private Snowed In (1x1 With Raven Rawne)

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He nods. "Well we could always just keep her the way she looks but that would be a disadvantage, Of course this is theoretical at this point. And this hasn't been done before in the history of our hive. You do make a good point there." ​he says to Crystal Clear.
 

Edited February 18, 2017 by NightMare Star.

[Raven Rawne 1,374]

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The mare smiled as she took a hoof hammer and s tiny chisel.  "Just giving some hints from the perspective of an outsider,  and a female at that. By the way, feel free to ask about anything you might want to know about mares as potential queen candidates.  Might save you some trouble later on."

 

She chipped away a thin slice with one precise strike,  then took another sample. Crystal put one on a clean cloth and took a three small vials.  She put a drop on it from each, in some specified measures, then blended the slightly sizzling liquid with a spatula, then put the second chip on top of it. "And now we wait..."

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Aquarius nods. "Do you think Cadence would be willing to care for us? Like we could start a new underground hive or something like that... Celestia and Luna might work... so could Twilight.... but they all have important jobs... unfortunately, famous ponies would probably only care about money..." 

[Raven Rawne 1,374]

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Crystal Clear tore her eyes away from the miracle in front of her and gently shook her head as she looked as Aquarius. "I don't know them personally,  but I doubt they would be willing to become your Queen if that's what you ask. Maybe buy you a plot of land and help move, provide security, that kind of thing. You would be better off looking in the common folk. Fame means a pint is good at something,  or just known for something.  Ditching that fame on top of the already mentioned sacrifices is a lot to ask. I know it may not sound like good advice but a mare with right heart and no royal skills may be better for the job, simply because she will be with you with her whole heart, instead of hopping back to her old life or missing it dearly."

 

She picked the tiny chisel and tried to pry the two chips apart. "Hmm, so it's not total junk." Crystal took a magnifying glass and looked it over, then tried to break the seam apart.  Finally wrote something in her notebook when she broke the pieces apart. 

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"Makes sense... I don't want someone rich who would just only care about money though... Whats that Crystal you have there? Seems very interesting... what are you writing there? Some sort of Diary perhaps?" he asks, moving closer so he can look at what she is doing. 

[Raven Rawne 1,374]

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Crystal glanced at her companion as he inched closer to her. "I brought samples from the cave I found you." She took a needle like chisel from her kit and etched a number and a symbol on the sample crystals side, them gave it to him. "Those are naturally grown crystals. We usually use material from crystal farms,  with precisely known properties, so I need to test whether the ones I find are any good. This is a Mountain Stream. Just very poor quality.  See, it should be opaque when it's all veiny. It has impurities which hinder it's look and usability,  buy at least it should be good for filler material.  You saw how fast the chips fused together? So it can be used for the inside of a wall for example, to save the good crystal on the visible parts."

 

The mare fished out another, this time red. "Dragon Fire, one of my favourites.  Looks good too.  Let's see what it's worth."

 

She installed the crystal in the tiny pedestal and repeated the procedure. 

Edited February 18, 2017 by Raven Rawne

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Aquarius nods. "Interesting.... may I ask just why Crystal ponies are called Crystal ponies? You don't seem to be made out of Crystal for sure." he asks Crystal Clear. As he said the mare doesn't look like she is made out of Crystal, perhaps its their interest in Crystals.

[Raven Rawne 1,374]

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Crystal Clear giggled as she heard the question, and paused her work for a moment. "We're not made if crystal for sure. But we can look like that when we are very happy. So if I was suddenly overjoyed,  I would look like a top grade crystal - slightly opaque and reflecting light. Now the second reason is that we make pretty much everything out of various types of crystal.  As you can see by thus cabin, only textiles and my gramophone aren't made of it. The whole city is made entirely of crystal too. Third, there is the Crystal Heart - the centerpiece of our identity and key to our survival in the Frozen North."

 

The mare took a moment to take the sound test of the second crystal.

