Foals at Heart [Read OOC First]

[Zeig]

 

 

Well, at least one of these foals had the right idea.

Inkbrand managed a passable attempt at haughtiness as the white filly, Foxglove, shared in the joke, sticking his nose as high in the air as possible. A little late, but at least the serene little mare had found the common decency to introduce herself, unlike every other filly and foal in the area, sans Applejack. Still, that solved most of his naming problems, anyways. He knew all the other youngins at the moment, and could call them something aside from "hey you".

Except for the red Pegasus, but honestly, with her sour attitude, Inkbrand wasn't all that put out. "Hey you" would work just fine for her.

Unfortunately, the brilliance of his idea concocted not ten seconds ago fell short, missing one vital ingredient - namely, a powerful Unicorn that could cast an anti-magic spell. Keh. He should have figured. Ponyville wasn't exactly known for its magical prowess, and any Unicorn's living in this area were probably as magically talented as their horns were long. Bucking Unicorn magic.

The solution that was proposed twice over around the room, however, was equally unappealing. The idea was solid - and maybe one of the other adults in this poorly written play could get off their keister to send a bucking SOS or something - but Inkbrand, for one, was not leaving Ponyville. No bucking way was he taking a group of rowdy and disobedient foals onto a train and across Equestria to wind up in a large and bustling city, where they would undoubtedly gallop rampant across the streets to prove what Big Ponies they were now. Plus, what were the odds that he'd be charged with kidnapping if he left Ponyville?

Probably as large a chance as negligence with a side of abuse, that's how much.

No, best bet was to stay bucking put in the town the foals had been found in - though, the red filly seemed to have already made up her mind, figurative stars gleaming in her eyes. Inkbrand felt his eyes roll skyward, but he didn't stop as he grabbed up his bag, doing a quick double-check to make sure everything was still inside it. "Yeah, real smart Red," he drawled, "take a buddy and go running around a city 'til you smack into a powerful Unicorn. " A quick glance at the downed Peryton spoke volumes - you're taking this one, buddy - as the tattoo-clad stallion followed after the orange filly into the living room.

E-ack, more homestyle goodness. If he didn't get this whole mess sorted out real fast, he was going to turn…domesticated.

Slightly morbid thoughts aside, the grey Earth Pony settled himself beside the sprawled filly, grin overtaking his face as he pushed aside stubborn foals and bucking Unicorn magic and everything else, to focus on the task at hoof. With the panic-filled day he was having, taking a moment to do what he loved was a bucking treat, even if the client wasn't paying. Which was fine by him, just this one. Applejack had been, by far, the least aggravating of the entire lot - and considering she had dumped a bucket of frogs on a bunch of ponies, that was saying something.

"Alright Apples, what'll it be," Inkbrand questioned, carefully pulling out the massage oil and setting it to one side. This particular brand came from the semi-temporary stock - enchanted to settle the ink under the skin just like the regular stock, but weak enough to lose its magic after a couple of months, causing the tattoo to wash right off.

Bucking lightweights.

"Clown face? Puppy dog? How 'bout an apple," the grey stallion continued to tease, covering up some slight trepidation as he took in the small body in front of him. His brush was thin enough, for sure, and it wasn't like Applejack was an actual client he was wanting increase his rep with…but he was a tattoo artist, buck it. He never botched a tattooing job, no matter how trivial or frivolous it was. "Right on the flank. Almost like a cutie mark of your very own, eh?"
 

 

 

 

 

[SteelEagle]

 

 

Applejack was a really big pony. Just ask her! Why, she could do just about anything. If you needed somepony to strip a hen of her feathers to make a nice feathered hat for somepony. Then she could get the special feather growth formula and put the formula on each individual follicle to help it grow back, all the while getting pecked out by the justifiably angry hen. And who could do that but a big pony? Who else but a big pony could go ahead and not only feed all the pigs, but when one pig jumped into the trough and made it hard to ea for the others, jump in and wrestle that piggy away? Nopony, that's who. And she'd done that plus a whole laundry list of chores and jobs for her farm. So really, she was a big pony and everypony should know that, cutie mark or not. It was only right and proper, after all.

So why not get a tattoo to reflect what a big pony she was? Ponies all around were walking about with their cutie marks in this, that, and the other, but nopony was really doing anything above and beyond what Applejack could do. She could do anything asked of her! She was the best filly in her class and the greatest single non-cutie marked Apple ever. She knew this was the case on account of her ma telling her so, no arrogance involved. But at the same time she didn't have a cutie mark, not one bit of it. And that was a shame. But the fact of the matter was ponies thought she was a little pony when she was really a big pony on account of her lack off cutie mark. And that burned her a little. She needed a way to let everypony know that But how could she without getting her cutie mark? Well, the answer was a snazzy tattoo, like other big ponies!

