FermataTheBasse

[colour=#008080]"Every pony for me is something simple yet sweet. Like a bonbon." - Wait, didn't I just quote this?[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Swan Dive looked up as Bon Bon pointed up, at the sign that clearly indicated the wares of the cart. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"Oh..." [/colour][colour=#000000]Swan giggled and blushed a little more, though she quickly recovered. Being as she was, she was very used to making little mistakes that were more cute than harmful to others in anyway. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"Bonbon related? You could always sell the individual components. Like a 'make your own' style food. It's a trend in Canterlot now." [/colour][colour=#000000]With her incredibly impractical suggestion, Swan finally revealed her city to be Canterlot. She made to observation lightly, just stating it as a fact instead of making some sarcastic remark on Canterlot trends like most would if they were not privy to the city. Swan's horn glowed, caught the bonbon thrown her way. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"For me? Are you sure?" [/colour][colour=#000000]Swan was not used to receiving things for free.[/colour]

[colour=#000000]As she bit into it, she squeaked in surprise. She had never quite eaten something like this in Canterlot. In Canterlot everything was so refined, so processed... Swan realized that sugar was thus very watered down in her home city. This was far stronger, and it pleased Simon immensely to be galvanized by such a burst of sugar. Swan had to have more, but she was careful not to say that. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"Bon Bon, yes? How many can you sell me without depreciating your stock too dramatically?" [/colour][colour=#000000]As a Canterlot mare who was friends with Upper Crust, and as the owner of a magazine, Swan was used to throwing business terms around. [/colour]

[colour=#afeeee]The Great and Powerful Trixie [/colour][colour=#000000](RLF Airpad, Harmony, Virginia)[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Trixie snickered. [/colour][colour=#afeeee]"High class? You're too generous." [/colour][colour=#000000]It wasn't much of a stretch, to be frank, to assume that she was someone important. After all, she had just been levitating and flying around a moment ago. Such high class magic would have been only known by the elite soldiers of the various factions. The odd thing was, Trixie couldn't help but agree with her counterpart's observations. Sure, Trixie was optimistic for a more peaceful future where she could perhaps get her mess of a life back onto some track approximating decency. Enough had fallen at her hands, for a mare who hadn't even been herself. Trixie didn't blame Twilight, not at all. She had to blame herself, because if she had been able to do something...[/colour]

[colour=#afeeee]"Trixie wouldn't go so far as to say that she's definitely sure of something worse coming on the horizon. Besides, that would imply that the worst hasn't happened yet." [/colour][colour=#000000]Trixie gestured at the ruins of the capital about them, beyond the few places already fixed up by the RLF. [/colour][colour=#afeeee]"Seventy percent of the population vanished into thin air, and they're finding more bodies all the time. The greatest city in Equestria wrecked. And let's not forget the wars before, between the Princesses and Red Fox. Multiple cities devastated. If there's worse to come..." [/colour][colour=#000000]Trixie shuddered, her mind putting together some pretty nasty situations. [/colour][colour=#afeeee]"No, Trixie does not want to think about it."[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Trixie looked away from the dropship- a good thing for her- to listen to 469er talk about the dropship. She had to admit, she felt for the pilot in spite of her personal disdain for technology. Trixie wished she really could make any parallel to such passion, devotion, but could she? For Twilight? But that had been hollow, empty, semi psychopathic devotion, zealousness. There was no genuine thing Trixie just loved to do without any heavy subjects tied into it. It was... strange. Trixie had to smile at 'Harmony' as she heard her name clearly- pony ears- and trotted over, hooked a foreleg around her neck affectionately.[/colour]

[colour=#afeeee]"That's a wonderful name, Harmony. May I call you such?"[/colour]

[colour=#ee82ee]Princess Mi Amore Cadenza [/colour][colour=#000000](Somewhere in Equina, Chrysalis)[/colour]

[colour=#b22222]Lypris [/colour][colour=#000000](RLF Tents, Alpha inForce, Free)[/colour]

