Interview with Petrichord · 2:53pm Jan 26th, 2021
Interview Rp Style
Nailah as Snow Heart
Petrichord as Petri
Snow Heart
Snow Heart hated being a Princess, there was a lot of stress and anxiety that came with it. She enjoyed wearing a pink hoodie to hide her bat wings, and to go out to Ponyville to remember her roots. She was born right here at Ponyville hospital. Her mother had told her. She was on her way to the spa. Her little sister had gotten her tickets for a free all day spa treatment. She wasn't sold on being pampered, but she did want to make her sister's gift not go to waste. Of course, she wasn't really paying attention to where she was going. Bumping head first into a pony, landing back on her rump with a thud. She often had her head in the clouds.
Petri
"Ah! Sorry about that, my bad..."
The stallion who ran into her rubbed his forehead, looking slightly embarrassed and more than a little apologetic. A cornflower blue hoodie - in an almost uncanny mirror of Snow Heart's own hoodie - covered his light mocha body. His mistake, entirely his mistake - this was where getting lost in his thoughts got him. It wasn't as if he was on a strict timetable to the pharmacy, even; surely his daydreams could wait until he returned home? Apparently not, and the repercussions were sitting in front of him, now...repercussions that hopefully wouldn't be angry at his lack of even basic awareness skills.
Snow Heart
"Why are you apologizing to me? I bumped into you." Snow stated lifting a hoof to scratch at her pure white mane. Her bat ears flinched at the touch. She realized she should introduce herself, but she also didn't want to just announce she was a Princess. That tended to draw a crowd.
"I'm Snow Heart, might I ask the name of the pony I bumped into?"
This certainly wasn't an excuse to waste time not at the spa, she was a bit nervous about how the spa ponies would react to her wings.
Petri
"Me? Uh, um. Petrichord." Still looking somewhat nervous, he pulled his hoof away from his forehead and offered a leg to help pull her up. "Are you sure you're okay? Anything I can get you?"
Snow Heart
She accepted his hoof and stood back up, dusting her hoodie off in the process
"I'm fine, don't worry. As for help, hmm... Maybe. My sister gave me this all day exclusive spa treatment, and I'm a bit nervous about it. Oh but here I am not considering your feelings. Are you sure you're okay?" She asked studying him from top to bottom for any injuries she might have caused due to her bumping him.
"Though, if you'd like I wouldn't mind some company."
Petri
"Trust me, I'm fine. This isn't the first time I've bumped my head, y'know? Comes with the territory of, uh, being alive." Petrichord - or Petri, for shord - forced out a weak chuckle, and cocked his head slightly at her offer.
"Company? You mean at the spa? I mean, that'd be fine, but, um...it's not really something I can afford right now, y'know? Unless you mean that you want to have someone to walk with you? Because, y'know, I could do that. I don't...I'm not really on a timetable. I don't mind walking somewhere."
Snow Heart
"I can pay for you, or give you this ticket and pay for myself. I've actually never been to the spa before. I know it's a nice place, but well, um... So how did you get into ponies? I'm just curious after all!" *Snow began chuckling, thinking this pony would think her crazy.
Petri
"Y-you don't have to do that! I mean, it's just, that's expensive..."
Petrichord trailed off. Something about Snow's question, well...it wasn't the sort of question he was expecting to here from here, and not from someone else who was ostensibly part of Equestria. But he recognized a question like that for what it really was, and what the purpose of the meeting really was.
And everything clicked into place.
"Well...call it a fluke of luck. I mean, I'd been your typical high schooler, making fun of ponies in the same way that other folks do. Y'know, when you needed a butt of a joke, go for...yeah. But then I hit college, and with college came the freedom to do my own thing and get exposed to folks I wouldn't normally get to talk to, with points of view that I normally wouldn't here. Which lead to a few folks in a message board i used to belong to...and I'm never going back there..." Petri winced. "But yeah, they were talking about ponies one day, sharing clips and in-jokes and talking about the show like it was actually a good cartoon. And I have to admit that I was intrigued that multiple people would actually be sticking up for ponies. So one of them tossed me a link for recording of Dragonshy, which was the episode that had come out most recently, and...the rest was inevitable." Petri shrugged. "Ended up watching everything in the backlog, then waiting around every week for new episodes. Haven't regretted it since."
