Personification Life IC IX - [Semi Open]

[The BranRiech]

"EH, I'm just content to swim around for the night. My home's destroyed, but hey, the foundation's still there. The place shouldn't be too hard to rebuild. I am a mechanic after all." The conscript who was called Bran laughed, kicking back in the water as his tail propelled him in lazy circles, keeping his head above the water.

--

Yuna was probably going to say something about their new arrival, or the fact that there was a hand and a bat reaching towards her. But wait! It was her pet! And John!

She hadn't seen him since she left for training that one morning, and the girl still had somewhat of a map to draw him too.

She strained to reach her hand over to her present, a bag of bat treats, and grabbed one for her little winged friend, feeding him one before allowing him to settle on her chest, supporting him with the quilt she'd been given.

"Interesting turn of events." She noted, setting the bag down while simultaneously taking the Marshmallow from the fire.

[Germanic Templars]

"Oh bullocks." Barox chuckled as he looked into her eyes. He then looked over her out onto the beach which laid just outside the factory's open iron gates. As looked out, there came a dark silhouette that walked past. He paid no mind to it as it did not bother them. He looked back at her and said, "Best Christmas indeed. And good idea, food sounds nice after passing out."

Wren gently tugged on his arm. "Well, slowpoke, I'll race you."

She stepped away until their arms were extended and then her fingers slipped from his grasp. She playfully walked backwards a few steps more, her low laugh as playful as the surf beyond the beach. "Or we could just walk like normal people," she finished.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, "Wren, thing is...Well you think about that, I am going to.." Before finishing, he took his hand off her shoulder and booked it out of the factory, he shouted over his shoulder. "As I was saying, I am going to run ahead of you!"

---

"I know I could do that one, hell I can make myself have more muscle, but who wouldn't be strong enough? Besides the mortals. Anyway, I guess we could flip through and give them another one. Wanna keep looking while I find us a machine to use to photocopy?"

"I'll keep looking for the joy of looking," Blythe wrinkled her nose at Superbia. "And we can use the copy machine in Minerva's office."

She climbed down from his back and ducked under his arm to wedge herself between him and the book to see the pictures better. "We could always start on page one and work our way from there? We're not mortal. I bet we could get through a few pages tonight."

A curling grin came over the demon's mouth when he heard the last sentence that came from Blythe. "Betting eh? Challenge accepted.."

[Urran]

"EH, I'm just content to swim around for the night. My home's destroyed, but hey, the foundation's still there. The place shouldn't be too hard to rebuild. I am a mechanic after all." The conscript who was called Bran laughed, kicking back in the water as his tail propelled him in lazy circles, keeping his head above the water.

--

Yuna was probably going to say something about their new arrival, or the fact that there was a hand and a bat reaching towards her. But wait! It was her pet! And John!

She hadn't seen him since she left for training that one morning, and the girl still had somewhat of a map to draw him too.

She strained to reach her hand over to her present, a bag of bat treats, and grabbed one for her little winged friend, feeding him one before allowing him to settle on her chest, supporting him with the quilt she'd been given.

"Interesting turn of events." She noted, setting the bag down while simultaneously taking the Marshmallow from the fire.

"I am terrible at building things...and math. I hate math. Give me a pen and a piece of paper, a kitchen full of ingredients, or a string instrument and I am in my element." He floated lazily on the waves as he looked at the sky. "Funny, we live in the same building but this is one of the first times that we've ever really hung out, just the two of us...it's nice."

[Torsiedelle]

"The cat?", Torii said. "Don't know. Maybe she'll find someone else to hop on. Anyways, I know a few songs, just let me check to see if everything is right with the guitar before I play."

She laid the guitar across her lap to examine it, plucked the strings, checked the bridge and neck, knocked on the body a little bit, and determined that she was good to go, before peopping it back up. "So, lemme think of somethin' to play..."

[Tiltjuice]

"She mentioned the incident in passing to us," Dia answered; Chrys had sat down on the bed upon hearing about Hans, ignoring the pressure of the armor on her hands.

