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Post by watcher on Oct 19, 2011 20:03:49 GMT -5
Nimble steps back in alarm as the pony seemingly appears out of nowhere. "W-who are you?" As he says that, he hears hoofsteps run down the hall, and looks back to see Aestella running down the hall, Quillson following her. As he turns back around, he notices the new pony talking with Diamond."Now look at what you've done, I just got her calmed down."
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Post by diamondpoint on Oct 19, 2011 20:23:25 GMT -5
A lot happened at once and it left Diamond a little confused and unsure how to react. Quillson was just about to respond to her completely innocent little question about Aestella when a new voice came from behind them. She spun around to find the source like everypony else and, yes, it did belong to a new pony. 'Where did he come from? How did he get in? I didn't hear the door open. That's what in his hoof? Why is he giving it to me?' Diamond's mind raced with questions about this new Unicorn-Zebra-Thing.
She blinked at the ice sculpture of herself for a second before carefully taking it in her hoof and looking it over slowly. It was a perfect likeness of her. It was amazing that he made it so quickly. How did he make it? It didn't seem to be melting either. It was all so fascinating... and somewhat creepy.
"Uh..." she started to say before the pony introduced himself as Watermark. 'Okay, that answered that question... Wait, did he just..' her cheeks flushed lightly at the comment about her colouring.
Diamond couldn't help but just stare at this.. Watermark. She turned slightly to ask Quillson what he thought of this guy only to find him gone. Further searching showed that Aestella was gone as well. 'When did they leave? I didn't even notice... Nimble is still here though. So I'm not completely alone.' she looked back to the new Unicorn and, taking a breath, asked, "Can we help you?"
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Post by Watermark on Oct 20, 2011 1:14:22 GMT -5
As soon as Diamond Point finished her question, the pony laughed, "Help me? Why of course not, I was merely bored and sought company to socialize with!" He said, creating another statuette with the exact likeness of Nimble, "And one for you!" He laughed, hoofing over his statuette.
Then looking around he frowned, "Didn't there used to be more of you here?" He asked, then shrugging happily, grin still on his face and trotted around the room happily after delivering Nimble's statuette, which actually turned into water and just splashed him in the face, rather than stay whole like Diamond Point's
"Ain't nothing gonna break my stride, nopony's gonna hold me down, oh no... I've got to keep on moving!" He chanted as he did so pleasantly.
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Post by kuruka on Oct 20, 2011 14:56:50 GMT -5
No, most certainly not a zebra, though the stallion did have a mane and stripes that were similar. Kuruka stood in the window, uncertain what to do next. Aestella was safely hidden away, with Quillson close by to guard her. The stranger was acting harmless enough, pulling pranks, flirting, singing some kind of odd melody, but something told Kuruka there was more here than met the eye. Oh for hoof's sake! Just because the unicorn reminded her so much of the others back home didn't mean she had to make him an enemy right away. Still, better safe than sorry. Kuruka pushed the door open, a pleasant grin masking her worry, the result of years of practice. "Good morning! I walked by when I heard enough galloping for a stampede! Is everything well in here?"
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Post by zasknu on Oct 20, 2011 19:53:39 GMT -5
Aetsella quivered under the sheet of her makeshift bed, to scared to answer the comforting voice coming from behind the door. She had come through so much just to get to town, had already faced all sorts of strangers in Textual Treasures... hadn't she earned some time to herself? "Apparently not..." She though, moving the pillow just enough so she could peek over at the two mechanical birds. "At least you two are always here for me... never doing anything to disturb anypony..." Aestella reached out to pat one of them with a hoof before retracting her body back under the sheets, losing herself to the ticking of the clocks embedded into the two birds.
"Might as well take this time to make sense of everything..." She continued to think with a sigh, "First off... Ponies: Quillson, the white stallion who ordered the watches... He's kind and respectful, I suppose I don't mind having him around. Then there Nimble Mind, he's quite nice as well, and quiet which is always a plus. I don't mind him being here. But those other two..." She grimaced under the sheet, trying make sense of the two strangers who, as far as Aestella was concerned, probably came from the bowels of Equestria for the sole purpose of causing her distress. "That one unicorn... the sky blue one... she said her name was... Diamond Point? Something like that, I'll have to ask the others about her. And why did she just come in and put her quiver on my shelf? Did she think no one lived here? Well.... I was hiding under the table... Oh Aestella you are so foolish! Now you have to go apologize to her... And what about that other one? He never even came inside... Did he say anything? He must have... Oh I wasn't listening again! I'm such a terrible pony! I need to make it up to all of them, don't I... NO! No, I'm not leaving, not yet, not until everypony is gone." With a quiet groan she shifted on the mattress, facing the back wall, still ignorant to Quillson's presence outside of the room.
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Post by thepatriot on Oct 20, 2011 20:05:08 GMT -5
Quillson waited a moment for Aestella to respond, but was greeted with nothing from within the confines of the.... what was it, a closet? There was no way it was large enough to be considered an actual room. "Aestella? I'm going to open the door. It's just me, so no need to worry." He looked around one more time to make sure that nopony else was around, and slowly opened the threshold.
