[Canterlot] The Perfect Fit [Open]

[Neoniie]

Flux nodded, "Yes, I could see how constant travelling would become tiring quickly. You seem to have found an equilibrium between the two." Flux placed her notebook in her saddlebag and returned the stray fabric to their original positions.

"I have thought about travelling around Equestria, yes. I considered doing so when I heard of my extended family's move to Fillydelphia. However, I've never really managed to tour the world as extensively as I would like; a book can only tell you so much about an area A visit to Aquellia would be enlightening as well," Flux mused, considering the things she could learn from both locations.

[Conor Colton]

"Yeah after a while of travelling you tend to get a sense on when it's okay or not okay to continue." Colton stated as he smiled, taking what Flux had said as a compliment. He then turned his attention to the next part of Flux's statement.

He wondered about Flux's extended family and pondered if he actually ever met them on his trips through Fillydelphia, he then snapped back into reality and continued listening to Flux. He wondered why Flux didn't travel that much, it seemed to him that there was nothing holding her back so he decided to ask about it.

"If you don't mind me asking Flux, why couldn't you travel as much as you wanted too, I mean, there had to be a reason right?" Colton asked as he hoped that the personal question wouldn't offend Flux in anyway.

[CrossStitch]

Cross-Stitch trotted down the stairs, he now sported a small pair of glasses on his nose, and his scarf was missing. His mane was a bit messed up as well, but still fairly straight. He wore a pleasant smile on his face and was practically glowing. This was how he always got after working on a new outfit though. Creating new clothing always put him in a great mood. There was a piece of black fabric draped over his back, and some red fabric about his shoulders, obviously the color he was working with.

"I must say, making a suit for a swallow isn't the easiest thing I have ever done," Cross-Stitch let out a small laugh as he finished his decent down the stairs.

It took him a while to notice there was a customer other than Colton in the store. Cross-Stitch's eyebrows shot up as he realized there was another pony in the shop though. He quickly flicked his head to realign his mane, "My apologies, my name is Cross-Stitch, owner of The Perfect Fit. I do hope Mr. Cloudkicker has been of help to you." Cross-Stitch looked to Colton with a warm smile, as if thanking and encouraging him at the same time. "If you need anything at all, me or Mr. Cloudkicker here would be more then happy to assist you."

Cross-Stitch gave the newest customer a warm smile as well before trotting off to go through the bolts of fabric he had in another corner of the room.

((Sorry I was away for a while.))

[Neoniie]

"It's not exactly that there is a barrier to my ability to travel, it is merely my responsibilities as Torvus's apprentice. I suppose I could discuss it with him, however. He is not a disagreeable pony; it never occured to me to enquire to be honest," Flux admitted. She made a note to ask Torvus about the practicality and likelyhood of possible travelling.

Flux turned her head at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. She looked between the two ponies momentarily before addressing Cross-Stitch. "I see, thank you Mr. Cross-Stitch. Colton has been a model host and a very competant tailor." The blue earth pony trotted off to the corner of the room, most likely in search of some material. "This explains what I percieved to be an odd occurance," Flux said. "I assumed Colton was the owner of this establishment and such a position made his pechant for travel quite confusing. However, this new information has resolved that confusion nicely. So, Colton, how did you end up assisting Mr. Cross-Stitch?"

[Conor Colton]

"Well, it's kind of a long story Flux, if you heard Cross-Stitch mention a sparrow earlier, he was talking about my pet Sparks. We got into a little race outside of Canterlot and well, I hit a tree and I ruined my jacket." Colton paused for breath and then continued, "After that I decided to go get it repaired, so I came in here, and wouldn't you know, I was the first customer."

Colton paused once again and continued with his tale, "Long story short, me and Cross-Stitch got along rather well and I mentioned that I was here in Canterlot to deliver a package to the organiser of the Grand Galloping Gala, I had worked for him before and he usually awarded me tickets to the event." Colton wanted to wrap this up as he saw that he was rambling.

