private Disharmonious

[Nico 790]

(OOC Thread)

Ponies began to gather in the Ruby Villa bazaar, setting up their shops as the sun eked light over the mountains in the distant horizon. This light peeked through Nicolas' room window, shining directly on his face. With a disgruntled expression and a groan he flipped his long mane over to cover his eye from this bothersome sunlight. Just as he was settling back into sleep, a loud knock rang out through his room from the door.

"Housekeeping!" The maid yelled, her voice muffled through the door. Why was the housekeeping at this inn working so early in the day? Haven't they ever heard of beauty sleep? Her voice called out again through the door. With great reluctance Nicolas lifted his head off of his pillow, his hair falling away from his eye, revealing it to the sun once more. Scowling and squinting he got out of the bed, trotting over to the door. As he opened the door there was nopony there. He stuck his head into the hall and saw the maid walking down to the next room already. Resisting an urge to yell at her he shut the door, mumbling to himself groggily as he went about trying to tame his tangled mess of a mane.

Upon finishing his grooming, which was admittedly quite sloppy, he threw his brush into his saddle's knapsack. With great difficulty he placed the saddle onto his back and, unable to secure it properly, walked out of the room playing a tricky game of balancing to keep the bags on each side of the saddle from pulling the other side off.

Making his way into the inn's lobby he couldn't help but be surprised at how many ponies were there. Wobbling through the room with his saddle precariously sliding back and forth on his back, he was blocked by a unicorn mare who stood in his way. She merely looked at him for a moment, peeking around his head to see his saddle nearly sliding off. Her horn glowed as she adjusted it and secured it for him, then she trotted away.

"Uh... Thank you!" He shouted after her, unsure of anything else he could say. Making his way through the crowd in the room he managed to get out the front door, greeted once more by his friend the sun. Holding a hoof up to shade his eyes he looked and saw a fairly large group of ponies gathered up in a bazaar. His stomach growled as he spied a pie stand. Heaving out a sigh he trotted off toward the crowd of ponies. Edited April 4, 2012 by Nico

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

"Whoooa! Excuse me... pardon me... I'm really sorry!"

 

There was the sound of unstable hooves clopping through the bazaar, as a tan-coloured unicorn stumbled about giggling in a most excited fashion. Her dark eyes were widened in great humour, with a massive smile spread all across her face. Several other ponies looked somewhat offended as she bumped into them in her weird sort of dancing gait. Her horn flashed with a vivaciously crimson magical aura, with a small sketchbook and a pencil also encapsulated by this magic floating right before her eyes. The pencil was scribbling in the sketchbook furiously, and she seemed very focused upon whatever it was that she was drawing, to the detriment of walking properly.

 

She made her way towards Celestia knew where as she uttered excitably to herself. "Yes, yes... just a bit more here... and a bit more there... a glorious beast to be created! It had a rather sad past... as it was found by a young mare named... named... hmm... name..." Her voice trailed off as she bumped into something very solid and suddenly squealed in surprise. Her magic shot off a small red burst and ended up ricocheting into a pie at a pie stand. The pie's gooey innards melted as it deflated into a rather disgusting looking mess and her pencil and sketchbook fell to the ground. Her face turned as rosey as her magical glow, and she embarrassingly admitted to the disgruntled-looking earth pony running the pie stand that she did not have the bits to pay for it.

 

"Oh, youse better find some way to pay for the pie, Missy!" He furiously stated in a rather uncivilized and even more fear-inducing accent.

 

"I'm... I'm really sorry... this doesn't usually happen..." The mare backed away slowly, pressing her ears to her forehead as she left her sketchbook open on the ground. It had a half-finished drawing of some very odd-looking abstract creature.

 

"Tch! Youse unicorns and your magic, exploding alls ova da place! Don't know any good hard werk. Youse gonna have to work here to pay it off then. And doing it da good old fashioned earth pony way. No magic!"

 

"But I... I..."

Edited April 4, 2012 by Arylett Dawnsborough

[PeachPalette 1,000]

This was a brand new town for PeachPalette, and what an absolutely perfect day it was to be there! A bazaar! The peach pony smiled from ear to ear as she trotted through the bustling crowd. The sing songs of the vendors filling the air, the smell of the freshly made home cooked delights, the tings and dings of bits hitting the tables...she had a feeling that it was going to be a great day.

 

She happily trotted with her saddlebag fluffing up and down atop her back, her eyes scanning each and every stand that lay out in the open. A vanilla custard? Oh no, it would spoil my appatite. Oh, but it smells so good! OH! Honey! Oh, how I love to drizzle honey over my biscuits in the mornings. Oh, and look there! Fresh cherries! Hm, well that seems like a decent snack, she thought. Her belly rumbled as she took a turn towards the stand.

 

There was a decent sized crowd around the cherry stand. It seemed they were rather popular around here, or at least while they were in season. She felt a squeeze from behind making her eyes widen in surprise at the pressure applied to her backside. She looked behind her to see that a few ponies had squished in behind her in order to get closer to the stand. "Um, excuse me but OOMPH!" Before she could let them know much they were invading her personal space, another packed in behind her making her cheek press into another pony's back thigh.

 

The irritated mare in front of her swatted at her face with her tail. "Excuse you!" She blurted out in a aristocratic tone.

 

"Sorry, I just was pushed from behind, you see, and..."

 

"Hmph!" The mare snubbed her nose and finally made her way the the table. Peach's cheek finally leaving her backside.

 

Peach sighed at the fact that she couldn't make things more friendly between the snobby mare and herself, but knew all too well that this stranger was in no mood for it. "Huh?" She perked up feeling a push at her side. "Hey!" She exclaimed feeling another from her other side. More crowded in around her ultimately ejecting her out of the back of the crowd like two hooves trying to hold a wet bar of soap.

