private A Sparkly Situation (1x1 with Catpone Cerberus)

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@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly looked on inside the tavern and saw the other dragon in there. It was really interesting to see all of these that she thought she would never see. "Huh, this is nothing short of fascinating. I've never quite seen anything like it in my world or even in my dreams. This is just...something I never expected to see." she stated upon looking at the dragon on the interior. "Very interesting place, it gets more and more interesting by the moment." she states as they passed by the tavern.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,430]

@Starforce
"And you haven't even seen any of the things we consider unusual, I'm curious to see how you'll react to those if we spot anything like that" 

Frail continued pointing out points of interest to Sparkly as they went, and soon enough the market came to view, it looked like one would expect a market to look like, with different types of booths and tables selling everything from food to various items, there was lot of  creatures around, and even few guards could be seen patrolling around, though their casual demeanor told of safe and uneventful place. 

Frail would let Sparkly look in peace if anything caught her attention, and answer any questions she may have, but she would eventually lead her to a specific part of the market, where two adjacent sellers were chatting between customers.

One was an earth pony, a mare, she was darker light blue than Frail and there was a hint of green in her color, her mane and tail were dark in color and they too had hint of blue and green in them. Her eyes were grey and she was wearing a metal necklace with red gem embedded in it. That was all that was currently visible of her, as the stall blocked most of the view. Her stall had various types of jewelry on sale, all of them unique in some way, the stall itself was decorated with night themed things. 

The other one was red, brown maned unicorn stallion,, he was wearing blacksmith's apron, and seemed to have scars resembling scratches of some kind of animal here and there around his body, the most notable one being on his face. He was selling metal tools, decorations made of metal, and some armor and weapons that were pretty clearly made decoration in mind rather than actual usability in combat in mind. Sitting on the back of the pony was a half-pony sized orange female dragon, this dragon was different from the one they had seen earlier, as unlike the one in the tavern, this one was quadruped in build rather than bipedal.

The stallion was the first one to notice Frail and Sparkly "Hi Frail, I was surprised when I didn't see you around, running low on inventory?" "A little, yes, but there has also been unexpected distraction, nothing to worry about." they exchanged friendly smiles and the mare spoke "I assume this is the one you mentioned?" she was looking at Sparkly, Frail nodded "Nice to meet you, I'm Lunar, the proper introductions have to wait a moment." she was friendly but her tone told of hurry, and the reason was clear as there was already new customers for her to deal with.

The stallion in other hoof didn't seem to have much to hurry about, while many looked at what he had, most continued their way, and few who stopped just bought what they wanted and there wasn't much chit chat.

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@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly followed along into the market and could see all the different types of creatures and ponies here. She wouldn't go up to any strangers though since she knew that wasn't her place. Sparkly had nothing against the ponies and creatures here but for someone so new here it was natural to feel a little intimidated at all the new sights here. She'd ask some things and get some answers about them but largely she stayed rather silent in thought.

Upon walking up to the mare and the stallion she would take a moment to look over their features. Colorful and creative. The mare was most interesting however with the red gem on her necklace. "W-well um, its nice to meet you Lunar." she spoke in a hurried manner as to not waste Lunar's time and Sparkly was blushing just as red as the necklace. She was quite nervous as evidenced in her tone. She looked to the stallion. "I um, I suppose you are one of Frail Spark's friends too?" she looks to the dragon on his back with interest. It was really cute, and interesting but she didn't go near it not without his permission. 

Edited August 11, 2021 by Starforce

[Catpone Cerberus 23,430]

@Starforce
Neither of the ponies seemed to pay attention to Sparkly's nervousness, and why would they, not only were they used to many types of reactions from ponies, they could tell she was new around here, and Lunar specifically knew bit of the situation due to meeting Frail earlier. "In business sense yes, we usually end up close to each other at markets, so we are almost like colleagues" "While our merchandise are quite the opposites, there are some commonalities on how we make them, so we sometimes share improvements we may have figured out." 

While the ponies didn't pay much mind to Sparkly's blushing, the dragon did, she also noticed Sparkly looking at her "Pony turning red is looking towards Iba."