"So then I made the suggestion that I could get Cross-Stitch tickets for the gala so his business could have a boost, he wanted to thank me by making suits for me and Sparks. I decided to man the store whilst he worked and then you came in..." Colton exhaled with great force.

Just as he finished a tiny sparrow flew in from upstairs and landed on Colton's head, the bird gave Flux a curious look. Colton broke the silence once again, as he picked up the bird and presented him to Flux, "Flux, meet Sparks. Sparks, meet Flux."

Colton asked Cross-Stitch a question next, "So how are them suits coming along Cross-Stitch, has Sparks helped you out?"

[CrossStitch]

Cross-Stitch was comparing colors of fabric with the fabric on his back, "Oh, they are coming along quite fine." Cross-Stitch compared another two colors, Cross-Stitch smiled and put the fabric on his back with the other two colors. "And Sparks has been a great help." Cross-Stitch winked at the small sparrow with a warm smile. "Fetching this and that, holding spools, it's practically like having an extra set of hooves." Cross-Stitch threw one more piece of fabric over his back and trotted back to Colton, "I could probably have them done by tomorrow night."

Cross-Stitch turned to the new customer, "It is my pleasure madam." Cross-Stitch bowed his head slightly. The next part of the sentence caught Cross-Stitch off guard though, "A competent tailor, you say?" Another smile spread across Cross-Stitch's face as he looked back to Colton. "I'm very glad Colton has been a big help to you, if you need anything, I'm sure he's the one that can help you." Cross-Stitch nodded his head, as if confirming to himself that Colton was indeed up to any task.

[Neoniie]

"It sounds like you had quite a day. The Gala, you say? That organszer must be a rather generous pony and you an excellent delivery pony," Flux said. She wonder what exactly the Gala would be like, as she had always been much to involved in her experiments to attend. "I'm sure he shall," Flux added in response to Cross-Stitch's words.

At Sparks' introduction, Flux gave a quick nod at her name. "Nice to meet you, Sparks," Flux said. Tesla peeked his head out of his resting place in Flux's mane at the mention of another pet in the building. He clambered up atop Flux's head, much like Sparks had done. The two animals observed each other quickly and Tesla gave a chirping sound of greeting to the bird. "It seems that Tesla has finally woken up," Flux said, a slight teasing note in her voice. The unicorn was in an obviously good mood and it had rubbed off on the usually grumpier Tesla. He was being quite vocal and social which - based on Flux's research into ferrets - was a very important thing for his overall growth.

"So, what is the Gala like?" Flux asked Colton. "Is it as important and exciting as it is said to be?" Flux didn't really mind not attending such an event, as she wasn't the best at socializing at large gatherings, but her lack of knowledge about the subject had to be filled in.

[Conor Colton]

Colton hid his face and blushed again at the compliments he was being given.

He was glad to see that Sparks got along well with Flux and that Tesla got along well with Sparks too, which came as surprise to Colton, usually Sparks is very territorial. Colton let out a small chuckle at Flux's playful teasing of Tesla, Colton then finally spoke up, "Well it's good to see you two get along, and don't worry Tesla I understand how hard it would be to have a conversation with a knuckle-head like Sparks here." Colton said playfully as he petted Sparks.

He then turned his attention to Flux's gala question, he thought about it for a while and eventually spoke up, "Well it's really kinda hard to judge, when I attended two years ago it was one of the most boring nights of my life, but last years one was absolute chaos, so it's hard to get a good mental image. To be perfectly honest with you Flux the only way you can find out about it is to attend, but sadly I don't thin-" Colton was interrupted by Sparks pecking his head.

Colton looked at Sparks with a dissatisfied look, "What now?" Colton said as he exhaled. Sparks began to do the various gestures that he used to better communicate with Colton, it took a while for Colton to get it but he understood what Sparks was trying to say was that he should get tickets for Flux and Tesla. Colton then grabbed his bird friend and hugged him, "Sparks that's a great idea, why didn't I think of that?" Sparks responded with some gestures that loosely translated to 'because your stupid'

"Oh shut up feature brain." Colton composed himself and asked the inevitable question, "Uh....Flux? Would you, uh, like tickets to the gala?" Colton said as braced for impact, not knowing for sure how Flux would respond.

