true to the corp, Mana had waited with easy patience forged through discipline and watched as Ryo had went about her small bout of shopping, the guard having occasionally levitated a potion here and there closer to him out of curiosity and to help pass the time before setting them back down and looking back to the mares.

A potion for gaining a cutie mark... An interesting idea. Mana had noticed Ryo's lack of a mark when... er... well, he'd noticed, and while he hadn't given it much thought he was finding the idea of a potion granting such a thing as being interesting. Or familiar. Which was it... Wait, didn't he hear something about a potion like that when he was at work once? Was it a potion? He couldn't quite recall, but he did find it interesting enough to mention... But he stopped short when he remembered a certain teeny tiny detail.

If he was starting to remember right, that potion was more of a curse than a blessing...

"Oh, um," Mana spoke up when he saw Ryo look his way, him looking between her and thyme for a few moments before feeling a creeping sense of disappointment. If she was done shopping that meant they would be leaving... Which probably meant the train station...

"Er... You sure that's everything? Nothing else you want to look at? What about this... erm..." he randomly levitated a bottle towards and read the label aloud, "... Scent of Farm?  Wait, Scent of Farm?" he turned his attention towards Thyme and raised an eyebrow, "What reason would someone need this?"

"You... don't?" Mana asked back, finding the way she'd answered him to be a bit odd, "Are you sure? We can pick something up if you'd like. There's probably all kind's of things in here that can do all who knows what and would make for an interesting time. I've been studying alchemy a little bit myself these last few months and let me tell you it can lead to some interesting effects. Wouldn't you agree miss Thyme?" the guard asked the owner of the shop after she'd urged them to take their time, "What are some of the more interesting side effects or mishaps that you've been hit with in the past because of your trade, if you don't mind me asking? Also, any favorites around here that you could recommend for ponies looking for something fun?"

Mana wore a bit of an evil looking grin as Thyme brought out his order, the idea of revenge dancing in his mind for a few seconds as he imagined Thunder being pranked back for what he'd done to him and, more importantly, his wonderfully shiny armor. He cleared his throat, bringing a hoof up to his mouth as he did so as to hide his smile while forcing it to go away.

"Thank you," he said once his features were neutral again, his bit pouch being removed from under his armor and opened so as to pay the price for both of his items, the coins collecting into a couple of neat little stacks on the counter while the dye remover was taken again into his magic. As his money pouch was returned to where it came from a handkerchief was pulled out, it being used along with the dye remover as it uncorked then had its mouth pressed against the cloth and tilted, the then wet cloth being used to wipe away the dye on Mana's face. It took a few seconds for it to take full effect and have the red that had been staining his face for so long disappear from the spots he wiped, but sure enough his normally blue coat began to once again shine through as it lost its artificial color.

"So, how do I look?" he asked Ryo with a smile, turning his head to show his face while full well knowing that it still most likely had plenty of spots he'd missed, "Mrs. Thyme, you wouldn't happen to have a small mirror I could borrow, would you?"

Mana softly shook his head with a small smile, showing she had no reason to apologize as it would have been pretty impressive for her to have recognized him with all this dye splattered all over him.

"Exactly right," he replied to her assumption before looking towards the shelf she was pointing towards. He noticed Ryo's contagious grin as he mirrored it, though as he trotted towards the shelf to pick up a bottle of the remover he felt a bit of worry. It was a silly worry, but he couldn't help but think about how much he may end up missing the dye after it was gone and his cheeks were to heat up again around the mare. He didn't know how well his armor would go with a blush...

"And this remover will work both for my coat and my armor, correct?" Mana asked, taking a bottle and turning it over in his hooves, "How fast acting is it, and are there any special steps I should know about when it comes to its use?"

"Alright. Shouldn't be too far nor eat up much time to reach if we keep a strong spring in our step." Standing up and resisting the urge to do a quick hoof pump over Ryo having decided to linger a little longer, Mana brushed off a bit of grass that had decided to cling to him then straightened out his helmet and turned back towards the city streets to lead Ryo to their new destination.

"It shouldn't be that far anyway if memory serves." And memory did indeed serve as it did not in fact take long for the pair to reach the shop in question, the two entering through the shop with Ryo in the lead as Mana held the door for her, the bell above meant to signal the arrival of visitors ringing out as the two ponies stepped inside and Mana trotted for the front door in search of the shop's owner.

"Nah, that's alright, this isn't a bo-" Mana was cut off from his reassuring that Ryo hadn't gone and ruined his day by having those pesky "emotions" normal ponies understandably had in this kind of place when she had rested her head on his shoulder. Was he supposed to, like, put his hoof around her and try to give her a comforting hug...? Or would that just be weird? He wanted to, but his lack of knowledge on how to properly handle these kinds of things made him hesitant and end up doing little more than again thank his partner for the prank pulled on him earlier that had rendered his face red.

Speaking of...

"Oh, yeah, hehe, I know..." Mana replied to Ryo as she pointed out the stain splashed across his armor and face, his hoof moving up and brushing at his cheek as if that would magically remove the red that planned on staying for a while, "this is what happens when you let your guard down around certain ponies. One second I was getting myself ready for work, checking the polish on my armor and what not, and the next I had stepped through a door and was suddenly blinded by red. I don't even know how that springy thing he used worked... Oh, it didn't somehow get on you or something, did it?" he asked, concerned for a moment that she had brought it up because somehow the dye had jumped to her when shed layed her head on his shoulder, though a quick glance would be enough to lay that fear to rest.

Mana accepted the photo and examined it as Ryo spoke, his eyes moving between the smiling ponies as he listened to the mare. Here was where he became even more nervous about the situation, Mana being very confident when it came to how good of a listener he was, but less so when it came to comforting others in such personal matters. Don't get him wrong, he had had plenty of experience dealing with emotional ponies in the past while on the job, the cause of the ponies distress ranging a vast number of reasons, but this was different as this wasn't him working and just trying to calm down somepony he was trying to help. He... really wasn't sure how to handle this, especially when he noticed Ryo's tears, and it was making him worried that he might make this worse for her...

"... Do you remember your eighth birthday at all?" he asked, hoping to get the mare to focus on what he also hoped was a happier memory, "What did the three of you do at this carnival?" He glanced over at the name of her mother etched into her gravestone, trying to see if her name rang any bells since she had been a Royal Guard as well, but failed to recognize her according to his knowledge.

Mana watched as Ryo set down garland, him being just able to make out the words etched into the gravestones from where he was standing and looking off towards the rest of the graveyard with a depressed but silent sigh, his eyes flicking between a few specific spots more than once while his training prevented a visible sting to twist his features. He wondered when last he'd visited this plot of land himself, and his best guess failed to make him feel good. Excuses could be easily made with his line of work and such, but it was never enough to dismiss the guilt.

After a few more moments of silence, Mana stepped up closer to Ryo and with a gentle and quiet voice said a single word that was both an assumption and a question.

"Parents?"