 

"Well," she said to herself as she gazed up at an even bigger crowd than before, "I suppose cherries are off the menu." Her bright yellows began to scan the area again. What to eat? What to eat? Hat stand. Lemonade stand. Trinket stand. Art supply stan- oh I'll hit that later. Hm, Oh! Pies! A smile lit up her face once again as she gathered herself and began trotting towards it. Her smile suddenly faded as she saw what was happening and stopped in her tracks. The vendor there seemed to be viciously yelling at an embarrassed unicorn, a mess at her hooves.

 

She lifted an eyebrow at mood this town seemed to be in so far. Did nopony show any kindness around here? She puffed up her chest and pushed forward until she reached the stand. Peach cleared her throat rather loudly until the vendor's eyes where on her. "I personally don't see any reason to give this poor girl such a tongue lashing over what...this?" Her hoof pointed in the direction of the toppled pie upon the ground. "Goodness gracious! You...you should be ashamed of yourself, sir!"

 

She gave a quick roll of her eyes as her horn began to glow a sparkling yellow color, the flap to her saddlebag opening as it too was surrounded in the yellow glow. "How much is the pie? I shall pay for it."

Edited April 4, 2012 by PeachPalette

[Dragonshy 2,305]

Dragonshy had know this town quite well, and knew his way around it. He continued walking through the crowd of ponies. Dragonshy wasn't one to be found in a crowd, but he decided he wanted to purchase one of the apple pies there, as they sell out quickly. He was getting quite aggravated at the adjacent ponies who seemed to be following him, as they were very obnoxious and would bump him quite often. He then spotted a pie stand with a plethora of apple pies. "Thank Celestia..." Dragonshy muttered.

 

As he made his way to the stand the two ponies, one scarlet Pegasus, one blue Unicorn, continued to go the same route as him. They bumped him once again and simply laughed. Dragonshy was quite angry now and looked back at them with a frown and slight teeth showing. "Oh and what are you gonna do chump?" laughed the scarlet pony, "You gonna use your brain to do somethin?"

 

"Listen I don't want any trouble, just leave me alone." Dragonshy replied.

 

They both laughed and pushed Dragonshy out of the way to get to the pie stand first. "Idiots." Dragonshy muttered. "We'll see you has the last laugh egg head." blurted the dark blue pony. Dragonshy just ignored them and waited for them to get their pie. He got to the stand and purchased an apple pie, he quickly made his way out of the crowd and to a nearby bench, where he began to eat his pie.

 

At a distance Dragonshy saw the two ponies he had a wrangle with earlier approaching him with three more ponies. "What the hay?" Dragonshy whispered, as he got up and started in the opposite direction with a sense of urgency.

[Mephala 2,633]

Rain rolled in her bed and blinked lazily at her clock. The bazaar! If she wasn't fast, she'd never get a chance to look at it again!

Stumbling up cursing, she groped for her saddlebag and hoped it was full of coins. It was completely empty save for a crumpled letter from her mother which she carefully put on the desk.She panicked but breathed in relief as her eye caught on the brown sack on the table. Filling the bag she quickly flew down the stairs into the lobby, knocking over a chair with a violent crash.

The concierge of the inn looked at her sternly and Rain giggled and picked it up nervously, dashing out the door with a swift "Sorry!"

 

In minutes, she was completely lost. Glancing at the crudely drawn map that the mare at the desk had given her, she squinted in the sunlight. A pie shop that was supposed to be quite good was nearby if there was anything to go by on the paper.

With a sigh Rain wadded it up and tossed it in a trashcan. She now had nothing to go by and her only hope was to talk to any other ponies there.

 

Heading to a group about her age, Rain smiled brightly. "Hi! I'm looking for a nearby pie stand. Do any of you know where it is?"

On of the stallions leered at her, chewing a piece of hay in his mouth. "So what if we do? We don't help strangers," he spat contemptuously.

Rain looked different from the other ponies in this little town with a bright blue mane and she flushed. "It's not a big deal, sorry," she said angrily.

Another one pushed her. "Oooh, we're so scared!" he said in a high-pitched voice. Rain kicked him hard and he fell over with a grunt as she glared at the other ones then walked away.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

The pie stallion snorted in contempt as he saw another unicorn come onto the scene, watching her use her magic to open her saddlebag. He grumbled in a very grumpy way, then uttered: "Tree bits, lady."

 

She was shocked by this stranger coming in to pay for her mistake. "Oh no, no. You don't have to do that. I can work to pay it off." The tan unicorn shook her head in embarrassment. Though she was thankful of the other unicorn's offer to pay, she couldn't really accept it as she didn't want to owe anything to anypony. It was always a cause of great guilt for her when she couldn't repay a debt. Yet the thought of working this pie stand (and without magic, at that!) was also rather unpleasant... somewhere within her, she had hoped that the unicorn would refuse and pay it anyway.

 

Her eyes averted away from the situation to her sketchbook and pencil on the ground. She wanted to pick them up, but she had known that the stallion was offended by magic, and didn't want to worsen the situation. He was a very scary pony...

 

All the mare could do for the moment was step in front of her items to hide them from view. Nopony could look upon her unfinished artwork but her. And especially not strangers. What sort of comments would they make? All they would do is question and judge, and that was certainly something that this pony did not desire in any form.

[Nico 790]

As Nicolas made his way toward the pie stand he saw a small unicorn clumsily stumbling around in the crowd, eventually blowing up a pie at the stand he was going to. He couldn't help but giggle a bit at the silliness of the situation. It wasn't every day you got to see baked goods explode from magic. The stand's owner, on the other hand, didn't seem so amused by the situation, in fact appearing to be quite irritated. 'I suppose I can see how it'd be a nuisance to have a pie go to waste like that,' he thought, his stomach growling. 'Heck, I'll eat what's left of that so that it won't go to waste.'

