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A little slice of heaven, Tea and Cocoa stall [Open to Anypony]


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Starburst's stall sits on the very edge of Scarecrow Corner, a good distance away from the main attractions of the Nightmare Night's Harvest Spook-Tacular.

Set on a neatly designed wooden table, are various goods and sundries. Large metal pokers with marshmallows on the ends are set up on the table, along with warm, fresh baked cinnamon buns dyed black and orange like a pumpkin. To the left of the stall is a small fire, surrounded by stones to keep the fire from spreading beyond a moderately sized flame, and stumps for the ponies purchasing things from her to sit at near the warm fire.

It's a cold night in fall this evening, and a chill bites at noses and hooves exposed to the elements. Whenever her fire starts crackling lower and lower she shifts the fire with a small piece of timber and flaps her wings to spread the flame onto the unburnt wood. One of her costume's wings falls off and she quickly resets it on the wing before sitting back down on her stump, her front-side warmed by the now roaring flame.

From a distance she admires the social interactions the other ponies are taking with those around them, sighing, slightly envious of their ability to speak to one another, she looks down at the table and notices an imperfection in its glossy surface, and begins buffing the flaw out with a piece of cloth. She reaches over to the side of the fire and pours a warm cup of hot chocolate for herself, dumping a few marshmallows into the cup with her hoof. She tips the cup upwards and lets the warm liquid mull over in her mouth for a bit. She pulls her neck in for warmth and sets the cup down.

Starburst alone is a pony of moderate attractiveness, albeit shy. Her Nightmare Night costume is a bit unique. It consists of large lay-over wings strapped to her real wings, two fake antennae, and a large black and yellow bumblebee abdomen dressed around part of her tail.

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Stormy had arrived late to the Nightmare Night festivities, as she'd been doing spot checks for the weather most of the night, making sure everything looked sufficiently spooky. Afterwards, she'd had to take the time to put on her costume, and, though it was clunky to fly in, she was quite satisfied with it. It had taken her an incredible amount of time to decide what her costume would be, but when she finally landed on it, it didn't take her long to put the costume together. A pair of semi-translucent blue dragon wings were attached to her own, and her tail was braided and wrapped in ribbon, a barbed end attached to it to resemble a dragon's tail. Fake claws were attached to her hoofs, her hair was styled into spikes, and she had been going to wear fake teeth, though she decided against it for the sake of being able to eat and drink easily.

Eyeing the crowd and the size of it, Stormy decided to avoid dropping in on the middle, or even the edge, and opted to land near a fire she saw a ways out from the main bulk of the crowd. As she approached she that a pegasus mare was running the stand, and that this pegasus was dressed as a bumble bee for the festivities. She also noticed the smell of hot cocoa coming from the stand, and it made her mouth water.

"Hello, there," Stormy said, smiling at Starburst. "Mind some company?"

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Starburst looks up from her stand, and her eyes widen with terror. "D-..Duh..D-...Dragon!" she says, Lifting her stump-stool and using it as a shield against the new, dragon threat. "S-Stay away dragon! I'll have you know that I'm... an expert on f..fuh...fighting.. d-dragons!"

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Tempest adjusted the hat on her costume as she flitted through the sky, double-checking the phenominally spooky Nightmare Night weather. She compulsivly tweaked one of the clouds near the moon that wasn't quite wispy enough for her tastes, but she had to admit that the weather team had done a great job.

Her hat slipped again, it was far from aerodynamic, and flying kept pushing it over. She was dressed as a traditional Trottingham policemare, complete with a truncheon strapped to the side. She had no idea how they actually used the things effectively, but hers was made of soft foam anyway, so if anyone decided to resist arrest, she was well-equipped to give them a play beat-down.

Tempest landed and pulled off the bulbous hat, adjusting it and putting it back on securely. Upon finishing costume maintainence, she spotted some other pegasus ponies over by a fire. She didn't much care for open fires, but her usual scarf didn't fit with her costume, and she was getting a bit chilly. A warm drink would really hit the spot.

She trotted over and paused. This was Nightmare Night, after all, she ought to get into character. "Well, well, well," she said as she arrived, speaking with a phony Trottingham accent. "What's all this, then?" Recognizing the storm pony from the Ponyville weather team as she got closer, she dropped the act momentarily. "Oh, hello Miss Medley, fantastic job with the weather tonight." She also waved politely at the unfamiliar pegasus. "Greetings, I am Tempest Rime, pleasure to meet you."

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Stormy stepped back and raised one front leg, tilting her head to the side as she did. Confused, she asked, "Dragon? Whe- OH!" At this she laughed. "Right. I'm the dragon. No. I'm not really a dragon." She tilted her head to the other side and smiled calmly. "No, I'm a regular ol' pegasus just like you. But I'm dressed as a dragon for Nightmare Night. I'm sorry I scared you."

