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#Post#: 3723--------------------------------------------------
Royal Summons
By: Princess Celestia Date: October 2, 2014, 10:47 am
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A short while after Honey Dew and Richtor's visit to the castle,
and after Celestia had managed to pick out some time within her
schedule that was open enough for it, a letter was sent out to a
mare down in Ponyville expressing interest in having her make a
trip up to the city. Written as a more friendly invitation
rather than a formal business like one, it was meant to be taken
as an offer for a friendly chat instead of an all important and
impossible to ignore summons.
Dear Mrs. Patches Zephyr, it began, written on pretty high
quality parchment and bearing pretty fancy and pleasant looking
calligraphy, I, Pen Sketch, write this letter to you on behalf
of our Princess Celestia to cordially invite you to Canterlot
Castle for a meeting with her majesty. A recent encounter
between her and a Miss Honey Dew have sparked a curiosity in our
Princess in regards towards the Samareai and their history, and
having you be referenced as a reliable source of information has
lead to her wishing to make your acquaintance...
The letter continued for a little bit in explaining the
available date for Celestia to meet with Patches should she
accept the invitation as well as instructions on how she could
find Pen on that day waiting for her in the main foyer of the
castle should she accept.
... Understand as well that we will be able to arrange to pay
for any expenses made in traveling both to and fro the castle,
and also that the Princess fully understands if you are unable
to make it or wish to decline her invitation. However, it would
still be much appreciated if you would reply to this letter
beforehand stating that you cannot make, and it would also
please her majesty if you were able to include a list of books
or other possible sources for her to find in your stead to
assist in her research. Miss Honey Dew is also welcome to
accompany you to meet with our princess should you both wish it.
However you decide, know that Princess Celestia looks forward to
your response and thanks you for your time.
Sincerely,
Pen Sketch, First Assistant to Princess Celestia
Well. That signature sure was swoopy. The kind that looked like
it was written something like a hundred times a day. Was pretty
at least, if maybe a little tricky to read for those not used to
seeing it. Anyway, it was written just above the signature royal
seal of Princess Celestia that had been stamped down onto the
paper, bearing all the tiny and impossible to fake details and
even enchantments that came with it to prove that it was
legitimate to anypony not easily fooled.
#Post#: 3837--------------------------------------------------
Re: Royal Summons
By: Patches Date: October 11, 2014, 2:06 am
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... and having you be referenced as a reliable source of
information has lead to her wishing to make your acquaintance.
It was a line that Patches read over and over again as she sat
on the train, listening to the chugging of the steam engine, the
clacking of he wheels on the tracks, and the dull mumble of
other ponies in the same car conversing with each other. The
Princess wanted to make her acquaintance. It was a thought that
she had a hard time wrapping her head around, but why wouldn't
she? Patches was a less than unknown pony in Ponyville, married
to a blacksmith and mother of two great musicians, and one of
the last living Samareai in Equestria. If there were ponies that
did know her, it was that she was the one with the weird hat
that never stepped outside of her shop during the day, and was
rarely out at night since her coltfriend turned husband moved in
with her.
...cordially invite you to Canterlot Castle for a meeting with
her majesty.
Patches lowered the note back to her lap, the piece of fine
parchment with the swooping signature of the royalty that had
invited her, her low emerald gaze going over the detail in the
signature once more from the darkness that was cast by the
shader she wore on her head. Ever so slightly, she adjusted
herself in her seat, the katana that she carried with her was
unhooked from the belt that it hung off of so that she could sit
comfortably in the seat. The sword in question leaned against
her shoulder, with her foreleg wrapped around it like it was an
old friend to keep it from falling away from her. The weapon
turned some heads in the station, as she still received a few
stray glances from the quiet ponies every so often, as if they
feared that she was going to snap at some point during the ride
and cut it short, like some cold hearted killer.
Letting a slow exhale out, she closed her eyes and lowered her
head.
There was no cold hearted killer anymore. That time had long
passed. She was riding to Canterlot for a different purpose this
time, she did not have reason to fear anything. She could still
remember the feeling of helplessness though, sitting on the
train in this exact same circumstance, reading a different
letter over and over again, knowing that she could have very
well been riding to her death. It was not meant to be, but it
would be too much to ask if she didn't leave that fight without
the recollections. Those blank, angry-- no, whatever that was
was beyond anger, beyond definition, and it had threatened to
consume her once. The shade of her past that needed to be
expelled from the world that it should have never come to, her
and whomever she had corrupted.
Breathe in, breathe out. Control your breathing, and you can
control yourself.
With the quiet breathing that came in and out of her nostrils,
she held the sheathed blade a little closer to herself. That
time had long passed. There was no more danger in Canterlot for
her, nor was there danger there for her daughter, who sat in the
seat beside her, staying just as quiet as she did. As she always
did, just like her mother. The quiet soul that made glorious,
heart warming music that lifted the spirits of many. If there
was one thing that Patches could make light of in this train
ride, it was that she was travelling to Canterlot not to
confront the dark, but to meet with the light with the bright
spark that was her daughter, one of the two things that she was
the most proud of in this world.
