16- Grand Opening
If I was completely honest with myself, out of all the possible options for how to spend an afternoon, I did not think it would be this. Though, after two weeks of trying to find myself a job and getting nothing but silence, scam emails and messages telling me that the employer is ‘looking for other suitable candidates’, I thought that going to an art museum would not only help me get out of the house, but also clear my mind a bit. It wasn’t exactly how I would try to relax, but this in particular was different. Not just because Mistral invited Gizmo, Brisk and I to join her, but because today was the grand opening of the first ever Equestrian art exhibition on Earth.
Now, when it comes to art, a lot of people that I know or that I see wandering around would just take a look at something and see a pretty picture or a well crafted sculpture. Yet, I see things a bit differently. Each particular piece allows you to look into someone else’s art and culture and learn more about them in the process. Some works of art allow you to glimpse into their history and learn more about events that made them who they are, while others allow you to see things from a different perspective and learn more about their society.
Of course, if I continued rambling on, I would begin to sound like Grand Admiral Thrawn. Besides, I’m just someone in their mid twenties trying to enjoy my Sunday afternoon, not a military tactician that served the Galactic Empire.
One of the first things that we happened to find as I first entered the museum was a portrait gallery. While it didn’t seem that big of a deal to a lot of the attendees, this helped me out with one particular thing. Gizmo and Brisk always kept on talking about certain ponies such as Princess Celestia and Luna, but here, I could actually put a name to a face and see who it was that they were talking about. And to be honest, I was a bit surprised to see what the royal sisters actually looked like given how much I had heard about them.
The two princesses weren’t the only creatures that had portraits in this gallery though. Other prominent figures from Equestria history were also hanging along the walls from leaders of different species to heroes from both past and present day. Hell, there was even a giant portrait that was dedicated to the first graduating class of the School of Friendship, which was actually a legitimate school over in Equestria somehow. Even more surprising was that some of the actual students in that picture were walking around the halls and talking with some of the other attendees.
By the time that I was out of the portrait gallery, Gizmo and Brisk went off to continue exploring the rest of the exhibition. Unlike me, I had a feeling that the unicorn pretty much wanted to try and ‘speedrun’ the whole thing with how fast she trotted throughout the museum. Why that is, I’m not quite sure to be honest. However, I wanted to take this at my own pace. Besides, if this could help me get a better understanding of Equestria in the process, then this was an opportunity that I would rather not pass up.
At least, until I felt something bump into me.
“Oh, my apologies.”
When I turned around to see who it was, I couldn’t help but find myself looking at a pony that was somehow taller than all the ones that I had met previously. Their fur, mane and overall appearance looked like that of a night sky, they had a moon as a cutie mark and there were even what looked like twinkling stars in their tied back mane. If anything, they looked like I was staring at Princess Luna herself, based on the portrait I saw a few moments ago.
Wait a minute-
“My lady, there you are,” I turned around to find a familiar bat pony hurrying towards us, “I know that you’re eager to see the exhibits, but-” Before she could finish, her eyes shifted towards me, “Oh, hello there Sam.”
“You know this one, Mistral?”
Okay, am I the only one who has no idea what’s going on right now?
“Yes, actually. She’s… an acquaintance of mine, so to speak. I actually invited her to come here along with a few other ponies that just so happen to be her neighbors,” Misty replied, before looking towards me, “Sam, may I introduce you to my old boss and one of the Princesses of Equestria, Luna.”
Holy… shit. This was… not what I was expecting at all. “H-hello! Nice to meet you, your majesty-”
“Please, there’s no need for formalities,” she insisted, “I retired from my duties some time ago, so I’d prefer if you just called me Luna.”
“Oh, uh… okay then, Luna,” I said, before glancing over at Misty, “So, what brings you here… if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Well, Luna was invited here by the organizers of the exhibition as a special guest,” Misty told me as we began to walk away from the entrance, “Given that I used to be part of the Royal Guard, specifically the Night Guard that served Luna, I was asked to be her escort for the afternoon.”
So, she means bodyguard duty then? Seems reasonable enough, I guess. Though, I can’t really think of anyone who would want to actually harm her. Especially if half of the magical capabilities that were described on the plaque by her portrait were true.
Before I had the chance to say anything to Misty though, that was when I heard Luna speak up to me, “So, Sam. Mistral here says that you happen to be here with some friends of yours?”
