Snowshoe

[sorry for the long delays, keep forgetting about this, I rarely RP in the Strand.] Timbre nodded, smiling at Freeflight. "Merci, mais non merci. I like being...'ow you say...freelance?" he ventured, still not the best when it came to Equestrian. Figuring it had it right, he continued speaking. "I 'ave my fans, and I love zem. Don't like zee idea of 'aving somepony, or griffon, telling me 'ow and where to play, you understand," he continued. "No offence," he added quickly, with a warm laugh. "Mais oui, not a lot of swing zese days. Not many like it, but uh...I think I can get people to dance." He extended his own right hoof and placed the bottom of it against the palm of Freeflight's talons. "It 'as been a pleasure to meet you, Monsieur Freeflight."

Got two: Mark Mancia, who did Twister, Sahara, and a good number of movies. The first song to play in Twister is my favourite short movie track of all time. It fits the scene perfect, because it's just...it's amazing. It shows a long shot of Kansas in mid-summer, with a perfect blue sky, the rolling fields, and the song just expertly conveys that sense of a beautiful summer day. It also serves as the basis for most of the soundtrack (One song, "Going Green", uses it again, among others, like the end theme, "Respect the Wind"). And Michael Giacchino, who's credits include Ratatouille, Up, and the newest Star Trek. I especially love the soundtrack for Ratatouille, mostly because I love Pixar, which manages to blend music, storytelling, and animation into one beautiful package. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XceZV8bRGy8

I might be interested. I want to get more RPs in with Dapper Dan, who might join this just because he wants a bit of adventure, or Rain Maker, who's always looking for inspiration.

I actually just checked this thread and noticed my name Also Xiee's been away for the last two weeks, just got back yesterday. As for you, what was your idea?

I don't have a funky posting schedule in that I have no schedule, that is. As for Xiee, he lives over in the Philippines, IIRC (definitely somewhere in Southeast Asia), which means he's pretty much exactly twelve hours off my time zone (Eastern DST), so his posts usually come late in the night.

Timbre Swing chuckled a bit when he noticed her starting to to doze off. She seemed barely able to keep her head up and her eyes open, in fact, she practically fell asleep midsentence. It was all quite amusing...until she actually did fall asleep, midsentence. Timbre laughed softly. "You zere, keep 'er company," he asked of the mare that was still wearing his hat. "I will be back." She nodded and sat at the stone fountain, while Timbre walked over to a small store, a little 24/7 stop-and-shop for those on the late shift. He walked in, and came out with two coffee's levitating next to him. Nothing fancy, but he didn't know this area of town too well, and didn't exactly know any place to get a mocha-frappe-whatever. Not to mention, he actually liked just basic coffee. "Merci," he said to the mare, sitting next to Sapphire Shores. He waved the coffee playfully back and forth underneath her nose, while sipping at his own. "Allez, on reveille. Not zat late...and I cannot carry you 'ome," he added with a chuckle.

Personal assistant. Muggo' Ale couldn't help but grin at that. Yeah, he could do with that title for now...and he would probably rib Blueblood about it when he thought he could get away with it (without offending him, of course). He took in the scene ahead of him, a mess of ponies and contraptions that he had no clue of even half their functions. Given enough time Muggo' could probably figure it all out, but for now he was content to watch the crew move about. They ran like a well-oiled machine, calling out to each other and getting the ship ready to fly. He felt the gentle movement as they started to clear the pier, and heard what probably rated as one of his favourite sounds, and a familiar one at that: the familiar ratcheting, then "ding", of a ship's engine telegraph. He'd heard a few, going to hang out on the docks every now and again when he was younger, and even convincing a family friend to let him stay on the bridge of a ship while said friend piloted them out of the harbour. And just like that, they were away, Canterlot slowly slipping away. The Cupid was remarkably stable, and one of the smoothest rides Muggo' Ale had ever experienced. He wore a permanent grin the entire time, partly from his heritage. His grandfather had been a mariner from Hoofington before moving to Fillydelphia and opening the bar, and that Hoofington mariner's blood still ran through Muggo's veins. As such, he felt rather comfortable aboard the ship. "Beautiful," he said simply, rather quietly so as to not bother the crew (he wasn't quite sure why exactly he did it, he just instinctively spoke quietly at that moment). It had been, and so far, everything about this ship was exceeding his expectations even with her impressive reputation. "She's quite the ship, that's for sure," he added with a self-affirming nod. He quieted down after that though, knowing that he was on the lowest rung of this here ladder. Blueblood was obviously at the top, followed by the Captain, the crew, and his companions. Unimportant, in a word. Just the way he liked it, actually. He liked to be the centre of attention if he was entertaining at the bar or telling a story or something of that sort, but in this place, accompanied by a Prince (or Duke, if he recalled everything correctly, it was hard for him to remember), and the other important fancy pants folks around the ship, a ship he couldn't afford passage on even if he had a year of impossibly good sales at the bar. He looked at his other companions, then at Blueblood and the Captain, waiting for a cue. [Dem references ]

