Focus: Rose
As she exits the hotel, she realizes that she made a mistake in telling the others that she is going to do something specific.
Is it such a problem though? Ive never really had to hide myself this well in a very long time… Vedaria keeps telling me ‘Its alright Petonia, nobody will discover that its you…’ Its not like I'm in danger or anything! Rose ducks into a nearby alley, and brings out a tiny beetle-shaped two-way scrying stone. She activates it, and waits for her queen to respond.
Ping
“Darnit. Its not working. Why is it not working? She must not be available right now. Ill call later.” She deactivates the stone and places it back in her mane, where a hidden bag is stored to keep the stone secret.
Although… I guess I will go shopping. Its not a bad idea, and it keeps appearances. Im juuust a healer alicorn that likes to be around happy people.
Totally not a changeling at all…
Several minutes later…
Focus Swap: Ventian
As Livar shows Ventian around the town, Livar asks what Ventian likes to eat.
“Oh well, anything healthy? Sometimes I just… eat bread. Water is about the only think I drink too. Oh! I do like chocolate, thats the only candy I enjoy. Ill eat an entire head of lettuce sometimes, I also-“
Livar interrupts his talking by saying, “Have you ever had a hayburger?”
Ventian blinks and his walking slows down a bit, but he speeds back up and asks. “No? Aren't those very unhealthy though?”
Livar grins. “Yea, they are. You'll like them though, the place we’re going to makes them good.”
Ventian frowns. “That wasn't proper grammar. You should have said ‘The place we are going to is good at making them.’”
Livar just chuckles. “Whatever, not everyone uses perfect grammar. Cmon, over this way, I see the place.” Livar speeds up towards a building that has several tables and chairs outside, some filled with people eating various food items.
I hope I don't regret this, but I'm too hungry to care right now.
Ventian decides that he doesn't regret coming with, and that hayburgers are the best thing ever.
After basically inhaling three of the hayburgers, Livar speaks up.
“Hey, don't choke on those! Hahaha… yeah, I thought you might like this. I know you never had ‘em because you said you only eat and drink completely clean, healthy stuff.”
Livar got some potato fries and a few carrots, while Ventian got one hayburger to try it out, and afterwards decided to get two more and a few carrots on the side
“Yea, and I was expecting it to taste bad, but this is amazing!” Ventian remarks after swallowing what was in his mouth. “I don't think I've ever tasted anything like it before.”
Both continue to eat their food for a few minutes, when Ventian asks, “Hey, how old are you?”
Livar bites into a carrot. “Im twenty seven. How old are you?”
“Nineteen.”
The unicorn’s eyes open wide, he swallows and replies. “What?! Nineteen years old?!” Livar, not expecting this, speaks a little too loud.
“Um, yeah? Is that surprising? How old did you think I was?”
“I dunno, but not that young.” Livar answers honestly after calming down. “So… have you ever had any friends before?”
“Not really. The- my father told me that friends are a distraction, but I didn't really see why. I mean, friends help each other, right?”
“Yeah, that's right. He must have never had friends before if thats his opinion.”
“Oh yeah. He really doesn't socialize much, not even with me. Too busy being-“ Ventian cuts himself off before he can say too much.
Leaning in, Ventian whispers, “Why do we need to keep that a secret again?”
Livar rolls his eyes before speaking in a whisper as well. “Because if we attract too much attention, we will never get anywhere.”
“Oh. That makes sense.” Leaning back in his seat, Ventian speaks normally once more.
“Hey, thanks for paying, Ventian.” Livar says after a moment.
“It wasn't that much, just eight gold and five silver.” The prince shrugs.
“Thats… not unreasonable actually. I mean, you did show those other coins the other day like they were nothing, so I guess its fine.” Livar putting emphasis on the first ‘other’.
“Well, actually I know they are a lot, and I didn't think they were nothing. Myth- err. I mean, those coins are a lot and I know that. They just happened to be the first coins i felt with my magic, thats all.” Ventian frowns, catching his words as he knows the mere mention of mythril bits tend to make the more greedy people salivate.
“Alright, we should probably get back to the hotel. I wanna make sure Leva put my stuff in the right place. You would be surprised at how lost she can get without me.” Livar remarks, chuckling while shaking his head a bit.
As Livar finishes the last of his fries, both males get up from their seats and begin to walk towards the hotel.
A minute later, Ventian sees Rose at a jewelry cart buying some kind of green necklace. Is that jade or emerald? I cant tell from here. Oh shes putting it back, must be too expensive. Why does she look like she-
“Whatcha looking at?” Livar speaks, having stopped to try and see what Ventian was looking at.
“I see Rose over there, see? Whats she buying?” Ventian points to said alicorn mare.
“I dunno, looks like jewelry? Typical mare stuff, no need to be bothered by it. Lets go, I'm sure shes fine and will get back to the hotel when shes done.” Livar motions for Ventian to follow.
“Alright then, if you say so…” Ventian continues to walk alongside Livar, deciding that he's right and that Rose is doing normal stuff.
I don't know why, but I feel like she was just faking. Ive seen people look at jewelry in the castle before with envy, but thats not what her face was conveying… More like she just needed an excuse to… to what? I don't know, maybe its nothing. Shaking his head, Ventian decides its not worth thinking about.