“I was,” I clarified for her, looking behind me to see if they were nearby. With Gizmo and Brisk nowhere to be seen, I let out a sigh and turned back around towards Luna, “That is, before one of them decided to just go on ahead without me, much to her coltfriends dismay. I don’t really know why, but I’m under the impression that they think that I was going ‘too slow’ for their liking. Personally, I’m just trying to enjoy the exhibit and maybe learn a few things while I’m here.”
“Learn, you say? About what exactly?” The princess asked.
“Well, a little bit of everything if I have to be honest,” I shrugged my shoulders, “I only know a little bit about Equestria from my friends that live next door to me, so I thought that by coming here, I could learn a thing or two and understand what they talk about sometimes. I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but to me, every little bit helps.”
“I see… Mistral, would it be okay to have her join us?”
Wait, what?
“Wait, what?” the bat pony blinked, “A-are you sure about this, my lady-?”
“Why not?” Luna told her, “It won’t interfere with us touring the exhibition. In fact, I believe this might be a benefit. Especially with someone who’s rather interested to learn more about Equestria. If that is so, then who are we to deny her intrigue and curiosity to learn? My sister surely didn’t do that when it came to Twilight.”
At this point, Misty could only let out a deep sigh and facehoof herself. “Well, it’s hard to convince you otherwise when you put your mind to something,” she said, before shifting her attention over to me, “So Sam, would you like to join me in showing Princess Luna around?”
“Well, this is… quite sudden,” I honestly admitted, “Yet, I’m alright with it I guess. Maybe we can find Gizmo and Brisk while we’re at it-”
“Hold on a moment… Gizmo? As in Gizmo Gadget, the tinkerer? You know her?”
That had me look immediately at Misty, before looking at Luna, “Y-yes, she’s my neighbor… Do you know her-?”
“Well, I haven’t met her personally,” she admitted, “But I have heard a lot about her from both my sister as well as Mistral. How she and her companions were a real hoof-ful to keep an eye on, especially for those in the royal guard. I was hoping to have the chance to meet her and ask her more about their escapades, but then I heard that she traveled across the border between our home and yours after Mistral joined your… what was it called again?”
Oh god, why do I have the feeling that Gizmo had gotten into more trouble back home in Equestria than she wanted to admit?
“The police department, my lady,” Misty answered, “Besides, perhaps we should tour around the exhibit first and then search for her as we move around? We are sort of blocking the entrance way for those that are coming in”
… My afternoon just got a lot more hectic now, didn’t it?
By the time that we finished going through the entire exhibition, I ended up learning a lot more about Equestria than I thought I would. With each section that we visited, Luna happened to inform me more about each piece whether there was some kind of historical significance or just a form of creative expression. From what I understood, each species had their own forms of art to not only tell the story of their species, but to express who they are. One such piece was called the ‘Fire of Friendship’, which represented the unification of the different Equine tribes when Equestria was founded as well as their six founders.
Of course, that wasn’t the only thing that we were discussing. For since it was Luna’s first time on Earth, the princess had a lot of questions about… well, pretty much everything. Unlike Gizmo though, Luna had a bit more restraint when it came to asking me the questions that were on her mind. Yet, some of the questions that she asked were not exactly easy for me to answer given that the subject was rather complex.
We tried to keep an eye out for Gizmo and Brisk while inside the exhibit, yet we only happened to run into her and Brisk as we finished up and went back outside. Yet, as we left, I could overhear a lot of whispers from the people that were still trying to get in. Most of it being disbelief that an actual princess from Equestria was here, but some of it was people wondering if everything that was said about Luna was true or not.
However, that wasn’t quite our main focus. When we finally found them… we found that Brisk looked to be worn out and Gizmo’s fur was standing up on end and she looked a little bit woozy. “Oh, hi Sam!! H-Hi Misty!! Hello-” her eyes widened as she looked at the alicorn next to us, “S-Sam, am I seeing things… or is Princess Luna right next to you?”
“Gizmo? Are… you alright?” I asked, briefly looking back at Misty before I tried to approach her. Right about now, I was beginning to smell… burnt fur? “Why do you smell like your fur got singed?”
“Oh, it was just an accident, really,” she tried to assure me with a smile. Yet… I wasn’t entirely convinced.
