A Parade Of Grumps
IC date: Winter 46, 1007
OOC date: Feb 4, 2013
PCs: Gem-Song, Nocturne, Quintessent-Rune, Solar-Wind, Hemlock, Plot-Twist
NPCs:
GM: None

The Festival of Light, a time of gift-giving and togetherness, with your special somepony, friends and family. Of course, there are those that would prefere to pretend nothing of that existed. Quintessent-Rune glanced up from the sheets of papers clutched in her forehooves at the festive ponies passing by the bench she was seated on before shaking her head for herself. "Buffons. Truly, Servant, festive seasons of friendship and love are quite the strange thing. It makes absolutely no sense and leaves me baffeled," she said out loud. Or at least, it'd look like that to anypony not knowing the nature of the fish plushy leaned up against her side where she sat on the bench.

"It's like the darn dirt-ponies have no sense of decorum and… Well, never mind," she continued, sounding somewhat… sulky. With a sigh she leaned back against the bench. "Servant, I do belive the will for research and progress… somewhat eludes me at this juncture. Perhaps we shall take a break…"

Solar-Wind flits in carrying not a candle, but a full on lantern, the flame is hidden, from sight by faded white panes of glass just for 'saftey' sake, and the big fireguard is slinging a pair of heavy looking water jugs just in case something catches fire. With all these candles about, ya can't be too careful these days, given this town's… …history.

Stumbling out of a distant alleyway, Nocturne trots his way across the Town Square, appearing to have patches of dirt and mud on his coat. His head hangs low, and his mane covers most of his face as he shields out the sunlight. Having virtually no sense of direction, he bumps his head into the bench where Rune sits, but doesn't even bother to look up. "Mmm… 'nother hour ought to do it." With that said, he clumsily climbs onto one side of it, apparently unaware of anypony being present as he shakes his mane over his eyes, leans back, and tries to nap.

A holiday Twist is familiar with for once. Despite an attempt to stop it out, some how even the Bolts couldn't help but enjoy a bit of holiday cheer now and then. "So do you still trade gifts here?" the older shadowbolt trots along side of her special somepony, a pair of candles hanging off the tips of her wings. "Even the whole candle thing is the same. I can tell winter is already my favorite time of year." the cool air giving her a bit more bounce to her step as she trots along.

Quintessent-Rune blinked at the sudden bonk comming of from the side. After all, a bonk? Servant certainly didn't bonk, at least most of the time. There was that time he flopped down the boardwalk with all that money, but… Typicaly, he didn't bonk. Turning she eyed Nocturne for several moments before reaching over, prodding him. "Excuse me, Mr. Nocturne, but you do not seem alltogether well. Would you kindly re-… Hmh, now that I consider it, you do look tired, not sick…"

After a moment of silence she smiled… and kept on talking. "It is, certainly, a fine day today is it not? The sun is shining, the sky is clear. Mind, some prespiration wouldn't have gone unappreciated. The dryness is not alltogether enjoyed," she went, the image of blissfull unawareness concerning the potential annoyance she'd be. Of course, she's far from it.

Nocturne is apparently already asleep by the time Rune addresses him, or at least in somewhat of a dream state. "Mhmm… my anestors made the greatest hardtack in all of Sumareia." As she goes on, he finally jolts up and shakes his mane out of his eyes. "Huhwhat," he utters, turning to see Rune next to him. "Oh. Yeah. It's uh… not too bad, I guess. Could go without all that, though." The unicorn gestures to all of the merry pairs of ponies in the Town Square.

The Big Fireguard stallion trots strongly through town seemingly checking firecode as he goes along, eyes darting here and there, nudging a candle slightly away from a wall, or away from dry winter crinkly plant. or, or or, well parinoid firepony doing his job. He looks back to Plot-Twist, his Captain, "Gifts, yes, yes gifts" he smiles on finding something other to think about then fire, "Back at camp, something special" he churrs out as he continues his patrol. He stomps on something in the grass, somepony's smokes or something. He grumbles, "This One event, This One celebration causes fireponies everywhere to panic, not since the great Manehatten fire of the Parade of lights" he hrummphs, "Parade of Fire hazards, and lovey dovey ponies, burning things, Fire, here, Fire there, then BOOM!" he colmps his hooves a little loudly

Town square is a sensible place to be, right? Or it is when you want to see everypony possible, looking pretty, and make them smile. It also works well as a hub for presents! This is the line of thinking that Hemlock has followed, as he prances in towards the quare, a little red wagon being pulled behind him, piled high with gifts for all the loving couples. He's all laughs and smiles, handing out little wrapped gifts for all the fillies and colts.

