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 Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:36 pm
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:39 pm
 "Hey, hey! Anybody want a plushie?!"
A rather eccentric looking pony wanders between the courtyard and the plushie stand, her horn glowing with pink magic that never seems to turn off. She tilts her head this way and that, and--somehow--with each movement it seems a piece of fabric or bit of thread comes flying from her mane.
"All it will cost you is a precious item!" she calls out, her voice strong and confident.
"I can make one for any pony!"
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:01 pm
 Across the pastures, news travels fast. With gossipy ponies, combined with very little else going on at the moment, news of the latest arrivals and who might be courting who and strange stands popping up out of nowhere seems to spread like wildfire!
Peophynnia told Dolci, who told Junior, who told Gin, who told Isabel, who (finally) told Ephelides about said strange stand.. the one that just magically appeared at the edge of Kolum's courtyard. And while, typically, Ephelides was not one to go wandering off alone.. with her mate Pierrot off on another adventure for the time being, she got curious. After all, Peophynnia had apparently mentioned how gosh darn cute the wares were inside this stand...
It didn't take long for her to spot the stand -- and its shouting proprietor -- once she walked around the outer edge of the gardens. The stand was small, but quite intriguing with fabric and thread tossed this way and that all across the grass in front, and hand written signs hanging around it to lure in customers. And lure in, they did.
Ephelides approached slowly, cautiously, but was friendly enough once she got close enough to speak to the rather frazzled looking merchant. "He-hello? I, um." Ah, her ever-present shyness decided to kick in, just then! "What's, um. .... ...what'sallthisabout?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:11 pm
HER FIRST CUSTOMER!!
"OHMYGOSH!" Bright Sprite's eyes grow at least twice their normal size when the pink pony who almost looks like royalty walks up.
Oh, who is she kidding, that pony is clearly some sort of princess. Maybe. Could be a queen. BUT WHAT IF IT'S AN IMPOSTOR?!
Bright Sprite stares rather silently as she stares the pony down... She's never seen it before... But then again she's new in this area and... Well... She doesn't really know any ponies.
OH GOSH. IT'S JUST STARING AT HER.
"HI! I'm Bright Sprite! You can call me Spritzee though!!" she takes two steps towards the other pony and moves in a slow half-circle around it, looking it up and down.
"Are you a princess?" She is careful to not voice her concerns about it being an impostor.
"Do you need something made?!" Maybe it's impersonating a princess for free things!?
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:23 pm
Royalty? Oh, heavens no! ...well.. maybe, a little bit, in her home pasture. Pierrot's family, in all of its branches, were quite a big deal there!
Ephelides seemed a bit perplexed at the unicorn's reaction. Not for her exuberance, because there were ponies at home that were just as.. excitable. But for the prolonged stare, the wide eyes, and the very obvious gears turning inside the stitched up pony's head. After being around Pierrot for so long, a pony that didn't speak, Ephelides had gotten quite good at reading body language and this particular pony was... well. Intense, to put it lightly.
"Hi, Spritzee?" she replied, her voice quiet but friendly enough. "It's nice to, um, to meet you. I'm Ephelides." She said her own name slowly, just to help Bright Sprite understand. Was a mouthful, to be sure! "And, um.." Her freckled expression softened then, into a very small smile. "No, I'm not a princess. I suppose I look like one, don't I?"
Tipping her crowned head to one side, Ephelides peeked around the black unicorn to peer inside the stall. "You've made these? You're.. you're very talented." Pausing for a brief moment to let her own gears whir, both of her own eyes blinked a bit wider in realization and her smiling inched a fraction bigger, warmer.
"I.. I would actually, yes. Do you make them based on, um.. other ponies?" she asked, nodding slightly towards the few easily recognizable plushies inside the stand. "They look so nice.. and I have a new friend that I th-think would really like one?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:37 pm
Bright Sprite's eyes manage to somehow get even wider and brighter when Ephelides admits to not being royalty.
SO SHE'S NOT AN IMPOSTOR!
"Yes, yes! You look like... You have a crown and... Gold... and you... WELL. ANYWAY! Nice to meet you Ephelala!" her horn seems to glow a brighter pink and the magic swells enough to make her hair sway... Of course some scraps of fabric fly out...
"I made all of these!" she trots over towards her stand, whipping her tail so as to motion her guest after her. "I can deeeefinitely make one of you!" she grins, magic flowing from her horn towards Ephelides and fluffing the pink pony's hair and tail-ribbon. "It'd be soooooo cute!"
