Enchanting your life

Night Flutter stood at one of the many tables, tucked more towards the back of the library where the books of enchantments were stored. She had a fairly large number of them open and she was focused on one of them in particular as she used her hoof to shift some of the items on her table around. Mostly hoof cuffs, but there were some mane clips, necklaces, and even a couple circlets as well as more mundane items, like polished stones and cloth shawls.

Selecting a woven headscarf, Night began to focus on it, glancing between it and the book as she muttered, preparing to enchant the item with a simple weather protection charm, to help ward off cold, heat, rain, and mud for the wearer.

She was focused on her task, so she wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings, wanting to make sure she didn't mess up the enchantment.

The time had come. Silver Merlot had entered a library, now what was the reason? He did not know. Though it had something to do with losing a game of dice or something stupid like that. Point is, he's stuck here now and he has to read a whole book.

He groaned loudly, making his way through random sections of the library. Most of them seemed to be empty, which was what he expected. Because to him, nopony should spend their time reading. Now the look of shock on his face when he came across the enchant section though, that was good stuff. The stallion made his way to Night Flutter, trying to find out why she would even bother to be in a place such as this.

"'Ey, what's up!?" Yelled the colt obnoxiously. "What's a cutie like you, doing in a place like this?" He proceeded to sit himself right next to Night Flutter, and smile at her awkwardly, hoping she would have some sort of reaction. Knowing his charisma skills, this was not going to end well.

Night Flutter had almost completed the enchantment, adding the finishing touches to the garment. She'd need to test it when she was done, and the only way to do that was wait for rain. Or dump a bucket of water on her head while wearing it.

That would have been an issue, had Silver Merlot not come stumbling into her little nook of the library and catch her by surprise, breaking the enchantment and, in a spark of magical energy, make the headscarf catch fire.

"Ah!" Oblivious to Silver sitting next to her, she'd shove the burning scarf off the table and trample it, putting it out before anything else caught fire.

Breathing heavily, as she was getting over the shock of what had just happened, she turned to look at her newfound companion. "H-Hello. Are you okay? No burns? You startled me." Wait. Did he call her...a cutie? She tried not to react to it. He seemed like the kind of pony to say that to every filly.

Wow she noticed me. Thought Merlot, still grinning at her. He quickly snapped back into focus though, realizing he had a question to answer.

"Why yes, I'm fine." Said Silver Merlot haughtily. It seemed he had no forgotten his original task of coming here to read a whole book, he now only wanted to speak with this unicorn. "My you sure are a sight though." Continued the rogue using his flirt tactic which has a history of doubling results, to bad that anything times zero is zero.

Yes; she noticed you, and the flames of passion burned so brightly it left a scorch mark on the table. She'd glance to it and frown, guilty for causing the damage. Maybe she could find a spell to fix it? Yea. She'd do that. But first...

Turning to her guest, she'd stand fully and look at him, trying not to be irritated at the colt, who didn't mean to make her light her project on fire. Though when he tried to hit on her, she looked a little confused on how to proceed at first. "Ah. Well. Uh... I'm Night Flutter. You are?" Don't be rude now.

It was time to get to the name sharing, there was just something about this Merlot enjoyed.

"I am Silver Merlot, the first, father of none!" He exclaimed with great pride. His voice echoed throughout the room, falling onto no ears except for Night Flutter's. "Now that we've got this name sharing aside, we can get back to my question. Why are you here, in such a drab place?"

The suddenly loud voice of Silver made Night wince, and she looked around for a moment to ensure no one nearby was disturbed and then back to the pony before her. "Be quiet! We are in a library!" She scolded in a harsh whisper. "And I am here because I didn't have the books I required to complete some of my enchantments." She explained, stepping over to the table and, with a levitation spell, picked up one of her finished pieces. A hoof cuff of polished silver. "Like this one. It's enchanted to help the wearer keep from tripping over their hooves. It's handy for ponies working jobs that require steady steps." She was proud of her work, and sort of hoped this fellow would be interested in listening to her some about it.

Most of what Night Flutter said Merlot did not understand, until he heard something about not tripping. That seems like something he could use, given that the majority of his hobbies are spent drunken.

