The Meeting [1/5]

The Grand Galloping Gala was the single most important event of the night, but Twilight always did… find it a bit boring after a while. With Princess Celestia off talking to some random nobles, Twilight herself had nopony to talk with really. She surveyed the area from atop the staircase, hoping to find somepony who looked like they needed help. A lot of nobles from neighbouring kingdoms usually attended the event, and she doubted very much that none of them needed some kind of assistance. Maybe a tour? Refreshments? Company for polite conversation?

She made her way down, avoiding the extravagantly dressed ponies walking up and down the staircase. She saw the refreshment table in the distance, wondering if maybe she ought to make her way there; there seemed to be a lot of ponies gathered there, after all. She took a step forward in the right direction, until her eyes landed on a very beautiful unicorn mare in the distance.

The mare seemed to be rather ill-at-ease, constantly adjusting her dress and looking around as if afraid of being spotted. Regardless of her state, Twilight found her exceedingly pretty. Her long purple mane was tied-up in a ponytail, her blue dress went well with her light gray coat, and she certainly seemed like somepony who needed help — Twilight’s help!

Twilight took her last step down the stairs, intending on moving towards the mare, but stopped suddenly.

Then again…

She had no business mingling with guests when really she had to mingle with the other princesses attending the event. Princess Celestia had asked her to please entertain the daughter of the French Equine King, and truth be told, Twilight hadn’t heard many good things about the infamous Princess Platinum Belle.

She remembered hearing at the last Grand Galloping Gala that the Princess had quite the imposing personality, which worked wonders for a future queen but not for her future citizens and/or friends who were being bossed around.

It wasn’t that Twilight couldn’t handle a feisty princess, but considering how many pretentious nobles she dealt with day in and day out, she figured that there’d be no harm in postponing it for a little while, would there?

With that thought in mind, she noticed that the strange mare was looking right at her. It wasn’t the curious look Twilight was used to as a princess. It was something else, bordering between respectful and analytic. It was intriguing, honestly, at least enough to will Twilight towards her.

After all, if somepony seemed to want to talk to her, then it was only polite to give them the chance, right?

“Good evening!” Twilight greeted upon reaching the mare, who only blinked and straightened herself up in reply. Twilight took her lack of silence as a sign of embarrassment, and as such was quick to follow-up with a polite, “My name is Twilight!… Uh, Princess Twilight, I mean.”

The mare blinked, narrowing her eyes. Just as soon as she did, though, she softened her expression and smiled. She extended her hoof and said in a thick accent, “‘Ello.”

A foreigner! Ohhh!

And from the French Equine Kingdom, too, if her memory of accents served.

“Oh! You must be from the French Equine Kingdom! Are you liking Equestria so far?” she asked enthusiastically.

The mare paused for a bit before slowly replying, “Yes…”

“That’s great! Princess Celestia recently started an initiative on strengthening relationships between Equestria and foreign kingdoms, so she’ll be very happy to hear our guests are having a nice time here. Are you staying here for long?”

Once more, the mare paused and then slowly replied with another, “Yes…”

The repeated answer threw Twilight off, mostly because she couldn’t really read the mare’s intentions. Was she intimidated by Twilight? Was Twilight bothering her? Maybe she didn’t want to talk?

“I’ve never been to the French Equine Kingdom. Though I’ve read a lot about it, especially their role in the Equine War,” Twilight continued, her brain silencing her nerves by putting her mouth into action, spewing fact after fact on everything she’d read about the mare’s home kingdom.

She must have had all her facts right, she thought, considering the mare didn’t stop to correct her even once during the nearly ten minutes she sat there talking. Ha! And Princess Luna said she’d seen Twilight dozing off during Celestia’s lessons.

Finally, by the time she’d reached the modern history of the Equine Kingdom, Twilight decided that she really ought to offer the mare a chance to speak. Maybe she had questions on Equestria, or it might turn out that she knew all of Equestria’s history!

“What about you? What questions do you have about Equestria’s history?” she asked excitedly, and it wasn’t until the mare once again replied with a ‘yes’ that Twilight finally thought to ask the primordial question she should have started with.

