[Ponyville]A day in the Store(Gerrard, Open)

[IceStorm]

[colour=#000080]It was slowing becoming more and more apparent that Autumn was beginning to set in. Aside from the over all cooler weather, and mostly due to the decline in temperatures, she noticed that business at her store was beginning to die down. At least as far as the frozen treats go. She had managed to get a few ice Sculpture orders and have been able to get those done with ease. In fact, they were far easier than she had anticipated them being. So much so that unless it was something extremely intricate or large, she did away with the 48-hour notice that she had for the orders. [/colour]

[colour=#000080]Her shop now had raised more than enough money than what was actually needed to run it and it had since moved from the little tent that she had before to now an actual two story building. Granted the entire building wasn't her entire store, the upstairs of the building were her living quarters, but the downstairs was plenty big enough for the shop. It had ample space for her and the walls were painted with a nice, bright sky blue around most of the top of the wall with rolling hills of glistening "ice and snow: also painted on teh walls to make the entire inside look more like an excursion to a frozen paradise rather than a frozen goods store. [/colour]

[colour=#000080]The tables however for the more part were just basic white tables. All of the bits for the decorating the place went for the painting of the wall, but she had already made a not to fix the tables as well in the future. They weren't broken, just compared to the rest of the shop, bland. Even the counter was neatly carved and trimmed to look like a snow-drift. As she looked around her store, Ice realized that the only thing that would make it all the more perfect was just around the corner. Have a special somepony to share it all with. [/colour][colour=#0000ff]"Less than a week away,"[/colour][colour=#000080] she said with a smile watching the door for a hopeful customer.[/colour]

[Gerrard]

Ponyville had seen it's share of cool weather and this day was no different, the clouds filling the sky as they shrouded the town in a bit of mid day darkness. It threatened to rain, but no such event was scheduled, leaving everyone in town to ignore the ominous clouds above them as best they could. The residents of the city were starting to realize that the city was closing in on the snow season and were dressing appropriately, mufflers and overcoats slowly becoming a trend for the early morning. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the weather, everyone aside from a lone griffon who appeared to be sweating in the chilly weather. The black pelted hybrid had no cold gear on his large frame, the only thing even attached to his body being a large and well fastened bag that was accompanied by a pair of extremely dark tinted goggles that rested atop his head. He had fierce looking yellow eyes that rested comfortably on his silver plumed head, the griffon eying every pony that crossed his path, the creature smirking for no clearly discernible reason.

He looked through the strangely famous city for a place to cool off, his keen eyes spotting a rather large ice cream store. He often wondered what stores like it did on particularly cold days like this one, but quickly put it aside, just glad that it could serve him, a clear exception to the rule. After hearing the soft voice of mare talking vaguely to herself, the seemingly aloof griffon devised a somewhat mischievous plan as he took flight and landed carefully on the roof of her two story residence. He silently prowled across the roof of her home, getting a few concerned glares from worried ponies as he made his way to awning that she stood beneath. He firmly planted his hind paws on the roof before leaning over the edge with the remainder of his body. "Hello dear pony. It is an honor to meet you!" he announced suddenly, the griffon opening his maw and spreading out his talons and wings in a manner that made it look as if he were diving upon her. At a passing glance, a pony could easily come to that conclusion, the nefarious looking hybrid striking an equally imposing posture above her.

[IceStorm]

[colour=#000080]IT wasn't too long before eventually Ice had ran out of stuff to clean in the shop. After all, she could only wipe off a counter so many times before was completely spotless. To the point of which she could see her own reflection on the pearl-white counter top. I know it's getting a bit could, but I would have at least expected one customer within the last couple of hours... she thought to herself. No sooner she finish her thought though, a griffin peered down from over then awning and blurted a greeting catching Ice a bit off guard. He then started to run towards her and it almost appeared as if he had malicious intentions as his talons and wings were spread and when he landed his pose didn't change. Convinced that this griffin had the intention of at the very least robbing her, Ice took to the defensive. As soon as he made his post, her horn lit up and the air around her froze, creating a flexible coating of Ice surrounding her body in a coat of armor and leaned into a pouncing position. [/colour][colour=#0000ff]"If your intent is to try and rob me, then you've picked the worst possible store to do so. Try anything and I'll add you to my ice sculpture collection,"[/colour][colour=#000080] she told him completely convinced that this was indeed a robber and not a customer playing a prank. [/colour]

​

[Gerrard]

(oc: you should read my post closer, and try not to control my character. He simply hung off the roof to look threatening, he never jumped off or anything)

The griffon raised his brow when the mare didn't get particularly scared. He watched as she quickly donned an armor of ice, the pony seeming strangely familiar with getting into fights, something the griffon never really had to get into. "Well you're no fun, not even a nervous stammer out of you. That normally scares ponies, you must be made of tougher stuff. What a... cold disposition," he remarked, initially avoiding her assertion that he was a burglar. The griffon released his grip and gracefully dropped to the ground, the large hybrid taking a calm glance back at her as she threatened to freeze him.

