StrawberryBlossom

Rarity was hard at work on another order for Hoity Toity, and it was going so well! While more... shall we say... universal designs were required for this order, the unicorn had taken most marvelous inspiration simply from watching all of the citizens of Ponyville, and was currently working on touches that accentuated the wonderful wings of pegasus ponies without interfering with function. Something that would float gracefully about pinions in flight without endangering the flier! Something that became an entirely new outfit when pegasi took to the air, a wonder on the wing! She would have to have her winged friends try it out, of course, but as far as she could tell it was working out marvelously! Rarity barely heard Sweetie Belle come in, though she caught the tune. A second or so later and she was humming along, clicking a hoof against the floor now and again. Her little Sweetie was so talented! Of course, it did run in the family. Rarity smiled, bobbing her head lightly and stitching along to the beat of the song. Wait. Wait a moment. What were those lyrics? Rarity froze, ears going back. One ear twitched every time a mud drop hit the ground. Soon an eyelid was twitching with it. Surely not. Surely not. Sweetie Belle knew better. Slowly - dread rising from her very hooves - slowly she raised her head, eyes focusing on the mud trail and the dirty little foal leaving it. All. Over. Her. Shop. It was a moment before she could close her dropped jaw, and she tried to call after her sister. "S... s... sw...." She couldn't quite get it out. A moment to gather herself. "Sweetie Belle!" There. That sounded firm and strong and not at all hysterical. "Sweetie Belle! What! Are! You! Doi-i-i-i-i-i-ing?!" Her voice had been rising in pitch as she spoke; the last syllable was drawn into a shrill, staccato wail as she drummed her forehooves against the floor, quite unable to contain her anguish.

Strawberry laughed, coming to his side proper to look at the book. "Nice to meet a like-minded gentleman - this forest and its plants, they're the whole reason I'm here! Came from Fillydelphia, y'see... are you from here? Ponyville's a nice place - lots of friendly ponies." A smile as she glanced over at him. Then she was back to the book, leaning down to examine an illustration more closely. "I get what you mean - easy to get sidetracked in here, it's all wonderful. Y'notice that moss hanging from the trees? I've seen it before but not like this - there aren't a whole lot of large trees where I cone from, and any that grows on 'em gets cleaned off, so you don't see a whole lot of moss for long. I dunno, I guess it's not good to let it get out of hand, but...." She paused, clearing her throat. "Er, sorry. Anyway, Night Blooms... haven't seen 'em myself - or any night-blooming plants. But hey - maybe we'll have more look working together, right?" She grinned back at him with another flick of her tail, grinning.

"I've got candy for anypony that wants it!" Twist assured Sweetie Belle, offering her the bag. "I've even got pink and purple stripes!" A giggle as she looked over at Sunrise. "Nice to meet you - I'm Twist." She smiled at the question, shaking her head. "Nah - we're kind of having a crazy day today." She looked at the foal on the roof again, ears perking further forward. "It happens. But I gotta admit - pretty weird even for here!" Another giggle, this one a little nervous. She couldn't imagine what the new ponies must think - this was some welcome!

Ramaza is ADORABLE - I love his scruffy coat! I'll hve to check out your dA page when I get home from work. ^^

Twist smiled at Starlight and Grim's remarks, tail whisking happily. "Glad you like them! Maybe I could show you how - it'll be fun, even if they're not your big thing!" She followed Grim automatically, givng Starlight a smile to indicate she'd like him to come too. "Not usually so... um... exciting here either," she admitted. Darn, there was that cursed 's' again, hiding where she least expected! Oh well; she was feeling comfortable with the colts, and was less careful with her word choices for the moment. "A new foal's pretty exciting - with three maybe it's multiplying. I like you two at least," she added, glancing back toward where Champ sat with a sigh. Bet he'd fit right in with SIlver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. Twist was barely listening to the foal on the roof now, instead paying attention to Grim and Starlight, though she kept one ear on the situation. (Fireponies? Even more excitement! This was gonna be some kind of year.) She looked up as Sunrise approached though, smiling with an apologetic shrug. "Don't know - we were told to go to lunch when that foal kicked up her...." Ruckus? No. What meant the same? Riot? Maybe. Fuss? Even stronger 's'. Commotion? Ah ha! "...commotion. Here - want a candy cane?" Another new foal... Ponyville was really booming lately! She offered her bag to Sunrise so she could pick out a candy cane... and nearly spilled them as Champ shouted and she gave a surprised little buck, rescuing her candy canes in the nick of time and looking toward him with hooded eyes. Well, he DID have a point, but still.

