Any Bar in a Storm [closed - pm for invite]

[RarityDash]

[colour=#0000CD]"We're not dating, and we're not trying to date! Now stop that!"[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Dash seemed upset. Chaser, being the easygoing mare she was, didn't like dealing with confrontation. She knew when to shut her big mouth tight. She was really adamant about it though. The carefree weather mare wondered if that didn't mean something? They seemed to get along good together, and yet she didn't want to date? Cloudchaser supposed that meant she must really be opposed to the idea of dating this guy. Yeah! That had to be it.

But why? The most obvious reason was that Dash had somepony else she liked. The pegasus smiled vacantly as she considered who it might be. Perhaps one of those five mares Dash was always hanging out with? Did Dash like mares? If so, maybe that was the answer just right there. If it was one of them though, which one? Fluttershy would be obvious; they went way back from what Chaser understood. Pinkie was a possibility; her and Dash always seemed to have fun together. That Twilight Sparkle? She didn't immediately seem like Dash's type, but maybe that was the attraction? Ooh, or maybe it was Applejack? They had a lot of common interests and a strong bond it seemed. Then there was that dressmaker unicorn; she was really pretty; Dash would look great next to her. It could be any of them Dash was after. There was no way to really tell for sure, but the night weather mare at least was sure she understood the situation a little better.[/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"Ah, I understand entirely, Dash! Sorry about that,"[/colour] [colour=#000000]Chaser said, smiling widely as she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof.[/colour][colour=#ffffff] "I should really learn not to make wild assumptions about friends! Of course you're not interested in dating Mr. Wonderbolt here!" [/colour][colour=#000000]she declared like it was bluntly obvious.[/colour]

​

"[colour=#CC99CC]Of course it wasn’t lame, but you know how much I love hearing the details! Sooooo… How did you get here? Did you spend all of your time fighting huge storm clouds? How about lightening?”[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Chaser's thoughts on her weather team leader's romantic interests was soon interrupted by her own romantic interest. Fitter wasn't going to just let this go then... Cloudchaser gave an awkward laugh and then a sigh. What did she say here? She couldn't just admit it... Flitter was counting on her to awesome. That was her nature! She was Cloudchaser, the most effortlessly cool mare in all of Ponyville! Nah, that title probably went to Dash... but in Flitter's eyes at least she was definitely the coolest. She'd just have to continue to wing it... even if the only kind of "winging it" she was good at was the kind that called for her to actually use her wings.[/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"Ah... well... yeah..." [/colour][colour=#000000]Cloudchaser said, clenching her teeth and looking at the ceiling.[/colour] [colour=#ffffff]"There were lots of storm clouds... and they were big and... stormy... and stuff..." [/colour][colour=#000000]she continued, giving a laugh.[/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"And they were shooting all kinds of lightning out at me and I... er... well... I fought it... the lightning and it... well... I was awesome!" [/colour][colour=#000000]Chaser fumbled through more explanation of events that didn't happen, ending with emphasis.[/colour][colour=#ffffff] "Totally awesome..." [/colour][colour=#000000]she punctuated then gave a stiff nod.[/colour]

​

[brianblackberry]

[colour=#9999ff]Flitter[/colour]

Flitter was a little taken aback by Dash’s aggressive demeanor as she denied any relationship with Soarin’, and couldn’t quite understand why. He was a Wonderbolt, after all, and a pretty good looking one at that; Dash worshiped these guys, but she had no desire to date him? Maybe she was dating already … or maybe she had somepony she wanted to date. The more Flitter thought about it, though, that just didn’t seem right. Perhaps it wasn’t that there was somepony else, but instead because Dash wanted to be a Wonderbolt! If she dated one and got in, ponies would accuse her of only qualifying because of her relationship and not because of her accomplishments; a cloud of doubt that Dash would struggle under for years. Flitter just nodded with an awkward smile, [colour=#9999cc]“okay, okay, we just think you two are just, like, so cute together! I mean, should date, uhh ... I mean, well, nevermind, I won’t say anymore about it, sorry.”[/colour] [colour=#9999cc]Way to go, Flitter, can’t you ever be suave about anything?[/colour]

Flitter’s own bumbling, though paled in comparison’s to Cloudchaser’s own dodgy and vague answer. Cloudchaser was always far more specific and certainly more enthusiastic about how awesome she was when storm chasing or fighting! Flitter’s expression became increasingly melancholy in response. She was a little upset, but she didn’t want to confront Cloudchaser openly about it, not in front of Dash and her Wonderbolt friend; still, she felt hurt. Flitter just looked away with a somber expression that matched her flattened mane,[colour=#9999cc] “it’s alright … You don’t have to tell me any more. I’m sure all the details would be boring to tell anyway.”[/colour] Flitter’s reply was pure horse apples, and was pretty sure her love knew it. She just needed to step away for a minute,[colour=#9999cc] “I’m thirsty still, going to get another cider from the bar, did anypony else want anything?”[/colour]

[colour=#cc6699]Martini Paradise[/colour]

Martini Paradise smiled as she watched Pocket Change’s spell at work; it was great to see ponies helping each other out, even if they were strangers. She couldn’t help but let out a little giggle as the spell literally fizzled out at the tips of Misty’s mane.[colour=#cc6699] “Here, let me help”[/colour]. Martini’s own horn glowed a soft green and fixed up the ends of Misty’s mane right up. Martini wasn’t sure if it was her normal style but at least it looked good. [colour=#cc6699] “I hope that helped; and sure I would love to hear any tales about the Wonderbolts! At the very least I can impress my daughter with all my ‘inside scoops’”[/colour]

She was also curious about Pocket Change’s mentioning of a dig. Was it something archeological or more mundane? Martini’s interest in such things had certainly grown since her and a certain Mr. Nut started seeing each other on a regular basis, and he usually had some fascinating story about some mystery ruin, or artifact, or dig. [colour=#cc6699]“So, if you don’t mind me asking Mr. Change, what were you digging up?”[/colour]

[AlisonRose]

With a nod of her head she flipped her mane out of her face. Misty wasn't sure if it was even close to her very styled mane that she normally wears but who was she to care since they did it for free and it felt actually quite nice.