But a clown face? Nah. That was silly. She didn't want to look all silly like. Nopony would think she was a big pony. Puppy dog? Well, that'd make her look like some sort of animal caretaker which she figured was a little better but still didn't itch her none. Oh, an apple? Now that sounded great! An Apple for Applejack. It was poetic! “Ah like thaht! Then Ah'll show off mah cool tahttoo. Why, everypony will think Ah'm a big pony with mah big pony tahttoo! An' then Ah have thah big pony cider!” Yum!
But then that red filly was wanting to leave. Train to Canterlot? Why, it was too late in the day for that.
"Y'ahll are bein' reahl silly. Thah next trahin tah Cahnterlot ahin't till tomorrow!"

[Zeig]

 

Aaaand, Applejack near jumped out of her skin in pleasure at the mention of an apple tattoo. Why was that not surprising? And not endearing in the slightest, no sir.

...Buck, who was he kidding.

"'Big Pony Apple Tattoo', comin' right up," Inkbrand proclaimed loudly, rummaging around in his bag for the needed ink colors. That was pretty lucky, if he did say so himself - he hadn't brought his entire color palette to Ponyville, he'd only needed a few colors for the job - but here he was with the red and green he needed. And brown would be pretty easy to mix, especially since he'd only need a small dash of it.

And this, he knew, because he could already see the pattern on his mind. Sure, Applejack wanted an apple tattoo - but a plain 'ol apple would have been boring as buck all. No reason why he couldn't spice it up for its temporary placement.

She had stated she wanted to look like a "big pony naw", after all.

Preparations made - and with a quick glance to make sure the other foals were still in the area and not sneaking off to board wayward trains - Inkbrand returned his attention to the massage oil. "Alright Apples, hold yourself as still as you can, yeah?" he instructed, uncorking the bottle with his teeth before pouring some of the oil onto his hooves. "'Won't take too long, but you've gotta keep still." Not that he expected the orange filly to suddenly spazz into a raving fit of bundled energy after the first few brush strokes - but hay, Applejack definitely seemed the type of vigor-filled pony that had trouble keeping still for extended periods of time.

...Huh. That sounded bucking familiar.

Inkbrand hadn't been lying, though. With only a small area on a small body to cover, the massage came and went, and was quickly followed by the actual inking process. It was pretty painful, to be honest - he should have insisted on the filly laying down on a surface at his eye level, rather than him having to bend downward to get closer to her flank. It still worked out though, because he was a bucking pro at this, and the exchange of thin and thick brush strokes came as natural as breathing. Faster than Applejack could probably even contemplate getting bored, the grey Earth Pony was finished, sitting back upwards to stretch out his back.

And neck.

And shoulders, buck.

"Alrighty there - all set." Probably something the orange Earth Pony could have figured out for herself, but Inkbrand couldn't help gloat a little, eyes resting on the mostly red tattoo resting right on her flank. It really did look like a cutie mark. Inkbrand didn't see a mirror in the immediate vicinity, but he was sure Applejack knew right where to find one, so she could check out her "big pony naw" tattoo. "Whaddya think? Looks pretty swank, if I do say so myself!"
 

 

 

 

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor, after getting his stomach full, stood up and stretched just as a cat would, and flexed his wings which gave slight cracks as he got the joints all limbered up.

 

"Ah, that's the stuff." He said before sitting back and scratching at his head. He took a moment to listen to the others, and he had come to a few conclusions.

 

One, he wasn't going to get himself restored to his proper age by sitting around. Two, Inkbrand obviously wasn't going to help them any time soon, unless he had a plan or was making it up as he went along, and three, it seemed that Fire Walker and the goth pony might start picking up on some things.

 

'And here I thought I was the only one.'

 

Getting back up to his feet, Razor walked up to Inkbrand and tapped at his shoulder. He cleared his throat, before finally addressing the elephant in the room.

 

"Hey, uh...Inkbrand....not that this whole adventure hasn't been....enlightening, but.....I really would like to not have to go through puberty again...if you get my meaning." He said as calmly as he could.

[Hawkeye12]

((A bit of a catchup post, responding to some ones that are a little further back.))

 

September had admittedly dazed out a bit, laying sprawled out on the floor of the barn like a tired dog. He even forgot about the foals that were all around him for a while, off in his own little daydreams.

 

*Gwergdesdf*

 

But of course that didn't last long, as the shock of the water being dumped on him by Inkbrand caused him to flail his long and skinny legs, again, sort of like a dog. He opened his mouth to tell off the stallion, before quickly realizing that he was carrying on a conversation as if that didn't even happen! The nerve...but yet, it did feel refreshing, and so he decided to let it pass with nothing but an annoyed grumble.

 

Though the grumble quickly turned into a surprised muffle as a fritter was suddenly shoved into the peryton's mouth by the orange filly. Which... tasted pretty good. Better than anything his parents would make him. He smiled a bit to her, chewing and swallowing the treat before getting back up to his hooves. Better to be surprised with food than a bucket of water. But as he did so, the filly was already gone, back to where Inkbrand was standing. Wait... what was he doing to her. Was that... a tattoo? On a filly? He didn't even know if that was allowed or not!

