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Post by Crescent on Aug 18, 2005 12:18:04 GMT -5
Droplet was a little dumbfounded by that approach. He had assumed to manage to scare her off right away. He flattened his ears and took a step back, glowering at her.
"Yes," he said grumpily. "What of it?"
He was eying her suspiciously.
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WingSong
'80's Pony
~Quicksand~ ~Tweak~ ~Baby Gadget~ ~Posey~
Posts: 158
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Post by WingSong on Aug 18, 2005 12:27:26 GMT -5
Firing up immediately, Tweak went straight into an angry lecture. "'What of it'? This place is a mess, and it must have been better when you got here. You can't just let a building like this fall apart in such a way - it's a disgrace! I'm sure there are lots of ponies that need places to stay, and if you can't appreciate this building for what it is, you obviously don't deserve to own it."
The mare lifted her nose a bit at the end of the last sentence, clearly disgusted with Droplet. After a moment she looked over the stallion's shoulder into the stable, then backed up slightly to look at the outside again. "...Is this the Show Stable?"
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Post by Crescent on Aug 18, 2005 12:31:48 GMT -5
Droplet was wounded beyond measure by Tweak's words. He flattened his ears even more and backed up deeper into the stable, turning his head away to hide the burning tears that rose into his eyes. It was as though she had driven a stake right through his heart with those words. Painful memories went through his mind - would she have said the same thing?
He swallowed and stared at the painting on the wall while shifting a hoof at Tweak's question.
"Yes," he said with a low, choked voice. At any other kind of an approach, he would have told her to hit the road and keep her opinions to herself. But the way she said it... he didn't deserve the place? He swallowed and kept staring at the painting. No... she wouldn't have said so... she would have understood...
Wouldn't she?
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WingSong
'80's Pony
~Quicksand~ ~Tweak~ ~Baby Gadget~ ~Posey~
Posts: 158
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Post by WingSong on Aug 18, 2005 12:37:34 GMT -5
"It-it is? But..." Tweak was pretty sure that most ponies had heard of the show stable. She knew she had, multiple times, but she definitely hadn't heard that it had turned into a dump. When had this happened?
After staring at the building in shock for a moment, she stepped forward to look at the stallion again, ready to give him a piece of her mind. But when she saw how upset he was... Oh jeez. Maybe I shouldn't have yelled... But he deserved it, right?
However, although she tried to tell herself that her actions were fully justified, she wasn't about to start scolding him again. Instead she asked in a quiet tone that she hardly used, "What happened to it?"
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Post by Crescent on Aug 19, 2005 2:32:56 GMT -5
Droplet blinked the tears off his eyes and then wiped the tears on his forefeet, before he turned to look at Tweak, a bit of an angry glint in his eyes. Now that she wasn't scolding him anymore, he felt easier to revert to anger. Anger was all he had left, after all.
"Bad times happened," he said spitefully. "Death happened." He stepped closer to the mare, arching his neck and staring Tweak down - being slightly higher than the mare, he made an intimidating impression. "Lots of pain happened! Why would you care?"
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WingSong
'80's Pony
~Quicksand~ ~Tweak~ ~Baby Gadget~ ~Posey~
Posts: 158
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Post by WingSong on Aug 19, 2005 11:03:10 GMT -5
What's his problem? "Well excuse me for trying to be sympathetic!" While she'd never really been kind to him, stopping to actually hear him out was honestly Tweak's idea of showing sympathy.
The mare glared back up at Droplet, mad at herself for wanting to back up. She didn't want to be looked down on anymore. Don't yell. Don't yell, and don't get mad. Don't stoop to his level. Knowing he probably wasn't to blame for the damage of the stable after what he'd said last, it was somewhat easier to cool down.
Taking a slow, deep breath, she made sure that she was looking him straight in the eyes as she said, "I care because I remember hearing about this place as a filly, and frankly it's a bit disappointing to come across it in a state like this. Look - I've never been here before, so I'm pretty sure none of this is my fault, and I think you need to stop taking things out on anyone that happens to wander by when all you really have to blame is your own rotten luck."
Tweak was pretty surprised at herself. What she'd said had come out very snippy, but she wouldn't have expected herself to be nearly so calm in a situation like this.
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Post by Crescent on Aug 20, 2005 5:03:43 GMT -5
Droplet's ears drooped while she talked. Not so much because of the scolding, but because of what she said she had heard about the Show Stable. At least, he thought bitterly, the legend was still there.
"You... you really heard of it?" he asked, raising one ear a little hopefully. He couldn't help it. This had been his dream, and Jumpstart's dream, and he had to feel a little flutter in his old heart at the thought that someone would actually remember the Show Stable.