It was then that she noticed Tempest approaching. "Oh, thank you, glad to be of service," she said in response, smiling at the compliment. She took note of the pony's name and turned back to Starburst, wary of approaching lest she frighten the poor pegasus again.

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Starburst narrows her eyes at the dragon, inspecting it visually. "You have tail spikes like a d-dragon.. You have s-spines like a duh-dragon.. And wings like a dragon.. How do I know you a..aren't a dragon? S-say something only a pony would say." she says, lowering the stump a little bit. She looks over and sees a Policepony flying over, her expression changing from one of fear to relief.

"Oh thank Celestia, Please do something. This dragon is trying to eat me!" she says, pulling at the Policemare's uniform, pointing towards the dragon with her other hoof, stump dropped absentmindedly back to the ground behind her booth.

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"I, uh, wha-OH!" Tempest stammered for a bit before realizing that the bee pony must be trying to stay in character. She paused for a moment as she got back into character. "Now then, what seems to 'bee' the problem?" She winked, quite pleased with the pun, even if nopony else got it. "Don't you know that eating bees is against the law?" She glanced past them towards the refreshments. "Besides, what kind of a snack would a bee make for a dragon, especially when there's a nice hot kettle o' tea right there."

Tempest smiled at Starburst, dropping the accent for a moment. "Can I get some hot tea, please? Oh, and, um, what is your name, if I may ask?"

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Starburst shrinks back when the terrible pun escapes the new policepony's lips. She raises her hoof to her face and leans backwards against the stump. She takes a seat back behind the stall and pours a hot cup of tea for the new pony. "St...star...burst..." she says, rather inaudibly.

She takes a look back over at the dragon, levels her eyes with it, and raises a hoof to her own eyes, motioning it back towards the dragon afterwards. She mouthes the words, "I'm watching you Dragon." before collecting the bits from the other pony.

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Tempest dropped out of character again. "I'm Tempest Rime, it's nice to meet you Miss Starburst. I'm on the Ponyville weather team." It suddenly occurred to her that the costume might be misleading her. "Uh, I'm not really a police officer, it's just my costume. I don't wish to give anypony the wrong idea." She posed so that her badge was showing clearly. Upon it was written the words 'Nightmare Night Police Department: To Scare and Distress'.

"I don't believe I've seen you around before, are you from Cloudsdale?" She sighed softly and took a long sip of tea. "I haven't been back there in years." She smiled, dismissing the thoughts of home from her mind. "Well, regardless this tea is delicious, thank you very much."

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"Oh.. my.. Um.. I'm sorry." she says, bowing slightly. "I was under the impression.. that you were a police officer.."

"I am from Cloudsdale.. I run a tea shop there. I decided to run this little stall this year.. but It doesn't appear that anyone is interested in my tea.. You would think that a nice warm fire, a marshmallow on a skewer, and a cup of hot cocoa would be a fun little Nightmare Night celebration.. But nopony wants anything from here.. Not when there are so many better looking stalls..." she says, sighing a little, a sad expression finding itself onto her face.

"Nopony wants tea when there are so many different treats and candy at the other stalls..." she repeats, her vision dropping to the ground.

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"Sorry about that," Tempest said, somewhat sheepishly. "Though I guess that means my costume is a success." She smiled smugly. "I like your costume too. Can you actually fly with those wings on? They look like they'd come off if you flapped too quickly."

"Anyway, I'm a bit surprised you haven't been doing well. A nice hot cup of tea or hot cocoa seem like just the thing for a night like this, and you're out here away from the bustle of the main attractions. Nice place to take a breather. Hmm... although I supposed that could be part of the problem, actually. You're not particularly visible out here. I mean, they can see you, obviously, but only if they come to this area. Perhaps if you put up a few signs near the big attractions like exit of the corn maze or around the main festival grounds you might see some more customers."

She took a deep breath, that had been a mouthful. She then frowned as another thought occurred to her. "Although... I'm not sure I'm the best pony to be listening to on sales advice, I'm just a weather pony, I've never been particularly good at uh... this sort of thing."

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"Oh.. these straps are secured really tightly.. So I can fly with them on.. b-but I couldn't fly a little while ago with them on.. I was having trouble with a poison joke prank.. Some of the more sadistic p-ponies put some in my tea.. and it shrunk my wings for a little while until I fell into a puddle.." she says.

To demonstrate the example, she fluttered a little, lifted off of the ground a few feet, and then dropped back onto her stool. After proving her point she took a sip of her tea.

