private From The Stars Came Ashes

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((OOC Thread))

 

In the warm mid-afternoon sun, while the residents of Ponyville hustled and bustled around her, Sage was sweating as her hooves gently prodded the rich, fertile earth around a freshly planted rose bush. There were several of them planted around a dirt road that lead from the centre of town to a quiet recreational park. It was kind of small but it had its charms and there was no reason why it shouldn't look and smell gorgeous. Since late that morning she had been out and about planting various forms of flora with healthy foliage. Her hooves were filthy and her mint green coat was splattered with various bits of mud and dirt.

 

"There, now..." she smiled sweetly and picked up a watering can with her mouth, sprinkling the rose bush. The other ponies around her who were also helping with the final touches watered and planted to their heart's content. Sage set the watering can down and was half tempted to dump the rest on herself to cool off. Looking up to the sky, there didn't seem to be a single cloud.

 

She settled on packing up her things in the caravan owned by a landscaping pony and heading into town to grab a bite to eat, not realizing exactly how dirty she was. To her, it was quite normal!

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In the town, many wagons with various materials were pulled along. Many were unloaded into general stores or other ponies homes. At one of these wagons, a silver pegasus could be seen, helping to unload a wagon for a new family that had moven into the town. He had finished moving the last box and one of the ponies walked to him, "Ah can't thank ya enough fer helpin us there mister Cloud Chaser, we all appreciate it".

 

Cloud merely nodded and smiled "No trouble, just wanted to help". He had said his farewells and began to walk around the town. He had been here for a year, and already this town was beginning to boom. <Everypony already seemed to have forgotten all that happened last year> he thought to himself. His mind drifted back to that time, a rather gruesome event that had left the town in fear. It all seemed to have passed now, but he couldn't help but to think back to it.

 

While lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice where he was walking until he bumped into a green furred, white maned, and rather dirty mare. "Woops, my bad" said Cloud with an apologetic look, "Hey I never seen you around here before, you new?"

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While casually walking along the cobblestone paths that made up the root of Ponyville, Sage was considering her options and keeping herself alert to wagon traffic when she was suddenly bumped by a Pegasus who fortunately didn’t knock her to ground. She held her own in that moment, only tottering to the side with a bit of a comical step before gathering her balance with a bit of a giggle. “Sorry!” she said as well, turning to face the pony that had bumped into her. “Oh, well, yes, I’m kind of new! I stopped into Ponyville a couple days ago to sell my herbs and found myself helping with some planting and… I guess the rest is history! Do you live here?” she turned to face him, brushing her mane off her face with a fore hoof which left a trace of dirt on her forehead.

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Cloud admired the good natured spirit this mare possessed. <Herbs huh? We don't have many herb growers here> he thought. He smiled to her and nodded, "Lived here about a year now. I remember when this all was still a small town. By the way, my names Cloud Chaser, welcome to Ponyville" he said with a warm smile as he extended his hoof in greeting. He always made sure to be respectful to everypony he met, but he found it easy to do so with her. As he looked at her dirt stained face, he couldn't help but to think she looked rather cute.

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Sage looked at the hoof offered and took it with her own, shaking his hoof firmly but politely. "It is very nice to meet you, Cloud Chaser! Mind if I call you Cloud? I'm Sage. I'm sort of a travelling sales pony, and thank you." she returned his smile with one of her own, letting her hoof linger a little without realizing it. "I'm... actually in a bit of a pickle, if you don't mind helping me out." Sage winked playfully, her tail swishing and swaying behind her.

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Cloud noticed she had let her hoof linger, though she wasn't aware of it. When she had asked him for help and then winked, he couldnt help but blush a little. But it quickly faded as he smiled back, "If course, I'm always here to help a pony that needs it" he replied.

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Sage couldn't help but smile a little wider when he blushed. It was sort of adorable and it made her giggle once more. "I'm looking for a place to have lunch but I haven't been here long enough to really get a taste of everything. Do you have any suggestions?" the young mare gestured around them, and as she did, she caught sight of her own hoof. It was filthy! She blinked and looked down to her body, blushing a bit but for her it was from embarrassment. "Oh... Oh, I'm so sorry! I should probably clean up first! I was so busy I guess I didn't realize." laughing softly, she looked about and hummed. "I keep my wagon parked just outside of Ponyville's town square. If you don't mind we could meet up somewhere? If it's too much trouble I understand."

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Cloud smiled as she giggled, thinking it was adorable. When she had spoken to him about meeting up, he smiled and nodded, "It's no problem at all" he said. "Tell you what, there is this nice cafe next to town hall that has some really good lunch choices, I'll meet you there". He waited until she was gone before turning back, grabbing his saddlebag and reaching in to grab his bag of bits to pay for lunch. He headed to the cafe and sat at one of the outside tables, the whole time Sage never left his mind.

