[Canterlot] The Raven's Quill [Open]

[SirShadowdeath]

As Inkblot walked into his humble bookstore, his pet raven flew down from a bookshelf and perched himself on the pegasus's back. The store had a musty smell, and bookshelves lined every wall. The crimson carpeting reflected the lights of the lanterns hanging in the aisles in between the bookshelves gracefully. Papers littered the floor, and a mahogony desk sat at one end of the store, near the front door. Ink walked around the store for a short bit, making sure everything was in order.

"Corvus, would you mind doing me a favor?" he asked his raven.

The raven, now fast asleep, ignored him.

"Nevermind then, I'll do it myself."

Ink flew up, taking a book off of the top of a nearby bookshelf. He flew back down, and put the book back into its rightful place.

"Okay! That should be all!" Inkblot said, heading toward the front window. He then turned the sign hanging in the window to "Open". He was prepared for a day of buisness, and hopefully other ponies would have interest in some books.

[Neoniie]

Quantum Flux trotted at a brisk pace through the streets of Canterlot's buisiness sector. The lamps that illuminated the pathways at night still flickered in their posts, as the lampkeeper had not yet completed her rounds. The sun was peaking over the great mountain into which the ancient city had been carved, giving the white spires of Canterlot Castle and even more luminous sheen. With her this morning was her companion Tesla, a small ferret who had grumpily refused to vacate her saddlebags earlier that morn. Not wanting to miss a lick of her book browsing time, she had levitated the bag, ferret and all, from its position on her desk to a secure position atop her back.

She had a couple of goals in mind for this venture, but they were merely guideline and not strict manadates for tasks to be completed with the assistance of whatever new research or theorems she could obtain. However, a chance appearance of a sliver of light lit up a silver glided window sign that read "Open". As she had noticed the shop for the first time, she spent a moment or two examining the building. It didn't seem fairly old, but not particularly new either. Perhaps I have merely overlooked it during my earlier searches. Deciding that a trip to the Great Library could wait, she trotted toward the door and opened it with a flourish of her viridian magic.

[SirShadowdeath]

Inkblot heard the chime of the front door opening. He immediately turned to see a pony standing in the doorway. Ink ran up to her immediately, waking up the raven perched on his back. The raven crowed slightly, and gently flew upward. He then flew around until he was gently hovering over Ink's head.

"I'm so sorry about Corvus's behavior! He can be a bit jumpy at times. Anyway, welcome to the Raven's Quill! What can I help you with, miss?"

All the while Inkblot was talking, Corvus eyed the pony's ferret closely.

[Neoniie]

Flux was slightly started by the eagerness of the pegasus' approach, but she didn't let it phase her. The unicorn made a quick sweep of the shop, trying to gauge her surroundings. It was a smaller shop, no Great Library of Canterlot to be certain, but it had quite a charm of its own. The mare breathed in the familiar, lovely smell of books and couldn't help but think that she had made the right decision in choosing this shop for her purposes. The lamplight was each aisle a more mysterious appearance and the unicorn had to admit that she had a fondness of the earth pony method of lighting.

"Oh, not at all. He's quite the bird. A raven, if I'm not mistaken. I suppose that makes your establishment aptly named. However, there is something you can assist me with. Would you happen to be in possesion of any non-fiction texts?" Flux posed the question with good reason. Most pony-owned bookshops were specializers in fiction rather than tomes of fact. It wasn't that the mare didn't enjoy a fantastical tome every now and again, but she muh preferred hard fact to fiction. Tesla looked back at the sharp eyes of the raven, a steely look in his own eyes. He wasn't quite sure of the raven's intentions, but he was certainly not in the mood to tangle with a bird today.

[SirShadowdeath]

"Nonfiction? Of course! What kind of bookstore would only carry one type of book? We have books on mythology, history, lore, astronomy, nature, animals, even science! I believe nonfiction is the bookshelf on the far left. Have a good look and tell me if you need help."

The raven hovering above the black pegasus's head stopped staring at the ferret and flew back to the top of the bookshelf.

The Black Pegasus proceeded to head back to his desk, where he took a pen from a drawer and started writing on a blank sheet of paper.

"Once again, let me know if you need help finding anything."

[Neoniie]

Flux smiled, happy that the black pelted pony did indeed keep books on her favourite of topics. Scientific research had been the catalyst for her cutie mark and the cause to which she had dedicated her life. It combined her desire for knowledge with her propensity for testing the information she was given. And who was she to contradict the symbol that declared her talent. The science of cutie marks was another topic which she vowed to study one day, but her current project was quite a tricky one in its own right. Unified Magical Theory was a difficult theorem to prove, due to her lack of willing subjects for study so far. Until an oppourtunity presented itself, she did as much research as she could on related subjects, gather piece of fact to add onto the skeleton of the theory.

