I Wanna Be...
IC date: Spring 11, 1007
OOC date: April 1, 2012
PCs: Manyara, Lavender, Siyana
NPCs: None
GM: None

It was another warm, pleasant spring day. The sun shone down, warm but kept from being too hot by a light breeze blowing over the hills, ruffling the still-flourishing stalks of lavender. The spike of ice out in the middle of the harbor was visible in the distance, glinting lightly; the sun was not quite strong enough to make much headway melting it. Things… had been strange around here the past week or two.

And to add to the strangeness… that tent was strange. Its bold blues and violets stood out brightly against the greens of the hills, hard to miss perched on top of a small rise. It was a large tent, large enough to dwell in, and looked like the sort of thing you'd see in a gypsy faire, except there was only one of them. The curtain over the entrance was drawn back, tied half-open; a flickering light shone out, likely from a lantern or possibly a lot of candles. It looked exactly like the tent on the back of the cards that had been showing up around town.

Lavender creeps slowly out of town. Lavender stalks indeed, one might say. But it's with trepidation and uncertainty, here, as she peeks into a saddlebag and takes a glance at the card she'd found under the door a little while back. Well…either it's legitimate and worth being excited about, or it's fake and no harm will be done, so why's she so nervous? The filly approaches that tent quietly, on a pony version of tiptoes, then withdraws that card with her teeth. "…Ello?" she asks around it.

"LAVENDER!" That's a shout. Yep. Siyana is behind her, all perky and excited. "Hey! Hello! I haven't seen you in a while! What are you ooohhhh, what's this? Is it an astromony place?" The zebra filly, not at all heeding the purple pony's trepidation, walks right up next to her in her personal space, looking up at the tent.

For a moment after the zebra's 'outburst' there is silence, then a soft voice calls out from inside the tent. "Come in, little ones, come in."
Lavender jumps about a foot in the air, sputtering, and nearly gags on the card before spitting it out on the ground. "Shhshhshhshhshh! You're not supposed to know I'm here and /especially/ my parents aren't because…You can come here to make /wishes/," she whispers emphatically. Then she promptly freezes, wide-eyed. Glancing back to town she mouths something about 'quiet' and 'don't tell' and makes a throat-cutting motion, before picking the now-soggy card back up and slinking into the tent with a gesture to Siyana to follow.

Siyana perks her ears as the pair are beckoned, and she straightens, excited and curious… but Lavender's obvious nervousness and stealth-mode makes her hunker down again to echo her mood. "Oh," she whispers, sotto voce, "okay." Pause. In a normal voice: "Wait, Wishes?!?" GASP. She scrambles in after the slinking pony.

The inside of the tent was surprisingly spacious, with much more muted and pleasant shades of the blues and violets that made up the color scheme of the outside. It was in fact lit by a number of hanging lanterns, and smelled strongly of sweet herbs and incense. The tent's spaciousness was even more surprising when one considered what all was inside of it: A number of tables, pots, and shelves; what looked like a chemistry table stood in one corner; and a desk with quills and bottles of ink in all sorts of colors; a rack sat opposite, with various charms and sundries hanging from the pegs; the tables held all manner of flowers and herbs and bottles and this-and-that.

A thick velvet curtain hung to one side, seemingly covering a seperate 'room', and it was out from behind this curtain that the slim, two-horned creature stepped, holding a bright orange flower in her mouth. She smiled warmly down at them, setting the flower on a nearby shelf before speaking. "Why hello there, little ponies!"

(OOC) Manyara: desc is in her look, I don't feel like typing it all out every time she shows up to a new pony. XD
A slim, golden brown creature with a flowing brown mane and tail and deep, mystical silver eyes. Her face, rump, and legs fade from brown to a light tan, nearly white by the nose and hooves. Her legs, rump, and neck are marked with thin, dark stripes, zebra-like in pattern but thinner in places. She sports two unicorn-like horns, one long and almost scythe-like, lightly curved; the other, positioned directly above it, is a good bit shorter, just barely poking out from the mane.

She wears a long, golden necklace dotted with stones of varying sizes and colors. Her left foreleg is encircled with three golden hoops, also set with stones. Her right ear sports two gleaming rings. She often wears a cloak, midnight blue in color with little star-like shimmers that sometimes catch the light and just enough to sparkle faintly.

Lavender sneezes as soon as she's inside, dropping that card once again; it drifts over towards the curious, odd creature she's never seen before while she herself is still looking around. "Whoa…This is /crazy/ in here, and…" she looks at Manyara, and feels suddenly reminded of her purpose. "And I'm here to make a wish. Ma'am." She stands tall, even if she is shaking a little.

