[Sponsored] Where the Party is Forever

[brianblackberry]

Sunrise Beach stood there in shock as she continued to smile for no more than a few second but what felt like an eternity to her. When Soarin’ turned and spoke to her, she swore she could see stars and flowers floating in the background behind large, sleek, handsome body. Better still he complimented her!! Sunrise blushed, still grinning as she sat on her haunches and nervously played with the end of her mane with her forehooves, “you, uh, you really like it? Eeeeeeee…. Like, thankyousomuch! I like, umm, just did it in a ponytail, that’s all, but like, I’m really glad you like it!!” Best. Day. Ever! If he liked her mane, it must certainly mean he thought she was cute!! Of course she didn’t want to just sit there like a bumbling foal, he asked her question!! “Oh uhh, like the faire; umm well, you know, it’s uhh crystally…” Oh c’mon Sunrise, you can do better than that! Crystally isn’t even a word!! “Er, I mean crystal like, er line? Yeah, that’s it, crystalline! Totally righteous too! So many awesome things to do!”

Sunrise was barely getting through the conversation, but she was doing it. All she had to do now was try the whole line about the ‘love blossoms’ and see if it would actually work. Unfortunately her awkward feelings were turned up to eleven as the others around Soarin’ moved the spotlight right onto the turquoise unicorn as they chimed in with their own thoughts on the conversation between her and her dream stallion. She didn’t know what to say in response to either Sugar Star or Dusty other than to simply mutter, “he’s cute…” while nervously rubbing the back of her mane with her forehoof. How could she try that line her friend Purple Haze came up with now with everypony in the group paying attention to her?

She needed a plan B, was there a plan B? Why didn’t they come up with a plan B before she came up to Soarin’ just in case things went awry? Sunrise was so caught up in her own thoughts she hadn’t even noticed that some sort of unnatural cold front had come across the faire, figuring she was shivering from nervousness and a loss of what to do. Not wanting the situation of her looking like a dumbfounded, star struck filly with nothing to say to continue, she just blurted out, “l-love blossoms!! Look!! They’relike hanging over yer head an’ junk! Supposed to kiss a pony under them for good luck, yes?!”

[RarityDash]

The clouds that had been advancing towards the Empire seemingly stopped just outside of the heart of the city, leaving half of the city in sunlight and the rest in shadow. The edge of the advancing cloudfront roiled in a light brown that covered everything inside, as if the sun was caught within and not allowing the rays to escape to the world beyond. It was a sight equal parts beautiful and puzzling. After all, this was the type of vision one might see at the start of the day but not one you expected to see up close and in such a huge and rolling series of concentrated clouds. It looked anything but natural and everyting that the weather teams would try to avoid making. A few looked up and wondered what they were and still others just marveled at the beauty, but nopony really looked into what it meant. Not that at this stage it would have mattered much. The decisions had already been made and the die cast.

Bright flashes from within like lightning and a booming sound that many misheard as thunder, even as weather pegasi looked at each other in alarm. A pause. Another flash, another boom. Then another. Then two. And then a barrage of sound and lights from within, finally grabbing the attention of those below. Each light struck now with a different hue but hedging towards a series of dark oranges and flashes of incomprehensible blue and white. The sound of booms, cracks, splintering of great wood, and retorts most couldn't place. Some could and guards and other knowledgeable ponies alike started to run about, adding to the confusion on the ground and in the sky. The lights and sounds continued to increase in pace and fury for a few more seconds until it was unending.

And then silence. For a few seconds there was blissful silence, long enough that a few ponies started to look down and wonder just what had been that light and sound show above. It was then that the true nature of the event started to reveal itself. Falling out of the cloudform was a large airship...from the Royal Equestrian Navy. The REN Marelia fell out of the sky in fire, giant pieces of wood falling faster and faster and cracking against buildings down below until the airship itself impacted in the lower city. It was followed by another. The REN Stalliongrad had been broken in half, the bow and stern falling separately. Down below ponies screamed and scrambled.

Then, oars pushed through the edge of the cloud. First the oars and then, broaching the edge of the clouds which started to vanish, the bow...of three viking caribou longships! With tapestries woven from the finest Whitescar materials and multi-colored clan symbol drawn shields on their sides, the longships flew gracefully and powerfully across the sky. A mighty horn blew and then two more joined in, a deep boom that rocketed out across the city and into the hearts and minds of anypony unlucky enough to hear.

The viking caribou were on the attack!

---

It never stormed in the Crystal Spire. The Crystal Heart's magic radiated outward, keeping the entire city ever bright and pleasant. The fields were always green and fecund. Everything was always just as it should be thanks to the magic of love with which the heart resonated.