“Uhm, you… You do know how to speak English, don’t you?” she asked, and when the mare failed to reply and awkwardly stared at Twilight, the princess simplified her question by pointing to her mouth and… “English? Er… Shoot, what was the word? An…Anglais?”

“Ah!” said the mare, and to Twilight’s horror, she slowly shook her head, her cheeks turning a shade of red. “Very… euh… little…”

Oops.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Twilight blurted out, her face flushing red. She’d just kept the poor pony standing there, and they’d been polite enough to listen and not say a word. She felt terrible! So terrible, in fact, she didn’t realize she was still rambling on in English. “I didn’t realize—! I thought maybe you were very interested in your history, but why would you when you already know your hist—” And finally, again, Twilight caught herself, and placed a hoof on her mouth.

The mare quickly raised her hoof. “Non, non, ça va! Je ne voulais pas vous interro—”

And now it was the mare’s turn to fall silent, her blush matching Twilight’s as she voiced their common thought.

“Oups…”

The two mares looked at each other in awkward silence, until finally the foreign pony broke the ice by letting out an embarrassed giggle, coaxing Twilight into following shortly afterwards.

Once their giggling had faded, and Twilight felt much more at ease, she cleared her throat and extended her hoof. “I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she said, re-introducing herself to her new friend.

The mare placed her hoof on Twilight’s. “Enchantée, Princesse Twilight. Je m’appelle…” She stopped for a second, and she suddenly smiled widely, clearing her throat and continuing with a curiously impish expression, “Rareté”

“Like Rarity? Rareté ?” Twilight repeated at length, suddenly feeling very self-conscious of her accent when Rarity giggled at her.

“Twilight,” Rarity said, and now Twilight found herself giggling at the other’s accent — giggling that only intensified at Rarity’s clearly indignant expression.

Just as Twilight was about to try and somehow communicate with Rarity, she heard the distant chimes of the castle bell tower, signifying she was late to helping out with the bi-hourly free tours of the castle.

Except… she didn’t really want to go. Despite their inability to understand each other verbally, Twilight found she was rather enjoying the company of her new friend.

“Uhm… I have to…” She looked towards her friend, making a pained expression and nodding towards the large doors leading out of the room.

“Ah, euh, oui…” Rarity drifted off, smiling at Twilight, awkwardly gesturing towards the door and bowing her head, an embarrassed giggle accompanying her action.

Twilight nodded, stepping back, waving at her friend, watching as she did the same, and then finally trotting off with a, “‘Bye!”

“And here we have the West Wing Mirror Hall, commissioned by Starswirl the Bearded as a training ground for reflective magic when Princess Celestia was under his tutelage.”

Twilight’s voice carried itself loudly and clearly throughout the hall, a dozen or so foreign ponies standing in front of her, ‘ooh’ing and ‘ahhh’ing at nearly everything Twilight said. Honestly, giving tours was one of her favorite parts of the gala. No having to mingle with nobles, no having to just wave and smile, nothing but being able to talk about the history of her home.

She waited for a few minutes, allowing the ponies to look around, and it was only because of this reprieve that her eyes landed on a very familiar pony. There, at the back of the crowd, was Rarity, her eyes fixed on Twilight. Upon being spotted, the unicorn smiled brightly, tilting her head in acknowledgement, to which Twilight quickly returned the gesture, invigorated by the fact that her friend was present.

Even if she… hadn’t been able to understand anything?

Maybe she should try being more expressive?

“Alright, everypony!” Twilight called out, gathering the crowd once more, and waiting a fraction of a second until Rarity had settled herself before continuing. “This hallway was also the battleground for the Great Chaotic Battle, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated the Spirit of Chaos when he infiltrated the castle.”

Immediately, the ponies all gasped in shock, and Twilight had to stifle a laugh when she noticed Rarity blink in confusion and then quickly imitate the others, gasping dramatically with a hoof on her chest. It wasn’t until she caught Twilight raising a playful eyebrow at her that Rarity giggled impishly, putting a halt to her theatrics.

While the ponies made a second round of the room, Twilight watched as Rarity made her way towards her, settling herself next to the princess.

