//------------------------------// // Chapter: Eight. Grace, Posture, and Eating Utensils. // Story: I'm the Princess of Equestria!? // by OtakuBrony47 //------------------------------// "Ms. Celestia?" asked the tutor. "Do you even know where the ballroom is?" "Of course I do" I said, smiling. "Hopefully" I nervously murmured. I have been walking around the hallways of my castle for almost 6 minutes, and the tutor was getting a bit impatient. I really need to find that ballroom, less I start to arouse suspicion. I turned back to look at the tutor. She was less than pleased. With the click of her pen, she shook her head, and wrote in her notebook. I could actually hear her scribblings, the sound of her pen brushing against the paper. *Scribble, *Scribble, * Swipe! "*Tch, *Tch, *Tch, So far your overall grade is a C, Princess" she said. "My apologies," I said, "I swear were almost there." I lead the tutor down the long empty hallways, back and forth. We eventually found some doors, but they didn't lead to the ballroom. Just a random bedroom, some kind of storeroom, and... Oh wow, a tennis court! Man this castle has everything. I eventually I found the castle's ballroom. Turns out, it was back by the backyard courtyard. Of course it was. The tutor checked her watch. "Well, that took a few good minutes" she said. "Umm, yes, well..." I paused to clear my throat, "...Shall we begin?" "Indeed" she said. She reached into her purse and pulled out a sort of hardcover book. "Since were running behind schedule," she said, "We'll have to make this test of grace a quick and simple one." She walked over to and slowly placed the book on top of my head. "Now..." she said, before she was interrupted by the book immediately falling off my head. She pinched the side of her glasses and pulled them downward slight, looking down at the book. As she pushed her glass back up to her face, she picked up the hardcover book. "Let's try this again" she said. "I want you to walk, while balancing this book on your head." I nodded, and she slowly placed the book back on my head. Before I could take my first step however, the book and already fell off my head again. She hummed, curiously staring at me. She reached into her purse and took out her notebook, and wrote down some notes. "Well, this is going smoothly" I muttered sarcastically. She walked over behind me and held onto my waist, positioning my posture. She placed my arms to my sides, and picked my head up. "Straight, eyes up, and arms to the side" she instructed. With that, she placed the book back on head. I tried to remain still, as the book was now balanced on my head. I took a deep breathe in, and slowly exhaled. "Alright princess," said the tutor, "you may proceed." I slowly and carefully took one step. So far so good. I kept my back straight, and my arms held still on my sides. I took my second step. The book wobbled a bit, but it was still balanced. I slowly smiled. "So far so good" I thought. I took my third step, and that's where things took a turn. I heard a sudden sound of something snapping, breaking. And before I could react to what it was, I felt my left leg wobble, and I fall to the floor, as if though I had been tripped. The tutor gasped, and ran to help me up. "My goodness!" she cried, slowly picking up from the floor. "Are you okay?" The tutor asked. I replied with a nod, rubbing the upper thigh of my leg. "I'm alright" I added. I stared down to look at my shoes. It looks like one of my heels broke. That must've been the snapping sound I heard. "Oh my, your heel broke!" cried the tutor. I slowly frowned with curiosity in my eyes. "Yeah," I replied, "It appears so." Whatever happened, I can't stop to think about it. "Um, any chance I can try this bare footed?" I asked the tutor. "A little unorthodox, but given your situation, I'll allow it" she replied. I got back up and placed the hardcover book back on my head, this time making sure that it was perfectly positioned. I took a deep breathe in, and exhaled, again. This time, my hands were gently gripping the sides of my dress. I kept my back straight, and my head still; eyes forward. I took a few small steps. 