And yet, a storm had come all the same. A young crystal filly had noticed its approach and rightfully identified it as a sign of a coming evil, but in the excitement and good cheer of the fairetime, few others had paid the billowing clouds and the distant crash of thunder any mind. Now the storm was there, and there was little the ponies and others assembled in the main thoroughfare of the faireground could do but wade it out.

Tourmaline Glass, the said filly, could only stand awestruck and agape as a pack of winged creatures, over-sized hawks, each with a figure atop its back, flew down from the clouds and each let out an ear-splitting, shrill squawk as they descended just a short distance from her.

There were seven of the hawks, five of which had upon their backs sturdy viking caribou warriors--muscular bucks, bearded, gruff and haggard, with fierce and sharpened horns, brandishing swords and hammers as they swept down and leapt from off their mounts before pressing toward the ponies in the crowd with clear violence on their mind.

These five were followed in turn by a single unicorn stallion with a muted purple coat, draped in a long dark gray robe with a shaggy black mane and long, unruly beard. He was called Cyprianus Rune, though there were rumors that he had another name before her took that one. It was said that in the Maretonian city of Kastrot, from which he had originally hailed, he had been someone respected until resentment and desire drove him to crimes so wicked and so many that they could neither be agreed upon nor even spoken of in polite conversation. Hounded across many seas and continents by those who would see him slain or imprisoned for his deeds, he eventually wound up in the Southern Wilds of Whitescar, where he would stay for several years.

Wicked by nature and surrounded by greater wickedness still, Cyprianus had been consumed by pure evil in the Wilds. Pitch black curse magic now resonated within him, and violence and insanity could be seen reflected in his shaky black eyes. He had pledged himself a servant of the ancient tyrant Sombra and had used his wicked powers to aid in calling him back from the oblivion. Now, for no reason save his own wickedness and spite, he came with his chosen sovereign and his viking allies, intent to see the ancient once lost empire, which filled all lands with hope, fall and submit once more to darkness.

As the wicked sorcerer flew himself downward on his own winged mount and then levitated off of it just as the remaining rider descended and then quickly dismounted as well. This was another caribou—or at least it appeared to be--a little smaller than the other five, but clad entirely in heavy, murky gray armor with dangerously spiked shoulders and a thick visor attached to the horned helmet, obscuring all of the deer's face, even down to the eyes. This caribou carried a massive great sword, bigger than what was carried by any of the others and lurched forward with an unnatural gait.

“The time has come, my vikings, my berserker, my pets! For the king, we lay siege to this wretched city!” Cyprianus cackled as he and the others approached the no doubt horror-struck crowd, the great hawks circling ominously overhead. “Glory to Sombra!”

These words left Tourmaline Glass shattered. She continued to stand there, not so much afraid as she was overwhelmed by uncertain emotions. What was going to happen now? Was the darkness here to settle in for good this time?

​

OOC- The attack continues in a brand new thread located here. If you wish to participate in the attack, please follow there. If you do not wish to participate in the Caribou and Sombra invasion, please ignore this post and continue posting here! Any other questions? Please ask them in the Crystal Faire Announcement thread!

[Gerrard]

(OOC From here on, the thread will progress as if it were merely a bad thunderstorm, follow the directions of Rarity if you want to get into a more aggressive RP!)

Aquaria was unusually hard to get down. It would take a cascade of failures on a particular bad day to even weigh down on her spirit for more than a few fleeting moments! This was no exception as she gave Haymaker another warm hug with her talons as she buried the filly into her immense chest feathers. The amazingly soft feathers gently cradled the young pony and were amazingly warm. It was clear that if Aquaria wandered into the icy wastes, her plumage would definitely keep her warm for many an hour. After a few seconds of holding the youngster in her grip, the lifeguard freed her and patted Haywire on the head with a talon. "Nothing you did could ever let me down. Lets find Barrel," she warmly remarked, the bubbly hybrid clearly telling the truth as she spoke glowingly to her helper. The cuteness was somewhat counteracted by the mispronunciation of her name, the easily distracted hybrid already forgetting the name of the lost mother!

Before she could get back to work, a new pony approached, and a full grown one at that! She cheerfully listened to the introduction of her new potential friend before being offered a hoof. From her years of experience, a casual hoof shake outside of business put you on the fast track to friendship. The striped 'tigress' gasped excitedly at the offer and sat on her haunches, slightly shrinking her slightly above average form as she graciously shook the hoof with both of her strong black talons. At the mention of never meeting a griffon, Aquaria giggled and nodded in an understanding way. Her dark chest feathers and striped stomach were lightly on display as she gathered her clearly goofy thoughts, the lifeguard making sure to differentiate herself from a pony, if only for a few moments. "I know right? Griffons are super rare. I think we are an endangered species or something. I've only ever met five. I'm winning the griffon sightseeing contest," she explained proudly while showing that many digits to the pony, the odd hybrid practically speaking as if she were a pony, her odd phrasing showing that she was probably raised in pony lands.

