Richtor couldn't help but simply stare in wonder as Celestia proceeded to dispel years of piling rumors against Legato with only a couple minutes of short, precise elaboration. At first he didn't quite understand how the Princess could divulge such information as matter-of-fact, but then he remembered that both Celestia and Luna were alive much longer than most ponies would initially realize, even with their solid history for the past millennium. The stallion mused to himself, curious to how such rumors could have been circulated without intervention. Then again, any information or records about Legato himself were sketchy at best, and most were unsourced by the original authors. The only thing Richtor could recall reading that may have been accurate was part of an autobiography that managed to stand the test of time, but even that had been lifted and altered from its original source. It came as a relief to know that Legato wasn't truly mad, although that led Richtor to wonder just exactly what kind of pony he was. What he would give to chance a meeting with the composer...

"I suppose many of the greatest minds this world has to offer were dismissed as insanity for those who never quite understood the genius behind their work," Richtor recanted, now shifting his cobalt gaze from the Princess back to the statue. "It sometimes takes years, even centuries to truly appreciate and understand those who were ahead of their time... I suppose I can understand why, although it's unfortunate such a realization would happen long after their passing. I've had the rare opportunity to listen to some of Legato's works played live by the Canterlot Symphony when I was younger, its beauty and complexity lost on me until I took up composing and performing as my muse. Perhaps one of these days I may be able to take a look upon his final transcription myself, and while a lofty goal, perhaps take a crack at completing it..."

The pianist pondered to himself on how it would be like to gaze upon such a masterpiece, but his thoughts were soon scattered as Celestia continued with her brief description of Gigatrix himself, prompting a closer look at the ominous statue. His gaze settled on its face once more, or lack-thereof, perhaps, as his mind attempted to decipher the cause behind its uneasy appearance. The best explanation Richtor could come up with was that the artist may have imbued the statue with some form of magic; an enchantment, perhaps, able to disrupt the onlooker's senses. Usually, such a thing would be easily identifiable by basic magical knowledge, but the only feeling that Richtor was left with was one of dread... He wondered why the aforementioned artist would create such a thing, but as Princess Celestia had stated earlier, statues like this existed to make sure their existence, or truth, were never forgotten down the course of history.

It was only when Richtor managed to pry his gaze away from the statue that he suddenly became aware of the arguing voices from somewhere nearby... As well as a sudden lack of Princess Celestia and Honey Dew as they seemed to vanish. He glanced around for a quick moment, barely catching Honey Dew's tail as it zipped behind one of the larger statues nearby. Richtor quickly followed suit, curious to why they wished to make themselves hidden, though his mind didn't have to venture far for the answer. The stallion took his position beside the violet-eyed mare, holding back a chuckle as she began to tease the Princess, only to blush lightly as the mare turned her attention to him for a moment. He reciprocated in kind, nodding thoughtfully to her statements. "I would like to extend my thanks as well, Celestia. Your presence has made this night all the more special. I'm certainly glad that you stumbled upon us when you did."

Richtor's ears suddenly perked up at the mention of Princess Luna... A chance to see her again would certainly be more than welcome. He knew that Luna was a bit more active with the local populace compared to her sister, but it had been quite some time since he had seen her even perched on the balcony of the castle, a place where he could only presume would be Luna's favorite spot to watch the night go by... The stallion simply smiled again, not having much else to input that Honey Dew had already said.

Richtor, still captivated by the beautiful garden scenery, stalled for a few moments longer while Princess Celestia turned upon a nearby path and Honey Dew broke her gentle grasp to follow. It almost took the stallion to be left behind before he finally realized that the pair was moving steadily away down the road, but with a few quick springs in his step, Richtor soon found himself traveling behind the pair once more. The very first thing he noticed, of course, was the bright violet flower that hung itself within Honey Dew's tail, close to its base. Oh, now that's just mean, the stallion thought, having a hard time averting his gaze to a more... proper location. In fact, the only times his eyes seemed to remove themselves was when Honey Dew glanced over her shoulder, in which Richtor would offer a rather shy smile. At least the mare made use of Richtor's second flower, which was honestly more than he expected. Who gifts a flower after gifting a flower, anyways? The stallion shook his head... But at least he was getting a good view, despite his moral compass screaming at him to look elswhere...

"I know some history, yes," Richtor finally answered, speaking up a little bit as he moved to walk alongside Honey Dew once more. "Studying music for as long as I have, learning about a musical score's composer may be just about as important as learning the score itself. And as intertwined as the arts and history are, I ended up learning quite a few things by proxy."