Snow Heart
"If you would rather not, I understand. It's just... I really hate going alone, and we'll I did run into you." Snow paused, fidgeting a bit. Before listening as he spoke.
"Ah, Dragonshy is a good espiode. My first was oddly enough Rainbow dash gets a pet. Which we all know she's why I'm here, and I regret nothing. Ponies are amazing."
She reached out to pull him into a soft embrace
"Thank you for sticking around, you seem nice."
Petri
"No! It's okay! I'll come, don't worry. I...I don't mind."
Petri grinned as Snow hugged him, clearly seeming a lot more at ease, and falling silent for a few seconds before responding.
"Oh, Find a Pet was a great episode, too! Amusing musical number, good inter-character chemistry and I'm not going to complain about Tank's introduction to the series. At all. The more pets the better, honestly."
Snow Heart
Snow beamed that he said he'd come with her. She hated being alone, spent so many years trying to find her way back home. She let go of him, putting herself back down on all fours. She took out the ticket, and showed it to him, handing it over
"Here take this. It was a great episode it reminded me of the classic story of the tortoise and the hare. And well Rainbow was in it, it must've fate! Now tell me, what inspires you to write?"
She asked while encouraging, or more so tugging at his foreleg for him to follow her. If he hadn't noticed her bat ears by now, he's certainly see them now, but a unicorn horn on a bat pony? One certainly didn't see that everyday
Petri
Petri took the ticket, grinning even more. A spa trip! He hadn't done one of these in...ever, actually. First time for everything though, right? Still, it was certainly a curious and fortuitous circumstance that lead him to this. Though perhaps it wasn't just luck - Seeing a pony willing to talk about "the other world" was strange enough, but a batpony with a unicorn horn? Was it polite to bring it up? Then again, if she wasn't native to Equestria, well...
"Inspires me, personally? Well, a good chunk of it's an attempt to hit catharsis - processing powerful impulses, deep-seated questions, internal conflicts and the like. Most of the rest is getting caught up in something emotionally powerful - a line or a paragraph, a song or a chorus, a painting or a shade of color - and trying to transcribe the feelings they gave me into something tangible. And I suppose the last little bit's just me trying to crib off of things I like," Petri admitted with a self-denigrating little chuckle. "I'm kind of...loud on the inside, and writing gives me a chance to let some of the loudness outside. And if people like it, well...I don't mind sharing."
Snow Heart
"Oh? That's very interesting because in a lot of ways I write in a similar way. I try to find meanings in other things, and find a way for it to connect with ponies. However, we aren't here to talk about me." Snow said, as they arrived at the spa. She shivered, and figured he was gonna find out sooner or later*
"Oh, and before you ask, yes I'm a bat Princess. Just... Call me Snow. Now before we go in, is there any advice you might give a new writer?"
Petri
"A bat princess? Heck, that's super cool. Haven't met one before!" Petri grinned. "What's it like? Are there any cool interactions between the princess-y bits and the batpony bits? And...huh."
Petri paused for a bit.
"To reiterate something I said a while ago, jot down the exact moments in a work that spoke to you: the one or two lines in a story, the best five seconds of a movie, the chorus in a song or what have you — but in any case, the moment when your emotions got kicked in the nuts. Break down what specific way it made you feel, why it made you feel that way and what elements contributed to that feeling — then try to replicate those emotions in a different story, your own story, one that lets you hone in on that feeling or use it as a thematic core. A story doesn't need to be all about emotions, but finding your own emotional core and how to use it is a good guide for what you want the story to be about, and that can be useful for helping you figure out what exactly you want the story to tell."
Snow Heart
"Um, bits? What does money have to do with..." *Snow hoof palmed.
"Bad boy!"
