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Post by Wilgrove on Dec 12, 2014 4:58:14 GMT
In Winter Haven’s town market, a gray unicorn stood in front of the lumber mill’s kiosk. She carefully browsed the selection of blocks and boards that came in all shape, size and material. She gently floated one piece of block over to her with her magic and closely inspected it with her green eyes. Her pierced left ear flickered back and forth as she lifted the block to her right ear before softly tapping the block with her hoof.
The kiosk owner sigh and rolled his eyes as the mare put the block back and lifted up another block with her magic. A slight breeze played through her black mane with a blue streak. Chiselle shuttered as she pulled her flannel shirt over her neck which caused the shirt to slightly reveal her cutie mark of a chisel and hammer.
The pony picked up a block of mahogany wood and carefully ran her hoof over the grain, her eyes twinkled as a smirk appeared on her face. She quickly reclaimed her netural composure and placed the block in front of the merchant. “I would like to purchase this block of mahogany.”
“That’d be 100 bits.”
Chiselle raised her left eyebrow, “100, really? I mean I’ll admit that it’s a nice block, but it’s not 100 bits nice. I can already tell by the grain that it’s going to require a more than normal finishing work on my part. I’ll give you...50 bits.”
The merchant let out a low grunt, “75 bits and not one gold bit lower.”
The mare pursed her lips, “Do you have any block from the same tree?”
“Right here, we have several blocks from the same tree.”
“Tell you what, I’ll give you….120 bits for two blocks.”
The merchant face lit up with a smile, “You got yourself a deal miss.”
Chiselle floated a small leather pouch from her shirt pocket and laid out 120 bits. After the merchant was happy with the transaction, she lifted up the blocks with a gray aura and trotted away happily.
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Post by ameriganastan on Dec 12, 2014 5:48:19 GMT
"When I catch you, you little perv, even the princesses won't be able to save you!"
Down the street, a bespectacled stallion ran from a very angry mare, who was brandishing a rolling pin above her head with magic.
"I refuse to apologize for giving your husband the best 4 hours and 21 minutes of his day! That's right! 4 hours and 21 minutes! And he still wanted one more go before you came home!"
The rolling pin flew past his head, shattering some unlucky ponies window.
"You aren't the first angry wife I've had to run from! And none of them have caught me yet!"
He bolted down a nearby alley, his pursuer in hot pursuit.
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Post by Quandarm on Dec 12, 2014 8:41:20 GMT
Well of course it was cold. This high in the mountains it was always a bit nippy, and given that they were headlong into winter, the fires in every fireplace in town weren't for show.
Flux, as was usual, was in the back of his small shop attempting to get a kettle to boil for some tea. The burnt orange unicorn stepped to the small cabinet he kept in his shop area for snacks. He kept it stocked with teas, coffees, and the fixings thereof so that he wouldn't have to go upstairs to his apartment when he wanted a cup, and leave the counter unattended.
His timing was perfect in that as he turned back from the cabinet, the kettle began to whistle. A yellow aura formed around his horn at the same time it surrounded the kettle and lifted it off the stove. A few moments later, and a warm cup of tea floated beside him as he walked to the showroom window and looked outside.
"Cold as anything out there," he said with a shiver. "I'm not looking forward to today's rounds."
Unfortunately for him the rounds could not be avoided, and as soon as his cup of tea was finished, he donned his bags, collected his parcels, and steeled himself for the walk to town hall.
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Post by Ximea on Dec 12, 2014 23:47:38 GMT
The religious center at Hieraconpawlis was built late in the Third Diamond Dog Dynasty, at a time when their civilization experienced rapid cultural influx from the increasingly economically dominant Minotaur civilization. Due in large part to this cross-cultural influence, the site was built almost entirely above ground. For this reason, it is one of the most thoroughly researched examples of Diamond Dog religious architecture and urban planning - and for this reason, it is also one of the least informative sites with regard to Diamond Dog culture as a whole. The aforementioned issue of Minotaur cultural cross-contamination notwithstanding...