What was inside surprised Quill even more than his initial thoughts on the interior of the home. The room... wasn't even a room (as he'd suspected). Why was she living in a closet? There was NO liveable space in the ... "room". He stood there with a look of shock on his face for a moment, finally noticing the quivering blob of pony under the single white sheet laid out across the bed.
"It's okay Aestella, it's just me. No need to get frightened anymore. Everything's just fine." He reached out with a forehoof, resting it slowly and calmly on the back of poor Aestella. He sure hoped she'd be all right after all that. She certainly didn't deserve to be frightened like that... Just look at the state she's in!
His eyes wandered about the closet/room as he tried to comfort the poor filly, eventually noting the two small clockwork birds near Aestella's head. Looks like that design had pulled through after all.
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Post by watcher on Oct 20, 2011 20:57:36 GMT -5
Nimble steps back after getting splashed in the face by the strange pony, Watermark. "H-hey, what was that for?" He sputters, and shakes the water out of his mane. As he does so, he notices the door open again, and sees Kuruka walk in. "Hey Kuruka, how's it going?"
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Post by diamondpoint on Oct 20, 2011 22:20:38 GMT -5
Company. He was bored and wanted company. 'That makes sense, I guess.' She watched as he gave another statue to Nimble, which melted and splashed him. Suddenly leery of her own statue, she floated it over to one of the empty shelves and set it down. Turning her attention back to Watermark, she cleared her throat.
"Look, I can understand wanting some pony to talk to as much as the next filly, but I think we kind of freaked out the owner of this... shop." She still thought this room was one of the most terrible shops she's seen and used the word loosely, "And we should probably all leave and let her calm down. I mean, she looked freaked out from my just testing her shelf and--oh!" she quickly floated her statue off the shelf and looked around for somewhere else to put it. There were papers on the table and she didn't really want to hold it. She placed it on the floor next to her. Surely Aestella wouldn't get mad about the floor getting a little wet? It was the floor.
She turned her attention back to the striped Unicorn, "Anyway, as I was saying, we should--" the door opened and a winged zebra walked in.
'What?'
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Post by Watermark on Oct 21, 2011 1:19:08 GMT -5
Watermark's attention snapped immediately to the entering Pegasus, and his eyes flashed with an undiscernable emotion as he noticed the stripes adorning her body. A winged Zebra? Impossible, no, it was a Pegasus, from a Zebra tribe. With a step forward he said through his grin, though in a much less jubilant tone, "What are the odds? Two half zebras with tribal raising meeting up like this?" He asked, tapping his front hooves on the floor impatiently.
"Tell me, did they torment you too? Call you a winged witch?" He asked, "At least you have their colors, but where are my manners!" He asked, suddenly catching his momentary lack of control and immediately raising a hoof at Kuruka, "Watermark, formerly of the Zanabi tribe, but I bet you can tell by my stripes." Suddenly he lost all interest in the ponies present in the room and he mentioned, "Perhaps it will be better if we move ourselves outside of here, as to not distress the owner."
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Post by kuruka on Oct 21, 2011 12:12:29 GMT -5
Kuruka's emotional shield seemed to echo as it clattered to the floor. He was also a hybrid? The more Kuruka thought about it, the more it made sense. She did have more than one sibling who had taken on their father's blue and orange coloring, but their stripes were limited to perhaps three or four primitive markings on their legs and maybe a dorsal stripe. She had never seen a pony with a fully striped and colored pelt. And a unicorn hybrid at that. Flying in view of her tribe was bad enough. Kuruka could only imagine being not only ostracized, but feared among associations. The stallion extended his hoof. "Watermark, formerly of the Zanabi tribe, but I bet you can tell by my stripes. Perhaps it will be better if we move ourselves outside of here, as to not distress the owner." Watermark? His unicorn parent must have named him. Kuruka glanced about the room once more, making certain there was no danger before accepting Watermark's hoof and invitation outside. The stallion seemed to be sensitive. Although it had been mostly his fault for Aestella's breakdown, at least he had the sense to backtrack and give her space. "I am Kuruka, Militia Captain of Hoofton." she said as soon as they were outside. "You are certainly more forgiving than I, Watermark. I no longer associate my name with my tribe." She turned and stared at her bracelets, one for each member of her family. "There is too much bad blood between us for me to forgive them yet." Kuruka froze. She had never spoken like this aloud except in very private conversations with her mother. And now she was spilling her thoughts before some complete stranger. She almost became suspicious of the unicorn's magic, but stopped herself. That would be stooping to their level. She knew better than that.
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Post by zasknu on Oct 21, 2011 23:31:12 GMT -5
The feel of the hoof on her back cut short all of Aestella panicked thoughts as she froze in a new terror. Slowly, her mind cleared enough to make out that Quillson had entered her bedroom and was trying to get her to calm down. "He is right..." She thought, "Everything will be alright, I'm just overreacting..." As hard as it was to believe that, she knew that she had to. It would never do for her guests to think that she was a terrible pony. After a brief pause in her shaking, she pulled the pillow down from her face and looked up at Quillson sadly.
