First Encounters by Sunset

The sun was just about to set as Ace woke up from a quick nap that he’d taken so he could stay up for some of the night. The leaves of the trees to his left were rustling quietly in the calm wind, and it was quite relaxing. He stretched out his wings and forelegs before glancing over the edge of the cloud he was currently lying on. It was fairly quiet, which wasn’t too much of a surprise considering he was floating above a field just outside of Ponyville, - within sight of his cloudhome - where he couldn’t quite hear the noises of the small village. If it had been earlier on in the day he’d probably still be able to hear the sounds of the bustling market and the towns inhabitants, but currently there were very few ponies out and about.

Ace heard the sound of hoofbeats coming from the small cluster of trees, and moved to look over the edge of the cloud towards the tree line. It took a few moments, but a few small items that Ace couldn’t quite make out came tumbling out of the forest, as if somepony had managed to drop their bag or basket and the items had come rolling out. He leant further off of his cloud, trying to decide whether he was going crazy or not.

After realising he wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating, he hopped of off the cloud and began flying down slowly towards the mess of items. He silently hoped who ever had been carrying them hadn’t fallen or had something bad happen to them, because he was yet to see the stranger.

"I know its somewhere around here.." Said a voice from beyond the the trees that was soon fallowed by a yelp of pain "O-ow ow ow stupid thorns! Maybe if I- ow ow ow, no...that won't work! What if I.."

At the sounds of yelps and groans of frustration how ever this pony tried to free themselves wasn't working. Suddenly something came rolling out of the trees stopping at Quartz hoofs. It appeared to be a large flower made out of some sort of crystal, a mane clip of some kind.

The padding of Ace's own hoofbeats as he landed was quieter than he'd expected. He looked down at the crystal before him, his ears flickering curiously.

He lifted his head slightly, looking into the woods for any sign of a pony. At the sounds of yelping and groaning, he swooped up the flower in one hoof and placed it under his wing to carry it. He walked into the forest, glancing around. He stopped dead in his tracks as he caught sight of a pony, who was presumably the owner of the crystal flower he'd just picked up.

Crystal Belle was not a happy pony, and the day had been going so good too. She had arrived to the town a few weeks early then expected before the snows fell something that rarely happened, it made her so happy to see the beautiful colors that she normal never got to see.

Her day got even better when she reached the market place, it seemed the crystal stall she had normally visited was selling their wears half of today and with the cheaper crystal she could make more beautiful cravings.

This is the reason she had ended up in this painful patch of thorns, with all the new crystal in her saddle bags Crystal had wanted to explore the beautiful area around town, when she had gotten into the area tragedy struck! Crystal had tripped over a rock and with the added weight of her goods sent her falling into this patch of thorns ripping one of her bags in the process.

So now Crystal stood with her back to Quartz her legs tangled with thorny vines, her icy blue coat covered in small cuts from hoof to head her normally well kept mane and tail was sticking out in different directions twigs and burrs tangled into them. Even this poor mares wings were caught, it seemed like she had tried to fly out and when she had spread them the tips had gotten snagged.

So unable to turn and see Quartz her ears perked up at the sound of hoofsteps. "H-Hello? Is some pony there!?"

Ace didn't have much idea of what to do. The vines would probably break easily but he'd have to pull them apart, which was obviously going to hurt. When she spoke, he realised he'd been standing silently.

"Oh, sorry, don't worry I'm not here to cast some horrible spell on you whilst you're trapped or anything." He half-joked, hoping to calm the mare as he could practically feel the frustration and concern waving off of her. "Are you okay?" Ace asked as he put the flower shaped crystal he'd picked up onto the floor next to a small pile of other crystals and hovered above her. If she could lift her head (he couldn't tell whether the vines would stop her or not from here) then she'd probably be able to see him, he assumed.

He examined the vines wravelled around her and noticed a rather large one that looped over her back, attatched to the feathers of one of her sprawled out wings. The other wing didn't seem as trapped, only the tip was caught on some thorns so it would hopefully be easier to free. There were several other vines, mostly around her legs, but he guessed if he freed her wings first it'd be easier to break the rest. "You might want to stay still, I'm going to try to snap some of the vines." He said before reaching a hoof forward, ready to carefully pull Crystal's loosest wing free.

Crystal sighs softly in relief "Oh thank Faust I thought I was going to be stuck here for the rest of the day" She say glancing up at Quartz "Oh hello there, yes I'm fine just...a bit stuck" She say with a weak chuckle before gulping. "Be careful these wings are my life.." How true those words were.

Ace nodded in moderate understanding. "Yeah, I'll be as careful as I can. I'd hate to put you through any more pain and I certainly know that if my wings became too damaged to fly I'd be devastated." Ace said as he gently plied the thorns away from her feathers.

Ace managed to pull the vines away from her wings, effectively freeing them without causing any more damage than maybe a few cuts that were probably there before anyway. He then lands on the small patch of ground in front of Crystal, using his hooves to begin freeing her legs.

"How long have you been stuck here?" He hoped it wasn't long, he'd feel bad if he found out she'd been here struggling whilst he'd been napping.