Baps him on the head, before holding open the door, and gesturing him inside. Who said only stallions could hold doors for others
"That's very solid advice, I'd also advise never being afraid of the blank page. It is intimating but all you have to do is start."
Petri
Petri sputtered, going a little red in the face. "Wha- no, I didn't mean in that way! I meant aspects, like magical and...y'know what, let's move on." He trotted in through the door, tail swishing as he swallowed a little harder than was necessary.
"R-right. Moving on...yeah. You're right on the blank page front, and it's definitely something i struggle with - where it seems like there's a veritable tapestry's worth of potential yarns to grab and re-weave, and the task of picking even one seems daunting. But after that first strand, just seeing the color of it and feeling the texture - often times, that's enough for me. It's why I believe that a good first sentence isn't just good for getting a reader hooked, but for giving a writer something to get hooked on. If an author's really stumped for ideas, than sometimes just trying to brainstorm for a cool opening sentence, regardless of context, can help open things up a bit. if nothing else, it's at least a step in a direction."
Snow Heart
Snow blushed deeply, oh... So she was the perv. Yes, moving on. She didn't want the mods to ban her.
Walking in, Aloe, and Lotus were there to greet them, accepting Petri's ticket, taking Snow's bits for her own treatment. The two ushered them both into a room with a massage bed for them to lay down on. Snow urged Petri to go first, as she seemed to be panicking. What if they don't like me, what if the think I'm weird or what if they're afraid of me. It was like a traffic jam in her head, as she stood there trembling, trying to manage to speak a single word.
"Petri..."
Petri
Petri looked back at the Snow's statement, looking surprised as he hovered just beyond the aperture. Then, silently, he turned around, trotted back and rested a hoof on her shoulder. Perhaps it wasn't the right way to reassure someone, perhaps it was; but despite not knowing her, he could be here, physically, waiting for as long as was needed. Hopefully it would be enough.
Snow Heart
Just his presence alone meant something. Her violet hues starred into his own gaze, she took a deep breath
"Thanks, I needed that. But um Petri do you have any hobbies outside of writing?"
Snow moved away just a few inches, working her hoodie off her barrel. Revealing her slender bat wings folded against her body. She wasn't lying, she really was a bat Princess. She wondered what he'd say if he knew her origins or how she got these wings. She reminded herself none of that mattered right now.
Petri
Petri exhaled, clearly relieved that it had done the trick this time. In a mirror of her motions - if delayed - he shrugged off his hoodie as well, casually eyeing her bat wings. "Wow, those are...really pretty" He concluded. "Any reason why you've got them hidden away and all? They look amazing. I mean, it isn't my business, but..."
"And outside of writing? Well...i'm gonna assume that hobbies implies a constructive use of time, and I'm not exactly overabundant with constructive life choices, especially at this stage of my life. I enjoy trying to compose music, though - or studying the composition of it, if nothing else."
Snow Heart
"Um, I hide them because I don't really like advertising that I'm a Princess. It tends to draw a crowd." Snow explained, blushing as she noticed him looking at her. Was she really beautiful?
"Oh, music eh? That's pretty cool. I used to dream of singing, but was told I needed voice lessons so I never pursued it much."
She went and laid her belly on the table, which meant right now, he could see just her face, as she relax d onto the bed, letting her wings splay out to each side.
"Come join me, and tell me Petri is there anything about the writer behind you, that you'd like to say?"
Petri
"It shouldn't be too hard to find voice lessons online, if you're keen on learning. The amount of people willing to teach in this day and age is insane...and honestly kind of heartwarming to me. Even in an era where it feels like everyone's growing apart, the fact that folks are still reaching out to connect on even a slightly more personal level says something about the inherent desire for company that people have with each other. And I'd rather think of us as like...us, a we, rather than just a bunch of isolated individuals who occasionally cross paths in the night."
Petri slide up onto the bed and turned his head towards her. "The writer behind me? What do you mean?"
Snow Heart
"Perhaps, I'm not too worried about it at the moment. I've been buried in paperwork. Another reason to dislike being a Princess, all the damn paperwork."
she sighed heavily feeling Alone massaging at the base where her wings connected to her barrel.
