mylittlejamjar | 3rd Burn [Visual] (Backdated to mid-morning)

[Somebody looks incredibly pleased with herself. ...Okay, Yang usually looks pleased with herself, but somehow she looks even more so today.]

Hey Happy New Year, everybody!!

You all know what that means, right?

[...Only 358 more shopping days left until Hearth's Warming?]

That's right! You're looking at the soon-to-be newest, full-fledged Night Market guard.

[Princess Luna did say she'd be instated as a full guard at the turn of the new year. Apparently, Yang is hoping that was meant in the most literal sense. Either that or she just really wanted to remind everybody of the fact.]

I think that calls for a little celebration, eh? Who wants to join me for dinner and a few drinks at the Decanter tonight, hmm?

[She definitely means the non-alcoholic apple cider drinks there. ...Ruby, she'll bring a juice box of milk for you or something.]

Speaking of celebrations! I'll be attending that film festival in Canterlot next week. Anybody else coming with me?

[There's an actual pause as she squints at her feed, as if looking for her friends.]

Ruby? You'll go with me, right? Blake, I know you're coming.

[That's followed with a wink.]

Oh! Jaune! How 'bout you? Wanna bring your team along? I do owe you a fun time.

[She grins cheerfully.]

Come on! Who wants to start this year off with a Yang!?

[She's been sitting on that pun since yesterday.

...Good luck trying to talk her out of any of this, guys.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh.

Well you should've said so.

You're not supposed to explain the joke, kid. It ruins the fun of it.

[Of course, the joke should actually be funny in the first place, buuuut...]

First of all, I'm not a kid. [Filly? Colt?] I'm 16.

Secondly, a joke's not funny to everybody if it needs extra info. Like your name.

[Psh, could have fooled her. And no bby, not a filly.

She raises an eyebrow at that.]

Yikes. I didn't realize I was in the presence of the Pun Police.

[Seriously, who died and put you in charge of what's funny and what's not?]

Not the Pun Police, just-

[He stops, sighs from the back of his throat, and shakes his head.] Forget it.

What's the Night Market? [Besides being a market at night.]

[...Ookaaaay.

She waves a hoof off-screen.]

It's the big market on the north end of town. One of the Princesses here created it to act as a neutral commerce zone.

"Neutral commerce zone"? Is shopping here really so dangerous they needed a safe space? [That sounds pretty crazy.]

[That makes her laugh. This place? Dangerous?]

Not even. It's like the exact opposite reason.

[Well, not the exact opposite reason, but it's definitely not anything close to that.]

It's so that everyone has a place to shop or sell their stuff without getting discriminated against or judged for stuff they did outside of the market. You know, like starting off with a clean slate whenever you're there.

[He seems a little indignant, at least what can be seen under the mask he's wearing, but it goes back to curiosity after a moment.]

Didn't think this place was dangerous... Sure, there was that stuff the Captain was saying, but.

[Muttered to himself, of course. The next bit is at normal volume.] Wouldn't think a bunch of ponies had things they'd need a market like that for, but eh- [Accompanied by a shrug motion] -if they need it they do, right?

So what's it like there?

[That mask really doesn't help with hearing things muttered to oneself, just fyi.]

It's actually more for off-worlders like us. All these people from different worlds? We're not all gonna get along. ...And there's always the chance your worst enemy could get pulled here too or something, I guess. But everyone's supposed to put their differences aside while they're in the Night Market.

[Only while they're in the Night Market though. Once you're out of there, all bets are off. It's why she sent Dante flying the other week.]

It's pretty cool. I mean, it's just a regular market on the surface, but there's all kinds of stuff being sold there.

[~~You're not supposed to hear things muttered to oneself, anyway.~~]

...Right. That makes much more sense.

[She smiles and then quirks an eyebrow at him.]

I'm guessing you're new around here, hmm?

[She's pretty sure she's never seen him before, and he's asking new arrival-like questions.]

You got it. I've only been around for a couple weeks.

Mmhmm, well, you've got my name now, so how about yours?

My name's Daniel.

[It's nice to meet you?]

[Hold that thought.]

Daniel, hm. That's an...interesting mask you've got.

[One leg comes up to nudge it lightly.]

It's a mark of my profession. [...in-training.]

So, what's your profession?

Monster killer. [One ear idly flicks, as if there'd been a fly on it.] I was trained in an entire village of warriors, mercenaries, people like that.

[That visibly perks her interest if the blink and small laugh that she gives is any indication.]

No kidding? That's a really funny coincidence. What kinds of monsters?

[Coincidence? Either way he pauses a moment before speaking. Not often someone asks for more.]

They're called Chaotics, and they're what happens whenever the magic within every person, demon, or creature gets too strong and destroys their hearts and souls. It burns out and transforms them into terrible chimeric beasts interested only in self-preservation and destruction.

My village was part of a long-standing tradition of people training to keep Chaotics at bay. It's gotten worse in recent years too, with their numbers increasing for reasons nobody's quite sure of. There's... not much of my village left- [His ears and head go down some, but he picks back up after a moment.] -but I'm going to keep doing exactly what I was trained to do. As well as work on a mission of my own.

Woah...that sounds pretty serious.

[Hunting monsters that used to be people. That actually kinda sounds like it would suck after awhile, but she could be tactful when she wanted to be.

In this case, it meant changing the subject a little.]

So what kind of mission? You on some sort of super important monster hunt or something?

[Missions were a way better subject. She had been on a mission with her team before being pulled here after all.]

Not exactly. Chaotics attacked my village, and I lost my parents in it. [He paused just briefly, some flinch going through him. Might be more there than he's letting on, but he continues on as if there was no shudder at all.] It was afterwards that I learned they were my adoptive parents, so ever since then I've been moving around looking for my birth parents.

[He sighed lightly, gesturing with a hoof.] Two years and I finally made it to the birthplace listed on my adoption papers, but it was a dead end. So I have to keep looking. Not long after that is when I showed up here.

[Her expression goes from intrigued and interested to something like a grimace in the span of a few short seconds. Whatever story she was hoping to hear, apparently that wasn't it.]

Wow, that's...rough.

[Hard to tell if she's referring to his village getting destroyed, the whole parent thing, or the fact that he's now stuck here. Might be all three.]

3rd Burn [Visual] (Backdated to mid-morning)

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