The thorns cut his hooves and lower legs but he ignored it, having endured much worse before. It seemed he'd only have to pull away a few more vines before the mare could free herself; so he worked carefully and quickly, pulling thorns out of her skin where he could and snapping vines.

Crystal folded her wings a few broken feathers falling from them "Only about an hour or so...Its no big deal Ive been stuck in blizzards ten times longer then that." One she was free she careful walked out and over to her crystals before picking up her mane clip "I thought I lost this..." She said before looking at Quartz "Thanks for the help I really needed it."

Ace stepped back once she was freed, allowing her space. "You're welcome." He shrugged one shoulder slightly, smiling politely. "I'm just glad I got here before you gained any more injuries."

He noticed her ripped bag, and immediately guessed it had been ripped by the thorns, which must have been a bother. "D'you need some help carrying anything since one of your saddle bags is broken and you're all cut up? Or maybe just an extra bag and some help home?" He gestured vaguely to the broken saddlebag, his head tilted ever so slightly in question.

Crystal Belle shook her head "Oh no I should be fine" As she picks up her things and dropping them into the one intact back but because of the unbalanced weight she stumbles before falling over. She gets back up stumbling more but gets her balance and gives A nervous chuckle. "On second thought...Maybe I could use just a teeny tiny bit of help..." She says removing her bags reviling her crystal flower cuitemark.

Quartz looked concerned when she fell over, but stayed still and allowed her to sort herself out. When she lifted her saddle bags off of her back he caught sight of her cutie mark, and almost asked about it; With his love of certain crystals and all, it intrigued him. He stopped himself from even mentioning it though, deeming it rude to ask about someponies cutie mark.

He thought about how he'd be able to help carry her things; Maybe he could just take her bag then balance it on his back and raise his folded wings slightly to keep it there? Yeah, that sounded like the best idea he could think of, other than flying off and finding an extra set of saddlebags.

"I can carry your bags for you, if you'd like?" His tail swayed slightly as he offered his help.

"Are you sure? I mean they are kind of heavy" Crystal said rubbing the back of her head with a hoof causing her to flinch and pull back her hoof reviling the burrs sticking to it.

She told herself after all this was over she was going to take a long bath.

"Well if you really don't mind then...To the Tavern!" She says pointing in the direction with a dramatic pose. The something popped into her head and she looked over at Quartz blinking. "U-Um I don't think I ever got your name.."

Ace lifted her bags, placing them over his back and ensuring they wouldn't slide off and they weren't restricting his wings too much. As he put them on the amethyst dangling from the rope around his neck swayed, and he raised a hoof to stop it from swaying when he was done fixing the saddlebags. He felt the slightest bit off balance with the difference in weight, but it didn't really bother him.

He grinned at her over dramatic gesture, the grin faultering when she mentioned that they hadn't even been properly introduced. "Oh, completely forgot about introductions." He gave her a sheepish smile, thinking about offering his hoof before he remembered it'd probably just cause both of their cuts to begin bleeding again. "I'm Acerated Quartz, but everyone calls me Ace."

Crystal Belle smiles wide "Well its nice to meet you Ace my names Crystal Belle!" She says with a rather large smile. "Well it seems Ive made a new friend this year!~....You are my friend arn't you?" She asks her ears laying flat with an almost pleading look.

"Honestly, it's nice to meet you too." Ace smiled somewhat lopsidedly, his ears pricking forwards. He nodded at her question. "Yeah, I guess we're friends now. It seems like you make a great friend." He met her gaze, his eyes gleaming with joy beyond their usual crystal-like shine. He hadn't exactly planned to make a new friend today, usually he was bad at it as he didn't like putting his trust in ponies. Crystal seemed trustworthy enough though, and although he didn't fully trust her yet he knew they could still be good friends.

Crystal beamed and began flapping her wings so fast they almost seemed to buzz as she bounced around in the air before landing again and pointing to the way into the tavern "Then my new found friend what are we waiting for? Adventure awaits!" She says before calmly trotting down the path.

Ace was quick to follow after Crystal, trotting along at her side. He was careful not to bounce around too much for fear of things flying out of her saddlebags, but it seemed as though everything was completely safe.

He knew it'd take a little while to get to the tavern, but he didn't mind at all. Thinking about it though, the tavern wasn't always that great of a place to be. "So, why the tavern?" He asked out of the blue, even half surprising himself.

Crystal blinked and looked over at Ace blinking before she realized the question. "Oh Right well see I'm not from here, I'm from The Hoof, that's Hoofington to you. The tavern has rooms for rent so when winter comes around this area I always rent the same room and spend winter here...its...nice not noisy like The Hoof in winter." She says before her wings drooped a bit "I...travel alot.."

Ace nodded, knowing what it was like to travel around a lot even though he had a permanent home. "Ah, I get what you mean. Hoofington is nice in the summer though." He paused, looking up at the clouds above them. "Ever had any troubles with the tavern? I've heard that sometimes the inhabitants aren't always the nicest of ponies." He asked, just as the tavern came into view.

Crystal nods slowly remembering her last summer in the Hoof, oh how she missed those days..."Yes..Beautiful" She says before her smile "Ha! no no most may look a bit scary but they really are all softies at heart. Besides with hoofs hard enough to cut crystal not many mess with lil old me~" She says as they reach the door on the tavern.