Ponywalk Luau: The Banquet Table

[Bramble Rose]

The snack bar at the Luau is covered in little festive lanterns, and elegant silver platters, many of them raised up off of the table with fancy little risers. The snacks are tiny, mixes of tropical fruits and breads. Sauces and tropical fruit purees spread across fancy tiny breads and crackers. Several punch bowls, each with a different, refreshing tropical mix, are scattered across the table.

A beautifully sculpted dress form made of ice stands over the snack table, enchanted so that it won't melt for the entire evening, a soft mist floating off of it and over the snack table, keeping everything cool in the hot night.

[AppleNitrox]

Chemise was happy to get past that crowd of photographers and fashion reporters - not just to be free of that hectic mass, but also because she had made her first steps into getting here. She'd kept her promise to Star. Now that she was here, though, she felt that fear starting to creep into her heart again. She didn't know anypony should could talk with comfortably, they were all strange to her. She didn’t knew where to go or what to do. Chemise took a look around and again sighed, her eyes shining from a single tear starting to form. She quickly cleaned it away - she didn't want to show that fear to the ponies around her.

Instead, she nodded to herself, fortifying the courage Star had built in her heart. She couldn’t stay here all night long, and it was a beautiful party. All right, she didn't know anypony, and she certainly wasn't going out on the dance floor, but she could at least make sure she didn't leave the party hungry. She headed over to the hors d'oeuvres table, making her way around the groups of ponies standing around and talking. They were talking about politics, and art, but mostly about fashion. Chemise' heart was beating rapidly, she was so scared - it felt like a maze she would never make it through, but after several minutes, she finally made it to the table with all the little snacks.

She smiled, as she looked down at them. "Wow, they all look so nice! So fancy! Which one to try first?” She nodded to herself and picked one at random, not knowing what any of them really were. Then she took a look around at the other ponies there, and maintained that smile on her face as she forced her body to relax. This was a party. Parties were for relaxing, right?

[Otsdarva]

Scrambling to put on a little black vest over a nice white undershirt, Douglas perked up his collar with a nice bow tie. Surely he didn't look like somepony special, but it would be more than enough to just move around the main party area. Of course he was just a staffer for the Ponywalk, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the main area. Surely several of these ponies will be interacting with Douglas and the other staffers throughout the Ponywalk shows. It was with this justification that he came to the banquet hall, not hoping to mingle or 'elude' to his accomplishments but to simply enjoy talking with other ponies.

With one drink already in his system, Douglas was looking for a little food and while the staff party had more than enough to fill him, he wanted to experience what the big shots would be partaking in while their was still something left. Coming up on the table he could see several ponies already crowding the table in mixed chatter about some such thing or another. Seeing his reflection in a mirror behind the table, Douglas quickly ran his forehooves through his mane, pulling it back before giving a wry smile and lift of a brow at his reflection. "Alright trottah, keep on your best behavior and keep that drawl locked away!" he thought to himself, knowing someponies of the upper class tend to be very fast judging over the simplest of things.

"Wow, they all look so nice! So fancy! Which one to try first?"

Douglas let out a bemused hum as he heard a mare standing alone look over the hors d'ourves. He remembered watching her enter from behind the crowd, she was one of the...designers of he remembered correctly. Douglas saw her look around at the other ponies as she looked if she should try something on the table. She seemed to be one of the few without somepony to speak to, so letting out a calming breath, he approached. "It doesn't look 'that' bad, does it? I haven't tried anything yet either, but I was hoping there would be something nourishing here." Douglas spoke to her, moving beside the table with the mare. "So what do you think of the party? It's not too over the top is it?"

[AppleNitrox]

Chemise smiled down to her small plate of random snacks, sighing with relief. Slowly, anticipating how these fancy treats were going to taste, she dropped her head towards the plate, her mouth opening wide. Suddenly, somepony was standing next to her, and talking to her! She looked aside at the pony, her body shaking a little, and her gaze tried to slide away from him. Yes, she knew it was rude to do so, but Chemise couldn't stand looking right at another pony, especially one she didn't know. Nervously, she nodded a bit, and raised her eyes up to look right past his face to focus on one of the blossoms of the decorations, hoping that he might think she was looking at him. She slowly started to talk, her voice quiet and nervous so that he'd have to lean closer to hear her.

