CherryRie

First part of the eventual pic, I'm struggeling a little though so I thought I'd post it early to grab some help.

Should I have given her background limbs too? I've tried to add them in a few times now but they never seem to look right.

Dear Princess Celestia,

It's yours.

As the traveller stood silhouetted in the newly expanded doorway, a small head slowly appeared at shoulder height peeping around the broken frame.

“Woops.â€Â

Cherry looked up at the stallion with a grin that wouldn’t have been out of place on a kindergartener who’d just seen somepony with their head in the cookie jar.

“Think ya might have broke it chief.†She giggled, turning to look at their host “You know I’m starting to think this place has been abandoned an awful longer than a few decades. Either that, or there's a collony of comically inclined woodworm somewhere.â€Â

Everyone makes mistakes, its good that you could recognise and changed them.

Do you feel that the story is better for it though? From a reader's point of view the difrence is significant but flows through to the next chaptor. Unlike the auther, we don't see the knockon effect as it were, the subsiquent alterations that have to be made to the plot to suit the new conditions. The new chapter eleven is a definate improvment, keeping the tone in line with the rest of the fic. Though I was a little disapointed that some of the interaction between the aditional characters was lost, I am also left wondering how much your aproach to the rest of the story has changed to suit?

Did you have to abandon a significant chunk of plans, or was the trasision smoother then you expected?

It was difficult to say how the little filly felt about this kind offer. Most other Pegasus foals would have leapt at the chance of flying lessons, especially from a weather pony, to whom the sky was a blue canvas of possibility. A twinkle of eagerness in Peanut’s eyes suggested that the same lofty desire coursed through her blood as any of her species. Yet this excitement didn’t seem to spread beyond the sapphire ovals, her cheerful body language boding an unconvincing air of nonchalance.

Other pegasi from the weather team had made similar compliments and offers in the past, all having been met with the same response. To young Peabee, something’s were more important than being what strangers thought you should be. Promises for example, even if made to one’s self.

So why did the inevitable answer always make her feel so inapt?

“Thank you Miss Tempest. That’s really nice of you, but its okay. I don’t really want to fly anyway.â€Â

Smilling broadly, the young filly trotted over to where Daisy was mopping up to proffer an apology and procure a mop of her own.

Cloud kicker was at a loss. Pegasus Fillies with earthpony parents were strange enough, but for the kid to be genuinely uninterested in flying? That was just a little too weird.

“Huh... Well I’d better get going then,†Announced the newly appointed messenger, shooting the filly another baffled look and making a personal note to ask the kids parents about her unusual aversion “Train’s not gona catch itself. I’ll come find ya when I’m back, Tempy. See-ya!â€Â

With that she pranced out of the door and was gone in a blur of beating wings.

Peabee dragged her mop around the floor, carefully goose stepping her own hoof pints as she ran the wet rag through them. As she passed Maxx, the filly felt a small pang of cold guilt again, worried that the gentlecolt was still annoyed at her misbehaver.

“Mister Rockyfilly?†She asked, honestly “I’m sorry for making such a mess. Do you think I should go say sorry to the lady upstairs too? I think the frog broke her room.â€Â

“Yep!†Chirped the filly, smiling broadly at Maxx’s observation “Me! Don’t think there’s anypony else with wings though. Mommy says that makes me special, ain't that great! Buuuut I still wana be an earthpony when I grow up anyway.â€Â

Dear Princess Celestia

Everypony has a lie that they tell themselfs. Sometimes it’s just because we're unhappy with who we are and wish to be seen as somepony else. Others because we wish we were more, somepony that others could look up too and give us praze, even if it turns out to be faulse in the end.

Some lies are small and harmless, others are more insidious, relying on lie after lie to reinforce the mask of perfection until we ourselves begin to believe it to be true. But despite this inner need to be different, we rarely mean any harm to those who care for us and sometimes we don't see the damage until after the truth comes out.

Maybe we shouldn't lie at all, be simply happy in who we are above all else. Yet if we did, then no pony would ever try to better themselves. No one would want to draw wonderful art work, write about the nature of the soul or learn all this world has to offer. Because that is the nature of life itself, all things strive and the little lies we tell ourselves are what keep every pony trying to become the very best they can be.