Strawberry jumped a respectable distance herself at the cry. Holy Celestia and Night-Blessed Luna, were the plants here so different that they answered when you talked?! No. Of course not, that was absurd....right? She slowly turned to see a unicorn peering around a tree. Ah - that had to be it. She smiled, ears perking as the slender little stallion came fully into view. Huh - cute little guy, and he seemed friendly. "Oh! Oh, uh... sorry about that, sir." She lowered her head slightly with a sheepish smile, peeking through her forelock at the unicorn. Argh, she hoped she was right this time after her mistake with poor Sugar Orange - Bramble looked like a male to her at least, though with a pretty, delicate look. Strawberry's sister would kill to be so slender and elegant... she decided that was best not mentioned, though. A brief pause and she trotted forward to greet him properly (following his example by turning slightly to show her own cutie mark). "I'm Strawberry Blossom. Didn't mean to startle you, didn't realize anypony was out here!" She laughed, giving her tail a cheerful flick. "Was just looking at these plants out here... y'like 'em too?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmVmtvNju0g I'd like Rarity's TELL ME hoofstomping around 8:50 - 8:52... the bit where she raises her head up.

Madam? Strawberry laughed softly at that, laying down with her legs tucked beneath her as she gazed off toward the sunrise. "Sure is. Nothing like the sunrise after a long night, right? 'Course, I like night too, especially since I found all those night blooms in the forest." She raised a forehoof to cover a yawn. "Hn! 'Scuse me - been out all night, longer than I meant." A smile as she looked at the foal again, head tilting. "Been out all night too? Was wondering what a little filly was doing out here alone - sorry for waking you, was just concerned. Want me to walk you back into Ponyville before I head home?" She shifted a little, nosing into her saddlebag to retrieve a few strawberries to offer the child. "Here - got a few things you can eat on the way. Early berries so they're a little tart, but not too sour... I'm Strawberry Blossom, by the way."

Twist winced as Champ crushed the candycane, ears laying back as she rested her chin on her desk, eyes half-closed in a hurt expression. She'd worked really hard on those! And... well... she'd tried. Someponies just couldn't be made friends with, maybe. Her chin remained flat on the desk as she watched Sweetie Belle get up, barely twitching her ears up as she tried to give the little unicorn an encouraging smile. Then the first clunk sounded on the roof and she bolted upright in shock, nearly falling right over before recovering and staring up at the ceiling in confusion. A few clatters later and she jumped again as the bell began clinging and a little voice sounded from above. Wow. She looked over at Cheerilee as the teacher addressed them, ears flicking forward. Recess? Well... with that, maybe she could talk to Grim, Starlight, and the others a little more, and find out what was going on on the roof to boot! With that in mind she got to her hooves and trotted for the door, completely ignoring Champ but offering a smile to Grim and Starlight. "Hi you two... I hope you liked them!"

Twist was nearly done handing out her candies when the ruckus started. She jumped a little as Grim launched out of his seat, and turned to stare at the three ponies in question. Ohh, she'd known that blue colt looked like trouble! "Here you go... um, Starlight, right?" she murmured to the white pegasus - entirely forgetting that she wasn't supposed to be using 's' words, but she didn't notice her slipup in the general commotion, merely selecting a candy cane with multicolored sugar swirls to offer him. Once that was handed out, she headed back to her own desk, dropping off candies to foals that didn't have them. She hesitated slightly before setting one at Champ's new desk, since she had a feeling he would have nothing nice to say and she was just setting herself up, but in the end he got one too. It was even blue, since she'd been trying to match candy sticks to their recipients. "You'll be great!" she assured Sweetie Belle in passing (back to avoiding the Dread S now). "You had a great time I bet, and I like hearing you." Twist had, after all, caught a few snatches of song from time to time as she passed Sweetie Belle. Wouldn't it be awesome if she made a summer vacation song? Not likely with how shy she seemed, but it would be cool. Maybe she should say it aloud? She carefully set a purple and pink candy can on Sweetie's desk so it would be there when she got back, deciding that yes, it was worth suggesting. "Maybe making it to a tune will help you!" she whispered. Gosh, she hoped she hadn't just put to much pressure on her! Twist hated it when people pressured her. Grim was her last stop; she offered him a darker purple-striped cane with a smile. "And um... what you did for her was... pretty cool." With that she scurried back to her own seat to await Sweetie's presentation.

