Stalliongrad The Visitor From Ponyville [Private]

[RedCedar]

[This is a private RP between DerpRavener and myself. While I won't rule out the possibility of others joining, please read through to see if it makes sense to join before sending a PM.]

Red Cedar

At his small home in Stalliongrad's Veya district, out of the way of too much of the industrial shadow where he could still get a view of forested hills to the south, Red Cedar was debating what to do next. After another day spent as a virtual hike through the woods, following his logging crew with the seedlings he would replace cut trees with, he had come home, showered off the dirt, ate a hearty bowl of oat and vegetable stew, and then contemplated the options. He could either go for a pint or two at the Iron Saddle, or stay in, read a little, and get a bit of extra sleep.

Glancing outside again, hearing a slight wind begin to pick up, made his mind up for him. Technically it was summer, but that didn't mean an occasional cold stormy wind didn't blow through the northern city even now. The warmth of his couch won the battle.

The wind made him think, however, that perhaps planning another trip may have been in order. Autumn would be here sooner than in most other places in Equestria, and with it the shutting down of the actual felling part of the logging industry, so that may be the perfect time to take a week away and go someplace still warm at that time, like Ponyville. He could take time away from the greenhouses preparing next year's seedlings easily then, and still enjoy the warm weather.

Red smiled, leaning back as he went over plans in his mind.

[DerpRavener]

'Spring Breeze' felt a cool wind as she wandered through the unfamiliar city. She found it a pleasant complement to the walk this time, though she reminded herself that it was the middle of summer. Trying to come up here during a colder season might prove...interesting. She'd have to remember to bring her blanket.

She was currently visiting Stalliongrad, which was a long ways from her home. Fortunately, she'd been able to feed well the past few days, meaning she could make the journey safely. Unfortunately, in an earlier moment of fatigue she'd almost given herself away. Nothing came of it, or at least nothing that she knew of, but she felt it best to skip town for a bit anyways for nerves if nothing else.

Ahh, she could use a break from Ponyville for a few days anyways. She knew exactly one pony that she both know the location of his house and felt comfortable staying with for a few days, and he lived in Stalliongrad, so here she was.

Red had been right about the city's size though. She could spend weeks here wandering around and potentially never find him.

'Spring Breeze' had a cheat however. She pulled a scrap of paper out from a safe spot under her wing, and read it over few times. When she was finally convinced she'd had it memorized, she returned it to it's spot and began walking.

It took 'Spring Breeze' several minutes to get to the house. The directions were fairly straightforward, but alongside Stalliongrad's size was that fact it was somewhere she hadn't been before, and she could help but stop and look at places.

Arriving at what she assumed to be the place, 'Spring Breeze' walked up to the door, and after a moment of hesitation she knocked. She wasn't sure how the pony inside would react if she'd gotten this wrong.

[RedCedar]

Red's ears perked up at the sound of a knock on his door. Who could that be at this time? he wondered to himself. He briefly worried that it might be his parents or his sister with some bad news, trotting quickly over to the door to answer it.

"Hello?" he asked, peering out the door, then his eyes opened wider as he saw the maroon coloured pegasus standing on his doorstep. "Spring Breeze!" he said, his voice a mix of surprise and happiness. Opening the door wider, he said, "Come in, come in out of the wind."

[DerpRavener]

'Spring Breeze' breathed a small sigh of relief when a red earth pony opened the door and invited her in. She'd found the right house after all. She smiled at him as she stepped inside. “Hey Red, sorry in advance if I came at a bad time.”

She shivered a bit as she got inside. It hadn't been that cold, she would probably have been fine wandering around for a few more hours, but there was a still a noticeable difference between outside and in, particularly with the wind.

'Spring Breeze' looked around the house briefly. There wasn't a lot of space, but it was efficiently used. As far as she could tell, it looked like everything a pony could need (and maybe even some things they didn't, she thought, but she wasn't about to complain) was packed in, and there was still plenty of space for ponies to move around. “Cozy,” she said eventually, before looking back at Red Cedar. “So, I don't suppose you have a basement, or an attic or something? I was hoping to take a break for a bit, if you catch my meaning.”

[RedCedar]

“Hey Red, sorry in advance if I came at a bad time.” she said as she entered, but Red shook his head. "Not at all. I was only wondering who it could have been so late." he replied.