 

Reaching the edge of the crowd, there weren't too many ponies around him at the moment. 'Just a bit further. Almost to the pie shop,' he reminded himself, trying to calm his hunger. A peach colored unicorn walked up to the pie shop and started talking to the stand's owner just as he arrived. He stood off to the side, waiting for them to finish.

 

"How much is the pie? I shall pay for it." The unicorn stated, the owner putting on a disgruntled face as he replied. Nicolas shifted his focus over to the small unicorn who had destroyed the pie in the first place. She insisted for a moment that the peach unicorn not pay for her pie before looking down awkwardly at a sketchbook and pencil on the ground. She shuffled around a bit, standing in front of them, as if trying to cover them up. He tilted his head to the side, curious as to what the big secret was, when suddenly a large stallion bumped him to the side, sending him stumbling toward the pie stall. He tried to regain his balance, but it was to no avail, and he crashed into the stand, knocking the remaining pies on the counter to the ground and tearing down part of its side.

 

"Whats is dis? Is everpony outs ta get me today or somethin'? Youse betta have a way to pays for all of dis damage, fella!" The stall owner looked down at Nicolas, who was slumped on the ground against the broken side of the stall, with great disdain. "If ya's ain't gots no bits, I gots work for ya's!"

 

Looking up at the shop owner, Nicolas' ears drooped down, his lips sagging into a frown. "Mister, I understand that I broke your stall-" He winced in pain as he stood up. "But I think your stall broke me, too. How much do you want for the damage?"

 

"It'll be fitty-tree bits, fella! You gots dat?" Nicolas bit his bottom lip as the man told him the price. He reached his head back to his bag, wincing once more, and pulled out his wallet. Pouring out the bits onto the table, he counted twelve small coins. With a nervous laugh he lifted his gaze to the shop owner, who's face was red with fury.

 

'Well, this isn't good. I don't think I'm in any condition to be working for this guy, but I'm not really in any shape to run off, either,' he thought to himself. 'What else can I do?' Nicolas gulped as he stared at the owner with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

[PeachPalette 1,000]

Peach's eyes narrowed at what she was witnessing. She felt a light rage brewing in her. Never has she been in such a disrespectful, rude town, and believe her, she'd been traveling her whole life. Peach slammed her front hoof down on the dirt road. "This is outrageous!" She exclaimed eyeing the rude stallion. "Haven't you heard of customer service? You...you-you-you brute! Clearly they...," she said as she cleared her throat quickly eyeing the clumsy ponies "THEY...just made a mistake. It was an accident. You COULD be a little nicer about it!"

 

She scoffed as a change purse flew from her saddlebag and landed upon the table. The bit jingling in the purse as it dropped with a heavy momentum. Clearly, it was packed full of bits. "Nopony is working for you! Why...I'd sooner take my chances being poor than work for an unhappy soul like you!" She snubbed her nose at him then turned to the earth pony and unicorn that seemed to have a thing for destroying pies. "It's no trouble at all. Really," she said with a reassuring smile.

 

She began to turn away from them but stopped and looked at the ground and then to the small tan mare. "Your work is marvelous by the way," she said with a wink. "It's a wonder you don't have your own stand here selling your work. Well...good day to you ponies." Peach finally turned and began to walk leisurely down the crowded path, her tail swinging from side to side behind her.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

All she could do at this point was blink dumbfoundedly as the events occurred. Yet another pony had spotted her plight, and tried to repair matters by proving that he was even more of a clumsy idiot than her. Though she attempted to restrain her laughter, the attempt had failed and she let out several small giggles until the pie stand stallion glared at her and shouted.

 

"Youse think dis is funny?! Grm... blasted unicorns... 'Least I's got my money." He continued to grumble to himself as the small mare edged away slightly from the pie stand, blushing at the compliment that the peach-coloured pony had given her. Dang. Now she owed her money for that. Although it was more Clumsy Pie Boy, as she would now name him in her mind. Hmm... no. That wasn't original enough. He was now clearly Clumselious Gafflegan. Gaff-Gaff for short.

 

"Hee hee. Um... looks like you're kind of clumsy yourself. Maybe you should..." The unicorn lowered her voice and pulled her ears back as she whispered lowly into the earth stallion's ears. "Maybe you should get out of here now. I mean, that lady just left and all, and I... oh! Sorry, sorry, I've really got this brilliant idea!" Rushing over to her dropped items, the mare grinned ridiculously as her magical glow encapsulated the items and caused them to zigzag around erratically. It was her excitement that had made her control shaky at the moment. "Oh wait, wait! Come back here!"

 

The items kept floating out of her sight, as she danced around comically to try to catch them with her hooves. Finally, the glow petered out and the items fell on her head. Pie stallion merely stared at her with an expression of exasperation.

 

"Ah... I get a little too excited sometimes. Whoopsie daisy!" Once again, she picked the items up with her magic more successfully, trying to contain her excitement a little more about the fact that she had just purchased these state-of-the-art supplies only a few moments ago. Her pencil scribbled furiously onto the sketch pad as she began to walk away very slowly, this time being wary of where she was going.

Edited April 5, 2012 by Arylett Dawnsborough

[MasterCombine 316]

Spiritus Whitemane sat idly by himself at a small table near the entrance to the Ruby Villa Inn, basking in the warm glow of the morning sun and the cool, fresh air. A copy of the Equestria Daily was splayed out in front of him, and he floated a cup of coffee to and from his mouth, periodically taking sips. Spirit flipped absentmindedly through the pages, failing to notice any headlines of interest. Instead, he turned his attention to the bazaar that spread out in front of him, a mere stone's throw from the inn's front door. It was bustling with activity, even this early in the day. Hundreds of ponies filled the spaces between stalls, gawking at the sheer variety of wares for sale. Mares tried on jewelry, admiring themselves in mirrors so conveniently provided for them by hopeful shopkeepers, and screaming foals dragged their parents from stall to stall in an endless quest for toys and candy. Spirit simply sipped his coffee and observed the scene with growing interest.

