Empress conversed, the pleasant smile of one who had no idea what was being said and only knew how to smile on his face. "Do forgive our intrusion," Revenant said after Medo had (re- ?) introduced herself to the Empress, "but I'm afraid you three might just be the most interesting ponies out this evening. Golden Vortex," he continued, and offered a hoof to drop kisses onto the hooves of the fiery Unicorn and the Empress, in that order and if they allowed them, and finally proffered a hoofshake for the silver-maned escort. "at your service. Luckily for me, I seemed to have missed the more...exciting portions of the Gala, this evening." He flashed a smile at the assembled three, again in the same order, lingering on all three for the same amount of time.

 

 

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

The feeling that he should keep his mouth shut on this matter was only growing more persistent. Thankfully, once Yu- er jade spoke up he was strangely relieved to here that explanation. Something about Sunrise's body language made him feel a vague unease over his mind until finished taking in 'Jade's' words. As he waited to hear Sunrise's response Silver took note of two other approaching parties: One was a strapping and strong looking pony, and a meeker looking unicorn who (from her words) sounded like she was from the island adjacent to "ong Guo called 'Neighpon". 

 

Silver's feeling of anxiousness began to lessen as the two drew closer. 'Jade' was soon drawn into conversation by the Neighponese unicorn... leaving Silver to introduce himself to the strapping stranger of a stallion who had just introduced himself as Golden Vortex. A bit strange given his coat color but that was easily overlooked. 

 

That strange feeling he felt earlier when Halvard had come by seemed to flair up once again when he watched Yu's acceptance of that gesture of his. Something about seeing that stallion's lips meeting her fetlocks made the lieutenant's brow furrow slightly but soon enough it smoothed back out: having managed to calm the feeling in his gut. Thankfully he reined himself in just in time to meet that hoofshake he was offered.

 

The hoof being held in Silver's direction was soon met by the guard's own, "Nice to meet you. I'm Silverheart." The marish stallion's voice said in a pleasant tone, with a slight rasp to his town. A chuckle escaped him momentarily, "Fancy that: Gold and Silver." 

 

"Oh you're not intruding at all, my... um, friend, here was just looking to unwind a bit. " Silver glanced back at the two mare's talking in Neighponese. Once 'Jade' finished her conversation he'd ask if she wished to continue on the walk or not, until then he had someone he could converse with here now... although he'd likely have to save up that story from Nightmare night for later now. "As for the... excitement... it wasn't as bad as some of the guests are hyperbolizing." Minty green eyes looked up and down the curious stallion's form a few times as if analyzing him. "You know... You look somewhat familiar. Have you ever been in the Guard?"

 

 

[PyroBlaze]

Sunrise didn't look convinced that the response was completely truthful, watching Jade closely for a few moments before her attention was taken by the new stallion. She allowed him to take her hoof and kiss it, offering him a smile in response. This stallion was certainly handsome, perhaps she should give Silver a taste of his own medicine! She opened her mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, she gave a sigh, shaking her head slightly before looking at the group apologetically. 

 

"I apologize, but I would like to speak to Sir Silver alone, if you please." She said, settling her gaze on Silver as she finished speaking. 

