VIII- Gentleman
As Gerald neared the outskirts of Ponyville, he began to consider the events of the past few days, foremost amongst them, meeting Princess Celestia. Being an avid monarchist, he had been in awe of her presence, but not simply because she was a monarch. Celestia spoke, and carried herself in such a manner that Gerald envied. When he had first realized that she, this majestic equine matriarch, was the ruler of these lands, he had been near dumbfounded. The only reason he had been able to speak is that he had practiced what he would say if he should ever be so fortunate to meet a reigning monarch, thousands of times before. With Celestia's flowing mane, sparkling eyes, and lithe body, in a strange way Gerald had even found her... beautiful. Gerald quickly stamped that thought out of his mind. She was a equine animal, not a human. Gerald had never even shown any interest in either gender of his own species, let alone a sentient animal. Gerald laughed at the ridiculousness of that thought. He assumed that he did not find Celestia beautiful but... majestic, a perfect image of a monarch.
Gerald's first stop in Ponyville was Rarity's boutique, to see if she had finished any of the clothes that he had ordered. The boutique itself was open at the time of his arrival, so he simply walked in. Rarity was hard at work on a dress, when Gerald entered she did not even notice. "Excuse me Rarity."
Rarity seemed to flinch as she was drawn away from her work which she had become so engrossed in. She turned to Gerald and smiled "Gerald! It is a pleasure to see you again."
"The pleasure is all mine Miss Rarity." Gerald gave a slight bow.
Rarity blushed, thinking how nice it was to finally know somepony who knew how to treat a lady properly.
"I have come to check in upon your progress concerning the clothing I had requested. As well, I was wondering if it would be possible for you to repair my current attire." Gerald motioned toward the tears in the seams of his coat and trousers.
"I can most definitely fix up your clothes dearie!" Rarity waved her hoof as if to say that repairing clothes was the simplest of tasks. "As well I have a set of daytime attire and one set of evening clothes ready for you to try out." Rarity hurried over to a nearby wardrobe, eager to show Gerald her beautiful creations.
Gerald gasped as she pulled the clothing out of the wardrobe. "It, it is... astounding Rarity!"
"Thank you Gerald, I put some extra time and effort into these on your behalf." Rarity attempted to hold the clothing at it's full length to show Gerald, but even standing on her hind hooves they still dragged on the floor. She delicately handed Gerald the costume she had created for him. As he held it before him in awe Rarity explained the details of the outfit "The jacket, vest, cape and trousers are made from blue velvet, lined with silk, and embroidered with gold thread, the buttons are gold encrusted with sapphires, the shirt, ascot, stockings, and gloves are silk, the shoes are gold buckled, the cane is gold topped, and the hat is gold lined as well with a peacock feather to finish the look." Rarity smiled, extremely proud of her finished product.
Gerald was dumfounded. "Rarity, you know that I cannot afford gold trimming, sapphires, and silk! I have nothing but a few silver coins with which to repay you!"
Rarity was already retrieving the evening wear that she had made for Gerald. "It is no problem really. It is to my benefit to have you so elegantly clothed anyways, with all those ponies staring at you, due to your... unusual appearance, you will be advertising my business. Just remember to say where you had your outfit made!" She handed Gerald the second outfit, a red velvet housecoat, lined with silk, and with Gerald's initials GHW embroidered in gold on the left breast pocket, along with a pair of red slippers to match. "So, what do you think?" asked Rarity.
"This is most definitely the most expensive and beautiful attire I have ever had the pleasure to SEE let alone wear!" Gerald set the clothing down on a nearby table, and embraced Rarity.
"Umm, so I guess you like it..." Rarity said, surprised by Gerald's somewhat spontaneous reaction.
Gerald immediately stepped back from her "Forgive me Rarity, I was just so happy with your creations I forgot myself."
"No no dearie, hugging is fine, it was just... unexpected." Rarity gave Gerald a reassuring smile.
"I am glad I did not offend you Miss Rarity." Gerald bowed elegantly.
Rarity looked worriedly back toward her sewing machine. "I would love to chat longer Gerald, but I really must be getting back to work. Would you care to meet for tea afterwords? Say we meet here around five o'clock?"
Gerald was taken aback that this at least somewhat famous designer would care to spend any further time in his company. "I would be honoured madam."
"Excellent, see you later Gerald!" said Rarity, returning to her work.
"Miss Rarity, might I ask if you have a changing room here? I would like to change into my new clothing before I leave, so I may leave my old clothing here, to be repaired."
"Oh, yes, we do in fact!" Rarity pointed her hoof in the direction of a booth walled off from the rest of the room by fabric.
When Gerald was done changing he thanked Rarity again, and then was on his way.
As Gerald left the Boutique Rarity sighed, "Now only if I could find a stallion like that."
Gerald's next destination was Twilight's library. As a historian he felt that he should have some knowledge of Equestrian history, especially that of the monarchy. Also, Gerald wondered if Twilight could help him figure out more about where he had found the black diamond currently residing in his kitbag. Just like Rarity's boutique Twilight's library was open, so Gerald simply walked inside.