"Y-yes, Th-They sure look very g-good, th-this is why I would like to t-try ... you know ... ssssome of them."

Chemise ducked her head, breathing heavily after the effort of talking to a complete stranger. All the noises of the party seemed to press in on her, so much noise and color and movement. It was easier to look at the floor - then the rest of the room wouldn't press in on her quite so much. It was such a strange feeling for her, to be with a pony that she never met, to talk with him without her friend Star there too. She looked up at the blossom next to his face, again, and another nervous shiver ran across her coat.

"Would you mind ... If I would try it ... ?"

[Otsdarva]

Douglas looked over the mare as she fidgeted around him, he couldn't help but find it a surprising contrast to when she made her entrance. "S'pose that affirms my earlier suspicions." he thought, listening to the mare answer him. He had to tilt his head closer to hear her at first. He could feel a little awkwardness as she began looking at the ground. He realized that she was rather shy which is probably why she wasn't talking with the other ponies. Slowly she looked back to him and began to speak.

"By all means, don't stop just because I'm here." Douglas answered, reaching onto the table and taking a small snack in his hoof to taste. He crunched into one of the little crackers with some odd dressing on it, causing a slight change in his expression as his face cringed to get the snack down. "Maybe... I just picked the wrong one." he stated, feeling a shiver go down his withers. Ending with a visible shake he cleared his throat and reached out for a different snack. This one looked like a biscuit with what he could only hope was butter spread over it. Looking back to the mare as he took a bite, he began to think of something to say. "So what brings you to the Ponywalk? Are you designing or modeling?" Douglas asked, after making sure to swallow his snack first. Sure he already knew the answer to his question, but he figured it would be a nice easy topic for the mare.

[crp_dude]

Shortly after entering the party area, Ornatia, still messy but nonetheless determined to make an impression, decided that she ought to first get something back into her stomach before she could even consider talking to anypony. As she walked over to the refreshment table, Ornatia slowed her pace and put a bit of her magic to work, immediately fixing her mask back onto her face properly. After all, she never went anywhere without it. Even in the privacy of her own studio, she keeps the mask on, out of plain habit if nothing else. Suddenly, Ornatia was put to wondering how long it’s been since she’s seen her own face in the mirror. Shaking off the slightly dreary thought, she fixed up her dress as well, tightened her favorite bow, and fixed one of her fishnets, which was sagging. She had no idea that she looked like such a wreck, rather than just a bit messy. Glad that she was at least for the most part fixed up, Ornatia resumed her trot to the table. Though she was very hungry and eager to get a certain disgusting taste out of her mouth, she could not help but stare at the exquisite ice statue. The wonderfully ornate dress seemed like something out of a fairy tale. Not because of its beauty, Ornatia thought, but rather because it probably would only look good in a fairy tale. Though she kept her reasons why silent, she secretly took note of the design and how she might improve it. Perhaps she could use it later. She immediately jolted back to reality when she took notice of the two ponies on the front side of the table. Though she knew she would be noticed by the sudden movement, Ornatia sped over to the other side of the table, behind the ice sculpture, hoping to at least recuperate from her intense fear of heights without making a fool of herself in front of all of the other designers and models. Feeling a bit embarrassed, Ornatia used her magic once again to bring a plate or two to her, grab a few fruit slices (particularly the mangoes), and get a cup of punch, which she quickly downed. Happy to have that taste out of her mouth, she silently snacked on the fruits and such from behind the statue, so that she could actually stomach talking to anypony later.

[AppleNitrox]

Chemise nodded a bit and took a little bite of the snacks. They were very delicious and she'd never tasted anything like them before! She smiled to herself, relishing the taste, but then she glanced back to the pony next to her and her smile disappeared into a nervous *gulp*. To hide her face's expression, the fashion pony took another bite of the snack, concentrating on the food instead. As she swallowed, she gave a little smile while staring at the floor, and when the strange pony finished his talking she gave a little nod.

