//------------------------------// // Wings of Steel, Heart of Gold // Story: Dames of the Tea Table: Silver Sabbatical // by Kipakuta //------------------------------// It was shortly after midnight when a pink. blue-maned unicorn left room 406, having worn out the registered tenant. Cynthia LaSombra's thoughts drifted as she headed down the ramps of the Chateau. "I heard this from a traveler, who knows a storyteller, who swears that it's true." Her sister had said after remembering something. She had been on the verge of tears as she spoke. "Patron LaRoulette believes in helping out the community from time to time. Maybe you need a loan for something, maybe you need a favor that nopony else can do for you." "...I fancy myself a problem solver. Another pony brings a problem to me, I'll solve it using the resources at my disposal." "...Generous donations from ponies, zebras, or gryphons that the family has aided." "...I’ve cheated, filched, tricked, cajoled, smuggled and manipulated all over these lands." "...They are much like me." "They've been doing this sort of thing for a few centuries." " ...The mid 8th century." "...In opposition to the Percheron nobility." "...After Neighpolean, they asked her to step in." "...A no contact contract." She stopped, gasping in realization. She recalled from her history studies, how Celestia had not gotten involved in Percheron's politics until 809. When she finally took things into her own hooves, the old Percheron aristocracy had been overthrown in favor of a direct government, which in turn was dissolved by Neighpolean when she rose to power. After exiling the power-crazed mare, Princess Celestia had appointed a temporary representative to take charge until the ponies could get a proper Republic together. Two key events preceded the Perch Revolution, which was labeled one of the most pivotal moments in Equestria's history. The first event, was a parasprite infestation in the 760s, which devastated the crops of Gascony and Bearn. This lead to food quotas, imports, and high taxes on luxuries which set the stage for the second. The formation of Anti-noble sentiment, aided by rogue cruise ships offering goods and services that the nobility outlawed. 'Fun Runners' they were called. 'Fun.' It all came back to that word. She had made it a point to research the idea after her first Nightmare Night, one of the celebrations held in her honor. The word itself arose early in the 700s, as a reference to trickery. "But Chevaux L'Honneur embraced the word, and gave it dignity in the eyes of ponykind." She spoke quietly to nopony. "They believe in the ideals of Jollity, even to the point of violating the other laws of Equestria." - - - After a brief detour to retrieve her bitbag, Cynthia stopped in at the casino. She bought a drink and snack combo from the bar, then paid the entry fee for the lounge. She moved a bench over to the railing so she could sit and watch the action below. From her position, she could see how ponies played, and knowing the rules of the games, she could tell who was playing wisely, and who wasn't. Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she turned and saw a purple pegasus with a red and pink mane smiling to her. "Mind if I chill with ya?" She asked. "Oh. I do not mind at all, Miss...Starsong is it?" "Jus' call me Starsong." The pegasus replied, before bringing a bench over to sit next to her. "You don't feel like gambling tonight?" "Nay, I prefer to have my companions around to keep me from making foolish wagers." Cynthia replied. "And I may devise strategems in observing how others play." Starsong nodded. "You have one strategy that most ponies refuse to learn." She took a sip from her own wineglass. "Knowing when to step back and cool down." "Indeed. It doth seem that these games encourage prodigality and profligacy." "Not all ponies play for money." Starsong stated. "Some play to improve their skills, and some play just cause it's fun." "Yes, Fun. It all returns to Fun, doth it not." Cynthia replied. "The shows, the games, even his own daughter's wedding." A smile played across her lips. "Make it fun." "Well the Patron-" Cynthia held up a hoof. "It be not solely he." She stated. "It is the whole organization, is't not?" Starsong flinched. "What organization?" "Chevaux L'honneur." The pegasus gulped. "Shovel liners? You put them on your shovel to keep it from getting chipped when you dig in hard soil." "Concern thyself not, Starsong. I am... an associate. Of Udan Ibai." Chuckling nervously, the pegasus relaxed. "Ah, then you can be trusted." She glanced around, then leaned in closer. "I'm an amuseur." "A member of lowest standing..." Cynthia mused, recalling the quick rundown Bad had given her. "And Cheerilee?" "She'll be initiated this day. We wanted to get her in sooner, but she works as a teacher, and so couldn't make arrangements for her entry fee." "And thus Antonia paid fee for her new bride?" Cynthia inquired. The pegasus nodded. "Y'see, A member can handle the entry fee for any potential candidate if necessary. It's usually done for somepony that has a lot of promise, but for some reason, isn't able to provide their own entry fee. Other times it's done because of marriage." "So it be possible to marry into the organization." "Yes, and we take strict precautions to make sure that the marriage itself is genuine." Starsong took a bite of her cheese-stuffed pepper. "It's not good for business if one partner has to keep their membership a secret from the other." "Such a secret would be ruinous for the marriage." Cynthia mused. "And calling ones spouse a mere associate be poor form in one's relationship." "And in Toola's case, she's loved Cheerilee for a long time." Cynthia looked over. "Curious. We would like to know how this came about." Starsong shrugged. "Kind of hard to say. Did