Here, have a cheerier Metro song:

Metro 2033's soundtrack. Every song sets the scene perfectly. Just listen to this stuff, it's beautiful. I don't even need to tell you what the level Ghost Tunnel is about, and you can already probably get an accurate guess JUST off the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX4Bm_nXy_Q

Muggo' Ale, busy tying himself to the cart for their great escape, had no clue what was going on for a while...until he realized nopony was coming toward him. He was alone for the time being. He let out a whistle. "Where y'at, b'y?" he called out to nopony in particular. No response. He grumbled and started to unhook himself from his harness just as a diamond dog broke off to come at him. He was blindsided and hit hard in the side. "Oof!" Getting back up off the ground he dove at the diamond dog, tussling and wrestling with the mangy mutt in the dirt for a bit until Muggo' managed to gain the upper hoof (and knock him a bit silly with a rock). That's when he heard the words retreat. Retreat where? "What's goin' on?" he shouted over the din, grabbing the diamond dog's spear and using the haft to beat back a griffon that was coming at the group from behind. He trotted over, taking up position near Dunder and Midnight. "What happened to the plan? Retreat where?" he asked.

"Highlights and curls. You got it." Dapper Dan started gathering what he would need to work on the mare's mane. Colouring was something he wasn't totally familiar with but had done on occasion. "That's a great idea, Candy. I sure as can be don't know what's out there. Be good for the newer townsponies like me," he said with a smile as he got to work with Apple Cinnamon's mane. "And even if they are, Miss LaMare, I'm sure Candy's used to it. After all, it's her job. She'll be able to keep the townsfolk safe from the critters...right?" he said with a bit of a nervous chuckle, not wanting anything dangerous running amok.

Timbre Swing nodded, looking at the logo on the hoodie. Di-Mond-Fella. Odd sounding name for a record, or well, any company, name. Still, the griffon was proud so the Fancy unicorn held his tongue. "Sounds like you 'ave it raz'er easy, mon ami. At least for uh...today. I know 'ow 'ard it can be to write la musique." He chuckled a bit afterwards. He wrote a few of his own songs...he'd even challenged himself to write a few in Equestria to practice at the language. "Moi? I am going on zee stage, yes. I am a swing musician...Not very well known...but uh, c'est la vie. Zat's life. I manage. I was...uh, 'oping zis concert 'elps get my name out zere, you know?"