With a nod of thanks for the pegasus' directional advice, the unicorn trotted down toward the far left shelf. Her eyes twinkled at the sight of books, a near contant throughout her life. As she perused her shelves, Flux realized that she had not learned the name of the shopkeeper. "If I may inquire to the subject, what is your name?"

[SirShadowdeath]

Hearing the unicorn, Ink stopped writing and dropped the pencil.

"My name is Inkblot, but you can call me Ink, miss."

The black pegasus turned back to his writing, feeling that he was forgetting something.

He suddenly dropped the quill again and look backed to the unicorn.

"I'm sorry. I was a bit distracted by my writing. What is your name, miss?"

[Neoniie]

The snow-coloured unicorn nodded in response to his name, continuing to peruse the books that were house between the planks of wood that made up the shelf. The deep red carpet felt soft beneath her hooves, creating quite the homely atmosphere when combined with the lighting and scents of the place. She felt as though she could just curl up with one of the books she eventually found and have quite a relaxing time amongst the selection of texts contained within the walls of the shop. Flux noticed a name out of the corner of her eye. Equill Hoofing had completed the third volume of his anthology on the biology of pegasi. With another flash of telekinetic magic, the book was open and subject to inspection by the mare.

Hearing Inkblot's question, she responded quickly, picking up her head from skimming the book's contents. "My name Quantum Flux, Inkblot. But you may call me Flux if you so choose."

[SirShadowdeath]

"I see you've found a book by Hoofing, Miss Flux. I've read the other two, you know. Interesting reads. Anyway, enjoy youself. If you would like to buy that, I'll be over here by my desk, working on my book."

Inkblot, seeing that Quantum Flux was deeply interested in her book, slowly walked back to his desk. He then continued to pick up his quill, and get back to work on his latest novel.

[Neoniie]

"I'll keep that in mind," Flux replied, muzzle covered by the thick spine of the volume which she held. "Thank you, Inkblot." As the pegasus trotted off, Tesla peeked his head out from beneath the flap of the unicorn's saddlebag. He made his was out of the fastened bag and over to the area of carpet immediately in front of his owner. He looked up at the book, not understanding the words written there but knowing enough about his master to know that she wouldn't emerge anytime soon. Taking advantage of this time, he curled up in the fibres of the carpet, eager to get some undisturbed sleep.

However, a stray thought brought Quantum Flux from her engrossed reading. She closed the book gently, keeping it aloft in a bubble of magic that floated behind the mare as she trotted over to the maghogany desk she had noticed earlier. "Excuse the interruption, but you are writing a book, you say? Interesting. On what topic?"

[SirShadowdeath]

Inkblot dropped the quill onto the desk once more, and turned to Quantum Flux.

"I was writing a fictional piece actually. It''s called "Through the Daybreak", and it's about a lone unicorn who becomes lost deep within the Everfree forest. Over time, the unicorn meets many interesting creatures, but must also cope with his fears in order to survive the harsh wilderness."

Ink picked the quill back up, and looked back to his writing. He then squinted for a second, and then called to his raven.

"Corvus! Fetch me a book on the geography of the Everfree forest please."

Hearing this, the bird perked up from atop the bookshelf and fly over to the shelf at the far left. Once there, he pulled out a book and carried it over to Ink. He then dropped it on the desk, and then perched himself on Ink's back once more.

[Neoniie]

Flux nodded, considering the piece of writing as Inkblot described it. "Interesting. I do enjoy some fiction every once in a while as well. This one sounds rather interesting. A psychological overcoming wrapping inside a good survival adevnture. It appears like your tale will have at least one reader, Inkblot." She was completely sincere about it as well. After all, the best stories could tackle both deep and dramatic themes as well as old fashioned adventure style. It was really one of the making of a good novel in the eyes of the mare. "You must inform me of its release when such a thing does occur."

Tesla's eyes were fixed on the raven throughout the conversation, unblinkingly trying to decipher it. He hadn't met many birds who hadn't tried to eat him or such before and it was the perfect time to learn about them. As it was said, know your enemy. However, he was already concluding that not all birds liked to terrify small mammals after all.

[SirShadowdeath]

Inkblot smiled as he heard what Flux has said.

"I always appreciate new readers. I'll make sure to give you note of the book's release, Miss Flux. Until then though, I hope you enjoy the book you found.I also must apolagize for any...inconveniant behavior caused by Corvus here. He can be a bit...unadapting."