[IceStorm]

~~~Medo~~~

 

Medo had to admit that she really wasn't completely expecting the reply that she had gotten from the Empress. Although now that she took a second to look and see that she had removed the garb that she had been wearing inside the gardens and she looked much more like just another pony. Which  only confirmed what she was already thinking in the back of her mind. That The Empress was in heart a pony, and sometimes she needed to let it out. Although this did propose a small problem for Medo... She had absolutely no idea on how she should now address the empress. Sure she knew her name, but would that give her cover away? If the empress was trying to be low profile, she didn't want to create a scene by exposing her and drawing attention back over to her when she was possibly just wanting to get away for the rest of the evening.

 

She looked up again as she heard Golden Vortex speak up again, although he seemed to be more interested in the others, but still extended to them the same courtesy that he had her, as well as a hoofshake to the stallion that was standing next to the Empress before starting to focus a bit more on the mare that had the very pretty dress. She turned back to the Empress that had now shifted from Neighponese to Equestrian and started speaking once more, stating that she had not had the opportunity to learn her name before. Medo nodded, remembering their encounter a few hours ago. Of course, that wasn't much of an encounter so much as it was just a greeting. There were so many ponies around trying to get her attention, and Medo didn't want to seem like one of those ponies earlier that wanted to press and invade the Empress's privacy. It wasn't in her try to be the center of attention. That was unless there was a medical emergency present, of which she made herself the center of attention. IF herbs and treatments were not administered in a very specific way, it could cause more problems than help.

 

However though, the statement also got Medo thinking a bit, and perhaps this re-introduction would be able to better serve the empress's wishes to remain anonymous. "Oh, my name is Medo, Medo Asai, from the farming village of Temporal Gardens on Ryushima. What may I have the honor of calling you tonight?" she asked as she heard the stallion address that he had seemed to miss much of the excitement tonight, while the one that was with the empress said that event wasn't as much of a deal as it was made out to be by some of the guests. Considering that she was there, she could say that it was quite eventful, but she wasn't going to address it right now with the Empress standing right here. The last thing she wanted to do was make her feel even more bad and responsible for what happened when it wasn't her fault at all.She simply awaited her response.

[Bellosh]

 

So Medo Asai was the name of the Neighponese unicorn. Hmmmmm..... something about that name seemed familiar somehow. The same went for Temporal Gardens, the Ryushima farming village. But for the life of her, Yuè's mind couldn't quite connect all the dots. A repressed memory, perhaps? Probably from that time Yuè and her twin brother accompanied their late father on a state visit to Ryushima? While she attempted to recollect; the Empress elegantly nodded her head in greeting. "My name is Jade Moon," Yuè kept using her Equestrian name to avoid suspicious from Sunrise and the newcomer stallion; "It is a pleasure to finally be introduced to one another, Medo."

 

Next to introduce themselves was Golden Vortex, the fancily dressed stallion. Yù Yuè offered no resistance as Sir Vortex gently took her hoof into his own and kissed it. The royal qilin remembered this was another courtly gesture among certain Equestrians, although the hoof-kissing felt far too intimate than she was accustomed to, as public displays of affection were highly discouraged by the protocols of the Imperial Court.

 

Nevertheless, only a faint blush could be seen on Yuè's cheeks as she generously let the gentlecolt do his thing, although she did avert her gaze after being reminded about the so-called "excitement" that was the Phoenix Gifting Ceremony. Fortunately, her spirits were raised again with a humorous quip from Silverheart, which she responded to with a daintly chuckle of her own. Gold and Silver; what a coincidence indeed!

Yet Gold and Silver were fated to part from one another, as Sunrise asked to talk with Sir Silver alone. The Empress found this development discouraging, as she was rather enjoying the company of Presteza's brother. Nothing lasts forever however, so the qilin mare would just have to live with it, just as everyone else accepts the inevitability of an ending. Besides, there was the enigma of Medo and her village to figure out. With a nod of her head, Yuè indicated her approval; "That is perfectly alright Lady Skies; the two of you are excused....."

[Dubstep]

This was...certainly unexpected. The hippogriff's energy that had seemed so drained from him only moments ago had burst back to life like a fire doused in oil. Ahh the exuberance of youth. What was just as equally unexpected however was the fact that here was the boy, leaping around and hollering excitedly in Germane, and not a single soul around the party seemed to bat an eye. Not a bit of attention seemed to be drawn the two's way. It was like they were sequestered off in their own little bubble. It wasn't unusual for the Canterlot elite to simply ignore things that didn't fit their little status quo, but really now, not even an awkward glance?
 

"Edelweiss...E...Edel..." Tarisio sighed and smiled, did this child ever breath? How had he not passed out from speaking so swiftly! Gently he placed his claws on Edelweiss' shoulders when he landed close enough to grab. "Edelweiss. Ich bin rostig mit der Sprache. Slow down. I am not too good with Germane as it is, doubly so when spoken so swiftly ahahah." he said with a smile.

[Zeig]

 

Ahah. 

 

Gold and Silver.

 

Funny.

 

Revenant chuckled lightly, a small incline of his head at the joke, and kept his expression masked with polite interest as he glanced between the colt and the Empress...who was not introducing herself by her given name, strangely enough, but by its Equestrian translation. Neither did she announce herself as the Empress, nor give any sort of title whatsoever. Hiding herself, then? Fancied a little bit of undercover work to get to know Equestria's populace? Revenant could only hope so, because if the Empress proved the to be the sort of young noble romanticized in novels - the kind that donned disguises and crept away from their bodyguards in order to experience 'true living' away from the stringent upbringing of royalty, well.

 

He might have to pull a few hairs out, at that. 

 

