Rarity stood in a solitary corner of the room in an outfit that made some of the surrounding nobles look like paupers in comparison. Wonderful white lace decorated the outfit, adding an indescribable beauty to the accompanying colors. Not to mention, of course, the wonderful hat that rested atop her perfectly arranged hair. She was, if nothing else, fantastic at the creation and use of her craft. Her stunning beauty drew glances of envy from the other party goers and, indeed, Rarity would have easily been able to keep the company of almost every bachelor if she were out in the open, but that was not what her intentions were this Grand Galloping Gala. No, she had other things to attend to.
Which is precisely what she had told her friends when they insisted she come with them to the various activities planned for the more enthusiastic party goers. A phrase which here means “something to keep them from causing a large commotion again and causing throes of mayhem as they had the last time they were present.”
Rarity turned her gaze around the room, looking for the stallion who she had intended to meet at her first gala and had once again been the deciding factor in her presence to this one, even if she would never admit it. The reasons were shockingly different of course, but they both regrettably involved him and she would only need to stomach his presence for a moment or two this time around. She spotted him a fair distance off, mingling amongst a group of nobles who were vying for his attention. After she had taken a moment to reassert her plan in her mind, Rarity boldly approached him with a noble gait.
Blueblood, the stuck-up snob who believed he knew everything, who took the terminology of ego and would make others believe it belonged solely to him. He was her target. She had entertained dreams of revenge, of making him scream once again like a little girl in front of the collection of her peers. But, after a series of events with her friends, she came to the realization that that wouldn’t be fitting. They always did manage to do that, have experiences that showed a good trait and how much better it was on the whole than its negative reflection.
She had come to realize that she had an image to stick up to, to set an example for her younger sister most importantly. But, she also needed to represent herself favorably to potential buyers. Luckily enough, this time they aligned. So today, she was not there for an over planned plot which would lead to the demise of the ‘prince’. Rather, she was there to be the bigger pony and apologize.
She stepped nearer, waiting until she was close enough to talk to him so as to insure an uninterrupted apology; she might not be able to muster her courage should she be cut off. It was from this nearby, but unnoticed, position that she was given the perfect point of view as he took a slight step back and inadvertently caused a pony to trip over him. Which, as far as things Blueblood could do, wasn’t all that bad. Rather, it was how he handled himself in response to the act that made Rarity angry. Blueblood whirled on the offender, looking down at him with an air of superiority. The pony, in turn, managed to mumble out an apology that went largely unnoticed by the prince.
“I really am sorry,” he said with a light hearted tone, smiling at the prince despite the frown he was receiving in response. “I suppose I’m still not as sure of my step as I think I am,” the stallion continued as he managed to get back up to his feet. “My name’s—” His introduction was cut short by Blueblood coughing loudly then looking pointedly towards the stallion who took a confused look to heart and expression.
“I do not wish to hear your name. I make sure only to hear the names of important ponies, so that I will always remember them and not have their names diluted by the names of commoners,” he stated, the sounds of agreement coming from the nobles that surrounded him encouraging him onwards through his words. “You apologized, though really, I suspect you didn’t mean it nor care as much as you could have.” The prince brushed a hoof against his coat, making sure it was clean. “Now leave me be.”
Rarity hadn’t heard more than a few minutes of the fool’s blather and already she was angry with him. To interrupt an introduction was incredibly rude, and yet here was Blueblood not even giving a second thought. The high and mighty prince looked down on the stallion, feigning superiority. His eyes seemed to evaluate his victim, judging him silently, then, without another word, he turned his head away, no longer interested in the one whom he had tripped, even if it had been by accident.
“Hey!” Rarity shouted, primarily to catch his attention before he lost himself in more ego massaging with the nearby nobles. “That was incredibly rude.” She approached the scene of the confrontation, immediately drawing the attention of the nearby ponies who looked on, expecting a coming war of words.
“Ugh, look, I’d rather not have to talk to you. Can’t you just go away?” Blueblood said, looking at Rarity with a degree of disgust.
“Excuse me? You expect me to just—” She was cut off as a hoof brushed against hers, causing her to look. The stallion who had tripped looked back at her with an understanding face, and for a moment, Rarity was completely caught off guard as her eyes met the gaze of two tranquil pools staring back at her. He looked into hers for a while longer before a kowtowing smile covered his face and he turned his eyes quickly back to Blueblood.
“I’m very sorry for interrupting your night,” he said simply, earning him a muffled reply from Blueblood. The words that exited the prince’s mouth could be described as quite a lot of things, but an apology wasn’t one of them. Using a small degree of force, the stallion managed to drag Rarity away without another word. She looked angrily towards the stallion as they walked, upset at the one pulling her lightly, having been interrupted from giving Blueblood a piece of her mind. She was about to vocalize her thoughts, but the stallion cut her off before she could so much as exhale a syllable.