In conclusion, we all have fantasies, dreams we wish we could live. Sometimes, when you can't see the other pony you're talking too, it can seem so easy to slip on a mask and pretend to be something you're not. Yet in the end, like any lie, you could end up really hurting the feelings of ponies who thought they were your firends.

We should all have dreams, but no pony should be afraid to be themselves.

Your fathful subject

Cherry

Though unsure as too exactly what had just transpired, Maxx’s waning anger and the mention of ice cream lifted Peabee some way out of her mute chastisement. Nodding to the weather mare’s instruction, the filly slid herself off the couch and sat down in front of the new Pegasus.

“Umm, well,†she began, voice nowhere near as enthusiastic as it had been earlier “my family’s on the train to Trottingham. Mister Rockyfilly forgot his bag an’ I tried to take it too him, but then the train went without me. I just wana let them know where I am an’ that I didn’t mean to get left behind. Let’s see.â€Â

Pausing for a moment, the filly adopted a look of intense concentration, having never had to really describe her parents in a medium outside of crayon doodles “Well Daddy’s name iiiis Gabon Nut an’ he’s really REALLY big, bigger than any of the other ponies on the farm. Umm, he’s dark red an’ his manes the colour of fall leaves and his hooves are covered by fuzzy fur that drags on the floor a little. Mommy’s smaller than him, her name’s Cream Tea, an’ her coat’s kinda yellowy with the same colour mane as me. Umm there’s also my big brother Chashi with them, but he’ll probably still be reading his book in the cabin. Oh! The cabin we were in is almost at the end of the train, I remember that cus’ the dinner car was right next door to us.â€Â

Nodding the older Pegasus tapped a hoof to her chin while memorising the descriptions “Okay, I'll be able to catch up to that train and be back before lunch, no worries. Might take a little longer getting back though, I reckon one of your kin might want to fly back here with me to make sure you’re all right.â€Â

Peabee tilled her head, a lopsided look of confussion gracing her young features at Cloud Kickers suggestion “Errm, no they won’t, cus’ they can’t fly.â€Â

Giggling a little as though the other pegasus had ment it as a joke, she gasping sudenly as another idea slipped into her head "Do you meen you're, like, gona carry one of them back here?! That'd be so amazing! Then they wouldn't have to worry at all... only, I don't think you'll be able to carry Daddy, an' ma's got this thing with hights..."

OMG its you!

I've been reading your fic religiously since it first appered on EqD and have to say its up there in my list of 'fics I would miss breakfast to read the updates'

Please keep up the good work

Fate.

Such an innocent word for that which could so easily strip the soul of both freedom and responsibility. None other like it existed in the modern Equestrian tong, save 'god'.

A mirthless laugh caught in the Filly's throat, stifled by the touch of warm fur against her cheek. Though her gut instinct was to recoil from the stallion, fatigue dimmed nerves slowed her response, leaving her mind exposed to the watery comfort that honest contact brought. By rights with all that had happened to her in the recent weeks, she shouldn't have wanted to be within a thousand miles of anypony. Yet just that brief moment of kindness did more to settle the storm in the youngster's mind then lonely days in the outback ever could.

Gingerly, Cherry clambered onto her hooves and walked unsteadily towards Virtue's corner. Even in the dark, the knight could see she was uneasy, warey not just of him, but of the concept of another ponies company. Minding her steps, the filly picked her way onto the old hay pile and sat down opposite her unexpected rescuer.

Outside the storm rolled on, laying sheets of rain across the thirsty land while the two ponies sat in silence, exchanging the cantina and listening. Several times the younger Pegasus strained to say something, but the storm song persisted unabated. Years of training came with a patience that could calmly watch trees grow from seed to sapling, and so Virtue waited.

"I'm sorry." She said, at last breaking the serenity that had settled across the barn.

"I didn't want to involve you. I should have at least said 'thank you' before I left though."