He then turned to Cross-Stitch, he didn't want him to feel neglected in the conversation so he said, "Uh, Sparks you go over there and help Cross-Stitch okay?" Sparks nodded as he raced over to Cross-Stitch.

[Neoniie]

Flux considered Colton's suggestion. It wasn't everyday that somepony offered you tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. She mulled it over in silence, listening to Tesla's quiet dooks. Tesla, for one, thought that it would be a great idea and -in his words- 'help you not be such a non-Gala going weirdo'. Flux smiled at his words, not offended as she knew he was merely teasing. Flux remembered also a book that had noted several very influential scientists and innventors attended the Gala.

Realizing that Colton had been waiting for her answer, she answered him quickly. "If you could manage it, Tesla and I would be in your debt. We would be ecstatic to go to the Gala. My friend in Cloudsdale has often mentioned it to be a rite of passage of sorts and it would be an excellent opportunity to meet many important ponies in my field of study." Flux was not very comfortable with asking such a large favour from a pony she had only just met, but she figured that if he had offered, it was a manageable feat for Colton to accomplish.

[Conor Colton]

Colton was surprised by Flux's response, he honestly didn't think she would actually want to go to the gala. He looked up quickly, sending Sparks across the room."Really, you guys want to go?" Colton asked, still unsure as to what had just transpired.

"Well that's brilliant! This is going to be so amazing." Colton said as he and Sparks danced around in the air with happiness, he quickly realised that he was in public and quickly grounded himself. "Sorry about that, I don't know what came over me, it's just, you guys being there will make this gala amazing, I just know it!" Colton exclaimed excitedly as Sparks nodded in agreement.

"Oh and by the way, you and Tesla don't owe me anything, I'm always eager to help." Colton said as he smiled towards Flux and Tesla.

Colton gestured Sparks with a slight head nudge and immediately after that Sparks reached into Colton's pocket and brought out two things, a small bag filled with money, and a rare artefact in the shape of a griffin he had kept as a souvenir from his travels as a sort of good luck charm. He instructed Sparks to go and give the bag of coins to Cross-Stitch and the little bird did just so, he then presented the artefact to Flux, "Here, I want you to have this." Colton said as he stretched out his hoof that was holding the artefact, "I think it's from some prehistoric griffin temple I was hired to help excavate a few years ago." Colton said as he put it on the floor in front of Flux.

(sorry you missed your turn CrossStitch, you'll have the next post )

[CrossStitch]

((Oh, I'm just casually observing right now, haha. Do go on))

[Conor Colton]

(oh, right haha, I guess you're up next then Neoniie)

[Neoniie]

Flux grinned at Colton's excitement, the reality of going to the Gala sinking in. Maybe it will be amazing, the unicorn considered. I will actually have friends to go with this time, I suppose. Flux herself was quite surprised by her decision. Attending a gathering like the Gala really wasn't something she would normally do, but Flux considered that perhaps acting out of character once in a while was a good thing. It could help her branch out and increase her knowledge. Besides, she figured that an event such as that would require good friendships, something Flux had few of. However, meeting Colton had changed her opinion somewhat; she wanted to go because she had reason to do so. Tesla seemed excited as well, if a bit tired. He was wearing a smile similar to that of his owner.

Flux was surprised by Colton's sudden gift. She lifted it up slightly with her magic, giving it a once-over and making some preliminary observations. "Fascinating," Flux breathed. "This really is quite old. I have never seen such a specimen in all my years. It is surprisingly intact as well, though I suppose Griffins to create stronger - or at least more durable - contraptions than ponies do. Griffins are quite a fascinating race." She pulled out her notebook, writing down a few preliminary thoughts while slowly turning the artifact. The artifact shook slightly as she moved it; her magic shaky from its extension across so many tasks. Flux replaced the notebook quickly, strengthening the magic on the artifact. "Are you sure you want me to have this, Colton? It is extremely rare and I am no archaeologist," Flux said, wanting to ensure Colton's confidence in his decision.

