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#Post#: 2722--------------------------------------------------
The Banquet
By: Sona Nocturne Date: June 21, 2017, 2:07 pm
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In an ornate hotel at the center of Canterlot, some of the
nation’s finest scientific minds were meeting. In the large room
the hotel had for conventions and meetings such as these, there
were several tables set up with white tablecloths and silver
cutlery. A banner above the door welcomed everypony to the
Scientific Foundation of Equestria’s Annual Banquet. Waiters
bustled about, getting everything ready, and many ponies of
importance were just arriving. A dark blue mare wearing a
fashionable gown of grey silk stepped through the doors, and was
immediately greeted by applause. Sona ducked her head modestly,
a bit of her curled white mane falling over one eye. With her
lack of university degrees, she’d traditionally be a nobody at a
banquet such as this… But having made several enormous donations
to the foundation gave a pony certain perks.
“Miss Nocturne!” A stallion called out, and ponies parted like
water as the foundation’s head walked through. “I wanted to
personally thank you for your latest donation to the
foundation,” he told her as he reached her. “Thanks to that
donation, you have personally supported the development of a
vaccine affective against colic. A vaccine that, once fully
developed, will save lives!” Sona smiled, but the movement was
slightly forced. It had nothing to do with what the stallion was
saying- Sona was genuinely pleased to hear her donation made a
difference. No, it had to do with her latest failed experiment.
She was so sure that the treatment was going to work this time!
But it had failed, leaving Sona with a patient worse off than
before that the mare had no choice but to put down.
The late nights due to her experiments were starting to get to
Sona, leaving her exhausted and discouraged. She needed somepony
to help her, but that’s why going to these sorts of social
events were so important. She had to find somepony absolutely
perfect. She forced herself to focus on the conversation. “I’m
just absolutely thrilled to be able to help,”she said
graciously. She and the stallion continued chatting as more
ponies arrived.
#Post#: 2724--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Banquet
By: Valentine Date: June 21, 2017, 3:19 pm
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Valentine was already at the banquet though, she was not near
anypony. She was in a nice dress and had makeup on (because she
had too), but sat alone starring at a candle at the center of
the table occasionally taking a sip of wine.
She was one of the scientists here that had to go up and give a
presentation. She had been doing it since university and
honestly, at this point, it had to be a joke that they kept
inviting her up. She knew talking about her real work was rather
unpleasant for events like these so she usually just keeps the
details out and talks more about coming close to discovering a
more efficient way to control where a certain gas spreads or
some dumb report about the amount of pollution in the air.
Nopony there cared about what she said anyways. They all knew
what she truly did and were disgusted by it. To them, she was
some wasted potential of scientist and the one red eye she had
didn't help her look any nicer.
Is her work that different though? She is pushing boundaries in
military science. Nopony has ever accomplished what she has
before...buuttt it's whatever. They do whatever they want to do
and she will do her own thing. At the end of the day, she knew
she was the smartest pony in this room. During the other
presentations, she could actually solve any problem they had and
find all sorts of problems in their presentations, but no one
wants to hear from somepony they call a murderer.
Dr. Valentine just continued to look at the flame, though, her
gaze broke when Sona walked in. That was a figure in her life
that she always knew. Even when she was in Canterlot University,
she had funded a project that Valentine won an award for.
However, she looked all too busy and honestly, she never really
had the guts to approach someone like her. Besides, what makes
her different from anypony else in the room that hates her and
everything she works on.
#Post#: 2726--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Banquet
By: Sona Nocturne Date: June 21, 2017, 5:46 pm
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Eventually, the head of the foundation drifted off to chat with
other ponies, and Sona was approached by more grateful ponies
coming to thank her for funding their projects. After a few
minutes, the head waiter clapped his hooves to get everypony's
attention. "Ladies and gentlecolts, please find your name tags
and take your seats. Presentations will begin in a few minutes,
and then dinner will be served."
Everypony started to drift around, looking for their particular
name tags by the plates. Sona made her way to the central table,
she was almost seated by the most prestigious ponies. They
wanted to keep on the good side of her and her inherited
fortune, after all. She frowned slightly when she didn't find
her name. She started to glance at other tables, with no luck.
She gradually made her way towards Valentine, and after a
glance, found her name tag by the seat next to where the other
mare was sitting.
Sona knew of Dr. Valentine, she knew of pretty much everypony at
the banquet, but Sona didn't recall meeting this particular
scientist face-to-face. Well, if she was going to be sitting by
her the whole time, Sona might as well try to make another
acquaintance. So Sona gave Valentine the appropriate
friendly-but-impersonal smile, and offered her hoof. "Dr.
Valentine, correct? My name is Sona Nocturne."
#Post#: 2727--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Banquet
By: Valentine Date: June 21, 2017, 8:32 pm
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Dr. Valentine looked at Sona. "Correct. It's nice to finally
meet you personally this time Ms. Nocturne... I was unaware they
actually put your name here... They seem to usually put you at
the central table."