In contrast, Siyana shrinks down as they enter, blue eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. "I think it's bigger on the inside," she says in a hushed whisper to Lavender. Her gaze — rather, her stare — is settled firmly on the abada in amazement, and the young filly's mouth drops. Still, she doesn't say anything at the moment.

Manyara blinks and smiles faintly, giving a small nod. "Ah. So that's what brings little fillies inside on such a lovely spring day. I see you have a card," she notes, looking down at the little bit of parchment, "perhaps a charm for you? My luck charms have been quite popular among the little ones, especially on exam days. Or a potion, perhaps a prank? I know a brew that will make one change colors for a few hours, quite good for a light laugh." She never loses that warm smile, eyes twinkling as she looks down at the two.

Lavender steels herself and looks up at the abada. "I want to be a pirate," she says simply, her eyes and voice full of a determination that might even surprise Siyana. "I want to be a pirate captain, and plunder the seven seas. You grant wishes, right? Well that's mine!"

Siyana looks to Lavender, eyes widening a little bit, as she's surprised by the little pony's ferocity. But she's encouraged, and she swells back up to full filly height and squeaks out, "And! A-and! I wish to— I want my cutie mark!"

Manyara looks between them, giving a small chuckle. "Ah, fillies. So to the point. Well well, clearly you know what it is you want, my dears. But nothing comes without a price in life, I fear." She trotted, almost glided, over to a nearby table, this one supporting a small, bubbling cauldron, which she took a moment to pause and stir. "What would you exchange? What would you bring to give for your hearts' desires?"

Lavender turns in place and watches her, watches that cauldron. This is all strange and quite beyond her, but it serves her greater purpose! Even if the scents in here do make her cough and her eyes water. "What do you want? I'll give you anything I have. I'll go on any quest you ask!" she boldly proclaims. "I just want my parents to stop holding me back from my dreams."

Siyana opens her mouth… and closes it, frowning in consideration. Especially at Lavender's answer. "D…do… You don't have to take my soul, do you?" she stammers. "Can I just give you some flowers? I'm good at getting flowers!"

The abada's pause was barely noticable, eyes flicking to Lavender before moving back to the cauldron, the tiniest of knowing smiles touching her lips. "Mmm. Indeed. It is a pity to be held back from one's dreams. Your family wants what is best for you, I'm sure… but how would they know what that is, hm?"

Lavender delivers an impassioned nod. "They don't! They want me safe here in town. They want me to be just like my brothers and sisters and they don't think I can even take /care/ of myself. They think I should wait to find my cutie mark. Well Siyana and me," she grabs the other filly and slings a hoof around her shoulders, "are taking things into our own hooves! I just know what I'll find out there. Freedom and what it means to be myself. But…I'm just…stuck here," she says sadly. "And until I find a way out…I can never show the world who I was meant to be."

Siyana nods firmly to Lavender's impassioned speech, and then nods a little bit more for good measure! "Yeah! Freedom! And and… pirates!"

Manyara nods thoughtfully. "Hm. Persuing one's dreams can be a consuming venture. Are you prepared for what may come? Will you put your ambitions above all else? Above your family, so that they can no longer hold you back? It may not be easy as you think, my dear."

Lavender nods again with great determination. "Give me a ship for loot and plunder and I'll have everything I need. I'm not quite sure how I'll sail it…and it may not be easy…but I know that I'll be happy."

Siyana puts in, "And… and I know that if I get my cutie mark I'll know what I'm supposed to do! And that'll be good! Because then I can go with Lavender on adventures and we can be pirates together! Arr! Cause, obviously I'm meant to be a pirate too." SHRUG. "Cause, my dad is, and my mom is, and her dad is, and his mom is…"
(And so on, and so forth.)

The abada smiled, peering down at her and nodding slightly, horn glowing a faint gold. "I will accept that deal." She reached to pluck a petal off of the orange flower, dropping it into the cauldron, which obligingly released a puff of equally /ORANGE/ smoke and a, perhaps predictably, citrus-y scent. She scooped a ladel-full of the bubbly goop into a thin crystal bottle, which she placed in front of Lavender, horn still aglow. "If you are sure of your wish, little one, you will have what you have requested."

Lavender sneezes a little bit, shaking her head as she does, then looks back up at the abada…that confidence drains a bit, not quite into nervousness or fear, but she seems a little less adamant now. "Yyyes…" Maybe a little suspicion? "Whatever the deal is…I'll take it and see what happens." She takes that bottle in her teeth, tilts her head back, and downs it.

Siyana watches with wide-eyed trepidation at the taller filly going through with her wish, and she focuses on the process. Okay, delicious-smelling liquid? Check! This won't be so bad. She shifts her weight from hoof to hoof anyways, though. Nerves.