"Mmhmm...the man behind the pony. You know the you."
Petri
"Oh. That writer."
Petri remained quiet for a while , ears slowly relaxing and tail swishing to one side.
"He's...not great. He's got a lot of problems. Said hurtful things to folks who haven't deserved them. Can't let go of thoughts no matter how much he needs to. But I think, at the end of it all, that he sees that there are a lot of beautiful and wonderful things in life, even if there's a lot of awful things in it, too. I think he wants to share those things, in writing and in elsewhere, because he wants other people to feel that beauty and wonder, too. I think he's thankful that he can live at a point in time where he can do those things. As much as he can, anyway. And at the end of the day, I think the thing he wants more than anything else is to make those he cares about happy. Even if he's kind of bad at it."
Snow Heart
Snow Heart listened, she was really good at listening to others, and she wanted to hug him
"No pony is perfect, no matter how hard they try, we are all flawed. But we shouldn't define ourselves by those flaws, but by our strengths. I don't know you that well, since we just met, but you seem kind and sincere with how you speak, and how you act around me, makes me feel there is a lot of untapped potential within you to still help many others, perhaps in ways you weren't expecting."
Snow did lean over, and kissed his cheek
"Now, relax and let us both try to enjoy this whole spa thing. I promise I only have a few more questions, but um...why not turn the tables shall we. Is there anything you'd like to ask me? Be careful... you only get one question."
Petri
Petri blushed - he could hardly help himself, what with the kiss. And the words were nice, too...hard to internalize, but not unpleasant. "Perhaps. Perhaps there's something else in me. I'll have to look for it." He fell silent, then, while contemplating the question, until at last finding an answer.
"How does writing feel to you? Is it like painting a picture, where all the words blend into each other in stroke after stroke? Is it like composing, where you schedule each and every word in the right sequence to create harmony? Is it like cooking, where you blend all the concepts together until they're prepared just right and you have a delicious meal? Sculpting, where you mold away at pliable paragraphs until they take form and glazing it with just the right veneer? How do you do it?"
Snow Heart
"How does writing feel? That's certainly a unique question. One I'm not too sure on how to answer, so I'll answer it as best as I can, in a way that feels right. Writng is my cure. When I feel anxious, stressed, or any emotion really, I tend to use writing as a tool to help me work through it. A very long time ago, little filly me struggled with my motor skills, and the teachers were concerned I might never be able to write, so the simple fact I sit here today as a published author means more to me than you might realize. It was also nice to prove all the doubter's wrong too. That was a bonus. But yes, I guess I'm like a crafts woman, the pencil is my tool, and the paper is my canvas. Does that make sense? Gosh, why such a hard question."
Petri
"The hardest questions yield the most thoughtful responses, and I like seeing thoughtful responses. I like seeing how people think - or getting a closer look at what makes them "them" without social conventions or knee-jerk emotional reactions getting in the way. I'm really sorry to hear about how little filly you struggled, I honestly am - it must have been hell to have to deal with, and it's definitely amazing that you're here and now. I'm glad I got the chance to meet you. And, for what it's worth, I think that craftswoman's approach is really cool."
Snow Heart
"Awwwh, shucks thanks. There's a lot more to it then a simple summary but this interview is not about me. It's about you, and showing the world, well the pony world, just how awesome you are. I thank you for taking the time to talk with me, and to ease my fears about my wings. I'm hoping this is the start of a beautiful friendship. Just when I introduce you to my little sister, be prepared, she likes to play Match maker with the stallions I meet." Snow Heart chuckled, and rolled her eyes a bit. Frost Heart was still as mischievous as ever
"Oh, one last thing. Is there anything you'd like to say to my stalkers?"
Petri
Petri chuckled. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind! And as for your stalkers - All of you guys should give Try a read, if you haven't already. It's quite good."
Petrichord's Fimfiction Link:Petri
"If you want Snow Heart to interview you, get in touch - and be sure check out Nailah's Reviewer Mansion"
