Traveling Tantalus and Tree Tits Troupe. (Private)

*Private thread between Mr. Market and Aurum Tempestas*

It was a warm mid-day in Ponyville. For the most part, it was just like any other day as most of the usual residents went about their daily lives. There were a few things that were unique to this particular day however... For starters, there was an airship the size of a two story house parked in a clearing several dozen meters away from the main part of town. Also, there was currently a landscaping job being made as well in another part of the town in the park were new small trees and bushes were being planted. A team of mostly earth pony stallions and mares, almost all locals, were taking part in the labor which involved a fair bit of digging, dragging, and carrying materials around.

Perhaps most unusual out of this particular group of workers, was one who was most certainly not a local as he was the owner of the airship. But that wasn't what made him, Sugary, stick out at the moment. What was unusual about him was that despite being a unicorn at 5 and a half feet tall, he was keeping up just as well, if not better, than some of the other pure blooded Earth ponies since he did have his magic at his disposal, but was nonetheless doing mostly manual labor as per request of those he was working with for what he assumed to be local traditional fairness.

Then again his relatively short size was very well backed up by his fairly stocky appearance. His physical prowess was certainly not lacking as the stallion in his early 30s had a well developed and rugged build which showed he had honed his strength since long ago. Long white mane and tail and white horn with white-tipped limbs and muzzle along with a light brown coat was the immediate look that he had. There were also some white spots that showed from the side of his hips, indicating that his flank was likely white as well but was of course hidden by the work jeans he had, though like most of the stallions there, had chosen to remain shirtless and let the breeze cool off their bodies naturally as they worked under the sun, not having to really worry over sunburn with their natural coats protecting them already.

At one point, some of them took a break, and he began to speak with the one in charge of the task... that easily dwarfed him in size as the other stallion had at least 1 and a half feet over him in height as well as overall size.

"All that's left now are the Ficus, right?"

"Eeyup."

"We also got enough to finish planting all the trees and some extra, right?"

"Eeyup."

"Good... Say, do we still have lemonade?"

"Eenope... Sis went to get more."

"Darn... Oh well... Water it is..." Sugary then placed a shovel over his shoulder went over to the water cooler for a cup. He then went over to sit on an old stump, tap his hooved legs against one another to remove some of the dirt, and relaxed as he took his breather.

Nearby, just entering the park, was an odd-lookin mare. At first glance she was an Earth Pony but upon closer inspection her fur was actually bark similar to that on a Cherry Blossom tree, and her mane and tail were a branch or two that was covered in enough cherry blossoms to make them more realistic. Her eyes were tinted with green, instead of red like a pony, and her irises were a soft, dark pink. She was wearing a pair of baggy green cargo pants and a tight-fitting tank top that showed off her D-cups. Her body was thin, lithe, and looked strong, but she was only barely average height for a mare.

She wandered around the park until she saw the workers, and she went up tote closest one, which happened to be a Unicorn. "Excuse me, what's going on? Are you all planting?" Her tone was curious a she simply watched everyone else, blushing a soft green color as she began to find herself staring at most of the guys, and even a few of the mares.

Sugary turned to look at the mare addressing him with his simple dark brown eyes, but hesitated briefly in the answer as he tried to speak with her while taking in her admittedly beautiful form and wondering why she looked like a tree mare at the same time. "Um... Uh... Yes, we're doing landscaping work for the park. Add some more variety in the greens... We should be almost done with the whole work soon enough..."

He felt compelled to ask about her form, but kept his mouth shut and was left to his own thoughts for now. "... Is she a local...? Is she even a she or an it...? She's definitely not a normal mare... Maybe it was a side-effect of some spell or potion...?" He then looked at those he could see as well and saw mixed expressions to those that looked in the direction of the Cherry Blossom mare, which only left him with more questions and curiosity as to the mare. "... By the way, miss... Are you feeling okay...?"

