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Post by cherry on Jul 29, 2011 5:39:26 GMT -5
Cherry looked over her shoulder to gauge just how far away from Ponyville she'd wandered. Her aim wasn't to leave town, exactly, so much as it was to get away for at least a few moments. Ponyville wasn't such a bad place, she thought to herself, but something just didn't feel right there. No matter what she did, it felt more like the beginning of something rather than the end; that there was something beyond the town's limits that would take her farther than she had come. She wanted adventure. She wanted something exciting. Helping run a store that sold fireworks was the last thing to satisfying.
With that thought in mind she continued on the path though not so far as to lose sight of Ponyville. Once at what she deemed was a safe enough distance to practice her magic, she set her sights on a particular stump that had evidently been the victim of her zealous rehearsals. It was charred black for the most part, but still whole and not scorched to charcoal. She left the path to take station nearby, surveying her target. She lowered her head, aiming the point of her horn at the stump, and closed her eyes. The level of concentration she focused was a crescendo of power that eventually led to a glowing aura about her horn. Her jaw clenched and her shoulders tensed whereupon, almost like a pilot light, a small flame erupted at her horn's tip. Then, with an audible gasp to absolve her concentration, a small fireball shot like a missile from her horn and popped with a loud bang once colliding with the stump, leaving a newly smoldering spot upon the dead wood.
"Uggghh," she groaned with disapproval while approaching to inspect the result of her effort. "That's still nowhere near big enough." Hoofing gently at the spot to brush off the ash, she scowled.
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Post by Watermark on Jul 29, 2011 5:57:01 GMT -5
"Well here's what you're doing wrong!" A grey unicorn with blue tattoos stepped out from behind the charred tree trunk, a wide grin plastered across his face. "Fire is a very complex element to master, it breathes, and it fights back!" He trotted happily to Cherry Bomb's side, "Fire Mages need a careful balance between raw power, and control! You seem to have control, but you cannot seem to balance it out with the power!"
Clopping his way back a bit he picked out a random spot, circled it a couple of times, and then sat down lazily. "Now, let me demonstrate, " He said, bewitching some water out from the moist ground and concentrating it into a small ball.
"Let's pretend this is fire, you can dribble it," He said and demonstrated, "Skip it on your nose" he proceeded to bounce it on his nose a couple of times, "And you can throw it!" Fortunately this time he did not choose to demonstrate, leaving the filly dry for now.
"However!" He called out, "To make it bigger, more impressive, you need to stream in more power!" He said, streaming in more water, misshaping the perfect sphere he had, "But then you start losing control!" At that, he dispersed the Water Ball, without explaining once what it was she was doing wrong, and silenced, grinning widely.
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Post by cherry on Jul 30, 2011 21:31:38 GMT -5
"GYAH!" Cherry yelped from startle, jumping literally off of the ground the moment Watermark initiated his one-sided conversation with her. Upon landing she stared wide-eyed at the stripey unicorn, jaw slack and eyes wide, dumbfounded. To say that his words went in one ear and out the other wouldn't be exactly accurate, but to say they didn't matter much at that particular moment would.
".... where the heck did you come from?!" She asked a moment after his speech had concluded, having observed the demonstration performed with a million unfinished inquiries rapidly constructing themselves between her ears. Power? Control? What the devil was he talking about? Of course she knew these things, but the question remained; how? Regardless of that, though, preliminaries were a natural course to pursue, initially.
"Wait.. I remember you," she said while her expression turned a bit more curious. "You're that unicorn from the tryouts!" The tryouts that she embarrassingly failed with flying colors.
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Post by Watermark on Jul 31, 2011 4:18:20 GMT -5
"Me? I came out of there!" The tattooed unicorn pointed at the tree stump she was practicing at, or rather yet behind said object. He nodded fervently as if to reassure himself that he indeed came from behind the scorched tree, and when he seemed satisfied, he turned back to Cherry Bomb.
"True, I was the pony conducting the tryouts," the strange stallion gave an affirmative tilt of his head after the strange statement, "Good that you spotted me, I usually blend in a crowd." His grin widened, though whether or not he was serious was not at all clear. Wasn't Morning Star the one holding the try outs? Wasn't this strange pony himself trying out?
Blending in a crowd was probably the last thing this pony could be described as. With his zebra-styled mane, and the tattoos covering his pelt, he would stick out like a sore thumb everywhere but home, and even then...
"Watermark! Pleased to meet you, again!" The unicorn in question said, gesturing at himself with a hoof and then skipping over to hoof it to Cherry for a shake.
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Post by cherry on Aug 2, 2011 11:54:26 GMT -5
Cherry watched him as he spoke with a tilt of her head and a curl to her lip, one brow raised in what could only be described as a comical expression portraying deep confusion. Spotted him? He walked right up to her at the tryouts. Defended her, even! Even if she had embarrassingly let him down.
