Kudalyn

Aqua Drop

Aqua Drop facehoofed at Klondike getting all mixed up - she'd heard her species' name getting mixed up before, but she'd never been called a 'hypocrite' before! "Whoa, hold your hooves there, buddy. Like Tempest said, I am Aqua Drop, and it's pronounced 'Hippo-camp'. A half pony, half fish thing." She said, nudging Tempest to get her attention. She noticed her friend was a bit irritated at Klondike's mistake.

"Hey, relax Temp. It's a easy mistake, and he's obviously just as nervous as we are." She whispered to her, but Rose's comment to Tempest about her dress cheered her up right away, so Aqua sighed in relief. As nervous and frayed as she was, it was no good letting yourself get worked into a froth over something as silly as a name.

"Why thank you! Yeah, this dress was tailor made for me - it's perpetually damp so my pelt doesn't dry out, and I can stay on land for as long as I want! And yes, I didn't catch your name either."

Strawberry Fields

Strawberry started, blinking at the sudden kind offer. "O-oh! Well, I-I don't mean to make you go out of you way but... a extra set of hooves would take a load off my mind..." She said, looking back woefully at the rest of the farm. As much as she loved her new farm, it was going to take ALOT of work.

"Well, why don't you come this way? I-I just cleared the pathway a bit as you can see..." She said, looking sheepishly at the mess of creepers on the path that she had just torn down. She turned around, hiding her blush as she trotted daintly down the path. Strawberry felt awful silly. She was always so shy when it came to meeting new ponies. No matter how hard she tried, she always became so timid and apologetic around newcomers. Once she warmed up to them she was fine... but it made selling produce very difficult.

Spike

"Well, it doesn't help that we're barely as tall as their shoulder. Someponys can't seem to use their necks properly, and actually turn their heads!" He chuckled, finally slowing down as they got to the entrance of the Marketplace, where things were a little less crowded and much more organized.

"Well, if you're hungry I'm sure I can find something you'd find tasty here. Despite being such a small town, this place seems to have everything! I mean, we even have a store here dedicated to Quills and Couches! And just those two items! Weird huh? "

He said, letting Truffle fall into pace with him as the walked down the cobblestone streets, dodging the occasional pony and cart.

Aqua Drop

"Form? Oh yeah! You said I could probably fill that river-cleaner job thing. I'll go fill it out.... aaaas soon as I find something to write with." She laughed, taking the papers from Tempest and placing them on her back. She'd pick them up before she started walking so they wouldn't fall off her back.

Suddenly, a very hurried Granola came rushing at her out of the corner of her eye, a determined look on her face. As she hurtled towards Aqua with something heavy-looking in her mouth, Aqua instinctively flinched, closing her eyes tight. She was startled by the one drop of water that dripped out onto her head, her eyes fluttering open.

"Wh-wha?" She said, but before she could say anything else, Granola threw the pot onto the ground angrily shattering it at Aqua's hooves. Granola galloped off once again with Inkwell desperately trying to explain to her the situation... but Granola was already long gone, a brown and green blur.

"Oh for kelp's sake. That mare...." She said, shaking her head at the frantic pony. "Oh, and Inky? My pelt doesn't do... what I think you think it does. It just gets really dry and flaky, and can be hurt easily. It doesn't crack like dried mud, and I don't shrivel up like kelp on low tide. I just get really dry and thirsty. Relax." She said, laughing.

She shifted a little, getting herself a little more comfortable on her hooves. Her tail was getting a -little- tired, but nothing she couldn't handle. She still had more to explore!

Strawberry Fields

Strawberry jumped and eeped as a calm voice spoke up from behind her, dropping her mouthful of creepers.

"Oh! O-oh my! You startled me! I-I didn't even hear you trot up..." She stammered embarassedly, looking around herself. She had only just gotten started on the cleanup of her farm - there were weeds everywhere, the paths were overgrown, and she probably looked like she rolled around in a dustpile somewhere.

"I'm so sorry the farm looks like this - Oh my... You see, I just moved here today, and noone has lived here for quite a few years.. see, it was my Grandpappy's many years ago, and now I own it and... I'm so sorry!"

Strawberry Fields

A peach-coated pony opened a dusty window, coughing as a pile of dust cascaded from the shutters right on top of her. She shook her mane out, dust and cobwebs flying everywhere. She looked around her new house as the sunlight filtered in through the grimy window, lighting up all the dust particles in the air.

Strawberry Fields sighed, coughing again as she inhaled a bunch of dust. She trotted around, opening windows wherever she saw them, glad to get some nice spring air though the dusty, dingy old house. Strawberry had just moved into her new home: Shining Berry Fields. She inherited the berry farm from her grandfather who passed away when she was a foal, so the house had been inhabited for many years. Most of the old furniture was still here, it just needed some intense 'spring cleaning'.

She walked out the front door, propping it open so that more air could blow the dust and damp from the old house. She looked around her new farm.... she certainly had alot of work to do.

After years of neglect, most of the berry plants were either dead or growing wild. Weeds were everywhere, fences were broken, and don't even get her started on the barn! It looked like a tornado had hit it! She'd probably have to tear it down and get a whole new one set up if she wanted somewhere to store her supplies.

"Well, no time like the present, I reckon." She said to herself, bracing herself for weeks of hard work. She knew she could do it though - even though her father's farm was a hay farm, she still did lots of hard work there growing up. She knew how to handle a farm.