Equestria forbid that the country had made allies with another country whose ruling body was a foolish young mare who deemed herself clever enough to go wandering around without an armed escort.

 

Low profiled or not, it was clear that the Empress knew which event he had been referring to, judging by the way her eyes flitted away from his in a pique of...embarrassment? Shame? Perhaps just annoyance at the event brought up time and time again. Though, Silverheart was quick to tone down the subject, something Revenant played into quite easily. "No?" The darkly colored stallion questioned lightly, tone completely genial as if he'd just heard some surprising or contradictory information. "Blasted grape vines must have been full to bursting this evening, then, wouldn't you say my dear?" Revenant flashed a toothy smile at Medo, their earlier conversation on the nature of rumors and gossip still fresh in his mind, before returning his attention back onto the silver coated stallion. "Some of the wait staff were saying the entire business was downright dodgy," he mentioned, blithe, his head tilting to a musing angle, "ponies getting injured and all...though Medo here assured me that nothing such happened." Revenant paused a moment, before shrugging, mouth once again widening into a grin. "Perhaps the staff has let their imaginations run right barmy tonight." 

 

His tone remained amiable and light, a simple party-goer musing over the events of the evening, but Revenant kept a discrete eye on the Empress, looking for any sort of reaction. He couldn't concentrate for too long, right, as Silverheart's words still rang about his ears, causing his eyebrows to raise upwards to a polite distance.

 

"Guard?" the darkly colored stallion repeated, a light chuckle leaving his lips at the mere suggestion. "Not I, though I'm right chuffed you'd think me to it." Revenant puffed out his chest slightly like it was an unconscious gesture, as if the idea that anyone could mistake him for a member of the guard was an honor in and of itself. "No," the stallion sighed after a moment, "nothing so noble for me." Hmm...this Silverheart was more than likely a member of the REA, then, if his first thought upon a vaguely familiar face had been association with the organization. 

 

Which is when the orange Unicorn - who had failed to introduce herself - requested a private audience with Silverheart. Probably the reason she had failed to introduce herself. Revenant raised an eyebrow but kept a polite smile on his face, though he cast his eyes between the two as if he were sensing a little something extra. He was, right, especially considering the mare's somewhat tense stance and utter focus on the silver coated stallion. 

 

Not that he was interested in whatever emotions were floating around the two. With the two of them presumably heading off on their own, Revenant would be left with Medo and the Empress. Less to observe, for now, though he'd probably have to keep a discrete eye on the silver Unicorn.

 

He had a funny feeling that the Unicorn, in turn, would be keeping a discrete eye on him. 

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

This was not going well... Silver had taken it upon himself to try and provide the empress with some Respite from all the nastiness of the prior phoenix incident and already someone else had come into the picture to remind her of it. Sometimes the universe just doesn't give you a break, does it? Still hoping to lessen the blow that this brought to the Regal Qilin's pride Silver spoke up again. "Even Waitstaff are prone to falling for gossip... and such tales tend to spread quickly among them, even here. Back home I would hear maids whispering about strange outings that my parents went on with my sister that sounded more like the kind of cautionary tales you tell fillies and colts at night." He had hoped to go on with his attempts on making sure this didn't blow out of proportion but soon his attention drifted to the words being spoken between Sunrise and Miss 'moon."

 

The stallion couldn't help but notice the strange way this conversation wound up going. Normally, if someone wanted to talk to him they would speak him directly... especially if they were barely two metres away from him. Now here he was being handed off like a ball in a rugby match... although at least there was no ear biting in this set of circumstances. It still felt odd for Sunrise not to ask him if he could talk directly, even if it was directed at the whole group and not just the mare he was walking with. Despite his inward discomfort at the situation, Silver nodded politely and looked to the rest of this group that had now assembled. 

 

"Well... um. I suppose We'll return soon as we can!" He said, in a cheery but calm tone. A hoof came up to meet his chin as he looked around the garden, spotting a secluded corner that was out of earshot of most of the rest of the group that had congregated around 'Jade Moon'. It was behind a thick trunked tree where a few of the palace animals rested among the branches of the flora. The two ponies hooves carried them to the shade of the tree that loomed above them.

 

"Miss Skies... " The unicorn looked to the fashionista, "Are you alright? You seem... Unhappy... Did something go wrong after the dance ended?" The guard's voice sounded rather worried. He may have only gotten to know Sunrise for a few moments on the dance floor but now she seemed like an entirely different mare!

 

 

 

[PyroBlaze]

Sunrise returned the nod that Jade gave her, smiling slightly at the qilin mare. She looked to Silver after that, as if silently asking him to come along. 

 

"I once again apologize, we shall return momentarily." Sunrise said to the group, nodding to them before letting Silver lead her to the tree so they could talk. The mare sighed at his words, looking at her hooves in silence as she tried to think of the right words. After a moment, she looked up at him with an apologetic gaze. 

 

"I am sorry, Sir Silver... I... After we shared that wonderful dance and conversation, I suppose I created completely unreasonable expectations about the nature of our relationship... I like you. You are brave, as a guard must be, but you are also kind and handsome and sweet..." She said, a small smile on her lips for a moment before her gaze fell to her hooves again. "I grew jealous when I saw you with her, I let my emotions take control and I acted without thinking... I suppose I just did not want to share, not the first stallion in a long while that made me feel like you do... And now I am afraid I've let my feelings ruin not only whatever your relationship with Miss Moon is, but ours as well..."

 

Sunrise fell silent after that, her gaze on the ground sadly as she awaited his response. She did not know what to expect, but she hoped they could at least still be friends after that display. 

[IceStorm]

