ponyville Happy Derpday! (Open)

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

After putting her hoof on the edge that Rainbow Dash had pointed, Bevel stood calmly for whatever was about to happen. In the span of only a few seconds she was buffeted by powerful gusts of wind. The soot was blown off of her form, revealing the natural coat underneath. Ah, to be uniform (mostly) again! Thanks to the position she had relative to her airborne friend, her curly mane was now appearing to be blowing off to the side. With large, curious eyes Bevel reached up and poked the side of her mane experimentally. A few more prods later she began to giggled giddily, then turned right back to Dash. 

"Charmant! Charman-- oh! Merci. That means lovely: It's lovely!" She chuckled warmly  before rearing up and resting her back on the console behind her, "So! What's this big surprise zen?! I can't very well help on somezing I don't know much about, Manquer Dash!"

 

 

 

 

[Zeig]

 

Oh-ho-ho, wouldn't she like to know.

 

"Trouble, please," Inkbrand drawled, one hoof gesturing wildly through the air in a dismissive gesture, "I'm a veritable saint. Rescuing little foals from evil warlocks trying to turn them all into frogs, and all that jazz," the grey Earth Pony leered, though his tone remained genial and teasing. The entire incident wasn't exactly old news yet, but it had become far enough removed for the stallion to think back on it with incredulous laughter and mirth, a funny story to be told instead of a serious conundrum to be dealt with. Only in some cases did his easy-going nature stutter and falter - with ponies like Rainbow Dash, for instance, ponies he couldn't get a read on over the entire thing. 

 

But with characters like Fire Walker, here? So long as she wasn't claiming him to be in league with Wicked Caster anymore, he was a-okay with it.

 

...Or even if she did, it was still fun to tease her.

 

Wasn't fair to tease only the red mare though, and with a quick wink Inkbrand turned his attention back onto the other three mares in his general vicinity, still leaning his elbows on the inflated windowsill of the bounce castle and looking for all the world like a neighbor simply greeting passer-bys. Twilight Sparkle was hanging around being Twilight Sparkle, and Applejack's comment about having mares on his head caused his leer to stretch into a smirk positively brimming with self-satisfaction...though it hardened a bit as the pale yellow Pegasus seemed to almost shrink into herself, blushing and stammering her way through an introduction. He had never held much esteem for the painfully shy types - too much bucking work, trying to get more than a bucking syllable out of them at one time - though in this case, the mare was actually capable of holding a conversation, instead of simply standing there being awkward and quiet. 

 

Thank buck for small favors.   

 

Her comment was also enough to figuratively perk up Inkbrand's ears, Applejack's inquiry forgotten in favor of some good 'ol fashioned ribbing. "That's right - name's Inkbrand, best bucking Tattoo Artist in Equestria," Inkbrand extrapolated, one eyebrow raising slightly. "Apples talks about me often, huh," the tattooed-covered stallion inferred, golden eyes dancing from one mare towards the other, before he leaned further out of the windowsill, attempting to shove his face into Fluttershy's personal bubble as far as he was able. "Go on, babe, tell me," Inkbrand cajoled, voice lowering to a mock-whisper as if he were actually attempting to speak stealthily, "what does she say about me? How amazingly hot I am? That my hooves are magic? All of the above?" the grey stallion guessed, flirtatious tone low and filled with mirth, though Inkbrand let off after that, returning to relaxing against the windowsill. 

 

"It was all of the above, wasn't it Apples," Inkbrand hazarded, grin stretching into something a bit more genuine as lazily regarded the orange Earth Pony. "Oh, you know," the stallion said, with another vague hoof wave through the air that probably symbolized 'same old, same old.' "Was actually planning on taking a day for myself today, but...'ya know." The tattoo-clad stallion tossed his head over one shoulder, where the shouts of one hyperactive pink mare could be heard reverberating through the bounce house. "I can never say no to a P-squared party." 

