[Couldsdale] The Iron Wing [Open]

[Winter]

Storm Feather was anxious for her first day open. She hoped to get as many orders in as possible in her small workshop's first day. The right wall of the shop displayed desks, stools, bookshelves, and small blueprints. The left displayed more appliance based items, like wrenches, hammers, screw drivers, plows, a metal helmet, and a wheelbarrow. The glass paneled door had a bell attached to it to let Storm know when anypony came in, and the sign in front read "The Iron Wing: Crafts and Tools." The hippogriff steadied herself and made ready for any challenge that came through that door...

[Dunder]

Dunder Blust was sitting on a barrel and eating an apple during his break as he watched the hippogriff put up the 'open' sign on the door. He had never seen a blacksmith in Cloudsdale and he had hardly ever seen a hippogriff. This was a 1 in a million establishment and it was even better because it was in Cloudsdale. He finished eating the apple before he stood up and brushed his hooves off. He walked over to the front door of "The Iron Wing" Classy name. He thought.

He opened the door and peeked inside, as if unsure if he could really enter. The bell rung above him and he opened the door further before stepping inside.

[Winter]

Storm Feather jumped at the sound of the bell and quickly turned from the tools she was adjusting to see her first customer. Whoa, what a muscular pegasus! She thought. She bounded up to the stallion, black hair bouncing with every step. "Heya, welcome to 'The Iron Wing,' I am Storm Feather, pleasure to meet you!" She smiled awkwardly. "So what are you in need of today, sir?"

[Dunder]

Dunder stood there as she walked up to him. He kept his eyes concentrated on her face as he walked up. It was rude to stare, of course, but he had never got to see a hippogriff this close. He sat down on his rear, but used his front legs to keep himself up. "Well, hello Storm Feather." He smiled warmly at her. He knew she needed to be welcomed. "I am Dunder Blust. Welcome to Cloudsdale!" He said. "So, this is a blacksmith.... I guess... how much would a small buckler go for?" He asked. He hoped she knew what he meant.

[Winter]

"A blacksmith?" she replied. "Yeah, I guess that is exactly what this is. So a small buckler? Like, for a belt?" She seemed confused. "Oh, no, like a shield! I should have known better, sorry. You seem like the type of adventurous pony that would ask for one," She stated, thinking back to her days out in the swamps. Yeah, a shield would have been nice to have then, great for hiding behind when all those mean griffons came... "That will be... uh..." She realized she had no clue how to price it. "How about... uhm... 75 bits?"

[Dunder]

Dunder laughed warm-heatedly at the mistake she made. It was funny to him that she would make an honest mistake probably because she was nervous. However, he didn't mean any harm by it. :And yes. I am the type of adventurous pony that would ask for one. They can be pretty useful, you know, especially if you know how to use one." He saw her zone out for a bit and as she did, he examined the tools and blueprints on the walls. They seemed to be pretty awesome. He wished that he could accumulate such documents like her.

"Well..." He said when he heard her offer, "How about you make the shield first and then I'll pay?" He said. He didn't know her skill and didn't want to bust 75 bits on a chef's paycheck. He smiled awkwardly as he tried not to sound mean or pushy.

[Winter]

"Oh, uhm, uh, ok, haha.... Sure, it only makes sense if I make it first, right?" She laughed nervously. "Well, lets go take some measurements here." The hippogriff reached behind the desk and grabbed some measuring sticks and went to work measuring Dunder for the shield. "So what do you do, Dunder, to need something like this?" She asked.

[Dunder]

"I don't mean it bad or anything. It's just that I..... You know... Uhh. Nevermind." He said and smiled nervously. He didn't want to come off as being rude or unwelcoming but it was hard to avoid it. And he couldn't lie now or it would be too obvious. He didn't answer and was glad she moved on and asked the next question.

The truth was that he wanted to help the hippogriff get on her hoofs...or feet based on which side you're looking at. He held out his left hoof to her and thought for a moment. "Well. I go exploring a lot and sometimes I get into some situations where I need to protect myself." He said casually. He didn't want to mention anything bad that he did and he wanted to move on. "So, where are you from?"

[Winter]

"Well, I came from Rockwington... After some time there, though, my family and I had to go over to the Soggalong Swamp" She shuddered. "It wasn't really a great place, but you know, it wasn't so bad." She put on an obvious facade. "After learning how fun crafting is, I came over here to work for the kind ponies of Cloudsdale. I worked as an apprentice a while, got some tools, bought this shop, fixed it up, and here I am now, talking to you about my history already, haha. Not much of one, if I do say so myself."

[Dunder]

Dunder could tell that she was uncomfortable with the swamp. He head heard about the prejudice there of the ponies and griffons and hippogriffs. He didn't expect her to have lived there. Hadn't her family known that it was a horrible place to live? He shook his head clean of the thought. He didn't pry, either, he wouldn't ask if they obviously didn't want to talk about it. He just nodded and listened politely.

Dunder listed to the rest of her story and then looked away in thought. He looked back at her, "How long have you been living here?" He asked, "I don't remmeber seeing you around. I also don't remember this store even being here." He said as he looked around at the walls and ceiling.

