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Post by Snowdrop on Apr 9, 2012 4:09:13 GMT -5
It was a slushy, sloppy, mushy, muddy, right-in-between Winter and Spring kind of day. Where the snow was kind of melting, but not quite there yet. It was the kind of day where you still really needed your scarf and especially your boots, but a white pegasus filly was frolicking without them and didnt seem to notice. Nor did she appear to notice that she was gradually changing to a dirty muddy grey color as she splashed from puddle to puddle. She DID notice that her tail, being dragged from puddle to puddle behind her, was getting chunks of ice in it, but a good flick and whack against a convenient stone, wall, or doorstep would shatter the ice and relieve her of it's dragging weight for a little while.
Snowdrop the fearless polar explorer was trekking out across vast frozen wastelands, desperately seeking supplies for a little village that was cut off from civilization by the miles and miles of frozen tundra! She must not fail her mission, many lives depended on the pound of sugar and the sack of oatmeal she was dispatched to purchase!
In truth, she had recently been shipped to Granny Weathermane, her great-aunt's sister once removed, or something. The old pegasus was too old to fly well now, and had retired to a quiet, grounded life, and it was convenient to send Snowdrop, who couldnt fly at all, to live safely on the ground with her for a while. Snowdrop didn't really mind much. The old mare had dozed in her chair almost all of yesterday while Snowdrop had been unpacking, and except for waking for a short time and asking her to fetch some groceries today while she 'found her way about town' the dear thing seemed like the type to let her have her own way.
The brave and fearless Snowdrop came to a frozen river she knew she would have to cross! Of course, there was a very nice stone bridge over the stream, not even ten meters away, but what was the fun in that? Snowdrop knew there was no other way. She would have to cross the dangerous ice! Getting a running start, the courageous pony made a strong bound on the last inch of solid land and flapped her wings hard! It didn't carry her much farther through the air than a mere jump might have, but at least she didn't break through on landing! Her momentum pushed Snowdrop swiftly across the ice, but oh! Tragedy! just before reaching the other side, the rotting ice gave way, and she plunged through into the murky depths of the river!
Snowdrop yelped as she shock of cold water brought her out of her imaginings VERY quickly! Luckily for her, the stream was not deep at any point, and where she sank, it only reached her flank. Gathering herself together quickly, she sprang out of the stream and onto the bank. After a big shivery shake, she was a little cleaner, but a LOT colder!
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Post by Inkie Pie on Apr 9, 2012 21:30:20 GMT -5
What a dismal and gross day. It was absolutely terrible in the eyes of a certain muddy-hooved filly. Inkie Pie slowly trudged through the slick and messy terrain, not really caring how dirty she got, it's not like it mattered anyway. She just did her best to keep her balance and not slip, still trying to find her way around this town. Her walk took her by the river, which she decided to follow upstream.
She continued walking until she came across a little stone crossing, and started to safely walk over the frigid water. She was lost in her own thoughts about how unsafe a bridge this old is, and how it could easily crumble whenever anypony tried to cross it. (In reality, it was in perfect repair)
Halfway across this dismaying bridge, Inkie heard a splash! Surprised, the filly peered over the side of the bridge, seeing that somepony had fallen in! She rushed over in terror. She'll drown! She'll freeze before that! Maybe the water will freeze over her! She might get a cold so bad that she-...
The filly's silent doomsaying was thrown off when she found herself face-to-face with the pegasus, who seemed fine. "Oh..." she said, almost sounding disappointed. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" The greyscale filly asked as her expression of terror and concern started to fade.
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Post by Snowdrop on Apr 9, 2012 23:04:54 GMT -5
Snowdrop's exhausted sled-dog team whimpered and whined as their enduring master climbed safely back on to solid ice and wearily took her place at the end of the sled. She raised her whip one more time and cracked it to urge the dogs onward, for civilization was their only hope, as well as the town who badly needed supplies!
"Are you all right? Are you hurt?"
Snowdrop the Explorer was banished for the moment as Snowdrop the little filly realized she was being spoken to. She glanced over and saw another little filly, with an somewhat anxious expression, though she seemed to be reassuring herself that Snow was fine. The pegasus filly turned away a moment to sneeze, (so that she wouldn't sneeze in Inkie Pie's face, as she suspected that would not make a very favorable first impression!) before she turned back to face her again, eyes bright!