“Bonjour,” Twilight said with a giggle.

“Hello,” Rarity replied. She looked around the room and added, “This… euh… château… zut, attend… ca..castle?” An encouraging nod from Twilight. “This castle! It is merveilleux.”

Twilight frowned, taking a moment to decipher the message. “Oh! Oh, yes,” she replied, straightening herself up, feeling a bit of pride at the knowledge that Rarity liked her home. “I’m glad you like it! It’s always an incredible success with visitors, especially those coming for the first time.” When Rarity blinked in confusion, Twilight tried her best attempts at charade, conveying her message through a series of pointing and, judging by Rarity’s laughing, funny facial expressions.

In turn, Rarity gestured her reply, and it felt to Twilight as if time came to a stop as they stood there ‘communicating’, completely forgetting the tour. In fact, it wasn’t until one of the ponies loudly cleared their throat that Twilight realized they were all waiting for her to continue.

“Uhhh, sorry!” she blurted out, face flushing and quickly continuing with her tour, rolling her eyes playfully when Rarity shook her head as if to chastise Twilight for getting distracted.

An hour later, the extended tour came to a finish in front of the castle gardens. At any other time, Twilight would have finished at least half an hour ago, but her attempts at charading everything she said for Rarity’s sake had been more time consuming than she’d have expected.

Most of the ponies had dispersed already, but Twilight lingered in the gardens if only because Rarity seemed to want to look around. Surely Princess Platinum wouldn’t really mind if they met a little later! She was going to be in Equestria for at least a week, or maybe more, if it turned out Princess Celestia had been correct when she’d said the Princess might be staying for a few months to learn English.

Rarity, on her side, wasn’t doing much talking, but Twilight noticed the unicorn would always look back to make sure Twilight was following, and would also patiently wait for Twilight when nobles happened by to greet her.

“Would you like to sit down?” Twilight asked, breaking the silence by gesturing towards a nearby bench, a few meters away from where Rarity had been looking at some flowers.

Rarity nodded, trotting past Twilight and taking a moment to dust off the bench with her magic before sitting down. Twilight quickly followed suit, settling herself next to Rarity, allowing silence to fall between them.

In a way, it was actually quite comforting for the Equestrian princess.

Social dynamics weren’t her strong suit, and though she’d usually be worried by the silence, she found that this particular silence was actually quite pleasant. The knowledge that they couldn’t communicate wasn’t hindering her, and in fact, glancing at Rarity, the unicorn seemed to be enjoying herself too, a small smile painted on her lips.

But, on second thought, it wasn’t that they weren’t communicating, was it? It was just a different type of communication, a non-verbal one that Twilight found she enjoyed.

In fact, she came to realize that star gazing was quite the pleasant activity to share with Rarity, the two of them looking up at the night sky. Twilight admittedly had the urge to explain the constellations, but she figured there would be time for that later, maybe once she’d acquired a bilingual dictionary.

“Oh, Twilight ! Regarde !”

Rarity’s voice snapped Twilight out of her reveries, and when she looked down, she saw a small kitten carefully walking towards them, its ears and tail perked up. Unfortunately for the kitten, its careful approach was brought to a halt when Rarity levitated it into the air, floating the mewling kitten over to their bench.

“Ohhh, qu’est-ce qu’il est mignon ! Mon petit chaton !” she cooed, and Twilight didn’t really need to know French to understand.

She watched with an amused smile as Rarity nuzzled the kitten, completely disregarding its desperate attempts to escape her cuddly prison. A moment later, Rarity finally pulled him back and scooched herself closer to Twilight so she too could pet the kitten.

“Hi there,” Twilight cooed, lifting her hoof to scratch under its ears. “Where did you come from?”

The kitten meowed in reply, squeezing itself out of Rarity’s embrace and going towards Twilight. However, it seemed to be unable to decide whom it liked best, for not even a moment later it returned to Rarity, and then back to Twilight, until it finally settled itself between the two, drawing out pleased laughter from both mares.

It was Rarity who finally spoke up first. “Euh, Twilight?“ She paused and gestured towards the kitten. “Nom ?”

