(OPEN) A day on the water (Ponyville lake)

[Ashton]

Spike the Dragon

 

The noonday sun hung in the skies overhead, reflecting off the pristine sand and the still waters... well... almost still...

 

Out near the middle of the small lake was what looked like a small white surfboard, and atop that board, a small purple dragon in red swimming trunks with sunglasses and a drink of some kind on the board next to him, stretched out and lightly dozing. It might seem strange to take a surfboard (or more accurately a wakeboard) to a lake, but given the fact that Spike's namesakes could, if he was not *incredibly* careful, make short work of any inflatable water float, it made a lot more sense.

 

Of course, how spike had managed to sneak away to get time to himself was a tiny mistery in and of itself, given that he and Twilight were almost inseparable. Did that mean that Twilight was visiting Ponyville? If she was, she wasn't spending her time swimming, that was clear, and for once, Spike didn't seem to mind being separated from her too much.

[Sunblossom]

Sunblossom was enjoying the last day of her break in Ponyville by relaxing on the beach of Ponyville lake. Leaning back in her chair, she sipped her favorite drink: carrot juice. It was unusually calm that day, well, calm compared to how many visitors had been at the lake when she was a foal. Opening her eyes for one moment, she noticed something strange. A small dragon was laying on a surfboard in the middle of the lake. "Huh," she commented. "That's odd." Not wanting to bother anyone, she continued to lay in the hot sun, but she figured that if the dragon stayed here much longer, she would offer them a better way to float on the water.

[Ashton]

Spike raised his sunglasses "I see you staring, I'm afraid I'm taken" he quipped as he sat up, dangling his feet into the water "But seriously, haven't seen you around before, you  new in town, or just here visiting friends and family?" he asked, not bothering to  mention that even if she wasn't particularly new, he wouldn't know it since he spent most of his time in canterlot now.

[Sunblossom]

Sunblossom had been in the middle of a sip of carrot juice, and she started laughing so hard that she choked and fell out of her chair. "Yes, I'm visiting family. I came from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and I'm trying to take a break before midterm grades come in. What are you doing here?"

[Ashton]

Spike blinked "Oh, I've probably seen you around then" he said as he let out a small green flame and from it fell a golden medallion, one side showing a pen and quill, while the other side showed the equestrian seal "I'm a royal messenger and Twilight's assistant" he explained "Just taking some time to enjoy myself while Twilight goes through town, looks around, then come back a wreck and needs to be comforted" despite the wording, the little dragon did NOT seem to be purposefully name-dropping that he 'worked for' the Princess, but rather this was how casual he was about his relationship with Twilight --- even more obvious since he referred to her by name without her title.

[Sunblossom]

"Oh, nice to meet you Spike," Sunblossom replied, trying to sound cool. She didn't want to sound like one of those adoring fans of the Princess of Friendship, and she figured this little guy deserved a break from all the hard work he had to do. "So, you know surfboards don't really work on lakes, right?" Sunblossom said, not thinking about why he might want to use a floatie. 

[Ashton]

Spike smiled "same!" he said, always happy to make new friends, he snorted indignantly "I know, right! There's no good lava 'round here for proper surfing!" he sighed "I'm just using it to lay in the water right now" he admitted, then seemed to realize she might not realize why he was doing that as another small gout of green flame and the amulet was gone an in its place a  blank unrolled scroll, he stood up and carefully tossed it into the air, shaking side-to-side almost like a dog, and when the scroll made contact with his razor-sharp spines, it was reduced to confetti "Yeah, you can now see why I use my 'board instead of a blow-up lounger" he explained with a little bit of a blush

[Sunblossom]

"Oh, that makes sense!" Sunblossom exclaimed. "I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me to not realize why you were using one," she said, blushing. Thinking for a moment, she exclaimed, "I have an idea!" Using her horn to teleport, she went to the store in town and bought some huge marshmallows and a small blow-up lounge. She then teleported back to the lake. Swimming out to Spike's board, she explained, "If you put these marshmallows on your spikes, you can't pop the floating lounge. Sure, it'll be a little sticky afterwards, but it'll probably be more comfortable than the hard board."

[Ashton]

Spike let out another blast of flame, this time revealing a cup of hot coffee "I prefer them in my coffee" he smiled, trying to dance around the subject "Twilight also likes it when I put marshmallows in her morning coffee" he smiled as he took one from the bag and plopped it into his drink, tapping it a few times so it bobbed down below the surface and back up "Oh, would you like some too?" he asked, making one wonder not just why he had coffee in his pocket realm, but just how much was there.... though given twilight and her history of pulling all-night study sessions or just staying up all night way too often, however much he had was probably not enough...

[Sunblossom]

Sunblossom squinted at Spike for a moment, wondering how in the world he had pulled an entire cup of coffee out of thin air, but then shook her head and smiled. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't drink coffee. I do drink carrot juice though! It's my absolute favorite!"