Gem-Song is wandering the streets once more. After all, where else could he go? Seeing all those ponies happily trotting around Town Square made him homesick once more, but he'd begun to sound like a broken record. He's put all that behind himself. Wondering how he can get his life straight again in this crazy town, he barely pays any attention to where he's going. And so… BONK! Another pony bumps into the bench. "Oh, sorry," he apologises, then looks up. Nocturne and Ru- Quintessent, one sitting on the bench, the other slupmed against the side. "Hey, guys! What's up?"

The way the shadowbolt looks about she might actually be having fun! "I will have to get you something then …" trotting over to stall and looking at a few trinkets, glass pendietns with strings of color in them. Looking up she notices Solar has already trotted of looking for more fire hazards. "Think of it as job security!" moving to catch up she chuckles. "Pluss are we not two lovey-dovy ponies?" flanks bumping.

"If you say so. Though I must ask, Mr. Nocturne, why are you here and not in, say, bed? Surely furnature ment for the rest and relaxation of sleep would be better suited for it than-" BONK! Qintessent-Rune blinked for a moment, eyes crossing slightly as she looked down at her muzzle. Bonk? Was she going bonk right now? A moment later her ears perked at the sound of a familiar voice and she turned around. "Oh, hello Mr. Song. Not much, I would dare say. Though perhaps Mr. Nocturne is up when he should be abed…"

Hemlock gallops the last couple paces in to the square. Tonight is not his night, so it's not the right time to really make an entrance. Instead, he wanders about giving gifts indiscriminately. That is, until he reaches the bench or bonking. "Hello there! Mister Nocturne, spending quality time with a beautiful mare and a handsome stallion?" With a chuckle he turns and takes out a couple presents, gauging each pony carefully. All three of the ponies get one. Hemlock joins them at the bench, nearly exhausted on presents, he only has one really important one left that he hasn't hoofed out already.

Nocturne rubs his eyes and yawns. "Beats me. Guess I didn't make it there soon enough. It was a long, stressful ni-" He nearly falls off of his seat when Gem bumps into the bench. "Oh. Hey." Wiping off some of the dirt from his legs, he shakes his head at Rune's mention of him. "Screw it, it's not like I'll get any sleep with all of these ponies blubbering about "their undying love and affection"." He uses his hooves to gesture his quotation, and looks down to see Hemlock before him, and a gift at his lap. "Like I'd /ever/ consider- uh… I mean, thanks…" No sense in giving a pony a hard time when he's handing out gifts, right?

Solar-Wind chuffs softly to the other Captain, "Of course we're lovey dovey, but we're not burning down the town, Manehattan, heh, that was something else, Almost every building on the south side, Burned for love and candles" he chuffs. he can't really do the flank bump without sloshing, as he is carrying a water barrel on each side of him. He does however lift a wing to sweep across her back and pull her as close as the barrel will allow of them.

Twist tries to hold back and giggle and trots in stride with Solar as she is pulled close. "I can't wait till night to see this all lit up though without that nasty sun getting in the way. Sides with all teh weather we have been getting everything is too wet to burn." glancing up she notices a bench full of familiar ponies and pulls her lover stallion along with her. "Come on lets go bother Noc, and Hemlock. Keep your mind off all the fire."

Gem-Song looks at Nocturne, confused. "Yesterday you were so happy. You seem so… cynical. What happened?"

