Canterlot An Ice Storm's Coming

[Pretzelparty]

"Wow, you got to meet Princess Celestia? That's neat! And you said that you were in a line to kiss a pony while buying something? I guess that even Princesses blush for wakrawd situations. You said though that your mother knew magic and that your house used to be owned by a mage. Who was this mage? Maybe I learned about this pony in class. We learn not only about casting spells but also the history of magical studies after all."

Presteza, Traveling Artist

"That's right, I wound up kissin' one of princess Twilight's friends." the mare said with a hint of pride in her voice as she spoke. For a moment the painter's ears gave a twitch as she thought she heard what sounded like a crash some distance away from them,"... I actually went there ta pick up some food fer me and my friend hangin' on Moony's horn, I just wound up gettin' there on a day they were havin' a great deal!" The mare chuckled softly as she recalled the event. It seemed that this fiery pony was more interested in Presteza's family than she thought... she never really openly admitted to being the daughter of Silver Belle unless her mother was right next to her or she was sure the listener would find out while she was still around. Giving a moment's thought though she realized that she probably was going to be staying with Moondancer and company for quite a while so there was really no point in hiding the fact she was a guest professor's daughter, "My mum's ancestor's name was Luminiferous Aethermane. I believe she often went by just 'the archivist' in her day because she often made contributions to the royal archive in the past... Oh and my mum teaches sometimes at the school fer talented unicorns, she actually was one of Moony's teachers!"

"Moving on though, Luna brought both of us into the castle and let us spend the night there. I was a bit hesitant about it at first. Moondancer knows why, but we accepted and we played a few games, and Luna had the kitchen make us some tea and biscuits. The reason for my moving back to Canterlot though, actually stems from what happened later that night after we started turning in for the night. Naturally, I couldn't just not say anything to the princess about my issue, but she then lead me over to a closet. She had been speaking about how they treated their stewardesses very well at the castle and asked if I would like to meet the newest one. When she opened the door, it was a full body mirror, so she essentially introduced me to myself. So since then I've been working for her. Although I haven't gotten any actual assignments yet, I'm sure they're coming in the future. But yeah, I'm one of Princess Luna's stewardesses now," she said to the group.

“.........Wh-wha-WHAAAAAAAAAAAT??????? So Icy, you got your new house all picked out and you’re ready to move in so we can visit each other again and have more cool times an- annnd… EEEEEEIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEEEEEEE!”

The painter's jaw practically dropped once she heard Ice storm's story,"THAT'S BLEEDIN' AWESOME!" The freckled mare's exclaimation practically echoed though the cafe before she noticed the stares from all the patrons and promptly quieted down. Thankfully for Icy, Presteza hadn't exposed Ice storm's new occupation to everyone. Presteza always had a soft spot for the princess of the night even before her return and redemption having viewed her as merely a sympathetic character in her foalish mind in the time of her... foalhood. She couldn't help but share in Fire's jealousy but obviously her own horn had wasn't starting to catch fire. AS she considered the many ways that Ice storm must be able to spend time with Princess Luna she could feel those feelings of jealousy grow, however upon seeing the immediate elation of her friend, Moondancer she was more or less swept up in the happy atmosphere, smiling widely as she looked forward to all the questions she was sure to ask Icy in the future about both Luna and herself.

*CRASH!*

She was taken out of the moment once she heard that crashing sound from before... but this time it sounded much closer. What in Equestria was that? She could have sworn this time it had come from right next door, "Anypony else here that sound?" the mare asked, looking around the table to see if there were any words of confirmation from her friends. She was about to take a moment to get up from her seat to see if she could take a look out a window or something and determine the source of the noise... but before she could there was a large glow beginning to emanate from of the walls of the cafe and then..

*CRASH!*

There was a quick yet large puff off dust that exploded out from the wall nearby which soon was dispersed by a pony surrounded by the materials that had previously occupied the place in the wall where a now pony shaped hole was standing (albeit in dust form.) Once the dust began to settle there was a slight breeze that blew the dusty cloud away, revealing a statuesque mare that stood about half a head taller than the rest of the mares and stallions in the restaurant. Her coat was a muted khaki with a splash of dark freckle across her cheeks and muzzle. Her mane was a orange-ish red shade with a dirty blonde streak that ran through both her mane and tail. On her face was what seemed to be an expression of mild annoyance tinged with indifference.

