SunsetSombra

also, do you want me to change that computer stuff then?

As Tales mentioned, there really isn't much room for computers until we see them regularly as a non gag prop in the show - Vinyls isn't specifically run by them in board canon and is mostly manipulating via a simple set of unicorn-magic powered tables and speakers, and actually has not so much as a whiff of a computerised element.

However, it does seem like you've actually already fixed that one thing somewhat - and since the parental issue on it's own isn't really a LARGE enough one to hold up a stamp, I'm gonna give one and see where the application goes from here. Here's hoping all goes well!

" You're right, Miss Ivy - I'm not 'on' the setlist... " Vinyl says with a devious chuckle as she takes a moment to just savour the electric feeling backstage...the sensation of anticipation for the next act always gave Vinyl energised vibes, and she embraced it fully - even when she wasn't the one playing.

Telekinetically opening her saddlebag on her back, She presents a small VIP Pass, chuckling slightly as she does so. " But I did pay for admission...may not have been cheap, but it was pretty worth it! " Vinyl says, floating the pass back into her backpack and sealing it once again before running a hoof through her mane.

" I sorta come out to a few shows a night as a guest, or jus' to check out what's goin' on with the local scenes - I usually try t'give a good word for ponies on my own time if possible...heck, I've had some acts appear on my own sets t'impress the crowds now and then. "

Noticing the blush appear on the flattered ponies cheeks, she decides that perhaps they should go take a little time to blow some steam down by the dance floor an' perhaps grab a few drinks. " Why don't we go hit ground zero an' hit the VIP booth for a bit? ...You look like you could really use a l'il time off your hooves! "

The Unicorn mare snicker slightly, flicking her tail slightly as she leads the way back towards the dancefloor area - the next act was already arriving and preparing to set up for their own set, and Vinyl planned on being just as ready to enjoy the rest of the night as simply a guest...althought that was likely to be a hard task, given that something about Ivy told her that there was a hint of respectful admiration hiding behind those sleek crimson shades she wore.

"'Ey Purple, I'm gonna go an' see if thay need mah help. Big Mac, go 'head and tell her all yer fancy stories! How'bout that one time ya almost married Cheerilee, eh?"

Macintosh froze when he found himself being quite blatantly being redirected into the attentions of young purple, who seemed to be eagerly looking at him with pleading eyes...he clears his throat slightly, making to call back the rampant scamp of a filly but feeling the will to go through with that fizzle out into a hesitant sigh of reluctant acceptance of the fact that he'd just been outpaced by the small bolt of trouble that was Applebloom.

Ugh - this was gonna all end in a mess...he just knew it.

He looks back to the wide-eyed curious purple and gave a weak attempt at an uncertain smile...the idea that Applebloom had mentioned that particular topic didn't exactly make the red stallion all that sure on just what he was supposed to say or even do to make that story suitable for a fillys ears.

" Well...ah...uhh... " Mac stammers a little, trying to back up but feeling a little foolish about doing so - he scrambled mentally for things that he could possibly use to diffuse the situation and get away from her surprisingly intimidating cuteness, but there didn't seem to be much point in trying - the filly seemed to have him quite firmly at a situational disadvantage with her curious expression, being situated directly in front of him thanks to his crafty younger sisters escape plan.

" Ah swear, 'Bloom... " he mutters, breathing out a soft sigh of annoyance. " Ah'll get ya back for this'un if it takes me all year! "

Vinyl had been watching her with much interest as the mare continued her show - she hadn't been noticed initially, and this gave her a good chance to just observe unhindered, getting to know a little about how she generated her unique sounds, and the level of energy put into her performance...and from what Vinyl could immediately tell, she was going all out. Of course, as a Unicorn herself, she could sense the sheer output being placed into her setup - and there was also a sense of slow gradual draining as small mistakes and miscues that only a likeminded professional such as Vinyl could pick up on appeared.

Eventually, the show came to a stop - Vinyl resisted the urge to hoofstomp her praise, deciding instead to simply wait for the pony to make her way out of the booth...pondering just who this newcomer to the scene was, and just what her little technique was.

