[Canterlot] Jam And Cream; Some Assembly Required (open)

[CherryRie]

The Jam And Cream

Though from the planes of Equestria, Canterlot appeared to be a mass of elegant stately architecture that seemed to reach the heavens themselves, it was nothing compared to the city that stood just below on the slopes of the Celestial mountain. When the palace had first been constructed it had drawn in hundreds of workers to its steps.

Carpenters, stonemasons, goldsmiths there was no end to the list of professions needed to finish the new home of their sun goddess. Communities had sprung up with a huge excess of talent and how idle hoofs find distraction. Now what had once been a hastily constructed shelter town had long since burst its boundaries and grown into a city worthy of the prestige that surrounded Celestia’s chosen seat of governance. Perhaps some of Celestia’s own grace and majesty had worn off on city itself? For truly there was no place more beautiful in the whole of Equestria.

Within the intricate maze of pristine white paved streets, thousands of businesses dedicated to the finest aspects of equestrian society flourished. Grand temples to industry and commerce dotted the flowing boulevards, broken only by lush gardens and awe inspiring waterfalls. To the north, intimately entwining both Royal palace and civilian splendour stood the towering institutions of Canterlot university, including the prestigious CSGU. Somehow though, the gargantuan structures were not as intimidating as they should have been, designed instead to flow upwards from the city as though inviting all of Equestria to climb their steps and walk the halls of knowledge.

At the far edge of the university campus, a little known cobbled avenue named ‘Cliff Street’ clung precariously to the wall of Whitetail Canyon. Once a cart track up the mountain before the sloped causeway leading to the golden gates had been built, Cliff street was now the hub of student accommodation, peppered as it was with old grey stone buildings making for perfect small flats.

There was one building though that had always stood empty and neglected. Even when the street had been renovated to fit in with the grand facade of the university, no pony had ever touched the old Fire-Barn. Warn by weather and time, the now dejected structure had once stood proudly as the home of Canterlot’s fire ponies, Equestria’s first official emergency service. Though the service had long since moved to a more central location, their old base remained, securely in the heritage of the old fire sergeant ‘Brass Bucket’, passed along his family as a forgotten foot note in history.

Until now, that is. Now its boarded windows had been flung open to the world, dust gradually cascading from every open door way as its new owners swept and cleaned away the collective muck of years. Outside its imposing oak doors a lone cream coated unicorn stood in deep focus, her swirly honey coloured mane washed around by the gentle mountain breeze and a cumbersome mallet levitating by her side.

Maple Scoops bit her lip in concentration, straining as she attempted to nail a sign to the big doors of the old barn. To some the matter may seem trivial, especially for a unicorn of her age, but the mallet she had chosen for the task was proving far too unwieldy. Consequently she had only succeeded in putting several large dints into the ancient oak frame.

Silently the Mare was praying to Celestia that the next strike was true. Tools weren't her strong suit and Maple feared that she would end up putting a hole clean through the irreplaceable wood. Thankfully, a third-time-lucky swing of the wobbly mallet successfully struck the nail on the head. With a satisfied hum, she dropped the heavy impliment and stepped back to admire the advertisment.

Coming Soon!

Mr S. Symphony & Mrs M.Scoops

Present

The JAM and Cream!

Ice cream and Music bar.

Construction help wanted

Joiners, Roofers, Designers

Or just plain extra hooves

Good pay rates

Enquire within.

Still something was bugging her about the sign. Was it crooked? Badly phrased? The wrong shade of pink?

She had around half a second between noticing the hinges and the click of a rusty lock from beyond the oak frame. The smaller interior door swung open, dislodging the advertisement with a definitive ‘CRACK’. Gradually the dishevelled remains of a spring sofa floated out through the open door, bobbing like flotsam in the wake of a boat before settling on the cobbles beyond the threshold. Suppressing a exasperated laugh, Maple carefully lifted up the sign again with her magic, this time hooking it onto a strategic nail embedded in the newly opened doorway.

Oh well, best make do.

“Sweetie?†She shouted into the Firebarn’s musty darkness, “Where did the sofa come from?â€Â

There was a muffled reply from within, contriving to indicate that there was ‘always’ a sofa in such neglected places.

Shaking her head the short pony turned about and looked out over the vista. It was turning out to be another gorgeous morning. With any luck the hired hooves would be showing up soon, along with several friends whose offers of assistance the couple had graciously snapped up, though not without some instance on paying those involved.

For a moment she could almost see where everything would be, the tables spread out admiring the view over city and forest, woven with the smell of hot chocolate and rhythms of that nights featured band. It was going to be wonderful!

...If they could get it patched up first.

With paper work from the council out of the way, all that was left now really was to take stock of jobs and get stuck into the renovations. Stepping back inside Maple went over to a large broom and lifted it with her magics, proceeding to clear the ages of dust from the cobble floor.