“I-Ah-but... I dint.. the frog it-†Peabee floundered, her initial shock of Max’s wrathful facade giving way to fear, frantic glances only just noticing the scene that she had caused. She fell totaly quiet, even to Temptests requests.

Muddy hoof prints left by her pursuit tarnished the otherwise sparkling floorboards and stairway, crowned by an upturned plant pot that had been unsettled by the foal’s haste. Mister Rockefilly was shouting at her furiously, something even Daddy rarely did. From behind her desk, the mop wielding sectary glared at the young Pegasus severely. To compound matters Miss Tempest was back dragging another bewildered pony, both seemingly livid.

Shrinking back Peanuts vision of the towering adults began to blur with tears, dearly wishing that her family were here to help her. Everypony was angry with her. She’d been silly, gotten carried away and ruined everything. Now they’d all hate her, maybe even leave her here and not let her see her brother or parents again.

With waterworks fast aproaching the filly muttered something about ‘not mytherin’ before curling inwards. Even Peanut's oversized wings twitched in an uncordinated attempt to spread around her form, adding to the effect that the tearful Pegasus was desperately trying to hide in plain sight.

It had been a slow day for the Mayor of Ponyville. With no major events to plan for, the weather teams up-to-date and the mornings paper work out of the way, the tan earth pony was enjoying the view out of her office window between appointments. Other than an unexpected hail storm the day was running smoothly and the gracefully aging mare felt she was more than entitled to put a bit of time aside to smile contentedly. It was so lovely when things just worked.

Thirty seven and a half seconds later, she was sprawled on the floor in a most unladylike fission, wondering if someone had caught the number of that donkey cart. Bewildered, the Mayor looked around in confusion as she tried to fathom what had just happened and why her office now looked like a muddy cyclone had barrelled through it. Paperwork that had been so carefully piled on desks was now strewn across a floor covered in small muddy hoof prints. Struggling to find an island in a sea of confusion, she recalled the barrage of questions the small excitable Filly had asked before charging off through her private balcony access and on towards the roof of the hall.

Feeling a head ache coming on, the pony shook her head and began carefully restacking the stricken documentation. Oh well, at least it gave her something to do. Gently placing a stack of recovered paper, the shell-shocked pony was unfortunately startled once more as a smartly dressed unicorn burst into the room unannounced, panting and glancing around the room as though looking for a lost possession. For a second it looked as though the newcomer was about to ask the Mayor something, but the question seemed to catch in his throat as his eyes caught sight of something behind the earthpony, beyond the large glass window that adorned the wall.

Peabee was in a predicament. The frog was surprisingly quick on its flippers and had so far evaded capture. After chasing the critter up several flights of stairs, the Pegasus filly had emerged onto a small round balcony at the very top of the prestigious building. Quite a beautiful view was lost on the foal, whose attention was fixated on the terrified amphibian gradually approaching the shear drop off the roof. Cautiously, Peanut began to creep forwards, fearful that her playmate might be about to fall to a rather squishy end.

With a quizzical look of reflection, the frog looked at its pursuer and then down at the drop before it, debating which was worse. Coming to a definitive conclusion, the greenish pond dweller took a measured hop into thin air and began to drop.

A split second later it was followed by a distraught Pegasus foal, hooves outstretched in a futile attempt to catch the amphibian. There was a hollow thump, rather more suddenly then Peabee had expected. Opening her eyes, she breathed a thankful sigh as the roof sloped away infront of her, red tiles contoured to fan outwards from the spire she had just vacated.

Thus was her predicament. Stranded on a sharply angled roof, hope and fore hooves holding her in place. In between her supporting limbs sat the frog, bold as brass and wearing the expression of perpetual confusion common to its species. With an air of consideration it took a step forwards, hopped onto her nose. Gasping in surprise, Peabee slid down another few tiles before her hooves caught again. The frog looked on menacingly. The tables suddenly turned, it opened its wide mouth and licked the distraught foal on the bridge of her nose, leaping off as she shrieked in disgust.

Only as the tiles began sliding under her belly did Peabee realise that lifting her hooves to protect her face had not been the best reaction in the world. Try as she might to backpedal and slow her decent, all she succeeded in doing was to turn herself around so that she was falling rump first towards looming roof edge.

