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Visiting the Gala Buffet


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Just off of the Ballroom is the Gala buffet. The feast laid before the ponies of the Gala is like none anypony has dreamt before. The cooks in Canterlot's kitchen have outdone themselves with the most exquisite dishes of Equestria, preparing delicacies from Manehatten all the way to the Gallopagos Isles. All manner of appetizers, entres, and deserts lay open for the taking.

The banquet hall is decorated with streamers hanging from the ceiling, displaying more of a party atmosphere than other parts of the castle. There are round tables about, with cushions to sit on, and waiters everywhere making sure that every food need is met.

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ShadowMist wasn't one for parties. But Twilight Sparkle had been kind enough to surprise her with a ticket for all her hard work. It would be rude of her not to go. Even if she didn't know anypony there, she could at least go for some free cake.

The Gala was more spectacular than she would have imagined, and so many more ponies... Her simple lengthy sparkly green dress felt out of place among all the high class ponies. She hated to wear dresses, but this was a special occasion, one where formal attire seemed to be required. Was she under dressed? Was she over dressed? Whatever, no pony knew who she was.

ShadowMist made her way to the buffet, putting a small amount of food on her plate to start with, and taking it to one of the unoccupied tables. There, she sat alone, watching the other ponies in the room as they lightly conversed, and feeling awkwardly alone.

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Shimmer Star

Shimmer Star looked over all the wonderful food at the buffet, her eyes widening in delight as she saw a plate of small cakes made with one of her favorite foods - cherries. Shimmer took one on a plate and picked it up to go find somewhere to sit and eat it.

Shimmer's gaze swept over the ponies and tables as she looked for an empty place to sit. There! She thought, seeing one that seemed to be empty. She walked over to it, careful not to step on any other ponies hooves. Once she got to the table though, she was surprised to see it already contained a pony.

"Hi." She said pleasantly to ShadowMist, "May I sit here?"

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Kitty Face had made her appearance at the Gala with little time to spare. She had barely shown her bright colored dresses beauty to a soul before she began to hop towards the buffet. Kitty face loves parties and dancing, but she most of all loved food. She hoped there would be sweets galore, maybe even the sugar cubes and sugar canes and sundaes that she had once heard her idol sing about.

Kitty Face spun into the Buffet room and her pink dress wafted about her hips. She could hear her stomach grumble as her eyes laid upon the feast, and she quickly clapped her fore-hooves together in excitement, before dashing into the room and picking a plate up with her mouth. She used her horn to levitate a few sweets onto her plate, and when she decided she had enough for the first course, she turn around to find herself a seat.

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"O-Oh, sure." ShadowMist replied, more cheerfully than she felt. It would be so awkward eating in front of a random pony she didn't know. She should say something, shouldn't she? Well, this other pony was the one who had decided to sit down with her. She must want to converse with ShadowMist...but why?

She lifted a small hay sandwich to her lips, gingerly taking a bite, and then setting it back on her plate. Her mouth seemed unusually dry as her nervousness set in. She had hoped to enjoy her meal alone, but that wasn't going to happen now. Picking up a glass, she took a large swig of water, setting the cup back down with a small clink.

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Shimmer Star

Shimmer Star had set her plate on the table, and was about to sit down, when she noticed the other pony seemed nervous. "I'm Shimmer Star," She ventured with a smile, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "Uh, err... If you'd rather sit alone, I can find somewhere else to sit." She looked back over her shoulder at the hall filled with ponies. Before looking back at ShadowMist, traces of a smile still on her lips.

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Kitty Face spun about with her plate, tilting her head about to balance her food on it. She spotted two ponies sitting together, maybe having an awkward conversation, judging by the looks on their faces. I know just what they need! More company! Kitty Face thought excitedly, something she would have shouted if she had wanted to drop her plate.

So Kitty began to hop over to Shimmer Star and Shadowmist's table, and placed her plate down once she was close. "Hi you two!" She cheerily spat out. She had hoped hat her giddy personality could clear up the awkward atmosphere, though it the past it usually only made it worse, or sometimes she got ignored. But hey, Kitty Face was never one to give up after a couple first tries.

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A beer drinker in a champagne atmosphere, Draggle was waiting for a moment of slipping up. It wasn't for lack of practice, either, what with her mate being a Manehattan native. It was simply the nature of the mare to be like a bull in a china store, though she had met some bulls in china stores who were more demur than herself.