"Quite so, yes," agreed Quintessent-Rune. At least till Hemlock bounced up to them with gifts and complements, leaving the not-really-earth pony looking somewhat confused. For a split moment anyway before throwing on a approrpriately demure if greatful smile, a hoof to her chest. "I… thank you, Mister. You'r kindness is appreciated," yeah, right, "though I am affraid I cannot repay your kindness…

Hemlock takes a step back and smiles widely, bowing as one would bow before royalty. "The honour is mine, miss. The only repayment I could ever ask for is a smile. This humble," yeah, right, "earth pony wishes only to please." He looks back up with a mischievious wink. "Though if you must, perhaps I could have the pleasure of knowing such a beautiful mare's name?" His gaze switches to Nocturne. "Just teasing you colt, I hope you enjoy the gift."

You can practically hear his every hoofstep given how much heavier he is with his water load, but the big stallion clomps towards the other group of ponies with Plot-Twist right along side, though he does keep looking back for 'fire hazards' he just can't help himself, his firepony training just won't go away, and this holliday is /the worst possibile thing/ for fireponies. "Keep my mind off of fire, But my Duty" he pleads, obviously not sure about shirking his duty like this,

"Don't worry about it," Nocturne replies to Gem. "Nothing that can be helped. I'll be fine," yeah, right, "just as soon as this 'Festival of Lights' mess is over with." He offers a wave to the approaching couple, but groans and leans his head back, speaking quietly to the rest of the group. "Case in point."

"Can wait till you hear the screams of loves burned on their own candles." Twist insists using her head to bulldoze the big pony away from teh 'hazards and into the group. Poking her head from behind Solar's back side, and resting her forlegs over her flanks to address the group. Is this really the same grumpy pony she seems way too cheerful … almost playful. "Hemlock, Nocs. Nice to see you guys again!"

"I am in complete agreement with you on that point, Mr. Nocturne. This is truly not a holiday for me," said Quintessent-Rune before turning back to Hemlock, once more putting on that smile with practiced ease. "As for my name, I am l-," she bit herself of with a barely noticable eye-twitch of annoyance, "Miss Quintessent Rune, it is a pleasure to meet you Master…?" As she spoke Rune leaned forward ever so slightly, extending a hoof for Hemlock.

Hemlock takes the hoof gratefully, and plants a kiss on her's as befits royalty. Hemlock is more than able to gauge a pony, and this mare is used to power. It's obvious she's no commoner, even if he doesn't know about the seapony bit. "Charmed, milady Quintessent Rune." His respects paid, he smiles around. "Oh I don't know, it's a nice holiday. It's not all about romance, and can be a time to spend times with friends, or give out gifts!" He beams at Plot Twists arrival, she's a friend! "The gorgeous miss Twist, and equally handsome Solar Wind! What has such a charming couple coming over to spend time with us?" He perks up, and grabs a couple presents, giving them to Solar and Plot Twist. "For you, and you. that's the last of my presents, I fear, oh well. "

Nocturne raises an eyebrow as Rune introduces herself. It's not the first time he's heard her make that slip-up. "Nice to see you too," he answers Twist, trying his best to not sound /too/ obviously grumpy. "I see you two are enjoying yourselves." At least somepony is. The stallion reclines his head and closes his eyes before any more happy ponies come to show off their gleeful dispositions.

Quintessent-Rune gave Solar-Wind and Plot-Twist a polite nod in greetings before turning back to Hemlock, for a moment. "Perhaps so, Master Hemlock. But I would rather not dwell on family and there are few ponies I would count within the circle of friendship." In all honestly, it would be Rising-Chaos. Maybe. "Therefore, I quite find myself in agreement with Mr. Hemlock, the festivities are not anything for me."

Solar-Wind is eventually 'lured' more pushed to the group and away from his duty by his loving special somepony. "Ahh the Heroic Hemlock the Mighty" he smiles to hemlock, and offers a little bow of his head, "Alas I must decline the gift, currently on duty" he states, "please do pass it on though, with my compliments" he smiles to the earthpony before him. "I do not have the ability to recipricate with the small presents, as duty calls, the only thing I'm carrying is this water load" he shrugs his thick shoulders and the water can be heard sloshing in the barrells beside him. Solar glances over to Nocturne, "believe me I want this holliday over too, all these candles" he turns in place looking to candles, here, and there, "all these fire hazards, darnit Its just, just it shouldn't be candles, these candels should be in protective lanterns so, so, so there's less chance of anything bad happening" he Hrumphs out deeply