"Polar explorers must endure all kinds of hardships when they are traveling across the arctic ice!" Snow proclaimed grandly, gesturing with a hoof in an expansive gesture. Then she shrugged and giggled. "I was pretending to be one just now. I'll be fine, I'm just a little wet." Snowdrop looked over Inkie Pie a second time and then she smiled happily.
"I'm Snowdrop! I just moved here yesterday! What's your name? Do you have a cutie mark yet? I don't have a cutie mark yet. Sometimes I pretend to have a white cutie mark so its there but I cant see it. Did you know you have a really nice coat? It's exactly the color of misty moonbeams! And your mane and tail are the color of a lonely mountains in the rain!"
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Post by Inkie Pie on Apr 10, 2012 0:15:23 GMT -5
Oh no, she really IS going to die from a bad cold! ...was all that went through Inkie's mind.
The other filly's talking silenced her and her worries temporarily.
Inkie blinked...
This was new, and she was used to living with Pinkie Pie. Once again, she addressed every little part of the long string of questions and statements at her own, flat tone and pace.
"You were... imagining that you were... exploring the arctic." She glanced around. "I think you're just a little late for anything arctic around here..." she paused to glance at her blank flank, and turned to show it to her. "Nothing... I doubt I'll ever get it either. Feels like every day it's harder to find it..." She lets out a long, sad sigh. Then the compliments come. She paused to blink and raise an eyebrow. That was... out of the blue. Not that she wasn't used to randomness. "Thank... you?" she replies, sounding more like a surprised question than an actual reply.
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Post by Snowdrop on Apr 10, 2012 3:48:11 GMT -5
Snow brushed Inkie's puzzled thanks with a smile. "I worry about mine too." she said with a giggle, turning to inspect her own flank hopefully, as though it might have appeared there for no reason. She frowned, and flicked off a chunk of icy slush that was obscuring her now somewhat off-white side. Yep! No mark yet. she shrugged and turned back to the grey filly.
"I've never heard of a pony not getting theirs though... So if I don't get one, It'd be more special than if I DID get one. I'll hold my nose in the air like so-" Here Snowdrop put on a air as snobby as any high-society unicorn and pranced around Inkie. "And I'll call myself the 'No Specialty Society' and if anypony gives me grief about my blank flank, I'll pretend I don't care and I'll just say 'But my dear! Having a cutie mark is just so... unfashionable!'" When imitating the unicorn air, Snowdrop's voice had jumped up an octave and she fluttered her eyelashes for good effect. She snapped back to normal a moment later and grinned at Inkie. "That's my back-up plan! If you don't get yours, you can use it too." she offered ...generously? "Or maybe we can use it together! Then it will really be a society after all!"
Snowdrop looked around. "You're right that it's a bit late in the year for arctic exploration. I guess this would be like summer for them. But that's okay! When you imagine stuff, little details dont matter-" She glanced back at the hole she'd made falling through the ice. "-Well, not too much, anyway. So! Wanna be friends?" she asked, as though the conversation had been leading up to this the whole time!
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Post by Inkie Pie on Apr 10, 2012 13:35:08 GMT -5
Well... this filly certainly was... interesting to say the least. Inkie just wasn't sure what to make of her. She seemed so confident, so eager and sure that things will work out, that Inkie couldn't help but set aside her pessimism, if only for a moment.
"My sister says that there are some other ponies in town that work together to try and find their cutie marks. I haven't met them yet though..." And suddenly, her dismal attitude was back. "...and I'd hate to hold them back..."
The pegasus's question threw her off completely. She blinked. This was different. She never really had a friend before, other than her sisters of course, but that didn't really count. She never had a real, unrelated friend before. Was this the way that ponies made friends? Just introduce yourself, ask to be friends and hope for the best? Well, in Inkie's case it seemed to be working. She was honestly surprised that anypony wanted to be friends with her. She wasn't exactly easy to get along with, and she knew it.
"Friends? Umm... Sure?" She sounded a bit like she was asking more than she was actually saying it.
She really is nice, a little strange though... but nothing compared to Pinkie.. not that that's bad. But what about me? What if I'm not good at being someone's friend? She's a blank flank too though... maybe...
