[Canterlot][PM To Join]A Place Like Home

[SirShadowdeath]

It had been a windy day today, whose breezes had unusually carried on into the dim light of the evening. A black pegasus, aided morally by the raven perched on his back, swung open the door to his small bookstore. The dusty old store smelled of wisdom and unread wonders. Ink smiled, observing the literature which held the antique atmosphere togethor. He had sold many books today, making today a vital market. Yet, he hadn't sold many of his own books. This saddened him to a point, but this feeling was revoked by the thoughts of past experiences. Recent memories of adventure and joy flooded his mind, as he aimlessly stood in place before the open door. Ink smiled before coming back into reality, where he realized that it would be a good idea to shut the oak door before the somewhat mighty breeze completed the chore for him. The black pegasus walked back into the store, and began to blow out the radiant candles one by one. With a single candle remaining, he stopped and hovered back to the silky rug upon the ground. Corvus blinked an nudged his beak against Inkblot's neck, as if he was trying to tell the pegasus something. But it was the end of the day. There was no reason to keep the store open, right? Or was the wise bird foretelling a coming event?

[Winter]

Storm Feather giggled in anticipation. She had been hoping to give Inkblot a surprise visit one night for a while now and had decided this one would be perfect. She flew through the air, shades of gray and black blending in with the windy night air. It ruffled her feathers and chilled her skin, and excellent moment of clarity unfolded before her. She remembered the last time they had been together, sleeping on clouds, a soft, whispered, "I love you, Storm" had both chilled her like winter's wind and warmed her up like a summer's sun. She slowly drew herself out of those thoughts to survey the ground below. There it was, the book shop she was looking for, "The Raven's Quill." She slowly hovered her way down to the door. Storm took in a deep breath, gathered her courage, and knocked on the door four times, awaiting her writer in shining armor to emerge.

[SirShadowdeath]

Suddenly, a knock at the door startled the pegasus. He nervously looked at the door, and then turned to the bird. Ink sighed at Corvus, as the bird's forboding instinct had been correct. But at this hour, who could it be? Everyone in the area usually knew the closing time of The Raven's Quill, and he was sure that it couldn't be a local. He peered out a nearby window to see a beautifully surprising sight. Storm had come back! He smiled and trotted along to the door. Without hesitation, we swung open the oak door once again.

"H-hello, Miss Storm...! I...I'm so happy that...you decided...to drop by!"

Inkblot coughed a bit and then pointed inside, trying to guide her to the dusty uninterior of the old shop.

"So...sorry about the...dust and dim light...The store was just...about to close..."

[Winter]

Storm smiled wide as Ink opened the door. "I'm happy to be here, Ink! It has been too long..." She said as she followed his queue to walk inside. The store was a wondrous sight to the hippogriff; she had never seen so many books together in one place! Storm turned back to Inkblot and commented, "Wow... there are so many... How do you ever keep track of them all?"

[SirShadowdeath]

"I don't," he said with a short laugh and a smile. "Actually..I just organize them by genre and...then by alphabetical order...But that's the boring stuff."

He walked into the depths of the store and gestured for her to follow.

"It was very nice of you...to show up! How...how about I show you the works of...this little store? It's not much...but I think you deserve a tour, Miss Storm."

[Winter]

Storm smirked at Inkblot's remark about the organization and it being boring. "Alright, if you say so... This is your place, after all!" She walked along with him through the store, looking around the building all the while. "I'm glad to be here, Ink. I'd love a tour of the place, thank you." She responded, smiling warmly at him.

[SirShadowdeath]

Ink nodded happily, attempting to find something interesting to show her from this small dusty store. He looked around, and then decided a full tour would just be the best idea.

"Excuse the dim light...there's only one candle left.."

He tried to ignore this fact however, as he calmly walked over to a near bookshelf.

"Here's a big section you might be interested Miss Storm..."

The black pegasus observed the books, and then wiped off some dust on the shelf with his hoof.

"Crafting, Forging, and Professions of History and Equestria..."

He pointed off into the distance of the store.

"And over would be..."

He continued pointing out sections of books, almost becoming lost in his own thought.

[Winter]

Storm followed behind Inkblot and gasped in surprise at how many books there were just on crafting and forging. "Wow..." was the only comment she could muster as they he pointed them out before continuing on with the tour. Storm had to be careful to keep up with Inkblot. It was dark and would probably be easy to get lost. At most of the sections she would nod or smile in appreciations of the great collection of knowledge here. So many books...

[SirShadowdeath]

As Ink finally finished his long speech on books, he rounded the corner of a nearby bookshelf. He turned toward an oak desk, littered with tons of scraps of paper and quills. Spilled ink stained the counter of the desk. The pegasus smiled gleefully.

"And over here is where...is where I do most of my own writing..."

He observed the broken quills on the desk.

"But I've had some...bad writer's block lately..."

[Winter]

Stormed looked down sadly at all the broken quills, scraps of paper, and spilled ink. Writer's block didn't look like it was too fun to have. She couldn't help but wonder what was causing it for her poor friend, or how she could help. "That... That doesn't sound like it is very fun. When is the last time you finished a book?"

[SirShadowdeath]

"I...I don't know anymore..." he said shakily and tense. "Probably more than a month... and a half..."