The edge curled upwards, launching the fast sliding foal into the air where she hung for a few seconds, briefly catching a glimpse of a familiar unicorn through the window. Then gravity received the memo and stepped in, sending the flailing foal screaming towards the hard unforgiving ground.

...splash.

It was cold in the water trough.

Groaning with in both abstract defeat, Peanut pulled herself out of the watering hole and flopped onto the soggy grass. Glancing back up from where she had fallen, she started to giggling enthusiastically, the thrill of imminent danger passing like a dream.

Then, pulling off her sodden coat, she trotted back up the steps of the town hall, shaking herself vigorously and flapping her wings to dislodge as much water as possible before she entered the building once again. There was no pony downstairs anymore, the nice desk Mare having vanished to find a mop and bucket. Hanging the coat on the side of a long bench, the now sparkillingly clean Peabee jumped up onto the cushioned armchair and decided to wait while her mane dried out.

Yawning, the damp filly curled up and listened to the comforting sounds of the town outside. Miss tempest would be back soon no doubt, but right now she was Sooo beat. All she had to do was stay put.

Ponyville was certainly an oddpod town. Since becoming stranded in the small community some days ago, Peanut Butter had spent what little time her temporary guardian afforded her exploring and had steadily gotten used to its unusual quirks. For instance, while defiantly being a moderate township it felt snug, like a close knit village. Stranger still was how the buildings seemed to have settled comfortably into their spacious streets, almost as though had drifted apart from one another on a genteel zephyr. The whole village felt natural and alive, something that, in a good way, reminded the young filly of home. She should have felt completely out of place in this strange new town. But everywhere she turned where happy faces, flowing streets and that sense that the world was right, something she usually only felt when at home on the nut farm.

Peabee didn’t really dwell all that much on semantics though, there was far too much to see. Oddly though, the one thing that always seemed to be missing on her excursions was other foals. Having met one or two earlier in the week she was now left somewhat baffled by the absence of any others. There was only so much exploring a young pony could do on her own before tedium set its teeth. Perhaps they were all busy at around midday, which on average seemed to be about the time she got kicked out of the inn every day for bothering the customers.

All things considered, Peabee was steadily finding this unexpected excursion to be quite the bore. She’d considered getting lost again at one point simply for something to do, but with ponyville a spread out as it was there wasn’t any real way of becoming lost in the first place, never far from some landmark like the town hall.

Today the filly had instead set her sights on the outskirts of the town, balancing her way across fallen logs, running through reed beds around the various lakes and even at one point taking a swim. But it just wasn’t the same. Now with her steadily drying mane back in its ties and her scruffy tail flowing out behind her, the young Pegasus was gradually making her way up a hillside towards a large, red, important looking building. Atop a large tower, a shiny bell stood out like a beacon of summons, making no attempt to disguise its definitive ‘bell-ness’. Peabee had heard the ringing on a morning several times that week, but until now hadn’t know where it was coming from.

Never one to follow a predetermined rout, the filly had deliberately walked straight over the path that lead around a corpse of trees, electing instead to traverse the patch of shrub directly. What she found on the other side however gave her pause for bewilderment. In a clearing beyond, just in front of the barn under the shade of a large tree, was a large gathering of colts and fillies. Off to one side a green filly stood in front of a food cart, handing out treats to the others who sat in groups centered on a mulberry mare. A small squat unicorn Colt seemed to be making odd waving gestures at a glass of water in front of the crowd. Another Colt was leaning against a tree, looking as though he’d been in some sort of horrible cart accident, completing for Peabee the picture of ‘weird things I saw on my holidays’. Is this really where they’d all been hiding?

One of the filly’s many flaws was a complete inability to know when not to stick her nose into things. Curiosity peaked, the Pegasus trotted up to the back of the group just as the unicorn moved to sit back down. Glancing up at the tall barn like building, the winged paint pony watched in rapt fascination as another Foal took center stage. With seemingly no sense of personal space Peanut stood behind the nearest group to watch as the next presentation began to unfold. The small gathering consisted of two unicorn filly’s and a startlingly white Pegasus colt, none of whom seemed to have noticed her silent appearance.