She had nodded softly, her curiosity sated, as he answered And she had been thinking quietly as he did the same. Her green blush became an extremely dark one at his question. "Oh, Y-yes, Don't mind my perverted mind working." She grinned, trying at a joke. "Name's Sakura, by the way." She openly stares at him, then blushes harder and looks up at the sky. She now hoped it wouldn't rain, so she could keep watching these ponies, and sate her perverted mind, but she never got her wishes most of the time, and she looked around the sky. The cherry blossom covered branches of her mane swayed in th breeze like an actual mane, and covered the left half of her face. Her tail was the same way.

He was now even more puzzled with Sakura now as she mentioned being, or feeling, perverted. He could not exactly tell if it was a joke or not, but she seemed healthy at least... for a tree mare, he thought. "... Um... Sugary Market. Nice to meet ya..." For a moment longer, he simply stared at her somewhat incredulously, still unsure what to make of her. But then, he could not help but briefly admire the subtle charm she had as she stood with the wind blowing and moving her branch mane and tail.

The weather was still fair, and showed no signs of raining yet. From a distance, Big Mac gestured for Sugary to come over to him and start work again soon. Sugary got up and stretched for a moment, and looked at Sakura once more. "... Well, it's almost time for me to keep working... Any other particular reason why you wanted to know why we're all working here now?"

She smiles at him as he asked him the question, and then grinned. "Nature magic expert, at your service." She bowed jokingly. "I wanna help." She said seriously, looking at what the workers still had to do. She had a fire of determination in her eyes, and obviously truly wanted to. I need something to stop me from getting a boner anyway... She thought to herself, sighing. "Nice to meet you, by the way." She holds out her hand, and knew that her bark was soft, almost plush, compared to normal trees.

He looked at her hand for a moment before extending his, still finding her to be a very curiously unusual mare. He was then surprised to feel that she was somewhat softer than she looked when he shook her hand. He was certainly used to seeing and doing many different things, but this was a first. "So... Nature Magic... I'd like to know more about it later if you can spare the time. As for joining in with the work? Well, we're more or less all present and accounted for, but I can ask the task manager to let you in. Please wait a moment..." There was a subtle smile on his face as he left her for now, having taken notice of her drive to want to help out, which he found was endearing.

After negotiating with Big Mac briefly, he went back to the mare with an extra pickaxe on him. "Congrats, you get to help out with the last task... But it involves using this on the marked areas since we have more than enough volunteers for moving and placing the actual trees and bushes. Think you got the back and leverage for it?" He held out the pickaxe in front of her while pointing her in the direction of the remaining spots to dig up. Meanwhile, the others were slowly getting started on moving back and forth with their jobs.

She smiles as he went off to Big Mac, and grinned when he returned. "I may be able to do something without a pick." She went to the first spot and knelt, pressing her hand down against the ground before roots burst from the ground in a perfect circle, churning and shifting to loosen the soil before they scooped the dirt away and all vanished. "Simple to control the roots around us and ask them to help." She smiles at him before asking. "Where to next?"

Sugary looked at Sakura's work with magic as she weaved energy through the ground. He'd be more impressed with it were it not for the fact that he was well used to seeing other creatures use magic aside from unicorns, but nonetheless smiled a bit as he liked how well she controlled it; Always an admirable trait as far as he was concerned.

Soon after, however, he leaned closer to her and began to whisper in her ear in a fairly softspoken voice. "Nicely done, miss... But there is a reason I offered the pickaxe. Most of the others we're working with here can't quite use magic the way we can, and even the ones that can were asked to not rely on it as much. Apparently, it's tradition to work the land around here with as little magic as possible for bigger projects. It's not that I don't trust you, I just wanna follow along with their wishes on this. And if this has to do with you wanting to use your skills, I can understand that very well. Believe me. I'd be happy to see what you can do elsewhere... But here, I ask again, do you have the back for this? I'll even help you do the digging, it's why I got the shovel in the first place." Again, he offered the pickaxe, though not unkindly, while pointing at the row of marked areas they would have to dig up. Meanwhile, some of the others were looking at Sakura warily, or rather, her magic. They once had a certain mare help out with magic during a big event... and as far as they were concerned, she wasn't all that good at it as she somehow made things worse instead.

