HighRoller

HighRoller was still patiently waiting to settle his accounts, but heard Madam Bistro talking about the need for help. "I'm headed back to Canterlot after this, too, so I'd be happy to aid in any way I can," he said. "Always happy to help a pony in need...especially ladies of your caliber." The unicorn followed this flattery with a courtly, sweeping bow, one hoof giving a little flourish, determined to crank the cheese factor up to 11.

Iron Rainbow looked over at the obviously nervous Life Line, and levitated his mic stand, moving so that he was standing closer to the nervous nurse. "Hey...don't be so uptight. This is just a rehearsal, after all. Save the jitters." His choice of words was casual and even a little teasing, but his tone was gentle and reassuring. "What's your name, hon?" he asked her, smiling kindly. "I don't believe I caught your introduction."

As he awaited her answer, Iron watched the other musicians milling about, getting things ready, and generally doing whatever needed to be done in order to get the rehearsal off the ground. He turned back to her, his smile still gracing his striking features. "You're gonna be backing me up, right? I'm sure you'll do great."

Iron Rainbow stood, smiling. "Okay...I brought my own mic, and I have a little amp, in case you good ponies didn't have one, but it seems you have plenty. So I'll just get my mic outta my saddlebag here..." he said, levitating it out of his saddlebag and connecting the cord to a nearby amp with his teeth. "I prefer mics with cords. They're more reliable."

The charismatic stallion stepped up onto the stage with practiced grace and levitated the mic in front of him. "C'mon, everypony, let's get this show on the road!"

Iron Rainbow trotted into the garage, well-aware he was more than fashionably late. He hadn't expected to get mobbed by fans who'd somehow caught word of his arrival, and had had to sign some autographs and such while waiting for his security to get there. He burst into the practice area shortly after the young male who was muttering something about alarm clocks and cheese and the nurse.

"Hey, there, everypony! My name's Iron Rainbow, and I'm very, very late, for which I apologize." He walked over to a seat and took it, eying the snacks but figuring he should get his introduction out of the way first. "For those who don't know, I'm the vocalist of rock band Black Solstice. Pleasure to meet you all." He stood up and gave a graceful, flashy bow, then sat down again.

Your avatar image is awesome.

We'll help you out.

I agree with Xiee.

Iron Rainbow smiled at his companion. "Heh..." he laughed softly. "Listen, hon...I can tell you dig the scat singin' pony up there. If you'd like I can accompany you to talk to him once he gets off stage. If I go with you, security is sure to let you pass." He swished his tail idly back and forth. "How 'bout it? Consider it thanks for all you've done."

The devil red metal pony sat on his haunches, levitating his water bottle and taking another sip. "Don't be shy, Penny. I'm sure you'll be a hit." He gave a slight wink.

Iron nodded and looked over at the stage. "You got that right. I've always respected ponies who could improvise that way." He swished his teased and frizzy tail back and forth. He ordered some water for himself and began to chug it. "Man...those spotlights make the heat seem even worse. It's unbearably hot on stage anyway."

The metal pony sat on his haunches, levitating the bottle of water with his unicorn magic. He watched the scat-singing pony on stage intently, not being able to resist tapping one of his hooves to the loose rhythm the performer established.

Roller nodded to Ice Storm. "The opening of a store here is just a tentative idea. I don't know if I'm actually going to do it yet, though I'm seriously considering it. And I would be honored if you'd both come visit sometime." He smiled and then turned his attention to Lore Weaver.

"Oh, trust me, it'd be my honor to help out in any way I can. Being a store owner myself I have some amount of experience stocking and organizing shelves, and it will be nice to be among all the books. I've always enjoyed them."

The young stallion adjusted his glasses and gave a casual swish of his tail, sipping his iced tea.

HighRoller had been about to open his mouth and confirm that the offer was indeed acceptable. However, the princess chose that moment to make her way into the store and his mouth remained agape for some time. Finally, he realized the stupid expression that was probably on his face and closed it.

As soon as he was over his initial shock, he bowed with the rest of them, lowering his head and closing his eyes respectfully. As soon as he deemed it "safe" to raise his head, he gazed at the princess in awe. She looked just as dazzling as she had at the open house he'd briefly attended. It wasn't so much that he was in awe of her as a pony, but that he'd never expected to see her here of all places.

Roller furrowed his brow slightly in thought, then snapped back into reality. "How about...forty bits for all of the things in this pile?" he asked. He figured that Pigpen would be likely to ask for a bit more than the offer he'd made, which was why he was comfortable with going so low. He'd been too buried in his own contemplations to notice how little money he'd let the precious naval objects go for.

Roller waved a hoof, bidding the mayor farewell and called out a thanks for the lunch. He sipped his tea and smiled at Ice Storm. "Well, since the games cater to a very particular audience, they're a bit expensive, but a lot of people seem to enjoy them. My favorites are the ones involving dice and miniatures...that is, little miniature ponies on a very small scale. Most of the games involve high adventure or tactical combat."

He laughed softly. "I don't wanna bore you, though. When I get going on my passions, it's exceedingly hard for me to stop." The young stallion continued smiling at the mare. "I hope you get your shop open soon, too. There are plenty of places to get sweets around here, but in the hot months you start wanting something nice and cold."