Rubble Rose, Demolition mare

The mare coughed and then lifted a hoof and dusted herself off of the particles that had now made themselves home in her coat and huffing in annoyance before she stifled a sneeze or two and then looked around. For a few moments the other patrons of the cafe just stared in disbelief at the moderately imposing mare before she broke the silence. "Um... Where is this place?" The mysterious mare's voice seemed to bare the lilting and distinctive tone of a pony native to Fet loch.

Rubble rose tilted her head a moment when she didn't get an answer and then glanced back at the hole in the wall she'd left in her wake. Darn... looks like she'd done it again, she'd started walking around with her head in the clouds again and this time she honestly couldn't remember what she was thinking about before she got here. The only thing that betrayed the slightly stoic mare's embarrassment was a light pink blush on her cheeks before she cleared her throat and then reached a hoof in to one of the saddlebags on her back and then pulled out a small pen and then took the writing implement in her teeth and quickly wrote out something she placed on the counter before one of the waiters at the restaurant.

On the counter she spotted a bowl of wrapped lollipops that said they were free. After a moment of thought and then glancing herself over she looked to a waiter and asked if she could have one, needless to say the waiter agreed if he seemed a tad shaken by this whole experience. The mare wasted no time and took one of the suckers and popped it in her mouth , a look of calm happiness washing over her face.

[IceStorm]

To say that her announcement to everypony at the table caught them by surprise would be an understatement, as Moondancer about fell out of her chair was initially shocked but then squeed in excitement as she began to ask about if she had already picked out a place and was getting ready to move in so that they could visit and have all of the amazing times they had before, and Pressy seemed to be excited as well as she made her opinion of the matter very well known to... probably most of Canterlot. However, she did feel kinda bad inside because of Fire Heart. Fire Heart was there that night when she became the stewardess, and in a way she felt like she had slighted the mare unintentionally with the revelation.

She wondered if maybe if she talked to Luna when they finally officiallized her role, if she could bring Fire Heart on as well. It would probably take some convincing but she would at least give it a shot for her friend. She could see the jealousy in Fire though, as her horn gave her away. She remembered her saying that her emotions were very influential on her magic. She believed that this was true for most Unicorns though, as she herself had this problem and had met at least one other unicorn with this issue. "I did say that, but so far other than my eventual moving back to Canterlot, that really won't do anything for me until I found out what that actually implies," she told the smaller unicorn.

She then turned to Moondancer who was still giddy from the news and addressed her questions. "Actually Moony, I have no idea yet. I know I'm going to be moving back to Canterlot, but I have no idea of where yet. That was one of the reasons why I came here today was try to look for a place that could serve as both my home and my shop. I'm going to turn my frozen treats store into a franchise thing. It was actually my mom's idea. Speaking of! I reunited with my mother! She was actually in Ponyville! Ironically enough we ran into each other at the train station after I had just gotten back from Fillydelphia looking for her with no luck. I later found out why though, because she lives in Hoofington now. She said she's going to keep an eye out for a building there for me that I can use there as well and I'm going to be opening a store there. I'm going to try to make it a staple to only hire ice ponies that can operate it though because well, one would have to know how to make ice in order for it to be efficient, other than putting it in a freezer and shaving it. It just doesn't have the same texture," she said with a smile turning back to Fire. "It seemed..."

*CRASH!*

Ice heard what sounded like something hitting the building. she was about to speak up on the issue, but it seemed Pressy had heard the sound as well and had already asked if anypony else had heard the sound. Ice started to nod, but when she did, she heard the sound again and the wall not too far from her shattered. Dust and debris went flying everywhere. Thankfully she hadn't gotten her soda yet. Once everything had cleared, there was a rather stoic mare standing in the hole that used to contain a wall. It took a moment for things to sink in apparently for her, although she vaguely remembered the mare in her appearance. When she heard the mare speak in her thick, very identifiable accent, Ice Storm immediately knew who it was. She hadn't seen the Mare since her time at the academy, but still, her build, appearance, and voice were all fairly differentiating traits from other mares. With a soft facehoof and a chuckle Ice sighed. "Haven't changed a bit, have you Rose?"

[Lux]

It was bad enough that Fire Heart played back those events of that wintery night to see if there were any signs of this monumental event taking place. What made things worse was the constant praise the other ponies gave to the blue unicorn. She was jealous a little, but there was something else, a feeling of being neglected and isolated like those many times before. What if Princess Luna looked at her the same way, a pony with dangerous magic that could not be trusted? The storm rose inside as a mix of anger, sadness and distrust. Her once smoking horn now had a flame as she tried to keep herself from becoming an inferno.