"Eh.. Cherry Bomb," she introduced without its usual flashy bravado, instead simply shaking his hoof with her own haphazardly. "You ah..." she paused, debating a moment how to address this without appearing rude, "..you're a bit different than anypony I ever met before. Where'd ya learn how to do that neat stuff with water?"
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Post by Watermark on Aug 2, 2011 12:36:56 GMT -5
The strange unicorn clopped his hooves excitedly on the ground several times, grinning, "Learned it from a Fire Mage!" He said, two large eyes staring at Cherry Bomb past his eternal grin.
At that he seemed to become restless again hopping over to the burnt tree stump, drawing more water from around him and rebuilding the entire tree, up to the last branch with ice, even going so far as to make delicate icy leaves on the top.
"See? Pretty isn't it?"
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Post by cherry on Aug 4, 2011 5:08:47 GMT -5
Cherry found herself grinning a little at the exhuberent glee of the other unicorn. His mannerisms were, to say the least, a little contagious. Her frustration prior to his arrival was nearly forgotten while wider, wonder-filled eyes watched the progression of magic and its final product.
"W-wow," she said with a wistful tone. "That's... that's incredible!" The fashion of the icy leaves capturing the sunlight and sparkling, bending the rays like prisms to cast a rainbow-esque glow amidst the angles of ice made the construction twice beautiful than she would've imagined had it been considered imaginary. His statement regarding learning water magic from a fire mage was considered, briefly, in the confines of her mind but the capturing sight of the tree made her forget the legitimacy of his words.
"How did you do that?"
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Post by Watermark on Aug 5, 2011 13:59:29 GMT -5
Watermark giggled merrily, "The answer is right under your snout!" He said as he hopped over to Cherry, honking her snout with a hoof. "Magic!"
"Some use it for show, some for practical uses, and some, for art!" He said, waving his hooves round, draining the puddle entirely as a field of icy roses "bloomed" around them. Watermark frolicked happily in his creations, each frozen statuette scattering out of his way as he skipped around.
Then disappearing behind his tree and reappearing again behind her, Watermark grinned, "I liked how you did at the tryouts, so I think I can approve you! Congratulations!"
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Post by cherry on Aug 10, 2011 11:49:37 GMT -5
Her eyes went crossed as his hoof found her nose, ears flattening back in surprise. As he pranced away, she rubbed that spot with her own forehoof, watching him with a level of awestruck curiosity. He manipulated his magic's precision so easily and effortlessly, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. With a disapproving frown aimed at herself rather than Watermark, she gently hoofed at one of the delicate roses.
"YIIEEE!" She squealed in startle as once again he surprises her and she leaps off the ground while whirling around to face him almost in mid-air. "W-wait .. approve me for what?"
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Post by Watermark on Aug 12, 2011 3:40:54 GMT -5
"For the Red Mages of course! Only the finest group of Fire Mages in Equestria! Using techniques taught by Ash Rider himself! Yup, no joke!" Watermark ducked his head as he swerved around Cherry Bomb again, grinning.
"And you could make a fine addition to it!" He said, plucking up one of his icy roses and passing it over to the filly, "A rose?" He asked, voice muffled from clutching the icy decoration.
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Post by cherry on Aug 17, 2011 11:43:37 GMT -5
Cherry started laughing, rather amused at his suggestion that she would be even closely considered for some grandiose magician's court, especially one taught by someone who was obviously great with a name like Ash Rider.
"You're sweet, Watermark," she said, stepping up toward him with ears lain back as she accepts the offer with her teeth. "You're crazy, but.. sweet. There's no way I could ever fit in in a place like some.. some.. mage circle." Had this been any other circumstance she would've ridden that challenge until she was forced to fail, but Watermark had already watched her make a magical fool of herself. Twice now. No reason hiding from it. Beyond that something about him dug at her brain and seemed to placate her otherwise brash personality. Perhaps it was the romanticized fashion with which he was treating her? She couldn't put a hoof on it, but she didn't appear ready to escape from it, either.
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Post by Watermark on Aug 17, 2011 14:40:58 GMT -5
As the filly talked, Watermark's head bobbed with agreement, "Mhmm!" He hummed with her, before laughing again, "No, no, not the Mages Circle. Those dorks learned everything they know by reading a book." His face fell into a comically bored expression, "Ugh, no, no. Practice makes perfect, not sitting in a dusty library reading a tome. Of course you need to learn the spells first. But I like practicality!" He skipped around a bit, the icy roses turning into water again and then into small birds flying around the strange unicorn in a circle.
"And you? You'd be perfect for the Red Mages, your hair is red, your dialogue color is red, perfect!" He reasoned, though rather unreasonably. Grinning at her as he skipped over, birds now circling over her head as well.
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