Red watched as she took a look around his home. The way she methodically made her way around made him wonder just how many ponies' houses she had ever been in. The house was not big, it was true, but it was more than enough for one, probably comfortable for two. Perhaps not surprisingly, most of the furniture and decor was made of wood, from the mantle over the unlit fireplace to the frames around the pictures of his family and friends on the wall to the large coffee table made of a varnished section of an entire tree. He was wondering if he was going to have to field a barrage of questions shortly, but the one that she asked first was, “So, I don't suppose you have a basement, or an attic or something? I was hoping to take a break for a bit, if you catch my meaning.”

Red did indeed catch it. "Uhm, no, I don't." he admitted, then quickly added, "But just hang on a minute." He trotted about the ground floor of his home, carefully shutting every shutter and drawing all the curtains on every window before coming back to her. "All right, we're all set." he said. He took a deep breath, preparing for what was coming. At least this time he knew it was.

[DerpRavener]

Red evidently didn't have such a space, but he wasn't letting that stop him. 'Spring Breeze' watched as he darkened the room, obscuring it to anypony outside. “Oh...” 'Spring Breeze' said sheepishly, and rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. She'd been hoping for something a little more convenient for Red, as well as something a little more permanent. Still, she wouldn't let the effort go to waste. “...Thanks.” She smiled, and then trotted over to a more empty corner of the room and dropped her disguise with a flash of green light.

Naj flopped to the ground, limbs splayed out around her, and let out a long breath while letting her tongue loll out of her mouth. She sat like that for a moment, enjoying the complete lack of immediate worry, before remembering she wasn't the only pony in the room. She pulled herself up to a more dignified pose with her front hooves curled in front of her, though she remained lying on the ground.

She figured she owed Red some kind of explanation. “I needed a break from Ponyville. I might have said some very revealing things accidentally...I don't think anypony noticed, but it frayed my nerves all the same.” She rubbed her temple with a perforated hoof, as she thought about it. “Would you mind if I stayed here for a few days? I'll keep out of the way, maybe help out if I can.” Come to think of it, she couldn't remember him mentioning what he did for a living. “What sorts of things do you do up here?”

[RedCedar]

Red's eyes widened out of concern as he saw her flop to the floor as soon as she lowered her disguise. He had no idea what he would be able to do if he suddenly found himself having to care for an ill changeling. That concern turned to relief as she started to recover and regain her composure a little, guessing it was just exhaustion from travel and keeping her disguise up.

He listened to why she had come to see him, and then ask, “Would you mind if I stayed here for a few days? I'll keep out of the way, maybe help out if I can.”

Red nodded immediately. "Absolutely, you can stay," he said. "I have a spare bedroom upstairs you can use, and it has thick curtains, too, so you can change whenever you like."

“What sorts of things do you do up here?”

Red smiled. "Well, I work in the forest," he said, gesturing with a hoof to the window facing the hills, even though the curtains were closed. "Sometimes I help cutting and hauling the trees out, but mostly I take care of seedlings and do the replanting afterwards."

Seeing her still crouched on the floor, he said, "Here, come and sit on the couch, it'll be more comfortable,", trotting over and offering a hoof to help her.

[DerpRavener]

Red explained that he had a spare bedroom on the upper level, and how it could be obscured from the outside. “That's great!” It would suit her needs perfectly. Naj then gave him a peculiar smile, wondering why he hadn't mentioned that sooner, though also happy to simply have a place to stay. She'd have to give it a look. But for the moment she had time, and so decided to wait for now and check it out later.

Naj simply nodded as Red Cedar described his occupation. Given how much Equestrians used wood, it stood to reason that ensuring more would be available for the future was a good idea. That said, she'd never had much interest in plants, and to her it sounded like an important but somewhat dull job.

She refused his offer to help her up by lightly pushing away his extended hoof. She was tired, but not so far gone that she needed help just walking. After a moment she stood up, shook herself off, and sluggishly walked over the couch and plopped herself down. “Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Just a little tired,” she explained.

She shifted her weight on the couch cushion. She hadn't minded sitting on the floor, but she had to admit this was more comfortable, and though not completely foreign to her that was a rare enough treat that she savoured it for a moment.