Inkblot's attention shifted direly onto the desk. He sighed and turned back towards Storm. As he did this, Corvus gently flew off of Ink's back, landing ontop of a nearby shelf labeled with a faded plaque. The only readable letter was the first one, which was a simple "R".

"A-anyway...Miss Storm...That's my quant little store. It's...not much...but it's very elegant in it's own...ancient way..."

[Winter]

Storm Feather made a quick frown as Inkblot sighed. Something was bothering him about his writing, that much was clear. That would explain his writer's block. "Yeah, it is a very nice place... How long have you had it, Ink? How old is it?" She paused, thinking more into the store. "How... How did you get this store? A place like this would... well... probably be kind of hard to get."

[SirShadowdeath]

"I've owned it...for many years now...ever since I parted from my parents to live independently..."

He nervously looked across the room once again, observing all corners of the store anxiously.

"I...I don't know how old it is....but...it looks almost antique...I bought it as is actually...from a pony who helped with the Canterlot Archives...."

He gritted his teeth, trying to think of what more he knew.

"It wasn't too hard to get actually...The pony just didn't need it anymore...and I...I did....I bought it for what I had..."

[Winter]

When Inkblot looked around the room nervously Storm decided to take the chance. She gazed over at the shelf Corvus had landed on and studied it inquisitively. With R being the only letter readable, it was difficult to figure out what it was. The fact the plaque was faded could mean one of two things. Either it was used a lot and was faded away because of it, or it was barely ever used and had faded away due to being unkept. Storm only allowed herself a few seconds to look at it before averting her eyes and looking back to Inkblot. "This store... It must be very important to you, then. What got you so interested in books and writing?"

[SirShadowdeath]

"It...it really is..." Inkblot said. "I was interested in writing since I was a young colt..."

He tried to think back to his youth, remembering all of his past experiences with literature and writing.

"I had a lot of support from my family...but I didn't really progress socially or anything...so mainly just stayed inside...and wrote my life away..."

[Winter]

"Oh... I bet you are really good at writing then. You have a lot of practice and really enjoy it. So how has it been going for you recently, Inkblot? Is everything okay? Are you getting plenty of business, having fun, and all that good stuff?" Storm asked him, wanting the best for her very special pegasus.

[SirShadowdeath]

"It's...it's been okay," he responded. "Buissness has been...fairly slow...but other than that...same old same old..."

He looked around the room, and spotted Corvus, asleep upon a nearby bookshelf. The black pegasus smiled.

"Corvus has been more sleepy lately...must be the change of seasons."

Inkblot returned his focus to Storm.

"How's....everything been with you?...What's been going on...?"

[Winter]

"Nothing too new has been going on. I recently got a new shipment of iron to work with... Supplies are high... Business is average. It is all just fine." Storm looked to Corvus, wondering what is must be like for Inkblot to have a constant companion. Corvus must be a great help for Inkblot. It must be nice to always have someone to talk to. "Although, on slow days I get a bit bored... and lonely."

[SirShadowdeath]

"Lonely...? Isn't there anyone else around...? Someone who...works with you...or around you?"

Inkblot asked. "Lonliness...I...I hate that feeling..."

The black pegasus trotted over to his desk, where he observed some of his unfinished works and failed poems and short stories. He sighed miserably.

"....At least business is good Miss Storm...you can't get writer's block for forging, can you...?"

[Winter]

"No, there isn't really anyone to help me. I've thought about hiring someone to help, but... I don't think I can really afford it. An apprentice could be nice... maybe." Storm approached the desk slowly, staring down at all the papers on it. There were so many. "No, no writer's block, I don't think... Although... sometimes I'll sit there, forging the same thing over and over, but somehow messing up every time. I just lose the ideas I have to make it work:a fold here, a meld there, a soft strike in the middle, and strong ones on the edges... I'll mess one up or forget another... But I can't give up, I have a duty to the ponies I work for and to myself. So, I pick up my work and try again."

[SirShadowdeath]

"That's...very interesting, Miss Storm," Inkblot replied, still phased by his impression of her job.

"You definately have a tougher job than I do," he said with a chuckle. "You...really do."

The black pegasus walked away from his desk, his attention fully on Storm once again.

"Hmm...I've never been in a forge actually...how is it? What's it like?"

[Winter]

"Ha, tougher... Definitely in how much strength it requires. It can get really tiring very quickly. I'm sure writing takes just as much if not more thought and effort, though." She paused, trying to think of the best way to describe smithing. "Well... for one thing... It is hot. Very, very hot. It can also be a little dangerous. The metal you are working with gets very hot, so it is easy to burn yourself. I've had too many feathers singed by the fire. It also gets very tiring very quickly. The bellows need to be pumped to keep the fire hot enough, which requires a bit of precision and instinct. You don't want the fire to be too hot or too cold." Storm decided to move more to the actual metalworking of the art. "One of the parts I have the hardest time with is when the piece is outside of the fire. You have to work it then and there with precision. I need to have every bit of the metal mapped; I need to know all the impurities, weak points, and other formations that could augment how the final item turns out. Once I get started, I can't stop until I finish the section of work I plan on doing then. I need to work quickly so it doesn't cool down and set wrong. If it does, it may be at a point where it would be easiest to start over... That is never a good thing. Sometimes I get lucky, though, and I can just reheat and continue working that section. And that... that is the basics of how I feel when I forge. I really enjoy it... What is it like writing?"