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 Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 4:33 pm
 The park looked different in winter. Skeletal trees clawed at the grey winter sky, brown grass, and fewer visitors. Penny Dreadful had found the open common area very instructive. She was able to observe how long footprints stayed in the snow and how even though they'd all have hooves, phony all had very slight difference in their tracks. She'd stayed in the park sans winter gear to experience what it was like to get unbearably cold and other such adventures. Today however, she was bundled up, more scarf the phony, reading the article she'd just printed out: The Effect of Weather on Decay.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 4:48 pm
 Winter. It was strange. She remembered winter being much colder than it seemed now. When her little band had shown up, they hadn't very much to begin with. She wasn't sure they had much now. Perhaps, though, this winter felt different because of all the winter gear that had been thrust at her, uncertainly, to wear as she went outside. She felt a bit silly with the extra pieces of cloth, but it certainly helped to keep the cold at bay and that certainly was what her guardian had intended no doubt.
She trotted along only pausing for a moment here and there to marvel at the sleeping trees. They certainly were a sight to behold in the winter. They glistened and sparkled with layers of snow and ice. Briar decided that, while it wasn't green and lively, it was still beautiful. Her gazed trailed down toward the ground and settled down on a small, dark filly that had her nose firmly lodged behind a paper.
Curiously she tilted her head and watched for a moment before she cleared her throat daintily. "What are you reading?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 4:56 pm
At the sound of the gentle voice, Penny's soft brown eyes raised from her paper to the filly in front of her. "How the weather affects the way that dead things decay into the earth." she said pointedly, with a small nod. "Things like cold and heat and dampness, it's all important in the process." Her gaze traveled over her sudden companion. Oh! What's that? She closed her report and sat it on the bench, hopping to the ground and walking around the filly curiously. "This.." she pointed her little hoof at the saddle the carousel had. "I've never seen this on a phony before." Her tiny hooves tapped a little. "....can...can I touch it...?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 5:05 pm
Briar blinked rapidly as she attempted to process what the other little phony had said. How the weather affects the decay of dead things? What kind of thing was that for a filly to be reading. She frowned softly, mildly off put, but mentally shook it off. Everyone danced to a different drum, maybe she was the type of phony that enjoyed science. The small brown filly didn't want to judge.
Sharp chartreuse eyes followed the other filly around her side to her saddle. "What? My saddle?" Curiosity sparked in her eyes. This filly had never seen a carousel phony before? And here Briar thought that just about everyone knew about her and her band. She nodded her head. "Sure, I don't see why not."
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 5:18 pm
"Thank you." Penny hesitated for a moment, then gently prodded the saddle. She jumped back with a gasp. "It's a PART of you..how interesting! How neat!" Penny's bright eyes were lit with excitement. "This has to be one of the most interesting things I've seen in my three months of life." The flutter was gentle, but thorough, giving some parts gentle tugs, others gentle pushes. She wasn't interested in hurting Briar, just extremely curious to how the saddle was attached. After a few minutes of finding no seams or gaps, she simply asked: "Does it come off..?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 5:27 pm
Briar watched on mildly as Penny poked and prodded and tugged at her saddle. "Yep!" She nodded her head softly. It was indeed a part of her. The carousel filly stood, more or less, perfectly still and allowed herself to be pulled and prodded at. She had never dreamed to take off her saddle. It had never even crossed her mind as a possibility. She had been caught on things, things that she could have been easily freed from if only her saddle were to be removed, and yet it had never occurred to her.
She thought about it for a moment and shook her head softly. "Mm-mm. Nope. As far as I know my saddle and I are stuck together forever and always." That thought didn't bother her too much at all. She liked her saddle. It was one of her best features.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 5:54 pm
"That is remarkable." Penny's voice was in awe. "And it's so beautiful..." The filly gazed at the other for a long moment, thinking. Yes. She would ask. Penny stood up straight, ears front, wings flared just slightly, and she put on her best business voice. "I would like your permission, should you parish anytime in the near future, to take your body and explore how your saddle is attached to the rest of you and what the saddle is made of and any other differences I might discover because you're not like "normal" phony."
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 6:05 pm
How flattering! Pride welled up in Briar's chest and she kicked her back leg softly to readjust the ruffles on her saddle to lay in a way that was more comfortable to her. "Thank you." She all but giggled.