[colour=#40e0d0]"Thank you very much Mr. PocketChange, and to you Madame Paradise."[/colour] She attempted to curtsy to them from her sitting position on the bar stool and with a slight giggle almost fell off, she was still oh so weak from battling the storm, not to mention her dehydration she was also dealing with. She was so nervous this morning she even forgot to eat breakfast, lunch, and now that the storm was over she realized that she had also missed dinner. Ugh what was a girl to do. Her stomach rumbled in agreement as she recalled the last thing she ate as being a Summer Salad the night before, however this pie sure did taste delicious.

[colour=#40e0d0]"What sort of story would you like to hear about? Perhaps one where the team froze my uniform in ice and then didn't tell me so as I was flying I was utterly cold and very immobile. It gave the audience quite the thrill though to see me spiral out of control only to recover and make it look like part of the act. Or maybe a story about the day I met Rainbow Dash over there and her friend Rarity kicked me in the face and knocked me out, that one is always a classic."[/colour] She giggled as she now happily stuffed her face with more pie and sipped on her lemon water.

[tacobob]

The unicorn was momentarily distracted by both the activity going on a few tables away from him, and the slightly frazzled mane-do that Misty was now sporting. "Er? The dig?", he glanced back over at the bartender, "I was with a small group of my colleagues near the old training grounds working or at least trying to work out an excavation. Apparently a small group of officers from the R.E.A, including a family friend of mine stumbled upon a rather impressive find. I believe it was a temple of sorts. Before we could do anything, a team of mages were sent down to check out everything. Make sure there weren't any ancient magical items of evil down there, and apparently they found something, so we were not permitted to go into the ruins. We did set up a site near the temple, but then we got clobbered by the rain. I didn't get to do much of anything while down there. Besides listen to some member of the 'brass' ramble on about the site, then find out we weren't going down into the actual ruins, and then trying to do our best to make with what we had, and then rain. Then we all made our way here. We compared notes, blathering on abit, had a few drinks, and the others made their way back home. I'm the last of my merry little group to be here. I was planning on leaving, but I had to enjoy a few more of your drinks, and then the musician you had here was rather good. Had to sit and listen to all of his tunes. And this started to go on shortly after.", he nodded over at the table where several Wonderbolts were staying.

"More than a few famous ponies at that table. A few Wonderbolts, and one of the bearers of the fabled 'Elements Of Harmony', a mare who has helped save the world like a dozen or so times, and she's blushing like a school-filly. ", he chuckled to himself for a moment, "I would get up and starting heading off for home but this has all been rather entertaining and I rather like the company.", he looked a little shocked as Misty detailed her previous adventures. "They froze your suit? Wouldn't that be rather painful? One of my sister's friends dressed as a Wonderbolt for 'Nightmare Night', and those uniforms are skintight. I do hope you were wearing something under it."

The image of the poor mare getting kicked in the face made him cringe even further, "Her friend? I assume Rarity is another one of the 'Element bearers'. If I may ask, why did one of Equestria's heroes kick you? And in the face? That had to hurt like the heavens." Pocket Change was now very interested in what Misty had to say. At this rate, he'd be leaving the bar well into the morning, just as long as his legs hadn't fallen asleep by then.

[Windwright]

Soarin' chuckled mentall at the mental image of the collection of Hearts and Hooves cards he had back at his place, from before the team's manager had taken to screening them. He made a note to double check them to see if Rainbow Dash had sent any. He then promptly lost the note in the wake of the suggestion that he was dating Spitfire. "[colour=deepskyblue]No no,[/colour]" he started to protest, but Dash kept right on going.

He ended up missing part of the next few exchanges while he got his head back in line. He tuned back in toward the end of the blue mare's invitation.

"[colour=deepskyblue]Oh, uh...do you know when it'll be? We've kind of been wanting to try practicing under inclement conditions for a while now. Or I have, anyway. Most of our shows are in clear skies, but it might be neat to work in a small storm sometime, you know?[/colour]" he said, only catching up to the subtext of the conversation a few seconds after he responded. He flushed a little once he did, and was about to address the faux pas when the other two mares spoke up.

[colour=#ffffff]"I should really learn not to make wild assumptions about friends! Of course you're not interested in dating Mr. Wonderbolt here!"[/colour]

Wait, why of course..? Now he was kind of off-put. Was there something wrong with his breath..? He knew his mane was a mess, but...Well, the other mare seemed to still think they should. Eventually Soarin' just shrugged and chalked it up to Celebrity status.

"[colour=deepskyblue]Anyway, when you figure out when the next storm will be, let me know. Me and the coach can swing by to see if we can work some training into it, if you aren't too busy, I mean. I don't envy weather mares their jobs, especailly after today.[/colour]"

​

[Snowshoe]

Wind Rider looked over at Misty Morning, quite interested in her tales as well. Wasn't ever day you got to sit down one-on-one (sorta) with a Wonderbolt, and hear first-hoof what they had to say.

"I agree with Pocket, that frozen suit sounds rather painful, and dangerous." He wasn't as skilled as a Wonderbolt but he'd done amateur formation flying when he was a colt with his friends. Mixed with his job that kept him airborne all the time, and he was used to flying in tight situations. He couldn't imagine trying to precision fly with a frozen, hard to move in uniform.

He couldn't help but let out a chuckle at her second story. "That sounds...rather violent. I feel like something's missing. What'd you do, steal her sweetroll or something?" he joked, wondering what would cause somepony to kick another in the face.

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash perked up, her eyes lighting up. [colour=#0000cd] "What, really? Yeah, it's a pretty good idea! You never know when something's gonna come up. I've got this canyon I train in where there's always all these obstacles and winds and stuff..."[/colour]

She grinned. Wow! Soarin' actually wanted to come do stuff with her? Now all she needed to do was ... tell him ... when the next ... oh, come on! She had all the storms memorized! She had to! She always knew when the storms were! Why was it suddenly escaping her mind?!

