Honey only gave a quiet 'hm' in response to Vita's parroting of Honey mentioning that she was timed out. She seemed as confused as Honey was though, even if she didn't have much else to say about the subject. The other unicorn really wasn't much better in those regards. So, with nothing much better to do, Honey just stood and waited for one of the healers to get to her tiny 'injuries', still on the look out for any leads she might be able to pursue.

When Vita mentioned that it hadn't actually been a rule to accept healing when required, Honey furrowed her brow slightly, trying to remember what it was she'd heard that made her think that. After a moment, she decided maybe she'd misheard one of the other occupants talking about it, and gave a slight nod in acknowledgement to Vita when she finished. "I will accept the healing. I suppose I must have misheard somepony else talking about it; my apologies." She continued to scan the area around her, gaze flicking over to Foxtrot briefly when he addressed her before returning to the task. "Fine," she began simply, voice still as flat as ever. "I won through technicality. Time 'ran out'. Slightly frustrated over it. Opponent was pulled for 'questioning', and I am attempting to figure out why."

Though a little disheartened when Celestia admitted that meeting with Luna at that hour would likely be difficult, Honey gave a single nod of acknowledgement. There was a chance, but... Well, it was getting a little late, and she did still have the date with Richtor she needed to finish up. She had no doubt that they'd at least be able to meet with her once the Gala came, or when they auditioned, but... She'd probably ask Richtor and see what he thought. Honey's contemplating was cut short when Celestia's assistant cried out, causing her to instinctively look up in alarm as her ears perked. She glanced out from behind the statue to see what was going on, only to relax when she realized there was nothing actually going on, even though she was a bit confused as to why she did that.

Dismissing that, Honey disappeared back behind the statue and looked over to Celestia as she spoke. Disappointment followed when Celestia said it was time for her to head out, though she knew it was going to happen sooner or later. She didn't even have time to open her mouth to respond however, as Celestia disappeared immediately after saying her farewell. Honey stared at the now-empty spot for a moment before turning back to Richtor. Hearing hoofsteps now approaching them, Honey's face gained a stony expression once more as she looked over to the side of the statue the steps were coming from, not really looking forward to dealing with the belligerent pony that had forced Celestia to flee.

To her relief though, the pony just turned right back around upon seeing Richtor and Honey, apparently not questioning at all why they were behind the statue. Offering a quiet grumble, Honey looked back to Richtor and stepped closer to him, her voice quiet so only he could hear her. "I am so very glad you aren't a childish noble, Richtor. They could certainly learn a few things from you..." She followed this with a gentle nuzzle to the side of his face. "Anyway... What do you think we should do? Should we go see if we can go meet with Princess Luna, or do you want to take that dance I never got around to asking you~?"

I think is an interesting idea, but then, you already know that from my encouragement of the idea.

Legato's works were apparently all much too difficult for anypony to reproduce. Honey wondered briefly how he had gone about getting ponies to play it properly in the first place, then went on to think to herself that she could do it... but then came to realize that it would take being able to read music to do it properly, which she had recently revealed to Richtor that she couldn't do. Offering a simple, quiet 'Hm.' to herself, she listened as the conversation went on to the statue of the creature they had stopped in front of, ears pinning back slightly.

Nothing really known about him, apparently, and the truth was even more obscure. That didn't really tell her much about him, though... Who was he? What did he do? What were his ambitions and plans? Was he something that she, as a Samareai, would have had to step in and try to deal with? Did the Samareai have anything to do with his not being around anymore? She didn't recall ever learning anything like that, but she was fairly keen to the idea of the unseen and reclusive clan keeping what she perceived was likely a tyrant away from his goals from behind the scenes. Even if it probably never happened.

Her pinned ears soon perked up as she heard what it was that Celestia had: a group of arguing ponies approaching their present location, though they were still some distance away. She also noticed how Celestia's mood seemed to drop the moment she heard these other ponies, resulting in her quickly scanning her area for a route of escape. Not much to really fall back on, but... "This way, Your Majesty," she said before darting silently off toward one of the larger statues nearby with a base large enough for all three of them to duck behind. Assuming Celestia made her way over to where Honey had run off to, she waited quietly for the voices of the ponies to come and go before looking over to the princess. "Not ready to go to bed yet, Celestia?" Honey teased her princess, offering her a slight, light-hearted half-smile before continuing. "I can only imagine you're cutting it closer and closer, not being where you're... 'supposed' to be, I presume. So... Before your royal guard comes looking for you, or you have to head off for sleep, or something else abrupt, I want to thank you for helping make this night one I'll remember for the rest of my life."