 

It was a quaint enough town, he had decided. The perfect place to relax and unwind after several years of hard study at the Academy. Spirit had only recently arrived, and had thus been content to spend the last few days lazing about, going for walks or reading in his room at the inn. Now, however, he felt the desire for something...more. Some excitement, perhaps, or a change of pace.

 

"More coffee, sir?" A voice interrupted his thoughts, and Spirit turned to find a unicorn waiter at his side, levitating a pot of the steaming brown liquid towards his cup. "And can I get you something to eat?"

 

"Yes on the coffee," Spirit replied, smiling politely at the stallion, "but no thanks on the food." He glanced back at the bazaar. "I think I've just made my plans for the day." Spirit felt slightly guilty that he had taken a seat at the cafe without ordering any food, but he would be leaving shortly, and none of the staff seemed to mind. He waited for the unicorn to refill his cup and then tossed a few bits onto the table. "Those are for you, pal. Thanks." And with that he trotted off in the direction of the marketplace.

 

Spirit walked leisurely down the aisles between the stalls, staring curiously at the shouting merchants and their goods. He had never quite seen anything like it. Manehattan supermarkets were almost always indoors and impersonal, even the fancy ones that he and his parents had shopped at in years past. There was a young mare hawking beer and cider, and Spirit reminded himself to visit her stall later in the day. Further on, there was a tailor's shop, and the stallion in charge was fitting customers and sewing together fine wool suits on the spot. Again, Spirit made a note of the location. I always look good in a suit, he thought with a smirk.

 

Yet Spirit continue onward, pushing deeper into the bazaar, nudging past ponies as the crowds grew thicker. His mind was on food, and the smell of baked goods hung heavy in the air. The sight of a distant pie shop, slightly obscured by another large swarm of ponies, stopped him dead in his tracks. The thought of dessert for breakfast struck him as particularly appealing, and he quickly adjusted his course. Drawing ever closer to the stall, Spirit could suddenly make out what sounded like shouting and arguing. The few ponies in his way quickly parted, and a peach-colored mare with an interesting haircut trotted casually past him, her tail swishing from side to side.

 

Spirit took his eyes off of her and turned back to the pie stall. To his disappointment, half of it was in ruins. The ground around the stall was littered with the messy remains of what had once been perfectly good pastries, and a furious-looking shopkeeper stood behind the counter, begrudgingly counting the contents of a rather hefty coin purse. A tan, bespectacled unicorn mare pranced about in a silly manner and slowly walked off as Spirit approached, scribbling frantically in a sketchbook that floated in the air in front of her face. An earth pony stallion with a rather long mane was left by himself in front of the stall, looking somewhat confused and shaken.

 

Spirit trotted over to him and chuckled, curious as to what had happened. "Hey, you okay, buddy?" He asked.

Edited April 5, 2012 by MasterCombine

[Nico 790]

Nicolas looked over at the unicorn who had approached him, a sharp pain shooting through his neck. His eye twitched with the pain in such a way that it appeared as if he were winking at the fellow. Subconsciously he realized this, a blush appearing on his cheeks. Realizing now that he was also blushing at a male pony only made him all the more flustered. He hadn't even said anything and this was already awkward.

 

"Oh, yeah. You know, I'm great. I'm used to taking out pie stands with my body," he started out sarcastically. Great, this was only making matters worse. His sarcasm probably came off as rude, when all this pony did was ask if he was all right. "But, erm, no. I think I probably pulled something." There was a cracking noise as he turned to fully face the off-white pony, triggering his wink-twitch once more and causing a nervous tick in which his head jerked to the side suddenly.

 

"Okay, pulled something, broke a few things, maybe, and it would appear as if I neurally messed up everything about my face except my mouth." His upper lip curled outward after he finished that statement, imposing a certain ugliness about his face akin to that of a newborn squab. Chuckling lightly, his upper lip went back to normal, "So, yeah, that was a poorly executed attempt at being comical, I suppose. But, um, yes-" he stopped to clear his throat, "I'm fine minus the pain when I move around. I tell you, watch out for the ponies in this town. They simply do not watch where they are going. That's why I'm like this, you know; some rude pony just came trotting along without looking and sent me crashing into this pie stand."

 

Nicolas' ears focused in on the sudden stop to the sound of bits clinking together, having been unconsciously aware of the noise before. He turned back painstakingly to look at the pie stall, or what was left of it. Lying on the broken counter was a pile of bits, and judging by the fact that the stallion had stopped counting, he guessed there were fifty-three of them there. The stallion was holding the purse in his mouth, it weighing his head down a bit, still obviously full of bits.

 

"Sir, I'll go ahead and return the remainder of those bits to that mare for you," he offered, being greeted with a disgruntled face in response. The shop owner set the purse aside on the broken counter of his stall, leaning his head forward, close to Nicolas.

 

"Dis day's been bad enough wifout youse takin' these bits, fella! I's just be keepin' 'em for extra damages youse guys is sure to cause me," he pulled his head back behind the counter, picking the purse back up and placing it inside a basket behind him. Nicolas didn't want him to keep those bits. He didn't deserve any more than what he demanded, but there was no way he could forcefully take the bits from him, and at this point he doubted he would listen to any reason he might put forward. Hanging his head dejectedly, he stood there looking at the ground, thinking of what to do next now that his twelve bits were among the massive pile on the table.

[Mephala 2,633]

Rain stalked away from the stallions in anger, feeling a little humiliated. She had just asked for directions. As she started to walk among the crowd, she stopped at a few stalls and admired different things. But her stomach was growling and she needed food soon.

