[ponyville] Seeking Purpose (Open)

[Lux]

It was evening in Ponyville. The sun had already set and the moon had risen in the sky. In town many of the ponies had already closed up their businesses for the day save for a few eating establishments. Many of the ponies were at home with a few still out in town talking to each other. Yet there was one pony who seemed to stand out in this setting.

In the town square, seated on a bench, was a colt, young enough that he received his cutie mark about a year ago. In the moonlight his white pelt and silvery mane and tail seemed to be illuminated. He appeared to be deep in thought about something as he looked up at the moon. "What is my purpose," he asked himself, "I got my cutie mark, and I know my talent, but now what? What am I supposed to do with creating light other than helping ponies see?" Frustrated he put his hooves to his head. "I wish there was somepony who could do the same light magic or somepony who knew about it to teach me some things."

[Pennwick]

((OoC: Could you establish a time of year? I'm assuming its winter, sometime after Hearthwarming's eve. If its not I can change my post to reflect the correct time of year.))

Ashton tugged futilely at his saddlebag trying to adjust it. Why did it feel so uncomfortable? Maybe it was the weather or maybe the straps were just wearing out. Either way he was eager to take a break from his wandering before seeking a place to stay for the night. Of course without any map he wasn't going to make progress all that quickly, he seemed to keep ending up in, what he guessed was, the middle of town.

Few ponies seemed to be about, and fewer still weren't always engaged in conversation. The only one not occupied seemed to be a bluish pony sitting on a bench. Or he could be white, it was always hard to discern correct colors at night. The snow crunched beneath his hooves as he made his way over. He seemed to be distracted by something. He didn't want to break the colt's line of thought but after waiting a few moments the unicorn's impatience won out. "Excuse me? You wouldn't happen to know where I could find a place to stay would you?"

[Lux]

(OOC: I'd go with winter to stick with the overall season of the board).

Guiding Light was surprised to hear a pony. Was he really talking that loudly. No, this pony didn't seem to be speaking to him about what guiding Light was saying. He was asking about a place to stay. Indeed it looked like this pony was traveling with such a big saddlebag, and it looked like this pony had never been to Ponyville.

"Oh hello there," Light said in his quiet tone, "I'm sorry I didn't see you there. I was thinking about something."

His mind then focused on the pony's question. "A place to stay? Well um there is the Ponyville Inn. It's just up the street. Never been there myself, but I heqard it's nice."

[Pennwick]

Ashton glanced up the road. He thought he had already tried that direction, he supposed he could be wrong though. All these streets covered in snow looked pretty similar. He turned back to the colt. "Mind if I sit down for a bit?"

He wormed his way out of the straps and deposited his saddlebags on the ground. He could never really muster the magic to get out of them properly. The bag slid onto the snowy ground in a heap before the unicorn sat on the other side of the bench and stared off into the distance.

[Lux]

"Um... sure," Lux said. It looked like the pony was making a beeline to the bench anyway. Lux scooted over to let the pony sit. There was a time as a foal he was almost sat on because he blended in so well with the snow with his white pels and silvery mane and tail. It was a bit traumatic for him, and caused him not to sit on benches in the snow for awhile.

"So um... it looks like you're traveling. Are you staying around here, or going somewhere else eventually?" Lux was desparately trying to establish some type of conversation. It was awkward starting up a conversation for him, be it a pony he knew or a complete stranger like this unicorn. It wasn't like Lux had nothing to say, but saying it was a struggle.

[Pennwick]

"Its a little complex." he said as he turned his head back to the colt. "There's a store in town, Carousel Boutique I think. I've seen the owners designs in a few shops, they seem to use quite a few gemstones. I was hoping to sell some rubies there but the store was closed today." He paused, considering the second part of the question. "I'll probably end up going back to Canterlot for a while after this. At least until spring."

He stopped. He hadn't really thought about what he would do next. He had hoped by staying in the Magical capital of Equestria his abilities would improve by osmosis or something. But he supposed leaving shortly after sunup and staying in his room all evening wasn't helping him make much progress. But he couldn't really bring himself to ask for help. Judging by the cutie mark this colt probably had more magical ability than him. He realized that he was probably staring and turned his head back to a frozen fountain in the middle of the square. "I mean... I'm trying to... Nevermind." he didn't really feel comfortable talking about it.