She trotted down the main path, kicking rocks out of the way as she walked to the main gate. It was completely overgrown with creepers. She got up on her hind legs and kicked and pulled at them, finally managing to clear a opening through them. She pulled down as much as she could, kicking the clumps onto the path so they would wither and die. Pulling them down, she revealed a little fence archway, with a worn-down sign posted at the top. From what she could make out, it was a big strawberry with a few leaves surrounding it, with a big sun backdrop.

Strawberry smiled. "Shining Berry Fields. Grandpappy gave it the right name!"

Strawberry Orange

Strawberry Orange tried to decipher Pinkie's excited rambling, but only managed to catch a few names before the pink pony started bouncing off, twittering out something about following her. Figuring there was nothing to lose, Strawberry dropped down a few feet and fluttered beside her, her wings easily keeping up with the pink thing's fast pace.

Keeping an eye on Pinkie out of her peripheral vision, Orange looked around her, memorizing the street they were traveling along. It had a few nice shops, but nothing that would be of relevance to herself or her sister quite yet. Maybe the furniture shop once her sister had gotten herself all organized back at home.

Spike

"Ghaa!"Spike yelled, whirling around to stare at the pony that was happily dusting off shelves, along with another pony who was sitting in a corner, peering quietly at him over her book.

"Oh! Jeese! I didn't even notice you guys come in! Must have been up too late last night." He said, walking back inside. "You guys can read books and do stuff, just keep your voices down. Twi was up late last night so she needs to catch up on her sleep." He said, picking up a few more books and carrying them over to the main table in the middle of the library, reading the titles so he could put them in their proper spots.

Aqua Drop

Noticing a pony come up behind her and start addressing herself and Tempest, Aqua turned around. She had to do a few little back-up turns to get her cart around, which in turn shifted her dress to uncover her tail, pearls adorning it shining in the lamplight.

"Oh, hay." She said, bending her neck around to nip at her dress, shifting it back into position again. She faced the gallant-looking stallion that was talking to Tempest and herself. "Wares? I'm not selling any wares." She looked around herself, trying to figure out what gave the pony such an idea.

"Oh! My cart! No, this cart is to help me get around! It's hard for me to walk on land without it, seeing as how I have fins, not hooves." She said, smiling kindly as she explained.

Aqua Drop

"H-hey! Wait a minute!" Aqua tried to yell out at Granola, but she galloped out of earshot too quickly. She sighed, looking over at Inky. "I do need water, but not desperately. I can stay on land without water for about two hours before I start to get too dry - after that all I'd need is a dunk in a pond, lake, or even someone to spray me down with water or something. As long as my pelt doesn't dry out. If my pelt dries out, it gets really itchy and even starts to crack a bit. Then I wouldn't be able to leave the water until it healed."

Aqua thought for a minute, 'sitting' down on her tail for a rest. "It's like.... do your lips ever get too dry and split and hurt? It's like that, but all over my body. it isn't pretty. It happened once, and I learned my lesson the hard way."

She looked around, taking in everything. It was all so new and refreshing! She loved the change of pace - normally she's on her own in the sea, because she couldn't stand the nearby Hippocamp city. But this place was bustling, without the stuffy-city feel. Just friendly.

Aqua Drop

Aqua hobbled on happily, looking around at all the pretty shops and houses along the street. The houses were slowly getting bigger, which she took to mean she was getting closer to the center of town. Suddenly, a brown pony nervously trotted up to her, apologizing for her rudeness and trying to make some small talk with her... albeit nervously and awkwardly. She even cracked a few lame water jokes, which Aqua laughed lightheartedly at.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that I 'like' to swim." She said gesturing to her tail. Aqua only took a few more steps when another pony, a unicorn this time, trotted up to her excitedly, introducing himself while carrying a large sketchbook in front of him... so she could barely see his face. Aqua rubbernecked around the sketchbook until she could see him and what he was drawing, and blushed a little when she saw that he was actually sketching her!

"Well thanks! First actual welcome I've gotten since walking into town. Also, if you want to draw me without seeing me be a silly floppy fish, come visit my lake! I just claimed the big lake that's outside of town. I'll be staying here till the weather gets cold, then I'll probably migrate back to sea." She said, sharing a few tidbits about herself.

Aqua Drop

"Aqua Drop!"

"I'M NOT GETTING MY DRESS WET!!" Aqua yelled out automatically, startled by the sudden call of her name. She whipped her head around to see only Tempest Rime, her best pegasus friend. She sighed heavily, slumping in her cart. "Oh horsefeathers, Tempest. Don't do that!! Scared me to pieces!" She laughed weakly, watching her friend as she nervously fluttered around her, orbiting her in a skittery pace.

"Oh, relax Temp. Your dress looks fabulous on you! Suits you perfectly. And thanks, yeah my dress is neat. It's enchanted to keep me nice and damp all through the night. I just can't get it wet or it will dissolve... heh heh... talk about backwards, a Hippocamp not allowed to get wet..." She laughed, rubbing one leg with her other hoof nervously. "Princess Luna? Isn't the that one that had gotten stuffed in the moon for a thousand years? Man, I can only imagine what kind of attitude she had when she got out..."

"And yeah, I was SO surprised to get an invitation too. I mean, I didn't even know the Princess knew I EXISTED, let alone lived in Ponyville. I actually laughed in the poor mail deliverer's face when she gave me the letter. I hope she didn't take it personally... I thought she had the wrong address! Her eyes did look kind of weird..."