She wasn’t sure what to do now. Going away now would be rude, and she didn't want anypony thinking she was rude ... but if she stayed there, the pony would no doubt ask her more questions! She shaked her head a bit, it could look strange for the pony that was moving here but she did that to clear her mind from all wrong thinking. After she gave a little smile again while looking at the ground and not right at the pony face.

"I ... I'm here because ..." She took another deep breath, then let it out slowly, calming herself before she tried to talk normally again. "I'm here because ... because I'm a ... um ... designer. I want to show ponies my work, and ah ... I made a promise, to ... to a very close friend, that ..." She stopped again, too nervous to continue, and took another deep breath. She let it out slowly, carefully, then continued. "I promised that I would show other ponies my ... my work." She nodded, then glanced up at the pony next to her, nervously seeing how he would react.

[Otsdarva]

Douglas was fine with waiting patiantly for the mare to reply and as he did he thought he caught a sudden movement just outside his vision. Turning to see what it was only too late to notice who the pony was, he did recognize the tail end of the ensemble as the it's wearer went around the table. With the other pony out of sight, Douglas returned his attention to the earlier mare he was talking too. "Oh, so you are a designer! That's great, I'm sure your work will be spendid! Allow me to introduce myself. I am Douglas Trotter, I'm going to be working on the Ponywalk as a staffer and general handypony." Douglas said, giving a courtous bow of his head.

While Douglas was sure there were a few ponies at this party that would look down their snout at him, he could only hope that the actual models and designers would be nothing like that. And after meeting this shy mare, knowing she was a designer it surely put on a good chance that the others would be rather well natured too. "I can't wait to see how you do the day of the show, I'm sure you'll make your friend proud." Getting out the last of what he had for the time, Douglas took another tasty biscuit from the table and happily nibbled on it.

[Inkwell]

Inkwell didn't realize how hungry he'd gotten on the flight over to the Gallopocous Islands until he spotted the banquet for himself. From the doorway he looked over the spread, taking note about what sorts of dishes there were on the tables and looking for something that would suit him.

He also needed to find something for Rose, too. She was hungry too, but thankfully she was considerate enough to agree to part ways with Inkwell. She would go to the bar for some liquid courage and he'd get food for the two of them. Given that Rose had a bottomless pit of a stomach, Inkwell didn't entirely trust her to maintain her figure for the whole tour. Thankfully there didn't appear to be very many fattening foods here. They were mostly based on fruit; Inkwell had yet to spot any cheese-based products in the room.

After levitating a plate and putting a few pieces of fruit and canapes on it, he took another look at the table, then at a conversing mare and stallion next to it. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't done a still life in a while. He walked up next to the pair and got out his sketchbook. "Don't mind me!" he said, beginning his sketch.

[AppleNitrox]

Chemise ate slowly, enjoying the taste of the fancy snacks. She was only on her second snack, as she listened carefully and politely to the other pony. Everything seemed rather fine, and she was actually starting to feel comfortable with this new pony rather quickly. She sighed with relief as she started in on the third snack. She was quite interested when he said that he was one of the staff ponies at the event.

"Oh ... So, you are ... umm ... taking care, for ... fashioners and models?" She said to him, while keeping her eyes carefully on her snack, wondering if it would be rude to eat too much more. "Yeah, I hope so, too. Thank for your kind words." Chemise gave a small but nice smile to the pony, while looking again at the table with snacks. After some thinking, she answered herself that the couple of small snacks were quite enough for now, but she would surely come back later to eat more of the very tasty snacks.

She jumped in surprise as another pony came up, then gave a soft sigh. Her entire body was shaking again. She was all alone, with no friends around, and now there were two strange ponies! She ducked her head to hide her face under her mane, and looked to the table again. Oh, I wish I wasn't here right now... She sighed again and took a look at the new pony that approached them. "N ... No ... It ... It ... It is ... F ... F ..." Chemise couldn't seem to get a proper sentence out, either with the new pony, or the nice pony she was talking with earlier. Why, oh why, was she so nervous around ponies? She wished she was brave like Star!