She nods slowly, but grins. "My magic is basically a focusable version of an Earth Pony's magic." She says as she takes the pick and immediately set to work on the next marked area. She worked quickly and tirelessly, her lithe figure obviously hiding a very large pool of stamina. She got done with it in barely two minutes, and stepped back, panting lightly. "I feel out of shape." She muttered with a sigh, looking to Sugary. "Let's get going." She grinned at him and moved to the next spot. "And I wish they'd quit staring, I am more like them than I am like a tree."

He watched her carefully as she did her part of the work, which she was doing fairly well so far. Whenever she'd pick enough times, he'd use the shovel he had to dig in on the weakened soil and carve out the reasonably sized hole properly. Beads of sweat would be seen running down on his body due to the fact that he had been working for a while now under the sun. Even so, he was managing well enough. "Hm... Interesting. So you're like a Geomancer? Making the nearby terrain act to your will...? Also, mind telling me your story? As in, why is it that you're... well... part tree at all?" By the tone of his voice, he sounded fairly curious and genuinely interested in knowing more about what made Sakura what she was.

As they would keep working, he'd also pay attention to how well or poorly she was handling her work along the way, trying to make sure she didn't overwork or exhaust herself as a precaution; Especially since he could not quite be certain of what she could do and for how long on average with her figure and unusual appearance.

She smiles. "I'm naturally like this, I'm one of the Treefolk, similar to your legends of Ents. I'm a Shaman, the spokesperson of my specific village, so I come visit other settlements, and do whatever..." She pauses in her work to stare at him, her eyes devouring the sight of his muscles. "And I'm one of the ten percent who are...Hermaphrodites..." She blushes heavily and looks away, working twice as hard now. Buck! Why, oh, WHY!? Why would you admit to that!?!? She scolded herself as she kept glancing at him.

Sugary had to stop briefly and wonder why Sakura had told him she was a Hermaphrodite out of the blue, left even slightly more puzzled as she glanced at him once in a while afterwards. He thought about what she had told him as to what she was, and what it was that she did. He also thought back to the comment she had made about perverted thoughts. Ultimately, he concluded they might be related, and tried to keep talking to her in an understanding manner, assuming she was just a very honest mare. "Treefolk... and a Hermaphrodite... I see... Um... When you say you come to other villages as a spokesmare, what is it that you usually share about your home...? Also... Is there a particular importance of being multi-gendered among your kin? Or is it just a simple fact a number of you happen to have?" He could tell she was flustered, and hoped that keeping the conversation moving smoothly would help ease her mind. He also had to wonder if she was looking at him because of what she said, or if she was actually checking him out... The idea of the latter which he found flattering.

She stopped and looked to him, seemingly embarassed, judging by the raging blush. "It's a fact that there is a ten percent chance of birthing hermaphrodites among our kind...And hermaphrodites havea natural affinity to fertilizing magic and...stamina..." Her blush intensified at that last word. "But I am quite single, having been around you ponies most of the time, and I care not for formalities involving relationships...Wait, why am I saying that? That's just me rambling, sorry, Umm..." She sighs heavily and gets back to work. "Sorry, you seem to be more than just a handsome stallion, I can tell when others are trustworthy..." She keeps working mechanically and tirelessly.

He smiled a bit wider and chuckled softly at being called handsome, and kept working along with her to keep up the pace in a better mood. It would not be too long for them to finish their task if they kept this up as they were. "Well, you're very pretty yourself... Also, I admire your forwardness. Not too many that would be so 'to the point' as far as I'm concerned... I'm single too, but then again, I don't go actively seeking for a partner. So it is what it is... By the way, could you tell me a little more about your home? Your race? You did say you were a spokesmare for them. I wanna hear what you got to share. We could save it for later if you prefer even."