She leaned back, turning back towards Cloudchaser and Flitter. [colour=#0000cd]"Hey, Chaser!" [/colour]she called, trying to look totally nonchalant about this. [colour=#0000cd] "When's the next few storms again?"[/colour] She blinked, as she suddenly realized the schedule had just been completely destroyed. [colour=#0000cd]"You know, probably. After tonight makes them re-write the schedule..."[/colour]

She looked over to Soarin' with a bashful grin. [colour=#0000cd]"Can't over-saturate stuff, and tonight things are pretty certainly over-saturated. The Everfree plays havoc on the folks in charge of figuring that stuff out."[/colour]

​

[AlisonRose]

Misty nodded her head a few times as she listened to their talk about her in her suit.

[colour=#00ffff]"Well no we don't wear anything underneath. I was amazed that I could even fit into it, but when I got it on it wasn't still frozen but it sure was still cold."[/colour] She giggled as she put a hoof to her chin and tried to remember exactly how the story went with Rarity.

[colour=#00ffff]"Yes she is also a hero of Equestria, she is a white Unicorn Mare who has an impeccable taste for fashion and the like. We were at the young flyers competition, the Wonderbolts and I, Rarity had these really strange looking wings that reminded me of a butterfly's but the real magic happened when she flew up decently high and let the light shine through them and made a dazzling spectacle However soon her wings started to burn up due to the heat and she began to plummet down towards the ground. Surely as you can bet I tried to dive as fast as I could to catch her as my fellow Wonderbolts did as well, as we were nearing her she flailed about as she was clearly scared but without warning a hoof came my way and made my world fade out to black for a moment." [/colour]She took a deep breath now that she realized she had just given the entire summary in one sitting and licked her lips as she remembered her Lemon Water had been refilled by the very kind and stunning Martini. With a smile and a nod to her she sipped on the Lemon Water some more trying to still quench her thirst.

[colour=#00ffff]"Most of my stories are simple yet funny I guess, most of the time involving that I somehow end up at a loss for something. In the first case I had a loss of heat, and the other I had a loss of consciousness."[/colour] She nodded her head again and then giggled as she semi-forced a smile to them all.

[RarityDash]

[colour=#9999CC] “it’s alright … You don’t have to tell m[/colour][colour=#9999CC]e any more. I’m sure all the details would be boring to tell anyway. [/colour][colour=#9999CC]I’m thirsty still, going to get another cider from the bar, did anypony else want anything?”[/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"I-I'm good..."[/colour] [colour=#000000]Chaser murmured quietly to her mare, forcing a smile.[/colour]

[colour=#000000]She gulped as Flotter stepped away. She could always leave it to Flitter to see through her. She was so attentive. Usually this was a good thing, as Cloudchaser often forgot about things or jumped ahead without considering the consequences. When she was trying to hide something, however, it wasn't so good. There was nothing worse than having Flitter mad at her... but she couldn't just come clean, could she? [/colour]

[colour=#000000]She couldn't admit that this crazy storm had totally bested her in every possible way. She couldn't just say that, not with Dash, her team leader, the pony back home she respected most here. There were Wonderbolts too! Cloudchaser had been entertaining the crazy notion of maybe sending in an application to the Wonderbolts Academy; she couldn't just admit to something totally uncool where they might hear it. Cloudchaser was torn and she didn't really know how to handle it. [/colour]

[colour=#000000]Well, she at least had a little while to think it through before Flitter returned. She only wished she was a little better at thinking.[/colour]

​

[colour=#0000CD]"Hey, Chaser! [/colour][colour=#0000CD]When's the next few storms again? [/colour][colour=#0000CD]You know, probably. After tonight makes them re-write the schedule..."[/colour]

[colour=#000000]The words spoken by Rainbow Dash almost didn't reach the preoccupied pegasus. As it were, even though she heard them, the comprehension wasn't so good. At that moment, Chaser barely knew what a schedule was, much less what was on theirs. She couldn't leave Dash hanging though.[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Her mouth opened readily, and she slowly started to speak,[/colour] [colour=#ffffff]"Um... yeah... schedule... that's the... er... I mean, the storms... they should be happening some time in the future... when they happen... maybe... or something...?"[/colour]

[colour=#000000]The pegasus stared ahead blankly and gave an awkward laugh. She then gave a muffled frustrated cry and waved her front hooves around. The motion caused the bump on her head to hurt which made her wince and slump downward until her face met the bar. What was she gonna do? [/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"This really sucks, and it's all that stupid storm's fault!"[/colour] [colour=#000000]she whimpered, louder than she probably intended not particularly aware of the others around her.[/colour]

​

[brianblackberry]

[colour=#cc99cc]Flitter[/colour]

Flitter was letting her emotions get the better of her as she sulked in silence at the bar counter, contemplating what drink to try. Something strong, something to show she could hang with all the tough flyers here. [colour=#cc99cc]“Could I have a tall cider, please? The strongest you have.” [/colour] As Flitter waited for her drink, she couldn’t help but wonder what Cloudchaser was hiding from her; didn’t her fillyfriend trust her enough? Didn’t they share everything? What was it about the storm or the night that Cloudchaser didn’t want to tell? Flitter’s mind started to wander into all sorts of unfounded possibilities, each more unlikely and more depressing then the last. Just as the mug of hard cider arrived Flitter even contemplated that perhaps her marefriend was having some kind of illicit affair…

[colour=#cc6699]“Here you go, dear!” [/colour]The forlorn Flitter jolted out of her unfounded paranoia as the cider was placed before her. She needed to keep a level head about this; there was no reason to start suspecting the worst without evidence.

Flitter just sighed, fighting her instinct to turn around and see if Cloudchaser was alright as her fillyfriend thumped around clumsily and muttered about the cloud. She took a long drink instead, the cider was strong! Almost too much so and she had to work hard not to choke it up, determined to finish it. Something did happen, something bad! Why not talk about it?!