~~~Medo~~~

 

Alright, she had a name that she could now use to address Yue without possibly blowing her cover. Although she wasn't really sure why she hadn't picked up on that name before. After all, her name was Chinese for Jade, and after hearing the name, she kicked herself mentally for not picking that up. Still though, it was better for her to be sure than to just presume something and risk insulting the mare. Even if she was acting as her equal for the time being, it still remained that Jade was an Empress and she was not. Best to make sure that eveyrhting is as smooth as possible. When she said that it was a pleasure to be introduced to her, she nodded. "Indeed, or at least formally now. I still remember when we met each other back on Ryushima, although you were very, very sick at the time, so I can't imagine that you'd remember much from there," she told Jade with a smile only to hear Golden speak more about the grape vine metaphor once more.

 

She heard him mention that some of the staff said that some of the ponies had been injured and speak about everything having to be all dodgy. She wasn't really sure what that meant, but she knew that despite the temper of the two birds in the gardens, there weren't really much in the way of injuries so why the staff of the even would be spreading around the rumors that something had happened at the event seemed rather... odd. Especially since from her understanding one of the staff members that was presiding over the gardens was one of the princesses themselves. She didn't think that one of the princesses would be one to be a source of a rumor like that. "I would have to be apt to agree, that imaginations have been running a bit wild tonight. Having been present, once again, I can assure you that no pony was hurt in anything that had transpired tonight," she told Golden. She did notice that he seemed to be stuck on this proverbial grape vine, and it was somewhat unsettling to her that the only thing that he wished to discuss was something that he explained to be rumors and that she could confirm were fallacies.

 

The more she thought about it though, the more she realized that the rumors didn't really concern her too much, but she wouldn't take in part in helping spread them. She decided to remain indifferent on the subject matter as she turned back to Jade. She wasn't sure what kind of response that she was going to get out of telling her that this wasn't the first meeting between them, but at the same time it still felt a bit inconsequential as she realized it could also just sound like a desperate cry for attention as well, which she did not at all intend for it to sound like. She was sincerely just reflecting on a memory that she would never really forget, as to while that day might not have been important for the empress for the most part, other than securing her survival, it was that day, and that sequence of events that ultimately got Medo her Cutie mark, and she would never ever forget that.