While saying this, Corvus has caught onto the fact the the ferret was watching him closely. Instead of reacting harshly, or instead of even flying away, all Corvus did was turn away from the small ferret.

"Oh, and Miss Flux," continued Inkblot, "Don't forget your Ferret. He's made himself at home in my carpeting."

[Firebolt]

Chillwind strode solemnly through the streets of Canterlot accompanied by his Mare Rainsong. The two walked flank to flank, occasionally giving one another an affectionate lean from time to time. Then, out of an antique shoppe came trouble in the form of two unicorn friends of Rainsong's, mares she had known since she was a foal. After a tender apology and a sweet farewell nuzzle, his Mare was forced to leave him to his own devices in the most beautiful city in Equestria. Still slightly grumpy from losing the company of Rainsong for the day, he walked a bit more briskly, and the air around him grew a bit more chilled. By the time he found the small bookshop she had wanted to visit, he was dropping little white bits of powder off of his ebony coat. While he was out, he might as well at least try to find her what she had wanted.

Silently, and with all the sombre dignity of a mountain covered in snow, he nudged open the door and entered, his presence chilling the room by a few degrees. Had he been less distracted, he might have noticed the snowflakes that had begun to drop from the air around him onto the floor.

[Neoniie]

Quantum Flux responded quickly, her words beginning in a rather rushed and surprisingly unprofessional tone for the unicorn scientist, but they smoothed out as she continued her words. "I have found it both immensely imformative and quite enjoyable. It should certainly assist me in my current projects. Corvus is quite well-mannered, my ferret here has an odd tendancy to take issue with any being that he is not familiar with. For that, the apology is mine. I also thank you for your co-operation thus far." As Tesla still watched the raven, the red-maned mare used a quick bit of levitational magic to remove him from his place in the carpet to a more portable location atop her saddlebags. With her companion in tow, Flux returned to the scientific section, both conducting futher investigation into the contents of her Equill Hoofing tome and a search for any other potentially helpful volumes. After all, the advantage of a bookstore was that the mare could keep the books indefinately for future reference.

As she telekinetically reached for a book that had caught her attention, the unicorn noticed a drop in temperature around the shop. She glanced around briefly, wondering if it was caused by a lamp flickering out, but her serach was fruitless. Flux choose to take the most logical choice of merely assuming it to be a draft from an open window or the opening of the door by a new customer, whose presence was announced by the ring of a bell. Though inquistive as to any change in her environment, most ponies did not wish to be interrupted during their perusal of literature and thus Flux left the temperature change and new arrival to the back of her mind.

[SirShadowdeath]

Hearing the chime of the door, Inkblot scurried over to meet the new customer. Corvus, still perched pn his back, had no reaction.

"Hello!" said Inkblot to the pony standing in the door. "Welcome to the Raven's Quill. How can I be of service to you?"

Corvus, now becoming bored, flew off of Ink's back and returned to his position of closely eying the ferret from atop the bookshelf.

[Firebolt]

Chillwind regarded the shopkeep evenly. He spoke quietly, at leat, for him. In actuality his voice rumbled deep from within his chest. "Shopkeep, have you any books, or scrolls, perhaps, on the Lore and Legend of the nomadic tribes of pegasi that once roamed these lands in great numbers?" he asked, standing as still as stone. Around him, snowflakes hovered in the air, and his hot breath steamed forth as he spoke.

[SirShadowdeath]

Inkblot smiled cheerfully, trying to warm up the mood.

"Of course I do, my good Sir. They are located at the far left bookshelf. I would assume that they are on the second or third row. If I may ask, why do you need them? Research? Fun? Gift? Education?"

All the while, Corvus turned to the pony standing in the doorway from atop the shelf. He eyed the customer for a bit, as if he was suspicious about something. After awhile, ge turned back to eying the ferret that was curled up in the carpeting.

[Neoniie]

Flux leafed through the pages of her favourite medium carefully, considering the words imprinted upon them carefully. Some would say that it was not the place of a less practiced devotee of a subject to question its seasoned members, but the mare questioned each and every fact. She wanted to get only the best proven information possible, which meant she had to occassionally sort through misinformation and weakly proved theses to obtain useable and tested knowledge. Hoofing was rarely a challenged source in her regard, but basing ones theorem upon a piece of information with a single flaw could shatter the complex design completely.

Distantly, she acknowledged a conversation between the new customer and Inkblot, but it was second to the object of her life's path. She knew that it was likely a bit impolite to read books before you purchased them, but she was merely taking a sample of their contents. The unicorn had gathered at least 4 books already and had mumbled several times about the neccesity to search for others. Tesla was busy with his own work, watching the raven who perched high above the ferret. He was already getting a bit bored staring at the bird, but he was still holding a fleeting interest in the avain.