Aquaria then listened to the remark about colt friends and the rest of her words, her accent seeming to get deeper the longer she spoke. The lifeguard was tickled pink about the remark with her having a male friend, but her eyes glazed over slightly as her accent thickened, her imagination filling in all the words she could understand with every silly thought that entered her head. She shook the cobwebs out of her head, able to disguise her lapse in concentration. "Derecho is my special somepony? Wow, he never told me. What a great guy," she cooed playfully like an excited fan girl who was mistakenly misinformed about the intentions of a close friend. "I am proud of him, he saves ponies too. And it isn't even his job. Haywire is nice, just keep an eye on her, she means well enough. If you want to know about griffons though, you could ask my parents, they are from some place called Aquaria or something. It sounds like my name! Maybe Derecho knows something too, my parents are in Baltimare right now, so that might not be helpful. I just know the basics like, fish, beaks and talons," she explained with a giggle, admitting that she basically knew nothing at all about her own species! As unlikely as it might have seemed, Aquaria wasn't too worried about learning the deep history of her proud people, the playful hybrid clearly anything but normal!

At the mention of storms by Derecho, Aquaria realized that the weather was starting to get bad very fast. Fast like a super dangerous tsunami wave or something, the elements threatening to gobble them up if they didn't get to shelter fast! A thunder crack shook the sky and a few moments later, a deluge of water started to pour down. At the sound of the thunder, Aquaria poofed up defensively, her chest feathers expanding as she prepared for the incoming rain. Out of instinct, she spread her left wing and tightly squeezed Tripps and Haywire under it as she shared her warm feathers with them. She quickly snatched up Purple Haze with her right wing as well, the hybrid willing to protect all of her friends, all of them except the other griffon who had his own feathers to protect him. "There was a big shelter at the petting zoo unless you know of a nearby house," she suggested to the group, doing her best mother duck impression as she steered her little flock to safety! It wasn't the best shelter, but it would work until they had something more reliable to use.

[SteelEagle]

Soarin' had been having a ball of a time with the fillies and providing a sense of joy for the day. Without the need for a great amount of physical exertion he was able to relax and have fun with the ponies around him. While the crystal filly was certainly a hassle due to her personality if that was the worst thing she experienced then all in all it was a wonderful day, wasn't it? But no, life would never allow the stallion to rest. The storm broke overhead after a series of violent cracks and thunder that were getting him more and more worried as the seconds passed. He wasn't a weather pony but the way they were acting was in a mix of alarm and...oddness. The Thunderstorm was breaking above, ruining his time with the fillies and colts.

“Let's go inside, okay? I'll have to hear more about these love blossoms inside...” Soarin' teased the adorable filly before beckoning to the Goggles Expert, “and I still got some more stories to tell you! Come on, we'll shelter at...” his eyes poked around, “ahh! An ice cream shop! Treat's on me,” Soarin' said as he wandered over to the shop's door and opened it up as the storm started to break terribly overhead. Rain and thunder and lightning with great fury, the weather pegasi doing the worst possible job. Oh well. At least it meant ice cream and general fun times. There were far more terrible outcomes. Imagine if it had instead been a prelude to a large attack? Hah! That would have been a hoot.

[Elderflower]

Flugelhorns, petting zoos, crystal berries, fancy crystal crafts: what a marvel! Ryx, the massive and lumbering black gryphon whose feathers and fur flashed gold in the remaining sunlight, was a very happy scholar. For one who made a living off of observing, meeting, laughing with, and taking anthropological notes on ponies, this festival was an absolute delight to attend. Ryx was thrilled to absolute bits watching on as a living part of the world’s history celebrated exuberantly all around her. She absorbed every detail that she observed, filing it away so that she might write furiously on it all later. Sometimes she would write in the moment, but it seemed a waste to experience this stunning historical metropolis by peering over a notepad. No, her papers and pens were safely tucked away in the packs she carried on her back and that’s exactly where they would stay for now. To understand and write on any culture, one must experience it – so she simply had to throw herself in!

And that’s exactly what she was enjoying doing until the rain hit. Drat! What a nasty storm, and ponies who were already afraid of the huge predator were much less keen on speaking with her while the heavens poured down on them. None of the ponies seemed to want to stay out in the rain. Ryx let out a little sigh and decided to make her way back to her hotel, since following ponies inside usually frightened them so much it sort of hurt her soft, gryphon feelings. So she began to make her way back. Along the way, however, the black gryphon happened upon a bizarre scene indeed. There were two gryphons (a rare enough sight in pony territory), one with her wings held aloft like makeshift umbrellas for young ponies. And that gryphon, the stripey one, was wearing a…petting zoo vest? Oh my!