it start on Toola's first day of school, when Cheerilee stepped in to handle two 3rd grade bullies? Did it start in high-school, when she beat up the captain of the hoofball team for dumping Toola in front of the lunchtime crowd? Did it start when they went to college together for a few years?" Cynthia nodded. "And what of thyself? Hast thou had such feelings for either of them?" Starsong blushed and giggled. "Now why'd you have to ask me that?" "Mere curiosity." Cynthia replied. "Thou needst not respond if thou desires not." The pegasus smiled. "Nah, It's cool." She rubbed one of her fetlocks. "To be honest. I love them both, but it's better that they be with each-other, than either one with me." "Thou wouldst needs be torn between thy spouse and mistress. Thy love for one would conflict thy loyalty to th'other." "But this way, I can forge my love and loyalty together." Starsong stated. "And thou art content to have thy love be unrequited?" Starsong took a sip of wine before replying. "I actually prefer it this way. True I'm giving up the opportunity for a family of my own, but this is what I want to do with my life." Cynthia mused. "I do not know if there be a word to describe thy choice. I would say a chivalric knight, but they adhere to creed from without, not feeling within." "To thine own self, be true." Starsong recited. "I serve Cheerilee and Toola because I love them, and I wouldst do anything for them. I be their little samurai." "Samurai?! Thou art unrestrained by law, but now thou sayest that thou art devoted to servitude in the name of love, even to the point of laying down thine own life for them? Starsong nodded. "If it become necessary, aye. And that doth make me one of the most dangerous ponies alive." Cynthia swirled her wineglass. "Thou wouldst have fit well with the Wonderbolts." "That be Rainbow Dash's dream, not mine." "Thou hast met Miss Dash then?" Cynthia inquired before taking a drink. Starsong nodded. "T'was during a temporary service to Ponyville. They needed extra pegasi to make up a lack, until Rainbow Dash could take over." Something that had been nagging at the unicorn demanded an answer. "How be it that thou speakest so fluently in the elder dialect? Most of the other nobility stumbles through as though distempered." "Tis part of my special talent." Starsong replied. "The ability to communicate with others. Music be a language like any other, and that is where my talent manifests most strongly, but I comprehend other tongues as well." "Thou wouldst have made a good diplomat as well." The pegasus grinned widely. "Who do you think handles negotiation?" Cynthia smirked. "And thou dost excel at it." She finished her pepper, then her wine. "But for now, let us go down together, and partake of some fun." "You bring the moon, I will bring the shine, Princess." Cynthia sputtered. "How now?" She glanced around, making sure nopony else was in earshot. Starsong giggled. "Relax, your secret's safe with me. But like you say, the other nobility stumbles through the dialect, because they lack your familiarity with it." "A change." Cynthia added. "We shall go outside, and I will share with you my version of moonshine." "Shine on, you crazy diamond." Starsong replied with a smirk. - - - The pair reclined on a large cloud, several dozen meters above the ground. After removing her disguise, Luna conjured a pair of clay bowls then began moving her horn in a figure 8 pattern. The dark indigo aura around her horn left a faint trail in the air that slowly lengthened with each sway of her head. Once Luna had managed to connect the end of the trail to her horn, Starsong noticed that the moonlight seemed to brighten inside the loops. The light gradually formed into a pair of pale white shimmering spots outlined by indigo. The spots then formed into globes that shone with the same light as the moon itself. Luna allowed these globes to melt, catching the liquid with the bowls. She passed one to Starsong. "Use caution, tis potent." She warned. The pegasus lifted her bowl with both hooves. "Be there aught we may drink to?" "Aye." Luna replied, a grin spreading across her muzzle. "We drink, to Fun." "To Fun, wherever and however we may find it." Starsong replied. "Or it, us." They clinked their bowls together, then sipped the condensed moonlight. Starsong lowered her bowl, then coughed a bit. "Are thou well?" The pegasus nodded. "I'm fine." She said between coughs. "It's just got a cold burn." Luna chuckled. "Did I forget to mention that? The error be mine." The pegasus rubbed her chest a bit, as she recovered her breath. "A Samurai who can't handle her liquor should hang up her swords." She remarked, before taking another sip. "Indeed." Luna replied. "Such hardiness be a boon in any kind of social setting." Starsong took a harmonica from her vest pocket, then began playing a tune. As she listened, Luna could picture a samurai pony wandering through the streets of a frontier town. The style and rhythm were certainly Neighponese in origin, and the sound of the harmonica fit in with what she knew of the 9th century genre. When she finished, Starsong looked over to Luna. "Did you like it?" "Aye, Twas a beautiful haunting ballad. And this be how thou percieveth thyself?" "Tis what I view as my ideal, but I am not there yet. There be something, that drives pegasi to be the heroes." She looked to the sky. "The gift of wind maybe. We left the ground behind and reached for the stars." She raised a hoof upwards. "Only to see them recede, as though they were afraid of us." She lowered her hoof. "I too have felt this." Luna replied. "The desire to be known and renowned for my deeds. And thy conjecture falls on at least one account. Fluttershy." "I am certain that she has her own goals and ambitions." Starsong replied. "Though they remain unknown to us."