[Canterlot] The Perfect Fit [Open]

[Conor Colton]

(ooc: He has a point, wink wink, nudge nudge)

"No problem, you two have fun alright!" Colton said as he winked back and began to relax, it was still a while until his client was expecting his delivery and he had more than enough time to relax.

Colton slouched back in his chair, relaxed and waited for somepony to enter.

Colton had never helped a stranger out to this length before and strangely, he felt happy about it

[Neoniie]

Quantum Flux hurried through the streets, her ferret Tesla holding tightly to her mane as they trotted towards the main buisness sector of Canterlot. Tesla dooked quietly in questioning, wondering what had Flux in such a rush. "Apparently, fabric isn't quite as durable as I have hoped. I've used up my last sample in a...less than successful experiment and therefore, I need to procure some more. A bit of patching up on Torvus' shirt was something that I had to get done anyway, and I being the pony I am, couldn't possibly do so. Do you remember what Torvus said the last time I tried to fix his clothes?" Tesla chuckled, recalling the experience quickly.

Flux noted each of the stores as she passed them. Too expensive, too frilly, kicked out for that one tiny explosion which was absolutely not my fault - the exploration of Science demanded it! She stopped in front of a shop she hadn't seen before. "The Perfect Fit," Flux read aloud. As one of the few store that were presumably affordable and hadn't kicked her out, Flux decided that this was the best option. She opened the door cautiously, hearing a little ding from the bell installed near the top of the door.

Flux had never been comfortable with any sort of fancy clothing and generally didn't care much about her appearance - considering she worked in the basement of an old clock tower - and thus being in a clothing shop had always been strange for her. "Hello," Flux said, announcing her presense.

[Conor Colton]

(ooc: thanks for joining Neoniie )

Colton was surprised that a new customer had entered so soon, he nearly fell out of his chair with the shock but kept himself up with his wings. He then turned his attention to the new pony that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, he put on a smile and began to speak.

"Hello there, welcome to The Perfect Fit. I'm Colton, how may I help you?" Colton stated in a calm rational voice, but secretly he was more nervous than he had ever been before. It had been a while since he had worked in a small store like this and he didn't have time to get relaxed. But he took joy in knowing that Cross-Stitch was upstairs if he needed his help.

Colton tried not to look but he had never seen a pony with a pet Ferret before, but then again he had never seen a pony with a pet sparrow before so that quickly shut him up.

[Neoniie]

(Not at all )

"Hello, Colton. I'm Quantum Flux and this is my pet ferret, Tesla," Flux introduced, noticing Colton's interest in the ferret. Tesla responded to his name with a quiet sound of acknowledgement. Flux quickly looked around the shop before answering Colton, wanting to quickly get her bearings. It was a pleasant looking place, with several mannequins displaying outfits. Flux knew little about buisness establishments and fashion, but based on a quick analysis, she figured that most ponies would find the outfits quite pleasing. She noted the emptiness of the store, a clue as to the possibly reason that she had never seen this shop before - aside from the fact that Flux lived in her own little world most of the time.

"I have two things actually," Flux began, addressing Colton once more. "A...friend of mine needs to have some clothes mended and, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to purchase some fabric." Flux tried to be as mannerly as possible, recalling lessons taught to her much earlier in life. "Also, if you don't mind me asking, is this a new shop?"

[Conor Colton]

"Well it's very nice to meet ya Miss Flux. I'll just get that fabric for you right now." Colton said as he felt slightly more confident in his abilities as a store clerk. He flew up to a high shelf and searched through all the fabrics until he realised he had failed to answer Flux's question.

"Oh yeah, this shop is new, and if you don't mind me saying, your it's second ever customer." Colton stated as he smiled down at Flux and Tesla, "So tell me, what colour of fabric are you looking for Miss?" Colton asked as he tried to sound as polite as possible, he had just meet the pony (and ferret) and wanted to make a good impression on them both.