"Yes." She said again, much more sure this time. "I'd be happy to be your friend, Snowdrop." No matter how sure she sounded about wanting to be friends with Snowdrop, the word "happiness" sounded so hollow, like it was just a word, and not actually something meaningful.
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Post by Snowdrop on Apr 10, 2012 14:46:15 GMT -5
Snowdrop watched her expression and was puzzled and almost a little hurt at the uncertainty that Inkie showed upon agreeing to be her friend. She'd been rejected other times, of course... but she never got used to it, and she always cried, every time a pony said no. (Though it didnt happen too often) Upon on taking a second look, however, Snowdrop suddenly suspected that Inkie was not uncertain about her, Snowdrop. She was unsure whether or not she, Inkie, would be a good friend! That was what it was!
Snowdrop brightened at once and she hurried to reassure her new friend! "Dont worry! Being friends is easy! And a lot of fun, too! We'll do stuff together, and talk, and... um...other stuff! And more stuff besides! Right now I'm on my way to the market, wanna come with me? I wanna learn lots about you right away! Have you always lived here? I just moved in with Granny Weathermane. She's some relation or other that's retired from flying, so they thought it would be good to send me to live with her, 'cause I cant fly either. But I will fly someday! I think I'll like her 'cuz she calls me dearie and sleeps all the time."
Snowdrop turned eagerly in the direction of a host of brightly colored tents with tall peaks. "Where do you live? I live in the blue house at the end of Lemondrop Lane. Oooh! You know what? We should have a sleepover soon! That would be great! We can make cocoa with marshmallows and tell stories and pretend all sorts of games and do lots of fun stuff!" Even though Snowdrop really, honestly was eager to hear all about Inkie Pie, she couldn't help answering first, out of politeness. She'd read somewhere that it was rude to demand information without giving it first (Though she didn't know it only applied to names) and when she had a good idea, she couldn't wait to tell it!
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Post by Inkie Pie on Apr 10, 2012 19:22:35 GMT -5
Inkie was greeted with a long string of questions and information once she finally committed to her friendship... She was feeling rather at-home with Snowdrop already. She started to walk alongside Snowdrop as they headed for the market, dragging her hooves as always. "You just moved here too? I came here to live with my big sister Pinkie Pie not too long ago. I'm still finding my way around." she looked over to the pegasus after mentioning flying, something she couldn't really comment on herself, being an earth pony. "Umm... just be careful, okay? I hear that some ponies can hurt real bad if they're too ambitious with their flying and don't quite make it." She commented with some concern.
"We live on the top floor of Sugarcube Corner, the big house that looks like it's made of candy." Inkie was too worried of getting in trouble for trying to eat the building to see for herself if it was, in fact, made of candy. "And I guess a sleepover would be alright. I'd have to ask Pinkie, but I'm sure she'd be fine with it." Even in Inkie's most dreadful imaginings, that last comment was the understatement of the year.
Inkie really was excited to have met Snowdrop, and grateful that she was so much more active and interesting than her. She would barely be able to hold up a conversation herself. Let alone make friends so easily. And still, she didn't show it. Not the slightest trace of a smile was on her face.
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Post by Snowdrop on Apr 11, 2012 4:26:28 GMT -5
"Oooh! The candy house! That must be really neat, but I think I would always be tempted to nibble on it. Or at least give the windows a lick, to see if they're sugar panes." Snowdrop giggled happily, imagining herself sitting on the roof, breaking off pieces of the house to eat! Snowdrop paced a few moments more, thinking of the taste and then something occurred to her.
"So you're new here too? Where did you live before here? I was living with my uncle and aunt in Canterlot, and I thought it was awful! You cant run or play by yourself there, or get dirty and you always have to be so awfully polite to everypony, in case they're some earl or a duchess or a princess or somepony important, or whatever. The only nice thing was that they had a huge library with a lot of books. I thought it would be a romantic and exciting, like in stories, but it was all formal occasions and, and, beauty parlors!"
Snowdrop considered as looked at the different stalls, upon reaching the marketplace. Cherries, Lettuce, Carrots, Hay Bales..."I guess it wasn't quite so bad," she admitted, finally. "I did hear that there were fun events, like races, and a rodeo and a pastry contest... it's just that I never got to go to anything fun like that. And the house we were staying in was huge and fancy and I think it had a bazillion rooms, all locked up! I used to imagine it was the palace! I pretended I was a princess, and I'd dress up and practice my princess prance all the time. Still, I'm gladder to be here now though!"
