The Hope for a Flexible Future (4)

Luna was ecstatic. Or she looked to be so as she just had telling details that highlighted her positive mood.

First, it was her pace. It was slow, and it would stand out more if she was going faster, but there was a merry ‘clop’ with each step she took with her hooves. It was like with Silver, except this was scaled to be a bit more concealed due to her being an adult. Nonetheless, Luna was giddy and she had all the good reasons to be as such. The Gala was particularly elaborate, and I took note of the fact that there were more nobles than shown in the show.

Possibly because Equestria was bigger in this dimension and thus had a greater list of noblepony which served either as proper vassals of the country or perhaps as members of royal commissions tied to governmental affairs. I decided against inquiring about it just yet. It was a party, not an opportunity to bore ponies with questions about logistic and government’s matters.

The Princess of the Moon was the first to notice my distracted look, assuming that I was more endeared by the overall party than else with her smile twitching into a smug curved line at that thought.

“I suppose you’re stunned by the event itself, John.”

The comment sharply brought me out of my thoughts, but I swiftly avoided an awkward disaster by actually agreeing to her guess.

“It’s impressive, yes,” I hummed with a smirk. “Yet, I have reason to believe that it’s not a case that you’re so vocal about it.”

The diarch blinked at my odd jab, unsure if it was an accusation or a hint for something else. “What do you mean?”

“Luna, I might not delve much in details at times, but I can just tell from the way you look so happy at any praise that I know you were behind this. Which is why you’re looking for indirect compliments,” I mirthfully pointed out, patting Silver Song in the head as we stopped and I crouched down. “After all, you’re still looking around from time to time to make sure nothing goes wrong while your sister is handling the guests at the entrance.”

Lips twitching in a perfect mix of annoyance and amusement, Luna’s pout was deadly cute despite her best efforts to appear annoyed. She tried to give me a glare, she really tried, and yet the jovial look on my face couldn’t just be shattered by her frail effort.

“You are correct. But for now, I can handle being away from this duty. Just for the sake of guiding young Silver Song around.”

“Nothing else?” I pressed with a knowing look and she huffed.

“No.”

You’re not tricking anyone with that~.

“It’s so amazing, Princess Luna. There are so many ponies, and everyone here looks so nice,” Silver remarked happily. “Is it true that you’re the one that organized the gala to be so beautiful?”

The princess giggled at the praises. “That would be quite right, Silver. At least your child is quite polite about his honesty.”

I frowned at that jab aimed at me, only fueling more giggled much to my chagrin. I didn’t mind- I really liked the way she sounded so at ease about it. I would have expected some nervousness due to the height of the duty she got, but Luna was handling the task decently despite being around us.

Just as I finished thinking this, she excused herself as she went to check on a little issue between a certain Fashionista and a very embarrassed nephew to the Princesses which was currently getting yelled at for some past issues.

I guess that would have been an interesting way to interact with another Element of Harmony, but I was surprised to see how honor was ‘stolen’ by another pony that saw me around. Plotting cleverly the right moment to strike, I was suddenly yanked in a very silly hug as pink assaulted my vision for a while… until I was aiming my gaze into big blue eyes.

“Oh my, you’re taller than I thought you were going to be,” Pinkie Pie beamed giddily. “Human, tall, brown-hair and… oh my, can I say you truly have an odd luck?”

I cracked a smile, gesturing to the guards that had realized what happened and that looked ready to remove the ‘threat’ off from my face. They calmed down and I sighed.

“That would be an understatement, Miss Pie,” I replied politely, thinking back at what happened with Sombra and… pretty much the rest of the days ensuing that event.

“I mean, it sure has to be tough to be dealing with something similar to what your cousin is doing (1) but… you’re doing great! Never give up being the best king ever.”

“Ehr… thank you?”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Ninja (2),” The Element of Laughter replied joyously. “By the way, have fun with your son. I know you two will just be fine.”

I am so lost right now. ‘Mr. Ninja’? What is the pink pone smoking right now? And where do I find a bush in case of emergencies?

“Thanks… again.”

