An accidental meeting (Andifferous, TheQueenOfMars)

[Andifferous]

It was late in the evening, Celestia's sun having just set over the horizon. The lights of Fillydelphia were twinkling in the distance as a brownish-gray pegasus glided lazily through the air, gradually making his way toward the city. The airborne pony, Dusty, liked to think of himself as a freelance courier, although honestly work was work and he wasn't a stranger to spending time working for a small business or farm. Currently he didn't have any work, but he did have a few dozen bits in his tattered old green vest. That would be enough to get him a night at a halfway decent inn, and a meal or two as well. With a bit of luck and persistence that would be enough to get him some work and a few more bits.

He was lost in thoughts on this very topic, considering the various inns and hotels he was familiar with, when he heard a shout from somewhere down below. Suddenly there was a monstrous deafening boom and a brilliant flash of colours, right off to his left, the concussive force of the explosion sending him tumbling through the air. Frightened and disoriented, he fought to try and regain his bearings, even as more explosions went off all around him, battering him this way and that. Sparks flew around him in a wild kaleidoscope of colours, and foul smelling smoke filled his nose and made his eyes water.

Coughing and spluttering he eventually tumbled free of the mess in the sky. He couldn't see where he was going, both from the tears in his eyes from the smoke, and the flash-blinding from the explosions. it was only through dumb luck that he managed to regain his glide right before smashing roughly into a large bush.

[TheQueenOfMars]

Oh sweet Celestia please let him be alright.....

With wide eyes and ears flattened as far back as could possibly go, the dark grey mare, Ember would watch in horror as the pegasus made a crash landing in a nearby bush. Instantaneously a sense of worry and guilt overwhelmed her as she would dart towards the very bush that the pegasus had landed in, the rest of her miniature 'show' continuing as brilliant flashes of colour filled the night sky. This sadly wasn't the first incident Ember had dealt with, and she continuously hoped each following one would be her last, yet luck never seemed to be on her side. All she wanted now was for this pegasuss not to hate her.

"H-hey! You're not dead or anything, right? Are you injured? Wings broken? Blind? Mute? Deaf?" Pausing for a second, Ember would begin frantically waving her front right hoof in the air, trying to get the pegasus' attention, her eyes practically bulging from her skull. Soon enough, she would realize the rapid hoof flailing was doing nothing, and proceeded to grab the stallion by his hind quarters and drag him from the bush's grasp. She had managed to pull the pegasus stallion far enough away from the bush to get a good look at him, looking over his body for any major damage.

"I'm so so so so sorry. I tried to yell, but you were kind of in a daze, and I had already lit the fuses on the fireworks and...oh, jeez please don't hate me..." Ember would let out a soft sigh, plopping down on the ground as she watched over the pegasus who lay before her, having completely forgotten about her show.

[Andifferous]

Dusty groaned softly as he sat within the bush, slowly regaining his senses. He could hear someone yelling outside the bushes, but his mind was still a little too addled to make out what she was saying. He went wide-eyed though as he was suddenly tugged by his hindquarters from the dense foliage. Once free of the bush he shook his head a little bit, laying sprawled out on his back on the soft grass.

"Ugh.... what happened?" He mumbled, as his hearing and vision slowly started to clear up. He shook his head and blinked a few times, a red-haired unicorn filling his vision. "Hi..."

[TheQueenOfMars]

"Oh, thank Celestia you're okay! Well, you're relatively okay...you're not broken as far as I can see..."

A wide grin was soon plastered on the Unicorn's face as she stared at the pegasus before face-hoofing and shaking her own head. Apologies come first. Introductions come later, or at least that's what Ember liked to tell herself.

"Oh, um...I'm Ember Willow. Sorry about the fireworks. I was working on a mini show, and you happened to be flying in the trajectory of one of my rockets just as it exploded...I tried to warn you, but you seemed like you were in a bit of a daze."