Twilight blinked. “Nom ? Oh! Name? If he has a name?” When Rarity nodded, Twilight looked back to the kitten, shrugged and then looked at Rarity, gesturing back and forth between her and the cat. “Would you…”

“Oui, oui!” Rarity exclaimed, quickly taking the kitten and giggling. “Alors, voyons…” She bit down on her lip, furrowed her brow, and it wasn’t until she briefly glanced at Twilight that she spoke up. “Crépuscule !”

Twilight tilted her head to the side. “Cré..pus…cule?” she repeated slowly, revising her little amounts of French vocabulary and failing to find the meaning of the word. Was it some type of crépe? Twilight liked them a lot, but she never would have thought of naming a cat after food, but if that’s what Rarity wanted…

Rarity nodded, taking the kitten and scratching under its chin. “Crépuscule.”

The kitten meowed once, apparently pleased with its name.

“Rareté ! Mais, où étais-tu ?!”

Twilight turned around and saw a yellow pegasus trotting towards them, anxiety painted all over her face. Was she a friend of Rarity’s? She certainly looked the part, what with the elegant dress.

Just like Twilight, Rarity seemed startled by the new mare. “A-Ah, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy? That sounds more like an Equestrian name.

It wasn’t until Fluttershy reached them that she noticed Twilight and gasped. “Oh, Princess Twilight! Good evening, Your Highness,” she quickly blurted out in a perfect accent, bowing down several times. “And the kitten!” she added, noticing Crépuscule in between Twilight and Rarity, “I thought I’d lost you…”

“You’re Equestrian! I thought maybe you didn’t speak English,” Twilight said, somewhat relieved. She was perfectly willing to play charades for Rarity’s sake, but she wasn’t nearly good enough to do it with two ponies. “Hello! It’s nice to meet you. Is this kitten yours?”

The pegasus shook her head. “Oh, no! It’s a stray! I found it a little while ago, but it ran away and I chased it all the way here.”

“Oh, good! I wouldn’t have want to have named a cat who already had an owner,” Twilight said. “Rarity here called him Crépuscule.”

Fluttershy blinked, looking at Rarity. “Ra…rity?”

“Yes…?” Twilight said, looking back and forth between Fluttershy and Rarity, the latter staring at the former with an… almost threatening gaze. “I think that’s what Rareté translates too…?”

Fluttershy blinked. “Er, y-yes! Sorry, I got a bit…“ She cleared her throat, and smiled, just as Rarity did. “Yes, I’m Equestrian, but I live in the French Equine Kingdom with… er, Rarété.”

Before Twilight could reply, Rarity cleared her throat.

“Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy blinked, “Oh, uhm, yes!” She quickly trotted over to Rarity, and after excusing herself with Twilight, whispered something in Rarity’s ear. Whatever it was, Twilight assumed it to be serious, judging by Rarity’s furrowed brow.

When Fluttershy stepped back, Rarity let out a long-suffering sigh and stood up. “Allons-y, donc.” She pet the kitten one last time and then bit down on her lip. “Princess Twilight… I…”

“You have to go?” Twilight asked, her ears dropping when Fluttershy nodded behind Rarity. “Oh… Alright, then.”

Rarity observed her for a moment before turning to Fluttershy and whispering something in her ear. Fluttershy quickly returned the gesture, and after they’d finished exchanging several sentences, Rarity turned back to Twilight. She opened and closed her mouth several times, seemingly hesitating, before finally slowly speaking up in a thick accent.

“It was very lovely to meet you, Princess Twilight,”

Twilight couldn’t stop herself from grinning. “Oh, yeah, it… uhm…” She gestured to Fluttershy, and swallowing down her embarrassment, whispered into her ear, “How do I say that I feel the same way?” Fluttershy giggled, and after whispering back the reply, Twilight looked back towards Rarity, cleared her throat and carefully said, “moi de même.”

Rarity’s reaction was immediate, offering Twilight an absolutely delighted and contagious smile, afterwards biting down a giggle. However, just as quickly, she shook her head and looked towards Fluttershy. “Viens, avant que mes parents ne me tuent,” she said, quickly trotting off.