“Ho there!” Ryx called out in her chocolaty tenor, “Are you all seeking shelter? Might I join? It’s rare to see other gryphons outside of Aquellia! And I just passed a bakery with adorable little cakes and sweets in the window. It looked to be spacious inside, and had a high ceiling…”

The last bit she said a little awkwardly. Ryx was, after all, quite a large birdcat. It was often difficult for her to find indoor spaces in Equestria where she could fit comfortably. She just hoped her size wasn’t too intimidating, though it did bode well that the ponies here were already acquainted with gryphons. Well-acquainted enough to be using one as an umbrella! But a huge, hulking gryph covered in golden piercings and adornments such as Ryx? Well, hopefully they didn’t find her too scary.

It was very difficult to maintain’s one smile when dealing with a personality as acidic as Swirly’s. Sugar Star did her best not to frown and folded her wings, fishing for the right words to use.

“Everypony expresses their happiness differently, no matter if they stay calm or get excited,” she said almost cautiously, hoping not to sound too foolish herself. Yeesh, trying to impart wisdom on a filly you’re convinced is much smarter than you is no easy feat! “That kind of happiness is good – as a crystal pony, you should see the value in the happiness and the connection being built between two ponies, shouldn’t you?”

If it wouldn’t totally betray her deepest, darkest secret of her love for sparkling romance and dokidoki drama, Sugar Star would be inclined to loan some of her comic collection to Swirly. Those stories taught the soldier, after all, that the strength of love conquers all. It makes magic real and trumps evil every time! And there are always rose petals and cherry blossoms blowing around in the wind. Yes, yes, the filly definitely needed some flowery breezes and the love of a mysterious transfer student (who is secretly the rogue love interest of the magical heroine!) to soften her more venomous thoughts.

Oh but she was getting distracted by her thoughts again!

“The Wonderbolts do more than perform. They’re very accomplished weather ponies as well as athletes, and even if they weren’t…a dream is a powerful thing. Seeing the stunts another pegasus is capable of inspires a lot of ponies across Equestria. It shows them the kind of lives they can work towards, the kind of inspiration they can bring others someday. It’s good to have a hero, whether said hero it a pony in armour or a flight suit!”

She was done lecturing for now, though. The winged mare offered a slightly apologetic smile to the filly whose attention was pulled skyward as the weather began to turn foul.

Soarin’ seemed to have just the solution for the heavy skies, though: ice cream! And free, too! Sugar Star found herself warming more to Soarin’ with each passing moment, especially since ice cream was pretty high up on her list of favourite things. Particularly any flavour involving strawberries, although they were in the Crystal Empire. Perhaps there would be a crystal berry flavour! Her very first taste of crystal berries in ice cream? Everything about this situation thrilled the silly soldier mare, who noticed that the crystalline filly seemed on edge once more.

“Thank you for the offer, Soarin’! And how about you, S- Tourmaline? Will you join us?”

[Gerrard]

Aquaria was leading her herd of ponies to drier grounds as she felt the cool rainwater slowly wash over her form. There was something about the rain she just loved. While she spent most of her days swimming in the ocean, the literal freshness of rainwater allowed another range of movement. She could enjoy the water anywhere and not be salty afterwards! Before she could enjoy the feeling of cool rainwater rolling off her wide wings, the young adult heard a voice call out to her from behind. At the sight of the huge griffoness, Aquaria gaspsed loudly as she looked up at her larger counterpart. "Six," she called out vaguely, sitting on her haunches as she presented six of the dark digits to Ryx for reasons unknown! The striped tigress quickly remembered it was raining after taking a seat in a shallow puddle, a smirk sneaking onto her beak as she climbed back up to her feet.

"You're griffon number six that I have met! Pretty soon I will hit double digit griffon friends," she declared cutely, the lifeguard already counting her new acquaintance as a friend. She was either confident of foolhardy in her approach to friendship since she considered everyone to be her friends, seemingly no matter what! She listened to the larger catbird's voice, seemingly enthralled by her, for a lack of a better thought, 'bigness'. This was the fluffiest thing she had ever seen, and she was quite the fluffy griffoness herself. Lucky for Ryx, Aquaria was only momentarily distracted and actually heard the bulk of her words. "Oh ya, we were going to the petting zoo, a bakery sounds even better. Lead the way miss uhh, Miss Miss! My name is Aquaria," she explained with a giggle as she invented a completely absurd temp name for her new friend.