“Psst,†Peabee whispered, leaning down conspiratorially into the group whilst never taking her eyes from the developing scene “What’s everyone watching?â€Â

Daisy squinted out from behind the mahogany desk at the empty room, ears twitching in abstract confusion. Outside, the stylish business pony had ceased his humorous pursuit and was yelling a variety of muffled demands, supposedly at the unseen youngster whom he had been chasing. There was something quiet uplifting about the spectacle, it reminded the Mare of her own mate playing with their foals (or rather the other way around, as was often the case).

Thing was, despite being unable to hear what the stallion was saying, she could most defiantly make out muffled giggling, punctuated by the occasional ‘Ribbit!’

What was more, it seemed to be getting closer... a lot closer.

“Oh no! Don’t go through there mister Frog!â€Â

The earth pony cocked her head looked down, just in time to see a small, green, slimy thing crawl through a gap in the floor boards. It gave a confounded ‘Bouk’ and hopped forwards, sticking to the sectaries’ hoof.

PeaBee nosed at the floorboards where the frog had wriggled away from her, finding that they were in fact part of a trapdoor. With a good shove, the filly burst through the hatch just in time to hear the terrorised scream. Miss Daisy had propelled herself several feet into the air and was flailing her hoof wildly in an attempt to dislodge the unwelcome amphibian. With the grace of a wet sponge, the frog arched through the air and landed some feet from the stair well. Briefly disorientated and glad to be back on the ground, it turned its buggy eyes towards the muddy monstrosity that was now emerging from the depths of the crawl space.

“Wait, Mister frog! Come back!†Peanut called, muddy hooves sliding around on the highly polished floor “You’re not supposed to be inside!â€Â

While the giggling monster had at least slowed its pursuit, the frog was taking no chances.

As Peabee shouted a hurried apology and dashed after the hopping critter, the frog made a beeline for the stairs, disappearing up to the next flight of offices.

Unforgiving cobles greeted the filly as she fell from the air and sprawled awkwardly across the barn floor. Panting in exertion, Cherry tried to pull herself back together, cramp stricken wings remaining painfully unfurled as her resolve faltered. She wasn't going anywhere. Too tired to run, all the Pegasus could do was curl away as the elder stallion alighted and moved in close to her fallen form. Covering her face with both hooves, a near silent torrent of pleas passed the filly's lips with every heaving breath, shrinking back and screwing her eyes tight as Virtue leaned in closer.

"Please listen to me, Cherry,"

Still shaking uncontrollably, her eyes opened a crack to see the stallion leaning down next to her.

"I made a vow to do everything in my power to protect the innocent. I have yet to break that vow and I do not intend to start now."

With no attept by the knight to grab for her or even move an inch closer, Cherry lifted her head slightly and looked back into Virtue's honest eyes, tears escaping from the corners of her own.

"Please, I mean you no harm..."

A long moment passed before the filly tried to reply. "Then-" she croaked, turning away to clear her dry throat "-Then why are you here? Why are you following me?"

[tab=30]Silence answered the business stallion’s question, perhaps he wouldn’t be required to do anything after all. Somewhere towards the back of the room a door to the outside opened briefly, though no one seemed to enter the room, still devoid of life besides him and the clerk at the front desk. Turning his puzzled gaze back the quiet filly, Max’s attention suddenly became riveted to the empty windowsill where Peabee had stood moments before.

Trotting over in bemusement, the unicorn briefly glanced around the room, checking under a long seat in case the foal was hiding. A high pitch giggle filtered into the room from the outside, causing the aristocrat’s head to jerk towards the source beyond the window.

[tab=30]The trouble with asking any child what they 'want to do' (especially while not paying attention to them) is that they are likely to misinterpret this question as a licence to ‘Do whatever you want’.

As it turned out, what Peabee wanted to do most, was run through the puddles left by the storm. From the look of things the foal was having the time of her life... much to the detriment of her hooves and tail, both of which were gradually accruing a healthy coating of mud. Then, quite abruptly, the foal stopped in her tracks.