"As for Allspice," Luce picked up the conversation, "we'd just been discussing that. These test results" - Dia waved the papers in his hand - "they're very similar to what goes into our armor. That indicates, from our point of view, that Allspice is targeting us specifically. Materials from our armor, and doing something to Tasia. A double provocation. Almost a taunt. We still don't know why, and at this point we've concluded that it'd be best to focus on finding Tasia. With luck, if she's still alive, we can get answers from her. And as for Hans -" he broke off in surprise at Chrys, who'd stood up.

"I think I should go see Hans, as well," she said diffidently to Klaus, hoping she wasn't overstepping her bounds. "I may be able to help get him up and about."

Dia nodded encouragingly. Though she couldn't see it, she knew how he felt about that issue.

"By all means," Klaus acquiesced. He wasn't keen to let anyone in that corridor but this was perhaps the time to extend more trust to the Conservators. "Tell the cultists standing watch over the corridor that I give my permission. One deck up."

His attention returned to Luce's situation. "Allspice. This is the company that's been gifting everyone with things that seem perfect for them? Hans reported an attack in the dining room by something posting as Tasia but little was known of the thing's composition."

Targeting Conservators? It was a disturbing thought. They were a powerful faction but also a closely knit group. "How long had that thing walked in your ranks? Was it that convincing?" His eyes fastened on Luce a moment and then his gaze shifted to Dia. Klaus, eternally paranoid, wondered if either man was a clone.

Chrys nodded at Klaus and was out the door in a blur. Dia stepped up to fill her space, towering over both Klaus and Luce. A light gray shadow fell over the room, and Chrys' mate returned Klaus' examination.

"That's correct. We still know nothing about how long or why. Our best shot at trying to learn anything would be to find their center of operations in the city, and/or this false Tasia." Luce sounded calm but his brows were drawn together slightly. "I think we might be assembling a more diverse group to handle that, now that Swith is no longer with us and you and yours are preoccupied. The wolf-man, Raymond Jansma, for one. And Dora's onetime lover, Kei. There may be others. Will that pose any problem for you?"

Elsewhere, Chrys slowed to a walk at the top of the stairwell, to avoid spooking the cultists as she came out of it. Slipping through the doorway, she nodded to them. "'Klaus sent me'" along with uncovering the Conservator emblem on her armor was enough to get her past, and she knocked on the door.

"Hans?" she chimed out, her voice tinged with trepidation.

[New Aksarben]

Sterling carefully removed the wrapping paper and such, making sure to pick up any scraps and crunch them into a tight ball which he placed in his saddlebags for disposal later. No point dirtying such a beautiful island with senseless litter! Sterling then looked back at the painting, now floating up at eye level for the unicorn, and he grinned happily. While he may not understand what the splatters were supposed to mean, the unicorn could definitely enjoy the effort his friend had gone through for him to make this wonderful present.

"Oh, wow, Willow. I love it. Especially how you used that shade of silver. Does it mean anything special?" He always asked that when Willow showed off new art, wanting to make sure that Willow could explain what he had been going for when making said piece of art. With Willow, it would always be an interesting answer too. Especially seeing as all his art was very abstract in meaning.

"Well, I mostly used sterling silver paint on it," explained Willow, pointing a few things out. "See, your name, Sterling, in a colored sense. The lines are like roots, trees, or lines, which can all be taken the symbolize knowledge. Basically, it's just personalized for you."

It was a refreshing description from some of the rather haunting things Willow had explained about his works to Sterling before. The painting merely symbolized Willow's friend in a way he knew how to express it.

"I made Giovenith and Toscha personalized paintings too."

"Oh, wow, that is really amazing Willow! Thank you so much for making this for me! Oh, and you mean the Lamia? Oh no! I forgot to get him something! Oh well.... Maybe I could give him a book on our homeland or something? Would he like that? If not I could always find him something else from what I have right now! Yeah, that'll work!" He smiled brightly and levitated the painting that willow had given him carefully to one of the saddle bags on his flanks. He would definitely make sure to protect this painting during the time before they headed back to the building. No point in letting this beautiful present be destroyed before others could see it!