It took an outside influence to stop her, a strange made that appeared to break through the wall of the cafe and now stood dazed and confused. Fire still felt the sadness of the revelation Ice told her but this event took her mind off of it a little.

"Um... hello," Fire said to the strange brown mare who now casually took a lolipop and popped it in her mouth, "You know that there is a door for this cafe, right? I'm Fire Heart by the way."

She turned towards Ice Storm with a confused look asking how she knew this mare that seemed to like crashing into things. Her mind though upon seeing Ice flipped back to the revelation. She needed to do something to vent some of her emotions or risk flaring up again.

"I'm... really happy that you got your job as Luna's apprentice," Fire said while taking note to make sure her magic wasn't firing up, "It couldn't have happened to a nicer pony. I admit I was... surprised that you got this job the same night I was in the castle with you. I guess the Princess told you when I went to bed, didn't she?"

[Bellosh]

Moondancer regained her bearings quick enough to pick up the sound of crashing objects nearby. It almost reminded her of those days in magic school when that one filly kept crashing through walls all the-

*CRASH!!!!!*

The sudden sound of destruction made Moony reflexively flinch back. Well Celestia be darned; it was that same mare as back then. Looked like Rubble Rose hadn’t changed a bit since the old days, which Ice Storm pointed out. Moondancer immediately chimed in afterwards with a joke; “Yeah tehehe, I hope you’re getting paid nowadays to destroy stuff... errr, what exactly are you up to these days, Rubble?” The new guest was one of the many unicorns that Moony fell out of touch with following their graduation from Celestia’s School. Maybe Rubble had some interesting stuff to tell?

[Pretzelparty]

"Haven't changed a bit, have you Rose?"

“Yeah tehehe, I hope you’re getting paid nowadays to destroy stuff... errr, what exactly are you up to these days, Rubble?”

"Um... hello," Fire said to the strange brown mare who now casually took a lolipop and popped it in her mouth, "You know that there is a door for this cafe, right? I'm Fire Heart by the way."

Rose continued to casually suckle on the lolli in her mouth until she heard a familiar voice that made her crush the sweet in her jaws in surprise. Outwardly Rose showed no sign of shock, save for a momentary raising of her brow. Once she noticed the shattered state of her candy sucker she sighed a bit, she always had to be so careful with hard candy; with her it broke so darn easily. after swallowing down the remain bit of the Lollipop she looked over to the source of the voice and walked on over to the group's table. Once she saw the group she blinked once and waved to them before looking over to icy, "Nice to see you too, Icy." It had been a while since she'd seen either of her former classmates...

The red headed mare had met both Icy, and Moondancer in her days at the School for talented unicorns. Her relationship with Ice storm had began considerably rockier than Moondancer's had. Back then, Ice storm was considerably proud of her ice magic and had summoned up a block of ice that nopony in school was able to break... until Rose herself had bumped into it and turned it into bits that melted quickly into puddles on the floor and resulted in quite a few student's and teachers sliding across the halls from the puddles that had appeared in the hallways. It took awhile to get Icy to say a word to her, but eventually she managed to apologize and explain she honestly didn't do it on purpose. Eventually the young Icy forgave her and the two had a sort of friendly rivalry ever since.

Moondancer's relationship with her was not as complicated; Rose was just one of the many friends that Moondancer had made in her time in School. Rose wasn't the most talkative of mare's, or the most socially aware but she was a loyal and kind... if immensely clumsy friend who stood by those she cared about whenever they needed her.

"Actually, Moony. I am... being paid ...ta destroy stuff that is. I'm in the demolition business. I found myself here while I was trying to figure a joke one of my coworkers was telling... By the way, what's that on your horn?" It seemed Rose's succinct speech pattern hadn't changed at all. Even as a filly she had a tendency to speak in a terse manner, with the routine pause in her speech and a bit of a monotone, listless cadence. It had only occurred to her that there were two ponies at the table that she didn't recognize.... although she the one in the hat looked vaguely familiar.