Startled by the sudden change in the other filly's demeanor, she flinched back slightly. "My per-permission to what?" Her nostrils flared and her eyes widened as the question began to sink into her mind slowly. What kind of an awful thing was that to ask? She had said she wasn't going to judge, after all, it could be for science--But there are just certain things that you simply don't ask! This was one of them! "No, you most certainly cannot." Briar was completely confounded. "I-I-Tha-That's just disturbing. And to be honest, simply not something you should be asking any phony." Briar stomped her little hooves in place repeatedly, as if it would drive the odd question from her mind.
((I swear this was Briar's face: Link))
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 6:13 pm
Penny blinked and tilted her head quizzically. What was the filly so upset for? She'd asked nicely hadn't she? "Oh." it dawned on her that maybe she'd gotten the wrong impression. "It's not that I wish for you to die soon or anything. It's more like, a cover all just in case. I certainly wish a beautiful filly such as you live a very long, happy life." she nodded. Yes, now that she understood she wasn't trying to be mean, she'd agree.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 6:32 pm
Her mouth opened and closed a good few times before she could actually form the words. She felt, for a brief moment, as if she were talking to one of her plants. Only this one could respond back and it said the strangest things in response. "That's... not the point...?" Briar took a deep breath. Perhaps it was just best to explain since it clearly wasn't something that the other phony was used to hearing. "It's a little bit, I dunno... creepy to ask somephony if you can... um... explore their body once they should perish." She felt a little bad about it and took another deep breath to calm her nerves. "It's not something that comes up in normal talks, I suppose."
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 6:44 pm
"Oh.." realization dawns on her and you could see the gears working in her head. "I'd heard that it was creepy before, but only from my brother, and he tends to be a little over dramatic. I thought he was teasing." Her nose scrunches and her little mouth twists up in a confused look. After a few moments of introspection; "I'm not..what most phony call normal to begin with.." she says it a little sheepishly. "I'm sorry if I came off..as I came off. I really don't wish anyone any ill will when I ask I just.." she looks a little down. "How will I know? How will anyone know? How will anyone know that anyone wants to know if you don't ask. But..I can kind of..understand why being asked would be...off putting." she said it slowly, trying to choose her words carefully. After a moment or two; "I'm sorry..." Penny realized she didn't even know the filly's name. She was asking for her future dead remains and she didn't even know her name. Truly she would have to re-evaluate how to go about these sorts of situations in the future. "And thank you for your honesty. I didn't realize.." she trailed off, embarrassed.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:03 pm
"It is a little bit strange, yes." Briar frowned softly, feeling a little worse about the whole situation than she did the moment before. She hadn't meant to upset the other filly, but it seemed to her that she had. It wasn't what she wanted to do, but she hadn't wanted to lie to the other phony either. "You do have a point though... unless you ask, you'll never know. But yes, it does tend to put someone off to ask about, um, using their remains."
She pondered for a moment longer on it. "It's alright. I'm sorry too!" The carousel phony took a few steps toward the little flutter "Sorry I was so coarse about it. I could have probably told you a little bit more... tactfully. It just, as you said, put me off a little."
"Let's start over." She extended her hoof, "I'm Briarthorn, and while you can't use my body when I die, I can certainly answer some of your questions while I'm alive. I'd be happy to, in fact. I'll even do my best to tell you if they're a little too out there for other phonies so you know which ones not to use in other conversations, if you want that is."
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:17 pm
Penny was taken aback. "Oh but.." she looked down at the extended hoof, a puzzled look still on her face. This..wasn't expected. Usually this type of question had two outcomes, a flippant dismissal or incessant teasing. After a long moment, she took Briar's hoof and shook it. "My name is Penny Dreadful, most phony call me Penny. And...I prefer the straight forwardness." She dropped her eyes from Briars shyly. "Thank you..I'm happy you will provide me with as much information as you can and to help..communicate with the normal phony on their levels." She'd decided then that one of her books would feature a brown hair filly with green eyes whose honesty and helpfulness would be invaluable to the story's lead, though she hadn't decided whether or not the Briar stand in would be alive at the end of the story. Best to let the muse guide her on that one. Turning the report over to the back, Penny produced a pen from her tiny saddle bag. "Alright then. Let's start with some simple questions. Do you have feeling in, on, under, and or around the saddle." ~END~
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