"I'm sorry... I s-shouldn't have run off like that..." She began quietly, "I just ... overreacted a little..." She turned her head to stare at the two birds. "I should go apologize... yeah, that's what I should do... that will fix things." Looking back to Quillson, she asked in a shaky voice, "A-are you a-angry that I ran off?"
"Now that was a stupid question... why would he be angry? He's here comforting you! But you were acting so strange, who wouldn't be mad that you just ran off like that? Oh you're right... I'm just the worst. Maybe I should just stay in be- No! You have to go set things right, now get up and go talk to everypony"
Aestella slid herself out of her bed and wobbled awkwardly onto her hooves, drastically decreasing the amount of space in the room for Quillson and herself. Unwilling to actually leave the room though, she just stood there, looking lost and confused, but she did manage to ask; "S-should we head back to the others?" After she choked out that statement, she wobbled again and looked quite ill, as if her body was actively rejecting the very idea of leaving the confines of the tiny space.
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Post by thepatriot on Oct 22, 2011 0:12:48 GMT -5
Quillson continued to try and console the poor pony, as she finally seemed to rise up from her confined bed. He stepped back to make room for her in the closet sized bedroom. She was a wreck. Shaking, in tears... He could tell there was some sort of mental battle going on in her head, one that would be best of him not to disturb.
Her question completely surprised him. How could she think something like that! The poor filly... "Oh Aestella, no no no. I'm not mad at all!" He brought up a smile, and continued. "Don't worry about what just happened. Nopony blames you at all. You were just startled, and rightly so!"
She approached him, asking yet another question. "I'll tell you what Aestella. If you're not feeling up to any more social confrontation, I'll talk with the others near the door. I'll let them know how sorry you are, but that you just need a little time to yourself. But otherwise, feel free to come back out front. I'm sure the others will be just as understanding." He reached out again with a front hoof, placing it softly on her shoulder. "Whatever it is you want to do, I'm happy to oblige."
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Post by watcher on Oct 22, 2011 0:47:59 GMT -5
Nimble looked at the two zebra looking ponies as they talked, only really understanding a portion of the conversation, so he decided to try and talk with Diamond Point. "So, Diamond, what brings you here to Hoofington?"
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Post by diamondpoint on Oct 22, 2011 1:09:32 GMT -5
Diamond watched the horned Zebra leave through the door with the winged Zebra following him. She blinked. Then blinked again. Did that really just happen? Diamond wasn't one to be left in shock by events, but what just happened definitely counted as an exception. A part of her started to understand Aestella's panic a few moments ago.
A voice from behind her snapped her back and she turned to face Nimble. She forgot he was there for a moment. Now, what did he ask?
"Oh, right. Sorry. That was just... really strange. Even for me." Diamond shook her head a little to get her thoughts in order, then smiled at the other Unicorn.
"Well, I've been sent from Canterlot to aid in the defense of this town after the recent... mishappenings. At least until you all put together a militia, which I heard is already underway, or until it's decided that the forest is back to being mostly harmless. Either way, I'm supposed to meet up with your Militia Captain to see how I can help while I'm here."
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Post by zasknu on Oct 22, 2011 11:41:37 GMT -5
Aestella almost jumped back into her bed, relief washing over her with the knowledge that she wouldn't have to go back out. "Oh perfect! I can let Quillson take care of everything! Then I can sleep, or hide, or anything..." She frowned at the thought, and shook her head. "Oh I can't do that... it would never work... even if Quillson forgives me, the others might not, and if they do, I still wouldn't forgive myself." She moved around Quillson, and into the hallway.
"T-thanks for the offer... but, I really should go back out..." Aestella whispered, then added even more silently, "It would be the ... normal thing to do, I think... I hope..." Obviously terrified of what she's about to do, she turns to continue down the hall, one shaky uncomfortable step after the other. She repeated the last ten or so minutes of her life back over and over in her mind, trying to dig up more information about the various ponies that came into her home, but not coming up with anything she wasn't sure of before. "Maybe... this isn't the best idea... it's not too late to go back and just ... hide. I'm sure Quillson can handle everything, there's no need for me to get involved... nopony would want me there anyways... yeah that's right, so I should just go back. Yeah that's what I'll do, just leave, just go back... turn around... not walk forward. Just go back to bed, and everything will be just... fine." She concluded with an extremely obvious forced smile... as she stepped back into the front room of her house. Walking back over to her table, she turned to face everypony, only to find that the strange unicorn zebra had left. Internally she sighed in relief, for now her task would be so much easier.
"S-sorry everypony." She began, quietly of course. "I wasn't thinking earlier... My actions were despicable, and I hope that you both will forgive me." Aestella stared at her hooves, trying to hide her embarrassment and fear, and finished by whispering; "Is there anything I can get or do for you both this morning?"
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