Aha! Sugar! Snowdrop put her muddy hooves on the counter so that she could peek over it, and from her tail she fished a really battered and dirty coin purse. From this doubtful article she fished out 10 bits and a very soggy note. The mare attending the stall took it very gingerly and read it. Then she sighed, "I'll send the sugar later this afternoon." and pushed back 6 of the bits. Sugar was only 4 bits a pound. Snowdrop thanked her and swiped the bits back into the coin purse with the note, before tucking it back into her tail.
"What was I talking about?" Snowdrop asked Inkie as she turned back to her. Behind her, the mare got a spray bottle and began wiping the prints Snowdrop had left on the counter. "Oh! That's right! Where did you live before? I got so caught up in remembering that I forgot to remember!"
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Post by Inkie Pie on Apr 11, 2012 14:32:52 GMT -5
"It is pretty neat, I don't think it's really made of candy though... I mean, somepony would have tried to at least taste it by now, right? After all, it doesn't really look like candy from the inside." Inkie explained. "Though... I guess one little sugar-pane check wouldn't hurt..." She contemplated this for a moment, before Snowdrop changed the subject once again.
"Yes, I'm new. My parents sent me here from our family's rock farm outside of Ponyville to live with Pinkie. It's a nice enough town so far... I guess." she looked around at that, as if a quick glance would confirm her thoughts. "And Canterlot sounds dreadful. I would be so worried fo doing something wrong all the time..." she trailed off a bit on that thought as her head became filled with all sorts of different worst-case-scenerios in which messed up. Banished into a dungeon for getting in a rich pony's way, arrested for accidentally insulting a duchess, or worst of all, getting mud on Celestia herself and getting banished to the moon just like Luna!
Inkie was lost in her imaginings, even shaking in worry a little bit until Snowdrop pulled her back into reality. "OH! Umm... anyway... Why ponyville if you came to live with family? Don't you have a relative in Cloudsdale or something?" She asked, hoping it wasn't rude to presume that all pegasi at least had family from Cloudsdale. Nevertheless, Inkie cringed and tried to mentally prepare herself for the worst.
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Post by Snowdrop on Apr 11, 2012 15:00:07 GMT -5
Snowdrop had started to move on, but she saw Inkie pie had paused and was lost in some worried imaginings of her own, she waited patiently for her friend to catch up with her. She understood what it was like to be lost in a daydream... only Inkie's daydreams didn't seem to amuse her, like Snow's did. They almost seemed to distress her! Very strange! Maybe she's thinking of a ghost story... the filly thought to herself, but she didn't quite believe it.
When Inkie asked about Cloudsdale, Snowdrop blushed. And even with a light layer of grime from the slush, the off-white filly turned a soft pink color. This part was sometimes a little awkward to explain. She didn't know why, exactly. She often felt there was something not quite right about the situation, apart from the obvious- but she had better just have it out right away.
"Actually, my parents live in Cloudsdale. They're on the Weather Planning committee. But, uh... for some reason, I cant seem to stand on clouds. I just sort of fall through, like an earth pony would... or a unicorn, for that matter. I don't really know why... It's always been that way. So I cant live in Cloudsdale until I learn to fly. I have to live in towns on the ground." Snowdrop's tone changed slightly, getting brighter, faster, and yet... somehow... strange, when she added, "And my parents have important work, so they cant be expected to live on the ground, you know?"
Snowdrop laughed as though it were no big deal at all, but she was glad to be done with that subject, and quickly changed the subject. "Did you say you came from a rock farm? Really? Do you really grow rocks? I never heard of anything like that. It sounds kind of neat! What do you do with the rocks?"
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Post by Inkie Pie on Apr 11, 2012 16:13:48 GMT -5
Inkie opened one eye from her cringe, surprised to see that the pegasus was not insulted... at least, not in an angry sort of way, as far as she could tell. "Can't you just-Oh... right" She started to say when Snowdrop mentioned her strange problem with being unable to stand on clouds. She was about to suggest just flying around, but since she had never really gotten to know a pegasus until now, she had no idea how early or late they started flying. "Umm... I'm sure you'll learn to get along just fine without flying anyway. After all, we earth ponies and unicorns get along just fine. Without wings."