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@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly was surprised at the dragon that talked. "W-woah, dragons can talk? Thats really fascinating. Is your name Iba?" she moved a little closer to the dragon but didn't want to upset the dragon and turns to the others. "Ah I see, I see you um, have a dragon here. I didn't know dragons would like to be with ponies like this." she kept looking at the dragon, thinking that this dragon was pretty cute but she didn't want to touch it without anyone's permission.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,430]

@Starforce
The dragon nodded confirming her name, the stallion spoke "All currently known dragon species talk." "And you're not the first one to be surprised by her, it hasn't been long since dragons and ponies did not get along, and the tension is still sometimes noticeable between individuals." "Iba is a special case, as she has been with me most of her memory, so she has grown up among ponies, I don't know how her species specifically feels about ponies though, as I'm yet to see another one of her kind." "Before pony say anything, know that I maybe small, but I no baby." the way Iba said it, and the fact it was unprompted, implied that she had many times been thought as a baby dragon by ponies.

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@Catpone Cerberus

"I see. Well I hope she is doing well amongst you ponies." she stated with a wide grin. "So many interesting cases here for sure, I can tell. I didn't expect dragons to be amongst ponies. If that is the case, than who else can be amongst ponies?" Sparkly asked and stood closer to the dragon and understood her point. Hesitantly she would reach out a hoof in a slow attempt to pet her, but so that if Iba didn't want to be pet she could tell Sparkly.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,430]

@Starforce
The stallion rose an eyebrow at the 'you ponies' but after a glance at Frail he seemed to push it aside, Frail answered to the question "There's Changelings, griffons, Hippogriffs, minotaurs, yaks, Kirin, horses, Zebras....among many other creatures, I can't even remember them all." "Honestly, at this point, any creature you can imagine probably exists and will end up in Equestria eventually."

Iba would let Sparkly pet her, but it wouldn't be like Sparkly may have expected, Iba didn't react to being petted in any meaningful way, and due to her hard scales, it would feel like petting a slightly warm rock rather than any usual animal.

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@Catpone Cerberus

"So many creatures there. A lot of them exist where I am from to some capacity, though not likely in the form as you know here. Although Griffons are mythical ones, and I've never heard of anything like Hippogriffs. I won't really speak of what I truly am, at least...in a public place like this." she stated as she gives Iba a gentle pat. Iba wasn't soft, but Sparkly still liked petting her. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,430]

@Starforce
The stallion again raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, he had learned to keep his snout out of others' business, less he knew, less potential trouble he would get. He didn't want to get involved in things because he was under enough observance due to weapons being the main thing he sold, there wasn't any laws against it or anything, but for obvious reasons the guards wanted to know if somepony suspicious came around.

"I'll get you a book about creatures at some point, it's better to buy one rather than go get one from library since they are quickly outdated." 

Iba stayed put for a while before just turning away and leaving, climbing in a cart that was behind the stallion's stall and laying down "Seems she's getting tired, I guess it wouldn't be a bad time to start packing up." "Agreed" Lunar joined in, the customers seemed to have finally slowed down a bit, and the merchandise had clearly decreased in amount, all the best stuff had been sold.  "It has been a busy day." then something red lit up on her forehead, it caused her mane to move away revealing what looked like a piece of jewelry embedded in/on her head, she used it to levitate things to the cart like unicorns used their horns. As she removed stuff from the stall, her sides also became in view better, allowing one to see the different looking pieces of jewelry embedded there. The stallion, Frail, or any other pony around didn't seem to pay any mind to this. Her cutiemark was a picture of the necklace that was hanging on her neck. 

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@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly looks to Lunar, seeing the red glow on her forehead. She didn't know what it was and looked at it curiously. So far she only thought that unicorns were capable of magic. "Seems to be by now most of the activity here is clearing out. Its interesting how fast that all happens, you know." she moved a bit closer as her eyes looked about seeing how the shelves had diminished a bit. "A book would be great. I like reading, I'd like to read up on this world more." Sparkly stated as she turns to Frail Spark, her eyes blinked calmly there. "By the way Lunar, if you don't mind me asking, what was that red glow on your forehead? It seems that unicorns only have that, but you aren't a unicorn. Could you explain that to me?" Sparkly asks her curiously. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,430]

@Starforce

"Short answer, it's an artificial horn." Lunar said as she continued packing her stuff to her cart "Long answer, it's a one of a kind artifact that in combination with few other artifacts allow me to simulate unicorn magic." "I also have a pair that simulates pegasus magic and thus gives me flight." "They were lot bigger and lot less convenient when I first got my hoofs on them, but after checking with the princesses that I can keep them, I made few changes and attached them to myself." she explained casually, this clearly wasn't the first time she had been asked about it.