OOC: WELCOME one and all to the furture site of the Jam and Cream! This old place is kinda falling to bits, so its going to take a lot of ponies to fix it all up. Please makes sure to check the OOC thread and make any intrest in joining known there first so that we can keep track of all the wonderful ponies who want to lend a hoof! Any mini threads to spawn from this one will be labled [Jam and Cream] and will be linked here for refrence!

OOC Thread

Prologue

[Chonico]

Throughout the beautiful streets of Canterlot, many different ponies were going about their daily business and distractions. Ponies could be seen coming out of shops while other ponies cantered along the streets eager to, but calm about, reaching their unknown but private destinations. It was like any other day in the busy, yet gorgeous city of Canterlot, and anypony that had never spent a day roaming its streets would had, without a second thought, agreed with that statement. However, those ponies that had lived there long enough could tell there was something different in the air, something that seemed to be making its way up the street with a rhythmic canter… An odd metallic jingling sound could be heard getting closer to its yet unknown destination with every step it took.

Klondike, having gotten lost once after making a wrong turn, or so he would tell anypony that asked, had finally found the right street. As he rounded a corner, FINALLY, before him laid Cliff Street filled with its old gray buildings and their academic knowledge seeking tenants. Young pony tenants who undoubtedly sought to further expand their understanding of the universe with its tangible and intangible rules and philosophies in the hopes to better benefit their fellow ponies.

“WOOT! Party at Moon Dancer’s tonight!!†Came a shout from up high as a rather sleep deprived, yet eager looking pony stuck his head out a window on the second floor of a building.

Klondike however, paid no attention to this as he continued his way down the street, his eyes sporting a slight glazed over look as his right ear twitched in sync with the metallic jingles that seemed to follow him. Some ponies on the street stopped for a minute to glance over at this strange pony that seemed to be making quite a rattle as he cantered down the street, wondering why such a pony would be carrying such a heavy looking load. His satchel and hiking-backpack combo, which looked just as big and twice as heavy as its owner, was entirely to blame for the metallic sounds that followed his every hoof step. Klondike however, having long since grown accustomed to the weight and sounds of carrying his tools wherever he went, and although today was three or four times as heavy and as loud as he was accustomed to, showed no signs across his face of being the slight bit bothered by this. In fact, aside from a dumb silly grin, his face showed no signs of anypony being home as his hooves seemed to carry him to a destination that only they knew.

“By Celestia!†Klondike thought to himself, the tone sounding rather eager in his mind. “This is going to be hard work but I can’t wait to get started! A whole restaurant and music lounge for me to help fix up! Or at least I think it was a restaurant, maybe an ice-cream parlor? An ice-cre-rant?... Doesn’t matter, well, it does. But, my shop is finally going to get some outside recognition, oh, but I hope nopony in Ponyville needs my services while I’m gone… Maybe I should have made that “close†sign bigger, hm? Oh, but how could I refuse such an invitation as this! That Mr. Freewings, such a nice pony letting me know about this… Okay, first I need to re-enforce the supports to make sure the building doesn’t fall on anypony and then I need to start replacing old supports, rafters, flooring, walls, plumbing and… and…â€Â

“A lot of kerosene and matches…†He suddenly told himself in a loud surprised tone.

Klondike had finally reached his destination, his long train of thought suddenly becoming derailed at the sight of the building. His eyes did all they could to take in the entirety of the building before him as his face kept its dumb silly grin and his eyebrows seemed unable to decided to stay up or down or simply try to do both at the same time as his expression slowly grew into a mixture joy, horror, excitement, doubt, and confusion with a overwhelming hint of curiosity. Outside the building stood a cream colored unicorn next to an oak framed door sweeping the cobblestone road, most likely the owner of the establishment. But to Klondike, Princess Celestia herself might as well have been standing there and he still would not have noticed.

Not wasting a minute, or a word, Klondike cantered straight ahead towards the unicorn with the broom and simply went past her as he reached down to pick-up a mallet that laid on the floor and stopped for only a second or two to look at the door. To the metallic jingling of his satchel, mallet held in his mouth, he quickly made his way through the open door of the building without so much as a single word leaving his muzzle and went on inside. Once inside the building, his right ear suddenly began to twitch furiously as every creek and squeak from the building reached it, the floorboards being the loudest to complain thanks to the combined weight of Klondike and his satchel. It probably wasn’t helping that he was cantering around the foyer of the place like a foal in a toy shop.

As he cantered around, he mindlessly rotated the handle of the mallet in his mouth as his head shot this way and that as if his eyes seemed to demand he take everything in at once. His twitching right ear too seemed to demand the same as it enlisted the help of the left ear and together seemed ready to help the pony get airborne with their erratic twitching. All the while, not a single word left his muzzle, perhaps because of the mallet’s handle in his mouth, but more likely because of the current onslaught of thoughts racing through his mind. If anypony dared to have read his mind at that moment, they would have been buried in the avalanche of ideas, questions, and run-on sentences that occupied it.

