Post by Apple Bloom on May 25, 2012 3:10:52 GMT -5
/#\-/#\-/#\ *** ROYAL PALACE *** /#\-/#\-/#\
The Royal Palace is the crown jewel of Canterlot, spiking like a system of stalagmites from the Ponyville side of Canterlot Mountain. The palace is surrounded by a lush botanical and zoological garden and also adjoins a world famous sculpture garden and hedge maze. Its exterior is rich and impressive, made of white stone and ivory, mixed with a dazzling array of other colors and patterns. The various turrets and towers are built in peaks, onion domes, gables, and more, and many of them bear balconies, parapets, awnings, flags, or flower ornamentation.
On the inside, the palace is no less astonishing. Its tremendous foyer is crisscrossed with red carpet and hung with tremendous tapestries. Throughout the palace, unbelievably tall stained glass windows provide an air of solemnity and gaiety at once. In the Hall of the Elements, these windows are especially haunting, telling the stories of battles with Discord and Nightmare Moon. The palace has countless rooms, from the guard halls to the guest rooms to the throne room. Finally, Princess Celestia's private suite, done up in swirly purples, is furnished with a hearth, rug and bolster, ornamental window, and miniature trees.
---
Marble is back in Canterlot for the day after his training that morning. He doesn't know about his challenger, but he's already feeling so pumped from the training! He hopes this works and the bureaucrat can win over the heart of the stunning Fluttershy! For now, though, he's doing what he seems to spend most his time at the palace doing, moving paperwork from one place to another. It all goes well until he comes across the wreckage. "Oh, sweet Celestia!" Marble says in shock, dropping the folder he had in his mouth.
---
---
Taking a casual stroll through the luxurious hall of the palace is the sound of perfectly groomed hooves stepping a light synchronization echo into the hall where the wreckage now stood. Hearing a crash was one thing, hearing a shout from a familiar bumbling parchment pusher was another. While the latter wasn't unknown to the palace, the context was worrisome. A handsome stallion reeking of smugness and self-importance makes his way into the impressive foyer. "What in the name of discord are you up to now, Marble Memory? Honestly at this rate I'm amazed you haven't toppled the very fabric of your beloved bureau-" He freezes when he sees the collapsed armor and the broken vases. "Who did this!? Who would be so careless as to ruin the marvelous decor of the palace? It's hideous. Get somepony to clean it up this instant!"
---
---
"Huh? Oh, right! Ah'm gonna wait 'till Luna's in court, then gonna see if ah can drag her out t'have some fun with us!" Sky Blue replies to little Dinky, her permanently-affixed smile spread as wide as ever. And then two particular stallions make their appearance. "HOWDY, MARBLE!" she bellows at the top of her voice, waving a hoof over as she explains to the younger filly, "Marble there shared a room with me while ah was up in hospital. And- HOWDY!" The second Prince Blueblood makes his appearance, the cyan hayseed crosses the distance between them in a dangerously short amount of time, grabs the prince's hoof, and then starts to shake it vigorously. "Sky Blue's the name, mailmare, saucemare, and soon-t'be-brewer at yer service!"
---
Blue is the color of the morning sky, and the color of Sky Blue's coat. Gold is the color of the sun, and the color of Sky Blue's shining mane and tail. A daughter of the morning sun is a wild filly not easily - or safely - caught, and she wears clothes to match. They're all of gold, the loose shirt billowing around her shoulders and forelegs, giving her easy movement, while her natural blue beckons down her throat and inside the wide, open neckline. Perched atop her head is a wide brimmed sun hat of natural gold straw, the crown circled in pale blue violets, almost blending with the mane that juts down like straw underneath it, clouding her playful eyes. Finally, her back legs are left free to run by her shorts of gleaming but thick and practical golden dragon leather. From those shorts emerges a tail like her mane, thick and wild as straw, and on their flank is embroidered the outline of a blazing hot sun. The sun's daughter would never hide her cutie mark.
---
Dinky twists her mouth into a quizzical partial frown...but then she smiles just a little. "You know, I feel like Luna's probably getting a little sick of me. I kind of use her as a crutch, you know? One of the most powerful ponies in the world and she's my personal crutch. That's how courteous I am, I guess." She twitches her head a little. "But if you know how to--" She cuts off when the adults discover the smashed vases and armor, facehoofing. "See? I -told- you that was gonna come back to bite you. See you in prison, I guess."
---
Dinky Doo is a sad little shrimp of a kid. Her coat looks dull gray at first, but on second glance you notice some purple in there. So she's mauve, then. Her hair's the same blond as the famous Derpy Hooves, and her eyes are the same amber, but the spikes of her mane aren't quite as pronounced. Moreover, that horn peeking through is certainly different! Yes, Dinky is a unicorn, not a pegasus like her presumed mother, and we'll leave it up to you to make sense of that.