=====
The train arrived at the station, the engine gasping out one
last burst of steam before bellowing out its deep whistle. The
hostesses of the train went to every seat, waking up those that
fell asleep and directing everypony off in an orderly manner.
Waiting for their turn to leave the train, Patches watched as
Honey Dew got up and started walking down the aisle before she
too picked up her katana in the ghostly white glow of her magic,
entering the aisle and adding the saddlebag that contained the
lone, heavy book that she carried with her for this trip.
Slinging it carefully over her back, she followed her daughter
out the train door and onto the platform that bustled with pones
both leaving and ponies who were anxiously waiting to get on the
train.
Taking a few minutes to get themselves sorted, the two of them
walked together away from the train station, going deeper into
the city of Canterlot, towards the skyward spires that were the
castle. As they walked, Patches took the time to glance around
at their surroundings. It was such a well kept, well developed
place, and it was so beautiful in the light of day, and much
less threatening than it felt in the dark of midnight. The
closer to the castle they traveled, the more Patches noticed the
looks she was getting as well. The well dressed, high class
ponies that made up the aristocracy, dressed in the latest
fashions to try to make themselves seem important. These were
the kind of ponies that Patches tried to appeal to in terms of
fashion, as it was her job to make and fix clothing. Of course,
nothing that she had made would be spotted on these ponies in
her lifetime. As good as she was assured her handiwork was, the
only one who wore them to special events was her daughter. The
name brand behind the clothing was what mattered most to these
ponies.
It was this reason that the two of them stood out, too. Neither
of them were dressed in anything fancy. Hon had her hair done in
her usual style, and Patches wore the shader to keep the bright
sun out of her eyes. They were both out of place in this city,
and made even more so the closer they were to the castle
grounds. It mattered not as they kept going, for eventually, the
street eventually led to an open portcullis - the inner sanctum
of the city, where the keep resided. At the gate, there was a
group of four guards: three standing at attention, and one
processing the few ponies that wanted to enter the castle
grounds. Glancing at Honey Dew with an elated sigh and a brief
smile, the two of them approached the guard that was letting the
ponies in.
It wasn't hard to notice that the guards were already sizing her
up, more so because the two of them were carrying weapons, which
was odd for civilians to do. Patches couldn't blame them, it was
their job to shield the royalty, and they certainly didn't need
to be discreet about their examinations of them. Looking up from
her shader just enough so that her emerald eyes could be seen
from under the rim and still remain shaded, Patches presented
the letter of invitation to the guard and said with a low bow
and a quiet, polite tone, "I am Master Samareai Patches Zephyrr,
and this is my daughter, Samareai Honey Dew. We come at the
invitation of Princess Celestia, and are to meet her assistant,
Miss Pen Sketch, before we see her. We humbly ask permission to
be let into the castle to meet with them."
#Post#: 3862--------------------------------------------------
Re: Royal Summons
By: Princess Celestia Date: October 13, 2014, 2:21 pm
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While some of the other guards may have been giving the arriving
mares a once over, the one who seemed to actually be doing the
work in letting ponies in was busy listening to a group of
ponies asking to be let onto castle grounds. Their reasons
were... interesting...
"... We need to spread the word! Too few ponies are aware of
what's happening every day with nopony trying to make any kind
of meaningful change to help! If we don't increase public
awareness then who knows what could happen within another year?
Or a month? Or maybe even a week? We need to open ponies eyes,
and what better place to start then at the very heart of the
kingdom!"
"... Miss, while I... can understand your concern," maybe after
some hard cider or a few head injuries, "I don't think that
guppies are endangered enough to justify setting up stalls on
castle grounds and trying to get ponies to sign petitions meant
to ban drinking water. Personally, and this may just be me, but
I think they may unfortunately have a little bit of a bias
towards their water already. I think a few even carry it in
bottles."
"All the more reason why we should be allowed inside to spread
the word about what they are doing to wipe out our fish! If we
lose guppies, the mosquito population will sky rocket! Then
disease will run rampant! And then the world itself may end!"
The guard wore an expressionless face as he listened to the
other pony go back into a tirade about how ponies could survive
off of rain water alone or whatever, but also how it would need
to be rationed and have most of it be donated to the Guppy
Saviors of Equestria so as to be sent off to add to lakes or
something.
"... You're going to need to go through a few more channels
before I can allow you to enter castle grounds." He turned his
head to address the new pair of ponies, it being refreshing to
see that they at least had proof of being invited in the form of
a letter stamped with the seal of the Princess, him taking a few
moments to carefully examine the details of the seal as his ear
twitched at the noise of the other ponies starting to talk
amongst themselves. Loudly.