Equally handsome seems to give Twist a smirk, "Hun I think he just insulted you~." the shadow bolt holds no disillusions she isn't the best of lookers. Tapping Solar's rear before getting off him to take her pressent from the colt and gets to opening it wondering whats inside. "Oh take the gift you big lug. Presents never hurt anypony. Unless its booze, then you might want to drink it fast and make your day more fun." this holliday must be something to Twist if even she is being lax on rules! "Thank you Hem at least you know the spirt of the day, here." she hands him back a glass pendant with all kinds of strings of color that reflect happily in the candle light.

Inside Twist's present is a small leather book. All of it's pages are filled with pictures of pony smiling, hoof written stories of hope and happiness, things to warm your heart and put a smile on your face. It looks a bit like a journal, really. The second half is blank, with the last page only having 'For your own memories~.'

Hemlock looks confused and hurt for a moment, a tiny fraction of a second. "My good sir, you have already repaid me with that smile. Take the gift and be welcome." He looks truly touched by Plot Twist's gift, and puts it on immediately, admiring the way the light shines through the pendant. "Well if you ponies aren't going to get in to the spirit of love, perhaps you can just enjoy a nice relaxing day, hmm? I know I'm just here to see smiles, and be with friends."

Solar-Wind takes the offered gift though does so with a little bit of reluctance, it appears he's not at his best in certain social situations, as his eyes keep on darting back towards the rest of the town, that 'protect from harm' instinct of his is working overtime today. 'so many fire hazards, they're everywhere' *twitchTwitch* of an ear, and a sniff snort there, and he is left to look around trying to find that scent of smoke, eyes tracking to, to, to. Chimney smoke. His shoulders slouch and his broad muzzle comes around again and just slumps a little.

Quintessent-Rune fidgets with her gift for a moment before slowly easing it open her own gift from Hemlock as she glances up at the much older stallion. "Perhaps, but I rarely find the reson to allow myself the 'joy' of smiles and cheers. There are much more pressing concerns that needs to be addressed before such." She glanced down at Servant, on the bench next to her, which seems to have gotten all the papers she'd been holding. "For example, I have quite a bit of test data that needs evaluation."

Nocturne has been trying to feign sleep, but figures that the earth pony won't stop trying at him until he says something. "Trust me, I've tried all that nonsense. I'm not cut out for it. Just trying to get through this week for now." His eyes are still closed, and unbeknownst to the others, he drifts back to sleep. "Just leave them with the rest of the snails, I'll feed them in a few hours."

Twist noses through the book confused for a moment not sure what could be in such a book. All manner of sketches of happy ponies and adventures. "Is this your journal?" she doesnt' look up, instead focused on the pages reading all she can quickly. "You telling me I need to go on more adventures huh?" giving an aproving smile before hugging it close. "I will make sure to fill it to bursting!" wings fluttering. "I need to get going though. Solar! You have fun and /relax!/"

Hemlock looks worried about her reaction for a moment, then beam! "I'm sure you'll do me proud, miss. Though I should really be off as well." He bows to the assembled friends of his. "Solar Wind, sleeping Nocturne, milady Rune. It was an honour seeing you on this fine winter's day. I, however, have a filly to tend to." With that, he he trots away, pulling his little red wagon with him.

Rune's present is in a delicate jewellry box. Opening it reveal a pair of delicate, extremely expensive silver earrings. They are decorated with pearls and all the crafting is of the highest quality. This was probably the most expensive thing on the wagon.

The 'earth pony' mare blinked in suprise for several moment as she peerd down in the box. Jewelry. Correction, beautiful jewelry! After another silent moment Quintessent-Rune put the lid back on the box again before passing it to Servant as she pulled herself to her hooves, giving Hemlock a small and polite curtsy. "You kindness knows no bounds, Master Hemlock. While I regret that I cannot repay you justly for this, you will have my aid should you ask for it," Quintessent said.

Hemlock stops just in time to hear that. "Milday, your smile is reward enough. My kindness is nothing compared to the happiness you bring me." With a low bow, he disappears in to town.