An unusal meeting (ATTN: Winter, PM to join all others)

[Lux]

Guiding Light was feeling good today. His teacher in school compliimented him on a project he did in class, he was making new friends, and he found a possible special somepony. Yet there was a lingering fear in his mind, that something unexpected would happen, and not the good surprise like a birthday present. This was going to be bad.

It was then he saw it in the sky: a huge creature circling above. Was it a dragon? No, it didn't look like one he saw in a book on dragons. Then he thought about something else: a gryphon. He knew from experience that gryphons were mean, at least the one he saw in town called Gilda. After that event, he became terrified.

He tried to run away but his hooves felt like they were frozen. The only thing he could do was watch in fear.

[Winter]

Storm was cruising through the air to Ponyville to buy some supplies. She was running a bit low on food and had been for a while now, due to lack of funds. However, recently she was lucky enough made a big sale. Once she got close enough to the city, she decided to land. She circled clockwise as she lowered herself to the ground. Suddenly, something below caught her attention. A colt below seemed to be cowering in fear! She worried for him and decided to see what was wrong. Storm landed in front of him and called to him, "Hey! What is wrong, little one?"

[Lux]

For a moment, GGuiding Light thought that the gryphon would pass him by, that from that altitude she wouldn't see him. Being that he was a lighter colored pony, he did tend to blend in. But to his shock, the gryphon landed right in front of him! Then she opened her mouth, or in this case beak, to speak and all Guiding Light to think of was that this creature was going to attack.

Suddenly his legs which felt like they were once embedded in the ground now gave way like they were made of rubber. Down the colt went as he blacked out before his head touched the ground.

[Winter]

Storm stared in shock as the colt crumpled before her! She looked around, trying to find what had scared him so bad, before turning back to him and nudging him a few times with a claw. "Hey... Are you okay?" She said as she shook him gently, trying to coax him out of his shock. Storm looked around one last time in a desperate attempt to see what danger had scared this colt so bad. She couldn't find anything that was really dangerous in the area.

[Lux]

Guiding Light groaned as he awoke. It felt like there was something poking him in the side. It's was hard like a hoof, but by no means as dull. It felt like something pointy like a stick or a claw. The later sent a shiver down his spine as he forced his eyes oped to see where he was and what was around him.

It was then his eyes met face to face with a female gryphon!

"Ahhh, gryphon," Light screamed, which sounded more like a squeak. He tried backing up when he was tripped and sat back on the ground. "P... please don't eat me," he said as he was scooting backwards while seated.

[Winter]

Storm sighed in relief when the colt awoke, but was suddenly dismayed when he started to scream. Griffon? Where? She looked around, confused, before she realized he must be talking about her. "I... What? Why would I eat you? I... I'm a hippogriff... not a griffon. Even if I were, why would I eat you?" She was genuinely confused. What misleading things were they teaching the young ones in Ponyville nowadays? Storm groaned in annoyance. "Besides, you are just a cute little unicorn."

[Lux]

(OOC: Oops. Should have looked at your profile.)

Light looked at the creature who was now just as confused as he was. She mentioned the fact that she was a hippogriff. He had never heard of one or for that matter seen one before. But looking more closely, he could tell that a hippogriff had the body of a mare but wings, claws and a head like a giffon.

"Oh, sorry. I just saw the wings and the claws and thought you were a griffon. I haven't actually heard or seen before a hippogriff."

Then she mentioned Light being cute. No pony or otherwise had ever called him cute... well except for his mom but that didn't cute.

"Um... thanks for saying you're not going to eat me and I guess that I'm cute. I'm Guiding Light, but you can call me just Light. What's your name?"

[Winter]

"Oh, nice to meet you, Guiding Light. I'm Storm Feather. I'm a smith from Cloudsdale. You know... About me not eating you... I think you just might be cute enough for me to gobble you up!" She said with a giggle. Storm thought a moment before deciding she wanted to talk with the colt more. "So... What were you doing here before? Are you alone?"

[Lux]

Guiding Light's eyes went wide when Storm Feather mentioned gobbling him up. He then realized that she was joking.

"Um... you call me cute alot. Is that something Hippogriffs say to each other? I really haven't been called cute by other ponies, except my mom."

Light then realized that Storm asked him a question.

"Well, I was walking home from school. I'm alone but I live close by so it's not really a problem. And I was ... thinking about something."

The unicorn stopped. Why did he say that? That was supposed to be private. Well, at least he didn't say exactly what he was thinking about.

[Winter]

"Oh... I don't really know why I was saying that... I just see so many other mares do it around here, and it makes the little ones so happy... Where I come from, no one really ever says that." Storm sighed and thought back to her childhood. The Soggalong Swamp was not a great place to be raised, especially as a hippogriff. "Walking home from school... Do you mind if I walk with you? I'm in no hurry. I was just out to get buy some supplies."

[Lux]

"Um sure you can walk with me," Guiding Light said as he proceeded down the road. Around him there were several ponies looking at the two, mostly Storm.

"So... um... what's it like to fly? I don't know because, you know... I'm a unicorn and all."