Colton continued searching as he waited for a response, he decided to pass the time with some conversation, he just followed what Cross-Stitch had said before and that he should ask how the clothes were broken, "So, uh, Miss Flux, if you don't mind me asking. How did your friend damage their clothes so badly?"

[Neoniie]

"Ah, interesting. That definately explains my observations earlier," Flux said, mostly to herself. Trotting slightly closer to the fabric shelves, Flux tried to gauge the flexibility and strength of the fabrics. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to determine tactile properties without qualitative observations, she thought. Ah well, I suppose Mr. Colton will have some idea. "The colour is not really key, so I suppose it would be best to have whichever colour is most abundant." Flux nodded to herself, reaffiming her words by quickly rummaging through her saddlebags with some magic and checking the information in her notebook.

"On the topic of the damaged clothes, it was during a work-related mix up. Tovus - my landlord/mentor, really - was cleaning out the gears of the clock tower. He has several safety precautions that he puts into action to prevent any accidents. Unfortunately, Torvus forgot to place the wooden axle between the main gears of the clock mechanism and he ended up getting caught up in the gears." Flux, anticipating the shock and worry that her last sentence would cause, added quickly to her story. "Luckily, he wasn't hurt too badly; I managed to fix up his injuries, as they were relatively minor. It was the clothes that suffered most of the damage."

[Conor Colton]

"Uh....wow that was, wow." Colton took a piece of blue fabric off the shelf and floated back down to Flux, he presented the piece of fabric and continued the conversation.

"Well, I'm glad he's alright anyway. So you said you have a mentor then, what are you studying then?" Colton asked as he tried to continue his friendly chat. "And by the way Miss, if you don't mind me asking, where did you get such a fascinating animal as a pet? I have to admit that I've never seen many ferrets on my travels." Colton asked as he hoped that this question wasn't too personal.

"Now to the matter of the wrecked clothes." Colton said as he examined the clothes closely, he didn't have the foggiest idea what to do but he wanted to sound as competent as possible as he could see by her dialect that Flux was a very well read pony and he didn't want to give the impression that he was, well, stupid. "Ok, let me see what I can do, one moment Miss Flux, I just need to examine it more closely, if you don't mind of course." Colton said whilst keeping his calm smile.

[Neoniie]

(I apologize for the giant wall of text to follow.)

"Well, I previously studied at Canterlot University, but due to a lack of interest in directly magical pursuits, I decided that I should study on my own for a while. I had heard that an old Earth Pony named Torvus lived in the old clock tower near the western end of Canterlot. Apparently, he was quite a skilled inventor as a younger pony though he had purportedly lost his abilities with age. However, I was determined to learn about an art that had been named "Science" by several books in the Great Library of Canterlot. I visited the clock tower almost daily, hoping to verify Torvus' existance. One day, there was a loud crash from the tower and I went inside the investigate. There had been a slightly issue with the replacement of the bell and it had managed to create a sizeable hole in the tower. I assisted him with the reattachment of the bell and rebuilding of the damage with my magic. Torvus seemed to appreciate it and after a brief conversation, I revealed my intentions. He agreed to give me a hoof with my learning and also didn't mind my rather strange experiments, so he became my mentor." Flux paused at the end of the rather long story, both for Colton's benefit and her own.

"Tesla, on the other hand is a much different story. I don't wish to bore you with another long-winded tale, so I shall merely summarize. Tesla here is native to woodland areas, as much of his species is. My mother, Comet, is an astronomer and did much of her work in the area Whitetail Wood near Canterlot. One night, I was invited along for a night of stargazing. I wandered off and happened upon Tesla. He was injured and, with my mother's help, we were able to get him to a veteranarian quickly. Once he was healed, Tesla seemed to take a liking to me, so I adopted him as my pet." Flux stopped herself again, smiling slightly at the end. "I hope you don't mind my babbling, it's a trait I picked up from my father."