"Anyway, how did you enjoy the feast? I enjoyed it quite a bit! Awesome food for us, even though our diet seems to be so different from theirs, they did a pretty good jobs providing food that we would enjoy too! Oh, I just remembered I needed to also give Giovenith her gift! Could we go find her quickly? We could keep talking while we go to find her!"

[Giovenith]

"Well, I mostly used sterling silver paint on it," explained Willow, pointing a few things out. "See, your name, Sterling, in a colored sense. The lines are like roots, trees, or lines, which can all be taken the symbolize knowledge. Basically, it's just personalized for you."

It was a refreshing description from some of the rather haunting things Willow had explained about his works to Sterling before. The painting merely symbolized Willow's friend in a way he knew how to express it.

"I made Giovenith and Toscha personalized paintings too."

"Oh, wow, that is really amazing Willow! Thank you so much for making this for me! Oh, and you mean the Lamia? Oh no! I forgot to get him something! Oh well.... Maybe I could give him a book on our homeland or something? Would he like that? If not I could always find him something else from what I have right now! Yeah, that'll work!" He smiled brightly and levitated the painting that willow had given him carefully to one of the saddle bags on his flanks. He would definitely make sure to protect this painting during the time before they headed back to the building. No point in letting this beautiful present be destroyed before others could see it!

"Anyway, how did you enjoy the feast? I enjoyed it quite a bit! Awesome food for us, even though our diet seems to be so different from theirs, they did a pretty good jobs providing food that we would enjoy too! Oh, I just remembered I needed to also give Giovenith her gift! Could we go find her quickly? We could keep talking while we go to find her!"

"Yeah, she went over there with her hyoo-mun friends," Willow pointed out the bonfire, where all of the teenage hyoo-muns has sat themselves. "I could be wrong, but I think they're her peers."

Up until traveling to Bielefeld, Willow had never before seen or had any concept of humans. He didn't know how to properly indicate their precise age groups (though it was obvious who was a child and who was at least a young adult), had only just recently figured out to tell apart their sexes (the males tended to be a little taller and bulkier, females had strange bumps on their torso and tended (but not always) to grow their hair out longer), didn't know what traits were considered normal, odd, attractive, ugly, out-of-the-ordinary, etc. Thus, it didn't faze the pony too much to look at the Pyserai Yuna, or the augmented Marcus, or even the newly appeared, bunny-like Lilian (though the connection between her and the small animal had clicked). Anything he saw on a human (or at least the humanoid shape), he assumed was standard.

[Fvaarniimar]

A surge of excitement hit Nick as he was dreaming. Lazily opening an eye, he saw two wrapped packages with his name on them. Now fully awake, Nick pounced on the gifts, shredding the wrapping paper. He played with that for a few minutes before checking out his presents- a bowl with his name on it and a scarf in his size. He purred a little- despite his arrival being entirely unexected, the others had manged to find gifts for him. Grabbing the scarf in his mouth, he scurried over to Giovenith. <I need help putting this on>

[New Aksarben]

"Yeah, she went over there with her hyoo-mun friends," Willow pointed out the bonfire, where all of the teenage hyoo-muns has sat themselves. "I could be wrong, but I think they're her peers."

Up until traveling to Bielefeld, Willow had never before seen or had any concept of humans. He didn't know how to properly indicate their precise age groups (though it was obvious who was a child and who was at least a young adult), had only just recently figured out to tell apart their sexes (the males tended to be a little taller and bulkier, females had strange bumps on their torso and tended (but not always) to grow their hair out longer), didn't know what traits were considered normal, odd, attractive, ugly, out-of-the-ordinary, etc. Thus, it didn't faze the pony too much to look at the Pyserai Yuna, or the augmented Marcus, or even the newly appeared, bunny-like Lilian (though the connection between her and the small animal had clicked). Anything he saw on a human (or at least the humanoid shape), he assumed was standard.