She looked about the bar; most of the other ponies were engaged in conversation except one yellow coloured pegasus with a dark mane. She seemed so isolated. Flitter didn’t recognize her from ay of the storm teams either, but she had the look of a strong flyer. Flitter took another long drink, feeling warm inside, and more bold. The light lavender mare walked up to and sat next to Acclaim, [colour=#cc99cc]“Hi! My name is Flitter, what’s yours? Were you helping with the storms, also? I was! Didn’t see you there, so I figured I’d ask. Are you from here?” [/colour]Flitter had a big grin on her face and took another long gulp of her drink?

[colour=#cc6699]Martini Paradise[/colour]

Martini Paradise listened attentively to Pocket Change’s story about the dig he was at; as her own interest in archeology and adventure was considerable thanks to her association with a certain handsome professional adventurer, a one Brazil Nut. [colour=#cc6699]“You mention the mages found something, any clue to what it was? Or are they keeping it all hush hush?”[/colour] As a unicorn, Pocket Change knew magic, but Martini herself was all too well aware, being a unicorn certainly didn’t automatically privilege one to access to the various magical mysteries of the land, especially if they were deemed dangerous by the royal mages.

Martini was also more curious about the rainbow maned mare, mainly because Pocket Change kept playing her up as some great hero. Like most other ponies, Martini knew of the Elements of Harmony and that there exist the six bearers, but other than “Twilight Sparkle”, Martini didn’t even knew their names, let alone ever met one. [colour=#cc6699]“So our rainbow maned guest, she is one of the actual avatars for the Elements? Is she in the R.E.A? A personal guard of Celestia maybe?”[/colour] That sounded about right for somepony who bears something so important, right?

Listening also to Misty Morning’s stories, Martini got the impression that being a Wonderbolt mainly consisted of pranks and pitfalls. She actually visibly shuddered as she imagined what it must have been like to put on a fur tight suit, and those suits were definately form fitting, something Martini lingered on a little too much when her daughter show pics of some of those stallions in them.

Even more interesting was Misty's story of the unicorn that was tumbling to her demise aftering knocking the Wonderbolt silly; despite what Pocket Changed said, that unicorn didn’t sound much like “a hero of Equestia”. [colour=#cc6699]“So.. What happened next? How did you get out of that situation? Since your cute self managed to grace our bar, you must have gotten out of that mix up somehow!”[/colour] Martini smiled warmly as she poured another cool lemon water for the Wonderbolt mare.

Just then Martini heard a loud thump, one of the other guests, the ice blue spiky maned pegasus, somehow slammed her chin on the bar counter. Martini trotted over as she magically stood the pegasus mare back onto all fours in front of the bar, [colour=#cc6699]“are you alright hun??”[/colour]

[tacobob]

"Y-you don't wear anything under your flight suit? Oh my.", The unicorn was slowly starting to turn a slight shade of scarlet, "Er...A unicorn with wings? I can only assume this Rarity is either a mage at the top of her game, or she had assistance from Twilight Sparkle.", the stallion tried to push conversation towards a more comfortable topic. "I'm familiar with a few spells that can grant non-Pegasus ponies wings, and both of those spells are professor level. The type I'd never be able to even think about casting.", he glanced down at his empty mug with a shrug,"Even before the nonsense with Nightmare Moon, you couldn't go two seconds in Canterlot without hearing something about Princess Celestia's favorite student, the girl who was to be the next Starswirl and the next ultra-sage. I ran into her a few times during my stays near College Park, but I didn't think much of her. Pretty, but it seems she was always off in another world of her own. She even has a young dragon assistant on hoof. Always wondered what the two sisters have planned for Miss Sparkle. Thank goodness she didn't turn into some crazy hedge mage or hermit some thought she would have ended up turning into."

Pocket Change glanced over at the bartender as she spoke, "They haven't said a single thing beyond the usual blither-blather that we got the first time around. The usual bit about the ruins needing to be scanned top to bottom after powerful magical items were detected. Guess this happened not that long ago, and some rather powerful items fell into the wrong hooves and caused some issues.", the stallion looked disgusted, "I for one would never use magical performance enhancing relics. The more powerful of them tend to be of the corrupting nature, or they just try their best to take over its user's bodies. As for the bearer's, I was under the impression that none of them were actually in the R.E.A. and they only had the two sisters to answer to. I'm not as familiar with the other heroes as I'd like to be, but I 've been told they're all residents of Ponyville, all mares and incredibly powerful in their own field of studies."

[AlisonRose]

Misty put on a soft grin as she noticed the other ponies interest into her stories.

[colour=#00ffff]"Yes she is a hero of Equestria she is the Element of Generosity. After she knocked me out her Rainbow Haired friend over there,"[/colour] Misty made a very not-so-subtle point over to Rainbow Dash. [colour=#00ffff]"She is the Element of Loyalty and she came diving right after Rarity, not only catching her, but us as well and even preformed a Sonic Rainboom. Mind you it was cool to be saved but I would have rather just grabbed Rarity and been done with the whole situation. At least Rainbow Dash got to spend a day with us thanks to that event."[/colour] She bobbed her head a bit before she swished her tail, there seemed to be a kink in it or something as she had to expend extra effort just to flip it about. She sat there and drank some more of her Lemon Water and with a grin she pinched part of her suit, right above her flank and let it smack down showing how skin tight it was for all those around. She giggled to herself and then prepared to answer their questions.

[colour=#00ffff]"Well no, I don't ware anything under my uniform. Rarity did in fact have help from that student of Celestia's Twilight Sparkle, but even that didn't seem to help in the heat of the sun."[/colour] Normally Misty would have gotten startled and tried to run away from the conversation and attention but after such a hard days work she felt that it more so calmed her down to have some ponies to talk to while she stuffed her face with Pie and Lemon Water.

[Snowshoe]

Wind Rider listened in on the stories, grinning a bit at the second one. It made much more sense now that he had all the details of the event, and not just that the poor mare had gotten kicked in the face.