Some way in front of her, a frog had just landed.

Lying reasonably still in a shallow puddle, the green water critter wore the expression of confusion usually reserved for the recently terrified.

Up until several minutes ago, it had led the perfectly normal dreary life of fly catching and sunbathing, when a lot of very interesting and most unwelcome things had happened to it all at once. It had just been sat on a lily pad, minding its own froggy business, when suddenly a plethora of Pegasi had descended upon it from on high, their vacuous wake sucking up water and frog alike.

The subsiquent events had been something of an unnerving blur, culminating with an astoundingly beautiful view of the world above the clouds, something never before seen by amphibian eyes. This had, of course, been shortly replaced by a view of the boring world below rushing up to greet it. Now it was once again on terra firma, left with a brief experience that it was not entirely equipped to deal with.

‘Ourk’ it said. Which roughly translated to; “Blimyâ€Â

Somewhere beyond the haze of waning terror, a torrent of delighted giggles was now approaching the confused amphibian. Attached to the noise were four hooves and a grinning muddy face that seemed to be screaming;

“FROG!â€Â

Comprehension, it seemed, would have to wait. Honed instincts barged their way past confusion and propelled the critter towards a large shadow of relative safety.

Peabee gave chase, diving head first under the low porch that surrounded the circular town hall. It was a tight squeeze at first, but with a pop she made it past the heap of earth around the lumber and into the crawl space underneath. Now with just enough room to stand, the filly’s curious blue eyes fixed on the small terrified frog as it bounded off into the gloom. Ever one to jump on a passing band wagon, the small Pegasus followed suit, bouncing after the amphibian, each hop followed by a giggling “Ribbit, Ribbit, Ribbit.â€Â

If there's one thing to remember in business, my girl, it is that every Stallion has his price.

"You... No... not you too."

There was a note of desperation in the filly's voice as she scuttled away from the familiar stranger, struggling momentarily to get back on all fours. All out panic gripped her thin frame, rot clawed at her gut, every limb felt week and numb.

"No," She snapped firmly, eyeing the high open crane hatch above the barns decrepit doors "I Won't go back! Not after what that- that Buzzard did to me!"

Crouching low the Pegasus spread her wings and sprang upwards. For any other feathered equine the trapdoor was a mere heartbeat away, but the filly seemed to stall in mid air, yelping in pain as her cramped wings seized. Both hooves and wings clawed desperately for altitude, fear and adrenalin driving her through the pain.

Thunder rumbled across the foothills, rolling over the ramshackle barn like the snores of an old man. Outside, wind and rain thrashed fruitlessly against the creaking timbers, seeking out openings or cracks through which it could slink. Only the northern end of the barn was exposed to the elements, the long neglected doors clinging to rusted hinges and the kraal high above missing its trapdoor altogether. Closer the back however the stalls remained dry, especially near the raised hayloft beneath which the stallion now slumbered.

Beyond the sheltering walls the storm raged on, a distant flash of lightning briefly chasing away the darkness. Amidst the straight shadows of sturdy timbers, a faint silhouette became distinct in the gloom of the hayloft, a sinuous anomaly among the regular lines of the old building. Another bout of lighting flickered through the room, the incontinuity now sitting in the high strung rafters, staring down at the intruder with Sanguine eyes.

Calm settled as the tempest drew breath, the hiss of rain joined by a quiet flutter of wings. Another flash revealed only timber where once the figure had stood, the thunder bringing with it the scrape of metal on stone.

The weary traveler stirred in his slumber as something cold brushed against his damp neck. Moments passed as he slipped once more below the tide of fatigue, interrupted by the sensations return, more instant this time. Absentmindedly the stallion batted a hoof across his sholdure, meeting something unexpected. Something hard. Something Iron.

Senses crystallized. Among the howling wind was the sound of rasping breath, the smell of panic and the shaking tools in uncertain hoofs. Opening his heavy eyes by the narrowest crack, the Pegasus carefully observed the heaving figure that stood over his prone form. With the brilliance of the storm joining the roar of thunder, excruciating light burst upon the scene and the knight drank in every split second detail.