Even more difficult to make sense of is this troubled child's personality. Her voice is consistently biting, her manner either nasty, blunt or withdrawn. She looks undernourished and desperate, and you wouldn't be surprised to see her crying. Naturally, there's no cutie mark on her rump.
---
"Oh sweet Celest-- OH SWEET DOUBLEFUDGE-- O-oh dear." Marble says all these things in rapid succession. First he is confronted by Blueblood and then... the most terrifying sound in Equestria. He can see his life being reduced to a shambles already. Complete and utter ruination. His career is... Okay, maybe its not so bad. Blueblood's been bane of his existence since he first worked here. Sky Blue is terrifying, though. "I-I can get somepony to clean this up..." Then he realizes... Blueblood's money was in all that gold he gave to Eclipse. "O-oh dear."
The prince groans audibly and puts a delicately manicured and cuffed hoof across his muzzle for but a moment, closing his eyes in exasperation. "The princess has far more important things to do than 'play' with a-" He is cut off by Sky Blue's nigh instant targeting of his hoof and that rattling of which that the common fair consider a greeting. He yanks his hoof away from hers as daintily as he could without scuffing it. "Have you no shame? You do not greet a royal in such matters." He starts to lovingly stroke his own hoof as if to smooth out every hair on it again. "I'm going to have to wash later," He mentions not-so-quietly to himself, "And that accent is grating." He scoffs and looks to the smaller pony who seems to have at least a little common sense. "You'd do best to listen to that filly's advice. You're lucky I don't have you tossed out of here for accosting me in such a manner!" "Now, what sort'a way is that t'treat a filly?" Sky Blue asks in that oh-so grating voice of hers, tilting her head and leaning to one side, placing a foreleg upon her hip. "Ah've met mah fair share of royals, and y'all ain't got half the manners they've got. Besides, ah'm a special guest of Auntie Luna. And so's Dinky, here. Ah'm gonna drag her off t'that fancy new casino and we'll all have loads of fun! And don't y'all know it's polite t'reply t'an introduction with one of yer own?" That's right. SKY BLUE is giving PRINCE BLUEBLOOD a rollicking on CLASS.
Dinky stands with her legs far apart (for her small frame) and her body sagging in disbelief. "Sky...Oh &@*$." She winces and closes her eyes. "Leave the aristocrat alone and maybe if your lucky you'll get off easy. 'Cause of, you know, connections." She looks up and finds herself looking into Marble's eyes, and they share a random instant of commiseration.
"Ignore him... he's... relatively harmless." Marble says bitterly, right in front of Blueblood. He's been around the palace environment long enough to know Blueblood's actually a royal chicken. Throw a mirror up in the air and he's defeated. It's actually *that* easy. "Try working here sometime. He's in my office at least once a day for whatever reason. Usually to store some personal item or talk about himself." Yes, Marble *is* talking about Blueblood as if he's not there. Might not be the best of ideas.
Prince Blueblood is hardly amused by Sky's counterargument. "It isn't a matter of gender it is a matter of status." Upon being asked for an introduction, his expression turns from smug to surprised... then right back to smug. He almost laughs. "Can you really be a royal guest if you do not know who I am?" He raises his head up proudly, closes his eyes and offers a self-righteous smile, as well as placing one of his well groomed hooves on his pressed coat (the clothing kind.) "I am Prince Blueblood. The great great great great great great great great great great great-" How many 'greats could he rattle off? Did he honestly remember the exact number of these things he needed to justify his exceedingly distant lineage to the cosmic monarchs? Yes, and he rattles them all off. 34 of them. "-great great grandnephew of Princesses Celestia and Luna from their mother's side." He neglected to mention the relation is also about 52 times removed. The relationship is remote enough to get one out of the loop on an Apple Family reunion. He spends so much time reveling in his own perceived sense of self-importance that he doesn't hear Marble at all.
"Ah ain't ever got in trouble fer talkin' down t'a snooty, little, pompous so-and-so before, Dinky hun, and ah don't intend to now." Sky Blue turns her attention back towards the prince and announces, "Ah ain't ever heard of y'all, and y'all have worse manners than a mule. And ah could see y'all ain't closely related t'the princesses, without all the 'greats'. Celestia and Auntie Luna are both real nice, charmin', and full of manners. Now, apologize fer yer rudeness, or we'll take it up with them."
Dinky is just soaked in embarrassment. Or maybe it's lamesauce. Contrition? There's probably a better word for it. In any case, she slinking off step by step, hoping to be forgotten before Sky or Blueblood or both get taken down a notch or two. There's not much loyalty in this mauve little thing. She tried once to warn Sky--that was enough.