"Oh got it! Lets head over there then, right? Bonfires are quite fun! Stories, good friends, and other stuff! I still need to tell the hyoo-muns the story of our celebration around this time of year, too! Do you think they would mind if I tell them?" Sterling grinned happily at his friend and started to trot over towards the group that was gathering over by the bonfire. He was quite excited about this whole celebration thing! It was quite fun relaxing and having fun with friends, like always!

And Giovenith still needed her presents! too bad he lacked presents for others, but still, it would be fun getting to know a few more hyoo-muns and whatever that hyoo-mun shaped bunny was.

[Giovenith]

" 'Ello Nick," Giovenith greeted, scooping the kitty onto her lap. "You need help with your scarf? No problem! Here you go..."

The godling carefully wrapped and tied the scarf loosely around Nick's neck, making it secure enough to stay on, but also trying to make sure it didn't choke him.

"Is that good enough for you? Too tight, or too loose?"

--

"Maybe they'd like it, they're probably young like her though," said Willow, walking alongside Sterling toward the group. Perhaps it was a little hypocritical to say, considering Willow was only about two years older than Giovenith, but then again, ponies were considered young adults in their society by the time they were about 15 or 16 (though even then, they sometimes exhibited the behavior of average adolescents), and Willow recognized that it was not the same here on Earth. Plus, who couldn't really look at Giovenith and label her childish? "You know how little ones can be."

[The BranRiech]

"I am terrible at building things...and math. I hate math. Give me a pen and a piece of paper, a kitchen full of ingredients, or a string instrument and I am in my element." He floated lazily on the waves as he looked at the sky. "Funny, we live in the same building but this is one of the first times that we've ever really hung out, just the two of us...it's nice."

"Well, yeah. It's got to be one of the first times, Yoshi." Bran nodded, looking up to the sky as he floated around the water. This had to be the best way to relax on an island, just floating through the water, being able to watch the starry skies (No nearby cities gave an unbridled view of the night sky) and just swim around. "This is great. If I didn't live at the apartment, I'd want to live here."

[Fvaarniimar]

" 'Ello Nick," Giovenith greeted, scooping the kitty onto her lap. "You need help with your scarf? No problem! Here you go..."

The godling carefully wrapped and tied the scarf loosely around Nick's neck, making it secure enough to stay on, but also trying to make sure it didn't choke him.

"Is that good enough for you? Too tight, or too loose?"

Nick, who felt comfortably warm, curled up and purred.
<Perfect.>

[New Aksarben]

"Maybe they'd like it, they're probably young like her though," said Willow, walking alongside Sterling toward the group. Perhaps it was a little hypocritical to say, considering Willow was only about two years older than Giovenith, but then again, ponies were considered young adults in their society by the time they were about 15 or 16 (though even then, they sometimes exhibited the behavior of average adolescents), and Willow recognized that it was not the same here on Earth. Plus, who couldn't really look at Giovenith and label her childish? "You know how little ones can be."

"Yeah, I know. But we're not too much older than them, anyway. And they might be interested, might not be. I think one of them was that girl who was telling us about Christmas in that cave, right? I did promise I'd tell them about Hearth's Warming eve but never got around to telling anyone that story!" He nodded and waved to Giovenith when they got closer, levitating a few book shaped presents towards the godling.

"Hey there, Gio. Some presents for you! I won't spoil the surprise like I did by accident for Willow, too!" He had gotten her a few books about Equestrian species and races, from the Griffons and Pegasi to the Earth ponies and Unicorns. Also a book about dragons, as he felt she would have an interest in dragons from his universe too. It was all from the point of view of Equestrian ponies however, thus it might not be the most accurate in some areas or only speculation when it came to the more mysterious species.



Around the same time, Jacob decided to go see what was going on with the fire and group of people all talking on the beach. The personification had enjoyed the feast quite a bit, but hadn't spoken to many people during it. He had been a bit startled to notice what looked like two talking horses showing up there, but had not approached them either. HE just hadn't been in a social mood until now for whatever reason. But now he was eager to catch up with friends now that things were a bit calmer in general.