[Lux]

"Carosuel Botique," Guiding Light said in a questioning tone, trying to remember where it was in Ponyville or what it sold, "Oh yes the dress shop. Um... I think i know the owner... what was her name... oh it is Rarity. Her sister, Sweetie Belle, is in my class."

Light looked over and saw that the unicorn sitting next to him was deep in thought, as if something dealing with Canterlot made him think. He then started saying something, but didn't really finish. "Um... what was that you were wanting to do?"

[Pennwick]

The unicorn sat quietly. It was the kind of thing he didn't want to talk about, it was shameful. It was like being a griffin that couldn't fly. Maybe the reason he never asked for help is because he knew he was deficient. He gave a heavy sigh. "I don't know. I guess I wanted to figure out if I could do magic."

His legs felt a little numb as he uncomfortably shifted. "I mean, I can do some things but the rest of my family. They make it look so easy. Me, I feel like my head is going to explode and I can't move or talk or I lose whatever it is I'm trying to do. That's not normal right?"

[Lux]

"Well um you're a unicorn, so you could do magic," Guiding Light said. His logic did seem fairly flawless even for being a foal who still had alot to learn in the world. Even as foals, ponies are taught about their respective races: eath ponies are strong and often like working with the land, pegasus ponies have wings and work with the sky, unicorns have horns and work with magic.

Then Light realized that this pony wasn't asking about if he could do magic, but why he seemed to struggle doing so. "Oh, so you're having trouble doing magic, right? Well ... um... I just learned my magical talent a short time ago, but ..um... I was told that the best way to use magic was to be calm and rather than force it just to let it happpen naturally. At least that's what my parents told me."

[Pennwick]

Ashton kept staring out into the square thinking back on what his own parents had told him. Really it had been his grandfather who had taught him, wanting him to start at an early age but all his advice really boiled down to was either try again or try harder. He didn't exactly have any Unicorn friends or teachers to talk about it with back home. He just assumed it was difficult for everyone at first. Of course he had gotten better at hiding the strain as years went on. Of course if most Unicorns used a different kind of focus that changed things. If he was doing it wrong since he was young how would he even learn to do it right.

"I don't suppose there are any schools for Unicorns who never learned how to do magic properly are there?" his voice sounded a little bitter but still hopeful about it. Maybe he could find a book in a library somewhere. Still it was disheartening to know that he had been struggling for years with the basics. He supposed the fact that Griffin schooling never really covered magic never really helped things.

[Lux]

Once again the unicorn looked as if he was deep in thought. Obviously this talk about him looking for magic training was creatine a sore spot for him. In the sense the two were similar, looing for purpose. Guiding knew his magic but was looking for how to use it to help others. This pony, it seemed was looking for how to use his magic more effectively.

"Well .. um... there aren't any schools in Ponyville that teach unicorns. Thereis the Ponyvilly School where I'm taught math and reading and things, but not magic. I wish there was a place here. Then I could learn how to use my magic the best way possible. There is a library, so that might be a good start if you want to read something."

[Pennwick]

Something about what the colt said caught his attention. "Huh? I always figured they would have magic classes in Equestria." When all your classmates are Griffins it kind of makes sense that the subject gets skipped over but when your classmates and neighbors are unicorns you would think at least the basic theories would get taught. "So what was it you were hoping to learn?" he was a bit eager to steer the conversation in a diffrent direction. He was happy to have the chance to change the subject.

[Lux]

"Well... they teach you some basics, but that's really it," Giuding Light said. The unicorn was trying to change the subject, shifiting it back on Light's problem. It was probably just as well as he seemed that the other unicorn seemed to be uneasy explaining his problem.

"Well... um ... you see I know what my magic ability is. I can create light like this..." Guiding Light then seemed to focus as his horn glowed with a silvery aura. Then a little ball of light shot out of the tip of the horn and floated in midair above Light. "It' great and all but I'm trying to find a purpose to use it other than helping ponies find their way around at night."

[Pennwick]

Ashton's eyes were fixed on the orb. That kind of spell would be useful in his line of work thats for sure. He wouldn't need to carry around a hot lamp all the time. Though he supposed he might miss the heat when it was gone. "Well I suppose you could guide ponies underground too but that's pretty much the same isn't it?" It appeared to be a ordinary souceless light to him. Kind of like the kind inside the streetlamps in Canterlot.

"Well can you tell me anything else about it? Like is it warm or does it last a long time?" he was a little envious but also honestly interested. Even though he didn't have a spell of his own he had always been interested in the specifics of the spells the others in his family could cast.