"Take all the time you need with the clothes mending, I don't have any pressing engagements," Flux said, remembering Colton's last statement.

[Conor Colton]

(no problem)

"Science huh? I heard about that a few times on my travels, they say it's fascinating, what's science actually like?" Colton asked as he was genuinely interested in knowing. "And you fixed a clock tower with magic? Seriously? I gotta say Miss that's very impressive, I don't think I've ever heard anything like it before." Colton stated as he began sewing up the holes in the clothes.

As he continued sewing he found that he wasn't half bad at it, he then responded to Flux's pet story, "I don't mind your babbling at all Miss Flux, you have some very fascinating tales to tell it seems." Colton stated as he continued to sew, content that he didn't make a mistake yet, but it seems that that over confidence spelt disaster.

Colton misjudged an angle of the needle and ended up cutting the bottom of his hoof, since he was a pegasus he didn't really use his hooves anyway, but it still hurt, "Ouch! Oh for the love of-" Colton stopped himself for two reasons, one was the pain, and two was that he didn't want to look stupid, but he accomplished the second reason regardless.

[Neoniie]

"Well, I personally find it to be quite invigorating. It's a feeling like no other, proving a theory or perfecting a method." Flux had stars in her eyes as she spoke and an adoring tone in her voice. Her passion for science was quite evident in her mannerisms, if not her words. "However, not many ponies look into it. They believe that science is rather pointless in a world of the supernatural and unexplainable. I believe that the two disciplines can compliment each other. Every thing has a route in the physical and tangible, in my opinion. That's why I'm looking into the biological explanation for the channelling a unicorn magic at the moment. It's quite a big project, so I have several smaller ones as well."

She turned her head away slightly at Colton's compliment, hiding the slight blush on her face. "Why thank you, Mr. Colton. That's quite a compliment, though I did have some help with that particular bit of magic. I was never particularly gifted in the magical arts, though mending and movement spells seem to be my forte." Her turned head made detecting of Colton's injury much more difficult, since Flux had to rely on hearing rather than the more immediate sense of sight. However, his cry of pain caught her attention quickly. "Oh dear," Flux gasped, rushing around Colton's work space to get a better look at his hoof. "Here, let me fix that for you."

[Conor Colton]

Colton stood still as Flux tended to his wound, he tried to not make it a big deal to keep his own self image clear but his cry of agony a few seconds ago disputed any semblance of that, "I'm fine really, there's nothing to wor-" Colton stopped as he felt Flux tending to his wound. He remained still until it was all safely bandaged up.

Afterwards Colton turned to give Flux his thanks, "Thank you Miss Flux, sorry for that, it appears I'm well, for lack of a better phrase, all hooves when it comes to sewing. Sorry to have to worry you Miss Flux, I should have been more careful." Colton stated as he sulked against a wall and slowly slid down it and eventually sat on the floor, the lowering his face in shame. Now Colton had accomplished two things he said he wouldn't do, one was look stupid infront of Flux, and two was hold down the fort until Cross-Stitch was done, but he failed to do both of those and he felt great shame for it, which was evident in his body language.

[Neoniie]

Flux trotted over to him, placing her hoof gently on his shoulder. "It was certainly not your fault. Think nothing of it, Mr. Colton." Tesla brushed his tail against Colton's muzzle softly, showing both support and sympathy. Flux, who was not the best at dealing with social situations, tried to think of something else to say. After a brief consideration, she decided to go with whatever felt right. "You did a much better job with that sewing than I could have done and such an accident could have happened to anypony. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

Flux removed her hoof from his shoulder and offered it to him for some support in standing up again. I'm not very good at this sort of thing, though. I do hope that I didn't do something wrong, Flux hoped. "Perhaps I could give you a helping hoof in both regaining your balance and sewing up those clothes. I'm sure there's a sewing spell that you could give me a hand with by directing my movements."

[Conor Colton]

Colton reached out for Flux's hoof and held on as she helped him up, all the kind word Flux had said had put Colton's mind at ease.