"Miss Sparkle?" Gerald called as he entered the library.
"Gerald? Is that you?" came Twilight's voice from upstairs.
"Indeed it tis!" A few of the books that were already opened caught Gerald's attention, they had similar markings to the ones that he had seen in the building where he had found the gem.
"I'm just gonna be a minute, feel free to make yourself at home!" Twilight called from upstairs.
Gerald walked over to the book and placed a marker on the page it was opened to. The book was large, with pages that were somewhat yellowed by time. Gerald checked the title: The History of Nightmare Moon. That would indeed explain the series of crescent moons that had decorated the room in which he had found the diamond. Gerald quickly opened the book to the index, looking for anything that would be relevant to his search. As he scanned the lines one of them immediately caught his eye. Nightmare Moon's Dark Army, Pages 1077-1235. Gerald quickly flipped to this section, forgetting about the diamond for a moment. As he casually browsed the pages he noted that the Dark Army was said to consist of only one hundred soldiers. "One hundred soldiers?" Gerald laughed to himself, "how could someone call one hundred soldiers an army!"
"Ah, the History of Nightmare Moon." Gerald had not noticed Twilight walking up behind him. "So you are learning about the new Princess as well?" Twilight asked Gerald.
"The New Princess?" Gerald was confused, wasn't Princess Celestia the Princess?
"Yes, the new Princess, Nightmare Moon aka Princess Luna, Celestia's sister!" Twilight was almost bouncing with excitement, teaching others about things, especially things that she was interested in, was the funnest thing ever for her!
"So, who rules the country now?" Gerald stroked his beard slowly and adjusted his glasses.
"Both the Princesses, of course." Twilight said it like the explanation was obvious.
Gerald thought for a moment, closing his eyes. He opened them suddenly. "A multitude of rulers is not a good thing. Let there be one ruler, one king."
"A king? We don't have a king!" Twilight said, searching her mind for the most relevant source she could lend Gerald on the governance of Equestria.
"I know you don't have a king, I was quoting one of the great works of writing,from where I am from, Homer's the Iliad." Gerald said, looking back to the book. "I am inclined to agree with him, how is it you can have two rulers of equal status?"
"Easy, they just agree on a course of action." Twilight was confused, why would having two rulers be a problem? Her tutors had always said to her: Two heads are better than one!
"And if they don't agree?" Gerald asked.
"Well, then they come up with a compromise!" Twilight thought these conclusions were most elementary.
"Wrong!" Gerald pointed to a paragraph in the book. "It says in here that when your two Princesses last disagreed Luna 'threatened to remove the sun for all eternity' and Celestia 'banished her to the moon for a thousand years.' "
"Luna was under the influence of some dark force, that is NOT how disputes are usually resolved in Equestria." Twilight explained.
Gerald nodded. "Very well, I came here to learn more about the monarchy's history at any rate, do you have any books on that topic?"
Twilight smiled widely. "Do I ever!" She looked toward the stairs "Spike, I need your help getting Gerald some books!"
"Ugh... coming Twilight!" came the response.
By the time Gerald left the library he had almost as many books as he could carry, and that was only half of the titles Twilight had suggested! He set the books on a nearby bench and checked his pocket watch, it was almost five o'clock. Gerald retrieved the books and began walking toward Rarity's boutique. Gerald arrived at almost five o'clock exactly.
"I am very sorry, but we are closing!" Rarity was returning her tools to their correct places, and could not see the customer who had entered the boutique.
"It is Gerald!"
"Ah, Gerald!" Rarity walked into the foyer of the boutique. "I had not expected you to be so punctual, I must take a moment to prepare myself for our outing."
"Very well Miss Rarity, I shall wait here." Gerald sat down in one of the chairs, although too small, it was still comfortable.
Rarity nearly ran up the stairs. 'I wish he did not arrive so soon!' as she passed the washroom she stole a look in the mirror. Her mane was slightly out of place, with a few stray hairs beginning to appear. She immediately went into her room to correct this. As she entered she thought of the lavish outfit that Gerald was wearing. She had to find and outfit that matched! By the time she had made herself look perfect Gerald had been waiting half an hour.
"Forgive me for making you wait so long Gerald!" Rarity descended the stairs from her private quarters.
Gerald was astounded at the time that Rarity had put into her appearance. Her hair was perfect, styled as par usual. She had selected a purple dress, with gold embroidery to match Gerald's blue and gold attire.
"You look spectacular Miss Rarity!" Gerald shook his head "You did not need to go through such great effort for this outing."
"But I did my dear!" Rarity waved her hoof in front of her. "I could not allow myself to be out-dressed by my associates in public!"
Gerald smiled, it was uncanny how much this unicorn thought like him.
As Gerald and Rarity walked to Les Feuilles, the most fashionable restaurant in the Ponyville, they were sighted by Rainbowdash and Pinky Pie, who had just finished playing the most hilarious prank on Spike.
"Did you see the look on his face?" Rainbowdash was in tears with laughter.
"Yeah, it was priceless!" Pinky Pie was jumping excitedly in a circle around Rainbowdash, who had just caught sight of Gerald and Rarity.