[Otsdarva]

Douglas savored the biscuit to the best of his abilities, not wanting to stuff himself in front of such a nice mare. Truth be told, he could tell she was rather unnerved by him and he did he best to keep allow her space while not being out of vocal range. And while the conversation had mostly been one sided for the time it was nice to see her start asking questions as well.

"Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it. Mostly I'll be doing whatever little tasks need to be done and if that means directly helping designers and models then yes I will. I'm going to guess most of my work will be around the construction of the parties and shows and making sure everypony has their cue on the big night." Honestly, Douglas only knew for sure about a few things. This was a first for him and while he was onboard as general staff, it didn't exactly define every little thing he would be expected to do.

Keeping a big smile on his face, Douglas watched as the mare seemed to fiddle with whether she should or shouldn't keep eating when suddenly another pony spoke up from behind them. Douglas turned his head to see the owner of the voice when he caught the mare's reaction in his peripheral vision. He seemed to be drawing something, could it be them or the table? Was he an artist or was it just a hobby. Slowly Douglas could hear the mare start to squeak out her response, finding herself without voice before she could finish. "We're fine. I hope you'll show us the finished work." Douglas finished, bringing his concern back to the mare. She seemed quite jumpy. Letting himself fall back onto his haunches, Douglas looked at her with a smile. "Hay, you okay? Look, he's just drawing a picture. There's no need to get jumpy."

[crp_dude]

"Uh-oh... Looks like if you try to hide from attention in a gathering of fashionistas, you end up in attention's way..." Ornatia muttered to herself. She had hoped that the other ponies didn't notice that most of those plates of snacks were half-empty, since the stuff was just too small. Feeling refreshed and appropriately satisfied, Ornatia slowly shuffled her way from behind the table, likely to a few fellow partygoers's surprise. Though her little shuffle was fairly cute and casual, the moment she saw the colt drawing what she could only assume to be the scene, Ornatia suddenly scurried out of the area, saying "Oh, sorry if I'm breaking your concentration, sir, I'll just, you know, err, move over here!" Safely at a distance, she observed the group a bit. She was almost certain she had seen the red stallion at the entrance before. He didn't look like he was part of the competition to her, though. Some part of the staff, perhaps? The nervous mare next to him, though, had to be a designer. After all, no fashion model could ever bear to go outside and in public with that genuine case of the nerves. Although, Ornatia sympathized, perhaps even empathized with her. After all, Ornatia acted very much like that when she made her debut into fashion.

"She'll do fine, Natie." She said to herself.

She began to trot over to another section of the party, when she suddenly felt like she had to talk to the mare. What was it that made her do it? Compassion? Kindness? Empathy? Ornatia couldn't fish out her feelings, but nonetheless made a steady trot over to the conversing pair. Something about that pony just reminded her too much of herself. "Again, please excuse me," she called over to the artist, hoping he wouldn't be too irate at the sudden intrusion, but made sure not to get in the way of the group or the statue. Clearing her throat to get the attention of the designer, she looked over and asked "Er-- greatest apologies if I'm interrupting," she said, looking at Douglas, then turning to Chemise, "but, you are a designer, young lady, if my guess is correct? You look nervous. Is this your first time at a fashion show?"

[AppleNitrox]

Chemise squeaked softly, looking over that the sketching pony. She couldn’t get used to the idea that she was all alone here, in public, without knowing any of these ponies. It was so strange and scary, especially since she'd never been in a fashion event like this. She sighed to herself again, when Douglas tried to reassure her, nodding a bit but not responding. Her tongue had problems with moving to talk clearly - she felt like she couldn't open her mouth, not for the slightest syllable. She was paralyzed, her eyes darting about, looking for a retreat. But she knew she couldn't do that - it would be a insult to her friend and herself. When another pony came here and began to talk, it was just that little more chaos of other ponies. She closed her eyes tight - it was easier if she didn't see them all. Especially not their faces.

She regreted making the dresses, regretted telling Star about the event, regretted everything. This was the worse day of her entire life.