Above him a wreck of a filly stood on her hind legs, face contorted with fear and rage, shaking hooves clenched tightly around the long hoe that hovered inches from Virtue's throat.

Now but a shadow, the wavering garden tool moved again, tapping the hoof away with an unsteady jab.

"Don't, move." A feminine voice trembled, the owner struggling to retain both nerve and unnatural posture "Try anything, an' I'll...I'll..."

Stepping into the half gloom of the old farm house, it became clear to Cherry that the short years of neglect had been rather unkind. Privately the Pegasus suspected that the building had been in a state of disrepair long before its occupant had taken ‘the long dive’. She could imagin him pacing the stone floors, age and weariness robbing his strength and leaving his property to shrivel up like an old grape trapped on a dead vine. A range of unsettling noises issued from the time warped floorboards as the trio of ponies examined the many rooms of the aged building. Though most boded a thick layer of dust along with scattered knickknacks pertaining to the previous occupants, they were all in surprisingly good nick. Had it not been for the broken windows (and the mention of spiders) Cherry would have been up for moving straight in with little more than a spring clean.

However, as they continued their exploratory tour she became acutely aware of the nature of the quaint building. Though the ceilings were high and the rooms somewhat spacious, there were only two viable exits in the form of the front and back doors. Even with her slight frame and their glass removed, Cherry doubted she would be able to squeeze through the small cottage windows that adorned the stone walls of every room. Considering her options, the filly trotted out of the small end room she had been examining and approached her flighty host.

“You know you’d have thought things would be worse judging from the outside, but inside’s remarkably intact.†She glanced around for a moment, assessing the high cealing and closed in walls of the landing.

“I suppose Earth ponies would call it cosy, but it feels very.. cramped. No offence or any, I just... it’s a Pegasus thing. Listen, I know this is going to sound a bit odd, but would you mind if I used the barn when it’s dry out? If you don’t mind that is. Either way, if it’s no trouble the end room back there would probably suit me best, given I’ll just need it to kip in when there’s a storm.â€Â

Pea bee blinked in brief unease, unused to such a show of vulnerability by grownups around her. To a foal, most adults were towering infallible giants and yet both of them seemed deeply troubled for reasons she couldn’t understand.

However, at Max’s suggestion the filly seemed brighten again “Sure, that'd be great mister Rockyfilly!”

Curious blue eyes turned back to the long window that overlooked the courtyard and the Pegasus trotted back to her perch on the windowsill, watching the now gentle rain falling lazily through a gradually opening sky.

“Hay, the rain’s slowing down! Think the storm’s gone?”

OOC; sorry, thats all I’ve got

“Clover? Really?†Sophie puzzled, turning away from the patch of poison joke that was growing a few dozen meters up stream. Clover wasn’t the most exciting of salads but at least it was better than an empty stomach. Wading back across the lazy river, the paint Pegasus leaned past Aimee and took a careful bite out of the leafy patch. She was cautious not to pull out any roots that might have soil still attached, but needn’t have worried as she found her new mouth well equipped to slice off the soft foliage stalks. Chewing turned out to be a problem though and it took her a moment to get the hang of the exaggerated circular motion she’d seen equines using at her aunt’s stables. However, Scotchie had been right, they were significantly more interesting to the taste buds then they had been before their abrupt change. That and her curling stomach was thankful for the sustenance.

“Not bad-†she admitted, smiling broadly before a sickening crash interrupted their brief breakfast.

Glancing fearfully towards the source of the racket, Sophie cocked an eyebrow at the stream of steadily falling Pegasus feathers.

“Did... anyone else see that?â€Â

Relieved to finaly be rid of her heavy saddle bags and briefly apologising to her cousin, Peabee had been surprised to find the club house empty bar the half zebra himself. This was of course not counting his various haphazard projects, even if some of them did seem to be developing minds of their own. Disapointment flowed over her for a few moments, they had invited vertualy everyone they knew and no one had turned up yet. Were they even going to come? She knew she wasn't exactly popular at school but did they really have this few friends?