Marble is watching this develop... and suddenly he finds himself in an insurmountable conundrum. Who is he supposed to root for? The terrifying hayseed or the egomaniacal royal? No matter who wins. No matter *who* wins: Marble loses. He starts eying the exits. "Maybe if I run now... I might get to a pub before the palace is completely reduced to rubble."
Blueblood snorts and turns his back to the mare, his nose going right to the ceiling. He tosses his glorious mane lightly to stay out of his face. "I am royalty. I do NOT deserve to be treated in this manner. If you have some trite matter to bring before the royal court I dare say run along and get on with it already! The sooner I am free from your meddlesome presence the sooner I can get to finding somepony to clean this awful mess Marble made!" With his royal temper tantrum finished, the spoiled stallion marches off down the foyer, turning down the hallway and out of sight. The last thing heard before the echo of his hooves fade is a just-audible 'Hmph!'.
Prince Blueblood snorts and turns his back to the mare, his nose going right to the ceiling. He tosses his glorious mane lightly to stay out of his face. "I am royalty. I do NOT deserve to be treated in this manner. If you have some trite matter to bring before the royal court I dare say run along and get on with it already! The sooner I am free from your meddlesome presence the sooner I can get to finding somepony to clean this awful mess Marble made!" With his royal temper tantrum finished, the spoiled stallion marches off down the foyer, turning down the hallway and out of sight. The last thing heard before the echo of his hooves fade is a just-audible 'Hmph!'.
"Now just y'all come back here!" Sky Blue bellows, before turning to the slinking Dinky, to whom she announces, "Ah'll be back in a second, sugarcube. Just got t'have a word with this pompous pony. Have a play with Marble; he's great fun." With that, the hayseed gallops off after Blueblood, with a cry of, "Y'all ain't gettin' away without an apolog-YYYYYY!" As she skids out of sight, a loud smashing can be heard, a tinkling of glass, and what sounds like a second suit of armour crashing to the ground. "Now look what y'all've gone and made me do!"
Dinky just stares. At Dinky, and then at Marble. She sputters quietly. "So you're bailing?" she asks, while her companion--she can't say friend--goes off prince-chasing.
Those three words from Dinky cause Marble to pause. And to his horror, he realizes something. "Oh dear. I'm the only responsible adult out here!" This is said without any irony whatsoever! And the bureaucrat realizes he better make sure Sky and Blueblood don't get hurt or he might get sacked. But... Dinky... "Uh-um."
More sounds are heard from the hallways, followed by a series of doors opening and closing as well as multiple things breaking. "Stop! Cease and desist you commoner! I say unhoof me you brutish-! Guards! GUARDS I am in DIRE NEED of armed assistance! Come quickly! Help! Help! I'm being repressed! Come see the violence inherent in the lower ponies!" Another loud crash is heard.
"Take that! And that! And-" CRASH. "Aw, shoot, ah hope that wasn't expensive. And stop runnin' away! Y'call yerself a royal and y'won't be civili-" CRASH. "Look what y'all made me do! Get back here, y'prissy son of a-" CRASH. "Stop hidin' like that! Get back here!" It's hard to tell what Sky Blue is inadvertently destroying, but the majority of them sound rather valuable, and also rather paperwork-incurring.
Dinky glances over to the hallway, perhaps hoping to make Marble's decision easier. "Gonna go stop them? Or is that, like, out of your jurisdiction?" Her ears twitch. It's not the first twelve-letter word she's used today.
Marble can be seen VISIBLY withdrawing each time he hears a crash. He is going to have a lot of work ahead of him, and all thanks to... who does he blame? Blueblood? Sky? "Artifacts..." CRASH and a whimper. "... and the vast majority of paperwork." The bureaucrat carefully and very cautiously creeps his way toward the hallway. At least they're not in his storeroom, but he keeps that very well locked and secure. His office, though... "Now.... s... s... s-see h-here!" Marble establishes weakly.
Dinky stares back harshly. "Yes? See here? What am I supposed to be looking at? Because all I see is a Keeper of Artifacts who can't keep his--" CRASH! "--artifacts from being mangled or smashed or who-knows-what she's doing. But then, that might not mean anything. I'm just a dumb little filly and my eyesight isn't that super."
Considering Marble isn't talking very loudly, he isn't heard. Blueblood is seen flying town the hallway as fast as his hooves will take him, screaming and crying like a terrified schoolfilly with Sky Blue hot on his heels. "GET HER AWAY!!!" Guards are fumbling to follow, but are far too intimidated by Sky's rampage to try to do anything close to meaningful in attempts to stop her. No... This was too dangerous. Too much risk for too little gain. Blueblood was not worth this. It doesn't take long for the spear brandishing stallions to simply bail.