[Bellosh]

 

Yù Yuè's hunch was right; she and Medo Asai had met one another before, although they would have been both fillies at the time. That was the age when Yuè's father took his daughter on that state visit to Ryushima... when the royal qilin suffered food poisoning from a wild berry she recklessly ate. It was an experience that Yuè for the most part locked up in her mind until now, although a figment of her memories did manage to recall the Neighponese unicorn standing before her. Hmmm; Medo obviously must have had been a curious bystander witnessing the adults work on curing Yuè.

 

On to other matters, whatever little bit of cheer the Empress gained from hearing the "Gold and Silver" joke went up in smoke as Golden Vortex mentioned the rumors circulating about the botched ceremony. It didn't really matter whether the gossip was based on falsehoods or not; in the realm of courtly politics, "truth" only occasionally meant the same thing as "fact". And the "truth" now spreading was only making Empress Yuè look worse, along with kind-hearted Fluttershy. What might be confined to castle servants now will undoubtedly be recited to numerous others by dawn, most likely incorporating even more distortions of the facts. Would the Empress be forever associated with calamity? Would Fluttershy ever be entrusted with such prestigious duties ever again?

 

There was also the other undeniable fact that while all these rumors were spreading, the qilin mare was off burying her head in the sand, pretending in vain that she could ignore the mess of events she helped preside over. If Yuè was a remotely decent empress, she'd be back at the castle performing damage control herself, rather than letting her staff run around like headless chickens.

 

Aiya... what a stupid girl she was!

Sure, "Jade Moon" could try heading back now, but it would already be too late to fix anything. Shame once again getting the better of her, the royal qilin defensively crossed her forelegs as her gaze subtly turned ground-ward. "Forgive my interjection... but is it not imprudent to discuss hearsay in polite company?"

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

 

Silver stood awestruck at Sunrise's words... he had not thought that their dance could lead to such feelings. His form was unrefined due to his lack of practice in the steps in so long. He was sure he'd bumped or scuffed the fashionista's hooves once or twice and he was, in hindsight, his slightly skittish demeanor was far from desirable: at least in his opinion. To hear such praise being paid to him managed to get the stallion's pale grey cheeks red. 

"I ... I see." He managed to nervously sputter out, "I didn't know that you felt that way about me... " A hoof idly ran the tip over the cobblestones that made up the path the two were now standing on. Silver was... unsure how to proceed. Father always said that honesty in most circumstances was the best policy, but the problem was Silver wasn't really sure how he felt yet. So in the end he supposed that he should be at least honest about that. 

"To be honest, Miss Sunrise." A deep breath filled his lungs with air and his mind with a quick boost of confidence, "Thank you for those kind words and your honesty.The truth is... I am not sure what my relationship with either of you is this night. I only met both of you within two hours of eachother and have only met you in person for a short time: I'm not sure I'm someone worth being jealous over... but... Until I figure out what I'm all about." Silver raised up a hoof, "Perhaps we can be friends until I understand you more... I'd still love to learn more about your sewing techniques afterall!"

[PyroBlaze]

Sunrise looked up at Silver's words, blinking a bit at first as he seemed to have trouble thinking of what to say. Her ears perked almost hopefully as he started up again, though that didn't last long before her ears drooped again and her gaze dropped back down to the ground between them. 

 

"I... I suppose..." Sunrise managed after a few moments of silence. "I suppose I was foolish to hope you held the same feelings..."

 

He was right, of course. They had only just met after all, but she was not feeling very logical at the moment. In fact, she was struggling to hold back tears. 

 

He didn't like her... of course not, she seemed to be doomed to a life without love, never able to find somepony to share her love with. Why did she even bother telling him? Now they would never get together, not with the knowledge of her feelings in his mind...

 

"I... I am sorry for... for ruining your night..." She said, trying very hard to hold back her tears right now. "I'll just... just leave you alone now... I do hope to... to see you some other time... I hope we can still be friends..."

 

After that, she turned away, her ears still drooping and her eyes still focused on the ground. She hesitated for a moment, almost throwing herself onto him and letting her tears flow, but that would not be fair to him. No, she would have to deal with this alone once again. After another moment, she began to move away, aiming to leave the proceedings altogether and just head back to her hotel. 

