Informal a pony she is, she still couldn't deny the presence of the royalty himself. Her heart bounced in her chest, but Mays hid anxiety well behind her city-based accent.
"Erm. Your Highness." Mays offered a casual curtsy and a bow of her head. Sēkr had such a defusing presence that she had to take a moment to remember what she was so worked up about. "I wouldn't normally approach you for such a, heh, unscheduled meeting, but I needed to know what a Generosity pony was doing here in the palace--" Her eyes glanced almost imperceptibly at Avid. "--and in your company, no less."
Drat it, huffed Mays to herself. I have to offer pretext quickly. I don't want to be shut down as an inflammatory nincompoop. "This is about my recent trade handling in the Generosity Kingdom. I oversaw the exchange--my crop, and other foods--and I even filled in for some other ponies." Get to the point, Mays. "What I'm saying is," she wiggled her head exasperatedly, "we didn't do it in ceremony. I got to see their stock. I got to see how they really run things over there." Mays took a much-needed breath. "I didn't organize my thoughts very well first time I came to you about this. I didn't get around to saying that they, ..."
It seemed hard for her to say. "They use the reject gems for their gifts." Mays' face read disgust and sorrow. "And other such shortcomings. Some of the ponies even admitted, yeah, we do it this way. A place that's supposed to uphold the virtues of sacrifice and charity? material and immaterial. It just ain't, peh, honest."
Mays was staring at the floor by now. She spoke like this other pony wasn't here, although, in their silence, they had surely heard everything. Mays considered that they may not be so bad. It made her feel guilty.