"Thank you Miss Flux, I really appreciate your sympathy." Colton then felt a small brush on his leg he turned to also thank Tesla, "And thank you too Tesla." Colton stated as he smiled again. He was naturally a bit apprehensive on using magic as he had never used it to help him before, but he figured that there couldn't be any harm in it.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea Miss Flux, in fact I think it's the best idea I heard all day." Colton said with relief as he never really took a chance to rest the entire day.

Colton wondered something and then asked Flux about it, "If you don't mind me asking Miss Flux, why are you so inclined to help a total stranger like me?" Colton asked as he wondered why he took time out of his day to help Cross-Stitch earlier.

[Neoniie]

"Well, in the way of nature and nurture, I believe I can provide a theory," Flux began. "Many ponies have an innate tendancy towards kindness, generosity, loyalty, and other traits such as those. These tendancies can apply to both friends and strangers. Also, the way one is raised also contributes to this factor. For example, my parents always taught me the importance of manners and empathy, therefore I am generally likely to display those characteristics."

Flux stopped, considering something else and quickly voicing her thought. "In a nonscientific way, I think that some ponies feel that the world would be a brighter and happier place if everypony made an effort to help each other. It reminds me of something my father used to say: 'Strangers are just friends you haven't made yet.'"

Flux summoned her concentration, foucsing on summoning the needle and clothes towards herself. Manoeuvering carefully, Flux held up both the instrument and subject of her scrutiny to eye level. After a few moments, she turned to Colton. "I haven't a clue where to begin. Any thoughts, Mr. Colton?"

[Conor Colton]

"Well uh, here let me show you." Colton said as he gently grabbed the needle, "Now just hold the clothes steady for me ok?" Colton asked as he recalled how Cross-Stitch had worked on his coat earlier, and what techniques Cross-Stitch had used, Colton used aswell.

"Ok, so first you thread the needle like this." Colton said as he showed Flux the proper movements, "And then you push the needle through like so.." Colton said as he continued to show Flux the proper way, "And then you weave it through each hole, side to side, and then you pull. And that's pretty much it I guess." Colton stated as he closed the first hole.

He continued on with Flux's aid until he broke the silence, "Miss Flux if you don't mind me saying so, it seems to me that you're an incredibly smart individual. You seem to have a way of explaining such simple matters in such detailed and literal ways that I really think is very fascinating, I think that if more ponies put as much thought behind their words as you do, then the entire world would benefit for it." Colton stated, meaning every single word that came out of his mouth.

Colton wondered were that sudden compliment came from and why he said it, he couldn't think of a reason why he just, did. He felt incredibly awkward and tried to lose himself in the sewing, but to no avail.

[Neoniie]

Flux watched Colton's work intently. Memorization and replication had been a great strength to her during her studies and they provided their aid again here. She replicated his demonstration as well as she could. Flux's mind was whirring in the silence, but she found the methodical rhythm of the sewing was quite easy to fall into. I can see why some ponies decide on this career. Though it is not for me, it's can be very relaxing when one isn't attempting to meet any deadlines.

Flux's near-total absorbtion in her work almost caused her to miss Colton's next words. She listened as he spoke, stopping her sewing to give Colton her full attention. Though the words themselves sounded slightly cliched, Flux could hear their genuineness in Colton's tone. She turned to face him once he'd finished. "It's wonderful to hear you say that, as most ponies see it as an annoyance. They much prefer a concise and quick explanation of the facts. There is most certainly something special about you, Mr. Colton." Flux smiled as she finished, a feeling that she rarely experienced washing over her. A sort of kinship between them that she could only describe as something akin to a developing friendship.

[Conor Colton]

"Thanks Miss Flux, it's really nice to hear that, oh and by the way, you don't need to call me sir, it's just too formal for me if that's alright?"

Colton continued on with the sewing and found himself to be moderately good at it, considering that he had never tried it before.