Clay's quill scratched across the parchment with precision and rapidity, though he had been writing for hours and could no longer feel his face. He was huddled in a little, rented cabin on the edge of town. It was so small that it was essentially one room, excepting the bathroom, but it was cheap and it was quiet and it was the perfect place to finish his book on the decline and fall of the Diamond Dog Empire. Given the size of the room, it was easy to keep warm and to keep lit - at the moment, he was writing by the light of the wood stove alone, the windows being shuttered against the winter wind. That fact is why the flickering and guttering of the stove's flame was noticeable enough to make him stop writing.
With an irritated grunt, Clay pushed himself away from the rough-hewn wood table and spat the quill into an ink well. He crossed the room and threw another log into the stove, noticing as he did so that the wood pile was down to three logs. Clay sighed. Another distraction, then. He glanced at the half-finished manuscript on the table and realized that he had somewhat lost his train of thought. Beside the table was one of the cabin's few windows, and he could see the weak, gray light of early morning seeping in between the shutters. I may as well take care of this now, then.
Thus resolved, Clay set a paperweight atop his manuscript - a primitive onyx carving of some unknown creature, probably older than Discord. After securing his work, he pulled on his heavy wool coat and grabbed his battered hat from the rack by the door. He closed his eyes against what he knew was coming. "Here goes nothing," he said, opening the door to the fury of winter.
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Post by lessernaboo on Dec 13, 2014 6:07:57 GMT
Coin Counter sighed as she wandered in her own store. It was reasonably well-organized, and customers, particularly locals, could find things without difficulty. Her fireplace was burning, and she had some clothes on, but one could never quite get rid of the all-pervading chill of winter here in Winter Haven.
Her sigh was not actually due to the weather, though. She had traveled to quite a few different places while trying to acquire a cutie mark. Coin loved Haven, it was her home town after all, and she was happy in her life here. Still, she could not help but feel a little bored. Nothing really ever happened in this remote small town. Everypony's preparing for the snowstorm. Just another routine snowstorm, like the dozen others we have every winter.
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Post by Atomosea on Dec 13, 2014 7:14:51 GMT
Dr. Digitalis opened his bedroom window and shivered, still unaccustomed to the local chill. Somewhere in the distance a mare cried out in fury; no doubt provoked by one of the locals, the writer, what was his name? He stuck his head out for a moment to monitor the sky and the thermometer. There was supposed to be more snow blowing in sometime that evening, as he understood it, assuming he'd read the hopelessly confusing weather schedule correctly, but the day seemed to be getting colder and windier more quickly than it should have considering how early it still was. Still, meteorology wasn't his field, so he shut the window and resolved to head back downstairs and leave the weather to the experts, worried though he was for his travel plans.
The doctor already had a small trunk that he felt would suffice for his journey, assuming he could get to Tall Tale before the trains stopped for the storm, already stuffed with old photo albums, yearbooks, various reading materials, and a smaller case containing an assortment of supplies in the event of a medical emergency. Now his real concern was the window. In the winter, especially now that the storms were on their way and the ecstatic glow of Hearth's Warming was beginning to fade, he liked to clear the advertisements, candy, and displays from the front window and brighten up the street with his showglobe and a few well-placed mirrors. The problem was that he had a new recipe to try and not enough ingredients to make it.
"Luna's Breath... Red Joak... Sunflower seeds... Northern Moonflower Root... Cuprite, cuprite, who's got my cuprite?" he muttered, looking into the jar one last time and once again finding nothing more than traces of brownish-red powder. He pulled a thick black overcoat on over his lab coat and retrieved the old hand-me-down hat his father had given him. He could only hope that there was still an appropriate stall or shop open down at the market.
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Post by Quandarm on Dec 13, 2014 15:56:26 GMT
There weren't many ponies on the street, though with everything being frozen it was no surprise. Most of the shops were still open though, so business as usual attempted to be business as usual. His favorite coffee shop was open and he resolved to get himself to it come Tartarus of high water, but first he had more pressing matters.
He'd always enjoyed going to Coin Counters shop. It was organized well enough that you could find everything, but still tousled enough that it felt like a small town store. The warm glow from it's windows was still as inviting as it had been during the Heartwarming shopping season. Coin would take the decorations down in the next two weeks, but they looked so good, Flux wished they could just stay up.