"Salve, Gio, Torii, people I haven't met before! Would someone mind telling me all your names? I'm Jacob for those who don't know me. I'm the personification of Foederatonis Imperium Aksarben. Well, at least one of them. Anyway! Good to meet you all!" He smiled brightly at everyone there, including the ponies, one of whom waved back and said his name was Sterling Venture before turning his attention back to Giovenith.

As he introduced himself, Jacob waved politely and his tail waved behind him. Said tail looked very much like a canine's more specifically like some unknown breed of dog. It's coloring matched the dark brown hair on his head and the fur of his ears, which rested just above his hair, obviously not part of his hair due to how they occasionally move and twitch to focus on sounds. He's obviously not completely human, but besides those his appearance is like a normal human, and much like one from ancient Rome (aka slightly Italian looking)

[Rocopurr]

Lilian had been indulging herself with marshmallows and s'mores. Her face had crumbs and chocolate smeared near her lips, and marshmallows were stuck in her teeth. She licked this all away and looked up a Jacob. He was another anthro such as herself but more human than animal. Jacob appeared to be a dog. Or maybe a wolf? He was something of the sort.

"Hi Jacob! I'm Lilian!", the rabbit said as she got up and extended an arm out to Jacob. Even though she was still confused and new to this place, Lilian was feeling like this could be a great home for her already. A private island, humanoids, lots of friends, good food... It was a dream come true!

[Giovenith]

"Hello my little ponies, and Jacob," Giovenith greeted the newcomers, while calmly stroking Nick's fur. "So nice to see you all!"

Willow cleared his throat and politely spoke. "We just dropped by because Sterling wanted to give you his present, and to see if anypony was ready for him to tell the holiday story, if you weren't all already doing something."

"Why thank you, Sterling! Did you get the quilt I sent you too?" Giovenith smiled, reaching out her arm to receive whatever Sterling wanted to give her, trying not to disturb Nick. "Oh, you guys, aren't you teenagers too?"

"We're legal adults, actually," Willow chuckled without real humor, pushing away the question with a light swish of his foreleg. "Have been for some time."

"But aren't you like eighteen, and nineteen or something...?"

"Yes, and that is considered legal adult age." With his already usual serious approach to things, it made sense to think that Willow wasn't keen on considering himself a child.

"You disappoint Peter Pan, Willow..." Giovenith hummed, with a kind of dulled-down melancholy.

"I think I can live with that."

[New Aksarben]

Lilian had been indulging herself with marshmallows and s'mores. Her face had crumbs and chocolate smeared near her lips, and marshmallows were stuck in her teeth. She licked this all away and looked up a Jacob. He was another anthro such as herself but more human than animal. Jacob appeared to be a dog. Or maybe a wolf? He was something of the sort.

"Hi Jacob! I'm Lilian!", the rabbit said as she got up and extended an arm out to Jacob. Even though she was still confused and new to this place, Lilian was feeling like this could be a great home for her already. A private island, humanoids, lots of friends, good food... It was a dream come true!

Jacob smiled at the rabbit girl and shakes her hand firmly but politely. His tail continued waving behind him, showing his happiness at meeting new people. His dog-like ears were slightly more droopy compared to a wolf's, a sign that his DNA as partly like a dog's. His tail was also slightly more curled than other canine's another sign that he was part of a more domesticated group than wild wolves.

"Nice to met you Lilian. That is a wonderful name, by the way. Very unique! Where are you from, if I may ask? Its always interesting to learn where people are from. Especially in a divere place like the apartment building, or at least in our group of people. Its quite a diverse group. Many people, myself and my brother included, are from other universes. Ours has much more Latin influence than this one. Our nation is a direct decedent of Rome after all. Anyway, what about you, Lilian?"

