Widdershins

@Blitz Boom & @Sekel "Please. I would never pick a fight and comit a crime right in the middle of a populated pony town and risk being captured." Kaltrop proudly, yet oddly enunciated in a way that a guard like Benny might catch onto for its implication that the slenderer dragon might have indeed been guilty of a few misdemeanors. "Not that I think that is of any concern. I don't think pony do Mind. You're a capable fire dragon, Beany. I think you know well enough that any other dragon could see you were capable of a fight and that alone would merit a fuss were you to blunder into some other dragon's territory munching on candy like a foal. You're... what, twice the muscle of any pony that lives here, long talons with a volcano burning inside you and that's not enough to get you shooed out of town? I'm sure sudden jets of a lightshow are the least of concern to this country town." Besides. Anyway. As you stated. I fly. I prefer my time alone. I do. The very notion of "cooperation" is silly to a dragon of high standing dragon status such as I. I fail to see how I could offer anything w-worth the t-time of working alongside anypony else." Kaltrop stammered his indecision, letting slip the pony phrase he clearly usually made a point of avoiding. While it was true the younger drakling talked much about dragon ways, the elitist way he talked spoke more of the passive-aggressive way alot of ponies bullied, as if they knew they had nothing but status as a weapon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (and also Cover-Up's section) "Oh i'm sure there's LOAADS zombponies! No one's ever thought twice about it! Kirins sure don't have a concept about it far as I know! You worry too much, Little Guy!" Whett Kindle gave Cover Up a consipratorial friendly boop before they set off. The Kirin had skipped after the artist horse with alot more energy then the one leading, and with notably less focus. While larger, his head had whipped around and noticed alot of things sometimes accompanied with nonsensical small talk from descriptions of the School of Friendship and buildings they passed to small flowers on the side of the path, all of which seemed a peppering of questions that both ponies could easily see the answer to. When they had been greeted by the passing farm stallion, Whett had given an inelegant, but peppy hop into facing them and greeting them with the amount of cheeriness in volume that one would inclined to flinch and contemplate the science behind how much sound it took to cause window pane glass to shatter. "HI THERE!! Actually, it's Kirin!~ We're magical n' stuff!"

@Sekel & Blitz Boom, Threadmaster "You banged me." Kaltrops said to Dawn Streak in a lower tone of comment. "If you can mount a dragon midair, think you're far more capable than the little spark-bug here." He declared towards Dazzle with an open, pointing claw. "I'll have you know, Horse" He proudly proclaimed to the latter mare. "I never HAD a mother! I raised myself in the wilds by my own will, determination, and ferocity... Well, though as Benny here said..." The young drake's hand lowered in sheepishness as tone changed and another claw instead rose to rub at his long neck. "It hadn't really occured to me to seek out others or go into town to find any other sort of life. Most I did meet seemed to prefer reacting in shock. Figured it was just easier to scare the passing merchant into giving me things then get a job in the center of ponykind." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Blitz Boom "Well a house of friendship sounds like a great place to learn about this new stage of life we find ourselves travelling through, huh my Guide to the wide world of Horse?!" Whett Kindle grinned at Cover Up from where he still sat upon his back haunches. "I do suppose you're right. Kirins are storytellers, not crafters. The things we do make, we don't expect to stay around long so its likely we don't attach much often to singular objects. Probably another reason most of us have been a forgotten subset to Equestria for so long, just that we don't leave much evidence behind. We speak out long stories to relive past moments or times.... and i guess, maybe that doesn't help us move on from some issues sometimes. It does help teach, personally. Like you shouldn't be afraid to ask strangers for help when its needed like the time my Parents had to drag me to every other hut in town in the middle of the night because my first flare-up had a bad Sulphur smell and needed a potion to cure it immediately. I guess verbal storytelling as a cultural tradition kind of lets you be less attached to things and I... I guess that has its downsides too. Like the time my mother stomped my pet lizard because I wasn't spending enough time on my chores. Y- You learn to move on from things. Like I said, we make our huts with the expectation they'll burn down at some point. That physical possessions are good, but something that shouldn't weigh you down from travelling and finding new places to live in & explore. Some memorial item you keep might eventually d- break at some point, but you still keep those memories, you know." He stood up to smile and give the other stallion a friendly bump. "But that's what I got you for, eh? How about we go make memories and see what this Ponyville is about that you keep mentioning?"