Most of the hallway is in a moderate amount of ruin, with signs of debris trailing out from a variety of leading off rooms, including Marble Memory's treasured office, including a large stack of paperwork and an even larger amount of spilled ink. With an enormous bound, Sky Blue lands upon Prince Blueblood's back, spattering his fine coat with inky hooves, and tumbles head over hooves with him several times, before ending up squatting on his chest. "Now..." she announces, leaning daaangerously close down towards the prince's head. "Are y'all gonna apologize t'Dinky and mahself fer bein' an arrogant, self-centered, mean little no-mannered pony?"
Marble sees the ruins of his office literally splattered all over the administrative hall. And he's had just about enough. Normally hard to get a rise out of, the bureaucrat walks over to prince and hayseed, and just... goes off. "What in the [BUY SOME APPLES] do you two think you are doing?" Yes. He is even yelling at Blueblood who technically outranks him socially. But far too often is his office left at his mercy. And Sky, well, Marble just doesn't like Sky! Her chaos is far too much for the orderly-obsessed bureaucrat to handle! "Stand up., both of you, and I want to know exactly *why* you are tearing up this *grand institution!* And the palace, too!"
Blueblood struggles under Sky's inky assault, getting more and more dirty with every movement. With Marble's outburst he gets a chance to spring to his hooves and takes a few moments to sob over the soiled glory of his royal personage. He glares, GLARES at Sky. "You... How dare you!? You chase ME down the hallways of the palace, UNPROVOKED mind you, destroy a large portion of VERY expensive artifacts, decorations, important paperwork, and files that our administration (which is really just Marble) painstakingly took a VERY long time to organize and accuse ME of being ill-mannered!? I DEMAND that you leave this place immediately! You're lucky I don't have you arrested for assaulting a member of the most noble and perfect lineage in Equestria!" He's absolutely fuming, and now that Marble has the situation somewhat sedated (perhaps he's not ENTIRELY useless) he now has the upper hand. He glances to the guards. "Well don't just stand there, you dolts, place her under arrest!"
Dinky gestures broadly to the guards. "Do what you gotta do. I can't say I'm enjoying the show...but you guys do remember how Princess Luna feels about her Pollyapple, right? Right. Just saying."
"If y'all hadn't been such a pompous little coward and apologized, then none of this would've happened!" Sky Blue retorts, her hooves set apart, her brown lowered. Definitely NOT a happy filly. "All this mess is yer fault, because y'all decided t'run away instead of apologizin'n' bein' polite t'guests! NOW, if y'all'll excuse me, Prince Snootypants, Dinky and ah have t'collect Auntie Luna fer the casino." To the bureaucrat, she turns and announces, "Ah apologize fer the chaos Blueblood has caused, Marble. Ah'm sure he'll be more than happy t'make it up t'y'all." With that, she makes an about turn, comments, "Come along, Dinky," and then starts striding off towards Princess Luna's chambers.
Dinky just stands there, wide-stanced and wide-eyed.
Marble, nonplussed and *certainly* not appeased by this apology from the filly, holds out a hoof and taps her tight in the nose. "Not so fast! I am *still* talking." In terms of actual official authority here, Marble's ranking. Socially Blueblood may be much higher up, but Blueblood hasn't had a real job in years and Marble knows it. The princesses will buy that argument, right. "Sky Blue. *You* are a guest of the princesses. I suggest you realize what that means and leave *Ponyville* outside! You will sit outside the throne room, *well* within sight of the guards, until *Her Highness* comes to *you.* I'm not about to have you damaging any more of the palace." He releases the filly and marches straight up to Blueblood and probably shows among the greatest gall an administrator can have. "And *you.* You're *royalty,* you understand that?! And you know what royalty does? Serve! That's right, I said 'serve!' Celestia and Luna don't abuse their subjects. And it's high time you learned a lesson. *Go* into my office and pick up the mess. Don't. Touch. Anything. Else." He looks between the two. "Do I, the Keeper of Artifacts, Master of Rituals, Filer of Late Study Paperwork, make myself *perfectly* clear or will I have to ask Celestia to come out here to deal with you both *personally?*"
Dinky nods once, staunchly. With the first show of force (albeit meager) she's shown today, she actually grabs Sky Blue around the shoulders and, walking three-legged, pulls her toward the indicated spot outside the throne room. "Let's go, Sky."
Prince Blueblood looks over to a small gathering of amused and/or terrified palace staff who had been hiding nearby. "Well you heard the stallion, go clean it up!" He orders. By the sisters he will go through Tartarus and high water to loophole his sorry flank out of *gulp* manual labor. That was just BELOW him. Royalty! He coughs. "Yes yes, quite. And AS royalty it is my sworn duty to always be presentable to guests." he annunciates those last few words slowly. "I simply must go and wash. If you'll excuse me." Leaving the servants to do the real work, the entitled snob heads off to his private bath chambers. This is known as a process so involved and saturated in cologne, scented oils, and powders that it tended to take the better part of the day. He wasn't coming out of his chambers for a while. By that time, most of the mess should already be cleaned up.