---

"Yeah, for us ponies, when we get cutie marks is generally when we are considered teenagers. We have had ours for years now, and have moved out, and have jobs of our own back in Ponyville." Sterling added on with nod, levitating her presents into a stack of about 6 books of varying size and placing them on the sand next to her, placing one of them onto her hand lightly and keeping the magic up to make sure it wasn't dropped from her grip.

"Who's Peter Pan?"

[Giovenith]

"Oh fine, fine," Giovenith huffed, graciously accepting the gift from the unicorn. "Oh, it's just an old human story about a young boy who can fly and lives on a magical island where he never grows into an adult. It's a lovely story, if you ever have the time to hear it!"

Giovenith's hands worked at opening the present, then held it up to the light so that she could see the cover. "A book on the species of your world? Wow, thanks! This will really come in handy! You're super thoughtful, Sterling." She reached over a hand to give the unicorn a friendly rustle of his mane, quickly catching fez before it could fall and handing it back to him.

[Swith Witherward]

"Hello my little ponies, and Jacob," Giovenith greeted the newcomers, while calmly stroking Nick's fur. "So nice to see you all!"

Willow cleared his throat and politely spoke. "We just dropped by because Sterling wanted to give you his present, and to see if anypony was ready for him to tell the holiday story, if you weren't all already doing something."

"Why thank you, Sterling! Did you get the quilt I sent you too?" Giovenith smiled, reaching out her arm to receive whatever Sterling wanted to give her, trying not to disturb Nick. "Oh, you guys, aren't you teenagers too?"

"We're legal adults, actually," Willow chuckled without real humor, pushing away the question with a light swish of his foreleg. "Have been for some time."

"But aren't you like eighteen, and nineteen or something...?"

"Yes, and that is considered legal adult age." With his already usual serious approach to things, it made sense to think that Willow wasn't keen on considering himself a child.

"You disappoint Peter Pan, Willow..." Giovenith hummed, with a kind of dulled-down melancholy.

"I think I can live with that."

Myra didn't know Jacob and hadn't spoken to the ponies before (talking ponies? For real? Holy shit!) but she was eager to hear more from them.

"Yes, I'd love a holiday story. Please tell it, Sterling!" her eyes settled on that pony and she nodded her head in eagerness.

This had to be the best December ever. She'd made friends. Nobody goes through a typhoon and shelters in a cave without having some walls break down, after all. More importantly, she'd still have these friends when they all returned to the building. The firelight cast all of their faces in a lovely glow, illuminating their smiles and making their eyes twinkle. There wasn't anyone on earth like it, except maybe love and the sacred first kiss, but this was pretty damn close.

[New Aksarben]

"Oh fine, fine," Giovenith huffed, graciously accepting the gift from the unicorn. "Oh, it's just an old human story about a young boy who can fly and lives on a magical island where he never grows into an adult. It's a lovely story, if you ever have the time to hear it!"

Giovenith's hands worked at opening the present, then held it up to the light so that she could see the cover. "A book on the species of your world? Wow, thanks! This will really come in handy! You're super thoughtful, Sterling." She reached over a hand to give the unicorn a friendly rustle of his mane, quickly catching fez before it could fall and handing it back to him.

"That's quite an odd story, Giovenith.... Why would you not want to grow up? You can't do anything as a kid.... But then again, all the responsibility of being an adult tends to take some of the fun out of life......" He scratched his chin at that thought and shrugged. It would be an interesting story to hear, if not a bit childish. But then again, kids stories were some of the most interesting to read. Very fanciful and diverse!

Oh, the other presents I placed on the beach are also for you, Gio. More specific information on some of the species of my world. The largest one is about dragons, but I think its mostly speculation. They don't really like us ponies watching them, or getting close to their nesting grounds. And those who do get close don't tend to come back.... Anyway, I digress. I thought you would enjoy those books! And it'll help you understand us better! I also got a book of our legends and one of the princesses! Oh, darn, I spoiled the surprise again!" He chuckled a bit and smiled, hoping gio didn't mind his spoiling the surprise of the other few presents.