[Conor Colton]

Colton rubbed Sparks little head as sign of thanks for giving Cross-Stitch the money, "Good boy, now go and help with those suits okay boy." Sparks then speeded over at his master's command, Colton was surprised by this as usually Sparks did his own thing regardless of what Colton said.

He then turned his attention back to Flux and began to respond to her statements, "I was actually hired to be a courier to deliver orders to the excavators and I just found that lying on the ground, surprisingly though nopony seemed to care as they were just looking for minerals so they let me have it."

He then responded to Flux's question, "I'm defiently sure that you should have this." Colton stated in a clear tone to further emphasise his confidence in his decision. "Besides, your a lot smarter than I am, you'd probably get more use out of it than I ever could." Colton stated clearly once again, he then turned to see Sparks helping out Cross-Stitch and remembered another detail, "And that statue kinda gives Sparks the creeps." Colton said as he let out a small chuckle.

[Neoniie]

Flux nodded and carefully placed the statue in her bag, wrapping it in several pieces of fabric. This jolted Flux's memory and she quickly rummaged through her bag, producing a bag of bits. "I nearly forgot," Flux exclaimed, counting out several bits and placing them on the nearby counter. "I believe that should cover it."

"That aside, I thank you, Colton. I will do my best to discover something about this artifact." Flux bowed her head in thanks. She turned her head to check the time, ensuring that she was not running late for any tasks that Torvus had asked of her. "Oh!" Flux said, remembering her recent decision to go to the Gala. "Actually, I should probably look into getting some sort of formal wear for the Gala. I'm not particulary picky about these things, but it would be rather out of place not to at least attempt procuring some customary garments. Cross-Stitch, would you mind making me something once you've finished with Colton's request?"

[CrossStitch]

Cross-Stitch's ear twitched at his name. He turned from Sparks who had been assisting him with comparing colors.

"Pardon?" Cross-Stitch began trotting back over to the two, his back was now lined with a rainbow of fabric. He lowered his head and let his glasses fall of his face, but they were caught by a chain that connected the legs of the glasses behind his head. "Ah, you would like a dress for the Gala, then?" Cross-Stitch tilted his head at the request which caused some of his mane to fall in front of his face.

"Hmm..." Cross-Stitch's hoof raised to his chin as he pondered how he should respond, "I'm not exactly... 'Experienced' in dress making you see." Cross-Stitch bit his lip in hopes of not sounding rude. A sudden determined smile replaced his look of worry though. He clopped a single hoof on the ground, "But I sure can try!" He said in a triumphant tone.

[Conor Colton]

Colton watched with an odd look on his face as Flux bowed, he decided that in the spirit of things that he should also bow which he did gracefully.

"Thanks for being so courteous Flux, but there's really no need to thank me." Colton said as he smiled lightly, "If you want to know anything any details about that there statue just ask away." Colton stated confidently.

When he heard Flux request a dress to be made, Colton felt that Cross-Stitch had done enough already, but when Cross-Stitch accepted the challenge Colton was pleasantly surprised. Colton then thought of how it would all play out at the gala, and how the night would be so much better with these two there and then he smiled as he revelled in excitement but kept it contained in a smile, lest he look too eager.

[Neoniie]

"Thank you, Mr. Cross-Stitch. I'm certain that your work will be more than wonderful," Flux said, bowing her head once more in Cross-Stitch's direction. Flux wasn't really sure how exactly a dress for the Gala should look, as she had never worn a dress before. However, she trusted in Cross-Stitch's abilities and instead turned to Colton.

"Since you offered, I would be delighted to know anything you can tell me about the statue." Flux pulled out her notebook once more, turning to a fresh page. She felt strangely like a journalist, waiting patiently for Colton's response and preparing to write down as much as she could.