I, uh, forget if i've asked this before, but @Randimaxis? If I can get a far more detailed description of the package, please? I keep wandering between calling it a crate, a box, a veritable treasure chest or what have you. Seem to recall it was draped in chains. And to everybody else whom may be involved, I am aiming with Clod Hopper to paint him in a particular set of skills. That he is much oblivious to the point that that should lead to funny incidents of social humor & awkwardness. Since he's only ever known his grumpy father who's been distant since their mother disappeared*, and he should be horribly shy talking to ponies with confidence so tanked of being his father's gopher that he can't grasp why a pony would show him friendship. And also, that one shouldn't expect him to work like other ponies do, coming from basically a "Rock Farm" setting like Pinkie did, if she never got out of there. Like, he ought not be intimidated because he was just never taught to think for himself. Like an extreme Applejack. Basically one of the sorts from that one Hoofield & McColts episode. Cause I watched that alot. Sure, he's stupid, but he's capable. *His Mother is Derpy Hooves. She got lost in a freak hurricane while on the job as a Weather Pony, got amnesia and never came back to her family. I'm basically rping as Derpy+Troubleshoes. HeeHee~

@Sekel & @Blitz Boom The young drake, slighter and much slenderer of frame then Benny was, stood sitting back and much upright on the threshold of the doorway to let his hands up for much more animated gestures then was usually noticed in dragons. Benny could probably be a very good judge of the sort of "Pride" the older generations had when trying to interact with more modern non-dragons. If a dragon didn't like you, it was a lower simmer, and very up front about it, and quickly. Kaltrops, while he often sounded more taunting, came across as a lighter kind of more modern, cultured antagonistic. Like the popular mares in school or those snotty Canterlot elites that had ideas about their heritage to someone important, yet no actual proof they could present. As if a light, but sharp smack would illicit just pouting and then that'd be it. Kaltrops here had a flighty air of what He, specifically, thought a dragon should be. An inflated opinion of himself too easily stretched in an attempt avoid thinking about his small points of sadness. "An electric-type? Hah. If I may point out to you, what would you know about the skies, Groundbound? Fighting is much more than just taking turns to fire off attacks, as I'm sure our "Gooard" friend here can attest. It's just as much about Dodging as well! I have spent my life soaring through clouds, flying with flocks of birds.... eating the stray one. Nothing beats eating while on the wing. It's about flying with the force, even letting your opponent knock themselves out from their own recoil as you get behind them. Being IN the air is much different than just shooting skyfire. Mobility, placement, awareness... Why! My Mare here is quite the flyer!" He gestured proudly towards Dawn Streak behind him. "She's far capable. Could probably hit you several times while you try and charge up your little lightshow. It's not just a show of pow-..." He halted for a second, noticing a different part of the preceding part of the conversation. He turned to nod at Benny. "O-oh? Fire, you said? Y-y-you're p-pretty calm for a fire dragon. Would have thought you more the cool headed and watery sort." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Blitz Boom "Really? That's one among many stories us kirin tell! Of one particularly angered squirrel that took down the biggest Dragonlord ever just for burning down his tree! That channeling your energies, using what skills you do have and the wisdom to know where & when to strike can move mountains! I, uh-... but as for my family." Whett Kindle fidgeted where he sat. "I dunno, a guy kinda... loses faith after so many attempts at trying to be around some. I guess one could, like the story, take some time to plan a way around.... confronting some personalities you meet." "But that's what i'm here for! I'm just out exploring! Seeing the amazing possiblities of what Nature can provide! Find a nice, comfy, pretty Glade to rest & meditate in! ....see what its like inside those buildings you ponies have! For some reason, ponies start sweating whenever i'm IN a place. ....What's a Princess? I know we had a Queen, but I don't know nothing about your leaders."

"Huh? Take care ah what?" Hopper would indirectly comment in the short time as the doors opened and he went in silently. The doors, the word of stern command, the gravity of the task at hand... all these were utterly lost on Clod Hopper. They didn't have doors where he came from! In fact, he hadn't much else other than his father for most of his life growing up. Respect, fear, these were things that were swiftly communicated by a hoof to his head by his grumbling father who saw almost every movement as dawdling or laziness. If the colt had had much of any interaction at all with anypony else, he would have perhaps made the connection that his father hated him for some reason or why he hadn't had a mother. He was At places, then he was told to Do stuff. There wasn't any point in thinking any deeper about things as it would either slow down what task was at hoof, or be more directly delivered by a rough cuff to the snout. Besides, it wasn't till he had wandered in here to a place with a population over single digits were it that Hopper had had ponies greet him with a cheery demeanor, even if it might have been faked at the time. Perhaps all the hoof cuffs to the head hadn't helped Hopper's brain speed. County foal-raising wasn't no exact science anyway. Clod Hopper did what he was told to do. there wasn't any depth to that at all. If walking up to a dark stallion glowering at you was part of that, so be it, if even that was normal and expected. What one did or how you did it didn't matter so much as you actually did the thing, didn't reflect on you at all. So why spend time getting worried about the inevitability of disappointing the taskgiver when you had already spent most of your life doing that anyhow? But those mares though, Hopper had thought, they hadn't sent him on tasks. They were an anomaly that required further brain work later as to why they did this act of being "Nice." Yes, perhaps this workhorse's thoughts were dwelt on mares. Preoccupied with this interaction of what to do when one was "Nice" around him. He had just recently walked nearly a mountain miles worth solely because a mare had talked to him and perhaps, when there wasn't a task to focus on, he would later center his mind on what to do when a Pony was kind to him. In the mean time... there was a horse in this room he had to dump a wooden box in front of.

