The Fundraising Gala (Private: Dark Star) [Dead]

[Dark Star]

Dark Star felt slightly better about herself after having been complimented by Silver. She had always read about situations such as these in the few romance novels she owned, but actually experiencing it was entirely different, though she hoped that her ex-coltfriend wouldn't show up with some hare-brained story about his love returning. 'That would just be silly' she thought with a small smile at the ludicrous idea.

After a few minutes of silent staring at one another, Silver decided to speak up. Dark Star nodded towards the idea of getting going. She had always been on-time for things, Dark Star; Never being too early, or too late, just punctual. She certainly would admit that she found the idea of simply losing herself in Silver's eyes enticing, but that would accomplish nothing.

Before setting out towards the gala, Dark Star suddenly felt a little unsure about her appearance. It would be the first time she had ever attended such an event, and with just a plain dress with a sash, she would certainly look the fool in front of the rest of the upper crust. 'Perhaps I should've brought some of that makeup with me after all' Dark Star wondered. A tad amount of blush, lip-gloss, and eyeliner wouldn't do much harm, though considering the nature of the event, Dark Star merely left such things behind in favor of maintaining her serious and simple appearance. 'Simplicity is best' echoed throughout her mind as her attention came back to Silver once again.

He inquired to find out if Dark Star wanted to know anything about the gala, though it was the way he expressed it that seemed unusual. Being able to pay attention to detail was a very excellent trait of the dark unicorn, and it didn't take much effort to put it to use-noting the nervous habits that Silver had from time to time. If anything, she could actually print all of Silver's behavior down in a journal and literally read him like a book, it was that simple. "Are you feeling alright, Silver, something seems to be bothering you?" she asked, curious to see what had the stallion so upset.

[Toast]

Silver stares at Dark for a few seconds before giving a small smile. It seemed Dark Had picked up on his emotions rather quickly. Really it shouldn't have surprised him, her attention to detail was unmatched by almost any pony.

"Come on, I'll talk to you about it on the way." He says while opening the door.

The sun was setting, surly Celestia would finishing lowering it soon. As the two ponies walked towards their destination the caught the occasional glance from passerby's. Not necessarily do their attire, but more from their attire mixed with their genuine odd appearance. Silver was more obvious of course, but Dark too was a much more strange sight for Canterlot ponies to behold. So many of the ponies in the town had such washed out or dull colors, and the such sharp black and red color of Dark stood out in a different way from him. Silver wondered momentarily if Dark had at all picked up on that Herself. Still, he took no notice of the other ponies though, instead he was looking straight up at the sky while walking beside Dark. If one were to stare at him for too long it might look slightly odd at how he was able to bend his neck back quite so far. Finally he brings his gaze back down and exhales an audible breath.

"Sorry, I suppose I'm just slightly nervous about this evening." He says. Despite his words Silver still spoke very eloquently, that same reformed manner he was used too. "I've seen my father have to deal with a lot of questions at these things. Sometimes the donors can be very pestering, they all want to know their bits are being well spent. Although you can't really blame them." Silvers tone became more sombre near the end of his last sentence.

"I know it's just pre-show jitters. But I don't want to end up being a liability, I mean, ponies jobs are potentially on the line here." Silver pauses, wondering if that was really true or if he was over thinking it.

"Sorry, I'm being a little dramatic." He says with a relaxed smile. Funny how just saying out loud what he was already thinking helped him feel better. Something about having Dark know exactly what was going on inside his head eased his worries.

[Dark Star]

As the unicorn couple walked, they took notice of the sun finishing being set. Celestia always seemed to work so hard, but it was really Luna that Dark Star payed attention and respect to. She knew perfectly well that she wouldn't be able to live without the warmth provided by Celestia's sun, it's just that she really didn't pay much attention to daylight to begin with. Speaking of paying attention, many of the ponies took the time to stare at the couple as they were walking towards their destination. Dark Star was perfectly alright with being stared at, she was used to it at this time. 'Being born with so many noticeably different features is rare, though being stared at because of them is incredibly common' she thought with a mental sigh, a small part of her wishing that they didn't stare so much.  

After they had been walking far enough, Silver started to open up, admitting that he was incredibly nervous about making any mistakes that evening. There were some ponies whose jobs were on the line this evening, and if he didn't answer their questions properly, they may not desire spending their bits on the event at all. Looking at him closely, you could almost make out a few beads of sweat forming on his brow. Dark Star closed her eyes and nuzzled against the side of his face, having to lean down ever so slightly to make up for the height difference. "I'm certain you'll do fine, I'll be there the entire time just in case" she assured in a sweet, nurturing tone. 