"There's only really once instance that I can clearly recall, and that was the Royal Wedding," Richtor followed up, now wearing a slight frown that crept along his features. "And that was only because I saw it first-hoof. Those black buggers. Changers or whatever they called themselves. I can still hear that protective bubble being broken, shattering like glass as they poured in..." The stallion shook his head, trying to force a smile. He was traveling home from practice when it all happened. Everything broke into utter chaos at that moment, but Richtor and a few other stallions and mares teamed up and attempted to restore some kind of order. Richtor was no fighter, as he had said before, but he would have liked to think that their efforts saved everypony in that area. If there was one thing he absolutely could not stand, it was somepony, or something, in this case, preying upon the defenseless. "But let's not dwell on such things. The important thing is that nopony was hurt. Besides, we have majesty and beauty all around us.~" Richtor gave a small nudge to Honey Dew as he made that comment, now wearing a sincere grin.

"As far as our dance goes Hon, we'll see about what time it is when we're done sight-seeing." Richtor shortened her name on purpose to see how she would react. He'd been playing around with it in his head for some time, and he liked the way it sounded. It was only until just then that he had decided to say it, fearing a negative reaction. "My parents don't mind if I stay out, just as long as I check in every so often. If anything, we could always come back another night if we run out of time."

Richtor then turned his gaze towards Celestia, growing a bit more comfortable as they traveled along the hallway. Princess or not, she seemed every bit as relateable as Luna. Her very presence was astounding, yet one could talk casually to her like an old friend. "We appreciate your company, Celestia. And thanks for taking the time to show us the way. This castle is just so darned big it's hard to remember where everything is." He chuckled to himself, following lightly alongside Honey Dew.

Richtor nodded somewhat nonchalantly as Celestia spoke about all the intricacies of the Gala, as well as her own stance about the recommendation. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, but a recommendation from either or even both of the Royal Sisters could carry them a very long way... The stallion had tried once before to gain access to the Gala under a solo piano performance, so he knew a little bit about the process... Despite his efforts, Richtor didn't get very far. He was good, even for his young age, but to put him upon the same stage as the likes of Octavia, Horsechopin, or Nandermane would be utterly silly. As Celestia continued on, Richtor fully expected for the Alicorn to simply point them in the right direction... So when the Princess requested an audition, the stallion was taken by complete surprise and suddenly froze in place. Despite the numerous, numerous auditions he's been through, performing an audition for the Princess of the Sun herself was a huge thing for Richtor to wrap his mind around. Just the thought in of itself was enough for the stallion to stand slack-jaw in some strange mix of eagerness and nervousness... That is until Honey Dew nuzzled him softly, snapping his attention back to where it should be.

"I... Uh... Yes. Yes, another day would be most favorable, Miss Celestia. It would give us some time to prepare something that would really make an impression." Richtor returned Honey Dew's kind gesture with one of his own, partly out of sentiment and partly out of thanks for snapping him out of his little daze. "Well... No, I can't really think of anything to ask, persey... Perhaps one... (Do you like bananas?) Would you like to accompany us for a little bit? I'm sure that there are many more things than what meets the eye in this castle."

When Princess Celestia requested for the pair to 'loosen up', Richtor's posture almost immediately began to relax, his smile growing even wider as he took a deep breath... In fact, the unicorn didn't even know just how surprised he was by Celestia's sudden appearance until that moment. He chuckled to himself again, suddenly being reminded of Princess Luna and just how nervous he was to even be around the Alicorn, much less behave 'normally' as she had once put it... To Richtor, Celestia looked a bit more intimidating, probably because of her slightly larger size compared to the Princess of the Night. And while it was nearly impossible for the unicorn to feel nervous, he was also amused that it took two of the most powerful sisters in Equestria to accomplish it. "That's a bit hard, Miss Celestia, but I'll try," he finally remarked, turning once more to look at the stage-like platform near one end of the room. "It's not very often I see royalty, much less in the same room, or even conversing with for that matter."

"My name is Richtor Keyes... I played the piano at the concert, although I'm not quite certain if you were present when I had played. It was close to the very end." Richtor eyed the Alicorn, resting his cobalt eyes upon her own as he almost gazed passed her, looking lost within his own little world. He was reminiscing, recalling the first time he had ever been inside this room... Granted, back then, he was forced to come here... But in the end, he was glad. This was the very same room that jump-started his dreams when he watched Frederic Horseshoepin play for the first time. In fact, Frederic was also present during the concert. Fifth seat on the left in the very front row when they had all the chairs set up... Just one of those odd little details he would not easily forget. "This room holds a second important memory for me, too... This is where I got my cutie mark. Right after I played..." The unicorn shakes himself out of his little trip to the past and moves a couple steps to stand closer to Honey Dew, trying to bait out that smile of hers again. And then all of the sudden, an idea popped into his head. He knew how to bait out that smile for sure, but he was going to wait for a few moments.