1, 2, 3, rest. 1, 2... *THUD! I think of a swear word, and then exhale. "Let me try this again" I told the tutor. I tried again, placing the book back above my head. My hands are gently gripping the sides of my dress. My back is straight, my head still, and eyes staring forward. I repeated the same steps. "Steady," I say to myself, "small, gentle steps." So far so good. 4 steps in, going on my 5th. I felt the book tilting, and quickly halted in place, trying to remain still and balanced. I raise my arms up slightly to balance myself out. "Okay, calm down," I whisper t myself, "just rest, and continue slowly." I inhale and exhale again. Step, together, step... *THUD! The cycle continued. I had attempted this exercise almost 5 different times, with little progress. I take a few steps, and then the book falls. Not helping me is the fact that Sir Jackass with the dragon's tail might've cheated by braking my heels! "6th times the charm" I think. "7th times the charm" I say to myself. Finally, my frustration, catches up to me. As I take a Single Step on my 10th attempt. Just one small, slow step forward. Thump, falls the book. And I boil an anger as passionate as my angst teenage self could allow. "F**K!!!" I suddenly felt a sudden rush of panic. My eyes widen and I suddenly placed my hands over my mouth. My wings are spread out, and my tail twitches. "Did I REALLY just say that aloud?" I wondered. I looked back at the tutor. She had a surprised look on her face. I grinned sheepishly, blushing red as a tomato. The tutor didn't respond, she didn't say a word. She just wrote down another note in her notebook. Son of a bitch! I hope that doesn't raise suspicion. What am I saying! I just cursed Out Loud! No sh*t that that's going to make people curious, dumbass! YOUR SUPPOSE TO BE ACTING LIKE A PRINCESS!! I shake my head, come back to reality. I nervously laughed, and turned away from her, slapping my forehead. "I'm such a dumbass!" I wined to myself. I walked over to pick up the book to try again, but the tutor stopped me, placing her hand on my shoulder. "Umm, why don't we move on to Posture and Table Etiquette" she said. I sadly frowned, asking for just one more chance. "Don't worry dear, its alright, not many princesses can do the Book Exercise perfectly as well. Besides we are running a little behind schedule." She took my hand, and walked me over to one of the ballroom dining tables. "Your grace needs improvement," the tutor said, "but let's see if you can at least maintain proper posture when sitting." She pulled out a chair from under the table. "Take a seat princess" she instructed. "Show me your sitting posture." I nodded in response, and walked over to the seat. Shouldn't be too hard, I began to think. As I squatted to sit down, I felt a cold chill run pass my spine, followed by the sound of scrapping. Before I could react to it though, I feel a sudden jolt in my lower body as I bent my knees and lowered my butt cheeks to the seat. Then I realized what that scrapping sound was. Someone, or something, had pulled the chair away from under me. "OW! What the--" The tutor, gasped as she ran over to help me up. As I'm slowly picked up from the floor, I catch a glimpse of something exiting from the ballroom. It looked like some kind of snakelike creature. I shook my head in disbelief. The tutor stands me up, and stares at me with concern. "Are you alight?" she asks. "Yeah, I'm fine" I replied. "That's twice you've fallen today" she added. "Are you feeling okay, Princess?" I nervously giggled, making a sheepish grin. "Oh, I'm fine ma'am. Just a little bit clumsy today I guess" I replied. She raised an eyebrow as she wrote down some more on her notebook. I gulped nervously. She turned me around, facing the table, and pushed the chair towards me, touching the back of my knees, causing me to jerk my body a little. "Alright, princess" she began to instruct, "gently squat, and bring your bottom to the seat of the chair." I giggled at how odd that sounded, before complying with her instructions. She then walked around me, probably examining how I sit. I quickly looked forward, trying to avoid eye contact. My back propped up straight, my hands resting on my knees, and my legs closed. "Hmm, good" said the tutor. A beat of sweat fell from the side of my forehead. I inhale some air, and exhale once more. My wings twitch a little as she places her hand on my shoulder and examines my back. "Hmm" she hummed. "Your posture is good" she announced. I smiled, delighted to hear those words. "Now then, let us move on to table etiquette" she said, as she pushed my chair in towards the table. The tutor then takes a seat in front of me. We are now sitting across from each other. I nervously swallowed, resting my arms on top the table. The tutor stares at me with a surprised look on her face. "Princess," she said, "one does not place her elbows on the table." a sheepish grin once again comes across my face, and I nervously laugh as I lower my arms down to my lap. The tutor and I share an awkward glance for a moment before she continued. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a set of various spoons, knives, forks, and other utensils. I raised an eyebrow as she sat them all down on the table in front of me. "Alright then, let us now move on to table etiquette" she instructed. She handed me a set of utensils: 3 spoons, 4 forks, 3 knives, and napkin. I stared at each individual utensil, each one appeared to have a different size and shape. I look back at the tutor, who began her lecture. "Now, to start off, I want to know if you remember the types utensils" she said. "I'm going to name a utensils, and you have to figure out which one these is that utensil." I stared at with confusion and fear. What did she mean by that? Did spoons and knives come in types? "Is that understood?" I asked. I stared at her for a while before I replied with nervous, "Yes ma'am." The tutor smiles and pulls out her notebook. "Let's begin" the tutor began. "Firstly. Which on these is the Teaspoon?" I slowly frowned. "Teaspoon?" I thought to myself. Like, a measuring teaspoon? No that's stupid. Why would someone eat with a measuring spoon? I stared at the 3 spoons I had before me. "Teaspoon" the tutor reminded me. "Please, take your time" she added. I replied with nod, as I examined each spoon. I quickly noticed that each spoon looked different. One was really small. Another just had a really long handle. And the other was medium-length with a really wide scooper. Or whatever you call the part of the spoon that you scoop with. Not wanting to waste time with this, I just make an educated guess. A teaspoon is small. So I assume its the littlest one. "Sorry, Princess," said the tutor, "but that is not the teaspoon." "Oh I knew THAT" I said nervously as I tried to pass it off as a joke. The tutor stare blankly at me as she wrote down in her notebook. I bite my lip, and frown fearfully. "Your blowing it!" I thought myself. I set the spoon back down and go for a more probable choice, the small spoon with the longer handle. I nervously hold it up to the tutor. Sure enough, "Good" praised the tutor. I slowly smiled in delight as I exhaled a breathe of relief. "Now, show which one is... the Soup Spoon?" I nodded and looked at the remaining spoons. The small one and the one with the wider, scooping thingy. I smirked and rolled my eyes, as it was pretty obvious which spoon it was. I hold up the wide scoop spoon. "Excellent" the tutor continued. "Of course spoons aren't ALL part of table utensils." She stared at with a slight smirk, and a raised eyebrow. I smirk a smile and raise an eyebrow back at her. I guess she's ready to take it up a notch. I'm ready to get this over with. "Which one of these forks is... the Salad Fork?" I instantly frowned. I now turn to look at the forks. There was one really small, one that was really long, long points as well, and two that honestly looked rather identical. I slowly began to panic. And assuming you guys probably don't care about hearing about utensils, I'm just skip ahead and get on with my story. Eventually the test was over and I was able to name all the utensils. With only 32 mistakes. Hooray. The tutor wrote down the results in her notebook, as I anxiously stared. The tutor looks up at me. "Now, let's move on to the Manners portion of the test. I smiled and nodded. "Pfft, piece of cake!" I thought to myself. The tutor pushed her glasses closer to her face, and began. "Okay," she said, "what's the first thing you do when you arrive at the table?" she asked. I sat up straight and gently cleared my throat. "You, wait for everyone to be seated before sitting on the chair yourself" I said. "Good" replied the tutor. I grinned a little as she continued. "After everyone has been seated?" "Place napkin on lap." "Correct." This was going to be a cake walk, I thought to myself. "Now, on to stage 2. You're meal has been served: Chicken cordon Bleu. How would you eat it?" said the tutor. "How would I what?" I asked. "Eat it?" replied the tutor. "Show me how to eat this type of dish, by using the available utensils in front of you" she instructed. I look blankly at her face for brief moment, before she raised an eyebrow with concern. Without even taking an eye off me, she wrote more notes in her notebook. I am So F**ked!