He shivered as he pushed through the front door. He'd forgotten how cold it was out there, but the warmth of the shop soon reminded him.
"Coin, " he called, pulling off his scarf. "I bring you your returns!"
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Post by lessernaboo on Dec 13, 2014 16:14:30 GMT
Coin had already started heading to the door when she heard Flux's call. She had a little bell on the door that rang whenever it opened, and she always came quickly to see how she could be of service.
So not a customer. Oh well. Flux is good enough.
She trotted over to him. "Thank you Mr. Flux. Children always seem to need to rough-handle things before they decide they don't want them." She looked slightly unhappily at the toys. As a shopkeeper, she was never particularly thrilled about ponies returning things. She took them, and paid Flux his bits. "How is your day going?" She looked at the frost on the windows. She noted, "There are some benefits to a job that requires you to stay inside all day."
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Post by Wilgrove on Dec 13, 2014 19:47:28 GMT
Chiselle's next stop was at the town's general store. She needed to stock up on supplies for the coming winter storm that Cloudsdale had schedule for the mountain region. A storm may be coming, but that doesn't mean I can't ride it out in style. she thought to herself as she walked through the store. There were two ponies already there, a tall and lankly unicorn and a smaller gray Pegasus. With a will of her magic, Chiselle pulled a small scroll out from her saddlebag as well as grabbing a shopping basket from right inside the door.
The mare started slowly walking through the isles, picking items like water, milk, bread. Bread was most important as it was the number one item that ponies would buy for a storm like this. Thankfully she was able to get one of the first loaf. As she walked through the isle, she can hear the soft murmur of the two ponies talking. "Hmm, does this store have red wine, and what goes well with red wine?" Chiselle pondered to herself as her eyes carefully looked over the various shelves.
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Post by Quandarm on Dec 13, 2014 21:32:49 GMT
Coin had already started heading to the door when she heard Flux's call. She had a little bell on the door that rang whenever it opened, and she always came quickly to see how she could be of service. So not a customer. Oh well. Flux is good enough.She trotted over to him. "Thank you Mr. Flux. Children always seem to need to rough-handle things before they decide they don't want them." She looked slightly unhappily at the toys. As a shopkeeper, she was never particularly thrilled about ponies returning things. She took them, and paid Flux his bits. "How is your day going?" She looked at the frost on the windows. She noted, "There are some benefits to a job that requires you to stay inside all day." . "You aren't kidding," he laughed. "My neice always seems to find something of mine to play roughly with whenever she visits." He examined a display of leftover Heartswarming cookies. "As long as there are young ones in this world, I'll never be out of work." He cast a look out the front window. The wind howled as tall trees shook and the needles in the pines whistled. "And you aren't kidding about the weather either. Looks like a rough one coming in." |
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Post by lessernaboo on Dec 13, 2014 22:19:06 GMT
Coin had already started heading to the door when she heard Flux's call. She had a little bell on the door that rang whenever it opened, and she always came quickly to see how she could be of service. So not a customer. Oh well. Flux is good enough.She trotted over to him. "Thank you Mr. Flux. Children always seem to need to rough-handle things before they decide they don't want them." She looked slightly unhappily at the toys. As a shopkeeper, she was never particularly thrilled about ponies returning things. She took them, and paid Flux his bits. "How is your day going?" She looked at the frost on the windows. She noted, "There are some benefits to a job that requires you to stay inside all day." . "You aren't kidding," he laughed. "My neice always seems to find something of mine to play roughly with whenever she visits." He examined a display of leftover Heartswarming cookies. "As long as there are young ones in this world, I'll never be out of work." He cast a look out the front window. The wind howled as tall trees shook and the needles in the pines whistled. "And you aren't kidding about the weather either. Looks like a rough one coming in." Coin listened to the wind. "Indeed. But nothing we cannot handle. This is Winter Haven, after all. We've dealt with storms. Are you prepared for the storm? I though I might top off my firewood supply beforehand." Chiselle's next stop was at the town's general store. She needed to stock up on supplies for the coming winter storm that Cloudsdale had schedule for the mountain region. A storm may be