"You're a rainboom in the da-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ark..."

After a few more riffs, the song concluded, and Iron Rainbow took a bow before the cheering crowd.

"Thank you, Ponyville! You're a lovely audience." He gave a playful, flirtatious wink to a mare in the front row, which caused her to scream and fall limp onto her friends for support.

"I'd love to stay up here and rock you all 'til Luna's night, but this is a festival, not a concert, and as such there are quite a few more performers coming your way. Don't worry, everypony, I'll be back. Before anything else, though, everypony be sure that you have plenty to drink and something to eat. Don't want anypony passing out today. Be sure to visit the concessions so graciously furnished by your local businessponies. Go on, get outta here!" he said with a smile, before taking a final bow.

Black Solstice played a short little improvised jam as he made his way theatrically towards the red curtains and then turned around, backing up so that only his head was still poking out from between the massive waves of crimson fabric. He gave another wink at the crowd and then finally disappeared from sight. When he was out of the crowd's view, he heaved a deep sigh and levitated a black handkerchief form the pocket of his purple vest, dabbing at his forehead. "Wow. This is quite a crowd. C'mon, boys," he said, addressing a pair of burly personal earth pony bodyguards. "I'm famished. Let's go get something to eat, shall we?"

The guards said nothing, simply following him, one on each side, as he descended into the crowd and made his way toward the concessions. Their mere presence and their steely gazes was enough to keep most ponies from drawing too close, but the bodyguards did have to keep a few at bay. He spotted a yellow pegasus mare with with a distinctly colored mane by the stands. "I'll be okay from here on out, boys." Iron casually flipped each of them a bit, which they took silently. "Go get somethin' to eat. I'll holler if I need ya." They nodded and went on their way.

The devil-red stallion approached the mare. "Hey...you're the Penny Arcade owner's daughter, right? I just wanted to thank you and your dad for helping me put this little festival together. I would've been willing to sink as many bits into it as I had to, but you made it a lot easier on me and the guys." He gave a courtly bow, giving a flourish with one of his hooves.

The sounds of the tuning of guitars and the adjustment of a drumset in the background carried through the air from the stage to the ponies who were already in attendance at what was to be (to Iron Raibow's knowledge) Ponyville's first ever open air music festival. He'd put up some money himself to make it happen, and even volunteered the use of some of his band's sound equipment. He was going to do anything in his power to assure that it stayed open and free for anypony and everypony to attend.

The charismatic stallion stepped out from behind the big red curtains and onto the stage, approaching the mic. His band went silent. It was time for Iron's mic check.

"Hey, everypony! How're you all doing today?!" he said in that magical tone of his, guaranteed to generate some excitement in a crowd. He then opened his mouth and soulful music poured forth, powerful, smooth, with strong vibrato and a hint of gravelly undertone. He wasn't singing anything in particular; it was almost the vocal equivalent of an improvised guitar riff. "Well, mic's working," he said to himself, although the sound of his speech carried out and over the audience.

"Good afternoon, Ponyville!" he shouted, eliciting a cheer from many of the ponies assembled. "My name is Iron Rainbow, and this is my band, Black Solstice. Let me just tell you all that it is my pleasure and honor to be the opening act for the first Ponyville Open Air! I'm hoping that it will be far from the last. Is everypony ready to rock?!" he shouted. "And don't worry, even if rockin' and rollin' ain't your thing, there'll be plenty of something for everypony today. Just bear with me. I made our guitarist Axe Slinger promise not to melt any faces today."

He looked back at a yellow pony with an axe and a guitar crossed and emblazoned on his flank. The pony gave his guitar a quick strum and waved out at the audience. "Without further ado," Iron Rainbow continued, "we are Black Solstice, and we're going to be bringing you our fan-favorite, Rainboom in the Dark!"

With the introduction over and done with, the aforementioned pony played a riff on his guitar, letting it linger, before another pony behind a keyboard began playing, followed by the rest of the band. Before long, the charismatic, devil-red vocalist was pouring his heart and soul into the mic.

Stalwart nodded his thanks to the princess. "Thank you, my lady. All I can ask is that you make them aware of the problem." He gave her a bow and stepped back, just in time to avoid being pummeled by the formidable tome, apparently a book about her organization's policies and procedures, among other things. He watched the mare, whose appearance suggested academia, as she took delight in the book and its most likely mundane contents. She was a strange one, he thought to himself...but he also had respect for the pursuit of knowledge and those involved in it, so he didn't think of her too critically.

The well-built stallion walked over to the punch bowl and served himself carefully, slightly ruing the fact he lacked magic to levitate and manipulate objects as the unicorns did with such apparent ease, but not dwelling on it too long. It was not in Stalwart's nature to stew in regret over things he could do nothing to change.

You're awesome because you have a Sweetiebot avatar! Sweetiebot is best robot pony!

Stalwart cleared his throat and stepped forward, trying to maintain as dignified a posture as possible. "Um, yes, my lady. I just wanted to, uh, express my concern over a matter that's causing trouble in my home territory. I'm from the western frontier, near the mountains; my father started a farm out there after he retired from the Guard." This was a point of pride for the young stallion, but he didn't linger on that point too long.