With a bit of splashing through the wet streets of the crystal empire, the group quickly found themselves at the bakery in question. Numerous fruit flavored cakes littered the display, their frosty appearances attempting to hypnotized Aquaria into submission. The 'strong willed' hybrid gave into their trance, only to break free when she realized that they lacked her favorite dish, Pike Pie. This was a travesty and insult of the greatest proportions and she protested it by walking in and eying another possible meal. While of course this type of protest was completely pointless and self defeating, the mere thought of protesting something tickled her pink. The jovial diver was too much of a good samaritan to purposefully cause any type of civil unrest or disobedience. The closest thing she got to crime was the occasional pirate reenactment where she would make her friends walk the plank or bury them up to their heads in sand, all of course with their 'expressed' permissions of course!

She freed her now occupied wards into the warm custody of the bakery as she took a second look at Ryx in the light of the store. The lifeguard knew not to shake herself dry inside from a lifetime of scoldings and pulled a small towel from her petting zoo vest as she dried herself off. Her feathers held true against the elements, the lifeguard just having to touch up her wet flank a bit to get try before her attention reverted back to Ryx. She was some sort of superhero to be sure, her immense size reminding her of some comic book hero she remembered reading a few years back while in high school. "You know Vinyl? Are you one of her super hero friends. Is your super hero power bigness! I'm really impressed," she cutely remarked while poking her guest's chest feathers with a well worn black talon. While it was unclear how size in and of itself was even possibly considered a super power, it was enough to convince Aquaria, the highly imaginative petting zoo attraction letting her wild imagination help dictate the state of her reality.

[PedestrianWolf]

Derecho's beak turned up in a huge grin when he saw another griffon approaching them. Her size did not intimidate him at all. Many females in his family were larger than the males. His grandmother was built like a brick house, broad shouldered with the strength of a bear. "Da, da, come join us!" he answered jovially. "A bakery, you say? How can I refuse?" He patted his furry belly. A pastry did sound delicious right about now. He listened to Aquaria babble happily about meeting yet another griffon as they splashed their way to the bakery.

Once inside, he tried to stay in the doorway to avoid getting puddles on the shop floor. He eyed the display cases, wondering if they had any meat pies. Most likely not, this was a shop for ponies, not predators. He waved to get the shopkeeper's attention, and asked politely, "Greetings! Do you have any honey cake? Or perhaps baked apple tart?" Having placed his order, he turned his attention back to the large black griffoness. "So, my lovely, what brings you to crystal empire?"

As it started to rain, Marzipan found herself being herded along with Purple Haze and a few others by the tiger striped griffon. She huddled close to her friend, and searched for Sunrise Beach. It looked like the turquoise unicorn was heading into an ice cream shop with Soarin' and the golden REA pegasus. Well, good for her! But that meant she couldn't casually evesdrop on their conversation anymore. The griffons, now there were three of them, had decided to go to a bakery nearby for shelter. Well, that was fine with her! Purple didn't object either. The earth pony seemed infatuated with the bird/cat hybrids and eager to spend more time with them.

The group entered the shop and Marzipan inhaled deeply. Aside from the wet fur smell, there was the delicious scent of home. She was instantly taken back to her family's sweet shop in Roam. The display cases full of little treats, the warmth eminating from the ovens in the back. She sighed blissfully and sat down at a little table by the window. Just across the square, she could see the ice cream shop the others had gone into. She and Purple could keep an eye on Sunrise after all. Sort of. If Purple hadn't been so distracted by griffons, anyway.

[brianblackberry]

The most awkward of awkward moments may have been prevented by the timely intervention of thunder and lightening. Sunrise didn't know if this was just some wild storm that wandered in from the wild lands beyond Equestria or was a mix up with the weather ponies that was known to happen from time to time. Whatever the case may be, it saved the turquoise filly from what no doubt would have been her most embarrassing moment with the stallion of her dreams, Soarin'.

The light blue Wonderbolt's suggestion to the group they head in for ice cream felt a little foalish to the turquoise filly, but on the other hoof it was free ice cream; what pony in their right mind would refuse free ice cream? Beside this was an opportunity to sit with her idol and for them to get to know one another more closely! More intimately, like grown ups!

There only remained one question, the made-up, or so Sunrise believed made up, 'Love Blossoms' for the name of the crystalline flowers in the banner over Soarin's head when he was outside and the kissing legend that went along with them. Problem was, they were still no longer outside and the bigger problem is she wasn't entirely sure what the story was other than the quick primer Purple Haze gave her. She would have to improvise! What to say? What to say? Prince and princess love stories were always safe, right? "Well, like there was a prince and princess that lived once upon some time waaaaay in the frozen north that like, totally loved each other buttt ... couldn't be together, because their families were all like warring and junk, so they ... ran away together, and like, showed their true love by kissing! When they kissed, these radical magical flowers made of ice appeared, and they were called Love Blooms. And if you don't like, kiss under the Love Blooms, then they disappear, and then there'll be war in the north once again!" That sounded believable, right?