"I'd rather...talk later." She panted, but kept working like a machine. "Thanks for the compliment..." She muttered as they worked. "I am seeking but...you ponies are a bit xenophobic..." She sighs and keeps working. "I will say this, though, We are a simple people, and don't use technology at all...I don't even know what that thing is called." She gestures to the airship floating above town.

"Hm...? The airship? If that's what you're pointing to, it's basically a flying vessel... It's also my house since I don't have a home around here... I'm not exactly a local myself... Speaking of which, I'm not xenophobic, if that helps. Fact is, I find you quite fascinating. I've seen a fair bit during my travels, but you're unusual to me... In a good way." Years of training and hard work allowed him to continue along with her just fine, though sweat would keep adding onto him. In fact, he was glad they were working as fast as they were together as it meant less work and more time to rest and talk later on.

He was also beginning to feel she shared a fair bit with him, so he would return the favor to make conversation. "... As for me? I'm a freelance mercenary..." He stated with a straight face. "I used to be part of a guild, but went my way recently to venture out further so to speak. Sure, I often find myself doing domestic work like this for some Bits instead of bodyguarding, escorting, hunting, providing security, and the like... but it's fulfilling. As long as my service does good, that's all that matters to me... It's the whole reason I became a Tantalus Mercenary in the first place..."

She listened quietly, and only spoke when he was done. "Can I have a tour?" Her question was seductive and innocent at the same time. She giggled and kept at the work. She now looked forward to talking with her new friend, and she was obviously attracted to Sugary, based on how she kept staring at his body, most likely daydreaming as she worked. She was distracted enough to accidently hit herself in the shin with the pick, and she yelped and dropped to her knees. She cradled her shin gingerly, sap leaking from the wound, the pick had done a lot of damage, cutting clean through her bark and into the wood of her leg. "Ow ow ow ow ow owwwwww!" She cursed loudly and punched the ground.

"A tour? Sure, no problem..." He liked the idea of a visitor passing by his airship casually for a change, and began to look forward to it. But the thought had to be left for later as he easily saw what had happened to her, and had to put his shovel down and kneel right next to her quickly. He wasn't entirely sure if it would work or not, but he flared his horn and a translucent white aura shone from it as he prepared to use Cure magic, which he assumed would work since Sakura was not an Undead by any means. "Please, stay still and calm..." With practiced effort, he placed his hands over hers and began to pour the healing energies into her wound through her hand in an effort to seal the wound properly. However, he started out slowly as he wasn't sure if she would let him do it as intended, though it would only take for her to not reject him right away for him to pour the spell with a higher output until she was either fully healed, or in no more pain.

She removed her hands, and let him heal her leg. Her wound seemed to eagerly react to the magic, and healed rapidly, way faster than even an extremely powerful healing spell. In a minute it was nothing but a small scrape on her bark."Th-thanks...S-sorry, I got distracted..." Her blush was sage green, and she bit her lip lightly. She struggled to get up, still a bit weak in her leg from the injury, and she decided to simply hold out her hand. "Help a mare up?" She asks lightly, smiling. "Pony healing magic will heal our wounds quickly, but we're still weak from our injuries for a while."

During the healing process, several questions went through Sugary's mind. "Is this... tree sap? Or blood...? How peculiar..." So far, he still was ever curious of the mare, but for now, he was just glad that she had healed very well. "Not sure what distracted you, but that looked like a pretty nasty hit. Make sure you remember this day... And sure thing..." He saw that her face was changing color, but since he wasn't used to seeing her kind, he could not tell if she was blushing or not. He merely assumed that she was well enough since she was still speaking coherently to him. Rather than just take her hand, however, he moved so that his upper back was under her arm and moved his arm so as to hold her by the hip, and help her up with his body as leverage for her.