[Toast]

"Thanks Dark." Silver says, accepting dark's nuzzle. She certainly did have a way of making him feel better about things. But he knew he was being silly as it was. There was nothing stopping this from still being an enjoyable evening. The food was always a huge benefit, and there would be enough other university ponies if things got too frustrating with the benefactors.

Finally their destination was upon them. The large art gallery in the middle of Canterlot. Outside the front entrance a couple groups of ponies dressed like Silver and Dark were already chatting away, most likely waiting for the last few members of their group before entering. As the two approached Silver could help but say out loud what he was thinking for once. "Strange they are having it here this year. Usually this event is held somewhere at the university, guess they wanted to give it a more ritzy feel." He pauses before turning to Dark. "Come on , lets head inside." He says in an oddly upbeat tone.

The first floor the two entered was almost bear of any ponies with the exception of one young unicorn behind a folding table that was covered with nametags. She had a dull white coat with an even duller grey mane, and looked about as bored as was possible. It was obvious she was not happy about this being her task for the evening. Even as Silver and Dark approached she paid them almost no attention.

"Name." She says in a dull tone, not even making eye contact.

"Silver glow, please." Silver says a little awkwardly.

Quickly the white pony levitated two names tags in front of Silver and Dark, each with their respected names and area of study below. She didn't even have to look at the table to find the right ones.

Silver looked at Dark's tag. "That's funny, I don't remember guests getting-"

"All university affiliates, factually, students, or guests are to be issued nametags for the duration of the evening." The white pony said in a rehearsed tone.

"Ah...Thank you."

"Take the stairs behind me to the second floor lobby, the gala has already started."

As they passed the table Silver couldn't help but look at Dark, sniggering slightly over their odd encounter. Once they reached the top of the second floor voices began to fill the air. It was finally time for the show to begin, so Silver took a moment to look at Dark one last time. "Well, here we go. You ready?"

[Dark Star]

It hadn't taken the two long to reach the art gallery, even less time for Silver to comment over the university's choice in locations. "I'm certain that they needed to promote some degree of sophistication or culture" Dark Star mused as the couple trotted over to a rather bored-looking unicorn. After getting Silver's name, the receptionist levitated an ID tag onto both he and surprisingly Dark Star. The astronomer wasn't just surprised that they had a name tag for her, but that it even had her area of study as well. Needless to say, Dark Star was quite surprised. 'I suppose Professor Specks did tell me I had some form of reputation, I simply didn't think it would be that obvious' the black-and-red unicorn thought.  

After having that...unusual encounter, the two began ascending the stairs, the sounds of chatter happening just a few paces ahead. Silver inquired if Dark Star was ready for the gala, to which she nodded with a firm smile. Once they had entered, Dark Star was immediately met with multiple ponies she had known about from Professor Specks, the latter of whom also being there, chatting with a dashing-looking stallion aristocrat. The sights of multiple works of art practically surrounding them, Dark Star simply felt the culture seeping into her. With a sigh, she trotted ahead, momentarily forgetting about Silver until she felt a slight burning sensation in her earlobe. 

Turning her head slightly, she found that it was Professor Specks mentioning her name and even waving a hoof at her. After providing a small bit of magic for Silver to follow, she went ahead and trotted up to the stallion. "My, Dark Star, how lovely it is to see you again" the professor greeted with a big laugh. "It's nice to see you too, Professor" she responded, suddenly feeling a judging pair of eyes on her. Looking over, she found the aristocrat staring at her, suddenly making her feel uncomfortable. 

[Toast]

Silver was interested to see Dark instantly take to the gala as she trotted ahead of him. For a moment he still just stood at the top of the stairs, more interested in observing but it didn't take long for the aforementioned mingling to take place. The gala was already buzzing, Silver could see a few familiar faces but was bugging him was how few names her could remember. 

"perhaps I don't come back from ponyville to visit enough after all." He thinks.

Still that was nothing to really worry about, perhaps he would be able to reconnect with some old friends from his university days. Part of the point of this gala was to network a bit anyway. In fact a quick glance back to where his mare friend revealed that she had already found herself in an encounter with a colleague of some kind, although Silver had to admit it was some very prestigious looking pony, and her signal telling him to come over only reinforced that feeling. Slowly Silver approached, walking up to Darks side he notices her slightly uncomfortable nature.

