Jump to content

Browsing the market... Ice Sculpting...


Recommended Posts

A blue Pegasus made her way down the streets of the marketplace, oogeling at the various arts and crafts that the other ponies had made. She found herself idly wishing she had possessed some form of artistic ability that could be given to others, but her tallents resided in Ice. While an Ice Sculpture was a wonderful thing to see in the winter, it also was fleeting and as the seasons changed it would melt, not to mention that it could not be taken inside where others could admire it without feeling the biting winds that would blow about.

Despite enjoying the proverbial show, Hale found herself at the end of the market with her saddlebags just as empty as when she began, much like her coin purse. She sighed, leaning against a street light and feeling the coolness of the metal seeping into her shoulder. To be here among so many talented artisans and not have enough bits for so much as a tree ornament or a mug of hot apple cider, fate was indeed a cruel mistress at times.

Hale decided to take her mind off the empty feeling, she had been thinking about ice statues earlier, as one of her more artful talents, perhaps she would leave one here for others since it would cost her nothing and might bring a smile to the face of another pony who found herself in the same position as herself.

She walked over to a patch of melting snow and stomped her hoof, making the mists rise around it that were the essence of pegasai magic. The snow began to harden as the tiny clouds she formed gently pushed the fluffy whiteness into a more desirable shape. At first it looked like a large poorly made cone, then slowly the point of the cone narrowed and sharpened as the upper part shifted back, the lower part curved more and then began to separate, the snow was slowly forming into the shape of a unicorn. Misshapen blobs constricted and shaped to form limbs while the upper part elongated into a rectangular shape, extending backwards, then flattening out to make a rough mane, as it began to harden, the small clouds iced-over and sculpted the shape of a flowing mane into the snow. The front hooves became more defined, as the mane was finished and the tail carved, finally, Hale spotted a few berries that somepony had dropped and gently picked them up and placed them on the nearly completed head.

The pegasus was completely unaware that more than a few ponies had stopped to watch her sculpting the snow, and by the time she was finished there were a dozen or more ponies who began to applaud.

Hale found her cheeks burning as she blushed, glancing a moment at the completed ice statue of a majestic unicorn male, prominently posed with his forehooves in the air, his horn ready to release some magic or another, and the two berries which had been encrusted with carved ice that made their color reflect and show through the entire eyes. It was indeed an impressive sight, though Hale herself had not thought much of it, she never considered herself an artist and was much more used to using ice to pelt the ground or an opponent, she murmured a quiet "thank you, it's not that good, please..." so timid and quiet it would have made a mare like Fluttershy proud.

Feeling out of her element, Hale quickly, though tactfully backed out of the crowd that was admiring her ice-unicorn, relieved that her moment in the spotlight seemed to be ending now, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Though it did make her smile to see the joy on the faces of the other ponies as they looked at her sculpture. She was right, it did heighten her spirits, now back to enjoying the festival - and keeping an eye open for a few quick jobs to earn some bits......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Page Turner muttered quietly to himself as one of his wagon's wheels got caught on a lump of ice on the road, and refused to budge. He needed to find an open spot in the market, and coming late was not making it easy. It was a shame really. This was the perfect time to sell books. For many ponies, nothing was better this time of year then curling up in front of a fire with a warm drink and a good book.

But that wasn't going to happen if Page's hooves kept sliding uselessly on the slippery ground. Ponies passed him with looks of annoyance, which wasn't a surprise, given that he was blocking half the road with a stubborn wagon. With a final heave, fueled with anger and annoyance, Page finally got passed the bump and continued on his way.

All the good spots were gone, meaning that Page would have to set up at the edge of the market. By now, a heavy cloud sat over the pony, one that had nothing to do with the weather. Page finally located an empty spot, and carefully parked his wagon, and began to set up shop. Still in a huff, he grabbed the sign and shoved it into the snow for passing ponies to see. He was about to go back in when something stopped him. There was a blue pegasus across the street that looked like she was making...something out of snow across the street. Curious, Page tightened his scarf and wandered over to see what she was doing. Something looked like it was beginning to take shape out of the snow. No, not snow...ice. Page cocked his head as he watched the process of shaping then freezing, entrancing him as the shape of a pony began to form.

Page had no idea how long he was staring, or that several other ponies had gathered around, just as interested in the artwork that was taking shape. But he did realize that the ice unicorn in front of him was beautiful, and his cloud of anger had evaporated. The pony next to him began stomping their hooves, snapping him back to reality, happily joining in the applause. Page smiled as he made his way through the crowd that had formed back to his wagon. He hated running the shop in a bad mood, and thanks to this pony and her artwork, he wouldn't have to today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hale watched the festival as she headed back to her room, but she stopped, there was a new wagon here that hadn't been there when she first passed. She wasnt exactly the most well-read of Pegasai, though she certainly could enjoy a good book as much as anypony. She trotted over and began looking over the stacks to see what kind of literature was being peddled.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Page smiled as he set down the pile of picture books. He was looking forwards to seeing some foals read, whether they succeeded or not. It always managed to make his day a little bit brighter. There were already a few ponies browsing his wares that had come from the crowd that had watched the sculpting. Maybe this spot wasn't so bad after all.

As he scanned the crowd, his eye fell upon the pegasus that mad the sculpture looking over a stack of books. Page trotted over.

"I have to say, that's some impressive artwork." He looked over his shoulder to the frozen unicorn. "Helped get me in a decent mood, and keep from ruining my day. Thank you."

Page paused for a second, smiling lightly, then snapped back to life. "Can I help you find anything in particular?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

(so sorry! I keep missing this one! x_x Feel free to PM me and remind me, I have a bad case of "AttentionDefi-SHINEY!" ;) )

Hale felt her face burning again, she smiled "Thank you, bit it wasnt anything special, I just threw it together" she said "I was feeling a bit down when I got to the end of the market and I figured other ponies might feel that way to and maybe seeing an ice-sculpture would cheer them up" she explained "I'm glad to see it proved useful" she smiled "oh, do you have 'Disgusting Necromancy for Pegasia'?" she teased "maybe '1001 ways to eviscerate a casserole'?" she laughed "really I'm just browsing, I'm sorry but even if I found one I really liked I couldn't afford it, I have some... trouble with weather work so I have an unreliable income" she said "...I dont suppose you need anything done, do you? I'm not exactly well-read but I'm strong" she said, standing up straight and flashing a winning smile

((it scares me, I spelled 'Eviscerate' right but not 'Casserole' >.<))

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...