It seems that Inkie was being pessimistic even when she's trying to be optimistic for others. She could have been encouraging about helping her learn how to fly... but she could already picture a string of horrible, painful crashes that she would be encouraging. Best to just accept the worst fate, or so Inkie believed.
She could tell that this question was upsetting her new friend. Already she was messing this up! "I'm... sorry, I never should have asked." she looked downcast at the ground in front of her. Then that ever-repeating question came. How do you farm rocks? To Inkie, it's all she's ever known, so the answer seemed almost insultingly obvious. "We don't grow them, we farm them. Then, we sell them, just like any other farm." she explained. "I mostly ended up moving them from field-to-field every day." she explained. "Though I'm not sure if I'd rather be here with Pinkie, or back home with the rest of my family..." She considered the thought briefly, as if it was a decision that could be made simply... and just shrugged it off.
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Post by Snowdrop on Apr 11, 2012 16:49:30 GMT -5
[[Nice sidestepping of the rock-farm question XD]]
Snowdrop shrugged and laughed. "I don't mind, because it's you. You're my friend, and friends should know these sorts of things." she said with firm certainty, and nodding as if she were very wise and grave. Inkie's explanation didn't really shed too much light on the mysteries of rock-farming, but that was all right with Snow. Where information was lacking, the mind could supply, and the filly made a mental note to imagine what being a rock farmer would be like later!
Seeing a stand selling oatmeal, Snowdrop gave a friendly nod to Inkie. She would be just a minute more! She popped up, fresh faced and eager, and repeated the whole process with the coin purse and the note, much to the annoyance of a fussy unicorn stallion, who observed the hoofprints and moderately grubby Pegasi filly with a much-injured expression. But he took her money anyway.
Her duty done, Snowdrop the fearless arctic explorer could rest easy, knowing that the small town of hungry widows and orphans would receive their life sustaining shipment of food!
But that DID leave Snowdrop with a minor problem. What should she imagine now? Maybe Inkie Pie had a few ideas. She trotted happily back over to her friend. "Do you ever play pretend? Or daydream? What kinds of things do you imagine?" She said it so naturally, as though she wasn't in the least bit embarrassed about it. As though it were... the most natural thing in the world!
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Post by Inkie Pie on Apr 11, 2012 18:07:59 GMT -5
Inkie... very slowly began to relax. She was okay with it. Well that was a relief, if a bit odd. But Inkie didn't let that bother her too much. She rose her head from the ground, looking more relaxed once again. She kept to Snowdrop's side as she trotted over to the Oatmeal stall, suddenly aware of just how dirty she was as well. "Do you want any help carrying anything?" she offered, not sure what else she could do at the moment.
When asked if she ever imagined or daydreamed, Inkie went with her first gut reaction. "Yeah, all the time." of course, once these words escaped the grayscale filly's lips, she realized that she would have to follow-up with the details, something that she was certain would not make a good first impression on her new friend. "umm... nothing really special though... nevermind." She went quiet, looking away so she could avoid eye contact.
While Snowdrop was very open and happy with her imaginings, Inkie tried to bury them deep down, letting them sink down to the deepest, darkest parts of her mind and hopes she never has to see them again... And yet her mind kept making more...
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Post by Snowdrop on Apr 11, 2012 22:26:56 GMT -5
"Do you want any help carrying anything?"
Snowdrop smiled and shrugged. She wasn't carrying a thing herself, except the old coin purse. "I guess Granny Weathermane gets all her groceries delivered to her home. She told me all I would have to do is show them this note she wrote me and they would understand." She understood too, Granny Weathermane was old! She was glad she would not have to carry the things home. She was even more glad that she didn't have to go home right away just now!
When Inkie replied to her question about imagining things, at first Snowdrop was pleased and delighted. But seeing her quick brush-off of the subject and troubled expression, The filly stared at her, confused. Didn't she like it? She looked like it made her anxious. She looked like she wanted to forget it. She looked, Snowdrop thought, like she needed a hot cider and a distracting story! Without thinking too much about it, Snowdrop gently brushed shoulders with her new friend, giving her a warm and friendly smile. "Its all right." she told Inkie softly, and warmly. "Let's go find someplace to warm up a bit. Where were you headed when I met you?"
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