Meeting at the Memorial (Invite)

The Memorial Monument was a extremely new addition to Canterlot. Constructed by child prodigy Elegance Design pre-cutie mark, the testament to the ponies fallen in war. Elegance was surprised that such a thing hadn't been thought of before, and was shocked to find that these ponies were not given the respect they deserved. So she had scribbled something up, gave it to her parents, and the rest was history.

It was...a nice place to be, Elegance thought, as she looked across the red poppy garden. It was designed for contemplation, for meditation, which was what she was doing now. Far away from her troubles, she closed her eyes and let her mind think of nothing.

Suddenly, there was noise.

The serenity of Elegance's mind and surroundings was, to put it mildly, completely shattered by incessant chatter and...noise. Her eyes snapped open into a glare, which scanned the area for the disturbance.

When she saw the lavender pony foraging among the poppies, her glare intensified. She got up, and strode as swiftly as she could without running towards her target. When she was in speaking distance, her voice was used in such a way not to disturb others that may be at the site.

"Do you mind? This is a sacred place. Why are you messing around with the poppies and exclaiming frivolities? Keep it down!" she scolded in a hushed voice.

Elegance raised an eyebrow at the flowers reblooming via magic, before turning her glare back to the pony.

"This place is one of remembrance, respect and honour, you do know that, right? Many ponies come here to mourn the passing of their loved one's sacrifice" she said, "How, exactly, did a pack of seeds end up in one of the memorial gardens?"

She motioned to the place where the seeds had fallen.

"The gardens are tended by old war widows. I do not think they would appreciate somepony tampering with them."

Elegance choked back a laugh. "Some of them would smack you in the back of the head if they hear you something like that. Those mares are as tough as bones."

The young noblemare was now suspecting that this pony didn't have all of her hooves on the ground. She didn't say this, of course, that would be rude. But she did think that maybe she should escort this pony away from this place.

"So...what are those seeds actually for?" she asked, "Actually, this isn't the best place to have conversation. Shall we move to a more social location?"

"Tea," Elegance said in a soft, yet annoyed, tone, "We are going to tea so that talking at a disturbing volume will be less so."

Whilst Amy saw brightness in the vast expense of red, Elegance saw, and meant it to symbolise, blood soaked battle fields. From the sky, one could see that the red formed a cross, form the ground, the flowers blended together to form its vivid colour.

As she led the Lavender away from the quiet area to the nearest tea shop, she asked, "So you don't know what colours they would grow into?" It was still in a quiet voice, possibly to counter the other's loud. "What they grow up into a colour that doesn't go well with it's fellows or it's environment? Isn't there a way to influence the shade one way or the other?"

Elegance briefly entertained the thought of a random assortment of flowers in a rainbow garden, but dismissed it before she gagged at its garishness. Instead, she filled her mind with the sight of the traditional teahouse they were approaching. It too was decorated with greenery, but Elegance knew that the owner had planned each and every one of them to achieve maximum, what was it? Feng Schway? The Oriental way of organising things. Elegance was more a classical mare, herself.

The door tripped a bell to chime, and the two were led to a table. After ordering tea, Elegance turned to her companion.

"So, I take it your business is flowers."

"Me?" Elegance couldn't help smirking,"While you tend to flowers so that they may charm with their beauty, I form wonders that inspire with their awe." Shifting her clothes, she revealed her cutie mark, a image of the Memorial Monument. "I was the one that designed the place we just left. I design grand structures like Memorial Monument. It's in my blood, really. My family's legacy is constructing great things. I am a member of the Design family, and I'm proud to make my mark."

"Very," Elegance sipped her tea, "But that just makes doing so all the sweeter. If life isn't a challenge, what's the point? One should try to achieve the impossible, for we always seems to underestimate ourselves."

"It seems to afflict too many ponies," she reflected, "Ponies that can do so much more, and they don't even try."

Elegance thought about it. "Ah...I see a very different problem with ponykind, Ms....oh, we haven't even introduced ourselves properly. I am Elegance of the Design family. Pleased to meet you."

Tilting her cup back and forth, she continued. "I find that ponies are too entralled by the scent of the roses that they become complacent and never venture out of the flower field." Elegance looked at Amy sharply. "Not literally, mind you. But ponies are content with their 'simple pleasures' whether it be drink, gossip, gambling or any manner of shallow things. For instance, I can now spend the rest of my life, wasting away, drinking tea if I wanted to. The revnue and goodwill I got from the monument could last me the rest of my days. If I were a lesser pony, maybe I would be satisfied with that. I am a Design, so I am not. So I am seeking to better myself with my next project. The greatest work will always be the one I haven't done yet."

"To me, the greater tragedy is the infinite lost potential of the ponies that might have been great, if they tried."

"Ah, but that's the trick, is it not?" Elegance reflected, "Finding a balance? Nothing is good in excess, except perhaps goodness itself. Or maybe one can find pleasure in work, and vice-versa, for in the end isn't that what our cutie marks symbolise? For instance, take you and flowers. You have made your work something you enjoy. Now all you have to do is take it to inspiring heights."

Sipping her tea, she 'hmm'-ed in thought, trying to recall a conversation she had not too long ago. "Say, have you heard of the Frozen Seed Vault? They say that it holds the seeds of every plant that has ever been discovered, and is somewhere in the frozen North, far beyond even the Crystal Empire. It's location is supposed to be completely unknown even to the Princesses, and the ponies who know where it is are the ones that spend the rest of their lives working in the vault."

She chuckled, "Unfortunately, that romantic vision is a bit too fantastic for me to believe it. The logistics of trying to maintain a place with that much secrecy is a little far fetched, especially considering the logistics of supplying such a place. But there are a number of seed vaults across Equestria. There's a big one right here in Canterlot, fittingly enough. Have you been?"

"Conspiracies? Flower conspiracies?"

Of all the things to conspire about, Elegance would consider flowers to be near the bottom of list. Visitors from the stars, perhaps, or maybe super secret magical experiments, but not flowers.

"I wouldn't think there would be much controversy with matters floral," Elegance confessed, "Please, tell."

"Define interesting," Elegance shrugged, "There are heaps of stories frittering about like butterflies. Like the constant one about the Great Library of Canterlot whispering to ponies, that's an annoying one. But I suppose when you have a place of great magic designed by an insane great uncle, it would be more strange if there weren't stories."

Elegance blinked and frowned. "There has been talks about how Winter is lasting much more longer than usual, though. The snow has been falling throughout March, and it has been bitterly cold lately...if it weren't for the fact that the poppies were so resilient, the gardens of the Memorial Monument would be bare..."

Elegance smiled uneasily at the fact that the whispering library had a basis in truth. "Oh! That's quite interesting..."

Wanting to change the subject away from that, she continued, "Speaking of, you aren't from around here, are you? Where are you from?"