"Pfft!" Kaskazini burst out laughing when the pegasus mare nearby started talking in rather verbose sentences (or as she herself would say, sesquipedalian loquaciousness). It was quite amusing to see how surprised she was by her new vocabulary. Maybe it was a zebra thing, but while everypony was freaking out over the effects of the poison joke (save for maybe Cloudchaser and the older pony, Mr. Waddle), Kas was highly amused by the whole thing, from his rapidly changing stripes (that were now bands of red, white, and blue), to the overly loud volume of the one pony. It was all quite fun. They must have been quite a sight: a technicolour zebra, a constantly shouting pony, one who had suddenly decided to use a thesaurus for every word, a dragon, and now, the one salespony had tiny wings. A green pegasus claimed to have knowledge of a cure for this. Kas grinned and trotted over to the sorta-alicorn Flim (while making sure to keep away from the very angry, very dragon-y Flam), chuckling a bit. Hic! His stripes each became literal rainbows, each one. "Well now, dis be a tiny bit of a problem, yeah? Funny as can be, though," he admitted with a chuckle. Lowering his voice so nopony around could hear him, he leaned a bit closer. "How many bits ta part ya of da recipe, my good friend?" he asked with a smile. "I t'ink I can come up wit' some fun uses for dis. Harmless pranks, seen?"

Timbre Swing watched with amusement as she was mobbed by the crowd, excited to get her autograph. He even couldn't help but laugh at her having to sign somepony's cutie mark. That had been rather funny, and probably rather awkward for the musician. "Ah, oui. If anypony asks, I will say it was zee flagpole," he teased. Despite getting stuck it had been rather impressive. He sat on the edge of the fountain while she spoke, nodding. "Zat is true," he agreed. Music was always better when there was a bit of a show to go with it, though maybe he was a bit biased by being a fan of energetic, expressive shows while he performed. "Oui! When I, uh...preform, I make sure to always be, uh...plein d'energie. Full energy," he explained, smiling. "I 'ave never liked just sitting around. I 'ave to get up, move, and get l'audience dancing too," he continued. It was just part of who he was as a performer. He liked to make ponies smile, and be happy, like the mare standing not too far away with his hat still on her head.

"Nice to meet you, Pocket Change. A wandering archaeologist...now those are two words I wouldn't expect to hear together. Don't you folks usually work for a school or something?" he asked. He was always under the impression that would be one of the steadier jobs available. The other group seemed to be moving over to a table, and Wind Rider couldn't help but chuckle when Rainbow Dash placed a rather brusque order. Kinda funny to watch. The brown pegasus looked back at the bartender and smiled. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss...er, Martini." He couldn't help but blush a bit at the compliments and chuckled. "Hey, I wasn't planning on sitting in isolation. And you can just call me Wind," he added with a smile. "Well, to answer your question, best as I know, is that she's the only pegasus to preform a trick called the Sonic Rainboom. It's a big deal, among the winged ones like us," he said with a chuckle. He shrugged. "I read about it in the paper, 'bout a flying competition a little ways back," he added. Wind looked back at the others at the table. "Kinda feeling a bit starstruck right now, if I do say so myself." When he'd taken off earlier that day, he wasn't expecting to meet two of Equestria's better flyers in the same room, at the same time. It was quite the experience.

Timbre Swing downed what was left of the drink and set the glass back down on the refreshment table. The crowd of mingling musicians was starting to grow, and it was time to, well, mingle. See what he could see, talk to who he could. Maybe there'd be a mare he could flirt with. The muted-green unicorn trotted out into the crowd to see what was going on. A griffon of some type was walking about, two ponies off to one side were having a conversation, and members of a band were split up, milling about in their own way. The griffon caught TImbre's eye, just as something interesting, so he walked over. "Zat's quite zee necklace, mon ami," the fancy musician said with a chuckle. A little over the top, but still fairly interesting. "You are a...uh, performer, for zis? What is it zat you do?" he asked. He was curious to see what kind of music he would be putting his swing jazz up against.

Naw. These are facetious exaggerations of common tropes used in character creations, particularly Mary Sues. You know, the whole "I'm a unicorn who's stronger than Celestia with a perfect raven-coloured mane and ice blue eyes and both my parents are dead" etc. They're not official, just jokes.