Soon after the silence became a little awkward, so she asked another question. “So, you mentioned family around here, how many of them are there? Any outside Stalliongrad?”

[RedCedar]

Red nodded as Naj settled on the couch, breathing a sigh of relief that she seemed to be doing better now in her own form and in a place where she could relax. For his part, the sight of Naj in her natural form didn't seem to bother him as much as it did the first time, although one thing still drew his eye more than the rest. There was still that incongruous jagged mark on one of her legs that didn't match up with the rest of her. He resolved to ask her about it later.

Instead, he set about lighting a few lamps for some illumination now that the curtains were all drawn, coming back to the couch and sitting next to the changeling as she asked, “So, you mentioned family around here, how many of them are there? Any outside Stalliongrad?”

Red nodded indicating a couple of the pictures on the wall. "Well, my parents and my sister live here in Stalliongrad." he explained. "I have a couple cousins around Equestria as well."

Red found himself at a bit of a loss. He was of course happy that she was here, glad to see his friend again, but he was at a total loss as far as playing the gracious host to a changeling, besides providing a place for her to sleep and occasionally drop her disguise safely. "Uhm, is there anything I can get you?" he asks. "Do you need water, or food? He paused a minute as he realized what he just asked, then added, "Do you even eat food like ponies at all?" She had a pair of fangs, were they for eating or fighting? He just wasn't sure.

[DerpRavener]

Naj just nodded as Red Cedar said the whereabouts of his family. It sounded like they had a decent presence in Stalliongrad, maybe in a few places, but were overall pretty spread out. She wasn't really sure if that was normal, this was the first time she'd really had the thought to ask.

"Uhm, is there anything I can get you? Do you need water, or food? Do you even eat food like ponies at all?"

“Hmm?” Naj turned her head. Red had asked a few questions at once, and she began with the first thing that came to mind. “As far as I know everything needs water, so yeah some would be nice, though I could find some on my own if needed. Probably.” While confident, she didn't know the city enough to be absolutely certain.

“As for food, we can eat a lot of the same things as other ponies. Sometimes it's even kinda nice.” She lost herself in the memory of the day she'd decided to try out a restaurant once. “But we don't need it, and we can't live off of it. It can help, but it's no substitute for love and the like.” She gave him a warm smile. “Don't worry about feeding me though, just being here is already solving that problem well enough.” She shook her head, still smiling. “With that and a place to stay, I should be fine.”

She got quiet for a moment, before asking a question she'd thought of earlier. “Do you visit them? Your family outside Stalliongrad, I mean.”

[RedCedar]

Red nodded, listening to Spring... no, he should remember her real name was Naj, even though he still kept thinking of her name as Spring Breeze, even in this form. Anyway, she explained what she needed, and Red rose from the couch again. "Well, finding water when you're here is easy, it's in the kitchen." he said, and with that, he trotted into the next room, returning a moment later with a mug of cool water, giving it to her.

“Don't worry about feeding me though, just being here is already solving that problem well enough.”

Red could almost feel the insides of his ears turning a bright pink colour at her remark, and especially what it implied. There would apparently be little real ability to keep some things a secret around her. "Well, I am glad to see you again," he admitted, "and if that's what keeps you going, too, well, I'm fine with that." It was amazing what a little understanding could do between two creatures, he thought. Here he was volunteering to do for this changeling what many other ponies had fought so hard against doing in Canterlot.

“Do you visit them? Your family outside Stalliongrad, I mean.”

Red nodded to that question as well. "I see them about once a year or so." he explained. "I do a lot of traveling when I get time off from my job, so I go see them sometimes. And sometimes they come here to see us, too." He didn't really think it any different from the family arrangements of many other ponies, but it might have seemed different to someone used to living in close quarters with absolutely everyone in a community.

[DerpRavener]

Naj couldn't help but laugh as she took the offered mug. “I know how faucets work," she looked away and added, "-though that was an embarrassing couple days-" before turning back toward Red, "it's just a question of access.” She took a sip before adding. “But thanks all the same.”

Red Cedar looked a bit embarrassed as she discussed feeding, and it took Naj a moment to realize why that was. She wasn't sure why he'd be embarrassed by it, but it wasn't the first time she'd seen ponies react to romantic suggestion like that, which hadn't been what she'd intended. 'Love' was a vague concept, and she'd found several things other than romance that could sate her. But he couldn't be expected to know that. She herself hadn't known much about it until she'd had to scavenge for herself.