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:47 pm
Ephelala, huh? Perhaps there were some ponies that would scoff and bristle at their names so obviously being butchered.. but Ephelides, instead, let her smiling brighten across the end of her muzzle. Of course it would be easy enough to correct Spritzee - and now would be the time, before it got awkward later! - but Ephelides figured she hadn't gotten a nickname yet. What a perfect time to adopt one!
Stepping, carefully, behind the black unicorn, Ephelides' front hooves excitedly pranced up and down in front of her once she came to a stop. To be perfectly honest, she hadn't reeeally come to purchase anything.. she certainly didn't have any usual payment on her.. but investigating the stand had proved more interesting than she'd initially thought! So why not?!
"Oh, of me? I--" ..that hadn't been what had popped into her head, but. Nodding in agreement, Ephelides figured it made much more sense than what she was going to ask for! "Cute. Cute would be good. Berry.. ..Berry Blossom, I.. I think she gets quite lonely in her home pasture?" That would certainly account for how, ahem, attached she'd gotten, so quickly!
"Maybe a little plushie-me--" Cutting herself off again, Ephelides burst into a trill of short giggles at the tickly, tingly feel of Spritzee's magic darting through her mane. "That tickles! But, but maybe a little plushie-me could keep her company when I'm not around? Do you think?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:54 pm
Ephelides' giggles cause Bright Sprite's magic to, once again, glow a brilliant pink, her own laughter joining in.
"Of coooooourse!" She bounces about behind the stand for a moment, and carefully picks up some pink and cream coloured fabrics, floating them in front of the other pony's face.
"These would be just PERFECT for you, Ephelala!" her voice seems to be getting louder as her sentences go on, and she is clearly far more excited than she was to begin with... Somehow...
"BuuUUuuUUUUUuuut" she abruptly tosses the fabrics back behind the counter and bounces some more, "If you wanted one of a different pony that's okay, too!"
BERRY BLOSSOM... BERRY BLOSSOM...... ISN'T THAT THAT CRAZY PONY BACK AT THE PASTURE.......
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 4:06 pm
The first idea that had popped into Ephelides' head was inspired by one of the stalls' banners -- plushies for precious items. Since Pierrot was so precious to her, sharing a plush toy of him with her new friend had seemed like the obvious choice. Surely Berry Blossom would appreciate the sentiment, that Ephelides was willing to share such a dear part of her life?
...but the mention of a plush of herself, once she thought about it, was an even better idea! She wouldn't just be sharing a part of her life, but herself with her new friend! That had to be the best gift, right?
Plus, even though she wouldn't admit it, Ephelides was quite curious to see what a plushified version of herself would look like, so!
"Nono, no I think one of me would be perfect." Well, she hoped it would be! If Spritzee's other toys were any indication, a plushie in her own likeness would be so cute it would drive Berry Blossom bonkers! In the best way ever!
Ephelides was almost beaming in excitement, giggling again at the flying fabrics and unicorn magic. But she abruptly stopped once she realized.. everything of value was back, at home. Which didn't help her much, here, inside the stall!
"To pay.. to pay you.." she started, her laughing slowly trailing off. "What can I offer you? I didn't bring anything with--" Then, with her eyes blinking in a flutter of lashes, Ephelides bent down in front, and raised one of her hooves to carefully, tenderly, gently nudge the crown out of the mop of curls atop her head. When the golden crown hit the floor, she pressed it with the very tip of her hoof over towards Spritzee. "This has been a part of me for as long as I have memory. Even, even my children have crowns, like me. But may-maybe you'd like to be princess for a change? In exchange for one of your plushes?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 4:20 pm
A sound not unlike a rodent squealing escapes Bright Sprite when Ephelides offers her crown...
OHMYGOSH A REAL LIFE CROWN
"That would be SO perfect for my collection of precious items!!!!"
Her magic engulfs the piece and lifts it into the air, her mouth hanging open just the tiniest bit as she stares at it.
MY FIRST THING!!
Gingerly, she floats the crown to an empty shelf on her stand and nods rapidly... A couple of buttons fling themselves from her hair and one manages to bop Ephelides right between the eyes. Unfortunately, Bright Sprite doesn't notice, as she's now too busy yanking fabrics and thread from behind the stand.
