After a brief exchange of glances with Celestia, Aurora returned to her parents' side.
At this moment, Aster was conversing with a young stallion, and when Aurora arrived, they were chatting happily.
Aurora took a look at the stallion's attire, and identifying him by his uniform, it was not hard to guess that he was a member of the Wonderbolts.
It seemed her father was the one who truly liked the Wonderbolts.
"You're here, my darling Little Meteor! Let me introduce you, this is Soarin from the Wonderbolts! He is a great aviator!"
Hearing the name Soarin, Aurora quickly searched her memory for keywords and was surprised to recall information about the high-spirited aviator standing before her.
"I have heard of your achievements; you are the record holder for first place in the Mustang Marathon. It is a pleasure to meet a legendary Pegasus like you in person, Mr. Soarin."
Although in Aurora's memory, this Soarin, by middle age, had become increasingly petty, even using underhanded methods to frame and suppress up-and-coming talents like Rainbow Dash just to maintain his first-place title.
But such misdeeds were things that might only happen in the future, so they could not be held against the current Soarin. As of now, Soarin was undoubtedly a respectable and excellent aviator, and his first-place title had been earned through his own strength.
"Heh heh, I am also honored that my talents could be appreciated by such a beautiful young lady."
Hearing his own glorious achievements spoken by a young child greatly satisfied Soarin's self-esteem, and consequently, his estimation of Aurora rose significantly.
"Mr. Aster, you have raised a beautiful and knowledgeable daughter; I imagine you must be very proud of that."
"Does that even need to be asked? My Little Meteor has never let me down!"
Originally, considering that Aurora probably wouldn't know Soarin's identity, Aster was about to explain, but he didn't expect Aurora to fluently recite Soarin's achievements.
Even though Soarin was famous, his popularity among ponies outside the circle was quite average. So, did this mean his darling Little Meteor actually had more common topics with him than he imagined?
Aster looked down at Aurora; if they weren't in public, he would definitely want to kiss and hug his cute Little Meteor.
Aster automatically filtered out whatever Soarin was saying afterwards. He didn't care if Aurora could make him look good; right now, he just felt surprised, as if he had discovered a common hobby with Aurora, along with a very secret joy.
Sensing that Aster seemed to have misunderstood something, Aurora offered a polite smile and chose to let it be.
Honestly, her knowledge of the Wonderbolts was limited to the members of Rainbow Dash's generation; this Mr. Soarin was only known to Aurora because he happened to have had interactions with Rainbow Dash and the others in the plot.
To avoid being dragged into further conversation about the Wonderbolts and exposing that she actually didn't know them very well, Aurora prepared to make an excuse to leave.
"Excuse me, gentlemen, I'm afraid I must take my leave. Father, do you know where Mother went?"
Thinking about greeting Meteora as well so she could go find The Grand Princess to cuddle up to and then beautifully disappear from this social event, Aurora asked Aster about her mother's whereabouts.
"Oh! I almost forgot! Your mother is chatting with some friends she used to know, and they seem very eager to meet you. If you'd like, you can go over and make some new friends too."
"Okay."
Aurora nodded, bid farewell to them both, and headed in the direction Aster had pointed.
And the moment Aurora turned around, the smile on her face slumped slightly.
Her intuition told her that she likely wouldn't be very excited to meet these so-called "new friends" her parents spoke of.
'Sigh... Senior Sister, Twilight, I miss you all so much.'
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