She paused, brushing her mane with a hoof to lamely attempt to obscure her identity as her 'target' walked by - taken aback when asked the question.

"Are you up next?"

that wasn't immediately something Vinyl had expected from the female, and she chuckles softly - lowering her hoof and revealing herself a little more clearly before she answered the question honestly. " Going on right after an act like that? Heh...I think the Crowd need a GOOD break before they see me up there! "

It was true - the sounds of the crowd gave away quite the story, as calls for 'more' and 'encore' rang out loudly from the dance floor.

nudging the shades on her own muzzle, her coy trademark smile adorns her features again as she speaks to the mare once more.

" You got some fun l'il tricks there - never heard anythin' like that before, an' that makes me interested...what's ya name, hun? "

She was genuinely interested to know, too...this Unicorn had shown a rare talent and an even rarer instrumental sound - both of which, Vinyl truly found fascinating.

Well, this was certainly an interesting little track - Vinyl found herself rubbing under her muzzle as the slow piano build swelled over the crowd, and a more relaxed feeling swept through...ponies were chilling a little more, hanging back at the bar and taking some time to recover from the prior fast paced moment.

The mare behind the decks was definitely growing more interesting...Vinyl had an ear for the interesting, {it's what had gotten her to this point afterall}, and the sounds and synths being played were fresh and exciting - they weren't the bogstandard sounds that she'd heard at medium grade shows so often, and this piqued her curiosity. Who was this interesting mare, and just what was it that made her music sound so much more than she'd simply expected beforehand?

The mood changed again as the crowd was immediately taken into the new sounds washing over them, giving the white unicorn a very interested smile...they were eating it up and loving every second of it...the entire eclectic ambiance was certainly bringing across a feeling that this pony was dedicated to her craft.

" I gotta meet this gal! " Vinyl finally muttered aloud to herself...the curiosity burning within her as she leaves the sanctity of the VIP Booth to head on out to the dancefloor, giving polite acknowledgements and autographs to a few ponies on the way through to the backstage door. She'd find her way to the stage and see if she couldn't get a little closeup of this mare, and see just what it was that made her tick - it wouldn't do to interrupt her act of course, but she would easily wait for a brief intermission to check out just what was going on...whatever magic this mare was using, Vinyl was impressed with just how well she was handling it!

Vinyl couldn't help but find herself amused by the following moments of her entering the store...

She smiled to the polite pony who had allowed her to step ahead - she had been brought up by classical parents, and her manners were always on call if she wasn't around the fans or in a show...life was too short to simply treat everyone as if they knew who she was. " Thanks, have a good day, eh? "

A polite close to their brief encounter was all she needed to do, before she moved onwards...

"You... you... Your Vinyl Scratch!"

Vinyl paused, the familiar call of a fan causing her to perk up her ears as she looked over at the fan, even now scrambling to get a better look.

Perhaps this l'il shop wasn't going to be devoid of anything interesting afterall!

" Sweet Celestia... I have all your albums to date! Oh wow, who'd ever thought I'd ever meet ya in the flesh!"

No matter how many times the mare heard that same phrase, or it's many variations, she couldn't help herself from smiling - yeah, her music was certainly reaching more ponies than she could have ever hoped for when she'd been starting out...and she was just about to give the pony a l'il piece of thanks, when the store owner looked at the other pony, stomping his hoof loudly and trying to stop the poor kid from getting too out of control.

Had this been any other celebrity, she would obviously have seen this as a good thing...however, vinyl also knew when a fan simply wanted a chance to talk.

" S'okay, shopkeep...you can chill! " She says with a small smirk on her features. " He ain't botherin' yet - kid just wants a quick auto' and a chat. "

She didn't want to appear like one of those stuffy private celebrity ponies...she hated that, and did everything she could to be an approachable mare for all!

Vinyl wasn't a mare to hang out around back - she loved to get into the pulsing rhythm of the crowd, listening to their roars of appreciation for the artists and ponies on stage doing their thing. She didn't care if it wasn't herself playing, that was never her thing...she loved to just be a part of shows, listening to the glorious beats and the intense music being played by those who were capable and willing to throw down their audio gauntlets for everyponies enjoyment.