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@Catpone Cerberus

"That is really cool." she smiled and walked closer to Lunar and shifted her cape a bit so Lunar could see her alicorn wings. "As you can uh, see I am an alicorn, yes. So I am capable of both of those things naturally but I have no knowledge of how to do any of it so I would really appreciate any help you can offer me." Sparkly stated with an innocent smile. She really wanted to get to know Lunar and her friends better and to learn from them much more, too. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,430]

@Starforce
The stallion had at this point removed himself from the conversation, putting the last of his stuff into his cart and leaving, so it could be only guessed how much he saw or heard.

While slight surprise was seen in Lunar's eyes, she wasn't nearly as surprised as one would think "Yes, Frail filled me in for the situation earlier." she finished packing up and attached herself to her cart "The main thing I'll be able to help with is to make it so you don't need to hide under cloth until more permanent solution is found." Frail would lead the way back towards her house "I can also help you to get hang of the basics of flying, but only the basics, as that's all I can do, if you want to learn tricks or something else more complicated, you'll need a pegasus, Jade would probably work." "I've sent Sunlight a letter to ask about few spells, I don't know how I didn't realize to ask if Jade would be open for few flying lessons." "I met them in Manehattan few days ago, they said they'll be coming this way soon, apparently they found something they'll need to bring to Celestia." "Again? I hope Sunlight didn't get sick this time." 
 

 

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@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly follows them out of the market, looking into Lunar's eyes as they talk. "Ah yes, wearing a cape all the time for me isn't a problem but finding another solution would definitely be great to see. If there can be artifacts that allow you to fly, there should be artifacts that allow me to make my wings invisible, for example." she said, suggesting the possibility of that to Lunar. "As for flying I look forward to it, although where I come from I was never able to fly on my own so it will be an interesting learning experience...provided that I don't crash my face into the ground of course." she joked, but it was a very real possibility. "Look forward to learning those spells from Sunlight too." she smiles thankfully.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,430]

@Starforce
Lunar didn't notice Sparkly's gaze, as she was looking forward and thus their eyes didn't meet, "You may have no problem with the cape, but it is bit counterproductive, since instead of sticking out due to how you look, you stick out because you're the only one wearing such covering clothing." "And while yes, there exists such artifacts, it isn't as simple as to simply make them disappear, as then there would be a spot with visible bone and such." considering that it was her expertise, Lunar was sometimes bit too literal with these things "Besides, I was thinking something more throughout, it would be waste to make such a small change, and while dyeing yourself is a well enough solution for a while. it will get awkward if you end up in too much rain, or want to swim or something." "And what comes to flying, crashing is part of the experience, I don't know a single pegasus who doesn't crash now and then." Frail added, she said it in joking manner, but it was also kinda true, pegasi were quite durable. 

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@Catpone Cerberus

"Yeah, that is true. I haven't seen any ponies around here wearing capes or cloaks." Sparkly put a hoof to her chin in pondering of that statement for a bit. "What are you thinking of for a more thorough change? What could be more than just making them be invisible wings?" she would ask as she walked forward along with them, thinking about the possibility. At this point she didn't really have any clue what could be, although anything was possible at least in her mind. "Yeah perhaps we could find a more permanent and water resistant dye or something, if you even have something like that around here, that is." she looked to Frail Spark. "If I crash, would you be able to catch me?" she asks with a gentle smirk.
 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,430]

@Starforce
"Making the wings disappear doesn't change the fact that you look like certain somepony, and even the best quality dye doesn't last forever." Lunar pointed out "There exists magic for permanent physical changes, but due to the countless ways it can go wrong, you won't be able to use it anytime soon, even princess Twilight, the element of magic herself, would take quite a while to master it." while it wasn't really her expertise, she had general idea of all kind of spells that exist due to her experience with enchantments. "What I mean by more throughout is full body change, granted it will be only an illusion, a good one, but still an illusion, but most would be fooled, and those who wouldn't, won't be fooled by bit of coloring either." 

Frail shook her head "You're about the same size and weight as me, you would just either take me with you or crush me depending on what direction you'd come from." "Magic is also out of the question as I lack the skill and knowledge to take a magical hold of full grown ponies." 