[Winter]

"Oh, flying is amazing. The wind feels so cool against your skin, the clouds flash by, and the ground below almost always looks so beautiful... It really gives you a sense of freedom." Storm looked around at the ponies around them, glad to be in Ponyville around so many of them. A lot seemed to be interested in what they were doing, which was nice too. "Of course, my favorite part is flying just above water. The way it sparkles... dragging my claws in it... going through the mist it causes... Just wonderful."

[Lux]

Light listened to Storm speak about how she loved flying. He wondered what it would be like if he was born a pegasus instead of a unicorn.

"Wow. It must be nice to be able to fly anywhere you want. I like being able to do magic, but I wish I had a cooler ability."

[Winter]

"Yeah, flying sure is great..." Storm looked at Light confused. "But... I'd think being able to do magic would be amazing... and so useful. What special ability do you have?"

[Lux]

"Well, I can do this," Light said as his horn started to glow.

Then a little ball of light formed just over his head, although it was hard to see due to it being daytime.

"That's really it, except for being able to move objects around with magic, but most unicorns can do that. I'm trying to find somepony that knows light magic and can teach me to do more things like make colors or even illusions. That would be great!"

[Winter]

Storm Feather watched the little ball of light bounce up and down in the air. She was sure it would look more spectacular if it was darker, but here in broad daylight it lost a lot of its grandeur. "Well, that is very nice... Maybe you could find somepony to teach you more about this magic. Illusions and colors would be cool. Who knows, you might be able to put on whole shows of illusions all by yourself! You'd have your own audience: your own roaring crowd. That sure would be something."

[Lux]

"Well... um... I don't know about performing in front of all those ponies," Light said clearly looking nervous, "I'm kind of shy, ok very shy. But Maybe if I could show my magic to a few others, that would be cool. I'm trying to find a pony to teach me, but it doesn't look like there are many who know about ight magic."

[Winter]

"Well... I can't say I know much about performing..." Storm stated to the unicorn. "But if what you are doing is what makes you happy, then you should keep doing it." Storm stopped walking for a moment and tapped a claw on her chin, thinking. "I haven't heard much about light magic, either. You say you might be able to learn how to make illusions? Maybe you could find a magic show somewhere and try to meet the unicorn performing backstage and learn there!" She looked around a second to see who might be listening in before walking forward again.

[Lux]

"Well um... maybe if I meet a show performer who uses Light Magic I can talk to them."

Light then realized that he was so concerned about his magic that he knew almost nothing about Storm.

"So... um... what about you? You said you were a smith, right? What thisng do you smith?"

[Winter]

"Oh... I smith all kinds of things. Parts, tools, screws, nails, and the occasional weapon or armor." Storm moved out her right wing and shrugged it a few times, stretching the joint out. "I take on commissions up in Cloudsdale. Ponies come in all the time and ask me to make things. It isn't always just smithing, either. I've made carts, tables, chairs, even helped make buildings. It is hard work..."

[Lux]

"That's neat," Guiding Light said to the hippocampi, "You get to make all kinds of interesting things. and you said you make armor too? I always wondered what it would be like in armor. How long does it take to make one?"

[Winter]

(Hippocamp? )

Storm Feather was surprised at the unicorn's interest with armor in particular. Just what was this little one planning? "Well... A good set of armor can take anywhere from a few days to weeks, depending on size, amount of pieces, and what it is made of... And most of that depends on what the buyer is willing to pay. Usually I make cheaper, less elegant pieces... They don't usually take long." She sighed in thought before adding, "It would be nice to work on some of the more expensive metals... Oh well."

[Lux]

(OOC: Doh! Hippogriff. And Pegasus? Light's a unicorn)

Light listened with interest about the creation of armor.

"Wow, that's neat. I read about armor throughout the ages in a book. Yet I never met anypony or in your case Hippogriff who made one. So what part of the armor do you make first. Oh, and do you make the armor for the soldiers in Canterlot? That armor is neat!"

[Winter]

(Doh! I have an excuse, though! I had just gotten home from a long flight! Sorry )

Storm Feather laughed aloud at the idea of crafting armor for the Royal Guards, "No, no, no, no... I wish I could get a chance to craft that, but they've never asked me to and probably never will. I just have a small crafts shop: they'd probably ask much more renowned smiths to make something so intricate and important." Storm Feather took a look around into the land around them. The breeze was starting to pick up, which made this walk a lot more enjoyable. She loved the feel of the wind on her feathers and the ground crackling beneath her with other step. Returning back to attention, she continued, "Usually when I make armor I take on the biggest parts first because those are usually the easiest... and the easiest to fix if I make a mistake. That way I warm up and any mistakes I do make should be easy to spot and fix. Then I work my way into finer details from there."

[Lux]

(OOC: I have an excuse too. It's called temporary brain fuzz!)

"Maybe you can, you know, ask somepony about smithing the soldier's armor. I'm sure they would want another to help. When i think of armor, it reminds me of the Battle Mages series I read. Have you read this series?"