[Ashton]

Spike paused a moment "...I dont think putting marshmallows in carrot juice would be good" he commented, barely avoiding non-sequitur with his comment, though given his nature it may have been intended as such "honestly, nothing better than a gemstone smoothie in my opinion, but I'm told that's not very good for pony teeth... or next time you use the restroom..." he winced at a memory that was probably... honestly it was probably a lecture from twilight with nothing bad happening, but the timing likely still left plenty up to the imagination "wow, just realized we're having a completely normal conversation and nothing's blown up yet... I'm starting to get worried about Twilight, last time this happened... well, I'm not supposed to talk about why there's a guard who's a griffen..." he laughed awkwardly - no doubt a funny story there, but also one that was probably extremely embarrassing for twilight, based on his reaction "so, yeah... you like it here or in canterlot better?" he asked, quickly changing the subject

[Sunblossom]

Sunblossom laughed. "Why would I put marshmallows in carrot juice?" She noticed Spike's wince, and briefly wondered what it meant, before deciding to respond to his next comment. "Wow, you must not have a very peaceful life if blowing up is a regular occurrence for you. That must be difficult!" She gave him a sad smile. "As for your question, I like it here better. Canterlot has been kind of sad for me, since there isn't as many students as I had hoped to be around, and the ones that are there are too focused on work to actually try to make friends. I just stay there because I hope going to this school will open more doors for me. But, it doesn't look that way to me anymore." Blinking, Sunblossom wondered why she had just expounded her worries to someone she had just barely met, when she hadn't told even her mother how she felt. "Sorry, didn't mean to put a damper on your day, I guess I'm an open book." Sunblossom chuckled half heartedly.

[Ashton]

Spike rolled his eyes "pfft, this is downright relaxing, you should hear Twilight at the end of a long day, luckily she faces the window in bed so I just had to learn to sleep while she talks" he smiled jokingly... atleast hopefully he was joking... "eh, it can open doors, it can also be a waste, all depends on what you do, I know plenty of ponies that never went past normal school... I mean look at Rainbow, she's a wonderbolt and probably slept through all her school" he chortled, no doubt sounding a little mean with his comment, though from the look on his fact it was clearly meant as a joke "Any any time you feel lonely, just let me know and I'll let you spend an hour or more at night listening to Twilight, I could use a break" he smiled, though this time it was more clear that this WAS just a joke, though spike's sense of humor was... quirky... to say the least. "So, what're your plans for the future? I know some creatures that might be able to help you out" he smiled

[Sunblossom]

Sunblossom beamed. "I would love to hang out sometime! I think it would do us both a favor." "I really want to be a therapist when I graduate. I know they can get a bad reputation as only being for crazy people, but I feel like it would be a great way to help others! I mean, my cutie mark is about helping others," she said, turning to show Spike the symbol of a flower growing from a heart on her flank. "I kinda thought if I gained a reputation at a school, maybe I could be a guidance counselor once I graduated, since there aren't many openings for therapists. And when I got accepted into Celestia's school, it was the perfect chance to achieve my dream, since the current counselor is a bit... old. It certainly is taking a long time though, I didn't realize how long the program at Celestia's school is." Sunblossom said, resting her head on one of her hooves and twirling the other one in the water to make swirling patterns.

[Ashton]

((I have this horrible meme-y response in my head of spike going "you so want to replace the councilor. I think that can be arranged *pulls out 308* XD))

 

Spike laughed "Atleast you don't have to do all the wild and crazy things twilight did while she was at the school!" he said, though not elaborating on that point "You should talk to twilight, that will give you plenty insight into the 'crazy ponies' you'll have to deal with, from an early age Twi decided to collect psychoses like most ponies collect stamps" he chortled "but yeah, that's a great profession to go into and can really make a difference in a pony's life -really wish Twilight had had one of those- and hey, if your good enough I'm sure I can pull some strings to help you out when you graduate" he smirked, no doubt this was going to be a 'you scratch my back, I scratch yours' kind of deal, but it was also still some ways into the future so there was no worries about it now.

[Sunblossom]

((Ok that's the funniest thing I've heard today)

 

Sunblossom nodded and offered her hoof to shake hooves/claws to seal the deal. "Thanks! I'm gonna be heading home now!" As she began to swim away, she called back "And talk to Twilight about drinking chamomile tea! It helps calm the nerves!" Sunblossom smiled to herself as she shook the water from her coat and trotted home, knowing she had made a new friend.

[Ashton]

Spike Nodded, his claw shaking her hoof "Will do! Have fun!" he said, waving as she left, sighing and lieing back down, setting his coffee down on the board next to him and lieing down, hoping to get another few moments of peace before Twilight burst in with some panic or other....