"Oh no Pinky Pie, now theres two of them!" Rainbowdash dragged her hooves down her face.
"Two of what?" Pinky Pie stopped abruptly.
"Two of them!" Rainbowdash pointed her hoof toward Gerald and Rarity.
"Two Geralds, or two Raritys?" Pinky Pie looked confused.
"No Pinky, not two of them, two hoighty-toighty ponies in Ponyville!"
"Gerald isn't a Pony, silly!" Pinky Pie laughed.
"Pinky, you don't understand! Now when Rarity says that we play dressup for fun, Gerald will support her! I don't want to have my mane styled!"
Meanwhile Rarity and Gerald had just sat down for tea. "Just two teas for now dearie." Rarity said to the waiter.
"Right away Miss Rarity." The waiter, who had been staring at the beautiful mare since she had arrived, reluctantly returned to the interior of the establishment.
Gerald had noticed the waiter's stare. "Does it not bother you Miss?"
"Does what bother me?" asked Rarity, looking up from the menu she had been reading.
"Having stallions stare at you like that?"
Rarity laughed. "I consider it a sign that I am doing a good job!"
"Ah, yes, I guess it is a sign of that." Gerald chuckled.
"I'm certain that where you are from you have mares staring at you all the time!" Rarity gestured toward Gerald.
Gerald smiled awkwardly "Not particularly, I am not considered a very attractive human."
"Why ever not?"
"Well, I have never really considered that. I assume it is due to the fact that I am slightly larger than average, not particularly strong, the beard possibly..." Gerald stroked his beard slowly.
"Unfortunate, but surely your excellent taste in fashion and good manners more than make up for any undesirable physical traits?" Rarity pointed her hoof at Gerald's glittering attire.
"This attire is not... common from where I come from to say the least, and my mannerisms are somewhat dated..." Gerald adjusted his jacket.
"Poor Gerald." Rarity placed her hoof gently upon Gerald's forearm.
"Not at all actually!" Gerald adjusted his ascot. "I have never really taken any interest in finding a partner at any rate."
"Really?"
By this time the waiter had returned with the tea. As he walked over to serve the tea he dropped one of the teaspoons, it seemed to Gerald that he had done so purposefully. "Oh, sorry about that!" he said. As he leaned over to retrieve the spoon he treated himself to an excellent view of Rarity's posterior regions.
Gerald slammed his chair back from the table. "Sir I must protest!"
Rarity looked from Gerald to the waiter, wondering what was going on.
"Is the tea unsatisfactory sir?" The waiter stood and set the tea upon the table.
"Sir, you know very well what I am protesting to, and I advise you apologize to Miss Rarity." Gerald said coldly.
"I have no idea what you are talking about sir." the waiter turned to walk back into the restaurant.
Gerald grabbed the waiter by his collar, eliciting a distressed yelp as he dragged the waiter back to the table.
"I said apologize sir." Gerald growled.
"Unhand me this instant!" the waiter squirmed to get out of Gerald's grasp.
"I shall ask you one last time: apologize to Miss Rarity."
"For what?!"
Gerald grabbed the waiter by his tail and collar, and threw him into the street, directly into a mud puddle. The manager of the restaurant, who had heard the commotion, came running to see what was going on. "What is wrong, what are you doing?!" He waved his hooves in distress.
Gerald turned to the manager "You really must teach your staff some manners, until then, neither I nor Miss Rarity will return here." Gerald plucked his cape, hat and cane from the table. "I bid you good day sir!" Gerald stormed off, pulling a confused Rarity behind him.
Rarity pulled away from Gerald "What are you doing?"
Gerald took a deep breath "The waiter insulted you, I asked him to apologize and he refused."
"Insulted me?"
"He behaved in a most ungentlemanly fashion. He dropped that teaspoon on purpose."
Rarity paused as she realized what Gerald was speaking of "You didn't have to do that you know."
"I know, but defending the honour of a lady is of the upmost importance to me." Gerald turned as he draped his cape around his shoulders.
Rarity took Gerald by the hand "You really are a true gentlecolt."
Gerald smiled "You flatter me Miss Rarity. Might I have the honour of escorting you home?"
"Certainly sir." Rarity placed her forehoof around Gerald's arm.
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Rainbowdash jumped from the alleyway, almost crashing into Gerald and Rarity.
"He is all covered in mud!" Pinkie Pie laughed, pointing toward the waiter, who was now being berated by his manager.
Rainbowdash flew so she was parallel with Gerald's face "You were all like: "Apologize!" And he was like: "What?" And then you threw him into the mud! AWESOME!"
Rarity and Gerald looked at each other for a moment, then burst out in laughter.
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Being a man is a matter of age,
but being a Gentleman is a matter of choice. indeed.
5407741
Very well said sir.
5407751 Indeed. Just like when i read some book and drink tea in a night. oh yeah..that really good that day.
It seems that Gerald really likes Princess Celestia
What's wrong with humans, or are you just a Xenophobe? Rich coming from an Element of Harmony.
Na, jokes