Naj considered explaining it to him, but at the moment that would probably just complicate matters. Once he got past a little embarrassment Red seemed perfectly fine with that state of affairs. He could always talk to her about it, if he really wanted to know, and she was sure it wold come up eventually.

Red explained that visited family about once a year, prompting a nod from Naj. “Ahh, that's good.” It wasn't a perfect comparison, but Equestrian families seemed to have similar relationships to some of those found in the hive, and she could only imagine that a pony cut off would be like an infiltrator who stopped reporting back. “It's important to keep in contact,” she said, a little more quietly than usual as the line of thought brought back memories.

[RedCedar]

Red nodded as she explained, “I know how faucets work."

"Sorry," he said. "I have no idea what living in a hive is like, so I have no idea how much you know about living in a town. You must have picked up a lot to stay in one this long." She'd certainly lasted longer than he would have in a hive, with or without a disguise, that he was sure of.

“It's important to keep in contact,”

Red could easily detect the change in her voice. The whole experience of being exiled and forced to live among ponies had been traumatic and frightening to her, there was no doubt. Even he could see it on her much different features. "That's why I'm so glad you came," he said, watching her a little longer. As thoughts rolled in his mind, more than a few of them questions, he finally said to her, "Do changelings give hugs?"

[DerpRavener]

"That's why I'm so glad you came,"

Naj looked up at Red, in mild surprise. It took her a moment to remember what had been said back in the garden. She hadn't quite forgotten, but she'd been preoccupied with other concerns. “Right,” she said, a small smile forming on her face, “part of the family.” She pondered that for a moment, happy about it but having only a vague idea of what that meant. “I should probably meet the rest of the family at some point then. As Spring Breeze, at least.”

"Do changelings give hugs?"

“It's not unheard of,” Naj replied, “but it's not exactly common, either. Changelings express care differently...or maybe the hive was just too strict for that sort of display.” She shrugged. “I'm probably the wrong one to ask.” She took another sip of her water before adding, “I know what they mean though, if that's what you're asking.” She frowned. “...I think, anyways. There's a lot I still don't know well.”

She yawned, feeling a little tired though not quite out of it yet. It had been a long day. Naj finished her water and set the mug aside. “I think I'll take a look at that guest room now.” She stood up, and began moving toward the stairs but halfway there she started thinking about the week. She looked back at Red Cedar. “Say, what are your plans for the next few days?”

[RedCedar]

“I should probably meet the rest of the family at some point then. As Spring Breeze, at least.”

Red smiled. "That can be arranged," he said. "Just be prepared for a big meal and for my sister to talk your ear off."

Then he listened as she explained what she knew - or didn't know - about hugs. “I know what they mean though, if that's what you're asking.” She frowned. “...I think, anyways. There's a lot I still don't know well.”

Red leaned over from his seat beside her on the couch. "Well, this one means I'm glad you're here, and I hope you feel a lot better and a lot less frazzled." he says, then slips a hoof around her shoulders, snugging her close and then letting her go. "And, I've been wanting to do that since Winter Wrap-Up." he added.

“I think I'll take a look at that guest room now. Say, what are your plans for the next few days?”

As Red followed Naj up the stairs, he went over things in his mind. "Well, I have to work tomorrow," he said, "But then I have a few days off, so if there's anything you'd really like to see or do that you can think of, I'm all yours. Or maybe I can make a few suggestions." As they reached the top of the stairs, he pointed to one of the doors with his hoof. "This one's the guest room," he started, but then frowned. "Hang on a sec," he said quickly, opening the door and stepping into the room, trotting over to the window and making sure the curtains were drawn. "All clear." he said when they were. The room was simple but comfortable, with a soft wooden-framed bed, bedside table and a wardrobe. Indicating the other doors outside the spare room, he added, "That one's the bathroom," as he figured that if changelings drink water then the end result was probably also the same as it was for ponies, "And that's my room, in case you need anything."

[DerpRavener]

Naj smiled and leaned into the hug, enjoying the sensation though a little too tired and not quite confident enough to return it. She liked it, but it was a strange feeling, and it would take some getting used to.