 

"If I remember....the pie stand was over here..." she muttered, and she looked around for any sort of indication of it. The streets were crowded, however, and she couldn't make out anything. Flapping her wings, she rose above the heads of the ponies beneath her, several grumbling at her actions as she looked down apologetically.

 

The bazaar went fairly far down the road and she groaned. Oh joy, now look what I've done...she thought to herself as she carefully touched ground.

 

Eventually Rain saw it-the pie stand she had been looking for. But when she got closer, she saw it wasn't so much a stall anymore, more a pile of splinters.

 

"What happened?" she gasped, looking at the others crowded around. There was a large pile of bits in a basket on the ground and the shopkeeper looked pretty pleased though the other ponies appeared dissatisfied.

Edited April 5, 2012 by PinkieDaShy

[PeachPalette 1,000]

What a fatuous thing to do, Peach! She silently scolded herself at the fact that she handed over her entire earnings to that miserable stallion. Her eyes stayed glued to her front hooves as she walked down the overly crowded path. She narrowed her eyes down at them. Unable to hold her glare she sighed letting her face relax again. Her horn began to glow again as her saddlebag lifted from her back and hovered in front of her. It opened at her will as she peered inside of it, spotting four bits in the bottom of it.

 

"Splendid, Peach. You've gone and subjected yourself to poverty," She grumbled to herself. Memories flooded her mind of what just transpired. She remembered the disgruntled pie stallion and the way he treated those other ponies. "Those poor dears. Well, perhaps it was all for the best. Nopony deserves to be treated like that."

 

Her saddle bag lifted once again. She watched was it gently landed across her back again. He stomach growled, a reminder that she still hadn't eaten. Her eyes scanned the bazaar once more, this time looking for something cheaper to eat until she could pedal some of her artwork for more bits. Her ears perked. Bread and baked goods. "A couple of croissants should hit the spot just fine," she said as she neared the stand, a hopeful smile upon her face.

[MasterCombine 316]

Spirit watched as the long-haired stallion's face contorted awkwardly. He held back a chuckle. The pony was obviously quite embarrassed after what had happened, not to mention mildly injured. Spirit assumed that the sorry state of the pie stand was partially his fault, accident or not.

 

"Pulled something, eh?" He asked, approaching the stallion. "Here, let me have a look." Spirit's horn glowed a bright emerald green, and a faint aura of the same color surrounded his new acquaintance, producing no noticeable effect. After a few short seconds, both the glow and the aura disappeared. "Ah, I see the problem," Spirit said. "Just a minor strain, nothing too bad. You've got a pinched nerve, though. That's probably what's causing your face to do that." His horn glowed again, and he touched it to the base of the stallion's neck. "Just a little zap in the right area should fix it up, though. You'd be surprised at how effective electrotherapy can be." Before the stallion could object, Spirit sent a mild shock coursing through his body.

 

"There we go!" He said, cheerfully. "You should be feeling good as new in a little bit. Just relax here for a second." Spirit turned to face the shopkeeper of the pie stand and trotted forward with a smile on his face. The stallion behind the counter regarded him warily. "Beautiful morning today, isn't it?" Spirit asked, taking a moment to breathe in the smell of the still-intact pies that were on display. The shopkeeper simply curled his lip in disdain.

 

"And whats do youse want? I supposes ya gonna give me more trouble 'bout these here bits, eh? Well youse can just get lost, pal! Darn unicorns, thinkin' yer so special wit da magic and da smarts..."

 

Spirit continued to smile. "What? No, of course not. I just came to buy a pie." He tossed five bits onto the pile on the counter and pointed with one of his forehooves. "I'll take the big pecan one, up there." The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow in slight confusion, but turned and retrieved the pie that Spirit had asked for. "Thanks!" Spirit responded. "But since you mentioned it, let me be honest with you." He reared up on his hind legs and leaned casually on the counter with his elbows. "I heard you talking with my friend over there," Spirit gestured back to the long-haired stallion, "and while I completely understand your anger at what happened, don't you think that taking that much of a poor mare's money is a bit unreasonable?" Spirit pointed at the bag of bits on the ground behind the counter. "I did hear my friend correctly, yes? That that money belongs to someone else? And let's be honest, it has to be more than you need."

 

The shopkeeper looked irritated, but somewhat thoughtful. "But, my stall... Those rude-" he started.

 

"Come on. We're both stallions here," Spirit cut him off. "I'll tell you what." He levitated a coin purse out of the white jacket that he was wearing. He pulled out a few larger coins and placed them in a neat stack on the counter top. "You return that bag and I'll give you fifty bits of my own. A donation, so to speak." Spirit smirked. "You seem like a good guy. Do the right thing." He placed his hoof onto the counter and extended it towards the shopkeeper. "Plus I'll get him out of your mane," he whispered, and nudged his head in the direction of the long-haired pony. The stallion broke, extending a hoof of his own to meet Spirit's.

 

Spirit trotted happily back to the clumsy stallion, two steaming pies floating in front of his face, and a bag full of bits balancing on his back. He set one of the pies and the coin bag carefully onto the ground at the stallion's hooves. "There you go, pal. The pie's apple. Everypony likes apple, right?" He turned and started to walk off. "Come on, what do you say you and me go get something to drink? I'm craving something with a little more kick than cider." Spirit chuckled. "Then we can see about getting those bits back to their rightful owner."

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

The mare hadn't quite left the scene yet, as she was still moving very slowly away from the pie stand. It was some very slow progress out of the place... but she had to both keep that sketch book and pencil stable and ensure she didn't crash into anypony.