  

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@Catpone Cerberus

"So you are talking about something that can project a certain false image over my actual body or something to that effect? That would be interesting, sort of like a holographic emitter then? I've seen something like that in fiction and in my world we have basic things for it, although here I imagine its a more magical thing rather than a technological device. So, I'd like to see more of this concept." she stated with calm curiosity. "If you can do something for that than I'd like to do something for you eventually, or help you create it if I can." she suggested as she turned to Frail Spark. "Fair point, but that was a bit of a joke." she spoke with a nervous grin.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,430]

@Starforce
"I don't know what a holographic emitter is, but basically there's two kinds of illusions, those that change something to seem like other thing, and those that make others think something looks like a other thing without doing anything to the thing itself." showing just how much longer route Frail had taken earlier, they were already arriving to Frail's neighborhood "What I am thinking, will be a combination of sorts, on the visual side it will be the first one, but because that illusion wouldn't be good enough if someone got close enough to touch you for example, bit of the second type of illusion will be needed." "And Frail will be covering the cost of material and work, so if you feel like you owe something, make it up to Frail, not me." Lunar's tone was friendly, but it wasn't hard to tell that when she spoke about artifacts and such, she was in her customer service 'mode'

Frail just shrugged, she fully admitted she had missed the joke, but in her defense, it was something she could see Sparkly seriously asking. 

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@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly pondered for a bit. Why were all the ones she met about customer service? It was a little off putting to her, not that she would say that ot them but that made her ponder about something. Was she truly in another reality, or a dream? Still, that question still reigned in her mind. These ponies seemed a little...automated to her and she felt questioning of it. They would notice she stammered a bit and looked away from them for a longer period of time. "That all sounds like a good plan, yes." she sighed and met their eyes for a moment. "I will ask this of you only once. Are you both illusions? You both act in the same manner. Are you sent here by the powers that be to guide and watch over me? Something feels really off." she seemed nervous.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,430]

@Starforce
Lunar seemed quite surprised by the question, while Frail didn't seem that shocked, mostly because Sparkly had already expressed similar thoughts before "Not as far as we know, we are similar because we are very like minded, that's why we have become such good friends." Frail calmly responded "Sorry if my way of talking was unnerving to you, we are talking about what I do for work, so I spoke to you like I would to a customer, which you are, even if through a friend." for this Lunar dropped her customer-voice, her normal way of speaking was bit quicker, and in comparison to Frail, slightly less...fancy, telling of the effect that spending most of one's time with nobles had on Frail, even if she despised their ways. Lunar was also bit less focused than Frail, not holding eye-contact as much and such, and she seemed to avoid looking towards the sun much, trying to position herself in a way her face stayed in shadow.

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@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly definitely appreciated how the customer service tone was dropped. "I see, and as for my questioning I have to ask myself that all the time. I still don't know why or how I ended up in this world. It all feels like its some sort of test of my moral character, or some sort of experiment. I would hope that neither of you are in on such things. Of course you'd deny it, but the thoughts still linger. Is this world created for me specifically? Since I arrived here, and hadn't been here previously, it all could be an elaborate hoax to play with my mind or serve some other higher purpose." she mused and then sighed. "Maybe I am overthinking it, but I'd very much hope that's not the case since I genuinely want to fit in here." 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,430]

@Starforce
"I'm sorry if this sounds mean, but do you believe you'd be worth that?" Lunar asked "It's a genuine question, are you really so special that someone or something would want to create a whole fake world just to fool you?" "Sure there's ways to trap someone into endless illusion or dream, but that is limited by what the victim already knows, you can't imagine something you don't know." it may have been bit harsh, but due to not feeling a responsibility to Sparkly like Frail did, Lunar found it easier to be direct with her, and since there wasn't really way for them to prove otherwise, the only way to deal with the thought was to make Sparkly realize things herself.
 

 

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@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly ponders that, she didn't seem offended by the question itself. "You drive a good point there however you are also limited in what you know. Your world doesn't have the technology that mine does, nor does it have strange anomalies such as alien encounters or abductions. I apologize if this scares you, but in my world there are beings that travel in highly advanced ways of transportation that can take someone away in the night. Usually they are returned, some of the stories they tell when they are returned are horrible, some never return. But none of the stories I have heard about that lines up with what I am seeing here. So that is also unlikely..." she seemed to shake a bit in nervousness.