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"Good grief, how awful!" Tempest harrumphed. "I almost wish I was a police officer just so I could go give those hooligans a proper scolding. In spite of its name, that stuff is no joke. I've never touched it myself, but I've heard seen the things it's done to some of the locals out in Ponyville. The best flier on our weather team even wound up unable to fly! We had to call in several other ponies just to make up for her missing her shift."

She sat down and continued to sip her own tea. "Well, at least you got it treated. I'd never even heard of the stuff before that incident, and lately it's been popping up all over the place. Horrible noxious weeds."

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"I couldn't f-fly while I was affected by it.. It shrunk my wings down to size.. It.. It was like I was a f-filly again.. My wings couldn't support my body weight.. I had a lot of trouble flying back then... but when I finally learned it was so relieving..." Starburst says, taking another sip of her tea, her vision dropping unconsciously to the ground. She plucks a teapot off of the fire and pours more tea in her cup, twisting a lemon into the teacup.

"I... don't like not being able to fly.. It makes... me f-feel uncomfortable.. " she says. Silence ensues for just a few moments when the conversation ends, the only sounds for a moment being her as she gently sips the hot tea.

Getting a bit self-conscious from the silence, she blurts out, "One time my mom bought me this fan, and I flew upside down for just a little while, but then I f-fell and landed on my back..." Her gaze drops back to the cup of tea she's drinking, and the silence happens once again, making her feel more than a bit awkward in the process.

"W-would you like a m-marshmallow to roast?" she asks politely, holding up one of the skewers towards Tempest's face, nearly poking the policepony in the eye. "They're v-very sweet."

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Tempest smiled politely. In spite of the awkward feeling of the conversation, Tempest found herself quite liking this pegasus. Perhaps it was because they both seemed equally awkward, even if it was in slightly different ways. She thought back to her own younger days. "Hmm, I can barely remember being so young I couldn't fly. I was one of the first in my class to pick up the basics." She smiled proudly, but quickly frowned again, remembering what had come after that. "Of course, that just meant I got sent off to flight camp that much faster."

"Not being able to fly would be unfortunate, though. It's always so much more peaceful in the air." She sighed and daydreamed for a moment, smiling politely at Starburst's story about a fan without really listening. When the other pegasus waved a skewer right in her eye, she was caught off-guard and toppled over backwards as she flinched away from it.

"Waaah, oh dear. Do be careful with that." She flitted into the air briefly to get back onto her feet. "Um, I suppose that a marshmallow would be nice, thank you." Carefully, she took the skewer from Starburst and began to roast it. Tempest wasn't particularly fond of sweet things, but she didn't want to be rude by refusing it.

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Starburst prepared a skewer with marshmallows for herself, practically a wand of marshmallows in and of itself. Smiling, she waved the marshmallow stick over the fire. The fire jumped to a marshmallow, and begins spreading to the others, quickly becoming a flaming wand. Starburst waved the stick around, in an attempt to put the fires out, flaming marshmallow skins sliding off of the stick and landing with a "Spak" on the ground a good distance away.

The fire from the skin of the marshmallow caught onto a nearby pile of leaves, and a bonfire quickly starts.. Albeit unintentionally. Starburst begins running around frantically, trying to find something to put out the small fire. "Oh my.. My my my.. " she said, and dropped the stick of gooey marshmallows onto her stand. She quickly retrieved a pot of water and poured it onto the fire, putting it out but smoking up the area a good bit.

"I can't do anything right.." she says, tears beginning to well up in her clear purple eyes. She moved back to her stand and picked up the skewer with her mouth and the marshmallows clung forcefully to it. Soon after it rebounded upon her and pulling her into the mess, covering her in marshmallow goop. The tears come faster than prior, and quickly they leak from her eyes onto the wooden counter top. "M...M..Mess...Messy..." she said over her tears, trying to get the goop out of her purple mane.

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Turns had been trotting around the festival as his night was coming to an end, this was no doubt an exiting night, but one Turns couldnt wait to be over. Not that he didnt enjoy the festival it was grand the decorations were amazing. He rarely heard any music other than his setlists he was getting together for his next show and he absolutly enjoyed the music here.

All of a sudden a wiff of what seemed to be something very sweet caught his nostrils. Turns decided he would head twords the source of the smell whatever it was it had to be awsome. As he neared the stand he could clearly made out the smell it was a small campfire careful arranged, abd somewhat peaceful.

"Excuse me were i can i get one of those marshmellow?" He asked the mares sitting around the fire.