 

Then something distracted her from her attempted departure. An ivory pegasus with a mane of blue hues had just landed near the pie stand to observe the situation at hand. She turned right back around to watch this pegasus question what had happened, and waltzed in her direction, almost trotting about as if it were a dance. Though she made sure not to get too near the pie stand stallion. That guy still scared the beejeezers out of her and she really didn't want to cause anymore trouble.

 

Thus, the tiny mare positioned herself behind the tall lightly coloured unicorn to hide herself out of his sight. Since this stallion was so massive in comparison to her small stature, it worked quite nicely. Although had the odd effect of putting her some weird distance apart from the pegasus.

 

"Alp... well... Gaff-Gaff McClumsycolt over there crashed into the stand and knocked over the pies," She lowered her voice as she spoke to the pegasus, to ensure that he couldn't hear her. Then the unicorn mare pointed with a hoof towards the earth pony with brownish hues. "And... I accidentally blew up one. Kaboom, it went. It was kind of silly. But I blow up stuff like a lot. Some ponies say that I'm a maniac with magic and shouldn't have it." Her face became tinged a little with a crimson colour as she waltzed in place behind the unicorn stallion, trying to distract herself from her jumpy anxiety of being around so many stranger ponies.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Electrobolt was tossing and turning in his sleep, dreaming about what all he might see at the bazaar. He imagined all sorts of interesting objects would be there, and there might even be something that he would want to get as a souvenir for when he returned home to his family. However, his sleep was short-lived as the sun cracked in through a window in his room. "Ugh... Just five more minutes..." he muttered, still fairly asleep. But as soon as he remembered what day it was, his head shot up as he uttered, "The bazaar!"

 

Looking around his room, he began to search for a clock to see what time it was. As soon as he found one, his eyes shot wide open. "It's THAT late???" he questioned, shocked at how late he slept in. After looking at the clock, he hurried around the room trying to get everything ready. Getting his saddlebag on, he began to rush towards the door, before stopping himself. "Wait, wait, where are my bits???" he muttered, remembering he needed money to BUY things with. So he once again looked around his room, searching for his bag of bits, when he looked back at where his saddlebag was. He then smacked himself in the face with his hoof as he saw that his money was right next to where he had laid his saddlebag down before turning in for the night.

 

Confirming that he now had everything, he proceeded to hurry out of his room into the lobby of the Ruby Villa Inn. Even though it was late in the morning already, the lobby was pretty full. Making sure to watch where he was going, he slowly started towards the door. "Excuse me, pardon me, sorry!" was just a little of what Electrobolt spoke when he bumped into a few ponies on accident. Eventually, he made it outside of the inn, sighing out of relief. He checked his saddlebag to make sure he still had his bits inside, and sure enough they were in there. Right then, however, his stomach growled at him as he was reminded he had yet to eat. "Right... First things first, gotta get myself something to eat..." Deciding that eating first would be a good idea, he trotted off to look for a stall that sold food of some sort.

[Nico 790]

Rolling his head in a gentle circle, Nicolas was relieved to feel that there was no longer pain in his neck when he moved. He watched as the unicorn threw some bits on the table, even after having bought pie just moments before. As the stallion turned around to face him, the pie stand owner placed moved around behind him where Nicolas couldn't see. There were two pies floating in front of the unicorn, and his stomach seemed to roar at the sight of them. The unicorn began to trot toward him, setting a pie by his hooves along with, to his surprise, the peach unicorn's bag of bits.

 

"There you go, pal. The pie's apple. Everypony likes apple, right?" The unicorn turned to walk away, Nicolas still befuddled that he was doing this. "Come on, what do you say you and me go get something to drink? I'm craving something with a little more kick than cider," the stallion chuckled, snapping Nicolas out of his surprised stupor. "Then we can see about getting those bits back to their rightful owner."

 

Bending over, Nicolas picked the sack of bits in his mouth and carefully placed it into his saddlebag. Taking the edge of his pie tray in between his teeth he started to trot after the unicorn. "Sanks," he attempted to thank him through clenched teeth, walking up next to him. "I suppose somethin' to drink wouldn't be so bad." The pie tray wobbled in his mouth as he spoke, shaking more in correlation to how well he enunciated his words. "I'd uh, not mind havin' someplace to put dis pie down, too." Nicolas chuckled nervously a bit, reminding himself repeatedly in his head not to un-clench his teeth.

[MasterCombine 316]

"Ah, don't mention it. I'm glad I could help," Spirit responded to the stallion's gratitude. He turned and scanned the stalls around the pie shop, smiling when he recognized the liquor stand that he had seen before. He started to trot off towards it when he was suddenly stopped in his tracks by a noise at his side. He looked to his lower right to find a short, tan-colored mare standing close to him, waltzing anxiously in place as if she was trying to use his body for cover. Spirit realized that he had seen her just minutes before, prancing away from the pie stand before he had approached it. Obviously something had persuaded her to return. She looked like she was possibly around his age, but her short stature and slight pudginess made her appear a few years younger.

 

It took spirit a couple of seconds to realize that the noise he heard was the mare speaking. She was mumbling timidly, just loud enough for Spirit to understand what she was saying. "Alp... well... Gaff-Gaff McClumsycolt over there crashed into the stand and knocked over the pies," she said, and pointed past him with one of her hooves. "And... I accidentally blew up one. Kaboom, it went. It was kind of silly. But I blow up stuff like a lot. Some ponies say that I'm a maniac with magic and shouldn't have it." The mare looked somewhat embarrassed as she said this. Spirit raised an eyebrow, slightly confused. He wasn't entirely sure whether she was talking to him or if she was trying to address somepony else.