 

"So as you can see, crystals are crucially important to us, and thus we became known as Crystal Ponies."

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He nods. "Hmm.... Strange. What is this Crystal heart? What makes it protect the empire? Is it enchanted or something?" he asks curiously. The other things Crystal Clear said are strange but sort of make sense but this heart.... it sounds interesting, maybe there could be another thing like it that could feed changelings somehow?

[Raven Rawne 1,374]

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The mare paused her work. She smiled at the memory of the Heart and said with a tune in her voice. "The Crystal Heart,  Aquarius, is the most important thing in the life of every crystal pony. It was found in the Crystal Mountains by the ponies who fled from the North, followed by unbearable cold. It's magic forms a barrier that protects the city from eternal winter outside of it. Buy maybe more importantly, each and every crystal pony is  indeed to it, and it feels what we do. You can tell how happy we are as a race by just looking how fast it spins in the Plaza.  It brings us all together and,  yes, it us fuelled by our love and happiness in order to continue protecting our little safe haven. I've been away for just over two weeks and already miss it..."

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He nods. "Interesting... Maybe.... we could find something similar, for us, the Changelings. That could feed us so we wouldn't have to be starving all the time. So this heart, is that all it does? Do you know who made it?" Aquarius asks Crystal Clear, its a longshot but maybe they could find something. 

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 Crystal looked from over the magnifying glass. "The Crystal Heart itself feeds on our love and happiness, and uses this energy to keep us safe. It may hold tremendous amounts of love inside for all I know, but it won't produce it on it's own. So it's not a good was to keep a Hive fed. Besides, just one ws found, with no hint over who, or what, created it. I'm afraid it's a dead end. Hate to break it to you, but finding a Queen and some more peaceful way to obtain natural love sound like the best course of action."

 

She put dowh the magnifying glass and wrote in her notebook, then went back on topic. "Okay, so tell me one thng - do you guys feed only on romantic love? Between special someponies? Cause there are lots of kinds of love, like, parental love, for example. Maybe there is something you can offer the ponies to get in love over, and you could feed off said love? Sounds better than impersonalting ponies.to me..." 

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Aquarius nods. "Hmm... makes sense. As to your questions, we feed on All forms of love, doesn't matter, if its love we can eat it. We mostly try not to impersonate special some ponies. Mostly we watch for fillies in towns and stuff and then go to another town and impersonate a filly and we get love that way, but now that I think of it, thats the only way we have done it." 

Edited February 19, 2017 by NightMare Star.

[Raven Rawne 1,374]

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The mare rest her chin on a hoof. "I've no idea how you soaked love from strangers to a random filly, but I'm not a changeling, so maybe I just don't get it. Now I;m curious for one thing - does the pony you feed off even knows it? Or suffers any symptoms? Basically I'm asking if it's safe for the, um, victim."

 

She bit her lower lip, sice apparently she had some idea forming in her head.

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He thinks for a bit. "Well, the pony we feed off doesn't know it usually. Theres no symptoms as far as we know. " Aquarius says to Crystal clear, sounding like he knows that is a fact. The only symptoms would probably be that the changeling feeding gets love, but thats not what she is talking about.  

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The mare nodded slowly and resmed her work. It was time to take off chips of the crystal and fuse them. She expertly chipped off paper thin shards and proceeded to fuse them. She remained silent, nodding slightly to the music that was still playing. Either she was very concentrated or thought about something. Crystal Clear  lounged back in her sitting bushion as the crystal reacted with itself.

 

She took a few glances at Aquarius, still silent. now it was pretty obvious she pondered over something. With a slightly annoyed sigh, she got up and changed the record to something different. The cabin was suddenly rattled with very unrelaxing, symphonic music. Strings and brass accompanied by organ, slightly dark maybe, but having a powerful vibe. She smirked at the changeling. "I play this when I need to get my flank in gear and do stuff. Helps me work faster and get through late night chipping."She ran a hoof over the gramophone box. "Funny how I often say I'm in love with music." Crystal Clear walked back to her spot, nodding her head and having a spring in her step, to check the last phase of tests with this sample.