She had a habit of eating among large groups of ponies in the hopes that somepony would say something that interested her. Carrying her filled buffet plate in her mouth, she wandered over to a group of ponies with this intention in mind. Some stares were given at a grown, albeit broken-horned unicorn who was not using basic levitation. Draggle flashed a teethy smile at the upper crust ponies, garnering a bit of spittle on her plate. Said upper crust ponies had no response for that. Giggling, Draggle turned her attention to the group she had wandered into.

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Before getting a response from the two ponies she had just greeted, Kitty's attention turned to the new pony making her way to the table; a pale blue unicorn carrying a plate stacked high with food. "Well hi there!" Kitty Face said with the same amount of cheer as her first greeting, "you sure have a heart appetite!"

Kitty could eat quite a bit too, but in social outings, she tried to take a bit at a time, as she'd been criticized for being greedy when she didn't in the past.

Kitty Face used her muzzle to push her own plate more directly in front of her to give Draggle more room to place her plate onto the table. "Please, join us." She said invitingly, hoping to make conversation with someone new. "My name's Kitty Face. What's yours?"

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"My name is Draggle," said Draggle, setting her plate down. "And I thank you. If you think my appetite is big, you should see my sister's!"

"I should see my sister," the light-and-fluffy descendent of darkness thought to herself. It had been decades since. The way Draggle talked about her sister, one would think she saw her daily. Her sister certainly would not be at the Grand Galloping Gala, that much was obvious.

Blinking rapidly to the present goings-on, Draggle asked the friendly pink unicorn athoof how her night was going.

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Kitty Face lifted her face up from her plate and licked cake frosting off her muzzle. She chewed a bit, looking towards Draggle, and then swallowed down the hunk of cake she'd gobbled up. "Oh, it's been splendid!" She said with a toothy smile. "Well, actually, I haven't been here too long. As soon as I got here I could smell the buffet and I made a dash in this direction, but I'm sure it will be splendid. I mean, it's the Grand Galloping Gala after all. I don't get out of ponyville much, so this is pretty new to me. The atmosphere is so regal and the like. I think a commoner pony like me doesn't really fit in so well, but I'm still very glad that I came."

Kitty slapped her mouth shut and stopped to think for a moment, "I'm sorry, am I rambling? I think I just said a mouthful. How has your night been treating you, Ms. Draggle?" She said, attempting to be courteous to her new acquaintance.

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Within just a few moments, ShadowMist's once empty table had three more ponies sitting at it. She hadn't even had time to respond to the white Pegasus before the two Unicorns had started up a conversation. Noticing that the other ponies at the table had seemed to hit it off and ignore her, ShadowMist took to her plate with a little more eagerness, now that the others were distracted. It wasn't unusual for her to be the quiet one at a table, absorbed in her own thoughts but listening at the same time. It suited her, really, not having to make conversation but still being entertained.

And of course, she couldn't just get up and go to another unoccupied table... In fact, quickly glancing around, it seemed that all the other tables contained at least one pony. Anyway, that would be rude. Much as ShadowMist disliked having to try and make conversation, she didn't want to come off as rude or mean.

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Kitty Face's short attention span had her spinning her head in ShadowMist's direction as soon as she moved her plate. She smiled a huge giddy grin at the quiet pony, but sensed that she was timid. Instead of her usual obnoxious greeting, she managed a slightly calmer, "Hey there."

Kitty wanted to spill out a long ramble about how she seemed shy and should just open up to the, say what she wanted to, or just excuse her self if she reeeaally had to, but she was a little afraid her rambling would only scare her away. Instead, she managed to ask, "Is this your first time at the Gala? It's mine."

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Shimmer Star

Shimmer Star looked over at Kitty Face, hearing the question. She could see it didn't seem to be directed to her, but she liked conversing with other ponies, and would do it anytime she had the chance. "I don't think you were talking to me," She said with a grin to Kitty Face. "But it's my first time too. I love your dress, by the way. It really compliments your coat."

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Kitty Face's attention was brought to the white pony accross the table from her, the openly social pony brought a smile to her face. "Why thanks! I only designed it, my feathered friends deserve most of the credit." She said, and swept a quick eye over her own dress, admiring it a little and blushing at the compliment.

"You're gown is very nice too. I wouldn't have guessed this is your first Gala, you're so proper looking in it." She said politely. "How did you come across such a stunning dress?"

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Then, before ShadowMist could answer Kitty Face, Shimmer interjected, stealing away the conversation. ShadowMist just continued to nibble at her food, trying to make the best of the situation. After all, she'd just come for the food, right? A few hay and grass sandwiches, some cookies, cake. And, well, she'd never been to the Gala before. It was...nice, to be able to see it once in her lifetime. Maybe after some food the night would get better.