[Zeig]

 

Oi, now.

 

This, coming from a Qilin who casually chatted in foreign languages in the very same polite company? 

 

Pushing any further would make it appear he had a hidden agenda, however, and Revenant let the comment go with an acknowledged dip of his head. The darkly colored stallion had no idea why Medo seemed content to so blatantly lie about the events that had unfolded - perhaps in deference to her apparent close relationship with the Empress, who's willingness to brush her failure under the rug was an all too familiar technique of the royals closer to home. 

 

Either or, it didn't really matter, and in truth, Revenant was getting rather bored of the proceedings. He wasn't entirely sure why - it would have been a bloody miracle for the Empress to drop the painfully polite persona of dutiful royal, true, but he had still been expecting...something. What exactly, he didn't know, just something. A something that was just another failure of Equestrian royalty to deliver, he supposed.

 

As far as potential allies for Equestria went, he was mightily underwhelmed. 

 

"Perhaps it is time to excuse myself from said polite company, then," the teal-maned stallion chuckled, waving his now empty champagne glass around a bit, "I've a feeling I'm long past due another." Another wave of his glass punctuated the statement, but Revenant showed no signs of intoxication as he settled the glass on the passing tray of a server, before turning back to the two mares. "Medo," he intoned, red eyes warm as they glanced from first the Unicorn, then onto the Qilin, "Jade Moon. A pleasure and a delight. Perhaps the next Grand Galloping Gala, loves." 

 

The odds of that were...not entirely terrible, at that. At least the Empress would be easy to spot and grab hold of if she made a repeat appearance. The pleasantries were just that, however, no matter the sincere bow he gave both mares before turning to head down the path at a languid pace. He made a point to flag down another server for a fresh new champagne glass, but his lips remained tightly closed even as he brought the glass up to his mouth, the appearance of a laid-back noble enjoying a last refresher as blood red eyes briefly hardened.

 

He'd only taken care of the first order of business, after all. 

 

If he were a fine bloke with an ear for Equestrian, Long, Neigphonese, and everything in between...where in Canterlot might he be staying?...

 

[[ Exit ]]

 

 