"It's nice to see you too, Professor"

Silvers eyebrow raises slightly, and it was only then he notices his name tag. Obviously this was a professor that Dark shared her research with, possibly a mentor. Astrology department, no doubt. Although that meant Silver had little knowledge who exactly he was. All he could derive so far was how his presence was putting Dark on edge.

"Hello professor." Silver says. "Silver Glow, Department of philosophy, It's a pleasure to meet you."

[Dark Star]

Dark Star felt slightly relieved when Silver came over. Something about him being there made her feel as though she could breath easier, even with Professor Specks' colleague staring at her. "Nice to meet you dear sir, I'm Professor Specks, head of the Astrology Department" the professor greeted as he glanced over at Dark Star. "I presume this handsome young stallion is your escort this evening?" he asked, the latter nodding with a smile. The professor then let out a hearty laugh while the other stallion merely kept his eyes glued on Dark Star, occasionally glancing at Silver and noting how his coat seemed to...sparkle. "So one of you has glowing eyes while the other has a glowing body, how ludicrous" the stallion stated in a gruff tone. 

Professor Specks merely placed a fore-hoof on the stallion's shoulder and looked him dead in the eye, his trademark smile never leaving his face. "Now, now, Professor Jaune, there's no need for such a statement" Professor Specks told him in a surprisingly-stern tone. Dark Star merely blinked as she watched Professor Jaune simply walk away. "You'll have to excuse him, he's simply too serious for parties sometimes, but I promise you, he's a nice pony" Professor Specks almost strained himself explaining. "It's perfectly alright, Professor, I'm used to getting unusual stares" Dark Star responded, a little depressing tone noticeable in her voice. Without even realizing it, Dark Star had already been nuzzling against the side of Silver's muzzle, a soft blush appearing over her cheeks as she backed away.

"I-I'm sorry about that, we're supposed to handle this in a professional manner!" Dark Star responded. She gave her head a quick shake and found Professor Specks laughing as heartily as ever. "Quite alright, my dear, this gala is for all to enjoy, after all" the professor responded. 

[Toast]

Silver simply smiles Silently while Dark and Professor bantered back and forth. At the comment of the glowing body from the other professor Silvers attention shot to the new pony.

"Now, now, Professor Jaune, there's no need for such a statement"

Another professor Silver was unaware of. Was he really that out of touch with what was going on at the university that he knew so little about the faculty. Well it wasn't a problem he could do much about, besides being here now would hopefully serve to fix some of that. For the time being Dark was on the ball over professor Jaune's comment, although the quick nuzzle followed by her flustered apology did cause Silver to chuckle slightly at her.

"It's no problem dear. And yes I'm sure it will be enjoyable too professor, I can't really foresee any reasons why tonight shouldn't be an enjoyable evening.

"Hey.. nightlight!"

Silvers pupils dilated. "How?" he thought. Quickly his eyes glanced past the two professors before shifting back to them with a toothy nervous smile.

"You'll have to both excuse me for a moment." He says before Slipping past the two In the direction of the voice, motioning Dark to follow. However before he could get much more than an earshot away from the professors he was immediately placed into a headlock by a tall blue and rather handsome looking Pegasus who proceeded to ruffle his well groomed mane.

"Hey buddy how you been , how come you never come visit anymore?" Said the Pegasus rather quickly.

"Ugh, Marco, this.. is not the, place." Silver grunted with concern.

"Oh, right." In a swift movement Macro released the struggling unicorn and quickly helped straighten out his mane in apology. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Silver says while adjusting his bow tie, surprisingly while smiling, it appeared the sudden attack of this Pegasus didn't bother him much at all. "Although I'm a little surprised to see you here." Silver says quite calmly.

"Ha, well I can't say the same, I figured I might see you here, or at least your dad." Marco Pauses and gives a quick glance at Dark. "Who's your friend here?"

[Dark Star]

After having dealt with Professor Jaune, Dark Star let out a small sigh. Luckily for her, she had Silver and Professor Specks there with her, otherwise things may have gone a bit worse. The black and red unicorn gave a small, endearing smile and nuzzled Silver once again, though her ears couldn't help but twitch at a certain voice directed towards them. 

Dark Star watched as her lover suddenly became crestfallen right before her. Before she or Professor Specks could ask what was wrong, the stallion excused himself and rushed away, Dark Star following behind from an apparent intuition of hers. 