"I can have it done in noooOOOooOooo time at all!" she bounces around excitedly while threading gold thread through a needle. "And it'll be just daaaaaarling!"
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 4:29 pm
 Other than, perhaps, offering up her lifemate in trade.. or one of her babies (because she did, after all, have one called exactly Precious!), Ephelides couldn't quite think of anything more precious to her than her crown. And with how obviously happy it had made Bright Sprite.. she'd even swear there was a little bit of drool dribbling out of the unicorn's mouth.. she knew she'd made the right choice to trade it. Her crown was a small price to pay, anyway, for how happy it would make her new friend!
"Oh, wonderful! Berry Blossom is going to love it, I bet--oop!" Boink. Pinged on the forehead with a button, Ephelides nearly went cross-eyed as she watched it fly through the air towards her.. without moving out of the way. "Careful," she warned, in a tone that sounded a bit too motherly. "Or maybe.. maybe I should give you some, um, space."
She cast a little glance towards her crown, sitting there on the shelf, deciding inwardly that her head felt much less heavy without it, and she took a few small shimmies backwards to give the unicorn room to work.
"I can't wait to see it!" she called out over the fray of flying fabrics and buttons and needles(!?) and thread. "Do you always, um, work so fast..?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 4:40 pm
"YES, OF COURSE I DO!" Bright Sprite giggles, her head bouncing side-to-side as she works.
She shimmies around with the fabric, almost dancing with it. The only time she looks up to check where Ephelides is is when she unspools some gold ribbon and magically lifts up some scissors to cut a length off...
WOULDN'T WANT TO POKE THE PRETTY PONY....!!
"Allllmoooooooooost.....!!!!"
She ties the ribbon around the tail and a flurry of feathers fly towards the plush's head to be rapidly sewn on and...
...A tiny little crown is delicately placed atop the pile of feathers.
"AaaaaaAAaaAaaannnd! IT'S ALL FINISHED!"
She floats the plushie towards Ephelides, making it dance along the way
"What do you think?!"
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 4:49 pm
It was Ephelala's turn to make a very non-equine noise! The squeaky squeal that erupted out of her at the sight of a little plushie version of herself dancing through the air was part giggle, part 'aaawwww~!!' and part screech -- and all of it was in pure delight!
"Oh my goodness!" There was laughter laced through her voice when she spoke and her smiling, though it hadn't really faded, broke further into a wide, genuine grin. "Am I really that cute?" Without waiting for an answer, she bobbed her head in a quick series of nods. "I love it! I know Berry Blossom will love it, too."
While the toy still hovered, mid-air, Ephelides walked forward again to close the gap between herself and the black unicorn. Tentatively, she pressed the very end of her muzzle, for just a second, to the tip of Bright Sprite's own. "Thank you," she said, sweetly, as she leaned back. "Just wait. My home pasture is.. is so full of ponies. Y-you are going to have so much business once I tell everyone!"
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 4:58 pm
In all the excitement, Bright Sprite just... Squeals along with Ephelides! And why not?! It is very exciting!
"Yes, yes so cute, Ephelala! Cuter than the doll even!" she nods her head in time with Ephelides, and this time just a bit of thread floats to the ground.
"I just LOVE making them! S-so...." she trails off and giggles at the muzzle-touch, her magic quite suddenly engulfing Ephelides in a tingly-hug that lifts her for the briefest of moments just an inch or so off the ground.
"BUSINESS IS THE BEST! THANK YOU THANK YOU!"
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:09 pm
Why weren't the unicorns she already knew this magical?! All Erebus ever did was make a tiny twinkle at the end of his horn.. sometimes, Balthazar totally forgot he even had a unicorn horn much less know how to use it.. but Spritzee was full of such warm, tingly magic that all Ephelides could do was just giggle. Gleefully, happily giggle as she was wrapped in a bright pink glow!
"May-maybe I'll be back sometime! Just to visit!" And not at all to commission another plushie, certainly not. "I'm really excited to give this, this one.. to my friend, now."
Stepping back again, Ephelides bent her head and snagged one of the plushie's legs -- gingerly, mind -- between her teeth, pulling it out of the air. With it clasped in her mouth, still she managed a bright smile around the toy's leg, and then turned to take off in a flurry of pink and ribbons.. heading off in the direction away from her home pasture, towards Halcyon Fields to make her delivery!
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