"Ouch. I figure everything worked out in the end, for that last bit, though?" He reached over to thwap Pocket Change upside the head as subtly as he could, after his comment on her first story, a bit of a grin on his face as he did.

"Yeah, that does make sense. The uniform part. Any excess drag tends to put a strain on the flyers." Though it didn't explain away the usually crazy manes some of them had, they never seemed to get in the way of speed. He chuckled a bit. "I'm afraid all my stories tend to be rather dull, in comparison to meeting two Heroines of Equestria-" he waved a hoof at Misty Morning, "-Or ancient ruins and mystical artifacts. Though to be quite fair, I'd rather I have a dull day. Means everypony's safe and I won't have to organize any search parties." He sipped what little was left of his water on the counter, smiling a bit.

"How long've you been flying with the Wonderbolts, Misty?" he asked casually. He was curious...like every pegasus from Equestria, the Wonderbolts were their pride and joy, and he was always interested in them, though he wasn't exactly the best of flyers, and probably couldn't make the cut if he tried.

[Windwright]

She looked over to Soarin' with a bashful grin. [colour=#0000cd]"Can't over-saturate stuff, and tonight things are pretty certainly over-saturated. The Everfree plays havoc on the folks in charge of figuring that stuff out."[/colour]

"[colour=deepskyblue]Oh, I totally understand. The manager is going to be at her wits end while she figures out whether or not to reschedule our next couple of shows, and which team members need to be grounded for injuries or just rest after tonight. [/colour]" Soarin' confided with a smirk. "[colour=deepskyblue"]I'll give you her address, how about, and you can send her a copy of the schedule when you get it worked out. Till then, maybe we can trade stories or something? I'd love to hear how you learned to pull that rainboom off![/colour]"

He chuckled and sipped at his cider. At some point he'd finished his pie, but he'd barely noticed from the conversation's odd turns.

​

[Bramble Rose]

Dash was relieved that Soarin' got it - though she would bet he was being modest. They were all Wonderbolts! She bet that Soarin' could fly a whole show right now and still be awesome!

But he wanted to talk about her favorite topic ... herself! And how awesome she was! [colour=#0000cd]"Oh, well, it was pretty awesome! I didn't really LEARN it ... it just kinda came naturally, before I even had my cutie mark! My friend was being teased by some real jerks, you know the type, and I challenged them to a race! Though they were bigger and older than me. I was keepin' my own, though, and then one of them started racing dirty! Bumped me to the side, tried to foul my wings!"[/colour]

While telling the story, Dash made gestures with her hooves, as if each one was a racer turning corners round clouds. [colour=#0000cd]"Fwoooosh!"[/colour] One hoof went soaring past the other, while the other floundered.

[colour=#0000cd]"Well, I knew my destiny wasn't to be an almost-winner! I poured on the speed, to try to catch up ... it was so hard! But I couldn't let it stop me! I just kept pushing, and pushing, cause I knew how important it was, and then suddenly... *BAM!* It was all so easy! Like no more than gliding along! And the Rainboom was spreading out behind me! It ... was ... AWESOME!"[/colour]

She gave him a great big grin. [colour=#0000cd]"But, um ..." [/colour] She tried to be polite, then. After all. Soarin'! He was cool, too. [colour=#0000cd]"So, um ... anyway, that's how I got my cutie mark. What about you?"[/colour]

​

[RarityDash]

[colour=#CC6699]“Are you alright hun??”[/colour]

[colour=#000000]The barmare offered concerned words as the distressed Cloudchaser's face met the bar. She picked herself up at the question and gave a long sigh. At first she didn't want to say anything, but after a second all of it became hard to contain. She needed to confide in someone at least. Maybe it would help relieve some of the burden. She had to hope at least.[/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"Well..."[/colour] [colour=#000000]she started, continuing her sigh.[/colour] [colour=#ffffff]"No... not really. I'm kinda, y'know... stuck... like between something really hard and... er... something else really hard... and I don't know what to do. I mean, I can't keep lying to Flitter... she means too much to me, but I can't admit the truth... it'll disappoint her... not to mention Dash and the Wonderbolts are around and... er... yeah... they might hear... and..."[/colour]

[colour=#000000]She gave a long sigh and shook her head.[/colour] [colour=#ffffff]"Sometimes I wish I was just a little smarter, so I knew how to figure this stuff out..." [/colour][colour=#000000]she said, hitting her head against the bar some more.[/colour] [colour=#ffffff]"I just don't know what I should do."[/colour]

​

[brianblackberry]

[colour=#9999cc]Flitter[/colour]

Flitter gave a small smile as she was served another round of the cider,[colour=#9999cc] “could you leave the jug please, I’ll pay for it all.” [/colour] Flitter sighed as she quickly drank the hard apple mixture, the yellow pegasus, who appeared to be the guard type, didn’t seem to interested in talking. This night was becoming as gloomy as the weather outside; why wouldn’t Cloudchaser just tell her what was wrong? Flitter sighed and clumsily poured herself another drink, at least it was making her feel more relaxed, much more relaxed, almost tired. Nahh, it wasn’t that late, was it?

[colour=#cc6699]Martini Paradise[/colour]

Martini Paradise listened closely as the distressed lavender pegasus told her lament. Martini loved to listen to her customers and she loved when she could offer real advice even more. It seemed the solution to Cloudchaser’s problem was an easy one, at least in theory, [colour=#cc6699]“well hun, as you say, she is very important to you, do you really want to have some lie divide the two of you? Wouldn't it be better in the long run to simply tell her the truth of the situation you are in?” [/colour] Martini smiled warmly, [colour=#cc6699]“the inn is open you all of you kind pegasai tonight; you two could use the back area where the bedrooms are to talk privately, that way you don’t have to be embarrassed in front of anypony; now go talk to her, you don’t want some guilty secret hanging over that pretty head of yours.”[/colour]

Hopefully having help set the dispirited Cloudchaser on the right path, Martini returned to listening about the intriguing dig Pocket Change spoke of, curious to what was found there that made everything so hush-hush. It wasn’t as if the barmare unicorn had any interest in magical artifacts because of personal desire, it was just the general fascination with hearing about the mysterious, thanks to Brazil Nut’s many fantastic tales. She wasn’t aware of the corrupting properties before now though. Martini poured another drink into Pocket Change’s mug and smiled [colour=#cc6699]“I suppose that is why you never see any unicorn using those magic enhancing knickknacks, because of what you said about making the user corrupt. I suppose that is why they have special unicorn agents go through digs like that. I wonder if such artifacts are illegal to use?” [/colour] It made sense if they were, of course that wouldn’t stop some ponies.