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Aquarius cringed when this music was turned on. "Can you, Uhh... Turn that off or turn it down? Its very.... unnerving. And I am thinking.... how did you get your cutie mark? You seem to be interested in music and crystals more than... whatever that flower is on your flank." Aquarius says, a bit louder because of the music.

[Raven Rawne 1,374]

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Crystal stopped mid step and pouted. "Okay... I'll turn it off..." She went back and raised the needle with a sigh. She then packed the record and turned back to him. "Better now?"

 

She walked back to the table and took a glance at the fused chips, then tried to pry them off, giving the changeling a stare. "It's a rose. And it tells like, half the story that was be back when I was six. The blue flower is made of crystal, because I got it for trying Crystal Mending - the trade I work in today. The branch and leaves are pytire because I love the stuff and my fitst crystal product was the stand for my lucky cube. It has thorns because, as I'm repeatedly told, I'm my harshest critic when it comes to the job. Can't rest my chisels until whatever leaves my workshop is perfect. And just to wrap it up, the rose looks prettier with leaves. So now you know."

 

The mare wrote more notes and chiselled out a number in the sample crystal, then fished out another.

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"Thank you. Yes, it is better. Now that is an interesting story there, it makes sense. Well as to me, I don't have a cutie mark, since I am a changeling. Not sure what mine would be if I one, though." he chuck;es and then looks at the crystals,  they look interesting, to say the least. 

[Raven Rawne 1,374]

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Crystal Clear bit her tongue as she was about to say something, and concentrated on the crystal sample in front of her. This Mountain Stream was from deeper inside the cave, and looked much more promising. Maybe they'll have some useful crystals after all, not just cheap filler material.

 

She seemed to ignore her guest.

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Aquarius gets a bit closer, looking at the Crystal Sample. "Interesting Crystal sample you have there. Did you find that in the cave you found me in?" he asks Crystal calmly. Pointing at the crystal with a holed hoof. Crystal Clear is an interesting character. 

[Raven Rawne 1,374]

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Crystal Clear gave him a cold sideways glance as he leaned closer, and peered at the crystal sample and the way it reflected the light of her glow-crystal. She tensed her jaws a bit at the question, but answered, matter of fact - "Yes, this one is from deeper in. The cave seems rather large and vwry rich in crystals. Even if they're poor quality..." She used the forked tool to make a sound and for once, it made a clear note. That made her smile a bit. "Although this one isn't complete junk like the previous ones, so at least there's something worth hauling back home in that hole. It's a Mountain Stream, same as the first one, but without as many nasty impurities and veins. Second grade material but still useful. Shame they were all rather small, the formula isn't exactly cheap." 

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Aquarius nods. "Interesting... I am implying that you like to make money off the Crystals? Hmm.. perhaps you could make alot with this." he pulls out one of the Crystals he had IN THE BAG, this one glows in a deep red color, almost pulsating as he touches the Crystal. 

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Crystal Clear cocked her head a bit as she glanced at her companion. "Well... it is my job, so I have to earn my bits somehow, but sometimes making things out of a pile of crystals, working hard to make it look perfct, is a reward in itself. And then you gotta let your inanimate offspring to a customer for a bag of coins. Sometimes I don't really want to sell what I make but, yeah, gotta earn my living."

 

She shook her head and took a serious tone. "Put it back in the bag. I have enough bits to go by and I highly doubt that this particular crystal wouldn't get destroyed by some overzealous alchemist, or a wizard, who tried to uncover it's secrets. Money isn't everything, you gotta have some respect for the crystals too, you know."

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He thinks for a bit and then decides to do what she has asked. His ears perk back as her tone got a bit more serious. He liked it when she was calmer and generally more comfortable to be around. He looks through his bag, apparently pulling out a crown of sorts that he didn't show Crystal before.