The Foothills: Outskirts [Marelia] A Vacation in the Woods [Open to anyone!]

[Jane]

It was a shame, really – Equestria was such a wide, wide country with a variety of exciting cities to visit and landscapes to gaze upon. Celestia truly reigned over a beautiful world and it pained her to think that so many regions went unexplored. There were the shore cities in the south, bordering the coast and harboring ships and beaches, and the wild and rugged forests to the east and west of the capital city, and the exotic and unique lands of Itaily and Germaney which lay beyond the Eponnine Mountains. There were deserts and plains and hills and mountains and though Celestia had visited all of them before, she always felt that some regions were always sorely neglected.

Perhaps, for her royal vacation, this could be to her advantage. She loved the ponies of Equestria – this was an undeniable fact. But sometimes their enthusiasm stifled the Princess – she wanted someplace quiet, isolated, and beautiful. After peering over the maps of Equestria and consulting her most trusted advisor, Philomena the Phoenix, she settled on a quiet and undisturbed resort town in the north – the sleepy village of Marelia. With the Eponnine Mountains to its south, and Zherbenok Bay to its north, the village was scenic, idyllic and quiet. It was the perfect place to escape her duties for a few days, relax, spend some time with Philomena and enjoy the peace and quiet of the beautiful resort town.

Of course, in order to avoid any unwanted attention, she keeps her plans secret, and selects only a few of her most trusted guardsponies and courtiers to accompany her. She won’t keep her presence entirely unknown in the town - it is rather difficult for a Princess of her stature to travel incognito. But she does so like surprising her subjects, and would rather not be greeted with the parade and pomp she usually gets for official business. No, this was a vacation and Celestia hoped to be treated as much like any other pony as she possibly could.

After unpacking her belongings and leaving her royal regalia in a small room in the bed & breakfast where she would be staying for her the duration of her visit (much to the utter shock and awe of its proprietors – that had been good fun!), Celestia decides to go for a hike through the mountainous forests to the south of the village. With only Philomena to accompany her, she spreads her wide, white wings, takes to the sky and heads south. The view from the air is breathtaking, as she gazes at the forests and mountain peaks below.

[colour=#B774C5]“Isn’t it just beautiful, Philomena? So different from the spires and marble towers in Canterlot – I have always thought the north of Equestria was blessed with a rich, rugged beauty so often overlooked by ponies in the cities further south.”[/colour]

The phoenix chirps her agreement as the two begin descending towards a rugged hiking trail cut through the trees. As she lands gracefully on the forest floor, Celestia catches sight of a small troupe of three or four hikers approaching them on the trail. She smiles at the rather startled ponies, her amethyst eyes sparkling with mischief. [colour=#B774C5]“Well, good afternoon,”[/colour] she says to them, extending a hoof in greeting. [colour=#B774C5]“It’s so good to see I’m not the only one who enjoys an occasional walk in these beautiful woods. My name is Celestia – and you are?”[/colour]

​

[colour=#b4b4b4]((OOC: Posting my prompt response as an open thread totally isn't cheating.))[/colour]

[QuickLime]

The Hike had been great! Just what Harvest needed to recharge her batteries! A good crisp hike in the woods! It was a glorious but slightly cold day, hence why as ever she donned her scarf and green turtle neck sweater, goggles resting atop her head, ever present as usual, the calmness and freshness helping clear her mind, which was usually full of a thousand different things at once, and while walking she closed her eyes...till the collective gasps of her fellow hikers caught her ears, making those harvest orange eyes open, and then suddenly widen at the sight in front of her.

"Oh my goodness!" She perked then, wings opening with a pomf "It's real nice to meet you Celestia!" And Harvest was moving over quickly to offer the Princess her hoof "I'm such a fan of yer work! It's so beautiful to see you paint a masterpiece in the sky every morning! Even when I was little I'd get up early to watch it!"

Now Harvest Moon was a big fan of the stars, and the moon itself but the Sun was also a very large star...so She loved it just as much, and the princess obviously wanted to relax as she had refered to herself by name only, and no title..

[GingerbreadSpy]

Tawny was among the hikers, looking neither terribly bored, terribly afraid, nor terribly excited. He did, however, appear slightly worried. His uncle's friend's cousin who was supposed to be looking after him had gotten lost at some point during the hike, most likely while looking at an interesting anthill formation. This wasn't the first time he had been under this particular pony's care, however, and he had become accustomed to the fact that, while his caretaker did get lost often, he always seemed to be able to find his way back again. So, Tawny stuck to the group because he figured there was little point in getting himself lost looking for his uncle's friend's cousin.

He wondered, briefly, if his mother was having any luck trying to see how much lightning it would take to destroy the average Cloudsdale citizen's home and what it would take to completely lightning-proof their house. His wonderings came screeching to a halt when the group stumbled upon Princess Celestia. He'd really only just arrived in Marelia, so he hadn't heard about the princess. Or maybe he had heard his uncle's friend's cousin ramble about it but hadn't been paying any attention. Tawny's wings flapped open in surprise; his eyes went wide. He'd never seen the princess in the flesh before.

"Ah..." He clamped his mouth shut and started fidgeting. What was the princess doing here? Why wasn't she accompanied by any guards? What were in those mushrooms his uncle's friend's cousin had insisted were perfectly safe to eat?