Around that time, Big Mac and a couple other worker mares had rushed over to them once they realized what had happened. "Everything okay here!?" said the large stallion with a fair bit of concern in his voice.

"Kinda... I'd like to look after her for a bit though. So I'm gonna have to cut my duty short."

"You done enough for us... We'll finish up here." After the brief exchange, Big Mac asked for the mares to continue with what was previously Sugary and Sakura's task.

"... Alright. Let's get you cleaned up..." Sugary would then escort Sakura over to the stump they were at before and carefully sat the two of them down. He then took out a magic bag with runes out of his pocket and 'summoned' a small wiping towel from it in a weak flash of light. Afterwards, he channeled his magic again as his horn glew with a soft blue aura instead as some water seemingly materialized from mid-air and moved it over to the place where the wound was to wash off as much of the tree sap from earlier as he could with his bare hand along with the spell, and then carefully began to dry her leg off, still holding her around her hip with the other arm. "... Think you'll be alright?"

She was glad that Market was so kind, but couldn't help but notice the curious look in his eyes. "Yeah, this stuff like half sap and half blood, it's different from you ponies..." She looks at him, and blalantly stares at his face, chest, and arms, not thinking about anything but the kind stallion before her. Pretty soon, she crossed her legs as he finished, locking them together. She had not even reacted to the towel's touch, but a certain reaction that hints at arousal was beginning to happen, and she was determined to make it go away. But it was in vain as it showed very obviously from beneath her pants, the outline of the tip near her knee. She blushed even harder and looked away from her boner, and away from him. Of course it's NOW that you make an appearance! She mentally scolded her stallionhood. She glanced at him, hoping he wasn't freaked out.

Having his curiosity partially sated as to her biology, he began to squeeze the wiping towel he had... But not before noting something in particular from underneath her cargo pants. "... Is that...!? And she's sorta avoiding eye contact but still staring... It... probably is... She wasn't kidding..." With a raised pair of eye brows, he began to focus more on drying up the towel, and looking for a way to change the subject. "Um... I see... Maybe you can tell me some more as to how your body works later too." He then immediately scolded himself mentally as he realized his wording was probably not helping at this particular moment. "Er... I mean... I'm also curious as to what keeps you alive and all that... Um... Speaking of which, you thirsty?" Over in the distance, Applejack had brought a couple of extra drinking barrels; A big one with the picture of an apple, and a smaller one with the picture of a lemon. "Ah, finally here!" And then stared back straight into Sakura's eyes, trying to ignore her male-like bit nearby for now. "... Maybe some juice? You can drink and eat, right...?"

She glnced over to at his face for a moment as her stallionhood twitched and grew a bit longer as he said what he did, and she stammered incoherently before she snatched the towel and covered her lap with it, not caring that it was dirty. "Sorry, it's hard to hide when I'm around sexy mares or handsome stallions..." She joked, then sighed. "I can survive on nothing but water and sunlight if I had to...But I have a similar diet to ponies." She smiles at him, and places her hand on her thighs, close to the middle, near her little stallion.

Sugary blushed a bit at the odd way in which he was being complimented, which also involved an erection from a tree-like mare. But he figured there was a first time for everything and took it in stride, chuckled, and smiled. "Heh... Thank you... And one moment, I'll be back with some juice."

He quickly made his way over to were the wheelbarrel with the juice was, and asked Applejack for one cup of each. While he was being served, they both were talking for a bit about some numbers involving Bits and materials. Elsewhere, the rest of the workers were slowly finishing up their respective tasks one by one, and began to take their brakes as well while Big Mac oversaw that everything was in order by that point since, other than Sakura's blunder, everything else had more or less moved according to the expected schedule.

Sugary then came back with a cup of lemonade for himself, and a cup of apple juice for Sakura. He offered the cup to her as he sat back down right next to her. "Here's some apple juice... But I got lemonade if you prefer. And do you still feel a little weak?" Despite the awkwardness of her attraction, he was still very much concerned as to her condition.