The Preserve, Saturday Evening

[life_inshadow]

Tara had never been a pony before, and -- after the awkward oh-god-how-do-I-walk phase -- she actually found herself enjoying it.

She got wings. Wings, and a horn, and a pretty purple tail. Tara made for one self-satisfied pony.

She'd spent a lot of the day just flying along the island's coastline, but as dusk grew she centered in on the preserve and found a nice meadow. She meant to just take a rest there, but eventually she began nosing through the grasses to look for any herbs with magical properties. Not that she was exactly in any position to carry them back to the shop now, but it still never hurt to know about new resources.

If once in a while she hovered over the ground a bit more than was strictly necessary -- well, that part was just for fun.

[OOC: Open preserve!]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Really, now. Jono couldn't possibly wind up with wings, go for a good prance around the park with Deadpool, and then head back to the Boards without taking advantage of having the capacity for natural flight, could he? There would be something terribly the matter with that.

But at least he wasn't a stranger to the skies. Time spent as Decibel back in his own reality meant that he was actually passingly familiar with the workings of the wind now, and he was handling himself more or less like a pro.

Spotting a little purple pony flitting about the meadow had him temporarily tempted to turn back. After all, he had no idea who that person was, and he was flapping around with a cult symbol stamped on his rear. But then... To hell with it. His wings were getting tired anyhow, and he decided he might as well touch down for a landing.

"... Please tell me you're not giving in to the urge to graze?"

[life_inshadow]

"Hmm?" Tara looked guilty for a second, because the idea had crossed her mind. "No, just -- trying to, um, see if there's anything here I should come back to gather for the shop."

She blinked rapidly before hazarding a guess based on accent and coloring. "Jono? It's Tara."

[furnaceface]

It wasn't exactly a difficult guess to make, but Jono was pleased that she'd figured it out all the same. He smiled a little as he trotted around to investigate the grass that she'd been nosing at.

"Jono indeed," he confirmed. "Lucked out and got wings too, I see. Theoretically, that would make getting some of this back easier, if we had... saddlebags or... or something."

Alas, Jono was fresh out of saddlebags.

[life_inshadow]

"Yeah, but we'd have to pick them with our teeth," Tara pointed out. "I'm ... not sure what the market is for herbs covered in pony spit."

She fluttered her wings a bit, letting herself be distracted by them. "Aren't they pretty?"

[furnaceface]

"They are," Jono decided, taking a moment to look at the fluttering wings that she was showing off. Purple was a definite improvement on the dull sort of blue that he was still wearing at the moment. "Very... neatly preened."

Look, it wasn't like Jono had occasion to compliment a set of wings terribly often. And he didn't exactly care for Warren any, so complimenting his wings was right out.

"And bright. It's a good colour for you, luv."

[life_inshadow]

"It's my favorite color," Tara said, and considered. "Today it is, anyhow. But yours'll do the job too. Very nice."

She sat back on the grass. "I wish I could keep them."

Okay, so it didn't exactly work out awesome all the time for Warren, but -- WINGS.

[furnaceface]

Jono craned his head back for a moment to glance at his own wings. They weren't too bad, he supposed. They were indeed very... wingy. They did the job, too, just like she said.

"Would be nice, wouldn't it?" He gave his wings a flap for good measure, and then folded them neatly at his back again, so that his wingtips obscured that stupid tattoo of his. "Being able to just up and fly whenever you had a mind to."

[life_inshadow]

Tara nodded firmly. "Yeah, and if you just needed to think, you could ... go up in the sky, and nobody could bug you. It'd be relaxing."

[furnaceface]

"It would be," Jono agreed, looking up at the sky again. "It is."

He had a bit more experience than just flitting about as a pony behind him now. He could get used to being able to fly around whenever he wanted. Technology was a beautiful thing.

"Just going for a walk through the park isn't anything like it. Doesn't begin to compare."

[momslilassassin]

"Did everyone get wings but me?" Ben complained.

[life_inshadow]

Tara fluttered down, tossing her mane off her neck. "I don't think so?" she said. "I ... saw a couple other people without wings back when I was flying around town."

[momslilassassin]

"My last name is Skywalker," Ben whined. "You'd think wings would be implied in that. Instead I get a glowy horn and a popsicle on my ass."

[life_inshadow]

Tara glanced over to the other pony's flank. "It could almost be a light saber if you squint hard?" she guessed. "And hi, Ben. It's Tara. I ... don't know why I got the wings."

[momslilassassin]

Ben smiled at her. "Yeah, I knew it was you. You're really purple."

And kind of adorable. Not that he'd say that out loud.

[life_inshadow]

"It's my favorite color," Tara said, with a pony equivalent of a smile on her face as well. "And ... if you have to be a magic talking pony, you should be a pretty one."

As she talked, she was starting to rise into the air again, fluttering her wings lightly.

[momslilassassin]

"I'm not sure I want to be pretty," Ben offered. "Can I be devastatingly handsome instead?"

[life_inshadow]

"I'm sure if I liked boy ponies, I would totally be swooning?" Tara offered.

[momslilassassin]

Ben laughed. "So how's the view from the sky? Ender has wings too."

[furnaceface]

"Everybody," Jonothon decided, trotting over to Ben to say hello. Or, at least, to tease. He figured it was safe to assume he knew who he was talking to. Red hair. Familiar voice. "Absolutely everyone. This whole weekend was secretly the island's way of singling you out, mate."

[momslilassassin]

"I knew it!" Ben said triumphantly.

[furnaceface]

"It's a curse," Jonothon teased. "You're fair game, you know, here on borrowed time now that you've graduated. The island has to make certain that it gives you something to remember it by, and it only has the rest of the summer to do it."

Or... however long Ben was sticking around.

[momslilassassin]

"Oh, I'll remember it," Ben said dryly. "Let's hope this doesn't follow us. Turning into a pony would be awkward in a universe without magic."

[furnaceface]

"I usually found myself back on the island for ridiculous messes like this, so I can't really say either way. It got to the point where I'd almost attempt to come up with reasons not to come back here, because a weekend on the island inevitably meant I'd turn into a pony, or an insane version of myself who thinks he's a rockstar, or something of the like."

... Which, in fairness, he'd kind of missed, back in his own world.

"Hopefully the island doesn't decide to make things too difficult for you once you go."

[momslilassassin]

"Or at least makes it something easily containable. Val would never stop laughing if we turned into kids or something," Ben replied.

[furnaceface]

"In fairness, you and Ender are probably both sickeningly adorable children. I wouldn't much blame her for being amused, mate."

Hell, Jono would be amused. But then, Jono took his amusements wherever he could find it, these days.