“He’s not worth it, you know,” he said with a calming voice, glancing at her from beneath his eyebrows. Rarity looked back, taken aback but finding that she agreed with the words he spoke. “He doesn’t deserve attention, but people give it to him, so he thrives on it. If you really want to get back at him, I would highly recommend ignoring him,” the stallion continued, moving his gaze around the room, but avoiding, in particular, the lingering eyes of those who had been expecting a show and were upset to find there wouldn’t be one. His words held an odd feeling to them: quiet to avoid drawing attention, but powerful.
“You sound like you’ve met him before,” Rarity said in response, her emotions of rage and anger melting away quickly under the fire of curiosity kindled in her mind. “But I can’t say I’ve ever seen you at any of the big how-to-do’s I’ve been to here in Canterlot.” As she spoke, her eyes searched his features, looking for a familiarity that she may have overlooked, but nothing stuck out to her memory.
“This was our first meeting face to face, but the rumors I’ve heard about him seem to describe him perfectly, given how he acted just then. I’m fairly certain of his character, and it’s one I’ve seen in an unfortunately high amount before I arrived in Canterlot,” he said, confirming Rarity’s thought that he wasn’t a local. It was obvious in the way he held himself as he walked; it lacked the steady, forceful steps that seemed to rub off on those who were raised there. “Though, I suppose he’s not nearly as bad as they were, given it’s mostly just a problem with who he is, not what he’s done.”
Rarity kept silent as she began to think about recent occurrences. “I had meant to apologize to him, given that I acted less than ladylike when we first met. I suppose, however, that is now out of the question.” As she spoke, she turned her head to look in the direction they were heading. She was quite surprised to find that their destination was the pair of thrones marking the front of the room. Celestia sat upon hers with an air of elegance, having finished inviting the party-goers and enjoying a moment of alone time. Next to her, in stark comparison, was Luna bearing a sliver of anxiousness that echoed over her expression and general poise.
“I doubt it would make much of a difference; he would still be just as rude as he was before. Any apology would be too good for him, in my opinion.”
“Perhaps, but my intention was to show I was the bigger pony. To show that I was willing to humble myself.”
“Then you don’t need to apologize.” Rarity looked at the stallion in confusion, who smiled in return. “Instead of apologizing, as you intended, you stood up for a complete stranger who you suspected had been done wrong, even though the villain was of a higher standing than you.” He paused and let her soak in the words for a moment before he continued. “Though, clearly, that was in his political standing alone. Morally, the roles are clearly reversed.”
Rarity intended to thank him for the compliment, but was interrupted as her eye caught movement from the thrones. She watched with a small degree of surprise as Luna got down from her throne and made her way towards them. Rarity began to look around to see who the princess was coming to greet. Seeing no one of note around, she began to panic as she realized that Luna was approaching them, most likely herself. She looked to her companion who was somehow maintaining a stable head and took a few breaths to calm herself.
“Hello, Your Highness,” Rarity announced, stooping into a bow.
“Hello, Lady Rarity. I trust you are in good spirits this afternoon?” Luna asked, smiling at the Bearer of Generosity as she rose from her bow.
“Yes, and this first class night you have provided us has made it all the better,” Rarity said with a genuine grin.
“Thank you very much,” Luna responded, smiling wider at the compliment, then turned her head to face the stallion. “And how are you doing tonight, Hendrick?” A shock ran through her body as Rarity turned her head to look at the stallion once again. Rumors of Luna’s male companion had shifted through the entirety of Equestria faster than parasprites at a picnic, but somehow pictures of him were rare things to find. Twilight herself had tried to describe him to her, but having been under the influence of multiple spells, drugs, and the lingering effects of poison had skewed her memory of the events in the castle hospital.
“I’m doing quite well, Luna. Lady Rarity was kind enough to help me out earlier and we ended up walking together for a ways afterwards.” He looked to Rarity with a grin, causing her to crookedly grin in return, still taken by surprise by the situation and unsure of how to handle it. “It was certainly nice meeting another of the bearers of the elements and find she was just as wonderful as Fancy Pants says she is.” He smiled at her and Rarity could instantly understand why Luna had taken to the stallion. “But, I suppose I’ve taken enough of her time, so if you need to go elsewhere, Miss Rarity, that would be fine with me.”
Rarity left in a star struck trot, losing herself in the crowds before she squealed a little under her breath and managed to regain control of herself. Meanwhile, just out of her earshot, Luna and Hendrick continued their conversation.
“You complimented her,” Luna observed. “You don’t compliment very many ponies.”
“Very few ponies deserve compliments,” he responded immediately. “Now, I believe you had a particular cake baking contest in mind tonight?”
“You said you didn’t cook.”
“I never said we would win.” He winked at her and Luna couldn’t help but smile in response. “I just said we would do it together.”