Standing up, the grey mare would extend her hoof to the sprawled-out pegasus, offering to help him up. Instantly she caught sight of his cutie mark, smiling as she giggled to herself at the irony of a navigator pony getting lost amidst fireworks. Nevertheless, she felt bad about nearly injuring him, so she figured she would attempt to make it up to the stallion one way or another.

"What's your name?"

[Andifferous]

Dusty grunted and winced a bit as he was helped back to his feet, definitely bruised in a few spots. He took a few moments to check over himself, but mostly he seemed to be okay. He cleared his throat and shook himself off, a bit of soot and dust falling out of his mane and tail.

"Y-yeah I was a bit lost in thought." he said in agreement with her. "I think I'm alright though... few bruises maybe." He said with a slight shrug. "Oh, and I'm Dusty Clouds." he said returning the smile that the mare had had on her face since the moment he saw her. "Gotta say I don't usually meet new ponies this way."

[TheQueenOfMars]

"Heh, I wish I could say the same.....oh, jeez that sounds bad. Look, I'm not really this careless, but you know accidents happen and......" Ember would pause, now blushing slightly as she was rambling on like an idiot in front of this random pegasus whom she literally knocked out of the sky. Shaking her head and giving a soft, yet, nervous chuckle she would rub the back of her head before speaking once more. "So, um...to make up for the unexpected incident, could I possibly offer you some food...or maybe something to drink? A place to kick your feet up, and or maybe take a nice hot bath cause, you have gunpowder all over you and we-"

She would stop herself mid-sentence, sighing and blushing deeper. "Look, I'm really sorry about this...anything I can do to make it up to you? My treat." The unicorn would look up at Dusty, rather anxiously now, hoping he would accept her offer. It was her fault the pegasus was in this situation, and she felt it would be proper to make things better.

[Andifferous]

The pegasus gave a cough, a black cloud of soot escaping his lungs.

"I think maybe I could use a shower or something." he said with a shrug, looking away a little bit. "But really I'm fine.... I'd hate to take advantage." He said earnestly. "I mean, it was an accident after all." He gave a slight shrug, feeling a little awkward. His parents had always taught him to be polite about other people's hospitality, but at the very least a chance to clean himself off a bit might be a good idea if he wanted to find himself a room at a respectable inn.

[TheQueenOfMars]

Ember's eyes would widen as she saw the cloud of soot being coughed up, her embarrassment escalating quickly. "Well, feel free to use the shower at my place. It's not too far from here actually. Were you headed anywhere? I could give you a list of decent places in town, or if you don't mind home cooking and a bit of a mess, I could let you crash at my place." the smile returned ever so slightly to ember's face as she glanced around, realizing the fireworks display had come to an end, having not even gotten the chance to truly enjoy her show, but putting such trivial matters behind her.

"Don't feel like you're taking advantage...you're honestly one of the very few ponies who hasn't stormed off in a huff after....well, meeting me like you did just now...it's rather refreshing."

[Andifferous]

It was Dusty's turn to blush a bit now, looking away and rubbing the back of his head.

"Well to be honest, I... really didn't have any plans in particular..." He explained. "I was actually on my way into Fillydelphia to try and find some sort of work or something." he said. "I mean, a place to stay might be nice, if you're willing to... but only if you really want." he gave her a smile.

[TheQueenOfMars]

"Then consider it done. Hungry for anything in particular? I don't have a five-star restaurant menu, but I'm pretty decent at cooking." Ember's smile would reappear as it first had, hearing Dusty accept her invitation. The mare would happily trot about the pegasus before trotting off towards the direction of her house, motioning to Dusty to follow.

"Oh, first let me collect the spent shells. I don't want to leave a mess or anything, you know." Grinning, the unicorn would collect her saddlebags, using her magic to levitate the bits and pieces of spent shell into the bag before finally leading the way back to her house. The trip would only take about fifteen minutes, but Ember was happy to have someone to chat with.