[Conor Colton]

Colton turned his attention to Flux once gain and away from his backpack, he started to recall all the details of the day he found the statue.

"Well it started with me and Sparks getting a job as couriers to deliver orders from Appleousa to nearby mine, we took the job since we were running low on money at the time." Colton stopped to recall more and to breath, he composed himself and continued. "This mine was in the middle of the desert in some backwater cave and when me and Sparks reached it we were told that the pony in charge was already deep in the mine so as we made our way there we had a bit of an accident." Colton then looked over at Sparks helping Cross-Stitch. "Sparks must have touched something that he shouldn't have an there was a rock slide, nopony was hurt and me and Sparks found the statue in the rubble."

Colton wanted to wrap this up because he thought he was rambling, "After our job was done, me and Sparks went to see a professional in Ponyville, and she told us that the statue was at least hundreds of years old, but when I asked why was it in the desert in Appleousa she didn't have the foggiest idea."

Colton was dissatisfied with his explanation as he thought that it wasn't very informative, but then he remembered another thing the professional had told him, "Wait, I forgot something, she said that the statue had had signs on it that it wasn't made by hoof, or talon, or whatever. She said it looked like it was made by a machine, but she still didn't understand how." Colton paused for breath and then finished up, "Sorry if that wasn't very informative Flux, but I hope it helped." Colton said as he rubbed the back of his head.

[CrossStitch]

Cross-Stitch bowed his head as well, as was habit to him. "It's no problem at all. A challenge is always a great way to better oneself. " Cross-Stitch raised his head and glanced at both the ponies, addressing them both with his next sentence, "Well, with so many orders, I do believe I should get to work." Cross-Stitch began trotting towards the stairs once more with a happy smile. He never assumed he would get this much business on his first day, nor did he assume he would meet this many nice ponies. He trotted with a little hop in his trot whilst humming a sweet tune to himself.

[Neoniie]

"Actually, that gives me much more information. In fact, I provides several new options to look into," Flux assured Colton, sensing his dissatisfaction with his explanation. A Griffin artifact in Applelossa? Quite odd. Perhaps the Griffin's had a civilization there at some point. I should research it once I'm done here. Flux could tell that she had lots of time to spare, so she sat down and began to write. "Do excuse me, Colton. Perhaps you can tell me some tales to pass the time? I would quite like to know about more of your life." Flux made sure to keep an ear out for Colton's response, not wanting to get too engulfed in her work.

[Conor Colton]

Colton was once again pleasantly surprised, usually nopony would ask about his travels, he felt honoured in a sense. He sat down next to Flux and began to remember a tale from his past.

"Once, me and Sparks went to Ponyville to get some information on a lead we had at the time for a job, the employer was a collector of sorts, he would find odd and unusual items that nopony could possibly want and kept it displayed in his house, naturally I kept the statue a secret." Colton stopped to recall the next part and then continued on.

"This guy was after something special, something that nopony seemed to want, he wanted a dragon emerald. I asked what a dragon emerald was and he told me that it was a prized jewel of a dragons treasure keep and would be displayed at the very top of the pile of riches. He pointed me and Sparks to what he called a 'deserted dragons den' so me and Sparks wouldn't have to fear anything." Colton stopped for breath and cringed as he continued.

"When we finally arrived we just wanted to get the emerald and leave as quickly as we came, but we ran into a slight....complication." Colton stated as he cringed even more, "It turns out this dragons den wasn't as deserted as we were told, there was a dragon in there, and he wasn't happy to see us. Me and Sparks barely got out of there alive but we did manage to snag what looked like an emerald." Colton wanted to wrap this up as he had a tendency to ramble on.

"When we got back to the guy and told him that he lied to us, all he said was that me and Sparks had took the wrong jewel and that he demanded a refund. I stood there and tried to argue with him but Sparks was having none of it, he trashed that guys home, knocking over everything he had collected over the years, naturally me and Sparks got out of there and when the authorities arrived they called him crazy for saying a bird destroyed his home. Which left Sparks and me with a nice little jewel."