The conversation turned back towards the Wonderbolts, and flight, and Martini couldn’t help but chuckle at Pocket Change’s blushing in regards to the suits being the only thing a Wonderbolt wears while “in uniform”. [colour=#cc6699]“Hon, why would they wear anything under the suit, you are not wearing any clothes at all, neither am I, nor are most of us.”[/colour] His was an odd notion although Martini would have to admit Soarin’ suit over there did accentuate his handsome physical features; is that what Sunrise Beach saw in him? Martini hoped not, she wasn’t ready for her daughter to be interested in male ponies yet.

Martini shook that thought from her head and again focused on the Wonderbolt mare’s tales, especially about this odd unicorn that almost got some of the Wonderbolt’s killed. [colour=#cc6699] “So let me get this straight, she somehow had butterfly wings, lost them, panicked so much on the way down she knocked you all out and that rainbow maned pegasus over there saved you all from death?”[/colour] That was a pretty amazing tale, the blue pegasus with the rainbow mane sounded like she was some real big deal, yet there she was, blushing and flustering over Soarin’ like some school filly with a crush. Why wasn’t she a Wonderbolt? Maybe she could only fly well in emergencies? [colour=#cc6699]“Just a suggestion, perhaps you all could buy the rainbow maned pegasus another round of drinks, strike up a conversation, you'll seem pretty enamored with her"[/colour], Martini winked.

[tacobob]

The unicorn glanced back at Wind Rider with a somewhat hurt and overly dramatic look on his face, "Yow! Why in the world did you do that? I was thinking!", he carefully considered a round of hooficuffmanship to teach the young pony, 'what for', but considering his current state of physical and mental wellness, along with the Pegasus being in much better shape than he, Pocket Change quickly decided to be quiet on this subject and avoid any confrontation or he would get his flank kicked. Still, Martini Paradise had a question that needed to be answered. Questions only Professor Pocket Change could answer!

"Well, as you can see, most of us here are just wearing the coats our mothers' made for us. It's fine. This is generally good for most weather, and we can stay nice and warm during most seasons. It also provides a shield of sorts against rainy weather. As long as you do it right away, a quick shake tends to get rid of most excess water from your coat. Wander around wet for too long, and only a rather large dryer or some towels will do the trick. Still these coats tend to hang and obscure some of the more interesting bits on our bodies, but they also keep the bits we want hidden, er hidden. Take Miss Morning for example.", he nodded at the mare, " When she slides into her flight suit, most of these natural coverings tend to be pushed away. The skintight clothing now reveals the parts you normally don't see. You see her natural curves both in her legs, thighs, stomach and backside. It's all well and good.", he smiled somewhat brightly as he managed to say all of that without staring at the poor girl. "We'd enter dangerous territory once we move past the navel and head southwards, so I'd prefer not to get into those areas, at least not tonight.", he added with a grin. "So if that answers your question Miss Paradise, I wouldn't mind having one more drink to end the night. What would you suggest?"

(OOC: If you listen to the 'Best Night Ever' commentary on the Season 1 DVD they do go into details about the Wonderbolt's Spandex, which Andrea Libman refers to as 'Ponydex' and they do rib Jayson Thiessen (I think it was him) for putting a good deal of thought into it. Very funny stuff.)

[AlisonRose]

Blushing slightly at all of Pocket Change's attention to her 'natural curves' she pretended to not hear the part about her backside and below her navel as she simply shook her head and sipped on more of her lemon water.

[colour=#00ffff]"Yea, that about sums it up Mrs. Martini, has anypony told you that you are easy to look at?"[/colour] She felt odd saying it but she felt that it would be some way to get a bit of this 'attention' to flatter the barmare as well/

[colour=#00ffff]"As for the story, that is exactly how it goes, and the worse part is that she even came to the Flight Acadamy and became a Leader Pony, but that is as much of her as I have heard. Lately I've been trying to keep to myself and work extra hard to not let Spitfire down."[/colour] She nodded her head and listened to the talk about buying Rainbow Dash a drink,

[colour=#00ffff]"I think it is safe to say she is love drunk."[/colour] Misty giggled and snorted at the end before she assumed a straight up pose and flicked her tail as a face of pure shock covered her face and caused her to blush even more.

[Snowshoe]

Wind looked over at Martini Paradise, who mentioned the rainbow mare and buying drinks. He laughed a bit, shrugging. "If I had any money left, I would. But I'll need to pay for accommodations here in Canterlot tonight," he explained. There was no way the forest ranger would have enough energy to fly across almost all of mainland Equestria to get back home, not after that storm.

He looked over at the others at the bar and chuckled, nodding to what Misty Morning said. "Wonderbolt's got a point. Rainbow back there looks like she's got her head so far in the clouds she might be able to tell us tomorrow's weather." He adjusted his hat a bit, where it hung off his neck from the cord, resting loosely on his back. "Speaking of, I hope it's nice," he mumbled. A long flight back followed by a long few days of repairing stuff. That was going to be fun.

"Eh. Actually, might as well enjoy my stay here. Might stay the morning tomorrow." Wind Rider looked up at Misty Morning, Pocket Change, and Martini Paradise. "Y'all from the area, I take it? What's some good stuff to see in Canterlot for the tourist who hasn't been?" he asked casually. "Tomorrow, of course. And preferably early on, I want to get going as soon as I can, so I can get home at a decent hour. Gah, my replacement's probably worried sick, wondering where I ended up," he said. There was a sudden look of mild distress on his face when he realized that he was technically missing after a major storm, and they'd be out looking for him.