"If I was a burglar, I wouldn't announce myself openly. Unless I was a really bad one I suppose? I just like to get a good fright out of ponies. Alas, it appears that I have failed amuse both of us. Would you be okay if I went to plan B? I was feeling rather hot from my work for you and decided I needed some ice cream. Can you help a hot griffon out?" he asked with a grin, his feathers looking a unusually hot on the cold day. The griffon had worked up quite the sweat while he fixed some damaged pipes on the outskirts of Ponyville. Using a blowtorch probably didn't help either, but that wasn't something he would probably complain about.

The griffon paused and took a seat on his haunches, looking up at the irritated mare. "Gerrard Grayfeather, honored to meet you. I am an irrigation architect from the Royal University of Canterlot. Do you have mango ice cream?" he asked with a smile, the hybrid extending a black talon towards her as he seemed to ask for a friendly shake.

[IceStorm]

[colour=#0000ff]"I been through some of the rudest places in Equestria, and have seen more than my fair share of disrespect both in Fillydelphia and Canterlot. I don't scare easily," [/colour][colour=#000080]she told him as she watched the griffon for any sudden moves. Granted she'd never been a victim of a burglary, but she was determined not to become one now. The intruder then backtracked his actions, stating that if he was a burglar, wouldn't he have announced himself openly unless he was a bad one. He had a point, but her guard was still raised. The last thing she needed was to do exactly what he wanted her to do. As he spoke though, he made it very apparent that his actions were merely supposed to be a stab at fright than anything else. [/colour][colour=#0000ff]"As I stated, not an easy pony to scare, and as you said, most definitely not amused," [/colour][colour=#000080]Ice told him flatly as he explained that he merely wanted some ice cream. When he introduced himself as being from the Royal University of Canterlot, Everything became clear. Oh... He's one of 'them', she thought to herself straight faced. When he asked if she had mango ice cream, she gave a gentle nod. [/colour][colour=#0000ff]"That I do,"[/colour][colour=#000080] she stated. [/colour][colour=#0000ff]"So, what brings a student of the Royal University to Ponyville?"[/colour][colour=#000080] She asked him.[/colour]

​

[Gerrard]

The griffon listened patiently as she lectured him about disrespectful people. He nodded in agreement with her, the previously aggressive looking griffon seeming to listen to her as she explained her personal experiences. Gerrard let out a light yawn as he stretched out his large body, the griffon lightly digging his black talons into the ground as he examined the icy mare. "I see, I apologize for not being amusing enough for the both of us. I'll refrain from any unnecessary movements, at least for my current venture into your store," he explained, the griffon smirking as he partially agreed to refrain from harassing her further.

He eagerly licked his dark maw in anticipation as she explained that she did have mango flavored ice cream, the griffon finding that particular fruit to be extraordinarily agreeable for reasons completely unknown. "Ah, see, I am an alumni of that university, I graduated many a moon ago. I graduated as an exchange student who studied all the irrigation practices of your nation from weather control to physical irrigation practices. I was here this morning fixing a damaged pipe that was supplying your town with running water. I just finished welding a loose pipe together, hopefully your water pressure should be improved, perhaps allowing you to make more ice cream! Not that business is probably fierce during the winter anyway," he explained with a smile, the griffon rummaging through his bag as he waited for her response.

[IceStorm]

[colour=#000080]Ice listened as the griffon both apologized and explained that he was no longer a student, but an alumni from many moons ago. His choice of wording did please her though, as at least in her mind, it gave more recognition to Luna for the years past. It was easily the best thing that he could have said at the moment. [/colour][colour=#0000ff]"A damaged pipe? I wasn't even aware that we had one,"[/colour][colour=#000080] Ice admitted. She giggled though when he mentioned using the water for ice cream.[/colour][colour=#0000ff] "Well, I can't make Ice cream out of water. Water after all, has no cream in it. I do however use a lot of it for snow cones. And snow is entirely water,"[/colour][colour=#000080] she said with a smile, letting the ice armor fall off of her. The griffon seemed trustworthy enough at this point, and it wasn't like it would take her a long time to create it again anyway. [/colour]