[colour=#b22222]"If I may interject. There is much that is an enigma about the returned Twilight Sparkle, however we must bear in mind that we're in her territory, helping her now. Speculating about her can be saved for when we know she has a knife poised to plunge into our backs, if it exists. If." [/colour][colour=#000000]Lyrpis, the court mage of Queen Chrysalis, in all her wingless glory, had been left along with the RLF while her Queen attended to personal matters. It was the intent of the Changelings to appeal to as much of the pony population as possible with their gesture of good will, and it seemed to have worked. Lypris didn't have to disguise herself on the streets anymore. She felt more bold, more confident, to speak up in their presence and make her own thoughts known. [/colour][colour=#b22222]"I fear the more immediate concern will be the force that ravaged Equina. After all, anything with that much power is a danger to all groups involved. At once."[/colour]

[colour=#ff0000]Vinyl Scratch [/colour][colour=#000000](Citadel Courtyard, Draxis, The Equinian Angels)[/colour]

[colour=#ff0000]"Yes sir." [/colour][colour=#000000]With the ease of trot that Vinyl thought might never go away in a million years of war, she began to lead the way to the ghetto. She levitated something from a military issued saddlebag, a switch-like device, the detonator. She had rigged it together from existing detonators that had been recovered, since none of them had actually been wired for the explosives they could find. Another triumph for her technical skills. She could already hear the beat, in perfect four over four time, of the bombs waiting to be blown, to bring the wall down... to hopefully save the ponies trapped within.[/colour]

[colour=#ff0000]"Sir? Don't worry. They're gonna be fine." [/colour][colour=#000000]Vinyl wasn't exactly an optimist, but she tried to be for the sake of the comrades she now held in arms. Was it likely that there were still survivors in the ghetto? Nope. Cut off from air access by collapsed buildings, with little food known o exist in it's bounds... No, not thinking about it. But Vinyl did speed up to a brisk trot. [/colour][colour=#ff0000]"Sargent." [/colour][colour=#000000]Vinyl acknowledged Draco.[/colour]

[colour=#008080]"I've managed to curb the impulse that makes me think I am in a game of tag when others gallop at me."[/colour]

Swan Dive might well have considered the famous Sugarcube Corner, as it was well promoted outside of Ponyville and had a reputation amongst the less snobbish mares of Canterlot as a quaint eatery. However, Swan was a terrible navigator and she had managed to fail so greatly at following the directions given her by her peers that she had actually ended up in the opposite end of Ponyville from the esteemed bakery. This however, put her on a course to meet with this curious mare of a food cart. Literally, as they were actually on courses that would meet shortly enough. Swan looked over to her savior, eagerly and a bit desperately.

[colour=#ffd700]"Y-yes!" [/colour][colour=#000000]Swan Dive smiled a bit sheepishly. Had she been that loud? Well her stomach- unlike her hat, not named- could be very rebellious at times. Perhaps Swan should have given her stomach a name that reflected it's irritable tendencies. Simon? [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"I'm both a bit humiliated and glad at once, that you heard my gastric protests." [/colour][colour=#000000]Contrary to Bon-Bon's assumptions, Swan's accent was very strongly steepled in the style of a Canterlot mare, though perhaps lighter, accent tempered by Swan's natural cheerfulness. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"Please tell me you sell sweet foods? Simon here can be very particular." [/colour][colour=#000000]'Simon' gave another cavernous rumble, Swan blushed slightly.[/colour]

[colour=#008080]"Everypony wants to be spoken of. That's why I speak so much."[/colour]

[colour=#ffd700]"Oh!" [/colour][colour=#000000]Swan always got that question, what the hay was her magazine supposed to be about anyways? It depressed her just a bit that so many ponies asked that question, but she felt no chip in her sprightly step besides a split second loss of cheer. It was why she had expanded her travel budget recently, to expand her viewership and possibly become an Equestria wide publication. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"I would love to explain." [/colour][colour=#000000]She smiled at both Rarity and Aloe, a bit more insistently in Rarity's direction, as Swan's empathy was picking up some hesitation on the fashionista's part. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"Young Mare's Tail is a publication I personally started, as an extension of my love for knowing the stories of other ponies. My intent, which I feel I have accurately maintained through it's run, is to publish stories of others, that others might read. For fun, to make a new friend possibly?" [/colour]