@Sekel & @Blitz Boom The winged drakling looked around in subdued shock as his head turned to follow Dawn Streak hiding behind his wing with the wide look demanding the proclamation of 'What?!' And just as equally, when Pop came up to him to explain, he craned his neck down to her as his brow furrowed with short exclamations of "What?! No, that's not wh-..." Shortly after that mare's exclamation, he stalked over to the doorway of the shop to regard the newcomer mare of Dazzle with another expression of concerned pouting and puzzlement. Something that Pop, and gradually as what Dawn was very likely coming to terms with, was that as much as dragons liked to come across as larger & more ferocious... they sure more than enough met ponies for being overly expressive. "That... I'm quite good at Fighting. If it's Fighting you want to show off your own powers, then I could be could quite be the accomplished Fighter to Fight you. What kind of Flyer would I be if I couldn't Fight off the odd stray strike from a bolt of thunder?" Kaltrops hinted at to Dazzle, making almost too apparent a use of the word "Fighting" and apparently dodging the well-known flyer fact that Thunder is the sound, not the actual bolt of light. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Whett Kindle looked down for a beat, sighed and then stated to Cover Up: "... You don't have to have a Home. Or family, for that matter. Family is who you... get along well with. Home is where you happen to be. There's no problem with wandering, man. We all do it. It is a matter of being happy at where your journies take you, man. ... I'm sure as hay not going back to my family. Don't get me wrong! Kirins are a calm, peaceful sort for the most part! ... Just... My family suuuuure wasn't. I could tell stories, man! Fighting day in, night out without break. Breaking our neighbors' stuff, each other. There was the time my Mother tried to get back at my Father by bur-... Ah, well, no matter going over it again. Just sufficed to say it's a good thing us Kirin are flameproof! heh!... ...pretty sure we all went our seperate ways. Pretty sure all of us in my family agreed it wasn't healthy for any of us to continue talking to each other at all, blessings from the spring or not. At least our kirin kind are out in the world now, making our way in modern pony society! Get along and act like the rest of the ponies and it'll turn out right. That's what i've been doing, the Kirin Way, attuning to nature and just respecting where I happen to be. Your future or your past do not define you, you know? Ya like... Make do where ya happen to be, eh mate?" The kirin smiled up at the lankier, pale stallion. ...before grimacing snidely and looking off into the distance with a snicker. "...unless your forest den keeps getting burrowed into every night by the same squirrel who won't take a hint every time you chase it off. Then, maybe you pick up and move off to find another place!"

@Flow & @Randimaxis "Came here to work T' other day, Mizz Bloom. Had a debt of me pappy's to pay off." Clod Hopper drawled as he paused for a significant, few beats as they walked a way into the manor, bending low in a solid motion to fit the chained-shut crate through as a farmpony with experience in pulling heavy loads would. A country pause it was, that Bloom could look around and take in the surroundings of the front hall if she had wished, a beat of silence that spoke of someone unused to needing to prescribe to anything but direct, clearcut orders or things ever being more than what they seem. Veritably, the kind of pause you could park a wagon in. "Mister Cragg done sent me back on down here with this, what he called a present for the folks down here. Found myself by his place after following up a mar- pegasus lady that I done helped break a door down for. ... Sure tore up out of here, she did. Hope she's alright. Don' want her in no trouble for anything I broke that ah shouldn't 'ave." The widely buildt workhorse continued on as he crept back up to the mare's side slowed down by the weight of his cargo, apparently fully unaware of how he was digging himself a grave deeper with every word. If she looked up and over at him, his expression would tell far more than his words ever did. Though heavily lidded and not energetic by much means, it didn't seem the situation hit him as all that unusual, but his gaze was certainly locked forward and his pace steady as if he was taking special care to not look directly at her. If his stutter hadn't pointed it out. Hopper didn't get along well with mares. He had barely known girls existed up until now!

Wait, what?! W-we were waiting on me? I thought I had responded!!