"Oh, I know, I'll send a messenger pegasus," he mumbled with a wry grin, mostly to himself. "Martini, could I get one of those ciders, please? I have a feeling I'll need it."

[Windwright]

Soarin' listened to the story intently. He did indeed know the type, though most ponies played fair around him these days. Being a celebrity had its advantages, after all, and Soarin' was never the type to keep a lid on his views on cheating. When she was finished, she asked him for his story, and Soarin's smile intensified into a smirk.

[colour=deepskyblue]"Oh, man. Do you remember Thunderwing? He was a Wonderbolt when I was still just a colt, and he helped out a lot at the Junior Wonderbolts camp back when I was attending. Well, he was practicing a routine I recognized from one of his shows, where he and another Wonderbolt would do a series of loops that braid through one another, leading into a bit where two more who were doing the same thing from the other direction come in, and all four start braiding in and out of one another's paths and climbing to about a hundred feet, where they all peel out. At full speed, it does this fountain thing with the cloud trails, and it looks AWESOME, but he was just practicing the first part, since you need all four to get the timing of the finale.

Well, I wasn't about to let a chance like that pass by, I mean, I was just a colt, and there was one of the Wonderbolts doing a routine I loved watching, and better, one I knew how to do. So I did. I only got to the third loop before I got so excited my wings locked up, but it was still amazing! Tunderwing even complimented my flying after we were done, and he was the one that noticed I'd gotten this bad boy."[/colour] Soarin' said, excitedly whooshing his hooves back and forth and showing off his cutie mark at the end of his tale. He sighs and adds: [colour=deepskyblue]"Best. Day. Ever."[/colour]

​

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash sat on the edge of her stool as she followed Soarin's story, then let out a contented little sigh as she sat there in reminiscence. "Ahhhh... yeah..." Her eyes went far-off and dreamy, remembering the feel of those days...

She let out a contented sigh, and then shook her head, also shaking away the distant expression. [colour=#0000cd] "We're lucky we have LOTS of best days ever!"[/colour] she said animatedly. [colour=#0000cd] "I remember the Vapor Fountain, yeah! And old Thunderwing! He was pretty good. My favorite at the time was actually Cirrus McCloud, though. Now there was a pony who could fly with authority!"[/colour] She finished off her cider, setting down the empty mug, and sighed, a dreamy and lovestruck grin on her face. She shook THAT look off, too, and grinned bashfully. [colour=#0000cd]"So, um, how nervous were you when you were waiting for the response letter for the Academy?"[/colour]

​

[RarityDash]

[colour=#CC6699]“Well hun, as you say, she is very important to you, do you really want to have some lie divide the two of you? Wouldn't it be better in the long run to simply tell her the truth of the situation you are in? T[/colour][colour=#CC6699]he inn is open you all of you kind pegasai tonight; you two could use the back area where the bedrooms are to talk privately, that way you don’t have to be embarrassed in front of anypony; now go talk to her, you don’t want some guilty secret hanging over that pretty head of yours.”[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Cloudchaser's eyes widened along with her smile. This mare was like a genius or something. How had she not thought of that? Taking Flitter somewhere else to tell her would solve her problem and she would have to look lame in front of such awesome ponies. It was the perfect solution.[/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"That's it!"[/colour] [colour=#000000]she declared excitedly.[/colour][colour=#ffffff] "Thanks so much, I think I know exactly what to do here!"[/colour] [colour=#000000]she added with a vacant smile. [/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"Now all I need to do is figure out the best way to suggest that to Flitter..."[/colour] [colour=#000000]she started as she looked down and thought about it a bit. She thought hard for a moment and then shook her head and hit it against the bar one more time. Gah! she was never good at stuff when she started to over think it. She knew this! No, she couldn't let herself get caught up in anything, she had to play it smooth and natural or else it was gonna come out awkward. She had to prevent that at all costs. [/colour]

[colour=#000000]Taking a big breath, those thoughts firmly in mind, she rose from her seat and moved over toward where she spotted Flitter. She approached the mare somewhat tentatively. Her cheeks were flush from embarrassment, she laughed awkwardly and her eyes traced Flitter nervously.[/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"Um... hey Flitter... er... I just wanted to... I mean... uh... well, I know that you know that I was being like totally awkward back there and stuff... and well... um... sorry about that,"[/colour] [colour=#000000]she started fumblingly. She had never been good at expressing herself when it came to this kind of stuff. She just hoped Flitter understood and didn't get any of the wrong impressions.[/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]"I was hoping we could... you know... maybe head toward the bedrooms for a bit for some privacy... then I'm sure I can make you feel a little better..."[/colour] [colour=#000000]she added, finishing on an awkward smile.[/colour]

​

[brianblackberry]

[colour=#ff6699]Martini Paradise[/colour]

Martini Paradise smiled widely as she tried to keep herself from laughing out loud upon hearing Pocket Change's explanation about why he found the Wonderbolt's uniforms so alluring; his straight laced exposition only added to the humor for the barmare, it was cute and it helped some he was rather cute too. Martini almost fell to the temptation of looking over the dashing sky blue Wonderbolt stallion standing at the table with a more probing eye, her focus only returning to the white unicorn when he inquired about a drink suggestion, [colour=#ff6699]"oh I have just the thing; something to warm you up on this damp, chilly night!"[/colour]

Martini’s horn glowed in a soft green hue as bottles floated in around her, orbiting slowly around her head as she brought up a mug of hot chocolate; one after another, the bottles tipped over, spilling out a stream of spirits into the dark brew - raspberry liquor, white creme de cacao, a dash of stallionoya, all mixing in a dark swirl into the mug. One last trick, she dabbed a bit of whipped cream on top of the hot mixture, which immediately started melting, and topped that white melting mess with a bit of shaved dark chocolate to cap it off. Finished, Martini placed the drink in front of the white stallion, [colour=#ff6699]"here you go handsome, enjoy!"[/colour] She gave a playful wink.