Swan nodded eagerly, they had both given her things to work with. [colour=#ffd700]"Hm, well if you picked up my magazine in your spa that would be lovely, Aloe." [/colour][colour=#000000]Swan clapped her hooves, half together and half into the ground. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"Well this is shaping up rather nicely, isn't it? The three of us ladies, perhaps, should go on an excursion to..." [/colour][colour=#000000]Swan waved her hoof around in the air, trying to rally her thoughts and inviting suggestions from the other two. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"... Somewhere, and discuss further? I have many things I would love to learn of you, Rarity." [/colour][colour=#000000]Aloe was admitted because Swan Dive, for all her ditziness, had virtual laser focus when it came to other ponies. As she constructed her mental images of them, she didn't like interfering personal information from others. But the twins who owned a spa might make for an interesting future story. [/colour]

[colour=#008080]"A publication should be as a narrative. There is character, setting, even some dramatic plot."[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Left hoof down, swing of the body in the other direction, right hoof down, swing, and if Swan actually had a partner to dance with then she could pull off the rest of her dance moves. As it were, she pantomimed having an invisible dancer alongside her, her hoof crooked up as if taken by another ponies, she was brought up onto her rear hooves, spun around so her back was to the ground, and bent down to be face to face with her now stooping and still non existent partner. In reality it looked as if Swan were randomly bent over backward for no discernible reason. But her staff was used to it, as has already been said.[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Swan sprung up to all fours, trotted over to her tan-coated friend. She had found him, as she usually did, through her interview process, it just so happened that on top of publishing his story she also hired him. As a stallion passionate about geography, she figured that he'd be the right choice to tackle settings and locations related to her own stories, and that was true enough. She gave him the money, he'd give her good stories of locale. She only had words for ponies, words dedicated to places strained her mental faculties incredibly. So Earth was an invaluable member of her team.[/colour]

[colour=#ffd700]"What are you writing, if I may ask?" [/colour][colour=#000000]She put her head onto her forelegs, which she crossed onto his desk, looking right at and a bit up at him.[/colour]

[colour=#008080]"Swan Dive's eccentricity is greater when she is moving in an ellipse." -Some mathematician Swan interviewed [/colour]

[colour=#000000]Swan had to admit, as her eyes momentarily strayed from Spin while she waited for him to start speaking, she found the first exhibit interesting. The letters and other mementos of ponies probably long gone, as far as they would not interest her present-oriented self, did carry the promise of learning a story of another pony, even if she couldn't personally know that pony in her lifetime. She tried to read some of the displays, but they were a bit far and she simply did not have the time at the moment, her eyes having to ricochet back to Spin Tale's the moment he started speaking. She was still circling, but her 'orbit' began to widen, to put her a bit closer to the things she wanted to read.[/colour]

[colour=#ffd700]"Ah, so if ponies do enjoy the exhibit then you will generally keep that exhibit around?" [/colour][colour=#000000]Swan nodded. That was sensible enough. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"Oh my! That sounds like such a cute- forgive me if that's not what you intended- idea!" [/colour][colour=#000000]To be perfectly honest, if Swan were in the foal's position she'd be doing the exact same thing. But oh, they were indeed going to see that soon! Swan was suddenly a bit more springy on her hooves, had a slight bounce to her step as she now had something to look forward to, and she took no shame in that fact. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"Would you say that foals enjoy your museum overall? The historically accurate wall aside?"[/colour]

[colour=#008080]"A cute foalhood story is a universal means of become endearing to others."[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Swan Dive couldn't help but notice Flying's glance after her mother, a somewhat more heavy glance than Swan would have expected. One again, the Canterlot mare was a bit concerned, once again she deemed it too soon to touch on such matters and once again the issue was filed away, for a conversation perhaps where she wouldn't be the strange reporter, but the quirky little friend from a distant city. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"Hm, I can't say I partake of alcohol. I'm not partial to the taste." [/colour]Swan's vigor was not affected at all, she accepted her drink gracefully and began to drink from it with both hooves. Ah, the childhood memories of winters in Canterlot that hot chocolate evoked, right down to the accidentally burning of the roof of her mouth. Not like her life had really changed from those quaint childhood days.