"Before I moved out here, I had to defend my mother from some bandits. It's how I earned my mark. It would ease my fears if arrangements could be made to post another small garrison out there, in addition to whatever there is already. Banditry isn't too common, but there are some ponies and other creatures who get away with things simply because the guard simply can't answer every call as timely as they'd like." He coughed. "N-not to be critical of the crown, o-or the admirable job your husband does, of course. I just meant that they, uh, have their hooves full with so few guards in that region. That's all."

This last mass of words came out a bit jumbled, as he hurried to avoid sending the wrong impression. 'There goes my dignified appearance,' he thought ruefully. Still, he was his own harshest critic, and he was letting his insecurities get the best of him. He spoke remarkably well for a frontierspony, due to his parents' tutoring and his self teaching.

Stalwart awkwardly pawed at the floor with a hoof, careful not to scuff the floor in the process. His tail swished this way and that as he waited for the noble (a diplomat from what snippets he'd overheard) and the princess to finish their polite discourse. The young stallion was tempted to run off to the refreshment tables and sample some of what was laid out, but self-discipline won the day.

'No matter what branch of the guard I plan to join one day, I'm going to have to be on my hooves a lot,' he thought to himself. So, bearing this firmly in mind, he waited.

Roller nodded, sipping an iced tea. "That makes sense. Canterlot is overcrowded with businesses. Competition can be nice, but if there's too much of it, it defeats the purpose of starting a business." He smiled over at Ice Storm. "I'm sorry to hear that you had such a poor experience in Canterlot, miss. I'll be the first to admit not everypony there is on their best behavior with people who they consider to be of...lower status. It's a silly thing, especially when our own ruler is less formal with her subjects than they are with people they meet on the street."

He took a few more sips of tea and looked up at the sky. It was always so nice here...it may not be as bustling as Canterlot or Manehatten, but its pegasi kept the skies in good order.

[Hay, everypony, I'm going to be removing HighRoller and inserting my new character who just got approved. His presence would make more sense, considering the young stallion's aspirations to become a royal guard like his father. He'd want to get as close to Canterlot royalty as possible.]

The large, well-built pegasus stallion made his way into the ballroom, almost bumping into a nerdy-looking unicorn making his way out. Making a quiet, polite apology, the pegasus trotted to the center of the room, swishing his tail back and forth idly as he took in his surroundings, surveying the inhabitants of the ballroom. An eclectic mix, to be sure.

It was then that his eyes fell on the princess. She was even more magnificent than the stories he'd heard. And even more importantly, her husband was captain of the guard! But before gushing about his personal hopes and dreams, he had to make a request on behalf of his homeland. He walked a little closer to Cadence and waited, not partaking of any refreshments as yet. He didn't want to interrupt this important pony...Polaris, he'd said his name was, but he wanted to be next in line to speak to this gathering's hostess.

Well, since Stalwart got approved, I can stick a [Final] on this one, and thus go through the process of having it approved.

The gamer stallion turned toward the self-proclaimed not-changeling and smiled. "Don't worry, I believe you!" he said back, waving a hoof. He sat on his haunches, out of the way of the remaining ponies who wanted an audience with the lovely princess.

"Just pass word on to your aunts, if you please, Princess Cadence. I'd much appreciate it." He then went back and busied himself levitating snacks onto a plate he'd grabbed, then, balancing the plate with his magic, sat on the sidelines enjoying the nicely prepared refreshments. Thinking about the changeling attack, he'd been fortunate enough to be in Manehatten visiting his parents and then-significant other.

HighRoller trotted calmly into the ballroom, his usually unruly blue and gray mane pulled into a neat tail for the occasion. He swished his actual tail and looked around, taking in his surroundings, cocking his head as he sensed a strange aura of confusion and...perhaps fear from some of the room's inhabitants. No matter...it didn't seem like any of the various situations would benefit from his meddling.

The stallion walked over and poured himself a glass of punch, and then while levitating it with his dark blue magic made his way over to the busy princess.

"Hello, there. I'm HighRoller. I'm the proprietor of Silverhoof Games here in Canterlot." He smiled slightly and sipped his punch. "It's an honor to meet you, Princess," he said, moving his punch out of the way so that he didn't knock it unceremoniously out of the air with his courtly bow. "I must say I've been looking forward to this event for quite some time."

The well-spoken stallion remembered why he was there, and finally stepped back a bit. "I beg your forgiveness; I do tend to ramble at times. The real reason I'm here is that one of the companies whose miniatures I sell wanted me to ask a question on their behalf. They wanted to manufacture a line of figures based on our beloved princesses...Luna, Celestia, and of course yourself, along with some other ponies of interest, including your new husband. They've been making figures of the royal guards for some time, and they sell well, but many have been clamoring for a captain to add to their collection. They just wanted permission from the ponies involved before making figures in their likenesses."

He stepped aside. "If you could pass that message along to our rulers and get their official permission, I can send word back to my friends and they can start everything up."

[sorry for the long-windedness of this post. I tried my hardest to trim it back. xP]