 

[Bellosh]

 

As fun as bounce houses are, there was so much more for Derpy Hooves to do besides staying inside reading inflatable books. This was a humongous birthday carnival.... err, birthday party, and that meant more nooks and crannies to discover! Making haste, the googly eyed pegasus bounced her way outside, but not without having a little bit of fun with her exit. Those ponies who were outside conversing with one another (one of them being the tattooed scoundrel from before) would have all heard a "WOO-HOO!" as Derpy landed outside with a near-perfect somersault! Heh heh, it looked like all that cannonballing into lakes finally paid off.

"Hey guys!" asked the birthday mare; "You know what carnival games Pinkie Pie managed to wrangle up today?"

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Pinkie bounded out of the bounce house after Derpy. She smiled a huge smile and started to bounce her way towards the carnival!

 

"What do I have in store for you? Oh just wait and see!"

 

She motioned for everypony to follow her. There were lots of games set up and tons of prizes. Pinkie had managed to get a carnival up and running and mostly on magical energy! The booths and games ran perfectly but nopony had to run them! It was the perfect place to have fun and party!

 

Rainbow smiled and nudged her new friend Bevel. 

 

"Come on! Let's go check out those awesome games!"

[SteelEagle]

Applejack waved it off with a smile. "She'll be fine. She's a toughie! One time she was tryin' ta save Celestia from some Changelings here in town and she got blasted by a big beam. Broke a lot of things in that brave little body of her, but was up and buckin' about tha Orchards two weeks later!" She said, always proud of her little sister. She really was a wonder!
Twilight was having a good time here and it was always nice to see her. Applejack's memory was jogged by a recent idea she had, though, one that would help them both out. Not that long ago they had discussed some sort of experiment Twilight wanted to run at the farms with her trees and apples. If it worked, not only would her scientifically inclined friend get the data she so richly wanted but Applejack hoped her yield would improve. Momentarily looking away, she engaged with Twilight quickly. "Hey Twi! Ah was thinkin' we could do that little experiment of yours next week, if you have tha time. How's Wednesday?" She asked, eagerly waiting for her friend's critical reply.

 

While she was waiting for that, Fluttershy found herself drawn into the magnetic arc of Inkbrand's vibrant and dangerous charm. Oh, what he was implying and saying was so funny, but also sort of charming in its own silly way. He certainly had a high opinion of himself or he masked it with good humor. He came in close and she wanted to shy away, but shying away was something she was trying really stop from doing today since it was a birthday and all. She needed to be more sociable, said Rarity. "Oh, Applejack said that you're really good with foals and when you finally settle down with somepony, you'll make a great papa," she said optimistically. It was hard for her to see it. Then again, she hadn't been a foal under his guardianship like Applejack had been.

 

At this moment, both mares saw Pinkie leading the way. "Hehe, sounds like a plan, Pinkie!" Applejack said as she started to trot along with her more excitable friend, Fluttershy still entangled in conversation with Inkbrand.

[Zeig]

 

...Well that was unexpected. 

 

And...annoyingly heartwarming. 

 

Inkbrand was only vaguely aware of the ponies as they meandered and somersaulted in equal measure out of the bounce house, just as he was vaguely aware he was staring at the yellow Pegasus in silence for far too long to be comfortable. And not even in his usual predatory manner, no, he was just...stunned into silence. 

 

Because yeah, he he'd absolutely kicked flank at the whole parenting thing, if he did say so himself...despite feeling completely in over his head at the time. Plus, he and Apples had never actually talked about it, what with the orange mare needing to make up for lost months and getting her life back on track, so he'd never actually been one-hundred percent sure what Applejack actually remembered about the whole incident. But even with that, he'd always viewed it as him handling a situation with bucking aplomb, taking care of business like a bad flank, not...being a dad. The idea was so foreign to him that it was literally making the grey stallion's skin crawl.  

 

Seriously. Him, a daddy stallion? 

