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Description
The door chime rings and Sundew stepped up behind the counter, plastering a smile on her face.

"Hello and welcome to Thyme and Again. My name is Sundew, how may I help you?" the young wildling asked, doing her best to sound helpful. The pony just stared at her. This was a common reaction, and Sundew felt her cheeks straining to hold the smile.

"Oh I'm Chamomile Breeze, ummm, I was looking for some Wildlingmelon... ah, er. Watermelon!" the pony yelped. The blush of embarrassment reached all the way down to cutiemark on the side of the little Crystal pony.

"We have several varieties," Sundew said, stepping out from behind the counter to show the customer where the correct section was. She could feel the eyes of the pony drawn to her flank, and barely resisted bringing her tail up to cover the area.

"Oh, you have lovely little... uh wings? They're so cute, are they feathery like a pegasus?" Chamomile asked, clearly trying to make up for her gaffe earlier. Sundew suppressed a sigh and found that she was clenching her jaw. She forced her jaw to relax, but was unable to keep her smile in the face of yet another pony's intrusive questions.

"Nope, they're just fur," Sundew said speeding up, trying to minimize the length of the conversation. She forced herself to slow down when the smaller pony was clearly struggling to keep up.

"They make you look so royal! Do all Wildlings have them?"

"No, only my Clan. Here are our melon seeds. The most popular variety is here is the wintermelon, as it grows well in this climate zone and has a delightful minty flavor." Sundew turned and left Chamomile Breeze to look through the seeds. She knew that it was rude by the standards of Ponies, but she wasn't sure she could hold her temper if she stayed. She was neatening the front of the store when Chamomile returned with her purchases.

"That will be 6 bits," Sundew said as she rang up the seeds.

"Here you go!" the pony cheerfully said, putting the money on the counter. Sundew used magic to put it away while wrapping up the seeds.

"Oh, such a lovely color of magic, I just know when you get your cutie mark it will match it so well." The cheerful pony was oblivious to the effect of her statement on Sundew. She felt her ears go back, and her smile became a grimace. Sundew was so tired of ponies and their relentless encouragement about stupid cutie marks. 'Oh you'll get your mark soon!' 'Your special talent is clearly plants, I bet it will be a flower!' 'Don't worry sweetie, once you have a cutie mark you'll be so much happier!'

Sundew just barely restrained herself from snarling at the pony as she muttered something polite and bid Chamomile a good day. She missed her own people so much. No Philoden would insist on pointing out her hip wings, and not even that Nerensis she had met in town would be so gauche as to suggest she would be getting a cutie mark.

Once again she cursed her parents for abandoning her here. The door chimed again and Sundew forced herself to smile again. As she helped several ponies, endured numerous comments about her horn, her height, her hip-wings, her hooves, her tail and of course her total lack of cutie mark she realized she couldn't stay in this Pony city any longer. Her parents clearly weren't coming back, and it was time she took matters into her own hooves.

For the first time in years she felt as sense of purpose as she locked the door for the night and began to inventory what she would need for the trip back to Polar Wilds. She was going home.

Description
The door chime rings and Sundew stepped up behind the counter, plastering a smile on her face.

"Hello and welcome to Thyme and Again. My name is Sundew, how may I help you?" the young wildling asked, doing her best to sound helpful. The pony just stared at her. This was a common reaction, and Sundew felt her cheeks straining to hold the smile.

"Oh I'm Chamomile Breeze, ummm, I was looking for some Wildlingmelon... ah, er. Watermelon!" the pony yelped. The blush of embarrassment reached all the way down to cutiemark on the side of the little Crystal pony.

"We have several varieties," Sundew said, stepping out from behind the counter to show the customer where the correct section was. She could feel the eyes of the pony drawn to her flank, and barely resisted bringing her tail up to cover the area.

"Oh, you have lovely little... uh wings? They're so cute, are they feathery like a pegasus?" Chamomile asked, clearly trying to make up for her gaffe earlier. Sundew suppressed a sigh and found that she was clenching her jaw. She forced her jaw to relax, but was unable to keep her smile in the face of yet another pony's intrusive questions.

"Nope, they're just fur," Sundew said speeding up, trying to minimize the length of the conversation. She forced herself to slow down when the smaller pony was clearly struggling to keep up.

"They make you look so royal! Do all Wildlings have them?"

"No, only my Clan. Here are our melon seeds. The most popular variety is here is the wintermelon, as it grows well in this climate zone and has a delightful minty flavor." Sundew turned and left Chamomile Breeze to look through the seeds. She knew that it was rude by the standards of Ponies, but she wasn't sure she could hold her temper if she stayed. She was neatening the front of the store when Chamomile returned with her purchases.

"That will be 6 bits," Sundew said as she rang up the seeds.

"Here you go!" the pony cheerfully said, putting the money on the counter. Sundew used magic to put it away while wrapping up the seeds.

"Oh, such a lovely color of magic, I just know when you get your cutie mark it will match it so well." The cheerful pony was oblivious to the effect of her statement on Sundew. She felt her ears go back, and her smile became a grimace. Sundew was so tired of ponies and their relentless encouragement about stupid cutie marks. 'Oh you'll get your mark soon!' 'Your special talent is clearly plants, I bet it will be a flower!' 'Don't worry sweetie, once you have a cutie mark you'll be so much happier!'

Sundew just barely restrained herself from snarling at the pony as she muttered something polite and bid Chamomile a good day. She missed her own people so much. No Philoden would insist on pointing out her hip wings, and not even that Nerensis she had met in town would be so gauche as to suggest she would be getting a cutie mark.

Once again she cursed her parents for abandoning her here. The door chimed again and Sundew forced herself to smile again. As she helped several ponies, endured numerous comments about her horn, her height, her hip-wings, her hooves, her tail and of course her total lack of cutie mark she realized she couldn't stay in this Pony city any longer. Her parents clearly weren't coming back, and it was time she took matters into her own hooves.

For the first time in years she felt as sense of purpose as she locked the door for the night and began to inventory what she would need for the trip back to Polar Wilds. She was going home.