Sterling looked over towards Myra and nodded. "I'll tell it in a bit! Its somewhat like some of the 'Christmas' stories I heard of. But also quite unique as it is also the history of how our homeland was first settled! Should be interesting to hear, right?"

[Torsiedelle]

Poking some of the burning embers around with her toes, Torii looked more preoccupied with the fire than anything, but she was paying attention no doubt.

"I wanna never grow up. I wanna stay my age forever....eben if it isn't immortality, I'd just want to stay like I am now forever....I can't stand the thought of aging, it drives me mad."

It was more of an inner desire of hers, something that she often thought about, immortality and eternal youth. She'd talked with Dora about it before, but she still wanted it badly. Death scared her, honestly, and so she was dead set on achieving that goal of hers, even though she knew the chances were probably slim.

[Giovenith]

"Growing up is important," Willow casually disagreed with Torii, flipping out the black magic marker he had been keeping hooked around one of his bracelets, biting off the cap, and beginning to scribble on one of his forelegs. It looked like they were going to be there for a while. "Though it's hard to see how much we gain sometimes, in comparison to what we have lost. I was lucky enough to realize it. You can too." It wasn't empty encouragement; it was the truth.

"I don't mind spoiled surprises, Sterling. It's still a lovely gift!" Giovenith smiled, scooting over to cuddle with Myra. "Everyone has a story to tell! That's what I was taught when I was too young to ask."

[Torsiedelle]

"mmmmmmm…I know that growing up is important. I'm just scared of everything else along the way...getting some shitty job, or putting up with crappy rules and work, only to live some dull life, grow fat and old, die...I can manage growing up, I just don't want to actually...you know...grow up."

She pulled her legs back and drew them close to herself, a defense mechanism of hers. "I know that some people are immortal. Some people just want to be one thing or another, or have one power or another. I want to be young."

[Giovenith]

"There's a difference between getting older, and growing up. Be careful what you wish for." Willow considered something for a moment, before reaching down and nipping a dark blue magic marker from his bracelet. "Catch." It flew over at Torii. "Life's a little easier when you personalize it."

[Torsiedelle]

"There's a difference between getting older, and growing up. Be careful what you wish for." Willow considered something for a moment, before reaching down and nipping a dark blue magic marker from his bracelet. "Catch." It flew over at Torii. "Life's a little easier when you personalize it."

"Like that story about the guy who wished for eternal life, but not eternal youth, and he just kept aging and aging until he turned to dust and died? Yea, I know not to just wish for eternal life. That's why I want youth."

She caught the marker and looked at it funny. "I don't understand. What should I do with a marker? There's not much to draw on."

[Giovenith]

"There's a difference between getting older, and growing up. Be careful what you wish for." Willow considered something for a moment, before reaching down and nipping a dark blue magic marker from his bracelet. "Catch." It flew over at Torii. "Life's a little easier when you personalize it."

"Like that story about the guy who wished for eternal life, but not eternal youth, and he just kept aging and aging until he turned to dust and died? Yea, I know not to just wish for eternal life. That's why I want youth."

She caught the marker and looked at it funny. "I don't understand. What should I do with a marker? There's not much to draw on."

"Never heard that one, no, that's not what I meant. It's better to live than tell, though. I hope you can live soon yourself," Willow held out one of his one forelegs/arms, which was covered with what appeared to be a marked-up map of the night sky. Dots and lines formed constellations among simple-drawn stars and planets, all so tiny and strewn together, it seemed impossible to have been drawn casually. "Anything you want, Miss Fountain. Life's a canvas. Have the courage to paint it, or live forever dull, under the constant threat of somepony else painting it for you. The sooner you realize the choice is your's, the better."

It was rather remarkable how a flying pony managed to be simultaneously non-whimsical for what it was, and say things like that. Grey, rainy, maybe a little chilly, but certainly not broken into pieces by the river mists that wrapped and spun themselves around roots everyday. His name was befitting, in that regard. Having said what he felt the need to say, Willow retreated sociably back into the slice of the circle he was standing among, knotted up again in his own personalizing: Orion's belt looked like it needed to be colored back in.