"Silver, what's going on?" Dark Star asked once she had caught up. Silver had opened his mouth to form an answer, thought the sudden headlock he was placed in left him unable to even finish it. Dark Star was taken aback by the appearance of this sudden pony, even more-so by his brashness. Looking closer, he appeared to be a pegasus pony, and quite a slim, tall one for that matter. Seeing them interact with one another suddenly reminded her of Slipstream's antics, which somehow led to the idea of Slipstream leaving a pile of ashes and rubble in place of her home. A troubling thought, but one that would have to wait for a later time. For now, she was focused more on this strange pegasus, whom of which was apparently known as "Marco". 

Marco had released Silver, then started fixing up his mane a little as a semi-apologetic act, both of which Dark Star was silently greatly for, since it saved her the trouble of prying him off and even running a comb through her mate's hair. Still, she would've greatly preferred him not making such a mess of a first appearance. This train of thought ran until Marco suddenly questioned who she was, to which she cleared her throat and spoke up to. 

"My name is Dark Star, resident of Ponyville, free-lance astronomer, and mate of the unicorn you were just trying to suffocate" she introduced a bit more stern than she had wanted. Still, she probably managed to get the message across regardless, even if it was a bit more than she needed. 

[Toast]

Marco stared at Dark for a few seconds after she finished speaking with a blank stare. "Ohh, feisty, where do you find them?" He says humorously to Silver. Silver simply shook his head with a little smirk on his face.

"Dark this is Marco, we were friends back in freshmen year."

"More than just friends." Marco says, in once quick dash he now stood beside Silver with his hoof over Silvers shoulder.

"We were undeniably"

"unequivocally"

"irrefutably"

"indisputably"

"The two best buds around."
"The two best buds around."

Both Marco and Silver laughed over their little back and forth, it was obviously they had rehearsed in the past.

"And still are of course. Which begs the question." Marco says in a leading tone before nudging Silvers shoulder. "How come you never come visit anymore?"

"You know the onus it's fully on me Mr. Long distance flyer. It's a lot easier for you just to drop by Ponyville." Silver says in defense oh himself.

Marcos tone eased up a bit as he lightly shook his head. "Still don't know why you decided to move there." He says in a slightly exasperated tone.

"Forever a Canterlot pony, aren't you." Silver says with a smile.

"You know it, besides I still got schooling left."

Silver glanced over at Dark."Marcos a Physiology Major."

"Mmmm a senior Physiology major. Although I never would have gotten that far if it wasn't for this guy." Marco says to Dark. "Remember Ms.Tiwilikers First year English."

Silver shook his head. "Your writing skills were awful."

"Haha, ya, they still are." Marco says quickly. "Anyway so Dark Star, free-lance astronomy, what an interesting job. And you got your eye on my little bud here, so tell me how exactly did that come about?"

Silver rolled his eyes. Perhaps he should have let Dark in on the fact he had an annoying Pegasus friend too. Although nothing about Marco ever bothered or annoyed him, he always was a fan of his antics. But he did find it a little odd how different he felt toward Slipstream.

[Dark Star]

At the mention that they were more than friends, Dark Star began to feel nervous. She wasn't opposed to the idea of two stallions being...like that, but she was in love with Silver, she wouldn't want him to start going around or anything. Luckily, such thoughts were dashed when they revealed they were simply close friends. 

The more Marco spoke, the more familiar everything seemed to be. Eventually, she managed to grasp proper hold of what it was; she and Silver both had extremely similar situations and lives. They were both unicorns, they were both scholars, they both had an irksome pegasus, whom of which was the same gender they were and were incredibly close to. She had managed to find something else that she loved about the scholarly unicorn; the fact that he was able to understand her situations, her pains, just...everything really. 

She was brought out of her little daydream by the sound of Marco's voice. For the most part, she was ignoring whatever it was they had to say. A bad habit of hers, really; once she found something to dream of, she had a habit of becoming ignorant towards pretty much anything else. She had caught bits and pieces of what he had been asking her, mostly being about how she and Silver first met. Rolling with that, she decided to answer. 

"He and I first met one faithful day in Canterlot some months ago. We exchanged anecdotes on our work, he showed me around his hometown, and we even spent time back at my home in Ponyville. During the following winter is when we became lovers, however. A mutual friend of ours had taken him to me, the poor stallion had nearly frozen to death out there, but we managed to save him. We've been in love ever since" she told him in a much dreamier tone than she had intended, even embracing Silver halfway through it. 