[Winter]

Storm looked over at Dunder questioningly, wondering what he had been thinking about to make him shake his head like that. "Well, you are my first customer, silly. I just got here a few weeks ago and started doing some small, odd jobs for some bits. Today is my first day being open here." Storm smiled happily, "I am just so happy I could finally open up, after all this time! So... I don't mean to, uhm, pry or anything, but, uhm, well, uh, what do you do around here? Do you live here, or are you just visiting?"

[Dunder]

He sat down again when she started to talk again. He listened eagerly to hear how she got accepted into the Cloudsdale culture. He half expected to be her first customer, but it was still rather surprising. "Well, welcome to Cloudsdale." He said, "You're still pretty new here, but new faces are always a good thing. Everypony...or half pony... is welcome here!" He said happily. He hoped she wouldn't get offended.

"No, no, you're not prying by asking what I do or where I live." He said. "I live here in Cloudsdale and I work as a chef in a nearby restaurant." He said with a bit of pride, "I usually travel when I'm on vacation. And I plan my routes to make sure I get back on time." He said, "I also made my own house from a cloud. Did you do the same?"

[Winter]

"Oh, haha, half-pony" Storm glanced around nervously, flashing back to the swamps. "That's a... uh, good one, haha. I'm glad to be welcomed here. The cloud shaping thing... I can't get it down right.... Oh well, I guess that is because I'm not quiet a pegasus, right?" The hippogriff laughed nervously and showed a bad poker face, "So... you are a chef? What restaurant do you, uhm, work at? It might be cool... to... uh... go there sometime."

[Dunder]

Dunder listened to her. He tried not to act nervous or worried by her behavior, but he did need to calm her down. He casually put a hoof on her shoulder, and smiled warmly at her. "No need to be nervous. You are among friends now. No one can hurt you." He said softly. "Anyway, I work at 'The Happy Pegasus.' It's down the road from here. I usually come to the apple stand across the street and but an apple and a pie on my break." He said. He loved the apple pies they sold there."

[Winter]

Storm looked slowly at the hoof on her shoulder, then back down to her claws... "Yeah, friends... Maybe I should go to 'The Happy Pegasus' sometime. It sounds nice..." Storm began to think about the name and wondered what made that pegasus so happy. "Apple pies aren't exactly my favorite, but, uhm, it is nice that you get to have them on your breaks..."

[Dunder]

"You don't have to go if you don't want to. But if you do go, I could give you a deal because you're a friend of one of the workers." He said. "And I only buy apple pies because they are delicious. If you tried the ones from here, you'd like them." He said and smiled at her. "I can pay you a little extra so you could try one. Or I could buy one and we could split it."

[Winter]

"Oh, that sounds like it could be nice. I am a little hungry, so, uhm, I guess it can't be THAT bad... How about we split one, just in case I don't like it? We could go get some, and them come right back. Oh, wait just a second!" Storm exclaimed cheerfully. She went around the counter and went into the dark back room, pulling out a dull colored but solid looking buckler that was around wing sized. "This should work nicely for you, right? I should have mentioned earlier, but, uhm, I wasn't sure it would fit right, I was so... nervous, when you, uhm, came in here. So do you think it is worth the 75 bits?"

[Dunder]

"I'll just pay for it. It's only about 3 bits anyway..." Dunder said but trailed off when she went into the back. He looked at the buckler that she brought out. It was odd that she didn't know what it was and yet she had one. Maybe it was just a coincidence. He grabbed the small shield and waved it around a bit. He smacked it a few times with a wrench to make sure it didn't fall apart. He nodded at the shield, then at Storm, "It's worth the money." He said and pulled out some money. He counted the bits on the counter. "This should be enough." He said motioning to the pile he made.

[Winter]

"Thank you for your purchase, Dunder!" Storm said with a smirk. "So, since it is lunch now, did you, uhm, want to, uh, go... someplace? Talk about some things... It could be fun..." She turned her head down and nervously clawed the ground.

[Dunder]

"Sure. We could go. I'd love to go." He said and smiled at her. He was glad to make a new friend, especially with a newcomer and a blacksmith. He trotted out of the store. "Do you have anywhere you want to go?" He asked her. There were several restaurants and fruit stands around town. There was even the apple stand he was talking about.

[Winter]

"I really wouldn't know, I am... kinda... new to this place. How about we go to your favorite place? Oh, how about we go to, uhm, the, uh... 'The Happy Pegasus'" replied Storm.

[Dunder]

"My break isn't over yet. I don't really want to go back." He said and scratched the back of his head nervously, "We were going to try apple pies, right?" He asked rhetorically, "Then let's get an apple pie."

[Winter]

"Ok, if you say so... I'm still not sure about this, but, uhm, if that is what you want, I'm Ok with it." She smiled nervously again. "After all, I wouldn't want to go back to work during my break either, haha. Off to apple pies we go!"

[Dunder]

He smiled at her, "Don't worry. You'll love the apple pies." He said and smiled. He took off in flight to the apple stand.

"Hey, Dunder, back for more? My pies are just that good!" The orange pegasi behind the stand said and smiled wide with his eyes closed.

"Yep. Gimme another pie." He said, he already threw the bits into the bucket before he got served. "Thanks he said before trotting over to the barrel and sitting on it.

He put the pie on the cloud. "Dig in." He said.

[Winter]

The hippogriff took a tentative bite of the apple pie. "This is pretty good..." she said, hiding her real feeling about the pie and finishing a quarter of it. "I, uhm, don't want to impose or anything. You can have the rest, Dunder. Thank you."