The Royal Palace is the crown jewel of Canterlot, spiking like a system of stalagmites from the Ponyville side of Canterlot Mountain. The palace is surrounded by a lush botanical and zoological garden and also adjoins a world famous sculpture garden and hedge maze. Its exterior is rich and impressive, made of white stone and ivory, mixed with a dazzling array of other colors and patterns. The various turrets and towers are built in peaks, onion domes, gables, and more, and many of them bear balconies, parapets, awnings, flags, or flower ornamentation.
On the inside, the palace is no less astonishing. Its tremendous foyer is crisscrossed with red carpet and hung with tremendous tapestries. Throughout the palace, unbelievably tall stained glass windows provide an air of solemnity and gaiety at once. In the Hall of the Elements, these windows are especially haunting, telling the stories of battles with Discord and Nightmare Moon. The palace has countless rooms, from the guard halls to the guest rooms to the throne room. Finally, Princess Celestia's private suite, done up in swirly purples, is furnished with a hearth, rug and bolster, ornamental window, and miniature trees.
---
Marble is back in Canterlot for the day after his training that morning. He doesn't know about his challenger, but he's already feeling so pumped from the training! He hopes this works and the bureaucrat can win over the heart of the stunning Fluttershy! For now, though, he's doing what he seems to spend most his time at the palace doing, moving paperwork from one place to another. It all goes well until he comes across the wreckage. "Oh, sweet Celestia!" Marble says in shock, dropping the folder he had in his mouth.
---
---
Taking a casual stroll through the luxurious hall of the palace is the sound of perfectly groomed hooves stepping a light synchronization echo into the hall where the wreckage now stood. Hearing a crash was one thing, hearing a shout from a familiar bumbling parchment pusher was another. While the latter wasn't unknown to the palace, the context was worrisome. A handsome stallion reeking of smugness and self-importance makes his way into the impressive foyer. "What in the name of discord are you up to now, Marble Memory? Honestly at this rate I'm amazed you haven't toppled the very fabric of your beloved bureau-" He freezes when he sees the collapsed armor and the broken vases. "Who did this!? Who would be so careless as to ruin the marvelous decor of the palace? It's hideous. Get somepony to clean it up this instant!"
---
---
"Huh? Oh, right! Ah'm gonna wait 'till Luna's in court, then gonna see if ah can drag her out t'have some fun with us!" Sky Blue replies to little Dinky, her permanently-affixed smile spread as wide as ever. And then two particular stallions make their appearance. "HOWDY, MARBLE!" she bellows at the top of her voice, waving a hoof over as she explains to the younger filly, "Marble there shared a room with me while ah was up in hospital. And- HOWDY!" The second Prince Blueblood makes his appearance, the cyan hayseed crosses the distance between them in a dangerously short amount of time, grabs the prince's hoof, and then starts to shake it vigorously. "Sky Blue's the name, mailmare, saucemare, and soon-t'be-brewer at yer service!"
---
Blue is the color of the morning sky, and the color of Sky Blue's coat. Gold is the color of the sun, and the color of Sky Blue's shining mane and tail. A daughter of the morning sun is a wild filly not easily - or safely - caught, and she wears clothes to match. They're all of gold, the loose shirt billowing around her shoulders and forelegs, giving her easy movement, while her natural blue beckons down her throat and inside the wide, open neckline. Perched atop her head is a wide brimmed sun hat of natural gold straw, the crown circled in pale blue violets, almost blending with the mane that juts down like straw underneath it, clouding her playful eyes. Finally, her back legs are left free to run by her shorts of gleaming but thick and practical golden dragon leather. From those shorts emerges a tail like her mane, thick and wild as straw, and on their flank is embroidered the outline of a blazing hot sun. The sun's daughter would never hide her cutie mark.
---
Dinky twists her mouth into a quizzical partial frown...but then she smiles just a little. "You know, I feel like Luna's probably getting a little sick of me. I kind of use her as a crutch, you know? One of the most powerful ponies in the world and she's my personal crutch. That's how courteous I am, I guess." She twitches her head a little. "But if you know how to--" She cuts off when the adults discover the smashed vases and armor, facehoofing. "See? I -told- you that was gonna come back to bite you. See you in prison, I guess."
---
Dinky Doo is a sad little shrimp of a kid. Her coat looks dull gray at first, but on second glance you notice some purple in there. So she's mauve, then. Her hair's the same blond as the famous Derpy Hooves, and her eyes are the same amber, but the spikes of her mane aren't quite as pronounced. Moreover, that horn peeking through is certainly different! Yes, Dinky is a unicorn, not a pegasus like her presumed mother, and we'll leave it up to you to make sense of that.