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"Sounds perfect! I'll see you shortly!" And with that, Sage trotted back to her little wagon that served not only as her business but for the time being it was her home as well. It wasn't a huge wagon, just enough room inside for her to keep some things and have a bed while on the outside there were shelves that jutted out with perfectly organized items set to catch the attention of potential customers. For now, though, while she was not attending her shop, she kept the shelves covered to prevent theft with a large sign that read "CLOSED" in red paint. It wasn't much, but she loved it dearly.

 

All the while that she was washing off the dirt and mud with a pale of water and a cloth, she couldn't help but anticipate and think of the stallion she was about to meet for lunch. It was a bold move to ask him, she thought, but how else was she going to make friends if she waited for everyone to come to her? Besides, he wasn't all bad looking...

 

***

"Hey there!" the young mare was trotting over to the café where she saw Cloud Chaser sitting at a quaint little table. She was wearing a light brown sun hat with a pink ribbon and a necklace with a peculiar looking stone. It looked like an ordinary speckled river rock about the size of a crab-apple. It was a dark blue colour with brown speckles and she had it placed inside a metal holder that connected to a chain.

 

 

((OOC: The same stone Aureity's character was given to by the mayor 'a year ago' X3))

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Cloud had already gotten menus for when Sage would arrive. When he had heard her voice a smile spread on his face. He looked back and his jaw dropped slightly, "Wow... you look great" he said with a smile. He got up and pulled out her seat so she could sit, then sat back down on his own. He noticed the stone that was strung around her neck, it wasn't like other stones he saw every day. "That's a nice necklace. Where'd you find that stone?" he asked

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"Thank you." the green mare blushed and smiled, looking down a little out of shyness before taking her seat and looking to Cloud Chaser. "Oh, this?" she gestured to her necklace, putting a hoof on the stone briefly. "I found it on my way into Ponyville near a very tall tower. I think it was possibly a guard tower or something, but it caught my eye in the grass and I couldn't pass it up!" Sage smiled and glanced at the menu, her stomach quietly rumbling. She'd been working so much today but she didn't realize she had been working up an appetite as well. "How long have you lived here in Ponyville?" she raised her eyes to meet his, looking at him warmly.

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Cloud tilted his head to the side slightly at the mention of the guard tower. "The... Guard tower?" His eyes looked troubled for a brief second. Last time the tower was mentioned was a year ago when... it happened. Her warm smile eased his nerves, and he returned the smile. "A little over a year. I never expected to live here when I first showed up, yet here I am". A waiter pony then showed up, lookin to the two to take their orders.

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The brief moment where Cloud Chaser looked disturbed almost went unnoticed to Sage but she caught it and frowned a little. "Is there something wrong?" for a moment she thought that she might have crossed a line and maybe taken from somewhere which she should not. The presence of the waiter and his smile brought her out of her fear for a moment and she nodded. "What made you stay?"

 

"Ahem." the waiter pony, a unicorn, tapped their menus with his quill.

 

"Oh, um, yes!" Sage smiled and looked over the menu for a brief second, "I'll have the daffodil and daisy salad with a glass of apple juice, please."

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Cloud looked at the waiter and ordered an alfalfa sandwich with hayfries and a glass of water. When he left he looked back to Sage, "Oh, nothing is wrong... just a little... history with that place" he replied. "That's actually part of the reason I stayed. Im a volunteer now as one of the town guards... not very many of us around". He had an almost somber expression in his eyes. But he cheered up, "So tell me a bit about yourself, what brought you to ponyville?"

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The waiter nodded, scribbling on his little pad of paper before trotting off to inform the chefs that there was an order to be made. Meanwhile, Sage watched Cloud with a bit of a curious expression. "History? What kind of history?" she was suddenly very interested in the newly developed Ponyville. Her ideas of travelling to Canterlot were suddenly at the back of her mind. She smiled, though, when he asked about her. "Oh, well, I'm just a travelling sales pony. I love to travel and it gives me an opportunity to sell my herbs and perfumes. I actually live quite a while from here on a farm with my mother and aunt. We grow various kinds of plants and herbs to sell in markets! A lot of them are used for medicine."