Colton exhaled heavily and waited for Flux's response to his tale.

[Neoniie]

Flux couldn't help but smile at his story. "That sounds like quite an adventure. Sparks seems like a slightly troublesome bird, but a faithful companion." She wondered whether such a jewel truly existed, as it sounded like a mere fabrication by Colton's employer. "I wonder what his true motives were, since he seems to be a rather shady fellow. Though perhaps it was a simple misunderstanding."

"In fact, that reminds me of a story that Torvus once recounted to me. It was many years ago, when Torvus was still a colt, and the clock tower was newly built. A building contractor requested that he find a rare material that he called 'Adminium'. Apparently, it was immensely strong and useful in construction. Torvus went out in search of the material, but his efforts were fruitless. He even visited the Griffin homeland of Aquellia to enquire about Adminium. When he returned, the mysterious contrator had disappeared. Torvus attempted to contact those who were involved with project, but they had disappeared as well. No one had heard of the contractor nor even seen him. It was quite a peculier event." Flux reflected more closely on the story as she told it, noticing implications that she hadn't when the story was first told.

"It sounds rather like a ghost story to me. I am loathe to believe concepts without some sort of proof, but I do not deny their existance until evidence to the contrary is provided. What is your opinion on the matter, Colton?"

[Conor Colton]

"Funny thing that you would mention that that guy was shady, you're gonna love this, it turns out that most of his so called 'collectibles' were items that he had stolen from other collectors, or hired ponies to steal them for him. When the guards got that information they put him away for a very long time, so if Sparks hadn't destroyed his stuff then he wouldn't have got caught."

Colton snapped back into reality from his world of nostalgia when Flux asked his opinion on the matter she previously mentioned, he took a few moments to collect his opinions and then answered, "Well that's a pretty creepy story Flux, but very interesting to say the least, you're mentor must have some pretty interesting stories to tell." Colton said as he thought about what type of person Flux's mentor might be, he assumed the best and continued to answer Flux's question.

"I don't honestly know Flux, I'm not really one to assume without proof either, but sometimes things can surprise you I guess."

Colton stated as he thought over all the strange things he had seen in the past and wondered if all of them had a logical explanation.

Colton then turned the questioning on Flux, "So, you have any tales of your own to pass the time, surely somepony who's studying science would have some interesting stories to tell." Colton asked inquisitively.

[Neoniie]

"Well, if you're interested, I could tell you the story of how I go my cutie mark." Flux paused for a moment, recalling the tale.

"I had one night left before our final project was due and I still had no idea what to write. I was supposed to be writing about “a topic that interests” me; the only problem was that I had no idea what I was interested in! Being one of the few ponies without a cutie mark remaining in my class, I was still attempting to find my talents and specific interests. My observation of the differences in the potency of magic between unicorns had provided me with some interest in magic's inner workings, but I knew I could never finish such a study in one night. Just when all seemed lost, a spark of inspiration came to me.

That's it! Now if I can just find some of those glass things that my dad had lying around... With renewed vigour, I dashed around her house, gathering all the necessary materials. As I poured some liquids into a strangely shaped glass, I went over the steps in my head. Magic without magic! Genius! Changing the colours of liquids using this chemical should be unique enough. Now, pour the lemon juice into the chemical and stir slightly... I worked through the night, not stopping until my essay had been completed. Grabbing some extra supplies for my live performance, I dashed out the door and arrived just in time for the beginning of classes.

Unfortunately, I had grabbed a rather volatile chemical rather than the one I had meant to use in my haste. The result was a minor explosion that managed to turn the blackboard even blacker and resulted in the singeing of my mane. However, when the dust and soot cleared, I saw that my very own cutie mark had appeared. This sign of my talent, combined with the energy that experimenting had filled me with, set my hooves on my current path." Flux stopped at the conclusion of her tale.

"I suppose I could tell you about a particularly interesting experiment of mine, but first, a question. How did you obtain your cutie mark, Colton?"