coming, but that doesn't mean I can't ride it out in style. she thought to herself as she walked through the store. There were two ponies already there, a tall and lankly unicorn and a smaller gray Pegasus. With a will of her magic, Chiselle pulled a small scroll out from her saddlebag as well as grabbing a shopping basket from right inside the door. The mare started slowly walking through the isles, picking items like water, milk, bread. Bread was most important as it was the number one item that ponies would buy for a storm like this. Thankfully she was able to get one of the first loaf. As she walked through the isle, she can hear the soft murmur of the two ponies talking. "Hmm, does this store have red wine, and what goes well with red wine?" Chiselle pondered to herself as her eyes carefully looked over the various shelves. Coin had noticed someone else come in, but had not gotten a good look at him or her. "Are you finding everything alright?" She called out. |
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Post by Atomosea on Dec 13, 2014 22:36:45 GMT
Chiselle's next stop was at the town's general store. She needed to stock up on supplies for the coming winter storm that Cloudsdale had schedule for the mountain region. A storm may be coming, but that doesn't mean I can't ride it out in style. she thought to herself as she walked through the store. There were two ponies already there, a tall and lankly unicorn and a smaller gray Pegasus. With a will of her magic, Chiselle pulled a small scroll out from her saddlebag as well as grabbing a shopping basket from right inside the door. The mare started slowly walking through the isles, picking items like water, milk, bread. Bread was most important as it was the number one item that ponies would buy for a storm like this. Thankfully she was able to get one of the first loaf. As she walked through the isle, she can hear the soft murmur of the two ponies talking. "Hmm, does this store have red wine, and what goes well with red wine?" Chiselle pondered to herself as her eyes carefully looked over the various shelves. "If I may, ma'am," Digitalis interrupted, approaching from behind, "Find some hay that's still green, if you can, and roast it. My mother used to add daisy heads." He sorted through his saddlebag, retrieving a pocket watch. "It's getting cold awfully quickly, isn't it? I hope the trains don't close early." |
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Post by Quandarm on Dec 14, 2014 1:06:33 GMT
"If I may, ma'am," Digitalis interrupted, approaching from behind, "Find some hay that's still green, if you can, and roast it. My mother used to add daisy heads." He sorted through his saddlebag, retrieving a pocket watch. "It's getting cold awfully quickly, isn't it? I hope the trains don't close early." "You're not planning on traveling today are you?" Flux crossed to the window. "With the wind like it is right now, I'm not sure that's a very good idea." He turned and shivered. "I don't know what that wacky weather pony of ours has planned, but its looking like a beast of a cold snap." |
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Post by Wilgrove on Dec 14, 2014 2:44:17 GMT
Coin had noticed someone else come in, but had not gotten a good look at him or her. "Are you finding everything alright?" She called out. "Yea, I'm doing okay," she called out to the female voice. Must be the shop-owner, she thought to herself. "If I may, ma'am," Digitalis interrupted, approaching from behind, "Find some hay that's still green, if you can, and roast it. My mother used to add daisy heads." He sorted through his saddlebag, retrieving a pocket watch. "It's getting cold awfully quickly, isn't it? I hope the trains don't close early." Chiselle looked back to see a gray unicorn with striking black hair and piercing blue eyes. A soft smile showed on her face, "Hey, thanks. I'll try that. Why are you concerned about the trains? Going somewhere?" |
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Post by Ximea on Dec 14, 2014 3:15:50 GMT
Clay pushed on through freezing wind; it felt like razors across his face. What was the weather team thinking? he wondered to himself. Beneath him the dirt road became a paved street, and around him the trees fell away, and he saw through squinted eyes the edge of the town proper. On one side, log homes shuttered up tight against the weather; on the other, shops, half of them also closed.
A few minutes more brought him to the general store. To one side of the door was a sign that advertised firewood. Beneath the sign was a conspicuous absence of firewood. Sold out... Branch thought. Can't say I'm surprised.. At least he could get out of the storm for a few moments.
Clay pushed through the doors and shook the snow from his head. He spotted the shopkeeper. "Miss? Excuse me..." he walked closer. "Sorry, but it seems like you're out of firewood. The weather being as it is, I don't think you can blame me for asking if you know who else might have some."
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