Morning Glory

Parts of the shop were much like a jungle, set up to the birds natural habitat, so it was quite the challenge to located any specific animal. Morning walked around cautiously, being careful not to scare the lesser birds. She wondered where the shop keeper was, shouldn't they be tending the shop? She was familiar with the owner, but she was no where in sight. Perhaps if she went to the front desk.. Morning Glory made her way to the front. She saw a small bell that said "Ring Me for Service". Ah.. she thought to herself. Morning tapped the bell lightly as a small but sharp sounding ding filled the air. Some birds ruffled their feathers at the sound, one dog barked. "Ah my dear Glory, how have you been? It's been ages since you visited!" A quaint looking older mare with glasses stepped out from what seemed like thin air. She had a short white mane, tied up in a tight bun atop her head, her tail with streaks of the lightest blue. "LadyBell~" Morning said in return, giving her a slight bow of her head. "My friend and I, well mostly him.. He's looking to buy a pet. A phoenix, do you have any he could look at?" She asked hopefully. LadyBell's glasses moved to the very tip of her nose. "A phoenix? Those are mighty birds, they need proper care and maintenance." she began to lecture.

There was a giant list posted on the wall. Morning pointed it out to him. It was titled: Species We Sell: She gestured to the subtitle "Birds". "I suppose you could look here." She went down the list to the P's, looking for phoenix. "Parakeet, Parrotlet, Phoenix, Pigeon, Pionus-- Ah Phoenix!" She smiled and turned to him. "It's on the list."

Morning laughed lightly at his actions. "Yes, I have nothing to be afraid of with you around, do I?" She said with a smile that reached her eyes. Morning led them out of the garden without a hitch. She proceeded down the cobblestone streets, making her way easily through vendors and taking a shortcut or two through an alley way. Eventually she brought them to the entrance of the pet shop. From the outside, you could hear various animal noises, from birds to dogs, this shop had it all. "Are you ready?" she asked, grabbing onto the door handle with her magic as she opened it, letting both of them in. @,

The train slowed to a halt as it arrived next to the platform. There was a bustle as every pony gathered their carry-ons and moved towards the exit. Morning Glory wasn't in a rush, unlike some other ponies, she didn't have a dead line to meet, so she sat patiently in her seat until the crowd dwindled. When only a few ponies were left on the cart, undoubtedly they shared her thoughts on waiting, she stood, grabbing the small set of saddle bags she carried with her and went to find her luggage. When she stepped off, she saw the ponies from before standing off to the side. Her name written on the sign, it was obvious they were there for her. There were still several ponies grabbing their luggage from the storage cart so she thought it best to greet the ponies who she had kept waiting. Morning walked over to them, a friendly smile on her face as she said: "Hello, my name is Morning Glory, I see you're here for me." she said, gesturing to the sign. "I apologize for my lateness, there was a bit of a crowd on the train.." She thought it best to apologize, since it couldn't be the most exciting time standing on a platform, waiting for somepony to arrive you had never met before. She did her best to put on a brave face, but she was in fact very shy, she was never one to take the initiative in conversations, but in this case, she didn't have a choice.

@@BlueBrony Thank you so much ^^~ I share your views, I do contact every source asking to use them and never pass the artwork off as my own. @@Nintenboy195 Im afraid I wouldn't be able to start a request shop x.x I'm not artistically gifted and people have some pretty unique OC's, I wouldn't be able to commit c:

So.. I'm aware I might receive some type of.. negative criticism from this, so I'm fully prepared.. However, I'm sure a lot of us here can relate to the struggles of drawing.. I'm not talented in drawing, however, I am talented in Photoshop, which is where these "bases" come in. When I created my OC, Morning Glory, I wanted her to have an air of elegance about her, and I made her via the Pony Maker, as most OC's tend to start out. I created her with Celetia's Mane, somewhat cliche, I'm aware x.x However, given I did this, I found it easier to find references, seeing as there is an abundance of fan art of Celestia. I'm not an artistic person as I previously mentioned, but I am skilled at photoshop.. So I started to take these arts, and photo manipulate them into my character. Examples: Original Artist AskThePalette Original Art by MofetaFanBoy So while I'm asking for nice critiques, I'm sure I'll get some negative feed back for "Stealing" other peoples artwork, and I hope nobody thinks that way, because I am not, nor have I ever, claimed this as my own. I've never even posted any of it until now. Looking forward to hearing from people

Hiya:D I'm wondering if I can put in a request for my OC, Morning Glory. There is her reference c: I'm hoping you can do her in an elegant pose.. surprise me!! If you need anything further, let me know c:

Morning Glory shrugged lightly again, thinking she wouldn't complicate things, and just move on to a lighter topic. "So, shall we go pick out the perfect pet for you? I know a pet shop that specializes in birds, I'll take you to it." She smiled as she lead the way out of the garden, one of the benefits of having worked in a place for so long, it was a maze to others, but to her, it was simple navigation.