#Post#: 2730--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Banquet
By: Sona Nocturne Date: June 21, 2017, 9:15 pm
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Sona gave a light chuckle. "They do. But I'm not going to
complain if I can spend time with more than the same seven
ponies every time I go to an event like this." She settled down
in her seat. "Are you looking forward to the presentations,
Doctor? I always find them fascinating."
#Post#: 2731--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Banquet
By: Valentine Date: June 21, 2017, 9:22 pm
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"No actually." Valentine scanned the room. "The ponies in this
room are sloppy with their work. All their presentations are
riddled with holes and errors and I have to sit through that
every year." She sighed. "I apologize for that outburst."
#Post#: 2732--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Banquet
By: Sona Nocturne Date: June 21, 2017, 9:47 pm
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A single rapid blink was Sona's only sign of surprise. "No, it's
quite alright. I appreciate honesty." She looked around for a
moment before adding, "If you don't mind me asking... if you
dislike it so much, then why do you come?"
Suddenly, they were interrupted by the head waiter. "Miss
Nocturne! I am so sorry, it appears there was a bit of a mix-up
concerning the place cards. Yours was supposed to be placed at
the central table. I offer my deepest apologies, we are training
a new waiter and he must have-" Sona suddenly lifted her hoof,
and the waiter fell silent. "It's fine, everypony makes
mistakes." The stallion nodded, looking deeply relieved. "Let me
quickly switch the cards to their correct places..." He started
to levitate the small card with Sona's name off the table. Sona
caught it her own blood-red magical aura and put it back.
"Actually, if you don't mind, I'm in the middle of a
conversation with Dr. Valentine. The place cards will remain
where they're at," she said authoritatively. The waiter blinked
in surprise, giving Valentine a long glance before he finally
said, "As you wish, Miss Nocturne. Enjoy the presentations." He
turned and trotted off.
Sona turned back to Valentine, smiling and looking at her
expectantly as she waited for the answer to her previous
question. Valentine's attitude had piqued Sona's interest, and
she had no intention of letting this conversation end yet.
#Post#: 2734--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Banquet
By: Valentine Date: June 21, 2017, 10:14 pm
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"I-hm?" She looked at the waiter and didn't flinch, though she
did nod her head when the waiter had mentioned that there had
been a mistake. She looked around the table and noticed the
other seats were all empty. She had a surprised look on her face
when Sona insisted that she'd stay. After a moment of hesitation
when Sona looked back to Valentine, she cleared her throat and
continued. "I... Am not sure really. They keep inviting me to
these and I have gone since I was..." Remember the past before
the military had always caused headaches. "I was in Canterlot...
University..." She let out a deep breath. "I am also expected by
the few military officials here to attend. They like to brag
about me..."
#Post#: 2742--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Banquet
By: Sona Nocturne Date: June 22, 2017, 4:52 pm
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Sona hid her envy well, but she couldn't keep a slight
wistfulness out of her tone as she said, "Ah, Canterlot
University. I was given a tour of the campus a few years ago,
it's a beautiful place that has produced some truly amazing
graduates." She turned away when she heard the clinking of a
utensil against a glass. The stallion that had thanked her
earlier cleared his throat as he stood up.
"I would like to welcome the wonderful scientists and generous
donors that are in attendance today. Without each and every one
of you, the remarkable progress that has been made in the last
year would not have been possible." The stallion launched into a
long speech full of statistics about vaccines, defensive
weapons, and cutting-edge medical technology.
Sona listened attentively, though she honestly just wanted to
nod off due to her exhaustion. When the speech finally ended,
the stallion announced, "And without further ado, I would like
to announce the first of our presenters, Dr. Valentine." There
was scattered applause. The stallion motioned to the small stage
at the end of the room, where there was a microphone set up. The
wall behind held a large screen, where a slideshow could be
presented if the speaker wished.
Sona blinked in surprise, she clearly had not read the
invitation closely enough. She knew key presenters had been
listed on it, perhaps Valentine wasn't listened among them for
some reason? As a pony everyone wanted to stay on the good side
of, Sona tended to sometimes be skipped over when it came to
gossip. She knew little of what Valentine's fellow scientists
thought of her.
Sone leaned over to the other mare, whispering a brief, "Good
luck, Doctor."
#Post#: 2743--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Banquet
By: Valentine Date: June 22, 2017, 5:00 pm
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"Thank you." Valentine responded as she approached the stage.
"Thank you all for giving me this opportunity again." She forced
those words out of her mouth. "I have been developing numerous
projects for the military as many of you know." She started off.
As she said that some of the ponies gave her a dirty look and
other looked a bit uncomfortable. "but... I am not here to talk
about that..." She began a full presentation with slides and
short videos of tests she ran about the more innocent things
she's worked on this past year. Despite many of the ponies in
the audience not wanting to show that they are impressed with
her work in particular, some did raise eyebrows and whisper
about her content. When she finished, she nodded for the small
applause she got and trotted back off the stage. The scientist
took another sip of wine when she sat down.
"I guess they still want me to contribute to the community
somehow, despite what I work on." She said fixing her dress a
bit.
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