[Firebolt]

Chillwind flicked his eyes in the general direction the pegasus had given him. "A gift, for my mare. She has interest in that subject." he explained, his eyes blinking slowly. He looked down at the shorter pony. "Although I suppose having them wrapped as a gift would be preferable, if you offer that service in this establishment."

[SirShadowdeath]

"I'm sorry, Sir. We do not," said the pegasus, now a bit low on spirits. "But I'm sure that I have the book that you're looking for! Please, take a look around. I insist."

With that, he turned around and headed back to his desk.

[Neoniie]

Quantum had finally settled on her final picks for purchase from the shop. Knowing that it would be unwise to purchase every book she truly wanted to buy, she had shortened her long list down to ten volumes. Tesla had given her a rather disbelieving look, as though reminding her of the reason that she purchased books on such seldom occasions. Picking him up and placing the ferret atop her pile of books, she concentrated deeply on keeping the books aloft and balanced. Though manipulation of objects through telekinesis was her strongest area of magic, it was slightly taxing on her energy to keep ten thick books and a ferret in the air.

She traversed the shelves carefully, watching her step and her books as best she could. However, she turned a sharp corner and bumped right into a large male pegasus. She stumbled back slightly, managing to keep both herself and her books on balance. Tesla peered down from his perch atop the texts, wondering what the source of such a bothersome commotion had been. "I'm terribly sorry, sir. Do forgive my absentmindedness."

[Firebolt]

Chillwind nodded to the shopkeep as he went back to his desk. "Have no worries. I will have them wrapped at another shop." His eyes sweeping the shelves near where the other pegasus had suggested, he strode forward, his hooves making dull thuds on the floor. He found a promising shelf and began nosing through the tomes, most of which were thick, older volumes. He was almost too absorbed to notice the bump on his flank that brought him back to his surroundings. He looked around, and noticed a unicorn filly trying to carry a fairly large number of texts...and a ferret? Strange.

"All is forgiven. Would you accept my help with your load, Miss?" he inquired, his eyes watching her face impassively. He nodded slightly to the rugged yet elegant cloth sacks of varying size he had draped over one shoulder. Snowflakes continued to fall out of the air around his person, and the air became a bit colder.

[Neoniie]

(OOC: Sorry this is so late. I must have skipped over the notification by mistake.)

Flux considered the stallion's offer, noticing a distinct drop in temperature in the area around the pegasus. "Oh, no thank you. I should be able to transport them without much more difficulty." However, she placed the volumes down, stepping back slightly from the stallion. As she did so, the air around her warmed, absent of the snowflakes which fell from the air around him. So it isn't my imagination, she thought, trotting back toward the stallion. The unicorn had never seen such a phenomenon before and would not rest until she discovered the reason behind it.

"Forgive my intrusion, but I've never seen a pegasus chill the air around them to the extent the snowflakes are created. You must have quite the ability." As she spoke, possibilities whirled in her mind, everything from the latent magic that she was certain pegasi possessed finally manifesting itself in a more concrete form to his external body temperature being naturally below the freezing point. No matter what the explanation was, Flux knew that this manifestation was quite possibly a key piece of evidence in her main thesis on Unified Magical Theory. Her eyes and words shone with barely contained excitement at the mere thought of such a possibility.

[Firebolt]

((OOC: SirShadowDeath, it seems like this conversation would be mainly between Flux and Chillwind, so I'll go ahead. If you mind, I'll delete this.))

Chillwind nodded a little. "I consider it no intrusion. Many unicorns are curious about the capabilities of myself and my children. I am told it is uncommon among pegasi, but my family line is rife with stallions similar to myself." he replied, his expression lightening. "Here, allow me to demonstrate my talent's full potential. Normally, I can call upon it within moments, but for your benefit, I shall use it slowly." His eyes and jaw hardened then, his face a mask of intense focus. The air rapidly became frigid, and steam poured from the stallion's mouth and nose. All over his body, a sheen of ice particles formed, then thickened into sectioned plates. The sheets of ice became ridged and dense, and covered all parts of his body excepting his eyes, mane, mouth, tail, and flight feathers. He reared momentarily and opened his wings to show that he could still move with a more than fair amount of articulation, and anypony looking would have been under the impression that someone had carved him a crude suit of armor from an ice block. Far more quickly than it had formed, it dissipated into countless tiny shards of ice that fluttered away with a tinkling noise, and the temperature returned to normal. "While my speed is somewhat reduced, and I am not as agile, I can still fly with it on." he remarked, having noted by now the titles of the books the filly carried, and putting her horn and that together, guessed her interest in him.