“Wai— Attends !” Fluttershy called back, rushing after her.

Twilight watched them go, a smile on her face. She felt tempted to get up and go after them, but relented. She’d already postponed her duties enough, and the last thing she wanted was to upset Princess Celestia or Princess Platinum.

“Guess it’s just you and me,” she said to the kitten curled up against her.

“Twilight!”

Twilight looked away from the kitten, and she felt panic flood her body at the sight of Princess Celestia leisurely trotting towards her.

Uh-oh…

“Pr-Princess Celestia!” Twilight called back, quickly getting up and nearly toppling Crépuscule onto the floor.

“Twilight, I’ve been looking all over for you,” Princess Celestia said, looking around the gardens. “How did your tour go?”

“Oh, it went very well! At least twenty ponies attended, most of them foreigners!”

The Princess nodded her head. “I’m very pleased to hear that, Twilight. Though, that reminds me… I assume you didn’t get to speak to Princess Platinum, did you?”

Twilight felt herself flush. “I… Well, I… You see…” She eventually gave up on trying to find an excuse, lowering her head and confessing, “No, I didn’t… I’m sorry, Princess…”

Celestia giggled. “Don’t be, Twilight. I must admit that even I didn’t have the chance to speak to her considering she disappeared halfway through the party. Apparently, she wanted to ‘get to know the castle for herself’,” she replied. “They just found her, however, so I was hoping you could assist me with showing her to her new room.”

Twilight’s ears perked up. “Her new room? Does that mean…”

Celestia nodded. “It seems we’ll be having a fifth princess living in the castle for a year, yes. Let’s hope she is—”

“Mroooow!”

The two mares looked down, finding the tabby kitten rubbing itself against Twilight’s leg.

“How cute!” Celestia said, levitating the kitten into the air, giggling when it tried to bat at her nose. “Where did you come from?”

“I think it’s a stray,” Twilight replied. “He’s called Crépuscule.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow and lowered the kitten. “Crépuscule? Now, Twilight, isn’t that a bit conceited?”

Twilight blinked, taken aback. “I… huh? I didn’t name him! I don’t even know what that means…”

“Well, whoever named him must be quite the admirer,” Celestia said with an impish smile, putting the kitten down and allowing it to return to Twilight. “Crépuscule is the French word used to describe the light from the sky when day and night meet. In other words…”

“The twilight,” Twilight finished, feeling her cheeks grow hot, picking up the kitten and holding it against her chest.

“Now, why don’t we let little Crépuscule wander around the garden for a moment while we go meet Princess Platinum?” Celestia suggested, turning around and trotting off.

“Uh, y-yes, coming!” Twilight exclaimed, putting down the kitten and rushing after the Princess.

As they made their way towards the throne room, where the French Equine family awaited them, Princess Celestia filled Twilight in on all the details of Platinum’s stay. She would be taking the role of an ambassador to her country in Equestria, and Twilight was not only to make sure she attended all her lessons, but that Princess Platinum’s stay in Equestria was a very memorable one.

“Ah, Sister! There you are,” Princess Luna said when, finally, Celestia and Twilight stepped into the throne room.

“Forgive me, Twilight hadn’t finished with her tour, and I didn’t think it would be appropriate to interrupt,” Celestia explained.

“It isn’t a problem, Celestia,” the king said, stepping up towards her. He then furrowed his brow and added, “Our daughter wasn’t easy to find either, as you know. Teenagers…” He cleared his throat and addressed Twilight. “Princess Twilight! I’ve heard much about you. I’m sure you and my daughter will be fine friends.”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure!” Twilight quickly replied, looking around and… finding no pony her age.

The king too seemed to have noticed the lack of daughter. “Rarété ! Ce n’est pas le moment ! Arrête ça !”

Twilight felt her heart skip a beat.

“Mais je suis ici, papa.”

Twilight turned around and found Rarity sitting next to her, a lovely tiara resting atop her head, and what could only be described as a devilish smirk on her face. She then turned to Twilight, and fluttering her eyelashes said, “Bonjour, Princesse Twilight.”

~ Fin? ~