The previous act had finished up, and the room was still buzzing in anticipation - Vinyl grins as she watched from her own location, a small open VIP booth on the club floor...there wasn't even any sense of security guarding it, as per her own request...she was quite capable of keeping ponies she didn't feel like dealing with out of her hair, but never turned away anypony without a good reason - for the most part, she actually quite enjoyed sharing time with clubgoing ponies, and talking about not just their musical interests, but the pony themselves. She loved to talk to audiences, and at an event where she wasn't in heavy demand like she normally would, she was renowned for dancing it up with the rest of the attendees...and tonights acts had all been extremely fun listening, which was always a bonus.

A small bustle of activity up on the stage alerted the white unicorn mare to what was going on - and then a rather delicious beat started ringing out, attracting the attention of every colt and mare in attendance...heads bobbing in unison as the next act begins. Vinyl smiled, her eyes watching behind her purple shades as she tapped a hoof on the ground in time to the sound - catchy bassline, she thought to herself, before finding herself under audio assault from the full flow!

What came next was quite an intense mix of music and beats...Vinyls eyebrow raised slightly, her smile only brightening as she found herself attempting to get a feel for the flow of the track, along with perhaps gaining a rough idea as to just what kind of creative strokes this rather intriguing track was carrying.

" Not bad at all...! " She comments to herself, chuckling softly as she watches the crowds - what she was hearing was quite a unique little piece so far.

" I might jus' have to talk to this one - if this is jus' an opening number, then there's a morere interestin' night ahead than I thought! "

everything seemed to be going smoothly at least - Big Mac was thankful for the small mercies, since one never knew when something potentially might just go entirely wrong and cause problems down along the road. A project like a barn reconstruction invited many chances for disaster, but thankfully it at least seemed that the bizarre 'foreman' that was Klondike seemed to know enough about what he was doing to keep things in order.

Mac was relatively glad that his partner in bringing the beams in was a relatively easygoing worker - after a small moment of negotiating and making the best of what space and strength they could take between them, they were able to at least bring in a few beams at a time...and whilst the work itself wasn't initially the easiest to handle with a pony he wasn't familiar with, Mac found himself having fewer troubles with sharing the work than first expected.

They were just about finishing up on the last run, and Klondike was asking for a usable length of Rope...Mac looks at the pair of them a moment, before working with Mojo to shift the last of the beams to their desired location, returning to Klondike and giving a small nod.

" Eeeyup - we keep a few lenths o'rope in th' storeshed... " comes the reply from Mac, pointing a hoof in the direction of aforementioned destination.

" Ah'll jus' say be careful...it's 'bout time o'year that ya may see snakes roamin' around down that way - they don't take kindly t'intruders! "

Small note I feel I should point out:

working her two part-time jobs.

I don't believe you mentioned what she does in the application - that would probably be useful information to have before we stamp.

Whilst the pony himself sounds like a fine addition, I think the one niggling thing about this application is perhaps it feels a little lacking in detail.

Let's see if I can help pick a couple of points for you to expand upon so you can perhaps help flesh him out a little more!

A:

Family: his family comes from a long line of String Musicians from Violinists, to guitarists, to other string instruments who tend to stick to traditions so when he wanted to be a Flutist his family forbid it but he did it anyway.

Perhaps here you could highlight perhaps how he got started on the flute - where did he first hear it, and when did he realise it was something he wanted to play?

Why did his parents feel so obligated to stop him from playing the flute, and how was it that he rebelled?

Personality: he prefers calm music which kind of tell his personality he is a calm pony with a jovial personality and at times try's to be a charmer too but it sometimes doesn't work.

Here, there's potential to highlight what he dreams/hopes to achieve in the future, and how he may try and achieve these aims!

Of course, if you can think of anything else to expand upon, go right ahead and give it a try - I look forward to seeing your progress!