@Blitz Boom & @Sekel Kaltrop wordlessly accepted the candyshop mare's bagged gift with a worried, quizzical expression. The sort of intense glazed look Benny was likely familiar with when alot of the simpler dragons encountered the notion of making things for enjoyment rather than for picking fights with. Dragons too had a racial habit of being stuck in old, archaic traditions that would put most country Earth Ponies to shame. To be sure, dragons were no strangers to "snacking" even if they generally ate only two or three things. Dragons were brutishly simple creatures, as exemplified best by what few holidays they had were pretty much just excuses to tell stories of who fought fights best. The young drake was taken aback. Wordlessly accepting both the candied gift and the elder couple's advice left him weak for a response. Indirectly during the conversation, he stammered in a smaller than normal tone. "It's just... all new. I'm a dragon. We don't get along well with others." Questions filled his head that were too much and embarrassing to have time to articulate into a response. Such thoughts were badly dashed as Dazzle and Long Stare entered into the store's room to much surprise. Having been jarred out of a funk of thought and derailed, the bronzed sunset colored dragon stood with blank expression of detached puzzlement sitting back on his haunches and one claw still upraised holding the candy pouch staring at Dazzle as she talked. Egotistical as Kaltrop tended to be, anything pony-shaped was pony. If it was dragon shaped, then it was worth thinking more about. Usually how to best pose to frighten them off; Kal wasn't the best at fighting when it came to it. The new "pony" had mentioned only two subjects he cared to comment on: an "action" involving two members & showing off one's breath weapon. Clearly, he could let his guard down now and talk about what he did know, fighting ability. Without much tact and confidence bluntly returning to his voice, he loudly commented to the room at large. "Of course, we can do it. We do it all the time. Why me and Dawn here were doing it out in the middle of the street the other day...." He paused to idly inspect the pouch and try cautiously opening it with his other claw, unaware of what "It" he was referring to. "I'm quite good at it. This mare won't keep her hooves off me." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Blitz Boom The conspiratorial arm-... *cough* Hoof, left Cover Up's shoulders having felt like a warm hot-water bottle. The kind of body heat that could likely only surpass dragons'. Kindle sat down with a perfunctory, if explaining movement. Pondering, he replied. "Uh. Where to begin... It's not really fire-heat. That's more the Element; ours is a more... uh, sort of mental... "Aura" effect. It doesn't really burn so much as apply force. I'm... not really the best at explaining it. Ours was not the best family in the Kirin race. See, Kirins have a purely verbal history and language. Even when it's, like, chiseled in stone we have a history of... uh, not being kind to physical structures. ... We're good at plays with mobile stages though! So... like... Though a good amount of our history is kind of forgotten, there are a few scattered stories of Kirins showing up at crucial points as heralds to important leaders, bringing good luck and such. Solitary, lone figures of mystery. ...there's reason for that. Kirins don't get along well with each other. As far as we know, mine was the last tribe in existence. There might have once been more of us, but since we only keep to ourselves and our population only goes steadily down... its kind of obvious every Kirin is their own worst enemy. Maybe its instinctual in every Kirin to take it personally that we might very well be the most Discordant race on Equestria. Maybe we once had our own empire but fell to in-fighting till we were reduced to living in hovels like we are and how could any species let that happen to them? * We can only build stuff out of non-burnable leaves, and near water. We could only build so high or so much before tiny issues flared so high that we'd lose days in each other's faces, locked in one emotion. Even postive emotions, I've spent so much time talking to rocks and sticks! hah!" Whett giggled at himself suddenly, flipping from the worried tone he had been narrating in, a brief, small crackle of cinders floating above him like dust for a brief moment. "Anyway. That's what our queen noticed. We couldn't coexist so badly that we were going extinct! So, we found the Spring of Silence and took the road of just keeping silent. So, we would talk and... and hurt each other again. And so often. Just... keep it inside. Sometime a curse is needed. To help... help control ourselves. I guess. ..... I don't know. I was too young at the time to understand when we walked in. All I cared about was that the yelling stopped. From each other and inside." Whett Kindle looked down as he was talking, frowning at the memory and retelling of history. FOOMPH!! Before looking right back up in another heartbeat, beaming a broad smile in spite of the charcoal, glowing-black form same as before and even his whited eyes smiling back up at Cover Up in cheerfulness. "Then the Orange Horse showed up and said we ought to just try talking things out and not stifle our emotions so much! WIERD how we hadn't THOUGHT of that before! Guess it's hard to control yourself and not just blurt for an hour! Learning new Social Skills, huh? Important stuff! But yeah! Totes fine now! Know what I say, focus on the Now, man!" Whett Kindle radiated emotional warmth at Cover Up like he was a lifelong friend meeting an old friend at the train station after years apart, even if this pony's "warmth" felt an awful lot like sticking your face a few inches too close to your room's space heater in the winter. Some said there were ponies who put so much energy into their emotions that it made you tear up from wincing at the sheer volume, in Whett, it was a fair bit more literal. ~ *Like the Gryphon Kingdom. Or the Hippogryph Kingdom. Or numerous pony cities. Odd how so many cultures in Equestria keep falling into disrepair from missing one, key social aspect. Moral teaching or realistic commentary, who can tell?