As the two ponies enter room 125, Leva’s head swivels from the book she was reading to the door. She perks up at the sight of Livar.
“Hey, you're back! So what did you guys get to eat?” She says as Ventian looks around the room.
Its a sizable room, with two bunk-beds with a sort of small staircase on the end to let quadrupeds up, both on either side of the room, with a window on the far end of the room looking out at… a wall of another building. Next to the entrance is a single person bathroom with a sink, toilet, and shower.
Finally, a shower!
While Livar and Leva talk, Ventian enters the bathroom to take a shower when he suddenly felt the urge to use the toilet.
An hour later, Ventian exits the bathroom feeling the most clean he's been in a week. As he walks out, he discovers that Livar is gone, and Leva is back to reading her book.
“Hey, wheres Livar?” He asks the mare.
She looks up at him and replies, “Oh, he just went next door to talk to Vedaria. Apparently Rose still isn't back. Seems she really likes it here. Those two, Vedaria and Rose I mean, helped found this place a while back or something.”
“Wait, what? Seriously?” Ventian asks, surprised.
Leva’s eyes suddenly open wide. “Oh, I probably shouldn't have said that. I mean, not like thats a big deal right?” She finishes with a sheepish look.
“I guess not? But, Vedaria mentioned something about the mayor earlier when we got into town. Do you know something about that?”
Leva shakes her head. “No, I just overheard Vedaria tell that to Livar one time.”
“Alright then…” Ventian trails off, thinking.
So Vedaria and Rose founded this place? Is that why she was surprised at the caravan tax thing? Does that mean she’s friends with the mayor or something? ‘If only the mayor wasn't’ what? Greedy? Something else? Im so confused right now. Should I ask Vedaria about all this? Maybe I should find Rose first, Vedaria seems like she keeps the most secrets, she might not want to talk about it.
Ventian looks outside, wanting to see the time, but all he sees through the window is a wall. So he decides to exit the room saying, “Leva, I'm going outside for a bit. Im probably also going to look for Rose.”
As he exits the building, he looks up and sees that the sun is almost at the top of the tree line.
Okay, its getting late. Im definitely going to look for Rose.
Walking in a random direction, he walks past an alley and hears a voice speaking.
“Alright Petonia, keep it up. Its alright if you don't find my sister, you don't have to worry about that anymore.”
He hears a familiar voice speak back. “Yes my queen, deactivating scry-stone.”
Rose? Who was she talking to? And ‘my queen?’ My mother disappeared years ago, who was…
Walking into the alley, he sees a green flash and Rose is there, facing away from him. She turns to walk out of the alley when she sees him watching her with wide eyes and a face full of confusion. Her eyes widen in fear as Ventian asks a simple question.
“What. The hell. Was that?!”
Two minutes earlier…
Focus Swap: Rose/Petonia
As Rose walks back towards the hotel entrance after making sure Ventian and Livar weren't coming back out for some reason, she hears her scry-stone beep.
Oh! Shes calling, better get into an alley so nobody will see…
Ducking into a smallish space between two buildings, she shapeshifts into a smaller version of her true self to reduce the chance of being found, and brings out the insect-shaped stone and activates it.
The false beetle glows green and a voice can be heard. “Petonia, are you alone? Why did you call earlier? Is there an update?”
“Yes, my Queen. Sorry about that, I forgot what day it was. We left the capitol, but before we could, King Aerlan demanded our presence! For a moment I thought I had been discovered, but he just wanted to have his son, the prince, come with us for some reason.”
“I see… and has the Prince discovered your true nature?”
“Heh, he doesn't seem to be the type to care if he did know. He is very reasonable and nice, even Livar softened up to him! And its all genuine, he has almost no negativity in him. I’d almost be convinced that he's not royalty if it wasn’t so obvious.” She remarks.
The queen seems to pause at this. “Are you sure, that if he discovered you, that he wouldn't attempt to harm you?”
After a moment of thinking, Petonia replies. “Im sure that I could get away if he tries anything, he seems more the type to want answers. By the way, is there any new information on my mission yet?” She asks.
“Actually, there is, but you don't need it.”
“Understood. Also, I found out something from the prince that you probably should know just in case. Apparently, an ancestor of his, at the end of the last dragon-alicorn war, died in a fight against the dragons king and his son lied about it. You probably know what I'm talking about. Those dragons may want that information as it would destroy any reluctance they have for invading. That would be good for us as the dragons will likely only target alicorns, who remain the biggest threat to us.” She finishes.
“Alright Petonia, keep it up. Its alright if you don't find my sister, you don't have to worry about that anymore.”
Rose just bows her head slightly, and replies. “Yes my queen, deactivating scry-stone.”
The stone turns off, Rose turns back into her alicorn form, and turns around.
To see Ventian standing there, mouth open and eyes widened in shock, nothing but confusion radiating off him.
OH SHIT!! HOW MUCH DID HE SEE?! HOW MUCH DID HE HEAR?! CAN I- Her frantic thoughts are interrupted by Ventian speaking.
“What. The hell. Was that?!”