Vinyl Scratch loved her free time - it didn't come often, and she wasn't always able to make the best of it but there were days that she could simply get out of her l'il apartment and get into Canterlots hubbub, mingling with the regular crowds to just enjoy herself. For the most part, she enjoyed having a little moment to blow off steam and relax before a nights long and energetic show...and thankfully, she wasn't scheduled until tomorrow for a little something taking place - leaving her a nice period of time in which to just mellow out on her own and recharge her mental batteries.

In a fetching pair of flame red shades, the DJ Mare was spending some time up around a solstice heights shopping district - it wasn't too far from where she lived anyway, considering that the music business seemed to pretty much be smiling on her as a whole.

Sure, she wasn't exactly rolling in vast quantities of bits, but she sure wasn't living uncomfortably either.

There was a cosy little coffee shop just up ahead, a little ways away from where she was walking from, and Vinyl suddenly found herself with an overwhelming hankering for something nice and sweet - it was one of those days where a nice hot mocha latte sounded so much more appealing than it normally did at this time of day.

Trotting over towards the shop, she illuminates the door with her light purple magic and pushes her way inside, glancing around for a moment at the interior to assert just what kind of establishment it was...she didn't often just drop into a place like this unnanounced, and sometimes it meant the ponies running the store would suddenly try and keep her attention and custom, or customers would try to get her to sign things. It didn't really bug her, but it did sometimes cramp on her ability to just relax at a small unknown store and just live her life as a normal everyday pony without the trappings of fame, even if it was for just a short while.

Seeing that there was already a rather large pony waiting to be served, she hangs back and waits in line...

The smells of the coffee already drifting to her and making her think of just what kind of deliciously tempting treat she should have all to herself...

A quick query with regards to something in the application...

While they were not pleased with the mark, they could not object to his desire to continue to learn what he could about both his herbal tracking magic and his potion making.

A cutie mark, regardless of what it might be, should be a relatively happy time for both foal and parents...the idea that the parents are unhappy with the cutie mark is an oddity for me, because I can't think of any real reason why parents wouldn't be happy in this situation.

so my essential question here is why would their foal finding their talent in life NOT be a situation that makes them initially happy?

He was raised with minimal attention to his comings and goings, causing him to be more attentive to himself rather than anypony around him.

As you say here, You draw attention to the fact that his overall comings and goings aren't noted, and yet his cutie mark is something that immediately gains their disapproval...which I suppose I mostly find to be an interesting and shift of their attention.

The rest of the application seems to be okay, I just wonder about this rather odd pattern of behaviour on the part of the parents themselves!

I read through the application and found myself wondering about this couple of items:

Motivation:

He follows Pinkie Pie's takes on life and uses them to support his friends and strangers...

I think it may be better rephrased so that 'He follows a personal motto to keep life fun and full of laughter' or something to this effect, rather than using pinky as a way to try and define his way of thinking - otherwise it looks like a reference for the sake of having one in there.

Following this, I also would like to know more about the following statement:

Occupation:

A graphic designer and a co-manager at a dubstep nightclub with Shade

Considering that there aren't any computers in Equestria, I wonder if it isn't worth rephrasing this to something a little more rustic - Artist, for example, brings much the same imagery to mind without any of the more additional hi-tech associated imagery.

Something else that seems to have my attention is the following Phrase:

To this day he has never seen his parents ever again

I would say that unless there's really a specific story behind this, I can't really see this adding anything to the character as a whole - if he's moved out of his parents place, you can probably say that he rarely sees them or something along those lines, but this as it stands leaves an unanswered question as to 'what happened?'

I'll just say that in my personal experience, answering that single question in itself can often just be too tricky to consider worth doing - in this case, just a brief blurb is usually sufficiant so long as a clear idea as whether or not they're around, but I would usually say that it's just never worth bringing any direct attention to the parents if you don't really have anything solid for them in the first place that contributes to the application.

Feels like the app MAY almost be where it needs to be, but it'd be nice to see a little clarification on the few points raised before I bump it up!

Take it easy man, I know it's been rough the last couple months so you just do what you gotta do for your own sake.

Come back when you feel you can...if you ever do, of course!