 

Of course, September's short attention span was his weakness, and he quickly began picking up on a completely different conversation, one between the red pegasus and the black and white filly. Were they seriously talking about going to Canterlot? Inkbrand didn't seem to be paying attention to them, and it was about time that he stepped in with these foals.

 

"Whoa whoa, why do you need to go all the way to Canterlot? Wouldn't there be a helpful unicorn around here somewhere?" He asked, trotting over to the two. Of course, he didn't really know anything about unicorns in Canterlot versus Ponyville, but whatever it took to stop the two from boarding some random train, right?

[SteelEagle]

 

Applejack made sure to look away while Mr. Inky was going ahead and setting up. If she was being honest, and she was absolutely honest at all times even when it was smarter to blurt out a lie, she was terrified of needles. Something about stuff going inside her body and not knowing what it was or why much of the time freaked her out. It looked like she was getting stabbed with a very small, mostly ineffective weapon. Tattooing wasn't exactly like that, but needles were still involved. And needles were scary. She knew that was a foalish thing to think and as a big pony she had to stop worrying about foalish things, but by all the dirt in Mustangia, she couldn't help it. Maybe this would help her see the light and with the power of a tattoo not be so afraid anymore. It was just so...yuck!

 

But she also worried that it would hurt. She wasn't afraid of pain or nothing, but being hurt...well, it hurt. And she didn't like it much. And not looking at the needle meant she didn't know when it would all start. Which made her nervous, which mad her bite her lip. Luckily she was looking away from Mr. Inky or else he would think she was a little foal and tattoo a diaper on her flank and call her a big cryfoal. Probably not, but that'd be the absolute worst thing that could happen right about now. So she looked away. Heck, she even tensed up her entire flank. She didn't know why but she used to think that if she flexed really hard at the point of insertion, she could stop a needle from entering her. That was a very silly thing to believe. All it did was make it hurt a lot more, but she still had a habit of doing it, even subconsciously. Like this time. The massage came as a surprise, causing her tail to stiffen in alarm. Then it felt really good and she wasn't as worried. The combination of fear and then relief helped her not pay attention to what was being said, which would have made her question the whole second puberty dialogue from the meat-eater.

Dot dot dot. Then the tattooing started. The pain came real quickly, eliciting an alarmed neigh from Applejack. Still, she tried to stay still, even as the pain continued. After a few moments she decided to just bury her head in her hooves and bite her lip. It continued for a while, an occasional pained neigh escaping from the head-hoofed Applejack. Then it was over and she allowed herself to look. She raised her back leg and turned her head to get a good look, her watering eyes blinking to clear their view. It took a little bit, but she thought she could glance...most of it. It looked cool, but she needed something better. She needed a mirror, because she had to make sre that he did a good job and hadn't decided to tattoo a foal bottle on her when he heard her yelpin' about.

She galloped upstairs, “Ow” another step “Ow” “Ow” “Ow” “Owww!” as she didn't heed any warnings or intelligent thought about moving her inked flank so quickly after being...inked. She found the bathroom in a flash. Latrine next to a sink which had a mirror. Looked right. She tossed her backside onto the sink, in full view of the mirror while she braced herself with her front half on the top of the latrine, perched precariously where no foal (or pony, except trained professionals who had no dignity) should go. Head back, looking at the mirror and this her flank. “It looks perfect! Ah reahlly ahm a big pony nahw ahn' everypony in Ponyville knows it! Thahnk you thahnk you thahnk you!”

 

OOC- 4,800th post!

[Pretzelparty]

"um I-I guess so" the young filly stuttered out, acceptin the leaf in her hoof and looking it over, she could tell by the feeling and texture of the leave that there was no way it was going to serve as a suitable tissue replacement, but she thanks Naj anyway and turned away trying to look like she was blowing her nose somewhat clumsily in an attempt to spare Naj's feelings. She then tossed the elaf aside innocently and willed her itching snout to be still. 

 

Once her new friend took off, the filly hugged slightly on to her carapace so she didn't fall off. As the two flew toward their destination, Pressy smiled as Naj replied to her earlier query. "well it was meanfor those changelings a do that to those ponies... but you weren't one of them were ya? About the bug thing though, I guess that's kinda roight. My mum flips out if she sees a bug in the house, I can only imagine what she'd do if she met a fusion of bug and pony.... but I think yer cool!" She admitted with a happy chirp and sniffle. 

 

When theylanded the cream colored filly leapt off with the jar in hoof and looked around, "Uh... that's weird. I didn't think we were gone that long..." 

 

 

Foxglove had to admit these were all very good points, hopping aboard a train on their own wouldn't be the best idea for two young fillies. Applejack raised the best point however, there werent any trains to canterlot now anyway. "Sorry ... Firem was it? I think we're best staying here for the time being, if something goes bad then we can try and get a carriage or a balloon to the magic school.