He tried to think of a way to break up the monotony of sewing, and then he remembered why he was in this position to begin with, and that Cross-Stitch was upstairs making his suit for the gala and seeing that he was staying in Canterlot for a while now he wanted to find out more about the city. Seeing nothing else to talk about he asked about it,

"So Miss Flux, I have to ask, what's it like living in Canterlot? I always hear some really positive things about this place no matter where I go everypony seems to compliment this city, is it really as good as ponies say?"

[Neoniie]

"Of course," Flux answered. "Though, if that is the case, I would prefer the more informal 'Flux' for myself."

Flux had to think about her answer for a moment. She didn't spend most of her time experiencing the city; it merely seemed like home to her. "To be honest, I do not observe Canterlot very closely, but I will attempt to describe it. It has quite marvelous architecture, for starters. Alabaster, marble, velvet; many high end building materials are used in construction for Canterlot's structures. It is very lively as well, both in the day and the night. As far as I have seen, everypony seems approachable and helpful, though as always there are exceptions, outliers if you will. It is an important city in Equestria, of course as the Princesses govern from Canterlot's Castle. On a smaller scale, many successful ponies hail from Canterlot and many others visit to display their talents. Overall, I'd have to give you an affirmative, though as I said earlier there are always downsides."

Flux paused for a moment, staring up at the sky. It was a vibrant blue, much like Colton's mane. This drifting thought brought a question to mind. "Since you are a pegasus pony who has done much travelling, I assume you are from Cloudsdale?"

[Conor Colton]

"Very observant Flux, and yes I am from Cloudsdale but that's only about half correct." Colton stated in an unsure tone, he didn't want to confuse Flux anymore so he quickly explained.

"It's not confusing really, it's just that I was born in Cloudsdale but my parents couldn't afford to keep me so the put me with a foster family in Manehatten." Colton cringed at these memories but he quickly composed himself and continued.

"So now, I travel, doing odd jobs here and there and just enjoying the sights that Equestria has to offer, and it would appear that one of these odd jobs has me staying here in Canterlot for about a month or so and that's why I asked you before what this place is like." Colton exhaled as he finally got all that out of his system.

"But Flux, if you don't mind me asking, have you ever travelled before, and if you have then where to?" Colton asked with an inquisitive look on his face.

[Neoniie]

Flux felt a twinge of sadness at Colton's story. She had no experience with such matters, but Flux could imagine that a tale such as that would be hard to recount. Based on his slight grimace as he spoke about it, Flux knew she was correct. Trying not to draw attention to the subject, she merely nodded and addressed Colton's question.

"I have done some travelling, though it was generally on the principle of family events. My uncle lives in Fillydelphia; he held a family reunion of sorts. It was quite nice, seeing my family, though Fillydelphia seemed like an interesting town in its own right. I also visited Ponyville once with my mother when I was younger. She wanted to observe an important phenomenon and I wanted to visit Ponyville. It was much less crowded in the past and had a more rural feel. I had only experienced Canterlot at that point and such a small place was quite relaxing." Flux recounted her memories as best she could, sparing the exact details of the excursions.

"However, it sounds like you must have gone to much more interesting places in your travels. Would you mind describing a few?" Flux enquired, her curiosity piqued.

[Conor Colton]

"I would love to." Colton said proudly.

"Let's see, I remember when I used to live in Cloudsdale, considering that everything is made out of clouds there they do a very good job with the architecture, and I remember visiting the weather factories it was very interesting to see how a rainbow was made I'll tell you that much." Colton paused to see if he could remember any other places, "I remember once I frequented Ponyville, I recall staying at a very charming inn and I was surrounded by a rather odd company including this one pony who could only communicate through morse code by tapping her hooves, very fascinating to say the least."

Colton had always having trouble remembering where he had visited and the exact details of each place but that's when it hit him, he kept a journal on all these things just in case. He reached into his pocket and pulled out said journal and passed it over to Flux.