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WingSong
'80's Pony
~Quicksand~ ~Tweak~ ~Baby Gadget~ ~Posey~
Posts: 158
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Post by WingSong on Aug 20, 2005 14:00:51 GMT -5
"Yes, I've heard of it", Tweak responded sharply. "But then, you wouldn't care, would you?"
She felt a little bad for the stallion, just because he seemed so emotionally run-down, but it would take a lot for her to even consider forgiving him. The mare had always been one to hold a grudge.
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Post by Crescent on Aug 21, 2005 3:46:00 GMT -5
Droplet flattened his ears and bared his teeth.
"What is it to you, anyway?" he snorted spitefully. Her wounding words were beginning to work to anger him now. What did she know about anything? She might as well go back to where she'd come from. He stepped forward, looking like he was about to bite her ear off. "You don't even know what I've been through. Why do you suppose this place looks like this? Because nobody cares, that's why! Because you and that flittering fool of a mare that was just here are the only two ponies that have even as much as bothered to pass by in twenty years! That's why! Because nobody cares! Now will you leave me alone or shall I have to make you?"
And he snapped his teeth, rearing up, his powerful hooves pounding the air right in front of Tweak's face.
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WingSong
'80's Pony
~Quicksand~ ~Tweak~ ~Baby Gadget~ ~Posey~
Posts: 158
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Post by WingSong on Aug 22, 2005 0:24:48 GMT -5
Tweak actually backed up a step, then started to move forward again before deciding against it. Her ears shot back, now in as much annoyance with herself as with Droplet. "I...I can stay if I want to!", she said loudly, doubting that this was true.
She was about to add angrily that he could have been more responsible in those 20 years before biting her tongue, feeling a hint of genuine fear and backing up a step more instead of standing her ground as she'd intended to.
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Post by Crescent on Aug 22, 2005 23:47:34 GMT -5
Droplet snorted, blowing air out of his nostrils right at Tweak's face.
"This may be a house in ruins," he growled, "but for sure, it still belongs to me. And I want you out of here. You spoil the very air." He tossed his head and snapped again at her with his teeth.
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WingSong
'80's Pony
~Quicksand~ ~Tweak~ ~Baby Gadget~ ~Posey~
Posts: 158
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Post by WingSong on Aug 25, 2005 14:09:54 GMT -5
Tweak backed up one more step before sticking her nose in the air and saying coldly. "Fine. It's a shame though...a place like this - it deserves better. I might have even wanted to offer some help."
Before she left she paused and looked back at Droplet. "...If you need it."
The mare wasn't expecting to actually end up helping with the sorry old building, but she wasn't about to just run away like a little filly - she was too proud.
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Post by Crescent on Aug 26, 2005 1:50:16 GMT -5
Droplet looked at Tweak back away, arching his neck and drawing his head back and down a little. His ears were still flattened, but his eyes had a touch of sadness in them. He didn't say anything to the mare. He didn't want to. He just wanted to forget she had ever been there.
He turned away and walked to the other end of the stable, where his old bed lay.
"I don't think anyone can help me anymore," he said with a low voice, not expecting the mare to hear it, as he stopped and looked at another painting, hanging over his bedside. This time it was of a great stallion, jumping over an obstacle. It was Jumpstart, the best he had ever had for a family. Droplet's eyes were filled with tears again as he looked at the painting. She had painted all these pictures. There was one of Lemon Drop himself, somewhere. But it didn't hang on any wall. He was very conscious of where it lay, beside the wall, covered with a cloth. He could not look at it. But the knowledge of its whereabouts burned on him. Sometimes he wished someone would have just taken it away, but in the end he knew he could never allow it.
He had built himself a prison.
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WingSong
'80's Pony
~Quicksand~ ~Tweak~ ~Baby Gadget~ ~Posey~
Posts: 158
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Post by WingSong on Aug 26, 2005 11:47:40 GMT -5
The mare kept one ear back while the other was pricked towards the stable. She stood there a moment before turning around with a snort and walking back down the path.
Tweak didn't know why, but she wanted to come back. The thought occurred to her as she was walking away. It must just be that stallion - walking out in the middle of an argument. She rolled her eyes to herself, but all the same looked behind her to remember the location as she rounded a corner.
((Cont. elsewhere.))
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Post by Crescent on Aug 27, 2005 2:46:08 GMT -5
Droplet heard the hoof-falls leave the stable, and sighed with relief to himself. Now he could be alone once more.
He lay wearily on the bed and closed his eyes. Why would not the world simply end?
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