Even more difficult to make sense of is this troubled child's personality. Her voice is consistently biting, her manner either nasty, blunt or withdrawn. She looks undernourished and desperate, and you wouldn't be surprised to see her crying. Naturally, there's no cutie mark on her rump.
---
"Oh sweet Celest-- OH SWEET DOUBLEFUDGE-- O-oh dear." Marble says all these things in rapid succession. First he is confronted by Blueblood and then... the most terrifying sound in Equestria. He can see his life being reduced to a shambles already. Complete and utter ruination. His career is... Okay, maybe its not so bad. Blueblood's been bane of his existence since he first worked here. Sky Blue is terrifying, though. "I-I can get somepony to clean this up..." Then he realizes... Blueblood's money was in all that gold he gave to Eclipse. "O-oh dear."
The prince groans audibly and puts a delicately manicured and cuffed hoof across his muzzle for but a moment, closing his eyes in exasperation. "The princess has far more important things to do than 'play' with a-" He is cut off by Sky Blue's nigh instant targeting of his hoof and that rattling of which that the common fair consider a greeting. He yanks his hoof away from hers as daintily as he could without scuffing it. "Have you no shame? You do not greet a royal in such matters." He starts to lovingly stroke his own hoof as if to smooth out every hair on it again. "I'm going to have to wash later," He mentions not-so-quietly to himself, "And that accent is grating." He scoffs and looks to the smaller pony who seems to have at least a little common sense. "You'd do best to listen to that filly's advice. You're lucky I don't have you tossed out of here for accosting me in such a manner!" "Now, what sort'a way is that t'treat a filly?" Sky Blue asks in that oh-so grating voice of hers, tilting her head and leaning to one side, placing a foreleg upon her hip. "Ah've met mah fair share of royals, and y'all ain't got half the manners they've got. Besides, ah'm a special guest of Auntie Luna. And so's Dinky, here. Ah'm gonna drag her off t'that fancy new casino and we'll all have loads of fun! And don't y'all know it's polite t'reply t'an introduction with one of yer own?" That's right. SKY BLUE is giving PRINCE BLUEBLOOD a rollicking on CLASS.
Dinky stands with her legs far apart (for her small frame) and her body sagging in disbelief. "Sky...Oh &@*$." She winces and closes her eyes. "Leave the aristocrat alone and maybe if your lucky you'll get off easy. 'Cause of, you know, connections." She looks up and finds herself looking into Marble's eyes, and they share a random instant of commiseration.
"Ignore him... he's... relatively harmless." Marble says bitterly, right in front of Blueblood. He's been around the palace environment long enough to know Blueblood's actually a royal chicken. Throw a mirror up in the air and he's defeated. It's actually *that* easy. "Try working here sometime. He's in my office at least once a day for whatever reason. Usually to store some personal item or talk about himself." Yes, Marble *is* talking about Blueblood as if he's not there. Might not be the best of ideas.
Prince Blueblood is hardly amused by Sky's counterargument. "It isn't a matter of gender it is a matter of status." Upon being asked for an introduction, his expression turns from smug to surprised... then right back to smug. He almost laughs. "Can you really be a royal guest if you do not know who I am?" He raises his head up proudly, closes his eyes and offers a self-righteous smile, as well as placing one of his well groomed hooves on his pressed coat (the clothing kind.) "I am Prince Blueblood. The great great great great great great great great great great great-" How many 'greats could he rattle off? Did he honestly remember the exact number of these things he needed to justify his exceedingly distant lineage to the cosmic monarchs? Yes, and he rattles them all off. 34 of them. "-great great grandnephew of Princesses Celestia and Luna from their mother's side." He neglected to mention the relation is also about 52 times removed. The relationship is remote enough to get one out of the loop on an Apple Family reunion. He spends so much time reveling in his own perceived sense of self-importance that he doesn't hear Marble at all.
"Ah ain't ever got in trouble fer talkin' down t'a snooty, little, pompous so-and-so before, Dinky hun, and ah don't intend to now." Sky Blue turns her attention back towards the prince and announces, "Ah ain't ever heard of y'all, and y'all have worse manners than a mule. And ah could see y'all ain't closely related t'the princesses, without all the 'greats'. Celestia and Auntie Luna are both real nice, charmin', and full of manners. Now, apologize fer yer rudeness, or we'll take it up with them."
Dinky is just soaked in embarrassment. Or maybe it's lamesauce. Contrition? There's probably a better word for it. In any case, she slinking off step by step, hoping to be forgotten before Sky or Blueblood or both get taken down a notch or two. There's not much loyalty in this mauve little thing. She tried once to warn Sky--that was enough.
Marble is watching this develop... and suddenly he finds himself in an insurmountable conundrum. Who is he supposed to root for? The terrifying hayseed or the egomaniacal royal? No matter who wins. No matter *who* wins: Marble loses. He starts eying the exits. "Maybe if I run now... I might get to a pub before the palace is completely reduced to rubble."