"Read away, anything you want to know about anywhere in Equestria is in that journal, more or less anyway." Colton said as he let out a small chuckle.

[Neoniie]

"It does sound intriguing. I've never heard of such a case before," Flux marvelled. She thought about possible causes for such a condition quickly in her head before noticing Colton had passed her a journal of his travels. Flux thanked his and levitated the journal over to a nearby table. Clearing some pieces of fabric from a small area, Flux began to pour over the journal. About a quarter of the way through, Flux pulled out her own notebook and began to jot down sentences and rather messy web diagrams at an alarming rate. The information within the journal proved to be quite interesting to Flux; she recorded several of the more unique cases, noting a few theories or possibilities to look into later. Flux's mind was abuzz with thoughts. Morse code could be shown using the flickering of light perhaps? Would a cloud be useful as some sort of absorption system? Applelossa had installed a train system? Better look into that...

Flux could hear a slight clicking from Colton's needlework, providing a sound to ground her and keep her from drowning herself in too many ideas. She looked over the Fillydelphia entry twice, wondering whether her uncle had actually succeded in creating that HNOC - Helping Neighbours Out Club - he had talked about during the reunion. Flux continued to read and take down several more notes while Colton worked.

[Conor Colton]

Colton continued working on, he had just finished up the last hole and was feeling pretty good about himself, regardless of his past injury. He looked over the clothes a few more times to make sure he hadn't missed anything and to his surprise he didn't. He brought the clothes over to Flux as she analysed Colton's journal who it seems was fascinated by the books content.

"Well, here it is Flux." Colton said with a great sense of accomplishment in his voice as he presented the repaired clothes to Flux. He wanted to know if he had did as much of a competent job as he thought so he was inclined to ask, "So....how did I do?" Colton asked in a shy manner.

He also wondered what Flux thought of his past adventures, but he could see by her body language and how much she was invested in the journal that she had obviously taken interest, this was different for Colton as he never really told many people of his escapades, as he usually kept to himself when he entered a new town or city.

[Neoniie]

Flux scribbled down a few more words before turning her head to examine Colton's work. "Wow," Flux said, getting up to perform a quick 360 degree inspection on the clothes. "That didn't take as long as I had anticipated, but the clothes still look very seemlessly repaired." She nodded her head, folding the clothes quickly with her magic and placing them in her saddlebag. "Thank you, Colton. Your work on these was impeccable."

After she placed her clothes in her bag, she turned back to Colton. Levitating his journal towards him, she said, "Your travels seem quite fascinating. It seems that many things have happened all over Equestria that I was not aware of. Thank you for sharing them with me, even in literary form." Flux went over some of the theories she had developed, especially for the possible improvements to the train systems. Griffons, I've heard, have much better technology than ponykind does. I wonder how their civilization would create such a device? I should look into that. "You must have a great enjoyment for your travels, Colton," Flux noted. "There is quite a lot of detail put into these journal entries."

[Conor Colton]

Colton was surprised that he had done such a good job, he turned his head slightly to hide his blushing over Flux's compliment. He then responded to Flux's thanks, "It was no trouble at all Flux, I'm glad you enjoyed it." Colton said as he smiled once more, Colton had realized that he smiled today a lot more than he used to, he couldn't think of a reason why though.

He snapped back into reality as Flux finished her last statement, he immediately responded, "Yeah, all these places were really enjoyable, very memorable too. I gathered most of these details from multiple trips to these places, and also with extended contracts that keep in one place for a while, like the one I have right now in Canterlot." Colton stated, he floated up into the air and looked out the window, "But there's still lots of places I haven't seen, and I hope to give each one of those places a page in this journal."

Colton then gently landed as he continued, "But some times, it's nice to take a small break from travelling and sort of get my bearings, which is why I took an extended contract here in Canterlot." Colton explained, he then asked Flux a question.

"So what about you then Flux, have you ever thought of travelling before?"