Around then, that was when Brisk caught his breath and began to fill us in, “Gizmo desperately wanted us to go visit the Science Museum while we were waiting for you. Despite me insisting to her that we didn’t have the time for it, I… eventually agreed to go with her. However, when we were inside, she ended up getting too close to one of the displays and she ended up shocking herself.”
“That… explains a few things-”
“We also were asked to leave because somehow, there was electricity in her fur and it was causing all the electronics in the building to short circuit. Now the museum’s closed until further notice.”
Oh god, please don’t tell me we need to static ground her so that she doesn’t end up zapping any electronic device that comes close to her.
“This is your friend, Gizmo, I assume?”
At this, Brisk looked towards Luna as he finally now noticed her, “O-Oh my goodness-. Sam, how did you-?”
“I kind of bumped into her and Misty when looking around in the exhibit. Next thing you know, I was asked if I could join them and since I didn’t know where you guys were.”
“O-Oh,” he said, before looking over at Luna, “I-I’m sorry, t-this is kind of unexpected-”
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” the princess insisted, “To be perfectly honest, I actually enjoy your company. Before I arrived, I wasn’t sure how long it would be until I got bored just wandering around. However, I must say that after meeting your friend Sam as well as both of you, this has been a rather enjoyable experience and I got the chance to learn much about all of you.”
Holy shit, I did not expect that. Then again, I honestly did not expect to be spending my afternoon with a Princess either, so this is a bit of a new experience for me.
“I’m… sorry to interrupt this heartwarming moment,” Misty spoke up, “But we have to go. Apparently, my boss is a bit upset that we took a little bit longer than expected and wants to make sure that we come back.”
“Well, that’s a shame,” Luna admitted, before she looked at the three of us, “I was hoping we could have some more time to converse. But alas, that is unfortunately not the case. Perhaps we can pick up on this conversation another time?”
“W-wait… you’re coming back?”
“Oh, absolutely! There are so many interesting places that I wish to visit and with my sister and I being retired, it’ll be better to come visit new places rather than just go to cities that we’ve already been to several times before. Hay, we might even make this ‘bucket list’ I keep hearing about.”
With that, both of them trotted off and left, leaving the three of us looking at each other with a sense of shock and confusion at first… before we all realized something.
“Holy crap, we’re friends with a princess now.”
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this is a great story so far, i do like the idea however of Sam meeting other leaders of equestria (princesses, Dragon lord, Queen novo) it would allow not only Sam to learn more about Equestria but also the fact of the different cultures from each area in Equestria coming to Earth and possibly mixing. It would be great story and also pretty interesting to see what Sam thinks and such. Also I know this may seem odd or something, but what do u think would happen if Sam became a pony by accident. (not permanently) Just a few ideas, but i still am enjoying this so far. please continue.
11196098
They'll be things to keep in mind for sure, but I'm trying to balance it out. I want it to be just as much about Sam learning about Equestria as it is having her help Gizmo and other Equestrians learning about Earth and such.
that was unexpected, but hopefully sometime soon, Princesses Celestia, Cadence, and Twilight will show up, and the four princesses will meet with Sam’s family....................................and keep an eye on Gizmo lol
11196778
Pretty sure Gizmo would know something's up if all four princesses are watching her constantly. Either that or she thinks that she's famous somehow xD
11196824
true, but I was thinking more or less a meeting and learning about how things work in both worlds, instead of Gizmo being watched by all four princesses and security
11196908
We'll see how it goes, but I'll think on it
11197555
Thanks for answering my question. :)
11196997
fair enough
Considering who Luna is and represents, I was surprised there wasn't more Earth-side security lurking about the edges. Then again, the better personal security forces are never really noticed. The opposite of covert is the entourage of followers, either due to politics or ego. A seething mass of reporters, paparazzi, fans, deal brokers, con artists, and people just enamored with alicorns and by extension, literal princesses (retired or not). Unlike Equestria, our examples are far less restrained and the security forces don't have spears handy to keep them back.
11247002
That was unintentional. Mainly since I wrote that chapter based on what was going on IRL in December. So I tried to take something that might've been a huge problem and amplify it to comedic effect
What an encounter, huh? And it's nice to see more Equestrian establishments on Earth; maybe a revisit could be had, and there would be a tour guide talking about some Equestrian art that has little to no human equivalent. Still, having Luna be rather casual (with her being retired, yet...) is good characterization, still being formal but clearly letting loose.
Looking forward to your next bit with Sam and Gizmo!