[Hawkeye12]

As Sunrise talked, or at least attempted to, Dusty's eyes couldn't help but drift up at the sky above. Dark clouds were rolling in.

"Pretty bad time for a thunderstorm, huh?" she said, smirking at the irony. What kind of weather team messes up their schedule that much? Or maybe it was some sort of crystal north magic that happened up here, she didn't know. Her inner weather pony wanted to go clear the skies, but she could hold that feeling back. She was too lazy to go up there and tackle that thing.

Dusty's attention turned back to the conversation, where Sunrise was now talking about some magical Love Blossoms or something. Wait what? Her eyes immediately went up to the flowers that hung on the banner just above Soarin's head. Was this filly making this up, or was it real? She didn't know much about magic, and Sunrise was a unicorn, after all. The war part didn't sound believable though.

Soarin' seemed to take interest in the blossoms though, although it was obvious he was humouring her. Everyone seemed to be noticing the approaching storm, most trying to find places for shelter. Soarin' looked around some, and suggested they go to an ice cream shop, and he had more Wonderbolts stories to tell. Cool! Ice cream and stories, what more could a pony want? With a grin, Dusty followed the Wonderbolt over to the shop.

[Elderflower]

It was always a good day when Ryx didn’t terrify a young pony, so she was in considerably high spirits as she stepped nimbly through the rather tight entryway to the bakery. Suck it in, blackbird, she told herself, suck it in! When she entered, she pulled one, two tightly rolled towels from one of her packs, offering one to the spotted gryphon before patting herself dry. Luckily, the ponies had all been spared a good drenching thanks to the striped gryphoness who had been acting as their umbrella.

Sixth gryphon, huh? Ryx thought, regarding the adorable stripy catbird curiously, She certainly can’t be from Aquellia, then.

“Charmed to meet you Aquaria, all of you. My name is Ryx, though feel free to call me Blackbird. Many do.”

The black gryphoness dabbed her packs dry and made her way over to sit by one of the bigger tables in the bakery, setting her cargo down and stretching the towel over the top of it all to help it dry out.

“Honey cakes, apple tarts, and please, kind sir, a fair sampling of all you have to offer,” Ryx called out after the spotted one, adding with a large, beaky smile to the little ponies, “On me.”

“I fear, Aquaria, that I am nothing more than a boring, stuffy scholar - no superpowers, no super friends...just a lot of scrolls and dust and journals and ink,” the gryphoness lifted one of her dangerous hands and turned it around to reveal that it was permanently stained with ink. Always the incurable flirt, she offered a wink to the spotted one, “That is why I am here in the Crystal Empire, my handsome stranger, to walk in a living piece of the world’s history, to take notes, and to research. My notes are bound and kept in libraries and reports sent back to interested parties in Aquellia to help inform trade and business - see which products are useful where, what is and will be in demand. It’s an ideal situation, really - I get to learn about and experience the vast world, and I help my homecountry with its economic endeavours as best I can.”

[SteelEagle]

The fillies and colts took to the idea of sheltering inside of the ice cream shop rather well. Of course it was an ice cream shop so no filly or colt with half a brain would say no. Or at least any filly or colt Soarin; knew of. Or wanted to know of. He preferred the fillies and colts that acted like they were fillies and colts and dispensed with trying to act too adult. You were only young once. Every single day that passed was a day that went by unfulfilled if you didn't satisfy the basic emotional requirements. If you laughed, if you cried, and if you thought, then that is one fantastic day. You have that seven days a week and you have the makings of something special. If you were able to do this as a little one, then you'd make something of yourself as a big one.

So yeah, he liked ice cream. The whole idea of the Love Blossoms was pretty good for a filly who was pretty clearly thinking on her hooves. Near Marelia it was the Love Seed. The Prickly Pears of Passion in Dodge Junction. The Mare's Miracle in Manehattan. Instead of simply asking to kiss him on the cheek or otherwise be direct, older fillies and young mares seemed to want to coach their crush-infused desires behind fables. They could simply ask and he'd probably allow it most times, but it might not be as much fun as allowing them to play to their little fantasies. So he'd oblige. Soarin' led those who had followed him into the ice cream parlor. “One large ice cream for everypony!” he yelled jovially as he sat down, turning his attention to Sunrise. “And wow, that sounds serious. I guess you better kiss me on the cheek, huh?”

[Bramble Rose]

Purple's eyes widened as another gryphon landed. They were all so colorful and patterned! Well, this one was mainly black ... she'd heard of tattoos and stuff ... she wondered how much her big brae would freak out if she came home with some sort of spots or stripes tattooed on herself... nah, that needed more thinking to come up with *just* the right pattern. He brain just scrambled around as she followed the Marzipan and the gryphons in for snacks, barely even noticing the sudden downpour. It was just rain, after all.