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Tempest roasted the marshmallow carefully, focusing on not getting too close to the fire. Fire spooked her more than most anything else around, a fear possibly born of never having actually been around it most of her life. Clouds don't burn, after all. So when Starburst accidentally started a fire nearby, Tempest panicked. She yelped and dropped her marshmallow into the flames, darting into the air and grabbing a cloud to squeeze out onto it before an imagined wildfire destroyed everything.

She returned with a cloud in tow, but Starburst had already doused the fire. "Oh... uh, you got it, I see." She gawked as the white pegasus proceeded to make a mess of herself. "Oh no, it... um..." Tempest tried to think of some words of encouragement, but fell short. Social interaction really wasn't her strong suit. She wanted to make Starburst feel better, but had no idea how to do so.

"You!" She said, zipping towards the new pony. "Make her feel better! I don't know how!" Tempest paused. "Um, I mean... she's the one with the marshmallows, so she'll maybe give you one if you help."

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Turns looked confusedly at the mane who had just rushed up to him "Make her feel better" She had demanded of him he wasnt sure what was wrong so he looked over at the other mare. She had marshmellow all in her mane. And she seemed to be trying frantically to try and get it our.

"Here turns said softly taking the white mare's hoof, "Let me help you." Turns began gently removing the marshmellow out from the mare's hair. He worked meticulously to get the marshmellows out. Thank goddness he was good at working with her hands. This made it quiet simple to be easy and gentle.

"There all gone," He said gently when he was finished, "Now can i get a marshmellow please they look wonderfully yummy."

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Starburst quickly pulls away from the strange unknown pony in a panic. The marshmallow sticking her to the table comes undone in a snap and Starburst tumbles forward in a roll, stopping dangerously close to the fire, she looks into it with fear and slowly steps back. "D-don't touch me!" she says, quite taken aback against the unknown pony.

She quickly moves over to Tempest and hides behind her, using her as a shield against the unknown pony. "Take whatever you want, just l-leave me alone!" she says, holding her hooves over her eyes and lowering herself to the ground below Tempest.

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"Oh no look out for the fire, wait no. I-I-im not going to hurt you i promise, and i was asking if i could get a marchmellow im willing to pay for them too. Please i was just trying to help." Turns said as he slowly lowed his head his checks blushing from embaresment. "Uhmm im sry to have scared you ill just leave now." Turns felt horrible for upseting the mare. His soft generous gesture had been misunderstood.

He looked over to the other mare that was the pegasis's hiding place. "Im teribly sry to disturb you guys, please go back to your marshmellows,"

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"That's not working!" Tempest scolded him, "do it better, you're scaring her!" Tempest frowned hesitantly. "Miss Starburst, please don't fret, he's just a customer. He's offering to help with your mess, and I will too. We'll have you back up and running in a jiffy."

She flitted back through the air to the new earth pony. "Oh no you don't, you're going to stay here and help her business, she hasn't been getting much traffic out here, so don't go backing off now!" She shooed him back towards the concessions stand.

Back to Starburst she flew again, snagging the cloud she'd brought down earlier. "Here, I grabbed a cloud you can use to clean your mane. It's only... ugh, sticky molten sugars, do those come out of hair with just water?" Tempest had little experience in cleaning such messes, she was always extremely fastidious when eating.

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"Sugar.. is dissolved by.. wuh.. water.. " she says, sitting under the cloud with a sullen expression, looking up at Tempest sadly.

She looks downwards, and buries her face in her hooves, revealing her long purple mane flowing down her back, covered on one side with sticky white marshmallow. " I duh-don't wuh-want to h-have to cut muh-my maaaane...." she says, weeping into her hooves, soft enough so that only Tempest can hear.

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Turns gently placed o hoof on the sorowfull nares back."Your freind and i are gonna help you dont worry about it." He said as sweetly and gently as he could. as tempest got to work helping clean marsh mellow out of the mares hair he buisied himself with putting everything back in order the best that he could. washing the table and cleaning the left over marshmellows. He tried his hardest to make everything look right, even going as for as setting out the skewers one by one in a neat line across the table.he also fixed the mares stump and placed it back behind the counter were he assumed that it went, and even kept the fire going.

When he had finished what he had started he looked back at the white pegasis, "There is that better?" He asked in his gentle tone once again.

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"Don't worry! You won't have to cut it. Probably. Um, well lets just try this first." She flew up and positioned the cloud where it wouldn't get anything else wet. "Over here, just put your mane under here and I'll push the rain out. Try to get the marshmallow stuff out quick while it's still goopy. Oh, you should probably be careful not to get your costume too wet either, I don't know what that'll do to it."

With that she began to stomp on center of the raincloud, sending a thinly concentrated stream of rainwater down from the center of the bottom of the small cloud. Releasing the water this way would concentrate it all in one place where Starburst could more easily make use of it.

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