 

"Gaff-Gaff Mc-who now?" Spirit asked. He followed the mare's gaze to where she was pointing and found himself staring at the long-haired stallion that he had just helped. "Oh, him? Do you two know each other?" Spirit looked between the two ponies and then back to the stallion behind the pie stand. "And you're saying you blew up one of that stallion's pies?" He chuckled. "No wonder he didn't seem very receptive of unicorns." Spirit licked his lips, his thirst suddenly returning, and then turned back to the mare. "Well how about we all talk about this over a nice, cold drink?" He took a small bite out of his pecan pie and then started to trot off towards the liquor stand again, gesturing for the two ponies to follow him. "I'm paying. Assuming you guys are of age, of course. And if not, well, I'll buy you some cider or something." The long-haired stallion seemed a little awkward, and the mare didn't seem like the epitome of confidence, but Spirit was just happy to have the company, especially after spending the last few days in Ruby Villa relaxing by himself.

 

The liquor stand consisted of a long bar with numerous kegs and bottle-stocked shelves standing behind it. In front of the bar were several cushioned boxes and hay bales. Spirit approached and took a seat next to two empty boxes, saving them for the ponies he had just met. "Well howdy there, mister!" The pretty mare behind the counter greeted him. "What can I get for ya?"

 

Spirit smiled and nodded in return, and then scanned the rows of shelves behind her, trying to find something to his liking. He didn't usually drink this early in the day. In fact, he didn't drink very often at all. He was feeling somewhat adventurous today, though, and for some reason drinking struck him as a particularly good idea. Spirit laughed as his gaze fell upon something on the top shelf. "I'll take some of that," he said, pointing at the bottle in question. The mare snatched up the bottle and placed it on the bar with a smirk.

 

"The Cloudsdale Rainboom?" She said. "This here's a real stallion's liquor. You think you can handle it, mister?" The ornate bottle bore the trademarked symbol of a fluffy white cloud with a rainbow arching over it, beneath which stood the phrase Taste the Rainbow! The liquor was made exclusively in Cloudsdale, a pegasus town near the capitol city of Canterlot, and a real drop of rainbow from the resident weather factory was added to every bottle.

 

Spirit laughed. "Don't you worry about me. Just pour me a shot," he said, tossing a few bits onto the counter.

 

"Watch out, everypony. We got ourselves a bad-flank over here," the barkeep chided, eliciting a few chuckles from some of the other patrons at the stand, but she complied. Spirit watched as she poured some of the thin, multi-colored liquid into a small shot glass and pushed it his way. He took a deep breath and floated the glass towards his lips. He'd tried the liquor before, of course, but it had been a while. His first time "tasting the rainbow" had been at a party back at the Academy, where, against his better judgement, he had drank almost half a bottle of the stuff. It had knocked him on his flank for several hours straight, and the following morning hadn't been pretty. But what harm could one shot do?Spirit thought.

 

He closed his eyes, knocked the liquid back, and then slammed the glass emphatically onto the bar top. Spirit winced and squinted his eyes as the drink took full effect. It was sweet, bitter, and spicy all at the same time, burning the back of his throat before hitting his stomach, where it produced a heavy, warming effect. Spirit coughed a few times and tried to steady his breathing. "It's an acquired taste," he spluttered, and then gestured towards the barkeep. "Now could I get some beer, please? I think I've had enough of fancy liquor for the day." The mare chuckled and replaced the shot glass with a glass of beer. Spirit happily gulped it down, taking bites of pie to rid the taste of the Rainboom from his mouth. He turned back to the long-haired stallion and the tan mare that he had just met, smiling at them.

 

"You guys have got to try this stuff." He laughed. His head was feeling slightly lighter already, but he was nowhere near tipsy or drunk. Spirit resolved to take it easy for the rest of the time that he was at the drink stand. "It builds character."

Edited April 8, 2012 by MasterCombine

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Electrobolt continued to walk around trying to find a stall, before he came back to a similar location. *Where did I...* he thought, before shaking it off. He continued looking around some more then a few minutes later... *It feels like I was here not too long ago...* Once again, he shook it off as he went off once more. However, this time, he realized why the location felt so familiar. "Wait a second... Is that...?" he questioned as he recognized the building. As soon as he realized it was the very inn he came out of, he smacked his face with his front-left hoof. "I've been walking in circles this whole time...?"

 

Shaking his head, he spoke up, "Great... I've been walking around for however long I've been going and I haven't found anything to eat yet... Well, I guess I'll have to make sure not to go in circles anymore... Heheh..." He couldn't help but chuckle at himself, before something caught his attention. He smelled something fresh, almost as if it had come out of the oven. His stomach let out another growl before his face turned bright-red, out of embarrassment. He gave off a sheepish grin as he headed in the direction of the scent.

 

Eventually, he finally found his way to one of the stalls in the area, and judging from the looks of it, the stall is selling breads and all other kinds of baked goods. *Mmm...* he thought, taking another whiff of the aroma coming from the stall. *I think I know what I'll have now...* He was still looking at the stall as his hooves kept moving him forward, eventually colliding into one of the ponies around the area. This had cause the lime-green colt to fall back on his flank as he looked up to see who he bumped into. His eyes set upon a peach-colored pony. "Um, I... I'm sorry," he immediately apologized. "I... I should have watched where I was going... Could you forgive me...?" He looked down towards the ground, feeling genuinely sorry for not watching where he was walking.

[PeachPalette 1,000]

Her eyes grew wide as her face flushed at the sudden press into her backside. Her mouth, that was full of the soft baked goodness of the warm croissant she'd just took a bite of, made a surprised muffled squeak. Peach struggled to keep her magical hold onto her lunch, and was surprised that she did after feeling...something...shove into her rear. After all, she would have no bits after this meal and she really didn't want it to end up covered in dirt.

 

Her tail swished as the blushing unicorn spun around more in shock than anything. She blinked as this green colt apologized almost as if he expected the worst. She looked from side to side with a questioning eyebrow raised. This was just another example of how terribly mannered the residents of this town were.