[IceStorm]

~~~Medo~~~

 

As she listened and took in the conversations of everypony around her, Medo was a bit perplexed by everything that was going on. She gave a nod when she heard the Empress mention about it being imprudent talk about hearsay. To be honest, she wasn't really sure why the other unicorn was so bent on trying to tell every pony that ponies were hurt during the triage that happened during the gala in the garden. It was almost like he had completely ignored anything that she had actually said about what happened in place of his own thoughts and beliefs. Ah well, it didn't really matter to her one way or another, but she wasn't about to let him spread a negative word on the Empress, especially one that carried false weight.

 

Before she had a chance to say anything though in response to the unicorn bid his aideus and made his way out of the park after taking one last glass of champagne from the table deeper in the park where the others were. "I really don't understand why he was trying to make that into such a big deal. I mean, no pony was hurt, so there's really no point into trying to stir anything up... I guess I still have a lot to learn about some of the customs of the ponies here in Equestria. Although something tells me that he is not the normal custom for the area..." she finished in Jade's direction before. "That said, we really should move on to something else before..." she started before her eye caught the mare and her friend behind them speaking, and the mare turning away, seeming very hurt with tears in her eyes.

 

Now, she wasn't sure what the entire situation was, but the one thing that she did know was she wasn't one that liked to see ponies get upset. Judging from the look on the stallion, it didn't look like he was intending for the message that he was telling her to send the kind of emotional hurt that it had, but when she started to walk away. Medo felt something tug inside of her. "Should we go and make sure that she is okay?" she asked Jade, wanting to check on her as well as maintaining what bit of conversation that they had started with.

[Bellosh]

 

Offering a polite — if perfunctory — farewell to Golden Vortex, Yù Yuè absentmindedly cast a look towards Silver and Sunrise, only to witness discord between the two ponies. Ms. Skies seemed particularly distressed, gazing mournfully as she dragged herself away from the silver-maned stallion. Another glance at Silver, and Yuè was finally putting the puzzle pieces together in her mind.

 

The reason Sunrise Skies wanted to pull Silver aside, and why she acted vexed when conversing with the qilin mare... was because she had some sort of romantic feelings for Presteza's brother. Sunrise thus must have perceived Yuè as a rival, and so attempted to woo the stallion, or something else to that effect. Clearly though, the mare's attempt must have failed.

 

Assuming Yuè's theory was correct, it just went to show that letting oneself get swept away by romantic love was one of the gravest acts of folly. A selfish distraction at best; at worst, the ruinous downfall of many a mighty hero, sagely ruler, or prosperous family. Years of foalhood mentoring by Imperial Palace tutors hammered that message quite strongly. Not to mention that the one time Yuè's late father let himself be taken in by personal romantic attachments — when he took Yuè's mother as his consort — their controversial marriage lasted a little less than two years before unhappy Mother deserted the Imperial Court and never looked back.

 

"Lady Skies seemed agitated with me when we spoke earlier," the Empress shook her head; "I fear my presence... will only infuriate her." Worthy of pity the emotionally-broken pony might have appeared to Yuè, but the qilin mare did not wish to disturb the tranquility of the gardens any further. Perhaps Sunrise could use somebody to lift her spirits... but in this specific situation, Yuè was definitely the wrong mare for the job.....

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

"U-um, Miss Sunrise! I never said you ruined my night... in fact you're one of the ponies I met this night that made it better." Silver stepped forward and spoke up, "I still have duties to attend to here... but would you like to talk tomorrow? I would still enjoy being your friend but... right now it seems like you may need some time to yourself first." Before Sunrise left, Silver pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her. "You can return it to me when we meet again, right?" he asked with a hopeful smile on his muzzle. "If at all possible I'd prefer you stay and enjoy some company."

 

The stallion looked back to 'Jade Moon' and the remaining ponies... or pony that was still at her side. They seemed concerned. It made sense to be given how it must have looked to any random observer. With a hesitant step, he turned around and moved over to Medo and Miss Moon. He bowed his head as if on reflex but quickly righted himself. "I... think that did not end very well." HE admitted with a heavy, and sullen sigh, "I think she could use someone to talk to who understands what she is pursuing better than I could."

 

 

 

[IceStorm]

((Dialogue from Yue used with Bellosh's permission

 

~~~Medo~~~

 

When Medo heard the Empress spoke up, telling her that it had seemed that Lady Skies had been upset with her earlier when they spoke, and that she felt that it would infuriate her even more. While the Empress likely knew a bit better than she did about the situation, she couldn't leave it in her heart to just let the mare be upset for the night either. That just wasn't how she worked. As much as she would love to spend the night conversing around royalty and making up for many years of lost time, and possibly becoming a friend of the empress, she couldn't in good conscious just let the other mare stay like that either. An idea popped into her mind. The Gala was at the end of the season for her semester and she was going to be going home for to see her family here soon anyway. Perhaps she could see when the Empress was planning on leaving and maybe ride with her to Long Guo and then catch a ferry over to Ryushima.

 

"Well... I don't think letting her stay by her lonesome tonight would be all that wise, so I'm going to see if I can at least cheer her up. Unfortunate... I am not sure how long that would be. That said, when does your ship leave back for Long Guo, I'm actually getting ready to head back to Neighpon myself, perhaps I could pay for passage aboard your vessel, and perhaps we can catch up then?" She asked.

 

"Our vessel is privately chartered by my household staff; if you bring the matter up with my Chamberlain, perhaps room and boarding can be found for you," she heard the Empress speak. She gave the mare a smile and a soft nod.

 

"Alright then, We shall catch up again then, it was a pleasure getting to speak to you tonight for what brief moment we were able to," she replied as she started making her way over to the crying mare giving the stallion that she was with a nod when he said that he thought that she could use someone to talk to who understood things better than he did. She didn't mean anything insulting by the nod, but more of just an affirmitave nod that she understood what he was saying. Without any further hesitation, she approached the mare in the fiery dress. Her head was hung low and her ears were splayed back as the sadness could be seen pouring out of her. With a soft smile, Medo approached the mare and caustiously and gently put her hoof on her shoulder, careful not to startle the poor thing that had already been through enough emotional turmoil for the night. "Hey there.... Everything okay?" she spoke with sincerity and concern.