She had just been in the process of clearing away some of the clutter from around the den when the sound of hoof beats and a familiar voice had interrupted her lacklustre maintenance.

"Yes! They're here!" She exclaimed, recognising the strong accent of Trottingham but not the voice that spoke its brash tones. Standing on a reclaimed chair, the filly stretched up to look through one of the rough portholes that served as the den's windows. Out on the pathway stood a very familiar earth pony, green coated with a wild mane of orange and purples. Though it had been some time since she had last seen her, Peabee never forgot a friend

"Hazy?"

A smile spread across Peabee's face that threatened to divide her head from ear to ear. Without even thinking to wait for the 'password' the paint foal butted the door aside and burst into the open, bouncing around the newcomer with a joyous cry "Oh my gosh! Hazy, Hazy, HAaaazzeee! You're back!"

As the Pegasus finally slowed her lively greeting, she began to take in everything that had changed about the older filly.

Haze had grown a lot. Once there had barely been a few inches between them, now she was nearly a whole head higher than Peanut, easily as tall as Macky! What was more; the filly's flanks now boasted a proud carrot cutie mark, suiting the sweet smelling snacks she had brought along with her.

Peabee seemed undeterred though, dizzy with excitement and unable to keep still.

"Wow! I totally didn't expect you! I thought you went to your brother's farm or something? Did you just get back from Ponyville!? Oh WOW! When did you get your cutie mark?!"

mm, I don't know any of those artists

I rather think thats the point

Share and enjoy.

Sitting back on her hunches, the filly looked up at the older Pegasus with head tilted in confusion. “What's wrong with Cloudsdale? An' why wouldn’t you want to be nice to her?†PeaBee queried. It didn’t sound like Tempest was talking about ‘being mean’, but something about her whole demeanour seemed off.

Something tweaked in the back of her mind and the filly’s nose wrinkled a little, a lesson about ‘sticking your muzzle where it don’t belong’ resurfacing. It had been preceded by a friendly tap on the snout from her grandfather and had since become a family tradition as a method of informing the curious foal when she was ‘prying’.

“Ohh, sorry.†The pegasus filly nodded conspiratorially, quickly changing the conversation “Well, I’ve never been to CloudsDale either, Ma’ says the balloon trips are too expensive. It looks pretty enough from below though, especially with all those waterfalls.â€Â

"Excuse me, Miss Tempest..." Max interjected, turning to face the two ponies and ignoring the large stack of bits behind him. Peabee noted it was leaning slightly, like the Wonky Tower of Pinto "What exactly is there to do in Ponyville? I should know some basics before I start my vacation..."

“Oh yeah! I've never been here before either!†Infused the small Pegasus at the business pony’s suggestion “Hay, maybe you could give us a tour!â€Â

Bluetech

AC/DC

The Calling

Charles Mingus

Chicane

Chick Corea

Circle Takes the Square

Clint Mansell

Evanescence

Five Iron Frenzy

Flogging Molly

Franz Ferdinand

Friendly Fires

Goo Goo Dolls

Gorillaz

Guns N' Roses

Halo

I Monster

If These Trees Could Talk

Immediate (Alternitive-Epic)

Infected Mushroom (Psychadelic)

James Blunt - Back to Bedlam

Jimi Hendrix

Jo Hisaishi (Anime)

Joanna Newsom

Johnny Cash - American IV: The man Comes

Jonathan Coulton

Joni Mitchell

Journey

K's Choice

Kansas

Kashiwa Daisuke

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground

The Killers

King Crimson

The Knife

Kyuss

Lacuna Coil

Laura Stevenson and the Cans

Leftfield

Library Tapes - Fragment (Modern Classic)

Life of Agony

Loreena McKennitt

Lost Prophets

Lou Reed

Louis Armstrong (Jazz)

The Lounge Lizards (Jazz)

The Low Frequency In Stereo

Ludovico Einaudi

Lustmord

Lynyrd Skynyrd

AND with that we reach the half way point of my highlights. I might post more later.

KEY:

BOLD - Safe, most people will like this.

ITALIC - If you've never heard this, its worth a look

UNDERLINE - Personal Faves of the more unusual