"Wow, a wandering scholar?" Purple asked, looking at those gesturing claws. "You must have a lot of adventures looking for ancient scrolls in hidden temples and stuff!" Sounded like some of Carrot Fields' silly children's books, but somehow it seemed more interesting when it was real gryphons! She took up one of the offered honey cakes and nibbled happily on it, getting distracted for a moment as she studied its flavor and texture. Superior, to be sure. She didn't think she could get it so flakey and sweet... but perhaps if she had a heavier one with an apple-carrot filling instead of this light creamy filling... "Mmmm... Marzi, ye gotta try these! They're roit tasty! Loik eatin' a cloud!"

She grinned up at the gryphons, feeling like this was the best day EVER. "So ye're from th' gryphon lands, then? Wot's it loik? Aquaria's nae from there, Oi think, she's a wanderer far from home. Oi guess ye all are!"

​

[Gerrard]

Aquaria watched the spectacle of griffons and ponies as they all invaded the bakery. While it was an interesting experience watching the baker scramble to collect the meals, Aquaria turned her attention primarily to her two fluffy counterparts. The striped hybrid cutely remarked on Derecho, not quite getting what game he was playing. "You are right Echo! Ryx is lovely in her form. I didn't know we were both your lovely though. We get to share you," she cheered playfully, as she squeezed Derecho with all of her might in a powerful hug. It might have been confused for an act of aggression if her long striped tail wasn't wagging wildly, the lifeguard leaning heavily on her first griffon friend of the day. She looked over to Ryx as she properly introduced herself, Aquaria gasping at the new introduction before releasing a slightly more squished Derecho.

"Blackbird? That is an awesome codename! Can I have a code name? How about Tigerstripe? Does that sound good?" she asked in a short barrage of questions, the smaller hybrid clearly wiggling with excitement as she tried her best to fit in with her wiser counterparts. Everything was a game to Aquaria to some degree, and if you really thought about it, wasn't life just one long game anyway? At the mention that Ryx had no super powers or super friends, Aquaria poofed her cheeks defiantly as she partially refused to believe it. "You might not have super powers, but you will always have super friends," she cheered in a friendly manner that shown of her pony upbringing as she carefully hugged the big black griffoness. As Ryx spoke to the spotted hybrid, Aquaria struggled to contain her excitement, as her hips waggled with anticipation.

"I tried to categorize everything one day but after writing for an hour, I got tired of describing all the ponies at the beach. It was hard coming up with so many different words to describe pink," she explained with a giggle, showing that she quickly gave up on that dream. The fact that Ryx did it for a living made Aquaria gasp loudly, the lifeguard realizing that the big hybrid must have been super smart and patient, something she seemed to lack at times. She wasn't so sure about these eco what nots, but remembered hearing something about eco in her biology classes, the lifeguard assuming incorrectly that her friend was doing environmental surveys. At the mention of Aquellia though, Aquaria stared back with a blank face as she tried to remember what that was. She remembered a griffon place sounding like her name and after a well deserved moment of silence out of her fast moving maw, Aquaria gasped yet again. "Aquellia. Is that a griffon home town? I think that is where my parents are from," she mused aloud, clearly not knowing there was an entire country of griffons. To her, she just assumed Equestria was like the entire world and everyone under the rule of the two sisters.

She looked over to Purple Haze as she cutely remarked on all the griffons around her. "Yeah, Baltimare is my homeland. The beaches there are pretty awesome, just a little bit cold," she explained with a smile, Aquaria clearly overflowing with excitement as she tried not to be overwhelmed by the numerous amazing people around her. She was clearly like a small child trying to keep up with the small army of friends that all seemed to be pulling on her limited attention. If she were any younger, she would have been overwhelmed, but Aquaria used her lifeguard training to stay on task! Her rose colored eyes scanned the store for new acquisitions and outside of the clearly busy baker, there was one pony who had eluded her grasp! She spotted Marzipan somewhat alone at the window and abandoned her post by her griffon kin and stalked over to the cream colored pegasus. The distracted flier seemed focused on the happenings on the other side of town, allowing the lifeguard to sneak her head onto the table as she looked up at the pony. "Hi stranger. I'm Aquaria nice to meet you," she cutely remarked while gently interrupting the pony. "What brings you in here? I'm sorry they don't have Pike Pie, I was a bit distraught by it too. Maybe if we get some fish they will special make some for us," she commented with a broad smile, just assuming the pony was torn up over the selection of pies in the store!