She giggled, seemingly aware of the creepy factor she was elevating the more she spoke. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just so difficult to not be too blunt about things. After all, you’re quite the interesting centerpiece of many strange situations.”

...Am I?

“Good to know,” I replied awkwardly, with the pink mare seemingly realizing she wasn’t making much sense.

“Oh well, it’s alright, King John. You’re a busy man, but keep on gritting your fangs (3) on those that try to hurt your family,” She concluded with a determined tone, jumping off from me and pacing away. “Bye, Nora’s dad(4)!”

…Ok, what the hell was that?

“Dad, who was that? And is it alright for me to keep this?”

I quickly looked down at Silver, noticing that he had a small wooden casket filled with chocolate and candy in front of him. I could sense a deep need of keeping this gift despite how insane that encounter had been. I had been trying to prepare myself for a Pinkie encounter, but I learned one thing from this single meeting: you can’t be ready for this kind of stuff.

Sighing at the side, I nodded while gesturing to one of the guards to carry the bag. I could sense some desire from the stallion, but he was disciplined enough to not steal candy from a colt. Especially when that colt was his sovereign’s kid. Still, I decided to shove away the previous interaction and ignore it for the time being as I felt relieved to see that we were no longer alone.

“Apologies, I had to also make sure that Twilight Sparkle managed to keep a look for her friends,” Luna hummed as she finally came back. “And while they are doing their best… A couple of the Elements are still known to cause trouble due to old issues.”

I slowly nodded, but before I could have said anything about it, I found our attention stolen by a particularly loud voice coming from a nearby table.

“Utter rubbish! I’ve seen better crap in some cheap alley down to the poorest quarter of Karthin.”

I blinked in surprise as I recognized the language- and why shouldn’t I have considered it was friggin Italian. I was a bit stunned by this, only as I tracked the source of the rude comment to the feathered rude guy I realized that it was a case of Italian-Wingbardian.

If I remember correctly, both countries were similar in nature and history, but there were some elements that differentiated Wingbardy from its human counterpart. Specifically, the fact that ‘Beakolini’ had yet to reach power, but was already making noises through his political aggression.

The cause of this situation? A ‘wrong’ lasagna from the looks of it. From a closer glance, it looked like a misunderstanding at best. The dignitary had been served a Vegan version rather than the standard one and… it had irritated him a lot. The pony waiter that was dealing with this didn’t seem to speak much beyond mere Ponish, and was cowering a fair bit under the withering gaze of the Griffon dealing that kind of rant. I could sense some amusement in his sneer, the guy having found a way to entertain himself at the party.

“John?”

I blinked, glancing back at Luna as the Princess had her head tilted to the side, curiosity and concern flashing in her eyes.

“I’m sorry if I sound rude now, but I remember you told me how your native language is similar to Wingbardian. Do you understand what the ambassador is saying?”

I slowly nodded, and my expression was enough to mirror the current circumstance back to the princess. A disappointed look flashed on the diarch as she glanced back at the dignitary, and yet something gave her an idea to turn this into something… interesting.

“Can you do something about it?”

It didn’t take me long to understand what she was asking for and, as I left Silver with the princess, I calmly stepped closer to the scene. The waiter noticed, bowing his head to me, while the dignitary took a bit more time getting through with some response.

He just turned to see a bipedal creature in front of him, but he seemed to realize that any form of absolute derision was going to get him some backlash considering my current regal outfit. Maybe he saw me as some important noble or guest, but the point still remained: ‘Surely he can’t be someone of high standing due to the fact this place serves no one at the same rank as the princesses’.

“What kind of creature are you?” He inquired in annoyance. “And what do you want? I don’t have money for you, scimmia.”

...Did he just call me monkey?

If before I had some reluctance to instigate anything, the big guy was sure ready to get dissed for what he just said.

“As a matter of fact, I’m no scimmia, sir. And I reckon that there’s something called courtesy which you’re not observing with this kind of disappointing lack of formality before a ruler,” I sharply cut into the chase, the frankness of my tone shredding any bravado as the birb seemed stunned by the Wingbardian he just heard. But before he could say more, I decided to be ‘polite’ and introduce myself. “I’m King John of the Crystal Empire. What is your name?”