[Toast]

Marcos eyes widened as the pitch of his voice increased dramatically with an upwards inflection.

"Love?" He says smiling ear to ear.

Silver smiles back somewhat nervously. "Yes, well. The heart can grow fond quickly." Silver says somewhat mumbling, feeling a little bad. He understood how Dark felt about him, and he knew she knew that he did have strong feelings for her. But that 'L' word still had some difficult connotations attached to it for him.

Quickly Silver clears his throat.

"So Marco, you didn't really say why your here? Promoting the sports department no doubt." Silver says in order to change the topic of conversation.

"What, of course not, you really think they would pick me as a representative." Marco says almost laughing.

The smile quickly disappeared off of Silvers face and was replaced with a slightly bored look. "Then how did you get an invite, this is a closed event?" Silvers eyes shifted up for a second while he deduced the most possible answer. Marco simply smiled and waited.

"...Oh You didn't?" Silver says.

"My the security around is sure lacking a bit wouldn't you say, not a single pony watching those third story windows."

Silver sighed as he paced a hoof against his face. "So, what exactly are you doing here then?" He asks.

"Are you kidding me you think I would miss this? A bunch of rich, bored stallions with nothing better to do with their time than to give away their money."
Silver couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head over the completely absurd nature of Marcos intentions.

"Figures." He says glancing at Dark. "Always the charmer aren't you Marco."

Marco shot Silver an intrigued look with one eyebrow raised. "Mmmm I remember that charm working on you once. You remember don't you, freshmen year, behind the bleaches on the track field?" He says.

The look of pure fear and panic struck Silver like no other as he dashed his hooves towards Macros mouth to shut his stupid horse face up. 

"MARCO NO." Silver says grabbing the blue Pegasus.

"Hphmm-" Marco muffles out while trying to remove the hooves covering his mouth."-Oh and that technique you used with your hmphh--." Eventually Marco broke the Smaller pony's grip and quickly saddled up against Dark.

"No need to worry about me Dark, he's all yours. Bit too much of a braniac for me really-"

"MARCO." Silver shouts against with increasing frustration.

"All right I'll let you be." He says. " Besides I got work to do here.." Marcos words began to trail off as his gaze locked onto a pure white stallion walking by the trio. "I'll see you guys later." He says quickly before dashing off. "Hey, hey, could you buy me a house?"

With Marco gone Silver was now left with the awkward position of having to explain things to Dark, and every passing second only made things more awkward. "I was young, it was college." Silver pauses realizing nothing he said at this point was really going to matter. "I... need to get a drink." He says before quickly trotting over to the punch table.

[Dark Star]

The more Marco ran his mouth, the more Dark Star began to understand why Silver hated having him around. Perhaps this was just a way of fate telling you how similar some people genuinely were. Than again, she wondered how long it would take for Slipstream to go crazy being around this "lady-killer". Still, if Silver was willing to put up with his shenanigans, than maybe-

"Mmmm I remember that charm working on you once. You remember don't you, freshmen year, behind the bleaches on the track field?" Marco stated before Silver rushed up to shut him up. 

Needless to say, Dark Star didn't like that comment one bit. Right away, the black-and-red unicorn's eyes were widened and her irises were lighting up. In spite of Silver's protesting, that pegasus simply kept on running his mouth, and every word he spoke only increased the brightness. By the time Marco was next to her, she was practically burning all over. If the lights were to be turned off now, Dark Star's eyes alone would be enough to light the entire room. 

Oh, how she wanted to throttle that pegasus. She would consider herself incredibly lucky that he left when he did; so much as a second longer and she wouldn't have the first idea of what she would do to him. Still, that was only half of the problem. The real problem was finding out how Silver would explain things. He started out fine, but then left for a drink when he started looking pale. 

Dark Star merely sighed and let herself calm down, the glow in her eyes having died down. Just in time too, as another aristocratic stallion started questioning her about the astronomy department again. This was essentially what followed up for a good time, and unfortunately, she wasn't able to truly focus on it. 

After a bit more working on the benefactor-which wound up being a complete success-she was free to find Silver. All she would really need to do is comfort him, make him forget about that idiotic friend of his. This was what she needed to do if they were to continue their relationship peacefully. 

[Ashti Sandburst]

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