[colour=#0000ff]"And while the ice cream sales and the frozen treat sales have dropped, the sale of ice sculptures have gone up a bit, and they require a lot more water than any snow cone could even think of. That being said, I can definitely say that I'm surprised that anypony from the Royal University even accepted the job. Most of everypony at the university anymore feel that communicating with anypony that was unfortunate enough to not be born in Canterlot to be beneath them. Believe me, that alone was the cause of a vast majority of the arguments and heated verbal debates that I got into in Canterlot. Thankfully I managed to keep it to just that, verbal,"[/colour][colour=#000080] she told him handing him the ice cream.[/colour]

​

[Gerrard]

Gerrard smirked and looked around her shop, chuckling lightly to himself. The griffon had no immediate preference towards either sister, but was glad that his phrase seemed to please the unicorn, deciding to continue with his explanation. "As 'amazing' as pegasus are at controlling the weather, they can't make water come out of your faucet. But yeah, I know it isn't directly a part of ice cream, but it definitely is something that helps you run your business," he explained, the griffon making light of the abilities of pegasus as he made quotation marks with his talons.

He looked around her frigid store as she mentioned ice sculptures, the griffon looking over the cold figurines, careful not to touch any of the objects with his talons. "I would imagine the sculptures would, I personally work with fire, so I could never have one around," he explained, grinning as he spoke. She mentioned the university in a negative manner, the hybrid deciding to clarify things somewhat for her. "Well, firstly I am not 'everypony', and as negative as many Canterlot residents are, someone has to work the irrigation systems. I'm not a plumber after all, I'm trained to design and lay out the pipes while maintaining them. In all actuality, it is a job well suited for a griffon, the profession requiring a great deal of personal travel. And while a pegasus could fly around and do my job, they would be hard pressed to use a wrench or blow torch with their teeth," he explained objectively. "Oh, and as you might notice, I'm not from around Canterlot, they thought I was probably beneath the ground they stood on, but I graduated regardless," he explained with his usual grin, the griffon seeming somewhat proud of himself.

After he finished speaking, the griffon glanced at the prices and rummaged through his bag and pulled out his bits, exact change to be precise as he presented his payment to her while grabbing his ice cream. "Thanks fair mare," he added with a smile, eying his food, trying to be polite and not devour it rapidly in front of her.

[IceStorm]

[colour=#000080]The only thing Ice could do was listened as the griffon started speaking and defending himself from the Royal University. He stated that he wasn't everypony else and that he was very obviously not from Canterlot himself. That he was better suited for his job than most because he was a griffon because of the tools that were required for it to be done right. [/colour][colour=#0000ff]"I hadn't meant to be disrespectful. As you've may have noticed, and as I have mentioned, I haven't had the best of experiences with ponies from there. I generally avoid the area by the college whenever I have to go to Canterlot. Usually, I'm either heading towards the Castle to visit Princess Luna whenever I know that she's going to be in or some of my other friends towards the market,"[/colour][colour=#000080] she told him as he thanked her for the ice cream. [/colour][colour=#0000ff]"Anytime, that being said though, has anypony else in the collage changed at all or are they still as obnoxious as ever? As you stated, you aren't from Canterlot either so I would presume you had to bear a decent amount of the brunt yourself if they hadn't,"[/colour][colour=#000080] she asked politely trying to make sure it didn't sound like she was including him with the others, since he had already made that apparent.[/colour]

​

[Gerrard]

Gerrard smirked as she mentioned that most of the college ponies in Canterlot were totally jerks. He agreed to some degree, but also knew that there were always a few exceptions to the rule. "Oh, you misunderstand me Lady Unicorn. The ponies in Canterlot are totally uppity jerks, I was just saying that I'm a griffon," he explained with a devilish grin, throwing his contemporaries under the bus as he avoided calling himself one as well. "My office is actually at the University, so I am not able to avoid them," he explained in a solemn voice, the black hybrid lowering his head in a fake defeated manner before looking up at her with expectant eyes. He didn't think it was so bad, but then again, he had learned of many ways to adapt to their barbed words.

At the mention of Luna, the griffon raised his brow, wondering if she was being completely honest. He didn't see a reason for her to lie, but almost nobody got to visit the princesses. "You visit Princess Luna? You must be quite the sculptor to get visits with her, I was under the assumption that the royals didn't accept many visitors," he explained, stroking his black beak as he thought the whole situation over, shrugging a bit. It wasn't his place to decide the truth and he just rolled with it, nodding as she spoke.

Ponies used to love to harass him when he first came to Canterlot, but Gerrard quickly learned to adapt. "The ponies of Canterlot that it was odd that I had talons instead of hooves and sought to remind me of it on a daily basis. I countered by saying that griffons love to eat meat, and most of them learned to leave me alone. Apparently my beak is rather sharp," he explained with a grin, tracing a talon across his black maw.