---

Naj stood wavering a little, as Red Cedar moved about the guest room making sure it was concealed from the street outside. She yawned again as Red explained where his room and the bathroom were, nodding after a moment to acknowledge that she understood what he'd said.

“Sorry, I guess I'm a little more tired than I realized. We can-” She interrupted herself with another yawn. “...pick up again tomorrow.” She assumed Red would have more questions, and they had a few more things to talk about either way, but right now she just wanted sleep. Tiredness had come down on her suddenly.

Naj walked into the room, not bothering to close the door on the way in, and flopped down onto the bed once she reached it. She looked toward Red Cedar standing in the doorway. “Hey, thanks...for giving me a place to stay.” She lay her head down, and mumbled “...talk to you tomorrow...” as she started to drift off.

[i was thinking that from here we time skip to the next day, and summarize what happened in between as needed, unless something was going to happen in the night.]

[RedCedar]

[Yeah, I wasn't expecting the Canterlot Inquisition tonight.]

Red nodded, seeing she was nearly exhausted. "Sleep well," he said, stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

Red awoke early the next morning, and after a few minutes spent stretching the sleep out of his muscles and washing up, set about the kitchen making breakfast. He intended to wake Spring Breeze - no, Naj - up before he left for work, but in the meantime he was going to let her sleep as long as he could.

[DerpRavener]

Still laying in bed, Naj groaned a bit. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable, far from it: she was used to sleeping on a wooden floor, this was actually something of a luxury. Really, it was less a groan, and more an inarticulate noise she made to acknowledge to herself that she was no longer asleep. She curled up a little tighter for a moment, savouring the softness of the bed a little longer.

But not too much longer. After about a minute, she forced her eyes open. The room was still mostly dark, as could be expected with the curtains drawn, though a little streak of sunlight slipped through. Naj took a deep breath, then rolled out of bed, producing a faint 'thump' as her hooves hit the floor. She rubbed her eyes as she opened the door to the hall, and sluggishly entered it. She was feeling very well rested, but she'd found that outside of combat situations it always took her a few minutes to really get gong. Conservation of effort she'd always supposed, though it wasn't a conscious choice.

Taking her time, she slowly made her way downstairs, and by the time she reached the ground floor she was almost fully awake. She spotted Red Cedar making breakfast, though she wasn't familiar with the particular ingredients. She smiled as she greeted him. “Morning Red. How'd you sleep?”

[RedCedar]

Red was working in a mostly dark kitchen, as he had left the curtains closed just in case. Hearing Naj call out from behind him, he turned and smiled. "Morning," he said in return, "Just fine, thanks." For a moment it played in his mind that he slept just fine through a situation that some ponies would consider nightmarish. He still couldn't quite wrap his head around the irony of simply knowing a changeling. "How did you sleep?"

As he went about his task, he glanced back over his shoulder occasionally. "So, at work today I'm doing more planting," he said, "which means that since I'm not in the really dangerous spots I could get away with bringing a visitor out, if you didn't want to stay here alone and you don't mind a long walk through an area that used to have trees in it."

[DerpRavener]

Naj replied, “I don't think I've slept that well in months,” and then took a look around the room. She stared at the curtains for a moment before making the proper connection. “...Right,” she said to herself, and lightly smacked her forehead with a hoof, “that's for me isn't it.” She could see just fine and it seemed like Red could too, but she knew most ponies preferred to see the sun. With a green flash she was a maroon pegasus once more.

"So, at work today I'm doing more planting, which means that since I'm not in the really dangerous spots I could get away with bringing a visitor out, if you didn't want to stay here alone and you don't mind a long walk through an area that used to have trees in it."

'Spring Breeze' walked around the ground floor, throwing the curtains open as she approached them, as she thought about it. “Well, I suppose I'd been thinking of scoping out the city, but I don't know what I'd be able to find one my own.” She smiled. “More fun to spend the day with a friend as well, as long as I'm not getting in the way. And don't worry about me, walking is half of what I do in ponyville.”

'Spring Breeze' sat down, and waited for Red to finish with breakfast. “Just one thing, before we head out: anything I need to watch out for in Stalliongrad?”

[RedCedar]

Naj said, “I don't think I've slept that well in months,” before changing back into her disguise in a flash and beginning to open the curtains.