He glanced at the pony that called herself Harvest Moon and flushed a little when she addressed the princess so informally. The nervous colt tugged on Harvest Moon's scarf a little. "Um, ah... ma'am." He cast a glance at Princess Celestia, then averted his eyes. "Um, shouldn't you be calling her Princess Celestia?" He stirred up a little of the ground with his hoof and tried smiling at the princess but ended up looking more like he was having a painful dentist's visit than friendly.

[QuickLime]

Harvest blinked at that and turned her head back to look at Tawny, cocking her head slightly "If She wished me to call her Princess Celestia she woulda introduced herself! I reckon she's here to relax and enjoy herself and would like some of us to not talk to her so formally, Ah would get tired of hearing myself get reffered t' as "MISS Harvest Moon every single time ya know?" Harvest nodded before glancing at the Princess again "Course if I am incorrect in my assumption I do apologize Ma'am"

[mjt014]

[colour=#0000ff]Thunder was hiking with a group of ponies in a forest of Marelia. His family came here on vacation, to relax and unwind. [/colour][colour=#0000ff]They wanted to see other parts of Equestria and experience wonders they could back at Canterlot. Thunder's Brother, Flare Chaser, gets to practice in a completely new terrain.[/colour][colour=#0000ff] The challenge of a new landscape gives him the chance to create new moves. After Thunder and his family got here, Thunder wanted to see Marelia. The region's scenery could give him inspiration. Thunder asked Flare if he wanted to go with him, but he told him he had new moves to work on, so he decided to go be himself. He packed his art supplies in saddlebags and began walking to a place where he could create.[/colour]

[colour=#0000ff]During his walk, Thunder meet up with other ponies and decided to tag a along with, since they were going in the same path. The young stallion thought it would be a simple walk until something amazing happened. Princess Celestia had appear before him and the group. As a young colt, Thunder has always thought if he would meet her someday and now he has. She was beautiful, her eyes a sparkling amethyst teeming with a little mischief in them. Her coat a brilliant white. Her mane, flowing in the air with the beauty of a rainbow. Thunder didn't know what to say from this sudden meeting with the Princess of Equestria. She was the first to greet the ponies by addressing herself as Celestia. Thunder then, came to a conclusion on why Celestia was her in Marelia. She was on vacation as well, meaning it was okay to address as such.[/colour]

[colour=#0000ff]"Nice to finally meet you, Celestia." Thunder said with a a wave and warm smile that filled a pony with joy and comfort.[/colour][colour=#0000ff] [/colour]

[starswirlthebearded]

Celestia had no intention to stand on ceremony for her well deserved vacation. It wasn't often that she could get away from the castle and her responsibilities, she even made it a point to leave her crown and all her royal regalia back at the small room she was staying in. Despite this she was sure to have a few ponies refuse to forego the usual pleasantries that she was usually afforded in Canterlot or any official (or even unofficial) meetings. However the first pony to approach her made no such effort.

"Oh my goodness!" She perked then, wings opening with a pomf "It's real nice to meet you Celestia!" And Harvest was moving over quickly to offer the Princess her hoof "I'm such a fan of yer work! It's so beautiful to see you paint a masterpiece in the sky every morning! Even when I was little I'd get up early to watch it!

The young mare in the scarf seemed rather excited to meet the Princess of the Sun, even her body language was excited with her wings opening with a burst almost like she was ready to fly. She even made a point to compliment Celestia and her sunrises. "The pleasure is mine." As Celestia shook the mare's extended hoof "And I thank you for your kind words, but I cannot say that what I do every morning is as artistic as painting. The sun is a thing of beauty itself and does not need my help to shine and paint the sky every morning. In a way, the Sun is the artist, and I am it's humble assistant." Celestia replied humbly to the mare's compliments. She was the Sun's guide, and just as she cannot take credit for another pony's achievements, she cannot take away from the majestic beauty of the sun. It would be akin to saying the gorgeous landscape before them was her doing because she allowed it to be.

There was another pegasus as well, whom barely made a sound towards Celestia. All she could make out was an "Ah" and some whispers to the mare that had just greeted her. Celestia was used to this, but she had hoped that the country air would have relaxed her and those around her to allow everypony to at least talk with some ease to her. She supposed that some were just naturally nervous around royalty, something that she could understand. There were still ponies in Canterlot who would clam up upon her mere passing, let alone talking to any pony.

"MISS Harvest Moon every single time ya know?" Harvest nodded before glancing at the Princess again "Course if I am incorrect in my assumption I do apologize Ma'am"

Celestia let out a chuckle at Harvest Moon's thought process. "I assure you miss Harvest Moon, had you done something wrong, I would not be shy in letting you know" Celestia said with a wink, clearly being a bit sarcastic with the "miss" bit. She wasn't sure what to call the mare, however she figured 'Harvest' would do for the time being though. And if she preferred another name Celestia hoped she wouldn't be shy to let her know. Though there was always the chance that some ponies would consider correcting a princess a grave faux pas. "I've left my crown behind, and so, for now, I'm not a princess, just a mare on vacation. Of course if anypony is more comfortable calling me a princess, I would not impose to tell them what to call me by." Celestia said with a smile.

"Nice to finally meet you, Celestia." Thunder said with a a wave and warm smile that filled a pony with joy and comfort.

"It is nice to meet you as well..." Celestia trailed off unsure of what to call this newest pony to greet her. She was happy though, most ponies around her were at least comfortable enough to know that she too was on vacation and not acting as a princess. Even royalty needs time off from being royalty after all.