The Sinister Plot

***The Sinister Plot: Short 3***

The table was quiet except for the sounds of muffled chewing and satisfaction.

Freshly showered and dressed in their fatigues, the guards settled down in a restaurant in Canterlot, the Sun Royale.

Amethyst and Onyx shared a salad, Amber enjoyed a seasoned pasta plate, and Gem watched while sipping from a glass of water.

The gala wouldn't take place until sundown, the following evening, so the Royal Guards of the Crystal Empire were given the night off and let loose into Canterlot to rest, relax, and enjoy themselves.

It was their night, Shining had told them.

A few other guards were scattered across tables in the restaurant, but most had disappeared into the city and likely wouldn't been seen again until the morning after.

As she set her glass down, after taking a sip, Gem noticed a guard several tables away was looking at her.

She would catch him looking, and he would quickly look away, turning his attention back to whatever was on his plate in front of him.

“Gem?”

The call of her name startled her.

Gem turned and realized it was Amethyst who was trying to get her attention.

The captain had a concerned look on her face.

“You look troubled, Gem. Is something wrong? Are you still hungry? We can order more food, if that's what you-”

Gem quickly shook her head, cutting her off.

“No… That's alright, Amethyst. I'm fine, really.”

She held a hoof across her stomach.

After having consumed so much earlier, nearly making herself sick, Gem didn't have the stomach for another ‘big’ meal.

Canterlot had treated her well enough.

Everypony had, actually, unlike her first visit to the capital of Equestria.

Gem was deep in thought as memories of the changeling attack resurfaced.

She was there, rounding up and subduing the Royal Guards, leaving the innocent ponies defenseless against the onslaught before coming face to face with a wingless Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

The battle was a confusing cluster of changelings and ponies.

As the changeling army disguised themselves as the mane six to distract them, they ended up confusing themselves.

Gem figured there was no mystery to their defeat.

The leadership of Queen Chrysalis was flawed from the start.

“I'm just surprised at how different this city is to our own.” Gem wanted the topic to be away from her. “I mean, it's still grand, in every aspect of the word, but it's a lot less… shiny.”

Amethyst cracked a smile, and a gentle laugh escaped her lips.

She looked like she was about to say something in response, but her gaze shifted towards something behind Gem.

“Excuse me…”

The low, gruff voice came from behind her.

Assuming it was the waiter, Gem politely shook her head without turning around.

“I'm good on water, thank you. I don't need a refill.”

Amethyst pursed her lips and shook her head.

“Gem, honey, that's not the…”

Gem turned at last and looked over her shoulder, and her eyes widened.

It was the stallion from earlier, the one sitting across from them.

He was in his fatigues as well, and by the medals across his uniform, she could see that he was a corporal, just above the rank of a private first class.

His hooves shifted nervously as he tried to bring himself to speak, and his eyes darted back and forth between Gem and the table she was sitting at.

Gem was growing impatient of the long silence.

“Yes?”

Finally, the corporal swallowed and solidified himself in place, clearing his throat.

“I… Uh… Well, the gala is to t-t-tomorrow…”

The entire table was silent, staring up at him.

Amethyst and Onyx were dead silent and Amber held her breath. They knew exactly what was happening, but Gem, being new to the social norms of the pony world, was completely clueless.

“Yes, I know.”

The young stallion’s cheeks flushed bright red as he tried to keep his eyes trained on Gem.

“Well, I was… I was wondering if… It's a big event, you know, a big party, and I was just wondering… if you'd like to go with…”

He swallowed, hard.

“… with me.”

The other mares at the table, Amethyst and Amber, were doing everything they could not to jump up and scream with joy.

Onyx had to hold his wife-to-be back in her seat to stop her.

Gem, on the other hoof, was still lost in the dark and unaware that she was being asked out by the stallion in front of her.

She frowned.

“I assumed we were all going together, as guards. What difference does it make if I go with you?”

That last part visibly deflated the corporal.

His ears dropped, and his gaze fell.

He looked like he was about to turn around and return to his table.

Amethyst couldn't take it any longer. She couldn't sit still and let him get away.

“Gem!” Her voice hissed like any angry snake’s, carrying across the table. “Gem! He's asking you out on a date!”

Gem heard her, and her eyes widened.

She looked up at the young stallion, and her cheeks began to turn red.

“You… You want to take me on a… a date?”

He blushed and nodded his head, managing a weak smile.

“Absolutely, Miss Gem. If you want, I mean…”

Gem was speechless.

She couldn't bring herself to respond due to the shock that had overcome her.

Across the table, Amethyst was still trying to whisper directions to her.

“Say ‘yes’!” Just look at him and say ‘yes’!”

Gem slowly brought her gaze to meet his.

She could see a silent pleading in his eyes, hoping she would accept.

The mare felt her lips beginning to move, forming the words to respond, but everything around her seemed muffled.

She couldn't even hear herself think.

“Yes… I would… like to go… out with you…”

The look of pure joy on the young stallion’s face made her heart swell in her chest.

Amber let out a soft ‘squee’, and Amethyst nearly fell back in her chair.

For the first time in her life, Gem had a date, and it was the most bizarre thing she had ever felt.

This didn't feel like the love she felt for Pyrite and her friends.

It felt so… childish and carefree, and she liked it.

A smile forced its way along her lips as Onyx welcomed the corporal to the table, help him pull up a chair next to Gem’s.

He smiled at her, extending his hoof.

“I'm Nickel, by the way.”

Gem was still feeling the buzz after the surge of love felt.

She let him take her hoof into his.

“I… I'm Gem…”

Amethyst was still trying to instruct her, mouthing words and making motions with her hooves, but Onyx held her back, wanting to let things play out naturally.

Gem found herself giddy with excitement and filly of pure, unfiltered joy.

The moon climbed high into the dark sky as the night grew longer.

By that time the following evening, Gem would be on her very first date, and she couldn't wait to get started.

***Gem Will Return***