"Now that's something I can use!" Despite having intentions to use them whilst drunk, Merlot was actually impressed with the design though. "You must be really smart to make something like that. Can I try them on?" Odds are knowing Merlot he was going to likely break them, but there was a hint of determination in him today.

Night perked up slightly as it seemed she had an interested customer, and when he asked her to try them on, she pondered for a moment. Would that be wise?

She flushed slightly as being praised and it was enough to win her over. "Oh, alright. But be careful." She said, lifting the cuffs and setting them before Silver to put on. She'd watch to the side as he tried them out, hoping nothing happened. Her enchantment would prevent him from stumbling too badly, but it didn't protect against serous wipeouts. His determination was catching, and she found herself smiling proudly as she observed.

"I will, I will." Stated Merlot, fitting on the cuffs. They were awkwardly fitted, but that's because Silver Merlot never was good at putting on these kind of things. "So where should I go to test these fine items out? Should I get myself drunk, for more accurate results?"

Night wanted to insist more on being careful, but she held her tongue and just let Silver don the cuffs in silence. She resisted the urge to fix them as well, when she saw that they weren't on right. It wouldn't affect their potency any, it just set off that little bit of OCD that was in just about everypony.

"Ah. Uhh. Hm." She wasn't sure. "Getting inebriated isn't going to help." She said, though the fact that she now knew he was drunk answered a lot of questions. Levitating her belongings, she's put them all back in the saddlebag an neatly stack the books that weren't hers, placing the rest back in her bag. She'd then scan the library books and select two to check out for a while so she could write down the enchantments she was interested in.

"Alright then. Let's go outside with those. I'd rather not knock over a bookcase or seven." She'd begin to trot towards the door, casting glances at the drunken pony beside her. Hopefully nothing happened. He was drunk enough that the cuffs might not save him.

"Yeah, not to much of a loss if they're knocked down though." Stated Merlot, as he followed Night Flutter out.

There was a strange feeling in his legs. He wasn't sure if it was from the cuffs, or that he just happened to be doing something wrong. Odds are it was both, though that did not matter. What did matter was that he was going to test his skills for Night Flutter.

Upon stepping out of the library Merlot took note of the outdoors. It was a pleasant enough day, though no one seemed to be around, which in Merlot's opinion was a good thing. After all he did not want to come off as stupid in front of everypony and their mother.

Night gave Silver a slightly unamused look at his comment. Clearly this was a pony who did not put much credence behind the written word, which was likely pony kind's greatest achievement. She didn't comment though, not wanting to start anything.

The cuffs were designed to help guide the legs so that they didn't knock into each other as the wearer walked, and aided in steering the hooves towards the most solid foothold and maintain balance.

It was a very pleasant day indeed, and Night inhaled the air happily and looked around. Okay, now, how to test the cuffs. She knew they worked, but this was more of a demonstration to a potential buyer. She'd glance to Silver and see if he had anything in mind.

"Hey, what do you want me to do now that I'm out?" Asked Merlot, feeling slightly nervous. He did not want to come off as a fool to Night Flutter over this incident. Though this probably wasn't going to do as much to her perception of him, his comments already ruined that.

"Hmm. I'm not sure. I guess... hmm. You could run across a log or balance beam. The cuffs are designed to help you keep your balance and not fall." She suggested after some thought. "I think there's one in the park over there." She pointed a hoof towards and empty playground and there, in fact, was a low balance beam, only about six inches off the ground, but high enough to serve a purpose.

"Here, try on this. See if you do better than you normally would." Op, you're on the spot, Silver. Better not biff it!

Merlot just dashed straight to the park, upon hearing what Night Flutter had to say. He wasn't the one to think out these kind of things, so anything he heard he'd follow, for better or worse. The stallion jumped onto the balance beam, and ran across it. It appeared that the cuffs helped him out with a children's play thing, for most that'd be pathetic, though to him that was going plus.

[Gaaah. I'm sorry I haven't posted. Work has been chaotic and I just didn't have much time to get on and actually post.]

Night cringed as she watched Merlot dart into the park and try to balance on the beam. She'd cover her eyes with a hoof as she hopped he didn't biff it and damage the cuffs. She was confidant, but this pony didn't seem like he was very good on his feet.