"So, where do you come from? Cloudsdale?" She'd ask curiously as she walked side by side with Dusty. "I mean, not to lump you in with the other pegasi, but most I've run into hail from there."

[Andifferous]

He looked at her confused as she circled around him, before shrugging and following along. "I'm really not all that picky about food." he said. "So I guess whatever you were planning on eating works for me."

He watched with mild interest as she cleaned up the explosive devices, a bit wary of them after his encounter, wings flicking nervously.

"Yeah, Cloudsdale is right." he said with a nod. "Though I really only just visit there from time to time nowadays."

[TheQueenOfMars]

"Great! Pasta it is!" Ember would grin, rather hungry from the excitement earlier. "Heh, figured as much. I was born and raised here. Nothing much has changed since I was a filly, but this place is my home....I love it. I'd visit cloudsdale, but...you know...no wings. Also, work has me pretty booked up, so I don't get to travel much." Before she knew it, the two had arrived at the mare's doorstep of what was a rather cozy little house. There was nothing out of the ordinary from a first glance, but this was only the outside. "Well, here we are!" Smiling, Ember would open the door and step inside, the 'living room' a liveable clutter of blueprints, firework duds and some homey furniture. "Make yourself at home. Oh, also, hope you don't mind pets." Just as Ember has said that, the unicorn's pet husky would come running from upstairs, barking excitedly at both Ember's return an the newcomer..

[Andifferous]

Dusty followed her up to the house. "This seems like a pretty nice place." he said, looking at the little house. He followed her inside, a bit surprised by the clutter and mess. Granted if he owned a home it probably wouldn't be much better. "What was that about a Oh geez!" he blinked in surprise as the dog came running, trying not to rear up. "He's nice right?" The pegasus asked over the dog's excited barking.

[TheQueenOfMars]

"She is super friendly. Dusty, meet Razzle...also known as Razz or Razzle-Frazzle." The reddish-brown and white husky would stop her barking and look inquisitively at Dusty, before wagging her butt in the air excitedly and running over to nuzzle and sniff him. Ember, simply chuckled, setting her belongings down and making her way into the kitchen. "Want anything to drink? Don't be afraid of her, she's harmless.....just a bit of a spaz sometimes. People say she's me in dog form hehehe who knows."

[Andifferous]

The pegasus nodded, letting the husky sniff him before gently petting her. "Okay, I just don't encounter all that many pets. Most of the pets in cloudsdale are birds and such." he said. He cleared his throat a little as Ember went out toward the kitchen. "Well, would I be able to use your shower first?" he called. "I think I'd like to try and get all of this out of my coat before I do anything else."

[TheQueenOfMars]

"Huh? Oh, sure. Up the stairs, last door on your left. There's shampoo and such in there as well as towels, so feel free to use whatever you need." Emerging from the kitchen, ember would walk over to Razzle, gently petting her as the husky would affectionately lick her face. "Oh, the door doesn't really close...small firework that I thought was a dud messed up the hinges on the door, so I kind of just left it as is...hope that's not a problem. I live alone so I really don't worry about privacy."

[Andifferous]

The pegasus nodded, heading up the stairs. His ears flicked a little as she said there would be little privacy, but he shrugged that off. He'd certainly dealt with worse situations. Stepping into the bathroom he found what he needed... well after very very carefully clearing a chemistry set out of the bathtub and setting it in an out-of-the-way part of the hall. Satisfied he stripped off his vest, turned on the water and started to clean himself.

A short while later he emerged from the bathroom, his coat looking several shades lighter, almost a pale gray colour.

[TheQueenOfMars]

Ember meanwhile was busy in the kitchen cooking up a delicious meal, humming to herself as Razzle stood by watching. The house was silent until Dusty would re-emerge, looking almsot like a totally different stallion. This of course startled Ember's husky, which in turn startled the poor unicorn as she would jump up, almost knocking the cooking pasta over. "SWEET CELESTIA WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR COAT!?!?! Y-you're like.....ten shades lighter than before!!!"