 

"Oh come now," she said looking down at him since he seemed to be cowering a bit. She smiled an awkward smile and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "There's no need to grovel so. It was only an accident..." she paused a little as she proceeded to take yet another bite of her floating lunch as if to show him that it was really no big deal. "Mister....?" She began again, waiting for a name as she quickly rethought speaking with her mouth full. Very...uncouth. No matter. This town didn't deserve her manners at the moment.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

The tan mare blinked as she was whisked away all of a sudden by this very tall stallion. Both stallions were rather tall, it was true. But the unicorn stallion was quite large. And had a propensity for hard drinks. She waltzed after him merely out of some form of feeling obligated and not wanting to be rude, blushing a bit excessively as she was addressed and he emphasized the pie incident. He must've thought her to be a real fool. Already, his rather breezy demeanor made her feel a lot smaller and somewhat more inept that she was.

 

All she did was merely stay quiet to his diatribe, only uttering: "No... I don't know him. I um. Just blurted out a silly name, that's it."

 

With some mild impressedness, she watched him down the entire drink in one go. According to the barmare, it had been a "a real stallion's liquor." Then he drank beer. Straight after it! How was he not falling off of his face? She even called him a bad flank. It would be supposed though that his large size allowed him to handle such powerful drinks. This was probably a reasonable assumption to make.

 

When the stallion had offered her some, she shook her head.

 

"Oh no, no. I don't drink! Drinking's... well, it ain't really my thing, you know?" She bounced on the tips of her hooves, rocking back and forth subtly as she felt the need to express her anxiety physically again. Being around all of these liquor ponies made her uneasy. Especially since they were all into alcoholic beverages, which she wasn't.

 

"Do they have non-alcoholic stuff? I know that's silly to ask, seeing as how, y'know, this is a liquor store. But yeah, just thought I'd... know. if that was okay." The mare lowered her head a little as she spoke, becoming somewhat timid again as she felt the red-hot blush spread around the contours of her face. Blushing was something that she had become used to, and did common in the presence of uneasy situations. Especially when she asked questions that she was sure would be answered obviously.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

When Electrobolt felt the light tap on his shoulder, he slowly lifted his head up. Once his head was lifted, he saw the peach-colored unicorn's face, which had an awkward smile on it. Seeing her take a bite from her meal, however, had caused his stomach to growl once more. This caused the young colt's face to turn red once again out of embarrassment as he quickly looked down once more. "Um... My name is Electrobolt..." he finally uttered out when she basically asked for his name. After telling her what his name was, he looked over to the stall that he was originally looking at prior to running into this pony on accident. "Um... Did... Did you get that from over there?" he asked, still looking at the stall that was selling the breads and baked goods.

[PeachPalette 1,000]

"Hm?" Peach followed his eyes to the croissant that she had hovering in the air. "Oh! Yes, I did. These were two bits each. A fine price for such fresh croissants, I'd say." It was just too bad that they ended up emptying her saddlebag.

 

She leaned down and nudged the bashful pony under his chin a bit with her muzzle. "Oh, do get up, won't you, Electrobolt?" She asked him softly. She moved backwards and awaited for him to rise. She took this time to study him further as she brought the rest of the baked good into her mouth, her horn finally losing it's glow. He was a decent sized colt, but petite in his own little way. They were about the same height from what she could see, but then again...he was cowering.

 

She smiled as she noticed his frame begin to lengthen to a standing position. "My name is PeachPalette. But, please, call me Peach for short," she introduced herself, holding out her hoof towards him. A very lady like thing to do. Perhaps this would make up for speaking with her mouth full.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

As soon as Peach had asked him to get up, Electrobolt realized he was still on the ground. "Oh, uh... Right..." he responded, still feeling a little shy and embarrassed. Eventually, he wound up back on all four of his hooves as he looked back to the peach pony. As soon as she introduced herself and held her hoof out to him, he spoke, "It... It's nice to meet you, Peach..." With that, he extended his own hoof, as he proceeded to gently hoofshake with her.

 

Once again, Electrobolt's stomach growled at him due to him not having eaten anything since waking up. This, once again, caused the young colt to turn his head away as his face turned red yet again. "I... I'm sorry..." he began. "I... Haven't had the chance to eat anything yet..." Looking over to the stall then back to Peach, he asked the unicorn, "You... You said you got those croissants for two bits a piece?"

 

(OOC: I only posted since it had been 12 hours since the last post...)

[Nico 790]

Having arrived at the liquor stand he placed his pie on the counter and began to eat it as the stallion took his order. He wasn't paying much attention to what was going on, but he's pretty sure he had heard the mare behind the counter say something about a bad-flank. Next thing he knew, he was being addressed directly. "You guys have got to try this stuff," the stallion laughed. "It builds character." Nicolas didn't want any alcohol, but before he could speak up, the mare with them had beat him to the punch.

 

Listening to the young unicorn mare speak to the stallion, relief washed over Nicolas. He had dreaded that she would accept his offer to drink and that he would be the odd one out for not wanting to 'build character'. Never has any kind of liquor touched his lips that didn't cause his face to contort into a series of involuntary expressions of disgust.

 

"No, thanks. I think I'll pass as well," he stated as the mare finished speaking. "I'm not really one for liquor. Can't say that I'm much for taking anypony else's gratification today, either. The mare earlier has paid more than enough on my behalf for everypony today, so don't worry about it. Not to mention that you've already bought me a pie, so that's more than enough for me." He took another bite out of the pie. "It's delicious, by the way, thank you!"

 

Turning around, Nicolas scanned the crowd behind them. If he didn't hurry and get away from this stand he might miss his chance to return these bits to that mare. He didn't want to be rude to this kind pony, but he really didn't feel like letting her leave without at least giving back the money she didn't need to spend. 'I'll wait just a bit longer,' Nicolas thought to himself, 'And then I'll go, with or without him.'