The question felt more as a demand, with the Griffon gulping nervously. “A-Anacleto. Anacleto Civetta.”

“Signor Civetta, I don’t need to remind you that within this domain you are a guest, not a lord. Behave as such in the name and honor of the country you represent. Would your king approve of this behavior? Would the government? Is this the reason to invite her? To insult and humiliate ponies that have been fairly accepting of your request.”

“T-That fool had the wrong lasagna prepared for me.”

“Did he? Equestrian Lasagna is vegan, you should have asked for the Griffonian Lasagna which is the one I reckon you were looking for,” I continued the rant uninterrupted. “I would expect manners out of a foreign ambassador, but I guess you just wish to dishonor your parents with the way you’re behaving. Would your mother be happy with this? That you’re making such a ruckus in such place?”

Brief anger flashed at the mention of his parents, but the way his mother was brought up left the feathered jerk without anything but contempt for his own action. He apologized profusely shortly after, sounding genuinely mortified for the matter and… I couldn’t exactly blame him for the mood swing.

The moment I brought up his mother and how that behavior would have been definitely disapproved of by her had him completely stuck against his own morals. Yep, moms are revered in Italy and Wingbardy for good reasons. Specifically something about their presence in handling punishments during childhood. Never be rude, never disappoint.

I walked back to the others to find out that Princess Celestia had finished her round of guests’ greetings and had joined her sister in watching the dress down happen… while eating a slice of cake on a floating cake with a floating spoon.

Ain’t that sweet.

“That was quite intense,” Luna muttered in surprise.

“I barely understood anything, dad,” The colt pointed out with a small pout. “Can you teach me that language?”

I felt my heart swell with that. What kind of parent wouldn’t react in genuine delight at hearing their child wanting to learn about their parents’ native language? But while that was quite delightful, there was also an aspect of the situation that wasn’t missed by the Princess of the Sun, with the oldest of the diarchs giving me a curious look.

“It wasn’t bad,” Celestia hummed in amusement. “But I believe you could have been a bit more restrained.”

“I got riled up with an insult,” I admitted and Luna frowned.

“Really?”

“This ‘monkey’ knows how to talk individuals down,” I replied jovially, showing no offense remained from that situation. “So, I believe we should deal with the food and the drinks?”

“Yes, let us show you to the… well, best spots we have prepared for the occasion.”

The walk wasn’t long, but it ended in a very interesting manner. I saw wine, I frowned at it, and I could tell that I would have to at least drink a glass. Nothing wrong with just one as I would need several to get drunk… but let’s just say that alcohol of this kind behaved like ‘bold nectar’ for someone like me.

It made me prone to... some interesting actions. Some of which could create some nerve-wracking situations or not. And as the night went on, I could tell I did something that got a few individuals awkward: One of my actions was seen as something different by the guests than the meaning it originally held, so...

A cheek got kissed and… this created a whole new set of interesting events between me and Luna.

Author's Note

AN

Oh my! John did something naughty with Lulu? Unbelievable! But trust me, the next interlude will shed some light. Lulu has stuff to bring up in high detail, how it came down to her getting a kiss on her cheek and making a fuss out of it! The scandal, the tragedy and-

Whoa! This place is so big, Johnny!

...You really shouldn’t be here, Pinkie. Like really, this isn’t alright.

But why? Webby told me it would be fine to pop by and say hello!

Only by my permission. I’m already dealing with too many interdimensional BS in my own Notes’ space, please just… go back to the Cake twins or something.

Oh right! I almost forgot about that. Thanks, Johnny!

...I sure have a hate/love relationship with those fourth-wall breakers…

Also! Before I go, a quick list of the ‘references’ I just dropped in this chapter~ (You may find all of those in Fanfiction dot Net):

1) Tale of Two Kings (Fate Medieval England SI);
2) Peerless Darkness (Naruto Lil Danzou!SI);
3) Gritting Fangs (Pre-Mushoku Tensei SI);
4) Reluctant Hero (Pre-RWBY SI);