Speaking of pegasus in uniforms, the one at the bar tossed a flirtatious remark Martini's way. The pink unicorn smiled warmly, such compliments about her appearance were not that uncommon, it was expected really with the nature of her job and all. Sometimes they were considerably cruder than she was comfortable with, and a few could even cross into obscene, but she had ways of dealing with verbal ruffians. Misty Morning’s remark on the otherhoof was quite sweet, abet unexpected from a Wonderbolt. [colour=#ff6699] “Thank you dear, you are quite stunning in that outfit yourself, if you don’t mind me saying, it certainly shows how you have been definitely keeping in shape, don’t you think so, Pocket Change?”[/colour] Martini gave a playful smile in the unicorn stallion’s direction, teasing over his earlier remarks; she was having fun now.

Before Martini could do any more teasing or flirting, she needed to make sure all the customers were taken care of and Wind Rider appeared to have forgotten about the inn's other offer, [colour=#ff6699]"well as I told you all before when you first arrived, you all are welcome to use the rooms in back to rest for the night. It is courtesy of the owner of Ponyland for bravely fighting this awful wild storm , so no need to wear out those tired feathers trying to get all the way back to Hoofington, hon." [/colour] Martini turned around to levitate another mug to the barrel of hard cider, pouring the cool drink to a nice, large frothy head before placing the mug in front of the brown pegasus,[colour=#ff6699]"As for your other question, I am not actually from Canterlot, just fortunate enough to find steady employment here, at least for the time being. I am actually from the Gallopocus Islands, ever heard of them? I’ll tell you more about them when I come back if you like, I just need to refill the mugs of the two googly eyed pegasai at the table first"[/colour].

The pink barmare trotted over to the table with Sorain' and Dash, floating in a soft, green aura, a couple mugs of fresh cider with her. [colour=#ff6699]"Here you go you two, a couple more ciders courtesy of Ponyland and Pocket Change"[/colour]. It didn't take a genius to see there was a level of infatuation between the two, although neither appeared willing to acknowledge that, at least yet. The young mare was the most obvious, hanging on to every word Soarin' said. Martini just gave a playful smirk,[colour=#ff6699] "if you want anything else, more drinks, pie, or a single room for the night, you let me know, okay?" [/colour]

[colour=#cc99ff]Flitter[/colour]

Three mugs of apple cider, that was how much Flitter had so far, at least she thought it was three, perhaps it was four? Not that it mattered, she could handler her cider, she wasn't some egghead that never went out and only drank those fruity juices advertised to foals; no, she was cool!

She was also feeling lonely, not something she was used to lately, and worse Cloudchaser was just a little ways away, which usually made Flitter feel more comfortable but right now her partner was the source of her anxiety. What could be so bad as to hide it from your closest friend?

Flitter's clouded and inebriated mind started to wander into more unlikely but scary possibilities when Cloudchaser finally approached her, as nervous as before. At least the spiky maned pegasus was apologetic, and being very cute about it too, [colour=#cc99ff]"oh hey Cloudchaser…" [/colour] Flitter gave a rather goofy smile and she stood back on all fours, or at least tried to, [colour=#cc99ff]"whoaaaa…"[/colour]. Flitter stumbled and grabbed on to her partner with a hug, partly out of happiness they were talking again, and partially to steady herself.

[colour=#cc99ff]"Sorry about that Cloudy, hon"[/colour]. Flitter gave an awkward smile, embarrassed about her own lack of fortitude and curious about what Cloudchaser would say next, only to be surprised by her bold suggestion! Flitter rubbed her muzzle against Cloudchaser's, [colour=#cc99ff]"ooh, so that is how you want to tell me! You mischievous, sly pony youuuuuu… Did I tell you that you're kyooooot? Well you are!"[/colour] Flitter trotted rather clumsily into the back hall and leaned up against the wall outside of one of the rooms, figuring Cloudchaser must have the actual spot all picked out. The woozy mare tried to toss an alluring, bedroom eyes expression Cloudchaser's way but in reality it looked much more like a goofball, blushed grin, [colour=#cc99ff]"ready when you are…."[/colour].

[tacobob]

The unicorn noticed how Misty Morning was reacting to his short burst of blathering and felt very bad for the mare. A rather lengthy night of interesting company and conversation mixed in with an assortment of beverages and his own weariness had managed to shut down the section of his brain that kept him from saying things that were best left in his head. She apparently was pretending not to have heard what he had said, but considering how red she was getting, the mare probably heard more than enough of his muddled chattering. So he decided to find another topic to chat about. but what would it be about?

Thankfully a subject was tossed at him, "Well, there's a good deal of places to visit here in Canterlot. The castle is always a good place to start. They have guided tours. My sister went to one last year and the group she was in actually got to meet Princess Celestia herself! They were permitted a few questions to ask of her and that was it, but still. If I were there, I would just be standing there, basking in the wonders of her...er..", he was venturing into his previous territory and needed to get somewhere safe. "Er.", he cleared his throat, "Eh- After the castle, there's the usual art and history museums I've always enjoyed going to. There always seems to be something going on in the arena. Be it a concert, Wonderbolts performance or other event of interest. There's also the theater, shopping and other districts of note.", a weary, but friendly smile crossed his face as Martini deposited his final drink of the night on his table. "Yes, it does. I can't wait to try her...er..", it was his turn to blush, "The drink out. Yes, this delicious drink, which I shall drink.". The mug was soon surrounded by an emerald glow as it slowly made its way towards the grateful stallion who gave it a quick taste. "Wonderful! You're a true artist Miss Paradise. My thanks!", the pony looked incredibly pleased as he finished off his nightcap. His ears did perk up a little as she mentioned the 'Gallopocus Islands'. He had not been there himself,but had heard of other's experiences to the tropical islands that were just littered with mountains, outdoor bars and lots of lovely mares. While he looked forward in hearing about the barkeep's homeland, he couldn't help but notice more than a few couples as they glanced towards the hallway that lead to Ponyland's guest rooms and sighed once more.

Oh how he hated to be single!