"I'm alright, I just.. " She looked at him. "Do you mean those things or.. Are you just being kind?" She was curious, she wanted to know his thoughts in depth. "It's just.. No pony has ever said those things before, so it makes me wonder, why are you saying them?" She shrugged lightly. "Maybe I'm thinking too in depth about it. I tend to over think things.. I suppose you can disregard this if that's the case." She begun walked back the way they came, towards the entrance.

Morning Glory shyly covered her face with her mane as he admired the flowers. The butterflies were in her stomach again, and she had a smile on her lips. "Thank you.. I do try to make them look their best.." She mumbled quietly as she kicked her hoof shyly against the ground.

She smiled at him then dedicated her complete focus to the small bud. Her horn started to glow and shimmer a lovely shade of lavender. She gentled unfolded the petals using her magic, careful to place each one in it's rightful position. When she finished the process, completeing it in under 2 minutes, she looked at her work. "A Venice Mallow..." she stated quietly. She blinked a few times, breaking herself from her flower trance as she smiled sheepishly. "Well that's how it's done.."

Morning trot lightly over to the bloomed flowers, most were still in full bloom, but some had already begun to fold up into themselves. "I'm glad we made it in time.." She said softly, as if the flowers would be disturbed by her speaking in a regular tone. Out of the corner of her eye, a tiny, unbloomed flower caught her eye. Her jaw dropped in shock as she hurried over to it. "Oh no! This little bud is early-- I wasn't expecting it until next month, I must have missed it this morning.." She nudged the bud with her horn. "I don't think it's too late to bloom it, better late than never I suppose... Would you like to watch?" She offered, glancing behind her.

Morning's ears went down and cheeks turned a bright red, eyes wide. She had not expected that, it made her stomach fill with butterflies. No pony had ever said that to her before, she never had anyone show interest in her like that-- She wasn't sure what to say about it. "Y-yeah, w-wait and see.." She said stumbling over her words. She glanced around the garden, to see where they ended up. She noticed they were close to the morning glories, which gave her relief. A distraction.

"Do you have a specific species in mind? There are all types.. Some birds even have special speaking capabilities, or like Princess Celestia's pet, it's a phoenix, they reincarnate from the ashes. Owls tend to be quite intelligent, but may pose a problem due to the fact they're nocturnal.. " Morning had to cut herself off again, this time she was embarrassed. "Or you could just.. you know.. Get whatever you like." She stated, ending her rambling.

Morning blinked a few times, shocked, but happily so. "Would you mind terribly if I come with you? I'd love to see what type of pet you pick out-- Oh this is very exciting." She said with a skip in her step. "Are you going to get a bird? Since you do favor birds." she speculated. "I've always wanted a pet, but it simply doesn't fit my schedule, so I have to make due without one."

"No patience for one? You don't seem like the type of pony that would have a short temper." She looked at the beautiful bird that had landed on his horn. She smiled softly when it jumped to his back. He seemed to have not only a way with ponies, but with animals as well. He seemed kind hearted and genuine, she couldn't imagine him otherwise. But then again, she had to bring herself back to reality. She had known him for an hour, tops. The truth of it was she really didn't know him, his flaws, his weaknesses, all of that was learned with time. Her smile faltered at the thoughts.

Morning's eyes followed the birds as they flew over, then glanced to Crescendo. "Perhaps, let's just begin down this path. I usually take this one in the mornings and it leads around the complete garden." "Do you like animals?" She asked, noticing his interest he took in the birds. She pointed out a couple of colorful looking birds in the tree. "Those are lovebirds, they're my favorite... The yellow ones are exceptionally pretty."

"Yes, the garden does tend to have that effect on people." she stated brightly, oblivious to what he meant. "How many times have you visited? They have a special section closer to the castle that's only open on the Gala's night, however that part needs to be maintained year round, so only maintenance is allowed back, maybe we could visit---" Morning realized she was rambling and quickly silenced herself.

Morning saw Crescendo's eyes light up with excitement as the garden came into view. She remembered her eyes lighting up like that the first year she had been assigned the garden. She adored coming here during the day and seeing the ponies stroll casually through the garden, watching them look at it in awe. When he looked back at her, he had a look on his face she had yet to see. It puzzled her. "Is something wrong?" she asked him as they came to the entrance of the garden. She wondered maybe if she looked off, her mane out of place or something on her coat.

Morning's steps faltered momentarily, but she quickly caught back up. She recognized the names, she had no idea he was related to them.. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She smiled happily. "Well it's fortunate you're able to have such access, I'm sure many ponies are envious." The latter statement was based on experience, the friends she lost because of the places she was allowed to go. Jealousy got the better of them.. She shook her head at the thought, hoping Crescendo didn't notice. "You seem to have found your own place in the world, rather than follow after your parents. I admire that."