Richtor seemed to be thoroughly enjoying Honey Dew's response to the lavishing beauty of the ballroom... And the more the stallion saw, the more he smiled. For a moment, Richtor had wondered why Honey Dew was so entrenched and conditioned to being... well... platonic, for the most part. It was difficult to get Honey Dew to open up in the first place, but once she did, she almost became an entirely different mare. Like right now, for example, she was full of joy and wonder, receptive to all of the beautiful, awe-inspiring things around her as she wore that ever-elusive, but now ever-present smile. If only she could be like this all the time, Richtor thought to himself... Still, he thought he was making good progress in breaking her out of her shell, at least around him. Regardless of her seemingly default, platonic nature, Richtor would have enjoyed her company anyways.

And then everything just seemed to halt for a moment... Honey Dew didn't even need to finish the last word of that question for Richtor to determine what she was fixing to ask, but the voice that caught her attention had caught his, too. The unicorn glanced over his shoulder to identify the owner of the voice, only to freeze for a few moments as Celestia herself was only standing just mere breadths away. It took Richtor a bit longer than Honey to recuperate... He had expected to run into a couple guards, perhaps, but not the Princess of the Sun herself! Richtor blinked, unsure of what to do or how to address her... He had spoken at length with Luna before, but the conversation was very casual. "G-good evening!" the unicorn eventually managed to squeeze out, bowing his head in proper respect. It seemed that Honey Dew was taken by complete surprise as well, and Richtor noticed that much of her previously stated emotions were cut off, falling once more to that neutral, platonic mode. Ah well... He would try again later, if given the chance.

"How are you doing tonight, Miss Celestia?" he added on after Honey Dew addressed her first. "I must wholeheartedly agree... This is one of the places I often think about when I play somewhere... Once you perform in this room, you simply can't forget it... And that was a few years ago. In fact, if I remember correctly, you were there for a part of it, I think. You must forgive me, I've slept since then." Richtor chuckled to himself, now a bit more comfortable with the situation now that he was over the initial shock of it all.

As conditioned as the guards were to not show any slight of emotion and to stick to their royal duties regardless of the situation at hoof, the pegasus seemed to be having a rather difficult time keeping a straight, neutral face. Honey Dew's reaction to his simple question caught him completely off-guard, and it was clear that he was concerned. Samareai...? Is that what the kids are calling it these days? The pegasus shook his head, thinking Honey's actions to be extremely exaggerated. "At least you understand a weapon's purpose, young lady. If it will make you feel any better, I will personally hold it until you return. Besides, I'm still on duty for another six hours. I won't be going anywhere anytime soon."

Richtor, on the other hand, could practically feel Honey Dew's stress as she hesitantly, nigh unwillingly gave her sword over to the guard. He chose not to say anything, but he knew this was ultimately going to happen when they approached the gates. While he didn't quite understand the mare's seemingly exuberant actions, he definitely knew a bit more than the guard as he and Honey had discussed the subject before, and he definitely knew better than to question Honey's intents. Just as the guard was about to take the blade, Richtor suddenly spoke up. "Surely there must be another way, sir. I see non-Canterlot personnel travel through here all the time with their weapons hoisted around their hips or back. And with the amount of traffic that comes through here during the day, there's simply no way for all of the guards to keep up with things like confiscating weapons. What's the alternative?" The stallion stated matter of factly as he recalled his numerous trips to the castle during the day.

The pegasus scowled... Not only was he uncomfortable with this mare, he was now having his orders questioned by her companion. At this point, he just wanted to be left alone. But a job's a job. "You speak of the reserves, young colt. And you are correct; we cannot keep up with each and every pony that walks through here..." He sighed and stretched his neck, but he was really looking at who all was close by. Satisfied, he leaned in to speak more quietly to Honey Dew and waved over a nearby unicorn guard. "Okay, look, miss, I really want to help you. But you've got to promise me something: Don't do anything stupid. The alternative, quite simply, is to place a magical lock on its hilt. You may carry your weapon with you, but if you try and remove the blade, an alarm will sound. It would be removed when you leave. Would that be a problem?"