Razzle would whimper slightly walking up to the different-looking pegasus and sniffing him, trying to gauge if this really was the same pony she had met earlier. Ember just stared dumbfounded.

[Andifferous]

Dusty was surprised by Ember's shock, glancing about nervously. "Um yeah... I hadn't had a shower in a while." he said, looking down at himself. He had to admit he did look notably different, his coat clean and much more nice looking, different than his usual unkempt self. The green vest was still there, the tattered garment looking incredlbly out of place on his freshly cleaned form.

"Thank you though. I did have to move this chemistry set thing in the bathroom, hope that's not a problem..."

[TheQueenOfMars]

"You look good......really good....erm, not to say you didn't before..it's just...your coat is so shiny...and...well..." Again, Ember would cut herself off mid-sentence as she stood there, blushing deeply as she rubbed the back of her left front leg as she chuckled nervously, not realizing the pasta in the pot was beginning to boil over. "You look really good."

Suddenly the smell of pasta filled Ember's nostrils as she let out a panicked yelp, quickly turning her attention to the food as she tried to prevent the food from exploding as did the fireworks from earlier. Eventually she'd get things under control and prepare two heaping platefulls, "Well, erm...awkwardness aside, let's eat!" she'd chuckle nervously, still blushing as she was sure she was making a fool out of herself.

[Andifferous]

Dusty couldn't help but laugh a little bit, blushing slightly at the compliment. "Thanks." he said smiling a little. It was rare that he received compliments like this, so he wasn't fully sure how to react. Happily he took a seat at the cluttered table. "It smells pretty good." he said, looking over his plate. He had taken a few bites when there came a loud boom from upstairs, accompanied by the sounds of shattering glass. He sat there for a few moments, not chewing or moving, a look of utter confusion on his face.

[TheQueenOfMars]

"Thanks, it's my mum's old reci........pie......" Ember's eyes went wide as her ears flattened at the explosion coming from upstairs. "Oh, sweet Celestia...d-did you say you moved the chemistry from upstairs?" Her face would go pale as she immediately hurried upstairs to what would turn out to be not her bathroom, but a disheveled mess of house, porcelain, metal and broken glass, not to mention a sizeable hole in the floor. A moment of silence was soon followed by a loud explative followed by a giddy laugh as the unicorn began screaming from upstairs "Sweet Celestia how in the world did that happen!?!?! That wasn't just chemistry...it was going to be used for a show ages ago, but it never worked properly!!!! How the heck did it go off!?!?!"

[Andifferous]

Dusty slowly followed upstairs, pausing in shock at her odd laugh. "Is-is everything alright?" he asked, before looking over her shoulder at the wreckage. "What the hay? Did... did I really do that?" he asked, eyes wide. "I'm so, so sorry, I thought it was safe to move it!" He said, a touch of panic in his voice as he stared at the damaged hallway. "I had no idea it was going to do that!"

[TheQueenOfMars]

Instead of anger, Dusty's concern was met with pure glee. "IT WORKED!!!! IT FINALLY FRIGGIN' WORKED!!!! HAHAHA SWEET CELESTIA THANK YOU WHATEVER YOU DID!!!" Ember would grin widely, giving the pegasus a tight hug, her cheeks flushed deep red as she smiled happily. "I thought it was a failed experiment!!! I didn't know it would do that either!" The mare would step back, excitement plastered all over her face as she quickly became serious. "Now, what was in that....oh, jeez I'm gonna have to start tweaking with my old notes again....but who cares!?!?! It worked and I have you to thank!!"

[Andifferous]

The pegasus was caught completely off guard by her reaction, taking a confused step backward as she shouted. "I don't have any idea what i did, I just moved it out of the tub..." he said in mild confusion. At least she wasn't mad at him though. In the back of his mind however he decided to try and save up to have the damage to the walls and floor repaired at least.