"Hello." Said the khaki coated mare,"You look a bit familiar. Do you go to the school for talented unicorns too?" She asked in the general directions of Fire heart and Presteza. The latter of the two seeming a little bit flummoxed; While Rose didn't recognize her, she had in fact met the young painter before when she was younger ... and looked considerably different. Actually Rose and Presteza were related; cousin's on Presteza's father's side. The two had met and played when they were fillies before presteza gained her mark... and Presteza was actually there when Rose got her own cutie mark.

"Well, no... but I believe we've met somewhere else..." The mare smirked a bit, wondering how long it might take for her cousin to remember her. Looking to her little traveling companion who was still hanging upon Moondancer's horn she whistled a few times. The bat's leafy ears perked a moment before he took of and landed on Presteza's horn, hanging himself right between her eyes. Gesturing to her purple friend she smiled at the still slightly dusty mare,"And this is Fresco... my little traveling buddy."

"I'm... really happy that you got your job as Luna's apprentice," Fire said while taking note to make sure her magic wasn't firing up, "It couldn't have happened to a nicer pony. I admit I was... surprised that you got this job the same night I was in the castle with you. I guess the Princess told you when I went to bed, didn't she?"

"You were there the same night when she got the job?" Presteza smiled at Fireheart and scooted a bit closer,"I gotta admit, yer a better mare than me! I'd be crazy jealous!... To be honest I actually am kinda jealous." The mare chuckled a bit and rubbed a hoof to her neck in her embarassment at her confession.

[IceStorm]

Ice Storm quickly noticed the change in demeanor that Fire Heart had. She recognized that feeling but hoped that she would realize that it wasn't something that she herself had planned. Ice didn't know she was getting a job until literally right before she went to bed. She had a feeling though Fire Heart didn't see it like that though. Her only hope now was that this wouldn't destroy what friendship that she had with Fire. She knew it would probably be something that her and Fire would have to have a long in-depth discussion about at a later point.

Of course Moondancer made a joke about the entrance of Rose, but then again, she had done the same thing herself, and she had to admit... Moondancer's was funnier. She did chuckle herself though when Rose waved back at her with the classic, "good to see you too," line. She then confirmed that she was in fact getting paid to destroy things and that she was in the demolition business. She asked about the bad on her horn before it flew back over to Pressy. Rose said she looked familiar too but Press said she hadn't remembered seeing her anywhere before.

"Yeah, I don't think she was in any of our classes Rose. I'd remember if I had seen her before today," she said as Pressy said that she was actually a small bit jealous that Icy was working for Luna. "Well, to be honest, I don't really even know what I'm doing yet. Besides, it's not going to change who I am. I will personally make sure of that. I've had too many negative experiences with things like that in the past," she said aloud.

[Lux]

Fire Heart was still reeling from the news of Ice Storm's new job and the sudden entrance of this new mare. She felt like if she didn't get a hold of herself there would be much more destruction, only it would be her fault. Calmly she sipped her drink hoping that it would take her mind off of the situation. Rumble Rose seemed to know everypony here save for Fire Heart which made her feel a little like the odd pony out. Well now was the time to go from out to in.

"Well I can see you know everypony else. I'm Fire Heart. Nice to meet you!"

Once again a thundercloud appeared over her head as Presteza brought up the events of Ice Storm's promotion. It wasn't that she was upset with her but that Fire felt blindsided by it and wondered why Princess Luna didn't ask her. Even she was jealous at the news!

"Well, to be honest, I don't really even know what I'm doing yet. Besides, it's not going to change who I am. I will personally make sure of that. I've had too many negative experiences with things like that in the past,"

"Well this was a surprise for me too," the unicorn said trying to keep calm, "but I don't think that this job will change you in any way except for being in the castle more."

[Bellosh]

An amused grin appeared on Moondancer’s face upon learning of Rubble Rose’s new job. “Niiiiiice,” she nodded in approval; “I’ll have to figure out when your next demolition job’s gonna’ to be, Rubble. That way, I could drop by and watch you do your magic! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

By this point in the conversation, Moondancer started picking up on the non-verbal ques that Fire Heart might be jealous of Ice Storm’s new job working for Princess Luna. Since Moony always liked keeping a positive aura around herself and her chums, she felt the immediate need to lift the filly’s spirits up. Especially as she remembered how much of a Luna admirer Fire was. “Ah, chin up Fire,” the moon-flanked mare winked at Fire; “You’re still finishing up magic school, remember? Once you graduate, lots of doors will start opening up. Like, you know, a job with Luna!” Moondancer hoped her encouraging words would provide Fire with some much-needed perspective.