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Cloud listened to her story with interest, "Medicinal herbs huh? Wow" he said. When she asked about the history he sighed. "Not a very good history, im afraid. Last year there was a murder of almost every guard here, we never found the one who did it, but the murders never happened again" he looked to Sage hoping he did not startle her, "But no need to worry, everything went back to normal, hardly anypony remembers it now"

Edited April 19, 2012 by Strong Hooves

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"Yupp! Medicine and aroma therapy. I might try perfumes some day but probably not quite yet. I'm much better with herbs than flowers." she trailed off a little bit, glancing behind Cloud as a random pony carted dirt and rocks. For a moment she thought she knew the pony but it turned out she didn't. She was going to mention her mistake when Cloud Chaser began to tell her about the tower, and boy was it interesting. "Oh my... m-murder? That's so horrible..." she frowned a bit with a sigh. "But I suppose you're right! No point in getting worried about it now!"

 

The waiter came by with their drinks, setting them on the table before mumbling that their food would be ready shortly before heading off to wait on another table full of ponies.

 

"So... what do you so as a guard, anyway? Or a volunteer guard, I should say." Sage grinned playfully.

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Cloud smiled as she took the story of the guard post rather well, he somewhat expected her to be rather scared by it. He noticed her eyeing another pony, and wondered what she was doing.

 

Cloud chuckled and replied "Well I just work on keeping the peace. I also go on border patrols to make sure bandits or unwanted creatures aren't near our little town."

 

After a moment he continued, "I used to be a pretty big adventurer before I came here. I always loved exploring the wilderness and seeing what I find."

 

The waiter returned with their food, Cloud began to eat, after he swallowed he asked "So how do you like it here so far?"

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The story had unsettled Sage just a little bit, but after looking around at the village and the ponies with happy looks on their faces, she felt safe. "Thankfully, I have never had an issue with bandits or thieves. They probably don't think plants are worth it!" she giggled, "Just as well, I have heard things about the forest around here. But at the same time, from what I've heard, if it wasn't for the forest and... er, zapapples? There would be no Ponyville."

 

The young, mint coloured mare smiled and listened to him tell her about his old life. "Seems exciting!" she exclaimed, "I do love travelling, but I also love having a home. It's kind of like... tying a rock to a balloon. It can fly higher, and higher, and higher, but you'll never lose it"

 

As the waiter returned with their food, Sage happily took a sip of her juice and ate some as well. "I really like Ponyville so far. Every pony has been so nice!"

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Cloud smiled, "Well you don't have to worry much about bandits much anymore, they haven't shown up much anymore. I just hope whatever was going on is finally over. Oh yeah, the apple family discovered zap apples out in the Everfree forest, the only apples I know of grown by magic. They sell the most delicious zap apple jam every year. Come to think of it, I think they might have a few more jars for sale. If you want we could head down there later so you can try some? Maybe I could give you the grand tour as well"

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"I didn't think so," Sage grinned and took another drink of her apple juice, savouring the sweet, chilled glass of refreshment. "Though I can't say anything that's happened before is going to happen again or not because... well, I'm not a prophet! But I bet he could tell you." the young mare pointed to a shabby looking stallion with unkempt hair and flies buzzing around his head. He wore a sandwich board that read, The End is Nigh and continually babbled about the end of the world. It made her giggle a bit. She wasn't making fun of him, but she did find the whole thing ridiculous! "Anyway, apples that grow by magic, huh? Hmmm... I think I might like to try that! And I wouldn't mind having a grand tour of Ponyville from the expert himself." Sage bit into her salad once more, finding the fresh ingredients and the house dressing to be simply divine.

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Cloud nodded at what Sage said, nopony really knows what will or won't happen. When she pointed out the hobo, he chuckled, he figured that pony wasnt quite prophecising more than he was just disturbing the peace. He took another bite of his sandwich and drank some water. when she had accepted his offer, he smiled. Once they finished their meals, Cloud got up and smiled, "Well then our first stop, Sweet Apple Acres!"

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After finishing her off her salad with a little less feminine grace than she would have liked (poor Sage had just been so hungry from working all day), she pushed her bowl aside and drank the rest of her juice. Waste not, after all! Giggling, she used her napkin to dab her mouth and stood from the table. "Sweet Apple Acres it is!"

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Cloud paid for the lunch and they both headed out. As they walked many ponies greeted Cloud, which be responded to warmly. Eventually a familiar colt could be seen running down the path at great speed, Cloud immediately recognized him and waved as he came close. "Now this colt is one that remembers the issues of last year quite well" he said to Sage.

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Sage thanked Cloud softly for paying for lunch, appearing to be a little shy about it. Tradition was, after all, tradition, but it still made her feel all silly inside. In a good way! She was honestly very surprised at how many ponies greeted the stallion she was with and she looked at him with much admiration. Though she looked to the colt in mention running down the path with a delivery saddle bag full of letters and a couple of packages. "Wow!" Sage blinked, "He's so fast... did something happen to him last year?"