But she couldn't let Star down. And this pony here, he seemed to be trying so hard to calm her down, too - if she didn't look at him, she could almost pretend he was Star. "Yyyy," she tried to force out. OK. first, single words. Then, once you got that, then try to make sentences.

"Yyyyes."

There ya go! Congratulations!

"Yes, it's my ... first time." The comment answered both Douglas and the new pony, and she gave a relieved smile, though there was just a bit of dampness in her eye. She took up a napkin, dabbed at the corner of her mouth, as if wiping up crumbs, and made sure to brush the napkin across the corner of her eye in the process, hoping no one noticed the tear. She smiled with pride, and relief, and opened her eyes again, smiling softly. She did it!

[crp_dude]

Ornatia felt very assured with Chemise's response, as small as it was. Her response was very warm, calm, and nonthreatening. After all, if Chemise was anything like Ornatia was so many years ago, she'd know just how the nervous mare was feeling.

"Oh, this is wonderful, dear. You know, I see much of myself in you at this very moment. When I made my first debut into fashion, I take no shame in saying that I was a nervous wreck. I was certain somepony would find my work atrocious! I'd never be able to show my face to the world again! This, I was sure, was way out of my league. However, I had a family to provide for, so I kept my head up high and refused to quit," Ornatia closed her eyes and made a slightly triumphant stance, remembering her first successful fashion show, "And though my first one was certainly not my best, I learned so much from it, and you know what? I never felt nervous about making a fool of myself ever again. The first time is always the worst, but it always gets better dear, yes."

It was a moment or so before Ornatia realized that she had forgotten to introduce herself. "Aya, no! I've completely forgotten my manners! Must have left them in the carriage, no?" Ornatia gave a slight chuckle, and continued, "My name is Ornatia. Well known as the fashion idol of Itaily. If you want any advice, I'd be happy to answer, you know? After all, I'm really only here to help out, despite the fact that I'm competing." A quick wink accented the end of her sentence. Despite her confidence in her abilities, Ornatia recognized it well when somepony else needed a bit of council, and who better than her?

[Otsdarva]

Douglas still remained seated for the mare, making sure she was alright even after her smile returned. The added encouragement of the masked mare he saw at the entrance was also something of a help. Surely he hoped the introverted mare would be able to come out of her shell over the course of the Ponywalk, these first steps would probably be the hardest though. "Now, do you want something to drink? Something to calm yourself down? I could get a glass of punch." Douglas suggested, wanting to do what he can to help.

Giving another look to the masked mare he was thankfully that somepony was there to help out. Especially with her being a designer as well, hopefully some of the advice she gave would have been some form of comfort for the mare. "Thank you, Miss Ornatia. I can only hope your wisdom is able to ease my friend's nerves. It'll be nice to work with the both of you throughout the Ponywalk." Douglas turned his attention to the table, reaching out for the punch laddle before pouring a small cup on a saucer before placing it near Chemise on the table.

[Inkwell]

As the other ponies in the room talked among themselves, Inkwell kept alternating between drawing and filling the plates he brought along. One for himself, one for Rose, and one for Cross Stitch. The telekinetic load felt like he was trying to balance a trio of independently spinning plates on his horn, and soon he noticed how sloppy his drawing was getting as a result and gave up. It hadn't even occurred to him to join in with the conversation until he stopped, not that he considered himself capable of it in his current state. So he just focused on loading up the plates with a decent array of food so that he could deliver them already. It wouldn't do to be late, especially not at a formal event like this.

"Sorry," he finally said to Douglas when he finished with the plates. "I don't think I will be finishing that drawing. It's far from my best work. But I will show you all the drawings of the models when they're done!" He smiled from ear to ear, anticipating how gorgeous those paintings would end up looking after he was done with them. "I'll see you later, then!"

He walked out of the dining area and levitated the plates in front of him. As he left, he thought it might be against the rules to take food out of this area, and stopped to look back. But then he thought of Rose, who wouldn't think twice about bending the rules and would insist on him doing the same. That made him take a breath and resume his walk to the Tiki Bar.