 

Oh sure, maybe in the future, he'd get the urge to pass on his genes and smile proudly at a little herd of miniature Inkbrands running around causing rot and being general pains in the flank for an entire town, sure...but in the prime of his life, while he was pretty much still roaming around Equestria?

 

May as well paint the sky pink and rain chocolate milk down from the skies.

 

"...What can I say," Inkbrand said after that long moment passed, shrugging nonchalantly as he ran one hoof through his bangs, "I'm a stallion of many talents, and equally amazing in all of them." The cocky grin on his face didn't disappear, but the tattoo-clad stallion turned his face away as he hopped out of the window, taking a brief moment to get over himself before tossing his head towards Fluttershy, assuming the pale yellow Pegasus would follow as he trot after the others.

 

Because there was a P-squared party to attend to, which required maximum attention spans.

 

"Holy - what the buck," the grey stallion blurted for what felt like the fifth time since he'd arrived on this scene...and each time was equally warranted, in his oh so humble opinion, because what the buck. "You can't tell me you actually needed help with that bounce house," Inkbrand said, equal parts awe and accusatory. Because unless she'd had a veritable army available to set all this up, no way did a measly little bounce house stall her.

 

No matter how many floors it actually had.

 

[tacobob]

 

 

 

 

“Erm.” for just a moment, Fire Walker was utterly bamboozled. What the heck did he mean about that? Then it struck her. When she and some other ponies had been magically transported into children, the filly version of her herself accused Inkbrand of being part of the 'gang' that turned the adults all into colts and fillies. He looked so guilty, being the only adult in the crowd. Why was that again? Memories of the whole incident felt like a dream to her. She was starting to forget the whole experience. There were also frogs. Tons of frogs. What was going on with the frogs? Had she accused Inkbrand of helping his 'master' turn ponies into frogs as well? Sweet Celestia! It was bad enough having to deal with the 'morning after' when it came to her late night bar crawls, but now she had to deal with crazy magic memories as well.

 

"Yeah Inkbrand, you're a real hero.", the mare said with a wink. "They should build a..." Someone or something was tugging at her leg. Who was it?  She could only hear a miserable groan, followed by, "Sis...I don't feel so good."

 

Wind Walker had a slight green tint to her blue coat. "I ate too much candy.", she moaned, "And I got sick on the bounce thing trying to catch Pinkie Pie." The small Pegasus pony looked like she was about to explode. "Can you take me home?" The filly slowly made her way onto the back of her older sister's back, "Please don't run. Just walk...please."

 

After letting out a sigh, the red mare glanced at the ponies who were near, "Guess I better get going. Cheers all, and wish the birthday girl well for me." After making sure her sister was well secure, the pair hit the road!

 

 

 

* Exit Fire & Wind Walker *

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Zeig]

 

Mm...nope, nope. Still refused to believe that Pinkie Pie actually needed any help whatsoever with any party-related shenanigans. 

 

Because it was becoming increasingly clear to the grey stallion that he was going to be spending a lot more time at this party than he'd initially thought. Oh sure, of course he'd come prepared to rock out at a P-squared party, and that in itself had taken a half day of starving himself in preparation, plus a clearing of his tattooing schedule for at least two days afterwards. Pinkie Pie parties were a serious business, alright - a stallion didn't just show up out of the blue and expect to handle the insanity without doing a little prep work. 

 

But with the sheer amount of spectacle laid out in front of his eyes, well...Inkbrand had a sneaking feeling he would need to clear up at least three days following the party. And probably, find a kennel to house Chime for the time being.

 

"'Course I am," Inkbrand said agreeably in response to Fire Walker's completely sincere, he was sure, assessment of himself, "but even heroes need time to get their schedules straight. Save a dance for me sweetheart, yeah?" the grey stallion mumbled in aside to the yellow Pegasus, before turning around and trotting off at a brisk pace, golden eyes trained intently on the direction of his home.

 

The hardest part would be getting Chime into a carrying crate...that should take a couple hours. Afterwards should be smooth sailing and Pinkie Pie parties all night long!

 

[[ Exit ]]