Red smiled at that. "Good, I'm glad." he said. He loved his time off to go traveling and relax, so he was glad to be able to allow someone else who probably needed to relax more than anyone the chance to do so. "Thanks," he said, as she finished with the curtains.

“Just one thing, before we head out: anything I need to watch out for in Stalliongrad?”

Red thought a bit about that, and then replied, "You'd probably want to stay away from Kuznitza, where all the big factories are, at night." Thinking about it a little more, he added, "Actually, you'd probably want to stay away from it during the day, too. It's not the prettiest or cleanest area of town. And that big thing that looks like a fortress? It is. That's where the local guards are headquartered. Everywhere else should be fine."

Scooping some of his breakfast onto a plate, he then added, "I know you said you don't really need to eat, but would you like to try a grass pancake?"

[DerpRavener]

Red explained that the factory district, and the local guard fortress were the places to be avoided in Stalliongrad that a changeling laying low should avoid. He then loaded a up a plate with a few pancakes and passed it to 'Spring Breeze'.

She eyed it for a moment. “You know,” she said as she took the offered food, “someday I'll have to find a way to repay you for all of this.” She took a bite, and chewed thoughtfully. It had a certain pleasant simplicity to it, though she didn't feel the need to work it into her diet. “Not bad,” she said eventually. “I think I'll stick to love for now, but thanks” The last bit was less in response to the pancakes than the thought behind them. Hay, in her case that was just as filling.

Thinking about Red's advice again, 'Spring Breeze' said “Alright, so the guard headquarters makes sense to avoid, but what's so dangerous about the factories?” While there was always something to be said for avoiding places where wandering ponies weren't supposed to be, 'Spring Breeze' had to wonder what made that area such a hazard.

[RedCedar]

Spring Breeze explained, “You know, someday I'll have to find a way to repay you for all of this.” but Red just shook his head.

"No," he said. "You may find a way to repay me, and I'll say thank you a lot, but you don't have to. Anyway, I'm enjoying the company." Smiling to her as he sat down with his own plate of pancakes, he started tucking into his own breakfast.

"The factories themselves aren't really dangerous," he continued explaining, "although I can't imagine breathing that air for too long is good for you. But, after dark, it tends to attract a rougher crowd that's probably best avoided." Crime may not have been exceptionally prevalent in Equestria, but in Stalliongrad, most of it seemed to happen in Kuznitza. "There's a lot nicer things than factories to see here that I can show you." Finishing off his food, he then went back to the kitchen counter and started preparing a couple Daffodil, Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches.

[DerpRavener]

"No, You may find a way to repay me, and I'll say thank you a lot, but you don't have to. Anyway, I'm enjoying the company."

'Spring Breeze nodded, acknowledging the statement even if she didn't fully agree with it. She still hoped she'd find a way to repay Red, and she intended to keep looking for one. For now though, she supposed she could settle for the current arrangement. She could be content simply being good company.

Red elaborated on the risk in the factory district, explaining that it was something of a gathering place for unsavoury types. Which made sense, once she thought about it. If the only reason ponies went there was to work, then it stood to reason there wouldn't be many bystanders should one want to do anything harmful.

In some ways 'Spring Breeze' wasn't worried about it. “Anypony who tries to mug me is in for a nasty surprise,” she said aloud with a toothy grin, before adding “but it's still probably smarter to just stay away from there altogether.” The problem was never the lone mugger but the guards that come later.

Finished with her plate, 'Spring Breeze' moved it to counter and moved to stand by the door. “Well, we should probably get going if you're to get to work on time. You can tell me more about Stalliongrad on the way. You mentioned sights, what sort of things are there to see?”

[RedCedar]

Red didn't doubt for one second that anyone who made trouble for her would be in for a nasty surprise. He'd had a shock when he found out, too, and he had only been trying to be friendly. He packed the sandwiches and a couple apples in one side of his saddlebags, and two bright orange vests in the other side, before sliding them onto his back. "All set." he said cheerfully, opening the door and showing Spring Breeze the way.

Walking through the streets to where the buildings became fewer and fewer and the open fields and trees became more and more, he said, "The North end of town's my favourite. Lots of artists and artisans and little cafes to go to. Or sometimes I just walk to one of the bridges and watch the river and the barges go by."