[brianblackberry]

Free ice cream, who could possibly turn that down, right? Double plus bonus, her dreamy stallion Soarin' was treating everypony; generous as well as a total hunk, who could ask for more in a stallion?! The one question was what flavor should Sunrise Beach have? The filly was partial to sherbets, especially those made with tropical fruits, but this was also her first time in the Crystal Empire and she did want to show off how adult and cosmopolitan she was to Soarin' and not just some little filly. "Like, I'll take mine in umm, mixed Crystal Berry flavored, please, thank you!" Polite and straight forward, like a mature pony!

Once she received her bowl of red and blue crystal berry ice cream, which didn't look much different than the sherbet she was used to, she sat next to her idol and gave a wide smile that went along with an uncontrollable blush. "It's umm. like Crystal Berries, I like uhh, never had them before, how 'bout yuuu?" Ice cream wasn't a particularly interesting topic but it was a nice segue into more important and interesting topics, like Wonderbolts! That, and if Soarin' had any special somepony.

However Sunrise Beach suddenly froze in stunned surprise when she heard Soarin' not only believe her story about the Love Blossoms, but bought the idea of the kiss being needed whenever two ponies were found under them!! Maybe the stories were true after all! Not that it mattered, what mattered is that her dream crush just asked her to kiss him!! Ermahcerlerster!!!! The moment she dreamed aboutttt!! Now that the moment had arrived, she was suddenly hesitant!! What if she screwed it up, what if bethought the kiss was lame? This was her first kiss after all and she wanted to do it right, not have him never talk to her again!

C'mon Sunrise, like, you can do this, like this is your moment, don't like flake out now like some little foal! You are a mature filly!! A royal page!! You can, like so totally do this!!!! Although her face looked much more red than it's natural turquoise, the unicorn filly closed her eyes and reached forward and gave a soft peck on the small area of exposed fur of his cheek not covered by his Wonderbolt uniform.

She did it!! She did it!! Ermahcerlerster!!! She did it!! Wait until her friends here about this!!!

[Hawkeye12]

Dusty grinned as she walked into the ice cream shop. So many flavours! She looked at the options as everyone else was ordering. The crystal berry flavour did look good, but.... they had double chocolate!!! Yes! Her favourite!

"I'll uh, have that one, please," she said, pointing to the flavour. After getting her treat, she turned back to Soarin. "Thanks! This is great!" she said before taking a bite out of her ice cream. Chocolatey goodness. Maybe being dragged to the Fair wasn't a bad thing after all...

Dusty watched as Soarin' continued to humour Sunrise. This was amusing. Soarin must have been around a ton of fanfillies like this before, she wondered how many excuses they would come up with just to get a kiss from him. Or better yet, she wondered how many of them Soarin' had actually kissed. Dusty couldn't help but be just a little jealous of that. But like always, she kept her cool and watched curiously to see what would happen.

[PedestrianWolf]

The dripping griffon accepted the offered towel with gratitude. "Many thanks. I did not expect rain today. I am not very hoopy frood, eh?" he said with a quirky smile. Patting himself dry, he handed it back to the black griffoness. Collecting his cake and a slice of tart, he sat down at a table and continued his discussion. "A scholar! How wonderful. My own father is librarian in Stalliongrad." He held out a taloned hand to the blackbird. "I am Derecho. I teach flight school in Cloudsdale."

"I didn't know we were both your lovely though. We get to share you." Aquaria laughed and hugged him. He returned her a beaky smile. "Ha, yes! I come to crystal fair to have good time, and end up with two most beautiful ladies. And pretty fillies," he gave a wink to Purple Haze.

Marzipan's reverie was interrupted by a griffon dropping her head on the table. "Hi stranger. I'm Aquaria nice to meet you," "Oh! Ah, ciao, hello. Mi scuzi, I was far away... " The filly looked at the griffon and smiled. "I am Marzipan. This place, it reminds me of home. Mi familia, we have a shop in Roam like this. I help there." She was suddenly homesick. Not a lot, just a little. As if to jolt her out of her bout of nostalgia, Purple came bouncing up with a plate of cake. "Mmmm... Marzi, ye gotta try these! They're roit tasty! Loik eatin' a cloud!" The little pegasus filly took a bite of the pastry. It was good, sweet with a tender crumb.

Aquaria suggested fish pie, and Marzipan tried to not make a face. Ponies did not eat fish, bleh! "Ah, no, grazie. This berry tart is fine, no pesce, ah, pike, for me." She smiled again, apologetically. The berry tart was pretty delicious. She felt a little bad, since her cousin had made sure to give her plenty of snacks, but what was the point of coming all the way to the Crystal Empire if you didn't try the local cuisine? And for free, too, since the large black griffon had offered to pay for the treats.

The pegasus decided to make conversation with the tiger striped griffon, since she was already at her table. "So, you are from Baltimara? Are you happy there? I do not get to travela as much as I would like."