[colour=#000000]Swan Dive listened, both because that was her job and because her ability to comment in turn had been wrecked in the short-term by her drinking her own drink too fast. Her ears were on end, she put a hoof over her mouth and blew into it, as if that were to help cool her down. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"That... oh, ouch, that is a very nice story, Flying! I find it ironic, that you lived up to your name by not doing what your name implied you could do. Tell me, did you ever consider the danger of your stunts? Or have you always been able to overlook that; say because you enjoy it far more than you possibly fear the outcome, or because it is simple instinct, or something else..." [/colour][colour=#000000]Swan took another swig of her drink to match Flying's own. Swan, as usual, did not learn her mistakes easily, and her hoof went back to her once more burnt and bruised mouth.[/colour]

[colour=#008080]"The definition of a Canterlot mare is a mare with time."[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Swan Dive shook her head, a great smile gracing her features. No, she had already decided. She would invest the afternoon into this little foal with dreams of fashion or what have you, learn her story and perhaps make an impact in her life. She leaned down a bit, on all fours, so that she was on Twilight's level, more inclusive of her into the conversation, since she seemed a bit nervous at the moment. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"I have all the time in the world, Twilight. Come now, you must surely find my offer interesting?" [/colour][colour=#000000]Swan took on a lecturing, yet still highly childish tone, which made her sound like the stereotypical know-it-all filly you found at least once in ever class during school. [/colour][colour=#ffd700]"In the fashion world, it's very very important that you be able to impose on others, convince them to give you their time. Are you still sure you don't want to impose on my time?"[/colour]

[colour=#008080]"I am not so conceited as to have a portrait of myself in my own office."[/colour]

[colour=#008080]"Although I have to wonder if sleep is..." [/colour][colour=#000000]Swan Dive's typewriter gave a few last clacks, the keys suddenly dying as Swan's thought train died as well. It was fairly typical for her, with her less than completely focused thoughts, to sometimes lose her sense of direction in an article. She had interviewed a local weather mare, had a compelling little feature to be written for her, but Swan just wasn't feeling it now. She just had been, but she was so easily distracted at times. A sigh, a hoof reached up to her hat and caressed it lightly.[/colour]

[colour=#ffd700]"I need a break, Ellie." [/colour][colour=#000000]Swan Dive was very used to talking to herself in her own office, and by now her staff probably was as well. The entierty of the office was one large room on the corner of a high rise tower in the middle of Canterlot, the size of a decent home with no dividing walls between individual workspaces. Swan Dive had decreed it so from her first day working, she liked to be close with her staff and any visitors who happened to drop by, as Swan loved receiving letters to the editor in the form of personal visits. The room had several desks for the ponies, some complementary spreads of food laid out several times a day. Each pony who worked there had plenty of personal room to decorate as they pleased, for they were a small staff.[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Swan's own space was mostly bare, but the contents of her desk gave the reasoning up quickly. On her desk were framed photos and trophies, all reminders of her hobby as a dancer. The one thing she really focused on besides her journalistic endeavors, the space around her desk was commonly host to her practice of routines. Again, her staff was probably far used to it by now. [/colour]Swan felt the need to get grooving, perhaps a quick trotthrough of the salsa routine she'd be putting on tomorrow, but first, she glanced at her employees.

[colour=#ffd700]"Hello, everypony! Having a good day so far?" [/colour][colour=#000000]The style of affairs in the office of Young Mare's Tail was incredibly relaxed, Swan Dive allowed her workers free reign to do whatever they felt necessary to complete their assigned articles. She loved all of them, and had interviewed and published most of them already.[/colour]