Not wanting to think Richtor was being left out, she glanced over to him and affectionally nuzzled him as she whispered, "And you as well. This wouldn't be anything without you," then returned her attention to Celestia. "While I still have the chance... Would we have any opportunity to pay our respects to Princes Luna as well? I would like to honor her and share my thanks for her beautiful nights, but I would understand if you were to say that she can't be disturbed... Also, I don't wish to seem like I'm trying to suggest we separate; I would gladly continue to get to know you more if I could, Celestia."

Honey patiently continued to watch Grace as she left the offer of next attack on the metaphorical table, doing her best at the same time to ignore the stinging sensation of the c uts she'd taken on her sides. Nothing disabling, just annoyances. Grace probably felt worse. Then, suddenly, a voice called out, addressing the zone she and Grace were in. Honey tossed a glance just as brief as Grace's had been over to the judges' tables before returning her attention to her opponent, only to blink once when it was announced that time had run out, and she had won. Her mind actually blanked at that, and she stood lost for a moment, not having expected that to be an outcome. It felt just as disappointing to her as it did to Grace, not to have closure in the battle they'd had.

But she couldn't argue. If she fought it, she'd probably just get disqualified, and the hassle she'd put up so far would all have been for naught, and it also would've been letting down Richtor and her family, who'd come all the way just to cheer her on. So, with a quiet, disgruntled sigh, Honey bowed to Grace as she levitated the rapier in her mouth over to the mare, then took her tessen back in exchange. "You fought well, Grace. I'm sorry we couldn't have finished that. Farewell." After canting her head to Grace, Honey turned and left the ring to go and find the healers as the rules demanded, several questions burning in her mind as to why the match had been called like that.

As Grace twisted away from Honey's slash, she recovered her rock-steady stance and stood upright once more, posture as straight as could be as she stared her opponent down, head held high in pride. As the brief lull in the combat ensued, Honey gently sucked on the hilt of the rapier, pulling back some of the saliva threatening to drop down her chin from clamping down so long onto the weapon's hilt. She still had this--the rapier was still in Honey's possession, and the only 'weapons' Grace still had were the dagger, and Honey's tessen... though it was only the one of folded metal. The one used more defensively than anything. Unless the mare intended to use it as a club much like Honey had, there wasn't much to worry about. She'd be expecting a blow to the horn, and anywhere else would barely do anything in the hooves or magic aura of someone untrained with the weapon.

Deciding to give Grace the next attack, Honey simply stood in place with her head held high, and her sword pointed back along the right side of her body, eyes keenly watching for what would come next.

Still keeping an eye on the dagger Grace still wielded, Honey watched as it sped up into a deadly whirlwind. Knowing something was going to come of this, she pushed herself backwards into a leap as she swept her blade to the right, breaking away from the mare and away from the swipe at her legs, allowing her magic to complete the attack before quickly levitating it away from Grace so the mare couldn't take the sword out of play. But Honey had to take Grace's out of commission. With no tangible thing to attack, that was easier said than done, but there were still ways.

Taking a deep breath and readying herself for a new plan of attack but a moment or two after her leap backwards, she dashed forward again, this time quickly closing the distance between herself and Grace, sword jutting out in front of her as if in attempt to impale the mare with a charge. As she reached Grace however--or if she saw a blade coming her way--she curled her legs and twisted her body slightly, allowing her forward momentum to send her tumbling, making sure to keep a general whereabouts for the mare in case Grace moved to the side. She came back to her hooves after one roll, her momentum making her slide just a bit. This mattered little, as while she'd prepared herself for the tumble and when she'd landed back on her hooves, she'd been preparing one of her tessen to use as a club, wrapping it in her aura as she tumbled, before swiftly pulling it out when her roll ended so she could bash the hopefully caught-off-guard mare's horn in an attempt to either disable her magic and/or stun her for a brief moment, just long enough for Honey to take yet another swipe at her.