"I'm going to have to ask for you're weapons," he told the pair
of sword wielding mares, a brief flick of his eyes at the GSE
being cast after he heard them claim he was anti-guppy out of
some kind of personal stake in companies that sell bottles,
"unless I get sent word of you being given the privilege, an
invitation alone doesn't grant freedom for a civilian to be
armed around the royal sist- Hey!" he barked when he noticed a
few of the pro fish activists attempting to slap some posters
onto the gate, one of the other guards being quick to use his
wings to help him jump through the air and over them and land on
their opposite side to effectively keep them from having an easy
escape, "That's vandalizing government property!"
"You can't keep us quiet forever! We will be heard! And all of
you will learn what you've been doing wrong! You'll see!"
"Anyway," the guard returned his attention to the pair of mares
as the GSE were being dealt with by the others, "you're going to
need to surrender your swords and any other weapons you may be
carrying to one of the guards here, then he will escort you
inside to meet with Miss Sketch. We were alerted to her
expecting to meet somepony at around this time, so she should
still be waiting in the foyer."
"She's got a net!"
"Glub!"
He waved over another of his colleagues, the one not currently
dealing with the threat of having fish food thrown into his
eyes, who then stood ready to accept the mares' weapons, all the
while having his horn glow and his expression remain as stony as
ever.
#Post#: 3888--------------------------------------------------
Re: Royal Summons
By: Patches Date: October 16, 2014, 11:18 am
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Patches felt a sinking feeling in her gut as the guard asked for
them to surrender their weapons. The thought of parting with the
weapon that she had carried for most of her life was enough to
make her feel sick. This sword was practically an extension of
herself; losing it would be similar to losing one of her legs,
and she wasn't about to give up any of those willingly. Then
again, what was she to expect? To walk into the castle grounds
armed? She would have to cripple herself to see the princess,
but then again, was that really worth violating the gift that
was given to her by her late master?
With the thought of it leaving her possession came the thought
of what would happen to it when it was out of her sight. At
least at Ponyville, she knew where it was in her house, and that
it would stay there without being desecrated. Who was to say
that these guards would not take a look at their weapons, maybe
swing them about, or... gods help them, damage the weapon.
Patches swallowed hard at that last thought. She would not know
what she would do if such a thing were to happen, a sword that
marked her initiation as a samareai, destroyed by the fools that
were supposed to be taking care of it.
Ignoring the confrontation with the pony that was screaming
about guppies, Patches asked quietly and evenly, "Is there any
way that we may keep our weapons, sir? This weapon has never
left my side since I received it as a gift from my master, and
it is as much a part of me as my legs." She then remembered that
Honey Dew had seen the princess before, and would have had to
deal with the issue of the guards taking her weapon too. Hoping
that that the answer to the question was favourable, both for
her sake and her daughter's sake, she asked Honey, "What was
your arrangement to keep your gift with you, Honey?"
"A spell was cast on it," Honey replied evenly, a very unamused
look cast towards the ridiculous ponies screaming about the
fishes. "A spell that would sound an alarm if the weapon was
drawn. A spell I had on it last I met with Princess Celestia,"
she said as she returned her gaze to the guard in front of her.
"It's either that, or we come back for the blades in a few
moments anyway, as the blades are no doubt something we will be
discussing with Her Majesty."
#Post#: 3908--------------------------------------------------
Re: Royal Summons
By: Princess Celestia Date: October 20, 2014, 10:11 am
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What meaning the weapon had for the mare did little to persuade
the guard. It didn't matter to him if she had been given the
sword at birth and then kept it strapped to her side for every
second of her life since, rules were rules, and after all the
trouble and chaos that had been plaguing the country over the
last year or so(Discord, Changelings(especially Changelings),
weird plants from the Everfree, Tyrak, the list goes on and
on..), he found both the fact that they thought they could get
past with plans to see royalty and still have their weapons
within their reach and also that another guard had allowed this
before him to be odd. If, of course, that was even true. In the
end, invitation or no, the guard didn't know these ponies and
they weren't any kind of dignitaries or VIPs with special
privileges. May have seemed strict to anypony on the outside
looking in, but the corp really did need to step up their game
these days, and allowing civilians to semi freely carry around
sharp and pointy things on castle grounds seemed like a step
backwards.
"Unfortunately I must insist," the guard gave no ground, not
bothering to go into detail over how, to a pony dedicated to
protecting the royal sisters, an alarm placed over a weapon
would do little to help if the ponies carrying it were dedicated
enough and had already managed to get right behind one of the
princesses to begin with, "And you seem to have misunderstood.
If Miss Sketch or the Princess decide to allow you to carry the
weapons anyway you won't need to come back out here. As I said,
the guard you hoof them off to will be escorting you inside. The
swords wouldn't even be leaving your sight, and if it is decided
that you can have them it would only take a couple moments to
have them returned to you."
The air started to smell salty, the GSE ponies nearby having
somehow managed to produce salt water balloons to throw at the
guards subduing those that weren't running off. More than a
couple wanted to point out this oddly hypocritical move of
theirs, a few more guards having shown up to help deal with the
nuisance after the shouts had started, but the tussle involving
duels between unarmed guards and ponies wielding imported
fishing rods prevented much of an opportunity to speak.
"For the guppies!"
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