Blueblood snorts and turns his back to the mare, his nose going right to the ceiling. He tosses his glorious mane lightly to stay out of his face. "I am royalty. I do NOT deserve to be treated in this manner. If you have some trite matter to bring before the royal court I dare say run along and get on with it already! The sooner I am free from your meddlesome presence the sooner I can get to finding somepony to clean this awful mess Marble made!" With his royal temper tantrum finished, the spoiled stallion marches off down the foyer, turning down the hallway and out of sight. The last thing heard before the echo of his hooves fade is a just-audible 'Hmph!'.
Prince Blueblood snorts and turns his back to the mare, his nose going right to the ceiling. He tosses his glorious mane lightly to stay out of his face. "I am royalty. I do NOT deserve to be treated in this manner. If you have some trite matter to bring before the royal court I dare say run along and get on with it already! The sooner I am free from your meddlesome presence the sooner I can get to finding somepony to clean this awful mess Marble made!" With his royal temper tantrum finished, the spoiled stallion marches off down the foyer, turning down the hallway and out of sight. The last thing heard before the echo of his hooves fade is a just-audible 'Hmph!'.
"Now just y'all come back here!" Sky Blue bellows, before turning to the slinking Dinky, to whom she announces, "Ah'll be back in a second, sugarcube. Just got t'have a word with this pompous pony. Have a play with Marble; he's great fun." With that, the hayseed gallops off after Blueblood, with a cry of, "Y'all ain't gettin' away without an apolog-YYYYYY!" As she skids out of sight, a loud smashing can be heard, a tinkling of glass, and what sounds like a second suit of armour crashing to the ground. "Now look what y'all've gone and made me do!"
Dinky just stares. At Dinky, and then at Marble. She sputters quietly. "So you're bailing?" she asks, while her companion--she can't say friend--goes off prince-chasing.
Those three words from Dinky cause Marble to pause. And to his horror, he realizes something. "Oh dear. I'm the only responsible adult out here!" This is said without any irony whatsoever! And the bureaucrat realizes he better make sure Sky and Blueblood don't get hurt or he might get sacked. But... Dinky... "Uh-um."
More sounds are heard from the hallways, followed by a series of doors opening and closing as well as multiple things breaking. "Stop! Cease and desist you commoner! I say unhoof me you brutish-! Guards! GUARDS I am in DIRE NEED of armed assistance! Come quickly! Help! Help! I'm being repressed! Come see the violence inherent in the lower ponies!" Another loud crash is heard.
"Take that! And that! And-" CRASH. "Aw, shoot, ah hope that wasn't expensive. And stop runnin' away! Y'call yerself a royal and y'won't be civili-" CRASH. "Look what y'all made me do! Get back here, y'prissy son of a-" CRASH. "Stop hidin' like that! Get back here!" It's hard to tell what Sky Blue is inadvertently destroying, but the majority of them sound rather valuable, and also rather paperwork-incurring.
Dinky glances over to the hallway, perhaps hoping to make Marble's decision easier. "Gonna go stop them? Or is that, like, out of your jurisdiction?" Her ears twitch. It's not the first twelve-letter word she's used today.
Marble can be seen VISIBLY withdrawing each time he hears a crash. He is going to have a lot of work ahead of him, and all thanks to... who does he blame? Blueblood? Sky? "Artifacts..." CRASH and a whimper. "... and the vast majority of paperwork." The bureaucrat carefully and very cautiously creeps his way toward the hallway. At least they're not in his storeroom, but he keeps that very well locked and secure. His office, though... "Now.... s... s... s-see h-here!" Marble establishes weakly.
Dinky stares back harshly. "Yes? See here? What am I supposed to be looking at? Because all I see is a Keeper of Artifacts who can't keep his--" CRASH! "--artifacts from being mangled or smashed or who-knows-what she's doing. But then, that might not mean anything. I'm just a dumb little filly and my eyesight isn't that super."
Considering Marble isn't talking very loudly, he isn't heard. Blueblood is seen flying town the hallway as fast as his hooves will take him, screaming and crying like a terrified schoolfilly with Sky Blue hot on his heels. "GET HER AWAY!!!" Guards are fumbling to follow, but are far too intimidated by Sky's rampage to try to do anything close to meaningful in attempts to stop her. No... This was too dangerous. Too much risk for too little gain. Blueblood was not worth this. It doesn't take long for the spear brandishing stallions to simply bail.