The liquid would have the same pleasant but /strong/ citrus flavor as the scent it gave off; there was just enough in the bottle for a good mouthful. Nothing about it would feel particularly magical, though the glow of Manyara's horn didn't fade until after she'd drunk it down.

She turned to Siyana next, looking the little zebra over. "And now, my child. It is your Cutie Mark you desire? Hm. And you offer a flower in exchange? I do quite enjoy flowers." She smiled faintly. "For such a special wish, however, it would need to be a rather special flower."

Lavender myah myah myahs her mouth kind of like a dog with peanut butter. "Hrmrmf. Well oranges aren't bad." She sets the bottle down then looks over to watch the zebra. "I can help you if ya need anything to do it, Siyana…"

Siyana perks as her deal is accepted. "Oh, yeah! I can find a special flower! … Hopefully it won't be in the foothills again…" That was quite an adventure, being trapped for three days in the snowy mountains. "I can find you something cool!"

Manyara moves over to another table to straighten a vase, which was currently filled with roses of varying colors; this, unlike many of the other plants, seemed to be here for decoration more than 'use'. "I will eagerly await your next visit, then." She smiles back at them in a friendly manner. "Before you go, your card does entitle you to a free charm, if you'd like to choose one."

Lavender gives a small bounce. "Ooh, Siyana, choose something. I have everything I need right now. Uh…Ma'am…I don't even know your name, how will I know when the potion works?"

Siyana's eyes get very wide, and she shuffles hopefully. "Um! Um. Ummm… can I get… can I get… a charm that will make me a grown-up?" She looks at Manyara hopefully.

Manyara smiles over at Lavender. "Whenever you are ready, go down to the harbor. I believe you will find all you desire there." She turned her gaze to Siyana, smiling softly. "I'm afraid that is a bit beyond a simple charm's power, little one, but I can give you a potion to make you grow, though the effect only lasts a day."

Lavender bounces a little more. "Like right /now/?" She runs a circuit around the inside of the tent before coming to stop at Siyana's tail, tugging it lightly. "Hurry~…"

Siyana gasps. "That'll be good enough! I hate being the littlest pony on the Destiny. I wonder what the Cap'n would say if I showed up all big?" She grins like a dope, and hops up and down. "And then we can go run to the harbor and see whatever it is you get, Lavender!! Ack! Hold on!!"

Manyara smiled and prances over to a shelf, scanning through the assorted bottles before taking one down, a tall round bottle filled with a light green liquid. She placed it in front of Siyana with a nod. "Drink the full bottle in the morning and it should last you through the entire day." She stepped back, smiling down at them. "Thank you for stopping by Lavender, Siyana. I do hope you are pleased with my wares! Feel free to drop in anytime." She winked playfully over at Lavender. "If you aren't too busy plundering, of course."

Lavender gives Manyara a big giddy grin. "I, I'll make sure I come back sometime! Thank you sooo much. If your magic really did what you say it did, well, I'm going to be the happiest filly in the world!" She turns around with a flick of her short tail and looks to Siyana, "I'm gonna go see what happened down at the harbor!" She bolts from the tent.

Siyana leans in and takes the bottle in her teeth, grinning so wide. "Ah-kah!" she beams. "Ank-oo! I ee ack oon iff ahwah!" And then she turns to scramble after Lavender, trying hard to keep up with the lankier filly's strides.

(OOC) Manyara wonders how long it'll be before one of them realizes they never did tell her their names. XD
(OOC) Siyana snrks. "Oh god. Hahaha. XD"
(OOC) Lavender: <3 Oh dear.
(OOC) Lavender: So what IS waiting down at the harbor? 8D
(OOC) Manyara: honestly, it'd depend strongly on what SHE expects. A ship to her liking, manned with a crew — but like I said, she can't make REAL ponies. They'd be kind of… empty? Obedient, nice enough, but no real 'personalities', they do what she expects a crew to do. it's very much dependant on her mental image of what she wants/should be getting.
(OOC) Lavender: oh /god/. A small ship, almost a caricature of a pirate ship, cannons included, manned with kindly pirate stereotypes. this is going to be awesome, or terrible, or both.
(OOC) Siyana snrks!
(OOC) Manyara: it'd all be workable, of course, she's not gonna give her a ship that can't do what she wants to do, or a crew that can't run it.
(OOC) Manyara: but it's wish fulfillment, so what exactly you get is dependant a lot on how you wished it.
(OOC) Lavender: Highly /deferential/ pirates. Yes, this is going to be awesome. :D Siyana, going to be up a while yet?
(OOC) Siyana: Yeah :D
(OOC) Manyara: yes… yes, I think I am going to love this character.
(OOC) Lavender: So! Siyana. Care to be a first mate? :D
(OOC) Siyana bounce. :D
(OOC) Siyana: First mate!