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Shimmer Star

Shimmer Star blushed at the unicorn's complement. "Oh, thanks. My mother made it for me. I just love the ribbons. She's a weather pony, and well, she just knows me so well!" She thought for a moment, "Well, I guess she knows me how a mother should!" Shimmer blinked kindly at Kitty Face, before flitting her gaze over to ShadowMist, "Your dress is pretty too!" She told her nicely, a lively grin on her face, "I just love that color!"

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Hank had managed to aquire a respectful outfit this time, and though it had been a close call stowing away on the train all the way from Appleoosa, he couldn't resist finding out what all this hootinanny was about. Ponies going to some Grand Gallopy Gravy, or something, whoo-ah! It sounded like such a shindig the rustler had to see for himself. Maybe he'd scare up some new ideas for when he got back to town. "Pardon, miss!" he said, stepping one way, "Watcher, fella!" to some other stallion in the other. His mustache was groomed clean for a change, and he'd even managed to aquire a bit of polish for his hooves to go with the new ten gallon hat he'd pilfered from the carriage. And that Sherrif's outfit. Hah! No tinhorn silver star was gonna stop him from showing, and he'd so graciously donated the new vest Hank now wore.

But then his eyes fell on the buffet. Oh, so much food! There was no way he'd pass this up! "Comin' through!" said the stallion as he made a beeline, then to his dismay, didn't recognize a dish of it. He glanced at the spreadout from end to end, trying hopelessly to find something he recognized. Even though they all had small labels in front of them, every single of the dishes could have been a museum piece and he'd never seen anything so fancy in his entire life. Well, most of the things, he could recognize a cake after all. Hank dipped his nose closer, leaving a rather prominent mustache-shaped gouge in the frosting as he took a sniff at it, coming away with the same impression on his massive soupstrainer. "Criminey, so much sugar, ah just think I'm gonna have a heart attack right here."

"Whut in tarnation?" he exclaimed as he swung his head from the next nearest dish to another, unknowingly whisking some of the frosting that clung to his marvelous lip ferret. "Pickled Artichoke? Sugared Beet? Why, this here's all frou-frou food! Where's the Barbecue 'sparagus, or the smoked collar greens? A feller's gonna starve at this!" Hank glared at the dish, then looked up to the Steward attending, "Hey, Pardon, but I mustache you a question. Where's a starvin' 'ol galoot like m'self gonna find some real food?"

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After a lot of looking around, Re-roll had finally found the buffet. Merry, however, was nowhere in sight. Probably gone off to enjoy herself. he thought, staring at all the food. I don't blame her. Now then, what have we got to eat this evening? I am starving. Honestly, Re-roll had only come for the food.

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Hank made a face when he realized he wasn't going to get a straight answer from any of the stewards or Maitre'de's. They all seemed only interested in explaining where this dish came from, or where that one was made, or how this one was hoof-grown. It all whirled around in his mind, and nearly made his had fly off his head. "Never mind, never mind, ooooh, I'm gonna blow this popsicle stand and go lookin' for some real food!" he stormed off from the buffet and headed out through the nearest door, which happened to end up out towards the garden. Well, at least he might be lucky to find something out there. He was pretty sure he'd seen some random pony stands selling something. Flowers, maybe, or maybe a real meal like a salad or something. Yeah, that was the ticket!

Handlebar Hank twitched his mustache as he proceeded out into the garden. Or was it the Mustache leading the way? There was no real telling, they both seemed to have minds of their own. Nevermind the cake frosting that had made its way onto the Mustache had somehow vanished to leave it as clean and sleek as it had been before it'd ended up leaving its imprint in the cake. The stewards gave it a distasteful glance as they tried to remain aloof, but none of them felt the liberty to do anything about it at the time until the cooks had come up with a replacement.

[Continued in Canterlot - Looking for love in all the wrong places]

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'Oh, thâ€â€Âthank you.' ShadowMist replied to Shimmer Star, feeling awkward now that she'd finally been noticed. 'Green is my favorite color.'

She shuffled her hooves nervously in front of herself on the table, noticing the vast amount of ponies that had commandeered the table and the others who were spread about the room. There certainly were plenty of ponies here, and ShadowMist wasn't too fond of crowds...perhaps it was time she bowed out and went to see more of the Gala. After all, the food would still be here later when the Gala had quieted down and many of the guests had taken their leave.

But all the ponies at the table had only just arrived. It would be rude to leave so suddenly... Then again, she'd probably never see these ponies again, right? They'd go on with their casual conversation and forget about her once she left the table.

ShadowMist debated with herself, waiting for a good moment to 'spring away.'

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