Most of the hallway is in a moderate amount of ruin, with signs of debris trailing out from a variety of leading off rooms, including Marble Memory's treasured office, including a large stack of paperwork and an even larger amount of spilled ink. With an enormous bound, Sky Blue lands upon Prince Blueblood's back, spattering his fine coat with inky hooves, and tumbles head over hooves with him several times, before ending up squatting on his chest. "Now..." she announces, leaning daaangerously close down towards the prince's head. "Are y'all gonna apologize t'Dinky and mahself fer bein' an arrogant, self-centered, mean little no-mannered pony?"
Marble sees the ruins of his office literally splattered all over the administrative hall. And he's had just about enough. Normally hard to get a rise out of, the bureaucrat walks over to prince and hayseed, and just... goes off. "What in the [BUY SOME APPLES] do you two think you are doing?" Yes. He is even yelling at Blueblood who technically outranks him socially. But far too often is his office left at his mercy. And Sky, well, Marble just doesn't like Sky! Her chaos is far too much for the orderly-obsessed bureaucrat to handle! "Stand up., both of you, and I want to know exactly *why* you are tearing up this *grand institution!* And the palace, too!"
Blueblood struggles under Sky's inky assault, getting more and more dirty with every movement. With Marble's outburst he gets a chance to spring to his hooves and takes a few moments to sob over the soiled glory of his royal personage. He glares, GLARES at Sky. "You... How dare you!? You chase ME down the hallways of the palace, UNPROVOKED mind you, destroy a large portion of VERY expensive artifacts, decorations, important paperwork, and files that our administration (which is really just Marble) painstakingly took a VERY long time to organize and accuse ME of being ill-mannered!? I DEMAND that you leave this place immediately! You're lucky I don't have you arrested for assaulting a member of the most noble and perfect lineage in Equestria!" He's absolutely fuming, and now that Marble has the situation somewhat sedated (perhaps he's not ENTIRELY useless) he now has the upper hand. He glances to the guards. "Well don't just stand there, you dolts, place her under arrest!"
Dinky gestures broadly to the guards. "Do what you gotta do. I can't say I'm enjoying the show...but you guys do remember how Princess Luna feels about her Pollyapple, right? Right. Just saying."
"If y'all hadn't been such a pompous little coward and apologized, then none of this would've happened!" Sky Blue retorts, her hooves set apart, her brown lowered. Definitely NOT a happy filly. "All this mess is yer fault, because y'all decided t'run away instead of apologizin'n' bein' polite t'guests! NOW, if y'all'll excuse me, Prince Snootypants, Dinky and ah have t'collect Auntie Luna fer the casino." To the bureaucrat, she turns and announces, "Ah apologize fer the chaos Blueblood has caused, Marble. Ah'm sure he'll be more than happy t'make it up t'y'all." With that, she makes an about turn, comments, "Come along, Dinky," and then starts striding off towards Princess Luna's chambers.
Dinky just stands there, wide-stanced and wide-eyed.
Marble, nonplussed and *certainly* not appeased by this apology from the filly, holds out a hoof and taps her tight in the nose. "Not so fast! I am *still* talking." In terms of actual official authority here, Marble's ranking. Socially Blueblood may be much higher up, but Blueblood hasn't had a real job in years and Marble knows it. The princesses will buy that argument, right. "Sky Blue. *You* are a guest of the princesses. I suggest you realize what that means and leave *Ponyville* outside! You will sit outside the throne room, *well* within sight of the guards, until *Her Highness* comes to *you.* I'm not about to have you damaging any more of the palace." He releases the filly and marches straight up to Blueblood and probably shows among the greatest gall an administrator can have. "And *you.* You're *royalty,* you understand that?! And you know what royalty does? Serve! That's right, I said 'serve!' Celestia and Luna don't abuse their subjects. And it's high time you learned a lesson. *Go* into my office and pick up the mess. Don't. Touch. Anything. Else." He looks between the two. "Do I, the Keeper of Artifacts, Master of Rituals, Filer of Late Study Paperwork, make myself *perfectly* clear or will I have to ask Celestia to come out here to deal with you both *personally?*"
Dinky nods once, staunchly. With the first show of force (albeit meager) she's shown today, she actually grabs Sky Blue around the shoulders and, walking three-legged, pulls her toward the indicated spot outside the throne room. "Let's go, Sky."
Prince Blueblood looks over to a small gathering of amused and/or terrified palace staff who had been hiding nearby. "Well you heard the stallion, go clean it up!" He orders. By the sisters he will go through Tartarus and high water to loophole his sorry flank out of *gulp* manual labor. That was just BELOW him. Royalty! He coughs. "Yes yes, quite. And AS royalty it is my sworn duty to always be presentable to guests." he annunciates those last few words slowly. "I simply must go and wash. If you'll excuse me." Leaving the servants to do the real work, the entitled snob heads off to his private bath chambers. This is known as a process so involved and saturated in cologne, scented oils, and powders that it tended to take the better part of the day. He wasn't coming out of his chambers for a while. By that time, most of the mess should already be cleaned up.