Strawberry yawned as she trotted home, working to keep her eyes on the path. After a long night, she'd finally left Everfree a bit after midnight and, still feeling fresh and awake, had decided to circle around Ponyville for a look at other plants under moonlight (and perhaps a few more night-blooming flowers). Now, though, she was exhausted, and her little rented hut couldn't come into sight fast enough! Tired as she was, she nearly missed spotting the sleeping foal. Then the rising sun just caught a gleam of silver on the blanket, flashing into Strawberry's eyes. She blinked, giving her head a shake, and then glanced toward the source; perhaps some pony had lost a trinket of some kind out here? That, or a foal. She moved toward the young pony, looking around in slight bewilderment. No sign of parents, older siblings, or other caretakers. No sign of friends the little filly might be camping out with. No one at all except Strawberry herself - yet the child looked awfully content for someone lost. Hm. Well, while Strawberry knew that young foals often played unsupervised, this seemed like a bit much - it was probably best to investigate. o she walked carefully up to the foal, leaning down to gently nudge her shoulder. "Hey. Wake up, cutie... you okay out here?"

^^ I'm a little curious as to what sets her apart from Twist, who has the same pelt color with red mane and tail and whose special talent is making peppermint candies. ^^

She's a cutie - I love the goggles! (Always been partial to them.) Looking forward to seeing her around!

Perhaps Strawberry Blossom? I think it'd be fun to see her in other styles! (Though she doesn't have an orientation yet - I tend to let my characters grow into that as I play, and Berry hasn't been here long enough to gravitate toward anyone romantically or otherwise yet. |3 Just a few posts in doncha know.) Or canon-wise... would have to say either Rainbow Dash or concur on Miss Mayor. ^^

"Okay!" Twist paused just before the 'Miss Cheerilee'. Drats! Her plan to avoid the difficult sounds left her without a good way to address the teacher! Well... she would have to figure that out later. The filly dipped her nose into her saddlebag to retrieve her bag of candy and trotted to the front of the class, setting the treats on the desk before turning to address her fellow students. "I went to Manehattan for a month - my grandmother moved there awhile back to live with my aunt!" she said brightly. So far so good - maybe this was actually going to work! "Grandma taught me to make candy a long time ago, and I really love it! And during my month in Manehattan, she taught me a new way to mix more than one flavor into a candy cane." Twist smiled and turned to nudge her bag open, showing off colorfully striped peppermint sticks - some had green striping with the pink and white for spearmint, others were blueberry or even orange striped, one or two were even licorice (Twist didn't like it, but apparently some ponies loved it). She paused a moment, head tilting. "I brought enough for everypony - who wan--" Brief pause - she'd almost slipped up! "Um, who would like candy cane number one?" That sounded weird, but maybe it was less noticeable than her lisp. She paused, remembering something, and looked sheepishly over at Cheerilee. "Um... if you don't mind, I mean."

Careful with that 'Aw, fudge' - you'll attract marauding Pinkies!

Twist was one of those foals - the ones who were always right on time to class, if not a little early - and was already perched at her chosen desk (near the front, but not so close as to draw attention) by the time most of the others started filing in. Her ears perked up as she heard Cheerilee mention names unfamiliar to her - Starlight, Grim - and she peeked up, muzzle still deep in her saddlebag where she'd been nosing around for her pencils and notepad. Hm. They weren't the only new colts either - she couldn't remember seeing the blue one before either. Well, maybe they'd turn out to be nice! Then again, maybe not. There was something about the blue colt that made her wary in a familiar way. Well, maybe the other two. She retrieved her supplies and set them on her desk, shaking frizzy mane from her eyes as she watched Cheerilee take charge of the class as always. What I Did Over The Summer. And no, Twist did not want to go first! It wasn't that she was particularly shy. And it wasn't that she'd had a bad summer, of course. She'd gotten to visit her grandma, and learn all kinds of new candymaking tricks - in fact, she had enough for the whole class stashed in her saddlebag! But... while Twist had never noticed before attending school regularly, but last year a certain pair of fillies had made her very aware that she didn't talk like other foals, and she remembered the sneers all too well. She didn't mean to, and she didn't see how it made much difference as long as everyone understood her, but... well. "She sells seashells by the seashore," she muttered under her breath. No. Still not right. But wait! Maybe she could talk about it without any of those pesky 's' sounds! Then she could make a good first impression with help from her candies, and get this year started right! A bit cheered by this resolution, she listened attentively as the new foals escibed their summers. A haunted house? And Wonderbolts? Wow! Champ's story was... well, less exciting; Twist wasn't sure how he could not like working in the toy shop, but everypony to his own likes, she guessed. She hoped they all liked candy. When Scootaloo spoke up Twist rested her chin on her desk, ears twisting briefly toward Apple Bloom. She'd wondered what Bloom and her new friends had been up to; she had seen very little of them over the summer, but had heard the tales and seen the aftermath of a few adventures. It sounded dangerous. It sounded like fun. Maybe she could join them some time? Sure, she already had her mark and couldn't really explain how, except that making those peppermint candies just right had felt right, like a breakthrough... but maybe they'd want, oh, a mark-spotter on hand to see if anything was happening. She resolved to ask Apple Bloom, and slowly raised her hoof as Scootaloo chattered. She would go next, and show off her candies, and make a good impression for the new school year!