Muggo' Ale shrugged. "I didn't even know about it until me father passed it to me. Apparently it belonged to me grandfather, from when he worked in the REA. I'm bringin' it along more for the utility o' the thin'. Can use it to cut through the brush an' the like," he pointed out. He put the gear away when the message came to them about the cast-off from the bridge. Brilliant! Muggo' had been planning on watching from the rail, but this was even better. "B'y, I'm quite a few years yer senior. Not enough that I'm too old to raise a family o' me own, but definitely not a young stallion like ya," he pointed out. The steward came in to get them up and going to Blueblood's cabin, where they'd meet up with the Prince before heading to the bridge. "Lead the way," he said. As of now, technically, his friends were the superior officers to him. He supposed he had some use as an incognito kind of character, not wearing the shiny and clinking armour of an REA agent, but when it came to security he wasn't much. Then again, he hoped security wasn't required. "This is quite excitin'," he commented as they moved to meet their employer. "Never seen an airship cast off. Plenty o' ships, none that sailed the clouds though."

Dapper Dan couldn't help but blush a little and laugh. "Well, thanks," he said when she said he wasn't boring, still trying to hold eye contact with her. It wasn't something he did often, but was finding it a little easier here. "And thanks, I'm having a great time, too. And you are definitely a better dancer than I am, that's for sure," he said with a laugh. He was quiet for a bit, just standing there looking back at the young mare, then smiled and chuckled a bit. "Sorry, I'm terrible at talking to folks," he apologized. After a moment, something did hit him, something he was curious about. "So, Haymaker...how does a beautiful young mare like you get a boxing glove as a cutie mark, when you're also quite good at dancing and playing the fiddle?" he was curious, and not being judgmental about her talent. To each their own, of course.

Dapper Dan got his gear ready to go, levitating a comb over while his newest customer settled herself into the chair. "So, just like Miss LaMare here? Or have you got something else in mind?" he asked Apple Cinnamon, wanting to make sure he got everything right before he got right to work. He grinned at the reference to other dances in the town. The hoedown had definitely been interesting enough, now he'd have to see what the others were all about. "That, Sheriff, sounds like a great idea. I'm not usually busy so whenever you want to go, just drop on by and knock. I'll probably be here," he explained with a bit of a nod, more to himself than anything else. Unless it was a trip back home for more supplies, he was usually hanging around the shop, or somewhere in Appleoosa.

And now you know why Airplane! is one of my all time favourite films

1. Unless it's a drinking problem like .2. I dunno, some blind characters might be played rather well. Also no contributions to this list. Y'all's good so far.

Timbre Swing was already hanging around the musician's only area at the back. A couple recent stunts had put him in the public eye (such as an impromptu duet with the very famous Sapphire Shores in the middle of a Canterlot park one evening, which caught the eye of a reporter in the audience), and he didn't really want to get mobbed by a suddenly inflated fanbase. It wasn't that he didn't like fans, it's just he didn't want to distract anypony from the acts ahead of him. He had time to wait, and watch the stage from the wings. The first act appeared to be a multi-pony band...that was missing some members. A great start. Timbre was ready. Stage fright never really existed for him. His contrebasse was setup next to the stairs onto the stage, his black fedora sat firmly on his head, and a Black Stallian, his usual pre-show companion (not because he liked to go on stage inebriated, but because it had started as a little tradition and now he'd kept it) floated in a small glass next to him. He wasn't quite sure if Manehattan was ready for a swing musician yet, but he hoped they were, because he was ready to go, and get the crowd up and on their hooves, dancing. Hopefully. That was the plan, at least. He sipped his drink and watched the other musicians milling about the back, just casually taking in the sights.

Dapper Dan smiled, happy to meet somepony else just as new to the area as he was. He thanked the Sheriff when he was paid, noting (quietly) the generous tip added on. He smiled while Miss LaMare tossed up the idea about going shopping, and went over to the tiny counter and cash register at the back of the shop to put the money away. He then got to work with a broom, sweeping away the bits of mane and sticking them in a bag, that he placed in the back. He brought it with him to Fillydelphia whenever he went back home, where wig-makers would buy it for use. He trotted back to the front, adjusting his glasses with a bit of magic as he walked. "Whenever you're ready, Miss Cinnamon," he said pleasantly, motioning to the chair and smiling again. It was quite the busy day, and that made him rather happy.