Suddenly, without so much as a blink he stopped dead center in the middle of the room and looked at the wooden plank floor below him. His stare was as intense as his now stone-like right ear, both it and his eyes focusing on the same spot on the floor as if waiting for it to move or speak. The mallet in his mouth seemed to be focused on the same spot as well.

After a few seconds, Klondike while still standing, gently brought his head straight to the ground and laid it there, right ear pressed against the wooden floor as each twitch it gave off sent a small puff of dust into the air.

[Pony_Sage]

Sweet Symphony stretched his neck before a faint grey aura engulphed his horn. A tendril of magic reached out and prodded a ramshackle sofa that was lying in the corner of the secondary office room. He took a deep breath, this was quite a bit larger than his baton. His magic wrapped around the sofa's middle. He heaved with all his might to get the pile of rubbish up off the floor. He was rewarded with the sound of springs and boards creaking as the sofa inched off of the ground. He concentrated and began to float the sofa towards the front doors of the building. The wreck bobbed up and down with each hoof-fall. The next step was going to prove a little more difficult, he had to open up the doors. Another tendril of magic peeled off of the main tendril causing the sofa to sink a little in the air. The new tendril clicked the lock open and pulled the doors inwards. The stray magic rejoined the main body and the sofa was pushed out towards the curb. He heard a soft voice pierces the darkness of the old barn asking where the sofa had come from.

“Don't you know that all abandoned buildings have a broken sofa? It is a law.†He retorted in a dry tone.

Now that his job was done for the moment he figured it would be a good time to pour himself and Maple Scoops a cool glass of Iced Tea. He dusted himself off and trotted over to the main office space that they were using for a temporary house. He found the pitcher and began to pour two glasses. 'This may be a tonne of work, but it feels good to be here. Off of the system as it were. I just hope that our bits don't run out before the job is done. Well at least Maple is still working, that will give us some leeway. I hope she is as happy with this place as I am.' His mind rambled for a few moment. He was just thinking over their situation and how everything was going to turn out.

Hoof beats could be heard and the building protested their intrusion. They could have been anypony but Sweet was expecting them to be his beloved mate's. They were the only ones here after all. He walked out of the main office with the two iced teas in tow. He had a smile on his muzzle as he wove through the corridors that lead to the main meeting area.

“Scoopey, did you get that poster hung? I was hoping that we might get started soon on the renovation. . . .†He said in a cheerful tone before noticing that there was a strange pony leaning his face on their floor with a mallet in his mouth.

Sweet immediately put the two glasses down on the floor, spilling some of their contents. He was not accustomed to having unannounced visitors, nor did he appreciate them rudely entering his now home without so much as an introduction. He was a little perturbed by the intrusion but tried to stay civil.

“And who might you be? You do realize that this is a place of business and not somewhere you can sleep your cider off for the night right? Maybe you could find a nice bench in the park to sleep on? Where did you get that mallet? It seems to be one of ours.†Symphony interrogated the intruding pony. His tone was civil but had a biting edge to it.

[Chonico]

Klondike still had his head on the floor with his right ear twitching every now and then. The noise that had originally caught his attention was still holding on to it and unfortunately, as always seemed to be the case for him, it meant he was not really aware of the inquisitive pony that had found him in his home. He could hear a light creaking noise coming from the floorboards. One floorboard in particular sounded different from the others and that was the one he was focused on at the moment.

“This sounds vaguely familiar…†He thought to himself as the creaking grew louder and more pronounced. The mallet in his mouth mirrored his thoughts as it slightly wiggled this way and that, as if searching for an answer.

Suddenly, the now loud creaking of the floorboard gave way to a resounding *SNAP* and a sudden cloud of dust shot into the air and obscured Klondike from sight. It didn’t take long for it to settle though, and when it did, Klondike lay on the floor with three of his legs sprawled out and his right hind leg missing through a small hole on the floor. There was a slight surprised look on his face which suddenly gave way to a smile as he realized what the noise had been.

“I should had known, the floor in my repair shop made the same noise when I was fixing it and…†His thoughts were interrupted as he suddenly noticed the hooves of a pony standing close to him. Still on the ground and showing no signs of intent to get back up, his eyes moved up towards the face of the pony that was staring at him with an inquisitive and expectant, and perhaps a bit irritated, look.

“Hi! Mame’s Clownb…†Klondike suddenly stopped as his face gave way to a look of realization and he immediately spat out the mallet he had been holding in his mouth. “Why do I always have something in my mouth? And on that note, I should have left my things outside... OH! Sorry, hi, I’m not a clown… My name’s Klondike and I’m a repair pony from Ponyville and don’t worry, I plan to fix these floorboards… and the hole I made.†He paused for a second as he glanced at the mallet he had spat out and then looked back at the pony.

“Did you know somepony savagely attacked your front door with that mallet?†He motioned with his head towards the mallet that lay silently on the floor. “Also…†His right haunch flexed a bit as he moved his missing hind leg. “Did you know you seem to have a basement or cellar of sorts?â€Â