"I'll be by before I leave for the forest!" she called after Pinkie. Heh, cute pony. Strawberry wasn't sure how she'd handle a bigger dose of Pinkie, but that little glimpse had been entertaining. "Glad to hear it!" she called to Sugar Orange before turning to help Inkwell. As the unicorn had directed, she lifted each picture carefully, waiting for his direction before setting it on display. As she set the Everfree painting down again, Strawberry paused to admire it again. "I think I'll take it," she said slowly, smiling. "After all, first thing a new home needs is a pretty new decoration, right? I was gonna get some flowers in the forest if I saw any, but I'm not familiar with all the types so I guess I better not touch just yet. Say, y'know what these flowers're called? They look amazing, and they're perfectly painted... think I'll see any tonight? Thanks for the warning by the way." She went back to work on arranging the paintings, ears flicking toward Inkwell's conversation with the pegasus as she carefully nudged paintings into place. Twenty bits... she could afford that, and it was more than worth it!

I would vote for Sweetie Belle getting hers first - she seems to exercise her talent a lot more than the other two, so is more likely to hit on what sets her apart from other singers/songwriters simply due to volume. Her specialty seems to be 'sweeter' tunes, fitting in with the theme naming, and it seems reasonable for her to moonlight by writing for other singers, or composing themes for stage shows. I see her mark as eighth notes or a treble clef inside a heart. Then she'll become a romantic balladeer, with Rarity on hand to design her stage costumes. Apple Bloom is very outgoing and apparently good at designing, not that we've seen her do much of it. She might be the one to spread the Sweet Apple name through traveling sales and clever advertising banners; as such, the apple cart that appeared when she had Twilight try to magic a cutie mark onto her seems a good fit. Scootaloo will likely be the last; she's harder to pin down, seeming mainly athleticism, and will have a harder time sorting out what sets her apart from other athletes like Rainbow Dash. Since she was pegged as a choreographer as I recall, it may be that aerobatics will be her talent once she learns to fly (which she can't seem to do yet); perhaps a trio of spirals to represent looping, twisting maneuvers. And of course.... we may never know. ^^

What a cutie! I love the little backfin - I hadn't drawn Wave Chaser with one but I might need to now. |3 Thanks for the heads up!

Some people roleplay cast members - there's a list here showing who is available and who can be applied for. ^^ Otherwise? You get to make your own ponies and critters! Be sure to check the species lists once you're clear to post everywhere. ^^ And welcome! Your description could be mine - except I'm Nikki. ^^

Welcome aboard! We're glad to have you and hope you have a good time. ^^

It did indeed! Though Strawberry's pigtails are a bit longer, I imitated slightly for some doodles. And now. Horribly rough roughs. I don't like working in pen because I am bad at it and can't erase and it is scary, and I love working in pen because I can't erase so it just forces me to go with it without getting nitpicky, you know? These were done at work on sad, wrinkly receipt paper, but I'm happy I got the ideas down. Rough for Rough'n'Ready: Got his basic look, just working on the 'still fit but getting thicker with age' thing. Also, it was surprisingly hard to draw a male muzzle thanks to habits learned for female. Rough for Raspberry Blossom: Again a basic look. Need to make her head bigger and perhaps her back shorter, but this is why Celestia gave us SAI. Aaaaaand working on Strawberry Blossom, specifically her forelock. |D Original concept was the forelock through forward: , like this handsome fellow here. Working on Bramble's suggestions for a more manelike look, I tried this - not quite right, but not terrible. Tried again with the simple solution of a central part. I don't like it, but am showing in the interest of full disclosure (and drawn more carefully it might look okay for another pony, but not Strawberry.) So I went back to the second one and replicated it with less... emphasis on the central tuft. Need to tweak the fall a little more, but it looks cute and is something I can easily cheat for best look in 3/4 or profile view. Might be on to something with this one! And thus ends a boring look at process. Thanks to Bramble and Willow Wisp for tips! (And thank you too, Tales. ^^)

I got Zecora of all ponies. Interesting!

What a cutie! I just wanna fluff up his mane.